Chapter Text
Lord Nott comes back in exactly nine days and goes directly to his workstation, where he’s painting an experimental wand with lacquer. “My wand?”
“Sure. I’ve got it up front. Just give me a couple minutes to finish this first.”
The man grunts, probably in annoyance, and goes to the front counter to wait impatiently.
Harry finishes painting the wand and uses a drying spell, then sets it down for later. He goes up to the front counter and bends down to look for the wand. Aha! He fishes it out and straightens up and hands it to Lord Nott. “There you go.”
The man looks it over, noting the soft glow of a perfect match, eyes catching on the crescent moons on the grip and the two chimeras circling the base of the wand part. They’re roughly done, but apparently, he deems it satisfactory, because he nods. “Acceptable. Have a good day, Potter-Black.”
“You as well, Nott.”
The man takes his leave with a rapid stride.
~
A few days later, Theodore Nott lets himself into the shop and looks around curiously.
“Can I help you?”
Theodore saunters over to his workstation before answering. “Father insists I get a custom wand. An expensive wand. He absolutely adores how smoothly his new wand works for him. Not that his old wand is in any way lacking.”
“Huh. He told me his was damaged.”
“Yeah, he lied. I don’t know where he heard about your shop, but it must’ve been good things to convince him to come here,” Theodore tells him.
Harry gives him a skeptical look. “Do you even want a wand?”
“Not really. I have a perfectly good wand that I’m rather attached to and it’s in excellent shape,” he admits. “But Father insists.”
“Alright. Do you want to try the premade wands?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Let me measure you and I’ll tell you what size to look for. They’re labeled by size,” Harry explains.
Theodore allows that without protest, though he clearly does not see the point.
“You’ll want a 13E. 12 ½ inches with an extra wide grip.” Harry jots down the measurements in case he needs to make Theodore a wand. “They’re on this wall. Just make sure to close the gate so the wards keep any accidents from affecting the rest of the shop.”
“Alright.” Theodore meanders over to the premade wands and starts trying wands. There are some loud noises interspersed with quieter effects. After a while he meanders back. “Nothing worked for me.”
Harry shrugs. “It happens. You okay with the normal ingredients or do you want to try the restricted ones as well?”
“Why are they restricted?”
“Depends. Some of them are dead expensive. Others are distinctly drawn to the dark arts. Three out of four ingredients in your father’s wand were from the restricted stuff, all drawn to the dark arts.”
“Ah. Yes, he does enjoy his dark arts. I suppose I should at least try the restricted section or he’ll be disappointed,” Theodore decides.
“We’ll start with those, then,” Harry agrees.
It takes him a while to get all the ingredients out for trying.
Once he has the cores and woods laid out on their respective counters in alphabetical order, he gestures at the vials of Abominable Snowman hair. “Start here. Hold your hand over it and press a bit of magic into each as you go. You’ll know if you get a match.”
Theodore gets a match on one of the Centaur hairs. “This one.”
Harry picks it up and squints at it. Ah, a tail hair. He sets it aside. “Well, you definitely are not your father. Centaur hair only picks the pure of heart. Tail hair, though, so probably not a seer. Might be good at divination, though.”
Centaur head or tail hair.
Obtaining this core is normally impossible, because centaurs dislike humans and tend to get homicidal if one attempts to gather shed hairs without permission. However, in the recent wake of Riddle’s defeat, Hagrid was able to gain permission to gather hairs caught in bushes and trees from the Forbidden Forest herd in exchange for a shipment of warm, beautiful blankets and hoof picks and hoof trimmers and nice brushes of the sort for horses and also for hair. While they do not care for other compensation and only agreed to the trade reluctantly, for they do have their own things to take care of these matters and they prefer to not deal with the products of human society, they insist that the cost of such cores should be immense. In addition, the permission will only last for a period of 20 years and only extends to selling directly to me, since I personally defeated Riddle. They will receive a shipment of goods every year this agreement is in place and the cost of it falls on me, raising the price even further.
Needless to say, I am willing to pay the price and as such, have paid Hogwarts and Hagrid to gather quite a stock of these. Enough so that I am willing to bet my supply will outlast me, possibly for centuries. Hermione had to help me come up with the following spell to tell centaur hair from Thestral and Unicorn hairs. Head hairs are discernable from tail hairs because head hairs are not as coarse. I am very careful with this supply and it is carefully locked away under nasty spells as a defense against possible thieves.
The centaurs are quite certain that this core will only work for the pure of heart and seers and will violently reject being used by dark wixen. I suspect they may also work with the curmudgeonly, who dislike humanity in general, as long as they aren’t dark wixen. Supposedly the tail and head hairs will work equally well for the pure of heart, but the head hairs will work better for seers.
“I am good at Divination,” Theodore admits, looking pleased.
“No need to try the rest of these,” Harry tells him, indicating the rest of the centaur hairs. “They’re all centaur hair.”
“How’d you get them to agree to that, by the way?” Theodore asks curiously.
“A combination of Hagrid’s friendship with them, my defeating the dark lord and a lot of blankets and brushes and hoof picks.” Harry shrugs. “It’s a limited time offer, but I’m taking advantage of it while I can.”
“Huh. Oh, this one.” Theodore points at the current vial of coral he’s trying.
“Interesting. Your wand might end up being legitimately more expensive than your father’s.”
Coral.
While not the strongest of cores, coral has multiple specialties that it is good in. Defensive spells, healing spells and water magics. It chooses wise owners who are deeply connected to nature and its rhythms. It is said to bring prosperity, long life and happiness to its owners. While the first two are questionable, it is true that many owners of coral wands are quite happy in their lives.
The worldwide decline of coral reefs and the demand for use in jewelry have caused the price of this core to skyrocket to shocking amounts. Wand worthy coral is even rarer. I keep a couple on hand just in case, but largely regard it as a waste of money. Restricted supply.
[In a different handwriting.]
Unlike Mrs. Taditsy, I don’t regard it as a waste, so I have several in my shop, though kept in the back, safely under curses and hexes, for tricky customers only.
“Legitimately? Did you upcharge him just so he could say his was the most expensive wand made in this shop?” Theodore looks interested.
Harry smiles sheepishly. “Guilty.”
“I won’t tell. I’d rather mine be less expensive, though. He won’t like it if mine’s more expensive than his.”
“Eh, well, we’ll see. Keep going.”
Theodore does not get any more exotic core matches or woods matches either.
Harry starts putting everything but the two vials Theodore matched with back in the back while Theodore starts trying the regular cores.
There’s a yelp and then Theodore says in mild irritation, “You could’ve warned me.”
“But people’s reactions are so funny!” Harry calls back.
“Prat.”
“Rude!”
He’s just about finished putting stuff away when Theodore tells him, “I got another match.”
Harry comes over to look. “Thunderbird feather? Bloody hell, you’re powerful too. And probably good at transfiguration. That one is hard to master, though, so watch out for that. Make friends with it, but be firm. They also cast curses on their own if there’s supernatural danger nearby.”
Thunderbird tailfeather.
These cores make for extremely powerful but unfortunately hard to master wands. They are able to sense danger and are known for preemptively casting curses in the presence of supernatural dangers. They are particularly good with transfiguration. One must be willing to make friends with them as well as being firm in order to master these wands.
“Good thing I didn’t have this wand with You Know Who around,” Theodore comments.
“Yeah, that would’ve been bad. My wand cast on its own and it took out a wand he was using at the time. Probably saved my life. Probably would’ve gotten you killed, though.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Theodore agrees. “Do you also have a thunderbird core?”
“Nah. Phoenix feather. Has its own opinions on spells too.”
“Is that why you had so much trouble in first year?”
“Definitely part of it,” he admits.
Theodore doesn’t get any more core matches, which is good, because he’d have had to go to Mrs. Taditsy to ask how to deal with that if he had. He moves onto the woods and gets an immediate match. Apple.
Apple.
Apple is a wood primarily of high aims and morals. It mixes poorly with the dark arts, though it is generally happy enough to perform light and grey spells. Applewood wands refuse to be misused, spells fizzling out or exploding in the caster’s face if one persists. Truly malicious spells cannot be cast with an applewood wand. Never let it be said that they are weak wands, however. They are quite powerful.
Owners of applewood wands tend to live long lives, well loved. They often have a great deal of personal charm in some manner and many of them are able to speak to at least one species of beings in their own tongues.
Harry’s eyebrows raise. “I’ve got some advice for you. If you ever need to cast a dark arts spell, particularly a malicious one, use your other wand. Between the centaur hair and the apple, you definitely won’t like the consequences if you try with this one. It should be fine with grey magics, though. On the other hand, your wand believes you’ll be well loved and long lived.”
“Huh. Okay.”
“Also, you’re probably charming and might be able to speak the languages of at least one of the various beings,” Harry adds.
“I feel acknowledged for some reason,” Theodore replies.
Harry laughs. “Alright. Keep going to see if you get another match.”
Theodore obeys and does get another match a while later. Pear.
Pearwood.
Pear produces wands with splendid magical prowess. It is drawn to the warm-hearted, the generous and the wise. There has never been a single known instance of a pearwood wand being in the hands of a dark wixen. They also resist damage and dulling, appearing new even after years of hard use. They are particularly good with defensive spells, though no slouch at other spells.
“What is that look for?” Theodore asks plaintively.
“Well, I guess the warm-hearted fits with the well-loved bit,” Harry admits. Theodore has never seemed all that warm to him, but it’s not like he’s familiar with the former Slytherin. “Powerful, generous, wise and definitely not dark.”
“Wandlore is very invasive,” Theodore grumbles and starts trying the other woods. Again, there are no other matches. Then again, a tri-core, dual-wood wand is quite complicated enough.
Tri core wands.
Tri core wands are particularly tricky. One must soak the woods in the potion for dual cores listed below for three days, then use the second of the below potions to soak them in for another two days.
Then they must be painted inside and out with the second of the dual core potions (third potion listed below) as well as the cores dipped in it. Coverage must be thorough! Then the fourth of the below potions must also be used to paint the wood inside and out and the cores dipped in it as well. Again, coverage must be thorough! Make sure you do not miss the base piece or you will have troubles. Like the base piece exploding. Very hard on hands, I must say.
Do not mix up any of the steps or you will have to start over, which is a terrible waste.
Be sure to use the below glue recipe and not the one for single or dual cores. I do not know why they have to be different, I just know this one works for tri cores and the other two do not.
“Your wand will take eleven days to put together,” Harry tells Theodore.
“Eleven? Whyever for?”
“First, I have to soak the woods in a potion for dual woods so they don’t reject each other. That takes six days. Then I have to soak them in two further potions so the tri-cores can function. Which takes another five days,” Harry informs him.
Dual wood wands.
Dual wand woods are rare, but not unheard of. I have made a fair number in my time. The woods must be, if not complimentary, at least not violently opposed to each other. Opposed woods will work for a time, but have a tendency to disintegrate at the most inconvenient time possible. I once had to make an entirely new wand for a violently angry customer who very nearly got killed when his wand decomposed at an importunate moment. Ash and Elder are a very poor match, for instance. With Ash being very loyal and Elder only being loyal to the one of greatest power.
Most woods will do well enough together, but consider carefully before using them together. If you judge that the chosen woods will not do well together, gently guide the customer to replace one of the woods with another match. Even if it isn’t quite as good of a match for the wixen, it will ensure that the wand continues to function well for years to come.
Dual woods must be soaked in the below potion for six days before use. After that, they must be joined with the spell Fuse detailed below. This will join the two pieces without seams that could be used as a weak point to target.
Dual woods may used in the following manners: The woods may make up opposite halves of the wand, either as straight pieces or as curving pieces that slot together. (The latter is much trickier.) One wood may be used as a handle while the other serves as the rest of the wand. One wood may be used as the tip, while the other serves as a handle and the rest of the wand.
“Sounds complicated.”
“Very. If I mix up the steps, I have to start all over again. It’s not something to be rushed. Do you want a holster to protect it?”
Dual woods with tri-cores.
Together, dual woods and tri cores are not much more complicated than they are apart. Simply use the treatment for the dual woods on the woods first before applying the treatment for tri cores. Finalize everything with the Fuse spell on the woods.
Be careful that you do not touch the cores with the Fuse spell, as that will have unpredictable effects, from fizzling to turning into a bubbling, boiling mess that destroys the wand to exploding violently. Practice a lot before you use it when working with the rarer ingredients, for some of those are too picky and expensive to waste time replacing.
In addition, it is good practice to add the following coating to the finished product to prevent moisture damage and reduce scratches. The coating may be used on any wand, but it is more or less required to protect such complicated wands. The coating recipe may also be found in the coatings section.
“I suppose I better. I’ll get one for my other wand too.”
“Alright. You need a GE sized one for this wand. Is your other wand the same size?”
Theodore pulls it out and shows him. “It’s twelve inches.”
“Medium grip. You’ll need a FC sized one for that one,” Harry tells him.
“GE and FC. Got it.”
“They all come with a basic ‘intentional release’ charm so the wand can’t just fall out. There’s also a ‘disillusionment’, an ‘ownership only’ and a ‘summon’ charm that summons your wand if you drop it or are disarmed available in any combination. Leather ranges from cowhide to dragon leather. Prices range from 5 to 16 galleons. They’re all tagged with what charms they have on them and which leather.”
“Got it.”
Harry puts the chosen woods and cores in his work area and tags them while Theodore looks at holsters. Then he goes up front to wait. Theodore comes back after a couple more minutes with two Chupacabra holsters with all four charms.
He adds up the prices for the cores, woods and holsters. 40 for the coral, 30 for the centaur hair, 14 for the thunderbird feather, 4 for the pearwood and 6 for the applewood plus 8 for basic labor with another 30 for the holsters. “That’ll be 132 galleons. And yes, that’s significantly more expensive than your father’s without being up priced. I will, of course, personalize it if you like.”
Theo winces. “How much of that is for the holsters? And yes, Father loves the detailing so I’d best get that too. I’d like a snake.”
“A snake? Might take a couple extra days to do a snake properly. 30 galleons of that is the holsters. 15 for each. I can make it Slytherin green if you like,” he offers.
“Really? I’d like that. Can you make the snake silver?”
“Sure. How much more is my order than my Father’s?”
Harry takes a moment to think. “Thirty eight galleons, pretty sure.”
“Fuck.”
“I can make out a fake receipt for less, have you sign it and give it to you instead of keeping it for my records. You need to sign the real receipt to make it legal and I keep that,” Harry suggests.
Theodore looks relieved. “Please.”
“How much less do you want it to be?”
“Oh. Er… Ten galleons should do it.”
Harry adds up the order minus the coral and prints it out and gives it to Theodore before adding up and printing the real receipt.”
Theodore signs both and tucks the first one in a pocket with his wand. “So, I come back in elev- er, thirteen days?”
“Yeah, that should be good,” Harry agrees.