Chapter Seventeen

Some Students Get Wands

Monday October 23

Before he'd left, Hermione had given Harry a set of coreless demonstration wands that Dan had painted blue stripes on the shaft. She said, "You should let the first years try these a bit while they're next in line so they have an idea of what feels best. It might save you an hour over the course of a day."

Harry had thought about how to work with the first years over the course of the last week. After watching Daryl do some fittings, he was absolutely convinced that the measuring tape that Ollivander had used on impressionable eleven year-olds had simply been stolen from a magical clothing store. Head diameter – really?

The flat-out fact-of-the-matter was any ten or twelve inch wand was going to feel larger in an eleven year-old's hand than it would an adult. He fully expected that the majority of the first and second year students would want ten or twelve inch wands and the older students would either replicate their old wand or gravitate to the twelve or fourteen inch versions.

He decided on several questions, their name, what county they were from and which wand felt best to them. He had Redeye admit the first three students. He clearly remembered being that size. He said, "Good morning. My name is Harry and I'm going to get each of you kitted up with a wand. Does everyone have their yellow card and their five galleons?"

He smiled as he saw their faces nod up and down.

"One person at a time, I'd like you to try holding each of the blue sample pieces of wood on that table. See which one feels best in your hand. When you've done that, I'd like you to come to my table."

The little boy came over, handed Harry his card and five galleons. Harry asked, "What's your name?"

"Euan Abercrombie."

"OK Euan, what county are you from?"

"Surrey."

Harry replied, "Me too," putting the boy at ease. "Which wand felt good in your hand?"

"Number two."

"OK, that's a twelve inch oak one. Give this one a wave like this," he said, giving his wrist a small wave with a flick.

A handful of gray sparks bubbled out of the wand.

"Very good, Euan. How did it feel?"

"Warm."

"Excellent. Try this one," he said, handing him a twelve inch maple.

One spark came out.

"I'd say that the first one is right for you. Professor Flitwick is in the next room. He'll show you how to hold it and give you some safety rules. OK?"

"OK. Thank you, Mr. Harry."

Harry smiled and the little girl stood in front of his table.

She said, "My name is Stella Riordan. I'm from Tipperary." She had an entrancing Irish lilt to her voice. "I'd like to try the ten inch beech wand please." She handed him her card and five galleons.

Smiling at her self confidence, he handed it to her. She gave it a little wave and it reacted well.

Harry asked, "How did it feel?"

She replied, "Like me mum when she used to hold me – very comfortable."

"Would you like to try another one for comparison?"

"No, but thank you."

"OK, go see Professor Flitwick in the next room."

The fittings didn't all go so well. Little Emile Parker, the last student of the day tried all twelve wands that he had on the table with no reaction. She was about in tears when Harry felt a tap on his knee, looked down and Winky was pointing to one of the wands in Hermione's just-in-case box. Winky whispered, "She be allergic to spiders. That one is from bony flying horse."

Harry said, "Try this one, Emile."

Black sparks gushed out of the wand. Her face lit up and he could see that he'd found a match.

When she had left, Harry asked, "Winky, could you tell that the thesteral wand was going to be the best match?"

She nodded, "Yes. Other childrens had good matches with wands that you gave them. Black horse was best match for her."

He smiled at her and said, "Thank you, Winky. You made her very happy."

Redeye offered to lock up while Sharp eye offered to drop the Purchase Permit cards and galleons back at Gringotts. Harry was tired. Dinnertime had come and gone. Professor Flitwick walked over and remarked, "You helped sixty-four children get off to a very good start with their magic today. Well done. They all were able to cast the lumos charm. The great hall is closed but the kitchens are still open. Shall we get a quick dinner?"

Harry replied, "Sounds great."

Flitwick asked, "How long do you normally do fittings in a day?"

"We have two people do fittings for just over three hours in the morning. That gets us through sixty people. We're going to try seventy five a day in November. Having the list works well, as we know who is supposed to be there on a given day. So far, we haven't had any no-shows but I expect that will happen sooner or later."

As they were eating, Harry asked, "How are the new classes being received?"

Flitwick admitted, "The classes are a challenge. The instructors are unquestionably excellent and two thirds of the students have embraced them. A portion of the others are politely neutral while several handfuls of the remaining students are taking delight in disrupting the classes."

Harry asked, "Would you prefer that they not receive wands this week? I could get the lists changed in ten minutes."

He replied, "I'll ask the other Heads. Two are in fifth year, the other eight are sixth or seventh year."

Harry said, "The Purchase Permit cards are tied to the lists. If the name is erased from the list, the cards vanish. Redeye is authorized to add or strike names from the list. Just let me know tomorrow after dinner. They can be re-added to the list over winter break, or be placed at the end of the list."

"A good solution. Thank you."

… - ...

Unlike the Ministry of Magic, small business that couldn't operate didn't get thirty percent furlough pay for four months. When the Great Wandout happened at the end of June, Flannigan's tire repair shop had a pretty good business for four magicals whose only claim to fame was being able to cast a decent repair charm.

They had tried using muggle tire repair kits but they really didn't have a clue how to properly fix a tire. Customers began to grumble that the normally overnight service had turned into weeks. Flannigan begged them for more time and promised them that he'd make it right.

They closed the doors on July twelfth and the sign on the shop said, Closed for Remodeling.

One week turned to three. There was no help from the ministry. Three weeks turned into six.

Finally in late August, one of the employees received his card.

He did the actual repairs for fourteen hours a day, six days a week while the others did the unmounts, remounts and worked the sales counter. They cleared their backlog and took on new business, as usual. It was a tough go of it but they kept their chins up and saved the business.

… - …

Tuesday October 24

Tuesday started out well and improved as the day went on. Hagrid brought a pillowcase (student size) full of "interesting stuff" that he'd found in the forest. Harry called Winky who popped it back to the Wand Shop and instructed Dobby and Emma to look it over – just in case. None of them wanted a pet spider or anything resembling live animals infesting their new shop.

After a quick breakfast, Harry went to the classroom. Redeye was waiting outside the door and unlocked it when he saw Harry approach.

"Well met, Redeye. Thank you."

"Well met, Wandcrafter Potter. You are welcome."

As there were no set times specified, Harry could hear the usual crowd outside the door.

Harry nodded at Redeye to call the first student in. He never asked house affiliation, just the usual questions.

Alfred Cattermole walked in carrying his yellow card and five galleons which he deposited on the table. Harry asked, "Where are you from?"

"Hufflepuff Sir,"

"No, where does you family live?"

"London."

"Alfred, how long was your old wand?"

"Twelve inches."

"OK. Try this one."

"It's perfect sir." Gray sparks flew from the wand as it bonded to the second year.

Jimmy Peakes was next. He walked in, card in hand and recognized that it was Harry.

"Good morning sir,"

Harry felt a tinge of guilt that he'd not taken the time to get to know his housemates better. It was one more thing that Riddle had indirectly taken away from him.

Harry asked, "How long was your old wand, Jimmy?"

"Ten and three quarter inches."

"My wands are ten or twelve inches. Would you like to go shorter or longer?"

Jimmy replied. "Longer sir."

"Try this one. Give it a wave."

Loads of gray sparks flew out.

Harry said, "That looks like a great match."

"Thank you sir."

Dennis Creevey was next. He had his card and galleons and was wearing his Griffindor red jogging outfit under his school robe. Harry asked, "How was your summer, Dennis?"

"The best ever. We made loads of money selling camping equipment in Diagon Alley."

Harry replied, "The guards mentioned that. I'm glad that it worked out for you and Colin. How long was your old wand?"

"Twelve and an eighth."

"Try this one."

"Sweet. Thanks. See ya around."

Neville and Luna came by at noon. They had brought a lunch basket. Redeye let them in then locked the door to give the three some privacy.

Harry greeted them then mentioned, "Luna, your dad's newspaper is really great. It sounds like subscriptions are way up."

"Yes, thank you. He had to buy an additional three dozen mail owls to handle all of the deliveries. It was fun to see him so happy again. They each make five to thirty deliveries, depending on how far away the subscriber lives. Your shop is quite close, so that one only takes a few minutes from the Diagon Alley paper drop."

Between bites of his sandwich Harry asked, "How do you like the new classes?"

Neville admitted, "The nonmagical culture class is amazing, I had no idea that so many things were possible. Yesterday, she covered hydroponic growing systems and grow lights. Last week they talked about the train and subway systems. The week before they talked about airports."

Harry remarked, "There's one in Inverness about fifteen miles from here. That's how Hermione and I got home at the end of last year. It's not as fast as a portkey but way faster than the train – about an hour and a half once we started."

Harry looked at Luna's hand, saw the ring and asked, "Can I say congratulations?"

Luna smiled and said, "Daddy and Neville's Gran worked out the arrangements. We expect to get married just after Neville leaves school."

"Good for you both."

"It's almost one. We have class and you need to get back to work."

"Thanks for lunch."

The afternoon flew by. The last person was Astoria Greengrass. It turned out that she was from Gloucester. Harry wondered if they lived near his Grandfather's old property.

She ended up with a ten inch maple baton style.

He took stock of the empty boxes. He gone through two and a half boxes of the twelve inch oak rods. None of the other boxes were empty. Winky had just left to get more when Flitwick came by. He handed a list to Redeye, who was about to go to Gringotts for the money drop. Redeye said, "I'll bring the revised list back tomorrow. The Purchase Permit cards for the troublemakers will vanish overnight. Sharpeye and I will handle the whining children tomorrow. They will not bother you."

"Thank you."

They locked up for the night. Harry said, "I'll be down for dinner. I need to call Hermione." Flitwick was going to offer him the use of his floo when Harry pulled out his cell phone. As they were near the front door, Harry asked him to come out with him.

Her number was in the phone's address book. Harry pressed the button, said hi for a minute and added, "Just a second; someone wants to say hi to you."

He handed him his phone and heard Hermione say, "Hello?"

"Good evening, Wandcrafter Granger. It's Professor Flitwick. Can you hear me?"

"Perfectly, Professor. Is Harry finding wands for the students?"

"I believe so, They're all raving about the wands that the two of you have made. Where are you? I can hear you perfectly."

"My parents' back garden in Crawley."

"What are these called? I'll have to tell the others."

"Cell phones. They're portable telephones that can be used to call another phone anywhere in the world."

"Brilliant. It was wonderful talking with you."

"You too, professor. Good night."

"Thank you, Harry. I'd never seen one without the wires before."

… - …

While Harry was at Hogwarts. Hermione and Emma had loads of time for mother daughter conversations in the afternoons, after they were done doing the fittings and had their lunches.

"Dan and I wanted to say how proud we are of you two and are very pleased at what you managed to accomplish this summer."

"Thanks, Mum."

With a bit of hesitation, Emma asked, "Are you enjoying it?"

"Yes, for the most part. I'm less uncomfortable with the people than I thought I'd be. The numbers seem staggering but everything seems to be going to plan. It's just..."

Emma waited patiently.

"There's a lot of repetition with the work."

"I can see that. Essentially, you're making the same designs over and over. You're also greatly improving peoples' lives Some of the people who came in this morning mentioned how cold it was last night. We have heat and water in our home. They don't. You're giving that back to them. What could be more spiritually rewarding than that?"

Hermione admitted, "When I was little, I thought I'd be a physician."

"OK, let's go with that a bit. You're sixteen. When your contract ends, you'll be nineteen. You left organized maths and science, history, literature and languages when you were eleven. Most of what you learned at Hogwarts is useful but isn't directly transferable. You could return to school as an adult and on your best day, get through high school in four years. Assuming that you passed your exams with flying colors, you could get into the undergrad program of your choice. There's another four years. Med school and a few more years as a Junior Doctor – now there's some long hours. There's no time-turner to help you through this. You'd be thirty three or so before you could go out and hang out your shingle. And you'd be taking a pay cut to do it."

She continued, "I'm sure that it wasn't the answer that you wanted to hear. On the other hand, there isn't a physician on the planet who could just go out and regrow the bones in Harry's arm like he was telling me that Healer Pomfrey did for him. By all rights, best case, I should be in a wheel chair, or worse; completely paralyzed and on a ventilator, not sitting here with you applying shellac to magic wands." Hermione looked guilty at her words.

Emma asked, "What about being a magical healer?"

"From what I read, I'd need top OWLS, top NEWT scores and have to beg my way to get one of the healers to accept me as an apprentice."

Emma remarked, "That sounds a bit medieval. How about at Salem?"

The lonely teen admitted, "I don't know."

"Consider this; given the favor that you did for the Healers in the country, according to Harry, you could have the grades of Crabbe and Goyle and they'd still take you as an apprentice. You wouldn't be just another CV for Amanda Crabtree. You could walk to the reception desk at at Mungo's, ask for her, mention that you were the one who made her wand and invite her out for a cuppa to talk things over. Could Lavender Brown who you roomed with ever hope to do the same?"

Emma knew that there were no decisions to be made immediately and suggested, "Let's table the discussion for a year. The added variety may make wandcrafting more interesting, as would the searching for materials to use as wand-cores and the exotic woods elements aspect that we haven't even thought about. When it comes down to it, there's a fair amount of repetition in repairing teeth; I expect most jobs have that in common."

"Thanks, Mum."

… - ...

Wednesday October 25

Wednesday was the fourth and fifth years.

Hannah and Susan were the first in line. Redeye let them both in. Cards and coins in hand, they bounced into the room saying, "Good morning, Harry. How's the wandmaking thing going?"

"Hi Hannah, hi Susan. I really enjoy it. These are the different styles that I brought."

Hannah said, "This longer one looks great."

Harry said, "The classic baton style. I have that in oak, beech and maple. Which do you think you'd like?"

"Beech is my favorite tree."

"Try this one."

"Nice, oh... this is great. I love it. I love it."

"It's yours. Hermione will be quite pleased. She made that one. Susan, how about you?"

"Ten inch rod style in maple. Auntie really likes the one that you made her."

He handed it to her – one little spark. The look of disappointment was quite evident on her face He handed her a hippogriff wand in the same style. Whoosh! A flood of sparks flew from it. He commented, "You're not your aunt, you're you. This one will serve you very well."

"Thanks Harry. We know you've got loads of people in line. Would it be all right if we brought lunch today like Neville did?"

"That would be nice. Thank you."

"Bye Harry."

Colin Creevey and Demzela Robins were next. Ironically she took his picture trying out his new wand. Apparently they had become study buddies. They both ended up with twelve-inch oak wands.

Noticing her hands, Harry mentioned, "Hermione thought that some enterprising couple could make a few sickles each, painting initials on the handles with nail polish."

"That's a cool idea. Thanks Harry. See ya."

The Patil sisters were next. The summer had been fun for them. Their family had driven all around Britain, stopping at this shop, or that and had made the best of the change in circumstances.

Finally, it was lunch time.

The two young women, still sporting remnants of their summer tans arrived right on time. Dobby popped in carrying an iced bucket of cold sodas and an opener, another box of twelve inch oak wands and popped away.

Harry asked, "How was your summer?"

Susan answered, "The school year just fell apart. When Professor Dumbledore passed away and the wands disappeared, McGonagall didn't have a clue what to do. Auntie arranged the buses. How did you two get home? We didn't see you."

He replied, "Inverness isn't very far away. We left early; rode some bicycles that Hermione had made earlier practicing transfiguration and flew to London where her Mum picked us up. We got there in a couple of hours."

He added, "We stopped in at Gringotts. They offered us an apprenticeship with a master wandcrafter and here we are."

Hanna replied, "Sweet. That sounds way better than your usual fighting deranged professors, monsters, or the like."

You don't know the half of it. He asked, "Where are all of the Slytherins?"

Susan observed, "Nobody knows, they went missing about the day that we were supposed to ride the buses. They never got on them. Their school trunks were still in the castle."

Hannah blurted, "Speaking of trunks, did you hear about Professor Moody?"

"No. Hermione told me that he'd died somehow while we were in the maze."

Susan stated, "That's what everyone thought but he was stuck in his trunk! Aunt Connie is still trying to figure that one out."

Harry made the connection. "Connie Hammer?"

"Yes. Have you met her?"

"Hermione's mum was doing the books for us one night at the shop when these two morons broke in. One of them attacked her before the guards caught them. She got hurt pretty bad. Connie came by to get some information the next day. How do you like the new classes?"

Susan said, "Great, especially the non-magical studies class. Every lesson has a different topic. Did you know that some of those rocket planes have flown to the moon?"

Harry replied, "Yes. That's pretty wild. I heard that they left a car on the moon. If we got better telescopes, maybe we could see it."

Susan said, "We're looking forward to the magical studies class that starts in January. It'll be wonderful to hear a real person discuss something other than rebellions. Speaking of monsters, we both wanted to thank you. Auntie told us that it was 62 feet long! The head's on display in the Gringotts lobby. She showed me her new vest. That was so generous of you. Thank you."

Harry asked, "Hermione and I'd love to have lunch with you two sometime. When is the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

Hannah laughed and said, "That old buzzard used to dole them out from time to time like he was doing us some great favor. McGonagall made them every weekend. We have plans this weekend. How about a week from Saturday, noon at the Three Broomsticks?"

"We'll be there. It's almost one. I need to get back to work. Thank you both for lunch."

… - ...

Lavender Brown was next. She had her card and five coins. Harry had never had much to say to her in the past and was completely disinclined to start now. She asked a dozen questions about Hermione. All were met with, "That's her story to tell. Send her a letter by owl if you want."

She appeared quite impressed when the first wand that he showed her was a match. He didn't mention that it was by design. Harry was relieved to see her leave. He finally concluded that after working with adults everyday, the plight of nosy 15 year-old teens were no longer of interest to him.

Neville and Luna came by with their cards. Harry said, "You're both welcome to get a second wand if you wish. You couldn't sell it, loan it out, or give it away for five years but you certainly can buy one. Having one wand was simply Ollivander's policy." Luna ended up with a ten inch thesteral hair beech rod and Neville bought a twelve inch oak acromantula strand one.

Harry's last customers for the day were Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, who came in together, Harry asked, "How were your summers?"

Daphne admitted, "It was pretty rotten at first. Our house is all magical and it didn't take long for the plumbing and appliances to shut down. Dad and mum argued about it nonstop. Dad got hit by a lorry. I ended up staying with Tracey until school started."

Tracy said, "It was fine. Mom and Dad have a greenhouse and apothocary business and Dad has a car to get around with. It was pretty much a normal summer for us. They're getting their wands next week Their cards came on Monday. You don't have anything to do with that part, right?"

"Not a bit. Gringotts sends them out based on guidelines that they were given from the ministry, the guards at the door check them and we do our best to find them a wand that's a match. I've found that I like working with different woods and stuff. Try these." He handed the two teens a twelve inch oak and a beech rod respectively.

They both worked.

"Thanks Harry."

… - …

Meanwhile back at the Wand shop, Emma asked, "Did you hear from Harry?"

"Yes. He and Professor Flitwick called. The professor had never used a cell phone."

"Did he say that he missed you?"

"Yes mum. Did you want to hear if he mentioned wanting to rip my top off and ravish me too?"

"Would you mind if he did? He's your boyfriend, not your brother."

"Actually, I think I'd quite enjoy it." There she'd said it.

"Good. Actually, I think the two of you should go out on some proper dates. Transportation's obviously not an issue. It's not like you need to borrow my car to go see a movie."

"True. We could pop over to Paris for croissants, Stonehenge for a midnight sex ritual, a weekend in Gretna Green, then we could..."

"Er, I was thinking Everyman Cinemas and a pizza."

"Oh, those kind of dates. They would be nice too."

… - ...

After it was time to close for the afternoon, Harry walked out of the classroom accompanied by Redeye. Sharpeye locked up and made the coin drop. On the way to dinner, he walked by Seamus and Ron who were clearly waiting in the corridor for him. Harry asked, "Why didn't you get your wands today?"

Seamus replied, "Somebody nicked our yellow cards."

Harry observed, "No one else can use them; they have your name on them."

Ron asked, "How about we stop by tomorrow and you fit us for wands?"

Harry replied, "I can't do that without your cards. It's in my Gringotts contract."

That stopped Ron before things got ugly. He knew about Gringotts contracts from his brother Bill.

Harry asked, "Did you check with the twins? Maybe they nicked them as a prank." As he said it, the realization hit him; Flitwick mentioned two fifth years causing trouble in the new classes. Harry asked, "So how are the new classes?"

Seamus replied, "They're a complete waste o' time. We either skive off 'em or set off dungbombs when the squibs aren't looking."

Harry replied, "A lot of the others told me they were fantastic and had loads of useful information. So how were your summers?"

The lanky redhead replied, "Just brilliant. I accidentally burned down Dad's shed, then the house fell apart. I tried owling you but Pig wouldn't take the letter."

"We were in class all summer; apprenticing with this guy. He probably had wards up."

"We?"

Harry decided to push back a bit. "Yes, Hermione, my girlfriend. Did you do anything useful this summer?"

"I told you, Dad's shed burned down and the house fell apart. We didn't have enough food and slept in the stupid tent."

"Did you get a job anywhere, like the grocery store or one of the pubs in Ottery St. Catchpole to help out?"

"Of course not. It's a stupid muggle town."

"It's a stupid muggle town that has three pubs, a restaurant and a greengrocer that sells food as well as a hardware store that sells nails."

"How would you know and what the hell are nails?"

"They hold houses together. George told me about it after first year."

"Get bent, Potter."

"Ya, nice talking with you two, cheers."

Since he'd missed dinner again, he suggested to Redeye that they go to the kitchens and get dinner. The elves were happy to make Redeye something that he'd enjoy. Harry had beef-vegetable soup and a large piece of treacle tart.

Redeye observed, "Neither of those teens have done a thing to help themselves. It is obvious that they don't complete their studies and then blame others for their failures. They were removed from the list for purposely disrupting others from learning the things that the Director wants them to learn. As long as there is a list, their names will never be written on it. They have worked against the Nation."

Harry nodded.

"The Nation is sacrificing much to provide free education for the human children this year. If it were my choice, they would be removed from the castle never to return. They think they're being clever; they're simply diminishing their prospects.

"The families of the Nation aren't fed two days a month to fund the Director's plan. Your gift of the basilisk fed the entire Nation for one of those days this month. It is an honor to eat with you, Wandcrafter Potter."

Initially Harry was going to argue on their behalf. Within seconds, he knew that Redeye was right and admitted it. Ron was responsible for his success or failure, just as Mr. Weasley probably could have held his home together with ten pounds of nails.

He replied, "I feel the same, Redeye. It's an honor to eat with you. Cheers."

… - ...

Harry walked into the hospital wing, saw no activity and asked, "Is this a good time?"

"Hello Harry. How's my favorite wandcrafter?"

"It's nice to see you. I'm happy, healthy and to my knowledge, no one wants me dead. How are you?"

"I had a wonderful summer relaxing at my home in Portsmouth. So what happened to your scar?"

"I know when it happened, not necessarily what. What do you think happened to it?"

She gave a solemn look and replied,"My best guess is that it died. What were the circumstances?"

"I was in a test of wills with a guy named Tom Riddle."

"I recognize that name... Oh my...I remember...But he became...You-know-who."

"Yep – nasty thin guy – no hair, no nose. A guy named Peter Pettigrew made him a new body of sorts. Not much fun. Enough of that; how's your new wand? Does it still work?"

"It's fine. Of course it does. Scamp. How did you get into the wandmaking business?"

"The head of Gringotts asked Hermione and me to, so we agreed. He set up training with a master, set up the business and here we are. If Hermione comes to see you some day, will you hear her out?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

He replied, "I love her dearly and I love what I'm doing – what we're doing. It's just...When she was helping me stay alive for the tournament, she told me one time that she always wanted to go into medicine."

Poppy looked at him closely and replied, "I'll hear her out. People usually go into healing because they want to help people; improve their lives. I'll also tell her that she's helping more people this year than I did in a career. Whatever happened to Severus Snape?"

"The same thing that happened to my scar. I got into a test of wills with Riddle. He was losing and drew all of the magic from his followers to help him and he still lost. What happened to Professor Dumbledore?"

She admitted, "He was old and died. Nothing nefarious. How long before everyone has a wand?"

"If you're referring to everyone in Britain, I'd guess late next year. I'd say a a bit more than another year longer for the rest of Europe. Are the new classes helping?"

"Anecdotally yes. Pomona has reported that student essays have improved. They're better organized, use better logic and are concise. They probably should be in a single subject lane or two, throughout the seven years – English composition for first and second years, maths for third through fifth and so on. That would better leave room for the wanded subjects and offer better balance than we've had. Headmaster Dumbledore spent too many years living in the castle. He should have been required to spend a month or so every summer living in the rest of the world."

They sat in comfortable silence. A minute later she asked, "Was your conflict with Tom Riddle related to the wands disappearing?"

"I don't know for sure. He still had his when he died. What happened to Professor Moody?"

"The person who was impersonating him died about the same time as Severus, so I'll assume he succumbed to the same cause. Alastor had been kept captive in his trunk, and used for polyjuice potion ingredients. Who knows about your tussle with Tom?"

"You, Hermione and her family, Minister Bones and a few people at Gringotts. I don't want that number to grow."

"I'd expect not. Thank you for coming to see me. Hermione is always welcome to stop by, as are you."

"You too."

… - ...

Thursday October 26

When it came time to open the doors Thursday morning, Redeye and Sharpeye were both standing outside the door with their poleaxes on display.

Harry wasn't a bit surprised to see Fred and George walk in together, card and coins in hand. "Good morning, Harrikins. We're certainly not as attractive as Miss Bones, or Miss Abbott but we were hoping to have lunch with you today?"

Harry smiled at the two and replied, "I'd love to. I'll supply the food and beverages. I'm available at noon. What sizes were your old wands?"

"Fourteen inches," they said

Harry asked, "Do you want the same ones or would you prefer different woods?"

"Same."

"Try these."

"Well done, Harrikins. These are excellent."

"OK then. I'll see you at noon."

"Redeye, please give me five minutes before the next people."

"Certainly."

"Dobby?"

"Yes Harry Potter, sir. How can I help you?"

"Can you buy three large pizzas for lunch and bring a dozen cold Orange Crush pops? Get a pepperoni and two other kinds. Here's a hundred pounds. I'd like them ready at noon."

"Yes, Harry Potter sir." Dobby loved special requests.

"Thank you, Redeye. Fred and George Weasley will be stopping by at noon. Please let them in." He nodded at his request."

Katie Bell walked in, card and coins in hand. She smiled and said, "It is you; I thought the twins were joking."

"They were, just not about this. How was your summer?"

"Nice actually. My parents took me to Southern France. The beaches were wonderful. You'd have enjoyed them." She waggled her eyebrows at her friend in jest.

"Fine, You tease me, I'll tease you another time." He rubbed the hair out of his eyes.

"Harry, where's your scar?"

"I decided that I'd had enough of it and it went away."

"Harry..."

"Seriously. It started fading away and by my birthday, it was gone."

"How many wands have you made?"

"Personally? We've made about six thousand now. We really only do counts at the end of a month. I've made just over half of them. Would you care to try one? What size was your old wand?"

"Yes please. Eleven and three quarters."

Oak – twelve inches – rod style. "Here, give this one a wave."

"I love it. Thanks."

Off she went. Cho Diggory came in; card and coins in hand. He was glad that Flitwick had mentioned it Monday at dinner.

"Good morning to you, Mrs. Diggory. It's good to see you again."

"Hi Harry." She seemed quieter and far less confident than he'd remembered. Then again, being sixteen and pregnant probably wasn't what she was planning on a year ago either.

He pointed to the display wands and said, "These are the different styles that I have today. Try a few and let me know which ones feel best." She looked like she was ready to unload a flood of tears and he didn't want to be on the receiving end.

"This one feels best." He handed her a ten inch beech rod style to try.

She nodded and in a very soft voice, said, "Thank you. I had a horrible dream the night before the third task. In it, Cedric and you won at the same time. You both grabbed the cup and a moment later, he was gone."

"Good thing that one didn't come true."

He didn't want to continue on that thread and replied, "Say Hi to Cedric. I hope that the three of us can go for a fly together someday."

"Me too."

"Good luck with your new wand."

Soon it was lunch time. George came in, followed a moment later by Fred.

Harry had rearranged the furniture, so there were three chairs in a triangle with a table in the middle. A moment later Dobby and Winky had set the open pizza boxes on the table complete with plates, knives forks and a large bucket of iced Orange Crush.

"Help yourself lads." He opened three bottles and handed them each one, then sat for a moment while they looked over the pizza. Harry said, "It's cut into slices. Just pull it apart and grab a few." They did.

When they had sat down, Harry stood up, took a few slices of pepperoni and a sausage, sat down and asked "What's been going on?"

George replied, "The fit really hit the shan after the tournament. Mom all but went nuts without her wand. Dad got sent home for the summer. Ron's glass was way more than half empty – He found a way to burn down Dad's shed and blame it on you. The house collapsed and we were in a tent for a week until Mom's aunt Muriel Prewett took us in."

"How was it at Muriel's?"

Fred admitted, "Fantastic, She has a potions lab to die for. We made another dozen different prank projects for our shop."

"We want to open a joke shop," explained George.

"Now that we have wands again and nicked a few things from the student supply cupboard, we think that we have enough different products to launch a shop."

"There's a vacant space two doors down and across from the wand shop..." observed Harry, who had the beginnings of an interesting idea and wanted to do a little fishing with them.

They each took more pizza and for a minute, the room was strangely quiet, as if they all were suddenly careful about what they said.

Harry observed, "I think the rent is reasonable. They're asking 300 galleons a month. It gets a fair amount of traffic and the building looked to be in good shape. How much gold are you looking for?"

More silence. Fred and George seemed to be holding a silent conversation. Finally George said "2,500 galleons."

Harry said, "That's not going to work... Too many start-ups fail because they're under capitalized from the start. They run out of cash before they get going."

Silence.

"I'll give you 5,000G in exchange for half of the business."

Silence.

George countered, "A fourth,"

Harry shot back, "A third,"

"OK."

"OK?"

"Really?"

Harry replied, "Yep. When would you like the money?"

Silence.

George asked, "Would today be completely out of the question?"

"Dobby."

Five bags appeared on the table.

Silence.

George said, "Can we ask one more thing?"

"You can ask."

"Can you get Ron a wand?"

Harry replied, "No. My Gringotts contract won't allow it. They see his disrupting the classes that he's attending on their sickle as working against them. In blunt terms, he's effed himself hard. The Director of Gringotts knows his name and not in a good way."

"We kind of guessed that was the situation. Do you know anyone at Gringotts that we could talk with?"

"About?"

"Leasing premises and the like."

"I do... Sharpeye, These two hard working lads, Fred and George Weasley are starting a business and would like to open a small business account. Would you be able to help them?"

"Of course. Will you be OK here for an hour with Redeye? If so, I'll take them to the lobby."

"I'll be fine, thank you. Gentlemen, don't forget your gold."

… - …

It was quiet after lunch. The older Hufflepuffs seemed to be coming in one at a time. Most were walking out with twelve inch oak rods.

Alicia Spinnet came in with Angelina Johnson, who commented, "Your hair looks good Potter."

Harry had always admired her dredlocks and replied, "Same to you. How are you both?"

"Glad that we'd spent as much time with Katie as we had a year ago. She showed us how to get around in the tubes. We worked together at a restaurant for most of the summer and made some decent money. It looks like you're doing better than after most summers."

"Hermione's been treating me very well. We learned wandcrafting together and have been busy ever since. Speaking of, what sizes were your old wands?"

They both replied, "Ten inches."

He handed Alicia a beech wand and Angelina a walnut one and said, "Give these a wave.

Both responded perfectly.

"Thank you, Harry."

"It's been a pleasure."

… - ...

Harry looked out of the classroom door and saw Cormac McLaggen yapping with one of his mates from Ravenclaw. Harry had always thought him to be loud and something of a braggart. Out of the conversation, he clearly heard the words. "I'm getting my wand this afternoon. Now we can ditch these worthless classes."

The goblins had far better hearing than humans. Cormac was screwed.

Redeye flicked his finger across the list and said, "The witch in front of you possessed a Permit to Purchase a Wand card. She received an excellent wand at a very good value. The card in your hand is an advertisement from the Happy Ending massage parlor in Knockturn alley."

Far too loudly, McLaggen muttered a threat.

Redeye stated, "Go ahead, take your three-inch weapon out – the flimsy one out of your pocket or the useless one out of your trousers – it matters not. Hold it in your hand while you make your threats so everyone can hear you and laugh, puny human. All talk and no trousers. Har har har."

The hall had been far too full of people for that conversation not to get around the castle in six minutes.

Harry sealed the boxes and Winky popped them back to the Wand Shop. All but eleven of the students received wands.

Sharpeye returned and they went to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry sat next to an empty chair that was soon occupied by McGonagall. He greeted her and ate in silence for a minute, watching the older witches stare at McLaggen while holding their thumb and forefinger three inches apart.

She asked, "You'll be concluding your business tomorrow morning?"

"Yes. I expect to be done by noon."

"When will you be bringing wands to the students who were unable to get them this week?"

"I won't."

There was a pause, then Harry broke it, saying, "They need a Purchase Permit card issued by Gringotts, which has gone to extraordinary sacrifice to fund the school and its operations this year. They went to great lengths only to have those idiots spit in their face."

He cut off the expected rebuttal, "Professor, this isn't five house points. As far as Gringotts is concerned, they might as well be suspended now, or go home and find a job somewhere. If they couldn't figure out that it was to their advantage to at least be civil to their benefactors, perhaps they would do better learning the phrase, Would you like fries with that?" as that would seem to be where their career path is headed. They are at the very end of the line of 30,420 British witches and wizards and as of the end of the day today, Hermione was serving number 2,950."

"Mr. Mclaggen is from a prominent family."

"How prominent can someone be if their toilet hasn't worked in over four months? The asteroid has hit, Professor and the dinosaurs went extinct." He stopped himself but she heard his message.

Lipless she replied, "Perhaps you'd best retire to your room for the evening, conclude your business in the morning and go back to London."

"I believe that would be for the best, Professor."

… - …

"Hermione, we're going to need more sheep."

"What's going on?"

"Just buy another twenty. No, buy forty. Dobby and Winky will pick them up in fifteen minutes."

There were webs as far as Harry and the guards could see. It appeared that every able bodied spider had spun a web or had helped with one. Some were gigantic, spanning a hundred feet or more. When it was all said and done, Dobby announced, "There is being another thirty-five thousand feet of strand."

They were ecstatic and Aragog's family of spiders was well fed for the winter.

Hagrid promised to keep collecting interesting stuff and told them that he'd send an owl when he'd collected another sack.

Harry doubted that he would ever willingly enter the castle as long as McGonagall was in charge.

… - …

A/Ns

Special thanks to Ariadne Venegas for her assistance with the conversation between Hermione and Emma when considering medical school.

As for McGonagall, I'm reminded of the saying, You cannot raise your children the way your parents raised you; your parents raised you for a world that no longer exists.

Taliesin19's Grow Young With Me is a favorite of mine that I hope to go back to as soon as I'm done with this one.

Poppy's backstory has always been my favorite to write. Of the minor characters in the HP universe, I find her and Amelia to be the most interesting to work with.

What do you envision happening with characters like Ron, Seamus and Cormack?

Cheers