Chapter 42
A tired hobbit wandered in through the gates of the Willow’s Pond, shortly after midday. He walked slowly up the street from the Road, stopped and looked out over the marketplace, before pausing at the collection of signs and rough map that stood in front of the Pond. He walked around the pond and into the courtyard of the Mayor’s Office.
Here, he pulled the rope that ran up into the Office and rang the bell in Isengar’s office. A few seconds later and the slap-slap of hobbit feet could be heard on the stairs, shortly followed by their owner.
Said owner came to a stumbling halt when he saw the stranger.
“Hildifons…” He whispered.
“Yes…?” The now-identified stranger answered. “Do I…” His eyes widened. “Isengar?”
“Hildifons.” The name let a bright smile to grow on Isengar's face. He stepped forward and enveloped his brother in his arms, not at all concerned about the tears running down his face. It was the first time in over thirty years, that the brothers had been together.
~~~
December 1st 2920
“Anything new from Snape?” Harry asked Fred over his mug of tea, at the magicals-only meeting.
“Not really, just a few spells for DADA and a request for some venomous tentacular pods, if we can get them.” The redhead replied.
“We really need a fulltime herbologist.” Harry huffed.
“No, we don’t.” Lily corrected. “I’ve been talking to Hildifons and he’s decided that he likes magical plants. But he needs to go to Tuckborough, before he can take over the greenhouses.”
“Yeah.” Harry nodded. “Isengar mentioned that, this morning. He wants to go, too, and is hoping to borrow a pony and cart to make the trip a bit quicker and easier. Isengar isn’t used to them, but Hildifons is. Frank had Squire pull out Sorrel, Bonnie, Dottie and Cinnamon for them to choose from and Hattie said they can use her cart.”
“Oh, they're lovely ponies.” Lily smiled.
“Anything else we need?”
“A cabinet or furniture maker.” Fred said. “I’m spending more time putting furniture together, than I am on my other stuff and hey? I’m not that good at it. I’ve put a notice up on the board at the Mayor’s Office, the Den, the Livery Yards and the Marketplace, so hopefully one of them pays off.”
“Fingers crossed.” Harry agreed. “Cedric? How’s Fallon working out?”
“Good.” The ‘Puff nodded. “He knows his stuff. The number of people coming to me for anything other than pony shoes is decreasing. I’m still going full speed, though. I think by the spring, that will have settled down, it's getting better, though, day-by-day.”
“And Denlon?” Lily asked, hesitantly.
“Much better.” Cedric smiled. “Working with Jonah didn’t seem to be his thing, but Gina and Pandora asked for some help the other day and he went along. Spent the whole day, just grooming bunnies. It made a difference, he was much calmer that evening, Fallon said. And he went back the next day, to ask if he could do that permanently.”
“He also came to me to ask for axe-fighting lessons.” Lavender said. “I suggested he ask Harry for some knife-fighting ones, instead, as until I pass my Mastery, I can’t take an apprentice.”
“He did come.” Harry said. “I told him I’d teach him, but wasn’t prepared to take an apprentice, either. He seemed much happier about it then, I don’t think he was really all that keen on the apprenticeship part. He’ll join us for our training sessions each morning, instead.”
“And when do we get to drop them?” James asked.
“You don’t.” Harry said. “But once you’re at the level that you can maintain by yourself, you can do them at home, you’ll only need to join a group session once a month.”
“That’ll make it easier.” Remus agreed.
“And probably a bit quicker, too.” James nodded. “Having to be dressed enough to face other people, that early in the morning, sucks.”
“I don’t care what time of day you do your training, as long as you do it.” Harry said. “You stop, you’re right back where you are now, working on my choice of time, not yours.”
“Slave driver.” Sirius grumped.
Lavender laughed. “You chose to live in the same house. You’ve got no excuses for not training with us.”
Sirius gave the blonde dwarrowdam a narrow-eyed look, before huffing a sigh. “I suppose so.” The fake put-upon expression on his face had James and Remus snorting and Lily shaking her head.
“There, there, Sirius, there, there.” Harry said with an expressionless voice and a blank face, causing the rest of the magicals to laugh at the pair. “Alright, then.” He went on, ignoring the spluttering Animagus. “Frank? Alice spent the night at the hospital with Lorenna in labour. How’d that go?”
“Quite well, apparently.” Frank replied. “Stonnag and Lorenna have a son. Perrin was born at twenty past two, this morning. In excellent shape, although quite small. Alice’s not sure if that’s a hobbit-thing or if it was just him. She wants to send a message to the Thain and the Master of Buckland and check in with their healers. Mother and son are doing well and Alice wants them home by the end of the weekend.”
“Oh, grand.” Harry grinned. “Our first native resident.”
“Not for long.” Frank argued. “Yes, Lily and Dora are expecting and from what Alice can gather, dwarven pregnancies are about eight months, but… Hobbits are a little less than seven. That means that Lily’s due in early April, Dora in mid to late June and Alice in mid-July.” That got a few raised eyebrows and a squeal of joy from Lily. “It also means,” he had to raise his voice to be heard, “that Hattie and Squire will welcoming their first child in a couple of weeks and Bartleby and Peony Nettling are also expecting, but their first won’t arrive until mid-June.”
“Nice.” Harry nodded. “Anyone else expecting?”
“Not people.” Frank shook his head. “But Livestock? Yes. Dancer and Delilah are due in… Mid-March, right?” He asked and Harry. “Mid-March, for them. Half of Dorcas’ cows are due about the same time. Gina’s got sheep in lamb and her rabbits have kitted, since arrival. Harry and I apparated down to Tharbad and some of the other larger towns in Dunland and went pony hunting. And I’m pleased to say that we did well. Very well. We’ve now got twenty-two hobbit-sized ponies of different types, including three studs. Everything from small light-weight sulky ponies to a couple that are the same shape as a standard cob but still hobbit-sized. We’ve put six of them in foal, two to each stud.”
“And the cobs?” Harry asked.
“Well, like I said, Dancer and Delilah are already in foal.” Frank answered. “We’ve got one Draught Cob stud, Storm. I’ve put Ginger and Spice to him and if Lily’s potions work, like Harry said the ones in Pelargir did, then both mares are in foal. We’ve only Golly as a Standard Cob at stud, but we’ve now got twenty-four mares. So far, Ebony, Onyx, Feather and Pearl have been put to him and all seem to have taken, but I want to give him another month before I start presenting anymore mares to him. BlackJack is still too young to stand and will be, for at least another year, maybe more, we’ll see how he develops. Jonah’s asked about bringing his mare to Storm, next month, and Sigi has asked after putting Clove to Sandy or Mace. If we allow it, we’ll have to work out a service fee.”
“I’ll meet with you and give you the memory of what Horf had to say about costs.” Harry answered.
“Much appreciated. Frank nodded.
“Next?” Harry asked.
“Fred, James and I went up into the woods, to the north, and collected up most of the fallen wood.” Remus said. “We also marked the trees that were dying or damaged, we’ll harvest them for next winter, along with whatever we didn’t bring in, this time.”
“We processed the wood into different sizes.” Fred added. “Smaller stuff was delivered to the smials, along with kindling and a notice to approach me for more, if they run short.”
“Thanks, Remus, Fred, dad.” Harry grinned at each dwarf. “Next on the list is… Gina? How’s things?”
“Grand, Harry, just grand.” Gina leant against her husband, Matt, each of them holding one of their daughters, on their laps. “The sheep have settled well. Rabbits are breeding like… well… rabbits. The hens? I’m thinking that they might be too much, on top of the sheep and rabbits. And I’m more interested in the fleece and fibre than the eggs, so…?”
“Do you want to put up a notice for the next town meeting?” Harry asked.
“Yes, I think so…” Gina looked at Matt and he nodded encouragingly. “Yes, please.” She added more confidently.
“I’ll add you to the agenda, then.” Harry assured the couple. “Next is… the Den. Sirius?”
“All good.” Sirius replied. “The Ale House is starting to gain popularity, nothing huge, yet, but most evenings, you’ll find a couple of hobbits and a few travelling dwarves, there. The guest accommodation is complete, fully furnished and we tend to get a few people during the week. Market week has settled down, now, and while we have bookings for the night before, now(?) people often book for the night after, too. Oh, and fair warning? We’ve got a trio of Rangers in.”
“Yes, I’ve a meeting with them in the morning.” Harry agreed.
“Ah, good.” Sirius nodded. “The Dining Room and the Tea Rooms are going well. Remus, James and Fred helped me lift the roof on the west wings, I’ve added office spaces on the upper levels.”
“How’s the Den laid out?” Matt asked, he hadn’t had a chance to visit the big building and he was curious about it.
“Like a huge X with a hub in the centre.” Sirius answered. “All four wings now have three levels. The South-West wing’s lower level is the Ale House cellars and the butchers’ shop and cold-rooms. The central level is the Ale House, itself. The upper-level houses the Den’s management offices, including, mine and Sigi’s. The North-West wing, lower level are the higher quality dwarven guest accommodations, with the bunk rooms and cheaper rooms on the central level. The upper level is now offices, for travellers or for those that want to keep their office separate from their home and don’t have a permanent workshop area.” He explained. “The South-East wing’s lower level is split between the storerooms for the Dining Room and the Tea room, plus the baker’s shop, although the baker’s ovens are not inside the Den’s walls, but have their own free-standing structure a few yards from the shop. Above them, on the central level is the Dining Room, itself, and above that are the offices for the Dining Room and the Tea Room. The North-East wing has the hobbit guest-smials on the lower level, above them is the Tea Room. Above the Tea Room are the guest accommodations for Rangers, Men and Elves.”
“Got it.” Frank nodded.
“Thanks, Sirius.” Harry told his godfather. “Anything else that we have to worry about tonight?”
A chorus of ‘No, Harry’s’, answered him.
“Excellent.” Harry grinned. “In that case? We’re pretty much done for this week, but I’d like you to think about the possibility of moving these magicals-only meetings, to monthly. The village is up and running and while we’re still young, things have already settled into a rhythm that seems to be working out. Our Point-Me’s have been refined and refined, to the point that we now are searching for anyone who was born on or lived on the same world as Hogwarts and London, or anyone born to someone who was born on or lived on, that world. We’ve had no new hits since we found Frank, Alice, Pandora, Dorcas, Gina, Matt and their girls. We’ll continue the search, all the same, but it's possible that we may be all there is, it’s also possible that if others are going to turn up, it may be months or even years, until they do.”
“You’re saying, it’s time to get on with the business of living?” Sirius said sombrely. “Not just working towards getting the village up and running, but working towards a long-term future?”
“I am.” Harry nodded. “I’m not asking you to agree to this, tonight. I am asking that you think about it. I’ve got it on the agenda for next week and that’s when I’d like to make a decision, either way. Continue with weekly meetings or drop down to monthly ones. Remembering of course that if we drop them to monthly and it doesn’t work, we can go back to weekly.”
“Huh…” Sirius grunted, his head rocking back and forth as he thought about what Harry said. “Next week…”
“Next week.” Harry agreed. “But that’s it for tonight. I want a hot chocolate and my bed.”
~~~
December 5th 2920
Harry watched the Rangers leave and wondered to himself. 'How had Gerontius had got the names of the Dúnedain so wrong?'
He’d told Harry that Aramorth was the previous leader of the Rangers and that his son was the current leader. But according to what the Rangers had to say, that wasn’t correct at all. Aramorth was a patrol leader, not one of their Chieftains. Big difference.
The current Chieftain was Arador, brother to Aramorth and father of Arathorn, who Harry knew would be the father of Aragorn. Talk about wrong information.
Thankfully, the Rangers seemed to have a basic understanding of dwarven culture and when Harry introduced himself as ‘Harry, son of James, son of Fleamont’, both Rangers responded in the same manner.
Arador, son of Argonui, son of Arathorn the first, was the current leader of the Dúnedain. And Arathorn, son of Arador, son of Argonui, would be the next chieftain, while his cousin Arameth, son of Alador, son of Arathorn, was the western patrol leader and would be their primary contact
Another thing to be thankful for was Isengar, he introduced himself the same way, without a blink.
After offering tea, biscuits and pleasantries, the discussions began. What did the dwarves want from the Rangers? What response would the village provide in the event of an attack? How often would Rangers be expected to visit the village? Where would they be accommodated?
The questions went on and on, and not just from the Rangers side, either. Harry and Isengar had a full page of questions and it took four full days to hammer out an agreement. One that would, hopefully, last for centuries, not just years or even decades. Harry was currently the Mayor of the village and it was his job to protect it, as best he could. If that meant brokering a deal with the Dúnedain, then that’s what he’d do.
“That went well.” Isengar smiled, tiredly.
“Better than I expected.” Harry agreed.
“You don’t mind giving them a tithe?”
“No, not really.” Harry shook his head. “It’s scarcely more than a token amount, it wouldn’t last even a single family through the winter.”
“But along with the other tithes coming to them, it could make the difference between a family surviving and thriving.” Isengar nodded.
“Exactly.” Harry gave his own nod.
“So, what’s next on your personal agenda, Harry?” Isengar asked. “The village is growing nicely, fifteen out of forty-five smial plots are occupied, with another two sold and under construction and three more in negotiations. We’ve added a goat farmer and Gina has handed the hen-and-egg concern over to Marcum and Marvin Bolger. And there’s that elderly dwarf, what’s his name, again?”
“Kosti.” Harry answered.
“That’s right. Kosti.” Isengar nodded. “He’s training a couple of the Marcher and Gately lads, how to fish the Brandywine. I’d never have thought that hobbits would ever be as comfortable around water, as those lads seem to be.”
“It was their idea to build the bridge across to Girdley Island and on over to the Bridgefields.” Harry offered.
“Makes it a lot shorter a trip from Scary’s Quarry, for those that need stone for building with.” Isengar agreed. “But you didn’t answer. What next for you?”
“Spend time with Teddy.” Harry answered. “Delilah and Dancer are due to foal in March and are just now beginning to look like they’re in foal. I’d like some time to spoil them. Them and Golly. The old fellow’s looking grand, mum seems to think that physically he’s pretty close to his prime. He should have at least another three breeding seasons in him. If we keep the boosters up to him, we might be lucky and get another five or six seasons.”
“By which time, young BlackJack will be ready to take up the slack.” Isengar nodded.
“Hopefully, he won’t be the only one.” Harry said. “I’m going to apparate back to Tharbad in the spring and see if I can get another older stud or maybe another young one. It’ll depend on what’s there.” He shrugged.
“Well, that’s a few months away, yet.” Isengar replied. “Who knows, maybe Dancer or Delilah may have a colt foal.”
“That’d be good.” Harry grinned. “They’re too light for Golly or BlackJack to breed.”
“But a stud their size would be just about right for a few of the larger hobbit ponies.” Isengar nodded.
“Exactly.” Harry agreed. “But we’ll see what the new year brings, first.”
“Fair enough.”
“And other than that?” Harry went on. “I want to get my stock replenished and see if I can get Fred up to tarbûn for knife-fighting and if he can get me to Tarbûnel for the sword. Maybe get an utrab for staff-fighting? Lavender’s told me not to bother with trying to go any further with an axe, it won’t happen.”
“Poor Harry.” Isengar laughed. “Told off by his own people.”
“I’d rather be told off by my own people, than someone I don’t know.” Harry retorted.
~~~
December 7th 2920
“So we’re all agreed, then?” Harry asked. “Magicals-only meetings are moved to a monthly basis… on trial only… for the next six months and we’ll reassess in June?” Everyone at the table nodded. “Thank you. Is there anything else that needs raising, in this meeting?”
“We need to do a run south, to Minas Tirith or Pelargir, Harry.” Lavender said. “We’ve not got enough food to get us through to the first harvests.”
“What do we need to get?” Harry frowned.
“Pretty much a bit of everything.” Lily sighed. “We’ll need fresh fruit and vegies for us. Grain and hay for the ponies.”
“Meat, we need meat.” Gideon added. “And grain for bread flour.”
“Right, everything.” Harry huffed. “Who’s going?”
“Me and you.” Fred said. “James and Fabian went to Bree last week, while Gideon and Remus went to Newbury, the week before. We’re next on the list.”
“Right.” Harry nodded. “We’ll take Almond and Latte. Cedric? Can you check their shoes?”
“I do the heavier ponies, every week and the lighter ones every fortnight.” Cedric answered. “They’re good to go.”
“Great, thanks.” Harry threw the Puff a smile. “We’ll transfig and shrink the ponies and shrink the feed wagon, then joint-apparate to where we camped, the one this side of Minas Tirith, and go in from there.”
“Stay in the city for two nights?” Fred asked. “And back to the same spot to portkey home?”
“Yep.” Harry nodded.
“Sound good.” Fred nodded back. “Joint-apparition means less drain on each of us and portkeying home, means no drain at all. I’m good with that.
“Anything other than that?” Harry looked around the table. “No? Great. Then let’s meet on the first of the month and go from there.”
~~~
December 10th 2920
“How’d it go?” Lavender asked as Fred and Harry cancelled the shrinking charms on the wagon and ponies, followed by the transfig charms on the ponies. Almond and Latte just shook their heads and took a couple of fidget steps to get their feet back under them, they were quite used to the process now and no longer needed to have calming potions or charms applied.
Colin gathered up that mares’ lead-ropes and with a boost from Fred, was up on Latte’s back, he gave her a nudge and the mare began the amble down to the big stables, where the larger ponies were spending the winter.
“No worries.” Fred said. “Harry picked up a Light Cob colt, just weaned, he is. Pretty little dun coloured thing.”
“Trust Harry.” Lavender sighed.
“No more.” Harry said. “Not for a couple of years, anyway.” He frowned. “Not unless something happens to Storm or Golly.”
“Fingers crossed.” Lavender agreed.
“And otherwise, all good.” Harry said. “Yesterday was Friday and that’s market day in Minas Tirith. We got a load of mixed vegies, four dozen crates, shrunk and in stasis. Bread flour was about the same. Grain and hay for the ponies? We filled the stasis boxes, but I’ve no idea how many bags and bales there are, I just didn’t count them. Plus, we got a whole heap of pantry staples.”
“Any fruit?” Lavender asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Harry grinned. “Three dozen crates. Apples, pears, elderberries, peaches, nectarines, plums, melons and nuts. Plus another two dozen crates of what we’d call tropical or semi-tropical fruit. Oranges, clementines, grapefruit, lemons, pineapple, bananas. Even some coconuts.”
“Wow…” Lavender’s eyes were wide.
“And meat?” Harry went on. “Two dozen crates of meat. Lamb, beef, pork and venison. A dozen crates of poultry, chicken, duck, pheasant, ptarmigan and goose. I also got some chicks for the Bolger brothers. Mostly duck and goose. We could do with someone to rear chicks. I'll add it to the list.”
“Wow…” Lavender repeated.
“I’m hoping it’s enough to get us through to harvest.” Harry said.
“How are we going to parcel it out?” Lavender asked.
“That’s going to take a little wrangling.” Harry grimaced. “I think we split everything in quarters and only dish out a quarter now and another quarter in late January.”
“Split things per person or per household?” Lavender tilted her head.
“Person.” Harry replied. “Some homes have more people in them. Kids and pregnant women get additional dairy products, too. And extra protein.”
“Right then,” Lavender huffed, “where are we going to go to do the sort?”
“Oh, I figured we’d use our little back paddock.” Harry said. “Conjure up a huge tent, like what you have at weddings and birthdays and throw some temperature charms inside it. A few tables and some shelving above it…”
“Okay…” Lavender nodded as she thought about it. “You’ve been thinking about this.”
“Yep.” Harry nodded. “For weeks, now. Was kinda hoping it wouldn’t have to happen, but I figured, if it did? How did we sort it? Keeping it as fair as possible.”
“What about cost?” Lily asked as she joined them.
“Depends on how many people it’s for.” Harry said.
“No.” Fred cut in. “A set price per standard-size box. But…” he held up a hand to stop Harry’s argument, “but we put up supplement boxes for those with kids or pregnant women.” They’d taken to using the term ‘women’ when talking about females of multiple races. “Only the standard box is paid for, the supplement box is free.”
“And what’s in each box?” Harry asked the redhead. “Is it different for larger households?”
“No.” Fred shooks his head. “It’s the same for each box, enough to last two people for at least a week, maybe two.”
“And the cost?” Lily asked again.
“A crown, a box.” Fred answered. “And we base the amount we put in each box, around that figure.”
Lily blinked and nodded slowly.
“In that case?” Lavender looked from Fred to Harry and back. “You’d better get to it, hadn’t you?”
Lily stood at one corner of the tent, alongside Cedric, the pair of them watching as Fred and Harry packed boxes. Both dwarves stood in the middle of the long tent and used levitation charms to move products through the air and into boxes that sat on simple timber racks. As one dwarf moved down the row, the items they’d selected floating in front of them, the other was at the opposite end of the loop.
“You know…” Cedric sighed. “I always thought I was good at magic. I mean, I was trained by an Unspeakable and a Hit-Wizard-trainer all summer, every summer, for most of my school career. But those two?” He nodded at Fred and Harry. “Those two, take using magic, to places that I’ve rarely even thought about. And the frustrating thing is, it’s instinctive for them. I might have come up with this, but not without thinking about it for days. They’ve had less than an hour to sort the details and look at them.”
“I know…” Lily sighed. “Harry and magic is just… He just uses it so differently to what you’d expect, from someone that went to Hogwarts.”
“And Fred’s a Weasley twin,” Cedric agreed, “they don’t do normal.”
Harry harnessed Golly up and hitched him to the sulky, which hadn’t seen much use since arriving at Willow’s Pond. He placed the stasis box that was full of shrunken boxes of food, on the drive-seat and gave the stallion a treat before stepping up into the sulky and taking up the reins. Golly’s ears flicked back and forth waiting eagerly for the command to go.
“Golly, move out.” Harry didn’t even have to lift the reins before the stallion was moving, first at a walk and then at high-stepping, but not fast, trot.
Down Hill Street and onto Potter’s Row, around the pond and out onto Field Drive. Up to the far end of the smials and Harry eased Golly to a stop outside the Woods’ smial.
“Ho, the smial, anyone home?” He called as he stepped from the sulky. “Stand, Golly, stand.”
“Harry?” Laura peeked out of the kitchen window. “Whatever are you doing here, at this time of day?” It was getting towards the latter part of the afternoon.
“I’ve brought supplies, Laura.” Harry answered. “Like we discussed at the last town meeting.”
“Oh, lovely.” Laura smiled. “And what’s the cost?”
“A crown a box.” Harry answered. “All the boxes are the same, except for the supplement boxes, they’re for the kids and those that are pregnant. Those boxes are free. You get two, one each for Micah and Lena.”
“Can we buy multiple boxes, today?” The young hobbitess asked.
“Of course, but after today, you’ll need to speak to Frank about buying a box.” Harry replied. “He’s going to monitor them, at least until we get another magical turning up.”
“And they’ll still be the same amount?”
“No.” Harry shook his head. “After today, the meat will Anneg’s department. Likewise with bread and Stonag. But the cost of each box will come down. Š6 per box. We estimate that one standard box should last two people between seven and ten days.”
“Oh, yes, that’s quite reasonable.” Laura nodded. “We’ll take three boxes, please. Would you bring them in, while I hunt you up some coins?”
“Of course.” He gathered up five small boxes, three of the standard boxes and two supplemental boxes and, confident that Golly would still be in the same place when he emerged, entered the smial with his goodies. “Now, where would you like them? I’ll put them in place and unshrink them, for you.”
“Oh, thank you, Harry.” Laura led him into the pantry and Harry placed each box on the flagstone floor and tapped each one with his wand, letting them revert to their full size. “Oh, my… They’re a little bigger than I was expecting. I think one’s going to last more than a week.” She held out the three shiny gold coins and Harry dropped them into the pouch, that he’d brought for that purpose.
By the time Harry and Golly stopped at the last dwarven cottage, that of Gina and Matt, both he and Golly were tired and ready to go home. As Harry unhitched the stallion and rubbed him down, we was glad it was Saturday, it meant that he didn’t have to be anywhere the next day. Even the last few grocery boxes could wait until Monday.
Which made Harry sigh. They needed a building for a grocery store. Where in Mordor, were they going to put that? And who would staff it? Frank was happy working with Squire and monitoring the pony breeding situation, so that ruled him out.
~~~
December 12th 2920
Instead of a grocery store, they’d decided to put shelving in one of the artisans’ shops and planned to use that as a warehouse until the next town meeting. There, they would decide if a grocery store was a good idea. If so, once a location was decided upon, the magicals would build it.
For the moment, Frank was happy to sit in the artisan’s store and work on his pony breeding schedule and copy their magical libraries, but that was only a short-term solution.
~~~
January 1st 2921
It had been a long cold month.
Hattie and Squire’s daughter had joined them, after a long and debilitating labour, Alice had been forced to fight hard to save both mother and baby, but fight she had. And now, Hattie and Skye were home in their comfy smial, with a doting Squire.
Pancake and Biscuit had been added to the list of pregnant mares, as had Willow and Hazel.
It was also the first month that they’d received a letter from Dumbledore, via the two-way parchment.
Mr Weasley and Miss Brown
I hope that you are both well? Winter is such a bothersome time, is it not? Cold, wet and miserable, at times and at others? Cold, dry and glaringly bright. There seems not to be anything in between.
How goes the search for somewhere to live? Have you managed to acquire employment?
I know how much of a challenge that can be. I would suggest that you take whatever time you can, to assess any potential employers, before signing a contract.
If I can provide any advice, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Yours truly,
Albus
Utrab Ram Herder.
Not the most encouraging, nor the most useful. And not very positive. But also not nearly as negative as his first letter.
It was almost like Dumbledore expected them to fail. And it’s possible that without Harry, they may not have excelled as much as they had, but Harry had found each of them and had supported them in their various enterprises. But clearly Dumbledore wasn’t expecting that.
Another reason that Harry wasn’t ready to tell Dumbledore, that he was with Fred and Lavender. A decision clearly supported by all the magicals.
It came as no surprise by now, that Snape was their preferred contact.
Magpie ~ Cauldron (sent 12.15pm, January 1st 2921)
Happy New Year, Professor Snape
Venomous tentacular pods and seedlings on their way.
Same conditions as the Devil’s snare and wands.
Also sending a training memory of Lavender and my last training session.
Any tips gratefully received.
Fred
Tarbûnel of the sword
It had only taken a few minutes for a reply to come.
Cauldron ~ Magpie (sent 12.20pm, January 1st 2921)
Good afternoon, Mr Weasley
I received the Devil’s Snare and am pleased to say that it has taken rather well to my greenhouse.
Venomous tentacular, you say?
Wherever did you find one of those?
Irrespective, it will be much appreciated. I look forward to its arrival.
I have not encountered training memories before, so I do hope that you have included instructions and a description for their use.
Please pass my felicitations to Miss Brown.
Severus
Tarbûnel of Potions/apothecarist
~~~