Author's note: The section about Quidditch camp was inspired by Loralee and her story Time to Live. I loved her idea and have been given her permission to use it. Make sure to check out her stories!
Harry was glad to see the staff so happy to have Garret back. Even the newer employees had heard such great things about him that they welcomed him with open arms. Harry was amused that everyone was in such a great mood when they had not even announced the new salaries yet. Most of the staff had arrived by dinner time and Garret gave a small speech and introduced everyone to his wife Christine and his two small boys Taylor and Clayton. Harry just sat back and let Garret and Mike explain all the changes that were going to take place.
When he went to sleep that night he felt like he had really accomplished something great. He had made the lives of these people better and happier and was giving them security for the future. Oliver had been moved almost to tears when it was announced that the Farm would pay for any employees' further education expenses and provide a permanent portkey to allow for safe and quick travel. The news that employees could bring their families to live with them was the best of the night. Ash and Otto were the most grateful and the others, though still single, were still glad of the change.
Mike and Garret would handle all the interviews for the open positions, although they hoped to be able to rehire a few who had been let go by Quiggly and then see where they had openings. They had also received word that 5 students who were related to the aurors who arrested Quiggly would be attending the camp tomorrow.
"Do I want to know how expensive this camp is for kids if even the children of Aurors can't afford to come?" Harry asked Mitch and Oliver as they ate dinner.
"Well let's put it in perspective shall we?" Oliver asked with a sour look on his face. "The average tuition for a Hogwarts student is approximately $500 galleons per year or roughly $12 galleons per week. The cost of this camp per camper for one week is $150 galleons."
"That's a tad bit pricey don't you think?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean really the majority of the income comes from the pro teams using the facility throughout the year. The camps are not supposed to be a major money maker but more of a way to give back. Sure we want to make some money on them so as to be able to pay all of you but to gouge parents so their kids can go to summer camp for a week is ridiculous."
"Well said Mr. Potter," Mike said from behind them and Harry realized many of the staff had been listening to their conversation. "I was going to bring that point up before you left. Any idea on what you would like to set the cost at?"
"Well, how much does it cost the Farm for each camper? How much in food, equipment, laundry, etc. and then add on the cost of the counselors and the pro's who volunteer their time for reduced training rates. Let's figure what it costs us and then we can go from there. I say if it costs us $50 per camper then we charge them between $55 and $75 galleons. $75 for 1st time campers, and say $60 for returning campers and then the rest could be used to sponsor campers who can't afford to come." Harry said and didn't realize how much more respect he earned in the eyes of his employees that night.
"I believe it costs us around $40 per camper Mr. Potter," Ilma Hooch told him with a smile. "I say we keep the rates you mentioned and include a free t-shirt in their squad color to each camper as well as allow them to keep their practice uniform at the end of the week."
"Sounds good," Harry said with a grin. "Let's see if we can't get those T-shirts printed for this week's camp. We'll have to talk with our uniform supplier about making larger and more frequent purchases. I was also thinking we could offer points to the gift shop for different things throughout the week. For example, 10 points for winning a game, 1 point if your counselor sees you helping another camper, that sort of thing. Each point would be worth say 1 sickle in value or we can just assign point values to the merchandise in the gift shop."
