The imposing structure was larger than the Requirement itself. Composed of two great arms shaped as opposing half circles joined in the middle by a blocky central node. Across the arms, rectangular shapes crossed the station vertically. Overall, the station had a sleek and alien feel to it, not too different from the ship itself.
"Alright, alright." Putting away his slate, Harry brought up his communication stone to his mouth. "Lee, you there?"
The response came quickly, but not from the second in command of his engineering corps.
"Yeah, he's here alright."
"Well, that really depends on your definition of 'here'. I'm pretty sure Lee's in his own personal paradise right now."
"Aaaahw, Would you just look at him? I hadn't seen him this happy since we got him that pyjama for his tarantula last year."
The twins had accompanied Lee to see to the finishing touches on the station before bringing it online, and Harry already regretted allowing their dispatch.
"Could we focus, please? We have almost thirty people to impress here. How are things on your side?"
"Pretty boring for now."
"We hooked up the main generators and Lee's trying to turn them on. Once he's done we can start conjuring some air and make sure we don't have a leak somewhere."
"We've been practising some figures in zero-g in the meanwhile. Hey Fred, watch thi-Outch!"
They never got to hear the end, as Lee's mad cackle came out of the stone before going into full-blown evil laughter territory.
"It's ALIVE! Muahahaha!"
Before them, the station came to life, its force field "windows" flaring up, and the many lights on the hull lighting up. After months of construction that saw the ship stuck in the planet's orbit, the Neptune Station had been completed.
Its mining operations had been designed to be fully automated and it will serve as a storage and refuelling platform for the ship, freeing them from the tedious days of replenishing their stocks themselves. Embedded in the central node of the station was what Engineering had taken to call an "Industrial grade conjurator". Coupled with the numerous conjuring beam arrays built-in all along the length of the station's arms, the station would be able to take on much larger work than the Requirement's smaller model. It would also be much more robust and they'd never have to worry about the overheating problem that delayed the construction of the station again.
It will also serve as the first official D.S.F. base, a permanent presence in the solar system and a link to Earth through Hogwarts. Terry had theorised that the Room of Requirement would not be able to open a door to the ship if they were to leave the system as the magical power needed to cross such distances would be beyond anything ever seen on Earth. While Hogwarts and the Room were fed by the multiple lay lines converging under its foundations, making it one of the largest magical hotspots on the planet, that was but a fraction of the power they would need to cross the void between star systems.
Though the name of the station was still up to debate amongst the crew, Harry was sure they would vote on something good.
The three of them couldn't tear their eyes off the sight in front of them.
"So this is it, huum? We're really doing this." Ron said, more for himself than really asking for an answer.
"Yep... We're doing this."
"It's only the beginning. We still have a lot of work to make it habitable and start the automated production of external storage facilities. Then we'll be able to-"
"Hermione? Just enjoy the moment please." Ron asked as he put a hand on her shoulder.
Fixated as he was with the station, Harry never saw her soft smile as she took Ron's hand into her own.
"To the commissioning of Platform 8 3/4! Cheers!"
The loud rock music was drowned for a moment as the entire crew plus Clarissa Edgecomb raised their drinks and cheered. All around them, confetti and streamers were flying all around in the dim light as Weasley cold-fireworks spun and burst overhead, lighting the room intermittently. On both sides of the room, long tables with way too many feet were crumbling under the weight of all the different dishes. Several crew members, led by Laender and Lee, had gone out on a shopping spree, bringing back all sorts of food and drinks, both muggle and magical, to fill the conjurator's databanks. Seeing Ginny's face when she tried her first cup of soda had been priceless.
All around Harry, people were talking, dancing and laughing. Angelina, Katie, Alicia and Cho flew high above on their hoverboards in an impressive aerial ballet mixed in with some daring stunts. Padma and Parvati were gushing around Lavender, trying to see every angle of the dress robe she made for the occasion. A few people were gathered around Seamus as he tried to replicate a muggle fire-breathing trick. Michael and Terry were cheering on Ernie as he tried to drink a small cask of firewhisky bottoms up. Fred and George were running away from an enraged Ginny with purple hair sticking out in every direction like a poisonous pufferfish.
It was pure chaos around him.
And it was perfect.
This kind of party really was more his style compared to the boring and stuffy "little gatherings" of Slughorn. The man still tried to get him to join them every other week, but the one he attended aboard the express had quickly disillusioned him. Everyone gathered in small groups, talking in whispers or trying to curry favours form the teacher and each other while doing their best to either ignore him or to be seen sending scornful looks his way. Since then, he'd ignored every invitation the man had sent out and did his best to avoid him. They were barely a month into the semester and he already regretted helping Dumbledore recruit the man.
That's not to say everyone was going wild tonight.