… - …
Chapter Thirty-three
The Fracturing of the Union
Saturday May 31 (The night of the fire)
A moment after Harry left, Flitwick walked up to Amelia and said, "Walk with me for a minute."
"Professor, I don't have time right..."
"Minister, you don't have time not to." He walked away and exercising her best judgment of the day, she followed alongside of him.
"Wandcrafter Potter was correct in every statement that he made this evening. Neither she nor the four aurors accompanying her had permission to enter the forest; let alone set a fire so large that she had no way of controlling it.
"The forest was deeded to the Centaurs, not the ministry or the board of governors. As for his statement about the wand cores, he was right again. Regardless of her intentions, or reasons that she has said, or will offer up in the weeks to come to justify her misguided actions, she has done irreparable damage to Europe's wand situation. There are still 130,000 people in Europe without wands and there will be no more wand cores coming from this forest for years. Broomsticks are probably out of the question.
"He made his demand. I'd recommend that you either choose to follow it, or quickly find some way to appease him. Good evening, Minister." He disappeared. He had a report to give to Ragnok.
The calls she'd previously made with the other ministers where they had stated, We have no wand core, came flooding back to her.
... - …
Harry appeared by Hagrid's home. Hagrid asked, "Harry, what happened?"
"The Headmistress and her four idiot Aurors tried to burn out the spiders. The fire that they started got way out of control and they burned out that birch grove where the unicorns lived. I... Well things got pretty ugly. I told Bones that I wanted Chambers arrested along with those four idiots. What happen to the unicorns and spiders?"
"Hagrid admitted, "I don't rightly know. They were here and a few minutes after you'd left, they were gone. Maybe they woke up and ran off."
"Maybe."
"How much of the forest burned up?"
"A bit less than a square mile. The whole area where we used to collect webs is gone. I didn't see anything alive. I'm not positive about the western side. It didn't get north of the stream."
"I don't know what ter say."
"Hagrid, listen. If anybody comes by in the next few days, don't tell them anything specific – especially about the number of magical animals in the forest. It's OK to say, I don't know. Don't give that information out and nothing about the spiders. OK?"
"I won't say nothing, Harry. Not a word."
"I'll come by again tomorrow night."
"OK. Thanks Harry."
"Wait, there's one other thing..."
Five minutes later, Harry received a call from Inspector Hammer, picked up his staff and disappeared.
As he watched him leave, Hagrid said, "Yer a great man, Harry Potter, a great man."
… - ...
Amelia sent Anne and the idiots to the secure center at St. Mungo's. They were in separate rooms, so they couldn't jointly apply varnish to their stories. She asked Connie to call Harry and ask to meet with him to get his statement. He agreed to meet with her at 9 pm at the Wand Shop.
Blackeye opened the door and said, "Inspector Hammer is here to see you."
Connie looked around as they walked through the shop to the break room. She would love to get a tour someday but today wasn't the time.
Harry said, "Please have a seat, Those chairs are quite comfortable. Can I get you a beverage or a bottle of water?"
Connie replied, "Water please." When he handed it to her, she said, "Thank you. What can you tell me?"
Harry drank a third of his bottle, let out a breath and started, "About seven pm, Hagrid called me and told me that the forest was on fire. I asked Hermione to call Minister Bones and tell her what I knew. I used my portkey to get to Hogwarts. I found Hagrid, tried to summon some of the animals out of danger and flew towards the fire. I found two of the Aurors on the ground with the fire burning around them. I didn't know that they were Aurors at the time. I moved them away from the fire, stunned them and checked them to make sure that they were breathing. I was on the east side of the fire closest to Hagrid's house. From the air, it was easy to see that it was a square with each side about 2,000 feet long. It had obviously been set intentionally and was growing rapidly from all of the burning ash that was floating around." He paused for a minute as he picked up his Orange Crush. Connie remained silent.
"I had asked the elves to help and was putting out the fire on my side when I heard the Auror apparitions on the south side. I saw about 40 of them. They had found another of the arsonists. It turned out to be Anne Chambers, the Head of Hogwarts. We exchanged some unpleasant words. Neither she nor the other idiots had permission to be in the forest. She didn't have the owners' permission to be in the forest or to start a fire. The conversation started getting ugly. I told Amelia that I wanted them arrested. I left."
"Then what did you do?"
"I went to check on Hagrid, to let him know what had happened, that the fire was under control and that I was OK. I apparated back here when you called."
"How long did it take you to get here?" she asked, wondering if he'd made four jumps along the way or three.
"Maybe ten seconds." She was surprised but didn't comment.
"When you said that she didn't have permission from the owners, were you kidding?"
"No, but I don't have permission to give out their names. I've seen the original deed document." He finished his Orange Crush while Connie remained silent, hoping that he'd say something else.
"The deaths of the beings aside, she did unthinkable damage to the wand business. There are 130,000 people that we know of in Europe who don't yet have a wand. We've been traveling to different countries selling the wands that we've made. It's serious money. She and those four fucked it up."
Connie commented, "Five galleons times 100,000 people is a lot of gold."
"Inspector Hammer, the international price for a working wand is currently 2,500G each. We sold wands to Britain at a ridiculous discount taking the price down to 5 galleons each. We're selling the wands in other countries for 500G each. 500 times 100,000 is fifty million galleons and that twat felt it was her God given right to burn up the forest. We had the largest magical business in Britain and she burned it to the ground. I completely understand how Ogden feels."
Connie didn't know what to say. Surely if can't be that bad, or It will work out, wouldn't begin to solve the financial issues that he was talking about. Wisely she asked, "How are the Grangers?"
He replied, "Worried, I'd expect. I was supposed to check in an hour ago."
She replied, "Perhaps we should say goodnight then, Thank you for being so candid."
"Goodnight, Inspector."
… - ...
When Harry arrived at home, he was smothered in female hugs. "What happened? Are you OK? How did it start? Was anyone hurt? How much burned up? How did it get put out? Is Hagrid OK? Oh my God, what about the animals?"
As Emma listened to his description, her mood cycled from anger to sadness to frustration to relief and back again. Harry was as angry as she'd ever seen him. She knew the math and what this latest development would cost him – would cost them, or best case push out the sales of many millions of galleons. Like Connie, she avoided offering sympathetic platitudes.
Instead, she announced, "Dan, we need to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things." Harry and Hermione needed to talk this over – with or without clothing.
Knowing better than to step into a domestic minefield, he replied, "Yes dear."
… - …
"How could we not have foreseen this?" raged Ragnok. He hadn't been this mad since Riddle broke into one of the vaults, years ago.
"We should have collected the bodies two years ago," admitted Barchoke. "It wasn't necessary to have left them there. At the time, we had no idea as to the real value of the spiders. I should have remembered that they may have still been there when the wandcrafters first returned from Salem."
Ragnok admitted, "We were too focused on the names and quantity of His followers' deaths to pay attention to the nature of the demise of a few students. Everyone encouraged the wandcrafters to keep the usefulness of the strand secret, myself included."
Barchoke replied, "Wick reported that Potter was quite angry at Headmistress Chambers. He demanded that Minister Bones arrest them. We have much invested in both of them. The loss of the source of strand is an unintended consequence of her crude but effective attempt to eradicate the spiders."
"Is there an immediate supply problem?"
Barchoke shook his head, "I don't think so. I'll have someone check his vault."
"It would be best to do it yourself. The more people who know of the strand, the greater the risk."
"I'll do that. When I was visiting their shop last week, they appeared to have a significant supply of wood and strand on hand.
Ragnok asked, "When is their next trip planned? Perhaps a week spent mating with Miss Granger will take some of the fight out of him."
"They leave next Sunday."
"How long would it take to find and import several pair of the giant spiders?"
Barchoke replied, "I'll find out, It may be that aside from their size, they have little magic. They could have been changed by living in the magical forest for fifty years. Wandmaster Whitehorn stated that there was next to nothing written about them in the wandcrafting references. We should leave that decision up to the wandcrafters and present it as an option."
… - …
Sunday June 1
As requested, Connie stopped in Amelia's office. She was greeted and sat in her usual chair and with a smile on her faced asked, "No cold bottle of Orange Crush to offer an old friend?" Seeing no smile in return she asked, "What's up?"
"Several people told me that Anne did irreparable damage to the forest. I'm not saying they're lying but they might be wrong. My question is, how can I get some sort of reasonably accurate count of the animals or beings in the forest and secondly, would it be possible to do it quietly?"
Connie pointed out, "If it were trees or potted plants that wouldn't move, or hide, it would be easy. If the dimensions of the forest are two miles wide and four miles long, you have a bit over 10,500 feet on the narrow end. If you made a search line with people 20 feet apart, you'd need over 500 people. You can't keep a secret with 500 people. If you cut that number in half and did both a down and a back march, your accuracy would be seriously compromised. If you cut the number of searchers down further, you'd be wasting your time; it's too easy for the animals to move and be missed, or counted four times. We don't have 500 people, so the questions become, who would you trust to do the count for you and who would you have to ask to enter the forest in the first place?
"Better yet, ask if they know the historical headcount and the current count. They might already have that information. If I might be so bold, exactly what are you looking for?"
"Counts on acromantulas, unicorns, thesterals, and hippogriffs."
"That makes sense, When I interviewed Potter, he threw out some very large money numbers and wand prices that I'd never even considered. He also mentioned that some unnamed group holds the deed to the forest."
Amelia replied, "I believe that the group in question is the centaurs. As for the money, I'm afraid to say that I completely believe him."
"OK. So you could hire 600 elves from Bright Moon for the day to make the search after asking the head centaur's permission. They make the search and report back that there are this number of unicorns and that number of hippogriffs. You'd have a nice data point for not having spent too much money but no context. How meaningful is finding out that there are 72 unicorns if you don't know if there were 60 last year or 600?"
Amelia admitted, "It isn't but the only two sources that I can think of asking are Hagrid, who is too close to Harry, or the centaurs."
After giving it some thought for a minute, Connie replied, "My suggestion is go to the forest and ask to speak to the head centaur, ask your questions and if they don't know, ask permission to have the elves make the search."
Amelia nodded and with three apparition jumps, they reached the forest. As they walked in, it wasn't long before they were approached by a young centaur who stated, "You're not welcome here."
Amelia replied, "I know that. I'm Amelia Bones, the Minister of Magic. I would like to speak with the leader, or someone who can give me some information, I would like to know the number of unicorns, thesterals, hippogriffs and acromantula that are currently in the forest and how many were here before the fire?"
Another Centaur said, "I am Rowan, one of the elders; I can answer your questions, Amelia Bones and Connie Hammer. Before the fire, there were 36 hippogriffs, 38 thesterals, 50 unicorns and 5,200 of the giant spiders that you call acromantula. There are none left."
Amelia felt as if she'd been gut punched. "Are you certain? How about the unicorns?"
"All of the beings that you asked about are gone. We know who or what is in the forest. Yes, we are certain."
"Thank you, Rowan. Thank you very much." It certainly wasn't the news that she wanted to hear but it was information that she needed to have.
They hadn't noticed that Hagrid's home wasn't there either.
… - …
The pensieve memory from Nibb illustrated a fair amount of ineptitude. The lads went out to Hogsmeade after their shift ended and each had a pint or two. They took a shortcut through the forest in an attempt to get back to the castle in time to eat dinner. At a given spot in the forest they stepped on some bones and realized that they were human. They failed to call for an investigator. Tuttle transfigured a sack. As they were collecting the bones, they encountered four bear cub size spiders, got scared witless and dashed out of the forest back to the castle.
Connie stopped the memory and remarked, "So the students Marcus Flint and Carl Warrington were trespassing several years ago and died somehow. There were no obvious large animal bite marks on the bones that were brought back."
Shacklebolt added, "A decent solicitor would argue that the cause of death is completely inconclusive."
Amelia said nothing and restarted the memory.
The J-Team found Anne, went to her office and showed her the bones. They jointly concluded that the students had been eaten. They jointly planned the attack; each apparently believing that the other had the authority to authorize the action. Tuttle called Scrimgeour and briefly explained their plan of a limited burn. While Nibb hadn't been paying attention to him, Tuttle's side if the conversation could be heard. The was no mention of finding human remains. Five minutes later, Nibb made the same call. Scrimgeour asked him if he wanted backup. Nibb replied, "The Hogwarts staff is helping."
Scrimgeour logged the call.
Anne was in the room talking to the other aurors when Nibb and Tuttle made their calls. She clearly believed that they had their authorization.
They walked to the shed, got their brooms, apparated to Hogsmeade, mounted up and flew to the spot that Tuttle had marked. The giant spiders were evident. The lower they got, the more detail that they could see. The 100 x 100 foot area that they discussed in her office quickly became 200 x 200, which became 500 x 500 which became 2,000 x 2000.
Clearly they had exceeded their limited authorization and ability. For all of her degrees, Anne had no field experience. Neither Shacklebolt nor Connie were impressed with what they'd seen so far. They restarted the memory.
They collectively did a pathetic job soaking the ground outside the perimeter of the burn area. Anne's attempt was little better than the other four, though she did attempt to soak a wider strip of ground than they had.
Amelia imagined that she could hear Moody chiding them that they'd be better off pissing on the ground than using the weak Aguamenti spells that the four Aurors had managed to cast.
Believing themselves prepared, they lit the fires. It hadn't been burning five minutes before Nibb saw Mikelson fall off of his broom without consciously noticing it. A minute later, he saw Anne fall off of her broom without noticing it. Moments later, he fell off of his broom from the smoke and the memory ended.
Shacklebolt commented, "Potter and the elves held the line on the east and west sides respectively. If Hagrid hadn't called him, the whole forest would have burned. Potter called the elves to help."
Amelia admitted, "He also had Hermione call me." They sat in silence for a minute, reflecting on what they'd seen.
Amelia observed, "Without malice, the fire all but ruined Potter's business which has been bringing millions of galleons into Britain every month. The four Aurors were directly at fault. Rufus should have known better; he assembled the teams. Anne should have known better, or minimally asked the staff for help. Someone would have told her that she was working a very bad plan, or was trespassing and illegally setting the forest on fire."
She thought to herself, Potter had permission to be using the forest as he had been doing. A reasonable number of people knew what he was doing – the Hogwarts person in charge of the forest, the senior tenured professor, Gringotts, Devlin – everyone who conceivably would have any business, except Anne. I also had a good idea what he was doing.
Trespass and arson could be exonerated unless Potter played his ace and went to the newspaper. He would argue that killing 5,000 beings because two missing teens were found dead near where they lived was the same flawed argument as would be the Queen calling in the army and blowing up Hogwarts because the Death Eaters had murdered a few soldiers. She gave him an 80 percent chance of getting the five convicted; especially the three that were caught red handed.
… - …
That afternoon, Harry and Hermione went to visit Hagrid and see how the move to Elf Land went. They apparated to the beach houses then walked to the opening in the hedgerow between the original and the new properties, waving to a few of the elves along the way. Hagrid's home was in the meadow. From his back window, he could just hear the waves.
As they approached, Hagrid opened the door for them and said, "Come in, come in. How are yer both?"
"Hi Hagrid. We're happy to see you. Are you OK?"
The big man replied, "I'm fine; sad that this all happened but fine."
Harry said, "I can't understand how Chambers thought she had the right to go into the centaurs' forest and set a fire like that."
"I recken that she 'ad her reasons. At least you managed to get enough help to put it out. That's the important thing. The whole forest could have gone up in flames. You managed to save the unicorns and get 'em a new home. I brung a bunch of the bowtruckles along too. The thesterals and hippogriffs arrived early this morning. You should look at what you were able to save. You managed to save Longclaw, Mischa and their cubs. Let's go visit 'em."
They walked over to the area where the spiders would live and found that they couldn't walk through the warded barrier.
Teacup, one of the elves appeared and said, "You will need to apparate or use a portkey to get in or out of the big ugly spider forest. It was warded so no one would accidentally get in or out."
Hermione observed, "That was an excellent idea, Teacup. Thank you."
The elf replied, "You are welcome, Miss Hermione."
Hagrid admitted, "Er, Harry... I never learned how to apparate."
Hermione smiled and stated, "That's all right, Hagrid. Harry will teach you. He taught me in one day. Hold onto me."
POP!
With a great crack, they were fifty feet into the other area. Hermione momentarily felt dizzy from the effort of apparating that much mass.
Harry popped over, handed her a bottle of Orange Crush that he always carried around and said, "Hagrid, I'll teach you some day, if you want. In the mean time, I want you to look at that spot just to the right of that rock and have a clear picture of in you mind." He tapped it three times with his wand, then handed Hagrid a Hagrid size stainless steel wrist watch and said, "Barchoke had this made for you. Put it on please."
"Thanks, Harry. I never had a watch before." He looked at it. The over-sized watch and watch band had a face just smaller than one of the new compact disks.
Harry said, "It's one of their reuseable portkey watches. Tap it with your wand when you want to go and say, Activate Gringotts. If you take it to one of the guards at the Wand Shop, they will add more locations for you, like the rock, or Three Broomsticks, or outside the gate at Hogwarts. Right now, it's set to go just outside Gringotts, by that rock when you say Activate Spiders and by your front door when you say Activate Home. I think they can be set to go to up to six different places."
"Thank you Harry and Hermione. Getting around in the floo was always pretty hard for me."
They walked a ways until they found Longclaw, his mate Mischa and their children. Hagrid said, "Hello Longclaw and Mischa. Are you OK?"
The huge spider replied, "There was a great fire. We were trapped. How did we get here?"
"Harry rescued you and your family. The elves brought you to their forest."
Longclaw replied, "This forest feels different from our old home. Lighter. Thank you, Harry. We have not seen any food here."
Dobby popped in, carrying two sheep via a portkey that he'd made for the purpose. He said, "There are many sheep in the forest for you to be finding." A moment later, there were twenty sheep scattered around them as Dobby portkeyed in and out of the spider area.
Longclaw replied, "This will be excellent. Did all of the others go still?"
Hagrid admitted, "I don't know. Your family is the only one that I've seen here."
Hermione asked, "What other animals did you usually catch with your webs?"
"Birds, squirrels, mice usually and occasionally a deer. None are as tasty as sheep. Are there any of the white horses with horns?"
Hermione replied, "I've seen a few."
"And the large animals that can fly?"
Hagrid replied, "I've seen them too."
Longclaw said, "My mate and I will make webs for you. My children are still too young."
Harry replied, "Thank you. Some day they'll be ready."
Longclaw asked, "Does it get cold here?"
Hermione asked, "Would you be happier if it stayed warm all year?"
"Yes, if there is food. If it is too cold for the food, we must find places to sleep until it is warm again. If you find one of the white horses that has gone still, bring it to us. My father Aragog told us that drinking from it changed him. He had us drink from one that had gone still. It changed us. I would do the same with my children."
Hagrid replied, "I'll watch for one and bring it to you if I see one."
Harry announced, "We must go now. We're glad that you're OK here. We'll come again to visit."
"Thank you, Harry Potter. Thank you, Hagrid, Thank you, Hermione."
… - …
That evening, at dinner, Hermione looked up and exclaimed, "That's it!"
Taking the bait, Emma asked, "What?"
"The spiders. They drank some unicorn blood and that's how they became magical. That's why they're not referenced in any of the wandmaking reference books. There could be 10,000 of them in Borneo but without unicorn blood, all they're good for would be making silk ties."
Dan suggested, "Don't tell anyone. In two years, you'll be able to get all of the strand that you want again; especially if you and Hermione use those warming wards for temperature control. Until there's evidence that someone has started a large scale unicorn ranch, you easily have the largest supply of wand core in the northern western hemisphere." It sounded like good advice.
… - …
Monday June 2
Forbidden Forest Purge
By Cheryl Whitehart
"Thousands of man-eating acromantula were destroyed Saturday, making the forest much safer," reported Hogwarts Headmistress Anne Chambers. Remains of two students, Marcus Flint and Carl Warrington were found at the scene. Chambers stated, "They represented a clear and present danger to every one of the students. It was the responsible thing to do. I'm grateful for the Ministry Aurors who carried out and supervised the carefully controlled burn; especially the efforts of Aurors Jim Nibb, Jim Tuttle, Jim Paulson and Jim Mikelson, who initially found the remains of those unfortunate students."
Amelia put the newspaper down and asked her assistant, Michelle Wood to summon Chambers to her office at the ministry.
… - …
After she was served tea and sat down, Amelia observed, "OK, you put your preemptive article into the press. It was a little short of facts. The five of you were in so deep, it's amazing you didn't all burn up. Harry Potter was chiefly responsible for getting the fire put out. Neither you nor the Aurors had authorization from the owners of the forest. As such, Rufus should charge you with criminal trespass, property damage and arson."
Anne knew better than to say anything.
"There was no evidence that those two boys were eaten by spiders or any other creature residing in the forest. The animals in that forest supplied 99 percent of the core used in making the wands for Britain and Europe. I checked yesterday. Those animals are gone."
Ann silently admitted that her news was disturbing.
"Here's the short of it – you completely alienated the three groups responsible for 90 percent of the endowment funds." When Chambers said nothing, Amelia continued, "So you have the opportunity to do some selling of your programs to the 30,400 witches and wizards who haven't donated a sickle."
Unable to sidestep the Minister's comments, Anne asked, "So what do you recommend?" She had enough gold for some breathing room, but she had added a lot of staff and the current tuition was barely covering half of the expenses.
"Two things. Delight the readers with some student success stories and don't get into any more pissing contests with multi-millionaires. Fanning the flames will only get someone burned."
Anne was acutely aware that the four most successful Hogwarts students of the last decade were all technically drop-outs. She replied, "I'll work on it. Thank you for the advice."
In this case, Amelia felt that she needed the last word. "It's not advice, it's work direction. Good day, Professor."
As Chambers walked out, Amelia thought back to the summer when she had been fifteen. She had wanted to open a bakery and make bundt cakes for a living. It was days like this that caused her to think that she should have followed her original aspiration.
… - …
As Amelia was talking with Anne, Harry, Hermione, Emma and Dobby appeared next to where Hagrid's home used to be. As they walked into the forest, the young centaur nodded and said, "Good afternoon, Harry Potter and guests."
Harry replied, "Greetings, Stella. How is the forest today?"
"It is mourning the loss of many fine trees and inhabitants, particularity the unicorns which had been here for a thousand years."
"We are headed to the damaged area. Will you join us?"
"Thank you for the offer of company. I will stay here and keep watch." They nodded at each other as they parted.
They walked through the east end by Hagrid's that had been burned two years ago. Without the assistance from the elves, the east end would have taken twenty years to begin to erase the injury that the fire had created.
Emma noticed the quiet, broken only by their footsteps as they walked the path towards the western central part. It was very different from the road noise that could be heard from her back garden, or the constant clatter of the Wand Shop. She could smell the pain long before she could see the damage that had been caused.
As they walked into the burned area, Harry noticed splotches of what appeared to be a liquid silver substance which reminded him of seeing pooled unicorn blood in his first year. He took some vials out of his bag and collected some of the substance. He carefully stoppered the vials and put them back into his bag.
Here and there, Hermione would point and remark, "There's a claw," or "That was one of the cub sized spiders." Hundreds of old crows would fly a few steps away from their meals as they walked by, then return a few moments later as they feasted. Dobby was glad that Winky didn't have to see or smell the area.
"There's nothing here," observed Hermione. It was depressing walking around the charred ground, yet somehow they felt like it was their obligation to the departed acromantula. They walked back and forth. The blackened ground had a sameness to it. She asked, "Would it make sense to ask the elves to restore the forest?"
With a sharpness that he hadn't really intended, Harry replied, "I'd prefer to leave this as her legacy – at least as long as she's involved with the school. The centaurs know that they have the option to ask and the final say as to whether to or not. Their time-frame seems too long-term to rush in with help from the elves."
Letting his initial tone wash off, she replied, "That makes sense. Let's go to the beach house library. I want to look up anything that I can find on temperature control runes and ward stones."
"OK. I'll see you there."
Emma remarked, "I'll go see what Dan's up to. Thanks for bringing me along. Be back in time for dinner." She decided that Harry was right; patching up the forest with new growth would allow people to forget too quickly.
"OK. Thanks, Emma. Thank you, Dobby. We'll see you tomorrow."
… - …
Friday June 6
Dan asked, "How are the visitors working out?" Emma had asked him to talk with Harry before words were said that would be hard to unsay.
Harry replied, "They're polite but a nightmare to have around. We're stopping by the Tesco store twice a week to stock the refrigerator and kitchen. The librarian and two of the teachers don't like pizza. There are boxes of envelopes and different brochures everywhere."
Emma was in the kitchen with Hermione and didn't say anything. It was his building and two people for two weeks had turned into two months with seven people and stacks of boxes that seemed to grow by the day when no one was looking.
Harry had taken to making two-day trips twice a week with Winky and Dobby along with the Eye brothers throughout their circuit of Europe.
Hermione's perception of the visitors was completely different. She was delighted to be spending time with Roberta, who made a point of occasionally spending an hour with her, demonstrating healing procedures.
Marcia, the Librarian, also found a friend in Hermione. She thought that the teen was wasting her talents working in a factory; irrespective of the finances. Possessing only slightly more magic than Mr. Filch, Marcia had left Hogwarts after second year after essentially failing DADA and Transfiguration. Her parents sent her back to primary school and by the end of fourth form, Marcia was at the top of her class and never looked back.
Irony had its way with Marcia, as her daughter Cassie, who was quite magical would be attending Lily Potter as a fourth form in September.
Beyond that, if she'd taken the time to be more personable with Harry, he could have easily made her an amplification wand that would have allowed her to complete the Introduction to Charms class.
… - …
Monday June 9
Cindy Creevey had an interesting challenge – find a primary school that was for sale, in poor enough condition so that someone else had given up on it. She wanted it in a respectable location and wanted a layout that would allow a few classrooms to be hidden without looking odd. It also had to be available to have the sale finalized almost immediately.
The one that she liked was in a good neighborhood. A part of the school had been damaged by fire and was deemed to be excess to demand. It was put up for sale as-is. Except for the gymnasium, it was a one-story building that was shaped like a capital E. The fire had damaged the lower wing of the E, making it functional as an F. Prior to the fire, there were 24 classrooms – eight in each of the three wings. As such, the building could remain open while the damaged wing was repaired. The lunchroom, offices, lavatories, gymnasium, library and mechanical areas were in the connecting upright portion of the building. ( l ) Outside, the playground and parking areas were large enough for their purposes. It was within easy walking distance of a tube station.
Augusta was aware of the rapid progress that had been made by the host of elves under the supervision of John McMillan. They called him to have a look. He was certain that the damaged area could be blocked off and repaired while the rest of the school was in use.
The building itself was up to current code standards. It was Cindy's intent to open with between 6 and 12 of the 24 classrooms in use. For the autumn term, she was anticipating that the school would have a student population of between 120 and 150.
The school would be positioned to accept students with physical issues such as broken bones and would be wheel chair accessible. It was their plan that those physical difficulties could be solved during the year under the guise of physical therapy. After the school was up and running, they would consider doing more.
Using a home room concept, the students would begin their day separated between magical and nonmagical. As they went through their day, the younger students would be would be in two different integrated classes, the older students in three classes.
Cindy wasn't certain which would be the harder sell – getting the magical children enrolled or getting the nonmagicals.
… - …
Harry, Dobby and the Eye brothers arrived back in the early afternoon. Cindy, Marcia, Roberta and Tim were meeting with John Macmillan. Harry greeted them and noticed that they were examining a building blueprint. Opening an Orange Crush, he asked, "What's that?"
John, who'd worked for Harry rebuilding Amelia's home and still felt indebted to him, replied, "It's the school building that Cindy's putting a bid on."
"Cool. Where is it?"
"Cobham, in Surrey." He pointed to the building, which was shaped like a capitol E and said, "The lower wing was damaged in a fire when the neighboring building burned down. The fire spread and the roof caught on fire."
Harry asked, "How much is actually damaged?"
"Based on what we've seen, the roof on the south wing will be replaced and the insides of the wing will be gutted to the steel and rebuilt."
"Bright Moon?"
"As much as we can. We'll build a blocking wall which will allow the rest of the building to get an occupancy certificate. The rest of the building will need some serious cleaning, the world's biggest air freshening charm and a great coat of paint to get through the first year. Next June, the rest of the building can be gone over."
"Why not go the Full Monte and do it now? Funding's not an issue. Sirius and I will keep the building fund topped off. How many were you planning on using?"
"200."
Harry suggested, "You could get 1,600 helpers for a few nights and the rest of the building could be sandblasted, scrubbed, re-carpeted, new flooring put in and have new ceiling tiles put in. The Folkestone crew could supervise."
John nodded and replied, "I'd like to. Getting the materials delivered might take too long."
Harry disagreed. "Getting the materials can be done by dinner time." He pointed to the tables and counter equipment that they brought out and back with them and mentioned, "This stuff was in Budapest twenty minutes ago. They could effectively sandblast the three areas tomorrow and have it painted on Saturday. Pick out the carpet that you want and the flooring for the rest of the building. We'll order it from the factory and it will be here or in Cobham on Monday."
John knew that Harry could back up his words. He looked at Cindy, who was staring in amazement then nodded and he said, "Let's do it."
The only issue was that the asking price of the building was on the very high side of their budget. However, it easily was the best of the limited choices that were immediately available. With John's recommendation, the purchase paperwork was completed and the Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children was a reality.
… - …
Tuesday June 10
Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children Building Purchased
Renovations taking Place
By Cheryl Whitehart
The building that will be used for the Lily Potter Primary School was purchased last week, announced Minister of Magic Amelia Bones She gave a joint press conference with Headmistress Cindy Creevey. The school which was entirely funded through private donations was named after war heroine Lily Potter who had long-stated that it was her dream to have an integrated primary school where magical children could safely have a safe, structured, learning environment and meet some nonmagical children at the same time.
Creevey stated that the day school would open on Monday September 1. Information packets would be mailed to parents known to have primary school children, They are also available by calling or owling the ministry. Invitations will also be sent out to select nonmagical children.
Arthur asked, "What did the newspaper say?"
Molly replied, "The primary school is scheduled to open on September 1. I was just thinking that it would have been different if the children had gone to a formal school I did my best but..."
"You did a wonderful job, Molly. Should our children have children of their own, I'm sure that they'll attend. The younger Aurors that I've talked with are all sending their children."
… - ...
Rachel Peakes put the paper down. With Jimmy doing well at Hogwarts, she was very willing to give the new school a try for her son Benny; especially since they could walk to the school. She had heard that it had been for sale after the fire the previous Autumn.
It seemed ironic that Benny had started class there, attended for two months, then needed to transfer schools due to the fire. She called the number listed to talk with Michelle Wood and requested an information package.
… - ...
The parents of soon to be seven year-old Tanner Montgomery looked at the brochure with interest. There were enough of the key words that they recognized – mobility issues, onsite assistance, physical therapy that their son, who had been badly injured in a car crash that had taken his sister's life, had found a school.
… - ...
Wednesday June 11
Out of all of the people Emma could have expected to see at Harrods' Electronics Department, Amelia was near the bottom of the list. She walked up to her and greeted, "Good morning, stranger."
A genuine smile appeared on the older woman's face. "Good morning, Emma I'm glad to see you."
Both women spoke at the same time. "Can I buy you lunch?" They walked to the store's restaurant, sat down, each ordered a glass of wine and a salad.
Amelia went first, asking, "How was your week?"
Emma admitted, "I'm dancing around one very angry teen and one who is completely fixated with sleeping with her boyfriend." They looked at each other, gave sympathetic looks to each other and laughed. She added, "School must be about ready to let out. What are Susan's plans?"
Amelia replied, "She and Hannah are interested in studying to be primary school teachers."
Emma nodded and asked, "How would that work?"
"Depending on our desire to define teacher vs. classroom aid, applying and four years at university or something similar."
Deciding not to ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room, "Emma asked, "How's Anne?"
"I kept them in the secure center at St. Mungo's for a few days. The memories of the events that I looked at weren't particularly impressive."
Emma nodded and surmised, "I'm sure that they thought they were doing the right thing. Taking Harry's picture while he was shaking hands with a spider the size of a grizzly bear was seriously unnerving but listening to them talk about making good trades together had been remarkable."
Amelia shrank at her words. She replied, "I'm so very sorry..."
Emma replied, "I know. I'll talk with him in the middle of next week. I'll ask him to call you after we get back."
Amelia replied, "Thank you," as she picked up the lunch bill.
"Emma winked and said, "Thank you, too,"
… - ...
Monday June 16
The arrangements for the trip to Prague were flawless. Harry felt that they had hit their stride with respect to selling in other cities. Additionally, he desperately needed to be away from Britain for a while.
Their basic day was opening at 3 am. Harry and Dobby opened. They were assisted by their regular Gringotts security crew – the Eye brothers. Redeye told Harry, "There are 8,000 yellow cards this week. We estimate that there are two times that amount of people who didn't get cards this time who will come by. 2,000 cards are dated for each day."
They had brought 14,000 wands to sell. Harry wished that they'd made more. He replied, "We'll be ready."
Harry and Dobby jointly sold 200 an hour until the Grangers arrived at nine. Winky arrived at nine. Two at a time, they broke for a quick lunch and finally closed shop at 8 pm. It had been a ridiculously long day. Dobby and Winky left at six, Harry and the Grangers closed. By the end of the day, they had sold 3,200 wands. At dinner, Harry and the Grangers ate together. Dobby went back to the Wand Shop and applied finish to 150 wands before going home to his family.
… - …
Wednesday June 18
On Wednesday, Dobby and Dan opened. Harry, Emma and Hermione arrived at seven, while Winky started at nine. They finished at seven and went to the Marcanu restaurant for dinner. The food was very good. Emma asked, "What did the Elf Land East look like?"
"Hagrid asked to have his home placed in the meadow area so he could hear the ocean. The space for the hippogriffs and thesterals are on the ocean side of the forest. The unicorns wander wherever they choose. Towards the center was the twenty acres reserved for the acromantula. It was warded very securely. We had to apparate or portkey in and out of it. Most of the sheep were in the meadow near Hagrid."
Emma asked, "Will they be able to produce strand for you?"
He replied, "The two adults told me that they would. The younger ones are at the age where they will be able to shortly. According to Hagrid, they might need another year."
Curious to see what his planning horizon was, she asked, "If it took an extra year, would that be a problem?"
Harry admitted. "Not really. We'll be burning through our reserve stock. At issue is how long it will last and when all 22 spiders are producing, what will that yield us? They may decide to stay, or accept my offer to return to the wild in Borneo. We really don't have room for more and the centaurs are unlikely to accept any back."
Emma looked Harry in the eye and stated, "No one is saying you weren't wronged two weeks ago. No one is saying anything different. Amelia must feel that she owes you. That said, it's not to anyone's advantage to shut down the school."
Harry asked, "What's your point?" a bit sharper than he intended, earning him a harsh look from Dan. He'd never support Anne or the school again, as long as she was associated with it.
Emma kept things on track, pointing out, "My suggestion is to ask Amelia for something that doesn't involve her writing a check. If you can't think of anything else, ask her to extend your tax exempt status another ten years."
"That's a good idea," admitted Harry.
Dan asked, "How much do you think would be collectible?"
"Hagrid told me that were were usually about 100 adults at any point in time. Before we started feeding them sheep, they were highly cannibalistic. The last few times we collected strand, we ended up with 100,000 feet, or 1,000 feet per adult. What we have no idea of was any contribution of the older juveniles. As a guess, I'd say we should yield 2,000 feet each time we collect it, say once a month if they're not hibernating."
Emma asked, "Do they hibernate in Borneo?"
Hermione replied, "I wouldn't think so."
Emma asked, "How much strand are we using a month?"
Harry replied, "15 to 20,000 feet a month, depending on what Devlin has been asking for. He and I are going to have a serious discussion soon."
Dan said, "I really don't see a problem with that. Place a value on the strand and have him place a value on the brooms. Don't say anything that you'll regret. In all likelihood, you have a short-term problem. He represents a long-term partnership. There are plenty of people that you could give a handful of broomsticks to. It wouldn't be the end of the world if you ran low on strand for a few months. We all could use a vacation.
"Long term, you're really looking at two separate businesses – selling wands and selling core. I realize that to date, you haven't sold core directly to anyone. I think we should try selling wands to Europe the same as we have been. I recognize that sooner or later, the volume will drop; pricing may as well. We don't know how far. If we can ride this for another year, so be it. It would be tough building up any meaningful level of reserve stock but more than enough to keep the shop up and running."
Dan suggested "Countries like Germany or Norway that have a wandcrafter can make their own wands. Set up a company jointly owned by the Wand Shop, the elves and Hagrid that sells core material for 100G per stick. Don't sell spider strand and don't sell more than 50 percent of what he collects. You don't want to be in competition with those wandcrafters in the countries that you're trying to sell to. You can try stating that it's for domestic use only. That's a far better situation than selling them wands for 25G that they're going out and reselling for 100 times that or more."
Dan added, "As for Devlin, I suggest having him over and talking about core options. It doesn't make sense to put 300G worth of core into a broomstick that might sell for 65G. I honestly have no idea what they had been selling for. He might have some idea what the other broom manufacturers were using as well. If broomsticks were as common to magical kids as bicycles, they had to have been made of something that was fairly easy to find. Did Hagrid ever mention the Nimbus people tromping through the forest?"
Harry shook his head. They had no solid information on what the pre-Wandout pricing had been in Europe or the States. Maybe it had always been 500G. Harry remained frustrated that Ragnok and Barchoke had suggested 25/30G for the initial export price but it was water under the bridge.
Dan continued, "By the time our rotation demand slacks off, the juveniles will probably be producing at adult levels. Then you'll have materials to make 15,000 a month and still help Devlin out. How many countries are in the rotation?"
"We've been to France, Netherlands, Iceland, Italy, Sweden, Hungary and now Prague. We've been invited to Poland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Romania, parts of Spain and maybe Lithuania. We can certainly go back to everywhere that we've been once more at the 500G price. That covers eleven to fifteen months." He hadn't mentioned his idea of selling in the US to anyone other than Daryl yet.
Emma suggested, "You probably could make the rotation once more after that at the 250G level then at what ever the international price stabilizes at. The basic core shortage isn't going away. After that, there is a lifetime opportunity to sell strand wands to anyone who currently is using a marginal fitting wand, or to anyone getting their first wand. That's a more solid five-year plan plan than most corporations have. In your spare time you also have the dragon parts business."
Harry thought about what she had suggested. It didn't feel like falling off of a cliff. Actually it felt like a pretty soft landing. Winky had truly come through for him.
Hermione pointed out that it was time to say goodnight. No one argued the point.
… - …
Thursday June 19
Thursday morning in Prague, Harry asked, "How many wands do we have left to sell?"
He was surprised when Dobby replied, "3,500."
He did a bit of quick math in his head and asked, "Where did the extra 500 wands come from?"
Dobby replied, "I made them when I went home at night to make up for Winky taking time off."
Harry replied, "Thank you, Dobby but please spend more time with your family. We can come back and sell more wands later. Your family needs you."
Thank you, Harry Potter. Dobby needs them too."
… - …
Saturday May 31 (Two weeks back - The night of the fire)
On the night of the fire, after Harry summoned Longclaw, his mate, his twenty juveniles and the fifty unicorns, the school elves stunned them. Dobby and Winky appeared a minute later. She took the long cord that had previously been made into a portkey and wrapped it around, so it was touching all of the stunned animals and silently activated it.
Later when Harry came back to check up on Hagrid, the last thing he said to him was, "Hagrid, the elves and I have some land on the south coast. They're turning a good bit of it into old forest. I'd like to invite you and Fang to come live there. I've a beach house nearby..."
"Harry, I'd love to go but my new house is here."
The teen replied, "Hagrid, listen, Dobby and Winky will come by tonight and explain everything. I need to go talk with one of the investigators. Just listen to them. Please?"
Just as he apparated away, Dobby and Winky appeared.
Dobby said, "Harry Potter wants his friend Hagrid and his pets to come live in Elf Land. Dobby and the other elves can be moving your home and Winky has portkey for for you and your forest animals. Harry Potter wants you all to come. Your big dog and your flying horse friends and little stick creatures too."
"Do you mean it?"
"Yes, Hagrid friend. Your house can be in elf forest, or in meadow, so you can be hearing ocean. You can be choosing after you get there."
"I'll do it. Better n getting sacked here. What about Longclaw, his family and the unicorns?
"They are in Elf Land already."
"OK. Give me an hour to get up to the castle, leave a note and go collect the bowtruckles, hippogriffs and thesterals."
Dobby said, "Big dog has been invited but should not be scaring little elflings."
"OK. Thank yer."
As Connie was finishing talking with Harry, Hagrid was looking out his window at his new view. He felt like the luckiest man in the world.
… - …
Monday June 23
Cindy invited John and Amelia to the conference room in the school building for the purpose of getting and giving an update.
John said, "Let's walk as we talk. There are eight rooms on each of the three wings the north wing rooms are numbered 101 – 108. The central wing rooms are numbered 201 – 208. The rooms in the south wing are numbered 301 - 308 with the numbers getting larger the farther from the intersection. The rooms in the connecting hallway are numbered 4xx and also named, Lunchroom, Office and the like."
He opened the doorway in the partition blocking off the fire damaged portion. The roof had been damaged on the far end. It was an absolute mess.
Amelia asked, "How long would it take to make it right?"
He replied, "Two weeks but we never could explain it. I've applied for all of the permits and the first inspection. In short, the damaged roof will be torn off, then inspected. A handful of dumpsters will arrive this afternoon and the Bright Moon crew will fill them up over the course of three evenings. The inspection will show that the framework steel integrity is still like new and won't need replacing. A roofing crew has been scheduled and will be put on normally. After that has been inspected, the remainder of the work could be done in a matter of a dozen days, or evenings as it will turn out to be. The reality is the final inspection will be ready to schedule at the end of November."
Cindy asked, "Can the first four rooms be used for locked storage? I'd get a better deal if all of the classroom desks, tables, chairs and the whiteboards were purchased at once."
He replied, "They could be. I was planning on using one of them to store materials and tooling in. How about if you use two and I'll use two?"
"That would be fine." They walked into one. The rooms were 30 x 30 feet, well lit and looked spacious. Cindy remarked, "They look big until you fit in all of the tables, lockers a desk and lots of chairs. My goal is to open with 12 – 14 students per class, depending on enrollment for that grade."
She continued, "Tim Streeter, the Physical Therapist pointed out that it is highly likely that we'll receive requests for transfers in during the semester. Student age children get hurt everyday and parents will look for the best situation for their children."
Amelia nodded. Cindy's words made sense.
Cindy continued, "We don't know how many students will continue into the next semester or school year after their child has been healed. We can only say that turnover will be several times higher than a typical primary school. I suppose it depends how far away that they live from the school and how well they liked their original schools."
Amelia replied, "I see your point regarding volatility and building capacity. If you start with an average class size of 12 and cap it at 16, you may start with 144 students and have a capacity of 192 but you might run out of available space for fourth year and still have room for fifth year students. Based on the Hogwarts numbers, there could be between 40 and 55 per year group. You're planning on opening with 12 of the 16 available rooms used as classrooms. I'd anticipate using the third wing in the near future – either January or next September."
Cindy replied, "It isn't my wish to reallocate the classroom assignments mid-year. I'd rather raise class size a bit if needed. Based on what Tim mentioned, I'm pretty certain that we could fill the school. The question remains, how many seats do we reserve for the magical children?"
Amelia asked, "What is a typical class size for primary school children?"
"26."
Amelia stated, "That's far too many. Magical parents keep their children out of school because of the legitimate worry about accidental magic."
Cindy observed, "It's easy to solve those issues before we open. Once we open for the year, how offended is magical Mrs. Bloggs going to be when she wants to enroll little Joe in January and there isn't a space for him? As soon as you open and set capacity, your priority pretty much has to be - existing students, new magicals, injured children siblings, others. It can be readjusted each July but we don't want to sell the school as having class sizes of 14 and letting them turn into 23."
Amelia remarked, "What you're telling me is the magical parents need to get off of their arses and make a decision in the next few weeks about enrolling their child. I want a minimum of 4 spaces per class year reserved for non magical children, a minimum of of 12 spaces allocated for magical children per class reserved until August 15. After that, you're free to fill them during the year as you see fit. I'll arbitrarily set the maximum class size at 18. I'd rather add several more classrooms per wing if needed between school years.
"What I'd like you to do is have Cheryl Whitehart come out and ask her to do an update on the school and mention that space is limited and filling up for the upcoming school year. I'll send a copy of the enrollment guidelines to the Board of Governors.
"John, I'd appreciate it if you could give Cindy and I an estimate on adding two extra classrooms to each wing, if it's even feasible."
John replied, "No problem. I'll have them to you both in a week. Cindy, out of curiosity, how do you handle special requests as far as which students are in a class together or the like?"
Cindy replied, "That's fairly common in primary school. We tend to separate siblings if possible. Other requests are easy to accommodate if the request was made in between school years . Teachers who had a child with grumpy parents tend to not want to have other siblings in their class the next year. During the year, we're a lot less accommodating. Adding Sally's three best friends would create an imbalance in the class size and Sally would probably spend all of her time talking with her friends, rather than learning, so we tell them, not this year. They can ask again in the summer if they wish."
Amelia left the meeting happy with her decision to hire Cindy and happier to have done it before reforming the Board of Governors.
… - ...
Tuesday June 24 (Two years after the Great Wandout)
A few days after the Wand Shop crew returned from Prague, Amelia was invited to come to the Wand Shop for tea. She walked through the door and into the breakroom. Harry was there with several documents on the butcher block dining table. He said, "It's time to end the dispute regarding the fire. This is my offer."
Amelia picked it up and read it.
The Wand Shop, its owners and its subsidiaries shall remain tax free for a period of not less than twenty-five years. In return, the Wand shop and it's subsidiaries shall hold the Ministry of Magic's employees and Hogwarts employees blameless for actions taken on May 31, 1997. In kind, Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic shall hold Bright Moon and the Wand Shop owners, employees and subsidiaries harmless for actions taken on May 31, 1997.
There were signature lines for Harry and Amelia.
Amelia looked at the document and asked, "Are you certain that this is acceptable to you? It prevents legal action."
"Yes, Minister. Neither one of us can change the past. Let's just move on."
"OK." She signed the document and handed the Bic pen to Harry to sign. He did. She tapped it several times and one was filed in the contracts department, she kept one and handed Harry the other. She added, "Thank you for putting this behind us. It was a horrible mistake."
He said nothing.
She had to ask, "I appreciate this but why the change in your position? You could have demanded a lot more."
Harry replied, "To help Hagrid. She wanted to sack him. I found a place where he is welcome to live. Some of the animals chose to go with him. He also has a lot of friends. The elves moved the house that Hermione and I had built for him so he still has a place to live."
"Which animals?"
"The thesterals and hippogriffs that Hagrid bought and introduced into the forests and raised. Some of the bowtruckles and unicorns chose to go with him along with his friend, Longclaw, his wife and children. Oh, his boar hound, Fang too."
Half listening, Amelia replied, "Very good. I hope he enjoys his new surroundings. What will he do?"
Harry replied, "Wander the forest, grow pumpkins, let the little elflings climb on his shoulders, visit his friends and make a living." Harry had bought him a Hagrid-size portkey watch, so he could easily visit Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and Beauxbatans when he wanted to.
He offered her a bottle of Orange Crush. She gladly accepted and they toasted to turning to a new page together.
… - …
Thursday June 30
Amelia recalled the group that had helped her select Anne and announced, "I'd like to reform the Board of School Governors as well as a separate Financial board. My thought is to have a nine person Governor Board with rotating terms of three years and have them be elected."
Ted asked, "What do you envision as the duties?"
Amelia handed out a chart
Head of School - hired
* Ensure safety of the students, hire/fire staff, submits budget request to Financial Board, spends the budgeted funds, submits the curriculum to the BoSG, fundraise.
Board of School Governors – elected / 1 member must be Solicitor
* Hire/fire Head, approves curriculum changes and approves capital funding requests.
Financial Board – appointed
* Approves submitted budgets for primary school and Hogwarts School, sets tuition rates, Audits spending
Michaella Gamp asked, "Who would be on the Financial Board?"
Amelia replied, "I'd like Ted Tonks, Demi Greengrass and Gretta Macmillan to serve. My vision is that the financial head would serve, a solicitor be on the team and someone with negotiating skills."
Ted said, "If you're asking, I accept."
"Thank you. That said, I'd like nine members and would prefer to not be on the board. I'd like two people appointed before it is announced."
Remus said, "I recommend Sirius Black. He's demonstrated a significant interest in the success of the schools." Everyone else nodded.
Augusta said, "I recommend Amos Diggory. The board needs a contrarian."
He certainly fits the bill, thought Amelia.
"I'd like a one-year term," said Amanda.
"So would I," added Micaella.
"OK, we'll add Amos as the other," said Amelia.
Euan Abercrombie, Augusta and surprisingly Hermione asked for the two-year terms, leaving Emma, Remus and Sirius with the longer terms. Elections would be held in November and begin two weeks later.
Amelia said, "So we're clear on this, the heads have contracts in place for another six and five years respectively. The capital expenses to replace the roof and electrify at least 80 percent of Hogwarts have been approved as well as 52,000G for replacement equipment and new library books. In other words, the donated capital funds for Hogwarts have nearly all been spent."
She continued, "At the Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children, the Head position requires nonmagical licensing and certification. Cindy Creevey has both. The facility has been purchased and 4.5 million galleons of capital expenditures have been approved to fit out the school, purchase library, desks, lunchroom, physical therapy equipment and the like. The operating capital funds are at the discretion of the respective Heads subject to audit by the financial committee."
… - ...
Friday July 1
Harry lived up to his end of the agreement with Amelia. There were no further Quibbler articles written about the fire. He never said a word to or against Anne Chambers.
At the same time, neither Harry, the Grangers, the elves, or Sirius and his company ever donated another sickle to either of the Hogwarts endowment funds as long as Anne was associated with the school.
In contrast, the Lily Potter Primary School for Special Children would never lack a thing.
… - ...
At the Lily Potter school;
White boards, markers, library books, desks, student chairs, audio/visual equipment, classroom tables, lunchroom equipment, TVs, lunch trays, knives, forks and spoons, office equipment and carts needed to be ordered In spite of the many hundreds of purchases, the capital equipment fund balance seemed to be holding steady through a constant stream of significant anonymous donations.
The brochures that had been sent to parents of recent auto accident survivors were well written and effective. 26 younger children and their parents had come in for tours. All but two had enrolled their children and in most cases, siblings.
… - ...
"How many wands sales should we plan for?" asked Harry.
Emma replied, "We believe that France has 34,000 wand-age magicals. Felix made 2,000. We shipped 10,000. In the first trip, we sold 8,500. That said, I'd estimate between 10,000 and 20,000." She asked, "Same pricing?"
"Yes. Let's plan on six days of selling. We can always add an extra day if we want."
Hermione asked, "What about new students? Should we schedule them all in one day, or have them come in whenever they want?"
"Whenever. They make a nice change. If the line's too long, we can send them to Winky. That said, it's really not our call who they choose to give cards to."
Hermione asked, "How many wands should we bring?"
Dobby replied, "10,000 wands to start with. We'll have 6,000 extras here."
They felt that there were ready for the trip.
… - …
Saturday July 2
Minerva looked at the Quibbler with Interest.
Board of School Governors Reinstated
Bones establishes terms, responsibilities and term limits
By Cheryl Whitehart
She nodded in agreement as she read about the Financial Oversight board and wished that it had been put in place fifteen years ago. Between that and the Governor elections, the Death Eaters would have never gained a majority in the board, let alone have kept it for a decade.
… - ...
Harry, Dan and Dobby went to see Hagrid. After the greetings, Harry asked, "Do you know about muskox?"
Hagrid nodded sadly and replied, "I tried to raise em twice. I thought that they'd like the meadow on the other side of the quidditch pitch. I bought four. They lived for a few years but wouldn't breed. Yer dad was in school in those days. I tried again after you were sent to live at those damn Dursleys. Same thing. I concluded that they somehow needed the cold in the winter."
Harry asked, "Where did you get them?"
Hagrid replied, "There's loads of em in Greenland."
Harry explained, "Their hair could be used in making wands."
Hagrid mentioned, "There's a pair of em in the London zoo. Dobby, you should ask some of your friends to go see em so you know what they look like. Them goblins; they could make ya a portkey to one of the coastal cities. You get out of town a ways and you'll find some of em. They shed their hair from May to July. You can pick up handfuls. It would be easy enough to collect. Bring it back here. Hermione and Emma wouldn't be happy to have too much of it in the shop until it gets rinsed off properly; it's kind of stinky."
Dan suggested, "You could try it out and see if most people could use it in the wands we bring out to the other countries in bunches. If that didn't work. We could sell it to the wandmakers that sell a wand one at a time and who could do a proper fitting."
It seemed like a plan.
… - …
Hogwarts Tuition Raised 50G
By Cheryl Whitehart
Hogwarts Headmistress Anne Chambers announced another price increase for Hogwarts Room & Board Tuition. The rate for September will be 600G per student. Chambers was quoted, "The cost to the school is 700G per student per year. The remainder has been subsidized by the endowment fund donations." Asked if she expects another increase next year, Chambers replied, "Almost for certain."
There was no comment from Minister Amelia Bones.
Remus had mixed feelings as he read the paper. He was glad for the changes that were being made, the improvements to the school and the new classes. At the same time, he'd never forget having been poor for nearly twenty years. It was hard to have it both ways.
… - …
Sunday July 3
The stated purpose of Harry's trip to see Daryl was to learn to shred hearts. Given his business dealings with Charlie, that was a real item. His primary purpose was to spend a few days with his mentor.
Harry apparated to the Salem apparation point and walked the half mile to Daryl's shop. Daryl looked different. Beyond being completely sunbaked, he seemed different. He'd had always been a bit laid back. Now he looked complete. Harry noticed the ring on his finger and remarked, "Congratulations."
His friend replied, "Thank you. We got married on Vashon Island in Washington State heading north. Some people get married before their honeymoon; we got married during ours."
Harry smiled at the thought.
Daryl continued, "That said, we bought a place in Baja and decided that we want to live there. We're resigning at Salem and will be moving at the end of August."
Harry was delighted for his friend. "Where's Mandy?"
"She's at the ceramic shop, smelting gold. I borrowed your idea when we were in Alaska and summoned gold dust from the ocean floor as far north as we could safely sail. We ended up with 1400 ounces."
"Barchoke told me that gold prices would be going up a fair bit in the next three years. What was Alaska like?"
"Aside from being huge, probably not too different from Scotland; at least the part near the ocean. When we're were driving around, the weather was great. Charming ourselves to keep the mosquitoes away worked really well. We saw some grizzly bears. From the vantage point of sitting inside the SUV that we rented, they were majestic to see. We encountered one that we first saw from about 400 yards away. It was running at a good pace and crossed the road right in front of us. Here's a photo that Mandy took."
Harry examined the picture. The bear seemed about the size of Longclaw. He'd never seen them running any distance. He asked, "How far did you see it run?"
"A mile at least. We watched it for about three minutes or so. It was running the entire time."
"Nice."
"What's new for you?"
"We helped the elves acquire a piece of land in Hampshire County They have about a mile so far. I expect they're on their way to a three or four mile section. They're having scads of babies. The cool thing is they put up wardstones that keep everything in as well as out. You have to portkey or apparate to get through. They're turning ordinary meadow land into old forest." Daryl nodded in appreciation of the feat.
"We've started selling wands in different countries. That's been amazing."
Harry continued, "Anne Chambers and some people working for her intentionally started a fire in the forest by Hogwarts that killed almost all of the spiders. We managed to rescue a pair and their cubs and the unicorns. That's been a problem."
Daryl didn't know what to say. He went with, "What happened?"
Harry explained what happened. Objectively, he ranted a bit. Daryl let him go without interrupting. It felt cathartic to tell the tale so someone who truly could understand the impact; almost as if some of the poisonous emotions were leaving his body.
Daryl walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a couple of bottles of Orange Crush. It offered him the opportunity to truly listen to the tone and inflection of his friend. After a few minutes, the vitriol seemed to be passing. He commented, "I reread my texts and journals and am still baffled. Acromantula aren't listed as being core producers. They're not listed as beings who can talk, let alone hold conversations. I'm not asking you to tell me the specifics but do you have an idea how the change may have occurred?"
"Yes. I'm pretty certain that it's repeatable over time. Longclaw told me what he thought caused the change."
"That's good. Do you have enough strand to work with for a while?"
"Six months or so. Dobby and his pals went looking for muskox. They found some in Greenland..."
… - …
Monday July 4
Daryl asked, "So how's selling mass quantities of wands working out?"
"Fantastic with the strand wands; fitting isn't much of a challenge. We're going out in a few weeks with some of the muskox wands. Winky is going to get an idea of what percentage of people they'd be compatible with."
Daryl replied, "I expect you'll find them to be a very good fit for 15- 20 percent of the people looking for wands. Sourcing the core material is first among equals in wandcrafting tasks. You've found more than any wandcrafter in history."
Harry gave him a puzzled look and Daryl replied, "On a lifetime basis, I've made 25,000 wands give or take; maybe 30,000. Garrick Ollivander never hit 40,000. How many are you up to?"
"Personally? Maybe 30,000."
"There you go. Speaking of muskox, could you sell some wands for me? I've got about 200 made."
"No problem. We net 250G each for them."
"That would be fantastic, thanks. Here's my vault number."
"No problem. Dobby transferred the gold into your vault here. He'll pick up the wands when you're ready. Just call him."
"Thank you. I appreciate it Are you still going to sell here in the Sates?"
"Yes, it will probably be 15 months, if we get the core thing worked out."
Daryl asked, "How do you feel about selling in the different countries?"
"I never gave it much thought. From my perspective, it's just work. The customers seem happy."
"Dobby was my 180th student over the years. Half of them never finished the class. The discussion about what options are available for core and wood are a true eye opener for most of the students. If that didn't scare them off, the cost of the tooling did. 90 quit before the second week. 40 never opened a shop. 20 died in 1995. 23 opened a shop and went out of business. There's a shop in Oslo and one in the southern coast of Spain.
"You five hit the jackpot."
"I've met the guy in Oslo, Magne Gustovson. I wholesale to him He's done well, So has the guy from Germany, Otto Krebbs."
Daryl replied, "Magne is a good guy. Krebbs must have been one of Carl Racz's students."
Harry asked, "How long do wands last?"
Daryl replied, "Anecdotally a long time. The better question is how many years does the average wand that's being used every day last? About five percent go out of use a year. The reasons vary but breakage, such as being stepped or sat on are at the top of the list. An auror would routinely replace their wand every five years. They'll burn out in a serious duel or fight. If it's still in use, the so-called Death Stick may have been made when the founders were alive. It's likely that some of the wands that your childrens' peers will use when they go to Hogwarts will be the twelve inch oak rods that you've made in the last two years.
"The change to that equation is strand. You mentioned your friend, Neville was using his father's wand and it was a poor fit. Most families would have placed it in their vault and kept it until they found someone who could make use of it. Most of the wands that you've made will be reasonably compatible so a younger family member could make use of it ten years from now if it hasn't been too beat up through use."
Harry nodded at the implication.
"That said, you've done well to capture the value when selling your wands without gouging. I expect that your average selling price in the US will be 300 galleons. It was 100 three years ago."
Harry felt better at his words and know that Hermione would as well when she saw the memory.
… - …
Tuesday July 5
Daryl asked, "How's Devlin doing?"
Good. His Lightening Bolt broom is selling well. It's a strand broom. He's selling them to teams using absolute parity as his primary selling point." Anticipating his question Harry added, "I told him that I'd keep him supplied and I'll make it happen for him.
"I'd given him enough basilisk bone to make 300 or so firebolts but he wants to focus on the strand brooms. When I get back, I'm going to ask him about wing bone as a core material. Maybe the Nimbus or Comet folks would be interested in it. Barchoke wants me to buy dragons from the reserve in Romania and resell the parts that I'm not interested in.
"The heart that we did yesterday yielded 600 pieces and I'd seen the dragon alive close up. It was enormous and had wings like a single engine airplane. Turning the wing bone material from scrap to something useful could transform the processing piece into a profitable business and the reserves wouldn't have to watch every knut."
… - ...
Harry offered to take Daryl and Mandy out for dinner. They went to Bentleys on Mandy's recommendation. She added the details to their trip that Daryl would never think of mentioning – the interesting people they met, what they were/wern't wearing, the home that they purchased in Baja, their wedding and the like.
Harry asked to see the pictures and she delighted in showing him and had concise stories about each of them. He was very happy for his friends. She must have thanked him six times for the treasure chest. Finally she asked, "How can we help you?"
"I'm looking for two unrelated male unicorns. I can trade a pair if that would be easier."
"I can help you with that. I know an older couple who have a few."
"That would be fantastic. Thank you."
After dinner was over, she said, I'll go talk with them. I'll be back in an hour. She kissed Daryl and left. Harry said, "If it works and they want a pair in return, please call me in the morning. Dobby can portkey a pair out."
"OK. I'm pretty certain that they're looking to get rid of the two in question to someone who would keep them, rather than have them processed."
With a perfectly straight face Harry observed, "There are quite a few mares in Elf Land. I'm certain that they could find something to do."
Devlin smiled and replied, "I expect you're right. Thanks again for buying those muskox wands. We'll be fixed pretty good when we move. I'm hoping you and Hermione will come visit sometime. I made Devlin a spare. Could you bring it to him?"
"I'd be happy to. I'm seeing him next week."
"I sent in your mastery application. When your five years is up, they'll send you the forms, processes and the like for your masters certificate. It will be your turn to teach some students and do what you can to get them off to a good start."
"Thank you. Thank you."
… - …
Wednesday July 6
After the Grangers met Harry outside of customs and they were driving home, Dan asked, "How did it go?"
"We cut the dragon heart on Sunday and ended up with just over 600 usable pieces. On Monday we did his half of the basilisk heart and got 425 pieces. Dobby brought my half to the shop, so we could all look at it sometime.
"He was pretty disappointed in Chambers but it felt good to be able to talk it out with an outside person." Dan nodded, understanding the value of talking things out with a neutral party.
Harry continued, "He and Mandy got married on their trip. That was pretty cool. He had a serious tan. They did some fishing as they sailed around in Alaska. They ended up with 85 pounds of gold powder and a nugget about the size of a marble."
Dan remarked, "That was a pretty good catch."
"For sure. On the way back, they bought a home near Ensenada in Baja Mexico. They resigned from their positions at Salem and are going to live there. We were invited to come visit when we can."
Hermione replied, "That would be nice to do sometime."
"He sent in my Masters application but was pretty certain that I'd still have to wait a few years.
"I bought some muskox hair wands that he'd made. We can try them out for comparability next week.
Emma remarked, "That was nice of you and a good idea."
"He thought maybe one in six could use one with good results."
Winky looked at Dobby who nodded back at her and she observed, "Many can use those wands if made from the right wood."
Emma asked, "What would the best wood be?"
"Elder. Daryl's wands are from old birch tree. Elder would be better."
No one doubted her.
… - ...
Sunday July 20
Harry and crew arrived in France, held their meeting and set up on Sunday afternoon. They met with the Marseille security team, reminded each other to wear their vests and portkeys. They had all talked it over before every trip but it never hurt. Harry and the Grangers had dinner together. Winky and Dobby said, "Good night," and disappeared.
After dinner, Dan and Emma announced that they were going out for a walk. Each was wearing their basilisk vests and portkeys. Harry and Hermione wished them goodnight and hurried towards their room.
… - …
Monday July 21
Harry got up at 2:30 am. He got dressed, kissed Hermione good morning and apparated just inside the lobby doors. Dobby was there and they took the wand boxes out of the crate that he'd brought with him.
At 3 am, Redeye let the first five customers in, Harry pointed them to the sample wands and the morning began. Dobby fitted the next dozen customers. It looked like business had slowed down until 3:30. From then until 7, there were at least 100 in line at all times. Together, Harry and Dobby were helping just under 4 people a minute but the line continued to grow. Dan and Emma arrived at 7, Hermione at 8 and Winky arrived at 9.
By the end of a very long day at 8 pm, they had sold just over 4,000 wands. Dobby and Winky excused themselves and the other four had a quick dinner together. Hermione asked, "We noticed a second long line in the lobby today. I wonder what that was for?"
Dan replied, "There have always been two lines. One was for our wands and the other was for withdrawals and loans."
Hermione had a sinking feeling and asked, "What are the loans for?"
Dan replied, "The wands. They charge 550G for the loan, payable within 12 months," He was surprised at the question. He added, "There was a lot of equipment to buy when Em and I went through dental school. Magic school is a bargain in comparison. The rates are comparable to using a credit card."
Hermione replied, "That's awful; we're bankrupting people."
Emma observed, "Hardly. Don't give it another thought. The previous wandcrafter was charging 5 – 10 times what we are and he sold every wand that he could get his hands on."
… - ...
Thursday July 24
After they finished with their last customer at 8 pm, the wandcrafters took stock of their situation. Dobby announced, "There are 1,000 wands left. Winky and I will open tomorrow at three. Layla is watching Hollyden and Oaken."
Dan replied, "OK. Emma and I will be in at seven. Hopefully everything will be sold by eight." Turning to his daughter, he added, "You two can sleep in."
Hermione retorted, "Dad, we weren't sleep..." when she realized how it sounded and decided with, "Let's have dinner." Emma bit her lip and desperately tried to not say anything.
As they were having dinner, Emma asked, "Did all of the school kids get their wands?"
Harry replied, "I think so. The large lady who walked in late in the afternoon is the Headmistress of their school. She bought ten spares."
Hermione admonished, "The ICW rules wouldn't allow her..."
Harry cut in, "That's the point; it's her problem, not ours. Maybe she doesn't have a perfect list. It's not our concern."
Dan replied, "Agreed."
Harry paid the bill and they left, not noticing that they were being followed.
… - …
Friday July 25
Dan and Emma were finishing their breakfast, when a man who they recognized as wearing a French Auror uniform walked up to Emma. He held out an envelope and said, "This is for you, Dr. Granger."
She held out her hand to take the envelope. When she touched it, they disappeared.
… - ...
A/Ns
"Houston, we have a problem."
OMAKE
Anne Chambers goes into Gringotts
Anne walked into Gringotts, got in line and waited for her turn with a teller. When she reached the front of the line, she said, "I'm interested in reusable portkeys. The teller handed her a sheet that read;
Reuseable Portkeys
Stainless Steel Bracelet – 250G – 2 destinations
Stainless Steel Watch – 500G – 6 Destinations +
Gold Watch – 5,000 – 6 destinations ++
She asked, "Can you explain the differences?"
"The Stainless Steel Bracelet is a reusable wand activated ordinary level portkey that will comfortably take a person back and forth between two unrestricted locations, such as their back garden or the front gate at Hogwarts. You tap the bracelet and state one or two. It will take the wearer and one other person to the selected location. Anyone can purchase one."
"Thank you. How about the second one?" She'd seen Hagrid with one.
"That's a stainless steel watch. It is a reusable wand activated multi-level portkey, meaning it will allow the wearer to pass through simple wards."
"That sounds very useful, I'd like one please."
"That's not possible at this time. An existing watch owner would have to purchase it and gift it to you. You can't purchase it yourself. You could ask them to purchase one for you."
Frustrated, she asked, "Can you tell me about the other one?" She'd seen Potter and the Grangers wearing them. Come to think of it Minister Bones had one also.
"It has more features and range than the stainless steel model. Only the Director can purchase and gift them." They were voice or touch activated, would pass through any ward and had a range of 10,000 miles."
She thanked him and on the way out muttered, "So much for that."
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