Chapter 38
Ted turned to Draco again.
"So you really want to handle the rest alone?" Ted asked again.
"Yes. We will see each other tomorrow to work on the employment contracts, alright?" Draco looked from Ted to Andromeda and waited until they nodded affirmatively. "Aunt Andromeda, we also should start making plans for the Wizengamot and the Hogwarts board meeting soon. Mother, your time to shine will come afterwards, so you just rest well until then."
Draco sent his family members off.
By then, only the applicants who wanted to try out for the security personnel positions still remained.
There were sixteen of them.
There were only two wizards, the rest were all werewolves.
Seeing them all standing close together without the wizards keeping a distance from the werewolves warmed Draco's jaded heart.
Suddenly, he realized that no werewolf had actually outed themselves as such to the other applicants the whole day.
Draco had overlooked the fact that not everyone could read auras and recognize a werewolf with just one look.
That meant Draco could look forward to the time when his employees would discover the werewolves among them.
The moderate reaction to the vampire Steve gave Draco hope that it wouldn't cause an actual riot.
But he wasn't too optimistic, since Steve had an especially harmless appearance for a vampire, and the reputation of the vampires in the wizarding world was by far not as bad as that of the werewolves, even though they were more dangerous on 29 days of the month, or more accurately, on 29 nights of the month.
But maybe he was just overthinking, the applicants had all read the ad in the Prophet where Draco had especially mentioned hiring werewolves...
For a moment, Draco was tempted to inform the two wizards that they were in the middle of a pack of werewolves just to watch their reactions, but then he focused on what was at hand again.
Draco sent Kreacher to remove everything of actual value from the reception room (or sales room), where they had spent the whole day.
Then he addressed the remaining applicants. "For the security personnel test, the only thing you have to do is guard this room of the tower throughout the night. Every hour, you will send out a group to patrol around the tower once. You can organize the work among yourselves. Please don't try to access any of the other rooms in the tower; except for the toilet, they are all heavily warded."
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'If everything is warded, what do you need guards for?' Lupin wanted to ask, but refrained from saying it.
Since they didn't offer him any of the other jobs, he was really determined to ace this test and finally get accepted.
"We already waited here the whole day, and now you want us to stay the entire night?" One of the two wizards asked indignantly.
"Yes. If you don't want to, you can leave anytime. No one is forcing you. But if you want the job, you will stay until the morning." Draco replied calmly.
"So we just have to stay here overnight and patrol the surroundings every hour to pass the test and get hired?" One of the werewolves asked to clarify.
"Yes. Everyone who stayed the night, did their part of the work conscientiously, and is still here when I come back tomorrow morning will get hired." Draco affirmed.
The applicants nodded in acceptance, some with a glum look, but no one left.
"I will let my house elf bring you some sandwiches for dinner. If there are no more questions, I will leave you guys to it. See you in the morning... Or not..."
Before he left, Draco checked the room again to see if there were still valuable things he wanted relocated, but Kreacher had thought of everything.
The only things of real value left were the mirrors on the walls.
In contrast to the handheld magic mirrors, whose craftsmanship had been kept simple for easier mass production, the artistry of the mirrors on the walls suggested that these weren't magic mirrors but decorative pieces.
The fact that they were locked for Draco's use only helped to keep the fact that these were magic mirrors, too, veiled.
It was half past ten when Draco finally left the tower.
"Flobby."
Draco called, and the elf quickly apparated in front of him.
"Young Master Dragon called Flobby. What can Flobby do for Young Master Dragon?"
"Make about thirty sandwiches and bring them to the people inside the tower. Get help from the other Malfoy elves if needed." Draco ordered.
"Yes, Young Master Dragon, with pleasure." Flobby was always happy to get more work, not even thinking of sharing it with the others.
Flobby was better than them at making sandwiches anyway.
"But before you serve them, bring three sandwiches to me first. I want ham and cheese with salad and pickled cucumbers."
"Flobby will bring them right away, Young Master." Flobby beamed at him and disapparated.
"Kreacher could have made sandwiches, too." Kreacher complained about losing his work to the Malfoy family house elf.
"Don't bother. You accompany me to the Shrieking Shack instead. I wonder if Paul passed my test and brought me his brother..."
Draco muttered the last part to himself.
He waited until Flobby delivered the three sandwiches to him before he led Kreacher to the Shrieking Shack.
It wasn't far, but Draco took his time so he could eat comfortably on the way.
The sandwiches tasted really great.
His pubescent body cried out in happiness as he ate.
Two of the sandwiches were for himself, and the third was for Kreacher, since the house elf had been working the whole day too.
It was still pretty strange for Kreacher to have a master who cared about his well-being again, but he was starting to get used to it, not getting flabbergasted every time.
With small bites, Kreacher nibbled at his sandwich and watched his young lord leisurely stroll down the grassy hill.
It was easy for Kreacher to keep up, even with his much shorter legs.
His young lord's pace was that comfortable.
Kreacher appreciated this consideration of the Master even more than the sandwich.
He couldn't remember ever walking with a wizard and not hurrying behind.