Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Harry looked at the Patil family talking amongst themselves. Padma smiled and gave him a nod, while Parvati outright grinned at him. Borenya Patil noticed his daughters’ distraction and followed their gaze back to Harry. One deep breath later, and he was nodding a yes to Harry as well. Harry smiled back, glad to see his friends were happy about the decision. Harry stepped closer to the family, holding out a hand to Borenya, who grasped it firmly and shook it. “Thank you for believing in us, we’re glad to have you with us.”
Ranjini spoke then, “Harry, we have a warehouse of supplies, equipment and finished products that we were going to have to leave behind; you have given us hope that it might not need to be so. Our employees left to travel with their families when it was clear we could not move the looms that are the foundation of our business. They agreed to termination of their contracts, and so we leave no broken agreements behind by going with you. However, we now have a business with no employees. If, as it seems, we can bring the warehouse and work rooms, we would very much like to restart our weaving enterprise should we be able to hire new employees.”
Harry agreed that it seemed possible to him, and there wasn’t any reason to not bring their facility, but when Ranjini said that they’d need to return to India to Pack! it up, he winced. “Oh boy, that’s going to be a problem. I’m not sure we can get you back to India by floo, and we don’t have the ability to create portkeys.”
Borenya broke in, “No, it is good, Harry Potter, I have a reusable family portkey from the warehouse offices to our London home, we paid a set fee for six trips a year. We have two left, so one to Dacca, one back to London.”
“All right. We’ll get a priority on teaching people the Pack! spell, we need to get you back to India as soon as possible. I’m going to take a few minutes to teach Rosmerta and Jenever, then head back to the castle to teach everyone else. You’re welcome to have one person stay for this small class, and everyone else the class at the castle, or if you want the whole family taught at once, the castle is the better option.” Borenya thought everyone at once would be more suited, as both he and his wife would need to return to India to retrieve their facilities. It would go faster if Parvati and Padma also accompanied them, so he could afford to wait a bit longer. “Sounds good,” Harry said. “Padma, Parvati, could you take your parents to the 7th floor, look for the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry and knock on the wall opposite that. I’ll be back within 45 minutes, tops. Then we’ll run a quick class on the spell and you all can head out to retrieve your warehouse and home.”
The girls led their parents away, and Harry turned to see Viktor had worked his way back to the front of his group, now making his way over to Harry. “We come. Can we bring boat?” That one set Harry back. The deciding factor would be ownership of the vessel. “I have to say I don’t know, Viktor. Is there anyone in your group that can make a claim for ownership? If not, that’s a problem. There might be a workaround if we can wait for the bulk of your school professors and such to go through. If we can consider the boat as abandoned, and if magic agrees with that, then maybe? The buildings we’ve acquire d might have some proto sentience about them, and it’s possible we convinced them to change owners. It’s also possible we just made an ownership claim due to abandonment, and magic agreed with it. If you can beach her, and if it’s possible to completely close off everything from the deck down, we can try, but it will likely be tomorrow morning before that happens. I’d advise you to have your group grab their gear because if we manage to Pack! her up, we’ll still have to find a body of water on the other side to set her back afloat, and that could take a while. Does anyone have anything back in your home area that they want to bring? And it’s going to have to be portkey based travel, I’m not sure Gringotts would be okay with letting people floo back into a danger zone. We think you’ll have until about 3 tomorrow before it’s a problem, but we can’t promise.”
Viktor looked conflicted. “I do not speak for group in general. I will tell them and ask them to not take risk without good cause. I do not think any have portkey, so maybe not an issue. We have assistant headmaster with us, I will ask about boat owner.”
Harry was glad to hear that, although he recognized it was hard to leave everything behind. “Sounds good. When I get back to Hogwarts, if Remus isn’t already on it, I’m going to be setting up some small groups to focus on various supply runs so we can start setting up a community based food bank, and various general supply caches. Enough to keep us covered on basic needs for a year or so, until we can get on our feet. If you’ve no objection to helping out, we’d appreciate it, and we’ll slot you guys into whatever tasking comes up, once you finish up on the boat. Walk around to the right side of the castle as seen from the front and send me a Patronus message, and we’ll open a door for you. No need to try and get your group through the current crush on the first floor. We have room for everybody who wants to joing us, no worries.” A quick fist bump and Viktor turned back to his group. Harry stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Also, could you ask one of your professors or the Assistant Headmaster to talk to Remus once they get to the room? We will need someone to think about any educational needs that need to be addressed before the transition, and they’re perfect for assisting with that.” Viktor offered a decisive nod, and moved to talk to those in Durmstrang staff robes.
Harry approached Jenever Ogden, “Mister Ogden, sorry, Jenever, let’s work on getting yourself and Madam Rosmerta up to speed on Pack!ing, then you’re free to secure your premises. No offense, but you look dead on your feet, and I’m sure you want your brewery,” Jenever interrupted, “Technically, it’s a distillery, lad,” he said with a smile. Harry smiled back and continued, “Your distillery in one piece, so the less tired you are when you Pack! it up, the better.”
“Madam Rosmerta,” Harry started, “Oh, just call me Roz already, Harry. No point in trying to keep myself separated from the students now, is there?” She shrugged.
“Roz. Would you be willing to keep the Three Broomsticks open for the next while so we have access to your floo? The Hogwarts floos are going to be complete madness for today at the very least. We think we have until about 3 PM tomorrow before we need to worry, but anything can happen. We have an early warning system in place that will give us about an hour’s notice if the magic drain is able to cross the Channel, which should be enough for you to Pack! the building and get to Hogwarts if things happen earlier than expected. We’d prefer to have everyone on hand or at least in an easily reached location, so we’ll be staying in constant contact to make sure everyone is comfortable with the final scheduling, once we work it out.”
Madam Ros-, Roz, agreed that she would be fine, and was happy to keep her floo open. Harry, Jenever and Roz all stepped outside to not risk accidentally triggering the spell, and he taught them the Pack! spell. Rosmerta had already emptied her back shed, where she had kept a few building maintenance supplies, and they all entered the small space and Rosmerta pulled the door shut. She quickly whirled her wand overhead and with a firm “Pack!”, the building faded around them and they were once again standing in the sun. Looking down, they saw a small clear box holding Rosmerta’s shed.
There were smiles of relief all around as everyone there realized they didn’t have to make sacrifices of the “if I take this then I can’t take that” variety. They could have their homes, and that provided great emotional comfort.
“Off you pop, Jenever. Come back to Hogwarts as soon as you can, or if you run into issues, let us know. We want to make sure we have a roster of who and where everyone is.” He shook hands again with Jenever, then told Roz he needed to get to Hogwarts and get the Pack! training going and then it was supplies all the way for the rest of the afternoon and evening. He headed out at a light jog.
*-*-*-*-*-
Avoiding the mob in the hallways as best he could, he darted back up the stairs at Hogwarts, reaching the 7th floor only slightly out of breath. Rapping on the wall, the not a door became a door that opened to show a smiling Angelina Johnson, who stepped up to drag him into a hug. “Thank you, Harry,” she muttered into his shoulder. “Now I know my family will be okay.” She let him go, patting him on his shoulders as she did. My older sister has been working in London, and we certainly weren’t going to leave her behind, but she’s non-magical so it wouldn’t have been easy for her with Dumbledore’s group. Now it’s not a problem, because you’re not going to let it be a problem, correct?” She gave a very toothy smile with a very, very direct look.
Harry gulped. “No,” he squeaked, then cleared his voice. “No, not a problem at all, and that’s exactly the thing I want to escape, the notion that magic makes us better. It doesn’t, it just makes us different. We’re going to find a way to make this work for all of us, not just a few. And on that note…” He trailed off, stopping by Linmy, and asking the elf to start a list of those people going, and where they were at any given time, or at least have a rough idea of what they were tasked to do with an estimated return time, giving him what names and information he had so far.
He skipped over to Remus and filled him in on his incoming help, Jenever Ogden with his farming and agriculture experience, and at least one of the Durmstrang professors for their educational experience. “I know you have that experience too, and it’s probably a better fit considering its Hogwarts we’re taking with us, but you’re still the best overall fit for all the other stuff that needs worked on. Best use of time and all that sort of thing, right?” Despite the mountain of work still in front of him, he had to chuckle and admit Harry was in the right of it.
He spoke briefly to Remus, and they traded information without getting into details and what areas hadn’t yet been addressed.
Harry bounced around to the side and climbed up on his side of the desk.
“Hey everybody!” He looked around at the room now thrumming with the excited energy of all the new people. He assumed Sirius was confined to one of the rooms with a closed door. “Can I get your attention? Of immediate concern, Linmy here is going to be keeping track of people. Don’t leave the Room for any significant period of time without checking in with him. We need to have a reasonable chance of finding you if we need to get information out. Moving on, we have a few people here who need to get going to Pack! up their homes and other assorted buildings. Angelina, I know you pick up spells ridiculously quickly. If you’ve no objection, I’m going to make you the designated trainer for this spell going forward until we move, so pay extra attention and ask all the questions you want. With that in mind, those of you who still need to pack up buildings or belongings, or if you’re at loose ends and just want to learn, follow me. Room, can I get a door to the back of the castle where we won’t be interrupted, and could you please leave the door open for us to return?” Ignoring the chattering in response, he jumped down, waved at Angelina to accompany them, heading to the new door showing a patch of well shaded lawn.
Once outside, he said “I’m teaching you this outside so we don’t accidentally trigger the spell. If you’re intending to Pack! a building, and not just the contents: One – you have to own it. Two - Enter the building, close all doors and windows, the building has to be shut to the outside. Three, with your right hand, whirl your wand over your head, counterclockwise. Start with your arm directly in front of your face, then use your wrist and arm to whirl your wand in a circle to the left, back, right, and return to front. As your wand gets to the left most position, that’s when you begin the incantation, which is Pack!, said in a firm and even tone. The building will fade around you, then reappear in front of you in an unbreakable glass box about one foot high. Spread out a bit and practice a few times, I’ll make corrections if I see anything, but it seems to be a pretty forgiving sort of spell. If you don’t own the building, but you have items within that you would like to pack, have some empty trunks with you to hold your belongings. I can’t say how many, as some things can shrink quite a bit, others less so. Enter the building and close all the windows and doors, open your trunks and set them around you. Same movements, same spell. Your belongings will fade, and it will look like a dust cloud hovering over your trunks. As each trunk fills it will close and lock. Should you not have enough trunk space available, the remaining belongings will stack themselves neatly nearby. I don’t know how to determine what belongings are in what trunk though, so if you want to wear your favorite outfit tomorrow, put it in a bag and carry it with you.” He wandered among them for a few minutes, making one minor correction to Mrs. Johnson on the height of her wand.
“Okay everyone, looks good from here. Let’s go back inside so we can make sure you have it down. Heading back into the room, he asked for the door to close, and if the room could provide a small sectioned off area for them to practice, one that was warded to prevent the spread of magic beyond that area. He dropped three of his empty trunks on the floor in different spots. “Everybody drop something you own in a pile over there in the corner.” He waited while his class dropped a shoe, a shawl, a bottle of fire whisky, to which he tossed a very amused glance at Seamus, who gave him a cheeky smile back, and various other belongings. He bent down and mixed them up further. “All right, three of you step up behind the trunks, one per trunk, then cast “Pack!” and see if your belonging moves to the trunk. Once you’ve done so, please step aside, leaving your item in the trunk. Someone else then step up and repeat the process, until everyone has confirmed the spell will work for them.” They all did so. It took Parvati a second attempt, but she mastered the spell. “You’re free to retrieve your belongings. I had you leave them there to show you that magic doesn’t care whose trunk it is, it will fill the nearest open trunk with your belongings. If you don’t want your best dress robes in the same trunk as your brother's quidditch gear, make sure you’re standing near a different trunk when you cast.
“If you need additional trunks, ask one of the elves to see if there are any more in the Room of Lost Things. If you’re heading out of England to do any Pack!ing, don’t dawdle! In and out, the Bitch is likely already laying down her grid, and while we suspect she started at the edge of Russia, we don’t know that for sure. While we think she’ll wait until she’s done with the continent and then kick it off, we don’t know that for sure either. We have a warning in place for when the magic drain hits Calais, and we have another to tell us if the drain is able to cross the channel or if we have some time while she starts her grid here, but those are the only two warnings we have. If you’re anywhere in Eurasia when she lights off the runestones, I don’t think you’re getting out. Once the Dover warning goes off, we’ll give you all ten minutes, then we’re raising the wards at Hogwarts, and they’re not coming back down. Let me repeat, they’re not coming back down. Those wards are our last ditch effort to give us what remaining minutes they can. If you’re not inside the wards by then, godspeed little taters. Once the Calais warning goes, we’re on borrowed time, and once the Dover warning goes, that’s it.”
He picked up his now empty again trunks, closing, shrinking and pocketing them. “Angelina, this is going to be your training room for the pack spell. It’s good to train outside if you can, you don’t want stuff from your temporary room causing confusion if it gets mixed up with a bunch of other people’s. And if you’re practicing in a building you own, it might be a problem until we could….” Oh. Oh, not good, not good, very not good. “Yeah, um.. yeah. Train outside, or keep the training room door closed while practicing. All yours.” Speed walking back into the room proper, he went over to Remus, who was back in his huddle with Hat, sidling over to the table with a muttered “Excuse me, please. Just need my friend Hat here.”
He turned and all but ran with Hat to his room. “Hat, got a question… Um. How do we un Pack! a building? I’m feeling this will be slightly relevant in the near future, don’t you agree?” Five minutes later, Harry sucked his teeth and said “All right, yes, we absolutely should have thought of that sooner, and yes, it really is funny, hahaha, except its kind of not feeling funny anymore, which you can tell because I’m not wearing my jokey face right now. Could you please stop laughing and help, so nobody realizes we actually are Team Clueless?”