Getting Started
Finally, Professor Dumbledore gathered himself. "Mrs. Evans, please know that while I was not aware of our kinship, I find myself quite overjoyed at the idea of finding lost family. Please be welcome to Hogwarts."
With that, the Headmaster clasped Rose's hands warmly with his own. He repeated this with the two girls and shook Robert's hand.
They weren't quite familiar enough to embrace.
Dumbledore led them to the Great Hall, where the staff that was currently available were all getting ready to eat.
Gary noticed immediately. "Professor Slughorn?"
Albus' eyes twinkled as he replied, "I financed a last trip for him to gather potions ingredients. You have one week."
Gary nodded. "Excellent. You have that list of students? These three will be assisting from the start but we will need more assistance soon."
The Headmaster pulled out a parchment which had the list. "I have taken liberty of sending missives that they were invited to arrive in the morning for a small job at Hogwarts which would earn them a few Galleons. Such seemed to be what you requested. All who are interested will arrive by Knight Bus or floo at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade by 9:30 in the morning."
Gary laughed. "Thank you. That saves me a whole lot of running around. After dinner, I believe you and the Evans family need to have a discussion."
Albus nodded. He was quite interested in getting to know the family.
After dinner, while the Snapes were being shown to their rooms, the Headmaster and the Evans spoke in Albus' office. Surprisingly, he apologized to Petunia for any seeming callousness on his part in the letter he had sent when she had requested to come to Hogwarts. Gary was tempted to call him on his mild legilemency but, considering he did it himself without much effort, he decided not to be a hypocrite.
In the end, the agreements were made: Petunia would come to Hogwart's on Saturday night and she would sleep in the dorms with her sister and Sunday Petunia would receive tutoring from Lily, Severus, or other students as might be arranged. Lily was certain that her friends would want to help. Petunia would return home after dinner on Sunday.
Petunia would be able to use all of the books Lily had acquired over the years as her texts, meaning they would not have to purchase any additional texts. Gary did gift her the first two Defense texts as a "Welcome to being a Witch" gift.
To be perfectly honest, a happy, smiling Petunia Evans was freaking him out a bit – he was far more used to a more snarky version, even in the worlds where she turned out alright.
He was more than happy to see Lily lead Petunia to explore Hogwarts. The Evans parents were sent through the floo to the Leaky Cauldron to pick up their car and return home. Floxy (the Hogwarts elf) would be sent to retrieve clothes for Petunia and Lily for the week as well as other items.
Fluxie (the Snapes' elf) had already been called to bring their things from the Spinner's End home.
Gary commandeered Severus to help direct the elves in clearing out the Potions classroom. When he found that this was the project he would be working on, his enthusiasm was evident.
Gary left the various trunks, numbered in order, with explicit directions on how to install each item in order, right outside of the Potions classroom. Gary also gave Severus the potions formulas for the cleaning of the room as well as the potions specifically created by his dimensional alternate to maintain the cleanliness of the room and to clean up the potions spills, residues, etc.
Severus was a bit embarrassed to find the formula for cleaning his hair included. However, after Gary took a few hairs from Severus and then a few from himself and showed him how much more volatile Severus' hair was with the residues that built up, he was much more willing to listen to reason.
Severus sent copies of the formulas to the solicitor for submission to the Ministry for patent and to negotiate the sale of it to Apothecaries and other businesses who could use such products.
Luckily, the solicitor had already agreed to work on commission, deducting costs from profits. The Solicitor would also submit the new formulas to the Potions society.
Severus immediately retrieved the Evans sisters and began to brew the required agents from the material on hand, ensuring that the supplies would be replaced by the beginning of the year. The cost of the ingredients was included in the budget.
At 9:30 the next morning, Gary was sitting in the Three Broomsticks. He was interested to see that there were about 8 people of Hogwarts age. Each, when asked, had the letter which was sent by the Headmaster.
"Okay, folks. It appears that this is the entire group. Hello. My name is Garrick Septimus. I will be the Hogwarts Defense Professor for the upcoming year. I am reliably informed by Professor Dumbledore that each of you is, or will be this year, a NEWT-level Potions student. Is this correct?"
Each of the students looked at each other and then to him and nodded.
"Good. You are also all interested in earning a few Galleons assisting in a project that will take up to one week. Is that also correct?"
The nods were more definite.
"Okay. Then all of you: Please follow me. We will be going to Hogwarts and meeting in the Dungeon outside of the Potions classroom. I have brought two Hogwarts carriages with me today and I believe that this will be sufficient to transport you all. Let's go."
The students followed dutifully. Very soon, the entire group was in front of the potions classroom as was Severus and the Evans sisters.
"Okay. First thing: Each of you will receive 45 Galleons if you complete the entire week of work. We are, this week going to clean out and then upgrade the Potions classroom so that it is the absolute best classroom for the subject in the world. You will see that there the Hogwarts elves have removed all desks and chairs. Also, these trunks over here are the books and the materials that were in the classroom – some of that will be returning. But first we will have to do an absolute thorough cleaning of the room – which will take the entire first day. Any questions so far?"
One of the students asked, "Why so long? Should a few charms be enough to clean it up?"
Gary nodded. "Good question. Here is a question which may answer that: Do you really want to try to apply magical cleaning to the residue of magical potions that have been building up over the time that this room has been in use?"
The students considered that. "If we can't use magic, how will we clean it?"
"First, each of you will be dressing in protective clothing. This trunk," he pointed to one of them, "has cotton coveralls that are spelled to be resistant to spilling things on yourselves. There are also gloves that are made of rubber which are spelled to not corrode with any potions residue that you will run into. There are glasses that will fit over any face, whether you are weating spectacles or not. There are also masks to breath through because I do not want to see anyone poisoned.
"Understand this: If you do not wear the necessary equipment, you will be sent home without any Galleons. Any questions?"
There were none so far.
"Mr. Snape here – is anyone not aware of Mr. Snape's expertise in potions?" Once again, no one moved – he was widely known as exceptional. "Mr. Snape here has brewed a potion which we will spray onto the walls, let sit for a minute and then you will use hot water, brushes, and rags to clean the residue off. When the water in your bucket is clouded, you will dump it in the sink, rinse it, and refill it again. Do not worry if stone seemed damaged. We will repair any damage tomorrow. I have conjured scaffolding along the walls which will allow you all to reach all the way to the top of the walls as well as the ceiling. I am powerful enough that it will last all day – no worries. This entire room must be scrubbed absolutely clean of potions residue by the end of the day."
Seeing no confusion, Gary added, "You will be taking directions from Mr. Snape. Does anyone have any problem with that?"
One lone Gryffindor raised his hand. "He's a Slytherin!"
Gary took on look that was, on the surface, pleasant but no one was fooled. "And this matters because …?" The Gryffindor didn't respond. "Because obviously if a Slytherin is in charge, it must be 'Dark Magic'. Oooo Evil cleaning – how diabolical! He's a Slytherin – he must be evil … or some such rot? Let me be clear: If you cannot leave your prejudices at the door, leave. I have Muggleborn, or at least Squibborn witches here. Petunia here is a late-blooming witch. I have purebloods here – halfbloods too. How many are Gryffindor? Slytherin? Ravenclaw? Hufflpuff?" Each one had at least one raise their hands.
"Let me clue you in on a little secret: When you finish Hogwarts? No one cares. Your Hogwarts robes are put away and no one can tell who was in what house. You'll find Gryffindors and Slytherins working side by side as Aurors – and no Senior Auror has any time for stupid nonsense about blood status or Hogwarts house when he's giving out assignments. You do the job you're given or you go home. Any more questions?"
It was obvious that no one wanted to push this subject any further. Gary had them each retrieve a jumpsuit and foot coverings – each of these also spelled against soaking up any residue. As each returned, Gary hit each one with a spell which caused the jumpsuit to sit correctly on each. The plastic bottles were each filled with potion and the white plastic buckets each filled with hot water. Severus began assigning different areas to different students.
Gary watched to ensure it was going along and, informing Severus he would return before lunch, left them to it.
When Gary returned at 11:20, the Headmaster was with him. Dumbledore took a long look at the room and what the students were doing, each wearing a bubble head charm at Gary's insistence. Gary noticed something. "Severus?"
Severus looked up from the particularly nasty stain he was working on one wall. "Professor?"
"Where are Lily and Petunia?"
"Next door brewing more cleaning solvent. There was much more potions residue on the ceiling that first anticipated. We needed to make more before we ran out."
Gary looked and saw that, yes, the supply was running down. "How is it working?"
"It works well as long as one allows it to set long enough. Some were starting to scrub too quickly but I corrected them."
Gary nodded. "Good. Good. It's already looking much better."
Dumbledore echoed that. "Yes. You are doing a wonderful job. I do not believe I have ever seen this room so clean."
Severus nodded, willing himself not to blush at the recognition. "We should have the room entirely clean by 4:00 this afternoon."
"Good. We can put up the lights this afternoon if that's the case. At 12:00, take them to eat in the Great Hall – one hour for lunch. I will be back periodically to check on progress."
Severus nodded and, after a quick look at everyone else to see that they were still working, he returned to the troublesome stain.
Severus had the entire room done by 3:30. Each student had even gone through and checked the entire room themselves to ensure nothing was missed. When Gary had done this in the other world, he only had three or four people at a time, and so he had mis-estimated how long it would take. It was fine – ahead of schedule was better than being behind.
Getting himself into a protective suit (he had to act like a mortal wizard for his audience) Gary took the final step of dousing the entire room with an augamenti charm to wash any last solvent away and then he directed the water to the drain in the floor which would vanish it. The room was very damp at that point.
He walked out and said, "Okay, students. Drying charms!"
Lily took about ten minutes to teach Petunia the charm and have her practice until she had it right. She wouldn't be doing large areas, but it worked. She happily went through and helped dry the entire room. Because she wasn't powerful enough to do large areas, she took the time to work over the small nooks and crannies to ensure each one was dry.
Gary nodded approvingly at the two and ensured they saw it.
By 4:30, the entire room was dry.
"Okay. We're going to replace the flaming sconces with a different type of lighting. Here's what I need you to do." Gary went through and showed the students how to measure the position of each plate which attached to the ceiling with a permanent sticking charm – which he alone would cast. Gary just wanted the students to mark out the exact locations using the drawn plans and muggle measuring tapes.
Once the positions were all marked, each plate would be held in place by a student standing on a scaffold and Gary would hit it with a permanent sticking charm. When a plate was set, the two hanging rods would be screwed in and then the fixture which attached to the hanging rods would push into place.
Because the goblins didn't want it known that real gold wire was being used to transmit the magic from the control panel, the connection was hidden until the rods were fully inserted. Each plate then had a small tube which travelled across the ceiling until they met at a single box at the wall and then a magical control very much like a lightswitch was placed next to the door.
Hit with the proper spell, the lights would light up like muggle fixtures. Another spell would turn the lights off. All of the tubes would be covered so that when the repairs were done and the room painted they would blend in and not be easily seen. The system was guaranteed for 300 years, assuming proper installation and an environment rich enough in magic to power it. Alternately, a ward stone could be used by in this application but there was no need here – Hogwarts had plenty of ambient magic. The small ward stone in the "switch" could easily gather the needed magic.
When it was done, the students were amazed at how bright the room was and how obvious the imperfections were.
"And that is what we will be fixing tomorrow. Now, you will all go to your normal dorms to clean up – leave the jumpsuits on your bed and the elves will ensure they are ready for tomorrow. If you arrive by 8:30 by floo, Bus, or walking in from Hogsmead, you can eat breakfast here. If not, be here by 9:30. By 10:00, we will expect you dressed and ready to work. Lunch will be provided. You can also eat dinner here and go home, or go home and eat there. This was a hard day and I will be giving you your first 10 Galleons today. Any questions?"
Besides arranging floo access via the different common rooms – one time use each way each day for each person – there were none. All the students were happy to be taking home actual gold for their efforts. Lily and Petunia would be sleeping in the Gryffindor dorms because Lily would be tutoring Petunia each night this week. They asked that Gary hold their gold until the end of the week.
Luckily, there had been no conflict that was not quickly diffused by Severus and Gary congratulated him for a job well done. He was still the snarky boy that Gary had expected, but being free of his father and seeing his mother working and fairly happy had made a huge difference for him.
Earlier that day
Gary met up with Eileen at 10:30, as they had agreed the day before. "You're going to show me what I'll be working with?"
"Absolutely. We just have to go to the seventh floor."
Gary led Eileen to the seventh floor and showed her the painting of the dancing trolls. "What is the significance of this?" she asked.
"Only as a point of reference. Watch." Gary walked over a few feet and said out loud, "I need a place for lost thing." He said this three times as he walked back and forth past Eileen. Just as she was going to ask what he was doing, she was startled to see a door appear. Gary smiled and said, "Let's see what we have."
Gary led Eileen to the room of lost things. She was shocked at the sheer amount of material that was in the room – a thousand years of things.
"What am I to do with all of this?" she asked.
"Well, when the house elves cannot easily find who owns something that was left behind, this is where they put it. Some of it is just junk. But there are things which, while looking fairly worthless, could be worth thousands of Galleons – in the right circumstance. You, Eileen, are going to be in charge of making this junk into a resource for Hogwarts."
The sheer scope of what was there was overwhelming. "How am I to do that?"
Gary nodded. "Walk back outside." They left and Eileen noticed the door disappeared. "What you just saw was the Room of Requirement. Anyone who has a real need for something who walks back and forth will be met with that need as best as Hogwarts can deliver. What you saw was just one aspect of the room. Now, many of those things could be traced back to their rightful owners – and in that case we want to ensure they are returned. I'm going to try something – watch."
Instead of asking for the entire room, Harry instead asked, "I need a room which has things lost by a Weasley. I need a room which has things lost by a Weasley. I need a room which has things lost by a Weasley."
The door reappeared. It looked a little different. "Let us see what we have."
The two re-entered the room. Instead of a vast room filled to the brim, they found a very small room with a few items, some old clothes, even a statute which looked .. quite odd. There was also a broken trunk. "Now – first, let's fix the trunk." He cast a quick Reparo and the trunk was whole again. "Now, we put everything in that trunk and shrink it. When you next visit Gringotts, ask them to put it in the Weasley vault. Also, write a letter. Watch." Gary found some parchment in the pile and retrieved a quill and ink bottle from a pocket.
"Write this down."
Eileen got ready.
"To the Head of House Weasley
"Good day to you.
"My name is Eileen Snape. I am currently employed by the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to assist in returning items that can be identified as belonging to former students and clearing out things whose ownership cannot be determined.
"Contained within this trunk are all of the items that Hogwarts can identify as belonging to any Weasley from the past which was left behind. While some items might be useless, there might be items which have either sentimental or monetary value to you and so this trunk was placed within your Gringotts vault.
"Upon inspection of the items, if you find that there are, for example, old clothes or really anything that is not of real value or use, I implore you not to just throw them away. While a dress from 400 years ago might not seem valuable, there are places where such items can fetch a profit. This is one area I am working on.
"Should you find that there are such items and you wish to sell them for the best possible profit, please feel free to contact me at Hogwarts. For a commission of 10 percent of whatever profits are realized, I will endeavour to ensure that you receive the maximum amount of money you can for items that you no longer wish to keep.
"It might be that there is no value – but please do not assume. Something that looks worthless to you could fetch a hundred or even a thousand Galleons – in the right place. If I am asked to attempt to sell such items, I will work to ensure that every effort is made to produce a profit as it will also be in my best interest as I will receive only a part of what I can sell it for.
"Yours in Business,
"Eileen Prince, Special Project Director for the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"
Eileen finished the letter and signed it.
"Okay. Now let's take this out and shrink it after marking it Weasley. We will retrieve items that are likely to get a profit sooner."
They left the room.
"You don't have to speak out loud – I am doing it for demonstration. Hogwarts, however, can hear you even if you are just thinking it. Now: I need a room for unowned really old clothes. I need a room for unowned really old clothes. I need a room for unowned really old clothes."
Another door appeared.
"Now, let us see what we have."
The two entered the room and found quite a pile of clothing from various eras. Quickly working toward the back, Gary showed Eileen dresses that looked to be from the 1500s. "First to check for any spells – we can't put enchanted things into the Muggle world."
After a quick check, these items were found to be clear of any spells except an old warming charm which Gary dispelled. He had Eileen bring the items.
"Now, call for a Hogwarts elf."
Eileen nodded. "I need a Hogwarts Elf!"
One popped in. "Mistress needs help?"
"What's your name?" Gary asked.
"I is Daisy."
"Well, Daisy, can you please repair and clean these dresses in such a way that no new thread is used. We need to make certain that the dress is kept in as much of the original condition as possible. If you have to repair a seam, please attempt to match the style of thread and sewing originally used. Can you do that?"
Daisy looked through the dresses and said, "Daisy can!"
"When done, please return them to Mrs. Snape's quarters." Daisy nodded and popped out.
Gary turned to Eileen. "Now, you should retrieve a trunk from the room of lost things. Then, contact your solicitor and tell him that you need directions to a reputable Muggle appraiser who deals with vintage clothing. Use the money from the Discretionary Fund as needed to pay for the appraisal. All items should be identified as Iverness Academy Historical Collection – the Muggle name for Hogwarts. Once the value is set, you will need to work with auction houses to sell the collections of items that you will be getting appraised or with reputable antiques sales shops – sometimes you can get more money there. If needed, pay for Gringotts to certify it as owned by Iverness Academy. I am certain they have a Muggle name which is reputable as well. Get the items sold. Collect the profits. Ask your solicitor to ensure all laws are followed. The auction house or sales shop gets their cut. The solicitor gets his fees. Gringotts gets their fees. And Hogwarts gets the rest. You get 5 % of the profit to Hogwarts in addition to your salary."
"Any questions?"
Eileen's head was spinning a bit. "Not really. But I will probably need advice here and there as to my next step until I am familiar with the procedure."
Gary chuckled. "I know. It's not something you've dealt with. But I think you'll do fine." He paused. "I might suggest that you find out exactly who is on the Board of Governors and, as an early step, retrieve every item that can be identified as lost by their families first. You will probably need the Headmaster to get a letter signed by the Board of Governors for Iverness Academy which authorizes you to act as their agent in selling off antiquities that the Academy no longer wishes to retain. Returning lost items will provide an incentive for them to agree. When they ask what you are doing, tell them that you are selling old Muggle things that were left behind for a few galleons for the Headmaster's use so that he will be able to avoid troubling them for minor amounts here and there for unexpected expenses. Square the story with the Headmaster – but you know how most purebloods will react to 'old Muggle things left behind': They won't really see the value and so will ignore it. It will give the Headmaster some operating room which he doesn't currently enjoy."
Eileen smirked. "What house were you in at Hogwarts?"
Gary laughed. "I didn't attend but the Hat placed me in Ravenclaw when I was hired – just to satisfy the Headmaster's and my own curiosity. It did say I had qualities of all the houses."
Eileen nodded. "I think you'd fit right in with my old House, Slytherin."
Gary bowed briefly, smirking himself. "Why, thank you."