Pack!

               Chapter Thirty One

               Day Two, still early

               Remus had propped the room door open when he had headed out to the library in the wee hours, and now let it close behind him as he came back in with a levitated tea service and carrying a rather sizeable box of ritual supplies he’d raided from various locations around the castle. It felt slightly eerie in the early morning low light to see mounds of luggage scattered everywhere, no others visible anywhere. The silence didn’t help, leaving him feeling rather like the lone survivor of some great apocalypse. He nodded a hello at Hat, who quietly informed him that Hat and Hogwarts were working a few things out, he’d be available later to discuss, he hoped. He paused beside the table they’d been using the last few days for planning to set down the box, then asked the room for a chalkboard next to the exit door, which was one of the few spots of currently unused wall.

               He wrote, “Needed: 32 volunteers for a Compass Rose (mapping) ritual. Must be age 16 or older with a stable core, ritual to be held at 9 AM.” He stuck a sheet of parchment beside the note, numbered 1 to 32 and tethered a pre-filled quill to the sheet.

               Below the first note he wrote, “Needed: anyone interested in helping to plan the village layout and anyone with a reasonable to high degree of experience in fields that might be useful in setting up our village ideas and vision. To be elaborated on during breakfast, please be present in the great hall for details.”

               “Note: Mealtimes, Great Hall: 7 AM to 9 AM, 11 AM to 1 PM, 5 PM to 7 PM”

               “Note: Special Meeting today only, noon in the Great Hall”

               “Note: Daily Evening Meeting to be held at 8 PM in the Room of Requirement”

               “Needed: Village name, submit entries here.” He stuck an envelope with a mild expansion charm on the interior beside the note and pinned up a few dozen strips of parchment.

               By his Tempus, nautical dawn had been at 5:20 AM and it was now a quarter before six. The room had gradually lightened as the sun rose, and he asked the room to please open a window for him. Moving to stand before it, he took in the early morning landscape. He noted that the temperature didn’t seem to differ much from yesterday, a simple spell confirming it was currently 25 degrees Celsius. He leant against the embrasure, letting the breeze play across his face, sipping at his mug of tea, beginning to hear the soft opening of doors and murmured conversations.

               Vabry had popped in to tell them that the elves had a task that needed to be uninterrupted, so if he could please avoid calling them for the next several hours, it would be appreciated. There would still be two elves on kitchen duty and to please not task them further as they’d be assisting as time permitted. Remus nodded in acknowledgement, the elves certainly deserved to have their own priorities. He was beyond grateful they’d elected to come with Harry, Neville, and himself. The food situation alone was made much easier to handle, the elves being unequalled when it came to domestic tasks.

               His thought turned again to Hogwarts and it’s ability to function without it’s usual complement of a hundred plus. He contemplated the dilemma, turning the problem this way and that in his mind. He should be able to make it work with a larger caretaking staff, if they could find the staff, which he had to admit wasn’t too likely. It was going to take some time for the job market to shake itself out. Businesses would be started or potentially failing, but they had a finite workforce with a great many other options before them. For now, he guesstimated that most people would be working in their current primary occupation until it was determined to be able to support themselves. Should that not work out in their favor, they’d probably still maintain their occupation and pick up something else on the side to make ends meet. He was reluctant to give up Hogwarts as the school building, but practicality might have to take the field. If he didn’t have the staff to safely monitor the available space, he’d have to close off a large part of the castle or use a smaller building, both options would almost certainly require that they operate as a day school only. Being a day school was very likely to be a good thing, or possibly operating as a hybrid day/boarding school. He’d have to think that through.

               Roused from his thoughts, he turned his head to smile at Harry as he walked up beside him. Transferring his mug to his right hand, he slid his left arm around the teens shoulders. Harry sighed and leaned into him. The two shared the view, watching shadows slowly move to the rising sun until Sirius walked up from behind them both, wiggling into the middle and pulling them all together with no regard for Remus’s tea, which had to be hastily set on the window ledge. Foreheads touching, they took a minute to breathe, all of them taking comfort from the nearness of their unconventional family.

               Harry was the first to break the silence. “Dobby said he’s available to help for the next couple of hours and will be hanging out in the Room, but to please not call any of the other elves. Any idea what’s going on? I kind of feel like there’s mischief afoot, then I think it’s none of my business and I should let it go, but it’s like an itch I can’t scratch. They’re up to something.”

               Remus frowned slightly. “Same request I got from Vabry. There are two elves in the kitchen working on breakfast, but was asked not to call any any of them for the next couple of hours. I’m thinking you’re more sensitive to the situation than I am, I didn’t think much about it, they do have their own lives and I had other things on my mind so I wasn’t really concerned. I guess we’ll find out later, I’m sure they’re not intending anything that will result in explosions and glitter.”

               “Aaaaanyway,” Sirius broke in, anxious to change the subject when remembering what schoolboy prank Remus was almost certainly referring to and how many detentions that had earned them all, “I need to talk to you two. Now that we’re here and all, I think we three need to-“

               “-Step back.” The other two chimed in with his final words.

               They looked at each other and broke into giggles. “Great minds,” Remus snorted. “Fully on board with that, Pads.”

               “Me too,” Harry agreed. “I’ve got all the wrong instincts and not near enough experience for things like this. Frankly, I have a hard enough time just being responsible for me. I should have turned over any part I played in this days ago.”

               “Don’t be hard on yourself, pup. You’ve done a great job, and you harnessed up and started pulling the cart when most of us were still shaking the whatthehell out of our ears. Do not underestimate the gratitude we all feel that someone got us up and moving in the right direction so quickly and without argument. So what that we might have missed a few things, we’ve all survived and we’re going to continue on and thrive here, I just know it.” He pulled Harry in tighter, dropping a kiss on his forehead. “But yeah, you’d hate being in charge long term, so we’ll find the right people and hand them all the problems, then we can go have fun somewhere.”

               “Not so fast, Pads. In a few weeks you might need to be teaching DADA for me and possibly a couple other subjects as well, so don’t get all excited and go running off shouting “Freedom!” at the top of your lungs.” Remus grinned at the pained look on Sirius’ face. “None of that, now. You’re a really good teacher when you have the right motivation.” Remus pulled a chocolate marshmallow out of his pocket, dangling it in front of the animagus. “And I know every one of your weaknesses. Pretty sure I’m the only one here with a multi-lifetime supply of flavored marshmallows.” He smiled as Sirius involuntarily started swallowing, staring at the marshmallow with longing. Remus flipped the marshmallow to Sirius, who greedily caught it, stuffing it in his mouth. “Fank you,” was heard from behind the mouthful of sugar fluff.

               “And on that note,” Harry said as he started steering them to the door, “let’s get Team Clueless on the move and go see if we can help any with breakfast.”

               Pausing to look at the new chalkboard he hadn’t seen until now, he held up their forward progress to look over Remus’s notes. He wrote in his and Sirius’ names for the mapping ritual, correctly assuming there was a reason Remus hadn’t signed himself in, guessing that Remus would likely be needed to lead the ritual. He looked at the village name request, then bit his lip as his eyes laughed with a glint all too familiar to the two Marauders. He took a scrap of parchment and scribbled something, dropping it in the envelope and failing to suppress his widening grin. A poker face he had not. “Tell you later,” he said to the curious looks of his two companions. Taking their arms again, they left, heading down to the great hall.

               Breakfast had been surprisingly quiet, Harry thought to himself. Or perhaps not surprisingly, after all most everyone had to be nervous about starting things up this morning. Anticipation and excitement were great motivators, but once you had to actually dig in and do the work, the scope of this undertaking was probably making itself felt again.

               Remus had been absently stirring his bowl of oatmeal with an “I’m thinking” face firmly set but had emerged from his thoughts when he saw Percy Weasley walk by with Bill, asking the pair if they had time to discuss some plans. The three spent the next hour huddled together, parchment notes passing back and forth between them in addition to what looked to be a very intense conversation; Remus looking determined, Percy uncertain, and Bill conflicted.

               They were oblivious to Harry and Sirius starting up a new set of antics using the raisins they’d removed from their own bowls, flicking them at each other and politely ensuring they vanished the ones that hit the floor until Bill Weasley turned and threatened Harry with a spoon when Harry’s elbow got jostled and his aim veered sideways, an unfortunate raisin catching Bill on the forehead. Harry meekly subsided with an apology and a glare at Sirius who’d been responsible for the elbow nudge. Sirius grinned and raised his arms in triumph at the win, while Queen Elizabeth, sitting across from them, had turned her face away, trying to remember she was a dignified older lady who absolutely should not be snickering into her own oatmeal.

               Finally, Remus, Percy and Bill seemed to come to agreement, and Remus sat back with a relieved huff of air and an expression of satisfaction.

               With about twenty minutes to spare before the end of breakfast, Remus stood up and cast a Sonorus on himself. “Good morning everyone! There are some announcements to make if I could have your attention. First things first, we’re going to shake up our pre-transition planning committee into something more formalized if not yet finalized. Please take some time to think about what categories and people you’d like to see involved. These are the people who will be establishing the actual guidelines to be followed before we break ground. As an example, if you plan to start or already own a farm, we’re going to have an agriculture person in place to standardize what help we can offer and what health and safety requirements need to be in place. Their province would also encompass things like what incentives can be offered to cater to community needs. For instance, if we have seven farmers all growing wheat, but we have a high wheat surplus and we need someone to grow corn, or sorghum, we’ll have someone overseeing needs versus production. These are likely to wind up as permanent government posts, but that part of things will be somewhat down the road. For now, we simply want experts structuring the relevant areas. We’ll be taking nominations for fields of oversight, then we’ll gather those affected by said fields into subgroups to nominate a person or persons to take charge. So, think about those two things; what areas, and if you have a connection to an area, who you’d like to see in charge of the initial initiatives. We’ll get into that at today’s noon meeting. If you missed the notes on the board in the room, we have a one-time meeting today at noon, here in the hall, and a daily scheduled meeting at 8 PM in the room.

               “Second, think about what you’d like as a government setup. This will likely take some time to sort out, so if preferred, a committee can be put to work on it as long as everyone is willing to accept the results of the committee’s work. It will be a discussion item at tonight’s meeting.”

               “Third, we’re going to be attempting the Compass Rose ritual this morning in about an hour. Signup on the notice board in the Room if you’re interested. Those that do so please remain in the room so we have everyone on hand, then we’ll move outside for the ritual itself. For those that are interested in watching, but would prefer not to participate, you’re welcome to watch from a safe distance. I see no reason to be concerned about the ritual, but to my knowledge it’s not been attempted in the last two hundred and fifty years so we’ll be exercising reasonable care.”

               “Fourth, please don’t go exploring until a group of scouts have been identified and they get a chance to look the area over. I know it will be frustrating for a few days, keeping ourselves somewhat cooped up, but we’ll get some sort of outdoor site set aside as quickly as we can.”

               “Fifth, and lastly, I am absolutely not the right person to be overseeing long term organization efforts, and Harry has indicated the same. We’re glad to assist as needed, but from here on out, we’re just another couple of immigrants looking to put down new roots. We have access to two very good people to handle things going forward, though, firstly someone who’s job required them to evaluate many different situations from all angles before deciding on a path forward, and second, someone who handles organization as easily as breathing. Both have agreed to step into the new roles, at least temporarily; Bill Weasley will take on management of our efforts for the first three to six months and Percy Weasley will be keeping track of tasking and loose ends for those same efforts. I’ll be available to them to transition over anything in progress, and we’ll give it a couple of days to ensure a smooth handoff without causing confusion. I don’t want to put Bill on the spot for a speech right away, until about an hour ago he had no idea this was rolling downhill at him,” a point generating hearty laughter from those present, “so let’s give him some time to get familiar with the situation from a new perspective, and at least get his feet wet before we throw him headfirst in the pond. Bill and Percy, please stand and take a well-deserved round of applause for taking on what’s likely to be the hardest jobs available for the next few months!” With that, Remus led the hall in a show of appreciation that grew louder yet as most of those present realized they were happy enough to follow instructions, but they absolutely didn’t want to be the one to figure out what those instructions should be.

               Bill and Percy shyly acknowledged the praise, with Bill taking advantage of everyone being together to send out a few feelers. “While I’m not yet sure if I should thank Remus or jinx him, both Perce and I will do the best we can to help things go smoothly. After the lunch meeting, we plan to sit down with the oversight and planning team nominees to identify priorities. I do have an immediate need for two or three volunteers for inventorying supplies, so see Percy if you’re interested in what’s likely to be a week plus job, but that’s it for now. Remus needs to be getting on with his Compass Rose ritual, so let’s break things off here and head back to the Room.”

               *-*-*-*-

               Remus had meant to ask for an assistant but had been forestalled when Luna Lovegood had presented herself to him and told him she’d be his deputy for the ritual. He’d given an overview of the ritual to ensure everyone was comfortable with what was planned. He currently had his thirty two volunteers spaced out covering the traditional points; the eight principle winds, eight half winds, and sixteen quarter winds. He’d spent a couple of hours during the night putting together an extremely precise drawing that he’d just now copied to a second parchment, enlarged several thousand percent, and very carefully pinned in place. The original would be kept for future use, or if they needed to repeat the ritual for any reason. The parchment in current use had been so enlarged it now was the equivalent of extremely fragile tissue paper, so he had quickly and firmly chivvied his volunteers into the compass points, telling everyone to sit comfortably then making a few precision tweaks. He stuck everyone’s butt to the ground with a charm so they couldn’t move and marked their left hand with their relevant position before the enlarged drawing could tear. Harry looked at his hand, wondering what NEbE meant, looking over to his right to see NE on Sirius’ hand. Oliver was on his left with a ENE.

               Remus looked over to the already large table that he’d asked to have moved out from the castle and enlarged it an additional twenty percent. Once it had stopped shifting, he placed a ten foot by six foot sheet of parchment on the tabletop. Such a size had been made by melding several parchments together, a skill he’d picked up during the creation of the Marauders Map. The other ritual requirements were laid out, to include a box of watercolor paints, a shallow bowl of water, several pre-filled quills, three large boxes of salt, a candle, a bag of thirty three iron spikes that had been sharpened on both ends, and a piece of clear quartz crystal. He’d laughed when he saw that last item on the supply list and had headed straight for the Divination classroom, appropriating one of it’s crystal balls.

               Remus lit the candle and placed it at the top center of the table, a spell shielding it from the breeze. The set of watercolors was moved to the center of the parchment with the water bowl nearby, and the quills to the bottom right corner. He picked up one of the iron spikes and the crystal ball but handed the boxes of salt and the remaining spikes to Luna, who proceeded around the circle, digging into the first salt box in order to place a handful at the peak of each compass point in front of the volunteers and inserting a spike to the right of each mound. She then carefully stepped across the parchment to the center, where she made a small hole to empty the second box of salt into a largish heap. She paused to remove the parchment drawing already shredding itself in the light breeze and used the final salt box to draw lines from the center pile to the piles at the compass points. She removed herself from the ritual space as Remus stepped up behind Jenever Ogden, who was occupying the northernmost point. Remus first directed each volunteer to shallowly bury their left hand in the salt, then began the ritual chant as he circled behind everyone from North to East to South to West, completing the circumnavigation of the Rose as he returned to the Northern point.

               He moved to the second portion of the chant as he stepped forward to the center of the Rose, ensuring he didn’t disturb any of the salt lines, and knelt to place the crystal atop the salt mound, planting his spike beside it. Remaining kneeling until completion of the chant, he lightly buried his left hand in the salt, closing his eyes and envisioning the blank parchment with its watercolors. Once he had the image fixed in his mind, he superimposed the Compass Rose overtop it, then added an image of the lit candle in the center with a quill poised and ready for notations. He imagined the quill writing 1 foot = 100 miles in the lower right of the parchment. He focused on the image, applying his will to ensuring it didn’t waver, then used the spike to slash the palm of his right hand, pressing it atop the salt where his left hand was buried. Doing his best to ignore the stinging of the salt, he freed the constraints on his magic, allowing it to flow as it wished, mixing with the salt and charging the crystal, which began sparking and glowing a warm amber. He knew Luna was directing the volunteers to do the same with their blood and magic. Had his eyes been open, he’d have seen their individual colors racing up the salt lines, adding their magic to the crystal nexus.

               He began the final spoken portion of the ritual:

               “In days of old, when knights were bold,

When maps were rare and hard to hold,

               They wandered far and wide with care,

Through forests dark and mountains bare,

               With only stars and sun to guide,

And maps they drew by the fireside.

               With quill and ink, and steady hand,

They drew the rivers, hills and strand.

               A map was more than just a chart,

It was a gift, a work of art,

               A tool to guide them on their way,

And help them find a place to stay.”

               His mind visualized the colors blooming across the parchment, terrain features pulsing themselves into almost three dimensions, so clearly did mountains and forests appear. Once the colors stopped spreading, he waited an additional few heartbeats, then mentally set down the quill and blew out the candle.

               He withdrew his hands from the salt, absently cleaning and sealing the cut. Picking up the spike and the crystal ball, once again inert after having discharged it’s magic, he vanished the salt pile and unstuck his volunteers. Moving over to the table, he saw the candle had extinguished itself, two of the quills were dry, the water bowl empty and the set of watercolors damp. If the ritual had worked, and it looked as if it had, it would take a few hours more for the parchment to develop into the map he’d watch grow in his mind.

               The ritual participants were gathered together, discussing what they’d seen and felt, all of them agreeing that having allowed their magic to flow without restriction had felt amazing. They unanimously described feeling calm and centered on completion. Letting your magic run free was traditionally something heavily frowned upon, children were taught that continuous control was a required part of growing up. This exercise had them questioning why that was so. A number of them made resolutions to investigate the phenomenon and see if they could research why it was discouraged. It was the first time some had ever stopped to question why things were done the way they were, and Remus was happy to see elements of the Socratic method sparking to life. Curiosity in his future students would be fostered and encouraged, as would the principle of Safety First, of course.

               Remus rolled up what he hoped would be their new map and returned the remaining supplies to their box. Asking Harry and Sirius to please resize the table and return it to the castle, he moved to thank all those who had participated, letting them know that he’d put the map on display in the Room once it developed and the charm work was determined to be fixed and permanent. Locating Bill, he repeated the information for him, knowing Bill wanted to get exploration teams established quickly.

               Remus spotted Fred and George moving toward them through the crowd, trying not to attract too much attention while they did so, a not quite grim but more than worried look on their faces. “Heya Bill, Remus. Ah, we found something out that you’re going to want to get ahead of the curve on before it gets to be widely noticed.” Motioning to himself and Fred, George continued, “We were late getting out of the Room and down to the spectator area, so we apparated from the front door to the field. Or rather, we tried to, because nothing happened. We skipped watching the ritual so we could try several times each and from different locations, but we had the same results; apparition doesn’t work. We know there’s more experimenting that needs to be done, but people might go spare if they find out unexpectedly.”

               Bill sighed. “Yeah, good job catching this early, guys. I’ll give a heads up at lunch. Remus, were the transportation ideas discussed pre-transit the only options, nothing kept in your back pocket?”

               Remus couldn’t remember anything not already discussed but did a mental recap to see if it triggered any new options. Once he gathered his thoughts, he reminded himself that Bill was in charge; he wasn’t going to even accidentally step on his toes if he could help it. He spoke slowly, offering a couple of possibilities, but not pressing forward with opinions, “You’ll need to check portkeys, as I believe they share the same movement principles as apparition. Sirius has a small and highly illegal, well, previously illegal modified carpet, but I’d be careful who you let use it; the speeds it can reach are concerning. Harry has partnered up with the Puddlemere quidditch team on the horse business, but their training status hasn’t yet been determined. They also have Abraxans in their stable who’s schooling is also unknown. Other options remain as previously covered, so far as I know.”

               Bill rubbed a knuckle over his forehead, clearly concerned. “This is going to make a difference to the confidence level I have sending out exploration teams, but it’s something that’s still going to need to happen. I’ll get someone on testing portkey functionality, if we can even find someone that knows how to create them. And if we do, we’re not likely to have results on that until tomorrow at least. I’ll also get a team together to start going through the standard book of spells, evaluating them all for unorthodox results. I also need to talk to Hat and see what information he and Hogwarts may have.”

               Bill forced himself to regard this as a challenge and not a misfortune, there were going to be other issues, that was a given, so he should begin as he meant to go on and look at this as an opportunity to find new ways to do things. He didn’t want to be forever looking back to how things used to be, romanticizing the past as better. They were here to challenge themselves, so that, by Medea’s unenchanted undershorts, was what he was going to do. And in the meantime… He swung around to face the crowd. “Oliver Wood, where are you?”