Chapter 18: The First Children's Show
(Seras POV)
The plan for this project was quite simple: create a painting of a bunch of lovable monsters and use enchanting to make it so that the characters move. Make a few locations for them to move around and display this on a large canvas, create a puppet show-like arena of chairs, and put it out in front of one of the many stores the Malfoys have a stake in. So far, this would have just been an interesting thing that might allow for learning, but the profit came from the people watching it. If rich children can pay to make the characters do what they want or play a song, then I could totally see it becoming a massive hit. Put in the fact that the wizarding kids would be experiencing a modern cartoon for the first time and that the younger tycoons could show off their wealth to their friends, and I had something that would keep a young child sitting there forever. This would also allow for parents to drop their child off in Diagon Alley and they would be able to shop without dragging them everywhere.
My inspiration came from a TV show from my last life. I remembered a children's show called "Yo Gabba Gabba!" that featured colorful characters and catchy songs to entertain and educate children. The magical world had nothing like it, and it could be both entertaining and educational for young witches and wizards.
The first step was to create the portrait itself. Narcissa had been quite adamant that I learn how to create a beautiful painting, her reason being women who can't please the eye are not able to find love. I'm not sure if that's the right message to tell your daughter. With a little bit of her help, I painted an extra-large canvas with a vibrant background; the canvas would be one of a few. It depicted a magical forest that my creatures could live in. Before I made any others, I would bring a prototype to the man who seemed to have the business acumen required to run the Malfoy estate. The books I read and my knowledge of runes were incredibly useful for the next step: creating sound. The runes would continuously run, but the background noises would only start if characters were in that painting. I inscribed the portrait with the specific runes that allowed for vocal amplification; it was a widely known one commonly used in Quidditch announcing equipment. The less common runes were the flow control runes I had spent months trying to perfect. These were used to manage the intensity and direction of the vocal amplification—rupturing a child's eardrum is quite an easy way to get sued.
The second step was the creation of the characters to go into this world. I painted characters with certain traits in mind. The first that came onto the page was a big green owl that I named Rune. He was to be the nerd character of the group, constantly talking about how interesting different magical topics were, occasionally giving a demonstration. He wore a graduation cap and scientific goggles, his experiments would occasionally go wrong, but he always tried to improve. The second character was Socks, a blue sock monkey-like individual. Socks really enjoys finding new things; he is constantly trying to collect all the different things that might be out there in the wizarding world. He would constantly ask Rune what different plants could do in potion making or the third character, Brewstew, what different magical creatures do. He was dumb but lovable. Brewstew was a funny girl whose appearance was a red dog standing on its hind legs. She loves magical animals and would do everything she could to be friends with them, but they don't always want to be friends with her. The fourth character was a yellow toad named Skips. Skips liked to exercise a lot. She wouldn't always accomplish her goal of being the strongest, but she would get back up and try again. The fifth character was simply named Mark. Mark was a big lazy cat who would fall down a lot. He was created as a joke character initially before I realized that he would probably be most children's favorite based on how many videos on the internet are just fat people falling down. The final character would be a cartoony wizard named Merlin. Merlin was the wisest of the group and was the best at casting magic. He would act as a guide to help solve the other characters' problems and would lead them in songs at the end of stories. Merlin would clearly spell out the moral and would usually be in Merlin's house, which was a set piece I hadn't created yet, allowing for the other characters to try and sort out their problems and differences.
Once each of these characters was created on their individual portraits with their character traits developed through runic circuits on the back, their goal would first and foremost be to teach children lessons, and they thought of themselves like actors that needed to play a part. Each was like an AI-generated model responding to prompts that I asked them to and giving feedback. After a day or so of getting their characters down, they were ready for the first big show. I hooked up the pay box that would act as suggestions for the characters to do. It had a very complex runic code that filtered out suggestions that were inappropriate for younger audiences, whether that be serious violence, domestic issues, any of the -isms, and sexual content. I also added runes that better allowed for the painting to converse with the audience and to get them engaged. The characters I had made were all introduced onto the main portrait, and I brought it to my father, ready to give another presentation to his shark tank.
(Lucius POV)
The last few months have gone exceptionally well for my family. Seras has settled in well to her lessons with Severus. Dumbledore doesn't even realize that Severus is training his downfall right under his nose, and he approved of it. Draco seems to be most of the way to complete sentences, and his potty training is almost finished as well. Narcissa seems to believe that Draco could be just as talented as Seras, and all we have to do is nurture it. I do believe that he could be a prodigy in a field, but I don't think there will be a second version of my daughter anytime soon. Narcissa told me that she wanted more kids, but upon conversing with Severus, I have been made aware that her body may not be able to handle the strain, and I was not willing to try anything that could hurt her. I don't know how I would live without her. Seras's light patent was an instant hit when it entered the Ministry. People on both sides of the aisle were talking about how it could be useful in many ways, so I simply decided to get ahead of it. I brought forward a motion stating that a public works project that uses some of the income that had been requisitioned from death eaters should be used to benefit everyone through the creation of street lights using this technology. Dumbledore had happily agreed with my proposal. If he knew that my family had gained almost all of the money from the project, I wonder what he would think. Truly, the old man was a fool.
A light knock was heard on my study door. Seras rarely came to see me while I was working, but it was always a treat when she did. She came in carrying a portrait many times her size. How she was able to lift it and bring it to me was a puzzle in its own right. If I asked her, she would cheekily reply with magic. Though secrets are dangerous, if it allows for a better relationship with a future alchemical and potions genius, I would allow it. Seras set the canvas up and said that she had a new idea for entertainment and to get more people shopping on Diagon Alley. She stated that there is a distinct lack of children's entertainment in the wizarding world and talked me through her entire plan. After she had gone through her entire plan and the ideas behind it, I was sold. I was about to tell her we could start the preliminary creation of characters and artifacts behind them when she began to count down. It was then that the creatures she just described played through a scenario about a strange leaf that the weird monkey had found. He brought it to his friends, and some jokes that would probably make a child laugh were told. It then ended with Merlin the wizard character telling me some morals about trying to explore. After the show ended, I knew we had money on our hands. The weaker houses constantly expunged moral ideas, and here was a way for us to profit off of it and make ourselves stronger. I told Seras that we were a go. She said that she could have the remaining portraits done in a few days. I told her that I would speak with Flourish and Blotts about putting the show in front of their store, and we would start the show once children got out of school. Seras was truly a blessing to the Malfoy family. Before the age of two, she had come up with a way to manipulate the minds of her peers. She would be the greatest dark lord yet.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Joebiden_Biden
Joebiden_Biden I hope the second half isn't lacking, tiredness hit me like a truck when I was writing it
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