But Augusta Longbottom didn't trust Dumbledore. She hadn't trusted him since her son and daughter-in-law joined the Order of the Phoenix.
After Frank and Alice were tortured into insanity—sacrificing their minds for the cause—she became even less convinced of Dumbledore's infallibility.
An elderly woman in her seventies, who had seen the horrors of war firsthand, was entirely unwilling to blindly hand over her only grandson to the "Greatest White Wizard of the Century."
This old lady didn't have much personal contact with Dumbledore.
Although she fiercely opposed the Dark Lord and the supremacist Pure-blood ideology, she also didn't fully approve of the Order of the Phoenix's methods.
This stemmed from a fundamental difference in ideology.
She didn't deny Dumbledore's greatness, but sometimes, from an outsider's perspective, that greatness seemed too detached, too cruel in its calculus of the "Greater Good."
After all, Augusta was a woman who came from one prominent Ancient House and married into another; she had held political and social power for decades.
She wouldn't easily believe those grand, sweeping justifications.
Many politicians and leaders talk a big game about sacrifice, but who knows what they're really thinking?
She had seen too many of those types in the Wizengamot.
She simply couldn't understand Dumbledore's ultimate endgame, and that lack of understanding bred distrust.
On the contrary, the old lady and Professor McGonagall had an exceptionally good relationship, built on mutual respect and straightforward Gryffindor pragmatism.
Neville—introverted, shy, and seemingly never able to muster any magical strength—had always been a profound source of worry for her.
Let alone supporting the entire Longbottom family legacy in the future, for years it was uncertain whether he would even survive Hogwarts.
What a burden to be the "Boy-Who-Lived" when you barely survived at all!
This title was an honor to the public, but to Neville, it was an unbearable, crushing pressure.
But now, under the influence of Ted and his friends, Neville had finally grown stronger.
He was finally able to stand up straight and start trying to shoulder the immense pressure brought on by his unwanted title.
He had made his own close friends and comrades-in-arms, people who valued him for who he was, not what he represented.
This open and honest conversation with Augusta greatly increased Ted's positive impression of the Longbottom matriarch.
He really didn't want to play exhausting political mind games with these people, or engage in endless guessing games about hidden motives.
His time was very precious, and he preferred directness.
This mutual appreciation for straightforwardness was also why he and Dumbledore had managed to reach an understanding in the end.
Ted explained his business plan: he wanted several established magical families to officially back and co-run the Arcane Exchange.
Grandma Longbottom happily agreed to the proposal, recognizing the mutual benefits.
She even offered a piece of unprompted advice: "Even if you didn't say anything, Ted, I wanted to remind you to be careful. Do not attract too much attention too quickly. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."
Ted enjoyed a truly sumptuous meal at Longbottom Manor; he noted with amusement that the dishes were actually sourced directly from the Hogwarts kitchens, likely via house-elf delivery.
Before leaving, Ted gently persuaded Neville to let his grandmother buy him a brand new wand of his own.
Neville had been using his father's old wand this entire time.
Ted and the others had only found out about this crucial detail after Neville had tried to comfort Ron—who had completely lost his own tape-covered wand following the battle in the Chamber of Secrets.
Ron had scoffed at the sympathy. "Sad? I'm not sad at all! Let that damn wand disappear from my memory forever! I never want to think about broken wands and vomiting slugs ever again! I'm buying a new one the second I can!"
Afterward, Ted traveled to the Black family home at Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
Honestly, this place was absolutely awesome!
Ted was quite knowledgeable; aside from his extensive understanding of various otherworldly magic systems, the strange items and diverse information brought in daily by the Arcane Exchange had given him a much broader perspective than many reclusive, ancient wizards.
But when he arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place—the ancestral Black family home that featured so extensively in the original novels—he was still profoundly shocked!
This place was practically a miniature, self-sustaining magical fortress!
Various layers of defensive magic, ancient ritual magic, perimeter alarm magic, light magic, and intensely dark magic... all of it was interwoven together seamlessly.
When viewed through Ted's arcane vision, the wards appeared before his eyes like a dazzling, complex galaxy of magical energy.
Various spells intertwined and entwined in a highly orderly manner, forming a complete, impenetrable magical defense network that was both ingenious in design and grand in scale.
This kind of warding scheme would be absolutely impossible to build without the continuous efforts and magical sacrifices of several generations of powerful wizards.
No wonder it was later used as the impenetrable headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix; it was truly, fundamentally safe.
This defensive setup was far superior to the Longbottom family manor.
The Longbottom estate employed a large-scale, druidic defense system based on aggressive magical plants, guardian magical creatures, and runic magic circles. A specific magical artifact was required to physically penetrate their magical shield and reach the manor house.
As for the Weasleys' humble abode, The Burrow... well, did goblin repellant and a ghoul in the attic count as defenses? Never mind, it was best not to compare them.
Compared to the stiff grandeur of the Longbottom family's formal reception, Sirius Black's welcome was much more casual.
Forget about dressing up in formal robes; Sirius barely bothered to button up his shirt, revealing a large patch of chest hair and several faded magical tattoos.
However, he was incredibly enthusiastic. He immediately gave Ted a massive bear hug, then threw his arm around Ted's shoulder, chatting and laughing loudly as he led him inside.
He didn't act like a responsible elder or the Lord of an Ancient House; he acted more like a kindred spirit, a fellow prankster who had just found a new partner in crime.
Of course, he was chased away by his wife, Ms. Olivia, after only a few words.
"Go change your clothes, Sirius!" she scolded, swatting him with a rolled-up magazine. "That is incredibly rude to our guest!"
This lady was very cultured, intellectual, gentle, dignified, and generous.
She held a very high place of respect in Harley's heart—in fact, Harley likely respected her even more than she respected her godfather, Sirius.
Fortunately, Harley had this sensible lady's guidance in her life.
Otherwise, under Sirius's chaotic, enabling tutelage, Harley might have directly taken Draco Malfoy as her lackey, formed a Hogwarts evil syndicate, and demolished the entire school by her third year.
After a lively dinner, Ted, led by an eager Harley, toured the huge, gloomy ancestral home.
The townhouse was four or five stories high and included a deep, damp basement and, disturbingly, a fully functional dungeon.
Harley showed him a lot of strange, cursed magical items in drawing-room cabinets, as well as the scowling portraits of past family heads hanging on the stairwell walls.
She even pointed out a row of shrunken house-elves' heads mounted on plaques!
"Holy crap!" Ted exclaimed, recoiling. "Are you treating them like hunting specimens?"
Harley rubbed the back of her neck, looking extremely awkward.
"It's a really messed up old family custom; we stopped doing it a long time ago. Sirius hates them. We were going to take them down and bury them properly in the garden, but Kreacher—our family's old, miserable elf, he's almost 120 years old—was so insistent and threw such a fit that we hadn't agreed on what to do yet..."
"He actually said that after he dies, he wants Sirius to use a secret family blood-magic method to preserve his head and hang it on the wall right next to his predecessors, to formally show his merit of serving the Black family wholeheartedly for 120 years!"
It is a known magical fact that shortly after a house-elf dies, their bodies rapidly decompose into pure magical energy, returning to the ambient magic of the area.
Without highly specialized, secret dark magic, it's impossible to preserve their heads like this...
Later, Ted took some time to sit down and talk to Sirius about formally joining the Arcane Exchange as a backer.
In Sirius's casual view, it was nothing more than letting Ted borrow the Black family's intimidating name and crest for business protection.
If you can lend money to awful relatives you don't even like, Sirius reasoned, wouldn't it be far better to lend your name to talented young people you actually have high hopes for?
As for the boring details like initial investment money, profit distribution percentages, power division on the board, and so on, Sirius simply didn't care.
This was definitively the reckless financial behavior of a spoiled, wealthy heir who had never had to work a day in his life.
Instead of talking business, Sirius eagerly told Ted all about the legendary mischief he and his gang—the Marauders—had caused in school.
He detailed the amazing, rule-breaking magic they had developed, the complex magical artifacts they made in secret, their dangerous nighttime adventures, their unauthorized explorations of the Forbidden Forest, and their team adventures during the holidays.
His grey eyes shone with intense, manic excitement as he relived the glory days.
Although Sirius Black was a married man and appeared quite mature on the surface, a man is often just a boy until he dies.
It was clear that what Sirius missed most in the world was still the best, unburdened time of his youth...
He even leaned in and quietly asked Ted what he honestly thought of his goddaughter, Harley, and if he had any "reasonable intentions" regarding her future.
Ted immediately put his hands up. "No! We're just very good friends, nothing more."
Sirius Black seemed visibly disappointed by this answer, as he appeared to have a very high opinion of Ted's potential.
Ted thought to himself: I know Westerners mature and start dating early, but we're only twelve years old! Are you kidding me? Perhaps the heads of large, ancient families have simply been conditioned to start planning for advantageous political marriages this early in life.
Sirius sighed deeply, leaning back in his chair, dramatically wondering aloud which unlucky guy would eventually end up dealing with his fiery goddaughter—he quickly coughed and corrected himself—which lucky guy!
Finally, Ted visited the Weasleys' humble abode, The Burrow, once again.
On the one hand, his visit was about formally asking to borrow the old, respected title of the Weasley family for the Arcane Exchange.
Unlike many other magical families who migrated from Europe, the Weasleys are true, homegrown British wizards, as evidenced by their striking, trademark red hair.
They possess ancient Celtic blood, making their lineage technically older than later, wealthier families like the Malfoys or the Potters.
Secondly, it was also a targeted effort to help the Weasley family financially.
Arthur and Molly were already in significant debt because they needed money to buy the required books and supplies to send all their children to school for the start of the year.
Unexpectedly, the disastrous flying car accident had resulted in severe Ministry punishment and a hefty fine, which was exactly like adding insult to injury for the already impoverished family!
Now that Ted had brought them in on the business, Arthur could expect to earn an extra 30 to 40 Galleons every single month from his small percentage, which made the family feel much more financially secure.
At the very least, it could buy the kids a couple of new sets of clothes that weren't hand-me-downs, right?
The couple initially, and stubbornly, disagreed with the proposal, feeling that it was highly inappropriate and that they were taking financial advantage of a younger generation's hard work.
Ted repeatedly, and patiently, emphasized that he desperately needed the Weasleys.
He explained that they were highly influential and respected by the right kind of people in the wizarding world, and their name would help him make a good, trustworthy impression on the public.
The couple didn't even want any money for the use of their name.
Ted then played his trump card, stating that the other two prominent families—the Longbottoms and the Blacks—were also getting paid their fair share of the profits, and those powerful families would feel insulted or suspicious if the Weasleys didn't take their cut as well.
That convoluted pure-blood logic finally settled the matter, and Arthur signed the contract.
In addition to these three major magical families, Ted also brought in Mr. Jiggers and his girlfriend, Ms. Purnell (the witch who owned the successful beauty shop in Diagon Alley), as well as Old Tom, the well-connected owner of the Leaky Cauldron.
Yes, Ted didn't leave out anyone he had a good working relationship with, or anyone who had been kind to him when he was just starting out. He was building a coalition.
Before leaving The Burrow, Ted sat down to seriously discuss buying a new wand with Ron.
Ron had dragged his feet for more than two weeks into the holiday and still hadn't gone to Ollivanders to buy one—he was simply unwilling to part with the money he had saved!
"That's my hard-earned gold!" Ron argued defensively. "I earned that by spitting up massive slugs and sacrificing the structural integrity of my ass to fight a giant snake!"
Finally, Ted managed to convince him, and Ted and Neville agreed to go to Diagon Alley to buy wands together on the exact same day.
What kind of self-respecting wizard can go through life without a proper, functioning wand?!
After Ted left, Aunt Molly, who possessed the very keen, selective hearing of a mother of seven, went straight to find Ron in his room.
"Little Ronnie~" she cooed dangerously. "I heard you want to buy a new wand? That's wonderful news! But tell me, exactly where did you get the money for a new wand?"
Ron had earned nearly 10 solid gold Galleons by secretly selling Ted's protective amulets on his own during the school year—a highly lucrative black-market business that had thrived on the widespread panic caused by the Chamber of Secrets.
Furthermore, after the Chamber of Secrets incident was resolved, Ted had even managed to bravely extract some financial compensation directly from Headmaster Dumbledore on Ron's behalf.
After all, Ron had completely sacrificed his wand to help defeat the Basilisk! Dumbledore had awarded him 10 Galleons from the school discretionary fund for "wand loss and heroic damages."
Ron currently had nearly 20 Galleons stashed away on hand, which was actually several times more liquid cash than his entire family's current savings.
Oh no, wait, the Weasley family was currently in a negative savings situation due to the Ministry fine.
Ron's internal monologue: I can't spend it all, I simply can't spend it all! I'm rich!
Ginny peeked her head into the room. "Bro, we're rich now! Can I have a Galleon?"
Aunt Molly held out a stern hand. "Here, Ron. Mom will save this money for you in a secure place, so you can use it to get married properly in the future!"
Ron shook his head vigorously, clutching his coin pouch to his chest. "No! I won't ever marry that thing! Nobody is taking my money! I earned this!"
Aunt Molly frowned, hands on her hips. "Don't be ridiculous, nonsense! How can you possibly not get married when you grow up!"
Ron's face turned incredibly grave as he leaned in and whispered a devastating secret. "Mom... I saw your fan letters hidden at Professor Lockhart's office..."
Now that Gilderoy Lockhart's fraudulent, memory-stealing affair had been entirely exposed to the public, Aunt Molly was suddenly facing the incredibly shameful reality of her middle-aged celebrity crush being a massive scandal.
She immediately flushed bright red and seemed slightly embarrassed, quickly dropping her hand.
"Never mind that now," she coughed, suddenly changing her tune. "You're getting all grown up now, Ron. You can keep this money. Just... just please don't squander it on foolish things."
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Word count: 2709
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