I decided that I could not ignore Covid-19, if I was writing a story tied to actual dates. More additions by and inspired by Deb, and another excellent mistake catch by Diane.
*
The train back to Hogwarts left Thursday, January second, 2020. At the opening feast Professor McGonagall told the students, "Since there is only one day left in this week, we are giving you all an abbreviated schedule for tomorrow. It will have all of your classes on it, but they will be very short classes. Your professors will give you assignments for next week, and collect any homework that you should have done over the holidays." She peered over her glasses at several students who blushed at her look.
There was a slight murmuring that went up from some of the students. A grinning Albus thought, that there were a few of the students that would be frantically trying to finish homework this evening.
Albus and Scorpius were back in the Slytherin dorm when Mafalda attacked them publicly and loudly in the common room. "I've learned about François, and the history of rape and theft in his family. Now he is trying to marry his way back into ownership of the winery your aunt stole from his family.
"'Harry Potter, Hero of Hogwarts' bah. Your father is a thief. Your uncle is a thief. You have stolen the property of poor Perth Parkinson, and the property of your cousins Fredrick, Nancy and Bert Weasley!
"Tell them, Perth, how Harry Potter and Bill Weasley stole your family business."
"It is true," Perth grumbled. "My father never stops complaining how the business was stolen from him."
The conversations in the Slytherin common room deteriorated from there, as Albus tried to defend his father and uncle, and Perth and Mafalda bitched. Some took Al's side while others took Mafalda and Perth's side and the largest group just watched, wanting popcorn as they watched. Few of the MELL students knew of the issues right after the war, but most of the Pure Blood Slytherin students did. Complaints about Harry Potter and Bill Weasley, actually against the whole new Ministry, were common among many of them.
The increasing prosperity of the more modern Magi, and the gentile poverty of the occasional very traditional family, was also a point of contention.
Eventually the discussion became so heated that someone called Professor McGonagall. She and professor Olivia Ollivander entered the Slytherin common room, and insisted that everyone go to their dormitory room.
Albus could sense some conflict between Professor McGonagall and Professor Ollivander, but at least for tonight they seemed to agree that the arguments needed to stop.
*
Lucy Weasley was the oldest of the cousins still at Hogwarts, but it was not in her nature to lead a cousins and friends meeting, so after talking to Lucy, Albus called a meeting Sunday afternoon. He invited the three Weasley cousins as well. In addition to Fredrick, Nancy and Bert, and Lucy, Louis Weasley was there. Also in attendance were James, Albus and Lily Potter, Rose and Hugo Granger-Weasley, Cleo and Scorpius.
As they assembled Lily asked Lucy, "Bob Hudson isn't here?"
Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "He is my brother-in-law, and a really good friend, but I am not sure he is that kind of friend."
"Is Scorpius your boyfriend, Rose?" Nancy asked. "You two are always together."
"He has a girlfriend," Rose sniffed. "He is here as, Albus, why is Scorpius here?"
"Rose and me, Scorpius and Cleo, are often a team," Albus replied. "We do some things together. We especially learn together. We are the four from Great Britain who are involved with Elves and Elfish.
"I called you together to talk about Mafalda and her attacks on our families. She is accusing my father and Louis's father of stealing your grandfather Weasley's farms and Perth Parkinson's family business. My father says the situation is not that simple, and that your grandfather and his brother were not very good farmers."
Fredrick raised his hand, and Albus asked, "Do you want to say something, Fredrick?"
"Yes, I guess," he responded. "My grandmother Weasley is not all that unhappy that Uncle Harry owns the farms now. She says that they make sure the equipment is kept in good shape, and have purchased much more bigger and better farm equipment. Grandfather gripes that the farm managers, especially the Elf Sojourner, keeps them busy all the time, but I think that grandfather did not do a very good job of keeping everything in repair before, and equipment would break down during harvest. She says they are not as poor, like money to spend poor, as they were before."
"Grandfather and grand-uncle Weasley do not like the Potter/Weasley farm market, but I don't mind working there," Nancy added. "We get paid for the hours we work on the farm, and my father says that grandfather never paid him for the work he did. My father was happy to work for Uncle Harry instead of his father."
"Grandfather was always complaining about spending money on things," Fredrick continued. "The family, not just Uncle Harry and Uncle Bill but all of us, have made more money since branding the produce we sell and setting up the farm market store. Occasionally the Floo at the store has people coming and leaving all day long."
No one said anything for a short while, and then Louis spoke. "I think something like that happened with the Parkinson family. It is complicated, and I do not know all of it, but I do know that they are harvesting more trees, and catching up with two hundred years of taxes owed the crown in the process. My father has an on-site manager that is well paid, and I have heard him in the office complaining about Mr. Parkinson.
"I do not know about inside of Slytherin, but outside of Slytherin I do not think many people pay much attention to Mafalda and Perth's complaining."
Albus suggested, "We should all probably say as little as possible, except that my father and Uncle Bill did not steal anything."
Everyone more or less agreed. The meeting broke up into several smaller discussions.
Mafalda and Perth tried several more times to rouse Slytherin and the other houses. This led to some tension in Slytherin, but the MELL students were all on Albus's side, and only a minority of the other students wanted to take sides.
Mafalda and Perth tried to argue with all of the Weasley and Potter family members, but Albus and the other family members refused to be led into the argument. And when they tried it in classes, the pair started getting detentions and losing Slytherin house points.
*
All January, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger-Weasley and the upper management of The Ministry of Magic were informed of a new sickness that had appeared in China.
February fourteenth Harry was at a meeting with BD Wong, the new Chinese Minister of Magic, and the key figures who constituted the leaders of the International Confederation of Witches and Wizards.
"There are no Magi in Wuhan," BD started. "We only heard about the pandemic when the rest of China did. So far it seems to be a No-Maj problem, but it may not stay that way."
A Dr. Pfister gave a presentation. "Switzerland is home to a pharmaceutical industry, as you might know," he started. "So far all the work on Covid-19 has been done by No-Maj scientists and doctors, although we have been following it closely. We have a number of Magi who work in the pharmaceutical industry, in Switzerland and North America, and our magic has improved the yields of some hard to make intermediate products needed to make biologicals.
"We think that, like most No-Maj diseases, we can catch Covid-19, and transmit it, but will not usually become as sick."
BD Wong jumped in with, "China makes some critical starting chemicals, and personal protective equipment as well. We are working on pinning down a supply of what we as Magi might need.
"I've also talked to the prophets in China and Switzerland. Both say that No-Maj have been predicting a pandemic, eventually. This looks like it may be it, and we have to take steps if it is."
*
"How long will you be in Switzerland?" Ginny asked Harry February 28, 2020. "This is the first time I can remember a health emergency meeting called."
"I was going to take you out to a romantic dinner tonight, but I have no idea if I will be back in time," Harry apologized. His offer for a date night had been rudely interrupted.
"You only did two days of mapping on our two weeks away in the Caribbean, Harry. We really did have a romantic holiday. I'll be waiting for you when you come home."
*
Harry, Hermione and Kingsley entered the big meeting room in Switzerland, along with three healers from St. Mungo's. The room had been enlarged, and Harry noticed modern video equipment ready to send a live feed of the meeting to Magi who could not attend in person.
Gerhard Richter, the chief wizard in Switzerland, stood up and introduced several healers. Dr. Pfister then started to speak.
"We need to talk about a new illness, Covid-19. It has the potential to be as bad for the world, including the world of the Magi, as the Spanish Flu of a century ago. We Magi were not immune to the Spanish Flu, but we suffered far fewer casualties per hundred-thousand people than No-Maj. Still, many Magi lost their lives to the Spanish Flu.
"Before covering Covid-19 I need to go over information you all need to know about No-Maj and magical diseases.
"Magi typically live longer than No-Maj. This is not because we do not catch the same illnesses that No-Maj catch, but because we usually do not become as sick. We can still get stick, and some of the worse consequences of what we think of as No-Maj illnesses still occur, but at a much less frequent rate. We also have potions and spells that can help us recover faster.
"We can also pass on these illnesses to Magi and No-Maj alike. As a result, we now routinely vaccinate our children with the whole range of No-Maj vaccines, and we recommend flu and other vaccines for adults.
"There is only one disease that seems to be unique to and potentially deadly for Magi, and that is Dragon Pox. We have only been able to understand Dragon Pox recently. It seems to be some combination of Smallpox and a mild Dragon illness. We could not create a vaccine for it until we were able to genetically sequence it, including the magical Alpha and Omega genes.
"In December a new virus appeared in China, and it has spread around the world at a frightening pace. It has just been named Covid-19. Magi can catch it, and although we usually do not become as sick, older and sicker Magi can and have died from catching it. We can also pass it on to other Magi and No-Maj, which is a problem for a whole range of reasons. If contact tracing leads back to us, and then to Magi who are not registered with the country where they live, we could have a potential breach of The Statute of Secrecy.
"Many No-Maj companies are working on a vaccine against Covid-19, but it will be a miracle if one is developed in less than a year. Meanwhile, we need to keep as many Magi as possible from catching this Covid-19, and from spreading it.
"We are urging several steps to keep us safe.
"Limit as much as possible your exposure to No-Maj, first.
"There is a test available to detect Covid-19. It takes No-Maj technology to run, but most of the Magi healers have or can get access to the equipment needed to run this test. If you suspect Covid-19 in any person, Magi or someone in contact with a Magi, get them tested As Soon As Possible. We have protocols for testing.
"We are also duplicating the testing equipment and supplies, something not easy to do. Most of that is being done here in Switzerland, although some of the chemicals are coming from China.
"If a person tests positive, trace and test all their contacts. Then we need to isolate anyone who may be positive. We strongly encourage you to enforce quarantining people, including providing housing and whatever other financial support they may need as they are in quarantine.
"Finally, we have developed a mask that looks like a standard medical mask, but with some spells it works as good as or better than any current No-Maj masks. We are arranging the distribution of the masks, and publishing spells to clean them after each use. The spells will not keep the masks from wearing out, but they will allow you to safely use them several days in a row. We are also including a spell to make the mask invisible if you are in an area where no one is wearing masks and wearing one will make you stand out."
The various doctors continued to outline how the magical community was going to need to respond to Covid-19.
*
During the first part of March, Kingsley, Harry, and Hermione tried to prepare the Ministry and the magical population of Great Britain for Covid-19, with only limited success. They were able to force mask wearing in the Ministry, but not among the general population of Magi. There were few tests and even fewer positive cases among the Magi, although at the insistence of the healers the Magi in Great Britain had their own supply of test equipment and tests.
*
March eighteenth Harry was at home when he received an urgent call from Richard Smith, Jane Clark's uncle. "My parents are both very sick. Could you pick us up in your automobile and bring us to the Hospital?"
Without thinking Harry answered, "I would be glad to." He told Ginny, and then retrieved his personal automobile and drove it the very short distance until he was parked in front of the flat where the Clark family lived. Their flat had an entrance at the street level, and Richard walked his very weak and confused grandmother out to the car. She was having trouble breathing, and after putting her in the car Harry though that it would probably be a good idea to put his mask on.
It took both Harry and Richard to load grandfather into his wheelchair, and then to get him out of the wheelchair and into the car. In the end Harry needed to use some magic to lift him. Later Harry realized that he had probably disturbed his mask in the process.
Harry left the three Muggles at the hospital and went home, took off his mask, and went into the house.
The next day Richard called Harry. "All three of us have Covid-19," Richard informed Harry. "They want you and everyone you have come in contact with to get tested."
"I will take care of it," Harry replied. Thinking back over what had happened last night, Harry realized that he had not been particularly careful. Harry was sitting in his office, and he began to become very worried.
2020-2021