Declan had been working at the ministry now for close to two weeks. He was enjoying the Department of Mysteries, and working on potions was something he had missed. Declan had discovered rather quickly that the research in this department was not heavily supervised. Ward let them keep to themselves as long as they checked in, and the privacy was nice. The first project that he'd taken on was one he had been working with before he'd lost his first job as a potioneer, and he was glad to take it up again.

Felix Felicis was the standard luck potion of the wizarding world- but it was flawed. Toxic in large amounts, addictive, and the luck wasn't... geared toward anything in particular. Declan wanted to change that.

Since Monday he'd been going over preliminary research he'd kept from years ago, copying it over, making notes, gathering the ingredients needed for a standard luck potion, carefully and painstakingly brewing it in the potion laboratory. Declan couldn't believe how relaxed he was feeling now that he was back in his element.

Declan had been working on gathering some alternative ingredients, and while looking into the properties of some of them, the thought dawned on Declan that perhaps different wand woods and cores used while brewing might make all the difference. So he had decided to go and talk to one of the unspeakables in the spell experimentation department.

He was careful to lock the door to his laboratory behind him, and knocked loudly on the door of one of his colleagues- a MacCullen if memory served correctly. "Have you got a few minutes?" Declan asked. "I wanted to talk to you about wands if you had the time."

It was during breakfast that morning that Dorian had had an idea about levitation spells, and the effect various items could have on the spell. Levitating his eggs across the table was a weird source of inspiration, but then again, Dorian wasn't one to look a gift muse in the mouth, so he had gulped down his morning coffee and hurried to work with a smile across his face.

Hurrying so much in the morning had meant that when he Apparated into the Atrium it was almost deserted, as were the lifts and the corridors in the Department of Mysteries, but Dorian had nothing against that, for he had gotten some complaints about the loud bangs that often accompanied new thoughts and ideas he had. Walking along the corridors down here always fascinated him, from the varying smells emanating from the potion research, to the slight dizziness he sometimes felt while passing the Brain room. And he felt it a bit annoying always having to either rewind or change the time his watch told him after visiting the Time-offices. But this was still the best place to work.

Alas, Dorian didn't have that many different substances for available for testing in his office, and he had already been given a slight reprimand from the department head for borrowing testing material from other offices without clear authorization, so he sighed as he thought about it, and opened one of his filing cabinets. He was really happy that he had taken the time to properly organize them as he installed them, for cabinets with internal extension charms were really easy to get lost in if you didn't know where every part was.

He had just pulled out the file on the best shops and grocers selling large and small magical and non-magical substances and locked up the cabinet again as he heard someone knock on the half-open door behind him. Dorian turned around and saw a man standing in the doorway whom he had seen around a few times the last couple of weeks.

"Have you got a few minutes? I wanted to talk to you about wands if you had the time."

Dorian was a bit surprised, he seldom had any visitors from the other offices, especially as he hadn't been working here for that long. "Uhm, sure, I have time, I guess." He walked over to his desk, put down the file, and sat down in his chair, gesturing to the man to sit down in the chair opposite him. "As long as you're not using the word as a euphemism for anything, I'm all ears." Dorian smiled and leaned back in his chair. "It's..... Declan, right?"

Declan nodded, sitting down in one of the chairs that Dorian had motioned to. "Yes, it's Declan. And I mean it quite literally." Euphemism? He wasn't a teenager anymore. Referring to anything other than a wand as a wand was no longer funny or appropriate. Even so, he knew many employees at the ministry were incredibly immature and had no doubt that talking of "wands" wasn't always as literal as it ought to be.

"I've been doing some research for a potion, and was curious about wand properties is all," Declan said. "It's one thing to read them in a book and another to talk to someone who is highly skilled with a wand and might have experienced the differences in woods and cores when spell casting."

Declan casually pulled some parchment and a self inking quill from his robes, resting them on his lap. For notes, should he find anything that his fellow unspeakable had to say useful and different from what he had been reading in the dusty tomes of the ministry libraries.

"I'm afraid I don't really have a specific line of questioning," he added. "Basically I want to see if I can translate usage of certain wands or wand materials into potions brewing. Curious if a wand best used for divination helps divination related potions along, things of that nature." Declan was going to be careful not to specify that his exact hope was to tweak the luck potions. A lot of people disagreed with their consumption and existence, and he kept his research closely guarded until he was certain that it was worth public viewing.

"So I suppose I'd like to know something about woods and cores, and any other wand materials you might know of that I'm not familiar with. I bought my wand from Ollivander years ago, and that was the end of my knowledge about them. Just how long mine is, the wood, and the core. But I'm certain there must be more to it than that."

"Potion research, ey? And going from that field to wondering about the properties of wands? I must say I am pleasantly surprised. I didn't know others here cared so much about the interactions between different fields of research." Dorian's interest was truly peaked now. "Oh, you do flatter me now, Mr. Móráin. I don't hold any degrees or such, but I will pledge my knowledge to your disposal."

As Declan pulled out parchment and quill, Dorian raised an eyebrow, but understood the need for taking notes at times. He merely raised his wand, and closed the door at the other side of the office. He wasn't particularly troubled by anyone overhearing the conversation, but he did appreciate privacy after all.

"Well now, if you don't have any specific questions, then I'm afraid you'll get your ear talked off today! As you obviously know, there are several interactions not only between the wood of the wand and whatever you're using it for. Over the years I have talked with several craftsmen and researchers, and there are in fact also interesting interactions between the woods, cores, material used for varnishing, degrees of age and type of the aforementioned, also the mood, intent, and skill of both the maker and the user of the wand." Dorian was leaning back in his chair, trying to bring all his memories of wand lore to the front of his mind.

"You see, many people know of the fact that every single being in this universe is connected to and influenced by the nature of the world around us, and through that we have through all our history accommodated this influence in our culture. Like how the Muggles since ancient times celebrated the turning points of the calendar, or the ways the climate acts over short and long periods of time. But there is in fact also an influence going back the other way from us into the world and it's constituents. Because of this our psyche has become inexorably linked to the world around us, and to each other." He stood up from his chair and went over to the drinks cabinet and poured out some of his family's whiskey into to tumblers, handing one of them to Declan as he sat back down.

"For instance, the Elder-tree has for the past couple of centuries become in popular culture attached to the notion of death and general misfortune, starting conveniently with the tale of the Three Brothers. But in fact, one of our ancient cultures, the druids, considered the willow of having one of the strongest connections with death. In fact, did you know that He Who Must Not Be Named owned a wand of willow? As with the woods, it is also with the cores and the rest of the materials."

Dorian looked up from the desk, which he had fixed with a faraway look on his face as he retold some of the lore he had been explained himself many years ago. He took a sip of his glass, and smiled. "Are you with me so far?"

"Potions is a very precise and often times volatile line of work," Declan said to Dorian. "And I'm hoping to utilize wand properties to make my potions more effective and perhaps less dangerous." Among other things, of course. "Please, talk away," Declan said. "I'm sure that whatever you have to say will benefit me in some way, whether for my specific research or not." It never hurt to know more aboutw ands and how they worked, they were such a vital part of being a wizard, after all.

As Dorian began to speak, Declan realized what the man meant by talking his ear off. He had no personal beliefs about people being tied to nature. He wasn't that deep of a thinker and preferred to think that each man was his own... Even so, he paid close attention, keeping any conflicting opinions to himself.

He did know that different woods were connected with different types of magic or beliefs. But what Dorian was speaking at the moment seemed to be generalities. "I follow," he answered.

"But I wanted to know more specifics. Which woods are best for what. What cores do what. More theories on they interact and mix. I'm curious as to whether or not some wands used in the process of potions preparations and brewing might affect the outcome. For example if you were brewing a potion in relation to Divination, if a Divination favoring wand would make the potion better. And, furthermore, if one could utilize the woods and cores of wands in a potion to have the same magical effects. Well, not the same, but similar I suppose. It says some wands are good at love spells, would those wand ingredients make a more potent love potion? Along those lines," Declan explained.