Rabastan was still feeling drained as he walked back into Grimmauld Place. Entering the library, he passed Grindelwald the blasting rod without a word.
"Well," the blonde asked, arching his brows expectantly.
Rabastan grinned. "There is one element I have yet to sort, but I think I have most of it figured out. As it happens, the fucker eventually runs out of blast, and you have to refill it. I am here to say that I nearly shit myself when I realized that at first, because I wasn't in the mood to come back in here, and tell you that you were not going home with a shiny new toy after all."
"He isn't Voldemort," Mag said quietly.
The look of open sympathy in her gaze took Rabastan by...well, by shock because it was more than by surprise. What the fuck? "Of course he isn't! Voldemort would've never allowed me to play with his new toy!"
"Not even to make more," Mag asked, and Rabastan shook his head.
"I don't think so. He's not at all the sort to share power. He'd never want others to know how to make one if he could help it."
Kreacher, Reg, Rod, and Bella all nodded their agreement at the same time and Rabastan grinned. Every fucker liked being supported.
"I didn't think Grindel would fuck me up or anything, I just thought I'd get shit about it, and that's a drag, you know." He gave Mag a slight smile. "I know he's no Voldemort."
"So I learned how to refill it, but it was stressful as shit," Rabastan continued with his story. "If I can refill it, I figure I'm two thirds of the way to making one. There's just this funny bit in the bottom that feels hollow, though I know it probably isn't due to the fact it's quite heavy, so I am stuck on how to make a thing hollow so I can store magic in it while leaving it solid..." He grinned. "One of those typical fucked magical riddles I guess, but I'll sort it eventually."
Grindelwald quirked a brow. "Why not just ask Merlin? As you also could've done about the refill that you got yourself so worked up over."
Rabastan blinked. It was that simple? "Well, fuck," he complained. "I never thought of that!" He flicked a glance to Rod who was giving him a pleased grin for some reason. "I never handle pressure well at all," he admitted. "Besides I never talked to Merlin or Nimue the way it seems most of you have, if not all of you."
"Yes, all of us by now, it seems," Mag said.
"I happened to have been working when Bella and Rod made their first contact with them through the crystal thingies at the Ministry," Rabastan said. "So mentally dialing in and asking Merlin just never fucking occurred..."
Grindelwald flashed a quick smile. "Fair enough, and you did well on your own. Sometimes figuring a thing like that out on your own gives you a deeper understanding of the process."
Rabastan considered that for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I get that. So should we ask him about the hollow part at least? Shit may go faster."
Gellert nodded. "We can definitely try. At times communication between them and us on complex magical matters can be...a bit hazy."
Blaise frowned. "They seem to have the focus of distractible magpies, and it's rather vexing," he complained.
"Indeed, but even when the focus is there, the explanations are so different from what we understand that it can be tricky. Merlin has used the magic of a communication rune more than once and this has been helpful, though."
"So how do we ask him about the hollow spot in the rod that isn't hollow," Rabastan asked, and Grindelwald held up a hand.
"I already did, and he's answering," he murmured. "Hold on a moment while I attempt to understand what he is saying..."
For several long seconds, Grindelwald stared into space before returning his gaze to Rabastan. "He says it isn't hollow? Wait..."
They all waited.
"It's almost hollow… There is a tiny hollow spot in the wood at the lower end, narrowing toward the tip where the crystal is set. The hollow spot is made with magic."
"Like sort of blasting a hole in the same way you blast the magic into the hole for storage," Rabastan asked excitedly, suddenly feeling the concept click in his mind.
Another long pause, then a smile sprang to Gellert's face. "Yes! Yes, he says that's precisely it! He is impressed with you."
Rabastan felt his cheeks heat. That was bloody Merlin after all.
Suddenly, nearly like a little fucking kid...okay, exactly like a little fucking kid, Rabastan couldn't wait to tell his dad that he'd somehow managed to make Merlin proud! MERLIN of all fuckers! Then it got even better when Roddy rose to clap him on the shoulder and Bella reached to squeeze his arm, smiling fiercely.
"We're proud of you, little brother," she said.
"What she said," Rod agreed, grinning from ear to ear. "That's some impressive stuff. We didn't know you had it in you… No offense, mind, we're all three brilliant, but Bella and I don't even have that in us so..."
Bella chuckled at her husband's explanation but nodded.
"And thanks in advance for my blasting rod," Rod continued happily. "It shall certainly help to keep all those prisoners in line at our home away from home."
The next day, Rabastan had a package in the morning post. Harold brought it to him at the breakfast table. Mag must have told her goblin metalsmiths that they were to skip her as the middle man, because the return address on the package was Gringotts.
Rabastan hurriedly opened the heavy cylindrical bundle to find several twenty-millimeter, perfectly clear, round crystal quartz orbs and several heavy sticks of raw copper half as thick as his own wiry forearm.
There was an enclosed note signed by Griphook saying that if this worked, there would be more copper and quartz where this came from, donated free of charge, were he to make a few blasting rods for bank security. Of course the little fuckers wanted blasting rods. They were denied wands for ages, so stood to fucking reason they'd wanna go bigger. He didn't give a fuck, though. If he managed to make these work, he'd write Griphook directly for more supplies and gladly give the goblins some blasting rods.
He assumed the wood he'd asked for would come separately, but this right here was plenty to work with for now. Besides, he was sort of feeling more excited about the concept of copper anyway. If he could manage to construct an even better blasting rod, it would likely be made of copper."You should stay home and work on the blasting rods today," Rod said. "Bella and I can handle things at Azkaban without you. We have plenty of help."
Rod grinned over at his huge Acromantula, who was currently shoving a plate of eggs hungrily into his face. The spider muttered something in what Rabastan took to be agreement, though he couldn't be sure.
Rabastan nodded eagerly. "Works for me." He didn't bother with a polite thank you, because Rod was definitely benefiting from giving him the day off.
As soon as breakfast was over, he got to work. Taking the materials outside, he settled down with his back to a tall tree in the backyard. Working outside made him feel more at ease because if any shit went wrong he wouldn't be breaking anything priceless and valuable in the manor.
Eager to begin, he hefted one of the copper bars in his hand. It was nearly as long as his forearm, and, as such, slightly longer than the one they'd gotten from Merlin's cave. He began by using a heating charm to soften one end of the copper rod to hold one of the crystal orbs.
Once the stone was settled into place, with a little copper melted around the edges to keep it from moving, he turned his attention to the other end of the rod. Now it was time for the tricky bit where he attempted to hollow out this fucker just a little with magic. Squeezing his focus down to a fine point and thrusting it into the end of the copper opposite the crystal, he focused the heat magic on softening a spot just in the middle.
Then very carefully he widened it out just a fraction of a fraction. Did it work? He'd not know until he attempted to store energy inside, but, at least at this point, it felt a bit hollow. Not quite in the same way the oak rod had felt hollow, but then again oak should feel different than copper. Storing the energy in it was likely to feel different as well, he thought. Here went nothing.
Fifteen minutes later, he stood on slightly shaky legs to try out his first ever blasting rod! He didn't know if the energy he'd poured into the copper would blast anything, but he'd certainly done something, because like last night when he'd refilled Merlin's he was tired as fuck. Also like last night, he was reenergized quite a lot when the fucker worked but good! The boom of the blast elicited a whoop of glee that had Harold hurrying out of the manor.
"Everything is fine," Rabastan assured the elf. "I just did something awesome, that's all!"
Having used both now, he did think the copper worked even better than the oak. Perhaps the oak was a bit more stable, though, so perhaps he could combine the two by hollowing out the oak more and slipping a thinner copper rod inside. He could produce some of copper, some of oak, and some of both just to see the differences in how they worked...the pros and cons in each, as it were. If each had its upsides, he could sell them eventually for different prices and individual needs.
"May Harold try," the elf asked, and Rabastan grinned.
"Fuck yeah, you can!"
What with the badass plague mask, it was always impossible to read the elf's expressions, but the fact he was impressed right now was more than obvious.