"Well at least I made sure the smithy was fully stocked with materials." Sirius mused to himself as he watched Harry working to shape a piece of iron into the shape of a knife. The repetitive strikes of the hammer rang throughout the smithy and the hot metal slowly took on a vaguely knife-like shape.
"Darn it!" Harry exclaimed and Sirius started for a moment thinking his Godson had hurt himself. "I messed it up!" Harry complained as he used the metal tongs to hold up the now misshapen iron that had been much more knife-shaped a couple hammer strikes ago.
"Can you fix it?" Sirius asked curiously.
"I think so." Harry replied as he looked over his first attempt and then put it back into the flames of the forge. Sirius had to admit he was rather impressed by his Godson's passion for Enchanting. Most eleven, soon-to-be twelve, year olds often gave up on a new thing if their first try failed, but Harry just learned from his attempt and tried again. It was a rather mature state that Harry demonstrated and Sirius found it admirable. The two would spend the next several hours in the smithy that day, by the end of it Harry had a proto-knife beaten out. Tomorrow would see if it could hold an edge when Harry tried to sharpen it.
-Third Week of July-
Harry had barely paid attention to his End of Year Exam results when they came in. He'd seen a few O's and some EE's followed by an A in Potions. It figured that his lowest grade would come from Snape. But Harry was busy making his fifteenth attempt at a knife that could hold the Durability and Ever-Sharp Enchantments so he had other things to focus on.
"Hmm, this one came out well." Harry mused as he looked over his newest knife. "Maybe this one will be able to hold the Enchantments." He hoped as he placed it on his work table to start etching runes. Etching out the Runic Array onto the blade wasn't difficult after doing it fifteen times. "Now for the moment of truth." Harry stated as he prepared to test the Durability Enchantment. Swinging his blacksmith hammer down onto the newly enchanted knife Harry grimaced as a crack appeared on the blade. "Bloody hell, why won't they hold the Enchantment? I must being doing something wrong, but what?" The young Artificer mused as he looked over the damaged knife.
"Harry? Are you in here?" Penny called as she stuck her head inside the smithy.
"Penny? Oh, is it that time already?" Harry questioned as he looked towards the clock near the doorway. Sure enough it showed the time as half past One in the afternoon. Penny had asked to come over after lunch today and Harry had gotten caught up in his work.
"Any luck?" Penny asked as she looked over the table.
"Not with the Enchanting, my ability to make a knife has grown by leaps and bounds though." Harry sighed as Penny gave him a smile and a reassuring, one-armed, hug.
"You'll figure it out, Harry, just give it some time." Penny assured him before gently guiding him towards the door of the smithy. "Take a break for a bit and let's do something else. Oh yes, I wanted to tell you that my mana level has gone up again! I'm at '4518' according to the Test Frame you gave me."
"Way to make my improvement seem less impressive, Penny." Harry huffed playfully at her. "But a break sounds good." He agreed with the pretty blonde as he walked out of the smithy with her. "Tayla, would you clean the smithy, please?" He asked at the doorway and a soft pop was heard.
"Of course Young Master, Tayla be doing it right away!" Tayla, Wood End Cottage's new House Elf, replied happily as she stood a few meters away. The female Elf was a joy for Sirius and Harry, and Sirius had made sure to give her the most, well-made, not-clothes that he could. The Elf was dressed in a modified pillowcase that was made of soft cotton and slightly dark beige in color.
"Thank you Tayla." Harry thanked the Elf before following Penny outside. "So what did you want to do Penny?"
"Hmm, it's a nice day how about you show me how much progress you've made with the flute Hagrid gave you?" Penny asked and Harry smiled slightly.
"Prepare to be amazed, Penny, I can play a lullaby that won't make your ears bleed now!" Harry proclaimed sarcastically which made Penny giggle. Harry went to fetch the flute while Penny sat beneath a tree in the backyard waiting for him.
"Going to serenade your girlfriend, Harry?" Sirius teased as he saw Harry walking outside with his wooden flute in hand.
"Shut it!" Harry retorted as he made his way out and towards the tree Penny was sitting under.
"You'd be so proud, James! So proud!" Sirius chuckled to himself watching Harry sit beside Penny under the tree from the kitchen window.
-Harry's Birthday-
Harry smiled as he sat at the kitchen table. Penny, Tonks, Andromeda, Ted, and Remus were all at Wood End Cottage to celebrate his birthday with him and Sirius. The cake was going to be brought out and present given soon and the twelve year old was as excited as any child. Sirius seemed almost as excited, but that could easily be put down to the man's enjoyment of festivities in general.
"Harry, could you go find out what's keeping Nymphadora and Penelope?" Andromeda asked as the two teens had gone upstairs to chat a few minutes ago and had yet to return.
"Sure thing." Harry nodded as he left the table and made his way upstairs. Finding the guest room door closed, Harry knocked before speaking. "Tonks, Penny are you two in there?"
"Come on in Harry!" Tonks called from the inside and Harry opened the door just before Penny's rebuttal was heard.
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