Extended Family

Chapter 108: Miniature Course, Maximum Competition

Takes place after chapter 103

"Hey Katie? Do you have a few minutes to help me with something?"

Katie walked over to him, resting her chin on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Sure thing. What's up?"

Harry was nibbling on the end of a quill and looking at a piece of parchment. "I'm making a miniature golf course and wanted some ideas for some hazards and the like."

"Oh when Dad was talking about it a few weeks ago? That sounds like so much fun! Where're we going to do it?"

"Here. Our back garden is pretty big and none of the other homes have as much space." He smiled slightly. "I can't wait for the future home space to be ready. We'll have so much space to do fun stuff."

"Yeah me too," she sighed happily. "Still, we can make a nice little course here. Hmm, well you need at least one water course, with either a pond trap or like you hit the ball into a river and it floats down if you get it right."

"Ooh I like that." Harry scribbled it down on the parchment. "I was thinking of a quicksand trap. It sucks the ball in and spits it back at the tee."

"Brilliant! Oh oh, how about a literal rough? As in plants that'll smack the ball a bit if you land it in there."

"I'm sure Nev will have some ideas," Harry grinned. "Better be careful on which ones though. Don't need a tentacula getting handsy, especially with the babies."

"Do an ice one! Where you have to slide it over the ice like that Muggle game. Hockey? Is that what it's called?"

"I think so. That might be tricky but definitely fun to do. At the least maybe I can do one where you have to bounce the ball of things just right to get to the green."

They bounced ideas back and forth and soon had a list of courses planned. Then they tried to plan out each one, seeing which would work and what spells would make them possible. After crossing some ideas off and adding new ones, they looked at the completed list. "I like it," Katie said. "That looks like it'll be a lot of fun. What's next?"

"I'm going to ask Luna to help me artistically design them and Tracy to help me build the course. I can transfigure a good chunk of them but they'll be more stable with some proper landscaping."

Katie grinned. "I'm so excited. This is going to be fun."

-0-

Katie whistled as she walked into the back garden, carrying Dahlia. "Oh my goodness, it looks like a real construction project!"

There was a large table with the course designs laid out on it. The miniature golf course had an even more miniature model built on the table and the detail was intricate. A large board floated beside it with the course in question diagrammed out with schematics and measurements. Piles of dirt and rocks and wood sat about, complete with miniature scaffolding and building pieces. A few of the courses were already finished and the back garden looked half changed.

"Luna did a wonderful job with the model," Harry said, pointing at the table. "At first she drew them out but then surprised me with this gorgeous model layout."