… - …

Part Three – The Enchanter

Chapter Sixteen

Harry's New Invention

Sunday January 4, 1998

As Harry had a five-month gap between the completion of the lakes in Riyadh and the expected start date in the United Arab Emirates, he turned his attention to his stored power project. Ted had advised him that he thought it would be seen as highly unethical if he purchased another Gringotts watch and attempted to reverse-engineer it. In fact, given that he was using them as the primary transportation method for Potter Waterworks, he suggested that Harry not even bring the question up to anyone at Gringotts. He had an excellent working relationship with Barchoke and when needed, Ragnok. He couldn't afford to disrupt it.

After lunch was finished, Dan and Harry went out to his garage workshop. Dan looked at the whiteboard that Harry was constantly updating to keep track of his various projects. Under the listing of PAD the subheadings, Limiting Runes, Power Source - Cobalt? Find Cobalt Source, Allow Recharge? Trigger Point, Capacity Requirement, and Testing. Under the heading of Elf Energy Storage was the subheading, Individual or Group? Under the heading of Water Projects were the subheadings UAE, SA, CA and AZ. He asked, "How are the projects going?"

Harry replied, "I learned how to store magical energy. Actually that was the easy part. I need to find someone who has Cobalt for sale. Of the metals that we've talked about in Enchanting class, it sounded like the best fit for my projects. It can be used to store large amounts of magical energy. The challenge is finding a way for someone to draw from it without getting, or giving off the magical equivalent of an electrical shock."

Dan replied, "It sounds a bit like a car battery. What was the unit of measure that you were talking about for your wand project?"

"It's really a Power Assist Device. The unit of measure is Julens."

"Right. When you recharge Dobby, as you put it, what sort of number is involved?"

"5 -10,000 or so."

"When you were working on the two lakes and the elves were coming up for hugs, how many at a time were doing it?"

"20 or so."

"So if you made 20 cobalt medallions and if the elves were able to wear them on a slow discharge basis, are you saying that you could charge 20 a day?"

"More than that; 80 or so in a day. I could do 20 at a time and rest or eat something, then do some more. I just can't both work and feed them at the same time."

"My point is, could you and Remus charge up a set of them in advance of your next construction project and would that be enough to keep the elves going for the duration of the project?"

"We might need two sets of them, but to your question, I believe so. That would be loads easier than trying to help them, in addition to putting in a long day of work."

Dan suggested, "For various reasons, you should make a dozen and see how well that they hold a charge. If they don't leak, they might be useful for your wand project."

Harry asked, "What do you mean?"

"What if instead of a coin sized medallion, you used something like a Biro or Bic stick pen? Instead of an ink cartridge, what if you made an 1/8th inch cobalt rod that would fit inside the handle?"

Harry added, "So if it were a bit thicker, say with a ½ or 5/8th inch handle, it could be like those pens that Emma uses that have more than one color of ink in them. Brilliant."

Dan replied, "I don't follow that part."

"Different size, or strength models."

Dan replied, "Sorry for being dense. I still don't follow."

Harry explained, "When Hermione and I were just starting at Hogwarts, we didn't actually do that many spells. Part of being there for first and second year was learning the techniques and theory of magic. The other part was developing your magical strength; they call it your magical core. Apparently Katie's parents probably topped out growing their magical cores at about second year level.

"You've seen those nice flashlights in the stores here; they call them Maglights. They come in sizes that hold one, two, three or even four batteries depending on what someone needs it for. I could do the same with the cobalt pieces. Think of the dimensions of the ink tube in a stick pen – 1/8th inch thick and 3 or 4 inches long. I could carve or drill out areas and insert several in the handle area of the wand. The wands could be sold as Magic Sticks, or Firesticks. The stored magical energy in the cobalt would power the Firestick, so a low-powered witch or wizard could perform spells like a normal witch or wizard. Instead of drawing magic from the witch, the spell would be powered by the stored magic in the handle."

Dan asked, "Why the goofy brand names?"

"The ICW has dozens of regulations regarding wands – who can buy one, make them, use them and the like. If I was making and selling self powered wands, I'd probably get a visit from some bloke from the ICW wearing a plastic pocket protector who was carrying a clipboard, handing out traffic tickets.

"Back to your question, they could be made with different capabilities for different users – smaller output ones for younger students, a bit higher output for older students, high capacity ones for construction people, an Auror model and so on."

Hermione, who had been listening, asked "What would make them different?"

Harry replied, "The rune sets carved inside the core when the wand is split would have different limiters, specifically how powerful a spell could be cast. We could have cast AK spells at Quirrel when we were eleven. Nothing would have happened. Our magical cores weren't developed enough at the time to cast a spell anywhere near that powerful. No parent would want their second year child actually casting a blasting hex at someone. Core development, or lack of, is one of those dirty little secrets that the polite pureblood society doesn't talk about in public."

Dan asked, "How much power do the first and second year spells take?"

"A simple Lumos lighting spell is 1 Julen. A hand warming charm is 5. Levitating a ping pong ball, or a very simple transfiguration is 10 to 20. A simple repairing charm is 20. A household cleaning charm is 25. Moving up, a small cutting charm is 25 to 50. Simple shield spells range from 30 to 100. A blasting hex is 250. Moody could help me measure the larger and more powerful charms."

Hermione jumped in, "I could do that."

"True, but neither of us are going to want to spend the day casting fighting charms at a target, let alone unforgivables. Besides, he's already volunteered."

She accepted his answer and asked, "What about magical signatures?"

"The person who casts the spell has their signature on the spell, not the Firestick."

"How could you carve a complex runeset on so small an object?"

Harry replied, "When I spoke with Devlin Whitehorn, the broomstick designer, he told me that they do something similar when making flying broomsticks. They'd split the shaft, create the canal to hold the core, then cast an enlargement charm on each piece. In his case, on one of the halves, he carves the flight characteristic limiting runes and on the other the activation runes and the like. I'll have to work out the spell limitations and activation requirements to put on my Firesticks. It will take a while but I think it would be worth it."

… - ...

Ed was busy currying a unicorn. He was listening intently at a conversation between Mister Harry's gal pal Hermione and her mother, Emma, while they petted the docile animal.

"He's decided to try making the stored energy wands. He's going to call them Firesticks to avoid any issues with officious Percy Weasley type bureaucrats who might show up from the ICW."

"Talk about another dimension of stupidity," laughed Emma. "I met him once at Kings Cross." Both women burst out laughing.

"But he needs to source 99.9% pure ground cobalt powder. He needs a thousand pounds to make the amount of Firesticks he thinks he can sell to begin with. It's a metal and semi-restricted. He has to be a manufacturer to buy it."

"I'm sure Ted will work something out."

Ed was thinking hard. The elves had lots and lots of sand and more was coming in every day. They had a half restored 1969 Mustang Fast Back, several barrels of New Grand-Dad Bourbon that was only one year old and an old Las Vegas Fire Truck with the glitter paint job. Dobby was very busy with planning his luau. Ed could do trades for Mr. Harry Potter, Sir. He had loads of stuff.

…

The next morning, Ed walked into the custom bike and hot rod shop in Las Vegas. The proprietor didn't look twice at the short guy dressed in the white Italian three-piece suit with the black silk scarf and fedora. All kinds of characters walked into his showroom.

"Hi Mr. Custom man, I be looking for a dude named Michael Horn. He like to put big horns on stuff."

"He's in the back."

Ed saluted him as he walked into the back. "Hello Mr. Horn."

"Uh, I prefer Mike."

"OK. I'm Ed. I do trades. I heard you had a green tricked out bus with Big Horns all over it."

"I wasn't looking to trade it, Ed."

"Well, you haven't seen my tanker apartment fire engine. Come outside."

After a quick look, Mike exclaimed, "Holy crap, Ed. I like the giant Bull horns on the front. Boy, the other painter, Randy would love this metal flake paint job. Wow, I think this has more horns than my bus. How the hell did you make an apartment on the inside of the tanker?"

"Well Mike, you know professional secrets. We make good use of space, you know."

"Too bad it's red. I'm partial to green."

Ed snapped his fingers as they exited the small apartment in the inside of the fire truck.

"I think you're mistaken Mike, the fire truck is green, same color as your bus."

Mike shook his head. He had been sure that it was red.

"Straight up trade, my fire truck for your bus."

"Sure, let's do it."

Mike walked away. I can live in the fire truck. No more rent!, he thought.

…

Joe's Hotrod Bar and Grill across the street from Daytona Speed Way

"Joe, why did you trade that weird little guy the Food Truck and a thousand ears of corn for this tricked out bus?"

"I'm going to make it into a bar to sell at the speedway on race days. Better than using the food truck."

…

Maine Department of Public Works Highway division

"How does Ed do it, Christopher?"

"I don't know, Rob. The storage bays are empty when we go home at night and they're full when we come back. Ten thousand tons of sand. In one night. It's like magic, Ralph."

"This like the third time? What did you trade this time?"

"I traded him a thousand lobsters, and 500 pounds of steamer clams, half the value of the sand. He was very happy."

…

The Blue Metal Company

The president of the company looked at the strange little man who had shown up without an appointment, talked his way past the security at the plant parking lot entrance, past the receptionist in the lobby and past his administrative assistant who liked no one, but somehow she was making expresso for them both now.

"You seem to be a very resourceful man, Ed, to get by the multiple layers of security to see me. I'm intrigued by how you managed to get this far."

"Have a biscuit, Mr. Blue. Well, some folks would say it's magic. But I'm a man on a mission. I have a friend whose factory has ground to a halt because of a lack of cobalt powder. He's got a big order and needs one thousand pounds of cobalt, preferably twenty fifty-pound canisters. So, I'm here to trade."

"Trade?" I sell for cash on the barrel."

"Speaking of barrel, do you like Bourbon? I've got three 42-gallon barrels of bourbon. Only one year old but aging well. Two more years, you could crack open one and let the others sit and age."

"Intriguing, but I prefer cash."

"I can sweeten the pot, so we shall say, with one thousand pounds of live and kicking Maine Lobsters, 250 pounds of steamer clams and one thousand ears of corn. Be kinda nice to do a clambake for your workers, you know those people who help you make money. Just like you was in Maine."

"When can you have that stuff here?"

"This afternoon. Deal?"

"Deal."

… - ...

Tuesday January 6

Salem

"Hey Ted. Thanks for arranging the Cobalt. I saw the garage packed with the tins. We need to find a place that can work with it. Do you know what happened to the old Mustang the elves were fixing up?"

"Harry, you sound like Hermione; give a guy a chance to answer. And please don't tell her I said that. I had nothing to do with it. Talk to Ed. He did some trades. He traded sand, a fire truck, a beat up mustang, lobsters, clams, ears of corn, and he came home with your metal powder and a food truck that's now painted like a giant chocolate chip cookie and converted to bake cookies for the lake side honky tonk!"

"Ooh, that sounds great. I'm going to get some cookies. I hope I see Ed."

… - …

Sunday January 18

In between water run weekends, Moody and Harry had spent several days working out the amount of magic to perform various charms, as well as classes of transfigurations. As Harry reviewed the list, he noted that many of the charms and transfigurations had wide ranges, depending on the object that was being charmed or transfigured. Examples included the summoning charm (Accio) which required 50 Julens for a simple item, up to 15,000 Julens for a water cloud. A simple conjuration such as creating enough water, (Aguamenti) to fill a cup took 100. The duplicating charm (Gemino) could duplicate a sheet of parchment for 100 Julens but it was all but impossible to duplicate one of the huge lake section blocks. The freezing charm was easy with a pail of water at 50 Julens, yet Harry doubted that one person with a wand could freeze his practice pond solid in July.

A pan could be scoured with 25, whereas cleaning the lake sections with the use of a staff required 1,000 Julens.

Transfigurations also had a wide range. Simple class transfigurations ranged from 10-50. Medium transfigurations fell into the 50-250 range, while larger ones like changing a tree into a wooden desk fell into the 250-500 Julens range. The lake section blocks took 4,000 Julens while the cornerstones took 8,000 each. Sealing blocks with a staff took 2,000 each.

Magical consumption for apparation was based on distance. Single apparition up to 50 miles took 2,000 Julens, while 50-100 miles took 4,000. Harry thought to himself that the Gringotts portkeys were far more efficient, as he guessed that a complete recharge of his gold watch would take 100,000 julens and could easily take him 10,000 miles and back.

Moody being Moody decided to measure the unforgiveables. Harry concluded that they took 10,000 each to cast. He didn't say it but Harry was again glad that the horcruxes had largely been found before he faced Riddle. Harry inwardly marveled that the wizard in his prime must have been monstrously powerful to hurl them of at an opponent one after another.

When they were done, Moody asked, "How much magic are you thinking of putting in these Firestick things that you're planning?"

Harry replied, "On the short side, I'd like a first through third year student to be able to easily get through a school year before the device would need a recharge. I'll have to talk with professor McGonagall again to get a better estimate of how many spells are involved. My hope is that if a kid goes to Hogwarts using one of the Firesticks, the other kids would just think that he or she had a regular wand and hopefully the low powered witch or wizard would get a better magical education, fit in with everyone else, and have made some friends."

Hermione's dad was there watching, reading about some of the electric car prototypes that were scheduled to come out in the future. He said, "The magazine I was reading about electric cars pointed out that the the longer that someone could go on a charge and the faster that they could be recharged, the more people would accept them."

Harry replied, "I think the Firesticks are about the same. I could recharge my Gringotts portkey watch pretty quickly, but doing so really tired me out. There are a lot of facets to think through. Moody, I really appreciate you helping me on this. Are you sure I can't pay you?"

"You already did, son, You already did. Call me anytime."

… - …

As they were having dinner that night, Dan announced, "I found a place that can work with cobalt. It's in that little town where we spoke with the council about opening a practice. They just found a young dentist and he'll open in a few months."

Harry replied, "Outstanding."

Dan continued, "They told me that cobalt had a melting point similar to iron, about 2,700F It can be extruded into wire rod fairly easily but isn't especially malleable. 1/8th inch would probably be your best option."

Harry replied, "Good. I'd like 1,000 pieces of 1/8th inch rod in 36 inch lengths. We can supply the cobalt if they want."

"When do you want it?"

"Yesterday."

By now, Dan was used to Harry's stock answer with respect to construction materials. He rephrased his question. "When do you need it?"

"Two weeks."

Having anticipated his response, Dan replied, "They'll take your cobalt in trade for the rods. They'll be ready in a week. Once you get them fully charged, you can measure the charge in various length pieces and work from there. He gave me this one as a sample"

"Thanks, Dan."

"My pleasure. Here's the address for the cobalt delivery. They open in the morning at 7."
… - …

Sunday February 8

Several weeks later, Harry had invited Professor McGonagall out for lunch to discuss power requirements for students who would use the Firesticks.

Minerva replied, "We estimate that a first or second year student would try casting a new spell 50 times in the course of learning it. Based on the Julens chart that you gave me, they would have an average magical requirement under 25. The three wanded classes would have no more than 50 spells in total for the year."

Harry did a bit of quick math and arrived at about 125,000 julens total for the first two years. He was surprised at the number and said so.

McGonagall commented, "You have to consider that a third of those are failed attempts. Surely you recall Mr. Finnegan setting his feather on fire several times, learning the levitation charm?"

Harry smiled at the recollection of the unfortunate lad's soot covered face and singed eyebrows.

McGonagall pointed out, "Young people are simultaneously trying to learn the theory, gain control of their magic and develop their magical core. A student coming in with one of your devices will, at least initially, have an advantage as the core development aspect is largely taken out of the equation. If, as I believe, one of your primary goals with this project is to better integrate lower-powered witches and wizards into magical society, their parents will do well to coach them to be average students."

Harry thought about her words for a moment. While he saw the results of Hermione's childhood insecurities coming off as being a swot in class, raising her hand wildly and the problems that it caused her, he personally never held any resentment towards the other students who continually were successful. That said, he decided to say nothing and nodded.

She added, "May I see one of the devices?"

"Here's the prototype. It doesn't have any limiters."

Inwardly she was shocked. It looked like any other wand. Somehow she had the mental impression that Harry's devices would look like Star Trek phasors, or something that she saw on television when on holiday. She commented, "It's just a bit heavier than an ordinary wand. Can you make them with enough battery to last a year?"

Harry replied, "My adventures aside, I expect that this one would easily take a student from first through second year without charging, if absolutely necessary. We will recommend that their parents bring it in every summer for an inspection and recharge service. At the end of third year, the student would get a different one which would see them through their OWLs. After that, they could either keep that one, or trade it in on an adult model. If Amelia asks for them, I could also make an Auror model."

"What if the Board of School Governors or the Wizarding Examination Board decides to ban the devices from school, or use in the exams?"

"Professor, as you pointed out, the Power Assist Device resembles an ordinary wand. The students would have the option of ignoring the ban, attending a more progressive school, or have their parents systematically replace the objecting agency. As you pointed out, hiding in plain sight would be the very best option. I believe the American President phrased it, Don't ask, don't tell."

He thought for a moment and added, "Besides, the statistics point to the reality that a disproportionate percentage of the so-called squibs, or low magical children are born to the set of people whom historically, are most likely to be on the Board."

She admitted, "Aye, though there was a shift in the board members in the last few years."

Harry pointed out, "I'm not planning on taking out full page adverts in the Daily Prophet proclaiming, SQUIB WANDS FOR SALE. Rather, I intend to open a shop in Hogsmeade that offers enchanted devices, on referral."

"Why Hogsmeade?"

"Lots of reasons. It's not Diagon. It's a bit farther away from the ministry and the Percy Weasley types. It would only be open occasionally and it's closer to the castle. Potter Waterworks needs a storefront. Having a sideline or two wouldn't be a bother."

She replied, "You might be busier than you think."

"Perhaps. What remains to be seen is whether the people with the lowest third of Raw Magical Power (RMP) will decide to get a Power Assist Device (PAD) or not, and whether those who have been shunted out of British Magical Society as a child will have any interest in interacting with those who snubbed them. Those people doubtless were the butt of every joke and prank for decades. I saw it firs thand with Neville Longbottom, because his Witch of a Gran was unwilling to get him a properly fitting wand. I believe that he did far better in his sixth year with one that I made for him than with his dad's old one."

She admitted, "I see your point. He did." She asked, "How much do you plan on selling these for?"

He replied, "I'm of several minds on that. One idea that I've had is to loan them out to school kids; at least for a while. The wands might have a higher failure rate than what I've envisioned. I'd want to replace any that failed. I might accept trades for teens who want to switch to the adult models: I'll have to talk with my friend Ed. He was able to procure the rare core material for me; I'm not certain what it's actually worth yet."

"I understand. Thank you for doing this."

"It's what good enchanters do, solve problems."

She thought, No, it's what the legendary enchanters do, actually help people by changing lives.

… - …

Tuesday February 10

After he'd completed his class homework for the night, Harry wrote on his whiteboard.

School model Years 1-3 100 Julens max spell 120,000 Julens storage (2 rods)

School model Years 4-5 250 Julens max spell 120,000 Julens storage (2 rods)

Adult model 5,000 Julens max spell 240,000 Julens storage (4 rods)

Auror model No limits 240,000 Julens storage (4 rods)

… - ...

Tuesday February 10

For several weeks, Harry and Hermione thought through and debated the option of allowing the user to recharge their wand.

Hermione pointed out, "One of the nice features of our watches is the fast charge option." She paused for a moment, as they both recalled the first time that it was used. She asked, "Were you going to have something similar with the wands?"

Harry corrected, "Firesticks. To your question, I'm undecided if it would be a good idea, or quite a bad idea. If a low magical second year, or one of their mates tried to do a 100,000 Julen recharge on an empty student wand, they'd probably end up in a coma from magical exhaustion. We'd be blamed."

She pointed out, "You mentioned loaning them out, which by the way is worth a lifetime of hugs, kisses and more. That said, either we recover our costs somehow, or it's going to become a bother; especially as crafting a handful of them turns into dozens, which turns into thousands.

"Say you charge 25G for a refill like Katie suggested, or a trade, if Ed is in charge of refills or exchanges. Since they're all oak and unicorn tail hair, the process is pretty straightforward. He takes a charged one out of one basket and places the drained one in another basket, depending on if it were the beginner model, or one of the others. At the end of the day, he drops them off to recharge."

Harry said, "That's an idea. To your original question, I decided to leave the fast recharge feature out, so we have a bit more control on the Firesticks on a long-term basis."

She replied, "That makes sense. You should also keep a record of who you give one to, so when they come back for a recharge, you can verify that they're the right person."

… - ...

As Harry tinkered with, or as he told Hermione, refined his rune set for the PAD, he concluded that he only needed two parameters carved into the wand;

The amount of power (Julens) required to activate the device.

The maximum size (Julens) spell that could be generated.

Originally, he was tempted to set the activation device floor fairly low (2 or 3 Julens) thinking that he wanted to make it easy for a new first year to operate. At the same time, he didn't want to hear from some Percy type that he was making wands for Muggles. He thought of Emma and her dad, Ben and wondered if either could cast a simple spell with a regular wand.

On the maximum spell side, he didn't want to create a device that could cast a dozen unforgivables in a row either. He decided to check with Mandy and ask if there were actual definitions of a Nonmagical, Squib, Low-Powered Magical and an Average witch or wizard.

… - …

Friday February 13

Friday after class, Harry met with Mandy and Daryl. When he left, he brought notes home with him. Mandy was especially interested in his idea, as there was some sort of sub school within Salem, specifically for the low magicals. Harry promised to keep her informed.

Non Magical 1-5 They could perform accidental magic with a maximum Julens of 5

Low Magical 6–30 They could cast a spell with a max Julens rating of 10-250

Average 31–70 They could cast a spell with a max Julens rating up to 10,000

After he left, Mandy asked, "What do you think?"

Daryl observed, "Amplification wands have been tried before; generally with no benefit for the true low powered witch or wizard. I've never heard of of a Power Assist Device, let alone with a business plan of essentially giving them away. Hopefully the same advisor who helped him with his water project will step in and help him capture the value in this case."

Mandy disagreed. "I think a low, or zero cost of acquisition is brilliant. The printer companies are starting to do it with those new ink jet printers for PCs. They make their money on the ink, he could make his on the refills."

"If he can make them work and steer clear of the ICW types, power to him."

"As for the money, I'd like to think if we had a hundred million in the bank, or whatever he's accumulated with his lakes, and had the same idea, that we'd look at it as a way of helping people."

Daryl replied, "I understand your point. I simply don't know if those devices cost him $5 and an hour of his time or $5,000 and a week of his time. Charging them up has to be taxing."

… - ...

Saturday February 28

Harry called Daryl's nephew, Devlin Whitehorn, the broomstick maker one morning. "Devlin, this is Harry Potter. How are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Fine, thanks. I have a question, if you have a few minutes to talk?"

"Go ahead."

"How do you copy protect your rune sets?"

"Uncle Daryl uses Casin glue that he makes in his wands. I expect that he had you make a batch or two."

"Exactly."

"Since there's no patent protection in the Wizarding World, I use a better glue that won't come apart. Here's where you can get it..."

He continued, "That way if someone decides to resplit one of my broomsticks, they'd never get a clean enough break to be able to read the runes. Are you thinking of doing something similar?"

"Yes. That would solve my problem. On a different subject, can I order another dozen broomsticks? The same specs and modifications as last time would be perfect."

"Sure. When do you want them?"

"At your convenience. Thanks."

… - …

Harry was watching Con Air on VHS with Hermione when he mentioned, "One of the enchanting books that I read referenced Ley Lines, They're openings, if you would, that leak magical energy from deep in the Earth. I haven't been able to find a book that is specific about where the Ley Lines might intersect."

Hermione pointed out, "It's hardly a new concept; in fact, it's ancient. That said, it makes sense that the intersecting vortexes would be where magical developments exist."

Harry muttered, "It couldn't be that simple. Stonehenge and Hogwarts."

Hermione asked, "What do you need one for?"

"I'm thinking of finding a passive way to keep hundreds of elves charged and fed. Also I'm hoping to charge the cobalt rods for the Firesticks without having to do each one by hand."

"I still think that's a silly name, but I get your meaning. Put them in the Chamber of Secrets for a week and go back and get them."

"Actually that makes so much sense. A lot of those elves were at the castle, doing their daily work and were probably magically fed via indirect contact with the Ley Lines. I was thinking of making the disks about the size of a penny."

"Dad told me that cobalt isn't very malleable. Maybe you should use the same shapes that you were planning on using for your Firesticks. If you're planning on giving them to the elves, be especially careful not to overcharge them. You don't want to accidentally burn anyone."

… - …

Saturday March 14

Ed and Dobby insisted on picking up the cobalt rods from the metal shop. Jason, the owner was there. He said, "It was a pleasure doing business with you two; Dr. Granger too."

Dobby asked, "What diameters can you make? What lengths?"

Jason replied, "As long as you want; it's an extrusion process. As for diameter, 1/16th up to two inch wouldn't be a problem. Your rods are on the loading dock, packed in boxes of 100 pieces. Just sign here."

"Thanks. Good to know," replied Ed, as he signed the form. A moment later, they were gone.

… - …

Shortly after, Harry was in the Chamber of Secrets. Several years of enchanting had helped him broaden his senses. He could feel the power of the Ley Lines. He was close, but not at the vortex. Then it hit him. "Speak to me, oh Slytherin." He apparated just inside the open mouth. Fifty paces later, he knew that he was at the vortex.

Heeding Hermione's advice, he used the portkey to get to the usual meeting place in the Chamber and called, "Dobby. Please bring one of the packages of 100 rods here."

A minute later, Little D was there with one of the cardboard boxes. Harry said, "Thank you, Dobby. Please tell Hermione that I'll be home in ten minutes."

A moment later he was at M-Customs.

He returned the next day. After opening the box, he could see the magic sparkling in the rods. His senses told him that they were fully charged.

… - ...

A/Ns

As we were drafting the story, it struck me that there must be a bottom 25% of the magical population. The next chapter illustrates their lot in life. Her tale made four possible references to low mage/squibs. There was the Weasley cousin, who trained to become an Accountant. There was Argus Filch, who, by any standard, led a miserable existence. Sally Anne Perks very possibly was a witch whose magical core failed to grow and she was (apparently) pulled out of Hogwarts. Finally, most people thought that Neville was, if not a complete squib, a low mage. In his case, he was most likely a wizard of low-average strength, who was initially forced to use a horribly mismatched wand.

Her implication was that having magic was, for the most part, an either/or situation; either you had it and if you studied in school, you would be a full fledged wizard/witch. Obviously, there were a few exceptions, such as Dumbledore, Merlin and Riddle. Katie's theory is that it's a continuum, with the middle 50-60 percent all able to function like normal witches or wizards. They are the proverbial middle class of magicals.

My first attempt at writing a Low Mage OC was Emma's father, Ben Olifson, who I originally featured in my Dan Granger tale. There will be several in this story.

While they won't get much more screen time, we are to assume that the Middle East lake/flyer crews are functioning normally.

If you haven't read Tom's The Big Lie tale, please give it a look. It's a hoot. (Found in my favorites) Also, if I may, TomHRichardson's Harry's Letter From Hermione's Dad is an excellent story.

Hannah thanks you for the kind notes. She received an entire bag of treats and is currently snoozing in the sunshine. Thank you for reading.

… - …