20 Commotion

"I heard that this shop will be selling magical communication mirrors - with them one can contact anyone else, who has bought a mirror from this shop," said an old lady wearing a wide witch's hat and dark robes while standing on the street in front of the shop titled 'Dragon Enterprises' with her friend, who was similarly dressed.

"I doubt that it is possible. My husband once bought us a pair and I know that they work very specifically. It is impossible to connect them to other people's magical mirrors, since they are made by different enchanters and have different charms, even if the function is similar," said the old lady's friend arrogantly. She appeared to be very confident when speaking on this subject, however her companion wasn't convinced.

"They are even advertising that they will return the fees if what they are saying isn't true," she argued heatedly. Her friend just snorted with disbelief, however, she still carefully read the poster which was hanging on one of the windows.

Around the big white building, which was just next to the Gringotts bank, a crowd could be seen gathering. They enthusiastically discussed the magical mirrors and the new store's opening, which would happen on the next day.

"Wow, they will be returning funds if the magical mirrors don't work?" said one brightly dressed wizard, eerily resembling Dumbledore, with some disbelief.

Another person shook his head, expressing doubt, and commented: "Have you seen what it says at the bottom? In the future the mirrors will have other functions, such as sending messages through them. Does it mean that we will no longer need owls? How does that even work?!"

"Ah!!! I am too stupid! I don't understand, how will I find out my friend's number if I cannot call them to ask?" asked one young lady, who had been squinting at one of the posters for the past 10 minutes. Her boyfriend, who has been standing by the side the whole time and tapping his foot on the ground, impatiently answered:

"You really are stupid! Just floo and ask them! You can also send an owl with your own number and when they call, they will tell you their number."

The lady wasn't angered, seemingly used to her companion's temperament. She idly continued to talk, as though she didn't notice her boyfriend's impatience: "But look at how much they cost! The minimum cost is 3 galleons and if the calls exceed 100 minutes per month, we have to pay 1 knut for each additional minute? What if we don't pay?"

A sigh of exasperation could be heard. The lady's boyfriend really wanted to know how he came to like this slow-minded girl. "Don't you see what's written in front of you? They can disable your mirror until you pay up!"

"That's just ripping people off!"

"Well, it is apparently hard to maintain the whole network, so they are doing it because they don't want to 'crash' it, whatever that means..." came the uncertain answer for the first time during their conversation.

An old and flair wizard, sitting on a floating chair, heard the pair's talk and interrupted: "I bet that's hogwash - they just want to earn some money! Though the whole set up does seem to require some very specific magic... However, the mirror is more convenient than standing on the knees in front of a fireplace. At my age I cannot even floo-call my friends, cause none of us want to damage our knees. Even cushioning charms don't help much!" The old man sighed and floated away.

Meanwhile, the impatient young wizard was thoughtfully considering: "Actually, when thinking about the costs, if the mirrors work as advertised, then they should be cheaper in long term than buying an owl and their food or constantly buying floo-powder. Did you see the price increases? It's like they think we have bottomless pockets!"

His girlfriend shook her head with disappointment - her companion was too money-conscious, no wonder he worked in the Finance department of the Ministry!

---

The day of Dragon Enterprises first store's opening wasn't very lively or bright. As it was already the first day of December, the unpredictable English weather made itself known by raining small droplets one minute and stopping the next. There was even some light mist, spreading along the streets and blocking the sight.

However, despite the unpleasant time of the year and the inconvenience, a lot of people still lined up at the front of the new store, which hasn't even opened its doors yet. This was because the poster, hanging by one of the store's windows, clearly said that the first 100 customers will get a deal of buying one mirror and getting another one for free. This kind of service would be available only on the opening day! How could curious witches and wizards not gather?

"I can hardly wait any longer, it's almost 9 a.m., do they not see us? Why are they not opening up?"

"I had to recast the drying charm for the third time today, and the day hasn't even properly started yet!"

Grumbles and complaints could be heard from the people standing in line, however no one left. Soon the Dragon Enterprises opened its doors and the people rushed in - it was hard to tell whether they wanted to get away from the rain or were eager to see the new products.

"Oh, finally!"

"Ah, it's so warm and bright inside!"

"Let's see what new stuff they got!"

As soon as people entered, they were instantly mesmerized by the shop's elegant interior. The salesmen and salesgirls respectfully greeted the first customers and led them around the store, explaining that there were no real differences between mirrors yet, aside from them having different frames and casings.

Wizards were mostly happy with simple and cheap versions - made with common wood or metal frames. On the other hand, ladies' eyes were shining while looking at mirrors which had pretty carvings or colors. Most could only sigh wistfully after seeing those, which were made from gold, silver or expensive wood and even had gems encrusted. However, every mirror had one thing in common - be they cheap or expensive, they were all done very well and looked quite elegant, with the symbol of the curling dragon at the back.

"It doesn't matter, as long as it's usable," said an old wizard. His wife disagreed, "What usable? What cheap? All you know is to save money! My neighbor over there is buying a mirror with silver frames and carved flowers, yet you want to buy me the one made out of wood? How will I be able to face her in the future!" The old wizard could only give up - his wife didn't care that the wood was also expensive and the carvings were very beautiful - he had to get either silver or golden one for her.

Considering the exclusive deal of 1+1, witches and wizards didn't hesitate to choose different mirrors for themselves and their partners, friends and children. Especially since they were repeatedly assured by the staff that the money would be returned if the products didn't work as advertised.

A lot of customers bought more than two mirrors, so the store's staff was very busy. There was a long line forming from the counter throughout the whole store, so the buyers were given queue numbers and were thus allowed to rest on the couches by the side, while they waited.

There was also a line to register names to contact numbers, which was a bit shorter but still quite long.

In the end, the first day of business was very successful for the Dragon Enterprises and the next day the Dragon Mirrors were already in the news.

Draco was very happy to see that the mirror network was working as intended and even though his staff did make some mistakes by accidentally registering wrong contact numbers to the wrong names, those things were not too serious and were quickly sorted out.

The young entrepreneur was especially pleased by the article in Daily Prophet, for which his father (obviously) paid for. It praised not only the young boy, who was the company's founder, but also the mirror network - as the new magical innovation of the century!