"To Hogwarts, and the Golems – Part 2"
After understanding how it worked, Draco lent him his golem so he could give it a try.
"Praeceptum Golem," Sirius pronounced, connecting the golem to his wand. The little figure began to walk, then hopped a few steps, and finally started swinging the large hammer with ease. It even performed a couple of strikes in the air.
"I see the problem. It's the magical control. If you pour in too much energy, it gets overloaded. You should also improve the internal circuits—they seem to lag a bit when transmitting commands. And there's no need for them to have all their fingers; that just makes it harder to control, since you have to think about moving each one individually. If you just give them something to hold their weapons and simplify the hands, it'll be much easier to manage. About the runes—some of them consume too much magic, which will wear you out in a few minutes. The materials are good but too heavy and cause a lot of friction, so they move slowly. Maybe adding something to help the joints slide more smoothly would fix it," Sirius explained in detail.
The children around him froze, staring wide-eyed, astonished at Sirius's professional-level knowledge.
"What are you doing? Take notes!" Sirius exclaimed, a little annoyed by all the staring. Hermione quickly nodded and started scribbling everything down diligently.
"How do you know so much?" Daphne asked, curious.
"Well, when we were at Hogwarts, our group liked to build interesting things for pranks. We even made a special map that showed every secret room in Hogwarts and marked the location of every student in real time," Sirius said with a nostalgic smile. "Though, of course, we used all of it for questionable purposes," he added with a shrug.
Then his gaze shifted to the golems and the improvised ring.
"So… you want to turn this into a competition?" he asked suddenly, immediately capturing everyone's attention.
"Do you realize this could cause a huge stir in the market? After all, there aren't many exciting games where young people don't end up hurt. You could manufacture golems in all kinds of designs, organize tournaments, sell them all over the country…" he went on, his mind already racing with possibilities.
"We also wrote a set of rules," Hermione jumped in enthusiastically, pulling out the thick notebook she always carried where she jotted down every guideline and detail.
"We just do it for fun," Harry said calmly, though his eyes stayed fixed on the ring.
"Sure, but right now you have no competition, right? Only you. If this goes public, you'd find rivals everywhere. Every match would be different," Sirius continued, looking at them seriously.
"But what if someone uses our research for something dangerous?" Hermione asked, sounding a little worried.
"It's hard to imagine something I could squash with my shoe becoming a real threat," Sirius replied with a dismissive wave. "But I understand your concern. We could create magical protections and security systems so no one knows exactly how to build them. If anyone wanted to copy you, they'd have to start from scratch. You're thinking about the harm they could cause—but what if they were also used for teaching or to help people? They could be a valuable tool."
Hearing that, the others exchanged thoughtful looks.
"Who knows… maybe one day you'll receive a Merlin's Medal for your research," Sirius said with a light smile and, for the first time, a genuine glint of pride in his eyes.
Everyone fell silent, processing the idea.
"It's best if you talk to your parents. After all, they'd kill me if I robbed them of the pleasure of helping you with this project," Sirius added with an amused grin.
Everyone nodded quietly, admitting he was right.
…
In a meeting room at the Greengrass home, several people were seated around a large table, accompanied by their children.
Wanda was there with Harry; Wendell and Susan sat with Hermione; Narcissa with Draco; and Edward and Selene with Daphne. For some reason, Sirius was also there, along with Nymphadora Tonks. Well, to be precise, she had overheard Sirius telling her mother about the golems and insisted on coming along. He hadn't had much choice but to agree—especially after his beloved niece kidnapped his house-elf as "leverage." Although, truth be told, Sirius wouldn't have minded much if she kept the elf forever; it was rather troublesome, particularly after it came back home wearing a ridiculous clown wig and face paint. As a reward for such creativity, Sirius decided to bring Tonks with him.
"I don't see why you're here. In the end, this was our children's idea. Between the Malfoy, Greengrass, and Potter families, we could handle everything perfectly well without you," Selene remarked with a mocking look in Sirius's direction.
"Hey! I was the one who noticed the potential—and the brilliant idea of turning it into an international competition," Sirius protested quickly, raising his hands.
"We all know how talented our children are," Edward said seriously.
"But none of you thought about putting it to use," Sirius insisted.
"No one plans to exploit their child," Wanda interjected calmly.
"Are you an idiot?" Narcissa snapped without the slightest hesitation.
"You know that's not what I meant," Sirius defended himself with a sigh, while the children laughed at him openly.
"All right. Let's make this quick," Wanda said, taking the lead. "Harry, do you want to do this?"
"Yes. It sounds interesting," Harry replied without hesitation.
The others nodded, equally determined.
"Perfect. A completely new company will be created for this. Ownership will be divided equally among the children. Specialized employees will be hired until they're old enough to decide what to do with it. In the future, if tournaments are organized, the Black family will have permission to plan them—but always under the supervision of the other families. You won't get any shares, Sirius, but that should be enough. The initial investment will be equal for everyone. Anyone disagree?" Edward asked, looking around the table.
"It's not that I disagree… but even though we have some money in the Muggle world, converting it into Galleons might be complicated. It's possible we won't have the same financial capacity as the rest of you," Wendell commented seriously, raising his hand slightly.
"I'll take care of Hermione's share," Wanda said calmly. "After all, she's also my student." And before anyone could object, she gave them all a firm look and added, "This is something Hermione worked very hard to create alongside the others. She and Harry were the first to look for the books, to experiment, to try building something even though they didn't know if it would work. She has just as much right as everyone else to be part of this."
No one could really argue with that. In the end, Wendell and Susan simply thanked Wanda from the bottom of their hearts and contributed what they could.
"I don't mind not having shares. Honestly, making a company in Harry's name is enough for me," Sirius complained, crossing his arms. "But why do I have to be supervised?"
"We don't want you coming up with some ridiculous competition. After all, this is something our children worked hard for," Narcissa said, speaking for everyone.
"Well, looks like your idea of organizing a tournament with a hundred golems fighting Dumbledore isn't going to happen," Tonks commented with a grin as she sat beside him, not helping at all.
"Then it's settled," Edward said, bringing the meeting to a close.
…
The children were a little nervous, but also excited. They had gathered to start writing down all their research and compile the diagrams, spells, and notes they would send to the experts from each family. Those experts would be in charge of recreating everything precisely and continuing the deeper investigations.
Of course, none of them planned to sit back and do nothing. Even though classes at Hogwarts were about to start, they were all determined to keep improving their project. It was the first time they had created something of their own—something that might actually change the wizarding world.
According to the adults, if everything went smoothly, the product wouldn't be ready to launch for at least a year.
But just a week later, unexpected news hit them like a bucket of cold water. The International Confederation of Wizards had rejected the creation, distribution, and commercialization of the project, claiming it was "a potential danger to wizarding society" and that its uses could be "highly destructive."
The four of them gathered again in the meeting room, this time with long faces and their spirits sunk.
"Why did they reject it?" Draco asked, clearly angry, his arms crossed tight over his chest.
"They say it could be used for war, for theft… or to hurt people," Hermione explained, reading aloud from the letter that had arrived a few days earlier.
"There are things much more dangerous!" Daphne protested, slamming her hand on the table. "For example, all the spells people invent every day. Anyone can learn them and do harm. Why do they only ban our golems?"
"A spell needs a wizard to cast it," Harry said, frowning. "But if you can manufacture golems like ours, you could build an army. And besides, we made too many improvements… they can move faster now, and even function without the control spell. They were designed for combat. That's what scared them."
"But we added magical restrictions. If anyone tries to open them, they self-destruct," Hermione insisted, half sprawled across the table with the look of someone watching their dream die. After all, she had spent weeks writing regulations that were now completely useless. Well… at least they could still use them themselves.
"Who's the bastard who rejected us?" Harry muttered, his voice tense.
Hermione lifted the letter and read slowly:
"Albus Dumbledore."
For a moment, no one spoke. Then each of them began to imagine not-so-friendly ideas about the headmaster of their soon-to-be school.
Just then, Wanda walked into the house, carrying a pile of folders and a couple of dusty books from the Potter family library.
"Don't worry," she said with a calm smile when she saw their faces. "I found something that might help. Your grandfather sent it," she added, looking at Harry as she set the books down on the table.
Hermione was the first to open one of the volumes. Her eyes widened as she read the first few pages.
"These aren't manuals for alchemical tools… They're weapons created with alchemy," she murmured, flipping through the pages with growing amazement.
"I know!" Daphne exclaimed, standing up with a gleam in her eyes. "Wanda wants us to bomb the International Confederation."
"No," Wanda replied calmly, but her gaze was so serious that Daphne immediately sat back down.
"These are items that were approved long ago. During the goblin wars, many of these artifacts received special licenses… and several of them are still valid," Wanda explained with a faint smile.
"I see," Harry said, letting out a short laugh. "So we'll bomb the headmaster's office instead."
His mother shot him a reproachful look so eloquent that Harry raised both hands in surrender.
"Sorry, it was a joke. I just mean that if we find components that are still authorized, we won't need the Confederation's approval," he added quickly, recovering his composure.
"Do you want to do it yourselves, or should we have the employees handle it?" Wanda asked in a tone so mild it was almost amused.
"We'll do it," Harry answered immediately, a determined spark in his eyes.