Chapter 12: The Ministry Of Magic
Another shout out to my reviewers
To rhiannon-shaxington: Thanks for your review. She's going to find out soon.
To Mrs. St. John Allerdyce: Winks and thanks for your review.
To Angelic Bladez: I got a big kick out of what your uncle did as well. To answer your question about Hermione getting sick on the Knight Bus, that was just the Knight Bus. She's going to find out that she's pregnant real soon.
To Writer Apprentice: Glad you thought Chapter 11 was funny, I thought it was.
To jazhpfreak: Glad your back.
To Miss Spazz: Winks and thanks for your review.
Now onto the story.
Both Hermione and Remus had a wonderful time with the Grangers. Anna took them to London and helped them both pick a pair of golden wedding bands and then after a good night's rest (without sex) they said their goodbyes to Frank and Anna Granger and returned to Hogwarts. Hermione had ever intention of starting on the business that she was going to literally lift off from the ground. While Remus was busy at Hogwarts talking to Dumbledore, Hermione went looking for the wood that she would need.
She wanted her first broom to be made of willow, a very good wood when it came to magic as well as flying. When she finally found the tree that she was looking for she did several charms to make sure that there were no nasty surprises and then cut a long length out of it, making sure that it was thick enough to handle a person's weight. When she returned to the cottage she got started on molding it for the right purpose. That alone took hours, making Hermione thirsty and hungry.
She grabbed a bite to eat and some pumpkin juice, and returned to her work. When Remus returned home he saw her carving the face of what looked like a dragon and then enchanting every inch of it so that it couldn't throw, hurl, or do anything else but fly.
"Do you think this will work?" Remus asked.
"I believe it will," Hermione said, as she duplicated the same handle over and over again.
She then left again.
"So how is Hermione doing?" Sprout asked him the next morning.
"She's doing well," Remus answered.
He didn't want to mention Hermione's strange idea.
"Well, as long as she's keeping her nose out of trouble, that's all that matters."
"So how was your visit to your parents?" Ginny asked Hermione when she saw her.
"It went great," Hermione said. "So I heard that Professor Snape woke up."
Ginny nodded.
"That's great," Hermione said.
Ginny looked at her, suddenly sensing that something wasn't right.
"What's wrong, Hermione?"
"Um…nothing," Hermione lied.
Ginny wasn't going to give up.
"Tell Ginny wasn't wrong," Ginny said.
Hermione sighed.
"Alright, but promise that your not going to laugh."
Ginny held her hand up.
"I promise not to laugh."
"Alright, I'm going to the Ministry of Magic to ask them to come over to my cottage and look at something. I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I think it will be something that will shock the school. But I'm worried that I'm going to fail."
"Hermione, I don't believe that you'll fail," Ginny said, giving Hermione a hard look. "Just believe in yourself and everything will work out."
"Thanks, Gin."
"No problem," Ginny said. "So when do I get to see it?"
"As soon as it passes inspection," Hermione said. "I'm going to show it to the entire school."
"Well good luck on it."
When school let out for the day Hermione was back working on what she called the Dragonfire 2000. She added the broomtail, using her wand to seal them in their place and then conjuring steel with a little charm she learned, she molded it to exactly what she wanted. She did the same thing over and over again until they all were finished. She then went out and got polished and spent hours polishing each broomstick until they were smooth.
The next morning found herself in-front of the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione had brought her broom with her, not knowing if she was going to need it. She signed in her wand and then went down to one of the golden grille and it went down.
"Level seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office."
The grille stopped, but on one got off. It moved downward once again.
"Level six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparition Test Center."
Hermione got off here and walking down the hall she found a door that read 'Broom Regulatory Control' and entered. The office was huge compared to some of the offices that she had seen in the Muggle world. There were different places in a long table that you could go. One read 'Broom Registration' and another said 'Unsafe Brooms' Hermione found a sign that read the following:
To All Inventors,
Inventing brooms is a privilege, not a right. If you have a broom that you wish to test, please come to this office.
William Hope
Head of Broom Regulatory Control
Ministry of Magic
Hermione walked up to the sign which was next to an oak door. She knocked on the door and heard a gruff enter. Hermione entered to see a slim man that had no hair. He looked up when Hermione entered and motioned for her to close the door.
"Name and type of broom?" he asked.
"Hermione Lupin and this is called the Dragonfire 2000," Hermione answered.
"Has it been tested?"
"No."
"Name of company that is making this broom?"
"Well I haven't filed a business name yet," Hermione said.
"Fine, go back outside and file your business name and then return to me."
Hermione nodded and walked back outside.
"Name of business?"
"Top Witch Broomstick Company," Hermione answered.
"Name of owner?"
"Hermione Lupin," Hermione answered.
The witch looked up.
"A women making brooms, now that's something," she said. "Sign here and the cost is one hundred and fifty gallons."
Hermione pulled out her money bag and gave it to her. She took it, weighed it, and then put it in a drawer.
"Now this makes you an official business," she explained. "Take your broom in there and we'll set a date and time that we'll come and test your broom. If it meets the qualifications then you're authorized to sell it."
"Thanks," Hermione said, taking the parchment.
"Good luck," she said.
Hermione thanked her again and then returned to the man's office. She presented her parchment and he had a good look at it. He inspected every inch of it.
"Now this is a broom," he commented. "Very good work, however, you need a time and date that you can have it tested." He looked at his ledger "How about this afternoon. Lee Jordan is always looking for a job that he'll break a few bones. Do you have anymore like this?"
"Yes sir, I made about two hundred and eighty brooms."
"Then this is going to be one long afternoon," he said.
He gave the broom back and Hermione left.
Three hours later Lee Jordan arrived wearing his testing suit. He knocked on Hermione's door, but the elf told him that she was at the Quidditch Pitch. He thanked her and then headed for the pitch. When he arrived he saw Hermione and all the broomsticks that he had to try.
"Thanks for meeting up with me," Hermione said. "So how does this thing work?"
"Well I'll test it to see if it will hold up to speed, weather, things like that," Lee said. "I can do a charm that will make me be able test them all without having to try them all. If they all pass then you can sell them."
Hermione nodded and Lee took the first one. He climbed on and kicked off hard. The broom shot up like a cork and Hermione watched it being put through it paces, the tail end streaming red, like a dragonfire. When he landed, he was gasping.