Chapter 87 - How to get gnomes

"Making the gnomes work in a garden?" Fred repeated with raised eyebrows. "You mean like plowing the soil and planting plants?"

"Well, yes but not exactly for normal plants. You guys know that I love potions and Herbology right? So I was wondering if there was a way to make them take care of a magical garden."

The boys looked strangely at Thomas not quite sure what to make of their friend's plan, after all, it was unheard of for someone one even manage to talk with the gnome without being attacked by the little buggers. Not minding his friends, Thomas then put his hand in the bag and took the gnome out.

The little thing looked so scared that he didn't even try to escape. Instead, the gnome just stayed motionless letting Thomas put him on the ground. Once the gnome was on the ground, he recovered slightly and took a few steps backward while glancing at the human boy that caught him.

The gnome looked up at Thomas with wide, fearful eyes, and then, surprisingly, it spoke, though its voice quivered with nervousness. "E-Excuse me, esteemed wizard," the gnome stammered, "what can I do for you?"

Everyone was taken aback by the gnome's sudden respectful tone, not expecting the creature to address Thomas in such a way. Gathering his thoughts, Thomas replied, "Well, you see, little friend, I want to create a magical garden one day. And I was wondering if you and your fellow kin could help take care of it."

The gnome's eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment, it seemed at a loss for words. Gnomes were used to being chased and tossed around by wizards and witches, not being offered an opportunity to work on a magical project.

"Y-You want us to help with your garden, sir?" the gnome asked, still unsure if he had heard correctly, or if the wizard boy was making fun of him.

"Yes, that's right," Thomas replied with a warm smile. "You see, I believe your expertise would be invaluable in creating the kind of magical garden I want. You could help with tasks like planting, watering, and tending to the plants. And in return, I promise that you and your friends will be treated with kindness and respect, not chased around like pests. Not to mention that I'm sure my grandparents would enjoy your company and help around the garden."

The gnome seemed to be pondering Thomas's words, and its fear began to subside ever so slightly.

"We'd be allowed to work in a garden without being flung around?" the gnome asked cautiously.

"Absolutely," Thomas assured. "You and your fellow gnomes would be free to work in the garden, and I'll make sure it's a safe and welcoming place for all of you, far away from any wizard or witch."

The gnome pondered Thomas's words for a moment, his large, knobby head tilted to the side as he considered the offer. It was an unusual proposition, one that no gnome had ever encountered before. But as he looked into Thomas's sincere blue eyes, he sensed something different about this wizard boy. There was a kindness and genuine desire to understand and appreciate magical creatures, not to mention that the boy was the first one not to harm or toss them around, which in the gnome's eyes was something no human had ever done.

After what seemed like an eternity of contemplation, the gnome finally made up his mind. He extended his small hand towards Thomas. "Deal, esteemed wizard. We'll help you with your magical garden."

Seeing the gnome accept his offer, Thomas smiled brightly. "Thank you! I promise you won't regret it. Now, let's go and tell your family about the plan."

With a sense of excitement, the gnome scurried back towards the peony bush, where the rest of his kin were hiding. Thomas followed closely behind, eager to see how the other gnomes would react to his proposition.

As the gnome approached the peony bush, he spoke rapidly in the Gnomish language, relaying Thomas's proposal to his family. At first, there was a mixture of reactions among the gnomes, mostly shock, and skepticism, but as the gnome that Thomas convicted explained to them what the boy told him, the others start getting curious about this new place.

One by one, the gnomes emerged from their hiding spots and gathered around Thomas. There were fifteen of them in total, all different sizes, both genders, and ages, but each one was curious and intrigued by the idea of working in a magical garden.

Thomas explained his plan of making a garden once more, ensuring that each gnome understood the agreement. To his surprise, they seemed more than willing to take a leap of faith with the young wizard.

With a collective decision made, the gnome family gathered together, and one by one, they climbed into Thomas's satchel. The bag seemed impossibly spacious as all fifteen gnomes settled comfortably inside, before Thomas closed the satchel carefully, making sure one last time that they had everything down there.

"Alright, my new gnome friends," Thomas said with enthusiasm, "welcome aboard!"

As Thomas walked back towards his friends, they all stared in astonishment at the satchel filled with gnomes.

"Did...did you just convince the gnomes to work in your garden?" Ron asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes, it seems I did," Thomas replied with a grin. "I guess I now have a gnome gardening team."

The others too didn't know what to say about this and choose to nod their heads, silently agreeing that with Thomas nothing was normal anymore. Just then, the front door slammed and George was the first one to break out of the shock Thomas gave them.

"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"

The twins and their brother hurried through the garden and back into the house followed closely from behind by Harry and Thomas.

Mr. Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, going bald, but the little hair he had was as red as any of his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn.

"What a night," he mumbled, groping for the teapot as the boys sat down around him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned…"

Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed. This kind of conversation seemed too normal for the Weasleys, but for Thomas and Harry, this was something new and while Harry didn't find it quite exciting as he thought it would be, Thomas was fascinated by it, especially when this subject was one of the fields he will soon delve into with his phone project.

"Find anything, Dad?" said Fred eagerly.

"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness. … "

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" said George.

"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it. … Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking, they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face … But the things our lot has taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe …"

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"

Suddenly, Mrs. Weasleys appeared behind her husband putting her hands on his shoulder. Mr. Weasley's eyes jerked open as he stared guiltily at his wife.

"C-cars, Molly, dear? What do you mean?"

"Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes flashing with pure rage. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly."

"Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if … er … he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth … There's a loophole in the law, you'll find … As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't …"

But the man didn't even manage to finish his words as his wife lash out at him while pointing at their three younger boys.

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law! Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Harry and Thomas arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"

"Thomas? Harry?" said Mr. Weasley blankly. "What Thomas? Harry who?"

He looked around the table and saw the two boys before jumping in surprise when he realize that Harry Potter was sitting next to his youngest son, completely ignoring the blonde boy beside him.

"Good lord, is it Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet you, Ron's told us so much about …"

Once again Molly stops her husband mid-sentence as she pointed at her boys.

"Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night! What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Did it go all right? I — I mean," he faltered as sparks flew from his wife's eyes, "that-that was very wrong, boys. Very wrong indeed. I'm truly disappointed that you had the auda-audacity to steal the car."

"Let's leave them to it," Ron muttered to Harry as Mrs. Weasley swelled like a bullfrog. "Come on, I'll show you my bedroom."

While Ron and Harry left the kitchen, Thomas watch as Mrs. Weasley was berating her husband for making the flying, but then she realize that he was still there alongside the twins watching the couple fight.

"Ahem, we will talk about this later Arthur." Mrs. Weasley said before turning towards Thomas with a smile on her face. " Was the food to your liking, Tom, dear?"

"The food was excellent. It reminds me of my mother's home cooking. "Thomas replayed with a genuine smile. He then looks at Mr. Weasley who until now forgot about him. "Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry if this isn't exactly a legal question, but in theory would it be possible to enchant a phone to work in our magical community?"

Arthur was taken aback by this question, but he quickly composed himself before he answered back. "Hmm, that's quite a tricky question, Tom. Moreover, while there are some talented wizards and witches out there that had managed to make so muggle technology work in our community, what you asked me is something akin to fantasy. As you already know, most of the electrical muggle things will be fried or blow up near magic, and no matter what you do that won't change.

"I understand what you mean, Mr. Weasley," Thomas said thoughtfully, "but it's interesting to note that while devils have their own magic system, they seem to have found a way to make phones, TVs, and other devices work near their magic."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at Thomas's words. "Devils, you say? I must admit, I don't know much about their magic or them in general."

"Well, they have smartphones, TVs, and other gadgets that function just as well as muggle ones. It's like they've integrated their magic and technology seamlessly."

George and Fred leaned in, genuinely curious about this new piece of information. "So, you're saying that devils can use both magic and technology together without any issues?"

Thomas nodded. "Yes, that's right. I have some friends in the underworld, and all of them showed me some of their devices. They have these smartphones that can perform magical functions and access their devil networks. It's quite fascinating."

Arthur's eyes sparkled with interest. "Remarkable! It sounds like the devils have found a way to balance their magic and technology. It would be fascinating to learn more about how they achieve this integration."

"Indeed," Thomas agreed. "And it got me thinking, if devils can do it, couldn't we find a way to do something similar in our magical community? Maybe not exactly the same, but perhaps we can explore alternative solutions. After all that would definitely help a lot with communications and such."

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