Hometown Show & Tell [Errand](Closed)

28 of February

Freya stood in the back of the room, curiously watching as the students before her presented their homes. Many had images and showed grand places, with large buildings and celebrations. They looked like exciting places, yet Freya glowed with delight because no one had as thrilling of a presentation as she knew her hometown speech would be.

She waited to be towards the end and presumed that she would be one of the last to speak. This plan was carefully thought out: she wanted to make sure that the other students did not feel too ashamed that their homes were, in reality, quite dull and she knew that if she went last, more children would remember Rye over the holidays when their parents asked where they would like to travel. She would certainly save the Rye's tourism population so that it could finally claim its destiny, much like she had the day before. Just like Freya was now a true bird, Rye would be the number one destination for holidays in England.

Freya didn't have any slides prepared, but she did have her plunger. She toyed with her most prized possession idly while she waited for the students to go one by one. Though the presentations were only supposed to be around five minutes, so many students had presented that it felt like forever, but finally, after another Ravenclaw went before her, Freya sensed that it was her turn. She tightly grabbed her plunger and let the black cup trail behind her as she bounded up the little table-looking thing to make her presentation:

"Hi! I'm Freya Thomas, and I'm a second year, Ravenclaw! This little buddy that I have right here is my plunger. I'll get to introducing them in a bit. Right now, though, let me tell you 'bout my hometown, Rye! Rye is this small little place in East Sussex, which is like the bottom right of England. I live there with my mum and my dad, and my granddad lives down the road a bit. And did you know there's like 9,996-some other people besides us there! That's a lot of people, isn't it! Mum and Dad told me there were about 10,000 people in Rye, so I did some math so that you all would know that there's probably like...that number I said before other people. Mum always said I was pretty smart!"

She grinned eagerly, lingering her smile on the professor in front of her, and continued: "Anyway, we're by the sea a bit and a lot of our history involves ports and ships and lots of cool things. I wonder if there were pirates there! I should ask Dad when I go home again. Anyway, we have a cool windmill 'cause of that, and long ago people used to get all their money from trading ports, a naval base, fishing ports, an agricultural center, and the market! Now some people do that, but we really like when people visit us, cause it's so fun to meet new people and help them see why Rye is so special! That's what I think, at least, so I kind of decided to do this today so that you all would wanna come here, only don't go doing spells or anything, cause there's mainly Muggles in Rye - it's not like that fancy Wizarding place that person said before, where only witches and wizards grow up. We like things without magic, cause that's what we've been doing since way back when!

"Rye has lots of cool things you can do. Someone told me they ate pigeon there once, though I can't say I'd want to do that, cause I kind of like birds. I heard that back in the day people used to have carrier pigeons or something, so that'd kind of be like if wizards ate their owls! Gross, right? We also have these things called oast houses where people dry stuff for beer. Mum and dad won't let me try beer yet, but I hear lots of people like it, so I've always wanted to go to one of those. If your parents let you go to an oast house, invite me too, okay? We also got ceramics and people still use the port and there's a castle called the Rye Castle, though it's not as cool as Hogwarts, and did you know there's a haunted place inn there, it's called the Mermai-"

The Divination Professor called "That's five minutes, wrap up." and Freya immediately whined, "But I haven't even talked about Pipeline Plumbing!" Without looking at the professor's reaction, she immediately added, "I'll be quick, promise!" and continued:

"Okay, so this is my plunger. I know that lots of you Wizard and Witch folk think that this plunger is pretty silly, but let me tell you, you all should come to Rye, and I can teach you a thing or two about how useful plunging is! My family has been plumbing for a long time, so I would like to think I'm going to be an expert once I'm as big as Dad and Granddad. You see, my granddad founded the best plumbing shop in all of Rye, Pipeline Plumbing! And if Rye is home to me, I gotta tell you, Pipeline Plumbing is the most homiest home in my hometown.

"But before I get to that, cause I know you magic kids don't know much about plumbing, let me give you a quick history lesson on why plumbing is so great." Her voice elevated in volume at the following words, which came out steadily and less child-like, as though she had read, written out, and studied what she was about to say: "Did you know that the first water pipes are said to have been invented around 3500 BC? That's wild, isn't it? People got water from wells via 'masonry conduits,' which Granddad told me is just a fancier word for pipes. Even tiny homes had them, and historians said that Mohenjo-Daro, which is in modern-day Pakistan and India, must have really wanted to be clean, because plumbing helps keep cities clean! Someone talked about India before, that's the same place! Isn't that cool?"

She shot a small smile at the professor and noticed that she looked annoyed and was making a subtle symbol to wrap it up. Freya softly sighed to herself as she looked away, trying to pretend that she hadn't seen the sign. She simply couldn't let the other children not know about how amazing plumbing was! Continuing, Freya hastened her pace slightly, though she could not go nearly as fast as before, as this part was clearly rehearsed:

"The first copper pipes were made by Egyptians in 2500 BC, and that helped them get water from the Nile River. They used pipes for 'irrigation,' which Mum told me once in a lesson meant a plan to water your crops. Sometimes the Nile flooded plants when it got too high or dried the plants out when there wasn't enough water, so the copper pipes helped make that less crazy! Egyptians really liked their dead people and thought that everything in the pyramids would be taken to the afterlife with them, so historians even found copper pipes in pyramids! When Mum told me about that during school, that was my favorite lesson, let me tell you!

"In about 1700-1500 BC, the Greeks in the island of Crete made a drainage system with lavatories, sinks, and manholes. For those of you who don't know plumbing, 'drainage' means that the water went away. I know that just cause I'm a plumber! It was the most advanced system then! It was so cool because a queen had this almost two-meter bathtub, except plumbing wasn't as advanced as it was today, even if it was advanced for the times. So people would fill and drain that by hand! Thank goodness we don't have to do that now! So what they did, as I'm guessing the queen didn't do this, was they emptied it into a hole in the floor, which eventually went to this river nearby! They also had a kind of flushing water closet then, too, which was flushed by rainwater or an underground tank, which is also called a cistern!

"But it took all until 710 BC before people figured out how to make the first shower. They must have gotten tired of hauling water in and out of tubs for buckets, but only the royal people got that. The earliest one was from King Sargon II of Assyria. He had his slaves pour cold water over his head. This doesn't have any real plumbing, of course, but he had the right idea, cause showers are so nice!

"Then, for about 1000 years, all the way from 500 BC to AD 476, Romans were really working on a plumbing system. Their work basically is what we use as models for sinks, showers, tubs, toilets, and drains. Isn't that wild to think about! Not only was my granddad using this stuff, but probably my great great great great....well, lots of greats, granddad doing the same thing! They also came up with this thing called an 'aqueduct' to bring water from the country into Rome. I don't know if you know what Rome is, but it's a pretty big city, so they definitely didn't have enough water in that little area! So they had this aqueduct, which is like a way of carrying water, and it would bring 1.2 billion liters of water every day! They took all that water and kept it in tanks before giving it to people's baths, fountains, and toilets. The rich Romans even got hot and cold water, as well as a sewage system!"

Freya looked downward after these words, as her voice took a solemn tone: "Even plumbers make mistakes, though; we're not all superheroes! So they used lead pipes around 200 BC, but lead is really not good for you. A lot of people died, and it is possible that these pipes helped the empire's downfall. If that's not a lesson for how important plumbing is, I don't know what is."

As though she hadn't just said these words, Freya eagerly raised her head once more. As she raised it, she noted that the professor seemed to be more irritated and was now pointing at her watch in frustration. Freya continued to pretend as though she did not see it. "Now's the exciting part," she said happily, "modern plumbing! In 1596, Sir John Harington, my idol, created the first flushing toilet. He was a pretty dramatic man: he got banished for telling risky" - (Freya had misread the word when she was reading, she actually meant "risqué") - "stories but that ended up being a good thing cause he built a house and then a toilet! His godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, eventually forgave him and took him back. When she visited him, she was so impressed by the toilet that she wanted one for herself! If I were a queen then, I definitely would feel the same, but I live in the now and already have a toilet, lucky me! The queen was scared to use it, though, cause she thought it made scary sounds like thunderstorms with really loud rushes of water every time she used it! Sir John's invention is why some people call the toilet the 'John!'

"In 1652, the first city water system was built in Boston, mainly made out of hollow tree logs! In 1664 King Louis XIV of France had the first cast-iron water main built, which helped the palace gardens get water and the fountains stay filled for almost 350 years! And finally, like so long after King Assyria had his slaves dump water on his head, William Feetham made the first mechanical shower in 1767! He called it the 'English Regency shower,' and it had this large spot you'd stand in with an overhead tank that pumped water upward from the basin using a hand pump. After the water got gathered, you'd pull a chain for the water to be dumped. The thing was that this water was reused, and people didn't really like that, cause the water got dirty if you were really gross, so it took quite a few years and ideas for people to get on board with showering.

"1775 was one of my favorite years, cause that was when the first prototype for the modern toilet was made! A prototype is like an example design. Alexander Cumming improved my hero's, Sir John Harington's, original toilet design, because it had a pretty bad smell and wouldn't get rid of the water by its own. He made an S-shaped pipe, which we plumbers call an 'S-trap' to create a seal and help sewer gas stay away from the toilet when the pan was emptied and refilled. It links the water inlet valve to the flush mechanism and is below the toilet bowl. In 1778, Joseph Bramah did something small: he used hinged valves on Cumming's toilet. Those are pretty much the model for making toilets on ships, so I know there are a lot of those near Rye! Sometimes Dad and Granddad have to fix those.

"Anyway, firefighters were kind of like Wizards and didn't really get how great plumbing was until way later. New York City, which is in America, still was using hollow logs, but they expanded upon this system in 1794 to make it so these logs could help fight fires. What the firepeople would do was drill through the log-pipes when they needed it, take the water, and plug the hole when they were done. I guess that is why people sometimes say 'fireplug' though I have never heard that word before, I just read about it in my history book about plumbing. Anyway, America got rid of the log pipes in 1804 and switched to cast-iron pipes. I'm glad they didn't use lead, because maybe then the American empire would have fallen too! Though that would have been cool if Rye had become the next empire. Maybe next time. America also was the first place to start water availability and make safety measures. In their town of Philadelphia, in 1815, they had the water works system start using a dam - not 'd-a-m-n!' - and water wheels instead of the steam engine across the 'Skully-kill' River" - (Freya meant Schuylkill here, but beamed with delight as she said this 'big word,' for she did not realize she pronounced it wrong.) - "The steam engine was inefficient, which makes me wonder if the Hogwarts Express would be more efficient if it was powered by a dam and water wheel, too. Anyway, people who paid could get the water directly in their homes, while people who didn't want to pay could get water free from the fire hydrants if they had a bucket.

"Unfortunately, the Mermaid Hotel in Rye was not the first hotel with plumbing, though it definitely should have been! That was some hotel in America in 1829. It was designed by Isaiah Rogers and even had free soap! The American government didn't even get plumbing until 1833, which is crazy! New York had its first aqueduct and reservoir - which is like a big, fake lake, Dad said - finished in 1842. And in 1848, England passed the National Public Health Act! America might get a lot of the plumbing glory, but we were the country who made notes on water health and safety and established a Central Board of Health, all 'cause of cholera! That comes from gross water, and if you get it, you usually vomit and poop a lot. This Act is called one of the greatest Acts in public health history!

"But London and England still struggled with the vomit-poop disease, and from 1853-1854, 10,738 people died because of cholera. America had the first full sewer system in 1855, in Chicago, because they were having issues with cholera, too. To do this, they raised covered the pipes with dirt, which literally raised the streets about three meters! England, though, had the 'Great Stink' going on, with the sewage being gross. We were able to keep the sewage out of our toilets, but we were not able to keep it out of our city! England created a whole new unified sewage system in August 1858. Sir Joseph Bazalgette was the engineer of that, and the new system was finished in the 1870s! The new design captured sewage and rainwater, pretty much getting rid of cholera. Sadly, Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who thought cholera was caused by water, died before he could confirm his hypothesis. That means a guess.

"Some quick history not dealing with that gross disease: 1851 had the first outdoor toilet. Those are like the toilets we pee in when our mums take us out shopping or something and we really gotta go. George Jennings, a plumber from Brighton, named them 'Monkey Closets' and had people pay one penny to use them. American settlers used 'Outhouses,' which was just a hole in the ground, a lot during this time. I think they thought indoor toilets were expensive, even though they had been created by this point.

"One of my favorite years was 1857, cause that's when toilet paper was first made for sale! Joseph Gayetty sold this medicated paper that was made with hemp and aloe and watermarked - put a little design on - every single sheet 'cause he was so proud! He called it 'the greatest necessity of the age!'

"The first city water tower was built in 1869, and the first ceramic flushing toilet was made in 1870. 1870 also was the year that water heaters were invented, so that people could cook, clean, wash hands, and bathe with warm water. In case you didn't know, warm water feels better, and I think it kills more germs. After all this talk of cholera, I definitely don't want many germs near me!

"I have a really quick fun story," Freya declared confidently, not meeting the professor's eyes. "Sometimes, when my parents are upset, they say, 'Crap!' Did you know that there was a plumber and sanitation engineer named Thomas Crapper? Really all he did for plumbing was open the first bathroom showroom in 1870, but I bet that's why we associate that 'potty word' with poop!

"Contemporary plumbing starts around now. In 1928 the first plumbing code was made, named the 'Hoover Code' after some American guy. The first non-metallic pipes were used in 1952 in the United States, with plastic piping then. Three years later they used polyvinyl chloride water pipes, which is what we pretty much use today. If those words are too hard for you kids, you can just say PVC. In 1937, Alfred Moen invented the single handle tap for faucets. All water heaters have a 'T and P' valve, though, so there aren't any accidents from too much pressure or heat.

In 1978, the first water conservation laws were made so that toilets wouldn't just waste water and flush a whole bunch. Even so, apparently toilet flushing can still make up between 28 and 40 percent of total water use for urban areas. That's a lot of flush! In 1992, America also made this Energy Policy Act to reduce water flow rates. That meant that people had to use low-flush toilets, which was a pretty big deal. In 2003, the International Code Council was formed to make international standards for safe, long-lasting, affordable, and durable plumbing.

"That's about it for the history of plumbing, but people are still inventing and making things better. Like London's had their sewage system for 150 years, and it just isn't working as well with its huge amount of people. Extreme weather really affects it too, and they're making a 'super sewer' to help the old system not be as overwhelmed. It's supposed to finish in 2024; check out your newspapers, it's called the Thames Tideway Tunnel!

"I, for one, want to learn as much as I can so that we can have even better plumbing and conserve more water. Plumbers are really important because if we fix things, we waste less water overall. And my granddad kind of realized that too. He was born in Rye in 1949, the middle boy of five kids. He always was interested in plumbing but never really got a chance to learn, so he took to the ships like his parents had before and sailed all the ways away, trading stuff. Some of his brothers and sisters went and got a lot of schooling done, but Granddad was like me and found the schooling of the mind and hands to be much more interesting than just sitting and reading books and memorizing facts. There's something about putting your knowledge to work, you know? So he never really minded fishing and shipwork, but most of it was dealing with people trying to cheat him out of profit - that's extra money - and he didn't really like having to be the bad guy even though he needed enough money to survive. Well, on one stop he met my gran, and he convinced her to come move back to Rye with him. At first she didn't like being away from him, so one day he said, to heck with it, I'll find a job here. After lots and lots of talks, he finally told her that what he really wanted to do was understand plumbing and sewage, with a hope that he could maybe help design sewage systems like those old guys. Granddad told me is cause he likes people staying healthy, and he really thinks that he could have put his mind to make the world better and more efficient in its plumbing.

"So my gran agreed, and she did some extra work, a lot of tailoring and embroidery to help keep them both well-fed while he began an apprenticeship. That's a pretty big word too, but that means like someone who is trying to learn how to do something. That's what I am right now! Or...what I would be, if I wasn't at Hogwarts." With these words, Freya scoffed, accidentally noticing that the professor remained quite irritated that she was still talking. Luckily, she knew that she was almost done. For real this time. "So he learned a lot about plumbing from the local man in town, who was super old and wise. When that man thought that my granddad knew enough about plumbing, my granddad tried to find some jobs working on fixing the sewers, but I guess a lot of people don't want to hire you for that if you want to stay in Rye and don't have a university degree. So the local man, one day, happened to tell granddad that he was looking to sell the plumbing business, and granddad told him that he'd buy it. At this point, my dad was a toddler, and my gran wasn't too thrilled that Granddad said he'd buy a whole business without talking to her about it, but it had already been done.

"And that's how Pipeline Plumbing was born, the best company in all of Rye! Granddad still didn't like the selling part as much, but because he was always in the town of Rye, people grew to know and trust that he wasn't going to scam them or anything. We've had clients that Granddad has been helping for years. And, in addition, Granddad likes it cause it's completely hands-on, with the sale stuff being a lot less of the focus. He really loves it, he said, even though he does still sometimes wish that he could help with city planning and its sewage system.

"When my dad got a bit older, Granddad gave him his first plunger and brought him on the jobs, teaching him school and stuff while they fixed pipes and showers and faucets. Some of the stuff was pretty gross - my granddad told me once about a toilet that hadn't been cleaned in years - but my dad and granddad got super close because of it. By the time dad had the option of going to do more school like my granddad had wanted, he said that he just couldn't imagine not having Pipeline Plumbing be a full part of his life. He's a bit quieter than my granddad with the customers, but he's a real good handyman with the pipes. His favorite things to work on are the water closets on the ships, cause he really likes those hinges. Now, Granddad usually comes with us, but he's a bit older, so he tends to spend more times talking with his old customers while we do the work. It turned into a really good system.

"My dad met my mum when they were in school and were sweethearts in secondary school. My mum went off to university, though, and they don't really like to talk about it, but I know she dated quite a bit on their 'break.' But when she was done with school, she said she missed Rye dearly, and came back. Mum works as a receptionist cause she's really into talking, and when she comes home she helps me with my school. Dad wanted me to understand how important Pipeline Plumbing was to the city of Rye, so they decided that I would just do book school in the evenings and hands-on school during the day. I really have the best of both worlds, and I feel so lucky.

"Oh yeah," she giggled meekly, "back to my plunger. Like my dad, I got my plunger when I was just a little kid. I brought it to Hogwarts because it's a reminder of Rye, and Pipeline Plumbing, and my family, and just how special it all is. Like I've always been told, though, I know that no problem is too big for a plunger, so I like to keep it around as much as possible. I don't bring it to class, but I think it solves a lot of issues, and worst comes to worst, I can unclog a toilet or two! So yeah, this little thing may not seem like much, but it is my most prized possession."

With a long exhale, she concluded, "Thanks for listening to my hometown presentation. I could talk lots more about Rye, but I know I had a bit of a limit. If you want to hear more about how amazing plumbing is, though, please send me an owl or tap me in the Great Hall. Well, uh, thanks! Come see Pipeline Plumbing if you're in Rye!"

Finally, after what could be declared one of the longest monologues ever, Freya jumped off the table with her trusty companion and exited through the door, careful not to make eye contact with Professor Kibitzer one more time, as she feared her wrath for going just a bit over the time limit. If it was to educate people on how great Rye and Pipeline Plumbing was, though, it was worth it.

Notes:

Information about plumbing history heavily pulled from here, here, and here.
Information about Rye heavily pulled from Rye's Wikipedia page and the town of Rye's webpage.
I am still sad that the Rye Town Council Facebook page did not respond to me further than to ask me if I meant Rye, New York.
Godmodding of Rosalind Kibitzer done with consultation with Roz.