AN: Because this story is getting such bad ratings, and i keep getting PM's asking about Investigator Steel i will be going back to that story soon. it's almost sad because i like this story so much but no one else does. but i will keep this story open and keep adding to it when i can if just for my players and the few people reading it every week. i have this chapter and the next one half written. i had to put my game on hold so i can go back to reread Investigator Steel and see where i can pick it back up and finish it off. hopefully after i finish that one i can get more readers to come over to this story which i feel like is the closest thing to investigator Steel I've made since i stopped writing that story.
The next morning Harry woke up alone in his bed with a bad hangover. He took a hot shower, dressed for the day, and headed to the dining room where he found Abby eating breakfast.
"Hermione and Neville?" Harry asked as he sat down at the table.
"Out, Hermione is looking after the survivors, and Neville is on patrol." She said as she handed him a cup off coffee with a lot of cream and sugar and a hangover potion.
"Thank you." He said with a heavy sigh after downing the potion and chasing it with half a cup of coffee.
"Thank you for letting me sleep in your bed last night. It was the best night's sleep I've had since we got here." She said handing him a plate with three eggs over easy, three strips of bacon, and three thick pieces of toast.
"To tell you the truth I don't know if it was you or the bottle of scotch I drank but I slept better than I thought I would have last night." Harry admitted as he tried to eat.
"You know, if you ever wanted me to sleep with you…" She said before stopping and blushing which made Harry laugh so hard he almost choked.
"THat really didn't come out the way I wanted it to. Um, what I meant to say was if you ever wanted to share a bed again. In a non-sexual way, not that I'd be against that. It's just you haven't shown any interest and I don't want to force myself on you which I was not trying to do by the way last night. That was really just a fear of the dark last night…"
"Abby, Abby just stop before you hurt yourself trying to walk back a slip of the tongue. I understood what you meant. And for the record I find you very attractive, but I didn't want to make any waves in this team because for better or worse we're stuck together for the next hundred plus years. Also you're much younger then me, and I thought that the age gap might be a bit much. That being said, the idea of dating you is very appealing to me. Aside from the fact that you come from the same timeline I do, and the fact that you are insanely hot, I like the fact that you bathe everyday and shave your legs very much. So much so that none of the women we've met so far in this timeline have done anything for me." Harry said trying to be as eloquent as he could be with the hangover he had.
"I see. So you've spent almost no time with me or shown any interest in me because you didn't want to make waves?" Abby said nodding.
"Very much so. The old don't shit where you eat principle. Not the nicest way to put it but the best way to get the point across. The last real relationship I had was ten years ago, and my sister will argue it was the only one I ever had. As you know I asked her to marry me, she ended the relationship. She said a big part of ending it was the fact that my work kept her on edge all the time. The not knowing if I would be called away at all hours of the night to portkey around the world to god knows where to kill god knows who. But the other reason she left was because I'm short tempered, violent, reckless, and I don't enjoy talking about my feelings. I'd like to say that ten years has changed all that. But I have to admit I spent the last ten years whoring my way through a long list of foreign spies, diplomats, and unsavory women. I have no patients. And I still don't enjoy talking about my feelings. If you still find this package deal interesting, then we can try dating. I don't plan on sleeping with you until we know this is going to work because breaking up without having seen what we look like in the throws of passion will be easier with less feelings being hurt on your part." Harry said.
"Wow, okay then. Let try this then. Because let me fill you in on something. The longest relationship I've ever had was with a guy at Harvard. We dated for three months. He left me because I was short tempered, boring, and I didn't like talking about my feelings. I was raised by my grandparents and mostly by my grandfather. He was a Korean war vet, and a Texas Ranger for 35 years. I grew up with that man being my idol. So when you were just trying to talk me out of this I found it all very much a turn on." She said with a shrug.
"So I remind you of your grandfather?" Harry asked going back to his eggs.
"You do, and I don't have some sick daddy issues so drop the look. I grew up on a ranch in Texas. I like strong silent cowboy types. I'm not some delicate flower you know. I fucked the captain of the football team and when he cheated on me I kicked his ass. I've dumped guys because they wanted to talk about feelings. I'm not a lady, or a girly girl. I can gut and skin a cow in five minutes and I know how to fix my own car. For all intents and purposes I'm a slightly nerdy man's man with tits." Abby said letting a bit of her Texas twang out when she talked. Something Harry picked up on from his time talking to her.
"A guy with tits?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"Don't get me wrong, they are some really nice tits. Something I'm quite proud of really." She said sticking out her chest and looking down at her boobs.
"They are your second best feature." Harry admitted.
"Second?" Abby asked.
"Your cold blue eyes. Your face really but I really like your eyes. They broker no bullshit and they harbor no lies. I like that." Harry said before going back to his breakfast.
"For the record I like your ass. Very tight for an old man." She said making him laugh again.
They finish breakfast in a contented silence. When he was done he vanished the plates and took the cups and silverware into the kitchen. When he came back she was working on a rune string. Harry dumped out his bag and added all the loose guns to the trunk of guns they found yesterday. Harry spent some time hitting the guns with repair charms and cleaning spells. He separated out the revolvers, long guns, gun belts, and ammo into three trunks. They had a lot of stock. So much stock that they could open a store. They had 589 revolvers, 144 lever action rifles, and 82 double barrel shotguns. Harry picked through the guns and took out anything that was really nice. He found a few nickel plated guns with engravings and ivory or pearl handles. He set those aside. He shrank the trunks and took them to Smith's shop.
"Come baring the spoils of war with the undead?" Smith asked.
"Yes, but unlike usual I have a few questions. If you were going to arm a deputy with a rifle and a revolver and you had all this what would you take?" Harry asked expanded the two trunks with long guns and revolvers.
"That depends, what are we talking about here? If you want to go shooting things outside of town then I'd take a rifle in 45-70 and a good .45 caliber revolver like the colt single action or a remington 1875. If you're not planning on coming up against anything too big like a spider and you're staying in town then I'd go with a winchester in 44-40 and a revolver in the same caliber. Something like a Scofield or a colt. That way you only need to carry one caliber of ammo. What are we talking about by the way?" Smith asked.
"I want to make a few kits, a rifle and a revolver and a few other things and hire a few townsfolk to act as sheriff's deputies for Eureka and Hamilton. This weekend I'm going to set up a tryout for sheriff's deputies. Eureka has a group of men that take shifts at the gate and crime is really low in the town, even though it's the 'Wild West' people don't tend to get too out of line. After all when you could be killed outside the walls of the town, folks try very hard to not get kicked out of town. But the local watch group is not a local sheriff department. They're ill equipped and most of them are trying to maintain a job in the mine or shop, or casino and working at the wall is a secondary job. In Hamilton it's much the same. We need men in charge of the towns like Ely. They have a town marshal that looks after the area around the town and a half dozen sheriff's deputies that look after the town. I figure I'll arm them and provide for ammo. And hand over my $3 a day pay we're only a few dollars short to paying for town sheriffs. I'm planning on talking to Alice about it, as well as Jim Williamson about coming up with a few more dollars a week to kick into the pot as well. This way we don't have to worry every time we leave town to run an errand." Harry said.
"Well in that case let's start pairing off rifles and revolvers and see what you have." Smith said pulling out a few rifles and looking them over.
In the end Harry made a separate trunk for all the guns he had in 44-40. He ended up with 37 rifles and 123 revolvers. He sold a few dozen nicer guns to Smith. He would need to sell the rest in Salt Lake. He took all 50 boxes of 44-40 ammo and 25 boxes of 12 gauge brass shells Smith had on hand. He headed back to the cube. He used the goblin charms and turned the big pile of old beat up gun belts into a big sheet of leather. He then used the tailoring spells and made 25 vests, and 25 long coats out of the dragon hide they got from the 7 dragons they killed. He also made 25 small doctor's bags out of regular leather. Finally he made 25 double gun belts with an attached knife sheath. He colored them all black. Next he took a big pile of beat up looking knives out of the blade trunk and using the goblin spell he melted them down and turned them into 50 five inch drop point knives with nice wood handles.
He cast an expansion charm on the bags and in each bag he put a vest, and a coat. He looked through the guns he had and put a rifle and a double barreled shotgun in each bag. He laid out the colt revolvers on the table. They made up the bulk of the revolvers he had in 44-40. He then paired them off by barrel length, fit, and finish. When he had 25 sets he put a set in each double gun belt along with a knife. He loaded the 50 bullet loops with the loose ammo he had in the trunk and put the gun belts in the bags. He boxed up the remaining 44-40 ammo in cardboard boxes, 50 rounds to a box. He ended up with 64 boxes. He made 25 more knife sheaths out of the leftover leather from the gun belts for the other 25 knives he made. He added a backup knife, 4 boxes of 44-40 ammo, and a box with 25 brass shotgun shells to each bag. He put all the bags into a trunk that he put into his bag.
He put the rest of the guns and the boxes of ammo back in the trunk in case they needed more kits like this in the future. He also boxed up the rest of the loose ammo in 50 round boxes and set the boxes in a trunk marked Cowboy Ammo.
He then headed off to meet with the town council members about his new sheriffs. He figured they needed at least 8 deputies for Eureka. He knew from Ely that sheriff's deputies made $4 a day. That meant they needed to come up with $32 a day or about $960 a month to pay for the peace officers. If he and Neville kicked in their comically low $3 a day pay into the pot. That brought them up to $360 a month. If they kicked in $40 more a month and the price of ammo to sweeten the deal that got them to $400. They just needed the town to kick in the rest. He talked to Alice about it and she was all too happy to look at the budget for the town and kick in $220 a month to the cause. Bringing them up to $620. After talking to Jim Williamson he left the office with a big grin on his face. He agreed to supply the other $340 a month if Harry agreed to patrol the small road to the mine. Something he already did.
Harry expanded the marshal station and added a few more desks. For now the deputies would fall under marshal John's command. He would handle shift assignments, pay, and patrol routes.
Harry cleared a space off to the side of the main gate and with Abby's help he set up a 3 gun course. That weekend he had the men of the local watch group run the course a few times before he timed them. Abby again helped him weed out the 16 watchmen down to the best 8 and he gave them the job of deputy sheriff. He handed each one of them a bag and a silver star.
The next day he did the same thing with Hamilton, which thanks to the gold coming out of the mine was growing in size again. It was a very controlled growth. You had to be voted in by most of the town before you could set up in the small town. So far the town went from 96 people to 120. Harry set up a small building to act as the sheriff station and put the mayor in charge of the four men he found to work as local law men.
By the end of the second week in November Hermione and Abby had the magazine tube expansion enchantment working and they now had 90+1 rounds of .45-70 at their disposal in their lever action rifles. They also went through and did the same for the deputies rifles. They now had 140 rounds of 44-40 loaded up and ready to go.
A few days later found Harry and Neville flying around the great basin southwest of Hamilton. They were there for three reasons. There were reports from Hamilton of two mountain trolls roaming the forest. They were also there to gather food and firewood. It was a Thursday the second week of November. And in the last week the temperature went from low 50's outside during the day to cold mid 30's during the day and low 20's at night as winter approached the desert mountain town of Eureka. People started getting up earlier to cash in on what little sunlight there was. After sunset Eureka looked like a ghost town with people rushing from one place to the other trying to stay warm indoors. Harry and Neville spent the last few days going around the town checking to make sure everyone had wood or coal burning stoves. They also made a list of the elderly and less well off and made sure the sheriff's deputies started checking up on them.
As they flew around the top of the forest looking for the trolls they spotted a lot of downed trees. They each had a canvas sack, as they spotted the downed trees they would shrink and summon them into the bags. The two trolls were not that hard to find. They were huge. Bigger and fatter then the trolls there were used to. Harry pointed them out and they flew in closer with their dragon rifles. Two shots later and the trolls were missing heads. With the big threats down they went looking for game animals. They bagged ten deer, six wolves, three coyotes, and close to a hundred rabbits in the hour they set aside to hunt. They took all of the game using head shots and once the animal was down they turned it into a coin and put it in the bag. They went about collecting more trees after the hunt as the sun started to set.
In the end they gathered 150 very big pine trees. They got a good half that number just by grabbing the fallen trees. They took the trees and game animals they bagged to the farm where Kate cleaned and skinned the animals as they used cutting charms to chop the tree down to firewood. Harry used the goblin refining charms on the loose tree branches and pine needles and turned them into 15,000 green hockey puck sized coals that turned out to be more efficient in heating a room then the fire wood itself. One puck burned for hours and threw off a lot of heat. They went around handing out big bundles of firewood, pine pucks, and packages of game meat. Even with every house and business getting a big bundle of wood and 10 pucks they still had a good pile of wood and pucks left over.
The next day they gathered the rest of the fallen trees and game. This time Harry didn't bother with cutting the wood. From the testing they did the night before Harry knew the pucks worked better than the firewood, they were easier to store, and it gave off a pleasant pine scent. Harry summoned all the pine needles and fallen branches into a big bag and added them to the 25 fallen trees and the leftover firewood from the day before. He cast the spells and they ended up with 105,000 pucks. They handed out 120 pucks and game meat to every house and store in Ely. They stacked the rest of the pucks in expanded trunks and left the trunks in the general stores in Eureka, Ely and Hamilton with signs saying free fire wood. Harry's pucks were a huge hit with everyone. The fact that he was giving it away for free was even better.
A few days later Harry checked the gold and silver brick stash they had. So far refining the ore that came out of the two mines was a great job for Harry and Neville. They had been doing it for three weeks and so far they were averaging 11 silver bars, and 2 gold bars a week from the Williamson mine and 5 gold bars and 7 silver bars a week from Hamilton. All together that was 1,800 ounces of silver, and 900 ounces of gold. At market value that was $21,000 in silver, and 21,600 in gold. Not bad for just casting a spell every few days. They were also gathering a huge supply of lead, iron, copper, zinc, and tin. So far the airship fund was up to $256,000 because Hermione set aside $100,000 in gold as a nest egg. The next morning they sat down to breakfast and Harry had a grin on his face.
"The ship fund is up to $256,000 again. When I portkey to Salt Lake City today I'm going to ask around the docks and see if I can lock down a price for a good sized ship that's fast. Maybe one with a steam turbine propeller assist. Those ships have a top speed of close to 300 miles an hour. I also wanted to see how much a small airship cost." Harry said.
"I saw one the last time I went to get the mail. I didn't have time to ask about it because it was headed east going fast, I mean fast. It was red and black, and it looked like a flying triangle. I liked it a lot." Neville said.
"I needed a few things from the magical district. I have a list. Do you think you can handle the shopping trip for me?" Hermione asked handing the list to him.
"Let's see what we're working with. Umm... I know a third of this stuff on this list." Harry said.
"How is it that you're this powerful and you have almost no academic knowledge of advanced magic. That's it. You're learning enchantments. You're too powerful to not know what all that stuff is. You're also learning how to make half the enchanting tools and ingredients like we did in school. For now I can pick you up a full kit." Hermione said adding things to the bottom of the list.
"Aww, Really Mia? Why do I have to know all this stuff? I didn't need to know it all this time." Harry whined like a small kid.
"Because you're too powerful not to know how to do basic enchantments, and once you know how to do it you can help me and Abby. Plus I think once you get the hang of it you'll really like it. I know you, when you figure out how easy something is you use the hell out of it." Hermione said.
"Fine, but if I start to get too bored I'm out." Harry said.
"Deal, that still means I have to go with you to get everything on the list. Which means I have to push Hamilton's wards back one more day." Hermione said.
"I could go with him to get the things on the list and you can start on the wards. When we get back I can help you finish and Harry can go around powering the wards. Or make Neville power the wards." Abby said.
"You sure that's a good idea? You're a young, pretty girl walking around without a wedding ring? You better be armed and ready for anything." Hermione said.
"Is it that bad?" Abby asked. She never left the town so she really didn't have a frame of reference.
"I've been fine for the most part, but then again all I had to do was hold up my left hand if someone wouldn't leave me alone. One time I had to pull my colt and the guy walked away." Hermione said looking worried.
"Oh, so I sould carry my guns in the city?" Abby asked.
"Yes, in fact you should always have your guns any time you walk out of this cube. And you should always have your undercover rig with your 1911 on you as soon as you get up in the morning. It should be like putting on underwear." Harry said.
"I have my rig on, I almost never take it off. Like I said before, I'm never getting caught out without a gun again. And Hermione showed me the enchantments to make it silent and the magazine holds 100 rounds. I carry five of them in my bag." Abby said pulled her stainless steel 1911 out of the rig to make it visible before putting it back.
"Good, as for the other thing, I'm not going to leave your side the whole time we're in the city and I got another idea. What's your ring size?" Harry asked standing up.
"7, why?" She asked as he walked out of the room, he came back a minute later with a small bag. He dumped it out on the table and she saw dozens of wedding bands and engagement rings in all shapes and sizes.
"Pick a set and start wearing it when you leave town. If anyone gives you shit tell them your husband the marshal will be pissed if he finds out about this." Harry said.
"Are you proposing to me Harry?" She asked with a big over the top smile and hope in her eyes.
"WHAT!? No! It's just a ring. You know for cover. We just started dating and…" He trailed off as everyone laughed at him. "Fuck all of you." He said folding his arms.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help it. But I mean the queen Bee said it best, if you liked it you shoulda put a ring on it." She said laughing.
"Well I like you, but this is just a ring. So pick a set, we're burning daylight." Harry said.
"Are all of these rings from dead people?" She asked looking weary.
"No, in fact most of them are from thefts and robberies. Jewelry is a good way for bad guys to exchange money without having to carry money. A man boards a plane with a case full of rings and he raises no red flags. Jewelry, especially if it comes with an appraiser's document is easier to deal with. Would you rather carry ten of those rings or a case full of hundred dollar bills?" Harry said as she picked through the rings.
"In that case I'll take this platinum ring with the big square cut emerald and this small platinum band. This bigger platinum band has the same pattern." She said taking the two rings and tossing him the other one.
"I don't need the ring. I'm not being harassed by random guys." Harry said looking at the ring.
"Right, I just thought you might need it if people ask about it." She said with a smirk.
"Good thinking. We'll leave in a few minutes. Make sure you have your coat, and vest on, and make sure your colts are loaded and ready. Also bring your horse. We try not to ride brooms in the city." Harry said putting on the ring and clearing away the plates.
"Right, I'll be ready to go in a bit." She said rushing to her room.
Ten minutes later Harry was pulling on his coat and checking his four colts when Abby walked up werning dark brown dragon hide boots, pants, and corset vest over a white blouse. She had a long full length dragon hide coat, brown leather gloves, and a brown cowboy hat. She had her double gun belt on with the two colt single actions and a brown leather messenger bag.
"I'm all set." She said looking excited.
"Good, this it the portkey to Salt Lake. let's go." Harry said holding out a brass card. When she touched it they spun for a second and landed in a big marshal's station in the corner of the room on what looked like the second floor. In the opposite corner was a big cage with a few prisoners. There were two dozen desks and about ten people walking around the room. As soon as they landed they were greeted by a tall well built man in his early twenties with a square jaw covered in stubble. He had longer light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail at the back of his neck. He was dressed like the ten other men in the office, black suit, white shirt, black tie, and a double gun belt with two nickel plated revolvers.
"Harry, it's good to see you, it's been a few weeks." The man said with a nice smile and a deep voice.
"You too Clif, Clif meet Abby, this is her first time to your city." Harry said.
"Good to meet you Abby. I'm Clifford Copeland. I'm a deputy marshal here at the the Salt Lake Marshal station. I must say you are about the prettiest lady to ever grace our office." he said with a bit of a blush as Abby smiled at him.
"Hello Clif, I'm Abby… Steel." She said shaking his hand.
"Steel? As in…?" Clif asked looking at Harry with a small bit of fear in his eyes. The fact that he just talked to a married woman like that in front of her man and that man was Harry made most of the color drain out of his face.
"Relax Clif, Abby here is the prettiest lady to ever walk to this place, but don't let her soft exterior fool you, she's just as deadly as I am." Harry said patting the younger man on the back with a smirk.
"Right, still sorry Harry, Ma'am." He said looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there.
"Like I said, water, bridge, you get it, now are there any messages for me?" Harry asked.
"Um, yes! There are a few of them. I have them here. I also have the mail." Clif said handed him a few bits of paper and a big canvas sack that was sitting by his desk.
"Thank's Clif." Harry said taking the very heavy bag full of shrunken packages, shrinking it and putting it in his coat pocket. He took the three bits of paper and looked them over. One was a note from a magical junk shop saying they had a few items for him. The next note was from the Wells Fargo bank saying they had a shipment of cash and coin headed to Eureka for pick up. The third note was from the head marshal.
"What's this note from your dad?" Harry asked Clif.
"No clue Harry, he just asked me about twenty minutes ago when you or your brother were coming to get the mail. I said today and he handed me that note." Clif said.
"Right, Abby keep Clif company for a few minutes while I go see what this is about." Harry said walking across the room to the big office.
Harry knocked on the door and the voice inside said 'come in'. Harry walked in to see an older version of Clif which made sense because the nameplate on the desk read Chuck Copeland. He was a man of 48 but time had not been kind to him which was a recurring theme Harry noticed about all the marshals. He looked all of 68 with his grey hair and beard. He had dark circles under his eyes, and a weathered face. This was a man that earned his place as top cop through years of hard work, long hours, and carrying the worry and responsibilities of his men on his shoulders.
"You wanted to see me marshal Copeland?" Harry asked stepping into the office and closing the door behind him.
"Yeah, have a seat." The old man said in a gruff low voice that sounded like he gargled sand and gravel everyday of his life. Harry sat in one of the three chairs in front of the desk as Chuck sat up in his chair.
"Harry, do you know of the pack of werewolves that keep attacking small towns on the full moon?" Chuck asked.
"I've heard of them. They're the reason I have a job. They killed the last deputy marshal. They hit without warning, rip and tare people to shreds, and feast on them in the streets. They never hit the same town twice, and they are impossible to track down. Because of this pack everytown is freaked out on the full moon." Harry said dropping the bullet points of the case file.
"I Know where they are. Thanks to some information I got last night. They're in this city." Chuck said.
"No shit? Well what are we waiting for? Let's go hit these fuckers and put an end to this. I've got 6 boxes of silver tipped .45lc in my bag right now." Harry said.
"I would love nothing more Harry but unfortunately, I can't touch them." Chuck said.
"Why the hell not? If you don't mind me asking?" Harry asked.
"Well, because when they're not big dog beasts they are the the mayor's son and his group of friends. He made them his pack. Every month they collect a few more pack members. They are twenty strong now. They all live in a house together, and the mayor has the sheriff's deputies bring them things they want. Booze, food, drugs, and girls. On the night of the full moon they take them in the mayor airship to a town outside the state and let them out to do what they want. In the morning the airship comes and picks them up. Now, like I said, I can't do anything about these guys. The house is being guarded by sheriff's deputies and we can't just kill them. The deputies can't do anything because they are beholden to the mayor and the few that want to do something are afraid of the other ones that might tell their boss, the mayor. And we can't sneak into the house and just shot the place up because that will alert the deputies outside and then we're going to end up killing our friends. I was hoping you would have a suggestion." the marshal said.
"I could do this today if I just had the address of this house." Harry said understanding what this meeting was. For the first time since he got here he felt like an operative again. How many times did he meet with someone like this?
"Funny thing about that I don't know what house it is, if I did it would be on my head if I told you. But what I can tell you is Jimmy's BBQ shack in east low town make a damn good BBQ beef brisket sandwich." The Marshal said locking eyes with Harry as he stood up.
"I'll have to go check that place out for lunch today." Harry said nodding and standing up from his seat.
"Good. The sooner the better. Jimmy's beef is too good to pass up. In fact, here's some money for lunch, this one's on me." He said handed him a small coin bag that felt very heavy.
"That's okay Marshal. I'll pick up the tab on this one. I owe it to the man that had this job before me to pay for this meal. But I will make sure I use this for that man's family." Harry said walking out of the office.
He waved to Abby and she followed him down the stairs, passed the front desk and out into the bustling street in front of the building. From here you couldn't tell it was a walled city. But it did feel like a crowded city. Like Manhattan the streets and sidewalks were packed with people and horses trying to get somewhere. After spending a month in Eureka which very much had a small town feel to it, this place felt like a big city. Most people would feel claustrophobic but she relished in the feeling of being surrounded by people. There was just over a thousand people in Eureka and there had to be about a half that many people on this one street alone.
"So what was that about back there with the marshal?" Abby asked as Harry pulled out a small toy black marble horse and set it on the ground. He tapped it with a finger and it expanded to a big 18 hand black stallion with a black leather saddle with brass buckles.
"He was giving me a good place to have lunch. We'll head that way after we stop off at the magical district to handle the things on your list. But before all that let me give you the rundown. Were in the heart of the city. This is called old town or high town. The original city was smaller then it is now. As the city got bigger they expanded out like flower petals from the main city. They made four major branch off cities and then they connected them and filled it in the gaps forming north, east, south, and west low town. For the most part low town is mostly housing and a few shops. Almost all of the things we deal with are in old town. Like the the main branch of the Wells Fargo bank which is just down the street from here and it's our first stop." Harry said hopping onto his horse and she expanded her matching stallion.
"Then we'll head to the magical shopping district?" Abby said hopping up onto her horse with ease and riding up next to him as he trotted out into the street and moved with traffic.
"Yes, it up this way a bit about twelve blocks from here. It's a row of shops on one street that make up the magical shopping district. I have to stop off at a junk shop on that street. Then we can search for the things on your list. After that we'll head east to the airship docks and then we'll go further east to East low town to have lunch before we leave." Harry said.
"Why are we having lunch here if it's the last thing we're going to do? Why not portkey back and eat at home?" Abby asked as she watched him for his answer.
"Because I owe a man and his family a debt and eating at this place will cover that debt. This is the bank." Harry said riding up to the bank and getting off his horse.
"That's cryptic." She said with a smirk.
"Abby, trust me, the less you know the better." Harry said watching as a group of five men walked into the bank with bandanas covering their face. "Shit." He said shaking his head.
"What?" she asked.
"Pop back to the marshal's office and tell then the bank is being robbed." Harry said.
"You're kidding?" Abby asked hopping off her horse.
"I wish I was. Go now." Harry said pulling a colt and rushing up to the door.
He peeked in and saw four men with guns out in the lobby controlling the small group of tellers and the two guards who were both on the floor bleeding from head wounds. Harry popped to the back of the building and unlocked the back door with a spell. He opened the door and slipped inside. He found the other man forcing the bank manager to open the vault. He slipped up behind the man and stunned him by touching his head.
"Harry? THank god." Stan the bank manager said relaxing when Harry showed up.
"I got your note, I'm here for the pick up, I'll get it in a second." Harry said as he bound the guy he stunned.
"Good luck with that." Stan said.
Harry ghosted up to the door and watched the guy on this side of the bank lobby. When he came over to see what was taking so long Harry stunned him and pulled him into the room. He bound him and peaked out the door. The other three were looking antsy. This was taking too long. Harry had a few options here. He could try to stun the rest of them or he could shoot them all from the doorway. He got an answer a second later when the Marshals announced themselves outside. The three men each grabbled a hostage and held them up in front of them. Harry slipped out the door into the lobby and stood behind a column. He rolled around the the column and stunned the two men closest to him. By the time the last one saw the red flashes he too was downed by a stunner.
"THis Is Marshal Steel! All Clear!" Harry called out as he bound the last three men. Cliff and three other marshal came in through the front doors with guns up.
"I see you did all the work." Clif said.
"Most of it." Harry said walking over to the two downed bank guards and running scans on the two men before closing up there head wounds and waking them up with a spell. Both men shot up but Harry calmed them with a hand on the shoulder.
"Relax. You both took a good knock to the head. You should both see a healer." Harry said.
"The robbers." One of the guards asked.
"I got them, all five of them." harry said keeping them all calm as he stood up.
"Cliff, You have a half a dozen witnesses, two guards, and the bank manager to give you a statement of events. This is what happened from my perspective." Harry said making a rolled up parchment with a written account of the robbery from his point of view.
"Thank you Harry." Clif said taking the parchment and looking it over.
"Now if you'll excuse me I have a bunch of things I have to do before noon and this little bit of excitement took ten minutes out of my day that I just didn't have." Harry said.
"I understand Harry, you can head out as soon as you get the bank bag." Clif said with a nod.
It took a few minutes for the bank manager to get the vault open and to hand over the three canvas bank bags full of cash and coins headed to the bank in Eureka. He shrank them and put them in his bag and then they were off. They headed north a dozen blocks and then left for two more before they came to an archway declaring the area was the John Smith district. The street didn't look that much different from the street before but it was more alive. You could feel the magic in the air. She looked over at Harry and saw him with his head tilted back and his eyes closed.
"You like it here Harry?" She asked with a smirk.
"You can taste the magic in the air. For someone on the mage scale as high up as I am when you get this close to a source of power it's euphoric. Everything you're looking for should be in this district. Lead the way." Harry said waving at the stores with signs proclaiming what was inside. Unlike the alley this place was a bit more orderly. For instance, the potions supply stores were next to the caldron stores next to the a store that sold ready made potions.
It took two hours and a surprising amount of cash to to collect everything on the list. Harry had fun shopping. He knew it had less to do with the shopping itself and more to do with the company. Harry really liked Abby. He found a quiet kindred soul in the younger blond. And younger she was. There was no denying she was 23 years old. Not when you looked at her. But in many ways she acted older than him. She liked old black and white movies. The beatles and the stones. She liked to sit with him on the couch and read under a blanket. Harry on the other hand was still very much immature. He liked to goof off with his brother, mess with his sister, and generally be a clown when the bullets stopped flying. Abby very much tapped into his sense of fun and they spent a few nights dancing and partying at the casino in town. But as young as he acted Harry was not getting any younger. And the age gap, although not a big deal in the time they were in was a big deal for Harry. It didn't help matters when Neville joked that he was old enough to have baby sat for her.
Harry was having a good time with her and he felt the relationship moving forward at a good pace. That pace included sex at some point and Harry was hesitant about it. It wasn't the sex part really. That was something he was good at. It was the first time he stripped off his clothes in front of her that worried him. He was not 23. In fact he was a really beat up 36. He had a lot of scars. Big, ugly, nasty scars. He had been shot, stabbed, and blown up in the past. And no matter how good magical medicine was, it wasn't that good. The small patch of grey hair forming at his temples was not helping either.
That was why he was really looking forward to making a trip to Egypt soon so he could get his hands on the philosopher's stone buried in a pharaoh's tomb. It would give them all 100 more years, a small boost to power, and for three quarters of them it would take their age back by about ten years. It would also fix some of the damage done to his body over the years.
"Harry, are we going to have time to finish the trip?" She asked breaking him out of his head.
"WHat?" He asked following her around an enchantment store as she looked at prices.
"I asked if we still had time to finish the trip or if we had to go? You have something to do in low town at noon. That's in an hour and a half. We need some time in this store and you had a stop to make in this part of town and you wanted to visit the air docks. Are we going to make it?" She asked.
"We should be able to make it. It's not super time sensitive but I would like to get to the restaurant before one. What do we need from in here?" He asked.
"Well I've checked all the prices and this place has most of what we need at the lowest prices. It is a bit basic but Hermione did say she wanted you to make your own tools at some point so these will do for now until you're at a higher level." Abby said looking around the store.
"Hey Abs, is enchanting hard? Am I going to be bored out of my mind and want to kill my sister?" Harry asked.
"Not at all. With your power level, your attention to detail, and your steady hands you'll get the hang of it really fast and you'll be enchanting up a storm. For now we need to get you a full kit. Follow me and hold all of this." Abby said before she started staking things in his arms.
A brown leather tool roll, a small wooden tool box with a brass handle and locks, a box of small engraving tools, a box of bigger engraving tools, a case of small glass jars filled with glowing white powder, a case of little bottles full of glowing red oily liquid, a case of small brass bars, a magnifying glass on a small wood and brass tripod, a wood box with a small gold melting ladle with a pour spout, and a small flat gold box about the size of a pill box.
"Do you think you have enough?" He asked sarcastically.
"That's everything on her list but I think she might have forgotten to add this to the list." Abby said adding a small leather bound book to the top of the pile and leading him to the counter.
"A full kit? Someone must be learning. You know most folks by a kit piece by piece but I always tell them buy it all to start with. It's easier that way." The old lady behind the counter said.
"Yes. and you have such good prices compared to your competitors." Abby said as the old lady added everything up.
"That's because I make everything in house dear. Your total is $275." The old lady said.
"Fu...udge. $275." Harry said pulling out a bag of coins and handing the lady five $50 gold coins and gold $25 coin.
"It's a full kit dear. These engraving tools are all hand made and enchanted to be razor sharp for life. Also diamond dust, magical red brass, and dragon's blood don't come cheap." She said putting the coins in a lock box.
"I stand corrected, is that what all this is?" Harry asked looking at the little bottles.
"Yes, let me assemble the kit so it all fits into your bag easier." Abby said.
She unrolled the leather tool roll and filled it with most of the things she bought with a practised ease. She opened the small wood tool box and put the two cases of jars and the small brass bars in the bottom and set the leather roll on top. She added the book on top, closed the brass latches, and handed it to Harry who shrank it and put it in his bag. From there they headed to the end of the street and into a big junk shop on the corner. They entered the junk shop and they were in magical junk heaven. Abby looked around and saw old books, watches, tea sets, pens, and quills. She found a few nice things in the shop right off the bat like a green and white marble wizard's chess set, and a book on old enchantments. Harry however walked right up to the counter and greeted the older heavy set lady with a big smile.
"Hello Dolores. I got your note. What have you got for me?" Harry asked with a big grin.
"So many nice things. I've been lucky since you came in last time. We'll start off with this beauty." She said handing him a gold pocket knife. "Razor sharp and enchanted to stay that way. Also if you hold down the wolf's head the blade glows red hot and it can cut through steel. I have another knife with those same charms too. I got it from the same guy but it's bigger. A lot bigger." She said handing him a big bowie knife in a leather sheath. The knife had a black bone handle and a ten inch long two inch wide heavy blade.
"Nice, how much for the set?" Harry asked.
"$10 for the small one and $10 for the big one. I also got these." She said handing him a set of brass knuckles.
"Brass knuckles?" Harry asked.
"With a painful stinging charm. You hit someone with these and it will hurt. $5 for the pair." She said.
"I'll take them. What else. Come on Dolores, we both know you found something good. What did you find?" He asked.
"A traveling salesman stopped by with these." She said setting two small wooden boxes on the counter. Inside the boxes were wood and gold fountain pens. "They look like regular pens right? Hit the gold button." She said with a smirk. Harry hit the button and out shot a 35 inch tri-sided fencing blade with a needle sharp tip.
"How much?" Harry asked extending the other blade to make sure they both worked.
"$15 each. But this is the grand finally. A man came by with a gun collection. He said they belonged to his grandfather and he needed the cash. Now I didn't buy the story one bit because why not try to pawn them off at the gunshop? He knows I don't ask too many questions. But when I saw this gun I knew you would want it." She said handing him a wooden gun case.
Inside was a heavily modified Lemat revolver with a nice nickel finish and ivory grips. The two barrels were set inside a slab sided barrel assembly and both barrels were about six and a half inches long. There was a hinge under the barrel assembly and a schofield style latch at the top by the sights. He broke the revolver open and saw the cylinder was bored through and so was the shotgun barrel which meant you could flip open the gun and load 9 cartridges of 38 caliber and one 20 gauge shotgun shell. They also redesigned the grip to fit better in the hand.
There was more magic in the gun but that was all he could tell for now. The gun looked like I came from 1985 and not 1885. It had more in common style wise with the Dan Wesson PPC then the Lemat it started out as. The gun was chunky and a bit blocky, but it felt good in the hand and the heavy barrel assembly would eat up all the recoil of the .38 caliber rounds and most of the recoil of the 20 gauge. Harry had never been a revolver guy. But this gun, like the colts on his belt was beautiful. Nickel plated, engraved with colt style engravings, the grips were big and ivory but they fit the hand right.
In the case was a shrunken box of ammo he took it out and expanded it. Inside as about a hundred rounds of .38 long colt. But the rounds had red brass heads and the case looked longer. In fact it looked like a .357 magnum bullet. There was also a box of 25 brass 20 gauge shotgun shells as well. They too looked hand loaded. He plucked the over shot card off the front of the shell and dumped out the load in his hand. Packed inside the shell was a red brass slug and six buck shot bb's.
"How much, and did he bring in more like this?" Harry asked.
"$75 for the gun and that kid brought in 3 of them along with this rifle and this big shotgun." She said setting two more matching Lemat revolver boxes on the counter along with a winchester rifle in a leather case and a huge case with a very big double barreled gun inside.
Harry looked the rifle over. It looked like a run of the mill factory engraved nickel plated winchester model 1885 single shot falling block rifle. But attached to gun was a small silver spyglass with cross hairs and the sling had 20 very big rounds in bullet loops that radiated magic. Harry checked the caliber of the bullets and saw they were .50-110 caliber rounds. The last gun which Dolores thought was a shotgun was a 4 bore rifle. Harry had only read about these. He never saw on up close before. The gun was 30 pounds easy with a 26 inch barrel, and a lever locking system. He looked in the case as saw a cigar box with ten 4 bore bullets. Each round was six inches long and an inch and a half wide. The bullet weighed a quarter of a pound.
"How much for the whole load Doris?" Harry asked.
"$75 each for the three revolvers, I can give you the rifle for another $75, but the big gun is going to cost you $150. That's $450 for the guns and $55 for the rest of this." Doris said adding it all up on a piece of paper.
"These too." Abby said setting the wizards chess set, the old book, and a silver pocket watch.
"$545" Doris said adding the three things.
"Here, and keep it." Harry said handing her eleven $50 gold coins from the bag the marshal gave him. The small bag had 200 $50 gold coins. $10,000. Harry counted it during the shopping trip. He would give the same amount in cash to the wife of the deputy that died to give him a job. Harry looked at the bag before pocketing it and shrinking things on the counter to put then in his bag.
By the time they rode to the Air dock they had just enough time to talk to a few people about ships and prices before they had to rush off to East low town. They found Jimmy's easy enough. And as they walked into the restaurant Harry saw two deputies standing guard out front of a big three story townhouse across the street. Jimmy's was a barbecue joint in the plainest sense. They sold pulled pork, chopped beef, or sliced brisket sandwiches. They served it with a side of sticky mac and cheese, fried potato wedges, and a glass or bottle of beer. Harry ordered two brisket sandwich meals and two bottles of beer. It came to $5. They sat down in a corner table and started eating. Harry watched the house across the street. The food was good. The meat was slow smoked and covered in sauce on a fresh baked buttery roll. The mac and cheese was a bit greasy but very cheesy, and the potatoes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. With some catsup they would be great. Harry ate slow and watched the house.
"Are those deputies guarding that house?" Abby asked.
"Don't know. Maybe. Hey Abs, you think you'll be okay for a few minutes? I need to use the can." Harry asked standing up from the table.
"Sure. I have beer and barbeque. I'm fine." She said nodding ever so slightly. Harry nodded back and walked away.
He slipped out the back door into the alley. He pulled on his invisibility cloak and cast a few charms on himself to mask his sounds and scent. He walked across the street and into the alley behind the town house. He scanned for wards and found a few. He took out a small black ring and expanded it to a six foot wide gateway. He floated it in front of him until it glowed. When it did he set it down on the ground and walked through the doorway without disturbing the wards. He thought about taking the ward tunnel with him but he cast a few notice me not charms around the area and snuck up to the back of the house. He cast a spell at the wall next to the back door that turned the wall into a one way mirror. He saw no one in the kitchen. He vanished the section of the wall and slipped inside before putting it back.
He pulled the Sig 226 from his undercover rig and ejected the magazine. He pulled a silver magazine out of his bag and put it in his gun. He chambered a 9mm silver jacketed silver dust round. It was DoM standard issue. They exploded inside of a werewolf's body and the silver powder inside the werewolf killed them instantly. He scanned the house. There were 24 people in the house. 20 werewolves above ground and 4 humans below. He checked room by room on the ground floor. He found all of the rooms empty except the parlor. There were two men and two women he shot each one in the head. The rounds impacted their skulls and blew them open with the force of the impact. They never even knew what hit them. He stalked room by room killing werewolves as he went. For the most part they were all still asleep. Like Adaven these animals like to party, fuck, and drink until the wee hours of the morning. The two cases where the men were up they never see it coming. The gun made no sound. The brass casing never made it to the floor before it vanished. All that was left in his wake were dead bodies with head wounds full of silver and bullet fragments.
When he got to the last room he took care of the biggest man in the house and his two women. He summoned any cash or gold into his bag as he made his way into the basement. As he suspected he found four frightened looking saloon girls in a cage. He stunned them transfigured them into coins and took them. He walked out of house two minutes after he walked in. He walked to an alley behind Jimmy's and dropped the transfigurations on the four girls and woke them up after ditching his cloak.
"WHat's going on?" One of them asked as they looked around confused.
"What's going on is you four were about to be Werewolf food or fun. Now you have two options. I can erase your memories of me and send you on your merry way with $100 each or I can send you to Eureka with that same $100. The choice is yours but I have to tell you that if you stay here then you might end up dead." Harry said.
"If it's alright with you I'd like to get out of here. They got a saloon in Eureka?" The older dark haired prostitute asked.
"They do and it's nice and clean. Also $100 goes alot further in Eureka then it does here. And Sam the bar keep is a good man that looks out for the girls that work his place. All he charges is rent for the rooms. A dollar a day I think." Harry said.
"Girls this is a chance to start over. Let's get the fuck out of here." The leader of the group said.
"We need to get our stuff." One of the smaller blonds said.
"I can do that for you if one of you comes with me." Harry said looking around to make sure no one was watching them.
"I'll go." The leader said.
"Okay, you three take a hold of this piece of leather and this note. This is a portkey. It will land you three in front of the saloon. Take the note to Sam the bartender." Harry said handing the three girls a note and a leather cord from his bag. When they were all touching the cord he tapped it and they vanished.
"Our saloon is a few streets over from here. I'm Sherry by the way. Thank you for getting us out of the house." She said.
"Good to meet you Sherry. Come with me. We're going to head into Jimmy's for a few minutes and then we'll head out. What I did today is not exactly on the up and up." Harry said leading the saloon girl into the BBQ joint. He held out the chair for Sherry and sat down.
"Harry, who is this?" Abby asked.
"This is Sherry. Sherry this is Abby. Now that introductions are over I need to watch the house for a few minutes." Harry said putting a small cigar in his mouth and lighting it with a match.
"Sure, the less I know the better. You look hungry Sherry would you like a meal? My treat." Abby asked.
"Please and thank you." Sherry said looking grateful to Abby.
"You know it's a good idea to get a few of those meals for the family and the deputies in Eureka. Get five of each meal with bottled beer." Harry said handing her a gold coin without looking up. He was looking out the window as he munched on his sandwich. He wasn't looking at the house but he was looking around the house.
"Sure thing Harry. I'll have them bag it all up." She said walking away from the table.
Harry sat at the table and watched the house for a ten minutes and when the guards didn't move his grin got bigger. He finished his meal as Sherry scarfed down her's. They rode up the street to the bell tower saloon and with a few mind charms Harry cleaned out the few small posesions the girls had and as far as the bartender of the saloon was concerned the four girls left last night and never came back. They portkeyed back to Eureka just after one and Harry handled the four girls. Sam gave them rooms and let them work in his place. Harry handed each one of them $100 and their things and left them. He dropped off the mail at the post office. He dropped off the bank bags at the bank and he was about to head home when he saw Smith's shop. He walked in and Smith's face lit up.
"What can I do for my most valued customer and friend?" Smith asked.
"I wanted to show you something. I want your opinion on this piece I just bought it in a magical junk shop." Harry said pulling the Lemat revolver out of his bag and expanding it. "What do you think about that?"
"Would you look at that." Smith said popping open the latch and looking at the cylinder.
"Yeah, that's what I said. The cylinder is custom. I'm not sure what type of round it takes, but it looks like a longer .38. The shotgun barrel is intact and it was cut to accept a 20 gauge brass shell. The ammo is in the box." Harry said expanding the ammo box.
"Yes, it's been gapped and bored to take a brass shell. And this looks like a custom job. A longer .38 brass with a brass bullet nose. Heavy too. And this is a big load of black powder. This cartridge must hit like a train." He said loading up the gun with nine of the .38 XL cartridges. He took one of the brass shotgun shells and put it in the fat tube in the middle.
"So it's nine shots of special extra long .38 and a 20 gauge canon. Now that's some fire power. Especially after you make me some extra long .38 with your smokeless gunpowder." Harry said.
"Have you shot it yet? You want to try it out back?" Smith asked with a smirk.
"You have a range?" Harry asked.
"Sure do. My land backs up to the mountain. Flip the sign and lock the door." Smith said and Harry locked up and flipped the sign on the door.
He led Harry through the back room where his bed and kitchen was and out the back door to a fenced off open yard butted against the cliff face of the mountain. There were targets set up on boards in front of the rock wall. Smith took aim with the Lemat. He made sure the hammer was flipped up and pulled the trigger. The gun shot flawlessly like it came from the factory and the .38XL kicked like a .45lc. He cocked the hammer and flipped the pin down. He pulled the trigger and the gun bucked in his hand as he blasted a target with the buck and ball shot. He broke open the revolver to put in a new shotgun shell and the two spent casings shot out like a shotgun extractor which scared the shit out of both Smith and Harry.
"How the hell did they get it to do that? How did it know to only extract those two chambers? And who would have thought to change the handle like that? It's way more comfortable. This gunsmith was a Goddamn genius!" Smith said reloading the gun and handing it to Harry. Harry fired it a few times and loved it. He tried the shotgun shell and it kicked like a mule.
"Man this thing is great." Harry said.
"I would love to strip it down and figure it out." Smith said.
"If you studied it could you make more?" Harry asked.
"I think so. As long as I can figure it out. Can you track down the gunsmith? How much did you pay for it?" Smith asked.
"I don't know if I can track down the gunsmith, it was sold to a woman that runs a magic junk shop it Salt Lake City. I can go back and asked if she remembers any details about the guy but I'm pretty sure these were stolen." Harry said expanding the gun cases. "I paid $505 for all of this." Harry said.
"A new 1885 Highwall in .50-110. And is that a 4 bore!?" Smith asked looking excited.
"It is. You think you could take a look at the rifles? Add anything you can think of to them. Also can you make more .38 XL and these buck and ball 20 gauge shells with smokeless powder?" Harry asked.
"The ammo I can make easy, especially if you make the casings for it. All I have to do is add the primers, smokeless powder, and bullet nose. I can sell you 50 rounds for $1.50 if you get me the casings. $3 if not. As for the revolver, I can replicate the design easy enough, and I can smith the cylinder and shotgun barrel but this extractor I don't know. I'd have to take it apart and see how it works." Smith said.
"I'll make you a deal, I'll try to track down who made it if you try to replicate it. Do you have any Lemat revolvers in the shop? I think I have like five of them back at my house." Harry asked.
"I have one and it's beat to shit. I've had it for a while and I've been meaning to fix it up. This looks like my next project." Smith said.
"Well if I get you a box of guns can you make me a bunch more? What's the cost for an order like that?" Harry asked.
"Well if you get me the guns and they're in a decent shape then I could probably do a job like that for $25 a gun. But for that price I'll make repairs to the guns, refinish them, add nicer handles, add precision rifling, and I'll throw in the unbreakable charm too. I can't make any promises on the extractor though. It might come with a custom made scholfield type deal." Smith said.
"I'll start tracking down guns. I want a few of these. This is a lot of firepower." Harry said.
"And I'll get to work on this one and everything else." Smith said shaking Harry's hand.
"Oh before I go. Here let me get you some shell casings to work with." Harry said. He pulled a 25 pound brass bar out of his bag and used the goblin spell and turned the bar into bucket of 2,500 shiny new brass .38 XL casings. "There, that should last a few weeks." Harry said heading out of the shop and into the cube. When Harry showed Neville the Lemat he wanted it. Harry handed him the other one and he all but hugged him to death.
"I figured we'll both carry a pair of them and a few speed loaders as our main guns and our original pair of guns as our secondary guns. That's 18 rounds of .38lx, 12 rounds of .45lc, and 2 20 guage shotgun shells. With speed loaders we could change out 9 rounds in seconds." Harry said.
"You thinking something like moon clips or speed loaders?" Hermione asked.
"Loaders. The spring operated loaders like this." Harry said melting a piece of steel and turning it into a 12 inch base plate with holes and 12 spring loaded speed loaders 2 inches wide.
"Nice work." Neville said.
"Let's hope it works." Harry said taking a hand full of the .38xl rounds in his hand and filling the 9 round holes with bullets nose down. He took one of the loaders and pressed it down on the 9 rounds and the 9 rounds clicked into place. He lifter the loder and the rounds were held tightly. He opened the gun and dropped the loader in and with a click of the center the 9 rounds dropped into place.
"So cool. Make me one and two dozen loaders please." Neville asked playing with his new gun.
"Me as well, I want a set of guns like this." Abby said.
"We need to get Smith more revolvers so he can make the conversation. We have a few in the trunk but we need to go find more." Harry said.
"Why don't you goblin magic them up like the speed loaders?" Abby asked.
"Good question." Harry said scratching his chin. He emptied out the gun. And floated it in front of his face. He ran a few scans on it. He understood each part and screw but the revolver was too complicated to just make.
"I have to take it apart and make each piece one at a time. Well I found my next project. Taking this gun apart sucks." Harry said setting the gun on the table and pulling out a small wool blanket.
He laid it out and with his set of gunsmithing tools he took his new toy apart down to every screw. He took the handle part of the frame and looked it over. He took a big 25 pound bar of steel and cast the spell. He made ten more frames. They looked exactly like the original and his smile became an evil grin. It took him the better part of the afternoon to manufacture all the parts to make ten of his new gun. He handed everyone a kit of parts and they spent an hour building the 11 guns. The new copies looked just like the master copy with the exception of wood grips instead of ivory. But they had finger grooves and they fit the hand better. The guns also had STEEL MODEL 1 on the barrel and a wolf's head in profile that looked almost like the house Stark crest. They invited Smith over for dinner that night and showed him the copies.
"That's amazing. I just wish we could replicate the ejection system." Smith said.
"Let me see that." Hermione said taking Harry's master gun and casting a few spells on it. "Got it. It's a simple rune string enchantment carved on each cylinder wall. This will take like twenty minutes to enchant. Harry this can be your first enchantment. All you need is your copy book, a number 4 tool, and table space." Hermione said.
"Cool. we'll tackle it after dinner. Smith, it looks like I won't be needing your services after all on this one." Harry said with a smile.
"I'll say. Your sister is very good. I bet she has my rune string for accuracy and strength." Smith said.
"I do, but I haven't used them on anything. They are very long strings and they have to be cut into all the important parts. It's very time consuming work." Hermione said.
After dinner Hermione helped Harry set up his work station.
"Now Harry, simple rune based enchantments like this are easy, and they're made even easier when you have a copy book. That's this book. All you have to do is cast an expansion charm on the master cylinder." She instructed.
"How big should I make it?" Harry asked pulling the cylinder out of his gun.
"Comically big. The bigger the better. This is going to be hard to get to." She said.
Harry turned the 2 inch wide 2.5 inch tall cylinder into a 40 inch wide 50 inch tall cylinder. She showed him how to copy the runes etched inside one of the chambers and had him shrink it back before he expanded the cylinder of a new gun. She showed him how to copy the image of the rune string to the inside of a chamber and how to carve it into the metal with the engraving tool. When he had all ten chambers carved she showed him how to power each rune string. When they all glowed and the light faded it was done.
"And that's it. That was a very simple enchantment. The enchantments we use on the Operative's guns are harder. They require a filling of magical metal, dragon's blood, and diamond dust. I'll show you how to make those later. For now you have more work to do. That took you just about fifteen minute to do and that was with me guiding you through the steps. I bet you can have the rest of these guns finished by the time you head off to bed in a couple of hours." She said patting him on the back.
"This was easy and fun. You were right." Harry said expanding the next cylinder.
"This was nothing. Wait until you can make something really powerful." She said going back to her work. The two of them worked in silence for the rest of the night and when he headed off to bed at half past ten he was done with all the guns. And he made a speed loader set for Abby and Neville along with new gun belts that had bullet loops for .38xl and .45lc.