I'm sorry about the wait guys, but real life got in the way. Thanks for reading.
Chapter Seven
"We have a problem." Harry said, addressing his employees. They were at the front gates of the forest. The centaurs and elves were all gathered behind him, while his human employees were all in front of him. Neville, Draco, and Luna were all standing on the platform next to him. Neville's arms were crossed over his chest, his mouth set in a thin line. He was well aware of the ramifications of muggles 'invading' Hogsmeade. Luna looked as serene as ever, hopeful that things would turn out alright. Draco was glowering at Harry, understandably pissed. If they'd just obliviated the muggles in the first place, they wouldn't be having this problem now.
"As you all know muggles have been getting curious about our village, and instead of obliviating them, we have only let them go. Now, I know that it is a serious breach of the Statute of Secrecy, but unfortunately, it has already been done. Luna went to Woodcroft to see if the town was saying anything about our little village. Many people in the town are now well aware of it- they're even having meetings! She said that some more of the villagers plan to come here and see Hogsmeade for themselves. What I would like to ask all of you, is what can we do about this?"
People were silent for a long moment, thinking hard about what could be done.
Luna spoke gently. "Some of the muggles think that our village is a...tourist attraction that hasn't opened to the public yet. They believe that our centaurs and elves are just special affects and costumes. They believe that our magic is just a special affect- that it's not real. Of course, some of the children think otherwise, but the adults clearly don't believe them."
Harry thought about it. He remembered a trip with Sirius to Disneyland when they'd gone to the U.S for the first time.
He also thought about being in Azkaban for a major breach in the Statute of Secrecy.
"No matter what we do, we risk the muggles finding out about our magic. We risk breaking the Statute of Secrecy. We need to go to the Ministry and either have the muggles obliviated, or speak with the Ministry of Magic and open Hogsmeade up to muggles under the pretense of Hogsmeade being a tourist attraction."
"What is a tourist attraction?" One of the wizards in the crowd queried.
"Muggles have areas all across the globe, entertainment venues, called theme parks. A good thing about opening the village up to muggles is that they would spend their money in the village, and we would also have easier access to their technology."
Firenze spoke up from behind Harry.
"The muggles could be dangerous."
"Yes, they could be. But we cannot make a decision ourselves- we must let the Ministry know. I will take the full blame for this, none of you will get in trouble. Understand?"
Harry watched the Minister's face change various colors.
"Muggles got into Hogsmeade? Are you sure? What about the wards?"
"Gone, apparently after the various attacks from last year. What I'd like to know is if our village shows up on the muggle sattelites and things as well. We may not have a choice of hiding Hogsmeade, if that's the case."
The Minister turned to his worried looking minions. "Gawain, go check our intelligence."
Harry's lips thinned. "It might be necessary to inform the muggle goverment what's going on. If we don't take care of this now, it could get to the news. And the ICW could get a hold of this."
the Minister turned to a portrait in his office worriedly. "I...I suppose I could talk to the Prime Minister of the muggles about this. Does Dumbledore know yet?"
"No. What does he have to do with this?" Harry replied evenly.
"If it comes to us meeting the ICW, we may need his support." The Minister stood. "I will talk to the Muggle Prime Minister now, and see what we can do."
Harry gawked as the man walked right through the portrait. Just a few minutes later, a blushing Minister came back.
"He's asking for you."
The Prime Minister leant back in his chair, watching the strange man in front of his desk blubbering like a child. However, the teenager that sat next to him looked a bit disgusted at this man's behavior.
"Minister...why don't you go to your office and collect yourself. I'll send Mr. Potter along soon enough."
Harry studied the Prime Minister calmly, watching the man's body language. The Minister of Magic left, leaving them alone for the time being. The man had already known about Hogsmeade. How?
"You already knew."
The Prime Minister nodded. "I did. Now, are you the same Harry Potter that defeated that Voldemort fellow?"
Harry nodded, smiling slightly. "My friends and I did, yes."
"You're younger than I expected. Just how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
Harry blushed. "Seventeen."
The man's brows raised. The boy in front of him didn't look any older than fourteen. Did all wizards age this way?
"Your Minister tells me that you live in this...Hogsmeade. Tell me about it."
Harry nodded quickly. "We've got a number of shops and businesses there, as well as some cottages. We're actually adding to the village. With the attacks from Voldemort last spring, we had to rebuild. But people are coming back from abroad, and since we have cheaper rent than many of the other wizarding homes available, people are flocking to us."
"Hmm." The Minister dug through his bottom drawer, and pulled out a red file. "Our Satellites picked up imagery of your village- it just seemed to appear out of the blue, one day. We've been investigating it , and of course, we found no records of a village outside Woodcroft. I thought it possible that it may have been...your sort's, so I made it classified. Of course, a few select men are aware of the village. Now, what seems to be the problem?"
Harry bit his lip. "The problem is, sir, that Hogsmeade is the only all-wizarding village in Britain. It's been hidden for the past thousand years, and now it's suddenly appeared to outsiders. We can't obliviate your men, nor can we obliviate the entire village of Woodcroft- we just don't have the resources."
"Obliviate?" The Prime Minister questioned, furrowing his brow.
"Um...wiping their memories." Harry said quietly.
"Your sort can do that?" The Minister sounded alarmed.
"Yes, but we have a special department that does that, and it's perfectly safe-"
"I'm not having my constituent's memories blasted away by some wand-happy teenager-"
Harry's jaw dropped. "Sir!" He cut in. "I assure you, I do not want to do that. I'm all for letting the muggles know, and having them keep their memories-"
The man stood. "But that Minister wants to, doesn't he?"
"I don't know." Harry said quietly. "And it really isn't up to us. It's for the ICW to decide."
"ICW?"
"The International Confederation of Wizards. You see, by allowing non magical people in on the secret of Hogsmeade, we are breaking the Statute of Secrecy. I don't have any control over what happens- I'm only a Junior representative. It's just a title, and I can't do much with it."
"I want to meet this ICW." The Prime Minister said heatedly. "Does your lot do this in other countries too?"
"I...um, believe so. I was under the impression you knew what was going on." Harry felt bad for putting the man in this position.
"What else are you lot hiding? Brain washing? Hypnotism? What?"
Harry paled. Merlin help him, he needed to handle this properly or they were going to have another witch hunt on their hands.
"Believe me, my friends and I do nothing of the sort. Most witches and wizards have never even been to the muggle world, let alone seen a muggle. They're just as scared of muggles as muggles would be of them."
"That Voldemort fellow was killing my people left and right, and-"
"He was the exception. Not all of us are like him. Believe me, I know." Harry placated, seeing the man slowly calm down."Sir, before you jump the gun, so to speak, please let me contact the President of the Magical United States. I'm friends with his son, and I believe he might be able to help you. I know our own Minister is...lacking in explanations and the sort, but I've met Mr. Smith, and he's the sort of level-headed fellow we need right now."
"Okay." The man looked at him expectantly, and Harry blushed.
"I have to send him a letter- or contact him through the floo. We haven't quite advanced to using phones, yet."
The Prime Minister looked at him oddly. Harry smiled. "We're working on it."
"This emergency meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards has begun! Everyone settle down now, please."
The hall was filled with anxious looking witches and wizards, talking about the latest news- a wizarding village had been uncovered by the muggles!
They debated for hours on what to do. Finally, the American representative spoke.
"I believe we should let the muggles in. They already think the village is an entertainment venue of sorts- they will not believe what is happening is actually real."
"But this is a major breach of our International Secrecy Act, and-"
"You Americans just want all of us to mix together- you lot are a whole bunch of muggle lovers anyways-"
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore roared. Everyone went silent. The Headmaster stood calmly before the rabble.
"Now, I do believe their proposal is sound. Certain areas of the village will be protected from the muggles- they will not have access. We will station our Aurors there. If there are any problems, we will escort the muggles out. I...believe that the muggles could bring some business to the village, and help our economy. As the village is small, and not many muggles are aware of it, perhaps this could be an experiment. To see how muggles react to us." He twinkled. "After all, the muggle world has changed greatly over the past few centuries."
"If they pose any danger to us, we obliviate them immeadiately!" Someone yelled.
"Yeah-"
Debate continued for several more hours.
Harry stood in front of the ICW, scared out of his mind.
"Mr. Potter, we have come to a decision." The Headmaster began, smiling slightly. "We will permit muggles to go into the village. The grounds and the Forbidden Forest will be off limits, of course, but the rest of the village will be open to them. Are we in agreement?"
"Yes sir." Harry spoke hesitantly. "Since the company I am part of owns the majority of the buildings in the village, we've come up with some plans to make them muggle friendly. They will never know that magic is actually real. Any of you are welcome to come to the village-" He raised his voice, speaking to the members of the ICW. "And take a look around before we 'open' it to the public."
He hesitated. "I have spoke with the Muggle Prime Minister, and he would like a tour of the village as well, before it opens. Perhaps...it might be a good idea for all of you to meet with him, and your muggle counterparts. Muggle technology advances every day, and sooner or later, we will be completely exposed." He raised his hands to quiet their questions.
"I think that opening this village to the muggles will expose them to our culture, so that they won't be so surprised when the time comes. This will allow them to explore our world in a controlled setting, where we can make sure that they do not find anything that we do not want them to find. Yes?"
"I don't like this." Draco said, watching the construction of the parking lot just outside the village. "It's ugly, and I don't want the muggles here."
"We have no choice." Neville said quietly. "The muggles were already aware of us even before we said a thing."
"And don't you want to make more money?" Harry pointed out.
Draco sighed roughly, and Luna clasped his shoulder. "Please, Draco, don't be mad."
"It's disrupting the entire village- all the shops are having to muggle-proof things- we shouldn't have to hide our magic."
"We aren't. Not entirely." Harry said with a smile. "That's what is going to bring them in."
They watched a contingent of Goblins gather around the gates. The muggles would exchange their money for galleons at the gates, like they would do at a fair. The Goblins would be making a hefty profit on this, if they played their cards right. The gates themselves were similar to the ones that were in front of Hogwarts' grounds. In iron, they spelt out the words Hogsmeade: Founded in 1012
Harry watched house elves post signs up by the gates, instructing the muggles to leave their cell phones and other gadgets outside the gates, as the 'magic' could make them malfunction. They also posted the rules- no one was allowed to carry weapons, alcohol, drugs, cameras, or recording devices within the village would only be open to the public from 10AM to 5PM during the week, and on the weekends, from 8AM to 9PM.
When the parking lot was constructed, the buildings were muggle-proofed, the tours began.
Harry hated this part. Question after question from concerned wizards and witches. He was the one in charge of tours, essentially the 'face' of this whole thing. The others were busy with preparations, and keeping up with the business side of things.
The muggle prime minister came to visit with his family, along with the American Minister of Magic. The two of them got on quite well, actually. Adam Smith seemed to be a godsend to Harry, and helped him convince the Prime Minister that this could be a way of introducing the muggle and magical world to one another, in a controlled setting.
After all, select muggles already knew about the magical world- muggleborn's parents, the Prime Minister's men, and the villagers who'd already discovered the village.
The village would be open to the public, as long as the businesses were legally registered in the muggle and magical world.
Draco scowled at the stacks of paperwork around him. "It's not fair, having to give taxes to both the Muggles and our Ministry, and all these fees and stupid paperwork that the muggles have us fill out!"
Luna kissed his cheek, hugging him from behind. "Darling, think of all the money the muggles will be giving us, and all the research opprotunities. Anyways, now that Vita is registered as a muggle company, we can start doing things there too." She pointed out.
"But why do I have to do all the paperwork,and you guys get to do all the fun stuff?"
Luna giggled. "But you're so good at it!"
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Lu. I'm serious."
She kissed his pouting lips, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Draco, we could always hire someone to do the paperwork. A muggle for the muggle side, and a magical person for the magical side of things. Despite how fantastic you are, our holdings are just too much."
"At least the Goblins are keeping track of the money. It's just...I know that if I do it, it will be done correctly."
"But spreading yourself too thin will allow for more mistakes. Tell you what, I'll look for someone in the muggle world, and you can find someone here in the wizarding world that would be available to work with us."
Draco glanced around their sitting room. "Where is Neville and Harry?"
Luna giggled. "Oh, they're...busy."
Draco's brow rose. "Oh?" She grabbed his hand, and tugged him away from his paperwork, leading him to the bedroom.
He was mad. Yeah, that had to be it. He couldn't get that girl out of his head. Mark Walker had never felt this way about a girl before. Padma certainly was beautiful, and he'd never met anyone like her before.
He was crazy to be doing this, after what had happened last time, but he had snuck back to that Hogsmeade village again. Funnily enough, he found that they were constructing a road that lead to one of the main roads in the area. So...maybe this wasn't going to be a super secret research facility anymore?
He waded through the long grass, stopping short as he saw some sort of creatures up at the front gates. They were sitting in booths, talking to each other in a funny language. He frowned, and straightened his shoulders.
All the creatures looked his way, and he fought to keep from turning back around. "Hullo."
One of the creatures spoke up, obviously repeated a speech it had memorized. "Welcome to Hogsmeade. This village was founded in 1012; only opening to the public just recently. Your money cannot work here, but we can exchange it for you for a small fee..." It smirked, showing off some sharp fangs, extending it's clawed hand.
"Uh..." Mark held out a wad of cash. "I've only got a bit..."
"No matter." The Goblin held the bills up to the light, eyes narrowing, and tucked it into a drawer. He handed Mark a few fat golden coins, a couple of bronze ones, and some silver ones.
"Those are galleons, sickles, and knuts. There will be a chart at each shop to help you with the conversion rates."
"Er...thank you." Mark walked towards the gates, which opened on their own. He shuddered, thinking it was a bit creepy. He walked around, looking about. People dressed in...normal clothes, and funny looking robes were walking around, shopping, carrying about their business. He stopped short as he saw Padma talking to a Chinese man, standing on the corner.
He walked closer, curious.
"Mr. Hui, I think we could be a bit more productive in our division if we included some northern species of plants that did not require sunlight- we could keep them inside, saving room in our greenhouses."
"Ai, I will speak to Mr. Longbottom about it. Thank you, Padma, that is certainly a good idea. Not many greenhouses focus on-" He stopped short, catching sight of Mark. "Who are you?"
Padma turned, and blinked in surprise.
"Hi Padma." Mark said shyly.
Padma flushed furiously, and Hui chuckled to himself. "I'll see you after lunch, Padma."
"Yes sir." She called after the man that was walking away. She looked back to Mark. "How did you get here? The road hasn't been finished yet. Luna hasn't even finished the advertisements."
"Oh...I...er walked here. I wanted to see you again."
Padma looked away, looking rather nervous. After she'd flown Mark back to Woodcroft, they'd talked a bit more, and she'd found that he was rather interesting. For a muggle. And rather attractive too.
"Oh. Well, I'm on my lunch break. I was just about to go back home...would you like to have lunch with me?"
Mark grinned. "Sure."
Arriving to the house, Mark met her roommates, Hermione, Daphne, and Susan. Hermione worked for the Potions Research department, while Daphne worked in Finances, and Susan worked with the Magical Text Preservation department. The girls teased him and Padma about each other, and left them alone to finish their lunch.
"This is really good."
"Oh...it's only leftovers. Susan's a good cook. The rest of us are actually pretty terrible at it."
"So...um, you like living here?"
Padma nodded quickly. "I do. My sister and I went to the school here, before it was destroyed. She goes to New Hogwarts in Bristol, now."
Mark smirked, and teased her. "Is your sister as pretty as you are? I've got a younger brother..."
Padma giggled. "We're twins, but we're not anything alike."
"Oh. So...I was thinking, maybe we could go on a date sometime. Or two. I mean, you could show me Hogsmeade, and I could show you Woodcroft."
Padma reached for his hand across the table. "I'd like that."
Luna looked proudly at the advertisements, nodding to herself. "These look great, everyone!" She put all the ads into a file folder. They were in the fledgling offices of the Hogsmeade Hail, a sister paper to the Quibbler. The Hogsmeade Hail and the Quibbler were just one of many newspapers that were owned by Vita's publishing company, MagiPress.
While the Quibbler reported on muggle and magical things throughout the world, the Hogsmeade Hail focused on events occuring within the village- not just Vita business, but employee's birthdays, birth announcements, shop sales, and the like. It also helped the departments keep track of what was going on outside of their department.
However, Luna was going to the muggle world today, to put in a few of their advertisments into their newspapers. The road had just finished construction two days before hand, and the village was finally ready. She apparated to Woodcroft, in an alley way. She transfigured her dress into something a bit more appropriate for a muggle office, and pulled her hair back. She took a cab to a newspaper office.
"Hullo."
The man at the desk stared at her, mouth dropped as he continued to hold the phone to his ear. "...I'll call you back Steve. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. Alright. Later." He then hung up, and looked her up and down. "Have I seen you before?"
Luna blinked. She hadn't been expecting that. "I don't believe so..."
"Oh." He sounded dissapointed. "So, how can I help you today?"
"I'd like to talk to someone in your advertising department, please." She held up her file. "I have some advertisements for a business I'd like to put in your paper.'
"Oh...uh, take the elevator to the third floor, and turn left. I'll uh...let Mr. Roy know you're on your way."
"Thank you!" Luna chirped, while the man punched in a few numbers on his phone. As she walked away, he began to speak.
"Hey Greg. Sorry, I know you said not to bother you, but there's a girl that's going to be visiting your office. Says she has some ads she wants to put in the paper. How old? Uh...kind of young. Why? Oh yeah, she's definitely cute. I dunno what she was advertising for, but with a body like that, well-"
Luna knocked on an office door- a Mr. Roy was printed on the name plate.
"Come in, come in."
She walked in, smiling as she saw a rather messy office and a man standing at his desk. He was rather good looking, if a bit haphazardly dressed.
"So, you must be the girl. You have some advertisements for me?" She did not notice how his eyes went up and down her body. While wearing a suit, it fit her tightly, and looked rather good on her.
"Yes- here-" She handed the file over, and he stopped looking at her long enough to take a look at them.
"Huh. These are pretty good. Hey, wait, this is for that Hogsmeade village!"
Luna smiled. "Yes, it is. We're opening it to the public, now. The official opening weekend will be next week."
"This is great! Hey, you think we could send a reporter over there for the opening weekend?"
"I don't see why not. I'll have to speak with the others first, of course, but-"
"What's your name again?"
Luna just smiled. "Sorry. I'm Luna Lovegood." He shook her hand briskly, all business now.
"I'm Greg Roy. Tell you what, I'll put the full page ad up if we could send a reporter there this week, and we'll give you a discounted rate for the ads for the next two weeks. What do you say?" He asked this, knowing that this news would sell a lot of papers.
"That would be fabulous."
Greg leaned back in his chair, grinning. "So, you work at the village?"
Luna nodded. "I do."
"You work with their press?"
"Among other things. I'm multi-talented."
Of course, his mind being the gutter, he took this the wrong way. "I see." He smirked. She was oblivious.
"Well, I suppose I should get going, then. Could we arrange for you to send the reporter on Thursday? We have something special going on that night, for the employees. Perhaps they would like to come and see."
"...Of course. May I come as well?"
"I don't see why not. Thank you for doing business with us, sir." She said with a grin, and walked out.
Greg ran a hand through his hair. "Wow. I hope all the girls at this village are as good looking as her."
Renni was a good elf, she really was. She wanted to do her best, but she was having trouble. Their Lead elf, Dippy, was being mad at her.
"Elfling, you is spelling it wrong again!"
"I is sorry, Lead Dippy, I is trying better!" She cried.
There were a team of twelve elves sitting on the top floor of the Magical Text Preservation building. Each of them had an old tome in front of them, and were practicing their letters while copying the texts.
"You is being bad, elfling, you is be helping Bane with his washing tonight!" Renni was horrified at the prospect. Bane was the meanest of the centaurs, and he hated it when the elves came near him.
"No! Please, I is doing better!"
Renni didn't want to be kicked again by Bane. She was only a little elfling, one of the youngest in their group.
"You best be practicing." Dippy turned to the others. "All of youse be better working, or youse will get clothes!" All the elves shuddered, pens writing threat was empty, since none of them technically had Masters anymore, but the reaction was still there.
Richard was terribly excited. He was tugging his Father behind him as they walked through the parking lot. It was a good thing they had arrived early, because the parking lot was filling up fast. The villagers of Woodcroft were excited to do something new, and after the article in the newspaper, they couldn't wait to go to Hogsmeade.
The boy and his Father waited in line at the gates, so their money could be converted. The creatures at the gates were a bit scary, but kind of happy looking. Richard guessed (correctly) that they liked lots of money. This was going to be the best day ever!
"Come on Dad, I want to see if they've got a broom shop! Jenny reckons she saw somebody flying on a broom last week!"
So...here you go. Sorry about the really, really long wait. I've been working on all of my stories, and I've been terribly busy with Real Life.
I hope you guys like this chapter- I rewrote it like four times. Please review!