QLFC Semi-Finals: Classics
Chudley Cannons
Seeker
Prompt: Les Miserables - Revolution
Word Count: 1419
Theo cleared his throat and almost jumped at the immediate feedback from the microphone. He glanced up briefly, meeting Padma and Hermione's encouraging eyes, and smiled back at them nervously.
"Thank you all for coming," Theo addressed the rest of the crowd. "We have a very exciting product launch to announce today, one that we have been working on for the last four years."
"This product was the project that brought us together, and because of that we have put countless hours of work and research into making it as perfect as it can be. It feels very strange to be standing here announcing its release when we've been working on it for so long, but it's ready."
He paused and looked out at the crowd. "And we believe it will revolutionize the wizarding world."
There were excited murmurings from the crowd of reporters.
"When Padma and I started this project together during our last year at Hogwarts, we were trying to come up with something clever to get us a good score on our Charms NEWTs. It did get us good grades, of course, but it never would have become what is today without the intervention of our Head Girl, Hermione Granger. She stumbled across Padma and I just as we were making the first prototype, and since then her input, research, and encouragement have been invaluable to the project."
Theo looked over at Hermione, who looked rather embarrassed at all the attention.
"Well, without further ado, I suppose we should show you what you've been waiting for. Padma?"
Padma stepped forward, just to the side of the podium, and opened the flat rectangular box that she'd been holding in her hands. She reached inside it and took out what appeared to be a rectangular piece of glass about the size of her hand, with bronzed metal enclosing the edges. Theo heard the audience start to murmur in confusion and curiosity, and a few started taking pictures.
"This," Theo told them, "is the Tele-Glass." He saw a few reporters perk up a little at the name.
"For hundreds of years, the wizarding world has been relying on owl mail and Floo calls to communicate with each other. I don't know about all of you, but I got rather tired of kneeling by my fireplace and waiting hours or even days for a response by owl." Quite a few people were nodding in agreement.
"Our Tele-Glass allows instant communication," Theo continued, "without waiting on an owl or bruising one's knees."
Everybody started shouting questions at Theo all at once. He felt overwhelmed and could hardly make out any one sentence.
"Quiet! Quiet, please!" The cacophony of voices settled to a low rumble. "Padma and Hermione are going to give a demonstration. Hopefully that will answer many of your questions, and if not, I will attempt to answer as many as I can in an orderly fashion afterwards." Theo nodded towards Padma, eager to move the attention off of himself.
"Thanks, Theo," Padma said. "The Tele-Glass can send both handwritten and typed messages to anyone else with a Tele-Glass. It comes with a specially designed quill stylus if you prefer to write, and alphabet touch-keys appear on the surface for typing, like so."
Padma lifted the Tele-Glass up in the air so that the crowd could see as she demonstrated how to send a message. She used the quill stylus at first and then switched to the keyboard, writing a simple note: Hello, friend! How are you? - Padma. When she was done, she tapped the word Send in the bottom corner. The Tele-Glass in her hand made a chiming noise, and then just a moment later, an answering chime came from Hermione's pocket.
Hermione withdrew another Tele-Glass from her pocket and showed the crowd that a small box had appeared at the top of her screen. New message from Padma! It said. Hermione tapped on it, and Padma's half-written, half-typed message appeared.
There was a round of oohs and aahs from the crowd, and the snapping noise of cameras going off. Theo finally felt like this might be going pretty well.
"You can also send voice messages by tapping this icon," Hermione said, holding up the Tele-Glass and pointing to a small icon above the keyboard, and then tapping it. "I'm doing well, thank you." She pressed the Send button when she was done, and the same chiming noises sounded.
Padma opened the message when it showed up on her Tele-Glass, and Hermione's voice came out, causing more noises of appreciation from the crowd.
"Now, we have one more feature to show you," Padma said, and glanced over at Hermione, who nodded and Apparated away. "We're calling this one 'Face-to-Face'. All you do is press this icon, and give Hermione just a moment to accept…" After a moment, Padma's Tele-Glass chimed, and Hermione's face appeared on the glass screen.
"Hello, Padma!" She said with a wave. The crowd exploded to life, talking so loud that Theo couldn't hear what Padma and Hermione were saying anymore. Padma was attempting to show a few other features of the Tele-Glass, like the hands-free hover and silencing, but it was so noisy he doubted anyone heard.
"Alright, thank you! Thank you!" Theo shouted, regaining control of the crowd. "I'm pleased that you all are just as excited about the launch of the Tele-Glass as we are. If anyone has questions, I would be happy to answer them now in an orderly manner, please."
The questions came rapid fire.
"Do you think this will completely replace communication by owl and Floo?"
"Can multiple people use the same Tele-Glass?"
"Is this like the muggle cell phones?"
"What is the range of the Tele-Glass?"
"What is the price point?"
Theo held up a hand. The audience calmed down a little, and he composed himself to try and answer as many questions as he could.
"We don't think the Tele-Glass will replace owls or Floo completely. Multiple people can use the same Tele-Glass. This project was very much inspired by the muggle cell phones, but at this point has moved far beyond what their devices are capable of at the moment." He saw quite a few nods of approval at his last sentence.
"The Tele-Glass' range is worldwide. There are no international barriers or long-distance complications. You can talk to anyone, anywhere with a Tele-Glass."
"The starting price point is twenty Galleons." Theo heard some murmurs at that. "For all the work we put into it," he continued, "and everything the Tele-Glass is capable of, it's honestly probably too low. But the three of us decided that we couldn't charge more than that for the base model, simply because of how much we think it can benefit the wizarding world for the better if everyone can afford at least one for their household."
"We also have decided," Theo glanced over at Padma, and Hermione smiling and nodding from the Tele-Glass screen, "to send everyone here today home with their own Tele-Glass free of charge."
The audience broke out in a cacophony of shouted questions, camera flashes, and loud noises. Theo honestly couldn't tell if it was a positive reaction or not.
"Thank you all for coming out," he shouted into the microphone over the din. "You can each pick up your Tele-Glass at the door on your way out!"
Theo quickly backed away from the podium and retreated behind the curtain to the side of the platform, Padma close behind him.
"Was that bad?" Theo asked Padma. "I feel like it went poorly at the end."
"Not at all!" Padma cried.
"Definitely not," Hermione agreed, still on the Tele-Glass screen. "Wait, give me a second."
The Face-to-Face ended, and almost immediately afterwards Hermione Apparated in next to them.
"It went very well, Theo," Hermione said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Were there some people out in that audience who hated it? Of course. But there will always be some people dissatisfied with change and progress, and this is a pretty big dose of both."
"I was watching the audience," Padma added, "and I think there were far more people excited about the Tele-Glass out there than not."
"Okay," Theo sighed, feeling reassured. Maybe the product launch had gone well, after all.
"Come on, then," Padma said, grabbing both their hands. "Let's go get celebratory drinks."
Theo laughed and let himself be dragged along with Hermione. Tomorrow they could see just how much they'd changed the wizarding world.