Chapter two

It took a couple of weeks but Kingsley had his team and they were taking a portkey to the international confederation of wizards headquarters. No one outside the group knew about what these people were doing, not until they left.

The group were taken to their hotel rooms which was in the same building. The meetings would start the following morning but Kingsley wanted the team to have a relaxing dinner but also for the team to get to know each other, even if most already knew each other.

Harry walked into the dining room with Neville and found Kingsley and Arthur already at the table.

'I think magical travel hates me,' Harry said as he sat but Kingsley and Arthur chuckled.

'That is one thing I plan to address when we return home. People like Neville and the Weasley children are taught from a young age how to use the floo.'

'The reason Molly never explained it to you Harry was we were rushed that day and she admitted that she just forgot that you didn't know. Sometimes Molly gets flustered when she's running late.'

'I get that Mr Weasley. Usually one of the twins would forget something then it was Ron or Ginny. Every time we had to leave to catch the Hogwarts express we started early enough but ended up just getting there in time.'

'So true Harry, but it's Arthur. You are now an adult, even if you are Ron's friend.'

'Arthur,' Harry nodded giving the man a smile.

Lee Jordan walked in with a blond girl behind him, 'Hi everyone,' Lee said as he took a seat beside Harry.

'Since all of you know each other apart from our last member, I would like to introduce you all to Sally-Anne Perks.'

Everyone welcomed the girl as she sat down, 'I remember when you were sorted into Hufflepuff. You were called just before me.'

Sally-Anne gave Harry a shy smile, 'I remember you as well. At the time I had no idea who you were but everyone began to get excited when your name was called. I asked Susan and Hannah what was going on. You didn't seem to like the attention.'

'I didn't, I still don't.'

'Harry never liked the attention he got for the-boy-who-lived,' Arthur said kindly.

'Um, if you don't mind me asking, but why?'

'It was always a reminder that I lived yet my parent's died. I did learn to live with it, but at times when people stared at my scar when they spoke to me, it usually made me think of my parent's and how I had no family.'

'I'm sorry. I should not have brought it up.'

'It's fine, I've put it behind me now. I will always remember my parent's and what they did, that will never change. I just learned to live with the name and the staring. Now for my questions. You disappeared after your first year, why?'

'That is why I spoke with Sally-Anne about joining the team. She went through some traumatic events at Hogwarts during that year which is why she left.'

Everyone at the table got Kingsley's message, this was personal. Harry gave her a smile.

'Fair enough.' Harry turned to Kingsley, 'So about tomorrow. Any idea how this works?'

'We will be meeting with four people. The new supreme mugwump, along with the two chief wizards and one chief witch. They want our ideas and they will be telling us how other magical ministry's and schools work in other countries. Now Mr Gibbs, one of the chief wizards told me that some of what you will hear will come as a great surprise. Since many of the pure-bloods from some of the oldest magicals in our world control the Wizengamot, they liked to keep the traditions even if it was not helping our country. Countries like America which is fairly young compared to England, they progressed a lot over the last two hundred years, but over the last fifty years the magical community is so different to ours you would not believe they were magical. They keep certain traditions, like when there is a ceremony or at the beginning of a ball, they will wear wizards robes and hat. After the official speeches and such are over, they remove their robes and you believe they were muggles.'

'I like that idea,' Harry grinned, 'I always hated robes. Being raised in the muggle world I thought they looked like dresses. I even said it to Hagrid when he took me shopping. I didn't want to insult anyone but if I could have, I would have refused to wear them. I like the cloaks especially in winter, but not the everyday robes.'

'Only people raised in the magical world are comfortable wearing them, so it's natural to feel like that Harry. What about you Sally-Anne? How do you feel about robes?' Kingsley asked.

'Please call me Sally, Sally-Anne is a bit of a mouth full. Now as to your question. Because I left the magical world after only a year I never really thought about it much. But I did notice that the boys did look like they were wearing a dress. I knew what they were, I just couldn't get my head around it.'

'This is why I wanted a mixture of people on the team. Neville, what is your opinion on robes?'

'To me they are just like any other article of clothing. I can see where Harry and Sally are coming from. Over the last few months I've visited the muggle world five times. The muggle studies class was way out of date, Hermione told me that, so I wanted to see things for myself. Now I do admit that there is a wider range of clothes in the muggle world and they are a lot cheaper. Some looked nice, some shocked me, but I did like most of it. I am used to robes but I admit they do get in the way. I tripped so often on my robes. Many thought I was clumsy, which is partly true, but it was the robes that caused most of my problems. But I also thought about how the muggle clothes are made. Sorry Mr Weasley to use your family as an example but you could afford to buy four or five articles of muggle clothing for Ron for the price of one wizard's robe.'

'It's fine Neville. Since I've gotten to know Harry and Hermione I have heard about mass production the muggles do, which keeps the prices down.'

'I know clothes in the magical world are all handmade and usually have charms attached to them so they last longer. I don't think paying so much for children's clothes works though. Ron had new robes at the beginning of our fifth year yet by the end of that year they were too short even though the charms allowed them to lengthen to an extra size. To me, that's a waste of money.' Harry said.

'Right, I had the same trouble when I had a growth spurt. Since I'm a half-blood who was raised in the magical world, I bought both and clothes like robes are easy four or five times more expansive than a lot of muggle clothes. It's like one of my favourite jackets. It's a hoodie I got from the muggle world yet it cost a quarter of the price of a basic robe,' Lee said.

'I know there aren't enough of us to start a company to mass produce things like robes. But we may not have to. When I was speaking with Mr Gibbs about how America and many other countries only use robes for ceremonies or things like the welcoming feast at the school. I believe we could adapt the same idea. Allow students to wear the uniform without robes. But the robes to wear for the feast would be supplied by the school. We're not even sure if robes will be used at Hogwarts. Robes can be used for ceremonies or balls, or like when the Wizengamot meets. But we can work on that later. For now we could buy most of those clothes from the muggle world. I know it will hurt shops like Madam Malkins, but right now people are struggling and it's going to take a long time before many can resume work or find work. Madam Malkin can still have the contract to make the robes for the ministry, she can also have the contract to make the robes for the students at Hogwarts, if we use them at Hogwarts. But the rest of the ministry employee's can buy muggle clothes but something that would suit a working environment like the ministry. Madam Malkin can also be paid to add the charms to the muggle clothes we buy.'

'What about things like quills, ink and parchment?' Harry asked.

'What do you mean?' Kingsley asked.

'Okay, I can go into a muggle supermarket and buy a pack of ten pens for a couple of pounds and those pens will last a couple of years, if not longer. If you write continuously, then anywhere from six months to a year. Two quills and ink cost five times that and that might not last a year. Also with quills, I couldn't use one and I got horrible marks because the teachers couldn't read my writing. They said it looked like chicken scratches. I'm sure we could make our own version of a pen which would save a lot of money. We could even make it look and feel like a quill so everyone could get the hang of them. There would be less problems as well as younger students wouldn't accidentally spill their ink or drip ink over their work. I get why parchment is used, it does last longer and it can be charmed to prevent damage.'

'I will have to get you to show me one of those pens,' Kingsley said. Sally put her hand into her bag and pulled out a small notebook and a pen, she handed them to the minister.

'Thank you Sally. Now let's see,' Kingsley picked up the pen, studied it, then opened the notebook, 'I never knew they made these so small.'

'I wanted something I could carry in my bag so I could take notes tomorrow at the meeting.'

'A good idea,' Kingsley began to write, 'how long would the ink in this pen last?'

'Months, but continuous writing like at Hogwarts, I would say at least two months but more like four months,' Sally looked at Harry.

'I agree, with that amount of use two to four months, maybe three if it was someone like Hermione. For casual use at home, anywhere from six months to a year. If it was in an office where you only use it to sign your name, then it could last two years.'

'And you can buy these in packs of ten for less than a galleon?' Arthur asked sounding surprised.

'Yes, but not this type of pen. You can get fancy pens just as you can get fancy quills. This was given to me by my history teacher after I passed my tests. I know these types of pens go for between ten and twenty pounds. The ones Harry mentioned are basic pens which I used when I was at school.'

'Yes, I believe you are right Harry. We could set up a small business that could sell these until we make our own version. And as you said Harry, maybe to start with to help people like the four of us who were raised in the magical world, we could have the pens resemble a quill.'

'I'm sure that would be easy enough to do. And I agree with you Kingsley, for people like you, Arthur, Lee and Neville, you could use a quill looking pen. They also don't leave splotches of ink behind, unless the pen gets broken.'

'I wish I had one of those when I was in first year,' Neville said.

Sally allowed the four people raised in the magical world to try her pen. She and Harry chuckled at the looks of surprise. Maybe after these meetings they would have a world that suited all blood types and not just people raised in the magical world. But they could also make their own things just get the idea's from the muggle world. It wouldn't be turning them into muggles, just using idea's from the muggle world then making their own version of it. They already use a train which was invented by muggles, it was the same with things like crossbows and swords. The wizarding world just had to make their own version of things that would suit everyone.