… - …
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gloucester
September 2016
After their success with Ethan, Harry suggested, "The next time we get a hand, or a hand and wrist, you should do the procedure."
Hermione replied, "I couldn't, I'm not strong enough."
He thought for a moment and replied, "Maybe you are, maybe you just need a boost. Do you still like that eight-inch pencil wand that Winky made you?"
She replied, "Yes. It's the easiest for detailed work."
He was about to point out that living limb replacement was more about power and visualization, when sanity caught up with him, and he replied, "OK. I'll make you a bunch of 60,000 Julens pencil Firesticks. You could practice with them. Use them once and I'll get them recharged for you. They'll be just like yours, just a bit heavier."
… - …
On the first day of Laura's vacation, Dan took a day off from the practice. As Dobby and Ed watched, he carefully drilled two holes into the base of the pencil sized rod; there was hardly any wood separating the two holes and the unicorn hair core. Essentially the entire wand would be held together by glue. Showing the finished product to Harry, he suggested, "Let's try a slightly wider dowel, 7/16th rather than 3/8th. The extra thickness would ensure that there's a bit of space between the cobalt and the core."
Harry thought about it for a moment and countered, "The problem isn't with the 3/8th rod; it's the cobalt rods. They're too thick for this particular application. We don't need as much metal for a one-day Firestick. The wand core has to be in the center of the rod. Instead of a 1/8th cobalt rod, let's see if we can make a batch using 1/16th inch cobalt rods."
Dan asked, "How many should we order?"
Harry replied, "100 pieces."
The words hadn't finished leaving his lips when Ed disappeared. He was back a minute later with a box, stating, "Metal man had them in stock. Take one to try and I'll place the others in the closet in your office at the Salem school."
Dan pointed out, "Diameter is a funny thing. Two 1/16th inch pieces aren't that same as one 1/8th inch piece. You'd need four to have about the same amount of metal."
Harry nodded and asked, "Can you drill four holes in a rod the thickness of a pencil and not touch the core?"
Dan replied, "I can do it." He had an excellent drill press.
Harry replied, "The four mini rods should be able to hold 60,000 Julens. That should be enough for three tries at a hand."
Harry had plenty of that style of finished wands. He gave Dan a shoe box full. Dan spent the afternoon drilling holes. Harry could insert the rods and glue them in place the next day.
… - …
It frustrated Hermione to no end that there were no books on creating living hands. She did the next best thing and asked Harry for memories of when he was first practicing. He made her a dozen memory cubes.
The first one was Harry creating the base material that would be used to form the hands, or arms. As he muttered, "Conjurus," and a blob of what looked like liquid metal appeared, her initial thought was that this first step would be the hard part. Armed with 25 Firesticks, she had a true advantage over Harry's learning journey – she could practice dozens of times without tiring herself out.
Again and again she tried with no success. On the 40th attempt, a bright silver blob appeared. It almost felt that it was alive. She willed it to become a match of her right hand. She had just found a match that she liked when the hand disappeared. Her Firestick had run out of magic. She was frustrated to no end when she admitted to herself that she already used that particular Firestick four times before.
She tried it again, using a new Firestick. The liquid metal appeared and formed to her visualization. She let it disappear and tried it again with successful results. She tried it a third, then a fourth time. The liquid metal failed to appear on the fifth attempt. As such, she concluded that forming the material and forming a hand took just under 15,000 Julens.
She tried again and was a bit more confident each time. At the end of her practice, she asked Winky to take the used Firesticks to Harry's office in Salem, so they could be recharged. She hugged her friend and thanked her.
The next morning, she reviewed several other memories, and focused on the skintone matching process. Again, she practiced the steps that she'd mastered the day before then added the new step. She did it twice with the same wand before setting it down and practicing with a second, then with a third wand. By noon, she'd run out of wands, then admitted to herself that she'd practiced excessively, but had demonstrated significant progress.
...
Seeing as Hermione didn't have any patients at the clinic that week, as Laura was on vacation, she and Harry went out for dinner that night. After they'd been served, she asked, "How was your day?"
He replied, "I gifted 49 Firesticks today. The Middle East lakes are running smoothly. I'll be interviewing replacements for the Medina site in another month. I met with Ted. He updated me on the upcoming Wizengamot issues."
He continued, "Amelia has kept up with the Wizengamot seat appointments. She set them up as individual, lifelong seats, rather than multi-generational appointments. A lot of the people appointed worked at the Waterworks at one time or another."
He handed her the list that Ted had made.
Susan Bones – took up family seat
Neville Longbottom – took up family seat
Appointed to vacant seats
George Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Katie Bell, Colin Creevey. Anna Daily, Angelina Johnson, Oliver Wood, Ernie McMillan, Rose Moonshine, Mick Paulson, Dean Thomas, Remus Lupin.
She pointed out, "There are several newbloods, several halfbloods and a Were on the list. They all are wealthy and earned their own money. That's a serious shift in the balance of power, compared to where it was in 1995. I don't recognize Rose Moonshine or Mick Paulson."
"Rose taught Potions at Hogwarts for a few years after we left. She and her dad developed an aging process for whiskey that only takes 90 days to arrive at a whiskey that tastes 30 years-old. Mick was interviewing into the auror program when Katie ran into him. He's two years younger than us. Apparently the two of them are friends now. Ted told me that there were two seats remaining to be filled, but Amelia was leaving them to be chosen by the next Minister."
"Do you think Susan will run?"
Harry replied, "I'm going to nominate her. I expect that she'll accept. Nott will get nominated but I doubt that he'll get more than a dozen votes." Changing the subject, he asked, "How did your practicing go?"
"I made a lot of progress. I can conjure the material and am comfortable shaping it. I made a dozen hands."
Harry thought about it and commented. "Your progress is brilliant. I was a month into it before I could change skin tone, Did the Firesticks work OK?"
"Perfect. Would you be willing to make me a second batch?"
"No problem. Dan and I will make them tomorrow."
She added, "I believe that a hand and wrist could be created, sized, skin tone matched, attached and given life within the parameters of 25,000 Julens; probably 20,000 with a lot more practice. How long do they take to charge?"
"48 hours would see them almost completely charged. I usually leave the cobalt at the Vortex a week because there's no shortage."
"Could you make 36?"
"Sure. What did you have in mind?"
Hermione replied, "Two things. The days where we just have the simple cases – a hand and wrist of an adult, we could easily schedule six a day."
Harry asked, "How many names are on the list?"
"800. We stopped taking names. What did you have in mind?"
"Barchoke mentioned to me one time that limb loss was fairly common in their mining group. So when are you going to do your first hand replacement?"
She replied, "As soon as Laura gets back. It shouldn't be more than a week. Why?"
"Just wondering. Would it be a problem if she moved out to California?"
"Aside from another three time zones, no."
He suggested, "Why don't we switch the hours to better match our schedule? We could have an afternoon and an evening session rather than a morning and afternoon session. I get your reasoning for not wanting to practice in Salem, but we live in Massachusetts. I can't believe that Ethan would have felt bothered if we'd scheduled his procedure at 6 pm rather than was was effectively midnight for him."
She nodded and went back to her earlier worry. "About the attachments and activation...?"
Harry explained, "It's all about intent. I think attach and flick my wand toward the fresh cut. Then I think give life and give magic. You're throwing a massive amount of magic at it. Let it do the work."
She nodded.
"We'll make your Firesticks for you and get them charged up."
"Thanks."
… - …
Harry came home from London that Wednesday and said, "We need to reschedule the afternoon appointment tomorrow."
Hermione replied, "How so? We have one that won't take too long."
Harry asked, "Are you doing it? You're ready. We've been doing these for the better part of a year now."
She shook her head and replied, "It's above the elbow. I wanted to start with a simpler one."
Harry replied, "You're in luck."
"Why? Who are you trying to get in?"
"Charlie Weasley. One of his dragons bit his left hand off at the wrist and ate it. George told me that it was just above the wrist. I'm certain that he's strong and spends his time outdoors. It would be a great one to start with. Cut off the bottom three inches. It will be a lot less hectic than having Dean stretched out on our Tiki Bar. I'll reschedule that one to be the second morning appointment, so you're not rushed."
She asked, "You'll be there?"
"Yes, but you'll be in charge. Have Laura make the cut."
…
Thursday came. Laura sensed that something was different with the Potters. The two morning appointments were uneventful. At lunch, Hermione picked at her food for a while, then said, "Laura, you make the cut this afternoon. It will be a left forearm."
She nodded.
Laura went to the lobby and called Charlie in. She took his information. She learned that Charlie lived in Romania and worked on a dragon reserve. The bite had taken his hand off just above the wrist and Bito, the reserve director had cauterized it. His white blood cell count was elevated, but not horribly so.
She went in the office and conferred with Hermione, who suggested making the cut three inches higher, to get a clean cut. She went out and marked the location. Then she measured his right arm, from the tip of his finger to the back of his elbow.
…
Out in the lobby, Bito was conversing with Fred and George. After 20 minutes, Laura walked out and announced, "The procedure is finished. Charlie will be out in half an hour."
Molly stood up and declared, "I'd like to see him now."
Laura replied, "This isn't St. Mungo's. The visitors remain in the lobby until the patient is released. Mr. Weasley will be out in half an hour." Her tone was civil, but left no room for discussion.
…
Inside, Hermione was examining her work. The attachment looked perfect. Charlie could move his thick, calloused fingers. She asked, "Do you play the piano?"
He grinned and replied, "No." He caught the joke and quipped, "I'm not going to be able to play tomorrow either, will I?"
She held up her own hands and observed, "A pair like these wouldn't have served you very well. You'd better stick with the ones that you have. Call me if you have any problems. For what it's worth, no one's called yet. You're free to go."
"Thank you. Thanks."
…
Harry examined her firestick and tested it. She had consumed 30,000 Julens of the 60,000 firestick – half. There was no way that she'd be able to switch wands during the middle of a procedure. These were fine for arms, but creating a leg would be cutting it really close. He'd have to talk with Dan about adding capacity without changing the form factor.
Hermione came in and he asked her, "How do you feel?"
"Aside from being pregnant, like I could do these all day.'
"Good."
…
Dan's idea seemed workable. Instead of using four 4 inch pieces of 1/16th inch rod, he suggested using 5 or 6 inch long pieces. They made one of each and handed them to Hermione. She immediately commented about the 6 inch piece, stating that the balance felt funny. When Harry handed her the rod with the 5 inch pieces, she smiled and said, "I like this one." Effectively the Firestick went from 60,000 to 75,000 Julens. Harry was confident that she could use it to replace a leg.
Dan suggested, "You should destroy the existing 3/8th inch Firesticks. They're visually identical and don't have any limitations on them. They'd make nasty concealed weapons."
Harry agreed, so they burned the existing rods and recycled the cobalt. Within a week, she had a new set.
… - …
October 2016
On Thursday morning, Hermione announced, "My water's broke."
Three hours later, St. Mungos welcomed John and Emile Potter into the world.
… - …
The next day, after Laura had seen Hermione and the new twins, Emma asked to visit with the young healer for a while. She asked, "How's the practice going for you?"
Laura replied, "I've been doing follow-ups lately. No one has reported a problem with respect to their hand, or arm, their range-of-motion, or their magic."
Emma nodded and said, "Good. Any other complaints?"
"From the patients? Heavens no. They all realize what they've been given; especially those who'd gone without for a few years."
Emma asked, "Are you working tomorrow?"
"Just a bit in the morning."
Emma nodded and replied, "Could you be a dear and drop this off at Gringotts London tomorrow? Harry forgot it."
"Sure. I've never been there."
Emma replied, "OK. Let me see your portkey watch." She looked up the coordinates, set the watch and said, "Gringotts London." When she was done, she handed it back to the younger woman.
Laura smiled and replied, "Thanks."
…
The next day, Laura unknowingly arrived at the VIP portkey area just before noon. It had been warded so only those wearing the Gringotts portkey watches could arrive there. The guard nodded at her and held the door to the main lobby open for her. She said, "Thank you," as she walked by.
Chiptooth saw her as she entered the main lobby. He didn't recognize her personally, as he'd never met her before, but immediately noticed that she was wearing one of the Potter gifted portkey watches. He walked up to her and said, My name is Chiptooth. May I help you?"
She replied, "Hi. I'm Laura Simmons. I was asked to bring this to Harry Potter."
"Of course. Please follow me."
He walked by the mounted Basilisk that was on display. As expected, Laura asked, "What is this?"
He pointed to the large painting of the scene where little Harry was fighting the monster and replied, "Harry Potter had been put into the unfortunate position of having to defend himself against this basilisk when he was twelve years-old. Obviously he prevailed." He led her to the snake skull and mentioned, "Mr. Potter killed the beast with a long sword by stabbing it through the mouth as it attempted to eat him."
Astonished at his words, she admitted, "He never mentioned that."
"As you've probably seen, he's not the type to brag about his accomplishments."
Laura replied, "You're right; he isn't."
Chiptooth asked, "Did you want to visit your vault first, or find Mr. Potter?"
"Find Mr. Potter, please." As she replied, it occurred to her that she didn't know that she'd had a vault at the London branch.
They walked down a hallway where she noticed a large group of goblins. Doing a quick count, she determined that there were 40. What was unusual was that she noticed that they were all missing arms. She whispered, "How?"
Chiptooth heard her and replied, "Many of our people are involved in mining. It is a dangerous occupation. These are just a fraction of those who have been injured in their work."
They walked into the room, where she saw Harry. There were another three goblins waiting. Harry was replacing hands and arms. He had just finished one when he saw her. She walked up to him and handed him the envelope from Emma. He opened it. Dobby's youngest had drawn him a picture of him making an arm with the caption, Do something to help someone today. He smiled and said, "We should frame this and hang in in the waiting room."
Laura replied, "I'll take care of it. Do you need any help?"
He replied, "Not today. I'm almost done. You're welcome to come next month, if you wish. Go have a good day."
She thought to herself, Almost done? There were 40 people in the hallway. Then it hit her. He'd been at it already for hours. With eyes dazzling, she allowed Chiptooth to take her to the vault area. He led her down the tunnels in the cart. When it stopped, he motioned for her to get out and opened the vault door.
"Here is your vault, Miss Simmons."
She was amazed. There were piles of gold coins, either stacked, or in sacks. On the desk was a quite a tall stack of thank you notes. He explained, "While your business doesn't charge anyone for the remarkable work that the three of you do, most of those who you've treated have sent something in recognition of the work that you do. The Potters have their own fortune. They designated that this be yours."
Speechless, she just nodded. After a few minutes when he concluded that she wasn't intending on removing anything, Chiptooth took her back to the lobby in the cart. She had a lot to think about.
…
The following Tuesday, she was in early. When Harry arrived, she asked, "How many did you do?"
He replied, "96. That was all that Maysong scheduled this month. She was the Healer doing your normal job."
"How? I mean..."
He replied, "I use a Firestick, well actually, a box of them on those days. Maysong and her grandmother, Windsong each saved my life when I was younger, This is the least that I can do."
"How can I help?"
Harry replied, "You are."
"I mean..."
"If you want to learn how to conjure arms, we'll help you. You'll need to work on visualization. There's a lot of practice involved, but the most important step is having, or developing the belief that you can do it. I'll tell Hermione that you're interested. She'll help you get started."
""I know I can do it."
"I positive that you can."
"Thanks, Harry." She would work on it and a year later, attached her first hand.
… - ...
Even after 20 years as Minister of Magic Amelia Bones never considered herself to be either a Politician, or a Seer. However, she was quite good at math and had an excellent eye for detail. That said, she was far better than average at predicting outcomes. She was all but certain that, when she announced her own resignation, three things would happen.
Harry Potter would immediately nominate Susan. His action would discourage several others from adding well-meaning but, lessor nominations that would dilute their effort, and ensure Nott's success.
Cyrus Greengrass would nominate Theodore Nott, creating a contest of the younger generation.
Greengrass would also call for a two-hour recess.
Doing so would give Nott and two of the other hard-core traditionalists time to spread some money around; either literally, or via promises. The one was illegal; the other was considered business as usual for a handful of the members.
The other thing Bones knew was that none of the new members who she'd appointed could be bought. Their net worth each exceeded that of Nott's vaults. As such, there were a comparatively small group of members whose ears could possibly be turned for a sack of coins. Bones was fairly certain that she knew who they were.
...
As previously arranged, Shack, Scrimgeour and a handful of absolutely impeccable DMLE staff were disillusioned. Each had been assigned one of the wandering ear members, who were considered at risk.
Sure enough, three of the members were approached. At the point where the wandering ear member was ready to ask, How much? the Auror appeared, looked at the two and suggested, "Perhaps it would be best if everyone made up their own mind and stayed out of Azkaban. Don't you both agree?" As expected, they both immediately went their own ways.
…
When the meeting resumed, Greengrass gave a short speech.
"The current administration has moved us – too far, too fast, and in directions that many are unhappy with. Aside from the physical castle, Hogwarts seems unrecognizable from the days when my daughters were there. So does the ministry itself. I'm asking you to vote for Theodore Nott. He'll lead us by pausing to consider where we are, evaluate the changes that were beneficial to the wizarding society and set us on a path of prosperity for the witches and wizards of heritage who belong here. He'll return the full functionality of our ministry. I'm voting for Theodore Nott. I'm asking that you do too."
There was polite applause; surprisingly, led by Amelia. Polite, not enthusiastic.
While Greengrass was speaking Ted, looked at Harry, who subtly pointed a finger at Ted, who nodded. Tonks stood and said, "The greater world around us is changing. We number but 1 in 2,000 on a world-wide basis. That fact is not up for debate. Looking back and longing for the days when we were led by the likes of Dumbledore, Ogden, Riddle, Malfoy, or Professor Slughorn is not an option."
Scrimgeour made note of who reacted to Riddle's name.
Ted continued, "There are a small handful of people in this room who have formal education in Management, Administration, or Public Sector Governance. One of them is Susan Bones. She's earned a masters in Public Administration. She also had five years of valuable experience of actually working at the ministry.
"To my knowledge, Mr. Nott has experience collecting rent from tenants who live in buildings that his father and grandfather purchased.
"Susan's also worked in other countries and understands that there are different perspectives, which are worthy of consideration. She won't toss away traditions frivolously; neither will she cling to them simply out of love of nostalgia. She'll find the best path to get us where we need to be – all of us, those whose families have been magical for generations, as well as those who just recently discovered that they possess the ability to wield magic. I'm voting for Susan Bones for Minister of Magic and am asking that you do too." Again there was applause. It was louder, longer and more enthusiastic than before.
There were 48 voting members. When the vote was tallied, Theodore Nott received 17 votes while Susan received 31. Amelia adjurned the meeting and nodded at Harry. Through the actions that were well-known, as well as those which were merely speculated, the balance of power had truly shifted.
Harry and Hermione had stopped an emerging war in its tracks.
Amelia had acted as a peacekeeping force while Harry re-balanced and re-energized their world economically.
Susan would have the opportunity to preside over a prosperous nation and prepare it for the next generation.
… - ...
"Harry Potter Sir."
Harry immediately recognized Dobby's official business voice and asked, "What's up?"
"The elves from old country are needing some help – your help, Harry Potter Sir."
Concerned, Harry asked, "Tell me more."
"Elves were freed 20 years ago. Some came here and became Potter free elves; 200 then 200, then 200, then 200 more. With baby elves, there are 1,600 elves here. We are very happy and never hungry." He held up his wooden bracelet.
Harry smiled at his old friend. Dobby and Ed were about 3 feet tall when they made the little lake together. Now they were half again as tall at 4 foot 6 inches. Harry expected that Dobby's children would eventually grow to average human height.
Harry and Hermione's oldest two, Connor and Lindsey (age 10) were about as tall as Ed. He and Hermione would have to have the discussion that they'd been putting off for ages – sending them to Hogwarts for a few years, or not.
Back to the matter at hand, Harry asked, "How many elves are in Britain?"
"There are 800 left, Harry Potter Sir – 200 at Hogwarts. Most of the others are lost; hungry for years."
"What do we need to do to help them?"
"Harry should say he needs a house on old Potter property by Forest of Dean. Potter elves and some old country elves will be building for Harry Potter Sir. They would like to be planting trees and making homes there."
Ed added, "Elves here will be carving bracelets. You and Dr. Dan should be making cobalt bracelets and call old country elves to your shop in Hogsmeade. When you and Hermione go there on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you should be visiting the home in the forest and sometimes stay there at night. You should store some extra cobalt rods there as well.
"Connor and Lindsey should go to Hogwarts school for two years. You should show them how to get in and out of the Chamber of Secrets from both sides. The professors there will let you teach big transfigurations some Saturdays. You should make a copy of the mosaic and give it to the school, so they learn their own history. That is important history. You and Hermione should go hunting spiders. There are too many of them for the forest."
Dobby added, "Ed thinks you should destroy more than half; most; maybe 1,000 or more spiders. They are eating too much of the food."
Harry asked, "How could they get into the Chamber of Secrets?"
Ed replied, "Lindsey can speak with animals and has much power, like you. Connor enjoys books and learning, like his mother. Finally, Dobby thinks you should invite big man, Hagrid to live here. He has no friends at the castle anymore."
Harry replied, "Thank you, Ed and Dobby. I'll talk these things over with Hermione."
Dobby said, "Thank you, Harry Potter Sir. Elves will be making bracelets today."
… - …
Six weeks later, there was an unusual notice in the Daily Prophet.
Free gifts for British Elves
This Saturday - Potter Waterworks Hogsmeade
Harry, Hermione, Connor, Lindsey, Dan and Emma, along with the help of all of the Potter elves in Chesterfield had carved 2,000 of the wooden bracelets to give out. Connor and Lindsey placed the cobalt wire circles in the bracelets, Harry glued them and Dan placed them in the glue tables to dry. They contained a 1/8th inch charged cobalt circle.
...
They'd expected to be busy that Saturday morning when they arrived at 6 am. What they hadn't expected was that the elves not living at Hogwarts would come in so starved they they literally would drain the bracelets within minutes. By noon, Dobby had taken 1,000 of the drained bracelets back to the Chamber of Secrets to be recharged.
Emma was shocked at the size difference. Many of the 600 lost elves had diminished to under three feet and had various shades of gray-green skin. In short, they looked completely emaciated. Dobby, Winky and Ed were much taller and had taken on nearly human facial characteristics except for their pointed ears. At a quick glance, Winky's children could pass for human and had smaller (but still pointed) ears.
Harry asked each of the British elves to come back the next Saturday. After they'd gone, Harry asked Ed, "Did you know that the elves here were so hungry?"
Ed gave a bit of a squirm and replied, "You aren't expected to save the entire world."
"Maybe not, but the world changed for those elves who we helped today."
… - …
Ron Weasley was one of the first to notice. He'd placed a position available notice in the Daily Prophet.
Squib Wanted
Dishwasher at Red's Pizza
3G a day
Several days passed and he still hadn't yet received a (favorable) response. More than a few had sent envelopes with three galleon coins enclosed, along with a note suggesting what he could do to himself. He complained to his mother, who complained to Arthur, who mentioned it to George. George mentioned it to Verity, who asked her daughter, Ashley, who was still attending Hogwarts.
Ashley checked the job board at the school, and she told her sister that all of the students who would finish school that term had positions lined up.
…
The so called entry-level employee shortage didn't affect Potter Waterworks in the least, as they paid the best. Besides, employment there was by invitation only. On average, Harry was employing 20% of the finishing class for Potter Waterworks and a similar number went to the Roadmasters.
…
The shopkeepers, along the various alleys adjacent to Diagon were also competing for fewer and fewer applicants. As such, even the grumpiest shop owners learned to treat their existing help far better than they would have a decade ago.
They responded to the shortage by wooing moms and the recently retired back into the labor force on a part-time basis.
…
Perhaps the employer which was most surprised by the labor shortage was the ministry of magic. Traditionally, they would hire a dozen young witches and wizards on a six-month probationary basis and keep 3 or 4. The rest of the hires would be children or grand-children of the Wizengamot members. On average, they received six to ten applications per available position. This year, they received a total of three.
It came to no surprise to Harry that he was called in to visit Susan Bones. Again, he was aware that this wasn't Susan, Hermione's pal, this was the British Minister of Magic.
After a few minutes of pleasantries, (she was godmother to Harry's oldest twins) she said," I have a problem and need your help. All of the best Hogwarts graduates are going to work for you."
Harry replied, "Half of the people who I hire are whose who you would consider top students. Half of the students who I hire wouldn't have received a wand from Ollivander a decade ago. What you're overlooking is that a third of the finishing students are going on to earn masters degrees."
"Harry, hardly anyone's applying to work at the ministry."
"Minister, I'm not disagreeing with you. Plainly stated, not everyone wants to work in the DMLE. I haven't come in and poached ¾ of the aurors. I make millionaires. I've done my best to exclude the children of the Death Eaters. I instituted term limits to give more people an opportunity. I thought I was doing a service for Britain. I just as easily could have hired graduates from Salem. Almost everyone that you and I went to Hogwarts with is in a far better situation now than they were fifteen years ago. Some of them started businesses that pay well. Are you doing any recruiting from the other schools? Besides Salem, there are three other schools of Magic in the states, two in Canada, plus BeauxBattons and Durmstrang."
"They're not Brits."
"Are you saying that your DMLE Director is limiting their search to eighteen-year-olds with a rather basic education? That doesn't make sense. Salem has a law enforcement program. Why wouldn't you have Shacklebolt try and recruit there? I thought he was originally from South Africa? How many students finished this year?"
She replied, "52."
Harry replied "I offered 10 people jobs. 5 were quidditch players. 5 were Low-Mage. 20 went to Salem to get more schooling. 10 joined Roadmasters. Most of those were Low-Mage. 3 went into family businesses. 3 originally applied to the ministry but decided to work in the shops because they'd also gotten offers to work there before they heard back from whoever schedules the interviews. I'm not sure about the others."
He could sense her frustration and asked, "What would you like to have happen?" He pulled two cold bottles of Orange Crush out of his bottomless bag and handed her one.
She'd actually listened to him and asked, "How would I go about recruiting at Salem?"
"I'll get you a contact and an employer information packet. You should have someone think through possible housing arrangements. You should probably do some checking to see how competitive your pay scales are. Have you tried recruiting any of the people who you worked with at the Waterworks?"
"They're millionaires; they'd never..."
Harry cut her off. "You did. Hermione doesn't charge anyone. You're right, Angelina wouldn't appreciate fetching coffee for the senior aurors, but if there's meaningful work to be done, some might be interested. Never is a big word. I can appreciate that you don't want the ministry to become predominately Slytherin alumni again. You just need to become more creative in your recruiting. Let Nott's cousins find jobs in Knockturn somewhere instead."
Just then, Dobby popped in carrying several information packets and handed them to Ms. Bones. He said, "These are for you."
...
Harry was right. Salem did offer a law enforcement degree. Most of the information presented was common with what an Auror trainee would receive. She took his suggestion and found free housing for the first three years. A month later, Kingsley had eight qualified applicants and with Susan's blessing hired all eight. She transferred one existing Auror to International relations and one to liaison within the PM's office.
She decided that in the future, she'd do most of her new hires into the Auror department and transfer them into the other areas as needed.
The magical economy in Britain was doing well, very well. Susan hadn't mentioned it, but the British Roadmasters was a very large employer of the returning Salem students. Many students spent 6 – 12 months there until they made contacts to gain good, permanent positions. Susan would come to find that the ministry still had the perceived reputation of harboring Death Eaters and sympathizers. It would be her challenge to eradicate that perception.
… - …
August 2017
A week before they were scheduled to start at Hogwarts, Harry's oldest, Connor and Lindsey went into his study to talk with their dad. They rarely went in there, as neither Harry nor Hermione spent much time in it; preferring to spend time with their family at the beach.
They noticed the giant mural. Connor asked, "What is that?"
Harry looked at it for a moment, reflected, and replied, "It depicts an attack on the Hogwarts school that took place in the year 1062 by a group of 500 attackers. The castle was successfully defended by a handful of professors and the older students."
"How?"
"There are critical moments in most peoples' lives. The professors had previously considered that an attack was possible and developed a plan. Other times, things just happen. How you choose to react to those moments determines the outcome."
Lindsey pointed to the snake and asked, "What's that thing?"
"One of the professors came up with the idea of having a guardian for the castle and had hatched the snake years earlier. It was a basilisk, which he used to help defend the castle."
"What did it do?"
Harry explained, "Probably it mostly scared the attackers a bit. An adult basilisk can kill by making eye contact with its victims. A lot of the students used their bows and arrows against the attackers. Apparently they were good at it, as the students didn't get hurt and the attackers were either killed or ran away."
Conner pointed out, "That was pretty cool, but you can't have a plan for everything."
"That's right; you can't. Sometimes you just have to act quickly and do the best that you can with what you have on hand." He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to.
… - …
Wednesday June 25, 2025 (8 years later)
It was the 30th anniversary of the third task. Harry and Hermione were alone, sitting on the Adirondack chairs. Emma and Dan had taken their four grandchildren out for pizza. After they'd sat for a few minutes watching the sunset dazzle the top of the lake that he made so long ago, she asked, "Do you still think about it?"
He set his can of Coors Light on the table and replied, "Every June. I get through it by telling myself that the world's a better place because of what we did. Occasionally I have dreams about the different ways that it could have turned out."
Intrigued, she asked, "Like what?"
"Here's a simple variation; the two investigators figured out what happened right away. Figured it out – there was no evidence. They bring me in for questioning. If I'd have said anything, it would have been a 50-50 chance that they'd treat it as self defense. I never tell them anything and they let me go."
She nodded and replied, "It wasn't that I've made peace with that aspect; we made a plan and went after them. By the time that we arrived, they were Death Deters in uniform who had willingly answered his summons. Through good fortune, we acquired the assistance of another nation. If Ragnok had immediately released the Death Certificates, for the most part, the same sort would have replaced them in the Wizengamot. They'd have maintained their financial advantage longer, or made trouble for the Waterworks."
Harry added, "Gringotts might have helped us via a mind wipe of some sort, but I doubt that they'd have been able to carry out their money grab. They'd have voted Fudge's nephew or someone similar into office and aside from Riddle being gone, very little would have changed."
She speculated, "Madam Bones would have lost her position for failing to gain a conviction." They watched as the sun sank behind the trees.
Harry stated, "I hate to say it, but nothing meaningful would have changed if Dumbledore had lived. When it came down to it, he was as big of a roadblock, or more so than the Malfoys. I believe that Dumbledore used the Board of Governors as an excuse to run Hogwarts into the ground."
She agreed, saying, "He would have found a way to block your Firesticks, regardless of his loss of official positions. The elves never would have been freed, nor would the Weres. He'd have ginned up some sort of rule to keep you at Hogwarts; at least until you'd taken your OWLs. It wouldn't have mattered that he wasn't Headmaster any longer; he'd have found a way." She looked out by the food truck, where they were serving elven cookies to the little ones, while the older ones were enjoying a glass of elven wine and singing their beautiful songs.
...
Dobby end Ed were planning a six-way trade for another food truck to serve pizza. They'd used the last of their construction money to purchase one of the vortexes in Washington State and 1,200 acres of land adjoining Harry's. Dobby had been hinting that they should put up some more water plants, so the elves could get paid for placing more incoming water pipe.
Hermione and Laura had a thriving business with the limb replacement. She'd come to realize that they could have shown the process to any numbers of healers at Salem. Yet, without Harry's unrestricted Power Assist Devices, it would have been nearly moot. Most magicals simply couldn't generate the level of power necessary to make anything but the crudest magical hand; let alone a perfectly matched living leg.
Harry asked, "How caught up are you on the limb replacement backlog?
"It's still six months. We post the sign-up sheet on the first of every month. There's a line of people waiting to put their name on it every time. When I go collect it at lunch time, it's full."
Harry thought about the difference in his procedure with the goblins compared to Hermione and Laura. Laura and Hermione each did three on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Laura did the attachments in the morning while Hermione did the prep work and they switched off in the afternoons. Effectively, they were caught up with the rate of accidents, as the waiting line wasn't getting any longer.
In contrast, Goblin Healer Maysong scheduled 90–100 a month, that Harry did one Saturday a month. Maysong made the cuts, Harry created and attached the limbs, and a team of junior healers handled the preparation and follow-up. Wisely, he didn't offer any opinions or guidance.
He pointed out, "Connor and Lindsey are going to want to work in Kuwait next summer."
"Why can't they work here?"
"They can, but once they get onto the tax registers, they'd probably be stuck on them. We're sill making all of our money from the Middle East lakes. It's six days a month. They'll be at Salem the rest of the time."
She replied, "Connor wants to go to finish Law School, Lindsey wants to get a masters in Enchanting. Neither of them wanted to go into Healing."
He smiled and replied, "You still have two more chances."
She replied, "Smartie. What else is on your mind?"
"The usual – you, cobalt and vortexes. We have two years worth of powered waterplant rods stored in Gloucester. There's probably the same amount stored in Fresno, along with PAD device rods and Roadmaster equipment.
"Sooner or later, the ICW is going to come and ask how the water plants in California are powered, even though they're not ICW members. They're going to declare that it's their right to know. Instead of powering water plants, someone will insist on using them in smaller electrical plants. Solar power and windmills are fine as supplemental systems, but for the most part, they don't work at night."
She suggested, "That sounds like an opportunity, Go meet with John Steel if you want. He's never given you bad advice."
… - …
John arrived the next day. He didn't need much of a reason to leave the office for an afternoon. After Harry described the idea regarding a small electrical generation plant, John observed, "This is a bit different than constructing lakes out in the middle of nowhere. Most of the wind generators that you see around are owned by the power companies and are sitting on leased BLM land, or land that the power company purchased."
Harry replied, "OK."
John caught his impatience and got to the point. "In your water business, you rarely have any direct competition, in that you have the country's or the county's co-operation. If you attempt to move into the electrical generation business, the power companies will immediately focus their attention on you. You don't want some gossip magazines or newspapers running some investigative report on how your water plants are powered, let alone wade through the regulatory process on a magical electrical generator. The nonmagicals need to develop battery technology that can be charged during the day and discharge massive amounts of electricity at night.
"That said, there wouldn't be any wind farms if it weren't for the massive government incentive programs to put them up. It will be decades before they come up with an alternative to fossil fuel, or nuclear electrical plants that operates on a 24/7 basis. Can we switch subjects a bit?"
Harry replied, "Certainly."
"The street crews. Would it be possible to assemble one in New York City near the MACUSA building? The local street crews don't seem to be able to keep the streets in any decent kind of repair."
Harry laughed and replied, "No problem. They're always looking for new locations. I'll put it at the top of the list of new locations."
John asked, "What's next for you?"
"I help Hermione part time, make Firesticks part-time, make limbs for the goblins part-time, stick my nose in the California Waterworks operations too often and look for new help.
"I still spend time with the Middle East Lakes from time to time. Strangely enough, we had a crew there last year that either lost, or had their broomsticks and staffs stolen. They were easy to replace, but there's never been that sort of trouble there before." John listened carefully, but didn't comment.
"When I'm not doing that, I spend time with my family, the elves, and the unicorns. My oldest twins are at the age where they should be starting to make their mark on the world soon.
"We're supplying ¾ of the municipal water in Southern California. We added five more plants in Southern California last year. They'd like ten more. When I put the first water plant in Sunshine County, the combined population of California, Nevada and Arizona was 40 million people. Now it's 50 million. They keep issuing building permits every day. For some irrational reason, people attempt to rob the water plants on a weekly basis. I have the crews apparate directly into the buildings. I doubt that more than half of the employees actually live in California, even though they all do on paper.
"The ironic thing is, even with all of the water that we supply, they're still attempting to use nearly as much as the river is supplying. It took years for Hoover Dam to refill. Nevada's population nearly doubled since I began supplying water to California. Arizona's population rose from 4.8 million to 7.4."
John resisted the temptation to day, I told you so and completely surprised Harry by asking, "How's the cobalt charging by the Sedona Vortex working? I didn't calculate that it could supply that much energy. Harry, don't give me that incredulous look; I knew the first night that you put up the notice-me-not wards. It was the most responsible unauthorized use of a natural resource in the country's history."
Harry admitted, "It's not the only one that we use. We currently have 50 water plants in California. The Sedona Vortex powers 18 of them."
"The others?"
The Roadmaster Groups' equipment is powered by a vortex that we purchased in the Yukon territory. We originally powered them from the Hogwarts Vortex. Now we use that one for limb replacement and charging Firesticks. We power the rest of the California Waterworks plants from one in Washington state and Fresno. I charge rods at the Salem Vortex and save them for future use."
"Thus your inquiry into the power plant idea?"
"Exactly. What are the other Vortexes being used for?"
John admitted, "Aside from the few which are used as dragon reserves, to my knowledge, nothing."
He continued, "The country and the world are close to going to war over natural resources. Food, timber, oil, rubber, and gold have led to dozens of wars over the years, and doubtless will again in the future. The States are on the verge of fighting over water. Fortunately, you single-handedly prevented that; at least for now. Fresh water could fuel wars all over the world in a generation.
"Population growth is completely out of control. You can't help that; we've chosen to not act on it, yet. That's on us. How many more water plants could you construct with the vortexes that you own, or are using?"
"Harry replied, "20, but staffing that many could be a challenge in the short run. As it is, I'm the major employer of Hogwarts graduates and am nearly so for Salem. I could change the staffing at the water plants if I needed to. The original intent was to supply good paying jobs for low-mage graduates. To your question, we could draw them from the Roadmaster groups as needed,"
"How long would it take you to build 8 plants in Arizona?"
Where?"
"Primarily Phoenix, with water sourced from the Gulf of California, 50 miles into Mexico. We'd provide all of the permits and right of ways You'd need about 200 miles of pipe in total, or 1,600 miles, depending on what size pipe you used from the Gulf to Phoenix. They'd pay ¼ cent a gallon. You and the original set of employees would receive a lifetime federal income tax exemption." He paused for a moment and added, "For the most part, the pipes would have to be buried; there would be a considerable amount of sand and rock to clear away."
He'd said the magic words.
Finish.
… - …
A/Ns
This story is dedicated to my friend, Paul Ernst. May your road always be smooth with interesting scenery and full of excellent diners.
My next tale, currently titled 8.3 Billion is requiring a world of research. Look for it later this winter. This last scene will be the basis for the beginning of the tale. There will be a chapter listing in this tale announcing it.
Tom wrote the next chapter. We decided to post it here as an OMAKE rather than fit it perfectly within the confines of this tale. You'll love it.
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