Now that Harry had hidden away his sticks in his cupboard, he needed to find a way to get his tools to the cupboard as well. What was the point of having the sticks in his cupboard if he had no way to whittle them? Harry had angered Aunt Petunia yesterday and even after he made lemonade for hours, she was surely still angry. She usually had him do a lot more chores as punishment so he was probably going to be extra busy today. Perhaps another day would be best to smuggle them. Especially since he doesn't know exactly what Aunt Petunia will have him do. Fearful of getting caught, Harry decided to leave his tools for now. Harry didn't want to get in trouble two days in a row. Who knows how the Dursleys would react to that?

Harry was sitting in his cupboard waiting for Aunt Petunia to get him so he could help cook breakfast. He heard the sound of his aunt going down the stairs. He waited, but nothing happened. He kept waiting and then he heard the thundering of his uncle and cousin. Surely, his aunt would open the door now?

…Harry smelled the food through his door and felt his stomach cramp up at the thought of food. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. He thought that he remembered getting a drink of water yesterday during breakfast, but he didn't think he ate anything. Frowning, Harry waited…and waited.

There were the sounds of plates clattering and then silence. Harry didn't know how long he waited in his cupboard before the door was yanked open. Harry thought it might have been two hours past his normal wake-up time.

Aunt Petunia was standing in the doorway with a broom in her hands. Harry winced at the sight of it, but she just said, "Get up. You're going to clean out the attic."

She thrust the broom into his hands and then walked up the stairs expecting him to follow. They walked up to the second floor and Harry watched as she pulled the attic stairs down. After Harry went up the stairs and entered the attic, the stairs slammed shut firmly behind him. Harry sighed.

Cleaning the attic was only for days that Aunt Petunia wanted him to fail. The attic was far too large a task for Harry to complete in a week let alone a day. There were boxes piled higher than Harry and covered with such a thick layer of dirt that Harry was sure that he could use it as a blanket. The only one who had ever gone into the attic was Harry, or at least as far back as Harry could remember. The boxes were full of junk. There were toys from Dudley, paperwork from Uncle Vernon's work, and house care magazines from Aunt Petunia. He grabbed a rag from the corner of the room, which he had left there the last time that he was there. He wrapped it around the end of the broom and then swung it through the air to get rid of the latest spider webs.

After that, Harry would move around the boxes and 'sort' them. Most of the time he just moved them from one side of the attic to the other side. The Dursleys never noticed. Harry was moving one box when one of them caught his eye. He was sure that he had moved it a dozen times, but this time was different. This time he cared that the box was labeled 'Woodwork'. It was smaller than nearly every other box there. It was also near Dudley's other discarded toys so Harry thought it might be his. Harry went over and opened it. Perhaps this was the end of the mystery and he would find his answers here.

Harry wiped the top of the box as much as he could. He then looked around for something to cut open the box. To his left, he found a pair of scissors on top of a box. He grabbed them and used them to cut open the box. Immediately, he saw books. The books were all about woodworking. Harry grabbed each one and read the titles. There were books for whittling, carving, and something called relief carving. All of the books were in pristine shape and looked untouched. More evidence that it was a hobby that Dudley heard about but didn't care enough to pursue. He opened the book that was the closest to the top. On the inside of the cover, there was a note scribbled on it. The note was written in neat handwriting and read:

To Dudley,

You showed such a strong interest in whittling so I hope you continue. See you next year, I hope to see how much your whittling has improved.

Counselor Ronald

Harry pulled the note and thought about the name 'Counselor Ronald'. It was familiar to Harry. He then remembered where he had heard about it. Just last year, Dudley went to a camp that was all about the outdoors. It had taught them things like setting up tents, starting fires, and most importantly whittling. Dudley went with Piers and had spent weeks bragging about it and rubbing it in Harry's face. The camp had given the kids soap to whittle with instead of wood so Harry hadn't pieced it together. Dudley had shoved his turtle made from soap in Harry's face and made fun of him for not being able to go. Dudley's turtle was surprisingly good, but within two months, Dudley had lost interest in it.

Harry flipped through the books and read the parts that he thought would be useful. With the stairs closed Harry would be able to hear Aunt Petunia coming. Cleaning the attic was one of Harry's favorite punishments. He got a day away from his relatives and out of the sun. The only part that was truly troubling was that Harry would probably not get anything to eat again. Keeping his mind off his hunger, Harry read the books. One book he put aside because it kept talking about using a chisel, which he didn't have. Another book talks about relief carving. It looked incredibly cool and was about carving scenes into a flat piece of wood, but Harry didn't have one of those either. The third book was similar to the book that Harry had read in the library. It was different because it was meant for smaller kids. The first chapter was focused on safety and one of the first lessons was that a dull knife is a dangerous knife. Harry wished that he had read this book before the other one. His fingers definitely would have thanked him.

The books were interesting and helpful, but Harry was tired of reading. He had read multiple books about whittling and now he just wanted to do it. Harry stood up and dragged one box from the other side of the room. He went back and did it again. It was important for Aunt Petunia to hear that he was moving things around. He sat back down and looked at the different cuts that they did and why they did them.

Harry was about to repeat the process of moving boxes when he heard the stairs getting pulled down. He moved to the top of the stairs and saw Aunt Petunia. She looked at his messy state pleased.

"You have wasted enough time in the attic. Go outside and cut roses for dinner. I want a nice bouquet for the guest room and the dining room. Marge is coming this weekend and if the room doesn't smell like roses then she'll complain."

Harry was super conflicted at the news. He hated Aunt Marge, but now he had the opportunity to smuggle his tools. If he was to cut roses then he would need to grab the shears from the shed. While he is there, he can grab them and drop them off in his cupboard on the way to the guest room. Harry took the stairs down and then out the yard. In the shed, he grabbed the shears. He cut the roses and when he went back to the shed to return the shears, he grabbed his two knives and tucked them into his waistband. Harry hoped that they wouldn't cut him. With a handful of flowers, Harry went to the dining room. He put half the flowers there and then he went to the hall. He opened the door to his cupboard and put the knives under his mattress. Walking upstairs quickly, Harry hoped that Aunt Petunia hadn't heard that.

Putting the last of the flowers into a vase for Aunt Marge, Harry relaxed. He had done it. Harry went to the kitchen to see if Aunt Petunia needed anything else. As soon as he entered the kitchen, Aunt Petunia said, "Go to your cupboard. I don't need you to do anything else today."

Hungry but pleased, Harry went to his cupboard. Harry was thinking about all of the things that he could whittle now. Since the Dursleys were still awake, Harry could turn on his lightbulb. Harry pulled out one of his sticks. He wanted to be able to make a wand with leaves on the handle, but that was probably too complicated. He decided to start with the wand that had a spiral on it and nothing else. This stick smelled of winter. Harry was excited to see what it would become.

The spiral and the smell reminded Harry of winter. Harry smiled at the thought. Bringing the knife to the stick, Harry tried to think of what would be the best approach. The spirals would look cooler if Harry cut the area around it, but it would be far easier to cut into the wand to make the spirals. Looking at the stick Harry thought that he would decide after he peeled off all the bark. He held the stick in his left hand and with the knife in the other, he cut between the bark and the rest of the stick. The bark came off in strips and he was surprised by how soft the wood was under the bark. The bark peeled off easily and it reminded Harry of a banana. At first, the shape was awkward, but the more that he cut at it, the smoother it became.

While whittling, Harry was reminded of a class project. Everyone in class was given a square and they were told to cut off just the corners. After cutting off each of the four corners, they were told to cut the new corners off. It went on and on until the shape almost looked like a circle. Whittling was a lot like that.

Once the stick was smooth, Harry wanted to try to cut the spiral into the wood. He used the edge of the knife to cut light marks which indicated the location of the spiral. He struggled to keep the space even between the spirals. It was now marked from tip to handle. Harry grabbed the larger knife and used the knife to cut upwards and then switched the directions and cut downwards. He was trying to cut a V-cut. Harry switched back and forth creating the V-cut along his marked lines. When he did the first few cuts, Harry was nervous. It looked like a mess. Harry kept going anyway. With each cut, he became more and more comfortable.

Halfway through, Harry thought that it almost reminded him of a ribbon. But then he put the knife down. His eyes were stinging with how intent he was focused on whittling. Blinking rapidly, Harry tried to add more moisture to his eyes. Since Harry carved into the wood to make spirals, it would likely be slightly more fragile at the points of the spiral. If the stick was thicker then it would be more sturdy but unfortunately, the sticks from the trees in front of the library weren't very thick.

Harry hid his tools under the right side of his small mattress so he wouldn't get stabbed. He looked at the shavings and sighed. He scooped them up and hid them in his pillow cover. Harry had stolen the pillow cover many years ago and it was paying him back now. He made sure to hide the shavings on the bottom of his pillow so he wouldn't breathe them in or feel them when he lay down.

Harry woke up to Aunt Petunia calling him for breakfast. But his first thought was not to cook toast but instead, it was whittling. Harry was thinking about how we would whittle the other sticks. Even after breakfast as he was sent to vacuum the house, Harry was thinking about how to whittle the fox and his legs. Then he was sent to gather all of the dirty laundry throughout the house and Harry was now thinking about his limitations. He didn't have enough sticks and to whittle bigger things, he would need more blocks of wood like the ones that came in the whittling kit. And that was another problem, Harry had left the wooden blocks, the strop, and the polish in the shed. He would eventually need to find a way to smuggle those inside as well.

Since Harry was busy thinking about what to do, the day flew by without trouble. At dinner, Harry even received a small dinner for his efforts. Harry was so pleased by the sight that he felt tempted to hug Aunt Petunia, but he knew that it wouldn't go well. Sitting in his cupboard with a half-filled belly, Harry looked at his project. The Dursleys were still watching the television so he could work in peace. He knew what he was doing so he went straight to it. He cut up and then down all along the guidelines. While whittling, Harry couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to have magic. Harry thought about how one book had wizards that could summon water with his magic. He thought that it would be nice to have access to water whenever he wanted. Smiling at how his wand looked, Harry wished his wand could also give him water.

Harry looked at the finished product. He was pleased. The wood was a bit rough looking in some places, but the notches were even and it looked good to him. He wasn't certain at the beginning if he was going to continue the spirals down, but he was glad that he chose to. It was a bit odd to hold since the wand didn't have a handle, but it looked better. The wand was long enough that Harry could hold the wand with two hands next to each other and still have a bit of the wand stick out.

Now that it was done, Harry wished more than ever that it was real and it could give him water. As if in response to his thoughts, Harry felt water on his lap. Startled, he dropped the wand and touched the spot. It was truly wet! Where did the water come from!? Harry reached to touch the roof to see if there was a leak, but feeling none he reached down. There was no water coming from either the ceiling or the floor!

Harry looked at the wand and paused. Could it be? Could the wand be the source of the water? Grabbing the wand, Harry thought about water. Once again, Harry could feel water falling onto his lap. Harry brought the tip of the wand to his face and sure enough there was water. The wand was giving him water!

Harry held the tip above his face and let the water trickle into his mouth. The water was room temperature but was incredibly refreshing. After his drink of water, Harry put the wand down and tried to figure out how the wand was magic. It probably wasn't the tree because it didn't do anything until he whittled it. Wait! Harry had an idea. Maybe the whittling tools were magic! The tools made the stick magical! Harry once again thought about how excited he felt when he found the tools. Maybe the tools had called on him so he could use their magic!

Harry wondered what other magic the wand could do and what other items the whittling tools could make magic. As he was falling asleep Harry thought that this was an incredibly good day. He had food, unlimited water, and a magical artifact.