… - …

Chapter Twenty-eight

Cindy

Monday July 22 1996

Amelia asked, "Any leads on the attacker?"

Shacklebolt replied, "There were no leads generated by the two memories that we collected. Wilson's bathroom break was just a bathroom break. No one recognized the attacker. He didn't say anything, so there are no leads regarding country of origin."

She replied, "I wasn't expecting anything. Fortunately, Potter got me to some excellent care within seconds. I owe him, again."

Shacklebolt replied, "Too bad he didn't apply for the academy."

Amelia observed, "I think he's exactly where he needs to be. There no money trail to follow. I'm still here. That will have to be enough – for now."

… - ...

Tuesday July 30

The wand crew was in the break room having lunch when Harry brought up his plan. "What would you think of the idea of us going to France for ten days in October and fitting wands at the Marseille Gringotts?"

Silence.

Hermione's mind was racing. There would be a million logistical issues that they'd have to work out – taxes, work permits, language, moving everything, accommodations, security, getting customers, pricing – the list seemed endless.

Two weeks or so away from having their babies, Winky and Dobby's minds were focused on domestic issues. A week would be a long time to be gone from their babies, from the New Elf Land, their home.

Emma saw a grand adventure in the making. She said, "Tell us about your idea."

He replied,"I was thinking that the six of us could pop into Marseille and sell wands for a week. It would be a big change. We'd be helping a bunch of people out and we'd each make about a million pounds for the trip."

Hermione retorted, "We can't do that. It would be completely unethical."

Emma tried to diffuse an argument before it even started by saying. "Please explain it again, Harry; in more detail this time."

"OK. Felix was selling our wands for between 2,500 and 5,000G each. Other countries are doing the same. My idea is that we sell them for 500G at the Marseille Gringotts. We split the money with Gringotts and they handle everything. All we have to do is bring a boat-load of wands with us, sit there and sell a bunch.

"All five of us – six if Dan wants to come. We have the display models outside the room. They walk in the room, state which number they want. The guards collect their cards and the coins. Better yet, they bring in a ticket with the wand number on it with the style and length. They give it a wave and try it out. "If there's a problem, they go to Winky's station. For the most part, they try it, smile and walk out. That's about the procedure that I was using when Emma and Hermione were working in the selection committee. We stay a few extra days and see the sights."

Hermione added, "What if we had a guaranteed number per day? If we finish those early, another hundred or so could be in a sort of stand-by/rush line and possibly get a wand as well."

Harry replied, "That's a great idea. We'll just have to be sure to bring a bunch of wands."

Emma asked, "Winky, what do you think?"

"Would Dobby and Winky need to be staying at night?"

"Not if you didn't want to. You could pop or portkey home at night. You could bring your babies with you, or find someone to watch them."

"Winky and Dobby could be selling wands too?" She sounded hopeful.

Emma replied, "As much as you both would like."

Hermione asked, "What about Dad?"

Harry replied, "He's invited to come if he can. We could put him to work; either in the conference room or outside showing the demo wands."

Emma said, "I wonder if we could put some sort of time slots on the cards like 1-3pm. No one wants to be 500th in line. What hours were you thinking?"

"Six to six or so with staggered breaks."

"What kind of numbers were you thinking?"

"800 a day guaranteed – 1,000 with standby/rush line. Ultimately, it depends on how many people would sign up and the logistics of the conference room."

She suggested, "Have the counter higher so they'd be standing. We'd save at least 30 seconds each by not having them sit down, slide the chair, then do the same when they're getting back up. Hermione could transfigure us some comfortable swiveled height-adjustable chairs, preferably with a cup holder. They wouldn't be searching for their card and pulling out their coins. We have it more along the lines of an airline counter."

Harry nodded and replied, "As for the standby people, we could run them at the end of the time slots, or at the end of the day."

Hermione gave a small gasp and asked, "What about school? I was hoping to take a class in the fall."

Harry asked, "Their classes or ours? As for ours, we all are hoping to take a class. Either we'll portkey back to Hogwarts for a few hours, arrange an alternate time, or something similar. The classes that we want might not be offered until January. As for Beauxbatons, we don't have the core available to make enough wands to go much earlier. Winky and Dobby don't want to go in August. We don't have a clue who Felix sold our wands to. October 5 is about as early as we could commit to.

"Winky will have had her babies. They can join us. We'll all make a good bit of money and help some people. It's up to the local Gringotts if the school makes the list or not.

"As for our own school, we can take a portkey to Hogwarts and come back. I'm interested in taking enchanting. You two mentioned going to healing class. If they're at the same time, the three of us will go. If they're at different times or at night, better still. Something might come up for Dobby or Winky too. All five us us don't need to be selling at the same time. The conference room might not even fit more than four. If Dan needed an afternoon off, he could portkey back and forth."

Emma observed, "If we do this and I think that we should, other countries are going to want the same."

Harry replied, "So we spend a week in Amsterdam in November, or Venice in December. We could manage. Hermione, what do you think?"

"My vote is yes."

"Winky and Dobby votes yes too."

"Emma?"

"I'm in. We'll ask Dan tonight. I'll confirm with Barchoke tomorrow morning."

… - …

Anne pulled her mobile out and hit the number 9 speed dial for Minerva McGonagall.

Minerva answered on the first ring. "Hello Headmistress, what can I do for you today?"

"I'd like an update on your project."

Minerva sighed. "This has been far harder than I thought. I haven't found anyone to teach the defense Mastery for January so that will probably have to wait for next September. Many people are interested but lack the NEWT grades for Charms, Potions, and Defense."

Anne retorted: "It's not surprising with Dumbledore dumbing down the standards for several generations so he wouldn't embarrass the pureblood faction. He eliminated half the program." I can see that Snape did this society no favors with his teaching. It's affected Healers, Aurors, Enchanters and Potioneers in this society."

Minerva was a little taken aback. "Well, we hope to remedy that with the new programs. And on the bright side it gives us an opportunity for adult education to bring people up to speed for masters classes."

Ann replied, "We could offer free international standard NEWT exams. If they pass, they could begin the masters level courses. If not, they could take the proper seventh year evening class. Have you found anyone for Charms and Potions?"

"I've got a firm commitment from Horace Slughorn to come back and teach a Master's program in potions. He was a little reticent to adopt the International Standards, but he agreed if the master class are no more than five students. Overall, the presentations have been well received. People are happy to hear that this is a classroom exercise, teaching and evaluation by the ICW masters every six months for the two-year program. No one really cared for the old system of indeterminate number of years of servitude."

"As you know, Filius refused teaching a Master's Charms class, as he's committed to day school and the adult education night school class for the Ministry. But I've got a firm commitment from Master John Swenson, if we can find the students."

Anne asked, "How are you coming with the brochures?"

"The notices will be published in the usual publications including Enchanting Monthly by the end of the week. I've also dropped notices at every business in Hogsmeade, Diagon and Knockturn Alley, Great Yarmuth and Godric's Hollow wizarding commercial districts. I've sent notices to over fifty people who have sent owls.

I've visited Slug & Jiggers Apothecary and Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary and made a presentation to the staffs. Both Messrs. Jiggers and Mulpepper encouraged their younger staff members to consider the program.

"We got commitments for one student from each of the Apothecaries and Healer Crabtree is sponsoring a healer trainee, so we have three confirmed for potions."

"I've got one committed student for Enchanting masters. Glenn Stevens of Glenn's Young Household Turn-Around secondhand shop. He thinks it will really help in his and his wife's business.

"I had an info session at Odyssey Luggage and received a commitment from one person, and I did one at Mobile Magical Homes, the magical tent makers and got a second one, for the Charms Mastery. The Weasley twins are interested but cannot commit for a year. They use Enchanting and Potions in their Joke Shop products but are focused on getting the business off the ground. They want the learning for themselves and they have a need for qualified people for manufacturing as they grow. Twilfitt and Tattings and Madame Malkins are both interested in sponsoring a student for Enchanting as they need an enchanter for their clothing businesses.

"Tomorrow, I also have a meet and greet with the broom manufactures and the retail broom shop owners as they do repairs. We may get a few for Runes. They need expert rune writers for the broom manufacture and repair. They are suffering from lack of core material, but rumor has it that Harry Potter is selling core material to Mr. Whitehorn and may be willing to supply the other broommakers in the coming year. So, the broom makers are excited to get back to business. Several of the attendees expressed interest."

"So Minerva, to recap, you have Mr. Slughorn for Potions, Mr. Swenson for Charms and yourself for Transfiguration. And you have a commitment for three students for Potions, two for Charms and one for Transfiguration. There appears to be a fairly large demand for enchanters but the class essentially would have to be taught from scratch."

"Agreed."

"Let's talk this through again – We'll use potions as the example. We'll call it two classes; Potions Mastery year one and Potions Mastery year two. If we write Horace a three year contract he could do year one on Tuesday and Thursday and year two on Wednesday and Fridays. That would allow us to find five, or preferably six students this year, find another six for the following year, as opposed to starting a new cycle every two years. We have plenty of lab space for the students to work a third day of the week independently.

"If we assume that your salary is perpetually paid for out of the endowment money and Horace wants at least 25,000, tuition would need to be 5,000 for six students with the sixth student 's tuition paying for the supplies."

"How much was he asking?"

"25,000G"

"So the challenge is to find six more students. My suggestion is to explain the proposed plan to the apothecaries, St. Mungos and Longbottom's growing business. Their staff could probably work two shifts a week and attend their Slughorn's class. It might be a lot easier to get people to sign up with a solid straw horse model in place. You might go back to the Weasley shop and suggest that they have one go and the other use a pensieve.

"As for the other topics, Our first task is to teach the NEWTS to the ICW standard and switch back to the ICW NEWT Exam. Beyond that, I'd like you to arrange to spend a weekend with your counterpart at Salem. Get copies of all of the literature including career return in investment studies. Lets meet again in two weeks when you've met with the businesses."

Ann concluded, "Also, please send me copies of the brochures that you have for each class and program."

Thinking it may be a difference in terminology, Minerva replied, "I'll send you a copy of everything that I've distributed."

… - ...

Amelia and Ragnok were in his office and the subject of legislation came up. Ragnok pointed out, "Fudge became Minister after Harry stopped the Dark One as a toddler. It is apparent that he began accepting bribes far earlier in his career. Therefor every action that he took since becoming Junior Minister is suspect, or likely to have been tainted by others. You might assign the investigators the task of reviewing and summarizing his actions and reexamining them in the current light. The werewolf legislation would be an easy example. It had largely been fueled by Umbridge's personal hatred and the actions of Fenrir Greyback, not any real logic.

"The current membership of the Wizengamot is likely to be the most objective of your lifetime."

Amelia replied, "I have two finishing trainees who would be perfect for the task. What challenges are you facing these days?"

He replied, "My counterparts in some of the European nations sponsored wandcrafters as we did. Most failed completely and the others stalled due to a lack of materials. Instead of coming up with clever ideas, they've taken to reselling wands at outrageous prices that the clients can't afford to pay. They do and as a result, their economies are doing poorly. I'm certain that it is essentially the same discussion you've heard a thousand times – everyone believes that their need is the greatest."

Amelia nodded in complete agreement.

… - ...

Wednesday July 31

The invitation was clear.

Come celebrate Harry Potter's birthday

Ralph's Pizza – Crawley

July 31 - Noon

(No gifts – casual dress)

It had been addressed to Colin and Dennis and specifically invited their parents. The Creeveys looked around and saw Luna, her dad, Neville, his gran, Susan and her aunt, Sirius, Remus, Anna, Sally and Demi, Dobby, Winky and Layla, Barchoke and Windsong, along with Harry, Hermione and her parents.

Harry gave his birthday speech. "Thank you all for coming. The world we're living in has had it's share of changes this last year. Hopefully far more have been positive and the trend will continue. Feel free to mingle, have dessert and enjoy the company."

Hermione and Emma made their way to the Creeveys. Hermione said, "Hi Colin and Dennis. This is my mum, Emma Granger. Mum, this is Colin and Dennis Creevey."

Colin replied, "Thank you for having us. This is my dad, Bob Creevey and my mum, Cindy Creevey."

Emma immediately put them at ease, Colin and Dennis took a few steps to visit with Harry and Hermione. Emma flashed a smile and said, "It's delightful to meet you. What do you do when you're not chasing teenagers?"

Cindy said, "I teach third graders. Bob delivers milk in the morning. Keeping an eye on the boys does seem like a full-time job."

Emma smiled at her words and replied, "I fixed third grader's teeth for twenty years then I learned how to make wands and enjoy sanding and gluing wood."

Cindy had a puzzled look.

Emma explained, "I didn't get my magic until I was 45. I went to regular school, then Uni, married that guy over there and we had Hermione." She paused a moment and said, "We had Hermione and eleven years later, Professor McGonagall turned our lives upside down."

Bob and Cindy both nodded at the truth in her statement.

"Everything was pretty much on an even keel until last August when two thugs broke into the teen's Wand Shop when I was helping out with the books one evening. They pushed me and I broke my neck."

Cindy gave a horrified look and Emma continued. "The most skilled healer I've ever heard of is the lady standing there in the orange outfit. A few minutes later, she healed me and I was released to walk out on my own the next morning. She saved my life.

"While I was in her care, she noticed that someone had bound my magic when I was a toddler. It turned out that I was born with magic like your boys but some nutter didn't like that and tried to change it. The short of it is, he was eventually apprehended and confessed to illegally binding the magic of some 900 toddlers over thirty years."

Cindy replied, "That's awful – I mean that's great, I mean..."

Emma nodded and replied, "I know exactly what you mean."

While Emma had been talking, Windsong Looked at Bob and found nothing unusual. When she Looked at Cindy, she Saw the same bind the Emma had before it was removed.

Cindy asked, "But you didn't go to Hogwarts. How did you learn...?"

"My daughter and Harry tutored me in charms on weekends. I'd originally gone with them as a chaperon when they were taking wandcrafting lessons. The instructor let me join in the class. I'd made my first wand and I got a little reaction from it." She took two out of her pocket handed one to each and said, "Give them a wave."

Bob did and exactly nothing happened. Cindy waved hers and as Emma expected, a gray spark shot out.

Barchoke came over and introduced himself. He said, "I enjoyed watching your sons' ingenuity last July. I especially enjoyed watching your transaction for a tea service. Honestly, it made my day. This is Windsong, Chief Healer for the Nation."

Windsong greeted them and said, "I had the opportunity to heal Emma last year and as she mentioned, noticed that her magic had been bound as a young child. I made a decision on her behalf to remove the illegally cast binding. With the help of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, Emma was tutored in charms on weekends. In less than two months, Emma took the basic certification exam in charms and is considered a qualified magical. I'm also happy to have her as a friend.

"Cindy, I'm all but certain that the same thing happened to you. If you come to the lobby tomorrow at ten, I will verify my belief and if you wish, remove the binding at no charge to you."

Emma said, "I can only say that doing so improved my life and brought me much closer to the teens without putting any distance between my husband and I."

Bob asked, "Are all the people here in on your plan to talk to Cindy?"

Emma replied, "Heavens no. Amelia is the Minister of Magic. Her niece Susan was a classmate of Harry and Hermione. Neville over there is in the same house as your boys. Colin and Harry have known each other for four years. Harry was talking to me about Colin and Dennis a while back when Colin took some pictures of a snake. I reasoned that the same thing may have happened to either of you. Windsong became a friend of mine and she happened to notice what she believes is a bind on what she believes is Cindy's magic. Magical medicine is much more visual without the prods, x-rays and needles that normal medicine uses. She saw it as easily as you might notice if someone left their petro cap door open. So yes, I had a guess but there's nothing nefarious here - unless you prefer squid on your pizza. There may be something wrong with that."

Dan walked over and introduced himself. He said, "I don't have a drop of magic but it's been a good thing for Emma and I to get to hear and understand an entirely different sort of stories from Hermione and her boyfriend."

Emma said, "I'll ask Barchoke to make you a portkey that will take you and whoever is holding onto you to Diagon Alley and back. You should all come tomorrow and we'll show the boys around the wand shop for the time you're with Windsong. When you get done, I'll fit you a with wand and teach you how to levitate something. OK? Or if you'd prefer to drive, that would be OK too but magical travel is pretty cool and you don't have to look for a parking spot."

Bob and Cindy quietly conversed for a minute and asked, "What time?"

Windsong, who had better hearing than most males, said, "Please be in the lobby at ten."

Emma said, "We'll meet at 9:30. Would you prefer to drive or try magical transportation?"

Cindy said, "We'll try it."

Barchoke handed her a finely crafted, stainless steel watch and said, "Please wear this. Tomorrow at 9:30, hold hands with your husband, who will hold hands with Colin, who will hold hands with Dennis. Cindy, when you are ready to activate the portkey, tap the wand against the watch and say, Activate – Gringotts. Your travel time will be about six seconds. When you're done and wish to return home, say Activate – home. It will carry you to your back garden."

… - ...

The water, electrical and sewer had been brought onto the Bones property. John Macmillan would call for the inspection tomorrow. With that many helpers, he literally could see the house being built right before his eyes. It was like playing a video on fast-forward. He enjoyed hearing their songs as they worked. It was as if he were privy to a gift from the heavens.

… - ...

Cindy Creevey had a sleepless night. She thought about the monster who decided that it was a clever, cruel stunt to bind-up little children. She wondered if making the changes to her life would improve or complicate it. She enjoyed teaching third graders; she didn't want to stop teaching. At least she'd finished her School Administrator certificate course work. She loved her husband and didn't want to have to fly on a broomstick to school. She didn't want to wear a black pointy hat. Yet she felt that a part of her had been stolen and she wanted to experience it.

… - …

Thursday August 1

Morning broke and Bob was still on his route. He hadn't encouraged or discouraged her. She wanted to talk with Emma again. Finally it was 9:20 and she and Bob and the two boys gathered together in their back garden. She tentatively pulled out the wand that Emma had handed her, tapped the watch face and said, "Activate – Gringotts."

In the time it would take to inhale deeply and breathe out they were standing on the top steps of the bank. The guards nodded at them and the boys nodded back, then they walked down the steps to the brick building with the plain sign that read the Wand Shop est 1995. They walked to the door where Redeye and Blackeye were standing guard. They stood aside and said, "Welcome Creeveys."

"Not knowing a better response, she said, "Good morning, sirs." As the building hadn't yet opened when the teens were fleecing the traditionalists and they'd received their wands at Hogwarts, they'd never been inside before. The first thing Cindy noticed was the sales area was light and cheery and played soft music, as opposed to being dark and creepy like the other wand shop had been.

Winky saw them first and said, "Good mornings. I'm Winky."

Dobby was hurrying Emma along. She had her Wand Shop shirt on. Harry who was half a step behind, saw their guests and said, "Good morning. Come along lads and I'll be happy to show you around." The three males followed, looking around.

Emma asked, "Would you like a cuppa?"

"Oh, thank you. Please."

She followed the slightly older woman to the break room where she handed Cindy a cup, and they sat down. Emma sensed that she had some pressing questions and said, "Fire away."

"Will I have to give up teaching?"

"Heavens no. I still practice dentistry occasionally. My husband and I have a practice in Crawley. I was a bit bored and wanted to spend more time with Hermione."

Relief washed over her. She asked, "You still drive?"

"Absolutely. I can still do anything that I did two years ago; everything."

Cindy asked, "Did it hurt?"

Emma replied, "I don't think so. I was already out for the neck surgery. I woke up... I felt a bit... sparkley. I'll admit, it was a bit tiring when Hermione started trying to teach me everything that she knew about magic – a bit like trying to stuff seven pounds into a five pound potato sack. Honestly, Harry is a much better tutor."

Cindy smiled a bit and asked, "If you'd been given the choice to get magic, would you have and, with a year's perspective would you do it again?"

"Absolutely. A part of me was angry that something had been taken away from me. Don't take that wrong – I enjoyed going to Uni and the like and I enjoy dentistry. My hands were hurting; they still were when I went to work here but Hermione made me a very standard healing potion that I rub on once a week. The stiffness and joint pain completely vanished and I have all of the flexibility again."

Cindy admitted, "My feet are like that sometimes from standing in class."

"I'll fix you up. It's about ten. Would you like me to walk you over?"

Cindy looked over and saw the others examining a tree stump. She said, "Let's do it."

They left the shop without any fanfare. Emma nodded and greeted the guards by name. They nodded back as they opened the door. Gumeye was waiting for them. Emma asked, "Would you like me to go with you?"

"Please. Yes please." She held Emma's hand as they walked down the hallway.

They walked a surprisingly short distance to the infirmary. Windsong and two assistants were there waiting. Cindy was relieved that they were all female. One of the assistants said, "My name is Maysong. Please remove your shirt, Mrs. Creevey and sit on this stool."

Windsong pointed to a spot under her left breast and the assistants nodded in understanding. That part took less than a minute. She said, "The binding is as we discussed yesterday. I can remove it if you would like. What is your choice?"

Cindy glanced at Emma, who nodded and said, "Remove it, please."

As Windsong flicked her finger several times, Cindy felt an odd sensation. A moment later, she gave in involuntary jerk, like she'd been driving while tired and and jerked awake.

Windsong pointed to where the spot had been and the assistants nodded again. She said, "You may get dressed and leave when you are ready. If you are going back to the Wand Shop, one of the bottles of orange liquid and a few minutes relaxing in one of their exceedingly comfortable chairs will be good for you. You might find yourself eating more for a week as your body adjusts. You are free to go."

"Thank you," replied Cindy.

"Thank you all," added Emma.

The assistants nodded while Windsong replied, "You're both welcome."

As they were walking back, Cindy noticed that things seemed brighter, crisper and more colorful than she'd previously noticed. They walked back to the shop and it seemed like she could see a golden glow surrounding Harry. It went away after a minute.

"Emma offered, "Have an Orange Crush."

"Please. I like those." She drank it down and surprisingly felt better. She looked over and Dobby was slicing the tree into wand blocks with astonishing precision. After ten minutes of relaxing she said, "Thank you. I feel great."

Emma suggested, "Give your wand another wave."

When she tried it yesterday, the wand had emitted a single spark. They gushed out today!

"Impressive. Point your wand towards the wall and say, Lumos."

She did and it looked like a search beam. When it started to dim a bit, Emma said, "To shut it off, say Nox." She did and Emma smiled and said, "Welcome to the club. Try that a few times and see if you can hold it a bit longer each time. Don't strain yourself. Have another Orange Crush.

Emma suggested, "Practice by yourself a bit when you get home. Read through the boys' first year charms book and call Harry when you want to schedule a lesson on the levitation charm. He can take an hour off at lunch, or after work. Your portkey will keep working and when you're not using it, you have a great watch. Lets go see what the crew is up to."

Winky was stacking the wood and smiled when she Saw Cindy.

Cindy smiled back. Emma had given Cindy her cell number and suggested Wednesday and Saturday afternoons for tutoring sessions.

The Creeveys thanked them and left to get ice cream.

… - …

Saturday August 3

Harry and the Grangers visited the eighty acre section of land in Gloucester that Saturday. After spending twenty minutes there, he was ready to go. The foundation of the old Potter manor was visible but he simply didn't feel any connection to the property. Harry admitted, "I have less interest in living here than I did in the Parkinson monstrosity. Forty rooms... Really?"

Hermione asked, "Should we ask the elves to plant some trees here?"

Harry replied, "We could but they seem pretty engaged in working on their property right now. Maybe next year we could ask for a planting on an investment tree like black walnut that would be worth something in twenty years. Or maybe it would make more sense to ask Sally to sell it. We have our homes. Lets go home."

… - …

At Minerva's twice monthly status meeting with Anne Chambers, Minerva announced, "I have good news. Fred Weasley signed up and St Mungo's purchased two more tickets for as-yet undesignated students. Horace has agreed in principle to a three year deal and liked the idea of the staggered days."

Anne replied, "Good. What was Neville Longbottom's response?"

"No interest at this time. He's working on a Herbology mastery."

Anne replied, "Interesting. With who?"

"The elves."

"They're not accredited by the ICW."

Minerva observed, "In my lifetime, they haven't taken on a human student before. Pomona was flabbergasted when he told her. He has better than a million galleon per year business. Exactly what accreditation should he be looking for?"

Chambers admitted, "Good points."

"I made arrangements to visit with Mary Masters at Salem starting this Friday afternoon. She was very accommodating."

Anne nodded. "What about Defense?"

"When I checked the records, there were only two masters in Britain, Minister Bones was one and the other is marked as classified. There were three charms masters – Filius and John Swenson who makes trunks and traveling tents and one listed as classified."

"If I can find a master for Enchanting, can you fill the class? Assume the same terms as with Horace – Twice a week for two years."

Minerva replied, "Yes. Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

"Yes. We'll launch with those two topics. How long do you need to get commitments?"

"A week."

"Good. I'll work my end. We're running out of summer."

… - ...

The wood framework had been finished for a few days. John Macmillan would call for the inspection on Monday. He'd explained away the rapid pace of the work by having such a large crew working on the job.

The elves had done exceptional work, looking at the blueprints moving the lumber to the appropriate spot then in unison, flicking their fingers making the cleanest cuts imaginable. Another few flicks and the framing had been nailed together perfectly. Thirty feet away, another dozen elves were doing the same thing, as another group was gathering the materials for a different wall. He'd felt humbled, just watching them.

… - …

Monday August 5

Amelia found her financial reporting meetings with Gretta increasingly enjoyable. She trusted her, found her insightful and respected her advice.

"Sales tax revenue for July had risen to 50,000G, Estate was 16,000. Mr. Black's team had taken half of the month off for summer holiday. Expenses were 74,000. Cash balance is just under two million.

"The Hogwarts Endowment Funds total just over two-and-a-half million and the primary school capital fund is at six million. Donations for the month were 1.1 million. Almost all of them were anonymous, as in previous months. As for the Hogwarts Endowment fund, you should decide what split you want between capital expenditures and operating fund, or start another fund for Masters and night school if you wish. Other than was listed as designated for the primary school, there were no specific designations on the gift listings. If you're intending to reallocate them, I'd suggest doing so quickly before the paper starts publishing numbers."

"Excellent report and advice. Thank you, Gretta."

Sales tax had been very slow to rise and, if truth be known, she was fine with that. It provided a built-in excuse to not add headcount. The galleon-pound currency exchange had normalized at 1-6. Employment had improved, though with changes. There were far more wizards working in the nonmagical trades - repair, home remodeling and the like at the loss of magical plant imports, though she wouldn't be surprised if an export business started up with the success of the Longbottom farm business. She smiled at the thought that three of the most successful business in magical Britain were run by Hogwarts dropouts. Several new magical restaurants had started in July and looked as if they might be successful.

… - ...

Saturday August 10

Harry, Hermione four guards and Dobby went to Hogwarts to meet with Hagrid. They had made arrangements to collect strand and take a look at the thesterals and hippogriffs.

Collecting the strand was easy. Clawhook greeted them and gratefully accepted the fifty sheep that they'd brought. All-in-all, they'd collected 60,000 feet of strand with the understanding that they'd return again in two weeks.

Hagrid took them to see the hippogriffs. Half of their tail hair was 18 inches and the other half just 12. He suggested, "If you need more, it would be best to wait until next spring and cut the long half like the first time."

Hermione replied, "That makes sense. Thank you, Hagrid. Would it be possible to visit with the thesterals as well?"

Harry had no trouble seeing them and when he held Hermione's hand, she could too. Their tails looked to be about the same length as the hippogriffs. As they were walking back to Hagrid's house, Harry remarked, "We still have a bit left from last summer. I agree with Hagrid, we should leave them."

Hagrid added, "I din't think you'll regret it. I got another bag o' interesting stuff for yer. I found some more honey in a cherry tree, more unicorn hair, a load of hippogriff feathers and such. Nobby came by and asked me to collect a couple dozen bowtruckels before winter. He told me you had some other place where you were starting to grow some hedges. They'd like that."

Harry nodded and replied. "When we get a bit farther along, I'd like you to come visit."

"I'd be happy to. Thank you."

… - …

The roof plywood, windows and siding insulation had been added during the week. John found his helping crew to be exceptionally attentive. They would start the inside plumbing, furnace and rough electrical as well as the stairways.

Back at the warehouse, the inside doors and cabinets were being refinished as Susan had requested. John had ordered the new bathroom fixtures, shingles, cabinets, and lights.

… - …

Anne asked Minerva, "How did you do with enchanting commitments?"

Minerva replied, "It was far easier with the specifics in hand. I collected six deposits.

Anne replied, "Good. I have an instructor committed. Be sure to call the Quibbler and get a newspaper piece published."

"I'll call Cheryl Whitehart after lunch." The program had a modest success to report.
… - ...

Saturday August 17

That evening, Winky had her twins. The large vinewoods that were used as birthing trees served their original purpose very well. Allowing the infants their contact with the trees, with the land and with the magic. It went without saying that at that moment, Dobby was the happiest elf on the planet. Harry and the Grangers waited patiently for any news.

… - …

Sunday August 18

The next morning they went to see her. They made their way to the group of vinewoods. There were quite a few other elf-moms sitting at the bases of the various trees. Dobby led them to the right where Winky was sitting up on her Star Wars sleeping bag resting against a tree trunk. In her arms were two baby elflings. Harry was expecting they they would look like miniature versions of Yoda from the movie series. Instead, they looked like very small infants with slightly pointed ears.

Hermione was first to comment and announced, "They're beautiful."

Teen boy Harry did the best that he could and said, "Congratulations."

Emma said, "They're beautiful, Winky. How do you feel?"

Winky admitted, "Tired."

Emma asked, "Do you have names for them yet?"

Dobby said, "Our son's name is "Oaken, Our daughter's name is Hollyden."

Dan remarked, Those are wonderful names. Congratulations to both of you."

Dobby said, "I will be working Winky's shifts in addition to my own."

Emma shook her head and suggested, "Perhaps you should stay and help Winky this week. You are both welcome to come back when you are ready. You can bring Hollyden and Oaken along if you want, or whatever arrangement you feel is best. We love you both, as well as your babies. Don't come back until you're ready."

… - …

John's Macmillan's inspections had all gone perfectly. The insulation, sheet rock and taping was complete. The roof had been shingled. Susie (with Amelia's help) had selected the flooring, kitchen appliances, light fixtures and the like. They would have to decide on painted walls or wall covering soon. They had what John considered to be an excellent blend of fine traditional and modern.

… - ...

Saturday August 24

As they got back from their second trip of the month to Hogwarts, Dan asked, "How did it go?"

Harry replied, "We dropped off a bunch of sheep and collected about 60,000 feet. We filled up all of the reels. We're going to try one more trip in two weeks."

Dan suggested, "Lets go to the sporting goods store and see if we can buy a bunch of large fish line reels. We can strip off the line and throw it away."

They did go to the shop and it seemed that many fishermen had the shop staff change out the lines on their equipment. As such, they happily gave them a very large box of empty spools for twenty pounds.

Harry looked at them and decided that he had spools for over 100,000 feet. He was going to rinse and store whatever they collected on their September trip in the company vault.

… - ...

That evening, the other eighty elves had their babies in the trees. There was much singing and joy, celebrating the new arrivals. The hedgerows continued to grow with the gentle rain that had fallen during the week nurturing the new plantings.

… - …

Monday August 26

Dobby was working at the shop when Harry arrived, He greeted his friend and said, "It's good to see you again. How are Winky, Oaken and Hollyden?"

Dobby replied, "They are well. Thank you. They'll be another week. Shall we get to work?"

Harry did the indents while Dobby sanded away. With the 7/16th blocks requiring so little sanding, Harry had to have Hermione transfigure another glue table to keep up. Meanwhile Hermione and Emma had arrived and worked on applying shellac. It was a happy crew.

… - ...

Tuesday August 27

Tuesday, they received an owl from Hagrid that Aragog had died. They sent fifty sheep to honor him.

… - ...

There were no luxury dinners for the Masters program as there had been for the primary school. The Quibbler hadn't mentioned that six people signed up for a few classes, whereas the fundraising galas for the nonexistent primary school made the back page with pictures of attendees in fancy dresses and regal wear. Millions had been raised. Anne hadn't been invited.

… - ...

Friday August 30

No one had specifically mentioned anything to Amelia about Fudge. The Magical Education Capital Improvement fund simply had a large quantity of anonymous donations that summer. Amelia always thought that Harry had donated his half of the ten million galleon fine from Ogden and a bit more but he had never mentioned anything. The fact was that there had been a number of significant anonymous donations; most of whom worked at either Black's business, Gringotts, or the Wand Shop. No one wanted to be seen like Lucius Malfoy when he'd donated a million galleons to buy his way out of Azkaban in 1982 and later insisted that his name be on a bronze plaque inside the hospital lobby.

… - …

Saturday August 31

John handed Susan Amelia Bones the keys to her new home. There was a poster-sized picture of the house on one of the walls on the library that was signed by Harry, Hermione, John and each of the 800 elves who had helped in one way or another with the project. Harry quietly settled up with John who had asked some of the elves if they would be interested in helping him on future projects. They were delighted to say yes and referred him to Bright Moon.

- …

The Grangers and Harry were having dinner with Amelia and Susan at one of Harry's beach houses. Harry had decided to take some of them down but hadn't gotten around to it. Harry was grilling while Hermione was making a few things in the kitchen.

Amelia asked, "Fudge's term ends in November. Do you think I should run?"

Emma reflected, "Do you enjoy the work?"

Amelia admitted, "It's been easier in the last few months. Every new report is showing improvement."

Emma asked, "Dan, what do you think?"

He replied, "There's a difference between being MoM and being a great MoM. One represents the people who voted for them. The other attempts to act in the best interest of the entire nation, taking into account everyone's viewpoint.

"In other words, best case, 60-70 percent of the people would vote for you. Are you ready to help the other 40 percent? Right or wrong, they believe their views and needs are legitimate. There's nothing wrong with giving the new magicals a leg up but not the whole ladder. There were a fair number of people who went cold last winter. Having one wand in the household or having a dozen people emulate Mick's charm renewal business would have kept them warm.

"Ragnok's model was both brilliant and objectively, a bit punitive. Yes, he wanted respect and representation, but he also wanted to put the new magicals and half-bloods in charge for the purpose of forcing the traditionalists to be able to function in the greater world; at least on a minimal level."

He added, "It's easy to second guess something after the fact. The reality is it appears that Britain recovered faster and stronger than the rest of Europe. Circling back to your question, are you willing to do it another four years?"

Amelia considered his words for a moment and replied, "I've asked a dozen people and yours was probably the most honest answer that I've received." They sat on the deck, listening to the surf and watching the hummingbirds that Dobby found and imported into the climate controlled area. As they flitted from one feeder to another, she replied, "I'd like to borrow your quote and do my best to live up to it for the next four years. I realize that major events occurred in the last two years - Voldemort and crew dying off, the wandout and the re-wanding. I didn't cause them, I didn't personally fix them but I like to believe that I didn't make them worse.

"Changing the scope and purpose of the ministry was a hard choice, as I knew that those people would be hurting. Some like Arthur Weasley, or Mick Paulson bounced way ahead, most bounced back with something else and Malfalda Hopkirk lost her life. The fact is, it had to be done.

"Changing the school is something that I take pride in, as should Emma and Hermione. I believe in the changes that have been made, especially the wide range of options. Short of Harry getting rid of Riddle and the Death Eaters, I believe that the primary school that will open in a year is the best thing to happen to wizarding society. Further, I believe that it will go a long way in preventing a recurrence. I believe that the masters program will help us achieve excellence in our education. Last but not least, I believe the adult education offerings will improve the very fabric of our society by greatly increasing the number of truly skilled people in Britain."

Emma remarked, "That was an excellent campaign speech."

Dan asked, "Would your response to the Wandout have been different if you'd had twenty million in the account?"

"That's a good question. I probably would have made the mistake of not letting the other half of the ministry employees go and missed a rare opportunity to clean house. They'd have found ways to interfere with the progress that was being made, or more likely have made it worse."

Harry observed, "I'd certainly give you an O on your first two years. In our business, we have an operations review/preview each month. We spend most of our time looking ahead, not back. Riddle and crew are gone and most people in Britain can access their magic again.

"I agree; Barchoke and the account managers spent most of their time deciding who would be at the back of the line but they took on the task and made it work. There's plenty of money for a primary school and I'm beyond honored that you decided to name it after my mum. My question is, what do you want to get done in the next four years? Are the laws fair to everyone? Are the trades with the Nation worth the cost? I spend a lot of time making deals with them. I always ask myself, What's the stated and unstated cost of the deal at hand, when I do business with them.

"If you can come up with a five item list that can be explained in a minute or two and you want to convince a bunch of people that your five ideas are in most people's best interest, I'll vote for you in a blink. I can't imagine that the people in the Wizengamot are willing to agree on what day it is."

Everyone laughed but recognized the truth in his words.

… - ...

Lee Jordan sat down at the table at Fortescue's and saw that Katie Bell, Alicia Spinet and Angelina Johnson weren't happy campers.

"Why the long faces? Katie, aren't you happy to be going back to school?"

Katie said: "What do you think? Summer is over, no job now. We made a fortune as waitresses in a Muggle Pub near Meadfoot Beach in a Devon town called Torquay. Lots of free spending tourists. With the Goblins exchange rates, we made a killing exchanging pounds for coins. We put away a lot of Galleons. We shared a flat. It was great summer. Now I have back to school. You three have finished."

Angelina asked Lee: "You know who's not coming back to school?"

"I heard Ron maybe won't be back. Then I heard from George and he may be a day student for one class to get an owl. I also hear Neville Longbottom may just be a day student for a class or two also. He's very busy with his greenhouses and the "Moonbeam." Then with Harry and Hermione also out of school, the old house is pretty well decimated."

"Looks like we've lost a lot of students, just like the Snakes. A few parents still don't have their wands and want to keep their kids around. Marietta has a few owls and didn't like the changes. I'm sure we've lost more and we'll not know for sure in a few days."

"So, back to the quidditch team," said Lee. The team needs a keeper, two beaters and a seeker,"

"Are you daft, Lee? No more houses so there won't be a Gryffindor team. Didn't you read the packet that was sent to everyone and printed in the Quibbler? It's gonna be an intramural league but I guess there will be more than four teams now. That's the least of our problems. The school is changing; beyond what we had last year. Did you see the Quibbler that came out last Friday?"

"No, I was too busy working at the twins shop. What could be in it to be of concern?"

Katie handed the paper to Lee. "See the lead article above the fold by Cheryl Whitehart."

"BIG CHANGES COMING TO HOGWARTS! BREAKING 1000-YEAR-OLD TRADITIONS!"

Many changes are being implemented at Hogwarts this year! Founders' houses are now eliminated! The traditional sorting of students into one of four houses has been shelved. Going forward the students will be assigned dormitories by age group. There will be no House patches, but a new Hogwarts patch with all four Founders emblems arrayed around the Hogwarts seal.

New Headmistress Anne Chambers said: "The old sorting into houses created unnecessary tension and strife in the school. Hogwarts must move forward and create a new learning environment, dedicated and open to all who wish to learn. As part of this, the old long house tables in the great hall have been replaced by smaller two to eight person tables to encourage students to make friends and eliminate the islands that resulted from separate houses."

Headmistress Chambers continued: "First and Second years will be in the HufflePuff Dorms, Third and fourth years will occupy the Gryffindor Dorms, the Fifth and Sixth years will go to the Ravenclaw rooms and the oldest, the seventh years will occupy the Slytherin Dorms. Over a student's tenure here they will experience all the Dorms and learn the history of the school and the founders. Overseeing the new dormitories will be a new position of House Parents and they will replace the old head of house roles."

The Headmistress also indicated the old requirement to wear robes has been eliminated and a simple dress code implemented consisting of Khaki or dark blue trousers and a collared blue shirt for both sexes. Witches can wear skirts in the same colors at their option.

According to the headmistress: "Change is coming to Hogwarts. While paying respect to traditions, it's important to move forward and give our students a chance to integrate seamlessly into the greater world."

Lee whistled. "I'm really like the no robes. It would be interesting to see everyone in just a uniform;" said Lee while he waggled his eyebrows.

The former Gryffindor chaser line all stretched suggestively at Lee as he started laughing.

… - ...

Sunday September 1

On Sunday afternoon, Emma went to collect Dan, then said, "We're going to Elf Land today." They used their portkeys to take them to the beach houses. They walked into the rapidly growing forest, where they were directed to Dobby and Winky's home in one of the huge vinewood trees There were now a hundred large ones and several hundred more that would soon be large.

Winky came out and gracefully walked down the rope pathway to greet them. She held Oaken and Hollyden. They looked like beautiful six month old babies, except half-size.

Emma asked. "May I hold them?"

Her words were music to the new mother. Winky replied, "I'd be honored if you would." They sat on comfortable wooden chairs. Each chair sized itself appropriately as they approached them.

Dan and Dobby sat in comfortable silence as Emma delighted as she held little Oaken in her left arm and Hollyden in her right. The two elflings looked at her and smiled. Oaken had eyes as green and bright as Harry's, while Hollyden's were a brilliant shade of ice blue. They were beautiful babies.

Soon some of the other new parents came up and introduced themselves. They formed a short line and asked if Emma would hold their babies. A few resembled little house elves. Dan politely thought to himself that they resembled baby Yodas. Others looked completely human except for slightly pointed ears. Every new mum was as proud as the next as they handed their babies to Emma to hold. Their smiles were infectious.

It was the best afternoon that she'd had in a long time. Emma thanked each new mum and they asked if she could come back again to visit. Emma was delighted.

… - ...

At Hogwarts, Colin Creevey and Demelza Robins were among the first to walk into the great hall for dinner. Colin whistled at the change. Spying a small two-person table Colin started to lead his study buddy to it.

"Forget it Colin, it's the opening feast. We have all year to have a small table to ourselves. Let's sit with friends for the feast," said Demelza as she took his hand and dragged him to stake out a larger eight-person table. Colin sighed as he let her drag him off on his first steps of the road to eternal hen-peck-a-tude! Colin sat back and watched the students file into the great hall while Demelza had her head close to Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil whispering and giggling.

Colins eyes widened considerably, and his eyebrows climbed up his forehead to almost his hair line as he noticed the number of students without robes and in particular the number of witches in pants or short skirts.

Lavender nudged Demelza and she tapped her study buddy on the back of his head. Laughing, she said, "Hey Colin, put your tongue back in your mouth and stop staring. You need to spend more time out in the muggle world instead of your dark room!"

Just then the new Headmistress tapped her throat with the sonorous charm. "Please take your seats! We have a lot to cover." She waited while everyone scrambled to find a seat in the new seating scheme and quiet descended on the hall.

Susan Bones grabbed a four-person table with Hannah Abbott who had a hang dog look about her, Justin Finch-Fletchley and a stranger with Justin. "Hi Sue, Hannah. This is my girlfriend Jennifer Wentlock. She's a new day student. All the day students were asked to come to the opening feast. These are my friends, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott."

Justin replied, "Pleasure to meet you both. Hannah, why so glum? I thought everyone would be happy to be back to school?"

Susan looked at Hannah and she just blushed. "Hannah waited to long to make a move on her heartthrob and he got betrothed and left school, so she's a little down in the dumps."

"Well look on the bright side, with no mandatory robes you can at least check out the boys, its a T-R-E," said Jennifer with a little eye waggle!

"What's a T-R-E?" asked Susan.

"Target Rich Environment! Check them boys out!"

"Hey I'm sitting here," said Justin.

The three girls laughed and before they could continue their banter, Anne Chambers cast another sonorous and addressed the Great Hall.

"Welcome back to another school year. As you can see, we have made some changes. Feel free to sit at any table. There are no house tables any longer. As you may have or have not read your packets you received, the houses and sorting hat have been retired. As announced in your back-to-school packets, your dormitories will be by year in the old House Dorms. All your year mates will be in the dorm together and will move to the next dorm as you age. In answer to the many letters, I've received I have indeed made the wearing of robes optional and instituted a standard uniform to wear in class. Everyone has received a patch for use on either their robes if they choose to wear them or their uniform shirt. A simple sticking charm to attach it will be fine. It incorporates all of the founders' emblems. We will also have a number of day students who floo or portkey in for classes. Later in the year, there will be a number of adult mastery classes, some will be day and some evenings. Finally, the professors are no longer head of house. We now have House or better said, Dorm Parents. I'd like to introduce you to Heidi and Jim Phillips who you will meet tonight and tomorrow in the Dorms."

Susan bones looked at her best friend Hannah. "Why didn't you tell me your Aunt and Uncle were working here?"

"I, I, I didn't know Bones; mom kept it quiet."

Anne continued, "Over the next several nights, we will hear from those intrepid students who sought out a job in the non-magical world. That's all the announcements for tonight. Let the feast begin!"

… - ...

After dinner at the first and second year dormitory formerly known as the Badger Den;

"Gather around everyone. I am Heidi Phillips and this is my husband Jim. We are the new Dormitory Parents, and we replace the old Head of House Professors. Our goal is to create a safe and comfortable environment for the residents of a dorm. We will be sharing information about the residence hall, campus activities, and available resources. Each morning before breakfast and every evening directly after dinner finishes in the great hall we will be available in the common room. We're are here to help you, be mentors, or just someone to talk too if you have a problem or are homesick. We will be visiting every dorm every day and will post a schedule when we will be spending a few hours in each dorm. In case you forgot to bring the packets you received in the mail Jim is handing out another copy of the code of conduct. Read it. If you have any questions, ask. There is a strict behavior policy and bullying will not be tolerated. We have to visit the other dorms but will be back tomorrow evening."

… - ...

"Gather around everyone. I am Heidi Phillips and this is my husband Jim. Let me give you the standard talk and hand out the code of conduct."

When Heidi was done, Jim stepped up. "I want to impress on you that as seventh years, you need to set an example for the rest of the school. You're all of age. You can leave the school on nights and weekends with notification to us. You need to be on your best behavior. Curfew for you has been relaxed. In the dorms by 11:00 pm and lights out at midnight. It is a privilege, not a right so don't abuse it.

"I'd also like to announce the new student lounges. We have two. One is for years one through four and one is for years five through seven. These lounges can also be used by any day students of the appropriate age. They are in the same building. The younger lounge is on the first floor and the older is on the second. It's in the new building that's adjacent to the main gates. There are some monitor and attendant positions available. See Heidi or I if interested. It's an opportunity to make some spending money. Like the dormitories, the lounges have been wired for electricity. There are landline telephones and there is an antenna booster so you can get mobile telephone reception there if you have one. There will be an evening movie on Friday and Saturday nights. There is a host of comfortable seating, televisions, game tables with board games, cards, computers, chess, checkers, ping pong, billiards, pinball and video games, a lending library of young adult literature and vending machines.

"Weekend nights Bright Moon elves will run a snack bar. Friday night is pizza night and Saturday is the three B's night: barbecue, burgers and burritos. The costs will be modest. There will be vending machines with drinks and snacks available. This is open to all the stated years, but you need to stay in your own lounge. You are not allowed in the younger years lounge, and they are not allowed in yours. There are no doors, or broom closets so keep PDA's to a minimum. This is a recreational lounge, not a snog joint. The lounge is a privilege. Don't abuse it."

… - ...

Monday September 2

When the students walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, they noticed dozens of posters on the walls listing various course topics such as charms, or runes and businesses that made use of those skills. There was also the course listings and a notice that students had one week to make changes if they (and their parents wished)

Basic track - nonmagical – 1 english composition 2 maths 3 science 4 history (4 years)

Advanced track (electives) english 2,3,4 math 2,3,4 science 2,3,4 history 2,3,4

Basic track - magical - charms, transfiguration, potions, herbology, defense (2 years)

Electives Defense 3-7, charms, 3-7, transfiguration 3-7, potions 3-7, herbology 3-7

Other electives - astronomy 1-5, runes -1-5, arithmancy 1-5, creatures 1-5, healing 1-2, enchanting 1-2, business basics 1 and estate management 1. These classes included adult students.

There were six 70 minute periods a day starting at 8 am with five minutes between classes. The classrooms were all on the formerly forbidden third floor which had twelve classrooms and restrooms within easy walking distance.

There was PE on Saturday (everyone had to sign up for at least something) football, cricket, broomstick basics, yoga, junior quidditch, varsity quidditch, apparition & drivers education were offered. All of the Saturday offerings were on a semester basis. Most were in the mornings, some were in the afternoons.

The students weren't always in the classes with their year mates, rather their skill level. This allowed students to get to know others beyond just their year or one above/below. Students could take their OWLs and NEWTs when they were ready. They were offered over winter break, the last week of the spring semester and by appointment in the summer.

There was the option to take classes on a day school basis. There was also the option to sign up for a single class. Thus Harry signed up for enchanting 1 on Wednesday mornings with the thought that he's attend as often as he could. Hermione and Emma and had signed up for healing 1 Wednesday afternoons. They each happily paid the 100G per class per semester part-time rate.

… - …

At Hogwarts as dinner was finishing, Anne stood up. "May I have your attention please. Do I have a volunteer for the summer assignment?"

Katie Bell, jumped up and walked quickly up to the front of the hall. "Please bear with me a moment while I set up the scene."

Katie waived her wand and changed her clothes to black pants, white shirt, black vest, bright red apron, black bow ties and a baseball cap with a pub logo, The Bell in Hand Public House on the crown.

"Colin and Demelza, if you don't mind?"

"Go right ahead, Katie."

Katie then levitated the nearest two-person table to the front and pulled out an order book and pen. She kicked out her left leg and then the right and sang like a chorus girl. "Good evening to the Bell and Hand Public House! I'm your singing waitresses tonight and bid you welcome!" She danced around the table and handed menus to Colin and Demelza. She twilled to a tray stand on the side and picked up water goblets and placed them in front of the couple and then placed a cheese and cracker platter between them.

Katie sang, "Specials are on the chalk board and we recommend the bangerrrrs and masshhhh. The beef stew ain't bad and the fish-n-chips is divine, so whaaat would you have to dine?"

She stood there with her hip cocked in a classic pose while she took the couples order. "I'll be back in a moment with your food."

Just to the side of the table a big serving tray appeared on the stand. Katie sang out in her soprano: "Thank you Hogwarts Elves!" And then proceeded to serve them their food.

Turning she sang to the hall. "I spent the summer hols as singing waitresses at the Bell in Hand Pub with two friends. We had a blast working at night and spending the day on the beach in Devon!" Then she skipped back to her own table.

Anne stood and clapped. "Thank you and well done!"

Colin Creevey stood up. "I have a paper Headmistress!"

"Come on up here and let's hear it."

"Are you ready Colin?"

"Yes ma'am."

Anne Chambers cast the sonorous on him and Colin began reading with a smirk. "How I spent my summer holidays."

A bunch of catcalls erupted around the great hall. "All right you lot, I'm just taking the p…"

"Mr. Creevy!"

"Sorry Headmistress. I spent most of the summer working for a non-magical newspaper, assisting one of their staff photographers. A gent named Mr. Miles. We travelled around London in his automobile (horseless carriages to the uninformed), and took photographs of different events.

"These included taking still photographs. Non-magical photos don't move, and video, (that is a long length moving picture) of a team of firefighters saving people from a burning building, an accident scene where two automobiles that ran into each other, a sporting event called the Wimbledon Tennis Open, and a political event where two politicians running for the non-magical government, "House of Parliament" had a debate.

"When we returned to the newspaper offices, I helped to develop the pictures we took. We used a dark room to develop the still photographs into pictures. Some of them were used in the next edition of the paper, while the video was sold to the television stations for their news reports.

"I made a portfolio of some of my work and showed it to Mr. Miles. One Saturday we went to Kensington Gardens and set up and took pictures for people visiting. I sold ten portraits and made one hundred pounds!

"I had a lot of fun and was sorry to have the job end. I was invited to come back and work on school holidays. Mr. Miles told me I had a nice eye for composition."

"Thank you, Mr. Creevy. Would anyone else like to enlighten us?"

Parvari Patil and Lavender Brown raised their hands.

"Come on up and tell about your job."

The two witches walked up blushing heavily.

"We had jobs with a traveling carnival for July and August," said Parvati. "We leveraged our divination classes by telling fortunes and engaged our passion for make up by doing manicures, painting nails and doing make up for adults and face painting for children. I did the fortune telling and Lav did the manicures and make up. We both did the children's face painting."

"We traveled all over Devon and Cornwall setting up for a few days at small towns. The Carnival had food, games, and children's rides. We helped each other out shilling for the other on the runway. If you've never been to a carnival, it's the middle where all the attractions, games, and food booths are located. We had a booth that had two sides and took turns."

Lavender picked up the story. "We conjured a sign for the fortune telling: "Parvati, the Magnificent Mystic". She would wear a shawl, strings of beads and we burned incense. I'd stand outside and try and draw people in. Parvati would tell fortunes for five pounds. I'd do nails for the same and we'd do face painting for one pound. We were busy for most of the afternoon and evening that we worked. We also sold a hand cream we brewed that was very popular. We made enough to pay our tuition and a bit more for spending money for the school year."

Thank you Ms. Brown and Patil. Let's have a hand for our intrepid presenters," said the Headmistress. "Would anyone else like to present tonight?"

Dean Thomas stood up. "Headmistress I'd like to present."

"Come on up Mr.?"

He struck a pose and said: "Thomas, Dean Thomas. "I like my pumpkin juice shaken, not stirred," said Dean with a smirk.

Anne Chambers broke out laughing as did most of the muggle born in the hall who immediately got the reference, leaving most of the pure blood looking mystified.

"Hi, I'm Dean and I worked at the same Carnival that our previous presenters Lavender and Parvati worked at. Their carnival came to my town and while I visited I saw an artist doing caricatures. This is a drawing in which you exaggerate a characteristic of the person so to create a comic or grotesque effect. There was a long line waiting for their turn and I asked the artist if he was looking for help and would he consider me. His name was John Picasso; no relation to the famous artist, and he asked if I was any good and I showed him the back page of the Quibbler that had my illustration of Harry Potter killing the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. I told him I had did some illustrations for a fantasy novel. He told me he had materials in the back of his booth and get what I needed and sit next to him and start taking customers. He watched me do the first few customers and told me I had a job. He charged seven pounds fifty per person in the picture. He told me I could share his space if I gave him two pounds for every customer and I'd keep the rest."

"He coached me to be personable and to sell the customers by sweet talking them so that I'd do a group instead of just one person. He also gave me some tips on technique for caricatures and speed as the faster you worked the more money you could make. At the end of the day I thanked him for taking me on and asked why he was so willing to help me, a stranger."

"He told me that he liked my sample work, he always had more people want a drawing than he could do and hated to disappoint people. He was also "paying it forward" as someone had helped him when he was young and wanted to help someone else who was talented. I worked seven days a week for six weeks at the Carnival. I left with a promise that I had a spot next summer if I desired. It was a very lucrative six weeks and I look forward to doing it again next year!"

"Excellent work, Mr. Thomas."

Ms. Chambers saw a girl bouncing in her seat and waving her hand. She pointed to her and said, "Name miss?"

"Lisa Turpin and this is Mandy Brocklehurst. We'd like to present together."

The two girls looked extremely fit, dressed in tight blue jeans and a form fitting collared blouse, and a few boys whistled and called out: "Nice tan Mandy"

The head mistress glared, and the two witches giggled. "Why did I eliminate robes?" sighed Anne.

Lisa opened her book bag and took out a small model of a freezer chest with wheels and attached to the frame of a tandem bicycle.

Mandy began, "I spent the summer with my friend Lisa Turpin and her parents at their home near Blackpool. We decided that we would try to make money with our own non magical business. We decided that we would sell ice cream novelties and cold drinks of water and muggle soda pop on the beach promenades.

"For those who have never been to Blackpool there are distinct sections along the seven-mile beach, such as the North Pier, Central Pier, Two beaches, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and St. Anne's Beach, the Blackpool Tower Circus as well as a zoo."

Lisa put the model down and tapped it with her wand and it swelled to the actual real size, and she began her story, "To be allowed to sell, we had to get a temporary food peddler license from the local government called the Council. This cost a one hundred pounds for the two months. We had a little help with the freezer chest and bicycle. We saw one in a museum and took pictures and transfigured it from an old smaller bicycle and a portable chest. Lisa's dad helped us do the transfigurations and the cold charms for the freezer part. We would buy water bottles, soda pop, fruit juices and ice cream novelties from the local Tesco, which is a large grocer, and stock the cooler in the afternoon for the next day. One of us would pedal and the other walk beside the bicycle. We call out Ice Cream, Cold Drinks. People would come up and the one who was walking would serve and the peddler would take care of the money. We would switch off places as we went up and down the beach. When we got to the end of the beach we were usually out of product, and we would both pedal back. We'd refill the chest and do another circuit."

Mandy picked up the story. "We each made over one hundred pounds a day! We worked Wednesday thru Sunday, which are the busiest days on the beach. We made money, we got a terrific tan and we got in shape by walking and riding!"

Both girls struck a weightlifters pose with their arms up at shoulder height and curled up making a bicep. To great applause they skipped back to their seats leaving the bicycle on display for the duration of dinner.

"Well done girls!"

… - ...

Wednesday September 4

Anne saw Hermione and Emma walking down the hallway after their healing class and invited them to eat dinner in the Great Hall. Hermione and Emma sat between Filius and her respectively. Hermione asked her old professor what was new and he replied, "I have a most unique class beginning this evening – Introduction to Charms for 25 students who are new to their magic."

His words immediately caught Emma's attention. They must be from the group that Amelia's investigators were able to locate. She mentioned, "Given their extra-long journey to get here, I'm certain that you'll take good care of them."

He replied, "The class starts in a few minutes. You both are welcome to sit in if you wish."

Hermione replied, "We'd love to, Professor."

They walked down to the four classrooms on the first floor closest to the front entrance, Harry was in the one on the left. Filius walked into the first one on the right and they followed. There was a sign on the door that read, Welcome to Introduction to Charms.

Several people were waiting out in the hall while the others had already found seats. The students all recognized Hermione and Emma and said hello. Several said, "The wand ladies are here." They looked relieved to see a familiar face.

Flitwick took attendance. Hermione and Emma recognized most of the names from the last few days in the shop. He invited her to say a few words. She said, "Hi. My name is Emma Granger. I spent most of my working life as a dentist." She saw the look of surprise on their faces. "Fourteen months ago, I realized that I might be able to wield magic. I was able to cast a few sparks from a wand that I'd just made on a wandmaking class that I was attending with my daughter and her boyfriend, Harry. To make a long story short, I had my bind removed a year ago August. With the help of Harry and my daughter, I was able to learn a few charms like you will tonight. I read a few of Hermione's charms textbooks and I practiced them. With their help, I was able to get through the first few years of the charms referenced in the book. The short of it is, by late September, I took and passed the OWL charms exam and was legally able to carry a wand afterwords. We just focused on the hands-on. I did the reading on my own time, If I can do it, I'm certain that with Professor Flitwick's help, you will too."

Inspired by her words, as was the entire class, Filius asked, "What was the first charm that Harry helped you with?"

She took out her twelve inch oak rod that he'd made. She held it like a chopstick, pointed it at the wall and with complete confidence said, "Lumos." A very bright light shined against the wall. She said, "Focus on what you want and you can make your light go brighter or dimmer. To shut it off, say Nox and it will go out."

"Flitwick said, "Excellent. Everyone try." The wall was full of beams.

She said, "Try it on and off a half dozen times."

After they had tried a few times, Flitwick asked, "What else can you suggest, Dr. Granger?"

"Two things; first, practice whenever you can. We have an Orange Crush when we're practicing. Wielding magic tends to take a lot of energy. Second, we tried the levitation charm. My suggestion is to go out and buy a box of ping pong balls. They've come in quite handy for quite a few of the charms."

"Excellent advice. If I may ask one other question, How did you take notes?" He was fishing and was certain that her method would work.

She replied, "I used a spiro notebook and made a few notes for each charm. I also included tips from Harry and Hermione as well as the date that I was first able to work the charm."

Flitwick replied, "I'd love to have a look at it."

There was an extra soft pop and Little D had her notebook in her hand. She nodded and Dobby said, "Here is Emma's notebook, Professor."

Emma and Hermione said, "We won't keep you. Good luck everyone and stop by for a cuppa."

The class said, "Thank you both."

With her permission, he made one for each of the students. Later with her permission, he remarked a few of the pages and it became the standard text for each of the subsequent Introduction to Charms classes.

… - …

Friday September 6

"There's a package that arrived for you," announced Emma.

Harry opened it. There was a letter on top. He opened it.

Harry,

Mandy and I went through the Panama Canal. It took the day to wait our turn and go. That was a wild experience. We were in with a group of smaller craft sandwiched between two cruise ships. After that, we were sailing the Pacific! We went north past Baja. I was certain that I saw several groups of thunderbirds. We're going to investigate on our way back.

We sailed up the west coast and stopped in San Diego. We resupplied then went north to San Francisco to resupply again. Then we went north to Seattle and spent a few days with our old friends Ron, Larry and Hal on Vashon Island. We resupplied again before making the long trip to Juneau.

We headed north again to Seward where we docked and rented an SUV. We stopped in Palmer where we found a sizeable herd of musk-ox. Their hair is 12-24 inches. With permission we collected these and another five boxes that I had shipped back to Salem. Hopefully, they'll still be there when we return. We drove north up the Dalton Highway into the Arctic and found some other musk-ox. Finally we reached the village of Dead Horse and took a tour of the facility where we ended up on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. We saw some grizzly bears along the way. They were as large as the spiders that you visit with.

We're ready to get back on the boat. We'll be headed back to Vancouver then back down the west coast where we'll spend some time on the Baja If all goes to plan, we'll be back in Salem by March.

All the best,

Daryl and Mandy

There were a few pictures enclosed. One was a picture of Daryl by a musk-ox with an armful of the Qiviut hair. Most of it was about two feet in length. Another was a picture of the two of them by a park sign that read Arctic Circle. There was a third one of the two of them by Mandy's boat.

Inside the box were two thousand of the musk-ox hairs. It was surprisingly soft.

… - …

Amelia and Ragnok were in his office and the subject of legislation came up. Ragnok pointed out, "Fudge became minister shortly after Harry stopped the Dark One as a toddler. It is apparent that he began accepting bribes earlier in his career. Every action that he took since becoming Junior Minister is suspect."

She replied, "I'll take that under advisement and set up a team to review them. Thank you."

On the way back to the ministry, she stopped in the wand shop and visited with Emma for a moment. She asked, "What did you think of the Introduction to Charms class?"

She replied, "Professor Flitwick is an excellent instructor. He's very engaging. How hard was it to fill the class?"

Amelia admitted, "Surprisingly easy. They started with a list of fifty names. They couldn't locate two. One refused. The other twenty-five were quite accepting. Bob Sunset and his partner Alyx would locate and approach them. Bob would do a few flashy tricks like pull a rabbit out of his hat to amuse them, then Alyx would quietly discuss being magical and the like. They're completely different people but work well together. The short of it is, they'll keep looking for people and try to fill two classes for the January term."

"Thank you."

… - …

Bentnose, the goblin responsible for watching new real estate offerings, saw the land block for sale and took note of the location. It was 320 acres (a half square mile) immediately south of Hogsmeade. Per instructions, he reported the listing to Barchoke.

Barchoke asked Sally Daily to handle the transaction. She did and arranged for a private showing. The seller was a non-magical who had inherited the property. He originally intended to farm it. When he'd done his own due diligence, he found the land to be solid rock under an inch of topsoil. He'd lost all interest in it an put it up for sale.

As such, on that Saturday, she led the twenty short looking men carrying pickaxes and the like out to the property. After two hours, they concluded that they could dig, tunnel and create large caverns in which to live below the surface. Above, they could build shops, a bank branch and build some of those four and six unit dwellings that had come to their attention. Hogsmeade needed additional housing.

They bought the property. It became known as Hogsmeade South.

… - ...

Saturday September 7

That Saturday, Harry woke up early and went to the Wand Shop to glue a set of 7/16th rod blacks. He enjoyed those and once again appreciated Dan and Daryl's advice to go with the smaller block. After he was done, he went back to the Grangers to start breakfast.

Dan asked, "What are your plans for the day?"

Harry replied, "Visit with Hagrid a bit, drop off some sheep and collect some strand. After lunch, I was hoping to go out to the property. Do you want to go with?"

"Probably. Emma and I have some dental appointments this morning. We should be back by eleven."

Soon Harry, Dobby, Redeye, Blackeye, Blindeye and Sharpeye were on their way. Winky was busy with the twins and Hermione wasn't feeling well. Harry was tempted to invite Neville along but he's seen him go into one of the carriages with Luna – apparently on a date.

They stopped and said hello to Hagrid. He mentioned, "Keep yer eyes open today. The forest feels restless. I'll go with yer."

They walked until they reached the area where the webs were. Things began to go badly. Harry didn't see Clawhook and Hagrid was right; they did seem restless. Since it was only Dobby there transporting the sheep, it took much longer than usual. After they were delivered, Harry and mostly Dobby began collecting the strand, but again, with only one elf, it was taking much longer than the previous trips.

Harry was too busy looking after Dobby to notice the huge spider attack. Redeye called out, "Lookout, Harry."

Harry felt the fangs attempt to bite into the shoulder of his basilisk skin vest as the huge spider's attack failed. He drew his wand and cast a sweeping Diffindo. The attacking spider and eighty of its fairly large followers were in pieces on the ground – either dead or twitching. The other spiders moved in to attack when Harry shouted,

"Stop!"

Miraculously, they did, or at least paused and hesitated.

Harry demanded, "Why did he attack?"

One of the other spiders replied, "When Aragog went still, Clawhook became ruler. Bugeye, his brother didn't agree with their father's choice and killed Clawhook."

Harry cast a patronus to Neville that he needed help. He asked, "Who is in charge now?"

There was much clacking for several minutes as the spiders made their choice. In the mean time, twenty heavily armed goblins arrived, joined by two hundred elves. Redeye filled them in; apparently quite impressed with the shock and awe of Harry's effortless response. Neville arrived shortly after and noticed that Harry had wands out in both hands. Harry sent Hermione another message to order another fifty sheep immediately.

"Harry said, "We can continue to live in peace and make good trades or we can both try to end each other right now, Who is in charge and what do you say?"

The spider who spoke before replied, "My name is Longclaw. With Bugeye and Clawhook having gone still, I will speak for the others. We will live in peace and make good trades."

Harry nodded at Dobby who spoke a few elvish words and he and fifty of his fellows disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later with fifty portkeyed sheep. He stated, "Very good, Longclaw. Please accept these tasty sheep as a sign of friendship. I will be back again next spring and we will make good trades together."

Longckaw replied, "Very good, Harry Potter. Bugeye had created discontent since the students wandered onto our lands two summers ago. He and his children ate the students. It is good that they are still now."

Neville watched in rapt horror as Harry put his wands away and went to shake hands with Longclaw.

The grizzly bear size spider said, "Fare well, Harry Potter and Hagrid. We will make good trades again next spring."

Harry went over to the guards and elves who had come to his aid and said, "Thank you for coming to help, Can I buy each of you lunch?"

And that was how 201 elves, 24 goblins, Hagrid, Neville and Luna came to join Harry Potter in a most excellent lunch at the Three Broomsticks. Better still, with her precognitive abilities, Luna had ordered ahead and everyone's food and drink was waiting for them when they walked in.

When lunch was done, Harry thanked everyone once again, then he and Dobby went to Gringotts to put the hundred thousand feet of strand into the vault. It had been hard won.

A/Ns

Thank you for reading. Hopefully things will settle down with respect to the spiders and strand.

I added a list of O-Cs with parts large enough that in a film, they would be credited. There are about 200 named characters in the story. Half came from the Lexicon, half are O-Cs. It's at the end of chapter one.

Cheers