Chapter Sixteen
Spiders
Wednesday - October 18
Harry looked at the note that he'd written. He was satisfied that it was complete.
Professor McGonagall,
To finalize arrangements for next week, I hope to modify some of the items that you'd mentioned in your letter from yesterday. I will be arriving at Hogwarts Sunday morning at nine. Four of the Gringotts guards will be accompanying me for the week. They have requested separate accommodations, as have I. Staying in the Gryffindor dormitory as you suggested is not an option, as I'm bringing a fair amount of equipment as well as a large inventory of wands.
The goblins will be bringing their own food.
A vacant classroom would be preferable to the great hall for the wand fittings.
It is our experience that the fitting appointments for previous wand users will take about five minutes each. With the occasional restroom break, it would be possible to do two years in a long day. The first years are expected to take considerably longer.
As such, the schedule that I'd like is;
Sunday - Materials collection
Monday – First years
Tuesday – Second and Third years
Wednesday – Fourth and Fifth years
Thursday – Sixth and Seventh years
Friday – Materials collection
Please remind the students that they will need their signed Wand Purchase Permit card that was issued by Gringotts along with five galleons. They cannot purchase their new wand without it. Please review the terms written on the back of the cards with the students. They are not allowed to loan or give their wands to another witch or wizard. They are not allowed to sell their wand to anyone other than Gringotts for a period of five years. Should they break or lose their wand, they will not be allowed to purchase a replacement until everyone in Britain has had the opportunity to purchase theirs first. These terms were approved by Minister Bones.
If they left their card or coins at home, they will need to owl their parents to send it, so they have it on their appointed day.
Thank you for your co-operation,
Harry James Potter
Licensed Wandcrafter
Harry called, "Dobby?"
"Yes Harry Potter sir?"
"Can you take this message to Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts? Please hand it to her personally."
"Certainly." A moment later, he was gone.
… - …
At the end of their meeting, Amelia asked Barchoke, "Do you know how I can contact Sirius Black for a few minutes?"
Later that afternoon Amelia was in the wand shop speaking with Harry. She said, "If you can help me, I'd like to have Sirius and Remus contact me. I'd like to talk with him, present him exoneration papers and discuss a business opportunity with the two of them." She handed him several plain white business cards with Amelia Bones and her cell phone number beneath.
As she got up to leave, Harry said, "I'll help you. Excuse me for just a minute." He walked into the office, called Dobby and Winky, then asked, "Is there any magic on these business cards?"
Winky Looked and said, "No magic."
"Thank you, Winky. Dobby can you find Sirius?"
"Yes. Dobby know where he is."
"Good." They walked out to the shop where Amelia was waiting. Harry handed Dobby his cell phone and said, "Will you please take this to Sirius Black and ask him to call the number on the card?"
"Dobby can." An instant later he silently vanished.
The flip phone worked perfectly. Amelia's rang. Of course Harry could only hear half of the conversation.
"Hello, Mr. Black. Thank you for calling."
"Actually, it belongs to Harry. I'm in his place of business."
"That's correct. I saw his memory from June and know for a fact that you didn't kill Peter Pettigrew. Others have also vouched for you as well. I'd like to meet with you, ask you a handful of questions under veritaserum and if I'm satisfied with the results, sign and hand you your exoneration papers. If not, I'll walk away and you'll be no worse off than you are now."
"Yes, I can register you as an animagus at the same time. I give you my word, I will only be accompanied by Harry Potter."
"Agreed. Also, I have a very meaningful business proposition that I'd like you to consider."
"Yes, both of you."
"Yes. Just a moment." She handed Harry her cell phone."
"Harry, is that you?"
"It's me, Padfoot."
"What's the last word of the password?"
"Good."
"Excellent. Any other questions?"
Harry asked, "How long was your old wand?"
"Twelve inches."
"OK. She'll call you tomorrow at..." She held up nine fingers. "Nine. Please hand Dobby back my phone after you end the call. He'll bring it back to you tomorrow at half-eight. OK?"
Harry stated, "It was him."
Amelia replied, "Besides his new wand, please don't give him anything else tomorrow other than your phone and this portkey. The password is, Activate. It will take him right here."
"Can he bring Remus?"
"If he wishes. If you happen to have one more spare wand that you'd be willing to give to Mr. Lupin, he could more easily retrieve his Vauxhall Estate Wagon from St. Ebb."
… - ...
Thursday October 19
Harry had gone to the shop early Thursday, glued another set of wands and put them into the clamps that morning. Hermione and Emma agreed to do the fittings and would be in the sales area.
Dobby appeared on the beach at 8:30. He had a large paper mailing envelope in his hand and dutifully handed it to Sirius, who opened it. Inside was a note from Harry stating;
Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic is in my building. The shorter wand is yours. Remus, I remember yours as being about fourteen inches. Try these out a few times before doing anything else. The playing card is her portkey. Remus, you may want to portkey in as well and pick up your car later. She has a bottle of veritaserum, a three-page exoneration letter, a half filled-out animagus card and a thick packet of papers regarding her business proposition. For what it's worth, Barchoke, my account manager from Gringotts recommends that you bring your metal case back with you and look at her proposition carefully.
Harry
They both looked at it and agreed that it was from Harry.
Remus tried his wand a few times and was very pleased with it. He said, "It works better than my old one. I wonder where he got it?"
"Dunno. Mine works very well too. Are you sure we should do this? Dobby, was anyone else in the building?"
"Harry Potter sir's Hermione, Dr. Emma and Winky also be there."
Remus said, "Let's go."
… - ...
At nine, Amelia saw the two appear. She carefully took the wand that Harry had made her out of her pocket and set it on the table. She greeted them, "Thank you for coming, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin. Mr. Black, if you would please, set your wand on the table. Dobby and Winky can look after them. Sirius did and Winky picked them up. Hermione and Emma were in the sales area. After they were both seated, she said, "I have a bottle of veritaserum. I'm going to administer three drops."
Sirius replied, "Make it four. I don't want there to be any doubt in your mind."
She gave them and waited a minute, then asked. "Did you work with Voldemort or any of his followers for the purpose of killing Lilly, James or Harry Potter in 1981?"
"No."
"Did you aid or assist Peter Pettigrew in escaping justice or murdering twelve muggles on Carnaby Street?"
"No."
"Were you the Potter's secret keeper?"
"No."
"Who cast the Fidelius charm and designated the secret keeper?"
"Albus Dumbledore."
"If you are exonerated, will you help me improve the lives of witches or wizards, regardless of their heritage?"
"I'll try."
She handed him the antidote, signed the exoneration document, made three copies and tapped on the original to file it. She said, "Mr Black, you are a free man again. I'll send this copy to the Quibbler and the other one to the Prime Minister. The last one is yours."
"Thank you, Minister."
"If you would be willing, I'd like to call my Senior Investigator, Connie Hammer, her partner Anna Daily and the reporter from the Quibbler, Cheryl Whitehart and ask another hour of questions. Harry, I know you have work to do. May we borrow your breakroom?"
"Certainly."
While they were waiting, Sirius asked, "Is this yours?"
"Yes, when you're done with the others, we'll be happy to give you the tour. There's coffee, tea and sodas in the refrigerator. Please help yourselves."
Anna, Cheryl and Connie had just arrived. They followed the others in to the break room and Harry closed the door.
Amelia acted as hostess and everyone sat at the butcher-block dining table. Cheryl and Connie set up their dictaquills as Anna set her ever-present camera on the counter.
Amelia started, "I interviewed Mr. Black in the presence of Harry Potter earlier this morning and found that his answers warranted giving Mr. Black an unconditional exoneration. He has agreed to answer any relevant questions that you might have."
Connie started, "The Potters were murdered about ten pm on October 31. You were apprehended about one pm the next day. What happened in between?"
"I stopped by Peter's place about nine that night. He wasn't home, which was very odd. I rode to where James and Lily were staying. It must have just happened. Now that I think about it, there were several weird things. I checked on James. He didn't have his wand with him, He slept with it in his wrist holster. His invisibility cloak was gone. He always kept it with him. Hagrid arrived. He and James were in the Order of the Phoenix together but they weren't great friends. I seriously doubt that James had authorized giving Hagrid the secret. Finally, went I went upstairs to check on Lily and Harry; there was a cloak on the floor – just a cloak – no wand. Peter must have been there and taken it.
"Anyway, Hagrid showed up. Said he was taking Harry on Dumbledore's orders. I was his godfather. He had no legal right to take him. The next thing I knew, I'd loaned him my motorbike and was looking for Peter. I caught up with him the next afternoon and tried to stun him. He dodged, called out, How could you? and blasted a hole into the sewer. He must have hit a gas pipe. Anyway, he turned into his form – a gray rat and snuck away."
Anna asked, "Were you present when Professor Dumbledore cast the Fildelius charm?"
"Yes. He named Peter secret keeper. Peter wrote the secret down on a slip of parchment, showed it to us and Dumbledore picked it up."
Connie asked, "As specifically as possible, how did you escape Azkaban?"
"I'm an animagus and spent most of my time there in my form. I slipped through the bars and swam away. A fishing boat picked me up. The water was cold."
Whitehart asked, "Did you ever speak with Professor Dumbledore since leaving Azkaban?"
"Two years ago. I told him what happened. He didn't offer to help me."
She followed up with, "What reasons did he offer for refusing to give you a trial?"
"He said that it was best for Harry not to grow up in the magical world. Another of his greater good schemes with self-determined trade-offs – My being locked up unjustly was OK because it fit in with his grand scheme."
Amelia offered guidance to Whitehart stating, "There's no reason to reference either Harry Potter or Remus Lupin in your article. Mr. Black, with your permission, I'm certain that Anna would like to take your picture and she'd be happy to send copies this afternoon to you. Ms. Whitehart, is that acceptable?"
They all agreed. Anna took one of Sirius alone, one with Amelia, one with Whitehart and at Black's request one with Remus and one with the two of them and Harry.
After Whitehart and the Ministry people left, Harry kept his word and with Dobby and Winky's help, gave the two the grand tour. As it was time, Harry undid the clamps to take out the recently glued wands which Winky set on the appropriate racks according to the finished length, then he glued another set of blocks and reset the clamps.
They went back in the breakroom and it was the Mauraders' turn to ask questions.
"When I saw Barchoke in early July he said that you were in the States apprenticing. How did you get back so quickly?"
"I'm halfway through my training; well not even that far. I expect he's forgotten more about wandcrafting than we currently know but it was enough to legally get us going making these."
Remus asked, "How did you pick out wands that worked so well? I tried out four with Ollivander and I expect that Sirius tried out a dozen."
"They're made of a core and wood combination that we've found is compatible with a very high percentage of people. The greatest deciding factor in this type of wand is the length. We refer to them as generics."
"We?"
"Hermione Granger. She's my girlfriend and business partner. Gringotts set us up in this business."
"How did Minister Bones know that Wormtail's still alive?"
"Was still alive." He briefly told them about the events of June 24 in the graveyard.
"Well done, Pup. That explains this business venture that she wants us to get into – dispositioning the estates of all of the death munchers. This is the best prank ever. Moony, we'll make a fortune."
Remus observed, "You already have one."
"We'll make another together." They mentioned their proposed business venture.
Harry added, "If I may, be sure to read, understand and agree or renegotiate every detail of your contract with her. You're obligated to hear her out but you need to understand her expectations – Based on what she's told me, she's doubtless looking for money to fund the ministry and will have an expectation as to the timing. If Pansy's dad was doing this, he probably had an entire set of bad guys in the tattoo club to sell stuff to. You don't. Uncle Vernon used to go to second hand shops all the time looking for bargains. A lot of them seem to specialize in one particular thing, like bedroom furniture. Check the phone book advertisements to get a starting list."
Remus agreed. "I've worked in a few second-hand shops. Harry is right. Most are quite specialized."
Harry added, "Since these estates belonged to Malfoy and his pals, they probably also contain loads of stuff that would be dangerous or illegal to sell; be sure that stuff isn't included in the valuation, or you'd eat the cost and make nothing on that particular job."
"Speaking from experience, Harry?"
"Mr. Weasley raided the Malfoy place once when I was still pals with Ron. He talked about it for weeks. My perspective of getting into contracts with people who write them for a living has changed a bit after the first thousand wands or so; I expect that after selling off five estates, yours will change a bit too. Aside from Mooney, who's going to help you?"
Sirius jested, "Looking for a job, Harry?"
"No, but I know that a lot of people are. Hermione's dad told me, Don't hire anyone out of obligation. Uncle Vernon always said, Never hire someone who you can't fire. I think he was referring to children of your best employees. In your case, I'd give everybody you hire a two-estate trial run. The work may be way different than what you or they are thinking."
Remus asked, "Did you make up with your uncle since third year?"
"No, he's still an arse but I admit, he's a pretty good businessman. Keep in mind that you'd mostly be selling to nonmagical second-hand shops and whoever buys jewelry. Not to pry but where are you two living right now?"
"St. Ebb in Ayr county Scotland on the Ireland side."
"So you're going to need a warehouse of some sort near London and a few house elves to move things back and forth. How long would it take to sell a house full of stuff? Vernon's house is half junk that nobody would even want. What did Mr. Parkinson use to move all that stuff?"
"Those are all good questions," admitted Remus. "Ones that we need to get answers to. We also need to learn a bit more than the basics of estate law."
Emma had been standing nearby by listening to Harry. She offered,"One last suggestion – try and get as detailed an appraisal on the first estate as you can – so much for the land, so much for the building, so much for personal property and so forth. Ask for suggestions on buyers too. Look for any liens, mortgages, back taxes – that sort of thing. When you're done with it, compare on each area, how well you did against the estimate. If you're looking for a warehouse, maybe you can get a ninety day rental with an option to buy. Your account manager should be able to help you. It's to their advantage you see you succeed with this. You're going to need to hire a great Realtor. Last and not least, they can easily make you a set of reuseable two-way portkeys. I'm Emma Granger, by-the-way."
"Remus Lupin and my friend here is the newly exonerated, Sirius Black."
"Welcome to the Wand Shop, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin," added Hermione. "Can we buy you lunch?"
"Another day would be delightful. We have a stack of paperwork to look through and not enough time to do it. We hope to see you both again soon." With that, they left to go back to Gringotts.
… - ...
Friday October 20
As Minerva read the morning paper, her eyes welled with tears of guilt.
Sirus Black cleared of any wrongdoing against the Potters
Illegally held thirteen years without a trial
By Cheryl Whitehart
Sirius Black was voluntarily interviewed for several hours yesterday by Senior Investigator Connie Hammer, Anna Daily, myself and Minister of magic Amelia Bones – half of the time under the maximum dosage of veritaserum. Black's story was collaborated by pensieve memories supplied by a third party. Peter Pettigrew was the designated secret keeper when Professor Dumbledore cast the Fildelius charm..
No direct evidence linked Black to either the Potters deaths nor the eleven nonmagicals killed on Carnaby Street on November 1, 1981 when Black was apprehended. Records indicate that Mr. Black was sent to Azkaban on a thirty-day temporary order signed by Albus Dumbledore and Bartemius Crouch. Both men are deceased and never publicly commented on the case.
Gringotts records indicate that Peter Pettigrew died in June of this year. Mr. Black is currently in the process of assuming his rightful title of Lord Black of the Ancient and Noble House of Black.
McGonagall slammed her glass down and said, "I've a good mind to torch his painting rather than hear one more peep out of his lying trap! He led everyone to the conclusion that Black was the secret keeper."
… - …
After Amelia explained in some detail what Parkinson had been doing and verifying several times that Black had been following along, she asked, "Do you have the financial resources to take over an operation like that?"
Sirius admitted, "Personally no; though I could take over as head of the Black family, claim Lordship and then the answer would be yes, or very close to yes. The Black townhouse in London burned in June and the insurance claim hasn't been settled yet. The Black holdings are comparatively liquid with more than three million in coin and a good amount of easily salable jewelry."
He continued, "Based on Lovegood's stories, I'd guess that there are a good number of estates to get dispositioned. How many people did Parkinson have working with him? I can't imagine that he personally spent his afternoons with a sack of loot; going from pawn shop to shop, or rummaging through people's closets."
"Probably not. To answer your question, I'd guess three to five, though given the list, you might want five to ten, as plenty of the smaller projects could be running concurrently. You might want to see if any of his elves are available to work with you. From what I've been told, what Parkinson really brought to the table was a long list of contacts who were interested in specific types of items and reportedly paid top money for them."
She admitted, "Personally, I'd be just as happy if after giving the insides of a property a good going over, you torched the building. It would eliminate the need to have several curse breakers on hand to call on and would be just as easy to revise the estimate down to fit the circumstances."
He agreed, "That's a very workable strategy to be running out of the gate with."
"I'll issue Connie and Anna a warrant to search the Parkinson estate and see if there are any records of his business relating to the sales to legitimate second hand property merchants. I'll advise you in a week, In the mean time, please consider who you may want to assist you."
… - ...
Saturday October 21
When they arrived at the shop Saturday morning, Harry and Emma went to the glue tables. She watched as he glued the first set of blocks, set them in a row and clamped them together using the clamp table. She smiled at his practiced hand, getting them just evenly tight without squishing them or leaving one side too loose. After clamping them, he quickly wiped off the small excess that had seeped through, then unlocked and rotated the table top 180 degrees, so he could wipe off the bottoms of the blocks. He relocked the table when he was done. She did the second table. She was slower applying the glue, though with excellent results. He corrected her once when she set one of the blocks onto the table orientated 90 degrees to the point that the two halves wouldn't glue when the pressure was applied. When she finished with the clamps, he said, "Very good. Try the next one." She wasn't any faster but hadn't made any mistakes.
He could see that her fingers were stiff and sore from the different work and asked, "Hermione, do you have any more of that murtlap potion?"
She walked over, carrying her ever-present beaded bag and pulled out a small bottle intending to give it to Harry. He said, "Emma's hands are hurting from the different work."
She poured a dollop into Emma's cupped hand and said, "Rub this in for five minutes."
She did. At first nothing happened, then she could feel it begin to soak into her skin. Relief didn't begin to describe how she felt. She could bend her fingers with the same ease that she remembered when she was nineteen! There was no pain, no stiffness and no residual ache. All she could say was "Thank you, thank you, thank you! How long will it last?"
Hermione replied, "A week or two. Let me know if you want more. I'll happily make you a bottle." That was how Emma had come to volunteer to take one of the sales shifts most mornings.
Hermione asked, "Are you all packed for your trip?"
"No. There are 390 names on the list. I need some boxes to put the wands in. Ollivander stored all of his in individual boxes. They aren't needed in our situation yet, so stuffing 25 into a shoe box has worked."
"I'll look into that when you're at Hogwarts. The shoeboxes are going to have to do. Bring seventy-five each of the three sizes of oak, fifty each of the three sizes of beech and maple and I'll make an assortment of the baton style along with a few each of the other cores. It's a matter of optics. You have some different ones available so they think that there's more of a choice when in reality, you'll probably run out of twelve inch oak rods and Dobby or Winky will have to come back for more on Wednesday night. The students will be your customers for life and will certainly come back for a replacement or two as they get older. You don't need to act creepy like Ollivander but you don't want them thinking that you're a one-trick pony either."
"Thanks. I talked with Barchoke. He said he's already assigned extra guards to make up with the four going with me."
"We'll be fine, Harry."
"Dobby and Winky will bring the tail hairs and spools of strand back to the shop. They'll stop over to Yasgur's farm and pick up the twenty sheep on Sunday. Hagrid will keep an eye on them until Friday when we go and collect the rest of the strand."
… - ...
Amelia had mixed feelings after her telephone calls with her counterparts in France and Germany. The short of it was Emma's comment regarding alternative core options hadn't been taken off the table. They were trying braided kneezle hair, owl feathers and piecing together smashed wands to no avail. Exhuming bodies to see if the deceased had been buried with their wand had been considered. Dragons had all but been exterminated throughout Europe but to no avail; there was no known method of speeding up the aging process. They were each looking for help and hoping that Britain could lend them some aid.
France had tried making a generic from freely donated Veela hair. They made excellent wands but only other veela could wield them. A few mentioned blood wands.
Gringotts had seeded wandmaking businesses in several countries. They had yet to provide anywhere near the same level of results.
… - …
Sirius look disappointed. He was halfway through his dinner with Harry and the teen had refused his offer of adopting him or blood adopting him and becoming the Black Heir.
Harry replied. "I don't need the money; I've made my own and received a bit from Mum and Dad. What about Tonks?"
"I can't; the Black lordship is patriarchal – it can only be passed down to a magical male. I won't be having children of my own."
Harry suggested, "How about talking with Barchoke or Sneerwell about dissolving the family? You could certainly request that Amelia assign the Wizengamot seat to Nymphadora or Andromeda if you prefer, or she could assign it back to you if you're interested."
Sirius admitted, "I'm not sure why I agreed to this estate thing with Amelia. We were pretty happy in St. Ebb."
"I get it – long walks on the beach and the like. There's nothing wrong with listening to the waves together. So do Estates for five years to clear the backlog and train a replacement or two. You both might enjoy the work. The beach will still be there on nights and weekends."
"You don't mind that I'm with Remus?"
"Why should I? You don't mind that I'm with Hermione, do you?"
"Of course not."
"OK then. So go make an appointment with Barchoke or Sneerwell. They'll lay out a timeline and decision points."
"Thanks pup."
… - ...
Sunday October 22
At nine on Sunday morning, Harry, the four guards, Dobby and Winky arrived at Hogwarts, along with 24 shoe boxes filled with wands, a cash box and daily lists for each day. They made their way up to the castle where they were met by professor Flitwick.
"Well met, Professor FlitWick," said Redeye.
"Well met Redeye, Blackeye, Dryeye and Sharpeye. I have quarters prepared your your stay in the visitor wing on the second floor. I will personally stay and watch your things while you conduct your business with Hagrid."
"Thank you, Professor," replied Harry. They carried in all of the boxes as well as supplies for the guards and put all of the boxes in Harry's rooms. Harry said, "The guards will be back by noon. Thanks again."
"You are welcome, Wandcrafter Potter." Like everyone in the Nation, Flitwick was very respectful of earned titles.
They went out to collect Hagrid and made their way to where the thesterals were likely to be. Hagrid had brought along some freshly killed rabbits. They found fifteen and the guards got to work as Hagrid fed them. The side of their tails that had previously been sheered in July looked to have grown about four inches. Harry thought that they now resembled poodles but wisely didn't say anything. The thestrals didn't seem to appreciate their new look. Harry hoped that it would be a long while before they would be forced into such a situation again.
If the thesterals had given them the cold shoulder, the hippogriffs were positively frosty. They stomped and bit Hagrid more than a few times while Redeye and Sharpeye expertly trimmed their hair.
Dobby said, "Winky and I will be right back with spools for spidery strands." A few minutes later they both had returned, each carrying a large box.
When they found their way to the acromantulas, Harry was glad that Hagrid and the four guards were right by him. Hagrid called for Aragog, who said, "Hagrid, why are you intruding on our land? Our webs have been stolen again and my people are starving."
Hagrid, said, "Well, er, we need them webs but will bring you some sheep if you make some more that we can have in the next few days."
"Sheep? They are very tasty. Bring them now."
Hagrid looked at Harry and said, "It wouldn't hurt nothing if you brought em now."
Harry replied,"We'll bring half of them now and the other half in five days." He nodded to Dobby and whispered, "Go get half of the sheep and bring them back." By now, they were surrounded by five hundred spiders of varying sizes. The goblins had all taken up defensive positions and had each taken a practice swing or two with their pole axes.
The spiders were all clicking in a threatening manor. Harry was glad that he had his portkey with him.
The baying of the terrified sheep broke the tension. The spiders were all clicking, communicating back and forth. Finally Aragog said, "Bring the rest of the sheep now and another twenty in four days and all of the adults will spin webs that you may take with you. Ask next season when you come and we shall be happy to accommodate your wishes."
"Er, all right then," said Hagrid sounding relieved. As he was speaking, the other sheep appeared.
They quickly collected the sticky strand, and left before the sounds of the sheep had completely died down.
"Thanks Hagrid. That was getting pretty tense for a while."
"Yer welcome Harry. Come and see my new home. I haven't properly thanked you yet."
"We will go back to the castle," said Redeye.
Winky said, "Dobby and I will be bringing these back to Wand Shop. Call when you are needing something, Harry Potter." She clearly didn't like being by the giant spiders.
Harry followed Hagrid back to his new home. It was excellent. Even Malfoy would have admitted that it was a dozen steps up from his old hut.
"Come in, come in." Harry looked around and knew that it was perfect for his large friend. There were several pheasants hanging from the many hooks attached to the ceiling and a ham that he must have just smoked. He'd hung some pictures on the wall. One was of a young Hagrid; even then towering over his father. There was another of he and Hermione that had been taken after the first task of the tournament. There was one of all of the Hogwarts facility. Harry noticed that Lupin was in the photo. There was another of Hagrid standing by the dragons. He wisely didn't mention that he was in possession of the Ridgeback's heart.
Harry remarked, "This is the best place ever. It's perfect. I've got something for you."
"Yer din't have to bring nothin, I'm just happy to be yer friend."
"I'm happy to be your friend too, Hagrid, This is for you. Give it a wave."
The fit was perfect. Sixteen inches long and three quarters of an inch thick - perfect for Hagrid-sized hands. A fountain of grey sparks flew from the wand as it connected with its rightful owner. Harry added, "Professor Flitwick told me that he'd tutor you on Sunday mornings if you wanted. By summer, you could take your OWL exam. Hermione and I did that last month."
Hagrid blew his nose with a thundering sound. "Thank ya, Harry. I can't even tell ya how much this means to have me own wand again."
"I forgot; here's your paperwork, signed by Minister Bones. I told her that you had nothing to do with the snake or Myrtle. Riddle had framed you. She believed me."
Hagrid asked, "Why did you want all of that webbing?"
Harry explained the quantities involved and that the thesterals, hippogriffs and unicorns weren't nearly enough to get a wand made for everyone in the next year.
Hagrid, replied, "I'm a simple man, Harry. I live a simple life. I can see that you and Hermione - you two have it figured out and are working yer plan. You were right to pay Aragog for their webs. You two got a big job ahead of ya; I'm glad that I could help a bit. Let's get ya settled in and get some supper."
They walked up to the castle where they met Professor McGonagall on the way to the great hall for dinner. She looked at him, seeing only the dirt on his trousers. Hagrid said, "Harry and I and the others were out collecting stuff, so they can make more wands."
"Very good, Hagrid." Like many academics, she tended to overlook the actual work involved in a task; instead focusing on the finished products.
"I'll wait here. You can go get cleaned up a bit and we'll have dinner in half an hour."
McGonagall added, "We'll save you places at the Staff table."
Harry wondered if deep down, she wasn't feeling utterly resentful that he'd apparently stolen her favorite student. He chalked it up to being a part of the price that he had to pay for Amelia's silence regarding that evening last June.
"Thank you, Professor."
He walked up to the second floor and came back wearing the light gray robes that he usually wore when doing wand fittings. They had the Potter family crest on them and Winky had embroidered The Wand Shop below the crest. His hair was almost four inches longer than it had been last June, hanging down to his collar. His scar was just a faint white hairline on his forehead above his right eye. Out of habit, he wore his clear wraparound safety glasses. Emma had asked him if he had any nostalgic feeling about returning to Hogwarts. He honestly had told her, no – it was just a week of fittings and core collection.
He sat between Flitwick and Hagrid. The food was as he'd remembered; basic and filling. There would be no pizza or Asian food served in the great hall this week – no grilled steaks. He looked out at the tables. No one had noticed his presence. The Slytherin table had the most change. Between voluntary withdrawals and unexplained disappearances, there were few older students. He recognized two sixth years from quidditch, along with Greengrass, Zabini and Bulstrode. The Hufflepuff table was as he remembered it. There were two Ravenclaws missing – Chang and her friend. He couldn't think of her name offhand. Neville and Luna were sitting together at the end of the Griffindore table near Fred and George. Ron and Seamus were sitting by Dean.
Flitwick asked, "Did you have a good afternoon in the forest?"
"Yes. Thanks to Hagrid, Redeye and crew. We collected the rest of the tail hair. We made a deal with Aragog – some sheep in exchange for a promise for a lot more strand. Hopefully there will be enough for Ragnok to be able to help out France and Germany – we'll find out Friday."
"Is Dr. Granger enjoying her new work?"
"I think so, She says it's a very welcome change from fixing teeth for the last twenty years."
"Are the wands working well?"
"When I do an intensive spell, like my patronus, I'd say that there's a fifteen percent drop-off in raw output as compared to the holly and phoenix feather wand that I made. As a trade-off,we have a ninety-five percent compatibility with the strand wands. Given the scarcity of the core components throughout Europe, there really weren't any better alternatives."
McGonagall stood up and announced, "The first years will have the day off tomorrow to be fitted for their new wands. Second and third years will get theirs on Tuesday. Fourth and fifth years will get theirs on Wednesday. Sixth and seventh years get theirs on Thursday. As a reminder, you will need your yellow signed Wand Purchase Permit card and five galleons. The first-year fittings will take place in classroom 2-C. Those buying replacement wands should expect a five to ten minute appointment."
As expected, he saw several faces go slack and suddenly have a look of panic. McGonagall obviously failed to make mention of the particulars on Wednesday, as he'd requested. He considered offering a make-up day then thought, The whole world isn't my responsibility. He left shortly after and walked outside. He took out his cell phone called Hermione, explained that he need her to buy another twenty sheep to be picked up Friday morning. She said that she'd call Yasgur and confirm with him when he called Wednesday evening.
In between I love yous she mentioned that Winky and Dobby reported that they'd collected 10,000 feet of strand.
A/Ns
I wish that I had a bottle of murtlap potion.
OMAKE – Whatever happened to the transfigured Death Eaters? (Not a part of the story but I liked it anyway)
That Sunday, Dan and Emma drove out to little Hangleton and found the cemetery. They had found a grave marked Tom Riddle and were about to leave when Dan noticed the Groundskeeper. Dan walked up to him and said, "Good afternoon, sir. Have you worked here a while?"
"Eleven years," was the reply. "I suppose you're here to ask about The Odd Night?"
Dan replied, "I hadn't heard about it. What happened?"
"I came to work one morning in late June. There was a whole big area over there..." He pointed to a flat area that appeared to be newly seeded not too far from where they were standing. It was a thirty foot circle. All the grass was burned up like someone had started a big bonfire.
Dan purposely looked thoughtful and replied, "How odd. What else was there?"
"It was the strangest thing I ever saw. Hell, it was the strangest thing I'd ever heard of. Somebody planted 47 dead trees."
Genuinely surprised, Dan replied, "Dead trees?"
"Yup. Every one of em – Different varieties too. There were birch, blackthorn, beech, elm, spruce, black poplar, holly, crab apple, ash, cottonwood and buckthorn. Most were decent size about as big as my bicep at the base. There were leaves on the ground but the trees themselves were all dead. The strangest one was a big stink bush over there – dead just like the others."
"Remarkable," commented Dan. "What did you do?"
"I cut em all up with my chainsaw and burned em up in the area that had already been burned."
"Amazing. There's always something. We'd best be on our way. Thanks for sharing your story."
They never mentioned their day trip to the teens.
