"Now I'll wrap it with leather, and then I'll get to work on carving and forming a sheath for it." Harry planned aloud as he worked. It had been a while since Harry had worked with wood. Luckily he happened to live right next to the most Magical Forest in Britain for ten months of the year. He had plenty of wood, both magical and non-magical to work with. A quick call to Tayla and the Family House Elf was more than happy to quickly pop around the edge of the Forbidden Forest and collect sections of wood. The forest was absolutely full of fallen trees and branches after all; he might as well make use of them.
-Thursday ~ After Classes-
"What are you going over so thoroughly, Harry?" Penny asked her boyfriend with a fond smile.
"I'm making the sheath for my Artifact Sword." Harry smiled back as he showed Penny his work. "You remember that 'Spell Ward' idea I showed you in my journal? I should be able to make it work with this. A sheaths' Function is to hold a blade and to protect anyone from its edge. If I match that Function of Protection with a similar Array then I should be able to create a sheath that blocks spells, including things like Summoning Charms and the like. That'll keep the sword from being taken while it's sheathed."
"You're really taking safety seriously for this sword, Harry. I'm impressed." Penny pulled him into a side hug.
"I have to be, it's a very powerful Artifact, one that I'll pass down to children someday." Harry looked at her with a soft grin. Penny's cheeks went pink before she kissed his cheek.
"Don't go making plans that far in advance just yet, boyfriend of mine." Penny giggled. "Neither of us is ready for that kind of responsibility yet."
"Maybe not, but it's good to plan ahead when possible." Harry chuckled.
"Don't forget your homework though." Penny teased him with a grin.
"Yes, mother…" Harry jokingly rolled his eyes. He broke into a laugh when he felt a ball of mana 'pop' against his head.
-Saturday-
Harry spent most of the morning carving out a length of wood for his sheath from a thick fallen limb of an ancient Magical Oak Tree. Tayla had, as most well-treated House Elves often did, gone above and beyond for him. She'd gone far deeper into the Forbidden Forest than he intended for her to. But her results spoke for themselves. The thick fallen limb she'd brought back still lingered with Magic even though it was probably separated from the tree many years ago. It showed none of the usual signs of decay and rot, only being dry enough to work with. Tayla wouldn't accept any kind of reward, of course, but Harry had almost made the House Elf burst into happy tears with the sincere and genuine thanks he lavished on her. He was sure the Elf was probably still dancing around Wood End Cottage from her joy.
By the afternoon he had the two halves of his sheath carved and hollowed out to carefully hold his sword. Now came the time to etch the 'Spell Ward' Array he'd developed. He was going to make sure he wouldn't have to replace the sheath for decades by making it to the best of his ability. For that very reason he was using Sylvuan as the Rune Material to fill in the etchings. Covering the wood in 'Conquered' Basilisk Hide would also increase the Magic Resistance the sheath had. Penny had come to watch him most of the day as he worked. She worked on her own homework and also made sure he took breaks for meals. When Harry sealed the edges of the two halves into the Form of the sheath that evening he smiled. Carving a 'Permanent Adherence' Sequence onto the outside of the sheathe Harry carefully attached the Basilisk Hide to the length of the sheath. He capped both ends of the sheath with Sylvuan as well for durability. Both would also permanently attach to the sheath to make sure it stayed together.
"A bloody good Enchanted Object; if I do say so myself." Harry congratulated himself with a grin as he finally sheathed his Artifact Sword for the first time. With this he was now ready to test the sword. Lucky for him tomorrow was Sunday, so he had all day free.
-Sunday ~ Morning after Breakfast-
"Headmaster, Professor Flitwick, glad you both could come." Harry welcomed Dumbledore and his Head of House. Penny was already with him and his study buddies all stood behind her eagerly.
"I must say, Mr. Potter, for a young man you cut an impressive figure with that sword on your hip." Flitwick smiled at his student. Indeed Harry had his sheathed sword on his left hip and looked stronger for it. Whether that was because the boy was in the middle of a growth spurt or was entirely caused by the swords' presence was something the short Wizard didn't think about.
"Thank you, sir." Harry nodded to his Head of House.
"I wouldn't want to miss this, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore smile genially. "I'll trust in your skills as an Artificer. But it makes me worry less to have members of the Faculty present for these tests in case anything was to go wrong."
"That's understandable, Headmaster." Harry agreed. "Thank you both for taking time out of your day to supervise. Both Professors gave him smiles and waved away his thanks. Harry walked over to Penny, who would be helping him test a few things.
"Ready?" Penny asked him with a grin.
"As I'll ever be." Harry nodded back with confidence.
The two walked a good distance away from the others and Harry drew the sword. None of the onlookers saw much 'special' about the sword. It was shiny, maybe unnaturally so, but the blade was fairly plain. It didn't look any different than a regular double-edge sword. The guard appeared to be the same metal as the blade but inlaid with what looked like gold. The handle of the sword appeared to be leather-wrapped and nothing fancy.
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