By Sarah Levesque
Word count: 1167
Rating: G (suitable for all audiences)
Summary: In this sequel to All In A Day’s Work, Skandyr Thistlethwaite buys a Muggle computer.
Skandyr Thistlethwaite, liason between Hogwarts and the Muggle school authorities, walked into his office on the morning of March 4th carrying a box slightly smaller than a briefcase. His young assistant Carly looked up, gasped and then squealed.
“You did it! You bought a Muggle computer!”
“Well, I have seen how much yours helps you, and I thought that I would like to try it, though I’m not so sure it won’t be more trouble than it’s worth. But I was walking by a Muggle store yesterday and they were having a sale – 25 percent off! So I exchanged some of my money for Muggle money and got it for less than 50 Galleons!”
Carly nodded and smiled, perhaps more indulgently than excitedly, but Skandyr didn’t notice.
“Now,” he said, surveying the box, “how do you get it to work?”
Over the next half hour, Carly sat at Skandyr’s desk and worked at setting up his laptop, with the older wizard hovering behind her, asking many questions and getting explanations that were nearly beyond his comprehension. Finally, Carly looked up.
“This will take me a while longer. Perhaps you should let me do this while you oversee the visit from Education Scotland?”
“Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes!” Skandyr said, eyes opening wide. “I’d quite forgotten about that. Whatever would I do without you. Noon, right?”
“As ever.”
“In that case, I must get to Hogwarts! I shall see you later, Carly. Good luck. And don’t forget that form letter for the Muggle parents. They need them to send to their own educational authorities.”
“I won’t forget, sir. And good luck to you too, sir.”
With a pinch of Floo Powder, and the command “Hogsmeade,” Skandyr left. A short walk later, he arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and he went straight to the headmaster’s office.
“Minerva,” he called, knocking on the door. “It’s Skandyr.”
The door opened, and Professor McGonagall allowed him a smile. “Of course, I was expecting you. I suppose the examining team from Education Scotland will be here any moment.”
“Yes, and Kingsley too.”
“Of course.”
“All the paperwork is in order,” he added around, half to himself. “Now all we can do is wait.”
Soon Kingsley appeared, and the three chatted for a few moments before the inspection team arrived. After a general introduction of the inspection team, in which Kingsley was introduced as the Chair of the Board, Professor McGonagall led them through dining hall to where the professors were eating. Contrary to normal proceedings, every person in the great hall was wearing Muggle clothing, even the professors, who engaged the inspection team in a lively discussion, which covered each point listed in the forms that had been sent to Hogwarts earlier in the month. Most of the questions were not applicable to the school of witchcraft and wizardry, but Professor McGonagall and the professors had been through these proceedings enough times to give their mostly false reports without hesitation.
When the professors and students left for classes, a few members of the inspection team broke off to inspect the school, finding only classrooms filled with students in Muggle clothing learning Muggle subjects. Professor McGonagall and the head of the inspection team continued talking, leaving Skandyr and Kingsley to their own devices.
Eventually, the inspection team left, having planned out activities and inspections for the next three days.
“Phew!” Skandyr said. “I thought they would never leave. A fine job by all, I must say. Hope we can keep it up. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he added, shaking hands with Professor McGonagall and Kingsley.
“I’ll walk with you,” Kingsley said.
The two walked to Hogsmeade together, chatting amiably about the proceedings of the next few days. At the Three Broomsticks they stopped for some butterbeer, then each used the Floo to return to his own building.
When Skandyr popped back into the office, Carly looked up from her desk. “Hullo, sir, how did it go?”
“Quite well, quite well, I think.”
“I got those form letters finished. ‘This is to inform you that my child fill-in-the-blank will be attending blah blah blah.”
Skandyr looked at her seriously. “It’s not ‘blah blah blah’ to Muggle parents, I assure you. Without this letter, these parents would have to concoct a reason their child is not attending their home school, which could be detrimental, as they cannot tell the truth and we must have the same cover story told by all. You should be well aware by now that if they do not send such a letter, they could be in deep trouble with the authorities.”
Carly ducked her head. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Good. Now,” Skandyr’s eyes took on a twinkle, “how is my computer coming?”
Carly jumped up and lead the way into his office, smiling. “All finished! Charmed and everything.” She motioned for him to sit at his desk, where his laptop had been placed.
Skandyr sat down and looked at the computer, then up at his assistant. “What do I do?”
Carly laughed. “First you have to open the cove, like this, see? Now turn it on by pressing that little button. There you go. Now, give it a moment to boot up and – yep! There we go – type in your password. I just made it my name so you’d remember it.”
Skandyr slowly typed in C-A-R-L-Y, taking his time in looking for the correct keys.
“Now hit Enter, on the right side of the keyboard,” his assistant continued. “Good. Now it will load everything I set up. See? This is called your desktop. Now, take the mouse – yes, like that – and move it around. It’s moves the cursor – this thingy here – and you use it to click on things and open things.”
“I’ve seen you do this before,” he said.
Carly laughed. “Yes, it’s the easiest way to do things on a computer. Now, shall we continue or should we wait until tomorrow?”
Skandyr looked at the old grandfather clock in the corner. “It’s getting late; I suppose we can finish tomorrow.”
Behind her boss’s back, Carly looked amused at the idea.
“Well, we can continue, anyway,” she said. “Was there anything else you wanted me to do before I go?”
“Did you create the documents that explain the form letters?”
“Yessir.”
“Did you send them out?”
“No, I thought you’d like to look at them first.”
“Good idea. We’ll do that first thing in the morning, then send them to the Muggle parents. How long did it take you, anyway?”
“Oh, not long,” Carly told him. “I just wrote the one form letter and the one explanation on my laptop and I printed each until I had as many as we need to send out.”
“You can do that?” Skandyr said, amazed.
Carly laughed. “Yes, I can do that, and you’ll be able to soon enough. By next week, it’ll be as you always say: all in a day’s work.”