Robert had indeed promised to help Hagrid fix something—his wand.
It was just that this kind of thing absolutely couldn't be known by others, especially not by Harry and Ron. In some ways, the two of them were just like Hagrid—very tight-lipped and trustworthy when it came to secrets. But each of them had a flaw. Hagrid would occasionally let things slip, while Harry and Ron had a bad habit of conspiring loudly, not bothering to check if anyone was listening when they discussed confidential matters.
The following day marked the first weekend holiday after the start of term at Hogwarts.
Early Saturday morning, Robert left the Castle and headed alone toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid's wooden cabin stood out easily, visible at a glance. As Robert approached, he noticed the door was tightly shut, and the windows completely covered—there wasn't even a sliver of light peeking through.
"We agreed to meet today. Isn't he home?" Robert murmured as he knocked gently on the door, puzzled.
At the second knock, the door creaked open a crack from the inside.
"Quiet, Robert, quiet..." Hagrid whispered urgently, peering through the narrow opening. His eyes flicked nervously toward the direction of the Castle.
"Come in quickly!"
He stepped aside, and Robert slipped in through the gap before Hagrid hastily shut the door behind him.
"No one saw you, right?"
"No," Robert replied calmly. "I think you're being a little too nervous, though. Acting like this might actually draw more attention."
"Maybe you're right..." Hagrid muttered, rubbing his large hands together. "But I can't help it. I even put Fang in the Forbidden Forest."
"Fang?"
"My dog."
"So, you think a dog would reveal the secret of you illegally possessing a wand?"
"Oh, be quiet," Hagrid said anxiously, instinctively lifting a curtain to glance outside.
"Alright." Robert didn't press the issue. He extended his hand and said, "Now, give me your wand. I need to examine its condition."
Hagrid nodded and pulled a pink umbrella from the inside pocket of his oversized coat.
To be honest, Hagrid's attempt at disguise was laughably half-hearted. This was clearly a small umbrella—Robert thought it was barely suitable for himself, let alone for an eleven-foot-tall half-giant like Hagrid. It probably only managed to cover his head. If Hagrid didn't spend most of his time in the Forbidden Forest, someone would have caught on long ago.
Oh well, it's not like Hagrid ever used it to actually block the rain.
Robert took the umbrella and casually removed the fabric and handle.
Sixteen inches. It was the longest wand Robert had ever seen. With the roughly crafted willow casing outside, the length extended to nearly twenty inches.
"Robert, how is it... Oh, what are you doing!" Hagrid gasped.
Before Hagrid could finish speaking, he watched in horror as Robert rubbed the wand hard. A layer of wood crumbled away like a snake shedding its skin, turning into fine dust with a light shake. What remained was the heavily damaged wand beneath.
The sixteen-inch wand was riddled with spiderweb-like cracks. In some places, the red phoenix feather at its core was visible through the gaps.
Robert ignored Hagrid's look of devastation and held the wand up to the light for closer examination.
"Who helped you fix this?"
"I can't say," Hagrid said, shaking his head. "Don't ask. I won't tell you."
"Alright, that's fine." Robert wasn't bothered. "But I'd bet the wizard who repaired this was incredibly powerful."
"Well, that's for sure. Dumbledore is the greatest wizard—"
Hagrid froze mid-sentence, his face instantly filled with panic.
"I shouldn't have said that. I've betrayed Dumbledore. He helped me fix my wand and I've gone and betrayed him."
"Relax, Hagrid," Robert said, rubbing his ear. "You don't think I'd turn you in, do you? Don't forget—I'm the one helping you right now."
"I... I didn't mean that."
"I know." Robert held the wand horizontally. "Actually, I was wrong—it doesn't really need to be re-fixed."
"Huh?"
"Look at this." Robert carefully pried up a small oak splinter from the wand.
Several fine, hair-thin threads connected the shard to the rest of the wand's body.
"I've never seen a Repairing Charm this powerful," Robert murmured in awe. "This kind of damage should be irreversible with magic. And yet it's being held together. It's incredible."
"Well, that's Dumbledore for you," Hagrid said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Robert didn't respond, but the thought of seeing the Elder Wand grew even stronger in his mind.
If he recalled correctly, Hagrid's wand had been snapped fifty years ago. To still function this long... that was simply absurd.
"Then are you still going to fix it?" Hagrid asked. "It can still be used, after all."
"Of course I'll fix it," Robert said at once.
It might technically work, but with those deep cracks, Hagrid didn't even dare to use it with force. The risk of it breaking again was too great. And just looking at it like that was painful.
"Alright," Robert said, nodding as he drew his wand and muttered a long, intricate incantation.
The spell took about half a minute from start to finish.
Hagrid watched wide-eyed as the wand slowly shed layers like a molting lizard. First, a portion of the outer casing slipped off, and the wand shrank in diameter. Then a second layer peeled away. Soon, only the fiery red phoenix feather remained.
Hagrid whimpered instinctively and quickly covered his mouth, afraid of disrupting Robert's work.
Not that it was necessary—Robert was already fully focused and wouldn't have noticed even louder noises.
He picked up the outermost layer of wand wood.
The runes carved into it were crooked and misaligned. No wonder the wand had cracked like that—it was only still intact because of Dumbledore's remarkably strong Repairing Charm. Without that, it would have disintegrated long ago.
However, this actually made Robert's task easier. He didn't have to reconstruct the wand from scratch.
Opening the leather bag slung over his shoulder, Robert took out a silver carving knife, several small blocks of wood, and a can of wand-specific glue that resembled pine resin.
He had decided long ago to help Hagrid and had come prepared.
First, he carefully glued the broken pieces back together. Once he confirmed the positioning was correct, he started engraving new runes, slightly enlarging them to correct the original misalignments.
Put simply, his task was to overlay new markings onto the flawed ones, restoring the wand's rune system to full function.
The process wasn't technically complex—but it was slow, tedious work. There was no room for error, requiring meticulous attention and patience.
In most cases, whether it was Robert or even someone like Ollivander, they'd advise the customer to buy a new wand. The cost of repairs was usually half the price of a new one anyway.
But Robert didn't mention that this time. Hagrid couldn't buy a new wand. Ollivander wouldn't sell him one even if he could.
Sure, Robert could craft one from scratch, but he didn't have wand stock in Hagrid's size—and Hagrid couldn't wield anything smaller.
This would take time, but it was the weekend. He had nothing else scheduled.
So, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
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