The day before the Quidditch World Cup.
To secure additional sponsors and development funding, we carried out a company-defining demonstration for General Magitics (GM) just before the Quidditch World Cup began.
At the venue known as "The Circle," many old pure-blood families gathered, including Mr. Lucius Malfoy. In addition, numerous shareholders and leading figures from the business world were in attendance, among them my grandfather. To begin with, our joint managers, Senior Gemma Farley and Senior Penelope Clearwater, delivered the quarterly performance report.
The two of them were complete opposites.
Senior Farley appeared relaxed, occasionally even weaving in humor, and answered questions smoothly. This approach seemed to resonate especially well with investors, and there were scattered sounds of satisfaction even from representatives of prominent funds.
In contrast, Senior Penelope was stiff with nerves and relied heavily on technical jargon. However, this instead seemed to highlight the earnest humanity typical of engineers from technical backgrounds. After the Q&A session, Nott's father, himself a former magical engineer turned executive, appeared unusually impressed.
Once the quarterly performance report concluded, the demonstration of the new product began.
Now then, there was one witch, still a student, who had been invited to this major event, a presentation of a new product on which the company's future depended. Although the attempt to appeal to human psychology by featuring an innocent-looking beauty was obvious, her appearance was so striking that the audience could not help but listen. So, who was she?
Yes. It was me.
"Today is a day I have been waiting for for a very long time."
First, I projected an image of a house-elf using a projector. Next, I showed a slide of two mirrors placed back to back. Between the two, I inserted a question mark and posed a simple question.
"Is there room for a third category between these two? We have always been thinking about this question. The hurdles were high, and the challenges were numerous."
In truth, even though my seniors and I threw all our efforts into a crash development schedule, "Riddle 94" was still riddled with unresolved issues.
"Hey… shouldn't we still cancel it, even now?"
The one who muttered weakly the day before was Penelope.
"No matter how many times we try this, it's going to fail every single time."
Even with the presentation just around the corner, "Riddle 94," which we had hastily cobbled together, was far from complete.
The production line had not yet been established, and there were only about ten finished prototypes, all with different levels of quality. Some of the diaries clearly had pages of different colors. Others had scratches on the mirror attached to the inside of the cover. Even the best prototype still showed flaws upon close inspection.
On top of that, the "Magical Analysis Engine," which functioned as the computational server, had somehow been connected to the magical wireless network, WWN, but the connection was unstable and dropped with alarming frequency.
"Honestly, if we let anyone test the demo unit, they'd laugh and say, 'This is terrible,' right?"
As Fred said, the Charmware built into the system had not been completed in time either, resulting in a sloppy specification riddled with bugs.
"If we compare it to an airplane accident, it's like the aircraft suddenly boosting its output and blowing an engine, or the autopilot disengaging due to a data bug when you make a certain maneuver."
"Elaina's bizarre metaphors pop up again. Seriously, what are they supposed to be…?"
Hermione complained, while beside her Percy gently rubbed Penelope's back to reassure her.
Even Lupin, the voice of reason, and Cedric, not to mention the twins and Lee Jordan, all looked as though they thought, "Maybe we really should stop." Amid this atmosphere, Senior Farley fiddled with the prototype and spoke with a sardonic expression.
"Well, we did manage to find the 'Garden of Avalon,' but now the question is whether a goblin comes out… or a basilisk."
The "Garden of Avalon" is an industry term. Under certain conditions, if an unfinished magical device is operated following a specific procedure, it can activate magic as if it were a completed product.
In the case of "Riddle 94," for some reason it still froze if you performed the operations in the order of basic arithmetic, then memory storage, then music playback. Reverse the order, however, and suddenly, quite miraculously, it could smoothly play music, store memories, and perform calculations. It was a clever trick that made it look like a flawless product.
Even so, whether it would behave the same way on the day itself, even if operated exactly according to this "Garden of Avalon," was something only the gods knew.
(That said, this is exactly why the position of "Honorary Chairwoman" exists…)
People often say that the job of someone important is to take responsibility. In the worst case, that responsibility would mean I would resign as Honorary Chairwoman.
Recalling the exchange from the previous day, I forced myself to switch gears, thinking, "Well, even if I end up resigning, I'll get a generous severance package along with it." With that, I continued the presentation.
"We considered many ideas. For example, the Omnioculars, or two-way mirrors, or even moving portraits."
I listed answers the audience might think of and systematically eliminated them one by one, addressing issues of quality, cost, and ease of use.
Then silence fell. Two minutes passed without an answer to the question, and finally, I spoke the words.
"I believe we have found the answer."
What I took from my robes, at last, was a neat black diary. When I levitated it with a Floating Charm, it fit perfectly between the image of the house-elf and the image of the multifunctional two-way mirror.
"Today, we will announce three revolutionary magical devices. The first is an advanced calculator. The second is a groundbreaking communication device. The third is a magical 'servant.'"
Please work without triggering any bugs, I prayed silently as I continued.
"There are three, as you can see. But these are not three separate magical devices. They are one."
Then, trusting the development team, I picked up the diary and opened the cover. The multifaceted mirror attached to the inside of the cover and the blank white pages were revealed to the audience.
"How should we operate this innovative 'diary'? With a quill? A keyboard? Or a finger? No. The greatest device you were all born with: your voice."
The attached multifaceted mirror was already displaying a live feed of the venue via a communication mirror. As I saw the audience begin to stir, I spoke.
"Riddle, please play some music."
"Understood."
With that cheerful response, a symphony began to flow from the diary, and the music changed smoothly according to my commands.
Next, while playing the radio, I displayed beautiful photographs on the attached mirror, flipping through different images as though reading an album.
With just a few spoken words, the photos could be enlarged or reduced with ease. The way I viewed them was stored as a memory and could later be replayed.
When I commanded it to record my speech, the diary transcribed my words onto the blank pages flawlessly, like an automatic shorthand quill.
Then, when I ordered three copies of Lockhart's latest books through mail order, the total price was calculated automatically.
When I sent the order form using the Transfiguration Messenger, the business-use multifunctional two-way mirror at Flourish & Blotts began flashing with a bell-like notification sound, alerting the staff to the incoming message.
That scene was also broadcast live through a communication mirror installed in the shop, with the shop manager's permission already obtained, and displayed on the multifaceted mirror attached to the inside of my diary's cover.
The Transfiguration Messenger was Hermione's idea. By applying the advanced spell Transfiguration, it allows numbers and text to be transmitted remotely.
For example, if you alter the serial number on a fake Galleon, the serial numbers on other fake Galleons linked to it also change, and the coins heat up to notify the recipient. It can be used in that way as well.
Incidentally, the following year GM would release a new model of multifaceted mirror equipped with the Transfiguration Messenger, called the Palantír 3W. But that is a story for another time.
After that, when I ordered it to check the delivery status of the books sent by owl post, the diary displayed a map of Diagon Alley like the Marauder's Map and tracked the movement of the owl in real time as it traveled across the map.
Fortunately, all the way to the very end, "Riddle 94" did not trigger a single bug, and I was able to complete the demonstration safely.
By the time the presentation ended, nearly everyone in attendance was not only excited but practically ecstatic. They leaned in, listening intently, determined not to miss a single word I said.
"Come to think of it, we still haven't announced the name of this innovative product, have we?"
The name the entire world had been waiting for was…
"R i d d l e 9 4."
The next instant, cheers erupted from the audience, who knew nothing of the background. Along with shrill whistles, shouts like "Foooooo!" and "Yeaaahhhh!" rang out from all around the hall.
That a dark magical artifact originally meant to drive Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts would become the catalyst for Muggle-born entrepreneurs and Slytherin underclassmen to come together and spark innovation is surely something even Lord Voldemort could never have imagined.
And while the massive crowd was swept up in a frenzy of excitement, only Lucius Malfoy stood frozen in place, his face drained of all color.
＊＊＊
Thus, the demonstration ended in resounding success, and that night was spent in celebration.
"Alright, everyone! First of all, great work on the shareholders' meeting!"
Unable to hide her delight, Senior Farley raised her beer mug to lead the toast, and cries of "Good work!" echoed from all around.
"Then, if you'll pardon my presumption, I, Gemma Farley, will give the opening toast. Please take this opportunity to heal from the death march of the past few days and gather your strength for what lies ahead. Tonight, as long as time allows, let's drink, eat, and enjoy ourselves."
At her overly formal speech, Fred immediately teased, "That's stiff, way too stiff!" and Senior Farley, clearly used to it, laughed and replied, "Right?"
"Okay then, everyone got their drinks ready?"
At her call, the adults raised mugs of ale, while the underage group lifted mugs of butterbeer.
"Great work, everyone! Cheers!"
"""""Cheers!!"""""
After plenty of drinking, noise, and food until the dishes were empty, Fred muttered, "I'm not done having fun yet," and Senior Farley immediately reacted.
"Then how about we check out the new karaoke box inside 'The Circle'?"
"What's that?"
"A place where you can sing while drinking juice and stuff."
Heading there for an after-party, we found a stage lit by a flashy mirror ball, surrounded by sofas. On the tables were microphones, maracas, and tambourines. The walls featured a soda fountain and an eye-catching magical jukebox with garish neon lights. They had thought of everything.
"Alright, we're up first!"
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan immediately volunteered, launching into a lively chorus with flashy choreography.
Apparently, at Mahoutokoro, people sing one at a time while everyone else sits and listens. At Hogwarts, or perhaps in Britain in general, everyone starts dancing along to the music however they like. If it's a song they know, they gather together and sing as a group, enjoying both singing and dancing.
When the handsome Bill or Cedric started singing, two older girls squealed and cheered. When Percy sang some obscure song in an indescribable key, the twins, acting as backup dancers, threw in sharp choreography of their own to liven things up. When Hermione and I sang something cute, people teased us with comments like, "Elaina, you're way too cute," or "This is the part where the dad cries at his daughter's recital," but everyone still clapped along, nodding their heads to the rhythm.
Perhaps thanks to the overwhelming success of the demonstration, everyone stayed in high spirits as the night wore on, singing everything from Muggle pop songs to their go-to joke songs and staple hits of the magical world.
"Haaah, I'm exhausted… alright, next let's do it Mahoutokoro-style."
"No, how about we just rest like normal people?"
While gently calling out Senior Farley, who was still brimming with energy, I was finally freed from dancing and sat down on the sofa with Hermione and the others.
When I glanced at the clock, it was already past midnight. The twins, Jordan, and Senior Farley were still partying hard, shouting things like "Yeah!" and "Woo!" with good-natured Bill humoring them, but Hermione and Lupin were clearly worn out.
Cedric and I still had the stamina, but mentally we were starting to feel like it might be time to wrap things up. Percy and Penelope, meanwhile, had quietly disappeared some time ago and were no longer there.
"We only sang, but if you're not used to it, it's as tiring as Quidditch practice."
"I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow…"
Hermione replied weakly to Cedric's comment. When I looked over at Lupin, who hadn't responded, he was already nodding off.
"I think I got a little too carried away as well…"
"Well, it has been almost three hours."
"Honestly, those five are just way too energetic."
As Hermione downed her Curiosity Cola in big gulps, her gaze drifted toward the twins making Lee Jordan eat a Canary Cream as a punishment and transform, as well as Senior Farley and Bill, who were high-fiving each other in great spirits.
"Phew… maybe I should start exercising and training a bit more this year too."
Leaning back on the sofa, Hermione drained her cola and muttered that to herself.
"I don't think you need to feel self-conscious about it."
"But actually, Elaina, you're not that tired either, are you?"
"I've been training through Quidditch, after all."
Needless to say, the twins and Cedric were athletes. Senior Farley had also been a player in the past and stayed active in sports clubs even after retiring. Jordan seemed to belong to outdoor clubs as well, and Bill's physically demanding work as a curse-breaker had probably built up his stamina too.
"Lately, I've been thinking sometimes that no matter how many spells you memorize, if you don't have a certain level of physical ability, you can't really apply them in practice."
"Hermione, are you still a bit hung up on losing to Harry in Defense Against the Dark Arts last year?"
"…Just a little."
I couldn't help wondering how much "a little" really meant. Still, now that it was mentioned, it might explain why Hermione, despite knowing so many spells and advanced magic, often lagged behind Harry when it came to actual combat.
"Well, I don't think it would hurt to try. Pansy and Millicent seemed to get some cosmetic benefits out of it too."
"So their transformations weren't because they used illegal potions…"
As Hermione began radiating a dark aura, I quietly averted my gaze and hurried back to the karaoke area with Cedric. Recently, there had been a growing sense that "house affiliations and individuals are separate things," but there were still people you just didn't get along with on a personal level.
And so, whether this conversation was the direct cause or not, from the new term onward, we began to occasionally see Hermione out running early in the morning on her days off.
(End of chapter)
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