Order Only: Letter from the Repopulation Office

Fred and George had passed along that someone has banging on the door of the Hope Building in the middle of the night, shouting something about 'Inspection.' After the visit Virgil Crispin had paid a couple of weeks ago to the twins, breathing threats, we figured that Lucius Malfoy had decided to make trouble. So Fred and George have moved back to the Burrow for the time being, and I tracked down the proper variance to allow tenants to stay in commercial buildings overnight. I included it with my own business licence application that I turned in last week, and we thought that would be the end of it.

I received an owl this morning with news that I certainly did NOT expect.

Mr Theodore Gellman of the Repopulation office has been 'informed' that my family is not actually living at the home in New London at 25 Avenue Road, and 'while we understand that as a bereaved housewife with little, if any, financial education, you cannot be expected to truly grasp the details of the contract you signed, it has recently been brought to our attention that you have been renting out the property the Repopulation Office graciously bestowed upon you. We have received further report that you intend to use the rental income for dubious purposes. This gross violation of the spirit of the award has led to a formal complaint, and may lead to the total forfeiture of your benefit.' They demand my immediate response to the 'accusation.'

Well! I can certainly guess who registered the complaint. I do I believe I detect the interfering hand of that horrible man Lucius Malfoy. Mr Gellman has sent a copy of this condescending, horrid letter to EVERY MEMBER OF THE MAGICAL COMMERCE COMMITTEE!

And they're determining the fate of my application tomorrow! What can I possibly do?!

Private message to Mr Theodore Gellman

Thank you for your letter, which I received early this morning by owl. I will do my best to address each individual concern outlined in your letter, and I hope by doing so, I may reassure you that the Repopulation Office's generosity to my family is deeply appreciated, and does indeed support the Protectorate's goals of rendering true assistance to pureblood citizens.

You are correct that my assumption of the bequest is rather recent. I lost my dear husband Arthur Weasley at the accident at the holiday party for the Ministry of Magic this past December. With his death, I also lost my main source of income. A Ministry official (Dominic Selwyn of Protectorate Affairs) directed his clerk to assist us in finding what resources might be available to us, given our situation. We had never seriously considered our eligibility with the Repopulation Office previously, but with my sudden change in circumstance, I was ready to listen when Dominic Selwyn approached me to suggest the idea.

I realise that Dominic Selwyn's name is no longer respected since his own recent death. But at the time the idea was mentioned to me by a member of Our Lord's Council, I had certainly no reason to second-guess leasing the home that the Repopulation Office offered to me and considering what use I might make of the rental income. The advice I received came to me on Ministry of Magic letterhead (a copy of a letter from Mr Selwyn's clerk, spelling out the details, is enclosed), and as a loyal citizen, of course I believed what the Ministry of Magic told me. What is more, there was never any objection raised by the Repopulation Office itself, and I was entirely open about what I was doing. I even sent a copy of the lease to your office. I find it shocking to be told at this point that such an arrangement is not allowed.

Do you mean to say that there is not a single other family in the Protectorate who is doing this? Mr Selwyn's clerk mentioned he was adapting the parchmentwork from 'several examples' he had in his cabinets, which certainly led me to believe that others have done this before.

As for the objection that my children are grown and so you must re-think the gift, I can only say, this has never been mentioned at any point in my communications with the Repopulation Office. Is it your policy, then, to remove people from homes that you have bestowed after twenty to thirty years of child-raising is done? My children continue to be as pure in blood now as the day that they were born. I enclose a brochure which I received when my husband and I first learned of the program, when it was first starting up. Please turn to page 2 under the section which reads, Our Mission:

Our Mission is to honour and support those families who have borne pureblood children to the greater Glory of the Protectorate. Your new home arranged by the Repopulation Office will be a worthy legacy to encourage NEW pureblood unions in the generations to come.

This certainly suggests to me that the homes being distributed by the Repopulation Office are being given to the families so they may be inherited into the next generation, not that families face a threat of being evicted once their children are grown.

Lastly, if there is any objection to the use to which I am putting my rental income, much of this is addressed in my Business Licence Application, which every member of the Magical Commerce committee has already received. I enclose a copy to you as well. The money is being used to acquire a building, rent to own, in a lively commercial district. The goal is to provide support and expertise to young entrepreneurs wishing to start Protectorate-friendly businesses. As these businesses grow and thrive, they will provide jobs for young people and expand the tax base to help support the Protectorate.

I hope that this explanation will suffice, but I will be happy to answer any questions or provide any further documentation which you feel to be necessary to further clarify my purpose and goals for my business.

The Repopulation Office was there when my family truly needed it. I have been inspired by your mission and am using it as a model for my own: to give citizens a place to create businesses which will serve the Protectorate. Thank you for your assistance in making my dream possible.

Who knows? By giving businesses a chance to thrive, my building with its planned new business incubator may give young pureblood couples the resources to start their own families, bringing more pureblood children into happy homes. In this way, your gift to my family might very well end up having a many-fold return.

Respectfully submitted,

Molly Weasley

cc: (with Enclosures) All members, Magical Commerce Committee