The Core Wars

by old-crow

New problems arise on the evening of the third task. This tale is a Great Wandout Challenge story. Effectively it is as if Unexpected Consequences had been like playing a role play game at the novice level. The Core War tale has a far harder set of challenges. While not a sequel, this story assumes that you've read Unintended Consequences.

2. July

Chapter Two
July

Saturday July 1

Early that morning, as the fledgling wandcrafters were boarding the jetliner, Sirius, in the form of Padfoot, and Lupin were walking into the Gringotts lobby where, by lucky chance, they were greeted by Barchoke. He called them into his office where he said, "It's good to see you again, Mr. Black."

Sirius changed forms and replied, "It is good to see you again, Barchoke."

"I'm pleased to see you as well, Mr. Lupin. How can I help you both?"

Direct and to the point, Sirius replied, "I'm looking for Harry."

"He is currently on a plane taking him to the United States for a month. If I could make a recommendation, Mr. Lupin, you may wish to purchase a cellular telephone and call me when you have it. I'll pass your telephone number on to Mr. Potter. They can easily be purchased at Harrods. Do you need to visit your vault?"

Sirius gave a nod of appreciation and answered, "Yes, if I can do it quietly?"

Ten minutes later, the two left the bank and took the floo to a public fireplace in St. Ebb, where they lived. Equipped with plenty of money, they would follow Barchoke's advice and purchase flip phones the next morning.

… - ...

A week into the Wandout, Fudge had concluded that the Department of International Magical Cooperation, as led by Pius Thicknesse, was worthless. Fudge had essentially tasked Thicknesse with gathering the same information that he had asked for from Percy. As far as he could tell, Thicknesse either hadn't completed a floo call yet, or had chosen to not report his findings.

Early that morning, while Harry and the Grangers were flying off to Boston to begin their wandcrafting education, Percy was meeting with Fudge, who asked, "What do you have to report?"

"The affected area extends about 2,000 miles in any direction from Wales. Parts of Newfoundland, Norway, Sweden and Finland are impacted. Going east through Poland and into the Ukraine, down through Greece and south, through much of Spain. The wandmakers seemed to have died the night of the Wandout, or the next morning. The farthest reported case was near Chernivtsi in Romania." He set up a globe on the table, put a pin in Cardiff and tied a pen to the other end of the string as far as Chernivtsi and drew a circle. "The closer you get to Wales, the greater the impact. Depending on how much they've associated with the muggles in their country, they're either seriously inconvenienced or practically paralyzed.

"There are just over 30,000 witches or wizards in Britain, who carry a wand, or are going to Hogwarts. The best estimate is that there are a total of 350,000 throughout the affected area without wands."

Fudge commented, "I had no idea that Ollivander was that busy."

Percy replied, "He wasn't. From what I've been able to ask and get answers from, over half of the witches and wizards in Britain were using family wands. It's a touchy subject to ask but I was using my Uncle Fabian's wand until I could afford a new one and my brothers were using family wands as well."

Fudge didn't press. He didn't want to embarrass the lad. He replied, "I used my grandfather's wand for a few years. You're right; it's not at all uncommon."

Percy continued, "The ICW federation has some very specific rules regarding wandcrafting. You need to be a licensed Journeyman Wandcrafter or a Wandmaster to legally make or sell wands. The Wandmasters that we would likely use seemed to have all died..."

Their conversation was cut short when the receptionist said, "There's a huge crowd outside of Gringotts demanding to buy British currency. The grocery store was looted."

… - ...

In Salem, Dan was enjoying the wandmaking class immensely. He'd been a hobby level woodworker all of his life. He was good with his hands and for some reason, just understood wood. Daryl Whitehorn, the Wandmaster put them to work right away. Currently, they were measuring, inspecting and sorting blocks of wood. Dan asked his daughter, "What do you think?"

"I was expecting more theory. I read the two books that he gave us."

Dan replied, "OK," then looked at the various blocks of wood on his workbench. One was balsa, the other oak. He asked Hermione to close her eyes and handed both blocks to her. Then he said, "Compare these. What's the same and what's different?"

She felt them and replied, "They're the same dimension; though of different varieties of wood. This one is quite a bit lighter. The wood feels more porous than the other one, which feels rigid." Daryl nodded at him and went to check on Harry.

While the students were discovering differences in the various woods, Daryl was going through the sack of material that Harry had brought along with some amazement. There must have been over 1,000 strands of unicorn hair of different lengths. Most were 18 inches while some were 42 inches. There were feathers and hairs from hippogriffs, quite a few tail hairs that looked to be from thestrals and three feathers that looked to be from a phoenix.

He marveled at the two elves; they were masters of the wood. He handed Winky a block and asked, "Winky, what can you tell me about this?"

She Looked at it and ran her fingers along it once, then replied, "This wood be from Downy Birch. It was from a branch. The tree was 80 years old when it died of drought. The wood was cut five years ago."

Flabbergasted by her insight, he replied, "Outstanding, Winky. Well done."

"Dobby, was the block cut, or sliced?"

Without even touching it, he replied, "Sliced."

He asked, "Hermione, does the grain of the wood of that particular block go the long way, or the short way?"

She examined it for a moment, felt it with her finger and replied, "The grain goes the length of the block."

"Good. Hermione, earlier we said that most wands are made of a core, a wood handle, a bit of glue and a bit of finish. What's the purpose of the handle?"

"To provide shape to the wand and to protect the core."

Exercising patience, Daryl observed, "Everything you said is true. What else?" After an uncomfortable silence, he added, "Anyone?"

Winky replied, "Different woods work better or worse for different witches and wizards. Harry Potter Sir can use oak, holly, downy birch, vinewood and elder woods. Elm would not work well for him. Miss Hermione can use oak, holly, vinewood, downy birch, or beech. Elder, yew, or elm would not work for her."

Daryl remarked, "Very good. What woods would work for me?"

"Oak, redwood and hornbeam would be best. You cannot be making Harry Potter's holly wand work well." Hermione begrudgingly came to the conclusion that not all useful knowledge came from books.

Sunday July 2

Back in London, Malfalda Hopkirk was upset. She thought back to this morning and her meeting with her cousin Cornelius.

"I told you Malfalda, there's nothing I can do," said Fudge. "Lucius is the one who provided all the bonus money for the underage magic muggle born monitoring program and I haven't seen him since the final night of the Tri-Wizard tournament. I have no bonus money for you this month. Since no one has a wand, your equipment has stopped working when you weren't able to renew the charms. You'll have to just make do with your regular salary and temporary duty, helping place orphans."

To make matters worse, she had to wait in line to get a cart to her vault, then she had to wait in a long line for a teller to exchange galleons for stupid muggle pounds! She was wasting her whole afternoon waiting on these disgusting creatures. Now to find they were only giving two measly pounds to the Galleon! They had been paying five to one two weeks before! The little cheats.

She stuffed the paper notes into her bag and left for home. There was food shopping to do, as she had nothing in the cupboards. While living in the prestigious muggle area of Notting Hill, Malfalda had never learned to fit in and wasn't really aware of her surroundings. She always looked odd in her out of date wizarding dress. Never more so than recently when she had no wand and wasn't able to do the usual charms on her clothes. She stood out and not in a good way. She fumbled with her bag and the pounds at the green grocers. This didn't escape notice of a rough looking young man who followed her as she returned to her flat.

She was just stepping off the curb to cross the street when he flew by on a bicycle grabbing her bag by the strap and sped off. She spun around out of control and staggered into the street where a dog catcher's van hit her head on. Now there was another vacancy in the Ministry of Magic.

… - ...

Back in Salem. during one of the breaks, Harry asked about the three large pencil drawings that were on the wall in the back of the classroom. Daryl replied, "The first is Merlin with his staff. They're the same height. The second is the legendary Death Stick – supposedly one of the three Deathly Hallows. The wand is supposed to be a thousand years old."

Harry commented, "I've seen that wand a hundred times. Professor Dumbledore carried it. The bumps in the wood are pretty distinctive." He pulled one of the memory cubes out of his bag, thought of the memory and set it to play. Daryl watched the video carefully and agreed with Harry's speculation.

Curiosity aroused, the Wandmaster asked, "Based on what you've learned of wood, what would you guess it to have been made from?"

"Unquestionably elder wood; a branch as opposed to the trunk. They're not large trees. Assuming it was actually a crafted wand as opposed to it just being a broken-off branch created by an immortal, I'd speculate basilisk venom. The amplification aspect and finicky combination of core and wood is a lot more believable than a sentient wand that would betray its so-called master at inappropriate times. What's your theory?"

Daryl admitted, "Probably the same. Do you know what happened to it?"

Harry replied, "Ironically, the two people who would have had the greatest chance to see it last are dead. The Death Eater who stabbed Dumbledore died within minutes of the murder. Professor McGonagall was apparently sitting next to him and was also stabbed by a guy who almost certainly a Death Eater. From what I heard, the short of it is that all of the wands flew away and most burned up in the air." Whitehorn rubbed his chin, trying to envision the strange tale.

Harry continued, "The third drawing; is that a dragon heart?"

"Yes. They need to be dried to the point of being almost brittle to be useful for wandcrafting. Depending on the size of the dragon, you can get five to six hundred wand core slivers out of one. Let me have one of your unused memory cubes for a minute." He held it up to his forehead, thought of the memory and handed it back saying, "If you're in a position to process one sometime in the future, review that. It will give you a great visual and improve the likelihood that your first attempt is successful."

"Thanks."

… - …

Back in the alleys adjacent to Diagon Alley, the ringleader said, "OK, fifteen minutes to closing time. Let's get a move on. Remember Briana, you drive to the end of Litchfield street and wait in front of the Souk take-away for us. Put your masks on everyone. It's not yet the time to show our faces."

She replied, "OK. I'll be waiting with the van. Good hunting everyone."

"Hoods up. Does everyone have their weapons? Good. OK you lot, split up, teams of two, a minute apart through the Leaky and go to your spots. We hit at the same time, so watch your time. We've got five minutes to get in position. Carol, you're with me, we're hitting Slug and Jiggers. Josh and Geoffrey, hit Pippin's Apothecary. Sarah, you and Jay hit Nolte's Botanical. It's just a quick in and out job, grab the galleons out of the tills, get the ingredients and any prepared potions on the list and any dragon blood. Be done in under three minutes. Then meet at Knockturn Alley to hit Mulpepper's potions. Walk, don't run. We hit that as a group and leave the alley out of the back way. Everything by the numbers as we practiced at the farm."

At ten to six, the three teams entered their assigned establishments.

Carol entered Slug and Jiggers after the ringleader and turned and locked the door and flipped the open/closed sign to closed. The man moved swiftly to the counter and vaulted it, pushing old man Jiggers up against the back counter and putting the blunt edge of his knife against his throat. "Just cooperate and you don't get hurt. C, move and collect what we need."

Having memorized the list that she'd been given, Carol swept up and down the storeroom shelves tossing vials and bags of prepared potions ingredients into a space expanded bag.

Two minutes later, she said, "OK, ready to go, F," as she came out of the storeroom and headed for the front door.

Greyback calmly told Jiggers, "Stay put for a few minutes and I won't come back some morning looking for you."

"I won't do anything foolish. I never saw you." replied Jiggers. It wasn't the first time that he'd been robbed in his fifty years in business and he viewed thefts and the occasional robbery as an unpleasant cost of doing business. He had plans to teach his grandson how to fish the next week and he didn't want a comparatively small matter like a store robbery to ruin them. Potions were a high margin product. He'd replace the stolen inventory in a day or two.

The other two teams made their hits in the same efficient way. Quickly securing the business and those inside, grabbing what they could find on their lists and exiting in under three minutes. Meeting at the intersection of Diagon and Knockturn Alley's, they strode purposely to Mulpepper's Potions.

The counter attendant, a hired clerk, was just closing the door to lock up when Jay kicked it open, knocking the clerk on his face. The team streamed in leaving the clerk for the leader. There was only the clerk by the door and one Potion Master in the back room. The leader picked up the thunderstruck and frightened clerk and carried him to the rear after closing the door.

The leader held the two aside while his team emptied the till and swept through the storeroom for the ingredients and potions they needed.

"Clear and ready to go!"

"OK you two, on the floor. Stay there for ten minutes before calling the Aurors and I won't have reason to remember your names and come looking for you." Scared witless, they both nodded.

"OK, everyone follow me out the back door into Souk's and out to the street!"

He strode to the left rear corner of the storeroom and walked through a disillusioned door and into the kitchen of Souk Takeaway. Passing quickly through the kitchen, the cook staff had no time to react as they stood in open mouth wonder as six people suddenly appeared in their midst and walked out of the establishment and into an old blue van, indistinguishable from thousands of other work vans.

"Let's hit the road. B, get us to the safe house."

A few minutes later, they were merged onto A40 west. About ninety minutes later, they were in Gerrard's Cross Village, pulling into an estate house's garage typical for the area. Entering the house, they went to the floo and walked out in another safe house in Hogsmeade.

"Ok, Briana and Joshua, you're with me. The rest of you organize the haul. I want it done before we get back. Let's go. It's time to hit the greenhouses."

Exiting the house, they went to a shed in the back garden where they hauled three CCM dirt bikes out. Each had a set of Pannier boxes. (hard sided saddle bags) on the back.

Mounting and kickstarting his bike the leader said: "Remember, we go in, grab what we need and get out. Let's go!"

… - …

Cornelius Fudge had spent most of his career working in the department of magical catastrophes. He believed that he was skilled (or lucky) at finding the person responsible for the incident, then reasoning with them with respect to paying the damages. If it was a minor event, he would accept a smaller cash settlement. More cases were directed his way during the war years; which unfortunately fit hand-in-glove with Dumbledore's everyone deserves 600 chances mindset. Those Death Eaters who sat on the Wizengamot did what they could to quietly support him.

In 1981, Baby Potter happened.

Crouch Jr, had been a last minute addition to the raid run by Bellatrix that went so badly for all. Whether he was added out of perceived necessity, or to potentially disqualify a hard-liner like Crouch Sr. from being Minister was debatable. The result was that a few went to Azkaban, Crouch Sr. was shuffled off from DMLE Director to the do-nothing deartment of International Magical Cooperation and Bagnold became the new Minister. Instead of being sentenced to Azkaban, a dozen Death Eaters negotiated a settlement and used the now infamous Imperius Curse defense. Fudge (who could be reasoned with) was two million galleons richer and Dumbledore was smiling as the newly reinstated Wizengamot members were happy to accept Dumbledore's claim that his new potions master was reformed. In 1990, with Malfoy's backing, Fudge became minister and the money kept coming; aided by his appointed Undersecretary, Umbridge.

In married life, Fudge was discreet, respectful of his wife and by any measurement, was a good provider. He wasn't flashy in his spending but keeping expensive women entertained on the side was an expensive habit. He had villas in France and Italy and he'd recently purchased one in Spain. He still owed quite a bit of money on it as well as the others.

Along came the Great Wandout. Fudge's initial concern that his patrons may have disappeared turned out to be true. He didn't want to give up any of his vacation properties and didn't want to be forced into visibly tapping into the joint savings account that held far too much of his/their money. He needed a new funding source.

… - …

Monday July 3

The morning after the alley robberies, Director Bones walked through the Auror bullpen to Shack's desk. "What do you have to report?"

"They were pros. They wore masks. No one was identified. They were in and out in a short time and no one got hurt. They entered the alley through the Cauldron and then they broke up into three teams and robbed Slug and Jiggers, Pippin's Apothecary and Nate's Botanicals all at the same time, about 5:55 just before closing time. Then they all hit Mulpeper's Apothecary and left the ally through the emergency exit into Muggle London. Witnesses said they got into a waiting van and drove away. They stole about two thousand galleons, probably five to seven thousand worth of prepared potions and ingredients or plants. They all were wearing masks."

He added, "Two hours later, three people wearing hoods hit the greenhouses at Hogwarts. They arrived on motorcycles. They tied up Pomona Sprout and an apprentice and made off with 23 separate plants. All were rare. They were in and out in less than five minutes."

"Any notion of why?"

He replied, "They were working from written lists. Most likely they were planning on making polyjuice and a synthetic version of cocaine that the kids call wingjam. Some of the ingredients could be used for any number of potions from wolfsbane to wit sharpening potion. They got the entire supply of lacewing flies and boomslang skin in the alley. They've crippled the apothecaries in the alley until new stock comes in. Now with the Wandout, who knows when that might be?"

Amelia remarked, "That's troubling. They planned this. They were long gone before we were even notified. Apparently they were people who they thought we would recognize."

Kingsley replied, "They scared the storekeepers into waiting to contact us. Threatened them that they'd be back some morning if they didn't. As we stand right now, without wands to fight back, I'd have waited to call myself, if I even called at all. No one had wands, They could be squibs taking advantage of the Wandout. Most potions can be made without any wandwork. We can barely respond and have no real means to fight back."

Amelia was troubled by the thought that these incidents could gro into a widespread looting spree.

… - …

Tuesday July 4

The leader plopped down on the sofa next to Sarah Goode in the snug she liked in the small cottage she used for herself on the grounds of the Lodge. He said, "You look exhausted. How did the planting go yesterday?"

Sarah sighed, "I think it went well, Fen; better than I expected. The pack turned out except for you and your little team who were off raiding somewhere."

He growled, "Now none of that."

"I'm tired. We worked all day. I had them broken up into groups. We rearranged all the benches, mixed soil for growing, filled all the planters and got all the plants and seeds you picked up planted. I've assigned three teams of three to take care of the green house around the clock."

"You need anything else?"

She replied, "No, as far as plants go. We have every plant we need for brewing the Bane. With a bit of edging, I've got enough Fire Whiskey to last four months. We could always use more. Fresh dragon blood would be better. We need more, as I think things will get scarce with the Wandout. We could run short. If we have the money, you should send someone to the Iceland dragon reserve to buy some blood before they run out. Without wands, no one would be processing dragons. Perhaps when you go roaming, look for and pick up more Fire Whiskey. With a bit of luck and attention to detail, we have what we need for a while."

He didn't have a lot of muggle or wizarding cash on hand. However, his plan was for that situation to change soon.

… - ...

Friday July 7

Back at Salem, Daryl said, "OK, we've made our first working wands and looked at a few different styles. Let's talk about wandcrafting in your environment. Hermione, you mentioned that there would be at least 30,000 wands to make. If you were going to make them all out of unicorn hair, how many unicorns would you need?"

She replied, "At least 100 that had never previously been trimmed. I seriously doubt that there are that many in the forest." He wrote Unicorns on the whiteboard.

He asked, "How about hippogriffs or thesterals?"

Harry replied, "I have a good idea where they reside."

Daryl asked, "What else do you have available?"

"Let me show you." He took out one of the memory cubes that Barchoke had given him and thought of his time in the Chamber of Secrets, set it down and put it to play.

A half hour later, it finished and Daryl said, "Let's break for lunch." Dan and Hermione went out to enjoy the perfect weather, while Dobby and Winky popped off to look at something. He thought about it and next to his listing of Unicorn he wrote Basilisk then underneath wrote the subheadings Shed Skin, Bone and Venom. Just then, Fawkes appeared and sat on Harry's shoulder for a minute, trilled a few notes, then flew up and four feathers fluttered onto his lap. At that point, any and all questions about why Barchoke had made the exclusive arrangement about his training Potter and his party – effectively putting him out of the wandcrafting class business, completely disappeared from his mind. The teen was extraordinary.

Harry went to the refrigerator and grabbed two Orange Crushes and handed him one. He asked, "Wanna see another one."

The only words he could muster were, "Sure."

Harry thought about the end of the tournament and his time in the graveyard, ending with the coins. When it was through he said, "That should put paid to whoever killed your brother."

Daryl could just nod and said, "Let's pick up again in the morning." He was shattered.

… - …

At dinner that evening, Hermione asked, "Why did you do that? Daryl told me that he'd left Britain 30 years ago because of Riddle."

Harry replied, "Because one of those idiots killed his brother."

Dan said, "That was good that you showed him that. It won't bring his brother back but a bit of closure is always a good thing."

… - …

Saturday July 8

Before class the next morning, Daryl handed Harry a business card and said, "If you ever want to sell any of the basilisk, this person would be very interested in offering you an excellent price."

"Thank you. That's on my list for August projects. Can any of it be used for wand making?"

As the others were there, Daryl replied, "Yes. That brings us to today's topics, compatibility and effectiveness." He drew several columns under each of the core headings and wrote, availability, compatibility and effectiveness. He said, "Frankly, most wandcrafters don't have access to anywhere near the depth or variety of core material that you do. They tend to have very limited supplies of one, or possibly two core materials and a handful of varieties of wood to work with. Your phoenix feathers will produce a 100 percent efficacy wand but just over three fourths of the wand users could make it work properly. So we have a 100 percent effective core type that's compatible with 80 percent of users. By convention, we notate that as100-E/80-C."

Dobby asked, "What are the best wood types for phoenix feather wands?"

Daryl replied, "Yew and Holly. 40 percent of users could get good results with one, another 40 percent could get best results with the other. So we have a 100-E/80-C core that's barely available. A few could use either. Dragon heart will produce a 100-E/90-C percent effective wand with a total of 90 percent compatibility using either oak or elm. Again the issue with dragon wands is availability. Most wandmakers have zero access to a dragon reserve. You also need two or two and a half years to properly dry/cure a dragon heart, depending on the size. By that, I mean when it's ready, it's essentially like a piece of beef jerky and can be cut into thin strips or strings to use as core. We're using the outer muscle, not the chamber sections."

He thought for a minute and continued, "Back to your question, you have the shed snake-skin. It will probably give you an amplification effect of sorts and produce a 125-E. I'd guess maybe 14 percent compatibility."

Winky said, "Downy Birch would be best. Winky guesses 25 percent. Winky can See the magics working together." He accepted her response as fact and wrote 125-E/25-C downy birch.

She added "Yew wood would work for some users but elder wood would be best for big ugly snake fang juice."

"Outstanding." Under venom/bone, he wrote 150-E/15-C elder.

Dan asked, "How about thestral?"

Winky replied, "75-E/50-C Elm or old pine."

Hermione asked, "Why old pine?"

Dan replied, "It would be harder."

Hermione nodded and asked, "How about hippogriff?"

Winky replied, "Same as thestral."

Daryl said, "Setting the subject of the snake aside, the cores with high efficacy in transmitting a spell are dragon heart and phoenix feathers. For all practical purposes, you don't have any. Next, you have unicorn. 95-E/75-C. Overall, it's the best of what you may have but the quantity available is limited. Oak and beech work best. Next tier down are the two other tail hairs at 75-E/50-C. Last but not necessarily least, you have the exotics. They'll offer fantastic results for the right people. Can you think of other core types?"

Winky replied, "There is big, ugly, nasty spider thread but they be killing many wizards and witches."

That idea got no takers, so they moved on. Harry asked, "What cores do you have a lot of in the US?"

Daryl replied, "I suppose that the thing that we have the most of is muskox hair. As I understand it, the colder that it is when the hair is cut, or shed, the greater the potency of the strand. The range is from 65-75-E with a 50-C. They're generally found above the arctic circle. Doing much of a trim in the winter will almost certainly kill the animal. No one really wants to go tromping aimlessly through the tundra when it's minus 50F either. A week or so on either side of Mid-April are the weeks to collect the hair."

"White buffalo are as rare as unicorns, thunderbirds are as rare as phoenix. Jackolope horn can be found easily enough in some of the western states but the results are similar to your hippogriff – acceptable but not spectacular. There are some unicorns in Argentina and the surrounding islands."

Dan replied, "I've been there. Parts reminded me of the highlands."

Hermione considered their words and observed, "Daryl, you're right about the variety of core options that we have available. That said, they're in finite, if not extremely limited quantities. There may be thirty, or fifty unicorns in the forest by Hogwarts; there probably aren't a hundred. The same would hold true for thestrals or hippogriffs."

Daryl nodded and replied, "You absolutely have enough material to get started. That said, some percent of your week or month will need to be devoted to materials collection. You'll also need to consciously be looking for additional materials to try."

… - ...

In Britain, traditionally, the ministry's position of, It's not their goal to accumulate piles of cash; rather to establish an appropriate level of programs, set fair tax rates, preserve the culture and serve the witches and wizards seemed proper – at least according to the purebloods who held the majority of the political power. The ministry had designated two primary sources of revenue – the three percent sales taxes on businesses that did transactions in galleons and the estate tax imposed on the deceased.

As of the end of June, the latest summery report referenced a few numbers.

Beginning balance 302,000G

Sales tax revenue 200,000

Estate tax revenue 0

Expenses, 225,000

Ending Balance 277,000

Fudge never worried about it. Basil Debit, the Financial Director always seemed to have it under control. Had he given the subject the thought that it deserved, he'd have concluded that both revenue streams had (at least temporarily) dried up and at the rate that the employee payroll was burning through the cash, the ministry would be out of money in September.

… - …

Amelia had a problem. It had been two weeks since the Wandout. Without wands, the Aurors were effectively defenseless. Beyond that they suddenly found themselves with logistical issues in that there weren't many portkeys and there were limited public floo fireplaces. Reginald Cattermole's initial estimate that the floo system it wouldn't forever without recharging or maintenance felt like a ticking time bomb.

Several stores had been looted so far. Their ability to defend them or apprehend the perpetrators was limited. Their response time was averaging five minutes. No one within the DMLE had ever let on that they had wandless ability beyond levitating a light object or summoning an object from a few feet away. Those who could do that were the handful who had taken their occlumancy lessons to heart.

The reality of the situation had completely sunk in. No one was going to suddenly fix their problem.

She did what she always did when a seemingly unsolvable issue arose. She called on Connie and Moody. Ten minutes later they'd identified a comprehensive list of problems but no solutions.

Moody made the observation, "These are problems that we have. 99.95 percent of Britain is operating perfectly normally. Malkin's tailor shop was broken into, yet there's probably 500 places in London to buy clothing. The same with the bottle shop in Knockturn. The exchange rate has gone pear shaped but that's beyond our span of control.

There's thirty some thousand magicals in Britain. For sake of discussion, a fourth are muggleborn, half are halfblood and a fourth are pureblood. The muggleborn will be fine, that have documentation to get work, or are already working in the muggle side. They could get on a plane, fly to Buenos Aires or Bangkok and go buy a wand tomorrow if they choose to. The halfbloods probably need documentation to get work. The purebloods are the ones in a jam. Unless they're wealthy and can buy whatever they need, they're truly stuck. Their houses aren't powered, they have no transferable skills and will be the ones causing the most problems."

… - …

Back at St. Ebb, Remus and Sirius were having essentially the same conversation. They came to the conclusion that they would both work on their meditation and hopefully learning to cast some usable wandless magic.

… - ...

Meanwhile, in Salem, Daryl asked, "What are some examples of non-renewable wand core?"

Harry pointed out, "Basilisk."

Dan suggested, "Dragon."

Daryl wrote it down but Harry shook his head. Daryl asked, "What did you have in mind?"

Harry replied, "I was thinking of a Christmas tree farm. They're planted and grown year after year for the purpose of being harvested. A dragon reserve is kind of the same. They exist to make enough money when they process the dragon to pay the expenses associated when they raise it. Like the Christmas trees, it's just a continuous cycle."

"Good point. Your basilisk is a one-time opportunity, whereas if you have access to a dragon reserve, the dragons represents a recurring resource. I was thinking from the perspective that the core could only be acquired from a dead animal. In contrast, you have access to a renewable core, such as your unicorn tail hair. If you had a unicorn with 150 tail hairs and the hair grew an inch a month, your unicorn would yield core for about 150 wands a year. Your phoenix friend might offer you 20 feathers a year. Either of these would be predictable and repeatable.

"Circling back to your early observation, Hermione, the other factor is availability. A great wood/core combination is moot if the components aren't available, or acquiring them is likely to kill the searcher."

"Good point," replied Hermione.

"Garrick had a selection a mile wide in terms of combinations. Your business model is to fit thousands every month. Your inventory needs to be a mile deep with just six or ten total wood/core combinations." He emphasized, "It's your opportunity to build wands that will work acceptably for most people, not your obligation to fit every single person who comes along." Harry nodded in complete agreement.

Dan asked, "So in manufacturing terms, we would be better as a make to stock operation, where we make the wands in advance and sell what we have rather than make to order."

"Absolutely. You can't be a custom wand crafter at that volume. You have 33,000 customers. You only want to see them once."

… - …

Daryl closed the refrigerator and said, "In the end, material acquisition and your success with it will make or break your business. Successful wandcrafters spend between 10 and 50 percent of their wandcrafting time searching for materials. Unless you live in a phoenix reserve, actively searching for materials is an ongoing reality.

"If on the far end of the spectrum, you're spending more than half of your time searching for core, you won't get enough wands made to earn a living, let alone save Europe.

"If your other sources of core truly become scarce, you'll want to seriously consider going after muskox next April. My suggestion would be to utilize the superior skills of Dobby, Winky and perhaps some of their friends to locate and acquire the material. In the end, to make thirty thousand, or three hundred thousand wands, you'll need to use a material that's comparatively plentiful, safe to acquire, fits a high percentage of users and in the end, produces a 60-75 percent wand with respect to efficacy."

… - …

Meanwhile, Fenrir Greyback was pacing along a small sandy beach by a lake in a remote part of the Keswick Mountains Lake District National Park in Cumberland County in northwest England with his 64 member pack while thinking about how long he was away. It was good to be home and back in England. After the disappearance of Voldemort, he'd gone to ground. Using Malfoy and Voldemort's' money that he'd found in their safe houses, he had wandered about the continent; first France, then Switzerland and the Italian mountains for almost ten years. He ignored Malfoy and his posturing. He had ranged over the Alps and the Apennine's. They'd been great places for a wolf to run on a moon. He had kept a low profile, just as he had ordered his pack. They stayed out of sight and out of mind. For the most part, they'd blended in by working on farms. Others like Carol and Brianna worked as delivery drivers. They blended in and didn't let the muggles or the Ministry catch wind of them. Under Dolores Umbridge's crusade, Malfoy's gold along with Fudge's incompetence and greed, the ministry had made it very hard to be a Were in Great Britain.

Recently he'd felt the pull of his homeland. He could smell change in the air. Then the Wandout happened and he seized the chance for retribution on the Ministry. This was one of two primary Pack hideaways. This was the lodge and then there was the farm in a remote part of Cornwall. He liked the lodge for the remoteness, the mountains and the actual lodge which was hidden under a Fidelius Charm. The facility was huge with over twenty rooms. A Were had room to roam on the full moon in the wilderness surrounding the peak. He had acquired it back in the first rise of Voldemort as a condition of joining his efforts. He'd harbored no illusions that Voldemort wasn't just using him and would renege if it proved expedient to do so. Greyback had never accepted taking the mark. A curse already controlled him at least once a month and he wasn't going to add another master.

Sarah Goode, his pack beta, sometimes lover, and one of his key pack members, who would have been a certified potion mistress if she hadn't been tagged as being a Were, walked up cautiously. "What's the matter Fen? You're very agitated today. The Moon is in four days and the Bane is almost ready."

Greyback admitted, "I don't know if I want to be taking it this Moon. I want to do another raid."

"Why not? It's better to have the wolf under control; you should keep your wits about you."

"You're always the better part of reason, Sarah," replied Fenrir with a sigh. "I want to hit Hogsmeade. We can do a fast hit and run at Folgard's. He's got to be full of cash, both muggle and wizard. With no wands, the people are panicking. The Goblins, the greedy little shites have tightened up and cut the exchange rate to two pounds to the Galleon. The people need muggle money. Before the wandout it was five to one. Folgard is paying three to one. He's got to be sitting on a lot of cash."

Sarah hesitated a moment then asked, "Are you going to take anyone from the farms?" The 50 or so Weres who lived at the farms were, for the most part, a group who just wanted to be allowed to live in peace. They were made up of some old, worn-out men, many women and adolescents, along with a few children. "You should stick with the group you have at the lodge for these raids."

Fenrir thought of the farm, actually four farms all abutting each other in a sparsely populated area of Cornwall, totaling about 400 acres in all. Houses, barns, animals. It was a good place for his pack to hide and survive the moon. Most just wanted to farm in peace; a handful occasionally helped with operations. They all had a better life than he'd lived once he was turned as a teen. He lived rough for quite a while. He smiled at his Beta.

He added, "You're right, except I asked Carol to go when we went out next. Josh and Geoffery suggested we sortie from the Hogsmeade safe house on Briarwood Lane and walk down to hit Chang's Jewelry, the bottle shop, then Folgard's in that order. We'll drive out of Hogsmeade. I think we need at least two more from the farms."

Sarah thought it unnecessarily risky to go after the bottle shop or the jewelry store. She asked, "Is it wise to expose the farms? We've been living in plain sight in Cornwall. There's no one within a mile of us. Many members of the pack sell at the local markets. We bring no attention to ourselves. People leave us alone. Now with the potions supplies and the plants we liberated, I can brew Bane for everyone. We have a lot of everything except dragon blood. We can get that at the Iceland dragon reserve."

He argued, "I won't bring attention to us. We'll all be wearing masks and hoods. I'll have Russ and Nigel come here and then we'll stay in the Malfoy safe houses in London, Wiltshire or in Gerrard's Cross for a week or two after the heist. The Hogsmeade shopkeepers and Aurors have no wands - no way to fight back yet. They're not going to chase after us carrying night sticks. The bottle shop is good practice. We should strike while we can. If we move fast enough, they won't even be able to respond and when they do they won't be able to follow us."

Still cautious of the blond Death Eater's deadly reputation, she asked, "Are you sure that Malfoy's gone for good? What if he turns up? We're using his "Masters" safe houses, stolen his food, potions, and money he left in them. He doesn't seem the type that would suffer being crossed."

Greyback replied, "Nope, no worries. He's dead like all the rest of the tattoo fraternity. I've looked around. There's not a one left. They all disappeared. Not a word. I hear Fudge is panicking. With his Pink Toad dead, and no Malfoy greasing his palms with gold, he's in a tough spot. No, the time to strike is now before they adapt. We can put most of the money away and then quietly sit this crisis out. We're used to straddling both muggle and wizard worlds. We need to look at what's best for the pack."

"Don't let the moon keep you from thinking straight, Fen. Plan this out properly."

He did just that. He thought of who he would take on the raid.

Sarah's too important right now, so she'll stay at the lodge.

Joseph Alton's a tough forty something who was turned as a teen. He would lead Brent and Joshua, two happy go lucky souls who were solid when the chips were down.

Carol Phillips would lead the second team with the Vincent and Nigel from the lodge. Vincent had a bit of healer and first aid, EMT training and was always good to have on a raid. Nigel was young but listened to directions.

I'll lead the third team. Two from the lodge. Josh. He's solid in a fight, and Edie. She'd been a tough women and trusted member of the pack for longer than Fenrir had been leader.

He decided that since Carol was already directly involved, I'll have Briana, the other truck driver, as our transportation again. She'll bring an off-highway truck in case we can't floo out. They'll have no means of chasing after us.

… - …

Saturday July 15

Tonight, would be the full moon for July but now it was a quiet morning in Hogsmeade. It was a bit cool for the time of the year, as night had left a light ground mist that was quickly dissipating as the sun rose this morning. The streets, as usual were quiet with few people about except for the odd shopkeeper beginning their daily chores. Shortly after half past nine, a mixed group of nine men and women wearing hoods and masks walked into the business district of Hogsmeade. If one looked carefully, they would see that members of the group were carrying axes, sledgehammers and had antique hanger style short swords on their belts. Being so close to the full moon and with the final dose of the Bane to take tonight before moon rise, the entire group was on edge with a slight undercurrent of anger. The group split up into three smaller teams and headed for their objectives.

In the village's only bottle shoppe, the proprietor was restocking the shelves. He was placing two cases of Fire Whiskey on the end display as he thought about what he had to do. He'd have to get to Gringott's today with the receipts from the past few days. Last night had been unusually busy for a Friday and he'd sold a lot of liquor. It seemed every month he had an odd day like that. He didn't like to have that much coin around; it was just asking for trouble.

Several shops down, Cho Chang was helping her mother, Li open their jewelry shop. Her father had recently returned from an Asian buying tour. He would be along later. There were pearls to sort. That was one of the few tasks that Cho liked to help with in the shop. Mindless sorting would help her keep her condition and Cedric's unemployment off her mind for a few hours.

At Folgard's Currency Exchange, Ministry Finance Director Basil Debit had arrived ten minutes before opening. He sat on the bench in the little green space in the middle of the street and waited for Lenny Folgard to open. Basil was a small, homely man who had a taste for the company of beautiful and expensive women; well out of his league, as people are want to say.

No one who really knew Debit would call him slow witted. He had a brain and spebt his money just as fast as he made it. Some of it came by hook and crook but a big chunk was earned by legal currency trading.

Debit had three sources of income. First, there was his ministry salary as Finance Director, which was just less than Amelia's. Second, the arrangement made with Fudge to systematically skim money from estate revenue and split it was a big bonus. Finally, there was his hobby and true interest; currency trading. On average, with carefully planning and timing, he was able to double his ministry salary in a year.

This year, he recognized the huge opportunity with the Wandout. Prior to the Wandout, the Goblin's were trading five Pounds to one Galleon. Mere hours after the wands disappeared, he envisioned the likely shift in exchange rates and took action. He made his way to Gringotts, which hadn't yet shifted their rates and cleaned out his vault of all but 200 galleons and converted it to Pounds at the five to one rate. Within days, shops were empty and there was a tidal wave of people wanting to trade for muggle currency. As a result, the exchange rate dropped to two to one. Basil decided this was a panic move and believed that it would stabilize soon at three and half or four to one. He acted quickly and sold 200,000 pounds the day after the wandout to Folgards at three to one. He'd legally made a year's pay in a day. He continued to trade, sometimes in Britain, sometimes on the continent; he made money with every transaction.

Now weeks later, no one else was selling pounds. Everyone was looking to buy. Basil still had plenty available to sell. He was making a killing trading. His old friend, Lenny Folgard needed more Pounds. He was sitting on loads of Galleons. Basil wanted to do a deal early and get home. He smiled as he saw Lenny unlock the door. Quickly doing a large trade, Debit walked out and stood just a few doors down from Folgard's. He thought about going to the Three Broom Sticks to perhaps enjoy some breakfast and maybe admire Rosemerta's buxomness.

With the suddenness of a broken shoelace, violence erupted at three locations simultaneously in Hogsmeade.

The group lead by Fenrir Greyback headed towards Folgard's. Anger simmered under Greyback's skin as he spied Basil Debit. Cold fear filled Basil and froze him in place as he recognized the most notorious Were in Great Britain walking up to him. A pounce and a slash with his antique sword and Debit was dead before his severed head hit the ground. His assailant searched his case and found a four-inch stack of pound notes and twenty 1,000 coin bags of galleons in his enchanted space expanded and weightless case. The lovely Escort, Candy Montgomery would have to find someone else to occupy her time.

… - ...

At the same time, approaching the Chang's Shop, Carol Phillips growled, "Nigel, get the door."

A mighty sledgehammer blow to the door lock splintered the door, the jamb and shattered the glass window showering Cho and Li Chang with glass and debris. The three robbers rushed in and violently pushed the elder Chang to the floor and grabbed Cho in a choke hold on her throat.

"Open the safe!"

Frozen with fear Cho begged, "Please don't hurt us, I'll do as you say!"

"V, grab her," ordered Carol as she pointed to the older women on the floor who was moaning and holding her head.

Cho opened the safe and Carol emptied all the jewelry, pearls and several stacks of Pounds and bags of Galleons into her bag.

"Let's go, leave the girl."

Cho knelt by her mother and held her and cried. They were terrified for each other. She'd never, ever forget the horrible feeling of being so powerless.

A minute after entering, the robbers left the shop and headed towards the rendezvous.

… - ...

The team led by Joseph Alton, slammed open the door to the Bottle Shoppe and rushed in and grabbed the proprietor by the throat and shook him like a rag doll.

"I want all your money now. J and B, take those two cases of Fire Whiskey while we're here." While they filled their space expanded bags, Joe Alton dragged the shaken shopkeeper into the back room.

Throwing him through the doorway he held out a bag. "Fill it now. Let's go people," said Joe. He pointed his finger at the clerk. "Don't do anything stupid. Don't call anyone and stay here for five minutes." Joe's team headed for the rendezvous point by Folgard's.

… - ...

Moments after disposing of Basil Debit, two swings of Fenrir's sledge hammer shattered the door to Folgard's Currency Exchange. Lenny was momentarily frozen. Pushing their way in, Fenrir rushed at Folgard and pinned him to the wall with his sword point at his neck. Lenny knew enough to not resist. The the Diagon alley apothecaries, it wasn't the first time he'd been robbed. Lenny also had plans for the next week. Like Debit, he'd made serious money in the last two weeks. In his case, he'd made more than he'd earned in the last five years combined. Much of the profit had already been deposited at Gringotts. Like the Diagon Alley shopkeepers, he viewed the occasional robbery as a cost of doing business. He wouldn't do anything that would suddenly erase those plans.

"Do as we say and you won't get hurt. Open the safe now."

Roughly turning him around, holding a hand on his shoulder and the sword point in the small of his back Greyback marched him into the back room only to find it standing open. Lenny hadn't had time to close it after the transaction with Debit. Standing neatly on the shelves were several stacks of muggle money and bags of galleons.

Emboldended by they knowledge that the shopkeepers or Aurors wouldn't be pulling wands and offering any serious resistance, Josh and Edie began sweeping the muggle money packets and the bags of gold galleons into their space expanded bags. This looked to be their best haul ever.

Carol and Joe arrived with their teams. Carol set up security outside. Joe, along with Brent and Joshua stepped into the shop. Briana pulled up to the now-crowded shop in the off-highway van.

Coming from the upper-level apartment, Lenny's twelve-year-old daughter Charlotte crept silently down the stairs carrying a Holland and Holland over and under 12 bore sporting shotgun with half pistol grip. The 29-inch barrels had been cut back to 16 inches. At just under seven pounds, it was a perfect weapon for the young women. With the unchoked barrels and larger pellets designed to bring down flying geese, the spray pattern made a short distance shot devastating and aiming close to the target was close enough.

Looking at the mirror angled in the stairwell, she took the room in at a glance. Three people stood in the front of the shop in front of the counter. She could hear sounds of people in the back room. Two in front and her dad and two others in back. Shivering, she cocked both hammers of the shotgun.

Time seemed to move in ultra-slow motion for her. She stepped confidently out into the room. Turning towards the doorway into the safe room and screaming "Lenny hit the floor." She raised the shotgun, aiming low at the person holding her father.

Fenrir was just stepping out the door.

Little Charlotte pulled one trigger then the other. The first shell took Edie directly in the center of her throat. Her head rolled across the floor until it hit came to rest against the counter. Her body stood for a full three seconds spurting blood out of the severed carotid artery in her neck before collapsing on to the floor. The second shot hit Josh in the center of his sternum blowing him right into the open safe.

Charlotte stepped back into the stairwell and desperately reloaded the shotgun as a thrown knife missed her by an inch.

Carol yelled, "Time to go. Everybody out!" She led the way out of the shop.

Charlotte, her adrenaline pumping, stepped back into the front room raised the shotgun towards the people rushing out the door as she did so. At the same time, she pulled the trigger then again for the second barrel, Fenrir Greyback threw a stool at her, hitting her in the shoulder and pushed the gun barrel to the side. The first shot was a near miss grazing the far left lower side of Vincent's face and jaw. The second hit the shop window high, showering the Were's standing outside with glass fragments. With a speed he wouldn't have guessed, the pre-teen reloaded.

Fenrir ran for the door, picking up a groaning Geoffrey. "Everyone into the van. Let's go. We need to get out of here." He called to the driver, "Head for the road, and don't go near the safe house, I don't want to burn it, B." Today had not turned out as he wished, thought Fenrir.

Charlotte was about to get a third set of shots off as Lenny came up to her. Watching the van pull away, he embraced her: "Let them go, Sweetheart. I'm all right, just a bit bruised from the rough handling. I'm here because of you. Thanks."

"Oh Dad," she said wailing.

… - ...

Just then, the four Aurors that Rosmerta had called for came through the door of the Three Broomsticks, holding their riot sticks. Three minutes hadn't qualified as rapid response in this situation. Connie Hammer and Anna Daily followed immediately behind. There was one body literally at their feet and three shops with smashed doors. Scrimgeour's so-called rapid response team hadn't stopped anything.

… - ...

A short time later, after following a dirt horse path, the stolen van reached a road that led to the A9 and a direct path to Inverness. Once there, they dumped the van and went to a wizarding pub in ones and two's then used the floo to get to the Malfoy safe house in Wiltshire County about ten miles from his estate. While the take had been extraordinary, the pack had taken losses. The pack would be forced to lick its wounds and lay low for a while. The hunters had just become the hunted.

… - …

Six hours later, Connie Hammer had her report and Anna's photographs in hand as she went to see Amelia. Connie asked, "Do you have time to hear my report?" as she put a box of biscuits from Mike's Pastry on her desk.

"Sure Connie, sit down. Randi, can you get us some tea, please?"

"Don't keep me waiting," said Bones with a smile as she munched on a chocolate dipped biscotti.

"The short of it is there were two, three, or four coordinated robberies. A group of about nine, all wearing hoods and masks hit the Bottle Shoppe, Chang's Jewelry, and Folgard's Currency Exchange in Hogsmeade. There were three dead; Basil Debit and two robbers. The four employees were roughed up but no serious injuries. Another bad guy, a male was wounded but got away. Their total time between murdering Basil and the bad guys driving off was under three minutes; probably two and a half. We're uncertain if Basil was a planned target, or simply a target of opportunity. He'd been trading currency with Folgard moments before being robbed and murdered."

"How did the bad guys get killed? Any identification of the assailants?"

"Folgard's youngest daughter killed the two and wounded a third with a shotgun that he kept on the premises. One women, one man; neither were known to us."

She added, "I spoke to Malcom, the bottle shop owner in Hogsmeade. The robbery this morning got their receipts for the past two days. Plus, they also took some liquor - two cases of the Fire Whiskey."

"Was the Fire Whiskey all they took for liquor?"

"Yes. It seemed odd, so I investigated it. Malcom said Fire Whiskey is currently being rationed, by Ogden. It's scarce because it has dragon blood in it to give it its kick and fire effect. The dragon reserves stopped processing dragons after the Wandout. Something else is curious; Dragon's Blood is also a key ingredient in Wolf's Bane. Based on that, I think this was another hit by squibs or maybe even Weres. One of them mentioned going to a safe house."

Amelia thought about what she'd been shown and for the most part, agreed with Connie. They killed with little or no provocation. She couldn't envision Debit mounting a resistance beyond throwing his plastic pocket protector at someone; though he could have recognized the robbers. Someone had to know him and his habit of currency trading to go after him. As the same time, a finishing first year killed two of them, wounded a third and caused them to leave. She replied, "I suspect that Folgard's and Chang's were the actual targets. Basil feels too much like a crime of opportunity. The bottle shop feels almost like a crime of opportunity."

Connie replied, "You're probably right. They only took what he had full unopened cases of. It happened to be Fire Whiskey. We'll finish our reports and send them to Rufus."

… - ...

Sunday July 16

Ministry Finance Director Killed

Bystander at Hogsmeade Robbery

Fudge looked on at the headline with sadness. The only two trusted friends that he had at the ministry had been killed within a month. Along with it, he'd lost yet another source of income.

Without wands, the Aurors had no real way of fighting back.

Weres Beware

"As far as I'm concerned, any Were found in the act of a crime may be shot on sight - Scrimgeour

Fudge thought it a bit blunt and rather out of the blue but at least he wasn't the one being quoted. When Scrimgeour and Bones had met with him yesterday afternoon, Amelia had made a one sentence comment in passing before moving on. Rufus had made the surprising move of bringing it to the press. Scrimgeour seemed to have run with the thinnest of evidence, in an effort to get his name in the paper. Lucius' two pals Crabbe and Goyle could have smashed open the doors with big hammers just as easily. Any strong man could have. They had zero direct evidence that the Folgard robbers were Weres. He put the idea out of his mind. He had enough problems without asking for another. The other headline would be problematic. Basil had been a highly skilled associate. In the short-term, replacing him would be impossible.

… - …

Sirius swore as he slammed the paper down on the table. "Scrimgeour has no right to act as judge, jury, and executioner. He's already encouraged half of the merchants in the alley to buy shotguns. Some idiot dropped theirs at the Happy Ending Massage in Knockturn last night and it blew one of the waterbeds apart. People are jumpy and someone's going to get hurt, or retaliate."

Remus only hoped that cooler heads prevailed and that the Head Auror wouldn't get promoted. He sounded too much like Barty Crouch Sr.

… - ...

Full Employment at the Ministry

Without wands, what are they doing?

To anyone not employed at the ministry, it was obvious that the wizarding economy had ground to a halt. People were milling about in the Ministry Lobby jeering whenever Fudge walked by,

… - …

Elsewhere in the ministry, Amelia Bone's Administrator, Randi Bell had been besieged by people wanting to get a proper set of documentation and identification. They were finding that without the proper documents, it was all but impossible to get legal employment in the nonmagical business world.

Historically, Amelia put in the requests via MI5 once or twice a year. Now Randi was getting a dozen requests a day. Some had to be refused; getting a new drivers license for a 115 year-old would raise too many questions.

...-...

Sarah was drinking tea outside of her small cottage on one of the farms in Cornwall when Fenrir walked up and said, "I've got a present for you."

"Yule in July? I'm touched, Fen. What's the occasion?"

Greyback looked at her with a scowl. "Why can't you just be nice once in a while?"

"I am, to everyone else. I've got to keep you on your toes, Fen. Thank you but what is it?"

"Four gallons of fresh dragon blood."

She smiled in appreciation of how much easier a time that the pack would have for the next eight months and asked, "Was it too expensive?"

"About double from what we paid the last time. I took your advice and sent Carol and Rodney to the Iceland reserve. They had just finished processing a dragon and had this that hadn't already been committed. Make the most of it. They told Carol they wouldn't be processing any more dragons until they all had wands."

"Thanks. I'll go put this away. Thanks again."

"Cheers."

… - ...

Back in Salem, Dan asked, "You've mentioned dry boxes several times for drying dragon hearts. Are they magical or...?"

Daryl gave a laugh and replied, "No. The construction of the box itself is perfectly ordinary. The box itself is either heated slightly to verify that it's perfectly dry before using, or they can be charmed to accomplish the same thing. Effectively, they're a bit like a cigar humidor; except in reverse. Rather than preventing something from drying out, you're attempting to speed up that action slightly and keep the item inside from getting moldy. I make mine out of western red cedar - 1x6s or 2x6s and add a couple of runes to reduce the moisture content of the wood."

"Why not just buy a large home unit or a commercial model dehydrator? They're not at all expensive. It seems a better choice than waiting two and a half years. You could test it on a cow heart or similar and get some sort of idea of if would take two days or two weeks. A large home model probably wouldn't be more than $1,000; maybe ten times that for a commercial model. You could always set whatever you're drying on a plastic tray or pan."

Daryl thought about it for a minute and replied, "We could try it." Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes could see something that he'd overlooked for a decade.

Dan observed, "I enjoy cutting boards as much as anyone but if your average dragon heart isn't much larger than a beach ball, it could be a solution that saves 23 months."

"I'll find one, try it and let all of you know what happens."

… - …

As the rumor got around the Citadel that the Director had personally backed the Wand Shop, it became obvious that this was a very important project. Last week, a notice was posted that asked for volunteers for guards for the building. The notice specifically stated that this would be a dangerous long-term assignment, with an even chance of death or dismemberment.

The Eye brothers (except the youngest, Gumeye, who had the unheard of honor of being promoted from book attendant to Ragnok's runner) volunteered for the duty. Redeye, Blackeye, Sharpeye and Blindeye were interviewed by Barchoke. They vowed to continue the honor that their father, Deadeye had earned 43 years back, when he saved Ragnok from a bombing attack.

… - ...

Wednesday July 26

Back in Salem, lunch time came. Harry and Hermione dashed out the door to grab some cart food and enjoy the nice weather. Dobby and Winky left for some errand, leaving Daryl and Dan to visit. Daryl asked, "How did you get here?"

Dan replied, "Dentistry is a good living but I wanted a change. This presented itself. Carpe Diem."

"What do you do for fun?"

"Woodworking and ammo crafting."

"Cool. Handgun or rifle?"

"Handguns are essentially banned now in Britain. I shoot skeet, so my interest is shotgun shells. You?"

"Long range rifle. That involves minimizing velocity variation. The old Range Officer, Master Sergeant Silver Dollar (retired) helped a lot of people get started in the hobby. He was a great guy."

"Nice. How long have you done that?"

"Twenty years, more or less. I met a guy who had a 7,000 acre ranch in Wyoming. Parts of the property were infested with little burrowing rodents that raised havoc with the cattle grazing. Getting rid of some of them turned into an interesting hobby."

"What distance?"

"200-400 yards."

"Consistent ammo, understanding the wind and estimating the distance."

Daryl replied, "Exactly. How long have Harry and Hermione been dating?"

"On an age appropriate basis, four years. When he was eleven, he helped beat up a troll that was hurting Hermione. As they tell the story, the little guy climbed on its back and stuck his wand up its nose."

Daryl laughed and observed, "As heros go, he seems pretty grounded."

"They're good for each other. Left to her own devices, Hermione's a bit of a swot. He was an abused kid. He struck up an odd friendship with this guy who is nine feet tall. He's a groundskeeper of sorts at the castle. Harry helped him out of a jam when he was twelve. A week later, he rescued Dobby and more recently, they added Winky to their group somehow. They're all good for each other. He showed you that memory with the Tom Riddle guy. I guess it's just what he does. Anyway, I'm glad to be here."

Dan added, "On a different subject, how viable is the muskox hair?"

Daryl replied, "It's not a bad core. Winky can probably find the perfect wood to go with it. I've had a tremendously difficult time locating them. The trick is it needs to be collected in April. Trimming them much earlier or later can cause the animal to freeze. With Harry's resources, I'd suggest that he ask Dobby and Winky to invite a bunch of their elf friends and go collect bags full. Have them give it a good rinse, let it air dry outside. Bring in a handful and put it into the wands. It's kind of stinky. All in all, it's every bit as good as the hippogriff hair wands."

"What about the dragon wing that he mentioned?"

Daryl observed, "If he has access to a bunch of dragons, it could be a game changer and is well worth investigating. From the pictures I've seen, they have a wingspan like a single engine airplane. He should also experiment with the powdered snake bone from that monster that he killed. He might get great results.

"He's trying to do a paradigm shift in thinking. Instead of a perfect wand for a few people, he's trying to assemble serviceable wands for thousands, tens of thousands, hell, hundreds of thousands of people."

They sat in comfortable silence for a minute before Daryl asked, "Have the five of you talked about the impact of the Wandout in Europe?"

Dan admitted, "No."

"Envision that Surrey has an electrical outage. What happens?"

Dan thought about if a minute and replied, "My home would stop working; no cooking, lights, heating or cooling. The pumps at the petro stations wouldn't work. All of the new electrical devices that run on rechargeable batteries would stop working within a day or two – cellular telephones, laptops and the like would stop working. I doubt that we'd have any camping lanterns or batteries lasting for more than a week. I couldn't get to my dental clinic and the equipment wouldn't work if I did."

Daryl said, "You've got the short of it. The infrastructure shuts down over time; two weeks, or two months really doesn't change things if the problem lasts long enough. Eventually people will come to the conclusion that it's not coming back anytime soon. How they react to that is the key."

Dan envisioned, "There'd be riots and looting in the short term. Drug and grocery stores would get cleaned out within a few days."

Daryl replied, "Now change the scenario a bit. Instead of being one town of 30,000 somewhere in Surrey, it's 20,000 homes scattered through Britain. They can't buy gas, their phones and electric are out and their cars don't work. They're just as bad off as before but their neighbors are completely unaffected."

Dan observed, "They'd have more options. They could still go to a grocery store, run a hosepipe from their neighbor's house and buy a camp stove. It wouldn't change the fact that my business is shut down, my refrigerator is out, no telly and the house would be dark at night. Initially, the looting would probably be seen as random. Eventually, it would be viewed as a crime wave or even organized gang related, depending on what was stolen. On the other hand, if they had proper credentials, they probably could get some sort of temporary job doing something else." None of the outcomes were positive.

"Now envision that you've got a small warehouse of portable electrical generators. There aren't enough for everyone but you have quite a few. You're the only guy in Britain who sells them. What happens?"

"Dan admitted, "Chaos."

"That's pretty much the way I envision it to be after a few weeks. Let's say that the bunch of you manage to make, fit and sell 500 a week; a pretty lofty goal in of itself. If you sold 500 on Mondays, it wouldn't be enough. If you sold 70 every day, it wouldn't be enough. Either the government is going to come up with some sort of organized distribution plan, or it will be chaos. You'll have 1,000 people in line standing in the rain. You've got 200 to sell that day. What happens to the guy who's 201?"

Daryl continued, "Line jumpers, fights, people peeing in the streets while they're in line. That's before anyone actually gets hurt. Bribes, threats, robberies, abductions. It's ugly to even think about. As I understand it, the magical transportation network in Britain – the floo network is still running. There's a company in Italy that makes the magical floo powder that powers the trip, so to speak. Italy doesn't have any wands or a wandcrafter."

Dan asked, "Aren't those government issues to solve?"

"One would think so, except the town mayor, or more specifically the Minister of Magic in your case, is completely focused on lining his pockets. That said, don't take Gringotts' offer of providing security guards lightly. They have those reusable portkey watches. Use them to get to and from your building. No one needs to be abducted."

With a grim nod, Dan replied, "That seems workable."

Daryl continued, "The real issues are going to be; Collecting the core material, deciding who gets theirs first and the other 300,000 people from Europe. For the most part, they don't have any core material. They'll hear that you do. That's a huge opportunity disguised as a problem, depending on your ability to identify and collect core material. The sub issues are going to be setting limits on yourself and being creative."

By then the others had returned and were listening intently. Daryl asked, "Hermione, how many Europeans do you expect to find in the lines?"

She admitted, "Too many. The number could easily exceed the number of Brits on any given day."

"Harry, what days do you expect to be open for selling?"

"Monday through Wednesday mornings from 9-1. I was thinking of selling 200 per day – 600 a week." Daryl nodded.

"Hermione, who should get their wands in the first 5,000 people?"

"Healers, the aurors, merchants, trades people, government and students."

"What about people living in houses that run by magic?"

Harry pointed out, "Everyone believes that they should be in the front of the line. Someone would argue, my having running water in my home is more important than little Bobby learning second year charms. Anyone can make their case."

Dan suggested, "That leaves you with two strategies; either stay out of it, or quietly invite some group in on a Saturday early morning and dole out 75 wands to specific people who you think are deserving."

Daryl summarized, "Just keep the base principles in mind. You can't sell more than you make. You can't make more than you have materials for. Finally, the money has to work. To be successful, you'll need to be making most of your wands out of something that isn't yet on your materials list. Last but not least is the theory of OPM as it relates to research."

As expected, Hermione asked, "What's OPM?"

"Other people's money. Let's say that you get the idea that wands made of braided shih tzu hair might work. By the time that you go out and collect proper core samples and assemble 36 wands of different woods and various lengths, you'll have a fair amount of time and money into the experiment. If someone suggests a combination, my advice would be to charge your normal wand rate."

She blurted, "That's not right."

With complete calmness in his voice, Daryl replied, "Hermione, off the top of my head, I could envision 500 reasonable combinations for you to try. Actual vampire bat blood and hazel might be perfect. You'd have to find a vampire who could turn into a bat, convince him or her to donate an ounce of blood and go assemble a set of wands, then test them against a large enough group of people to estimate compatibility and efficacy. Hazel might be a bust and hawthorn is what is needed. I spent a year coming up with and trying what I thought would be likely combinations for a 110-E/100-C wand. Firebird and sequoia turned out to be an outstanding combination. The only problem is that firebirds are rarer than phoenix.

"You'll get dozens, or hundreds of well-meaning suggestions. You can't fund all of them. On that subject, if you happen to hit on one, keep it to yourself. Maybe you'll find a workable combination that utilizes a fairly common component. If you paid for it, the intellectual property belongs to you. If you make millions with it, that's your good fortune." Seeing her frown, he added, "Hermione, that's how business works. Ultimately, they'll be a distraction unless you hit a workable combination of something that you can obtain in commercial quantity."

… - ...

Back in London, Vernon Dursley let loose with a satisfied burp as he escorted his wife and son out of the venerated Wilton's dining room. Older than the United States, it was a destination to celebrate. The Mixed Grill with boiled red potatoes with a gravy side was a well-earned treat. They were celebrating a huge sale and commission and the disappearance of his hated freak nephew. It couldn't get any better than when the freak didn't show up at King's Cross. Two weeks went by and still no word from him, he thought as they walked down St. James Place to Park Place where he had parked his car when suddenly a large man in a funny old fashioned cloak stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of him. Holding out his hand the man calmly stated, "Give me your wallet now and no one gets hurt."

The Dursleys' ordered, very "normal" life went to hell in a heartbeat. Without a thought, Dudley, so used to getting his way by throwing his weight around, stepped in front of his mother and tried to push the man aside, "Get lost punk!" Apparently guidence regarding what to do in the event of an armed robbery wasn't taught at Smeltings.

Without a sound, a hand slashed upwards and sideways as the streetlight glinted brightly on a highly polished blade that traveled across Dudley's neck. Gurgling and holding his throat, Dudley dropped to his knees. Stepping into Petunia, a preternaturally fast arm and blade flashed again, cleanly slicing upwards from Petunia's belly button to her sternum. Pushing her aside he plunged the razor edged blade into Vernon's throat. Vernon staggered a step and collapsed. The man stepped up to him and pulled his watch and gold ring from his hand, rummaged in his pockets for his billfold. He stripped Petunia of her jewelry and kicked Dudley in the head. "You get lost punk," he snarled as he walked quickly away from the carnage and soon-to-be dead family.

As Vernon's breath rasped in his last moments, he rued the day he ever let his freak nephew live with them. It's all his fault, he thought as his eyes closed forever. Sadly, the man with the knife had committed hundreds of similar robberies during his life. Only in two cases, had the figurative train run off the tracks.

… - …

Friday July 28

Senior Inspector Connie Hammer knocked on Amelia's office door. After the greetings and tea were offered, Connie got down to business. "Two evenings ago, three muggles were slashed to death in London."

Amelia said, "Keep going."

Connie observed, "There are two elements of interest. One is that there was a closed circuit television camera in the area that recorded the murders, or specifically it was a robbery that went very wrong. There was a middle-aged man, his wife and their teenage son. The teen apparently fancied himself to be some sort of heavyweight boxing champion. He was completely outclassed in a street fight and they were all killed for it."

"Keep going."

"The victims were identified by Metro police as Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dursley. My belief is that they're related to Harry Potter. He's currently registered and attending class at the Salem Academy in the US."

Amelia felt like the other shoe was about to drop. She nodded and Connie continued. "Based on the video, the perpetrator was almost certainly Fenrir Greyback."

"Tell me more."

"It started out as a transactional robbery. Greyback grabbed Petunia Dursley, held a knife near her throat and made his demand. He was obviously experienced at it and no one needed to get hurt. The husband saw it for what it was and was cooperating. The teen charged the assailant, took a swing at him and a few seconds later, the three were on the ground bleeding out. Greyback grabbed his wallet and walked away at a quick pace."

Connie observed, "He could easily become suspect number one in the Umbridge killing. If he happened to come on her alone, he would have had the means, motive and opportunity."

Amelia pointed out, "Under normal circumstances, any two of our aurors might be a match for him. Without wands, I'm fairly certain that any six encountering him would result in four dead. The riot sticks that I issued wouldn't be a match for him either. Damn."

Connie asked, "What about Potter?"

"The terms of the tournament most likely granted him adult status. It sounds like he's ten steps ahead of Susie with respect to his education plans. If he comes back and asks for help, we'll give it to him."

Connie left thinking, just giving them 36 inch night sticks doesn't make them expert fighters. On the other hand, she didn't have any better ideas and doing nothing wasn't an option. Sadly, few of the Aurors could pass the skills test at the London Police Collage if they took the exam. As good as they were in the use of magic, unarmed defense and taking down an armed, aggressive suspect without resorting to magic wasn't a widely practiced skill.

… - ...

A few days before the class was scheduled to end, Hermione asked, "Is there a reason that wands are so long? We've really only looked at 12 and 14 inch varieties."

Daryl replied. "Excellent question. There are several answers. For some cores, such as the feathers that Harry's friend Fawkes gifted him, you want the wand to use the entire shaved or rolled feather as a core. The feathers that Fawkes left were 11 inches, making them perfect for a 12 inch wand." Hermione nodded. That made sense.

He continued, "For most other cores, such as your thestral strand, the efficacy of the wand requires a minimum volume of core to produce satisfactory results. That implies that a staff made with a 42 inch unicorn tail would be able to transmit a more powerful spell than an eleven inch core placed in a 12 inch wand."

Harry sniggered. Dan was right behind him.

Hermione admonished, "You boys need to give up your Freudian attitude that having a longer rod is better. A six inch wand would be far more convenient to carry. You can leave the full size wands to the aurors who spend their time fighting."

Harry and Dan looked at each other and burst out laughing. Daryl realized that he would greatly miss being with this bunch every day.

Hermione stood, put her hand on her hip and glared. "I'm serious here. A six or seven inch wand would be easier to carry."

No one jumped to her defense. They were all biting their bottom lip.

"Fine. Turn the conversation to money. Think about a unicorn tail wand. We stated that 60 percent is the floor effectiveness for a core. Right? If we started with a 24 inch strand of unicorn tale, we could make two twelve inch wands out it using 11 inch pieces. We would get 100% wands. Alternatively, we could also make three 7 inch wands or four 6 inch wands out of the same piece." She held a short 3/8 inch rod like a chopstick. "I would also think that most people would be a lot more precise in their wand movements holding their wand like a chopstick than a short sword."

Seeing as she had vented a bit, Daryl observed, "You have a good point. Let's each make a couple. Dan and I will make a nine and eight inch model respectively. Harry, try a seven inch model and Hermione, try making a six inch one. Harry will try his patronus starting with a 12 inch oak and we'll use the gray scale card to measure as we work our way down. We'll skip the shellac."

Four and a half hours later, the wands were ready. Daryl observed, "I don't think that it will matter but Harry will start with the short one. I doubt that he'll get tired."

"Expecto Patronum." Prongs leapt out and nuzzled Hermione. She smiled at her boyfriend and joked, "Suck up." Shaking his head in amusement at the antics of the two, Daryl marked the brightness shade on a piece of grey scale paper.

"Try again with the seven inch one." It was a bit brighter.

They went through the sizes and Daryl marked each down. When he'd gone through all of them, Daryl asked, "Please try the seven inch one again. Harry did and the shade matched his original test with that size.

Daryl did some calculations for a few minutes and proclaimed "The 5 ½ inch core in the six inch wand allowed for a release of 65 percent of the energy that the 12 inch one did. That's about the same as using a full size thesteral one. The seven inch wand was at 75 percent. The eight inch rod was 80 percent, the nine inch model at 85 percent The established floor is 60 percent, so you're well above that with either the six or seven inch versions. That leaves you with one challenge."

She asked, "What's that?"

He observed, "Selling it. Aside from a few Aurors carrying it as backup, putting up a sign that reads Tiny rods for sale is going to lose you half of your customers."

Dan and Harry were biting their fingers.

Winky came to the rescue and said, "They look like pencils." The name stuck. When Hermione observed that most women's arms simply weren't long enough to manage a wrist holster with a 12, let alone a 14 inch wand and were forced to carry them in a purse or bag, it made complete sense.

Harry doubted that he'd even be alive if every time he'd needed his wand, he would have had to dig it out of a bag as opposed to flicking it out of his wrist holster. He suggested, "We could sell it with a wrist holster included. They were only about 3-5 galleons." He expected if he ordered 1,000 at a time, that he could secure a great price.

Daryl added, "Like the unicorn, pencil wands might be a good platform for the exotics. A 60 percent floor isn't just a number pulled out of my ass; it's an ICW standard. Your worst are well above it. Should you find some material that turns out to be a 60 percent core, don't hesitate; go make it. You don't have to apologize over it. The standard is 60 percent or above, not more than 60 percent. People put a lot of thought into those specifications."

… - …

The last day of class was spent sharpening the equipment, cleaning up and the like. They each were bringing home fifteen wands that they'd made. Daryl also gave them envelopes containing ten dragon heart-string core pieces each. He presented each of them with their journeyman wandcrafter licenses.

Finally he added, "For what it's worth, there's a Wandmaster in Bucharest named Carl Racz. Based on the reported class dates, he recently rushed two students through a class in about two weeks. The students names are Felix Badeaux and Otto Krebbs from France and Germany respectively. I bring this up to point out that both countries have some 35,000 wand users each; the same as Britain. Neither country will have anywhere near enough core for that many wands. My suggestion is to do what you can to keep an eye on your supply. You're all welcome to come back next year if you would like to do a follow-on course."

Dobby and Winky brought all of their wands, certificates and supplies back to their house. The three had a nice nonmagical flight home and clearing customs was effortless.

… - …

Fenrir Greyback stepped around the table and poured glasses of wine for his inner circle. "The problem with making the Bane in large quantities is dragon blood. The only place I know to get undiluted dragons' blood is either one of the reserves, or Ogden's Distillery. So, I think we need to strike soon at Ogden."

"Hitting Ogden's is too much of risk," said Carol. "Look, we only have a few stolen wands; we don't have the ability to travel back and forth and put it under observation. We don't even know where it is for a fact, only mere rumors. Assume we find its location. What's the security like? I'm all but certain that it's added right before the bottling operation in the warehouse, not the distillery. He's probably got that guarded better than the Crown Jewels. Even if we found it and managed to get inside, where's the Dragon's Blood stored? When do they get it? They might not have it in stock. There are too many unknowns."

"I agree with Carol. This isn't a good risk to take, Fenrir," said Sarah.

"Why's everyone against this idea?" growled Greyback. While he was the pack leader and had the final say, they operated largely as a democracy.

"I have enough ingredients for us to make Bane for the next five or six months," answered Sarah. "Yes, it's better to have it undiluted but I have a way to make the dragon blood precipitate out from Fire Whiskey. You've stolen a lot of it. Why not try buying a bit more from the continent? We certainly have the money. There are more bottle shops out there. We've no immediate need for more blood. We lost two good people at Hogsmeade. There's no gain in losing anyone else over stealing something that we already have."

Fenrir looked around. "That how you all feel?" Seeing nods from everyone he shook his head. "OK, no Ogden's raid. Let's keep your eyes open for opportunities"
… - ...

A/Ns

The take-aways from Daryl's class (aside from having a bit of fun) are; There's no spider strand in this tale. There was too much of it in Unintended Consequences and it created a one-size-fits all solution that was too easy to administer. While the demand side is about the same in this tale – 350,000 magicals throughout Europe in need of a wand, the supply side is vastly diminished. For ease of reading, there are two metrics relating to wands in this tale – the efficacy (efficiency) of the wand, compared to Harry's 12 inch phoenix wand. By example, 75-E implies that a wand is 75 percent as effective. The other metric is compatibility; meaning what percent of witches or wizards could use that wand as their own. By example a wand rated at 25-C implies at only a fourth of witches or wizards could make use of that wand.

The longest that my heating system or electricity has ever been out was 3 and a half days. I can't imagine it being out for months at a time.

Dan will prove to be quite a different influence on Harry than Emma was.

Thanks for reading.

I'm happy to suggest When Death Intervenes from Fairywm.

… - …