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.

6. November

… - ...

Chapter Six

November

Wednesday November 1

Sirius and Remus arrived at the Wand Shop early. Remus began the task of taking inventory.

Core Pieces

Thestral - 2200

Hippogriff - 5200

Unicorn – 4400

Finished wands

Thestral – 110

Hippogriff – 300

Unicorn – 90

Sirius was reviewing and working the production schedule for the next ten days.

Wed 200 thestral - elm 200 thestral - pine

Th 300 pencils – oak 300 pencils - beech

Fri 300 hippogriff – elm 300 hippogriff - pine

Mon 200 hippogriff – elm 200 hippogriff - pine

Tue 200 pencils – oak 200 pencils - beech

Wed 300 thestral – elm 300 thestral – pine

Th 300 thestral – elm 300 thestral – pine

Fri 300 thestral – elm 300 thestral - pine

Sirius explained, "That would run us out of thestral hair. The two weeks after, we'll focus on pencils. Then it will be time to look into the other core materials."

Remus asked, "What's available?"

Sirius replied,"There's 150 square feet of that shed basilisk skin."

Remus, who was much better at math, remarked, "With a 1/8th inch sliver, we'd get 96 twelve-inch wand cores per square foot. With a wider, 3/16th inch sliver, we'd get about 60. That's about 9,000 wands total on the low end and 14,000 best case. What else is available?"

Sirius replied, "There's dragon wing, dragon bone, basilisk venom, basilisk bone and the very real possibility that there might be another shed skin somewhere in the Chamber of Secrets. Beyond that, there are ten untrimmed unicorn."

Remus, who had the same basic thirst for knowledge as Hermione, though tempered by twenty years of acquired learning, commented, "The petroleum industry has a term that's applicable in our situation – proven reserves. It's oil that has been found but is still in the ground. We have core material that we believe will work but haven't yet made into wands. For each location, the petroleum industry keeps track of the estimated volume and expected cost of extraction. We have quantity, efficacy and compatibility." Sirius nodded and waited for his friend to finish.

"At the new 1,500 a week sales level that we've started using, our proven reserves - unicorn, thestral, hippogriff, and the snakeskin will last just under five months. My belief is that we should start using the basilisk and wing bone as soon as possible as they have the lowest compatibility numbers. Hopefully the wing material will work for us as well."

Sirius nodded and replied, "Between quantity limitations and the reality of compatibility percentages, I doubt that we'll find a single solution. Instead we'll need handfuls of options."

… – …

Hermione and Harry were having a related conversation. Hermione wanted to sell more wands each Friday, totaling 2,500 a week. Harry wanted to maintain a more conservative level of 1,500.

Let it be said that in discussions between the two, Hermione was the more persuasive negotiator.

… - ...

Amelia had accepted a 90 day interim appointment as Minister for Magic. She called the two people who she absolutely trusted to discuss a transition of sorts. Given the circumstances, she had no illusions regarding it being orderly. Two thirds of the British witches and wizards remained in dire straights. More than a few were living in tents, through no fault of their own. There was a notorious killer with a band of followers and she couldn't go back to sleep and wish that Harry Potter would wave his wand and solve all of her problems.

Moody lightened the mood with his unique style of humor. "You really stepped in it, Lass. You've landed yourself the worst job in Britain in the middle of a hail storm. Look at the bright side – the weather's bound to get better."

Connie Commented, "Thanks, Moody. You can always find the words to charm the knickers off of a girl – or not. How can we help?"

Amelia replied, "Kingsley and Robards?"

Moody suggested, "Yes but let Shack come up with the idea of Robards. He'll need to own the decision."

There was a silence in the room for a minute. The two 800 pound gorillas in the room, Greyback and money, weren't going to go away. She had money on her mind. She was confident that the ministry could cover the mid-month payroll but beyond that, she was far less certain.

Finally, Connie addressed the other issue. "Rufus had good wards at his place. Unfortunately, he'd shut them off for the night with all of his company over for dinner. His weren't selective."

Moody added, "Leave yours on, Lass and don't have anyone over."

Connie observed, "His demands really weren't unreasonable."

Moody snapped, "It's not the time to even bring it up outside of this room. You should wait a while so they become your idea, not giving in to a terrorist. There's 50 – 70 of them but they're not all equal. Most of 'em probably just want to be left alone. Lupin told me that some of 'em sell vegetables at the farmer market in Cornwall. 27 days of the month, they're harmless. On the other end, you've got Greyback and a handful of killers. In between, the rest of 'em are willing to rob and steal. That third isn't going to come in quietly or allow themselves to be arrested."

Connie pointed out, "Public perception would be different if the two groups could be separated."

Moody added, "Your challenge is going to be to give Shack a bit of direction and then back away enough to let him do the job. The economy will right itself in six months or so. You need to figure out how to help people get through the winter and clear any obstacles that you can for the Wand Shop. You need to find some food distribution and a charm renewal plan, so honest people don't turn to thievery out of desperation. There are enough living in tents already."

She heard their words and concluded that she needed a white knight. She really didn't want to go hat-in-hand to the goblins and ask for another loan. Not for the last time did she curse Fudge for his insatiable greed.

… - ...

Gretta Macmillan gave her brand new boss the no nonsense version. "In airplane terms, we're running out of altitude and airspeed." Seeing the blank look on Bones' face, she tried again. "The 500,000G line of credit is a bit more than half consumed. The layoff was a hard and difficult but necessary choice to make. There's 200,000 galleons left in the credit line. The lower payroll is 75,000 a month.

"Sales tax collection after July was effectively nil. Fudge's idea of providing wands to the Wizengamot's family members at the expense of the businesses was a bad idea. Sales tax collections in September was 25,000. In short, the ministry has until the end of the year to either raise the sales tax number, or reinstate the estate disposition business, or go borrow another 500,000G from someone. My recommendation would be to restart the estate disposition business. I'll find the old estate contracts that we can look at and get an idea as to what's involved."

Amelia replied, "Thanks Gretta. Can we meet again in two days?" Her news was a bit better than she'd feared but it only bought her an extra few weeks.

Macmillan nodded and replied, "That should be enough time."

… - …

Friday November 3

After doing a bit of studying, Harry and Hermione had contacted Marchbanks and scheduled OWL examinations in transfiguration, charms and defense.

The Examiner asked, "How could I help?"

Harry said, "We were hoping that you could come on Thursday Nov 9, if that would work for you.

"I'll be there at 9 am."

She was.

It was a long day for them. They did the written exams in the morning and the practical ones in the afternoon. In between they had a quick lunch and a pleasant conversation. In the end they received O's on their exams.

… - …

Gretta sat down in Amelia's office and said, "We need someone with significant means who can either work the estate business, or finance and assemble a team. In short, the operator selects an estate. They buy it outright at a discount from the appraised value. Parkinson was running it. Say the estate was worth 100. The goblins perform the service of providing an unbiased appraisal. The ministry gets a cut in the name of Estate Tax. Parkinson's contract had a bunch of convoluted rules. Here's the simple version."

She continued, "The estate is worth 100. The operator can buy it for 60. They immediately pay Gringotts 10 for the appraisal services and the ministry 10 for estate tax. 60+10+10 =80. If they sell it for 100, they gross 20. If they're clever and sell it for 105, they do better. They should be able to cover their expenses for 10 and net 10 percent."

"That said, the operator needs to have enough free cash to purchase an estate; realistically two or three at once; depending on how quickly that they can get the properties cleaned out and sold."

… - …

Tuesday November 7

After they were done selling for the morning, Harry went and visited Madam Malkins. As he walked into the shop, she said, "Good morning, Mr. Potter."

"Harry."

She smiled indulgently at the remarkable teen and replied, "Clara. How can I help you?"

"I'd like to have dragon hide vests made for the Wand Shop guards."

Somewhat more serious this time, she replied, "I can understand why. However, I don't have any dragon hide and working with a material that heavy is really more along the line of what Clarence would do at Quality Quidditch."

"Harry asked, "Could you both come to my shop for a few minutes?'

"Certainly. I'll go collect him; we'll meet you there in ten minutes."

… - …

Clarence was about Dan's age. He'd taken over the Quality Quidditch business a year before the Wandout on a contract for deed and was about ready to hand the keys back to the original owner. Clara had several decades more experience. Harry sat them down in the comfortable recliners and said, "It seems to me that both of you could make what I asked for today. Clarence, you sent me to Clara and Clara sent me to you. How can I get this done?"

Clara said, "Harry, either of us could easily make what you're asking for. The fact is, neither of us have any dragon hide in stock, or any way of getting some."

"Dobby." A moment later there were two complete dragon hides stretched out on the floor. Harry asked, "Between the two of you, can you make me 16 vests for the guards? I'd like four in red and the others in the dark green. I'd also like six pair of boots, billfolds and 12 ladies clutch handbags. I'd like velcro on the sides of the vests for opening."

They both said, "Of course." Dobby put the dragon hide back in the boxes.

Clarence said, "What about the sizes?"

Harry called Redeye and Blindeye in for a moment. Clara's experienced eye mentally had them measured in seconds. After they left, Harry said, "There would be four of the larger sizes and twelve of the smaller sizes. Three of the red vests would be the smaller sizes; the other would be the larger one." He gave them the boot sizes and colors. He also asked for jackets for Dan, Remus and Sirius. They all were fans of the Topgun look.

Clara said, "There might not be enough of the dark green material for what you asked for."

Harry replied, "I'll ask Dobby to send two of the dark green hides over along with the red one. The two of you can have what's left but please use it to make billfolds, small purses, gloves, shoes or the like. None of us want to face Greyback or any of his crew if they're wearing dragon hide vests." He handed them each a bag of galleons and said, "This should be fair. Please work on the vests first. I'm in a bit of a rush for them."

Clarence breathed a sigh of relief. There must be a thousand galleons in each of the bags and his vault balance was down to sickles. He said, "Thank you, Mr. Potter. Thank you."

… - ...

Friday November 10

Before they got going for the day, Harry gathered everyone in the breakroom. On the white board he'd written;

Dragon Wing Dragon Bone Basilisk Bone Shed Skin Venom

Sirius asked, "What do you have in mind?"

Harry replied, "Our unicorn pencil has a 75 percent efficacy; about equal to the 12 inch hippogriff and thestral wands. When we make our new wands I want that to be our target. It doesn't make sense to use the extra material to get to 100 or 125 percent if it means using twice as much. There's only so much core available. 2,000 pounds of basilisk bones sounds like a lot but it's a one time supply and it will get used up within a year, once we start making them." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Dan, I was hoping you could make a few test sets. Winky, what woods should we try?"

"Holly and yew be best. Downy birch is very good too."

"Dobby, are they hard to find?"

"Dobby's friends be finding them for you right now."

"We'll need quite a bit. Can we grow them in Gloucester?"

"Dobby's friends will grow some."

"Dan, for the basilisk bone, please try all three woods in ¼, 1/3, ½ and 2/3 ounce strengths by volume. Try for both pencils and 12 inch. We'll test them tomorrow."

"Sounds good." He smiled at the irony of taking well thought-out work direction from a 15 year-old.

"Also, when you're done with those, can you try making a set of dragon skin wand twelve inch oak and elm with 1/8, 3/16, and 1/4th slivers of the wing skin. Winky thinks the 3/16 will be best but it's good to know the gain or loss on either side of her number." He nodded and wrote it down.

Dobby said, "If we use the 3/16th piece, we should have material for about 3,000 wands per dragon."

Hermione asked, "Which bone are you thinking of using?"

After an uncomfortable silence, Harry replied, "The front wing bones. Hagrid told me that they're hollow."

Winky replied, "You'll need to use twice as much as with ugly snake bone. It will work."

Dobby said, "90 pounds of wing with one ounce each wand is more than 1,400 from each dragon."

Hermione observed, "That's 1,400 unicorn hairs that we don't have to use."

Dobby observed, "Old snake skin will make about 14,000 wands.

Harry said, "We'll sell all day on Wednesday November 29th. We'll open at five and go until five. I'll let Redeye know to have enough loan forms in hand."

Winky added, "Winky thinks we should sell 250 wands on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Less yabby dabby and go faster."

Dan asked, "Dobby, can you help me with the dragon wing slices? I'll get one of the dry boxes."

It was a happy operation.

... - …

At the end of the day, Harry asked Dan, "What did you find out?

He replied, "Starting with the dragon, the 3/16th sliver in either oak or elm was compatible with 75 percent of the people who tried them. The 3/16th tested at 65 efficacy. The ¼ inch tested at 75-E."

Harry asked, "Do you think we should use the 3/16th inch piece in the wand?"

Dan replied, "My vote would be no. We're still a new business; we're building our reputation. I'd rather go with the 75 percent wand that we targeted than make excuses that this one is designed to be lower than all of the others that we sell. On top of that, the wing bone core is essentially free to us and in good quantity. If Bito charges us 15,000G per dragon in the future, we can cover that by selling the meat, blood, claws, non-heart organs, the skull and a bit of the hide. For us, the heart, bone, and half of the hide are essentially free. "For the first one that was sent to us, we'd yield 2,250 cores from the skin and 1,280 from the wing bone.

"I think we should ask Bito to contact the dragon reserve in Iceland and see if we can arrange a similar deal. If they have someone who wants the other parts, we could be talked down to getting just the wing and part of the hide.

"Beyond that, we should talk with Dobby and Winky and see if we can get 200 of their friends to go to Greenland in early April and see if we can acquire a serious quantity of muskox hair. Finding 100,000 strands of that would eliminate all pressure to do a retrim of the thestrals, hippogriffs or unicorns in the next year.

"Essentially we would have five sources of, if not renewable, at least recurring core – the dragons, the thesterals, the hippogriffs, the unicorns and hopefully the muskox. If we can use the wing bone for wand quality core, who is to say that Devlin couldn't use the Welsh Green rib bones for midrange broomsticks?"

Harry replied, "That sounds good. How did the basilisk wands turn out?"

"The shed skins with an 11.5 inch 1/8th inch sliver is a 75-E wand with 35 percent compatibility using downy birch. That's double the compatibility that we were talking about in class. We have the material to make 14,000.

"The basilisk bone wand in pencil length with a ½ ounce by volume core produces the same results; 75-E, 35-C. Depending on what we do with Devlin, we have the core to make 40-60,000 wands. That said, with the low compatibility, it will never be our top seller."

Harry replied, "The canal would need to be deeper than what we use with the tail hair. We should try that first and bend them a bit to see how strong they are. The alternative would be to make a few thicker ones, then ask Emma and Hermione which feels better."

Dan concluded, "The challenge will be on Winky to make the fitting choices based upon what we have in stock that week and for Sirius to schedule the production. Essentially, as we're presenting the wands, the unicorn pencils should only be offered if we can't get a match from the dragon or basilisk first. The same with the hippogriff wands. Next spring, we'll try and balance the dragon and muskox ones."

Harry said, "Switching subjects a bit. There's no sales tax on our wands. At the same time, we're enjoying a fair bit of service from the ministry. We're paying the Nation ten galleons per wand on a contractual basis for security services. My question is, on a voluntary basis, should we do the same with the ministry framed as a donation that's not publicly tied to a formula?"

Sirius and Remus had walked in and joined the conversation. Padfoot said, "I think you're talking about two separate subjects. First with the nation; my guess is that the business is producing several times as many wands as they originally estimated. You would be within your rights to ask for more guards; especially at night. Essentially you paid them 50,000G last month. Instead of four, they should be providing 40 guards; not all at once but on a nights and weekend basis. Asking for twenty on a rotating basis wouldn't be out of the question. We could keep the Eye brothers for weekday days and use the others for nights, weekends and to cover vacations."

Sirius added, "As to your other question, I seriously doubt that Amelia feels that you owe her anything. On a different subject, we should do what we can to lower the noise about the wand sales to non-Brits. First, we're bringing foreign gold into the country. That's always a good thing.

"Second, if Molly Weasley wants a wand so bad, she can get in line at 7 pm on Sunday and have one by noon on Monday. My point is, we've already sold wands to all of the so called essential services and by the end of the month, will have fitted most of the Brits who actually use their wand in their business on a daily basis.

Third, if you were so inclined and had the extra material, you could have another dozen dragonhide vests made and donate them to the DMLE. She'd be beyond grateful and it wouldn't cost you much."

Harry nodded and replied, "Let's go out for pizza tonight."

… - ...

Friday November 24

Shortly after Colin and his mum arrived, Harry found Redeye and said, "Colin Creevey and I are going to the castle for an hour or so. Would you like to come with?"

Redeye replied, "I would be honored to. What is the purpose?"

"Part adventure, part treasure hunting. I'm searching for another shed basilisk skin. Colin is going to take a few photographs and hopefully sell them to the newspaper. You might find something interesting."

"Of course. When?"

"Right now."

"I will inform my brothers and be ready in five minutes."

They used Harry's portkey watch and were transported to the gate, where they were met by Professor Flitwick. He said, "Greetings Wandcrafter Potter, Redeye and Mr. Creevey."

"Good afternoon, Professor. Thank you for allowing us to come. I want to look in the Chamber of Secrets again and see if I can find another shed snakeskin."

He nodded and replied, "An excellent idea. How about you, Redeye? What do you hope to find?"

"Perhaps I'll find an old weapon or artifact made by one of the Nation."

"I hope you both are successful."

Harry asked, "What about you, Professor? What do you hope to find?"

"The school is in need of money. Perhaps I'll find a chest of gold, or diamonds that could be sold to help the school. If not, I hope to learn something new about the castle. Mr Creevey?"

"I hope to take a few interesting photographs and sell them to the newspaper."

Harry led them to the second floor bathroom and hissed at the sink to open it. Redeye immediately found the runes for stairs and lights. The slide changed to a set of stone stairs and the illumination made walking down the 200 something steps much safer.

Flitwick asked, "How did you get down and back when you were twelve?"

"We gave Lockhart a push and we slid down the chute after him. He stole Ron's wand, tried to obliviate us, blew up part of the tunnel and lost his memory for his effort. Fawkes carried us back up. I was on one side of the cave in, Ron and the pretender were on the other. I fought the snake and fought the horcrux while Ron did his best to clear the rocks away."

Flitwick remarked, "You needn't minimize your accomplishments but now isn't the time to dwell on them."

Harry had previously cleared the rocks away when he and the elves had removed the snake. He hissed open and lights and the second door opened and the main chamber illuminated. The space was breathtaking. Redeye searched one side room while Flitwick search another. Redeye found a mithril pole ax. It was a magnificent weapon. Filius remarked, "The other room was empty."

Harry said, "The basilisk came out of a hidden opening behind the statue. There's a possibility that there are other snakes back there." He hissed, "Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four." As before, the hole opened. Harry hissed, "Are there any snakes in there?" There was no sound. He said, "I think it might be safe to go inside."

Harry helped the other two clamber up. He called lights and the surprisingly large room appeared.

It was evident that Slytherin had lived there. There was a writing table, with some books, a bedroom, chamber pot and a closet. Flitwick searched the area while Harry went in search of the area where the great snake may have stayed. He found a good size section of shed skin and quietly called for Dobby. Without saying a word, he popped it back to the Wand Shop. Harry found a medium sized wooden chest and called for Professor Flitwick.

The professor opened it and found some galleons and papers. They continued their search. On the way back, Harry asked, "How much did you find?"

"There were 800 galleons in the wooden box and a letter from his daughter."

Harry was about to say great, until he recalled that Flitwick was looking for 100 times that amount. He said, "We should go back up. When Colin had taken his last image, they climbed the stairway and once again, emerged from the bathroom. He hissed "close," and everything was as it had been. They parted ways and took the portkey back to the Wand Shop.

… - ...

(An hour earlier)

Emma was acting as hostess for Colin's mum, Cindy while the others were exploring the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. They were looking around in the storeroom. She explained, "These are the different trees that get sliced into blocks, which get split open with a core added, then they get glued. After the glue dries, they get sanded into shape and two coats of finish are applied."

Cindy asked, "Why do they use so many different kinds of wood?" She reached out to one of the eight foot sections of tree trunks which were standing on end like an odd forest.

"Some people react better to one type of wood, or some wand cores work better with a specific type of wood." Without warning, the tree trunk that they were standing by teetered and toppled on them.

Cindy screamed, alerting Sharpeye, who was in the breakroom. He sounded the alarm. Winky levitated the tree trunks away from them. Twenty goblins carried them into the infirmary before Dan, who was across the street visiting with Fortescue, even noticed.

A moment before, Cindy was standing looking at the Alder tree trunk. When she touched it, she received a shock, like an electrical shock and the tree fell onto them. She screamed as the tree crashed onto them.

… - …

As she woke up an hour later, Cindy felt different. Her eyesight seemed sharper and her hearing a bit better. As she ran her hand across the bed sheet, she could feel the individual threads of the fabric.

A voice called to her, "Good afternoon, Cindy Creevey. My name is Healer Maysong. Do you remember how you got here?"

"I was in the Wand Shop with a friend. We were looking around when one of the tree trunks toppled down on us. Am I hurt?"

Maysong replied, "You are fine now. You had three broken ribs and a broken shoulder. I also removed a blockage. Can you move your right arm for me?"

Cindy held her arm out.

"Raise your arm above your head, please."

She did. It felt a tiny bit stiff but she had complete range of motion. She replied, "Thank you. How is my friend?"

"About the same. We get these types of injuries every day with the miners. Please wait here another ten minutes."

… - …

In the next room, Emma was having the same conversation with Healer Windsong. She said, "You and your friend can go now. Please get dressed and I'll have a runner walk you both out to the lobby. Some people are waiting for you both."

Emma replied, "Thank you again. I feel wonderful."

Windsong nodded and replied, "Perhaps the two of you should spend an hour sitting on the exceptionally comfortable chairs that Redeye talks about when you get back to the Wand Shop."

"We will. Thank you, again."

The runner walked them out to the lobby where Colin, Dan, Harry and Hermione were sitting on the bench. Colin saw his mum first, with Harry a half step behind. Harry held Emma gently and quietly asked, "Are you in pain?"

Seeing the slight nod, he let her go and suggested to Hermione and Dan that they be very gentle in their hugs. They walked out and made their way down the stairs, nodding at the guards, then walked into the break room where the recently injured were led to the La-Z-Boy recliners. Harry asked "Would you like a tea?"

Emma replied, "I'll have an Orange Crush, if there's one in the refrigerator?"

"Me too," added Cindy. "They sound perfect."

Somewhere in the flood of questions, Cindy heard, "Are you OK?" and "What happened?"

She replied, "We had walked around the shop and were looking at the different tree trunks. I touched an alder tree and got a shock. Somehow it tipped over. The next thing I remembered, the doctor came in and told me that she'd repaired a broken shoulder and a few broken ribs. I feel fine, great even. How about you, Emma?"

"The same. Windsong told me that they receive these injuries every day. I feel better than new. She told me that she repaired some sort of blockage and that I'd also broken my femur. Their healing ability is remarkable."

… - …

Saturday November 25

The next day, Harry agreed to meet Colin, who had finished his pictures. He told Hermione, "I'll be home in a half hour. Cindy accompanied Colin back to the Wand Shop where he showed them the copies of the pictures that he'd taken. Harry asked, "Where was this?" asking about one of the photos.

Colin replied, "The ceiling in the main area was cool. It had all of these designs."

Harry admitted, "It was pretty dark when I was in there the first time. I was a bit busy with the snake."

"I wish I could have seen it," remarked Colin, not really thinking about what he was saying.

Remus was carrying a box of wands into the break room as Harry started the memory cube for the young photographer. Lupin hadn't seen it and set the box down on the edge of the table to watch.

"My Lord," jerked Cindy when she saw the snake rear up, knocking the box of wands onto the floor. "I'm sorry. I'll pick them up," grabbing a few and putting them into the box. One emitted a shower of sparks as she picked it up. She put it into the box.

Harry handed it back to her and suggested, "Give it another wave, please."

She did. The same thing happened. He suggested, "Hold it like this, point it at the wall and say, "Lumos."

She did and the wand lit like a flashlight beam. "Oh my. Oh my,"

Harry suggested, "To shut it off, say Nox."

She did and it did. He walked to the refrigerator, got her another bottle of Orange Crush and handed it to her.

He asked, "Did you know you were magical?"

"I'm not... I mean, no, I didn't know."

She tried to hand the beech pencil back to him and Harry said, "Please keep it."

Completely unsettled, she said, "Colin, we need to go now."

She hurried him out the door as Colin said, "See you, Harry. Thanks for the wand."

When they had left, Remus asked, "What was that about?"

"When I first met him, Colin had told me that his parents were muggles. He must have been wrong."

Remus nodded and agreed, "That is strange. Maybe she didn't get her letter for some reason."

… - …

Harry got home just in time for dinner. As they were eating, he said, "Guess what happened today? Colin and his mum came in and she can perform magic! I taught her the lumos spell."

Dan asked, "How?"

"No idea. Remus thought maybe she didn't get her letter."

Hermione observed, "I suppose that could have happened. The knot on the string holding the letter could have come loose. Wouldn't her parents have noticed any accidental magic?"

Dan remarked, "In hindsight, Hermione must have mastered the summoning charm at 18 months. Books and magazines were always ending up in her crib. How about you, Harry?"

"Apparently I learned how to apparate at age seven. It was weird with Cindy. A box of beech pencils were on the edge of the table. She accidentally knocked over the box onto the floor. She scooped up a handful and an entire fireworks display of sparks whooshed out of the wands. I gave her one and taught her how to do Lumos and Nox."

Emma remarked, "How strange." No one gave a thought to the Healers' previous comments about removing blocks.

… -...

Wednesday November 29

Harry, Winky and Dobby arrived at the Wand Shop at four. Remus and Sirius were already there. They had everything ready to go for a huge sales day. The Eye Brothers were in place and asked, "Are we ready to open?"

Harry replied, "Let's do it." Dobby and Winky averaged two a minute, as Winky handed them wands to try. Dan and Hermione arrived at five and were soon at their tables verifying that Winky's selections were perfect. Redeye was averaging a box of 500 loan forms every hour that morning. As the day wore on, more and more of the customers were paying in coin.

The wandcrafters staggered their breaks. The only true slowdowns were the two 20 minute breaks that Winky took. During those, she had a quarter bottle of Harry's Orange Crush and took a 15 minute nap to rest from continually reading Auras.

At 5:30 that afternoon, they had literally sold out their stock and closed the doors. A few bathroom breaks later, they gathered in the breakroom. Sirius compared notes with Sharpeye for a few minutes and he announced, "We sold 7,850 for the day. 4,200 were paid for by bank loan and 3,650 were paid for in coin. That puts our total for the month at 10,050!"

Everyone agreed that 10,050 was a very impressive number. The three older men enjoyed a Sam Adams. Harry and Hermione ended up on the same recliner and were resting their eyes for a few minutes to the wild amusement of the other three.

… -...

Thursday November 30

When Harry walked along the alley a week after receiving the vests for the guards, he noticed that Clarence had some boots and quidditch gloves for sale in his window while Clara had ladies handbags in hers. He smiled to himself as he continued on his way to the shop.

The Eye brothers looked very good in their new vests and wore them with pride. Harry noticed that they seemed to be standing a bit straighter in their new apparel.

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A/Ns

It's easy to have mixed feelings with respect to the Weres. Greyback's tactics are well executed. That said, his strategy is flawed. How far should the Ministry go (if at all) to accommodate his demands?

The production, sales and expected inventory supply plans are at best, fluid. Harry's inexperience is showing. He's sprinting towards a cliff.

Story recommendation: Msgt SilverDollar and Snake was one of my favorite storytellers. His son, Snake cleaned up and posted another handful of tales that SilverDollar had written or started. He's listed as one of my favorite Authors. I always enjoyed sending notes back and forth with him.

Also, please consider Ash Tree by Genkaifan. Cheers

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