Ch. 15 — Gold Rush
Marietta came in on Friday, in the mid-afternoon, with Cho Chang and couple of boys. All had their school rucksacks with them. "Hi, Mum," Marietta greeted her with a bright, proud smile that made Josephine's heart clench a bit.
"Hey, Mrs Edgecombe," Cho greeted her, too, with slightly more subdued smile.
"Hello, Marietta, Cho, boys," Josephine said, looking between them thoughtfully.
Were they in any other setting, she might've thought the kids were on a double-date, or something similar. She would've been suspicious about the boys, especially as she didn't know them. She would want to know more about what they were doing together, what they had been doing, what they were planning to do, and whatever other details she could pry from them about her daughter's social life.
But this was Enterprise.
They were crew. All of them. She hadn't seen that many crew members, truthfully, Weasleys aside, but she'd begun to recognise the signs. They stood a bit straighter. Without it being obvious, they were aware of what was around them. They all took a quick glance around the shop when they entered and knew where everything was and who was there. They moved on the balls of their feet, not clunking around, half-stomping their feet as they walked, as other teenagers tended to do. They were always . . . balanced. They were . . . aware . . . of what was around them.
She had the oddest feeling that if a wizard walked in and started to throw curses around, they might be caught unaware, but would react instantly — and not kindly.
Watching them move together . . . was enlightening.
She wasn't sure exactly what it was, or how to word it, but there was a familiarity between the crew members. The way they knew what the others were going to do from moment to moment, where they were going, and they adjusted themselves accordingly. These kids were something more than just friends. They were . . . comrades.
They reminded her of the way she had seen aurors move when several were together. They didn't clump together, but stood watching each other's backs without making it obvious. It was all automatic, too. They didn't think about it, they just did it.
These kids were part of something much bigger than a mere club. A ship. A warship? It was all very disturbing. What kind of enemy were they preparing to fight?
"What do you have there?" Josephine asked curiously, and looked at the rucksacks they had dropped to the floor. Rucksacks that she knew had to be full of . . . stuff.
"Just books, seeds, pots, some potions, and so on," one of the boys said, "things to send back to the . . . send back once we can." He looked away awkwardly for a moment. Then he sighed, smiled, and offered his hand to Josephine. He had on light-gold-coloured gloves they all seemed to affect. "Neville Longbottom. Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he said crisply, with a slight bow. He took her hand and mock-kissed the back of it.
Longbottom? The heir to the Longbottom line? He was involved? And send things back to where? she wondered. The mysterious ship? Hogwarts? It was all still so confusing. Not to mention how flustered she was at him actually mock-kissing her hand in greeting.
"Michael Corner," the other boy said, and extended his hand, which was in a blue glove. "Welcome to the D.S.F.," he added proudly.
"Thank you," Josephine said faintly. Marietta shifted and looked around the room, slightly embarrassed.
"Is that Luna's painting?" Cho asked, breaking the brief silence that had descended on them. "Oh, she managed to make it move, too!" she said, and walked closer.
"Did she paint that on the . . . uh," Longbottom hesitated, glanced at Josephine and then away again. "At, at Hogwarts?" he finally settled on asking.
"Yeah, I saw her work on it on the Bridge," Cho said distractedly, leaning close to the painting. "It wasn't finished the last time I saw it though — it came out really nice, though," she said as she straightened. "Wish I could do so well."
"Keeping track of visual details is very important in her job," Corner said, and shrugged. "We all have our specialities."
Visual details would be important to a Combat specialist, Josephine thought. Being able to recognise a threat before it was a threat would be a requirement.
The kids studied and admired the painting for a moment before moving over to the model galaxy. The prices for both they apparently found funny, as they snorted and chuckled. None of them were surprised to see the items, though —they'd all known they were there, somehow. The crew was surprisingly well-informed about the happenings in the Enterprise shop. They must have a very efficient gossip mill. Or the entire group met on a very close and regular basis.
It was discouraging to hear that they knew more about the place than Josephine. She was the one who was supposed to be working here.
Josephine watched them, and eyed their rucksacks. "I guess you know where to put those, then?" she eventually said, nodding at the rucksacks piled where they had left them.
"Yeah, we'll just put them in one of the backrooms," Cho said casually. She glanced at the rucksacks and walked over to pick one up. She looked at Marietta, and a silent message was passed as Marietta nodded slightly. She bent and picked up Marietta's rucksack, too. The others followed her and retrieved their own rucksacks. She led them to the backrooms, leaving Josephine alone with her daughter.
"So . . .," Marietta asked, a little awkwardly. "How is it going?" she finished, excitement creeping into her voice.
"Honestly?" Josephine said and folded her arms. "So far . . . not much has happened." She looked around them. Aside from the impressive galaxy model and the Uranus painting, the shop was almost totally empty. "I'm . . .." She stopped and sighed. "Truthfully, Marietta? I don't have a clue what I'm doing here," she concluded, a bit dejectedly.
"Yeah," Marietta quietly agreed. "It's all still a bit open." They both stared outside at the pedestrians "Captain is still . . . well, we don't know when we'll see him this summer, and we're kind of waiting on him. And some other things," she wagged her head back and forth once, "we're trying to figure out."
"Lee Jordan spoke about transport to . . . somewhere," Josephine suggested and arched her eyebrows at her daughter.
"Yeah, that's one of those things," Marietta agreed. "Our only way in is through Hogwarts, which is kinda limiting, you know. We want another here," she looked at the door to the backrooms, "And probably some other places too, just in case, you know." She sighed, "We just haven't figured out how, yet." She stared at the floor, lost in thought
Josephine hummed and thought about the bars of gold they had, the wealth that they represented. And the doors that such wealth could open. "Floo's are out of question, I hear." She said slowly. "Have you considered Vanishing Cabinets?" she ventured.
Marietta shrugged. "We tried a set, actually," she admitted. "It . . . didn't work out so well. We destroyed them. They sort of exploded and imploded all at the same time. It was rather impressive to see in the pensieve, actually. We haven't been able to find another pair, since," she finished sheepishly.
Josephine blinked. She could think of several ways to blow something up, but to make it collapse at the same time? That . . . was unusual. And to destroy them by simply using the cabinets for their intended purpose, to go . . . somewhere . . . was impossible. Or it should be. The cabinets reportedly could reach everywhere on Earth. Just how far —
She stopped that train of thought before it could go on any further. "Was . . . anyone hurt?" she asked worriedly.
"No, we just lost a command stone," Marietta shrugged.
Josephine filed away that nugget — a command stone. What could it command? What did it do?
"Captain forbade anyone actually using it before we knew it would work safely, no matter how well they worked on the ground." She grimaced. "Good thing, it turns out."
Josephine nodded slowly. Well, at least their Captain had some common sense. "If it destroyed the cabinets," she said slowly, "why do you want another pair? Those things aren't cheap, you know." A pair had to cost more than a thousand galleons. Several thousands, even. But, then again, her daughter probably had enough gold bars to buy a dozen of the cabinets just by herself.
"Well," she shrugged again. "If nothing else, we can use a pair to go between the shop and Hogwarts," Marietta answered. "It's not ideal but everyone agrees it will probably be better than nothing. But . . . Vanishing Cabinets aren't easy to come by, it turns out." She rubbed her forehead over her right eye.
"No. No, they wouldn't be, they're nearly impossible to make, from what I hear . . ." Josephine answered. It was her turn to stare at the floor and frown as she thought. "I've heard rumour," she said slowly, "that a shop in Knockturn alley has a Vanishing Cabinet." She paused. "But I'm not sure how reliable that is."
"Which shop?" Marietta asked eagerly.
"Borgin and Burkes," Josephine said, and then looked at her sharply. "You're not going."
"Mum —"
"Marietta," her mother interrupted sternly. "You, are, not, going. And whoever goes, had better not go alone."
Marietta made a face, but sighed resignedly. Then she flipped her robe collar to reveal one of the ubiquitous othila-shaped stones Josephine was now seeing on all of the . . . crew. She tapped it and said, "Captain?" And then waited patiently.
The reply was rapid.
"I'm clear — what is it?" said a male voice. Josephine was impressed. The voice was so distinct he sounded as if he were standing right beside them.
"Mum says there might be a Vanishing Cabinet in Knockturn Alley, Captain," Marietta said. "In a shop by the name of Borgin and Burkes. She's not sure how accurate her information is, but it's probably worth checking out."
"I know the place," the male answered. "I'll let the twins know, they can handle Knockturn Alley. Good job, Marietta. Is that all?"
Marietta smiled happily. "Yes, sir!" she said brightly.
"Okay then. Captain over and out."
"Marietta, out," she said, and tapped the stone again.
Josephine arched her eyebrows, and stared at the stone. The over and out stuff was unexpected, but she remembered the old war movies she watched as a kid with her muggle friends. It made sense then, as the other person in the radio conversation could never see the visual clues that the conversation was finished. Were the stones two-way radios?
Well, now she knew how everyone in the crew was so well and quickly informed about everything happening in Enterprise. "So, that was Harry Potter?" she asked, arched an eyebrow, and looked at her daughter.
"Yeah," Marietta said, looking at the stone and then up at her. "You'll probably get one of these stones soon enough. Let me show you how it works."
Josephine nodded, quietly wondering when Marietta had grown so tall and whether their lives would ever start making sense again.
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An additional plus to hiring an adult so soon, Harry discovered, was that Marietta gave him a call not even a week later. "Captain?"
It was a welcome break in his Arithmancy studies.
"I'm clear — what is it?" he said, putting down his pencil and stretching.
"Mum says there might be a Vanishing Cabinet in Knockturn Alley, Captain," Marietta said. "In a shop by the name of Borgin and Burkes. She's not sure how accurate her information is, but it's probably worth checking out."
"I know the place," he answered. He shuddered. Had he hidden from the Malfoys' in that cabinet the summer before Second Year? If he had closed the door, would he have ended up trapped like Graham Montague when the twins had shoved him in that cabinet later that same year? He hadn't known apparition, so he couldn't have escaped as the Slytherin had! Would he still be stuck?
He shook his head. That wasn't important, now. "I'll let the twins know, they can handle Knockturn Alley. Good job, Marietta. Is that all?"
Marietta smiled happily. "Yes, sir!" she said brightly.
"Okay then. Captain over and out."
"Marietta, out," she said.
Her mother's contacts, knowledge, and friends who had been out of school for years, was already providing them with benefits. Her attitude was also a help. She simply had more experience, and wasn't afraid to share it with them. He was so glad she had been hired.
Even better, now that she knew they wanted them, she was on the lookout for another set of cabinets.
Based on the history books of what had happened in the first wizarding war ten years ago, there should be a number of them, scattered around. Having one would make it soo much easier to move from Diagon Alley to Hogwarts and the ship. Right now, anyone wanting to go to the ship had to either floo or apparate to Hogsmeade, then use the hidden tunnel from Honeydukes to the One-eyed Witch on the third floor and sneak from there to the Room of Requirement. With the tech-cloaks it wasn't as difficult as it could have been, but the chance of them being found out was still higher than he wanted.
Plus, it was such a waste of time.
It was a pity that the first pair had failed so . . . spectacularly. But a valuable lesson had been learned. Vanishing cabinets had a definite limit to their distance! Until they could nail it down, the cabinets would be strictly constrained to the U.K., only.
That particular memory was on the list for new-hires to see as an example of why they had certain rules and procedures in place.
He wondered if the conjugator could duplicate the cabinets? Was that magic solely in the spells cast, or did the wood have to be magical, as well?
He tapped his link-stone. "Fred? George?"
"Yes, mon Kapitan?" came the stereo response.
He wondered, briefly, how the comm-link stone managed that. He'd noticed that before, when multiple people were conversing. It always sounded as if they were standing in a half-circle in front of him instead of all coming from a single speaker like he would expect.
He sighed softly. "Marietta's mother told her that Borgin and Burkes, in Knockturn Alley, has a Vanishing Cabinet. Why don't you see about getting it, today? Over."
"Oh, that sounds exciting!"
"It most certainly does."
"We haven't been to that establishment, yet, this summer.
"Perhaps we should rectify that oversight?"
"Most certainly, my brother, most certainly."
Harry interrupted their little verbal volley. "When you get it, take it to the Replicator and make a duplicate. See if the cabinet is powered just by the spells, or if the wood has any magical properties that contribute."
"An excellent idea, mon Kapitan!"
"A splendid suggestion, Our Most Illustrious Leader!"
"An inspired proposal, Esteemed Big Cheese!"
"An incredible brainstorm, Our Trailblazing Leader of Light!"
"Yeah, right," Harry said sarcastically, interrupting, again. "Just see what you can do. Check the Room of Lost Things for a book about how to make Vanishing Cabinets, and anywhere else you can think of. Having more than one set would make things much simpler." He paused. "If we could figure out their hard-limit on distance, and find a spell to lock them when they are out of that range, we could have several on the Requirement and save a lot of time. Not to mention reducing our dependence on the Room of Requirement. Over."
"Copy that!"
"Roger!"
"Wilco"
"Roger Wilco!"
"Wilco Roger!"
"Ten four!"
"Ten sixty-nine!"
Harry sighed. "Over and out."
Maybe they could pair the cabinets with command-stones and have the command-stones perform as locks on the doors. If they were more than a certain distance apart? The doors are locked.
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That afternoon, the Enterprise got its first customer. Though the shop wasn't really open yet, they hadn't locked its doors. They wanted to encourage curious wizards and witches to pop in anytime someone was there. They never knew if the next person through would be one they wanted to employ.
He peeked into the store curiously. "Um, hi?" he offered awkwardly as he stepped inside. "I haven't seen this place before — is it open yet?" He looked around.
"Not officially, but you're welcome to come in," Josephine said from behind the counter — at least that part of her job she understood. Talk to people who were attracted by the sign. "We don't have much, yet. We're still settling in and waiting for stock to arrive."
"So, I see," the wizard said, looking at the galaxy model and then at the painting Lieutenant Lovegood had left behind. "That is soo wicked. So, is this going to be Astronomy shop or something?" he asked. "Your sign is brilliant, by the way."
Josephine smiled. "Isn't it? What do you think about it?"
"I didn't think there were wizard or witch Star Trek fans," he admitted. "But, yeah," he said and looked around again. "It does make sense, I guess." He grinned widely. "I love this place already!"
Josephine started to wonder if she should rent a telly and vcr, and brush up on her Star Trek lore. She nodded. "Me, too," she agreed, and leaned her elbows on the counter. "So, are you interested in space?"
"I guess?" he said, tilting his head slightly. "I haven't really thought about it much, lately," he admitted wryly. He stared at the galaxy model. "I mean, when I was a kid, I reckon I thought about it a lot. I had all kinds of posters and stuff, Star Trek, Lost in Space, Star Wars, Dark Star, you name it, I had posters. But after my Hogwarts letter . . .." He shook his head sadly.
"I know what you mean," Josephine said, nodding. Now that she thought about it, Hogwarts, and the wizarding world as a whole, had, in a way, extinguished a lot of her previous interests, too. Before Hogwarts, she'd wanted to be everything from an astronaut to a zoologist. But then there'd been magic . . . and it had become her world. She'd become a witch — like her mother.
And then a cog in the Ministry. No different from any clerical worker in the muggle world. Just with magic on the side. With a boss she never saw, and superiors who scorned her very existence.
Now, she wondered, if there'd been other little girls and boys who'd wanted to become astronauts and had become witches and wizards instead. Did they regret it a tiny bit, too, now?
"Feel free to stop by anytime you're in the Alley," she said encouragingly. "Our hours are generally going to be from ten to seven, every day. We'll probably expand that once we hire a few more people." She paused. "If you're unhappy with your current employment, you might consider here."
He stayed a little while longer before waving as he left.
The twins, George and Fred Weasley, brought in the Vanishing Cabinet just before closing. They floated it right into the shop from the Alley.
"Thanks for the tip, Mrs. E!" one of them said appreciatively
"It took a bit of haggling, but we got it pretty cheap," the other said cheerfully.
"Just the one?" Josephine asked worriedly, frowning.
"They only had the one — the other's broken."
"But, we think we know where it is."
They both grinned manically.
"Give us a couple of weeks and we'll have it fixed right up."
"Then we'll have an easy and direct line to Hogwarts."
"Right here in one of the back rooms."
They high-fived each other.
"Sounds convenient," Josephine said, watching them worriedly.
"You can head home, if you want to," one said as they floated the cabinet past her.
"We'll close the shop before we leave."
"Alright," Josephine agreed with a sigh. "Good luck with the cabinet."
"Thanks, Mrs. E!" they cheerfully chorused.
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So far, her work at Enterprise had been both easy . . . and very stressful. Josephine still wasn't sure what was going on, and the shop was almost always empty except for herself. All she knew for certain was that it probably had something to do with space and that it was very big. That, and that it would only get bigger once the "crew" got the ball really rolling. The freedom with which they handed out gold bars proved that.
The rather barren condition of the shop itself didn't settle her nerves in the slightest.
And the crew? Well.
Crew was an apt name for them. Granger had said that they weren't an army. But she hadn't denied that it wasn't militant — and Lieutenant Lovegood's self-described job as Combat Officer certainly suggested it was. Plus, Captain could mean anything — chess clubs had captains, too — but when you added a Lieutenant Combat Officer into the mix, well, that militant became more than just a suggestion to her.
Then there was the way they moved and stood. They all had the same posture, straight and proud, shoulders level. It was the sort of thing she had seen with Quidditch teams. They didn't just hang out together. They practiced together, they defended each other, they spent hours upon hours working towards a common goal. They weren't individuals, they were team members — not just friends, but more.
There was also the fact that she was pretty sure they all wore some sort of protective padding under their robes, just like the Quidditch players did. Although, she suspected, it wasn't just padding, but actual armour. The brief looks at home she had had of her daughter's outfit certainly suggested it was real armour. Armour, military standing, and all this talk about space . . ..
Funny how magic could be such a settled and commonplace part of reality, but space travel seemed so utterly fantastical. A complete turn-around from what she had thought as a child. She knew it wasn't — she knew muggles had landed on the moon, multiple times, before she even went to Hogwarts. But now it seemed so impossible, so far away.
And yet, somehow, in Hogwarts, it was becoming a reality.
Josephine took a breath and slowly released it. The Ministry was becoming darker and darker. There were rumours of Death Eaters and Dark Lords. But, somehow, amidst this all . . . her daughter had become part of a space crew.
Her concept of normal was undergoing another dramatic shift, just as it had all those years ago when she got her Hogwarts Acceptance letter.
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The first time Josephine accepted a piece of candy from the twins was the last time. She decided, on the spot — right then and there — that she would never accept anything edible from the two Weasleys, again. Crew or not.
"Wha–what is this, what did you do!?" she screeched from the ceiling as they grinned up at her.
"Our newest product, Weightless Wedges," Fred said proudly. He grinned and popped the lime green wedge in his mouth. Moments later, he, too, was floating slightly above the floor. With a slight, lazy kick, he was floating up at her.
"Easy there, Mrs. E, it's just a weightless charm," said George.
"Nothing harmful in the slightest," Fred assured her as he floated beside her.
"You can't just — you can't — this isn't —" Josephine tried to say, even as she banged her head on the ceiling beams. Except, she didn't. It didn't hurt. She grabbed hold of the beam, frowning, and stared at it, then at the grinning lunatic beside her. "Cushion charms, too?" she asked incredulously.
"And it ends in a featherlight," the boy agreed, nodding serenely.
"So, no matter how far you float, you land softly," the other twin said. He had joined them in the air. He was doing casual somersaults in the air, whirling in place, and as he did Josephine could for a moment see his trousers under his robes.
"We're not actually looking to kill anyone here, you know."
"Just to give them a gentle feeling of what it's like to be in zero gravity." The yellow gloves he wore apparently were part of a full get-up — she could see glimpses of the same yellow material on his legs. That and red . . . padding? Was that armour? Whatever it was, he had it pulled all over the yellow suit he was wearing.
Red and yellow — or rather, gold and crimson. Of course. Gryffindor colours. They were Gryffindor, they had told her.
"Zero gravity," Josephine said, as she braced herself awkwardly between a pair of ceiling beams. "Really?" She looked at them with raised eyebrows.
"Yup," one of the Weasley twins said, still grinning. "A couple of others were talking about making a zero-gravity room in Hogwarts for extra credit in charms," The two exchanged smirks.
"But we thought this would be easier — and bit more accessible."
Josephine stared at them, and then glanced at the floor that felt so far away below them. She took a breath and, very cautiously, she let go of the ceiling.
She was hovering, touching nothing but air.
Now that she knew what it was happening, it . . . wasn't. . . too bad. It felt a bit like vertigo, though, and she thought that if this went on too long, she'd end up sick to her stomach. But with the initial panic over . . . it . . . wasn't bad?
Accessible, though. There was another clue.
"Are we going to sell these in the shop?" she asked.
"Yup," the twins answered.
"We've also got low-gravity versions — Lee's idea."
"They make it feel like you're walking around on less gravity."
"It's very bouncy, it turns out."
"You're really light on your feet."
"Great for dancing."
"Doesn't hurt as much when your partner steps on your foot."
Josephine rolled her eyes, and then thought of the moon landing. The old videos of astronauts bouncing around, despite those heavy and bulky suits, with a background or white ground and black sky came to mind. She eyed the twins and had to wonder if they'd actually been to the moon, somehow.
Then her stomach began to complain.
"H-how long does this last?" she asked, gulping and bracing herself on the ceiling beams again.
"Five minutes," one of the twins said.
"Why?"
"I think . . . I'm going to be sick," she said unsteadily, with one hand on her stomach.
It wasn't pleasant to discover that ejecting material from the mouth brought about an opposite and equal reaction in the other direction. Which left one spinning in the air because of the off-center position of the mouth with regards to the rest of the body. Which made it far more likely there would be several repeats.
It was, as a result, inordinately messy, too. She'd never had to remove the results of a stomach revolt from the ceiling before.
No one was happy about that.
The twins decided on two versions. One that lasted a bare minute, and the current version for "veterans." Adding a stomach-soother to the formula was added to the list, too.
Josephine insisted they include a warning to put small children on a leash before giving them a piece — and not to eat the candies outside. Chasing after someone carried off by a breeze would not make for a happy customer. Especially on a really windy day — you could end up in Paris before the candy wore off! Or, more darkly, in the middle of the channel.
Never mind what the Ministry would say when the muggles saw you apparently flying.
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To Harry, listening to the conversations over the next few weeks, Josephine seemed like a very good choice as a first employee. She was stable, not prone to panic, and put a lot of thought into any suggestions she made. Even better, she didn't pry into their affairs, she was willing to let them set the pace, and she didn't resent being on the outside, as some might have been, temporary though it might be.
More importantly, she didn't seem overly upset, nervous, or about to turn them into the Ministry.
Finally getting taken to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was the highlight of his day. No, the whole month, he decided.
Wandering through a muggle neighbourhood in the early night looking for a professor beforehand, though, was definitely strange. Harry had to admit, the man's cleverness at concealing his presence was rather impressive. But if he was that worried about being discovered by the Death Eaters, why hadn't he simply left the country? It would be a while before Voldemort turned his attentions to the colonies or Europe. And if he was as good at hiding as he appeared, he should be able to evade any Death Eaters sent his way, except Tom, of course.
Still, he appeared far more competent at Defence Against the Dark Arts than any other professor they had had — except Remus and Death Eater fake-Moody.
They arrived at Grimmauld Place just a short while after midnight.
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The next morning, Harry stood quietly in the entry hall in front of Mrs. Black's portrait, not that you could see it. His hands were on his hips and he was admiring his wand-work on the wall.
Sirius peeked at him from the door to the kitchen with a puzzled look.
Harry waved him closer. "I don't know why we didn't think of this before," he said loudly.
Sirius hurried from the door, "Shissh, not so loud," he frantically whispered, and looked at the portrait in fear. Then frowned. He stared at the wall. "What'd you do?" he asked, staring at the sheet dangling from the ceiling and covering the portrait's place on the wall. In fact, now that he looked, the sheet ran from the edge of the wall at the ceiling to the floor, bulging out slightly as it went over the frame and its curtains, but otherwise flat. The sides-edges of the sheet were firmly attached to wall in wide bands.
Harry smirked. "It came to me at the Dursleys."
Switching between staring at Harry and the sheet-hidden portrait, Sirius said, "And?" He made hurry-up motions with his hands.
"Well, I was watching a show about frescos and they mentioned a church in World War II Italy, where the Germans had set off a bomb nearby. It knocked loose the plaster on the church wall and revealed a fresco hidden under the one they had seen for centuries. Someone had covered up the old one with plaster and painted a new fresco on it."
Sirius looked at him, and then at the sheet.
"Well, we can't unstick the portrait, it's impervious to physical damage, we can't spell it, either, and the wall has so many spells on it that removing it or even making a window might compromise the rest of the spells protecting the house, right?
Sirius nodded, then his eyes shot open. "But if we put something in front of it and spell that . . .," he said excitedly.
". . . with a silencing spell both ways, she'll never hear anything in the entry way and we'll never hear her!" Harry concluded triumphantly.
Sirius laughed happily, and slammed his hand against the portrait frame under the sheet "Take that, you old biddy!" he crowed. They saw the curtains on the frame fly open under the sheet.
Remus poked his head over the railing to look at them from the landing above. "What's going on?"
"Harry shut the old biddy up!" Sirius announced happily.
"Oh, and I charmed the sheet transparent for her so she can't see it." He grinned. It was great to see Sirius laughing so freely.
"You mean," Sirius said, breathless with excitement, "She can see us and that we're ignoring her!?"
Harry nodded.
"BRILLIANT!" Sirius started to laugh hysterically. He had calmed down by the time Remus had reached them and Harry had explained what he had done.
Remus sighed and face-palmed himself. "The simplest answers," he murmured while he shook his head.
"I wish I could see her face," Sirius said, and shook his head, grinning.
Harry just looked at him and shrugged. "So cast a transparency spell on the sheet. I honestly didn't think you would want to see her."
Sirius had his wand up and the spell cast before Harry could finish. He had to look closely to see that there was anything over the wall or the portrait and frame, now.
Sirius cracked up again at his mother's outraged expression and silently moving mouth.
"Priceless!" he shouted, and pointed at her as he laughed hysterically. "Take off the silencing spell and I'll put up a one-way so she can hear me!" he ordered gleefully.
Harry and Remus headed to the kitchen and left Sirius insulting, laughing, and mugging at the silent, but furiously screaming and shouting, portrait.
Harry suspected that Sirius had found a new pastime, one that probably did as much for improving his mental attitude and outlook on life as seeing the professional Healers at St. Mungo's had ever done.
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"Marietta," Josephine said on one of the few occasions her daughter was with them for breakfast. It just happened to be the same day that the OWL results were mailed. Marietta had received her OWLS results last summer. She had marked her calendar for it as a reminder. It was as good a day as any for the discussion.
Her George looked over at her questioningly, followed by Marietta.
"You're starting your last year at Hogwarts, and you need to seriously start thinking about what you want as a career." She stopped and looked at her daughter severely, to let her know she was serious. "When you took your OWLS you easily qualified for a position in the Ministry. However, the way things are now, you'll need to do extremely well on your NEWTs to have any hope of actually getting a job there." She paused and sighed. "I'm afraid about the only places that might hire you, now, are all non-Ministry."
Marietta looked at her a moment as though surprised at the topic. Then she frowned, snorted, and rolled her eyes. "Mum, I already have my dream job." She left the kitchen.
Her parents just stared at each other.
Oh, right. She had forgotten.
Marietta came back in and slid a gold bar on the table. "With six of these," she said smugly, "I don't think I'll be desperate for galleons anytime soon."
Josephine felt her face turn red. Right. She was still thinking like a witch. Her daughter was a member of Enterprise, a Crew member. They were more concerned with . . . space.
Marietta sighed. "I know how things are going in the Ministry, mum, I'm not blind. Even the private businesses are changing." She shook her head. "There's nothing here for me . . . for any of us, really, except our families." She glanced around the room.
"We know He's back, and Captain says we have to be prepared," she said blandly. "We practice daily at Neville's place, the Longbottom estate. It has plenty of room, and with a few illusions up, we can simulate almost anything, anywhere. Plus, no one can see us, not even from the house. It's quite fun, actually. And watching Ginny and Luna go at it? It's awesome."
The two adults stared at each other.
"Neville Longbottom?" George said unsteadily. "You visit the Longbottom's, daily?" A very rarefied atmosphere for a lowly half-blood family such as themselves.
She nodded nonchalantly. "Most of us have learned to apparate, now, and the rest Jordan and the Weasleys side-along or we use . . . uh . . . other methods."
"You can apparate?" her father exclaimed, incredulous. "It's dangerous at your age! That's why the Ministry restricts it!"
She shrugged. "I'd rather be splinched and alive at St. Mungo's than dead in a ditch because of Death Eaters." Her voice turned dark, "Or worse."
That silenced them up.
Josephine looked around the kitchen and resolved to see about protective measures around the house, that very day. They did have the galleons to spare, after all.
Plus, it was far better to be prepared for the worst than merely hope for the best.
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