… - ...
Chapter Thirty-one
Stockholm
Sunday December 15, 1996
After doing the 8am and noon gluing, Harry and the others made their way to Stockholm. Harry had left 1,000 sets of blanks indented and fully believed that he would find them glued when he returned.
… - …
Monday December 16
Harry was anticipating a quiet week in Stockholm. His assumption couldn't have been farther from the truth. Like with the original plan at Amsterdam, he was expecting to sell about 8,000 wands, thinking that a lot of people would have already gone to Oslo to get their wands,as they'd previously shipped some to the wandcrafter who had a shop there. It seemed that there was no reciprocity between the two countries.
Additionally, like the former wandcrafter from Marseille – Felix Badeoux, the Oslo (Norway) counterpart was selling them for at least 2,500G each. Harry vowed to do a serious price adjustment before they ever shipped another wand to another wandcrafter.
… - …
Cedric arrived on time for his appointment with Alix and Glenn 's second hand shops. Glenn was still running the non-magical shop.
With Anna and Demi's help, Cedric had arranged the photo book by category on his laptop. Each photo was numbered and Cedric had pricing information. With Lupin's permission, Cedric effectively wholesaled the merchandise to the second had shop.
The low end items were no longer filling up the warehouse at a startling rate. Instead, they were holding at a steady level. Glenn showed Cedric how and when to make permanent repairs, knowing that they were only one of the affable lad's clients.
… - …
Thursday December 19
Back at Stockholm, Thursday arrived and they finished selling the last of the the 10,000 wands that they had brought. When they were packing up Dan asked, "Did we get wands for most of the people?"
Harry replied, "It's hard to say. We're pretty sure that the 6,000 people with yellow cards were from Sweden; as for the other 4,000, they could be from anywhere – Sweden, Norway, Finland. We're not taking the time to ask. We can ask Redeye next week but I doubt that they're getting any real push back on the pricing. Let's go home and have Christmas."
… - …
Grishelda Marchbanks finished with the written portion of the OWL exam for the 25 adult students from Flitwick's Introduction to Charms class as well as the Potter/Granger tutored student, Cindy Creevey. Having collected the papers and giving them a ten minute break, she gathered them back an said, "Let's try the summoning charm."
Cindy summoned her box of ping pong balls. Everyone followed along.
Marchbanks continued, "Expand one of the balls to the size of an orange."
Apparently oranges come in different sizes. Some were the size of manderin oranges, while a few seemed to be the size of small grapefruit. She held up a medium size on and said, "This size please." The larger ones shrunk and the little ones grew.
"Excellent. Change them to navy blue." Navy blue was far more specific than an orange. All the balls matched the color that Cindy had used.
Her examination went on for nearly an hour with no mistakes. Having been subjected to roughly the same exercise twice a week, Cindy was one of the very few not to visibly get tired. Finally Marchbanks asked, "Can anyone do an extra credit charm?"
Cindy raised her hand and tried to do a patronus. "Expecto Patronum." She got a nearly formed animal.
"Very good," remarked Marchbanks.
"But I didn't get it this time," replied Cindy.
"What happened last time?"
"It looked like a turtle."
"It had form?"
Cindy nodded, "Yes. Harry was quite pleased when I finally got it."
In an encouraging voice, she suggested, "Try again."
She thought of Winky and her adorable children. "Expecto Patronum." A fully formed sea turtle popped out of her wand and swam through the air.
Flitwick, who had been sitting in the back of the room watching couldn't help but being impressed with Harry's tutoring.
… - ...
Saturday December 21
An advertisement appeared in the Quibbler.
Celebrate the Holidays in Style
with Dragon's Breath Cocktail mix – the new sensation
It has been called the hottest cocktail mix to come out in decades. Available at the Three Broomsticks pub and Wet Willy's bottle shop.
Moonshine Beverage Corporation
Hogsmeade
As he'd anticipated, Regulus Moonshine's advertisement had two effects – additional business at Wet Willy's and Rosmerta's pub. More importantly, he also received new orders from four additional bottle shops, as well as every magical restaurant and pub in Britain. None of the pubs or bottle shops balked at the five case minimum order, or the premium pricing. They all had received countless requests for the product based on the Three Broomsticks taste tests that he'd set up months ago. Dragon's Breath seemed to be on its way.
Regulus decided to call Bright Moon and arrange to hire a delivery elf for the month. In truth, he'd used up the only supply of dragon blood that he could buy but Barchoke assured him that it would be available again in January.
Every bottle sold generated a sickle in sales tax revenue.
… - ...
Barchoke read the advertisement and nodded, knowing that he'd helped launch a new business as well as aggravate a deadly nemesis. He unconsciously tugged at the basilisk vest that Harry had gifted him.
… - …
Monday December 23
Cindy found their table at the secluded area in Harrods tea room where she met Amelia, Hermione, Emma and Augusta. After they had made their greetings, Amelia asked, "How long have you been teaching?"
Cindy smiled and replied, "Twenty years in total."
"All in the same school or grade?"
"No. I did my student teaching both fifth grade and a session of special education with physically handicapped fifth and sixth graders. That was hard work, as it usually involved helping them in and out of their wheelchairs as needed in the restrooms.
"My first actual job was first graders. The little angels were a true delight to work with. They would parade in at the beginning of the school year carrying their markers, a bottle of glue, name tag, a package of pencils, paper and the rulers in their little back packs. The mums would call a lot and ask how their children were doing." She still smiled at the thought.
"I had a difficult time with Colin's pregnancy. There wasn't an opening available when I was ready to go back and then Dennis came along. In between, I started taking Administrator classes. Money was tight, so it was slow going. I substituted for a year after Dennis was born and worked at six different schools. Sometimes it was fifth or sixth grade, sometimes little ones. The perspective acquired from working different places was quite useful in my Administrator classes; seeing different management styles, levels of funding and the like. There were a lot of little thing that were different; parental involvement was welcomed at some schools and quietly discouraged at others.
One of the schools I was subbing at had an opening and offered me a permanent position teaching third grade. I've been there fourteen years. I finished my Administrator certification last June and I've started sending out CVs and applications."
Amelia asked, "What have you heard about the Lily Potter school?"
Cindy admitted, "Surprisingly little. We subscribe to the Quibbler. I've only seen it referenced once or twice. Is there a building yet?"
"No. We wanted to get a Head in place first."
Cindy asked, "Who exactly would be attending the school?"
Emma replied, "A blend; some magical children, some low-magic kids and a number of nonmagical children. The goal is to have magical children completely comfortable with nonmagical children and the nonmagical society."
"So you're offering regular primary school coursework to a group of magical kids mixed in with a group of ordinary kids who simply won't know that the other children have magic. You're not slipping in potion lessons during recess or anything?"
Emma replied, "Precisely and no broomstick lessons on Wednesdays."
Hermione added, "Children ages six to eight are very prone to accidental magic."
Cindy replied, "You are completely correct, though I sometimes have my doubts about the accidental part. What exactly are low-magic children?"
Augusta stated, "Historically they were defined as children of magical parents who haven't performed intentional or accidental magic by their tenth birthday. With access to the lists that the goblins can provide, it is now defined as a child born to magical parents who aren't on the list by age four. They my be little witches and wizards, or they may never be able to perform most common spells."
Cindy speculated, "So in times past, were they simply thrown away?"
Amelia replied, "Put kindly, frequently the answer would be yes."
Cindy replied, "Since I'm a bit sensitive to the matter, how difficult is it to bind a child's magic and how difficult is it to conceal a binding? Beyond that, is ten a magical number, so to speak, or is it truly the onset of puberty and ten was arbitrarily selected because Hogwarts starts with eleven year-olds?"
Augusta admitted, "To your second question, it probably is the onset of puberty. As to binding magic, it is far too easy for a skilled witch or wizard to perform and can be quite difficult to detect if the caster was good enough."
Cindy asked, "Is it an all or nothing condition?"
Amelia replied, "No. It's an interesting but slightly off-topic subject. We're looking for a person to head up the new primary school Would you be interested and if selected, when would you be available?"
"Yes I would. Contractually, I would need to give a two week notice. Excuse me for a moment; I need to use the restroom."
After she had left, Amelia asked, "What do you think?"
Emma replied, "We know her; that lowers the risk. I like that she has the perspective of having worked in more than a handful of schools.
Hermione added, "I liked the thoughtful questions that she asked. Her already being fully licensed in Britain is a big plus. Augusta?"
"I believe that she'd accept any direction that we offered constructively."
Amelia asked, "Shall we put it to a vote?"
"Let's."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Yes."
Cindy returned a few minutes later. Amelia announced, "You're hired if you wish. I'll have a contract written up this afternoon."
"Thank you."
Amelia replied, "Good. Your hire date will be January 1. Finish up and try to be ready by mid-January."
Cindy said, "OK. I do have a commitment Wednesday evenings. I agreed to help with the Introduction to Charms class with Professor Flitwick."
Amelia declared, "You'll do great with that. Keep an eye out with the students. Two in the last class were licensed teachers. I have their names. Also they may have younger siblings or children who might attend the primary school.
"There are several projects going on concurrently. There's the building search, a need to begin developing printed promotional material, develop a list for furniture and equipment, library books and of course, students."
She replied, "The library books are easy enough. I'll ask for a book list at the school that I'm at.. I can ask for kitchen equipment lists and a list of vendors as well. They would be great starting points. The Quibbler mentioned a September opening."
Amelia replied, "Yes. I'll send you a copy of the notes I made regarding facilities."
Cindy asked, "Have you looked anywhere yet?"
"No. We wanted your position filled to help make the decision. Our plan is to purchase an existing building that had been closed due to fire or something. Buy it, open if possible and have it repaired."
"Donations have been extraordinarily generous, observed Augusta."
Emma said, "I'm certain it will be in the information Amelia sends. The school is to be called the Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children. For what it's worth, Harry and his godfather, Sirius Black donated most of the startup money. It's their goal that the school shouldn't lack for anything."
Cindy smiled and replied, "That's certainly better than asking the teachers to each go buy six boxes of crayons for the class to share. How many students are you thinking of?"
Amelia replied. "150 plus or minus to start with. I'd like somewhere between a third and a half to be nonmagical. How about if we meet here again on Saturday at two. We can all think of our respective questions. Three to 5ive hundred when it's full operational is a reasonable expectation, depending upon the building. I'll have a contract sent to you late this afternoon."
Cindy replied, "Thank you. Thank you all. Happy Christmas."
As Hermione paid the check, Emma asked, "What are you going to pay her?"
Amelia replied, "The same as I offered Anne, except no housing or moving allowance. Anne probably had more degrees, Cindy had more teaching experience. It would send a bad message that one age group was worth more than the other."
Emma replied, "Good idea."
Augusta asked, "When will this be announced."
"As a courtesy, I'll mention it at the Wizengamot meeting before it hits the Quibbler. It's an excellent opportunity to raise interest in the programs."
… - ...
Tuesday December 31 – New Year's Eve
It was the same group as the year before at the Abbotts beach house. Everyone was hoping for an uneventful gathering that evening that actually saw 1997 in. 1996 had started out tragically for the Bones family but had steadily improved throughout the year.
Forewarned, Tom Abbott had made a copy of the ward stone layout and detailed the temperature modification runes for Hermione, who said, "We bought some beach houses near Christchurch in Hampshire county and would like to do the same sort of thing."
Tom asked, "How much beach front?" thinking that the ambitious teen may have purchased a starter home of some sort.
Hermione replied, "Two thousand feet. There are ten lots, each 200 feet. We're thinking of taking some of the homes down for more privacy."
Surprised at her response, Tom asked, "Where did you say this was?"
"By the old Parkinson estate in Hampshire."
He remarked, "That's a very nice area. Are you on the cliffs or one of the lower areas?"
She replied, "They have one of the lower fronts. I suppose the drop to the beach is about 30 feet. The decks in back of the homes have a beautiful view, like your home."
… - …
Meanwhile Emma was talking with Amelia, saying, "You had quite a year for yourself. The economy seems to have improved and be more stable."
Amelia admitted, "A lot of progress had been made but for the most part it comes down to the tremendous success of the Wand Shop and Black's Estate business. Your group allowed a lot of people to get back to work. Blacks group funded the ministry."
Emma replied, "We both played a part. Black's group is succeeding because Harry bested a monster of a man in a test of wills, causing the monster to choose to sacrifice all of his followers for an extra minute of life. I realize that your public conversations must begin downstream from that but that hour was the genesis of everything good that has happened since. As for the wands, I would attribute that to the eight square miles or so that make up what is referred to as the forbidden forest."
She added, "Enough heavy talk; how's Anne doing?"
Amelia smiled as she replied, "She told me that the shock seems to have worn off. For the older students who are on the mostly magical track, their changes are minimal aside from Professors Moonshine and Clearwater bringing in a fresh teaching style. They completed their non magical education requirements last year and can go back to thinking about OWLs and NEWTs and hopefully earn a mastery in a few years. There are a lot of students who continued with the non magical classes. Apparently there are also a lot of students who are considering university."
By her tone, Emma couldn't tell if Amelia was pleased or frustrated by the shift. She pointed out that, "A few years at university would be a true eye opener for most students. People change and make up their mind a lot at that age. I was certain that I wanted to be a flight attendant when I was 15."
Raising her eyebrows in shock, Amelia asked, "How did you get from there to...?"
"My dad was a dentist. He didn't push me one way or another. By the time I was 16, I decided that getting leered at a hundred times a day wasn't for me, so I told him I'd try university. After a year or so, I met a fit bloke and here we are.
"On a different subject, did you ever draw up some sort of study that indicates what sort of work all 30,000 wand holders in Britain do?"
Still smiling but clearly anxious to change the subject, Amelia replied, "We don't have the resources to do it. Tell me about Elf Land."
"Also smiling at the thought, Emma replied, "Well, I'm honorary grandma to 320 elflings. They are utterly adorable..."
… - …
In another room, Harry, Susan, Hannah and Hermione were visiting. Hannah said, "Susan and I would like to get education degrees and teach at the primary school."
Harry remarked, "I bet the both of you would be good at it."
Susan said, "Auntie's not too keen on the idea."
Surprised at her statement, Hermione asked, "How come?"
Susan replied, "At some level, she supports the idea. I think she wants a house full of little Bones boys and girls – magical boys and girls."
Hermione asked, "Is she still trying to hook you up with Ernie Macmillian?
"Essentially. I thinks she's a lot less worried about what I do than who I'm doing it with."
Wisely, Harry said nothing. He excused himself and went to check on Dan and Ben. Who Susan dated was not a conversation that he wanted any part of - magical or nonmagical.
Tom Abbott remarked, "Dan told me that the two of you had a bit of luck fishing."
Harry replied, "A bit. It was a great day together. Have you tried it? Dan had a great idea marking off compass degrees so we could tell where we'd already checked."
"Ben said, "I'd never thought of it, It sounds like fun. I'll try it."
"You never know what you'll find. Try calling for different things. It's all about intent. How about those Cannons?"
Ben replied, "They had a remarkable season. Who'd have guessed?"
Dan observed, "There seems to be true parity within the league."
Harry remarked, "Everyone seemed happy about it, except Puddlemere."
Ben asked, "What's happening in the wand shop, now that everyone has new wands?"
Dan replied, "We've been going to different cities for a few days a month."
Ben asked, "Different cities?" He was thinking domestically and didn't see that as a benefit.
Dan replied, "Stockholm a few week ago." Harry gave a slight shake of his head. Dan understood. It was his story to tell, or not. Apparently he wasn't interested in telling it.
… - …
Harry got up to get an Orange Crush from the kitchen where he ran into Amelia. She asked, "Do you have a minute?"
He replied, "Always. Shall we go out and look at the waves?"
"Please." She asked, "How is the road trip business?"
He replied, "Strangely satisfying. Over the course of a week, we make a material difference in a country. The Netherlands went from having almost no wands to more than a third having them. In a week of very long days, we did fittings for ten thousand people. That's a big change for the country."
Amelia could see his point. She asked, "Where have you gone so far?"
"Marseille, Amsterdam and Stockholm so far."
"Isn't that competing against the local wandcrafters?"
"They don't have wandcrafters. Very few of the countries do."
"I see. Where to next?"
He replied, "I'd rather talk about where we've been than future plans. I don't want any more heads placed on pike poles." He admitted, "The risk of robbery is insane."
"I understand. Know that I wish you the best."
"Thank you." He meant it.
Julie Abbott gathered everyone outside and said, "It's nearly time. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!"
Harry and Hermione kissed for a minute. Harry said, "Here's to a great year."
"The best. I love you."
They both hoped that it would be their best yet.
… - ...
1997
Wednesday January 1
Dan asked, "How did you like the first semester of Healing?"
Emma replied, "It was remarkably accommodating of Healer Pomfrey to schedule Sunday morning sessions for us. If we're going to keep going doing road trips, Wednesday afternoons just weren't going to fit in very well. To your question, there are remarkable differences but similarities. Hold out your left arm."
He did and she opened a tiny cut running length ways. "Knowing biology as you do, what's the nature of the wound?"
"The epidermal layer has been cleanly sliced. There's no tendon, vascular or nerve damage. Are you going to fix it?"
"She ran her wand just above the cut a few times and said "Episkey." She held up his arm and gave it a kiss for luck.
He asked, "Is that part of the spell?"
"No. That will cost you extra. Anyway, if those had been damaged, I could have done the spell a few times, fixing each of those components separately by using the same spell. Some of their potions work the same way. They have a nasty one called skele-gro. When he was twelve, Harry broke his forearm playing quidditch. If it had been a simple break, there's a charm for that. Anyway, some idiot professor inadvertently literally vanished the bones in his arm."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. So she gave him that skele-gro potion. Nine hours later, his arm was just like new."
"Remarkable."
"The truly remarkable part is that the potion wasn't specific to his left forearm."
"So when does the second semester start?"
"Sunday from nine to noon."
… - ...
Monday January 6
Gretta Macmillan stopped by Amelia's office to hand off the December financial reports.
"Here are the December 1995 numbers compared to December of 1996." (000s)
Sales tax 34 / 35G
Estate tax 16 / 40
Expenses 80 / 84
Cash 201 / 11,200
HW Building Fund 0 / 714
HW Operating Reserve 0 / 1,513
L Potter Building 0 / 7,000
L Potter Operating 0 / 4,025
Amelia looked at the report and could find no fault. She asked, "How much had actually been donated to the Hogwarts funds and how much was spent?"
Gretta replied, "The Hogwarts roof repair replacement was 650,000G. That's paid for. Electrification will be 2,000,000. 1,3000,000 has been billed and paid for. The dormitories, and class rooms up to the third floor are finished. The operating fund will be drawn down 170,000 this year. Since the initial funds were set up, donations to Hogwarts have slowed considerably. When the announcement that the building for the Lily Potter school is published, I expect another two or three million in donations will immediately follow."
"Thank you." More was donated and spent than she imagined would be possible whe the conversations began.
… - …
While Gretta and Amelia were congratulating each other for the news on the score card regarding Britain's finances, the players on the field were doing their own operations review/preview. Emma pointed out, "In 1995, the Wand Shop sold some 6,000 wands domestically, grossing about 30,000G. Through October 1996, the shop managed to sell 44,000 wands. 24,000 were sold domestically at 5G each, grossing 120,000G. Another 20,000 were sold to the French and German wandmakers, Felix and Otto for 25G each, grossing 500,000 for a total of 620,000G. Then we learned that they were reselling them for 2,500 – 5,000G each. Taking the smaller number, Felix made twenty-five million, selling our wands."
Harry added, "Ragnok couldn't have been more wrong when it came to our wands. He assumed that the price would fall immediately. To add insult to injury, Felix opened one up in total violation of our sales agreement, came to the wrong conclusion, shot his mouth off and Dr. K and the Cypress Boys Club decided to pay us a visit. Through the astonishingly good work of Winky and Dobby, we're still here to crack snarky remarks about it. Thank you both." Little D and W glowed in the praise.
Emma continued, "So we tried road trips and they have turned out to be a brilliant way to sell wands and make fantastic money. The Wand Shop portion has averaged more than two million each trip."
She concluded, saying, "That takes us to today. In 1997 we should easily be able to book ten trips. Additionally we can sell to Germany and Norway at a far better price. Excluding them, we should be able to make and sell 100,000 wands due to the 7/16th and ½ inch wood blocks requiring far less sanding than what was needed to finish the ¾ inch blocks."
Harry observed, "The only things that we need to do are; keeping a good supply of strand on hand and to stay safe."
Hermione asked, "When will we lower our price?" She still felt guilty charging so much more than Ollivander did.
Emma replied, "It should be easy to keep track of how much the other wandcrafters are charging. Clearly we're nowhere near the point of needing to drop our prices yet; we've sold every wand that we've brought out with us."
Harry replied, "For practical purposes, never. I'd be surprised if they ever dropped below, 175G. More likely, they'll level off at 250 – 1000G at the end of the year. I can't think of a reason to sell much below a half or third of the going international price. People are buying them in their home country for the most part and we're just tossing hard-earned money away by giving them away to cheaply. If Otto's selling his for 4,000G and ours work better, why should we sell ours for so much less?"
Slightly admonished, Hermione asked, "So where are you thinking of having us go?"
"Naples, Iceland, Prague, Marseille, Poland, Vienna, Belgium, Barcelona, Zurich and Stockholm."
Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that it sounded too good to be true.
… - …
Tuesday January 7
Amelia sighed in sorrow as Amos stood, questioning the wisdom of starting a primary school. The only question in her mind was who would shred him this time.
Longear stood to be recognized, was and responded, "Unless it is your money that is being spent, you have no standing in the matter, It is possible that I heard Minister Bones incorrectly. I believe she was making an announcement, not asking for a vote." He sat down and Amos followed a moment later. Much of what was heard at the meeting were simply announcements and not everything needed to be discussed.
The meeting ended.
… - …
Wednesday January 8
Emma read the Quibbler piece with satisfaction.
Lily Potter Primary School Headmistress Announced
"A positive learning experience for all who attend"
By Cheryl Whitehart
Cindy Creevey was named the first Headmistress of the new primary school announced Minister Amelia Bones. She said, "Cindy will be a perfect fit for the job. Her two children currently attend Hogwarts. In addition, she has extensive teaching experience at seven different schools and has acquired a broad perspective in different learning environments. Ms. Creevey holds a Masters certification in School Administration. The Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children is expected to open in September. Inquiries can be made via Michelle Wood at the Ministry.
Emma believed that Cindy was the exact fit for the position. As Gretta predicted, another two million in donations was received that week.
… - ...
The fifty students crowded into the largest of the four first floor classrooms for the beginning of the second of the Introduction to Charms classes. Flitwick spoke for a moment while Cindy, Susan and Hannah observed. Finally he said, "I'd like to introduce the three other presenters for these sessions, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones and Cindy Creevey." There was polite applause as the three stood up. As the four stood together, Cindy began, falling into an easy routine.
"Six years ago, I was a third form (grade) teacher in a public school in London. I have two children, both boys, who I was having trouble understanding. Strange things kept happening at our home. Certain vegetables disappeared from the cooking pan. Biscuit (cookie) jars found their way onto the floor in front of the boys. Toys that I was certain that I'd put away found their way onto the boys' beds. When my oldest was eleven, I finally found out that I was the mother of two boys who could perform magic.
"Six months ago, I found out that part of my heritage had been stolen from me, just as a part of yours had been stolen from each of you. Ever since then, I've been doing my best to get it back. I learned the same basic set of charms that you're here to learn. I passed my basic certification. Along the way, I also completed my school administration coursework to become a primary school head (elementary school principal)
"Six days ago, I was appointed to be the head of the new integrated primary school for both children with and without magic, The Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children. It's scheduled to open this September. Those of you who have young children will likely be interested in sending your child there.
"Professor Flitwick has been successfully teaching beginners how to wield magic and perform incredibly useful charms longer than I've been alive. Magical people tend to live a long time. Your children will most likely be around to ring in the twenty-second century. They'll be a part of the magical world in Britain, You can be too.
"We have a real advantage; we can move around and effortlessly function in the nonmagical world. Your ability to wield magic can seriously aid you in your profession as well as your personal life. Better still, your knowledge of the nonmagical world can help you succeed in the magical one.
"Your ticket to the magical world is passing the Ordinary Wizarding Level, sometimes referred to as the OWL exam and legally owning a wand so you can perform basic magic. How far you go after that is largely up to you. You can start a new business and become seriously wealthy. I've seen it happen. You can start a business and make a good living. It's a fairly common experience. You can keep doing what you're doing and be able to fix a broken teacup and clean the floor with a wave of your wand. There's nothing wrong with that.
"In a bit more than the next six minutes, you'll be learning your first charms. In the truest sense of the phrase, welcome to the club."
Flitwick announced, "As you'll find out, the sessions are mostly hands on. I'd like you to split up into three groups and go into any of the three groups. There should be sixteen or seventeen in your group. We'll start in a minute."
… - …
The young redhead walked into the room, smiled and said, "Good evening. My name is Susan Bones. I'm studying to be a primary school teacher and hope to see some of your siblings or children in the new primary school. I've studied magic for seven years. I'll do everything that I can to get each of you off to the best possible start as you begin to use and study the art of wielding magic." Flitwick nodded as he looked in through the door. Her Statement of Qualification was brief, accurate and convincing.
"The first thing that we should talk about is safety. Never point your wand at people unless you have their permission, or there is a very good reason to. OK?" The class nodded in agreement. She wrote on the white board, Rule Number One.
"The second thing; there are several good ways to carry your wand. Can anyone think of one?" He nodded and walked to the next room.
A student raised her hand. Susan smiled and said, "Yes? Please tell us your name and idea."
A woman about 22 said, "Hi. My name is Hannah Wexford. I'd carry it in my handbag."
Susan wrote Handbag on the whiteboard, smiled and replied, "Excellent idea, though it might be a bit awkward for the lads. What else?"
"My name is Mike Thomas. Is there some type of holster available?"
Susan wrote Holsters on the whiteboard next to Hannah's suggestion. She replied, "Excellent. There are a number of wrist holsters available. They work quite well unless you have a really long wand and a fairly short forearm. What else?"
"Leg holster."
She nodded at the student and replied, "Excellent. They work as well. A lot of women wear thigh holsters or similar, depending on what they're wearing There are also pockets that can be sewn into a jacket or the front of a shirt. Again, ten and twelve inch wands are far easier to comfortably conceal and carry than fourteen inch or longer wands. The point is to have your wand available when you want it, keep it safe and keep it out of sight. That said, what are some bad ideas?"
Ben Porter replied, "Back pocket."
"You're right. That one has problems. You could sit on it, break it, expose it, or lose it. Worse, you could accidentally blow off something." The class gave a nervous laugh.
Susan said, "Moving on, there are several common ways to hold your wand. You can hold it like a baton with the end in the palm of your hand." She demonstrated and gave her wand a wave or two. "Or you can hold it like a pencil." She demonstrated that but offered, "A lot of people hold it like a chop stick; which is sort of like holding a pencil, except your hand is at the back end of your wand. I've had the best success with that method." She demonstrated that one a bit longer; making certain that the entire class could see. "Some people hold it like a short sword." She demonstrated that hold.
"There's not an absolute right or wrong way to hold your wand but there are some practical considerations. A lot of spells are going to involve pointing your wand at something with a fair amount of precision. For example if you're using a sealing charm to fix a cut on someone's hand, you don't want to accidentally stick two fingers together. Also you want to hold your wand in the hand that you're most comfortable with. If you're right handed, go for it. If you're left handed, use that one. If you're ambidextrous, use your right hand because 95 percent of the text books reference the wand movements from a right-handed person's perspective. If you are left handed, a great reference book is Magic for the rest of us, by Lefty Rosenberg." She noticed that several of the students wrote the name of the book.
"OK, if you would please, stand up and line up, facing the side wall to your right. The first charm that we're going to use is the wand lighting charm, Lumos. It allows you to light the end of your wand like a torch (flashlight) Hold your wand, point it at the wall and in a normal voice, say Lumos. I'll demonstrate it. Lumos." Her wand lit and a bright beam shined at the wall. The second charm we'll work on is to shut off the beam. It's Nox.
"Lumos. Nox. Give it a try." A few seconds later she said, "OK. Now try turning on your light." A few seconds later she said, "Try it again. Good. Off again. Good."
She looked around and everyone had shut their wand off. She suggested, "Have a seat. Congratulations. You each successfully performed your first spells. Now, when you practice this at home, where could you do it? Yes?"
"Sally Brown. I'd try it in my bedroom with the shade down."
"That could work. Who else?"
"Tim Jensen. I'd try it in the garage with the door down, so nothing could accidently break."
"Good." She wrote both answers down. She also wrote Lumos and Nox on the board, then asked, "What would be some bad ideas?"
"In the front yard, where my neighbor could see."
She nodded and replied, "That would be a very bad idea."
She continued on for a few minutes until it was time for the break and mentioned, "There are biscuits (cookies) on the table here and beverages. You'll want to have a few. Wielding magic uses a lot of energy." She looked just out the doorway and saw Professor Flitwick nodding to her, then pointing to the hallway. Susan added, "If anyone needs to use the restrooms, they're out the door to the left." He nodded and walked towards Hannah's classroom.
When they got back, She wrote down the words, Intent and Control on the whiteboard. Susan pointed out, "With a bit of practice, I can make my light go brighter by willing it. Much of magic is about intent. Stand up please and give it a try." They did and generally, their beams were brighter. "Now dimmer." Most of them were actually dimmer, or at least back to normal. "OK. Now shut them off."
"OK, try again. Brighter... and dimmer. Dimmer... and off. Who's tired?" she raised her hand. "OK. Magic consumes energy. A sugary beverage, candy bar or a piece of chocolate can help you when you're getting started. Have one or grab another if you wish."
They all took her up on her offer.
"OK. Try holding your wand with one of the other grips. Try them all until you find the one that feels the most comfortable for you. What questions can I answer? Tim?"
"Where can I buy a wand holster?"
She replied, "There's an accessory shop in Diagon Alley a few doors down from where you purchased your wands. There's also a shop in Hogsmeade that had a large selection. It's by a pub called the Three Broomsticks. If you sew, you can easily make one from a nylon stocking, or a stocking would work until you get to a shop to buy a proper one. There are also some at the gift shop to the left of the front doors here. What else?"
"Can I buy a second wand?"
"Once you pass your OWL exam and receive your Purchase Permit card, you can."
"Where can I exchange pounds for galleons?"
"Some shops will accept either currency. They usually have a five pound note, stuck to their front door. You can also go to Gringotts. The gift shop will accept either currency. Who else has a question? Yes?"
"Connie White – what other texts do you recommend?"
"The charms that we'll cover in the next two months are found in the Standard Book of Spells Volumes 1-3. We will look at some of the spells found in volumes 4 and 5 in November and December."
"The smaller text that was handed out to you was written by a dentist who took up wandcrafting, Dr. Emma Granger. Very likely, she sold you your wand last month. The charms that we'll be working with next week are quite useful. They are the repairing charm, the color changing charm and a charm that is used to end or undo many charms. If you can, read pages 10 – 20 in your text.
"I thank you again for coming and again, welcome to the club. If you have questions, I'll be here. Professor Flitwick is around as are Hannah Abbott and Cindy Creevey. Good job, everyone. I'll see you next week."
Flitwick answered a few questions and helped a few of the students with their portkeys. When the students had departed, He said, "You all did an excellent job this evening. I watched and it looks like each of the students got off to a good start. Hannah, you want to work on using your presentation volume voice so everyone can hear your good suggestions. Susan, be sure that you have called on each of your students in class by the end of the next session. You'll have a better idea that they're following the material. Cindy, be sure to mention wand holsters next week. Susan, try to write your words on the white board just a bit larger, so the last row lurkers can see them as easily as those in the second row. They should be the size of your hand, or in my case, my feet. I liked the advice that you gave on the welcoming pamphlets at the Leakey Cauldron as well as the left-hander book I'd forgotten about those. Cindy, your opening presentation was first rate. Hannah, you did a wonderful job keeping your discussions on track and previewing next week's topics. An excellent job, all of you. Thank you."
… - ...
Tuesday January 14
Harry was glad that they had cut their December trip to Stockholm a few days short. It resulted in their being able to make an extra 1,200 wands that they were able to bring along to Naples Italy. They were fairly certain that they could have sold 15,000 but they only had 12,200 to take with them.
Harry insisted that they close shop at a reasonable time each evening as there were loads of restaurants that all seemed to be calling him. He took a special liking to the Sea Front Pasta Bar. On the other side, they opened Monday morning at 3 and did the same this morning. They were in bed early, which was very nice too.
… - …
Thursday January 16
Hermione had just come back from a quick break. She observed, "We've been selling hard for three and a half days and the line still looks like it's a mile long."
Dan agreed, "It probably is. Dobby, are there any wands left back in the shop?"
"Just the 500 that we were supposed to be sending to Germany last week."
Harry said, "OK. We'll schedule a return visit next month. I like the area and there's no snow."
Emma replied, "How about early March instead."
He replied, "That's a good idea. We can finish delivering the last of the 25 galleon wand orders that we accepted, take stock of what we have and make new plans. I'll set it up with Barchoke."
… - …
At the warehouse, Sirius had gone out and purchased eight Lazy Boy recliners like Harry had suggested as well as severa foot sections of white board for his conference room. Harry had suggested that he hold a similar meeting, so he'd gathered everyone together and began.
He stood up, not totally comfortable doing so, then started, "Hi. Harry suggested that we do an operation review and preview on at least an occasional basis. 1996 was a pretty good year for us. We got through sixteen estates. First and foremost, a few pinched fingers aside, no one got hurt. We met our first goal.
"We learned a lot. Two things come to mind. First is that there literally could be a pot of gold under your feet. As a group, the tattoo club people always kept a sack of coins, jewelry or both buried somewhere on their property in case they needed to make a quick getaway. Generally speaking, they didn't mention it to their spouse. They weren't the only ones to do it. Wilkie Twycross kept a stash, sewn into the bottom of a ratty old chair.
"At the same time, we need to go a lot faster this year. Our minimum goal for the year is to get through thirty-six of the estates. To do that, we'll be focusing on the ordinary class estates; those that are estimated at under 100,000 galleons. Sally, that will be an extra challenge for you. There's every likelihood that some of the properties would include an outstanding mortgage or unpaid taxes. You should get a list of the ones that are available and do a records search for either.
"We're twelve months into our thirty month, 20 percent discount with respect to purchasing the estates. At the end of the year, if the business can afford it, I'd like to buy a few estates ahead and take advantage of the 20 percent while we can.
"So the action items are as follows;
"Sally, please look through the list for mortgages and unpaid taxes. We'll need that information to adjust Snotnose's estimated value down.
"Anna, please check the list with Sally for suspected members or supporters of the tattoo club. We'll do those ones first. We'll buy them in lots of five at a time.
"Remus and Layla, please do the initial walk through visits as soon as we've purchased the properties.
"Demi, keep doing a fantastic job dispositioning the jewelry and any of the tier one property that you can find buyers for.
"Cedric and Arthur, please keep the stuff moving out of the warehouse from the bottom two tiers.
"Are there any questions, ideas or other things to talk about?"
Sally brought up, "We still have twenty-seven rental units and two quidditch teams to sell."
"OK. Thanks."
… - ...
Friday February 28
In a way, Hermione shouldn't have been surprised. Harry was holding a planning folder like she used to try to get him and Ron to use in their third year. She asked if she could see it, rather than snatch it out of his fingers like she would have done, years earlier. It was a listing of the various cities that they had been to, with notes about the room, hours worked, how many wands they sold, names of hotel people and information about the different restaurants that they had tried. There was another listing for restaurants that looked good as well as activities that they wanted to try when they went back.
She commented, "These are good notes, Harry. You even listed the bike rental place in Marseille."
He innocently commented, "Maybe we can go to the beaches next time."
"I suppose we could. You'd have to rub suntan oil on my bits. You wouldn't want the guys looking at them to see them get all red, would you?"
Suddenly it didn't seem like such a good idea. He muttered, "We might be too busy."
She gave him a little smile. "True. I see you listed visiting Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius when we go back to Naples. That would be an interesting day. Oh, the Opera restaurant looked like it would be fun to go to. I did love the Sea Front Pasta Bar. Everything was delicious."
She asked, "How many wands do you think we should bring?"
"All of them. I'd say at least 12,000. Who knows how many yellow cards they'll give out compared to Rush Line people? I wouldn't mind staying an extra day or two but Dobby and Winky will probably want to go spend time with Hollyden and Oaken.
"How many do we have on hand?"
"I'm guessing that we'll have 900 when we come in tomorrow. What dates did you discuss with Barchoke?"
"We would arrive Sunday March 9, sell the 10th through the 13th, checkout on Saturday the 15th."
"What about other orders?"
"We filled the ones that we had to this morning. We need to reprice the new ones. If we're going to continue to make road trips, it doesn't make sense to sell wands for 25G. We haven't had any push-back on the 500G pricing. If the other wandsellers are going to keep selling at 2,500G, we should be asking at least 500. If they're going to switch to a 500G price point, I think we should be asking 250 and offer 10G to the nation from our end."
"Where are we in our overall production?"
"I think we have 80,000-120,000 more wands to make for Europe. Then we essentially could offer them for sale at a 250G price point to the States and Canada wandcrafters. Daryl told me that there were 300,000 wand users in the States. He thought that 90 percent of them were using legacy wands due to limited core availability. There are probably 15,000-20,000 wand users in Canada."
Emma had come in the break room as they were holding this discussion. Fortunately, she missed the line about oiled bits. Mothers don't need to know everything.
… - …
Sunday March 2
Harry and Dan had gone to the Tesco market store to purchase powdered milk, lunches, Orange Crush and the like. Emma and Hermione were visiting. Emma asked, "Have you enjoyed going to the different places?"
Hermione admitted, "Yes, far more than I thought I would. Working the standing counters in different countries is so far removed from Ollivander's creepy, smelly shop. He could have been a set designer for a horror film. You were right last year. We've made substantial improvements to the better part of two hundred thousand peoples' lives."
Emma remained silent, waiting for the other half of her answer.
Hermione continued, "I'd still like to investigate being a healer some time in the future but I'm not in a hurry."
Emma admitted, "On the flip side, I've lost any interest in dentistry. It's not just the money; I... It just doesn't feel meaningful anymore."
"The Introduction to Healing class has been fun."
Emma agreed, "It has been. She's clearly trying to make it practical and interesting as oppose to being something designed to weed out half of the applicants."
… - …
Sunday March 9
Going back to Naples felt very comfortable. While they could artificially keep the temperature around the beach houses warmer, the sleet coming down in England felt very cold. Being a thousand miles to the south made a huge difference in the weather and how the sunshine felt.
By Friday, they had sold the 14,200 wands that they'd brought with them. Further, all of the current students now had wands.
… - …
Friday April 24
Sirius asked, "How's Cedric getting on?" It had been a few months since they'd offered him the opportunity to sell the ordinary estate items and clothing which solved a rapidly growing storage problem for the business and, as he kept half of the proceeds, hopefully was making the young man a good living. As Sirius was spending almost all of his time on the estate selection and purchasing of the estates, he'd handed over the disposition operation and record keeping responsibilities to his friend.
Remus replied, "Come see for yourself." They walked through the warehouse to the other end, where the tier three items were stored. Lupin had been given supervisory responsibility for Cedric, who as it turned out, needed a list of contacts and pricing guidance far more than supervision. He'd taken to the project like a bird to flight.
By their plan, the tier one (expensive) items such as artwork or silverware normally took up 20 percent of the space, while the tier two (medium) stuff, such as better furniture took up 30 percent. The tier three stuff such as clothing, lamps, ordinary furniture and the like had threatened to overrun the warehouse.
It was nearly empty.
Sirius observed, "Three months ago, it was jammed. I had to change the estate purchases because that half was full. How'd he do it?"
Remus replied, "The laptops and those pictures."
"Interesting. I'll buy another five estates. How much has he made?"
Remus replied, "He's not on the share plan. He gets half of the proceeds of the tier three sales. He sold 11,000G last month."
"Outstanding. Is he charging enough?"
"About in the middle of the guidelines that I gave him. He works hard and he's good at it."
"Good. How about Arthur?"
"He's gotten pretty adept at selling the ordinary artwork that we don't send to the auction houses. He's also spotted several stolen items and prevented some problems that we wouldn't have wanted. I think he's found his place. Who is next on the high side?"
Sirius replied, "I was thinking of Dumbledore's."
Remus asked, "Where's his stuff?"
"That's an interesting choice of words – his. When Minerva was going through his office, she ran into as much stuff belonging to the Potters as his own. Apparently he went through the remains of the house in Godric's Hollow and borrowed quite a few things belonging to Lily and James for safekeeping."
Sirius suggested, "Maybe we should see if we can access his portrait for an hour or so. He could have set up safe houses all over everywhere funded from Charles' estate. James had told me that Dumbledore was always hitting him up for gold. We should ask Snotnose to re-estimate the estate and verify that Dumbledore actually owned the stuff that Snotnose is counting."
Remus asked, "What does his will look like?"
Sirius replied, "I haven't checked. My guess is that he'll gift Harry a bunch of his parents' stuff. I'll contact Amelia and Snotnose on Monday. Good work with the dispositions."
"Thanks."
… - ...
Sunday April 26
As they were having breakfast, Harry remarked, "The weather in Inverness had been hideous. Snow at the beginning of the month, sleet the second week At least the forecast is better for next week. Hopefully Longclaw and the rest will come out. We're low on strand."
Emma replied, "Low is relative; it's about the start of collection season and we still have a bit on hand. Running low was last June, when we'd run out of material to make wands and we were down to selling what we had for six weeks."
… - …
Monday April 27
At the Ministry, Michelle Wood announced, "Mr. Black is here for his appointment."
"Show him in, please."
"Good morning, Minister."
"Good morning, Mr. Black." There weren't many men who could pull off the Top Gun aviator jacket, black jeans, white shirt with well worn, dragonhide boots look but Sirius looked like a natural.
Sirius said, "Here are the bank drafts for these five estates."
She looked at the list and noticed Rita Skeeter's name. She observed, "Rita is likely to have a file cabinet full of dirt on people."
Black replied, "Gossip magazines never interested me. Unless you want it, if we find anything like that, my intent is to burn it. I really came to talk about Dumbledore."
"Feel free to light the match. Michelle, could you get the Dumbledore package, please?"
A few minutes later, she arrived with a large box of documents. Amelia's smile turned upside down. There was a one inch stack of addendum – mostly bequeaths of specific items to specific people. Aside from the tedium and legwork, it looked doable. She asked, "What specific concerns did you have?"
"Five actually. Finding the items. Verifying that they actually belonged to him, finding the people who he chose to give the items to and the likelihood, that he listed so many items that the fees and taxes won't be payable from his accounts. I'd like to borrow his portrait for a month for the purpose of going over the documents with him and finding out where he left the items.
"Finally, I'd like Snotnose to re-estimate his estate after we sort out what he borrowed as opposed to what actually belonged to him."
Amelia replied, "Good idea. Here's the authorization for the portrait It's yours unless you choose to give it back to the school. Maybe you can get a straight answer out of it. All I got were weasel-worded answers, omissions and half-truths. It's likely that a good amount of the other items are squirreled away in the castle. I'll give you another authorization so you can itemize specific items that still need to be removed. Minerva has boxed up everything that she could find."
"Thank you."
"I didn't have the chance to ask, "How's Cedric Diggory working out for you?"
Sirius replied, "Brilliant. He seems to have found his calling. He's doing very well."
"Thank you. Amos has been far easier to get along with."
Sirius remarked, "Maybe being a grandparent suits him. Cho stops by sometimes with the baby."
Amelia replied, "Thank you again. As for Dumbledore's portrait, no one specifically mentioned anything about Riddle to him yet. Feel free to tell him, if you chose."
"I'll be sure to have the Wand Shop crew stop by some afternoon."
"Perfect. Thank you again."
"You too, Minister." He collected the bundle and got up to leave.
"Wait." She wrote out one more document, signed it and rolled it up, saying, "You may want this for later."
… - …
Tuesday April 28
Remus and Sirius looked through the list again. It was slow going. Remus said, "I'll key up a list and print a few copies. Maybe it will be easier to sort through the stuff in an empty classroom. We can match the items with the bequeath list as we can and see what we need to keep looking for."
Sirius replied, "Good idea."
The list seemed endless.
Delumenator – Ron Weasley. What the hell was a deluminator?
Snitch from first game – Harry Potter
Godric Gryffindor sword – Harry Potter
Memory vials – Harry Potter
Second Edition - Hogwarts a History – Hermione Granger
The Bards Tales – Hermione Granger
My Transfiguration Journals – Minerva McGonagall
Lily's wand – Severus Snape
James' wand – Remus Lupin
Lilac rose petal robes – Rosmerta Burns
24 apartment buildings – Severus Snape
Peacock robe - Malfalda Hopkirk
House 14 Wysteria Way – Arabella Figg
Black Pegasus robe – Minerva
Lavender unicorn robe – Gilderoy Lockhart
The list seemingly went on forever and they had significant doubts that aside from his garish robes, more than a fourth of the items were even Dumbledore's to give away. Of the 90 bequeaths, they could only find half of the items. It came time to talk with the culprit, or in this case the perpetrator – Dumbledore. They handed the order signed by Minister Bones to hand over his portrait to Nobby and a minute later, they had his painting propped up on a chair, so it didn't have a complete view of the room. Sirius removed the cover and the image of the old wizard blinked.
"Good morning, Professor."
"Sirius, you're looking... surprisingly well. What date is it?"
"April 28, 1997. You've been dead for nearly two years. It surprising what 18 months of freedom will do for a person who was never tried or convicted."
Completely in character with the worst of his living persona, Dumbledore's portrait ignored anything that wasn't central to what he wanted to talk about. Instead, he asked, "Where's Harry? I must speak with him."
Sirius replied, "He's out of the country – somewhere in the States, the last that I heard."
Somewhat deflated, the old wizard's image replied, "I see."
Black announced, "I'm here in an official capacity; attempting to disposition your estate. Your Will referenced 90 property bequeaths. We can only find half of the items. Where did you put hide all of those things?" He was careful not to specifically accuse him of having stolen, embezzled, or illegally acquired anything – yet.
"Where have you looked?"
"All of the Gringotts vaults that you were signatory to – your personal vault, the Dumbledore family vault, the Hogwarts operations fund vault, the Hogwarts endowment fund vault, the Chamber of Secrets, the Headmaster Quarters and the Potter Family Vault." He didn't comment that some of them only had a balance of one galleon each.
"I see..."
"I rather doubt that you do. Riddle is dead. The tatoo club members, including your boy and most of their children are dead. Everyone that you associated with paid a price to make that happen – except you. You have almost a fourteen million galleon estate and everyone that you spent more than five minutes with was encouraged to contribute and sacrifice for the greater good.
"It's like you and Fudge were holding a contest to see who could skim the most money from the most people. Gold wasn't enough for you; no, you had to collect trinkets – James and Lily's wands, Frank's Auror badge, the Potter pensieve – hundreds of books, James' invisibility cloak, Edger Bones' wand. Were you going to dole them out to people so they'd feel grateful to you? A packet of long red hair for your boy along with a wand that didn't belong to you? That's pretty damn sick."
"My wand. Where is it? It's important."
Sirius pushed on, "As usual, we're holding two conversations here. How many of the safe houses actually belonged to you? None I bet; they were probably owned by family members that you acquired by casting the fidelous charm on them. The beauty is, they're all mine now."
"My will..."
"Was declared invalid. You died intestate. I'm going to find all of your stuff and burn it."
"You can't do that. What do you want?"
"Twelve years and 342 days would be nice. I can't get that back, so I'll settle for pissing on your portrait then setting it on fire. Goodbye Professor."
"Wait... There's information that Harry needs to know. Tom's not gone for good."
Sirius Barked, "The horcruxes. The fire in Bella's vault took care of one. The one here burned up what used to be the room of requirement on the seventh floor. The one in the old Gaunt shack was destroyed when that dump burned down. The one at the Black Townhouse burned that place down. Did you mean those horcruxes, or the one that was Riddle's snake?"
"You don't understand."
"Exactly what don't I understand, Professor?"
"Harry. Harry's..."
"Oh that poison that was in the scar on his forehead? The one that you never bothered to have cleaned out and removed? That horcrux? Harry took care of that before your bony ass was even planted in the ground. Tell me again, exactly what don't I understand?"
"That's impossible. Severus would have told me..."
Sirius cut him off. "He died before you did, you nitwit, along with Barty Crouch Junior who had been impersonating your supposedly good friend, Mad Eye for ten months until Moody died of thirst, imprisoned in a lightless box. Did you ever have a friend in your life, or just followers? Whatever. Last chance. Got any goodies stashed away? I'll give you one minute. No? Fine with me. Enjoy this."
The warm stream ran down the canvas and soaked it. Hopefully the soaked canvas would take longer to burn. Accordingly, when he took the propane torch to it, there were several minutes of screams before it finally went quiet. Black vanished the remains and ashes, then cleared the smoke with several air freshening charms. The Bright Moon elves boxed everything up and transported it to the warehouse.
… - ...
A month later, to the extent possible, all of the personal property had been returned to the family members.
A million galleons was returned to Susan Bones that had been coerced from Edgar Bones while he was still living.
Five million was returned to Harry.
Three million went to a scholarship fund to make Lily Potter Primary a tuition free school for the next fifteen years.
A half million was split according to the shares formula to the employees.
Three million went to the ministry general fund.
Sirius didn't take a sickle. His share also went to the school. It wasn't twelve years and 342 days but he felt vindicated. No one ever asked about the portrait. Amelia had anticipated that Dumbledore's portrait would be as uncommunicative as the professor had been and declared his will invalid due to the preponderance of illegal bequeaths of stolen property.
… - ...
A/Ns
Thank you for reading.
Things have been going well at the Wand Shop. What could possibly go wrong?
The last scene was strangely satisfying to write. There have been far too many tales where old whiskerface never faced a single consequence. I'd already killed him off so this was the closest thing to justice that I could think of. Who would be willing to purchase a pensieve memory?
Cheers
… - …
