Beta: None
Original Release Date: 3/11/16
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other universe.
Chapter Forty Four – Network Complications
Logging into her account to monitor the number of the diary that she and Ginny had designed, Hermione's eyes widen at the graphs showing the number of sales per month, per year, and how much she had earned so far. Hermione wordlessly passes her Omni Play to Ginny whose eyes also widen at the amount of detail being provided regarding their product, 'Her Heart'.
"This is simply…amazing!" exclaims Ginny excitement laced through her voice as she passes the Omni Play back.
Opening her mouth to respond, Hermione pauses as the amount of Her Heart sold increases from zero to two.
"We just sold two!" squeals Hermione happily hugging Ginny.
"This is so exciting!" replies Ginny equally as happy.
"And next weekend is the first Hogsmeade trip" remarks Harry sitting down in a cushy armchair with his Omni Play in his hands.
"Who cares? We have 'Conquering Survival' out for feedback" states Ron setting his Omni Play on a table between him and the two girls.
Projecting from the Omni Play, the sight of flying over rolling green hills, lush and dense forests, babbling brooks, eventually flying over a village with a high and wooden wall with detailed buildings and a dirt path wandering through the village elicits oohs and awws from the growing crowd around the four students.
"What is this called and how can I play it?" asks an unnamed boy in the crowd curiously.
"'Conquering Survival' and it's on the Marauding Network" answers Ron proudly as he grins ear to ear.
"'Marauding Network'…?" inquires some from the crowd.
"Yes, the network that your Omni Play connects to whether it is through an Omni Connect or not. However, I'd like to let you know that Conquering Survival is still being worked on, so if you find a discrepancy in the game, let us know and we will work on it" answers Harry slightly raising his voice to be heard over the musings of the crowd.
Several students dash to the stairwell to their respective dormitory eager to try this new game or to send a letter home requesting such a device. Smiling Harry turns to Ron and remarks, "I think we found our beta testers."
Ron smiles as the students continue to watch demo of 'Conquering Survival', all completely engrossed in the stunning detail.
Sitting at his desk in his office, Remus frowns as a notification appears on his Omni Play. Looking through the Network Admin screen, Remus's frown becomes more pronounced the longer he scrolls through the graphs and screens. Swiping from the left hand side of the device to the center, a menu appears and Remus taps a few items before starting a video call.
"Moony, what's up?" comes the familiar tone of Sirius as his neatly trimmed bearded face appears on the screen.
"Sirius, we've got a problem. Our network in Hogsmeade is being hit hard and may buckle if we don't relieve the amount of traffic soon" answers Remus.
Deadpanning, Sirius answers in a much more serious tone of voice, "Are you certain?"
"Yes. It's been growing steadily. We need a new server system in place. We need to design a system that won't be bogged down with so much gaming traffic" remarks Remus sketching and writing things down on a nearby piece of parchment.
"What are you proposing then?" asks Sirius.
"I think we need what we have currently, but double it and have it just for gaming. That should satisfy network usage for quite some time and leave the rest of our network for other use."
Clearing his throat, Sirius begins, "I've encountered something that you may not have thought about. England has won the bid for the Quidditch World Cup next summer and they want us to broadcast it and charge people who are interested in watching it to stream it."
Remus drops his pen and goes quiet for many long moments before finally speaking hesitantly, "You've got to be joking."
"I'm not" answers Sirius holding up a roll of parchment for Remus to read.
Sighing Remus says, "I think we will need to redesign both our English and French data centers to accommodate new traffic of varying types. Our system already classifies network traffic into gaming and standard traffic."
"Remus…if you don't remember, Miss Fleur Delacour had the idea for a network for socializing and it's just about ready to pushed to the entire network. Do you think we should sort that type of traffic out and have a separate array of servers for them as well?" mentions Sirius thoughtfully.
Sighing Remus answers, "Yes. But I doubt we have enough servers constructed to even enchant to fulfill such a task here in the UK. Then remember that we would need to mimic the same setup in France and you can see how much of an issue this is. We need help and desperately soon."
"You're right. I'll get to work on constructing some more servers and then we can get them enchanted and in place hopefully in the next week or two. Honestly, I think we should stagger some of these additions like the social networking to after our network has been upgraded to handle the potential influx of traffic" remarks Sirius tiredly.
Nodding his head Remus adds, "I think you're correct. We've underestimated the amount of simultaneous connections that can be handled at any given time. Perhaps instead of just servers we need to think about adding a handful of mainframes into the system to help move things along."
"I'll stick with the servers and see what we want to do about the main frames being added as a supplement later. If that's it, I'll be off to work a little before dinner with Amelia, Jack, Kreacher, and Dobby" remarks Sirius.
"That's it from me. Talk with you later then" states Remus before Sirius's face disappears from the glassy surface.
Rubbing his forehead with his hands, Remus muses out loud, "I suppose Sirius and I should have seen this as an inevitability and should have planned accordingly."
The next day, Tuesday, Remus's seventh year class exits the room conversing amongst themselves as a long individual makes her way to Remus's desk.
"Professor, can I speak with you?" inquiries the female student.
Looking up from the essay styled exams he is grading, Remus smiles and answers, "Why certainly Miss Clearwater. How may I help you?"
"Well, it's about your warding program. I know it is too late for me to change what courses to take, but I'm hoping you will are willing to overlook that and allow me to join the program" answers Penelope Clearwater nervously.
Pushing the scrolls to the side Remus says, "Here's what we would like to see in prospective students, the drive to learn something, the willingness to keep with things even if they seem very difficult, the ability to be on time, and the ability to take notes from both inside a classroom setting and a more practical setting like on the job training. Do you think you meet those qualifications?"
Pausing to reflect on Remus's response Penelope begins hesitantly before getting more confidence, "I…I think I do. But what if I get a Troll in Potions? Would that matter any?"
"If you receive a Troll in Potions despite actually trying to learn and can show that you improved from your previous year, that is what we are looking for. Mistakes are just opportunities to learn something new and to improve for the future" replies Remus kindly.
Once again pausing to reflect on what Remus had said Penelope smiles and asks, "Thank you. Is there anything like a piece of parchment indicating my desire to attend?"
Grabbing a flattened sheet of parchment from a drawer at his desk, Remus passes it over before saying, "Please return this when you are done filling it out. There isn't any rush to return it, so take your time."
Getting up from her seat, Penelope smiles and states, "Thank you professor" before making her way out of the classroom.
/*days later on Friday evening*/
"Hey Harry, can we borrow your Invisibility Cloak?" inquiries George as he and Fred sit down beside Harry in an armchair.
"What do you plan on doing with it?" inquiries Harry suspiciously.
Putting his head to Harry's left ear, Fred whispers, "We'd like to test the security that is in place in the tunnel leading to the cellar of Honeydukes. We know that are cameras but we'd like to see if we can sneak past them and not be caught."
Stifling his laughter Harry answers, "Sure, I don't see why not. Might be interesting if we can make it without being caught. Of course we'd need to let Remus know if we successfully make it past."
"Of course we'd let him know, just after we've had our fun at Hogsmeade" states George chuckling.
Talking quietly about the plan as the common room empties, the three work everything down from where to meet and how not to raise suspicion the following day. Finally going to bed, the three are barely able to sleep due to the excitement for the following day.
The following morning the trio comprised of Harry, George, and Fred make their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, making certain to be seen without creating a scene. Eating alongside some chatty Ravenclaws who had decided to eat their meal with fellow first years in Gryffindor, the trio quietly finish their meal and leave the Great Hall and quickly step into a deserted classroom.
"So who gets to test the security precautions?" inquiries Harry quietly looking between the twins.
Stepping aside, the twins hold a hushed conversation before coming back and George answers, "I am."
Pulling the Invisibility Cloak out from a jacket pocket, Harry hands it to George who pockets it handily. "Now for the next part. Fred, if you don't mind" states George before muttering and waving and tapping the top of Fred's skull with his wand. Several seconds later stands only George who quickly disappears into thin air under the cloak.
"I'll see you all later" states Harry quietly before awkwardly leaving the room.
Quickly spotting Hermione, Neville, and Ron walking with the crowd of other students all eager to make their way into Hogsmeade, Harry joins them without being detected.
"Where do you think Harry is?" inquiries Hermione.
"Maybe he already left?" offers Ron as a suggestion.
"Or maybe he's behind you listening to your conversation?" remarks Harry with a grin from behind the trio.
"You could have just used your PRT and been in Hogsmeade faster than us" states Neville for the first time since Harry arrives.
"I could have" answers Harry as he hands Filch his permission form.
"If that's possible, what's stopping Luna or Ginny from doing so?" inquiries Hermione look at Neville and Harry.
Exchanging looks with Neville, Harry grins and replies, "Nothing that I can see. So, who is up for lunch at The Three Broomsticks around midday?"
"Sounds good to me" responds Neville before asking, "What do you all want to do first?"
"Honeydukes!" answers Ron quickly salivating over the thought of all of the sweets.
"Getting a new quill or two might be nice, but I do have those lovely pens that mum and dad sent me" muses Hermione out loud.
"Why not visit most of the stores and see if they have anything on sale now that classes have resumed?" suggests Harry.
"I think we agree on that, but it's the order in which we do such a thing that is our problem" remarks Neville.
/*back at the castle*/
"Thank you professor for having us" states Ginny eating some of the food procured from the kitchen while sitting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with Remus and Luna.
"No problem Miss Weasley. So how are classes going so far this year you two?" answers Remus with a smile.
"It has been different when compared to last year" responds Luna airly munching on a cucumber finger sandwich.
"And it's nice to not worry about being petrified" remarks Ginny sipping on some ice cold Pumpkin juice.
"Professor, I created an ERD regarding the database I would like to create" states Luna withdrawing a scroll of parchment and handing it to Remus.
Unrolling the scroll Remus whistles at the complexity of the diagram before speaking up, "You were put in Ravenclaw for a reason and here's proof of that. To create an Entity Relationship Diagram of this level and you're only twelve. There are muggle adults that are unable to achieve this even after years of practice. Ten points to Ravenclaw for fantastic database design skills."
"T-thank you" answers Luna caught off guard, unaccustomed to being complimented.
"Professor, I noticed that 'Her Heart' had been sold twice already, but I didn't see where they were sold at. I'm just somewhat curious" remarks Ginny curiosity laced throughout her voice.
Grabbing his Omni Play off of his desk, Remus takes several moments to tap and swipe through screens before speaking, "That is correct. They were sold at the same time in France. Are you exited that the diary that you and Hermione worked on is making its way into girl's hands?"
Nodding Ginny states, "I don't care so much about the money as having the ability to write my thoughts down privately and not have to worry about someone looking through it."
"What makes it so different than other diaries, Ginny?" inquiries Luna curious as she turns to face Ginny.
"It recognizes an owner by using a drop or two of blood and allows the owner to be able to read and write in it, but if anyone else tries to do anything with it, it appears as pages of notes" answers Ginny proudly.
"You forgot that the diary recognizes a person's magical signature and understands who it is, in combination of the drop of blood" adds Remus.
"That sounds fascinating. How much are they?" asks Luna with interest.
"Fifteen sickles and they come in a few different colors" answers Remus disappearing into his office and returning a few moments later with a small wooden crate and sets it down on a desk in front of Luna.
"Feel free to take one, Luna, it's on me. And Ginny, you get one for free for being one of the creators" states Remus crossing his arms and smiling.
Getting up from their seats, Luna peers into the rectangular crate and selects a deep purple colored diary and walks back to her seat. Ginny selects a crimson colored out of the crate and walks back to her desk.
Taking the crate and returning it to his office, Remus pauses and looks at his Omni Play. Tapping on the flashing red exclamation point, Remus watches as a person crawls slowly through a tunnel. Speaking, Remus broadcasts the sound into the tunnel, "You are in big trouble for setting off the alarms."
Pulling up the standard visual camera view beside of the sound imaging camera view, Remus watches as the possible intruder pauses their movement, undetectable on the standard camera but clearly there on the sound imaging camera.
"I know you're just sitting there" states Remus as his ire grows.
Standing up from their prone position, the figure drops the cloak and a redheaded figure stands with their hands up. Chortling, Remus speaks, "Now isn't that better, George? Take the cloak and use the PRT to arrive in Hogsmeade. But tomorrow morning at ten fifteen you alongside Fred and Harry shall arrive at my office for attempting to bypass the security. But I do like your initiative, five points to Gryffindor for getting creative."
"What did he do now?" groans Ginny.
"He was trying to sneak out of the castle and got caught" states Remus simply.
"Figures as much" answers Ginny before continuing to snack on the food.
/*in Hogsmeade*/
Entering the Three Broomsticks, George sits down at the table occupied by Harry, Ron, and Fred.
"I got caught trying to sneak out. However, I did earn five points for doing it creatively. Also, Fred and Harry, we have detention tomorrow with Professor Lupin at ten fifteen" states George as he passes the Invisibility Cloak to Harry.
"That doesn't surprise me. But at least he didn't take any points from Gryffindor" remarks Harry before taking a mouthful of Butterbeer.
"True. And maybe he'll let us go once we inform him of intention" states Fred beginning his second Butterbeer.
"That stone post in the middle of town was cool" remarks Ron thinking about their look around Hogsmeade.
"Yeah, that's where the PRT bracelets are for the townspeople to use to get to St. Mungoes" comments Harry.
Sitting in relative silence, the four listen to the clattering of bottles and chatter from other patrons before Hermione and Neville join them a few minutes later. As they finally order and drink their respective drinks the six converse regarding their ventures during the day. An hour later the sextet break into twos and go on their respective ways.
Author note: Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. I really need to give the sound imaging camera a better name.
-Guest – I injected my own personal musical taste regarding Harry playing some Slayer on the train. While I didn't think of the Holocaust and the similar crusade that Voldemort takes, it is an interesting take and something that I wasn't planning on.