16th of April 1995 - The Burrow, Devon, England.
Harry let the last trails of his magic slip back into silence and turned his attention to Molly and Arthur who were waiting patiently - albeit noticeable anxious - just a little out of the way.
They had wrapped up their visit the previous night with a quiet promise to revisit the issue in more detail at lunch the following day with more information on the table.
Which of course meant that Harry had taken it upon himself to pop around to a few different sources such as realtors and finance firms to gain some approximations for things like land value, the going rate of construction materials in the area and the average asking price of more local construction firms.
Add that to the recent discovery that insurance companies weren't really a thing in Wizarding Great Britain meant that land holders had to shoulder the burden of repair costs for their homes all on their own. Which was fine for families that were comfortably well off, but less so for ones like the Weasleys that struggled from time to time.
Even if Gringotts only went so far in the services they were willing to perform for their customers, given how often their good faith had been betrayed over the years.
It was easier to apply a blanket 'No' than to try to cover the each branches' collective behind when someone defaulted on a loan, let alone chasing up every client that had fallen behind on their different fees then turned around and tried to accuse the goblins of underhanded or outright dishonest practices rather to admit to their own failures.
The sort of thing that wore on even the sturdiest of souls over time.
So that unfortunately meant there were no fail safes in place aside from the Weasley's own normally frugal nature and the saving they managed to do when they combined Arthurs Ministry wage and the money Molly made from selling their excess crops, baked goods and knitted goods at their local market.
Which admittedly did bring in a tidy sum on its own since Molly had made a bit of a name for herself over the years for her various skills and her willingness to take orders for custom pieces rather than just whatever she happened to feel like crafting herself.
But when faced against the cost of living even in the more rural areas of Devon as far from the hubbub of London and all of its benefits and costs, it still meant that their options would be limited.
"So, you've got an underground lake beneath the house and there's been some minor seismic activity at some point over the last five or so years, which would account for some of the displacement." He announced as he moved to stand beside the pair that had in essence become something of a surrogate family to him, in replacement of his blooded aunt and her husband who rather plainly, hadn't been a good fit for someone like him.
"Seismic, but we don't get things like earthquakes out here." Molly told him, frowning a little at the news.
"Nothing you would notice, no. But the earth is always in motion, a constant shifting of tectonic plates that make up the land masses we live on. Without actively monitoring the minute motion we don't tend to notice unless the everyday movement suddenly increases in what we know as minor tremors and earthquakes which is the result of two or more of these plates rubbing against each other. The rest is so slight and so gradual we don't notice it because as humans our senses aren't as sensitive as say, the goblins or elves." He explained while he made a mental inventory of the information he now had on hand.
"To them the world is in constant flux, a never ending dance of seasons and shifting elements. It's part of why their native racial magics are so strong, they're that tapped into their personal element and the world around them that they let themselves dance along with it rather than fighting it and trying to force it to heel like humans tend to."
Arthur made a small thoughtful noise, eyes just a little wide as he listened, expression eager as it usually was when he was learning something new. "Fascinating."
"But what does that mean for our home?" Molly asked, giving her husband a rather fond, if slightly exasperated, look.
Harry offered them both a slightly rueful smile. "The spot your house is currently sitting would be a great place for a well or a larger pond for your geese, but it's less than ideal for the sort of weight that comes with a fair sized home, even if you have permanent runes etched into the cornerstones to lighten the structure as a whole. That sort of thing will only do so much."
"Then we need to move the house to another spot on the land?" Arthur asked, bright eyes gazing intently at the cottage and the many additions he had made over the years to facilitate his ever growing family.
"That would help mitigate part of the problem, but realistically to be truly stable, you'd need to rebuild the house from the foundation up to make sure it has both a strong enough base and the space you realistically want and need for the family you have now and any potential future additions." Harry replied, doing a few mental calculations over the approximate size of such a home against the size of land they had to work with.
"Not that we're planning any additions." Arthur murmured in an off-handed fashion while exchanging a look with his wife.
Molly hummed in agreement. "Though we hadn't really planned for the many blessings our family has been given."
Arthur sighed but smiled at his wife. "There is that. Weasley and Prewitt are bloodlines that have always been well known for their fertility. The unfortunate losses from the recent wars aside."
Mrs. Weasley released a long breath out in a great heave of a sigh but nodded. "And all my babies are growing up and starting families of their own, or will be soon if what I'm hearing is any indication."
Harry clapped his hands together as he looked around at the land around the house, though most of it was someone obscured by tall grass. "Then you'll at least want room for yourselves, each of your current children and a few spare rooms for visiting grandkids when they make an appearance down the line."
Doing a few mental calculations of his own Arthur grimaced a little. "I'm not sure we can afford a house of that sort of size, let along the cost of the ward stones." He admitted unhappily. "We've managed to put a little aside from our normal savings and spendings for emergencies. But I'm afraid that only comes to a little under five-thousand galleons."
Humming quietly the young king considered that before he decided to lay out all the facts he had at present so they'd have a clearer idea of what their options were. "Right, so, I did go out this morning to look into things like land and construction prices in the area so we'd have a better idea what you could expect to pay. At the moment to build a house out in this area you'd be looking at around thirty-nine-thousand pounds which at the moment is about seven-thousand-eight-hundred galleons at the current conversion rate. That's not including the price of land or the cost of labour, but it does include the cost of all your building materials and the fees payable to your local council for the building permit and the fee for the architect that would survey the land and draft up your house plans for whatever builders you hire to do the actual construction."
Molly and Arthur exchanged a long charged look before turning back to Harry. "You mentioned last night that we would be able to reuse the materials of our home to decrease the price?" Arthur hedged, brows drawing together in a worried little frown.
"Yeah, doing that would take down the price a bit, a couple thousand pounds or there abouts. But given the size of the house you realistically need you'd still end up paying around about that price for the rest of the materials." Harry said evenly before summoning one of his notebooks and a fountain pen to start drawing up a proper listing of ballpark prices for each aspect of the construction.
From raw materials, to a hired architect, to the hiring of a construction team and so on until he could turn to the next page and draw up the same list with the prices they would be looking at for a home of the same size in Skyfall.
"I did consider that you might like to know what sort of prices you'd be looking at if you decided to follow Bill and Percy and the Twins to Volstar, since you didn't seem entirely against the idea last night when we were talking." He told them as he wrote, feeling them lean over his shoulder to read.
"That can't be right, can it?" Molly asked when she glanced back and forth between the two prices.
Tossing a smile over his shoulder at her Harry used the tip of his pen to point out each point. "Architects as a general rule will set you back a varying amount depending on whether they charge you a flat fee for their time and work or if they charge you a percentage or by the hour they spend working on your project. There used to be a scale for architect fees that had a sort of fixed guideline in the UK for setting prices for things like this, but that's largely fallen out of use now and from the sounds of it, it won't be too long before its abolished completely.
"So that means for the approximate size of the project you'd be looking at about one-thousand pounds or two-hundred galleons for your architect. Or if you're willing, I could sit down with you and fill that role since I've basically drawn up the plans for all the buildings in Skyfall at the moment, so I've got plenty of experience now and I already know your family and the sort of things you like so there should be less back and forth trying to explain the things you want in your home."
Molly and Arthur exchanged a look behind his head that he knew was probably just as loaded with all the weight of the silent communication their years together had allowed to cultivate.
"Are you sure dear, it seems a lot of work." Molly hedged, her tone just this side of fretful.
"Oh I'm sure, honestly compared to a lot of the other work I do this is a bit of a vacation." He assured them before pointing out the next section. "So on the topic of land, given the size of the lake...to build the size of home you'd want you'd have to buy a section of the neighbouring plot and add it to your total land or otherwise get more creative with reinforcing the land so you can go up one more level without running into the same problem further down the line. Alternatively, that…" He said, pointing to a number on the right page. "...is what you'd need to pay to buy the land you'd need for the size of house in question, though if you build further out from the town center you have a bigger range of land sizes so you could afford a nice plot for both house and space for you to tinker, Mr. Weasley and a couple of greenhouses or a garden patch or even a man-made pond or swimming pool."
Arthur hummed thoughtfully, one hand reaching up to rub at his chin. "It's an appealing thought, being able to stay close to family, and the money we'd save building there. But what about the kids schooling, or my job at the Ministry?"
Turning so he was facing them both directly rather than speaking to them over his shoulder Harry met the older man's uncertain gaze head on. "That's actually something I wanted to talk to you about today, over tea?"
Straightening at once, Molly fluttered her hands at them both. "A wonderful idea, Harry dear. Let's all head inside and have a nice warm cuppa and some of the scones I baked this morning. We've got some lovely cream, churned fresh too."
Offering his wife a beaming smile, Arthur offered her his arm and turned to lead the way back into the house. "That sounds lovely, Molly dear. Have we got more of that plum jam left?"
Letting them wander off ahead of him, Harry watched them walk together arm in arm, keeping easy time while they chatted back and forth, heads bowed together. Not for the first time he found himself idly wondering about what lay off in the future, if he might find the same sort of relationship with someone in the future.
Not the near future, certainly, he was entirely too busy to try and split his time even further with the inclusion of romantic attachments - and the mess they could sometimes cause - in his immediate future.
But sometime off beyond the horizon, it might be nice, he thought, to have that same sort of easy affection and adoration both for and from someone else that just understood him on a level that no one else did.
He had long since decided that the sort of love Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had for each other was nothing short of magical.
Quite probably the most magical thing he had experienced to-date.
"They're nice. I think I like them." Athena's crystalline voice tingled quietly at his senses.
He hummed quietly in response. "I like them too."
"I remember."
Smiling a little at the equally quiet response, he lightly ran his thumb over the crystal cuff on his opposite hand in a gentle sort of pat.
Stepping into the cottage Harry paused long enough to wipe the bottom of his boots on the charmed doormat so he wouldn't track mud into the house and followed the sound of clattering teacups and a whistling kettle to where Arthur was already seated in his spot at the head of the table while Molly fussed with her tea service.
"Now, Harry, you were saying?" Arthur inquired, turning a little in his seat so he was looking more directly at the younger man.
Pulling out a chair, Harry sank into it and lay his notebook open on the table so he could refer back to it. "I know I've mentioned it here and there in my letters, but our Ministry has a sub-division of it's Dangerous Research Department that's dedicated to studying and keeping track of mundane technological advancements so that we can see if a magical equivalent can be developed and put into use. If you're interested, I wanted to ask you to accept the position of Head of The Mundane Technologies Division."
In the kitchen the teacups rattled as Molly stumbled in surprise while Arthur gaped at Harry for a bit.
"I...well, I'm quite flattered that you'd think of me for such an important position. May I ask why?" Arthur queried once his surprise had faded a little.
"Because you're actually passionate about the topic, it's something you've wholeheartedly embraced already even though it's not technically your job at the moment. You've got a natural curiosity for the subject that will go a long way to stopping you from getting burnt out from the sort of workload you'll probably see in the next few years." Harry told him, letting his forearms rest against the tabletop as he met the older man's gaze squarely. "The bit of research I've managed to do myself all points to the muggles gearing towards a technology boom in the next few years that'll probably see them advance in ways we'd struggle to keep up with if we're not paying attention."
"And you want this division to be doing that, keeping an eye out so we keep up?" Arthur asked, summing up the idea.
"Ideally, the magical side of Britain has already fallen behind by several decades with the negative impact the last two wars have had both on the population and the drive for research advancements. I don't want the same to happen for Volstar if it can be at all avoided."
Neatly stepping around the opposite side of the table, Molly set the tea service down and fussed with it, serving out a cup of steaming tea for each of them and positioning the pile of scones with their bowls of cream and jam within easy reach between them.
Offering quiet thanks for his cup, Harry pulled it closer to him and paused long enough to breathe in the earthy aroma before sighing happily.
"As a division head you'd be earning a maximum yearly wage of about fifteen-thousand galleons, though that might take a penalty if your own work or your division performs particularly poorly. Though that same rule applies across the board for all division and department heads to make sure they actually take an active role in making sure their areas and their subordinates are working efficiently and they're properly taking care of any problems that pop up." The young king explained, missing their bug eyed look at his mention of the expected wage as he blew on and sipped his tea. "Though that said, there is still a minimum wage to make sure everyone earns enough each year to keep themselves and their families housed and fed and the like."
"That's...that's very generous." Molly stuttered out, exchanging a look with her husband.
"We can afford to be. Even though we're a newly born nation we've got several things going for us on the economic front, our exports have been doing extremely well, even or maybe especially the crops we sell to mundane markets." Harry explained feeling just a little smug since there had been more than one voice that had doubted his initial idea to try and sell anything to muggles, even while using specialised goblin services as a front.
"Half of the very significant licensing fee that's being paid for the right to brew or otherwise produce any of my patents is being funneled into Volstar's treasury and a few of our other researchers have opted to do the same, despite it not being a requirement. Tax income is coming in and the same is true about immigration fees for the people that will be making the move when the borders officially open in July."
Considering for a moment that a little bit of reading might help things along, Harry summoned one of the brochures for Skyfall's schools he kept on his desk at the same time as he withdrew the employment contract he had had drawn up from his inside breast pocket.
He passed them across, Arthur his employment contract and Molly the brochure and took another sip of his tea. "That's the contract for the position, I thought it might help if you gave it a read through now before we'd have to sit down with Ministry HR and the lawyers to see it signed and sealed if you decide to accept it. I'd also recommend that over the next couple of days you sit down with someone well versed in law to go over the nitty gritty of it, though I'm happy to answer any questions you've got, you should have a separate unbiased opinion."
Harry pointed to the brochure that Mrs. Weasley was already starting to read through. "That brochure has information about all of our schools and tutoring systems, their testing and evaluation system, the subjects available from each and an overview of things like school holidays, preplanned school-wide excursions and the social groups and dorm system for each."
"There's quite a lot here, Harry dear." Molly said absently as she read.
"For most parents, their kids are what's most important to them and big changes like moving countries come with a lot of concerns. So I thought if the brochures were as thorough as possible then people could make better informed decisions, both for themselves and their kids futures." Harry explained, finishing the last of his tea before reaching for the teapot and refilling his cup and carefully refilling the other two cups while he was at it.
"Ohh, primary care too, and child care in the Ministry itself?" Molly asked, warm brown eyes flicking up to Harry then back down at the brochure.
Harry nodded. "Right, so the idea was that we start learning things like languages and problem solving and critical thinking skills from a very young age with things like pegboards and story time and stuff like that. But that sort of thing at the moment, at least in most countries, requires a parent to give up having a career in order to do that. So I thought that if there were nurseries and kindergarten built into the Ministry and spread out here and there around the city it would make it more feasible for someone that wanted to start a family and keep their career to do that, or to make sure a single parent was able to still properly care for their child and make ends meet."
Molly hummed and nodded. "Well the option is there at least. There wasn't anything of the sort here back when I had Bill, not that I wouldn't have still chosen to be a full time mother, I like being close to home personally. But it would have been nice, I think, to have had the option at the time. Even if I didn't take it. Now my Ginevra seems more inclined to be a career mum, and maybe Bill's Miss Fleur too. There seems a lot of young women these days that seem more inclined to following their careers than starting families."
Harry shrugged absently and plucked a new scone from the plate and busied his hands with applying liberal slathering of cream and jam. "Part of that's bleed through from the muggle side, I think. They seem to be in the process of remembering that women are just as capable of hard work as their menfolk."
Mrs. Weasley huffed at that and shook her head. "What did they think child rearing was?"
"Apparently a holiday at home." Harry replied with an amused hum at her reaction, absently using his thumb to wipe up some cream he had managed to seemingly get halfway up his cheek.
Flicking glowing eyes across to where Mr. Weasley was making his way through the contract, Harry took a moment to roughly gauge how far along he was before turning back to Molly. All the while fighting down a chuckle at the way the older man's mouth silently formed the words he was reading even though he wasn't reading out loud.
"Hm, so if I understand this right, the admissions test will also tell you if a child can be kept with their year mates in the year they would have naturally progressed into but needs some extra tutoring in a certain subject?" Molly asked, frowning down at a spot on the brochure.
"Right. All of the schools have pretty stringent expectations for what students should competently know at what age, so we're a little more inclined to keep a child back if they're not realistically able to keep up with the curriculum. But at the same time we don't want to hold someone back when they're only struggling a little bit with one or two subjects. With the in-school tutoring programs it allows the kids that need a little more help here and there to get that help without actually holding them or the rest of their class back." He explained, absently gesturing with his hands as he spoke.
"Similarly, we're trying to keep in mind that most people learn at different speeds and in different ways." He continued. "Take Ron and Hermione for example. They're both clever, but it's in different ways. Hermione can happily devour lessons from books no matter how long or dry, while Ron on the other hand learns his best when he's really engaged in a lesson. With the right teacher that actually gets him involved with the lesson he does really well. Like when Remus was our Defense teacher, I know Ron's grades shot right up. It wasn't because Remus was being easy on him or any of the other students, he was just engaging us differently than our other teachers tend to. He still learns the other way, but he doesn't absorb as much of the information so he gets frustrated, so it puts him off."
Frowning worriedly, Molly exchanged a look with her husband before turning her attention back to Harry. "We thought maybe he wasn't applying himself or…"
Harry shook his head. "Nah, Ron's not afraid of hard work when it's called for, and when it comes to studying for tests he knuckles down like everyone else. But he gets frustrated easily and that puts him off a bit. He's a little more prone to having a muck about or being more focused on chess or quidditch because of that. But I'm pretty sure he's what's called a kinesthetic learner, which is someone who learns best while physically doing something. For example, he does decently well in Herbology because half of the lessons we were in the greenhouses, actively examining plants in the flesh, taking care of them and what not and only some of the time we were in a typical classroom environment reading out of books.
"Of the two halves it was only the stuff we learned about from the books, the stuff that was either out of season or too dangerous or non-native that he had to do a lot of revision for before we had tests. The rest of the stuff he absorbed just fine. And there are a lot of other people out there that learn like that too. So the schools in Skyfall try to keep that in mind with as many hands on lessons as they can have or doing things like having the teachers make physical games out of some things or having tutors go jogging with their students while they have their lesson so they're doing something physical while they're hearing their lesson."
Humming quietly, Arthur and Molly exchanged another long look, Mr. Weasley reached across the small distance between them to wrap one of his hands around his wife's.
"You really think Ronald would benefit from something like that?" Arthur asked, expression serious though edged with concern. "That he'd be happier at school?"
"I'm sure of it. I've learned a lot about psychology and education since founding Volstar, and I know Ron. Even if you decide not to rebuild your home here and not move and build a new home in Skyfall, if you can help him change the way he's trying to learn, I think he'll be able to absorb his lessons better and be less frustrated and put off learning." Harry stated, giving them both a sure nod.
"Give the boy an axe and kick his behind into a training ring, you can give him your wizard lessons while he learns something useful."
Of the three of them at the table Harry was the only one that didn't jump at the sudden inclusion from Ruknukle when the goblin threw back the hood of his invisibility cloak to add his advice to the mix.
Flustered and vanishing spilled tea from the table with a quick swish of her wand, Molly glanced from Harry to Ruknukle and back.
Catching her look and judging that some introductions would be prudent regardless, Harry shifted a little in his chair so he could indicate to the kraggy goblin that had come to a stop just a few steps behind him.
"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, this is Warmaster Ruknukle of Clan Craggrok. He is my chief of security and my combat teacher as well as my personal bodyguard. Ruknukle, these are Molly and Arthur Weasley, my surrogate aunt and uncle and the parents of Bill, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny who you've met, as well as Charlie who you haven't had the opportunity to meet yet since he's employed as a dragon keeper in Romania." Harry explained.
Ruknukle gave them both a bob of his head. "Honours to your House."
Arthur blinked and quickly returned the nod with one of his own. "Ah, yes, honours to your Clan, Warmaster." He replied, his blue eyes darting from the goblin back to Harry. "Harry?"
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to go anywhere without my guard these days, though usually if it's appropriate they'll keep out of sight as much as possible if I'm making informal visits." Harry explained before turning his glowing gaze back to the goblin. "Sorry you were saying?"
"Goblin young learn with their bodies first, our young learn history and combat at the same time. The expending of bodies energy allows the mind's energy to radiate brighter." The old goblin told them gruffly
"Oh, well...I'm not sure I like the idea of any of my children going about with weapons." Molly said, frowning a little in worry about the idea.
Harry waved a hand. "He wouldn't be in any danger. In goblin culture live weapons, shields and armour have to be earned. The awarding of each is an important right of passage for them that symbolises both mastering their lessons and reaching adulthood. Until then the 'weapons' they use in training are all blunted, though the right shape and weight so they still learn how to navigate and position them all and so their arms build up strength."
"Fascinating." Arthur murmured, leaning forward in his seat and contract forgotten for the moment. "And you say all goblin children learn this way?"
"Indeed." Ruknukle replied. "We are a warrior race, so we believe all should understand how to defend themselves if engaged in combat, though less in the end place themselves among the warrior caste than those that work our mines or craft our goods."
"Fascinating, absolutely fascinating. What about…"
Molly and Harry exchanged a look that was an equal measure of fondness and slightly exasperated as Arthur kept asking questions, one after another as his endless curiosity and thirst for understanding came to the fore.
Harry would probably cut in eventually and get the conversation back on track, but for the moment he thought he was sit back and let it flow on while Molly went back to her brochure.
It certainly wouldn't hurt for more friendly dialogue to go on between a goblin and a human.
Perhaps especially from a human currently employed with the British Ministry of Magic.
Perspective, as usual was key.