… - ...

Chapter Thirty

Amsterdam

Saturday November 2, 1996

The election results were stunning.

Bones wins Election

By Cheryl Whitehart

With all of the votes counted, Amelia Bones easily defeated minister opponent Amos Diggory with 82 percent of the votes going her way. The final count was 11,070 votes for Bones and 2,430 cast for Diggory.

Bones was quoted saying, "A great minister takes into account the best interest of all of the people, not just the ones who voted for them. I will continue to do my best to fairly govern for all of the magicals in Britain; whether they voted for me or not."

In her first statement as elected minister, Bones vowed to get the Head of the Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children hired in the next sixty days. They will be charged with selecting an existing building if one is available, recommending the purchase, refitting it as needed, hiring staff and opening the school in September 1997.

Amelia gave the numbers quite a bit of thought. Without the help of Sirius, Harry and the Grangers, she had predicted that Amos would get 5,500 votes. Taking the 11,070 votes that she received and subtract 2,000 votes from the elves, which was a stroke of brilliance on Hermione's part and recognizing that they are 100 percent loyal to Harry, she was at 9,070 votes.

Taking the 2,430 votes that Amos received from the 5,500 that she expected expected Amos to get meant that their endorsement letters were worth 3,070 votes. Perhaps they were worth more, since even without the elven votes, 11,500 people voted as opposed to the 10,000 that traditionally voted. 11,070 minus 5,070 would have placed her in the neighborhood of 6,000 votes. Had Harry endorsed Amos, she was certain that he would have won. Without them, instead of having a voter's mandate, it probably would have been a deadlocked election.

… - …

When they left for the day, Harry was just over a thousand indents ahead for Dobby and Winky. Harry concentrated on indenting the canals while Emma and Hermione alternated between tacking the strand, gluing, and applying shellac. Dobby and Winky seemed to enjoy gluing the blocks, slicing the trees up and sanding the blocks.

… - …

At Hogwarts, Susan and Hannah went to see Everett Anderson, the English / Literature professor. They wanted some advice about applying for collage. He helped them apply to three schools and wrote a letter of recommendation for each of them. He suggested, "Since you're taking English 2 and Maths 2 this year, I would recommend English 3, History 2 and Science 2 as electives next September. What NEWTs are you looking to complete?"

Susan replied, "Charms and Potions. We're being tutored on Herbology and hope to take that in June."

Anderson said, "Since you've expressed an interest in teaching, you both should talk with Professor Flitwick. He's looking for teaching assistants for the new Introduction to Charms class, beginning in January. That will give you both the opportunity to do some actual teaching in a subject that you're both good at. The lesson plans for the class have all been written and Dr. Granger wrote a wonderful text for the class."

"That's a great idea, Professor Anderson. Thank you."

… - ...

Monday November 4

When Harry arrived Monday morning, the pile of blocks that already had canals indented had been used up. Dobby and Winky had obviously been busy on Sunday. He went to the store room and noticed that it was completely full of large oak and beech tree sections. It had been nearly empty a week ago. Harry had long learned not to ask too many questions with respect of the origin of the trees.

He truly enjoyed working with the wood and enjoyed listening to Dobby and Winky as they chatted back and forth in perfect elvish. He found that he was picking up more and more of their conversation as they talked about little Oaken and Hollyden.

Meanwhile, Emma and Hermione were chatting about their healing class. They had been healing small cuts and abrasions.

Their payroll cheques for the month had been astonishing. After splitting the proceeds of their time in Marseille with the goblins, the business had collected 2,125,000G. As usual, the business kept half of what it netted. Together, Dobby and Winky asked for and received 10 percent of what was actually being divided up. The two elves happily accepted their coins.

Harry, Hermione, Emma and Dan split the remainder. Everyone was very happy.

… - …

While Emma was doing her book work, Amelia greeted her guest. "Good morning, Amos. Thank you for coming in."

"Er, thank you, Minister. Congratulations. How can I help you?" He was clearly embarrassed over Bagman's words from the Quibbler.

She calmly replied, "Amos, we've had our differences in the past. I was hoping to find a bit of common ground. So I'll ask, what issues are most important to you?"

With surprising quickness, he replied, "Preserving our way of life."

"What does that mean to you?" Everyone had a different intrepretation.

"Er, it means that my Cedric would finish school and get a good job."

"OK. What did he go into?"

"Er, he worked for a term at Hogwarts, got married but hasn't found anything permanent yet."

"OK. What's he looking to do?"

"Er, I was hoping to get him a job at the ministry – but that..."

"Right. Amos, when I really looked into it, a good portion of the ministry jobs were good paying make-work positions for the sitting minister's cronies. There were ten people in Control of Magical Creatures. How many situations a week did the ten of you handle?"

"Er, well the goblins needed reining in and there was that hippogriff that attacked the Malfoy boy..."

"That's my point; there was probably work for one of you. The goblins don't need looking after. The elves are also doing well on their own. The wand that you're using was probably made from a freely donated hippogriff hair and there was the undeniable reality that nine of your former co-workers were Death Eaters who had received their jobs due to recommendations from Malfoy, Macnair, or Parkinson. Cedric and Cho would be far better going into business together, or taking over her parents' jewelry business." they sat in silence for half a minute as she hoped he would accept her words.

"Amos, my question to you is, what are you for?"

"I'm for good education."

"Me too. We have that in common. A lot has happened in the last year. A well qualified head was hired for Hogwarts this last spring. Endowment funds were started for improvements for Hogwarts castle itself, as well as an operating fund. A masters program is being developed. An adult education program is getting started for those who chose their electives poorly, or just want to learn more about different topics up to the NEWT level. A day school option was added at Hogwarts. Some classes that were previously offered were reintroduced. Finally, it looks like we'll have the opportunity to send our children to primary school next autumn.

"So, there are endowment funds that need to be topped up. Maybe you could convince your pal, Tiberius that the primary school fund could use another two million to get off to a good start?"

"Er, I don't think he'd be interested."

"No, I don't expect that he would. He's got plenty of problems of his own that he should be dealing with. As for Cedric, if the jewelry business doesn't interest him, he might consider giving Sirius Black a call. He might have something that Cedric could do. I'll be deadly honest with you – from time to time it's quite dangerous work. Though to my knowledge, it pays very well."

"Er. How dangerous?"

"This last year they've encountered a horcrux, cursed objects, Death Eater objects, dead bodies, a live basilisk and Voldemort's house."

"Er, I'll mention it. Maybe the jewelry shop would be a better choice."

"You never know. Susan and Hannah decided that they want to train up to be primary school teachers. Young adults eventually make their own choices, just like we did when we were their age. Usually it has very little to do with what their parents had in mind. I'm glad you stopped by, Amos."

"Thank you for inviting me." He seemed happier than when he'd arrived.

… - …

Tuesday November 5

At the Wizengamot meeting, Augusta asked, "Is there any old business?"

Horace Slughorn stood and waited to be called. Augusta asked, "Yes, Horace?"

"When can things get back to normal?"

Amelia asked, "What specifically did you have in mind?"

"Eliminating all of the needless restrictions in apparation."

Amelia had been expecting this and asked, "Connie, can you do a quick setup?"

Connie nodded and began setting up the equipment that she had prepared. Amelia began, "The official apparition point for Diagon Alley is the area between the back door behind the Leakey Cauldron and the brick wall entrance to the alley." Everyone nodded. That was common knowledge. Amelia continued, "However the commonly used apparition point is just by the outside door to the Cauldron."

Slughorn remarked, "Everyone apparates outside."

Amelia noticed that Connie was ready and replied, "Let's take a look."

Connie began, "The British Government and many individual business have set up what is called, Closed Circuit Television in various locations in cities and businesses." The first film-clip played. "Ah, here you are, Professor – breaking the Statute of Secrecy." She played another clip. "Mr. Oddpick, this is you, I believe." She played another. "Mr. Ogden." She played another. "Mr. Doge." Finally, "Mr. Diggory. You strike a handsome pose."

Connie pointed out, "There's no going back to 1962. These cameras are everywhere and getting caught by one isn't a simple case of erasure or obliviation of some hapless clerk. The world has changed, ladies and gentlemen and not just in Britain." She held up some of the camera types and said, "These are normally mounted on street lamps or traffic signals. They're always on. Look for them when you leave today. There are thousands of them around. We can't go back twenty or thirty years. We don't want to. Britain has had enough of Dark Lords and Death Eaters. Do you really want to go back to the system of routine bribery and children getting systematically murdered based upon a circumstance of their birth?"

Amelia was careful not to look at Ogden. They would have a show down some day. If at all possible, she wanted it to be on her terms. She asked, "Shall we continue?"

Doge commented, "We weren't asked for any input into the formation of the primary school."

Augusta replied, "That's correct; the Board of School Governors made this decision. The Wizengamot wasn't asked to fund anything. The choice to send your great-grandchildren is up to their parents. When they get to Hogwarts in a few years, there will be a wide choice of electives that they and their parents can decide on. When they finish school, they'll take the internationally recognized NEWT exam, not the lite version that Headmaster Dumbledore recommended to accommodate the children and grandchildren of the Death Eaters.

"If they do well, they'll have the opportunity to earn Masters Certifications on their favorite subject. So when you speak of going back to what it was, which what-it-was are you looking for?"

Amelia added, "Some businesses failed during the Great Wandout. I personally miss the Mitchell's green grocery store on Merlin Alley. It went out of business. Should your Grandson decide to go into the grocery business, they would be in a very different business environment than what Mitchell was used to. Most witches and wizards have decided to shop at one of the Tesco stores for their food. Their selection is far wider. Madam Mulkin sells far fewer robes and way more sweaters than they used to. Her overall business is actually up compared to two years ago. Some magical herb import businesses closed. For the first time in in my lifetime, Britain is now a net exporter of magical herbs, plants and fungi. There is the saying, you can't raise your children the same way you were brought up; that world doesn't exist anymore."

Recognizing the truth in her words, Slughorn said, "I withdraw my question."

… - …

After the meeting, Augusta asked, "How did you know to have Inspector Hammer so prepared?"

Amelia replied, "I've been waiting for the question to come up since the Wand Shop reached the halfway point in their British wand fittings. I wanted the discussion to remain civil if at all possible. I expect it to come up again but was glad to have the opportunity to make the point that businesses come and go."

… - ...

At Gringotts, Ragnok asked, "What is the update on the Hogsmeade South project?"

Lidless, the project manager replied, "Eight of the six-unit housing buildings are under construction. Initially, three of them will be rental property. The individual units of the other five buildings will be sold at a good profit when they are completed. Two retail shops have been finished and the space has been leased. One of the shops sells household goods and furniture – similar to what would be sold in a nonmagical store The other, a jewelry store opens in December."

"Very good. When are the housing units expected to be placed for sale or rent?"

Lidless replied, "December 15th. There have already been inquiries."

"How about the branch office?

"That can open as soon as next week, or at a date if your choosing. Customers will be able to make deposits, or coin withdrawals from their London vaults. They will also be able to purchase portkeys to select locations or purchase a basic two-way portkey to and from the location of their preference. They can be purchased for 250G or rented for 50G per year."

"Very good, Lidless. Have it ready to open on Saturday morning. Barchoke will assign the staffing. Please return with a follow-up report and a progress report on the tunneling in a month." He wondered if any of the Account Managers would consider buying one.

… - ...

Monday November 18

When they walked down to the lobby of their hotel for their first work day in Amsterdam, Dan asked, "Did Hermione spend the night in Harry's room?"

Emma replied, "Would you rather think that they aren't, or know that they are?"

Silence.

Finally he asked, "Is he taking advantage of her?"

"Absolutely not."

"Is she taking advantage of him?"

"I doubt it. So what else don't you want to know?"

"He muttered, "Nothing, I guess."

Hermione came down a minute later and said, "Harry's already at the bank. Dobby and Winky arrived about three to collect him."

Dan remarked, "It's six now. We'd better go."

… - …

When they arrived at Gringotts, the lines were quite long. The conference room was set up the same as the one in Marseille, through there was less room available in the lobby. As a result, there were more people waiting outside, which was always worrisome. Harry greeted them and Emma sat by Harry. He said, "They gave out 6,000 cards without a date. I wouldn't be surprised if they all try to get theirs today. We've done about 500 so far – all cards. Maybe we can finish the cards by Wednesday night, do the rush line until Saturday noon and go home Saturday night."

Winky replied, "We will be done before then."

… - …

By two pm, everyone had taken a break. They averaged 300 an hour until they stopped for the day after 8pm. By the time they had finished for the evening, they had sold 3,600 wands. As they only brought 10,000, they were certain that they would finish sometime Thursday.

… - …

Thursday November 21

Thursday morning finally arrived. Dan asked, "How many wands do we have left to sell?

Harry replied, "250."

Just then, Winky popped in and announced, "Dobby went back to the shop and brought back another 500. We will leave this afternoon and have time tomorrow to make more."

To no one's surprise, things worked the way Winky said that they would. They were home for dinner having sold 10,500 wands for the week.

… - …

Friday November 22

Back at the Wand Shop, Harry was starting from scratch with respect to split wand blocks needing indenting. Dobby and Winky had glued and sanded everything that was available. When Harry arrived at seven am there were glued blocks drying in half of the glue tables. Dobby was cutting 7/16th inch blocks and there were several hundred which had already been split.

Harry saw them and said, "Thanks Dobby. Where's Winky?"

Dobby replied, "She's home with Oaken and Hollyden. She will be in soon."

The three women arrived at nine. Winky immediately went to work making sheets of sandpaper, which were starting to run low. There were hundreds of sanded wands that needed a first coat of shellac. After they were finished with that, Emma made a few buckets of shellac and sealed the buckets.

Later that afternoon, Dobby sliced 500 ½ inch blocks for the baton wand batch. They quit at 4:30 after putting blocks into the clamps at all of the glue tables. Since no one volunteered to cook, they went out for Chinese food.

Dan asked, "How was your day?"

Harry replied, "We got a lot done. Dobby had everything glued or sanded by the time I arrived. He sliced a bunch of blocks and split them for me. I did indents for most of the day. Winky made sandpaper, Emma mixed a few pails of shellac and Hermione finished a load of wands. Dobby told me he'd do the 8am glue table before he left for the day tomorrow. He was excited. Sally is showing them the property next to theirs and I'm pretty sure they're going to buy it. I told him I'd loan him the money if they needed it."

"How much land were they looking at? Is it the beach front, off to the side, or behind their property?"

"I think it's the land immediately east of ours, probably from the cliff all the way back to the street and over a good ways. That's about 200 acres. There are no buildings on it; so they wouldn't be buying and ripping down an existing Manor home or anything."

"How much did he need to borrow?"

"I don't know. I expect they'll be at the Wand Shop by noon, wanting to go to Gringotts."

… - …

Saturday November 23

Harry arrived at the shop by seven. Winky was gone but Dobby was getting ready to unclamp the blocks. He didn't seem to be talkative, so Harry said, "Stop by if you need anything. I'm happy to help if I can."

At noon. Dobby did stop by and told Harry, "Elves need to borrow six million Galleons."

Harry replied, "No problem." They went to Gringotts, walked up to the teller and asked to see Barchoke. They explained what they wanted. Ten minutes later, Harry looked at the finished document.

Bright Moon co-op wishes to borrow six million galleons from Harry James Potter, who agrees to lend them the money. The entire amount will be due on demand, or at the end of two years – whichever comes first...

Harry signed the note and went back to work.

When he walked in, Hermione gave him an annoyed look. Harry foolishly took the bait and asked, "What's up?"

"Dad mentioned that you loaned Dobby a bunch of money. How much did they ask for this time?"

Emma wisely excused herself and went to the office, closing the door behind her. She knew better than to take sides in what was shaping up to be a major squabble.

Harry replied, "Six million."

"Six million galleons! You didn't think that we should talk about it first?" She wasn't yelling but Emma could easily hear her through the closed door.

"You didn't ask anything the first time." The moment the words left his lips, he knew he shouldn't have said that.

With a surprising level of calm, Hermione replied, "Harry, it's what couples do. You don't need my permission but it's best to talk it over. Was that the company money?"

"No. I'd never do that. It was from one of my vaults. They just transferred the money back when Winky paid off their first loan."

Surprised at his words, she asked, "When was that?"

"A few weeks after they borrowed the fourteen million the first time."

"She replied, "You never mentioned that." She wondered how they had come up with that much money so quickly.

"I didn't think about it. Winky had already done it before she even mentioned it."

"OK."

"Wisely, Harry asked, "What size transactions should we talk over?"

Hermione was hesitant to name a number since, in her mind, it was situational but he'd asked a reasonable male question. She replied, "100,000G."

He asked, "The same for you?"

"OK."

Emma wisely stayed out of the store room that morning. She concluded that their trip to Stockholm couldn't come soon enough for the two teens. She tried to think of what amounts she and Dan had talked things over, It certainly was way less than a half-million pounds but recognized that both teens had a fair number of zeros behind their bank account balance numbers.

… - …

It was unquestionable that the six of them were working harder and longer than they ever had. Harry was working 75 hours a week; Hermione and Emma only slightly less. Harry wasn't certain that he even wanted to know what kind of hours Dobby was putting in to cover for Winky. On the other hand, Dan's brushed aluminum payroll cases filled with bundles of twenty and fifty pound notes looked like something out of his favorite show, Miami Vice. While he couldn't assemble wands, he was covering 95 percent of the dental portion of their practice in between the trips that they made, where he had been exceptionally useful. He frequently made glue and shellac and saved the others hours picking up supplies and the like.

… - …

At 200 acres, Elf Land East was nearly twice the size of the original property. There was no beach per se as the land rose back up to a respectable cliff height in lieu of a beach. The elected elf council, currently consisting of Winky, Dobby, Layla, Nobby and Smidgen acted on Winky's sight as quickly as they could. They borrowed the funds needed to purchase the property for the total purchase price British Pound equivalent of eight million galleons. (They had two million galleons and borrowed six)

The property would serve multiple purposes – among them to serve as a buffer between the rapidly growing Old Forest where the elves were living and the nearby property populated by non-magicals on the other side. Additionally it would serve as a temporary holding area for magical animals, should they wish to live there.

The other reason was that the elves collectively believed that there were more coins buried on the other property. As the elves had not only acquired the original property at no cost; they effectively had been paid to take it, they were quite willing to take a chance on the property to the east of their existing property.

The tasks for developing the property were similar, though not identical to the existing property. After the keep-out wardstones were carved, a second set (keep-in) was carved. Effectively they wanted to keep any nosy neighbors out but also keep any magical animals from crossing the berm. They also decided to create a berm before the cliff to keep anything in.

Once again, the plant team was sent to search high and low for seedlings that would be available. Harry's land in Gloucester was once again the primary source for trees. Some of the land would be grown into old forest while other sections would be left as grassland.

The coin search team was reassembled and they began their search.

Dobby made some purchases, mindful of the fact that they had seriously depleted their available funds in order to minimize the amount that they had to borrow. They set down many hundreds of flat stones with temperature runes that could be used to warm or cool the area, similar to what Tom Abbot had set up at his beach property in Folkestone.

… - …

The only disappointment was, at the end of their first day of searching, the coin team had only found 50,000 coins Later that evening, Dobby went to see Harry and ask if he would help them. Harry grabbed his staff and apparated to the designated apparition point where he found Dobby waiting. Dobby explained that they were expecting to find many coins and had only found a few.

Harry climbed to the top of the berm selecting the two property and said, "Accio buried coins," as he waved his staff in a 45 degree arc. Seconds later, there was a cloud of loose coins, along with small and medium size sacks headed his way. He pointed the front of his staff to a clear area just before the rise of the berm. He repeated his action on both sides of the berm until he had made a circle. He was pleased to have found quite a few that had been missed the first time.

"Thank you, Harry Potter," came the grateful voices of 2,000 elves.

Harry, nodded at them and replied, "I was happy to help. I need to get back to the Grangers. Good night everyone." He'd have a good story for Dan when he got home.

… - …

Sunday November 24

Flitwick was delighted to hear of Susan and Hannah's interest in teaching and willingness to assist in the Introduction class. As such, they decided to split the fifty students enrolled in the January class into three groups, with Cindy Creevey, who volunteered to be the other Assistant. He was the nominal Professor and would oversee the three sessions each Wednesday evening.

He gave them each a copy of the course objectives, the weekly lesson plans and the little text that he had annotated from Emma's notes. He said, "The classes will meet Wednesday evenings from 7-10. There is a ten minute break at 8:30. You'll want to try and stick with it."

Susan looked at the objectives sheet.

Introduction to Charms

Class Objectives

This class is designed to provide a safe and positive introduction to commonly used wanded magical charms that can be used on a daily basis. The class is largely hands-on. Each session will introduce at least two charms that are commonly used. Students will discuss the uses of the charm, see it demonstrated, have the opportunity to ask questions and practice the charm in a safe environment. Wand movements and incantations will be demonstrated and refined during the session.

Some class sessions will cover a third charm that may be related to one of the other two charms.

Upon completion of the course, students will have the opportunity to test for the Charms Ordinary Wizard Level (OWL) certification. Attaining the certification will allow the student to legally carry and use their wand in accordance with ministry law and International Confederation of Wizards (ICW) guidelines.

Hannah said, "This is an excellent cover sheet. I wish our classes had them."

Flitwick replied, "By next September, I'm certain that all of the classes will have them and they'll be available to help students and parents make better class selections."

He handed them the instructor guidelines sheet that covered presentations.

Introduction to Charms

Instructor Guidelines

Greet the students and take attendance. Hopefully you will have learned each of the student's names by the end of the second session

Describe the uses and characteristics of the first charm. Ask the class for other uses that they could think of.

Demonstrate the charm. Focus on the incantation and wand movements.

Demonstrate the charm again.

Discuss any safety concerns.

Ask the students to try the charm together. Demonstrate the charm again. Ask them to try it again.

Assist them as needed. Pay specific attention that they are practicing safely.

After ten minutes gather them back together. Demonstrate that charm again.

Ask for questions. Use positive words whenever possible.

15 minutes of practice, Verify that each student and successfully perform the charm.

Offer suggestions regarding their practicing the charm at home.

Demonstrate the second charm.

Break – offer them the snacks and beverages.

Continue with the second charm. Ask for uses and demonstrate the charm again.

Discuss any safety concerns.

Ask the students to try the charm together. Demonstrate the charm again. Ask them to try it again.

Assist them as needed. Pay specific attention that they are practicing safely.

After ten minutes gather them back together. Demonstrate that charm again.

Ask for questions. Use positive words whenever possible.

15 minutes of practice, Verify that each student can successfully perform the charm.

Offer suggestions regarding their practicing the charm at home.

If the session contains a third charm;

Introduce and demonstrate it.

Practice it.

Have the students practice all charms covered that evening.

Summarize the presented charms, covering the incantation, wand movements and uses.

Preview the next session. Offer assistance for anyone requiring extra help.

Dismiss the class.

Offer assistance as requested.

Hannah asked, "Why is the pace of this class so much faster than what we used?"

Flitwick deflected, "Susan, what do you think?"

"Our older bodies have the ability to wield far more magic now than when we were eleven."

He replied, "Correct. Most of your students will be in their twenties. There are a few other considerations. First, they're not taking five competing classes. Next, since you've described practical uses for the charm, they'll be interested in learning it. Since it is the only wanded class that they're taking, they'll have the magical stamina to practice for three hours. Last but not least, they'll all want to be here. They were cheated out of attending Hogwarts when they were eleven. As such, they'll want to make up for what they missed."

Susan asked, "How do we handle off-topic questions, like potions or riding a broom?"

He replied, "I hope that you each get your share of them. Susan, your Aunt is trying to get as many of these people as possible to join the magical society and sees this class as our best opportunity to present a positive introduction into magical society As positively as you can, point out that there are a dozen other topics that they'll be able to lean upon completion of this first class. Offer to spend five minutes after class with them. If that's not working, refer them to me. I'll be in and out of all three classes each week.

"It's OK to point out that there are tutors available. People learn at different rates and different teaching styles. There is nothing wrong with taking the class a second time. Some students will be ready to take their OWL test in the last week of class. Some may want to wait a few months to practice. They may also want to purchase the regular class books, as they contain far more theory than what will be covered in the introduction class.

"Hannah, you and Susan will be learning along with the students. You'll be learning presentation techniques, how to recognize when students are and when they aren't grasping the techniques that you're demonstrating. You'll learn the art of giving positive feedback as well as helpful, wanted suggestions. You'll learn when to step in and when to step back.

"I'll write up a short list of instructional presentation books that you can look for over winter break. The two of you will want to rehearse your presentations and practice sessions together. After class, or on some Saturday afternoons, you'll want to spend time with Cindy, exchanging ideas and building your relationships with her. It is quite possible that you'll both be able to set up internships at the primary school as you attend University. Here's her telephone number. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from both of you."

… - ...

Monday November 25

Three days later, Winky walked into the break room and announced, "Harry Potter, the loans has been paid off. All elves and elflings are saying thank you again for helping us."

"It was my pleasure, Winky. You're very welcome. I'm always happy to help you."

Hermione felt a bit foolish for having made a big fuss over the loan.

… - ...

At mid-morning that day, Amelia called Sirius and asked if he would be in a position to take someone on in some sort of trial basis. He replied, "Probably. Who is it?"

"Cedric Diggory."

Sirius, who was with Remus, who'd had good enough hearing to have heard both sides of the conversation, looked at him and Remus gave a thumbs up.

Black replied, "Sure. We'll try him for a month. When can he come over?"

She quickly replied, "In an hour at the warehouse. Does that work?"

"Perfect."

… - ...

An hour later, Cedric walked in, carrying two nylon cases. He said, "Good morning, Mr. Black and Professor Lupin. Thank you for the opportunity."

Remus said, "Good morning, Cedric. We all work on a first name basis here. Mine's Remus. What did you bring?"

He replied, "As I understand it, you're trying to disposition estates. You make your money selling the property and the expensive stuff. Then there's all of the other stuff. Most of the people who would buy those sort of things are nonmagical, so bringing them to the warehouse would be risky for a handful of good reasons. My idea is to take pictures of the stuff and show the pictures to the people who run the places that are likely to buy it. They select the pictures that they might be interested in and we bring those things over to show them."

Sirius replied, "OK. I'm interested in the idea. How long would you need to do a demonstration?"

Cedric replied, "Would an hour to set up be too long?"

"That's fine." He took Cedric over to the low end section of the warehouse and said, "Pick twenty items. Remus, can you call Anna? She'll want to see this."

… - …

An hour later, Cedric was ready. He had the camera out as well as an IBM Thinkpad 500, laptop computer.

Remus was acting as the shopkeeper.

Cedric said, "Thank you for seeing me today, Mr. Lupin. Here are some items that I think might interest you." He showed him the images on the black, nearly two inch thick laptop.

Anna noted that the pictures were clear and properly illuminated. She was impressed with the 800x600 screen quality. He was good at taking pictures. She could make him better.

Cedric showed Remus how to look through the photos and pointed out that the photos were numbered. Remus replied. "I'm interested in numbers 1, 3, 5,7-9 and 15."

Cedric checked a piece of paper, ticking off the choices and replied, 'You're in luck, Mr. Lupin, I can have them delivered in a half hour. They're only 12 galleons for the lot."

Remus was so impressed, he almost forgot his scripted role and replied, "Excellent, er, I couldn't go any higher than 50 pounds."

Cedric, had far better math skills than his dad and immediately replied, "54 for the lot and they'll be here in 20 minutes."

Sirius replied, "Sold. Now if you would, please show Anna what was involved in the setup and explain to her what gear we'd need to get. I assume you have the van parked a block away and would have an elf hired for the day to fill it?"

"That's what I had in mind."

"Excellent. At first glance, we like your idea. Anna, please see me when you're done. Cedric, the basic setup is, Remus can give you an estimated range of what the various items will reliably sell for. If you can stick within that framework, I'll give you half of the proceeds of what you sell."

"Thank you."

Sirius added, "One other question. How did you pick out the discount that you offered Remus?"

"It was 10 percent and would fit within the guideline that he originally showed me."

"Excellent answer. How did you know about all of that computer and camera stuff?"

"One of my old roommates from Hogwarts. His nonmagical dad works at a magazine. He's always showing me their new stuff. They're looking at digital imaging as a way to avoid film processing. The Nikon F3 is a high end camera. I was worried that the startup cost would drive you away."

"My hope is that you're able to sell enough stuff to make it back in the next year."

"Thank you, Sirius. I..."

"Everybody needs a leg up to get started. Harry's told me that you're a good guy. People have helped me along the way too. Remus and Arthur will show you where they're selling and help you make some contacts. There are lists of places available as well. Everyone here wants you to be a smashing success at this. Go through your section and get a better idea of what's there. Anna will have your stuff ready for you on Wednesday. Would you prefer to be paid in pounds or Galleons?"

"Galleons for now. Actually either would be fine."

"OK. Have at it. We'll talk more later."

… - …

Anna came into his office a half hour later and replied, "For 15,000G we could do this right. He had a brilliant idea. We'd get a couple sets of the equipment and a used van in excellent condition. The images don't have to be developed like regular film cameras, so there's no waiting a day to go see how they turned out."

"How would the van get loaded?"

"I'd suggest hiring one of the Bright Moon elves on the days that we'd be doing the selling. They could see the photo numbers requested, fill up the van that's parked nearby. Remus or Arthur drive the van up. The client looks at the stuff, pays for it and signs the bill of sale and it's being unloaded in the meanwhile. The pictures go into the sold folder so we don't show already sold stuff to potential buyers.

"Beyond that, it involves complementary skill sets. I could take pictures when we're not already doing a walk-through. If Cedric can unload the lower-tier stuff for anything close to what it's worth, it would be a lot of help to us."

Sirius replied, "It all sounds like it would be worth a try. My only question is, why buy a used van?"

"We don't have to. It's probably only 1,500G difference. It's something that we need anyway."

"Let's do it right. Does he need some sort of license?"

"No, the business is licensed. I'll go with him tomorrow morning and get him some proper identification documents and buy or order the equipment. He'll need a driver license, if he doesn't already have one."

"OK. Thanks Anna."

… - …

A/Ns

Thank you for all of the notes that were sent. Surprisingly no one mentioned that they thought that Amos would be a good candidate.

… - …