The monthly meeting of the W.W.W. Board of Directors was scheduled for this morning. The board members, George, and Harry started their pre-meeting tour of the main warehouse. When they entered the warehouse through the receiving bay they were confronted by massive piles of boxes. The piles had been port-keyed into the receiving bay during the night. Two new workers were unpacking the pallets and trying to find the racks and shelves where the boxes should go.
There was a familiar story behind this. George would find and train new warehouse staff. Other commercial operators would then poach George’s trained staff. George would have to start again.
Harry and George took a trainee each and demonstrated the specialized spells which made the boxes fly to the right place and neatly stack them. In less than an hour, the piles were gone, and the despatch side of the warehouse work could start.
George opened the door to the old shop back room. The all-purpose room served as the staff tearoom, training room and party entertainments demonstration room. Harry had learnt not to touch anything left sitting around in there.
There were two visitors seated at the main table. They had purple and orange striped skin, and their hair was fluorescent green.
Molly: “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WE HAVE BEEN STUCK WITH THESE RIDICULOUS STRIPES AND HAIR FOR AGES!”
George: “Hi Mum! Hi Dad! If you stand up for ten minutes the colours will go away. The party colour chair charm is supposed to have stopped by now. I will have to adjust the spell. Thanks for testing it for me.”
Arthur: “Hello son, I think it was quite good. Just the thing to get a Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes party going.”
George: “What are you doing here anyway, you know that we test stuff here.’
Molly: “YOU HAVEN’T TOLD ME THAT YOU HAVE DONE IT!”
George: “Done what, Mum?”
Molly: “CHASED OF POTTER OUT OF THIS COMPANY! GINNY SAYS SHE KEEPS GETTING ASKED ABOUT W.W.W. THINGS! HER FRIENDS THINK THAT SHE COULD GET CHEAP MIRROR PHONES FOR THEM AND SHE CAN’T! YOU WON’T GIVE THEM TO HER AND I KNOW IT’S BECAUSE OF POTTER!”
George: “I have told you this before Mum. I will not give away anything that I can sell for the full price. We sell every mirror phone that we can make, for the full price. Ginny’s friends will just have to find the galleons themselves.”
Molly: “WHAT ABOUT POTTER? AFTER THE WAY THAT CHEATING SCOUNDREL TREATED GINNY, HOW CAN YOU KEEP HIM HERE?”
George: “I know you don’t like Harry, Mum. The fact is that Harry owns two-thirds of the company. I can’t buy him out. I also don’t want to buy him out. Harry doesn’t want to sell. The company is doing very well, and Harry has helped us since Fred and I started it up.”
Molly: “POTTER IS A CHEAT!”
George: “I know Ron always said that Mum. It is not true. Harry did not cheat Ron out of anything. Ron sold his share of the company to Harry and Harry paid Ron much more than it was worth at the time. That share is worth a lot more now. Ron should have held on to it. He would have been well off by now.”
Molly: “POTTER BETRAYED US ALL! HE COULD HAVE MADE ALBUS DUMBLEDORE’S DREAM COME TRUE! HE THREW IT AWAY! HE COULD HAVE BEEN THE NEW LEADER OF THE LIGHT AND HE TURNED HIS BACK ON US!”
George: “Er… Mum, what are you talking about?”
Molly: “DUMBLEDORE SAID THAT POTTER IS THE BEST HOPE WE HAVE! WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER, POTTER DID NOTHING! HE WAS ORDINARY! HE DIDN’T TRY TO BE OUR GREAT LEADER! HE DIDN’T TRY TO TAKE OVER FROM DUMBLEDORE AND LEAD US ON TO GREATNESS! GINNY TOLD ME! SHE TRIED TO GET HIM TO BECOME THE LEADER OF THE LIGHT! HE WANTS TO BE A FARMER!”
George: “Harry never wanted to be that sort of leader Mum. He wanted to be just Harry.”
Molly: “RON TOLD ME! POTTER OWNS THE ELDER WAND! HE COULD HAVE USED IT TO BECOME THE GREATEST WIZARD ALIVE! HE COULD HAVE MADE US ALL GREAT! GINNY COULD HAVE BEEN AN EMPRESS! YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS COULD HAVE RULED WHOLE COUNTRIES! RON TOLD ME THAT HE COULD HAVE BEEN POTTER’S GENERAL, COMMANDING HIS ARMIES! POTTER PUT THE ELDER WAND BACK INTO DUMBLEDORE’S TOMB! HE REFUSED TO USE IT! RON ALWAYS SAID THAT POTTER BETRAYED HIM! POTTER BETRAYED US!”
George: “Harry never wanted any of that Mum. Dad, can you take Mum home? I think she needs to rest.”
Arthur: “Let’s go home, Molly. I should feed the chickens.”
Arthur and Molly left the shop.
Harry appeared from behind the door where he had been hiding.
George: “That was interesting.”
Harry: “I thought I was mental. Wow! … Sorry George, she’s your mother. That was rude.”
George: “However, it was appropriate.”
--ooOOoo--
The letter from Hogwarts arrived. Hermione was offered an Associate Professor post. She would be teaching Arithmancy under the supervision of Professor Septima Vector. The position would be reviewed at the end of the academic year with the intention of converting the position to a full professor.
Fleur’s afternoon tea ladies’ group celebrated with Hermione. Daphne was now a regular member. Fleur had invited Tracey and Astoria to attend. The ladies had been informed of Daphne, Astoria and Tracey’s secret service at Hogwarts and they were made very welcome.
Astoria was now Mrs Malfoy and the mother of Scorpius Malfoy. Albus had made Scorpius his first friend at Hogwarts. The families were still finding ways of coping with this. Ignoring it would only last a short time.
Tracey had married Georg Conrad. He was a banker from Germany who worked in the City of London. He was a squib and very rich. Georg was one of the channels between Gringotts Wizarding Bank and the mundane financial system. The arrangement was very profitable.
Tracey had three children who were all magical and were too young for Hogwarts. Tracey had her own business. She manufactured ‘historical artefacts ’. These were signs and pieces of wood which were ‘distressed’ to look ancient and then covered with ancient rune inscriptions. The runes were real. They spelt out simple mild enchantments to give protection from persons with harmful intent. The enchantments were not strong enough to contravene the International Statute of Secrecy.
Mundane home decorators looking for ‘character’ pieces loved them. Her factory sold truckloads of them.
Hermione had given this group the secret story of the Horcruces and the Deathly Hallows. Almost no one knew the true story. If Hermione was going to explain some of her strange behaviour over the years then these secrets had to come out to at least her new circle of supporters.
Angelina Weasley gave a report on what Molly had yelled out at George.
Audrey responded first, “Oh! That sounds so weird. How could she think like that?”
Hermione answered, “Molly suffered a lot during the wars. Her brothers were killed. Ginny was possessed and nearly killed by the Horcrux in that diary. Fred was killed. She lived in fear that the whole family would die. Nothing was ever done to help her mental state. Wizards think that they are mentally made of steel. That is not true. She seems to have become obsessed with making her family safe by becoming powerful.
Bilious never said anything about the Elder Wand after Harry told us that he was going to put it back into Dumbledore’s Tomb. Bilious objected. At first, I felt the Elder Wand pulling at me. I think Harry saw that. He told us that he was going to let the wand die with him. I pulled myself together and I told Harry that it was the right thing to do.
The Elder Wand has always had a devastating impact on wizards who wanted more power.
Wizards were murdered to get control of it. It looks like Bilious was always under its influence. I wonder how close Harry came to being murdered so that Bilious could gain ownership of it. The way he talked about Harry; it must have been close.”
Fleur looked at Hermione, “So it’s Harry now, not Potter?”
Hermione winced, “It looks like it. The Hate Enchantment must be wearing off.”
Audrey was still worried, “Why does Ginny seem to be so immature? She is the mother of three children, and then at times she has an eleven-year-old attitude.”
“That has worried me as well,” Hermione replied, “she was eleven when she was possessed by Tom Riddle for most of the year. After the Chamber of Secrets, what help did she get?”
The ladies looked at each other.
“I can tell you what Dumbledore said,” Hermione continued, “he said, ‘Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate.’ and that was all. Harry and Bilious both told me that. The next day she was back as though everything was fixed.”
“Knowing what we know now, that sounds awful,” Tracey said quietly.
Astoria asked, “Can anything be done for Ginny?”
Angelina replied, “Ginny must ask for help. Today, she will not. Ginny is confident that she is fine. You should hear her sneering about Harry getting help from the mind healers. Molly is the same.”
Audrey shook her head, “Ginny might be an adult, but a significant part of her is still eleven years old. Perhaps something in her development stopped with her being possessed by Riddle and the whole Chamber of Secrets thing and never started again.”
--ooOOoo--
The meeting was nearly ready to start. It was a very rare occasion. The Weasley men were getting together and there would be no wives or girlfriends attending.
Arthur looked uncomfortable, “Percy, who else will be here tonight?”
“Bill, George and Harry,” Percy said.
“OK! Good!” Arthur relaxed a little. “I wish I could talk to Harry a bit more. It’s been very difficult.”
“Yes, Dad.”
Two figures approached from the public apparition point. George and Harry came to the door and quietly let themselves in.
George: “Hey Percy! Dad!”
Harry: “Percy, Dad.”
Arthur: “George, Harry, great to see you. How are you?”
Harry: “I’m not bad, mostly. There is a bit of concern about some things, but mostly I’m doing well.”
George: “Don’t take too much notice of that. We don’t have anyone who can report how many times he wakes up with nightmares each night.”
Harry: “Thanks for your concern, George. I think.”
Bill arrived.
Bill: “Evening all!”
Percy: “Let’s get started. This is Harry’s show. Harry!”
Harry: “Thanks for coming guys. I hope this isn’t a big thing, but it might be.”
George: “That’s it. If Harry is concerned it must be at least another Dark Lord or the end of the world. What is it, Harry?”
Harry: “It’s the Elder Wand.”
Arthur: “I thought so.”
George: “Yep, it’s the end of the world.”
Bill: “Is this about Mum’s obsession?”
Percy: “Sounds like it.”
Harry: “It sounds like you all know about it. It isn’t Molly I'm worried about.
I have heard a whisper from an auror I used to work with. Ginevra has been talking about it.
She has been telling all sorts of people that she knows that the Elder Wand is a real thing. She is saying that she knows where it is. She is saying that she knows who has its allegiance.
I trusted Ron to keep his mouth shut about the Elder Wand. It looks like he never did.”
Bill: “Not good!”
Percy: “These people, are they anyone we know?”
Harry: “Theodore Nott is one, for certain.”
All: “OOOOOH!”
Arthur: “What do you want to do?”
Harry: “I want to avoid having Nott and a string of other wannabe Rulers-Of-The-World challenging me to a fight to the death.
One of them could succeed. This new Dark Lord could then easily retrieve the Elder Wand.
You would all be in deep doo-doo.
I won’t because I will be dead.”
George: “Happy thoughts, Harry. Think happy thoughts until we figure something out.”
Bill: “Everyone; call out what you think. I will write out the ideas. It doesn’t have to make sense or follow any order. We will pick out what to do from the list.”
Percy: “The Elder Wand has to be destroyed.”
Bill: “Everyone has to see it being destroyed.”
Arthur: “Can we get someone else to take its allegiance without killing Harry?”
There was a profound silence.
Harry: “The last time the Elder Wand changed its allegiance; let's look at what happened then.
Dumbledore won the Wand from Grindelwald.
Dumbledore kept the Wand and used it for decades. He kept it secret.
Dumbledore fell into Tom Riddle's trap with the Gaunt’s Ring and was poisoned.
Dumbledore was nearly dead, I watched him, he let Draco Malfoy disarm him. That was enough for the Wand’s allegiance to change to Draco.
At Malfoy Manor, I disarmed Draco, and that was enough for the Wand to change its allegiance to me.
Riddle took the Wand and used it, but he never got its allegiance. That is still with me.”
George: “So they don’t have to kill you to take the Wand.”
Harry: “No.
Dumbledore never killed Grindelwald. Grindelwald was defeated and then imprisoned. Not everyone remembers that.
Draco didn’t kill Dumbledore.
I didn’t kill Draco.
Bill: “The whole world must see someone else defeat and disarm Harry. Everyone must see the ownership change to take the heat off Harry.”
George: “Once the ownership is removed. The Wand can be destroyed. Once and for all, with no possibility of it being hidden somewhere and coming back to life.”
Harry: “Dumbledore’s wand enchantments, I wonder. We might be able to put a rune set into the Elder Wand to make it heat up until it burns itself to ash. There should be a trigger, when the ownership changes, then it bursts into flames.”
Arthur: “Can someone prove that this wand is the Elder Wand?”
George: “We need something to prove that this wand is the Elder Wand.”
Percy: “Then, when Harry burns it, everyone will know that the Elder Wand is no more.”
Bill: “Harry will be off the hook without having to fight anyone.”
Harry: “We are getting close. Out of confusion comes enlightenment.”
George: “Who will set up the proving thing, whatever it is?”
Arthur: “The Department of Mysteries, it’s their job. Almost everyone will take notice of what they say.”
Percy: “I know who to ask.”
--ooOOoo—
The majority of the work to be done in the Department of Mysteries was stunning, boring, stunningly boring, repetitious, dull, and uninteresting. Then there were the little rays of sunshine that somehow found their way down to Eric’s level.
An interdepartmental memo from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes flew in and landed on Eric’s desk. It was a normal request for information, which would almost certainly be refused by the Department of Mysteries management, but that didn’t stop people from trying.
Stuck to the interdepartmental memo was a scrap of parchment with a handwritten note from Percy. Eric had been invited to another informal get-together at Percy and Audrey’s place. Percy had promised an item of interest. If the new item of interest was half as fascinating as the previous one, then Eric would be very pleased.
The visit commenced in the usual polite way. Then Percy introduced the item of interest.
Percy: “What do you know of the Deathly Hallows and the Elder Wand.”
Eric: “They are children’s stories. I know a significant number of, shall we say, older wizards are convinced that they exist, but there has never been any conclusive proof. Why do you ask?”
Percy: “What would you say if I know that the Deathly Hallows exist and I have a way of locating at least two of them.”
Eric jumped up and danced around in a little circle, clapping his hands. He then sat down again.
Eric: “Sorry for that outburst of unprofessional behaviour. I must confess that I do have a personal interest in questions about the Deathly Hallows.”
Percy: “Before you get carried away again, the reason for our getting together is to find out if there is a way of proving conclusively, without a shadow of a doubt, that the wand in question is the Elder Wand?”
Eric: “Yes there is.”
Percy: “Let’s say that the wand in question was taken into the Department of Mysteries and examined. Would the Department of Mysteries officially make a statement to the effect that this wand is the Elder Wand?”
Eric: “The Department would have to get an order from the Minister for Magic to make any statement. The Department does answer to the Minister.”
Percy: “How disappointing, political troublemakers can accuse the Minister of lying and raise doubts about any such statement. We will have to find a way to work around that.”
Eric: “How about a device which can go into any auror or watch office which any auror or watchman can use to check a wand?
You touch the wand to a black stone panel on the device and the auto-quill attached to the device writes out a report containing the wand description, the wand owner’s name, and any distinctive name the wand has been given such as the Elder Wand.
If you wait for it, it will write out the results of the Reverse Spell. That will put the list of spells cast by the wand into the report.
If the spell is an Unforgiveable, then the name of the victim will be put in as well as the name of the wizard casting the spell. The report can’t be faked. It can be used as evidence in a trial.”
Percy: “That is what we need. Is there such a thing? Can the aurors get access to one?”
Eric: “There is a stack of them in storage in the Department of Mysteries. The Department made them to help the DMLE to present more reliable evidence in criminal trials. They are called Wand Informants.
A former Minister for Magic ordered them to be put into storage when we were about to distribute them to each auror and watch office. He stopped the distribution because using the device would be an invasion of the wizard’s privacy. The Minister was Cornelius Fudge.”
Percy: “Why wasn’t it sent out after Fudge was booted out.”
Eric: “I’m about the only Unspeakable left who knows that they exist. The Unspeakables can’t just ignore a Minister’s order. A new Minister must issue a new order. If the new Minister doesn’t know about the old order, then the Unspeakables are not allowed to let that information get out. The orders flow from the top down and nothing is allowed to flow back up.”
Percy: “The usual bureaucratic stranglehold, the people who know are not allowed to say. Happily, I am not a part of your bureaucracy. I know people who know people who can have private conversations with the Director of the DMLE and the Minister.”
ns 15.158.61.6da2
