I was lugging around a small trunk filled with my guns and ammo and brought it to the bank. Without question the Goblins deposited my trunk inside the safe and noted down the withdrawal of a couple hundred Galleons. I walked out of the bank with a smile and went to Florean Fortescue to buy a Bacon-flavores ice-cream which he had perfected and enjoyed a stroll through the market place.
After a nice stroll I reached Vertic-alley and entered a workshop, the bell announced my arrival. The fat old man looked up from his work and was pleasantly surprised, "Mr.Potter! What a great surprise! Come! Come! I was going to contact you next week, but your timing could have not been better." He raised his voice calling out inside his workshop, "Oi boyyo! Come on down! We have a visitor!"
After his son arrived and an exchange of excited pleasantries we stepped inside a magically locked room and inside were a couple of men who looked like relatives of Able Spudmore. They greeted us with raised wands and relaxed after seeing us. "Kane, Zeckren this here is Mr.Harry Potter, the one who financed us made all of this possible."
After a brief introduction he unveiled the broom. It was exactly as I remember how it looked in the movie. The sleek design, the dark, almost black in colour wood and the smooth texture looked extremely classy and sporty. The tail twigs were neatly arranged and the Goblin-wroght iron pedals, although not flashy; looking mundane, gave a completion to the anesthetics. Although it probably served as the most useful part in the broom.
What caught my eye was the gold engravings on both sides of the broom handle: "001" and "H.J.P" . "I take it, this is mine?" I asked the most obvious question. Able nodded with a proud grin and replied, "It is. Every other broom will have the gold engraving till the number '010' and will be sold at an auction. For the other upcoming brooms, the price that you had set on our earlier discussion: a sum of 65,000 Galleons. This exceeds the projected cost of the upcoming Nimbus 2001 by a whooping 30,000 Galleons. I was first worried about the price you marked up for it, but after the prototypes' were tested? I now have full confidence in it."
Able picked up the broom in reverence and placed it in my arms gently. His eyes filled with tears and his voice filled with raw emotion he looked into my eyes and spoke, "Dear Master Harry James Potter. The Spudmore family and I proudly present The Fastest Broom in The Entire Wizarding World: The Firebolt." I gripped the broom and held it out drowning in its beauty and awe.
Able's voice brought me back from my stupor, "Now, Mr.Potter. I have another surprise for you. I had sent letters to all the Wizarding clubs in Europe and the National team also. I was going to tell you this but you have come yourself. This must be fate." He said laughing.
He ushered me out of his workshop and bade me to follow him, with his entire workshop helpers coming with us. It seems the entire ESP company is coming with... very curious.
We walked as people watched us with curious eyes eyeing the brooms we were carrying. A small crowd gathered, following us to the Quidditch pitch behind the marketplace. As we entered the stadium, flashes were going off, semi-blinding me and taking me by surprise. My hand almost went to my wand when I realized that they were the PRESS.
I looked around the stadium filled with spectators, each with his own parchment and quill, scribbling away furiously as they watched us enter the stadium. I also saw a few familiar faces from Hogwarts and were pretty shocked at seeing me getting my picture taken. Able leaned into me and whispered, "I'm sorry. I had to use your name and influence to invite a few people, but it turns out I underestimated your fame! Even I did not expect this turnout!"
I leaned into him witha smile and whispered back, "Well done Mr.Able. I just hope the broom performs." Able just gave me a massive ruddy grin before climbing the dias prepared spicifically for this event. He cast a "Sonorous" and placed the tip of his wand on his throat.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and girls. I'm truly grateful for you all to come to this monumental occasion. We have gathered her today to witness history being made. But before that, let my introduce the person who had made this dream come true! MR. HARRY JAMES POTTER!!!" I walked on the stage and gave a short bow.
"Without his support this event might have not taken place. And without further ado, I present to you.... THE FIREBOLT."
*flash* *click click click* *flash flash*
There were hushed murmurs all throughout the stadium as they witnessed the broom being unveiled.
"The Firebolt. This state-of-the-art racing broom sports a streamlined superfine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration number. Each individually selected birch twig in the broomtail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The firebolt has an acceleration of 150 miles an hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable Braking Charm.
This makes the broom almost three times as fast as the previous fastest broom and takes up half the time to reach its maximum speed"
The silence was deafening as Able announced the brooms characteristics. Every person there was shell-shocked at the specification Able just listed out. "As an honor to our benefactor I would like Mr.Potter to officially have the first flight."
I took the broom from the pedestal and ran my hand across the surface, making it a point to give close attention to the gold engravings. I noticed a few flashes of the camera before shifting my focus back to the broom. I mounted it and without warning shot off the ground taking great pleasure in the crowds screams of panic and awe.
I zoomed through the pitch, divebombing the crowd and turning away just as I came extremely close. The first few tries were met with shouts of outrage and foul language, but they had slowly understood what I was trying to show them the brooms capabilities and started whooping in encouragment with every dive I made. To finish of the presentation I soared to the sky sped straight down, accelerating with every second.
I maneuvered my broom into a "Wronski Feint" as I heared a concerned voice scream "SOMEONE STOP HIM!" But just as I was metres away from the ground, I pulled up and cock-screwed off the descent and barreled pass the people on the pitch throwing my hands in the air, screaming my lungs out, "YEEEAAAHHH!!"
I ascended into the air once more and slowly floated down. Everyone gasped at my antics, I was standing on the broom like a surf board and glided the entire pitch whilst slowly descending, before I jumped safely to the ground to a thunderous applause, "POTTER POTTER POTTER!!" I gave a bow and placed the broom back on the pedestal.
Able raised his voice again, his ruddy face brimming with pride and joy, roared out with his arms raised in Triumph, "THE FIREBOLT!! THE FASTEST BROOM IN THE WORLD!!" I pulled out my wand and chanted, "Flagararte" I wrote the name into the air in massive font so everyone could read and I flicked my wand as the words rose into the air. The words caught on fire before it exploded into a million little fireworks sending another cheer throughout the entire stadium.
.
.
.
The flashes were blinding and the questions were endless, so we had to cut short the presentation and send a Notice to all the willing participants that there will be an auction held to sell the first 9 Firebolts which Mr.Able had promised will go atleast 20Km/hr faster than the rest, depending on the person's weight.
The auction was to take place at Gringotts Bank, it seems Able had already arranged it. I was back in Able's workshop when I saw Shaggy, Black-haired handsome man in his late thirties, grinning at me like a fool, "SIRIUS!" I ran and gave him a tight hug before separating, "I thought we were going to meet at the Weasleys?"
Sirius gave me a derisive snort, rubbing my already wind-swept and messy hair, "That was the plan at first. I was walking around Diagon-alley just for the heck of it and I heard an interesting rumor about a certain BOY-WHO-LIVED in the area and something about launching a broom."
We talked about it and Sirius was amazed at my venture and also wanted to be a part of it. "Well you came at the right time. The company could use a bit more funding in the next three or four months. The projected sales that I looked up were wrong. And it seems that the Firebolt is much more wanted than I thought. There will be more sales a month than the number of production of units."
They were walking along the streets when I had a thought, "Say Sirius. Do you know any trustworthy mercenaries or security outfits that are interested. Emphasis on trustworthy. I need the blueprint and the 'method of production' of the Firebolt under tight security."
Sirius scratched his chin with a deep thought and nodded, "I'll see what I can do."