"The thing about Harry Potter is he never did his own paperwork." The boorish conversation opener echoed around the cluttered office; it was allowed to echo not because it's speaker was alone but because it's intended recipient simply allowed it to do so."I mean to say" Boole continued unabated "Have you ever added up how many, good or evil, died during the battle of Hogwarts, each one of those is another fatality form, another explanation to be given for use of deadly force, and sooner or later someone up top is gonna get fed up with 'dark times called for dark methods' as an excuse." The pause for breath was minute "And then before you know it we'll have legislation calling for us: US, you and me my friend; to start filling out those forms before we use deadly force: then, we are truly fucked.

A sigh. There was no point. If the challenge went unanswered for long enough Boole would form his loose argument into a true rant and before you knew it he'd take the rant outside of the safety of these offices and then...well it was better to shoot down his hopes of original thought now rather than let them fester.

"And why are we fucked? Because Harry, god almighty, Potter doesn't have time to do his own paperwork."

"You don't understand." Uttered Dirk, turning his chair slightly towards his assistant.

"What's there not to understand?"

"Firstly your understanding of the Potter situation is deeply flawed. Secondly your understanding of the meaning behind paperwork is poor at best." With that Dirk turned his chair back and continued staring at his rubber band ball.

Another tiny pause then:"How is my understanding of Potter flawed?"

"Harry Potter has been labelled officially as a 'Victim'; he is therefore excused from official duties on the grounds that, and I quote the report, 'he has been through enough'. Now we could sit here all day and argue over what in God's name 'enough' is supposed to mean; but given that this argument is with you I severely doubt that we would get anywhere close to the interesting parts of that discussion centred around the ambiguity of the law; suffice to say facing you-know-who a million times and finally besting him is almost certainly sufficient."

Boole began to interrupt but failed.

"In answer to your next question: this paperwork is not being read by someone high up; our paperwork, which is to say your paperwork, is to be filed away in draws and cabinets nobody cares about, in area's of space nobody even knows exist, so that in a thousand years time teams of magical historians can know in laborious detail how the entire wizarding war went down. No, just stamp the papers. I'm thinking."

"I still don't get why you don't have to do any paperwork" Muttered Boole

Dirk reacted, as Boole knew he would, be tapping the little plaque attached to his desk. This little plaque was the triumph of Dirk's career. After years of campaigning and letter writing he had finally persuaded the new head of magical law enforcement that his assortment of special skills required a certain amount of mental head-space. And since no other wizard was capable of thinking a swiftly, sharply and shrewdly and him he deserved the right to a 'field work only' pass. After the head of department had said there was no such pass he reliably informed her that he had filled the paper work for the creation of such a role months earlier and it had just been approved; nothing more needed to be done other than to grant him the position he had been made for. Or rather that had been made for him.

A contented sigh escaped Dirk's lips.

Of course there had been a cost, there was always a cost to these things, but he could cope with being pushed to a back office deep within the auror department; he could even cope with the slight reduction in his wages that meant Boole could be taken on as his assistant with minimal expense. No it was all something he could cope with. As long as he could recline in his chair and spend his time just thinking...

Today it was the rubber band ball, small about the size of a muggle baseball he levitated it up to eye level and rotated it around and around looking at it's contours and grooves, enjoying the slowly spinning globe for what it was. And then Boole spoke again.

"What are you thinking about anyway?" He said.

"I was thinking about Dumbledore."

"Why?"

A deep sigh, very well, thought Dirk, lets see if you can handle this, "Well you've read Harry Potters official account of what happened haven't you?" He said aloud.

"I skimmed it, all that stuff about the deathly hallows and such, you don't actually believe that shit do you?"

"My belief or lack thereof is unimportant; What is important is Dumbledore. Harry claims Dumbledore was master of the elder wand, having won it from Grindelwald."

"Right"

"But by definition the elder wand cannot be beaten in a duel"

"So?"

"So if Grindelwald was the master of the elder wand, how did Dumbledore best him?"

A beat hung in the air, as Boole realized they had reached the crux of the questioning; chances are this was a test and Dirk knew the correct answer; but he couldn't just say that: unless that was the correct answer and it was a meta-test. But he couldn't say that cause it'd look like he wasn't really trying.

"He cheated?" Boole suggested.

"What great, noble, good to the point of infuriating Dumbledore; cheat his childhood best friend out of a wand? Unlikely"

"Okay then there is no elder wand after all, it is just a legend and these events seem similar to it"

"But then why did Harry need the elder wand to defeat you-know-who? Why did he have to become master of the hallows, why mention it in the report?"

"I don't know drag Harry Potter in and interrogate him on it; I'm sure that'd please the boss no end"

"What on earth would be the point in that? If his report's true he won't know how Dumbledore won the duel either he'll only know it was another thing he never thought to ask Dumbledore"

"Then what's your solution?"

"What if" spoke Dirk now getting up and pacing the room his rubber band ball following after him "What if the elder wand is real but is not a physical wand? What if it's a state of mind or a mental idea, and if that's true then when Harry meant to destroy the wand he instead merely became it's heir which means in turn that the-"

He was cut off by the arrival of a bright red paper aeroplane whizzing through the office door. Dirk deftly caught it in one hand, turned it over and read quickly the instructions.

"Grab your muggle coat" He said excitedly "We have a case."