Chapter 10: Slane Tries to Exploit a Contract Loophole
"Please give me a set of first-year Hogwarts textbooks," Mrs. Weasley was saying to the shopkeeper. "In good condition, if you have them."
Douglas stepped out from behind the shelf and smiled.
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley. Fancy seeing you again so soon."
She looked up from the book in her hands and blinked in surprise.
"Douglas? What are you doing here? Looking for books?"
Then, without missing a beat, she turned to the two children beside her.
"Percy, Ginny—you should learn from Douglas. Even after becoming a professor at Hogwarts, he still finds time to read."
Ginny, caught in the act of buying second-hand books in front of a Hogwarts professor, flushed bright red with embarrassment.
She also couldn't help wondering whether professors bought used books too.
Percy, meanwhile, straightened at once and greeted him properly.
"Good afternoon, Professor Holmes."
Then, with visible discomfort, he added,
"I'm very sorry I didn't greet you properly earlier."
Douglas raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"You're speaking to me so formally?"
He tilted his head.
"When you said nothing back there, I thought perhaps you'd forgotten your old boss."
Percy shook his head quickly.
"No—I didn't. It's just…"
He hesitated, then looked down.
"You haven't written to me since you graduated. I thought… I thought…"
Douglas laughed softly.
"You thought I'd forgotten you?"
"Or that I looked down on you?"
He studied Percy's awkward expression with amusement.
"Why so nervous around me? Have you forgotten everything I taught you?"
Percy shook his head so hard he looked as though he might rattle apart.
"Of course not. I wanted to write to you, I really did…"
He trailed off, clearly embarrassed.
Douglas reached over to a nearby shelf, picked up a book, and held it out to him.
"If you don't mind, you may continue calling me Boss."
He smiled.
"Bill wrote to me and mentioned there's another prefect in the family now. Congratulations."
He tapped the cover.
"I think this will suit you."
Percy took the book with both hands.
Its title read:
How Prefects Gain Authority
His face immediately turned red.
He looked at Douglas with open admiration.
"Thank you, Boss."
Then he added quickly,
"I really did mean to write to you before, but Bill said you were always traveling…"
To Percy, Douglas had always been something like a future mentor.
Back when Percy had still been a first-year, Douglas had never cared about the difference in their ages or houses.
He had told Percy all kinds of wise stories, taught him subtle tricks for handling people, and spoken to him about ambition without mockery.
He had told him that no matter what kind of man he became, he should never forget the importance of family.
And when Percy had once nervously confessed that his dream was to become Minister for Magic, Douglas had not laughed.
He had encouraged him.
He had even told him an old saying from the East—something about whether kings, princes, generals, and ministers were born different from ordinary people.
Percy had never forgotten it.
In Percy's second year, when Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was a Gryffindor prefect, Douglas often had Percy help deliver fruit from the orchard to professors and house prefects.
During that time, Percy had learned a great deal from him about dealing with people.
Ginny had never seen her third brother act like this before.
Mrs. Weasley, however, was not surprised at all.
She knew how close Douglas had once been to Bill, and how well he had treated Charlie and Percy too.
He had always been like another older brother to them.
Douglas turned back to Mrs. Weasley, who was examining a decent-looking stack of second-hand textbooks.
"Mrs. Weasley, I've already prepared Ginny's schoolbooks."
He spoke lightly, as if it were nothing important.
"Consider them my gift for her first year at Hogwarts."
He smiled at Ginny.
"You know, I always said that whenever one of you finally started school, I'd send a present."
He spread his hands.
"I missed George, Fred, and Ron."
"But I'd rather not miss the Weasley family's princess as well."
His smile deepened.
"Bill has praised Ginny in his letters more than once."
"And the books are already ready. You can hardly sell them off as second-hand now."
Then he added, with mock seriousness,
"If you refuse, I'll be too embarrassed to accept Christmas gifts from your family in the future."
Mrs. Weasley hesitated.
A full set of brand-new Hogwarts textbooks was not cheap. It amounted to nearly a month of Arthur's wages.
Bill had once mentioned, almost casually, that Douglas was wealthy in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, though he never flaunted it.
And clearly, he had already made up his mind.
She had also just come from the humiliation of opening the family vault at Gringotts and finding almost nothing left inside.
In the end, she nodded.
She did not refuse his kindness.
After all, Ginny was her only daughter.
Naturally, Molly wanted to spoil her a little.
And this was not even the first time Douglas had done such a thing.
When Percy had first started Hogwarts, it had been Douglas who had bought him a new set of textbooks as well.
Mrs. Weasley set the second-hand books aside and turned to Ginny.
"All right. As you say."
Then she looked back at Douglas with a smile.
"But in that case, you are absolutely coming to our house for Christmas this year, and I am making you try every new dish I've invented."
Then she nudged her daughter gently.
"Ginny, hurry up and thank Douglas. He's Bill's best friend."
She smiled fondly.
"When you were very little, he used to tell you stories at home…"
"Though you probably don't remember."
Ginny blushed and murmured a shy thank-you.
She didn't remember Douglas very well. She had only been five or six then.
Most of her impression of him came from hearing his name at home over the years.
Douglas smiled, reached over, and gently ruffled her hair.
"You're welcome."
Then he paid the thoroughly displeased shopkeeper for Percy's book.
After they left the shop, Mrs. Weasley asked,
"Douglas, have you any other plans?"
"Why not come to Flourish and Blotts later? Gilderoy Lockhart is signing copies of Magical Me today."
Douglas nodded.
"That works perfectly. I need to go there anyway."
Mrs. Weasley quickly shook her head.
"Oh, not just yet. I still need to take Ginny for robes and a few other things."
Then she thought for a moment.
"If you've nothing urgent to do, you might walk around a bit. Or go to the Leaky Cauldron and chat with Arthur."
She smiled warmly.
"Meet us at Flourish and Blotts in an hour."
"And this evening, we'll all have dinner together to celebrate your becoming a professor at Hogwarts."
Looking at the enthusiasm in her eyes, Douglas found it impossible to refuse.
He had already been planning to stop by the Leaky Cauldron anyway.
Percy, for his part, showed absolutely no interest in shopping for robes and school supplies.
So the two of them walked off together, talking about everything that had happened over the past few years.
Percy spoke mostly about school.
By the time they passed Flourish and Blotts, they could already see the crowd from a distance.
A huge banner hung above the entrance:
GILDEROY LOCKHARTSigning copies of his autobiography,MAGICAL METoday, 12:30–4:30
The entire queue appeared to consist almost entirely of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age.
At the door stood a weary-looking wizard repeating the same line over and over again:
"Ladies… ladies… please keep calm… and no pushing, if you please…"
Douglas peered through the crowd and spotted Slane near the front.
So he made his way through with Percy following close behind.
Reaching him at last, Douglas put a hand on Slane's shoulder and said with a smile,
"I thought you were meant to be in the office reviewing the manuscript."
Slane jumped and spun around, only to find Douglas standing there.
"How could I possibly stay in the office?" he said at once.
He gestured grandly toward the bookshop.
"This is a priceless learning opportunity. What if one day I want to organize a signing event like this myself?"
Then he pointed toward the far side of the crowd.
"Do you see Jarvis standing next to Lockhart? That's his editor."
Slane snorted.
"But I thought you disliked these sorts of spectacles."
Then his tone turned coaxing.
"You really ought to have a look and study how it's done."
He leaned in.
"If you ever held a signing, I'm certain it would be even larger than this."
His voice dropped lower still.
"You've no idea how many admirers you—"
He stopped abruptly.
Douglas had seen it too.
Percy, who had been walking behind them, was staring at Slane with wide, astonished eyes.
Douglas cut in at once, preventing Slane from saying anything more reckless.
"This is a good friend of mine, Mr. Slane."
Then he turned to Percy.
"And this is Percy Weasley."
But Percy was far too stunned to offer a proper greeting.
He looked from Slane to Douglas, then blurted out in excitement,
"Boss, do you write books too?"
"What are they called?"
"Why have I never read them?"
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