Chapter 7

The Younger Wand

Hogwarts continued over the next few weeks with nothing of note really happening, Draco Malfoy had 'broken' on the third day of term in a dramatic fashion in front of most of the school after everything he tried to eat had tasted like soap and all he drank tasted like vinegar. Hermione Granger had become increasingly frustrated at the boys talent. They were topping most of their classes although their homework was often only acceptable. Neville was growing in confidence and being friends with Hogwarts most interesting duo had led to more respect all round. Harry and Daphne had avoided each other while they were both worried about their first ever Hogsmeade weekend, were they expected to go together? Ron Weasley had accepted that Harry was not going to be his friend, it wasn't graceful acceptance but what with the boy being who he was it was grace wasn't really in his dictionary. He had become a loud, uncouth irrelevance, utterly harmless but not particularly pleasant to be around. Archer had been seen investigating monstrous creature guides in the library but Harry knew he hadn't been back to the beast.

On the fourth weekend of term Harry and Archer were teaching Neville a few duelling tips to help him think about the different uses of spells. In an empty class room on the sixth floor with a view over the lake Harry was standing to the side shouting hints to Neville. The challenge was to disarm your opponent by any means necessary with the handicap being Archer had to stay still while Neville was allowed you duck behind desks and move however he saw fit. The past few sessions had featured chats about the nature of spell casting, the role of intent and visualization. Neville in return had provided helpful tips on the Herbology homework and was enjoying teaching them the practical side in the greenhouses. The deal was mutually beneficial and was doing wonders for Neville's confidence, he'd also discovered he loved to teach. Neville's wand flew across the room into Archer's hand, he looked down to inspect the wand.

"So Nev, this styling is clearly Olivander's, the pattern on the grip went out of style years ago though so it was made years ago. I bet he had to dig deep to find this for you?"

"Errm, I don't know, I didn't get that from Olivander's. It was my dad's, Gran said it was a powerful wand." Neville replied unsure what this meant.

"Neville my good friend I have good news and bad news regarding your wand." Archer said with a smile.

"Let's start with the bad news and go from there?"

"The bad news is its likely this wand is crap for you, while wands can be more powerful than others its more about their ability to focus and channel a wizard's power. A wand cannot in itself provide power nor can it make a wizard more powerful, it can only let him reach his potential. The bad news is that this wand has probably been holding you back, the flip side of that is when we get you sorted for a new wand you'll likely rise to the top of our classes."

"Wow, I never knew the wand mattered that much. You think I could get a new wand in Hogsmeade?"

"Most people don't, the role of wands and their role in channelling magic is one of the things I find most interesting and its really hard to get anything in Hogwarts about it. Anyway, new wand, I don't think Hogsmeade has a wand store, Olivander basically has a monopoly in this country. However I happen to be an amateur wandcrafter and I haven't even looked at getting you a Christmas present yet."

Neville looked stunned at the offer. "I use one of his wands as my main wand, it works perfectly for me." Harry provided.

"I would be honoured to make you a wand or two Neville, I have some of my stuff here in the castle we could start this afternoon." Archer suggested.

"You'd do that for me?" asked Neville struck how much his life had changed since he'd met these two.

"I wouldn't be offering otherwise, think, this could explain the trouble you've had with spell casting."

"Let's do it."

An hour later the boys had reconvened on the classroom after gathering dome equipment.

"A wand is a focus for your magic, your will and intent force your magic to perform all the cool stuff it does but its raw and basic. Think how accidental magic acts in your best interest but you don't really control it. Think of a wand like a lens in a pair of glasses, you're looking for something, without your glasses you'll stumble around looking but with glasses on you might see it straight away and can go right to it." Archer explained. "so the wrong wand is like the wrong prescription, its better but still blurry around the edges."

"What's a prescription?" Neville asked,

"Bloody purebloods." Archer groaned "of course for wizards they just charm the lenses to autocorrect. Anyway think of a bad wand being like a murky shattered window and your magic being then light from outside."

"Okay, I can understand why that's bad."

"Right anyway, there are two basic approaches to wand crafting, firstly there is the Olivander approach, you make as many combinations as you can and just use trial, error and a tad of intuition to pair wand and wizard. Next there is the tailor fit approach where we base everything off the wand's intended user. We're going to craft just for you. The bulk approach Olivander uses is useful for quick sales and is more time efficient but then he pairs wizard and wand on the first compatible match even if there is an even better match in the store."

Harry sighed having heard this before, "get on with it you git, we know you're very clever so cut the chat."

"But Nev was learning."

"He can hear it some other time, we only have a few hours before dinner."

"Whatever, Nev come over here please." Archer led Neville over to his crate containing various components. "Now all things on this planet have benefits and drawbacks, it's rare for something to be strictly better than something else in all aspects. Exception of course exist, for example you are better than Malloy in every measurable way, however we need to talk wand bases first."

"bases?"

"The housing of the core. In this country its always wood but I have found bones of magical creatures to work particularly well, provided you're not squeamish enough to be bothered by the whole holding a bone thing."

"What do I have to do?" Neville asked as he tried to contain his excitement.

"I want you to tell me about you aims and goals, your weaknesses and strengths, these will narrow down the components and give us hints."

"Err, I've never really thought about it before, I guess I want to help my parents, I liked teaching you two in herbology. I guess I lack confidence but I am a Gryffindor so I guess I have some bravery deep down there, my only strength is Herbology."

Archer nodded thinking before rummaging through the crate and pulling out some blocks of wood. "While I like bone, your link with Herbology is undeniable, so let's stick with plant bases. Now here are woods associated with protection, growth and wisdom. Have a feel over there, you're looking for a sense of comfort and belonging."

Neville picked up the blocks one by one with a look of concentration on his face. Harry smiled at the boy as he knew that Neville could go far, he'd used the time while Archer grabbed his things to peek a look at the school grades for some people in the year. Most people never saw this but Harry had asked McGonagall to show him. At Hogwarts the entire grade was based off the end of year exams this why neither Archer nor Harry tried particularly hard with their homework. It was split into a theory and practical sections, Neville in previous years had consistently been the highest Gryffindor boy in the theory side but poor practical performance had let him drop near the bottom.

Neville finally made a decision. "Holly Neville, I expected the vine or cherry but it seems you want the wood of protectors. Okay now we need a core, the cores are generally animal related, their strengths and quirks relate to the life the animal led or lives. Unicorn hair generally links to a noble deposition, phoenix for natural survivors and dragon heartstrings for fierce warriors. Other substances can be used but those are the common ones in this country. I think for you however we might have something a bit special I found this a few years back," Archer pulled something out of a pouch in the crate. "This is a seed from near our home in France. I found this between two of our main ward anchors, it wasn't growing but when I picked it up I felt the magic it had absorbed. I think you might be able to channel through this, hold it and describe what you feel."

Neville good the seed and his face lit up, "I feel warmth, its earthy and rich I feel like there is a connection to Earth and nature, I have no idea how I know this but it just seems right."

Harry looked to Archer who was nodding "That will do I think".

"Final thing Neville, the length and flexibility of the wand affects the wand movements. Charms tend to feature flicks and swishes so favour flexible wands, hexed and curses often use jabs which you want a rigid wand for else you have accuracy problems. So what do you prefer?"

"I really like all my classes but I guess defence is interesting and if I spend much more time with you I'll end up doing something dumb."

"In that case we'll go for a reasonably stiff wand with a curved grip and large pommel. That means it'll be good all round, the curved grip allows better slashing and cutting actions used in cursing and rapid shielding, the pommel will balance the wand into your hand so you can control it between your thumb and forefinger for really small precise wand motions which will be faster than doing it with your hold wrist."

An hour or so later and a cry of "Merry Christmas Neville." Got the attention from Harry and Neville's game of exploding snap. Neville jumped up excited, Archer passed him his new wand and Neville felt warmth rush through him.

"Thank you so much, this is the best present I've ever had."

"I'll want it back at Christmas so I can wrap it up. Now we've got some time before dinner and a few hours after, you should run through all the first year spells you can, focusing not on just the spell but exactly how much power you want. You'll have learnt to cast having to force all your power through just to make something happen, if you try that now you'll blow a hole in something."

For the rest of the evening Neville was levitating, dancing and transfiguring objects left, right and centre revelling in how easy it was to use his new wand. The wand alone seemed to have given his confidence a massive boost. The instruction on intent and visualisation meant he had far more control than he expected, previously his doubts distracted him from focusing so his intent was never fully used. The new Neville was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

On Monday morning the rest of the school realised Neville really wasn't a squib. Neville had been late to breakfast; Trevor had run away again but Neville had to make sure he ate his breakfast. When he arrived in the hall he spotted that Harry had joined Archer at the Slytherin table, as he headed towards them he watched as Draco Malfoy stormed towards Archer, not an unusual situation by now but what was strange was Malfoy aiming his wand at Archer's back. Tracey normally sat opposite Archer but neither she nor Daphne had arrived yet, Blaise was focusing on a letter while he ate his breakfast with only a fork. All in all, there was no one to warn Archer, acting on instinct Neville's new wand was drawn, it seemed to sing to him as he cast a simple disarming charm. Neville had however forgotten to focus on only removing Malfoy's wand, as a result years of overpowering all spells to get a small effect it wasn't a simple disarming spell that hit Malfoy. No, disarming spells don't send third year Slytherins flying across the hall to smash into a wall with a slight crunching noise. The entire hall was silent, Archer swivelled in his seat grinning, it suddenly struck Neville that Archer had known about Malfoy somehow and had probably spotted Neville come in too. Before any of the teachers could get over their shock and punish him Archer started to clap, he was soon joined by many of the anti-Malfoy crowd and some more who had seen him aim his wand at Archer's back. Snape stood up and went to check on Malfoy, Archer stood up too and took the stunned Neville's arm and led him to McGonagall. Personally Neville thought the Scottish witch was intimidating but he was too surprised at the power he had displayed to resist. Archer's reasoning soon became clear when he addressed Professor McGonagall and spoke about how Neville had saved him from some time in the hospital wing. The number of witnesses and the reaction of the hall combined with Archer's decision to lead Neville to McGonagall meant Snape never had a chance to punish Neville. Due to the number of people who saw Malfoy draw his wand and Neville's wand showing that he had only used a disarming spell meant he received no detentions. Helping another student might have even got him points but injuring another to do so meant that Neville wasn't rewarded either. It was however a net gain as Neville truly started to believe how strong he could be.