Chapter 10: To Get The Job Done, Delegate

A few days after Harry had assimilated the Elven and Goblin magic knowledge, Katie Bell celebrated her seventeenth birthday at the Weasley Twins Joke shop in Diagon Alley. Present for the celebration were her close friends Alicia Spinnet, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson and the Weasley twins. After cutting the cake and singing the birthday song, they were ready to proceed to the Leaky Cauldron from lunch when Katie received an owl from Gringotts. Curious as to what Gringotts might want to do with her, she tore up the envelope and read the letter.

Dear Ms. Katherine Anna Campbell,

Congratulations on attaining the age of majority. As required by the charter of the Lily Evans Educational Foundation, we have reviewed your academic and extracurricular achievements and are very pleased with the high standards you have set for yourself and achieved. We wish you luck with the remaining year of your education. The Foundation considers it an honor to fund the remaining year of education of such a bright student.

My office has been requested to suggest a candidate for a summer internship position in a new company and I am pleased to inform you that we have suggested your name as a prime candidate. This position requires the candidate have good peoples skills and be able to work independently and expeditely. More information will be available during the interview. Secrecy oaths will have to be taken before accepting the job. What makes the internship really attractive is the pay.

If you wish to apply for this position, please say 'I accept' and tap this parchment with your wand anytime between 2-3 PM today. You will portkey directly to the conference room.

Good luck with your interview,
Happy Birthday once again,
Grimtooth, Manager, Lily Evans Educational Foundation

"I have never received a letter from Gringotts before," commented Katie and before she could explain Alicia and Angelina grabbed the letter from her and started reading.

"Katherine"

"Anna"

"Campbell"

"All these years we knew her"

"We did not even know her name"

"And we wonder"

"If we were bad friends"

"Or if our dear Katie Bell"

"Has been hiding things from us"

The twins said in their characteristic ping pong speech.

"Wait Katie! You are LEEF too?" Alicia enquired.

"I am too" said Angelina. "So are Lee and the twins."

"In fact my whole family is educated thanks to LEEF", Fred said solemnly.

"God bless her soul. May Lily Evans rest in peace!" added George.

"Who is this person anyway, Lily Evans?" enquired Katie.

"Are..."

"You..."

"Kidding..."

"You don't know who..."

"Lily Evans is?"

"Not a clue! I enquired in Gringotts once and they shooed me away." replied Katie.

"Lily Evans is..."

"The mother of ..."

"Our very own..."

"Green-eyed hero"

"Harry James Potter."

"Whoa! all these years and I never knew." Angelina commented.

"I have always known her as Lily Potter, wonder why they named the foundation on her maiden name!" Alicia wondered.

"Are you serious? Then the Foundation would no longer be LEEF right?" Lee Jordan snickered.

"Nah! I think it is to make sure that Harry Potter does not get any more attention." Angelina reasoned.

"I doubt if Harry knows about this foundation." Katie wondered.

"Probably not! So Katie you going?" Alicia asked.

"Of course I am. Beats being jobless and galleon-less."

Katie activated the portkey and was taken to a conference room. Sitting across the desk was the Goblin Viperblade and a man with a hood on that shrouded his facial features.

"Good Afternoon Ms. Bell. I know you have a lot of questions but before that, I need you to sign this document with a blood quill. This document states that you will keep anything discussed or revealed to you during the meeting today a secret. You shall not willingly or unwilling disclose this sensitive information to anyone including, but not limited to, Tom Morvalo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort and his minions the Death Eaters, Albus Dumbledore and his minions, the Order of the Phoenix or anyone who works at the Ministry or the general public who has not signed such an oath."

"During course of your duties, should you accept this job, you will be required to disclose some facts but you shall do so only after requesting them to sign a similar oath. You will also be required to wear either these ear rings and/or this necklace at all times as these have charms to safe-guard your mind against Leglimency i.e. mind reading techniques generously used by Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. Your payment should you accept your job would be a total of 1,000 galleons for the months of July and August. Do you wish to sign this document?"

Katie's eyes bulged out of her sockets at the pay. She readily signed the secrecy document with the blood quill.

"Hello Katie", she heard a familiar voice and looked up to find a familiar set of green-eyes.

"HARRY POTTER! Is this a joke set up by the twins?" Katie said disbelievingly.

"Of course not! Nobody knows that I am away from my muggle prison. Let us discuss the business, I am afraid I really don't have that much free time."

"First Katie, you are not to mention to anyone about my involvement in this company. If someone asks you then you will only refer to me as your 'boss'. There are a lot of things at stake here and I don't want you to get into any trouble." Katie nodded.

"Now, you know that it has been proven that Voldemort is back. The ministry, instead of preparing itself and the public for the upcoming war, is hiding its head in the sand like an Ostrich. Dumbledore has not done anything concrete in terms of keeping all my friends alive. So here is where your role comes in."

"I want you to visit each students house irrespective of their blood status, yes, that means visiting them in the muggle world too and offer them a chance to put up wards around their house for their protection. Here is a list of all the wards that will be put up." Harry handed her a parchment. Katie's eyes bugged out at the comprehensiveness of the list. "This is an all or none list. That means they cannot be picky. They will need to donate a few drops of blood to personalize the wards and make it stronger. Are you with me so far?"

"Wow Harry! I don't know too much about wards, but these houses will be as protected as Hogwarts! This is an amazing. I am definitely interested. But wont this cost them a fortune?"

"My company charges 1,000 galleons per property for the wards on that list. If this is done by the curse breakers at Gringotts, it costs about 78,000 galleons. I have included an invoice from Gringotts to prove my claim. Don't bother about how I worked out my business model. Believe me, I am making a profit."

"To make the deal sweeter for our customers, here are some pre-approved loan forms from Gringotts for the 1,000 galleons at 5 percent interest per annum. This loan needs to be paid back in full with interest within 5-7 years. Some exceptions may be made to extend the time for repayment of the loan. What do you think?"

"WOW! How will the customers know that the wards are working?"

"Good Question! Here is a form to request a curse breaker from Gringotts to come over and evaluate the wards. Their nominal fee is 50 galleons. They will need to contact Gringotts on their own and arrange this evaluation. Does this sound like something you want to do this summer?"

"Harry, Thank you! I will not let you down. I realize that you would want to get as many people as possible, as soon as possible right?"

"Yes. Contact the DA and they will be the first priority. I think we can manage at least 5 properties per night. Voldemort usually does something drastic on my birthday to piss me off. So as much as the world should be warded on or before July 31st. Do you understand the importance of your mission?"

"Yes Harry! Believe me! I do. I understand that Vol..Voldemort should not have any idea of this. Why not the ministry or Dumbledore?"

Harry sighed before replying. "The Ministry is riddled with death eater moles. The moment they know about this, they will try to target you to know who is behind this. The necklace and the ear rings I gave you, are untraceable portkeys to this conference room. They also protect you from leglimency. I have a lot of issues with Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix. They wish to keep me a prisoner at my relative's home and believe in information-blockade. So when you discuss this with the twins, tell them that they will get this deal for their shop and apartment, but not for the Burrow. We don't want Bill Weasley poking his nose in this business. He is a direct conduit to Dumbledore. Moreover, I have a better deal for the Burrow. I leave it up to you to make arrangements for this venture. When you have the list of properties to be warded ready for the night, call for Toothy, a house-Elf. He will work with you on these."

"There is no down payment and the price is very reasonable for safety. All they have to do is sign the loan forms and we are set. This is a perfect solution." Katie replied back with determination.

"Remember Katie! Please don't mention my name to anyone. Don't contact me at all. If you have any questions, address it to Viperblade, the Goblin. Absolute secrecy is essential. If the word gets out, things will turn ugly. Also, every member of the customers family receives an untraceable portkey to a safe location and also the leglimency protection free of cost even if they choose not to do the wards. Viperblade has all the necessary forms and supplies. "

"So what do you say? Ready to do business?" Katie nodded her head vigorously. "This money bag is linked to your vault. Viperblade will help you set it up. Also, did I forget to mention a 50 galleons bonus for every property that is warded?"

"Harry! You really should not throw your money away like that! I would have worked for less you know?"

"Katie, I would gladly paid you more. I am making money in this business, remember? Moreover, money can be earned, but life once lost cannot be regained."

"Thank you Harry!" Katie walked around the table and gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek.

"I have to go now. I have another interview to conduct." Harry winked and left.

While Katie was reading her letter from Gringotts, two other Hogwarts students, Cho Chang and Su Li received similar letters. When they activated the portkey, they landed in another conference room at Gringotts.

Harry walked into the conference room with his hood up. He greeted the two young women politely and gave them the same speech about the secrecy oath. Both Cho Chang and Su Li signed the oath with the blood quill.

"Hi Cho and Su". Harry withdrew his mask. "I know you are surprised to see me here, but I really need two experts on charms and Arithmancy to solve a problem for me. Would you both be interested? Other than the 1,000 galleon pay each of you will receive, I am willing to give another 1,000 galleons (i.e. 500 each) as a bonus if you solve the problem."

"Lets hear it Potter. Tell us more about the problem?" enquired Su. Cho was still in shock seeing Harry, but she nodded.

"I need you to find a way to break a magical binding. I know for a fact that when you break the magical bindings on a house-Elf, it turns into the mythical 'Elf', you know much taller, smaller eyes and with an ability to do magic on its own. This has never been attempted and you both will be famous if you can solve this. I will personally recommend you both for an Order of the Merlin award. So what do you say?"

Su looked at Harry as if he had lost his marbles. Cho's eyes narrowed and asked, "You love her, don't you?"

"Love who, Cho?" Harry was confused at the abrupt change in topic.

"Granger! That's who! You want to do this for her!" Cho spat.

Harry could not believe she had accused him of being that shallow. "Of course I love her, Cho! But, I am not in love with her. Do you honestly believe that I am crazy enough to spend so much time setting this up and blow 3,000 galleons just to impress her? Do you really think that I am that shallow? Get over your insecurities Cho. We had history together, but it was only one date and that is how it is going to be. We both know that neither of us are compatible with each other. You were hurting because of Cedric and believe me, so was I. I still have nightmares about that night."

"I have too many things going on in my life to date anybody. I lost my parents when I one. I grew up in an abusive household. My bedroom till I started Hogwarts was the cupboard under the stairs. I was treated like a house-Elf by my relatives in a house that I got to know recently that I own it. I fought for my life every year I was at Hogwarts. I was directly responsible for Cedric's death. I encouraged him that we both should share the Triwizard Cup. Pity, the cup, which was a portkey, took us to Voldemort. I fought deatheaters last month and I lost my godfather, the only person who ever loved me, because I was too stupid to not know a trap when it stares at you. Voldemort is back and is gunning to kill me. For all you know, I might die before I graduate from Hogwarts. I wish to leave a legacy behind by helping to liberate the house-Elves."

Harry took a deep breath while the two witches looked at him wide-eyed at his confessions. No one really knew about this side of the story. "I am sorry I lost my cool Cho! I have a memory orb here with all my memories of Cedric if it will help you find acceptance. I knew that you needed a friend to talk to about Cedric, but that topic was too raw for me to discuss and I could not really be that person. So hopefully my memories should help you." Harry handed her the box. "I really hope that we can put aside our differences and work together towards this goal. "

"The Foundation... By the way, you do know that Lily Evans is my mother, right?" Both Cho and Su were even more surprised by that revelation. "The Foundation recommended you both as the best in the two subjects and I hope that you can work together to solve the problem. If you need anything, anything at all, call for Tully the Elf. Books, potions, anything, there is no spending limit. But please use your judgment. Would you two want to work on it?"

"I will surely do it for you Harry and I am sorry! I had lost focus on what was important." Cho apologized.

"I will also do it Potter. At least it will help me with a similar problem I have with my muggleborn cousin."

"What do you mean Su? And please call me Harry!"

"You know that when you refuse to enroll in Hogwarts or one of the other magical schools, the ministry obliviators obliviate you and bind your magic right?" Su enquired.

"WHAT? How dare they!!" Harry was so shocked at the revelation that he lost control his magic and his aura flared filling the whole room with bright light. The two witches took a step back seeing the display of power.

Seeing the plight of the witches, Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds calming down. "I am sorry! I shouldn't have lost my control like that. Every time I think the ministry cannot do worse, I am dispelled of that belief. I would really appreciate it if you make any progress on this. Let me know if you want me to recruit anyone else to help you with this project."

"Another thing! Please tell enquiring minds that you are working on a summer project for extra credit in class. I don't want you mentioning my name anywhere. In fact as your boss, I demand that you not disclose my role in this. This information should not reach Voldemort, Ministry or even Dumbledore. Trust me when I tell you that Dumbledore is a manipulative old-coot who uses leglimency to read thoughts and memories of his students. Same goes for Snape who is also a master leglimens. So please wear this necklace and/or ear rings all the time. It blocks leglimency attacks and also acts as an emergency portkey."

"If that is all, I thank you, Cho and Su. I have to go now. Please contact Viperblade at Gringotts with your weekly reports. If you need anything, feel free to call Tully. Here are your vault keys with your pay already deposited in it."

"So who was it? Did you get the job?" Alicia asked as soon as Katie entered the soon to be opened Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes.

"YES! I got the job! And a very important one too", Katie almost did a jig while making the announcement.

"So who do you work with? And what do you do?" Angelina enquired.

"I can't tell you that. I swore a secrecy oath." Everyone in the room raised an eyebrow at that. "However, I have a business proposition for you all. But I can't tell you unless you sign this document with this blood quill." Everyone winced at the mention of a blood quill, memories of Umbridge flooding their minds. Katie handed over the secrecy oath to Angelina, Alicia, Lee and the Weasley twins. Everyone took a few moments to peruse through the document.

"Wow! I have never seen a more tamper-proof magic contract. And to think we thought that the Goblin contracts were tamper-proof." Fred commented.

"I know what you mean my brother! Never seen a contract where it describes what happens if you break the contract. Did you read that? Your magic gets bound and you go into a magical coma for 24 hours. If the contract has not been absolved within that time by the original creator or their designee, you die. It is a very humane contract that has provided a loop-hole for accidental breakage of a contract without malicious intent." George replied.

Fred agreed. "We should get this person to craft more contracts for our business."

"Fred, did you see that Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix have been specifically included in the list of people with whom we can't discuss this business. Not that we can discuss it with anyone who has not signed the contract."

The twins looked at each other and shared a silent communication that only twins can and said together, "YEP! We are interested" and signed the oaths with the blood quill provided.

"You are not going to regret it", Katie said with the widest grin on her face. This motivated the others in the room to sign the documents too. Katie whipped out her wand and cast a privacy ward, followed by the muffliato spell.

"Whoa! what was that spell. It felt as though my ears were ringing for a second." Lee enquired.

"That is a patented anti-evesdropping charm. My boss has given me permission to use it for these meetings. But I have not yet asked him permission to use it for personal use." Katie replied.

"Anyway, here is the business proposal. How would you like..." Katie paused dramatically while handing out another document to everyone, "... to have these wards installed at your business or homes at a nominal fee?"

"Proximity alarm ward triggered by Dark Mark bearers, Werewolves, Vampires, Dementors, Inferi, Giants, Centaurs, Veela, Dwarves and Wizards with key-in exceptions, Malintent Wards, Unplottable wards, Anti-Underage Magic Detention Wards, Key-in Anti-apparition and Anti-portkey wards including anti-Parseltongue-portkey wards, Key-in Anti-Broomstick and Anti-Magic-Carpet wards, Key-in Floo protection wards, Key-in Anti-Elf-Transport wards, Key-in Muggle-repelling wards, Key-in Squib-repelling wards, Key-in Wizard-repelling wards, Key-in Magical creature repelling wards, Key-in Animagus repelling wards... " The twins whistled on reading the list. The others just looked at Katie wide-eyed.

"I didn't even know that all these wards were available." Alicia exclaimed.

"My home has almost no wards around it. I had convinced Oliver Wood to cast a proximity and anti-apparition ward last summer. Even he admitted that they were very weak." Angelina explained.

"These wards are spectacular, just short of a Fidelius charm. I bet these are going to cost a fortune. I know that Bill said wards are very expensive." George commented.

"You are right! These wards will cost a fortune if you go through Gringotts." Katie said handing out the Gringotts invoice. The audience's eyes bugged out at seeing the figure. "But..." Katie paused dramatically, "My company will charge you only 1,000 galleons for it. There are a few conditions though."

"Just 1,000 for all this?? How? Will the wards be strong enough?" Angelina sputtered.

"Don't worry about how we manage to do it at such a low cost. My boss says that we are still making a profit. And the wards will be as strong as the wards at St. Mungos" Katie explained.

"Who is your boss and what is the name of your company? This is too good an offer." Lee demanded.

"I can't tell you the name of my boss. Let us just say that we are 'A New Company'." Katie grinned. "Get it, get it??"

"A New Company, huh?" Fred grinned. "Blood genius is what it is!" George laughed. "The perfect anonymous name for a company!"

"Pity I don't have a thousand galleons, or I would have signed a contract right now." Alicia sighed.

Katie couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Here, have a look at this then!" Katie handed over the Gringotts pre-approved loan applications.

"Your boss is an absolute genius! How did he manage to convince the Goblins? A 5-7 year loan to clear off with only 5% annual rate of interest? We have never heard of this kind of personal loan." Fred almost shrieked. "How did he manage it?" George asked excitedly.

"You said it! My Boss is a genius." Katie grinned.

"Fifty galleons per contract is a pretty good incentive to love your boss." Alicia joked.

"How did you know that?" Katie was surprised. She had not revealed anything about her pay.

"It is in the loan contract." Lee replied. "It says here that 'Fifty galleons would go towards the commission of the person who brokered the deal' that is obviously you. And you are to give a form, using which we can request a Gringotts curse breaker to certify the wards at a cost of 50 galleons. But we have to deal directly with Gringotts for that."

"So all I have to do is sign the contract, my loan with the amazing deal is pre-approved and wards will be installed at my home within a few days? Alright, what is the catch? There is always a catch!" Angelina asked skeptically.

"The catch is that 1) Each member of the household donates 3 drops of blood. This includes the house-Elves too if any. 2) Every member of the household is put in an enchanted sleep during the process of warding, so I will be the only person from my team they will ever interact with. 3) Each member is required a wear a piece of jewelry on their person every day. This jewelry is charmed to act as an emergency portkey to a safe house and also blocks leglimency attacks. 4) You are strongly encouraged to do your civic duty voting or by responding to ministry's public opinion advertisements." Katie explained.

"That's it? No ulterior motive? No hidden charges or commissions? No penalty on the loans?" Angelina asked disbelievingly.

"Nope! My boss wants as much of the world warded as soon as possible. My team should be able to ward AT LEAST 5 properties per night." Katie said with a smile.

"We would be fools not to sign the contracts. What do you say my twin?" Fred asked.

"I think we would like one contract for our shop and another for the Burrow" George replied.

"Umm... Can't do for the Burrow." The twins raised their eyebrows at this. Katie then explained, "My boss says that he has a better deal for the Burrow and he plans to approach Bill with the proposal next week. He says that it doesn't make sense to ward a house that would probably be rebuilt. He requests that you both keep this a secret till then."

In the meantime, Alicia, Angelina and Lee signed the contract. The twins signed the contract for the shop. Katie promised that their properties would be warded the next night.

Alicia sighed. "Pity this offer was not given last week. The Lovegoods and Bones residences were attacked and destroyed by death eaters. They could have used such strong wards."

Katie blanched at the news. "Are they alright? Did anybody get hurt? I promised my Boss that I will have the wards up before the next death eater attack. Any idea as to how I can speed this up?"

The twins looked at the contract and spoke up. "You know..."

"It doesn't say anywhere that..."

"You should be the one..."

"To broker the deals. So..."

"Technically, each of us..."

"Could do your work..."

"And spread this..."

"Like a spider web, so that..."

"We can cover as many..."

"People as possible, ..."

"As quickly as possible. And ..."

"Earn the 50 galleons per contract." Both the twins grinned.

"THAT IS BRILLIANT!!" Katie exclaimed. "I knew we were friends for a reason."

The twins looked gob smacked. "You mean..."

"You don't mind..."

"Giving up your pay?"

"Of course not! My main goal is not earning money. But to ensure the safety of our friends."

"Alright! So you boss is now our boss!" The twins declared. "Ours too!" The rest of the friends agreed.

"Fred, I was thinking..."

"Watch out for magical exhaustion, my twin! Thinking is a dangerous exercise."

"Our boss seems to have charmed our dear Katie, and put safety of our friends above all. He seems to detest Voldemort, the Ministry and also Dumbledore and the Order. Makes me wonder how he knows about the Order. Also, he or maybe his family seems to know a lot about wards, probably having created some of these wards, to be able to offer them at such a rate. Do we know such a person?" George grinned.

Seeing the panicked look on Katie's face, Fred said, "We probably do, my twin! We probably do!" and grinned. "Don't worry Katie-kins, our boss' secret is safe with us!"