HP: Spirit Talker

As I went through the papers and letters I received, I realized I needed a secretary. Some of the papers turned out to be stupid spam that only goes one way — to stoke the fire. Why would I or my business need a subscription to "Witchopolitan"? Or Wholesale Candy?

And that's not all, because particularly persistent individuals who have gotten it into their heads that my business will not survive without them are literally inundated with letters. And it would be all right if they copied a version they had already written, but no, every day they wrote something new and dumped all this crap on my desk.

Spitting on the rest of the papers and letters that didn't have Ministry or Aristocrat marks on them, I took the two letters I'd already opened and went looking for Lupin. That mangy dog had a tendency to make a nuisance of himself with Miss Travers — literally tailing her!

And since my maid is now somewhere in the Potions Room, where she went to visit some friends (yes, I have work breaks, and there's no stupid "no work — get moving" policy, so sometimes the staff just sits in the break room). So, what did I say? Ms. Travers is having a cup of tea with two of the female zealots, and Lupin is crouching nearby, somehow quietly working on papers, yes.

— Mr. Lupin, — I sit down at the table, attracting the attention of the werewolf and the ladies. — Ask them out already. You're not the kind of beast to run circles around your prey.

— I don't know what you're talking about. — The man blushed a little and looked away, and I grinned a little.

— You do. — I'm amazed at him, a grown man and as shy as a teenager. — Oh well. I have a favor to ask of you. — I hand the man one of the open letters, he starts reading it, after a few minutes he looks up at me. — I offered them my business project last summer, but they only replied now, when I have neither the time nor the inclination to travel and discuss their terms. Here, — I put a thin folder with papers on the table. — The details of the project. When you are familiar with them, go to the address in the letter and make an agreement. In principle, there is nothing complicated, it will take a lot of time to discuss, but you have everything, in case of emergency, contact me.

— What about Mr. Smith? — The werewolf knitted his eyebrows in concentration.

— Mr. Smith is the head of the workshop and potions, he's not involved in any other projects, especially since your job is in a non-magical part of the country.

— Hmm... — the man frowned even more. — In that case, I don't understand how you can grow trees in such a short time without using magic?

— The French druids are masters at working with plants and animals. I've ordered a batch of saplings from them that will take root and bear fruit even in the tundra. And you can tell the Muggles that this is a new development in genetic engineering — unique, frost-resistant hybrids. It's true, but the trees weren't bred in Muggle laboratories, they were bred with magic.

— So we won't be charged with breaking the law?

— No, — the smile crept back onto his face. — We have all the necessary papers from the Commission and the French government.

— А... — the man was obviously confused. — Why don't others do it?

— Why not? — I shrugged indifferently. — The richest and most successful families in agriculture work with druids. How can you defeat disease, fungus, and crop failure to remain profitable when Muggles have to buy food from other lands under the same circumstances? Or when another plague wipes out herds of animals and some masters are doing just fine? The answer is simple: magic is used to improve animal crops and breeds, to make them more resistant to external conditions and diseases, to increase fertility, and so on. Such interventions are one-offs, and even the most uneducated Muggle can work with them safely.

— I hadn't really thought about that before... — Lupin muttered distantly, staring into the distance, not noticing the walls.

— You can't know everything about everything. — I shrugged. — And it's never too late to learn something new. Okay, the task is clear to you, you should be at the meeting tomorrow, prepared. This project is important to me, so if the locals agree to the expansion, we're all for it. Tell them that we are willing to invest heavily in this business, but only in this business, no extraneous investments like planting cattle or poultry farms. — The man nodded. — Well, you get to work, Mr. Lupin, and I'll be on my way.

— Have a good day. — I'll be on my way.

Okay, now I have to find Kiriko, and then I can go back to Hogwarts....