I took it and opened it, blinking in surprise at what I saw. "This is…" I trailed off, not wanting to speak, lest I give away my meta-knowledge. Lupin took my speechlessness as awe, and happily explained what he'd made.
"This is a map that shows the location of everyone inside the building," Lupin said proudly. "It's based off of a 'school project' I made in Hogwarts. It keeps track in real-time, and I've added some extra features, while leaving some other ones out."
The entire warehouse and its immediately surroundings, as well as the shop in downtown, was on display, with every person displayed as a colored dot moving around or standing still.
"Press the map here to switch between the shop and the factory," Lupin said, pointing to the words printed onto the side. I did so, and the ink flowed as it shifted to reveal the factory and the people within. "You can also tap any of the dots to see who they are."
"It's impressive. A bit of a breach of privacy, but impressive all the same," I said, eyes darting over it. "I see that it's showing off some information on the wards. And do the colors mean something?"
"The map is connected to the wards. You can't control them with the map, but you can see if they're active or not," Lupin said. "The coloration of the markers shows the status of the workers. Green means they are fine. Yellow means they are tired or have minor injuries or have a hex, jinx, or spell on them. Red is major injury or curse, or unauthorized entry."
"Interesting," I mused. That was quite useful in a lot of ways, and I poked one of the yellow dots in the office. Underneath it, a name popped up alongside a list of issues that appeared on the side of the map, and I leaned back in my seat.
"It seems that Janet is pregnant," I said. "And that the map classified pregnancy as a yellow-level affliction."
"Hm? Oh, I see," Lupin said, leaning in, intrigued. "I hadn't thought about that, but it does seem to be case." He then tilted his head, looking up at me. "So, what do you think?"
"I think you're getting a raise," I declared. "What else can you do?"
"Charms were always my specialty, and I could have become an Enchanter had anyone wished to take me on as an apprentice," Lupin said, a note of bitterness in his voice. "I'm not bad with Care of Magical Creatures and DADA either, though Sirius were always better at the latter."
"Speaking of the man, have you heard anything from him? Or heard rumors about Azkaban?" I asked, and the werewolf shook his head.
"There's nothing. He must be lying low until he has an opportunity," he replied. He very carefully didn't give voice to the niggling doubt we both shared that Wiggles von Snubs had failed his mission.
"Hopefully he'll make a move soon," I said with a shake of my head. "Until then, all we can do is wait."
Lupin nodded. He then gave me a nod and walked out, off to do security guard stuff. When he was gone, I locked the map away in a safe underneath my desk, and then called for Inky.
"Yes, Young Master Eddy?" the elderly House Elf asked when he appeared.
"It's time for class," I told him, getting up. I was finally attending Oxford, and the lectures and lessons were going well.
"Yes, Young Master Eddy," Inky said with a bow. "Also, I have a letter for you."
He handed over a scroll, and I took it and examined the wax seal on it. "House Greengrass, huh?" I muttered, recognizing the emblem stamped into the green wax. A bushel of wheat wrapped around by a two-headed snake known as a Runespoor looking left and right was unmistakable thanks to my lessons on Pureblood society courtesy of my mother.
"The owl arrived earlier this morning," Inky informed me as I broke the seal and began to read the letter.
"He's agreeing to meet with me about my request to purchase potion ingredients wholesale and in bulk from him," I said with a grin. Finally! I'd been waiting for weeks for him to reply after I'd sent him some letters during the Summer, and if things went well, they'd become my primary supplier in the Wizarding World.
I took out some parchment from my desk – I always kept some on me, just in case – and wrote back a reply, passing it to Inky to take care of. He took it and popped away, before returning a minute later to take me over to my classes.
I couldn't wait for Friday. But until then, I had a history lecture to attend.
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