Private Message to Pansy Parkinson and Ari Baddock

[alt_lucius]

Pansy,

Allegations have reached us that you've agreed to enter into business with Fred and George Weasley.

Shall give you this one chance to deny any truth to these rumours. As you know, Mr Baddock and I take tea every Tuesday, as we have done for many years, and he is fully aware of the situation. We have reviewed your last year's transactions and he has confirmed that at no time did you and he discuss an inclination to embark in commerce as a financial backer.

However. We did note a number of requests which in retrospect add to something somewhat ... irregular.

Have you anything to say to us? What explanation can you give for these unusually large sums - and shall we pursue the Weasleys to the fullest extent possible for their libel and fraud?

Comments

[alt_pansy]

Lucius;

I've just received an owl from my partners that passes along the message that you gave to their older brother just yesterday. If I'd received the message sooner, I would have written you myself to explain rather than putting you in the position of having to ask.

I am in a business partnership with Fred and George Weasley. They've been developing a line of products for the last three years, and after meeting with them several times last year and seeing what they were capable of, I decided that their products would be a good investment. We've been working together as equal partners, and I've been involved in everything from sorting out a budget to writing up marketing plans. I think it's a worthwhile use of my time, and I've been learning quite a bit about how to start a proper business.

I was hoping to share my investment with you once we'd launched properly, so we'd have something to show for it, and I didn't want you to think that I was using your reputation to get special favours when it came to getting licences and patents, or setting up the building.

You know so very much about business and investments, as does Mr Baddock, and I know that you would have been willing to share your advice, but I wanted to be able to show that I could do this on my own and be successful. And I do believe that we will be.

I can understand how you'd prefer to hear about this before you found out at the Commerce meeting, and I apologise for making you worry, and for making you unprepared in front of other people. That was not my intention at all, and I would hate to think that I've made you concerned and taken time out of your day to address this.

If you'd like to see a full accounting of how we've budgeted our funds, I can ask George and Fred to show you our budget and our book of expenses so far.

And once again, I'm so sorry for the confusion.

[alt_lucius]

Have read this countless times in the last day and still cannot quite believe it.

You value our advice so much that you decided to surprise us by not needing it?

You had no intention of surprising me so you concealed your involvement until such time as it came to light in a semi-public manner?

You did not wish to make a liar of me, so you ensured that when your name appeared on their parchment I would naturally deny your participation in their plans?

You were so confident in their success that you lied to Mr Baddock about your need for the funds to partner with them?

Above all, that you chose as 'expert mentors' two young wizards whose only claim to fame or expertise thus far in their young lives is the ability to disrupt an entire school with their childish pranks and to achieve the minimum of academic success necessary to become qualified? Exactly what makes you so certain that they are teaching you anything 'proper' about the world of entrepreneurship?

It is patently clear that you planned your deception, which can only mean that you knew we would forbid it. Why? Because you must have known how foolhardy a choice this was.

I cannot understand why you should do this - to me, or to yourself. Why you should act in so headstrong and deceitful a manner. Pansy, you took pains to circumvent the safeguards which were put in place to protect your future - precautions, I might point out, that your father enacted precisely so that you could not squander his legacy on a fruitless, frivolous 'investment' such as this.

The Weasley twins.

Might as well have thrown your gold to street mountebanks. What's next? Some shady understreet hag who promises she can grow a silver tree from Sickles planted under a crescent moon? Mail-order spells? Discount time-turners ten-to-a-knut?

Where has your mother been in all this? Has she encouraged you to put your faith in empty cauldrons? No doubt this flight of fancy is just the sort of thing she believes counts as charitable work. Believe me, Little Bit, there are better recipients of your charity - those with greater need and those more deserving of it.

I am seriously disappointed in you.

Well, it's not too late. You'll simply tell them that you've changed your mind, that on the better advice of your solicitor you would like to withdraw. If they can't return the whole investment sum immediately, they may work out a payment plan with Mr Baddock. You can still remove your name from this doomed venture and call yourself wiser for the lesson.

If you are interested in business investment, we can discuss what options might appeal to you and pick out a portfolio that will bring a reasonable return. Not this ... joke shop nonsense.

Meanwhile, it's clear you cannot be trusted with as much control over your finances as has been allowed you. Rest assured we shall discuss with your mother what steps may be taken to ensure that this incident cannot be repeated.

[alt_pansy]

Lucius;

Fred and George are not my mentors. They are not teaching me how to run a business, and I am not being taken advantage of. We are all working together on this project as equal partners, and we're all learning about this as we go. It was my decision to invest, and I believe our venture holds a great deal of promise. It isn't charity, and it isn't something I've done just to spite you. There's a market for what we're planning to sell, and people who will want our products.

I am taking a risk, but it's one I've chosen to take, and one I believe is reasonable. I haven't touched the principle, which has grown since I've taken over the accounts. The amount I've spent has been far below what my mother would go through on a regular basis, and I've been sure to stay within the range that we've discussed until the last few months.

I know you are more experienced than I am, but you haven't seen any of our materials yet. Please don't assume that we're automatically going to fail. And if we do, I'll have learned my lesson and will accept my losses.

I'm in my sixth year. It won't be long until I leave school. And I think it's only right that I start making decisions about what I want to do with my life. You see it as my being headstrong, I see it as taking a step towards independence and investing in my future. I can understand if you think differently, but part of letting me grow up is to let me make some decisions that you might not agree with. And yes, I spent some time with Mother over summer hols, and yes, I did talk about this project with her and tell her what I was working on. She saw it as mostly harmless, and although she wasn't sure if it would amount to anything, she said she'd let me handle my business how I saw fit and left it at that.

All of this is to say that I respect your opinion, Lucius, but I'm not going to change my mind.

If you wish to talk to Mr Baddock and my mother about how my finances should be handled from this point until I reach majority, I will accept the decision you come to.

And if you wish to talk about the investment I've made, my partners should also be a part of that conversation.