Chapter 153: Meeting With Vendors

[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]

Looking around a bare room with minimal furniture and decorations made Quinn frown.

"I don't like this room," sighed Quinn, leaning against the shabby long table inside the room, "I should've asked McGonagall to allow them to be in my office."

He gazed around the room, turning his head to look everywhere, and as he turned his head, the room started to change. The walls turned cream-coloured while the ceiling shifted to a pleasing white. Starting from his feet, the floor transformed from an old marble to a smooth dark patterned wood. He pushed himself away from the shabby long table as it started to twist and shrunk into a point before enlarging out in a spiral, having transformed into a professional white marble top table. The chairs surrounding the new table also twisted and turned into black leather cantilever chairs, contrasting against the white marble.

"Yeah, that isn't going to work," he said, looking at the ceiling chandelier. With a twitch of his finger, it detached itself from the ceiling mount, shrunk to the size of a rubik's cube before flying into his pocket. From the same pocket, six MLEs flew out and strategically placed themselves in the room for appropriate lighting.

After he finished his transfigurations, Quinn nodded in satisfaction, "Now this is more like it."

Quinn heard a knock on the door. He turned to see it open, and a young girl peeked inside.

"Quinn, they're here," said the girl dressed in Hufflepuff trims.

"Ah, Ms. Dinnet, thank you," smiled Quinn at the third-year girl, "please let them in."

"No, this was the least I could do," said the girl, recalling the time when Quinn had helped her with rune supplies ten minutes before there had been a scheduled test in the Ancient Runes class.

She pushed the door completely open and stepped aside for two people (a man and woman) to enter. They were dressed in usual wizarding robes, though they did have leather gloves covering their hands and sturdy boots on their feet.

As they looked around the room, Quinn addressed the couple. "Mr. and Mrs. Ingelbee from Spintwitches Sporting Needs?"

The woman removed her eyes from the MLEs on the ceiling and looked at Quinn. "Yes. You must be Quinn West."

"That's right, please take a seat so we can get started," said Quinn and whispered a name under his breath and followed with: "Two glasses of water." Suddenly, there were two glasses of water along with a pitcher on the table.

The Ingelbee couple sat down opposite Quinn.

Mr. Ingelbee took out a parchment from his robes and placed it on the table, "According to this MagiFax, Hogwarts requires quidditch robes and gear? Usually, Professor McGonagall contacts us, but she said there wouldn't be any orders this year? So why...? Also, where is Professor McGonagall?"

"Professor won't be coming; I'm in charge," spoke Quinn, "I wrote that letter to you; I will be handling all our communication and negotiations."

"You? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"... If you say so."

"Good. Let's get started. This meeting isn't for the Hogwarts quidditch tournament. You won't be making our usual four house robes," said Quinn and smiled, "this year, there is going to be a different tournament, and we require new robes for it."

"A different tournament?" asked Mrs. Ingelbee, interested.

"Yes, a different tournament," replied Quinn, "As you all know, we're currently hosting Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. Hogwarts will be hosting a quidditch tournament with students from all three schools to improve the relationship between the three schools. For that, we need new uniforms to be drafted soon. You've been a trusted partner for Hogwarts all these years, and because of that relation, Spintwitches has been our first choice."

Ingelbees' interest seemed to rise with every word that came out of Quinn's mouth.

"So you're saying, four brand new teams," counted Mrs. Ingelbee, "that makes twenty-eight new orders."

"Actually," said Quinn, his smile widening, "it's not four teams, but ten teams. That means, it won't be twenty-eight orders either..."

Mrs. Ingelbee completed Quinn's sentence for him, "Seventy new orders!"

"Yes, seventy new orders," nodded Quinn and then added another bonus, "Some might even be looking for a brand new personal gear. So there are chances that you will get new orders from them."

Ingelbees' eyes shined brighter at the prospect of new business.

"When do we start? We will have to take measurements, decide the color schemes, logos, names. There is a lot of work to do!"

Quinn gazed at the couple, who had started to talk among each other about the work they had to do.

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"There is one more thing I have to say," he said. When the couple looked at him, Quinn continued, "we won't be able to pay you in money for this order."

"... What?" said Mr. Ingelbee, "What do you mean by that? If you aren't going to pay us in money, then how are we getting to pay us?"

"You— you aren't asking us to do this for free, are you? That won't be possible," added Mrs. Ingelbee, "The order is too large."

"You will be paid, just not in money," said Quinn and took out an A-4 sized envelope from his pockets and placed it in front of the couple, "but this is how I'm planning to pay Spintwitches for their services."

Mr. Ingelbee opened up the envelope, and the couple started to read the half dozen pages inside. With every page they read, their reaction moved towards higher levels of surprise and shock.

"Is this true?" asked Mrs. Ingelbee, holding the last page in her hand.

"A hundred percent true," responded Quinn, "nineteen weeks of high-level exposure. As this is a brand new and such a unique event, the level of publicity this will gain will be on another level. There are good chances that it might just be a once-in-a-lifetime event, so it's up to you if you want to take part in this. I really hope you accept, as we want to continue our partnership with you."

"We accept!" said Mr. Ingelbee, "If this is exactly what you're offering, then we will provide the robes. There won't be any problems at all!"

"Excellent," smiled Quinn and took out another envelope with more papers, "please read this contract over. You have a week to send the signed contract. We're going to start soon."

He ended the meeting with Spintwitches Sports Need.

- (Scene Break) -

After the Ingelbees left, thirty minutes later, there was another knock on the conference room door.

Quinn, from his seat, looked over and saw a young boy come inside.

"Umm, Quinn, the ones you asked me to bring in are here," said the second-year.

"Mr. Garland, thank you for guiding them in; please let them in," smiled Quinn, thanking the Gryffindor boy.

The boy left and another two people came in. The door closed behind them and when Quinn saw one of the two people he flashed a genuine smile.

"Quinn, how have you been?" said one of the two men.

Quinn stood up and greeted back, "Gary, it has been a while."

Standing in front of him was Gary, the manager of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Hogsmeade.

"No, that isn't correct," said Quinn, "you're now the Head of Silver Moon Printing MagiTech. Congratulations on the promotion, Gary. How is life treating you?"

"It has been hectic, but the work is exciting, so I guess everything is going well," said Gary. He turned to the young man beside him and introduced, "This is Ben Sapworthy. He is the new manager of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop."

Quinn shook hands with the newly introduced man. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Sapworthy. With Gary gone from Hogsmeade, I'll be seeing you from now on."

"Of-Of course, Mr. West. I-I will make sure that you face no problem," stuttered Ben in the face of Quinn West. "P-Please call me, Ben."

Quinn glanced at Gary. "You didn't say anything to him?"

"Not really," grinned Gary, "I thought this would be more fun. I went through it, too, so him doing the same is fair."

Quinn laughed before addressing the new manager. "Ben, you don't have to be formal with me. As long as I'm inside Hogwarts, treat me just like any other customer and not a West. What we have planned for today here inside Hogwarts doesn't have a connection to the Wests. I will act and pay like any other customer."

Ben nodded, but his nervousness didn't decrease one bit.

"All right, sit down. Let's get to work."

Once again, Quinn sat down to discuss details about the quidditch tournament.

"You read the letter I sent you, right?" asked Quinn.

"I did," answered Gary, "from what I could see, it's an ambitious project."

"If I'm going to do something, then I'll do it as perfectly as I can," said Quinn, "Everything, from the smallest details to the biggest spotlight. Everything will be as great as I can achieve with what I've been given."

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"So, what are you looking for?"

"Team banners and printed merchandise, sponsor banners, entry tickets, posters for ," said Quinn listing things he wanted from the printers. "Of course, everything will be in colour. From the smallest pamphlet to the biggest of the banners, every single thing."

"The plan to release the Lunar developer is still on next year," said Gary, knowing that February was the launch. "but given that you're the creator, I got orders to allow the use of the formula for this one."

"You created the Lunar developer?!" blurted Ben. Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop had officially shifted under the management of Silver Moon Printing MagiTech; as such, he knew about the existence of the Lunar developer.

"Yes, I did," nodded Quinn in answer, "but keep it a secret. This information is to be kept restricted even after the launch. I don't want it to go out just yet."

"O-Okay!" The new manager got even more nervous.

"So we're going to use this tournament as a promotion," said Gary, looking over the documents that Quinn had just pushed over the table.

"Exactly, the promotion is going to be the payment," replied Quinn, "with the Triwizard Tournament being hosted here, the amount of eyes on the quidditch tournament is going to be massive. This might as well be the best promotion for the Silver Moon Printing MagiTech— at least in the countries that send their students to Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang."

Gary stayed silent as he continued to read the documents provided by Quinn. While he was given green light to use the Lunar developer for Quinn's quidditch tournament, Gary had been explicitly ordered that, should Quinn's plan wasn't inviting enough, he was to reject the proposition.

Before Quinn contacted them with the quidditch plan, Silver Moon had solid and well-defined strategies for the unveiling and promotion of Lunar developer. If Gary was to green-light the use of Lunar developer here, he needed to make the right decision, as bad marketing could harm the initial release and consequently, the business altogether.

After a solid minute of thinking, Gary announced his verdict, "The name of Silver Moon will be present on everything we print. We also want a banner during the events. Whoever hosts the games will explicitly announce the company name and the product. If you can do that, we have a deal."

Quinn stared at Gary, who stared back.

"The name on the prints will be subtle. I don't want the name sticking out, disrupting the aesthetics of the banners" said Quinn before adding, "If you can provide extensive animation on banners, I can allow a couple seconds of promotion on each banner. Of course, everything will be on a loop."

"Hmm… Extensive animations can be expensive," commented Gary. He thought about whether he had the budget before nodding, "Okay, we can animate a select few banners. I will leave the choice of banners to you."

"Great. Anything else?" asked Quinn. Gary shook his head, so Quinn continued, "All right, I will send the updated contract to you by tomorrow."

He then turned to Ben and said, "The last batch of English A.I.D. cards that Gary sent me are about to run out, so I will need another batch soon. Please prepare one for me."

Ben nervously nodded and briefly glanced at Gary.

"Don't worry," chuckled Gary, "he is the one who prepared the French and Russian cards. The new batch will have the same quality that you've been getting."

Quinn looked at Ben and spoke, "Gary gave you his endorsement; that means something to me, Ben. I will be looking forward to working with you."

He extended his hand towards Ben, who grabbed it with both his hands, shaking it profusely.

With that, Quinn's meeting with Silver Moon Printing MagiTech ended with his promotional needs procured.

- (Scene Break) -

"What does Quinn West want from us?"

Quinn sat on a tiny little low ground stool with his knees bent in front of his chest, looking at the tens of bulging, tennis-sized pairs of eyes that had oversized heads with bat-like ears.

"I want help with food," said Quinn, the Hogwarts house-elves.

"We have pie, chicken, vegetables, pumpkin juice," said a house-elf, "No student be hungry. How much want?"

Quinn chuckled and shook his head, "I don't want food for me. I want meals for people from outside Hogwarts."

"... We elves no do that. Food only for Hogywarts student."

Quinn took out a parchment sheet from his pocket and handed it to the leading elf.

"Professor McGonagall has given me permission."

The old elf read the parchment, and indeed the house-elves were allowed to accept Quinn's request. Seeing the permission, the elves became utterly willing to help a student out.

"How much food? Ten, thirty, hundred?"

Quinn moved his eyes across the house-elves and answered, "One thousand."

There was a wave of murmurs among the house-elves as they discussed among themselves.

"T-Thousand can't do. Too much."

"I don't need it every day, just once a week," said Quinn.

"One day too much. Castle work won't complete," said a girl house-elf.

Over a hundred house-elves worked hard to keep the enormous castle clean, but if they took Quinn's task, their regular tasks would be incomplete, causing students problems.

Quinn realized that and was prepared to turn the willingness into his corner. "I can give you the best wine-making equipment if you do this for me."

At once, all house-elf floppy ears jerked up in attention. If there was one personal thing that all house-elves loved to do, it was making wine. Their wine was famous all around the world because of its quality. Even George's wine cellar was predominantly filled with elf wines.

"Wine tools?"

"Fermenters, carboys, barrels of any wood, canes, and tubes... everything you need," said Quinn.

"Give time," said the leading elf, and he shouted: "Meeting!"

The elves all around the kitchen left their stations and assembled in a giant hurdle. After talking for a while, they all turned to Quinn, and the leading elf said.

"We will do it."

Quinn grinned at that.

The food and beverages were secured.

- (Scene Break) -

For three days, Quinn continued to meet different vendors and suppliers for his needs. And eventually, on the third day, the time to meet with the final party came.

And for this final party, Quinn personally went to receive them. He stood at the bridge that connected the castle to the area outside the Hogwarts ground. An apparition pop was just outside the Hogwarts boundary, near the entrance that connected Hogsmeade and Hogwarts alerted Quinn of the last merchant's arrival.

"Welcome," greeted Quinn. He pointed at the castle behind him and asked, "Do you like it?"

"So this is it, huh. Well, it looks grand, all right."

"Oh, come on. You can say more than that," said Quinn.

"I'll say more when we get inside," she smiled.

In front of Quinn stood a beautiful young woman with waist-length, jet black hair and stone grey eyes that shone with intelligence.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Lia."

The final merchant was the direct representative of the business giant, Lia West.

Quinn West - MC - Meetings. More meetings. Some more meetings.

Ingelbees - Spintwitches Sporting Needs - The quidditch supply couple.

Gary - Got a promotion - New Head of Silver Moon Printing MagiTech.

Ben Sapworthy - Nervous to the point of sweating - New manager of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.

Hogwarts house elves - Food committee established - Drink most of their wine on their own.

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