Within two days, Old Tom had found Karn a wizard named Kettle who had just passed his Potions N.E.W.T.s. He had graduated from Hufflepuff nearly three years ago and had yet to find a suitable job.
Kettle really wanted to make a career in the wizarding world, but a Potions N.E.W.T.s certificate was not particularly useful at the Ministry of Magic. The potions shops in Britain's wizarding world already had regular partners and potions apprentices, making it difficult for Kettle to find suitable work.
If Old Tom had not contacted him, Kettle would have gone back to inherit his father's bakery, earning money as a Muggle to support his family.
This was not an exception in the wizarding world. Although he could brew potions, nobody would buy them from him without a potions shop to vouch for him. Potions was an incredibly delicate discipline; a single mistake could turn a harmless potion into a deadly poison.
That was why most people would rather pay a little more at St. Mungo's Hospital or the Slug Potions Shop than buy potions from a stranger.
Kettle had only accepted the invitation because of the high pay Karn offered. After all, an Auror earned only between 1,500 and 3,000 Galleons a year, while he would earn 100 Galleons a week.
Although the job would only last a month, Karn had told Kettle that if he performed well, Karn would hire him as a potions apprentice when he opened a shop in the future.
Karn's house-elves had already demonstrated his wealth to Kettle. Such servants had always been a symbol of substantial financial resources; anyone without some family wealth simply could not afford to keep house-elves.
What was more, Karn had two. After a little thought, Kettle accepted Karn's invitation. With the promise of a