The Silver Envelope

Flint's Finest Floor Polishing Pomade

Excellent work, Miss Wolcroft. Selwyn. I confess, I am impressed at how quickly you managed to capture her," Umbridge said. Next to her, her cat Patronus swished its tail excitedly. "You and Ms. Wolcroft appear to make an excellent team."
Selwyn. Suddenly, Hermione remembered the last time she'd heard Umbridge speak that name.
Years ago, when she'd gone to the Ministry with Harry and Ron in disguise to find Slytherin's locket. Umbridge had claimed the S on the locked was for Selwyn, a pureblood line to which she was related. Either it hadn't been a lie, or she was otherwise connected to the Selwyn family. Either way, Hermione could tell from the way everyone looked to Umbridge now that she was clearly the head of this horrific operation.
Umbridge stared up at the ceiling, her smile tightening as she examined the poor workmanship of the building's repairs
"I suppose we can work on the details of the workshop another time," she said with a pinched
expression, paying particular attention to a bit of the cciling that had crumbled away and looked to be repaired with a gigantic glob of grayish chewing gum. "Perhaps we can hire some stonemasons to come and restore this place to its original glory. A pity we can't simply move it."
"The building is not ideal, but the location has worked in our favor tremendously. The Dementors keep absolutely everyone away, wizard and muggle alike," Selwyn said.
"It's good enough for now," Umbridge said, strolling through the tables, peering curiously into the
vats of polish the elves were working with. "Although, once SOCKS is out of the way, I will want to move operations to a more convenient location."
Hermione's heart stopped beating. What did she mean by "once SOCKS is out of the way?" Was she planning to get the act repealed? Was that what the Polyjuice Potion was for?
Umbridge walked around the tables where the elves were working, inspecting the product. She tested it on her own wand, letting out a sickeningly gleeful giggle when her bubble charm was so powerful that it nearly enveloped her in soap bubbles. With a smile, Umbridge vanished the bubbles and tried a few other spells, marveling at the novelty of it. When she cast her Patronus anew, the silver cat was especially bright.
"Robert, you really have outdone yourself!" Umbridge said to Selwyn, who gave her a little bow
"I see now how this has sold so well. Now, tell me, how many new elves are coming this week?
Flint said we would be able to ramp up production over the next fortnight."
"Ah...er, yes well..
." Selwyn stammered, taking off his glasses to wipe them nervously on his
robes. "The thing is...er, the samples I collected recently didn't survive storage. I'm afraid I need to procure more." He shrugged. "Sometimes delays like this are unavoidable."
Umbridge's smile froze as Selwyn spoke.
"I see," she said coldly. "Well then.. see that you get that done as soon as possible, Robert. I
should hate to have to write to my cousin about your healer's license."
Selwyn had a tense grimace on his face as he nodded.
"I understand. It won't be a problem," he said.
Umbridge turned sharply to face Flint.
"How have sales been, Mr. Flint? I hope you have some good news for me on that front," she said.
Flint nodded, producing a crumpled up piece of parchment from the pocket of his robes.
"Last week, sales were up ten percent," he reported. "We project that our advert in Johanna's show will increase it by at least another five in the coming week."
"Mm." Umbridge seemed less impressed by this. "How is that deal with Mr. Borgin going? I thought he was supposed to be pushing the product to his...ahem, demographic." She said the last
word with such a familiar simper. Hermione's skin crawled
"Right, well, er." Flint looked nervous then. "He wasn't as interested as we'd hoped. I guess he only deals in oddities and vintage items. Rare and unique things. But! We did make a very beneficial contract with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes he's pushing the product for no cut of the
Hermione held her breath as she listened. Why would Ron have given them such a deal? Surely George wouldn't have done such a thing.
Perhaps Johanna had something over Ron. It would explain a few things, and it was certainly
preferable to the alternative that Ron had sold her out willing|\
Umbridge looked less pleased at the prospect of her product being pushed at a joke shop run by a
Weaslev. but she seemed to be mollified by the fact that it was making her more money than Borgin and Burke's would have.