Chapter Fifty Six - Seed Money

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Fifty Six - Seed Money

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

After crossing the channel via the almost completed Channel Tunnel, Pettigrew had made good time through France, skirted south of Switzerland, and struck south-east through Italy moving down its length. However, while he could speak a smattering of French, he could speak no Italian; so, he was unable to make himself understood by the local muggles.

Now being forced to steal what food he needed to eat, he'd often use his animagus form to sneak into places, and drag away foodstuffs. Then he'd shift back into human form to eat a hearty meal while on the road.

He'd also managed to hop on a few trucks and hide onboard as a rat, when the truck was heading in the right direction.

However, he was also starting to get worried. While his dark mark was pointing him in the right direction, he was now beginning to suspect his Master was located beyond the south-eastern coast of Italy; across the Adriatic or Ionian Seas. If that was the case, he might have to double back and go around the northern end of the Adriatic by way of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

However, Bosnia-Herzegovina was in the middle of a civil war that had begun in 1992, and he definitely didn't want to have to deal with that little muggle tussle. And skirting around it to the east meant he'd have to pass through Serbia. Yet another nation that had its own strife concerning the disputed territory of Kosovo in its south. And further east yet led him into the eastern bloc countries. And that would not do.

His other choice was to continue in the direction he was going and see if he could find a vessel going from Brindisi on the 'heel' of the 'Italian boot' across the narrow watery divide to Albania. That way he'd bypass all the muggle fighting and be free to continue in his search.

He decided to keep going in the direction he was already heading and hope for the best. After all, the trip from the 'heel' to the west coast of Albania was only about sixty miles.

With a sigh at how far he'd come already, and how far he had yet to go, Pettigrew trudged ever onwards.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

When they could, the Weasley twins helped Harry with his experiments. And they also helped the Eight with their potioneering. In return they had the use of the etiquette club office for potioneering and the use of the Room for studying and testing.

The Eight were quite surprised with just how skilled the twins actually were. They were able to combine unique properties of potions with arithmancy and ancient runes - though, they weren't actually taking those last two classes - to develop some rather impressive pranking products.

When asked why they were so focussed on such products, they replied, "We plan on opening our own joke shop..."

"... After we finish our schooling."

"We're going to call it..."

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!"

"You're going to have to develop possibly hundreds of products to make it a viable enterprise," said Daphne.

"Working on it," said one.

"We've got two years to develop..."

"... what we want to sell."

"That book you're using," said Hermione, indicating the large tome they often referenced from, "What is it?"

"It's called 'Magicarum Proprietatibus'..."

"... and has become our go-to book for potion ingredients."

"May I?" she asked, indicating the book.

The twins grinned and slid it across to her for her to look. Hermione picked it up and scanned through it. With her little frown and while nibbling on her bottom lip, she rifled through the book.

After a little while, she looked at them and said, "This book is incredible. How come we aren't told about this?"

"Because it's a book for..."

"... inventive Potions Masters only."

"Then, how'd you get it?" she asked.

"It was in a second hand book bin...

"... when we went to buy our school books."

"It's the best purchase we've ever made."

"Well worth the investment."

"If you need arithmancy and ancient runes, why aren't you taking those two subjects?" she asked.

"Mum wanted us to take Muggle Studies..."

"... and Care of Magical Creatures."

"She said NEWTs in those two subjects...

"... better prepare us for a job in the Ministry."

"But you're not going to work in the Ministry," said Susan.

"No, but Mum doesn't like the idea..."

"... of us having our own business."

"She thinks we won't be able to..."

"... make a successful go of it."

"That..." said Neville.

"Sucks," said Harry.

The four boys grinned and the twins nodded.

Harry leaned forward and said, "Alright, you two. A clean sheet of parchment, please. You're going to need it."

He then offered his fountain pen and said, "Use this instead of a quill. It's self inking and writes better and quicker."

One twin accepted the pen and studied it for a few moments while the other one laid out a fresh sheet of parchment.

"Alright. First important word - Intelligence. If you want to own your own store you're going to need intelligence about your competition. Of course, that's Zonko's and Gambol and Japes, here in magical Britain. When you can, you need to discover what types of product they stock, and where you see a gap in their product range. That's something you can exploit. More on that in a bit.

"See if you can also get hold of their bulk packaging, such as the boxes the products were delivered in. That's the sort of thing they vanish away, right away. But, sometimes, the cartons may be left on the shop floor waiting for someone to shelve the contents. On those boxes should be the name and mailing address of the distributor that supplied them the products. Take note of that for your own records. And they probably have more than one distributor, too; so, keep an eye out for any more.

"If you get the opportunity, visit joke shops out in the muggle world. I've already noticed neither shop sells muggle joke items. Trust me on this: muggles are incredibly inventive and, if you don't tell a magical it's a muggle item, they'd never know.

"And muggle joke shops will always have their products delivered from a wide range of distributors; so look around in the big bins out behind their shops for the cardboard boxes that the products would have been delivered within.

"Second important word - Diversify. Don't just stick to joke items. Many similar stores in the muggle world also stock things like board games and jigsaw puzzles, and other sorts of puzzles. I've noticed that magical homes haven't caught the board game craze like they had in the muggle world in the middle part of the century. But, in homes that don't have televisions - such as all magical homes - board games are a fantastic way for people to keep themselves amused, especially during the long winters. You may find yourselves starting a new craze in the magical world. And make sure you stock a range of both adult and children's games.

"If you're going to be developing your own products - that is, custom made products - you're not going to have time to make them and operate the shop at the same time. So you might want to consider setting up a manufacturing plant for such products off-site, and hire staff to make them. Of course, that'll also require the development of non-disclosure agreements between yourself and your staff.

"That might sound like a lot of work, but you'll always make a bigger profit on what you develop yourself over what you purchase from a bulk distributor. So it'll be well worth it to you.

"Third important word - Location. You can run the best store in wizarding Britain. However, if people aren't, and won't be, willing to go out of their way to find it. You won't sell anything through it. So, the location of your shop is incredibly important. It needs to be where you expect people to walk past it. Walk-in trade is how you grow one part of your business.

"However, your manufacturing plant should be hidden away. You don't want people to go there, unless they're investors. And, in that situation, you can take them there, anyway. Plus, you know the risks involved in potioneering, especially from explosions. Besides, the rent will be much, much cheaper if it's out of the way. Don't waste valuable Diagon Alley real estate, for instance, on what's not dedicated to direct selling.

"Fourth important word - Finance. You're going to want to develop a business plan that includes how much product you need to sell to make a profit. It also needs to include things like taxes, payroll, the number of staff you need, a five year plan for growth opportunities, how much you're even going to pay yourselves, costs for things like front counter and tills, display cases, shelves, other furniture and the like; in other words, the works. A good business plan will be needed to get the best rates from your suppliers to develop lines of credit, for possible investors to see if you're worth investing in, even for Gringotts to give you a business vault.

"I don't know what it's like in the magical world, but it's something like about ninety-five percent of businesses fail after about two years in the muggle world. And it's mainly because they didn't have in place an extensive business plan.

"Now, all of that you can research - and should research - before you even think about opening a store. Forewarned is forearmed. And if you fail to plan you plan to fail. Understand?"

The boys had been writing away madly. Both kept changing off, and even Susan had to loan her fountain pen to keep up with Harry's instructions and writing it all down.

Both boys looked up in a little awe and just nodded.

"Alright. Fifth important word - Distribution. As things stand there, your shop is the only outlet for selling your products. That's stupid. Other stores, such as Flourish & Blott's have a mailing list and order catalogue system. It's a good idea; so adopt it. Especially, when a good proportion of your customer base are going to be children who can't go to your physical store because they're in school. Besides, Filch can only scan children for such products when they walk in carrying it. If it's owl delivered, he can't do much about it. And that's also a selling point you can tell the children on the sly.

"As you'll have an off-site premise as your manufacturing plant, make it dual use. From there you want to also run your mail order service. Use your store to promote the service and have handy a stack of order forms and pamphlets. You'll also want to run a mailing list where people can write down their names and mailing addresses to be sent things like product updates, new products, specials and other relevant information.

"Plus, each time they receive something from you, it puts the name Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in the forefront of their minds. You want to make sure you're sending out information, at least a couple of times, during the lead up to Christmas, at least.

"That means you're going to need your own - parliament - of owls. You would very quickly drive the Owl Post office nuts if you use them all the time. And, it'll cost you far more to use the OP than if you have your own flock on hand, when you consider the owls will be worked even harder than Gringotts's owls.

"Setting up a mailing service is even something you can do before you even purchase your storefront. After all, there's a great many children going through Hogwarts that might like to purchase products. And, even if they don't want to buy now, see if you can take their details down for a mailing list, anyway; even if you won't have need of it for a couple more years. This is called developing goodwill and will establish a client base right off the bat.

"Sixth word - Market. Don't try to be everything to everybody; or even most things to everybody. It won't work. Instead, pick a target market. And it can be two different markets for the store and the owl mail divisions of your business. For your owl mail side of the business, you may want to just aim your material at children between the ages of twelve and sixteen. Now, that doesn't mean you won't also sell to others, that's known as the bleed effect. You're just not aiming for anyone else. So you can design your advertising material that goes out that way, accordingly.

"As for the store, you can do like Madam Malkin's does, where she has one side for wizards and the other for witches. You can have one side for adults and the other for children. Or, one side for joke-style products and the other side for board games and jigsaws. It's entirely up to you. But, be prepared to change it if your first idea doesn't work.

"And, finally - Principle. You need to get into the mindset you're going to working your collective bums off. And I'm not talking just about operating the store, I'm talking about running the store. If you think you're doing a lot of paperwork as students, it's nothing compared to what you have to do to run a business. There's invoices, banking, incomings, contracts, keeping an eye on your competitors, maintaining stock levels, stocktaking, and all the other myriad of work, especially paperwork, that's done away from the shop floor. For every hour you're likely to be open, there's probably another hour and a half of work per man-hour to do at a minimum.

"So, you're going to need to be both self-motivated to work hard, and willing to fire an employee who just doesn't cut it. And that includes family and friends. You need you and your employees to understand, even if they're family, that when it comes to your business, you're businessmen first, and family or friend second. It's going to be years after your first start, before you can even think of kicking back and relaxing."

Harry then sat back and waited for them to be ready. They were still writing away, madly.

Once they were finished - and wringing their hands out from cramp - Harry hit them with another shock.

"Alright, you two. Here's the most important news of your life, so far," he said with a smirk.

Both twins sat forward again, ready to write more.

"If you two come up with a half-decent business plan - and I'm only talking about an outline here, for now - I'll front you your seed money," he said.

Both boys looked back in shock.

"I don't expect you to work miracles," he continued. "And I don't expect you to get it done right away - or get it right, right away. Take all the time you need. But, if your initial business plan reflects your dedication to starting up this Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes business venture, I'll front you your start-up capital in exchange for being a silent business partner."

Both boys looked back in wonder for a few moments before they turned to each other and suddenly grinned. "Yes!" they exclaimed in stereo.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

It was after Harry had the twins face off against each other in a duel - something they'd never done before - that something incredible happened. When both boys, instead of taking shots at each other in sequence - for which Harry told them off - and, instead, finally cast spells at the same time, they managed to have the spells collide between them.

The resultant light show was extraordinary and was overlaid by the sound of a unicorn neighing and galloping as if in excited joy.

The first time it happened their wands locked together with the matching red beams of stunners for about three seconds, before both boys wrenched their wands away at the same time. Both boys stood there looking in shock at the other.

However, they weren't the only ones. The Eight, except Luna, were also looking at the pair of them in shock.

"What was that?!" they both exclaimed.

"I have no bloody idea!" said Harry, in a little awe.

"It happened when..."

"... we cast at the same time."

"Then, try it again," said Harry.

Both cast stunners at each other and the effect happened again. This time they held it for a little longer before letting it go.

"That's just freaky," said Hermione.

They stopped testing, right there, and the twins and Harry wrote down everything they knew of what had happened. It was something to take to both Professor Flitwick, for Harry; and Mister Ollivander, for the twins.

"Neville," said Harry, turning to his friend.

"Mmm?" asked the boy, a little preoccupied by what he'd just witnessed.

"As your wand also has a unicorn hair core, would you mind facing off against one of the twins and cast stunners at each other at the same time?" asked Harry.

A little surprised by the request, it only took Neville a few moments to figure out what Harry was trying to do. He gave a nod and switched out with one of the twins.

"Alright," said Harry, when he saw both was ready. "On the count of three. One - Two - Three!"

Both boys cast the same spell at almost the exact some time. However, when their spells connected, they just disappeared with a bang, startling everyone.

"Okay," mused Harry, "It might be the different woods, or it might be hairs from different unicorns."

"Or," said Hermione, "It could be the twins have identical magic, whereas Neville's is different. There are too many other variables."

Harry then tried having Neville use the twin's - who was off the platform - wand, and checking to make sure he could use it, they tried again. And, this time, the same effect occurred.

"Okay, it's the core," said Harry. "If the wand has a core of the same material from the same magical animal, then that lightshow effect occurs. That's good to know."

However, once that was completed, Harry had one twin cast a shield before himself, but a little off to the side, while the other fired a couple of stunners at it. The shield held up, admirably.

But, when the stunner was cast from behind the shield of the other, there was no discernable difference in the power of the stunner after it passed through; nor the shield.

When Harry then cast his own stunner through the shield from behind, there was an almost noticeable drop in the power of the Curse with what seemed a similar drop in the strength of the shield.

After weeks of trying different variations, including using Susan's wand, which was also made of elm, Harry was ready to write up his findings.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

With his mind focussed on his experiments in spell resonance, and the added workload of being a Third Year, the weeks spun by.

Hufflepuff beat the Slytherins due to an early catch by Diggory. However, with the score only forty points difference between the two, both were out of the running for the Quidditch Cup. That left Gryffindor as Ravenclaw's only threat.

The weekend after Easter, Gryffindor finally had their match against the Slytherins. Organised, in advance by Harry and the twins, his Firebolt was taken down to the Gryffindor locker room and hidden under a Notice-Me-Not Charm. Ginny would be carrying down his Nimbus 2000 and switch brooms just before soaring out onto the pitch. He just hoped he wouldn't need either broom during the game as he would have access to neither.

His worries, however, proved fruitless. Ginny, on the Firebolt, was unstoppable. The Slytherins clearly planned to do to her as they tried with him. However, Ginny outflew them in speed and manoeuvrability. They simply could not get close to her enough to muscle her. Crabbe and Goyle spent most of the game just chasing after her, leaving the bludgeoning work all to the twins.

And the twins had a veritable Quidditch feast. They had managed to knock out one of the Slytherin chasers and had another injured. However, they'd also caused serious injury to their keeper, Flint.

By the end of the game Gryffindor won 230 - 20 in a landslide victory. But, more worrying to Harry, was the total scores - until Ginny executed an almost lazy catch, Ravenclaw were in trouble of losing their top standing to Gryffindor. With the catch, Gryffindor trailed Ravenclaw by only a handful of points to come in second behind the Eagles.

When Wood discovered their points were insufficient to snatch the Cup out from the claws of the Eagles he was almost inconsolable. However, when he turned on Ginny for catching the snitch 'too early' the twins defended her and reminded their Captain that his orders were, 'Catch the snitch at any cost!', which she did.

However, the older boy could not rob her of her feeling of elation as she handed both brooms back to Harry and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, so, so, much!" she said with a great deal of emotion.

Harry just blushed almost crimson and muttered, "S'Alright."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

After finally managing to cross the small strait of water of the Adriatic Sea between the heel of Italy and Albania, Pettigrew knew he was much closer to finding his master. He had to take a great risk and use the Imperious Curse on a hapless muggle using his master's own wand, but he felt it worth it. The greater risk was to go the long way around.

Still unable to speak the local language, Pettigrew relied even more on his dark mark to track down his master. After walking about halfway across the country on foot - not that many locals had trucks large enough for him to stow away upon - eventually, he was walking through a large woods.

He knew he'd finally found the right place, as the woods appeared, even to him, to be dark, depressing and haunted. He had managed to find a local villager who spoke a smattering of English. And, from that man, learned that there had been a palpable air of danger about the woods for over ten years. However, that danger had seemed to pass a few years ago for about twelve months, but returned for the past couple of years.

It was the right place. It had to be.

Pettigrew ventured deeper into the woods. He knew he was reaching the end of his search. All he had to do was find what form his master had taken. He doubted his master would still be in the wraith form.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

About two weeks before the start of exams - during the period all professors assigned for end-of-year revisions before exams - Harry learned that Remus had handed in his notice. He quickly ran down to the DADA classroom and its adjoining office to find out why.

"Someone - and I'm not saying who - let it slip to the media I'm a werewolf," explained Moony. "From experience, I've found the best thing I can do is resign before it becomes an issue."

"It's not bloody fair!" whined Harry.

"No, no, it's not," sighed Remus, as he put the last of his personal effects in his trunk. "However, this is the way it is."

"And you're not prepared to fight it?" asked Harry not a little accusatory.

With another sigh, Remus replied, "This is not the first time something like this has happened. And, I have attempted to do so in the past. However, I have come to understand the laws in magical Britain are simply too biased against werewolves for me to get a fair hearing. We are seen as 'dark creatures'. And dark creatures have no rights."

Harry grumbled in annoyance in response.

Remus gave a weak chuckle back and said, "It is enough for me to know you don't feel that way, Harry. But - have no fear - I'll still only be a mirror call away at the Black House with Sirius."

With that, his honourary uncle placed a levitation charm on his trunk and magically leashed it behind himself as he made his way out of the classroom.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

With the year winding down Hermione was almost frantic with worry over end of year exams. Daphne had to take the girl aside and tell her, "Hermione, you need to calm down or I'll be forced to take you to the infirmary and have Madam Pomfrey pour Calming Draughts down your throat. You're heading for burn out!"

Finally, Hermione heeded the words of the other girl and settled down. However, she was still overly focussed.

Then, on the Sunday, 5th of June, immediately before exams would start the next day, Buckbeak suddenly disappeared from his chained pen.

Hagrid was both elated and worried about the noble beast. But no sign was discovered as to how the beast managed to escape. There were no traces of magic anywhere around the area. Even the Minister, who came to the castle demanding answers of Dumbledore as to what had happened to the animal, left empty-handed.

When Dumbledore made the announcement that night that Buckbeak had escaped, Neville glanced to Harry and held his gaze for a long moment. Harry just slightly smirked back and gave a surreptitious wink.

Hermione was as happy as could be, and managed to get a decent night's sleep on the eve of what would be a week of gruelling exams.

Neville took him aside and quietly asked, "You freed Buckbeak, the hippogriff, didn't you?"

Harry smiled and said, "Yep."

"How did you do it without leaving a magical trace?" the boy asked.

"I didn't use wizarding magic, that's how," replied Harry. "I called Rizzy, one of the Potter house elves who take care of the grounds at Potter Manor, to come and get him. Rizzy assured me he could both free the beast from its chains and transport it back to the manor.

"He also said he knew how to take care of it and would house it in the stables in the rear of the property. Potters have had hippogriffs before, so it was no hardship for Rizzy to care for the beast."

"Are you going to tell Hermione?" asked Neville.

"I'll wait until summer holidays and invite her to the manor," he replied. "Once there, I'll show her. I've not been able to check how her Occlumency studies have come along, so I need to ensure they get tested by Cygnus before I let her in on things like that."

Transfiguration was the first exam on the Monday morning followed by Charms in the afternoon. The main part of the second was Cheering Charms, which they'd only 'officially' learned at Easter. Everyone exited that exam feeling almost giddy with happiness. Then, for the rest of the week, the group would subtly hit Hermione with the Charm each morning and at lunch.

For the final week, the group just relaxed in their Room and helped the twins with their OWL exams; which were held that and the previous week. But, by the Thursday, Hermione was worrying so much they had to employ Cheering Charms again.

When they received their results at breakfast on the Friday the original Seven again swept the top seven overall spots. Harry took first with Hermione in second, Daphne in third. It also appeared Hermione was going to be a prodigy in ancient runes and arithmancy.

Professors Sinistra and Babbage were trying to steer her to the almost lost art of Enchanting. A very profitable field of magic. Professor Babbage had even loaned her a book on the subject, which Hermione was devouring with an almost hungry expression.

"This is an incredible form of magic," said Hermione almost reverently. "It's the basis of things like pensieves, time turners, and multi-compartmented trunks. Why, there's so much they can do with enchanting, but it's not a field a lot of people want to venture into. I wonder why?"

"Because it takes years more study after Hogwarts to even get the basics of it," said Daphne. "Most young people aren't prepared to dedicate that much time to extra study before they finally start earning their own income."

"As a muggleborn witch, though," said Harry. "Hermione - if she decides to choose the career path of an Enchanter - could maybe use her skills to bring some muggleborn items into the wizarding world."

"For example, she could find a way to enchant a small electrical generator to work inside a wizarding property protected by wards, thus bringing electrical items to be used inside wizarding homes. It definitely bears a good deal of thought towards considering such a career."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Harry was sitting talking with his friends when they were approached by a very excited Colin Creevey. The young boy was practically bouncing up and down on his feet.

"Mister Creevey?" asked Harry, knowing what was coming. It was quite obvious. The boy held in his hands his copy of his end of year results.

Without a word, Colin handed the document over to Harry. Harry calmly took the proffered slip of parchment and made a show of taking his time to read it.

Looking back up at the boy, he said, "Four Outstandings and three Exceeds Expectations, Mister Creevey. I'm impressed! Especially, considering you practically skipped the whole first year."

The boy nodded happily.

"And, a promise is a promise," said Harry. "Is there anywhere you need to be immediately following breakfast?"

The boy just shook his head.

"I wonder if he can cast silently, too," smirked Tracey.

Harry just chuckled and, smiling, said to the boy, "Alright, Mister Creevey. After we finish breakfast, I'll come and collect you from the Gryffindor table. From there, we'll head up to the etiquette club room and I'll show you what you need to do to cast a patronus."

"Yes!" exclaimed the boy, before he practically skipped back to the Gryffindor table.

The group laughed.

"Full of beans, that one," said Neville.

A little worriedly, Hermione asked, "Are you sure you're going to be able to teach him, Harry? I mean, without - you know."

Harry nodded back and replied, "I think I can, yeah? He certainly had the energy for it. I just hope he has the right memory. That will be the difference as to whether he can cast it or not."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

The group followed Harry, with young Colin in tow, up to the club room. He gave the password and entered, holding the door open for everyone to enter.

Indicating a desk and chair, Harry said, "Take a seat there, Mister Creevey."

The boy dutifully sat and Harry brought over a chair to sit directly opposite him. The others all sat away to give him peace, and to not make the boy feel as if he was being pressured.

Taking seat, Harry said, "I don't know what you remember of that day in the infirmary so I'm going to start at the beginning."

He then covered what the patronus did, and why it was created. As the boy had seen him use it as a messenger, he also covered why it was so useful. And then covered the basics of how to power the Charm, and where it came from.

"So, you need to find a memory you have that is full of happiness and love - leaning more towards love than happiness. For you, at your age, I'm going to suggest it will have something to do with your parents. Think about how you felt when you travelled home on the train last Christmas. Think about how you felt when they greeted you on the platform when the Expressed pulled in to Kings Cross. Feel, how it felt when your Mum gave you a big hug."

Harry gave him a few moments to picture it as the boy sat there with his eyes closed. "Feel the love you felt. Let it fill you. Let her love pour into you."

As he talked, Harry was rather surprised by just how strong an emotion the boy was radiating.

"Hold that feeling, for now, and open your eyes," said Harry.

As the boy opened his eyes Harry could see them almost glowing with love and warmth. He even heard the whispering coming from the others as they saw it too.

"As I move out of the way, draw you wand. Hold the feeling," and Harry slipped out of the chair, dragging it out of the way.

Young Colin, with an almost beatific smile on his face, effortlessly drew his wand.

"Now, while holding the love within you, point your wand, push with your magic and incant, 'Expecto Patronum!' to get your patronus..."

Not waiting for Harry to finish, Colin incanted, "Expecto Patronum!"

The almost corporeal form of a small dog erupted from his wand, and bounded across the room.

"Push with more magic, Colin. It's almost there," instructed Harry.

And, almost suddenly, the small dog solidified into the corporeal form of a Jack Russell Terrier. It looked around a bit before it bounded around to stand in front of the desk where Colin was sitting. It's small tail wagging madly while it looked like it was panting.

"Alright, Colin," said Harry gently while wearing a big grin. "Release it, now."

And the terrier faded away.

With a sigh, more felt than heard, Colin slumped in his chair. He was grinning like a loon with happiness. The others in group came over to congratulate him.

"That's - exhausting," sighed the boy; tired but happy.

With a grin and nod in return, Harry said, "It's very powerful magic, Mister Creevey. It takes a lot out of you."

The boy sat up a little straighter then and with an almost pleading expression asked, "Can I do it again?"

Harry chuckled and said, "How about you try again in about five minutes, alright? Give yourself a chance to fill up with magic again."

And just over five minutes later, he cast his second patronus.

While waiting to recharge himself, Colin said, "Oh! I've got something to show you!" And he swung his book bag into his lap.

Rifling through it he pulled out a manila folder and laid it on the desk before him. Then he flipped it open and indicated to what was held within.

Harry could see that they were large photographs, so came forward to see them better.

"Here's the first photograph I took," said the boy, sliding one out and across the desk towards Harry.

Harry remembered the situation quite well. It was the day after they'd arrived back for the beginning of second year when Colin almost shoved the camera in Harry's face without asking. It was a good picture.

The boy then began to show them all other photographs he'd taken. They included scenes of the castle, taken from up near the front gates; one from when he was clearly riding in the boat on his first approach to the castle to be sorted; another of clearly friends hamming it up, and waving to the camera; a couple of beautiful candid shots of students and staff.

"Mister Creevey, these are incredible," said Luna. "You have a gift."

The boy nodded happily. I want to be a journalist photographer when I graduate. I'd love to be able to take photographs as a professional photographer."

"You certainly have the talent," said Daphne.

After one last cast, where Colin succeeded at casting the Patronus without Harry's coaching, and used it to send a message to his little brother - for which he was suitably chastised - they sent the very happy boy on his way.

"He really is a good photographer," said Luna. "I wonder if Daddy can offer him the occasional piece of work."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

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