《Rebirth In A Magical World》


 Chapter -1 - Character Description Possible Spoilers Ahead

    Alexander Fawley


    Age: 12


    Hair Color: Dirty Blond


    Eyes: Grey


    Blood Status: Pure-blood


    Powers and skills: Near perfect memory, high intelligence, strong magical prowess. For a comparison, he would be on the same power level as a 12 year old Dumbledore, Voldemort, Grindelwald etc would be.


    Hobbies: Learning about all things magical, Current favorite area of study charms and transfiguration.


    Goals: Fulfill his grandfather and fathers dream . Get revenge for his Grandfather. Wants to understand magic at a deep enough level to where he can actually create spells, which is incredible difficult


    Enemies: Whithorns.


    Cedric Diggory


    Age: 12


    Hair Color: Dark


    Eyes: Grey


    Blood Status: Pure-blood, but his family is not on the list of the 28, Similar to the Potter Family.


    Hobbies: Quidditch


    Enemies: None


    Goals: While his father wants him to pursue a career at the Ministry. He would rather play in the International Quidditch League


    Anna Lancaster


    Age: 11


    Hair: Blonde


    Eye color: Lavender


    Blood status: Half blood,


    Powers and skills: very talented in most areas of magic, showing great skill in Defense against the Dark Arts and in Charms. Seems to do poorly in Potions which is strange considering her mother.


    Goal: Wants to prove to her dads side of the family that she is a strong witch and not a squib.

 Chapter 1 - Rebirth

    Unable to muster the energy to get out of my hospital bed, tears began leaking from my eyes. As my eyes roamed the sterile room, I thought to myself; I must have the worse luck imaginable, what god did I piss off and why was he was making it his life''s mission, to screw up my life as much as possible.


    As I laid there, I began reviewing the many tragedies that had happened to me over the past 15 years, beginning with my parents dying in a car accident when I was 2, leaving me all alone in this world. If that wasn''t bad enough, I developed leukemia at the tender age of 4; if regular kids have a hard time being adopted, they don''t have anything on sick kids, no one wants to take a child who may be dead soon.


    As time went on, I spent more time in the hospital than I did at the orphanage; it wasn''t all bad; many of the doctors and nurses became my surrogate family. When I was seven, I overheard the doctor telling my caretaker that I had less than a year to live. However, I always had been a stubborn child, and I manage to eke out eight more years of life, but by the time I was 15, I gave up. I was exhausted; every day that I still lived seemed to be a fight if it wasn''t leukemia, it was the brain tumors, it seemed that this body was defective somehow.


    I managed by losing myself in fantasy books, often imagining what I would do if I could only visit these magical worlds. The last book I read was The Half-Blood Prince, written by J.K Rowling, and I hoped to stay alive long enough to finish the series. Praying to every god out there, I pleaded for a do-over; when that didn''t work, I started to get angry. It wasn''t fair that this was my life; I wanted to live, to explore. Exhausted, I fell asleep, later that night, my body shut down for good, and I felt myself slip away.


    In another world On September 2, 1977, at precisely 4 in the afternoon, deep within the heart of St. Mungo, the wizarding hospital. In the paternity ward, a young woman with golden hair gave birth to a son. Curiously, immediately after being born, the babe was silent and refused to make a sound, after the healer gave the child to his mother all swaddled up, she asked what the child''s name was. After naming her son, the healer left, and a young man entered the room and asked to see the baby, after giving the baby to the young man, he spun the child around all excitedly. In response, the babe began wailing, and as he did so, the glass in the nearby windows shattered.


    Hundreds of miles away, high in a magical castle, there was a room that has not seen many visitors, an enormous leather-bound book lay upon a pedestal next to a heavily feathered quill. Moments after the glass shattered in the maternity ward at St. Mungo''s, the feather rose up and dipped itself into the inkwell. Afterward, the book opened, and the quill wrote the name, Alexander Nicola Fawley. When the quill was finished writing, the book snapped shut, and the feather floated back down to the pedestal, and the room was still once more.


    Five years later


    Today marks five years since my rebirth, as traumatizing as it was reborn as a baby fully aware, I am happy to be alive. I still don''t understand how this happened; I don''t even remember dying, and as more time goes on, the more my previous life seems like a dream that I can barely remember, which I suppose is a blessing. Still, if someone is going to be reincarnated, being reincarnated into as a wizard, in a world full of magic, makes me believe I hit the jackpot. I had so much bad luck in my previous life that the universe decided to compensate me for it. However, this brings about a critical question, is J.K. Rowling, a god of some sort, did she somehow create this world, or did she have visions of this world and write what she saw, and if she did write what she saw. How accurate was she? Did she embellish to write a good story, or did she record the events as they unfolded?


    While pondering over these deep philosophical questions, a booming sound shook me from my thoughts, "ALEXANDER FAWLEY¡­ DOWNSTAIRS, NOW!!"


    I jumped and felt a sinking feeling well up inside of my stomach, which only happens when a child hears their mother speak in that tone of voice. After exiting my room, which was on the top floor of a three-story house, I started descending the steps at the end of the hallway.


    While descending the stairs, the paintings that hung on the wall started snickering and hooting that I was in trouble now. As I approached the ground floor, an encouraging voice rang out from the final painting along the wall, "Courage, my boy."


    I turned to the painting to see an encouraging smile coming from an old balding wizard. Cracking my knuckles, I responded with a confident grin, "No worries, I believe I know what this is about, and I have mentally prepared myself for what''s coming."


    After reaching the ground floor, I began making my way through the family room, heading towards the dining room, where I would do battle with the monster known as mother. Before I entered the dining hall, I took a deep breath as to reassure myself of victory, as I entered the dining room, I paused in the doorway to take a good look at what awaited me.


    I saw my mother sitting around the round dinner table, her long golden blond hair hanging over her shoulders. Next to her, my father, whose face was hidden by a magazine, whose cover had several brooms. As I entered the dining area, and my mother''s blue eyes immediately shot up and made contact with me.


    She said in a surprisingly sweet soft voice, "Please sit down, Alex."


    Not for the first time, I tried to compare my mothers'' current soft-spoken voice to the booming one that called for me earlier. I had trouble reconciling the two manners in which my mother spoke. The first manner was carefully spoken, with a slight French accent accompanying her words; the other, was not spoken so much as screamed, and when her voice rose to that level, her French accent came across more severely.


    After I pulled out the heavy wooden chair and climbed into the seat, I brushed my long dirty blond hair from my eyes and smiled as widely as I could to bring out my dimples. I knew that they were a weakness of hers.


    "Yes, mother," I said with all the innocence of a five-year-old.


    As my mother''s eyes narrowed, informing me that my ploy to appear adorable while usually effective would not deter this upcoming battle. "Do you have anything you would like to tell me." Mother said to me.


    I thought to myself, ha, not falling for that trap, rule #11, never admit to any crime without overwhelming evidence. As several responses occurred to me, I selected one that I hoped would distract her.


    I said in a bright voice, "It''s my birthday; I''m five today."


    As my mother acknowledge my opening statement with a nod, I started a mental scoreboard, Alex 1- Mom -0. However, after I studied the slight smirk that appeared on my mother''s face, I felt a sinking feeling develop in my stomach.


    After what seemed like an unusually long silence, mom set out a glass jar, half full with a label that identified the contents as mandrake leaves. She asked, "Are you sure?"


    I acknowledge my mother''s parry to my opening thrust. The current score flashed into my head, Alex -1 Mother -1,


    While most children would inevitably crack at this point, rule #15 dashed across my thoughts, when confronted with vague evidence about your supposed crime, double down in your denial. Several avenues of attack appeared in my thoughts after selecting the most appropriate one. I countered, "Presents!" and reached across the table to grab the ''evidence.''


    My mother''s eyes widen, clearly not expecting that particular response from me. Alex -2 Mom 1, I thought.


    After mom held eye contact with me for a moment, she pulled out a small white crystal and set it on the table and murmured, "Reveilo." After speaking the spell, the dining room seemed to disappear, and a place I was all too aware that I was not allowed into without supervision appeared.


    After a moment, the wooden door slowly creaked open, and I observed myself sneak into the room carrying an old tattered book. After shutting the door behind me, a broad smile appeared on my face as I looked about the circular room. The room was lined with shelves that surrounded the place and stretched to the ceiling, full of ingredients.


    In the center of the room was a table in the shape of a crescent moon, it had a sturdy cauldron sitting in the middle of it. I set the book down on the table, and the book seemingly opened of its own accord.


    The book opened to the page containing the instructions on how to brew a pepperup potion. One of the easiest potions to create that was designed to cure someone of the flu and other common illnesses, it only needed three ingredients added to water to make and could be made in under thirty minutes.


    After memorizing the list, I went to the shelves to gather the ingredients needed for the potion. I climbed up on the first step of what looked a double-sided rolling ladder, after speaking the first name of the component that I needed, the ladder began rolling around the shelves until it reached a particular spot. The step I was standing on started rising, and the steps on the back half of the ladder began to sink. After rising to a particular point, I found the ingredients that I was looking for, after grabbing all the ingredients, I made my way back to the table to begin brewing the potion.


    Suddenly the scene disappeared, and I focused back on my mother''s face and noticed a shark-like smile had appeared on her face. I thought to myself. Alex-2 Mom -2.


    "Anything you want to say?" Mom asked.


    I couldn''t help but compare those words to when a judge asks if the accused has any final words and is about to pronounce a prisoner''s guilt along with a harsh sentence.


    After thinking furiously for a moment, I thought to myself, sorry dad, but rule #21 clearly states that when confronted with overwhelming evidence of your crime, the next step is to shift blame. As I looked into my mom''s eyes that were shining with the knowledge that she had me, and there was no escaping her justice.


    I responded, "It was dad''s idea." As the word left my mouth and resonated throughout the room, My father violently spat out the coffee he was drinking and lowered his magazine.


    "WHAT!!! HENRY EXPLAIN," mom shrieked and turned her wrathful eyes upon her brown-haired husband, who was currently suffering from a bad case of bed head.


    After meeting his wife angry gaze, he turned his dark eyes towards me, with the burning unspoken question appearing in his eyes, why would you do that to me, haven''t I been a good dad? After meeting my dad''s reproachful eyes, I felt a flash of guilt but consoled myself with the common knowledge that when meeting an angry momma bear, you don''t have to outrun her, you only have to beat the person next to you.


    Waving his arms about, trying to convince my mom not to rush to judgment, "I said no such thing Camille," Henry quickly defended.


    Knowing that my mom needed a final push, I sealed my father''s fate with the final nail in the coffin. With the most innocent voice I could manage, I asked, "But dad, didn''t you say that the pepperup potion was so easy to make that a five-year-old could brew it."


    After hearing those words, Camille''s blond hair began slowly rising on its own, seemingly alive, "Interesting." She said.


    "Now Camille, it was just an expression," Henry stuttered.


    Satisfied that my mom had found herself a new target, I thought to myself Alex -3 Mom -2 Dad -0,


    I quietly snuck out of the dining room; however, before I could make the final getaway, I gave the condemned a last glance to remember his brave sacrifice.


    As I met my father''s gaze, I noticed a sly smile appear on his face, and I couldn''t help but think DANGER WILL ROBINSON¡­ DANGER.


    "Its true dear, I did say that," Henry said to Camille, "I told Alex that a five-year-old could brew that potion, However at the time of the alleged brewing he was not five, as he just turned five today."


    As Camille heard these words, she murmured, "That''s true."


    I couldn''t help but think, Well played father Alex -3 Mom -2 Dad -1


    I blanched at my mother''s expression after seeing her face once it turned towards me, and I thought, Rule #35 in the event you ever notice that mom make that face, RUN!!! I raced through the living room, trying to make a getaway.


    Camille shouted, "OH NO YOU DON''T." and whipped out a wand and flicked it towards the heavy dr.a.p.es covering the windows.


    As I ran the dr.a.p.es came alive and began reaching out towards me, when they were unable to reach me, they started magically growing and were able to catch me. After wrapping me up so that I couldn''t escape, the dr.a.p.es lifted me into the air and presented me as a gift on a silver platter before my mother.


    "Does the condemned have any final words?" Camille said with a shark-like smile on her face.


    Rule #99 popped into my head, if punishment is unavoidable, respond by being too adorable to punish harshly.


    "But mommy, you were sick, and I knew that the pepperup potion makes people feel better, and I just wanted you to feel better," I said in a small voice.


    Seeing my mom''s expression soften, and she responded, "The potion that Henry gave me the other day was the one you brewed."


    Camille''s heart melted a little inside, but she steeled herself and said, "Alex potions are incredibly dangerous, if brewed incorrectly you could hurt yourself. How do you think that would have made me feel."


    After hearing these words, my eyes shifted down guiltily, unable to meet my mother''s gaze. She continued, "As for your punishment, we will get to that tomorrow. Now, today is your birthday, go upstairs and get dressed for the day. Your uncle and his wife will be arriving soon, along with your grandparents."


    After being released by the dr.a.p.es and set down, I trudged up the stairs towards my room. All of the painting on the wall made clear that they agreed with my mother that what I had done was indeed foolish. After getting into my room, I threw myself on my four-poster bed.


    I tallied up the points, and I thoughtfully considered that what ended up being the best defense to the situation ended up being the truth. I honestly did want my mom to feel better, so I made the potion, the fact I also really wanted to make a magic potion was killing two birds with one stone.

 Chapter 2 - Visitors

    After Alex had trudged up the stairs, Camille turned to Henry and said, "Can you believe your son did that."


    Henry replied with a cheeky grin, "Why is it when Alex does something naughty, all of a sudden, Alex is my child, but whenever he does something impressive, he is your child."


    Camille flipped her hair around and said, "Hmph¡­, after over ten years of marriage, sometimes it''s like you don''t even know me at all."


    Henry grumbled under his breath, "there no knowing crazy."


    Right as Camille was getting ready to respond, a small elf-like creature with large green eyes and drooping ears suddenly appeared with a resounding crack. It was wearing a white toga, stamped with the Falwley family crest, a hawk surrounded by stars.


    In a high pitch tone, the elf squeaked, "Master Henry''s mother has arrived and is waiting in the foyer."


    Henry responded, "Thank you, Lola, for letting us know."


    The elf disappeared with a crack, and Camille complained to Henry, "Your mother wasn''t supposed to be here until noon."


    "I know," Henry responded, "But she was probably eager to see Alex on his birthday. Lately, she has been hinting that she would like to spend more time with him and begin teaching him his letters and numbers, in case you''re to busy with your potion-making. Ever since the death eaters killed my father in the war, she has been getting kind of lonely in her house, and it doesn''t help that my brother rarely visits, being so busy with his ship."


    "I know, I know, I will cut her some slack, but if she thinks that she will need to spend a lot of time teaching Alex, then she has underestimated his intelligence, he picks things up so quickly it almost unnatural," Camille responded.


    Henry replied, "Even if she doesn''t have to teach him very much, it will be good for Alex to spend some more time with her."


    Upstairs in his room, Alex had no idea that his parents were deciding how he would be spending the next few months.


    ***********************************************************


    Sometime later, I descended the stairs into the living room, where I found my grandmother sitting with my parents drinking tea. It was hard for me to keep my eyes off of my grandmother''s enormous burgundy hat, woven into the cap, was a hawk that seemed to be glaring at me.


    Don''t you look at me like that you big dumb bird, I didn''t weave you into that monstrosity.


    After I greeted my grandmother, my parents waved for me to sit next to them while they discussed recent events.


    "Are we too late for the party?" The man spoke in a booming voice.


    Camille rose with a smile on her face and said, "John, Nefret, I''m so glad you could make it, and where is little Omar."


    Nefret responded while shaking her head. "Omar couldn''t come, my father took him on a trip to South America, and he hasn''t returned home yet."


    "Now, where is the little wizard, I recently learned about a fascinating custom in the states. It has to do with hexing the birthday boy," John interrupted and made a show of looking around the room.


    I jumped up with a smile on my face and dashed out of the room while shouting, "You''ll never catch me alive, you old pirate."


    John looked at his brother with an incredulous look, "Did he just call me old?"


    John pulled out his wand and gave chase while shouting, "This will not stand, calling a dashing young pirate wizard, an old man."


    As I ran out of the living room and past the dining room into the kitchen, my uncle caught up with me, so I dove for the stairs leading to the bas.e.m.e.nt.


    "Oh no, you don''t, you little brat," my uncle shouted.


    After being brought back to the family room, I shot a pleading look at my father for him to intervene. The gleam in his eye told me in no uncertain term that this was payback for trying to throw him under the bus, and he would not be intervening.


    As I floated helplessly before the rest of my family, my uncle mused, "Now what spell would be most appropriate for the birthday boy."


    My father weighed in with a malicious gleam in his eyes, "There is always the tickling charm, and I know for a fact that Alex is extremely ticklish."


    I glared at my father with death in my eyes and promised retribution for this harsh betrayal. Sensing my uncle getting ready to make his move, I made a last-ditch effort by pleading for mercy with my mother.


    With a smile appearing on her face, she whispered: "Well, it is a foreign tradition, and you know I love learning about other cultures."


    My uncle pointed his wand at me with a Cheshire cat grin and chanted, "Rictusempra."


    A silver burst of light erupted from his wand and hit me. Unable to move in the air, I laughed uncontrollably as the spell tickled my entire body. After several minutes of this, with tears streaming down my face, and kicking the air uncontrollably. A well of energy swelled up inside of me and burst out as I screamed, "Enough."


    Abruptly, the tickling spell ended, as well as whatever spell was keeping me suspended in the air, and I collapsed to the ground with a thud. After catching my breath, I dusted my self off with as much dignity I could manage. I glanced around the room and went to the only remaining safe-haven in the place, grandma.


    I climbed into her l.a.p, and her arms wrapped protectively around me, I glanced at my speechless family and stuck my tongue out.


    John smiled and admiringly said, "That was an impressive display of underage magic, I sense another strong Fawley wizard in the making."


    Mother preened at my uncle''s praise, attributing my burst of magic as her own accomplishment.


    "That''s nothing, why just the other day my son brewed a potion without any help from anyone." she bragged.


    "I do believe that Alex is our son," Henry interjected, trying to remind Camille to share my deeds with him as well.


    "Hmph," Camille tossed her hair with a quick turn and challenged, "Oh, and who is the master potioneer in this house. The second he begins enchanting objects and blowing stuff up is when you can take responsibility."


    My father visibly deflated at her words, conceding the battle.


    I watched the unfolding drama, and a smile tugged at my lips, while I thought, who needs a tv when one''s family is this entertaining.


    After my mom stopped teasing dad, Nefret spoke out in carefully worded English, rang out asked, "When will Alex begin school?"


    I perked up and chimed in with an unmistakable eagerness in my voice, "Hopefully soon."


    My dad shook his head and replied, "Not for a while, Hogwarts doesn''t allow students to attend until they are 11. He should be going in 1989; had he been born three days earlier, he would be able to start in 88."


    My mom saw my expression and laughed, "Don''t look at me like that; you were supposed to be born on Aug 25. It was you who decide to take your sweet time, so you only have yourself to blame."


    After seeing my indignant expression, uncle John stood up and said, "Don''t worry, little guy, time will pass faster than you think. I might have brought a little something to keep your mind off school."


    I watched my uncle open his leather duster and made a show of sticking his arm into the inside pocket; a laugh escaped me when I saw how his arm magically sank up to his shoulder while he was digging around in his small pocket.


    "I know I put it around here somewhere," he stated, "Ah, here it is," and pulled out what looked like a black rock half the size of a football.


    John tossed the rock towards me and said, "Think fast."


    The first thing I noticed after I caught the rock was the heat rising from it. I studied the rock a little closer and saw strange geometric patterns randomly placed on the rock.


    "What does the rock do," I asked.


    Nefret interjected, "It''s not a rock; it''s a Lamassu egg." She handed me a book and said, "I think you will find this useful."


    I glanced at the cover and saw the title Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them. Underneath the title were many different images of magical creatures that randomly moved around the book as they pleased.


    My mom asked in a worried tone, "Is it safe."


    Uncle John responded, "Of course, a Lamassu will bond with the first thing it sees and consider it a family. It only becomes dangerous if something threatens its family."


    After hearing my uncle reply, my dad narrowed his eyes, and pointedly asked, "Is it legal?"


    Uncle John innocently pointed his hand towards himself and protested, "Of course, would I ever break any of the increasingly stringent and unnecessary laws the ministry has been foisting on the wizarding world."


    I heard my father respond in a tone that would accept no-nonsense, "John."


    John pulled out a doc.u.ment and waved it like a white flag and said, "Ok I give, here is the necessary immigration form approving the Lamassu entry into the country. It wasn''t easy, but Amos Diggory is an old friend, and he works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Beasts."


    I smiled and asked, "Does this mean I get to keep it?"


    I saw my parents look at each other and have a silent conversation with their eyes. With resignation in her voice, my mother responded, "Yes, but it''s your responsibility to take care of it; we won''t be doing a thing."


    With a broad smile on my face, I hurriedly assured them, "Don''t worry; you won''t have to do a single thing."


    I silently watched the egg, expecting it to hatch at any moment, after a few moments, I shot my uncle looked and questioned, "Is it broken."


    He replied, "They only can only hatch on a night with no moonlight."


    It was times like these that made me miss having all the information on the internet at my fingertips. How did people handle random questions that they needed an answer too before the internet?


    I felt a pat on my head as my grandmother said, "Lucky you, I do believe that there will be a new moon tonight."


    "Why don''t you go put that up into your room for safekeeping," my father said.


    I got up and rushed upstairs, after entering my room, I set the egg carefully on my pillow, and after making sure that the egg was secure and not in danger of rolling off the bed. I returned downstairs to find several more presents awaiting me.


    I looked at my parents for permission, after receiving the nod, I tore into the presents in a manner that is only cute in a child. Deciding to work from smaller to larger, I grabbed the smallest gift. After I tore the wrapping, I saw a little blue leather journal with my name etched in the top of the cover.


    As I looked up, my dad said, "It''s enchanted to hide its contents, so no one can read what you write."


    I ran over and hugged him and whispered loudly, "Thanks, dad; this will be handy to keep secrets from a certain nosy nelly," I pointedly didn''t look in my mother''s direction.


    "Hmph, I would ever do anything so deceitful." my mom replied indignantly.


    "Go on, open mine next," my mom quickly changed the conversation and pointed her wand at a book-sized present and flicked it towards me.


    The red-wrapped present launched itself at my face, I quickly reached up and caught it before it could take my head off, the gift seemed to shake in my hand as if it couldn''t wait to for me to unwrap it.


    I threw a disgruntled look towards my mom for nearly taking my head off and tore the wrapping off. I found a book with the title The Fundamentals of Potion Making, "It''s a handwritten book," my mother explained in a fond voice, "I was able to someone special to write it, Nicholas Flamel."


    After hearing that the author was Nicholas Flamel, I looked at my mother, unable to articulate how much it meant to me. I reverently held the book, within these pages, was information written by one of the most famous wizards in the world. Flamel was over six hundred years old, and the only publicly acknowledged immortal wizard of our time due to the creation of the philosopher stone.


    A loud whistle shook me from my thoughts; my uncle exclaimed: "How did you get him to write that book for Alex?"


    My mother replied with a huff, "I''ve been telling people that we are related, but no ever seems to believe me." Everyone laughed at her indignant expression


    I set the book down and reached for the last remaining present; it was a long rectangular box. My grandmother spoke, as I removed the lid and found a long broomstick inside. "It''s a Fawley family tradition to get a broomstick for your 5th birthday."


    I only vaguely remember a few of the different models from the harry potter books; I asked eagerly, "Is it a nimbus?"


    "NO!" my dad and uncle''s voice angrily rang out at the same time.


    "You didn''t tell him," my uncle accused my father with a betrayed look.


    My father harshly retorted, "He is only five, he doesn''t need to know."


    I interjected, "Know what?"


    My uncle and father seemed to have a wordless argument, before uncle John threw up his hands and shouted, "Fine, keep him ignorant."


    After a few awkward moments of silence, my grandmother broke the ice, "No, honey, it''s a bluebottle." She turned to mother to reassure her, "It''s the safest broomstick available." She continued, "It''s nowhere near as fast as a racing broom, and has dozens of spells to ensure safety."


    I jumped up and hugged my grandmother, "Thank you so much." I turned and ran to my dad and pleaded with big eyes, "Can we please, please, please go outside and fly."


    He replied with a smirk, "I don''t know, more guest should be coming for your party in a few hours."


    I mustered up all the adorableness I could manage and pleaded with puppy dog eyes. "Please, I''ll be good; it won''t take very long, please."


    "Fine," he relented, "Grab your broomstick, and we can go outside and have your first lesson."


    I jumped up and ran outside, eager for my first lesson. Unfortunately, I''ve learned things rarely go as well as you plan.

 Chapter 3 - Lesson 1

    As I ran out of the house into the back yard, eagerly imagining how I was going to soar through the air and conquer gravity. I swung my leg over the broomstick and shot an impatient look towards the house.


    A few moments later, my uncle swaggered into the backyard with a broomstick slung over his shoulder. My father followed closely behind.


    Uncle John said, "Not so fast if we''re gonna do this, we do this the proper way."


    I raised my left eyebrow in response and replied, "Is there a wrong way to get onto a broom."


    He laughed and said, "Put it on the ground, stand next to it and command it to your hand."


    I vaguely remember this tradition from the books, but I always thought it was rather stupid, why would you set a broom on the ground only to tell it to right back to your hand in the first place.


    I shot Uncle John an unimpressed look and replied, "that doesn''t seem necessary; I already have the broom in my hand."


    Father interjected, "There is a good reason for this, broomsticks have many different charms and spell layered into them. One of the simplest is rising to the owner''s hand when called."


    His face brightened as he continued in what I called dad''s lecture mode, "As a broomstick get older, there is a chance that some of the charms and spells wear off. A good rule of thumb is calling the broomstick to your hand. If it works, then the broom is most likely fine. There have been plenty of wizards who hopped on an old broomstick and climbed into the sky only to fall when the charm stops working. That''s why you always should use the command before getting on a broom."


    I gulped and thought to myself, wtf, what do you mean most likely if I''m going to hop on a wooden stick and fly off into the sky. I want a little bit more of a guarantee than most likely.


    I set the broomstick on the ground and said, "But, this is a new broom, so it should be fine right."


    Uncle John chuckled mischievously, and claimed, "Not being 100 percent sure it''s gonna work, is half of the fun of flying."


    "It''ll be fine," my father soothed, "Now reach out with your hand and tell it to come up."


    A picture formed in my mind, I imagined the broom rising on my first command, just like Harry did, then I would soar through the air like a bird, the skies would be mine to command.


    I reached out and said, "Up." The broomstick did a convincing job of playing dead.


    After carefully nudging the broom with my foot, I looked at my dad and said, "You were right, we should always test a new broom before trying to find out if it''s defective, this broom is obviously broken."


    Uncle John started laughing at me. "What," I defended, "It''s clearly broken."


    Dad walked over and put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me, "It can take a while to get the hang of this, let''s try again.


    I decided to give it another try and said, "Up?"


    "You''re asking the broom when what you need to be doing is telling the broom what to do," my father explained.


    "Maybe he just doesn''t have what it takes to be a wizard," Uncle John mocked.


    Closing my eyes, I reached out and commanded, "UP."


    Instantly, the broom rose up and smacked my hand, with a grin on my face, I shot a victorious look at my uncle.


    Dad smiled at my expression and said, "Now hop on the broom, but don''t kick off the ground yet."


    I carefully followed my dad''s instructions, determined not to have the same type of flying experience as Neville did."


    "Good," dad intoned, coming up next to me with his broom, he continued, "Now what I want you to do is gently kick off with your feet.


    The broom rose into the air after I made a small motion with my feet, I shot him a nervous look as I hovered a few feet off the ground.


    Dad shot me an encouraging look and said, "Very good; now I want you just to get used to being off the ground."


    After a few minutes, I questioned, "I thought that this would be more uncomfortable, I can''t really feel the broomstick; it feels like I''m sitting on a cushion of air."


    John replied, "That would be the cushioning charm coming into effect, many wizards use brooms to travel long distances. Putting all of your weight onto a stick for a few hours would be extremely uncomfortable."


    My mother poked her head out the window and shouted, "Henry, I need you inside for a moment."


    Before heading inside, my dad turned and said, "Don''t do anything until I get back."


    I thought to myself gleefully, watch out world, now that I conquered gravity, there is no stopping me now. In response to my lofty thoughts, the universe decided that I was getting a big head, so it decided to play with me for a bit, and I began slowly rising into the air. I yelled towards my uncle, "WHY AM I GOING UP."


    As I made a hopping motion trying to force it back down to the ground, but was unsuccessful in doing, if anything that made it worse.


    Uncle John sarcastically answered, "You''re going upward because brooms are designed to fly in an upward fashion."


    Keeping a death grip on the broom, I retorted, "That isn''t very helpful."


    Who said I was trying to be helpful," Uncle John replied with a Cheshire cat smile.


    After I got the broom to stop rising around 20 feet off the ground, I shouted, "How am I supposed to get down from here."


    "You know how birds push their babies off trees to teach them to fly." "FLY BABY FLY." Uncle John mockingly yelled.


    It had never occurred to me before this moment, that my uncle was crazy, hell maybe my whole family is crazy. I mean, who thought that giving me a broomstick when I was five and leaving me to the tender mercy of a crazy uncle was good parenting.


    I decided to pull out the big guns, "I tell my mom," I threatened. For some reason, my threat only made him laugh harder. Unknown to me, inside the attic, the rest of my family watched me flail about in the air.


    ************************************************************


    "I feel like we should have told him that the bluebottle broom has an anti-falling charm put on it," Camille whispered to her husband while watching from the attic window.


    "He''ll be fine, once he gets over his initial fear, and starts controlling the broom" Henry comforted, "Besides, this is how our dad taught us how to fly, and everything worked out just fine."


    Camille tore her eyes off of her son floating in the sky and challenged, "Then why aren''t you out there doing it."


    Henry smirked and replied, "Because while I''m sure Alex will one day look back at this fondly, he has an incredible memory, and he sure knows how to hold a grudge."


    ************************************************************


    In the sky, after a few minutes of panic, the initial fear began to leave me, and I began to appreciate the view. Well, this isn''t so bad, I thought to myself.


    Seeing that I had somewhat calmed down uncle John shot up next to me and said, "That wasn''t so bad now was it."


    On the inside, I swore that one day I would have my revenge, and replied with clenched teeth, "Ya, it''s not so bad."


    "Alright, alright, I''ll show you how to control it. Broomsticks are controlled in two different ways. First, is direction, you use your hands and push the end of the handle where you want to go. To go up, pull back, to go down, push down, and to go left or right pull in the direction you want to go." Uncle John explained.


    "What if I just want to stay level" I quickly said.


    He replied, "That''s the easy part; just let go, your not gonna fall off if you do. The cushioning charm supports your entire lower body, so balance isn''t an issue."


    I had to send multiple commands to my fingers before they would loosen; it was like they didn''t believe my uncle''s words.


    After I removed the pressure on the broom, and it immediately stabilized. "Like this," I clarified.


    He continued, "Good, now speed is even easier to control. If you want to go faster lean forward, the lower you lean, the faster you go, and to slow down, all you have to do is sit back up. Now, let''s take it slow and do a few l.a.p.s."


    I learned a valuable lesson while flying. If you fly around with your mouth open, be prepared to swallow a bunch of bugs.


    After the flying lesson, I stopped and hovered around 100 feet off of the ground and admired the bird''s eye view of the house grounds. The red three-story brick estate was an impressive sight. In the back was a large glass greenhouse that I knew better to enter, inside were many of the plants that mom used in her potion-making. Some were relatively harmless, others were aggressive and could do a lot of damage if given a chance.


    In the front was a rarely used dirt road that leads to a paved road. A large iron gate prevented anyone from entering our property uninvited. On both sides of the gate was a large stone wall that stretched off in the distance.


    "Enjoying the view," John called out to me.


    I nodded and pointed to the sea of trees and asked, "How big is the Fawley property?"


    "Around a thousand acres or so, your grandmother''s house is on the other side of the forest. This land has been our family''s land for over a thousand years."


    He continued, "One of our ancestors was paranoid about a raid from the newly established ministry of magic, and so he made the whole property unplottable and set all sorts of concealment spells on the walls. Supposedly he built himself a vanishing tower where he could bunker down out there somewhere. When your dad and I were younger, we spent many hours looking for it, but we couldn''t find it; maybe you will have better luck."


    I swore to myself that one-day, that magic tower would be mine. I could already picture myself in the tower doing powerful magic and cackling madly.


    "All right, that''s enough for today; you still have a party to look forward to." Uncle John informed me.


    After heading inside, mother told me, "Go upstairs and get ready for your party, I invited many of our friends over, and they will be bringing kids your age to play."


    "But I don''t want to hang out with other kids, they''re so annoying," I responded.


    Mom and Dad looked at each other with concern in their eyes and had a nonverbal conversation. "It will be good for you, its time you met kids your age who aren''t family. We are concerned that you don''t have any friends your age to play with, this will be a good chance to meet some of the fellow wizards and witches that you may end up at Hogwarts with." Dad replied.


    "Fine," I gave in, not wanting my parents to continue to worry about my lack of interest in hanging out with children my age.

 Chapter 4 - Long Day

    As the day wore on, more wizards and witches arrived at our house. Some arrived on brooms, but most came through the floo network. Among their number were my three aunts from my mom''s side of the family. As they arrived within the fireplace, I noticed that they brought with them their gaggle of kids consisting of entirely of girls, nine of them to be exact. Decided that discretion was the better part of valor, I left the room in a hasty retreat, determined not to get volunteered to entertain my cousins.


    I retreated to my father''s study, where he and my uncle were debating with some old friends of theirs from Hogwarts. The subject was whether the Appleby Arrows or the Winbourn Wasps were the better quidditch team.


    I''m telling you the Arrows have got this next match in the bag, they have three good chasers, and their keeper is one of the best there is; the Wasps have no chance at all." Dad argued.


    "Rubbish," snorted a brown haired wizard, "The wasps have two world-class beaters who will prevent the Arrows chasers from scoring, and they have the better seeker."


    "Come off it, Amos, I wouldn''t call their seeker better, at most they are about even," dad retorted.


    Uncle John shot a smile my way and interjected, "Alright, let''s ask the little guy who''s better."


    Everyone in the room turned in my direction. Without saying a word, I pointed at my blue shirt with silver arrows that were always moving.


    "Of course he sides with the arrows, the poor boy has had them shoved down his throat his whole life," Amos scoffed.


    Uncle John winked at me and asked, "what are you doing in here with all these stuffy wizards? Go have some fun with some other kids; I''m sure some are running around here that are your age. Just don''t burn the place down."


    Amos moved a young boy with dark hair into view and piped up, "Speaking of which, this is my son, Cedric. He is about your age, why don''t you boys run along and see what sort of trouble you can find."


    I froze once I heard the name, I was not prepared to come face to face with someone from the books. I didn''t know how to respond. What do you say to someone who has been marked for death? Eventually, I stammered, "Nice to meet you. I''m Alex."


    Cedric gave a hesitant smile and replied, "Cedric."


    Not knowing what to say, I blurted out, "want to go see my egg."


    He raised an eyebrow in response and replied, "sure, why not."


    I motioned him to follow as I headed upstairs, carefully avoiding the attention of my French cousins who were running and driving the a.d.u.l.ts nuts. After making our way through the house and up the stairs to my room. I closed my wooden door behind me with a sigh of relief.


    I walked over to my bed and grabbed the big black egg and turned to Cedric, and said, "Check this out."


    Cedric came over, and I handed the egg to him, he ran his fingers over there strange patterns. He asked curiously, "What is it."


    "It''s a Lamussa," I gleefully responded.


    "Cool," responded Cedic.


    While studying the egg, my door burst open. Cedric and I jumped and nearly dropped the egg. Angered that I almost dropped the egg, I carefully set it back on the bed, and I turned on the intruder and yelled, "Get out."


    Breathing heavily by the door was a blond hair girl who turned and said, "Shhh, they may hear you."


    Confused, Cedric asked, "Who?"


    "Those little french monsters of mayhem," she retorted, "Now be quiet."


    I felt conflicting emotions within me, on the one hand, I wanted her gone, on the other, I had the feeling she would not go quietly, which may attract the attention of the monsters. Deciding that one more addition to the room was better than the rest of my cousins finding us, I sighed, "Fine, you can stay, lock the door behind you, and don''t touch anything."


    "Ooh, what is that," she said, looking at my bed.


    "It''s my Lamassu," I proudly said.


    "And that is," She questioned.


    Annoyed that she was not responded the way Cedric did and too embarrassed to admit I hadn''t the faintest clue what a Lamassu was, I dramatically said, "It a magical beast of great power."


    She smirked and asked sweetly, "what does it look like."


    Glaring balefully at her, I mentally added her to my list of nemesis. "Its kinda hard to describe their species," I said through gritted teeth.


    Meeting my eyes, she countered with a knowing grin, "You know, there is nothing wrong with not knowing everything."


    Somehow we ended up in a staring contest, Glaring at her strange purple eyes vowing to myself that I would die before I would let this little girl get the best of me.


    Interrupting our strange staring contest, Cedric, holding my book, Fantastic Beast And Where They Come From, said, "This book states that everyone is unique, they take many different forms, cats and bulls like creatures are most common. They also have wings, and sometimes they can even develop horns."


    After hearing about the strange species, I gave Cedric thumps up for coming to my rescue. I shot a triumphant look towards the girl, and haughtily said, "I told you it was hard to describe their species, I don''t know what it looks like until it hatches, because each one is unique."


    She looked at the pair of us suspiciously and huffed, "Fine, I was just saying."


    "So, what''s your name?" Cedric asked.


    "Anna Lancaster, What''s yours." She replied.


    Not quite ready to forgive being challenged, I grunted, "Alex."


    "Cedric Diggory," Cedric responded with a natural smile.


    "Wait, you said Lancaster, you wouldn''t happen to be related to Taylor Lancaster, who plays keeper for the Appleby Arrows, would you," I questioned.


    With a proud nod, she replied, "That''s my dad."


    I mentally erased her from my list of nemesis and casually asked, "Is your dad here today?"


    "No, my mom brought me, right now, dad is practicing for his next match."


    Mentally disappointed that I wouldn''t be meeting my favorite quidditch player, I asked, "Who is your mom."


    Anna''s face fell and quietly said, "Barbra is my mom. I think she is friends with your mom."


    "Does she have anything to do with potion-making," I queried.


    Anna carefully nodded


    "I thought her name sounded familiar; I heard my mom talking to my dad about her the other day."


    Anna narrowed her eyes and sneered at me, "Oh ya, and what did your mom say about my mom."


    Confused by her words, I replied, "Only out of all the master potion masters in England; she was one of the best. Why? What were you expecting."


    Not expecting my response, "oh," she responded in a small voice, "Ya, she is good at making potions."


    After a moment of uncomfortable silence, I changed the subject. "So is there any possibility of getting tickets to see the Appleby Arrows, they are my favorite quidditch team.


    "Maybe, I can always ask," Anna replied.


    All of a sudden, my mom banged on my door and raged, "What do you think you''re doing hiding in your room, I thought we had discussed you are getting to know some kids your age."


    Shooting an embarrassed look towards Cedric and Anna, I retorted, "I am hanging out with some friends."


    Not believing me, she tried to enter my room but wasn''t able to get past the locked door. After a moment of silence, the door was thrown open with a bang, she entered wand out and hair whipping about madly. Seeing that I did have company, her hair settled and said righteously, "Well, it''s nice that you''re up here with friends, but everyone else is wondering where the man of the hour is, so get your b.u.t.t downstairs or else."


    "Fine," I gloomily responded. Turning to Ceric and Anna, "Let''s go."


    Surprisingly the rest of the party wasn''t terrible; having Cedric and Anna by my side made the rest of the party go by in a flash. As people began to leave, a tall woman with blond hair came over and said, "Come on, Anna time to go."


    As she and her mother headed toward the fireplace, I called out, "Maybe sometime, Ced and I can come and meet your Dad."


    Seeing her mom''s nod of approval, she said, "Sure, it be fun." Then she shot me a sarcastic look and mockingly said, "Maybe you can bring your magical beast of great power along," and then she disappeared in a green flash of fire.


    Annoyed that she got the last word in I turned to Cedric and sighed "Girls,"


    "Girls," He agreed.


    Luckily, Cedric and his father were among the last to leave, as they were on their way out. I thanked Amos, "Thanks for getting my Lamassu approved."


    Winking at me, Amos replied, "whatever do you mean." And then he grabbed Cedric and disappeared with a crack.


    Later that night, I lied in bed, thinking over the day''s event. I had met people from the books, but instead of characters, they were real people. What was I supposed to do, should I tell them about their future and risk sounding like a crackpot. Hell, maybe me being here alters the future, perhaps this universe is only similar to the book and not 100 percent accurate. Deciding I would need more information before acting, I put it out of mind.


    Opening Fantastic Beast and Where They Come From, I turned to the sections on Lamassu''s. Lamassu''s are protectors and guardians. Upon birth, they will create a lifetime bond with the first creature or person that they see. They are highly territorial and protective of what they consider family. It''s has been confirmed that they can see through most disguises such as invisibility cloaks and polyjuice potions. They also seemingly can sense when another is directing hostile thoughts towards them; it is unknown how they can do so. The ability to sense danger makes them effective protectors and guardians; it is currently unknown how they can detect threats.


    Absorbed with reading the book, I didn''t notice the red glow emanating from the patterns on the egg. The egg seemingly annoyed that I wasn''t paying attention to it, rolled into me. The egg seemed to settle after I gave it my full attention.


    A long two hours later, and I was barely able to keep my eyes open when I heard the egg begin to crack. My sleepiness vanished into thin air, and it was all I could do to stay still. A small piece of the egg broke off, and a paw emerged. From there, the Lamassu sensed freedom was within its grasp, and it increased its struggle, which broke the egg into many pieces. A small dark bundle rolled out and landed in my hands.


    I brought it closer to my face to get a better look; it was catlike with black fur and tiger stripes made of gold, it''s wings were covered with dark midnight blue feathers tipped with silver upon them. Small little black nubs adorned its head, and it let out an adorable cry and bit me on the hand.


    "Och," not expecting to be bitten, I dropped the Lamassu on the bed and felt a wave of energy passed through me along with the knowledge that it was a female. Seemingly upset that I was no longer holding her, she mewled like a kitten.


    Realizing that she was most likely hungry, I called out, "Lola."


    With a loud crack, our house elf appeared next to the bed and bowed, "Yes, Master Alex."


    I hurriedly asked, "Do you have any food; I think she hungry."


    She smiled wildly, happy to be of service, and snapped her fingers. and a plate full of fish appeared on my bed, "Here you are, master Alex."


    The furry creature launched itself off my hands onto the plate and began devouring the fish and an incredible pace. When all the fish were gone, she ambled back over to my hands and curled up in my hands and began purring contentedly.


    Rubbing its head, I asked, "Now what should we call you little one." She c.o.c.ked her head and looked up at me with surprisingly intelligent green eyes.


    "Athena," I whispered, "You look like an Athena to me."


    Athena nodded contentedly, indicating her approval and promptly fell asleep. The next day I couldn''t wait to show my parents how awesome Athena was. It was then that I discovered if I so much as set her down, Athena began wailing at the top of her surprisingly loud lungs. On day one, it was adorable, but as time went on, I found it increasingly annoying.

 Chapter 5 - History

    The following week while sitting around our dinner table eating breakfast and playing with Athena, my mother declared, "It''s time for you to begin your basic schooling so you''ll be spending your mornings at your grandmothers."


    I protested, "But, I can already read and write, what more do I need to learn."


    Mother rolled her eyes, "There is always more you can learn, and it will be good for you to spend some time with her and out of this house."


    That''s a low blow, mom, I thought to myself. Deciding that I needed a new strategy, I countered, "But you said that I could start helping you with your potion making."


    She shook her head and responded, "I am about to begin brewing one of the most complicated potions there is, it takes over six months to brew, one mistake or slip up and the whole thing would be worthless. So I can''t afford any distractions whatsoever."


    Unable to help myself, I curiously replied, "What potion,"


    She smiled, sensing that she had successfully distracted me, "Felix Felicis, otherwise known as liquid luck. If I can pull this off, it will bring in so many galleons that I relax over the next few years."


    My jaw dropped, I remember that potion from the Half-Blood Prince, I didn''t expect that I would come into contact with one of the most incredible potions from the series. "Why don''t more wizards make the Felix potion. Having a bottle of luck in your pocket seems like a useful thing to have." I questioned.


    She replied with a proud look on her face, "Of course, everyone would like to have some, but I bet there are less than fifty potions masters in The United Kingdom who could brew the potion. Another consideration is the cost of ingredients, only wizards and witches who are very sure of their skill would try to make it, failure is too expensive. Not to mention, if you want to be able to sell your potion, you have to have your master potions license from the Ministry of Magic."


    Confused about why someone would need a license, I asked, "Why would you need a license to make the potion."


    "Not to make, to sell," my mother corrected. Sensing the question I was about to ask, she continued, "Every potion that is sold is required to have a magical stamp on it that is registered to the potion maker by the Ministry. When a potion maker registers with the Ministry, they receive the mark. Officially, it guarantees that the potion maker is a qualified potions master, and the potion is safe for consumption."


    "I am sensing a but coming," I replied


    She smiled and tossed my hair, "Yes, registered potion makers have to re-register every five years to continue selling their potions, the fee 100 galleons."


    An outraged expression appeared on my face; I demanded, "Why is it the Ministry''s concern if someone is selling potions. I thought that their sole purpose is to make sure that wizards obey the statue of secrecy. The license sounds like the government invented to make money."


    She smirked at my outrage and replied, "You are a Fawley through and through. Your father and uncle sometime go on and on about how the Ministry is constantly expanding its authority. Officially, It falls under their purview because if an incorrect brewed potion could theoretically break the statue of secrecy. All I will say on the subject is, would you want to drink a potion from someone you don''t know. At least with the license, you are somewhat secure in the knowledge that whoever made the potion knows what they are doing."


    After mulling over her word for a few minutes, I pointed out the flaw in that logic, "Couldn''t a potion master create his brand, and over time build trust with his customer base."


    Her eyes dancing with mirth, she smirked and responded, "Wouldn''t that be a good idea, but then the ministry would be out all of those hard-earned galleons."


    Deciding to shift the subject, I casually said, "Speaking of master potioneers, I met Anna Lancaster the other day, I think you are friends with her mom."


    "Yes, she is a very successful potion master." Mom replied.


    I continued, "She had a strange reaction when I talked about her mom. I think she assumed people didn''t like her mother for some reason."


    Mom sighed and said, "That''s because she is a squib. Most witches and wizards don''t like talking about squibs. One of the biggest fears in a wizard family is your child being a squib. Magic is such an everyday part of our lives; it can be difficult for squibs to remain in wizard society. Well, Barb wasn''t going to let the fact she had almost no magic stop her. She was able to convince her grandmother to teach her how to make potions. She has dedicated her whole life to be a potions master; it is what has made her one of the best potion masters in Europe. Anyways she had some trouble getting her license from the Ministry, some of the people who worked there had a problem with her being a better potion maker than they are. Not to mention, a successful potion master is a very lucrative career."


    "That couldn''t have been easy," I replied, not knowing what else to say, and glad that I didn''t mention that I thought that Anna was ashamed of her mom.


    "Now stop trying to delay your schooling and head over to your grandmother." Mother shooed me out of the dining room towards the fireplace.


    Grabbing Athena off the table, I made my way to the fireplace in the family room, while grumbling, "Fine, I''m going." After I made my way to the fireplace, my mother held out the glass bowl full of floo powder. Grabbing a handful and throwing towards the ground, I shouted, "Fawley cottage."


    A green fire containing no heat erupted from the ground surrounding me, which yanked me from my house''s fireplace and belched me out at my grandmother''s fireplace. Coughing from inhaling all the surrounding ash and smoke, I stumbled out of the brick fireplace thinking, Whoever invented the floo network is seven parts crazy and three parts genius. I mean what kind of wizard looks around and says oh well no one uses the fireplace for it''s intended purpose, I know let''s use it for transportation, so it doesn''t go to waste. As cool as it is, I swear, when I come of age, I will learn to apparate, so I don''t have to deal with all this ash and smoke.


    A few minutes later, I heard my grandmother''s voice, "head on back, dearie."


    As I made my way through the wooden cottage, I noticed all the pictures that covered the grey colored walls waving at me as I passed. Some were of my grandparents when they were young; others had my dad and uncle running around in them. I even saw one of myself; let me tell you there is nothing weirder than finding a picture of yourself as a baby waving to you.


    Finding my grandma in the back room, I noticed she had set up a two old desk sitting next to her with a pile of parchment and several books.


    She looked up and greeted me with a smile that all grandmothers develop. "Have a seat, and we''ll get started."


    Not wanting to sit through lessons about stuff I already know. So I bragged, "I have a near-perfect memory, it has helped me learn how to read and write, and even my numbers."


    Without missing a beat, she smiled, pointed towards the quill, and said, "Show me."


    I grabbed the feathered quill, dipped into the ink, and quickly wrote, Alexander Fawley, son of Henry and Camille Fawley, then I signed it and slid it over to her with a smug grin.


    "Tsk. Tsk" came from my grandmother as she looked over my parchment. Grabbing a quill, she quickly wrote something and slid the paper back towards me with a smile, "Now try again."


    Confused, grabbing the parchment, I looked at what she had written and saw in flawless calligraphy, Dolores Fawley, wife of George Fawley, and mother to Henry and John Fawley. Comparing the two styles was like comparing night to day, her''s looked like it belonged on an invitation from royalty, whereas mine looked like chicken scratch.


    After trying again, I slid the parchment across the table quickly trying to showcase my annoyance, Without so much as looking at it, she said, "When your words resemble mine perfectly, we can move forward." She looked me in my eyes and sweetly smiled "I''m sure a bright young man such as yourself will pick it up in no time."


    Oh grandma, what big eyes you have, Somehow grandmother''s smile had morphed into something much more sinister. After wincing at the hand cramps to come, I began writing.


    A few hours later, my grandmother, peaked her head back into the room and decided to take pity on me, "That''s enough for today."


    Standing up quickly, not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind, I bolted from the back room. She followed and made a peace offering as we made our way to the living room, "Come on, it''s time for lunch. Afterward, we can talk about anything you want."


    Later, as we sat around the living room with the grandmother sitting in her favorite yellow chair and drinking her tea, I blurted out, "So why do my dad and uncle hate the Nimbus Racing Broom Company?"


    A large sigh escaped her, setting her tea down, she responded, "That is a long and complicated story. Your grandfather was a brilliant wizard. Against his father''s wishes, he started Fawley''s Wonderous Enchantments. One of his biggest dreams was to design the fastest racing broom in the world. He dedicated his life to the project; then he met a fellow wizard by the name of Devin Whithorn.


    I gulped after feeling the room chill after she spoke his name, her eyes flashing dangerously. She continued, "Devin wasn''t a very talented wizard, but he had a good head for business and was able to get Fawley to bring him on as a partner. Jack would handle all the enchanting and designing, and Devin would manage the business. For several years the business flourished, not only in Diagon Alley, but Devin was able to take the business to greater heights. At one point, orders were coming in from all over Europe for their products."


    Taking a deep breath, grandmother closed her eyes, and with a bitter look on her face, she continued. "Then, one night, everything changed. When death-eaters killed Jack, in 1967, the whole business slid to a grinding halt. Suspiciously, the warehouse where Jack did most of the work burned down a few nights later. Then six months later, Delvin Whithorn opened a new company and released the Nimbus 1000 and advertised that he created the fastest racing broom in the world."


    Hearing the story aroused my suspicion, "Did Devin have anything to do with the death eaters killing grandfather?" I questioned.


    "Not that I could ever prove, his uncle had thrown a dinner party for some of the most influential members of the ministry, and Devin was in attendance." She responded bitterly.


    "How convenient for him," I sneered and continued. "But why was he able to get away with passing grandfathers work off as his own, shouldn''t you have been able to go to the Ministry of Magic."


    She replied, "I don''t know how, but he had somehow gotten Jack to sign over everything in a magical contract. Everything concerning the racing broom was compensation for making the business more successful. It was an overnight success, every professional quidditch team wanted the Nimbus series, and it quickly became the most in-demand brooms in the world. Nobody was interested in Jack''s story, and that is why we do not fly any Nimbus products in our family." She finished.


    Seeing tears form in my grandmother''s eyes, I decided right then and there, that Whithorn hadn''t heard the last from my family, they would pay dearly for every one of my grandma''s tears. I went over and gave her the biggest hug to comfort her, and so she couldn''t see the anger in my eyes.

 Chapter 6 - Adversaries

    The days began to blur, and before I knew it, I was eight years old and no longer an only child, my mother had given birth to adorable twin girls with black hair and blue eyes. Sitting at the dining room table, I watched my mother battle with the twins, they had just turned two and were being a textbook case on why two-year old''s, are known as the terrible twos.


    The twins seated and locked into their highchairs were putting my mother through hell. Towering over the girls, mother commanded, wearing her grey stained potions robe "Girls, eat your oatmeal."


    Sasha, the twin on the right side, responded with an eloquent, "No." Not to be outdone by her sister, Rebecca put her two cents in by sticking her tongue out and spitting.


    A smile strained my mother''s face, and she promised, "Not only are you going to eat it, but you are going to like it."


    Rebecca''s blue eyes widen as she couldn''t believe her mother said that. Deciding that mom needed a wake-up call, she locked eyes with Sasha, and they both grinned and pushed their bowls in opposite directions off the high tables.


    Mother''s smile froze in shock, and when then bowls hit the ground and cracked, her left eye started twitching. Blond hair erupting madly behind her, she pulled out her wand and angrily threatened, "You little brats, you''re going to stay in those chairs, until you eat." She waved her wand, and the bowls flew back up to the table. She grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of the twin highchair, determined not to move until the girls ate their breakfast.


    By the time I finished eating, the standoff was still going strong, with no end in sight. Deciding to help my mother, I walked over to the twins, giving my mom a sly look, I made a grabbing motion towards Rebecca''s breakfast and said. "You know, since you don''t want this, I guess I want it."


    Before I could take it, she grabbed her bowl, "Mine," she said, with an offended look on her face. She grabbed her spoon and began shoveling the oatmeal into her mouth as if afraid I would try again. Turning my head towards Sasha was all it took to convince her she was next, so she too began to eat quickly.


    With a bewildered look on her face, mom glanced at the girls eating and then back to me, then again to the girls. After a moment, her eyes shifted towards me suspiciously and accused me, "This is a conspiracy, and you are in on it."


    Snorting with laughter, I replied, "You just need to know how to speak their language."


    "I blame you; you never acted like this when you were little. If you had, I would be more prepared." She w.h.i.n.ed.


    Deciding to change the subject before it became my fault the twins were troublesome, I asked, "Wheres dad? The match begins at noon, and we are supposed to meet up with Cedric and Anna before the game."


    "I''m here," Dad''s voice rang out.


    After turning, for the first time since being reborn, I was struck speechless. Dad was trying to win an award that declared that he was the Arrow''s biggest fan. His long brown hair was pale blue with streaks of silver through it. His skin on his face was magically turned pale blue as well with two silver arrows on each cheek. Wearing a robe that had pictures of the entire team flying on brooms. He eagerly asked, "You ready for some quidditch."


    With a grin on my face knowing how much this was going to embarrass Anna, I eagerly begged, "Me too."


    With a knowing grin, he pulled out his wand, and began twirling and twisting it towards me, saying, "A little of this, and a lot of that, perfect."


    Grinning I turned to mom and asked, "How do I look,"


    She summoned a mirror and pointed it my way. Seeing my reflection, I grinned. My face mirrored my dad, I turned to the twins and asked, "What do you girls think?"


    Both of their eyes widen with fear as if realizing that their parents could turn them into different colors. Seeing their wide eyes, mother began cackling evilly and threatened, "Guess what happens the next time you don''t want to eat?"


    Turning to my dad, I asked, "Can we go already." Not about to be left behind, Athena climbed up the back of my clothes until she was perched on my shoulder as if to announce she would be coming as well.


    "Hold on, we''re waiting on Cedric and Anna to get here," He patiently reminded me.


    When Cedric arrived, he took one look at me and doubled over with laughter, "Oh, Anna is going hate you so much,"


    Smiling mischievously, I replied "Don''t you mean she''ll hate us,"


    When Anna arrived, and she saw all of us decked out in blue and silver, she blanched and stammered when she saw our grinning faces, "Don''t you dare."


    By the time we had all arrived at the stadium, all of us were covered in blue and silver. Glaring resentfully at me, Anna warned, "So help me, the instant I get my wand, your dead. Do you hear me, Alexander Fawley?"


    Wincing at her full use of my name, I knew I would need to watch my back in a few years. Trying to distract her from her anger, I consoled, "It''s not so bad, your dad is playing. I bet he gets a kick out of seeing you like this."


    Before she could respond, the announcer interrupted in a magically enhanced voice, "Here come the Appleby Arrows," our section in the stadium went nuts. Shooting into the sky announcing their arrival were silver arrows that exploded into blue sparks.


    In response to the silver arrows erupting into the sky, a loud buzzing came from the sea of black and gold from the other side of the stadium. The announcer continued, "Here come their fated rivals, The Wimbourne Wasps."


    Seeing her dad take up his post near the three goals, Anna''s personality changed from a well-behaved lady to a demon child, screaming at the top of her lungs, "DESTROY THEM ALL FATHER, MAKE THEM REGRET BEING BORN! MWAHAHAHA"


    Seeing her cackle madly, I shot Cedric a worried looked, remembering her early promise of vengeance.


    The game began with the arrow''s chasers grabbing the quaffle and scoring within the first minute. Silver arrows followed our cheers; however, the wasps recovered and began beaming across the field to even the score. The arrow''s chasers tried to intercept, but the wasp''s beaters were able to break apart their formation by sending the bludgers to intercept them and made their way to the goal passing the quaffle back and forth. But, just as they made the shot, Anna''s dad was able to block it. Anna, Cedric, and I cheered as loud as we could.


    The match ended abruptly; thirty minutes later, the score was 80 to 10 with arrows in the lead, when the wasp''s seeker dove towards the ground, with the arrow''s seeker right on his trail. Luckily, a stray bludger caught the wasp''s seeker on the leg, snapping it, and he crashed towards the ground, and the arrow''s seeker caught the snitch. The game came to an end with the announcer the arrow''s victory at 230 to 10. Stunned that the match ended so soon, we looked at each other and started celebrating.


    While waiting for Anna''s father outside the stadium, the four of us were discussing the match. When a mocking voice rang out, "Fawley, it''s good to see you." My father''s hand that was on my shoulder tighten in response.


    Turning in the direction of the mocking voice, I saw an older man in his 40s approach our little group in a swagger. He was wearing an immaculate black suit with; golden broomstick cuff links adorned his sleeves. His black hair was slicked back into a ponytail, and his face, a small goatee, hid a weak chin. But his eyes were piercing black, full of intelligence and ruthlessness.


    I watched his eyes move from my father, over to my friends, and then come to rest on me. As his eyes met mine, my hair stood up, and Athena''s tail wrapped protectively around my throat, and she hissed a warning. An oily smile appeared on his face as he turned his attention to my father and sneered. "So, John, how is the old business coming along?"


    In a tightly controlled voice, Dad responded, "Everything has been going well as could be expected, Whithorn."


    He nodded and replied condescendingly, "I am surprised that you were able to keep it afloat after I left, Old Jack was a great wizard, but a terrible businessman and shopkeeper. It didn''t surprise anyone when the warehouse burned down. Nothing but sloppy management."


    After hearing him insult my grandfather, my hands clenched in anger, turning white from the lack of blood. Sensing that something was wrong, Cedric and Anna closed in around me as if they would somehow shield me from this man''s words.


    I saw my father, who I had never seen once act in anger, twitched his hand towards the pocket that kept his wand. Knowing that he had struck a chord within my father, Whithorn smiled.


    Wanting to defend my family''s honor, I replied scathingly, "I don''t think he was a terrible businessman, just a bad judge of character. After all, he wasn''t able to see you for the rat you are."


    Whithorn''s eyes snapped to mine, seemingly looking for some knowledge within them, and after a moment. He smiled and replied, "What an accurate choice of words, young man. A bad judge of character is indeed a great way to describe old Jack." He paused dramatically and continued, "Why else would he have been running around with he-who-must-not-be-named."


    Shocked, and not knowing what to say about this bombshell, I turned to my father. Only to see his blue face beginning to turn red in anger.


    "HOW DARE YOU," my father bellowed, pulling out his wand.


    Whithorn remained unmoved, by my father''s actions, "Just try it, Fawley," he hissed, you know who my uncle is and what he is capable of doing.


    Before anyone could make a move, a voice rang out, "Now what seems to be the problem here."


    The tension seemed to break as everyone glanced towards the sound, everyone seeing Taylor Lancaster striding confidently in his pale blue quidditch robes. His dark brown hair sleeked with sweat from the match. Taking in the scene, he paused, his friendly brown eyes found his daughter. Suddenly remembering where we were, my father put away his wand swallowing his anger.


    Delvin Whithorn''s expression turned on a dime, as he replied smoothly, " Mr. Lancaster, we''re just having a bit of fun, no harm done. Congratulations on a match well done, if you ever need a new Nimbus, don''t hesitate to look me up." Turning to leave, he shot us a smirk and swaggered off.


    Anna''s father, watched him leave, a puzzled expression on his face. Turning his face back to his daughter only now did he seem to realize that her skin and hair were dyed blue and silver. His eyes dancing with mirth he laughed, and teased, "Anna, seeing that you are such a big fan. From now on, before every match, I''ll turn you blue and silver."


    Cedric and I began snorting in laughter; Anna shot me a vicious look while stamping on my foot. "Hey, why are you only attacking me," I grumbled.


    Seeing our antics, our parents began laughing. "Let''s head home, so we can go give your mom the good news," Taylor interjected.


    Upon entering my room, I sat at my desk, pondering everything I knew about my grandfather. Was he a death eater, why would he have been a supporter of Voldemort. No one else in our family seems to hate muggles, I mean the ministry isn''t very popular with our family. But I have never seen any indication in our family that would explain him being a Voldemort supporter. However, we are an old pure-blood family; maybe he was a death eater.


    Unable to make heads or tails of the situation, I turned to Athena, who was lying contentedly on my bed and asked, "What do you think, was grandfather a death eater?" Ignoring my question like it wasn''t worth responded too, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.


    By the time night had fallen and no closer to an answer to when I started, I decided to confront dad about the truth. Knowing that I would probably find dad in his study, I headed in that direction. Pausing at the door, I got a good look at my father brooding in his favorite chair with a glass of brandy. Walking in, and sitting across from dad I softly questioned, "Is it true,"


    With a heavy sigh, he responded, "It''s not that simple,"


    With a stubborn look on my face, I argued, "Yes it is, either he supported he-who-must-not-be-named, or he didn''t."


    Meeting my eyes, he replied, "When he-who-must-not-be-named first rose to power, do you think he went around holding a sign that said I''m a dark evil wizard. No, he was persuasive, he knew just the right things to say to bring him support. A lot of people like to forget, but at one time, a lot of wizarding families supported him. He has a lot of supporters until he revealed his true colors."


    "So that makes it ok," I replied, feeling disgusted.


    "Let me finish," my father angrily interrupted. He continued, "To understand everything, you have to step back in time and look at what allowed he-who-must-not-be-named, rise to power. Most of what happened can be traced back to the signing of the International Statute of Secrecy. It was never popular among a lot of old pure wizard families, but after the families of Muggle-borns and half-bloods began getting attacked in religious fervor. Some wizards put their heads together to think of a solution. The solution was the Statute of Secrecy, and to enforce the Statute, the Ministry of Magic was formed. Every region created its version of a government, and all of a sudden, many wizards who previously answered to no one but themselves found themselves underneath a government they did not want."


    I interjected, "How did the wizards regulate themselves before the ministry was created? and how does the ministry being set up, lead to some wizards hating muggles and muggle-borns wizards."


    He replied, "Each region had a small wizard council, but mostly wizards governed themselves." He continued, "As to how the statute and the ministry led to some wizards hating muggles and Muggle-borns. There are several reasons, but it mostly has to do with the loss of power. Before the ministry old wizard families ruled like kings, they answered to no one. Then one day, a group of half-blood wizards and muggles-borns got together with some pure-bloods and decided that all wizards everywhere will have to obey this new law that was passed and to enforce it they created the Ministry of Magic. Needless to say, not everyone was impressed. However, they couldn''t go against the majority, and every time the ministry expands its power, adds a new tax, or make an obscure new law that prevents wizards from doing something that they previously were allowed to do, it only made things worse. This all lead to some wizards to disliking muggles, and some wizards hating them, after all, had it not been for all the muggle attacks, wizards wouldn''t have to go into hiding, and the ministry wouldn''t have been created."


    "But that still doesn''t explain the hatred of muggle-born wizards," I interjected, not entirely convinced.


    He thoughtfully considered my statement and replied, "Well, muggle-born wizards often bring in new ideas to our society, and that isn''t always popular. For instance, the idea of the Hogwarts train was the idea of a muggle-born wizard. Before then, there was no set way for wizards to travel to Hogwarts, most either flew or traveled to Hogsmeade, via the floo network. After the train was made, some of the pure-bloods raised a fuss complaining. They didn''t want their children on that muggle contraption. To these wizard families, the muggle-born wizards represent the muggles intrusion in our world."


    Seeing that I nodded my understanding, he continued, "Now when he-who-must-not-be-named first started gathering supporters, he wasn''t disparaging the muggle-born wizards. He started off whispering that the ministry shouldn''t have so much control over wizards, that it was time for wizards to return to the past. He was a very persuasive speaker and was able to gain a lot of support. Our family has never been huge admirers of the ministry, so my dad began attending some gatherings. Now what I do know is that at one meeting, he-who-must-not-be-named message shifted, no longer was it about wizard freedom, but instead about muggle suppression and casting muggle-born wizards down. According to what I found out, my father openly disagreed with he-who-must-not-be-named argument and stormed out with about ten other wizards. My father and the others were never seen again.


    In a small voice, I asked, "how do you know what happened at the meeting."


    With a heavy sigh, he replied, "We didn''t know anything for the longest time. One day dad just didn''t come home. It wasn''t until three years later that we found out anything when my father''s best friend came to our house in tears. He was at the meeting as well, but he had been put under an unforgivable curse called the Imperius curse, it can completely control someone will. They had him ambush and assassinate his best friend. It was only after the death eater who had been controlling him was killed that he regained his freedom."


    "So why don''t you use his testimony to clear grandfather''s name," I challenged.


    Closing his eyes in resignation, my father responded, "He killed himself less than a week later, he couldn''t take the guilt of everything he had done while being controlled."


    Not knowing how to handle all this information, I sat silently across from my father, watching the logs in the fireplace burn down. Before I left for the night, my father reminded me, "Don''t ever let anyone say that our father supported you know who. He was simply one of the first wizards to challenge him and was killed for it. You should be proud of him, for being able to stand up and speak out against him, many wizards were too afraid to do so."


    Before I left, I questioned, "If all that is true, then was Whithorn involved with the death eaters as well."


    "From everything, your uncle and I have learned he wasn''t. We still don''t know how he got our father to sign that magically binding contract. I believe the fire that burned down your grandfather''s warehouse was that bastard way of profiting from chaos of our father''s disappearance." Dad responded. "Now, get your b.u.t.t to bed before your mom finds out your still up."


    As I returned to my room, my mind still going over everything I had learned. I made a vow to myself that no matter what, I would get to the bottom of Whithorn''s involvement, and once I found out the truth, he would pay dearly for everything he put my family through.

 Chapter 7 - Tower

    Over the next couple of years, I continued with my education, most of the time I spent at my grandmother''s was in her library. While there, I focused on Reading her books on history and theories on basic magic. However, trying to learn magic from a book with no instruction is like trying to learn to play the piano listening to someone else play. You may get a few keys down, but mostly you''re just fumbling in the dark. To really learn how to do magic, you need proper instruction. A book can''t just give you the instruction you need. All the a.d.u.l.ts in my life refused to give me lessons on it, saying that I would have plenty of time to learn magic at Hogwarts.


    The one exception was potion-making; I would constantly bug my mom to let me watch her work. While she always acted exasperated, but I think she secretly loved that I took such an interest in potions. As I got older, she began letting me into her potion''s room to watch her work. During which she began to trust me more, and she let me help her prepare the ingredients. It was then I learned why many wizards had trouble with potions, ingredients had to be prepared exactly, any deviation would lead to the potion not being made correctly. On top of that, being able to maintain focus and attention to detail, for extended periods, can be very mentally draining.


    Once or twice a week, I would head through the vanishing cabinet in our living room to my uncle''s ship. I began learning Arabic from my aunt. It was always interesting on their boat; they traveled all over the place. Jealous that I started learning Arabic, my mother insisted I learn French as well.


    When I had free time, I began trying to experiment with underage magic or wandless magic; I found it about as easy as herding cats. Wandless or underage magic is unpredictable; sometimes something would happen, when I was least expecting it, other I would nearly pass out from trying to get my magic to activate.


    Persisting with my experiments, I discovered a few things that helped. For one thing, underage magic is not about doing spells; you can shout a spell until you are blue in the face, and nothing will happen. Underage magic or wandless magic is more about need and then letting magic fulfill that need.


    By the time I was 10, I had mixed results when experimenting, most of the time I could get something magical to happen when I wanted it to, but often the magic would do what I needed in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Deciding that being able to make magic happen at commanded at my age, even though it was unpredictable, should mean that I was rather talented at magic. However, it''s difficult to judge my progress in magic without other examples to compare my control over underage magic.


    I remember from the books, that while Voldemort was able to use underage magic at will, around my age, but he also was only able to barely control it. Even at the height of their powers, Dumbledore and Voldemort both choose to continue using their wands for magic, only using wandless magic for small magics.


    From everything I read on wandless magic, the best analogy I can think to compare it to is to imagine magic being like a body of water. Next to the water is a large hole you want to fill, wandless magic is like trying to use a bucket to fill the hole with water, it can be done, but not very efficient. Whereas using a wand would be like sticking a firehose into the water and having it blast out the other side to fill the hole.


    Sitting on the edge of my bed, staring intently at a red quaffle resting on my desk. Arms stretched out before me, I commanded, "Come." Athena''s head perked up, thinking I was speaking to her. After seeing my stare was directed towards the quaffle, she huffed her annoyance and sprawled out on the desk. In a louder voice, I demanded, "Get over here." The quaffle flew across the room towards my face, after catching it and raising it to the heavens, I declared to Athena in my best super trooper impersonation "I am all that is man." She gave me an unimpressed look and flicked her tail at me, as if to say, I bet you can''t do it the same way again. Determined to repeat the experiment, so that I could try and attain the same results, I set the quaffle back on the desk and tried again.


    Focusing on my d.e.s.i.r.e, in a dramatic voice, I whispered, "Come to me," the quaffle disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared in my hands. I sighed, "Not what I meant, but I''ll take it." Trying once more, I said "Come to me," seeing the quaffle refuse to move, I forcefully commanded, "Get over here," this time the whole desk shot across the floor and after bumping into my bed the quaffle rolled off into my l.a.p. Looking at Athena and said, "That''s counts." Athena shot me a reproachful look, annoyed that I interrupted her nap. She got up, stretched her wings, and jumped off the desk, gliding out of the room, she shot me one final look before disappearing.


    Deciding I was done for the day, trying to force magic to conform to my wishes, Throwing on my coat and grabbing my broom, I headed downstairs planning on heading out to fly around our property, on my ongoing quest to discover our families mysterious lost tower. The instant my foot hit the ground floor; my mother''s voice rang out from the bas.e.m.e.nt, "Oh Alex, I need you." Inwardly complaining, I swear it''s like she has a sixth sense about these things.


    Heading to my favorite rocky hill, I landed with Athena following closely. Pulling a rolled out map out of my coat and spreading it on the ground. The map showed the boundaries of our family land. When I decided to search for the tower several years ago, I drew a grid search pattern on the map. As I searched each section, I would cross them out, so I wouldn''t keep searching in the same area. Glad that I had Athena with me since Lamassu''s can see through magic, she should be able to give me a heads up if she sees the tower.


    Picking a new grid on the map, I grabbed my broom, turned to Athena patting my shoulder, and said, "Come on, girl, you know what to do." Bleating cheerfully, she launched her self towards my shoulder. Once she established herself there, I complained to her, "You know, for someone who has wings, you sure do love people carrying you." Deciding that my comment didn''t merit a response, she chuffed and licked her paw pointedly ignoring me.


    "Alright, I''m sorry," I apologized. Choosing to ignore my apology, Athena turned her head, refusing to look at me. Knowing her weakness to flattery, I added slyly, "Obviously a creature as beautiful and magnificent as you deserves to be carried around." Reaching up, I scratched the base of her horns, knowing that was her weak spot. Decided to accept my statement magnanimously, she rubbed her head against my cheek and purred her approval.


    Now that Athena had forgiven me, I intoned, "All right, you know what to do, if you see any magic, give me a sign. Getting on my broom, and heading off to search the new area I choose, stayed about five feet off the ground and went at a pace only slightly faster than walking.


    Almost three hours later, exhausted and ready to call it a day. Athena let out a yowl, indicating she saw something. Adrenaline flooded my body, chasing away the exhausted and looking at Athena, staring off towards my right. After heading in the direction where she was staring; we came upon the entrance of a steep ravine.


    "You have got to be kidding me," I complained. Looking into the shadowy ravine that had fog so thick I couldn''t see the ground. Looking at Athena, in a loud voice, I declared, "I''m not going in there, I''ve seen how this plays out. Going into a place like that is how characters die in the movies, a person sees a spooky place, and instead of running away, they ignore all common sense and head inside, where they are inevitably killed or eaten by something."


    Shooting me an unimpressed look at my rant, Athena scoffed, "Fine," I grumbled. "Just so you know, if I go down, you go down with me." We carefully inched our way into the ravine, a few feet off the ground. The further we went in, the walls became steeper, reducing the amount of light shining down. After a few twist and turns, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, our family coat of arms. Nudging Athena, I whispered, "That has to be it." Emerging slightly from the rock wall was a hawk with piercing eyes. Surrounding the hawk were glowing stars.


    After running my fingers over the stars admiring the spell work which created them, I reached for the hawk; it had so much detail to it, one could see individual feather strands on the feathers. As soon as my hand neared, The stone hawk seemed to come alive eyes glowing, and bit me, drawing blood.


    Shaking my hand, I cursed, "Merlin''s beard, that hurt." Seemingly satisfied with the offering of blood, the hawk settled back down. Next, to the coat of arms, glowing light in the shape of a door appeared.


    Reaching out towards the light, my hand sank through the glowing stone like it wasn''t there at all. Taking a deep breath, I went through the glowing door. Passing through felt like walking through a wall of water, but not getting wet.


    Darkness greeted me on the other side, I called out tentatively, "Hello, is anyone here" Responding to my voice, seven glass lamps bolted to the walls lit up. Looking around, I found myself in a large circular stone room, with dust covering the stone floor, I jumped as a booming voice rang out all around me, "INTRUDER, HOW DARE YOU BREACH THE INNER SANCTUM OF THE FAWLEY FAMILY. BEGONE, FROM THIS PLACE, OTHERWISE I SHALL DESTROY YOU."


    Defending myself, I called out, "How can I be an intruder, when I am a Fawley."


    The voice paused, considering my statement. Then rang out, "Come up here, boy, let me get a good look at you."


    Looking around and not seeing anyone, I questioned, "Where are you."


    Responding in a tone that seemed to question my intelligence, "At the top, of course, get on the platform."


    Seeing a raised platform, I went and stood on it. After a moment, the platform rose off the ground into the air. Passing through an opening in the ceiling, we began to rise. After going through the opening, another floor came into sight. Not stopping, it continued, keeping count of the floors we passed, I noticed we came to a stop on the seventh floor.


    Stepping off, the platform, the voice rang out again, "Good boy, now come over here and let me take a good look at you." Glancing in the direction of the voice, It was emanating from a painting on the wall, next to a stone chair raised several feet off the ground. A suspicious person might even call the chair throne-like. On the top of the throne rested a hawks head, extending from the back of the throne were wings, and the armrest ended with hawks talons. It sat there, intent on intimidating all who came before it.


    Trying to draw my attention from the throne, "Ahem," the painting coughed. Turning my attention from the throne to the painting, and seeing a wild looking wizard wearing black robes on the wall, His long-dark hair streaked with silver was wild and untamed framing his hawkish face. Seeing that my steely grey eyes matched his own, he grinned and said, "I''m glad to see Fawley blood still runs true."


    After meeting his gaze for a moment, I questioned, "Who are you."


    Smirking and puffing up his shoulders, as if he couldn''t wait to inform me, he proudly replied, "Anton Lambert Fawley, a former member of the high wizard council, creator of the tower." His voice trailed off after seeing that I didn''t recognize the name.


    "How could you not know who I am, I built this tower," He complained.


    "Ya, but no one has ever actually found the tower." After seeing his downtrodden expression, I added, "If it makes you feel better the tower has always been a family legend. Kids in our family have been looking for this tower for hundreds of years."


    "So why didn''t you tell anyone where it was," I inquired.


    "Hmph, I would have, unfortunately, I died soon after completing the tower in 1710. I still can''t believe that it took so long for one of my descendants to find the entrance to the tower." He huffily replied.


    Waving my hand in front of the painting, I angrily asked, "What the hell was with that stupid bird biting me."


    His face brightening, "Ah, that was one of my better ideas, when the hawk detects Fawley blood through biting, the portal to the tower will open." Wagging his bushy eyebrows, and giving me a hopeful expression, that clearly wanted me to ask what would happen if someone who wasn''t of our line got bit.


    Rolling my eyes at his expression, I asked, "And what would have happened if I wasn''t a Fawley?"


    Beaming, he responded, "I''m so glad you asked, if someone not of the family line tries to enter, the portal opens to an enclosed room, around 500 feet below the solid rock."


    "Couldn''t they just apparate out of the room," I questioned.


    Replying with a sinister grin, "Not with the enchantments I placed on the room. Mwahahaha."


    Hearing him cackle madly, I realized that this guy, had a few screws loose. Deciding to change the topic, I asked, "So how did you hide the tower so well. I can''t even count how many hours I spent flying over our property looking for it."


    "One of the many enchantments I laid upon the tower made the tower look like a tree and what better way to hide a tree other than in a sea of trees."


    I conceded, "That is rather clever."


    Proud that I had admired his work, he eagerly continued, "That isn''t even half of it, I spent over a decade, turning this tower into a fortress able to defend our land. Every floor has been specifically enchanted to make sure; our family could survive almost indefinitely in the tower."


    "Were you the one who wrapped our property in the stone wall," I questioned.


    "Yes, that is merely the first layer of defense, Pointing at a round table a few feet away, look there boy."


    Glancing at the table, I noticed that the surface of the table was a map that showed our entire property, interestingly there were even a few glowing dots shown on the map, As if sensing my question, he informed me, "The white lights represent people on our property, it makes it easy to see intruders."


    Rolling my eyes at his paranoia, "Just who were you expecting to assault you."


    Muttering to himself, he grumbled, "You can never be too prepared."


    Curious I asked him, "How am I supposed to get out of here,"


    "That''s easy all you have to do is become master of the tower; then you can easily come and go as you please." Pointing to a ring that was on the tip of one of the talons protruding from the armrest. "All you have to do to become the master, is put on the ring on and the tower will be yours to command, that is if you are worthy."


    With an apprehensive look at the ring, "What happened if I''m not worthy," I asked.


    Anton smirked, "Nothing permanent."


    Deciding that it was worth the risk, I reached out and pulled the ring off. The ring had a rectangular topaz stone on top, stamped into the stone was our families coat of arms. Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes not knowing what to expect and slid it on to my right ring finger.


    After nothing happened, his voice rang out, "Mwahaha, you should have seen your face." Anton started laughing so hard he started rolling around on the ground within his painting.


    "So, how does this ring work," I asked, annoyed at his antics.


    After recovering, he replied, "With the ring, the tower will recognize you as the master, and you will have access to all of its functions."


    With a sinking feeling in my gut, I asked hopefully, "I don''t suppose you have a book listing of all its functions."


    Offended at the question, he indigently replied, "Of course not, a book could be stolen and used against you. That''s what I am here for, I left my painting to advise the master of the tower, I know everything about this place. I even stuck a permanent sticking charm to the painting to make sure no one can remove me."


    Grumbling to myself, Of course, the crazy wizard made sure no one could remove him. However, a thought occurred to me, so I clarified, "You said you advise only the tower master right."


    "Of course, I consider it my duty to help the master of the tower succeed in their plans."


    Sensing that I had finally found a willing teacher, I pulled out the enchanted journal I had gotten for my fifth birthday. After whispering the password, the pages began to fill with questions, thoughts, and ideas I had written over the past five years. With a wolfish grin on my face, I said, "I have so many ideas and plans, that I need to discuss with someone."


    With a knowing smile on his face, he said, "Well then, my young master, let''s begin."

 Chapter 8 - Knowledge

    Relaxing on the hawk throne, grateful that Anton had added the cushioning charm to make the chair more comfortable. Tapping my fingers thoughtfully on the cover of my journal, starting with the question I considered most important, I questioned, "Is it possible to change the future?"


    Taken aback at the questions, Anton narrowed his eyes and studied the serious look on my face and carefully responded, "That depends on what type of knowledge of the future you have. For the most part, knowledge of the future comes in two different varieties, Prophecies and visions."


    Confused, I asked, "Aren''t those the same thing."


    Shaking his head, he clarified, "There are huge differences between prophecies and visions. A vision is about a possible future, if you know what''s coming, you can begin to make changes, but you have to remember, the more you change, the more the outcome is changed as well. It could even change to the point where you have no idea what is going to happen. On the other hand, a prophecy is different; it''s impossible to change a prophecy."


    "But, if you know the future, shouldn''t you be able to circ.u.mvent the prophecy." I stubbornly argued.


    Shaking his head, he responded, "That''s not how it works, look a vision can be changed because it is only one possible future based on people''s most likely actions, but there are still many different choices people could make that could lead to a different outcome. A prophecy is only issued when every possible future leads to a certain event. No matter what choice you make, the ending is always the same. That is why prophecies are rare. Think about how many different choices people make. Now imagine that every possible path leads to the same conclusion. That is why it''s impossible to change prophecies."


    Nodding my understanding, I clarified, "So if I theoretically had knowledge of some deaths of people I wanted to save, I would need to wait till the last minute to save them. Otherwise, if I take action too early, the future could change in such a way that I would have no idea what was going to happen."


    He shrugged and replied, That would be your best bet, but trying to change the future can be frustrating at best, there has been plenty of wizards, who drove themselves mad trying to manage the future."


    Opening my journal to the first page, I found three names staring back at me, Cedric Diggory, Sirius Black, and Albus Dumbledore. I knew there were others in the sixth book that Voldemort and his followers killed, but for the life of me, I couldn''t remember their names. While my memory of this life was nearly perfect, the memories of my previous life have been fading, it''s like trying to remember a dream, its easy to remember the dream, but the details become fuzzy.


    The most important name on my list is Cedric''s name, if I can''t save my best friend, then what the hell is the point of knowing about the future. As much as I would like to help Sirius get out of prison, I can''t risk changing anything that will put the knowledge of the future at risk. Otherwise, Wormtail will kill Cedric in our sixth year during the Triwizard tournament.


    Burying my guilt towards Sirius, I consoled myself that I would take action to make sure he didn''t die early. Realizing that I hadn''t spoken anything for several minutes, I moved on to other topics that I needed to be clarified.


    Deciding to tackle a problem that I had been trying to think of a solution for, I asked, "Do you know anything about the magical trace that gets put on underage wizards when they start school?


    Stroking his beard eyes twinkling, he replied, "Ah, the trace, it was a controversial topic in my day, the trace was why I resigned from the council. That''s when I saw the writing on the wall; the council was changing from almost no interference in wizarding lives to hexing and tracking our children. A few years after I resigned, the council was dissolved, and the Ministry took its place, and I''ll bet it''s only gotten worse. Although even I have to admit, they figured out a clever way to implement to hex."


    Wanting to avoid the trace if possible, I asked eagerly, "How does it get put on?"


    Smirking at me, he taunted, "I''ll give you a hint; it''s something that every underage wizard goes through. Let''s see if you can guess what it is."


    Running over everything, I''ve learned about this world, both from the books and over everything I''ve learned over the last ten years. I guessed, "Does it happen when you buy your first wand."


    Grinning at me, he replied, "Not a bad guess, but no, it has to do with your invitation to Hogwarts. The invitation is a magically binding agreement when you send the reply that you will be attending, you must sign your name. That is how the trace gets attached. Every wizard must be very careful when signing magical doc.u.ments; if a hex or a curse is attached, it is exceedingly difficult to break. The reason why it''s so difficult is that if someone willingly signs their name to something, it allows the magic to sink deep within them. Besides, I imagine that if you can break the trace, the Ministry would find out almost immediately, the better way would be to trick it somehow temporarily."


    Seeing my disgruntled stare, he consoled me, "But I don''t think you need to worry about the trace too much, It is mainly used to track magic out in the muggle world. As long as you are on our property, they wouldn''t be able to tell it was you that cast the spell."


    We continued to speak over questions and ideas that I had until I realized that I had been gone from home for most of the day, and my mother was probably about to send out a search party. Reassuring Anton that I would be back soon, I left the tower to head home.


    In the following months, I spent every free moment I had at the tower. One of my favorite spots in the tower was on the third floor. On the floor was a library containing Anton''s collection of books. While I was glad to be able to read more books containing magic, most were useless without a wand. What good was a book of spells, that required a wizard to have a wand?


    Before I knew it, the fall of 88 had arrived, and I turned 11, knowing that Hogwarts was less than a year away. I redoubled my efforts at trying to learn all I could, it was slow going, but I was confident that I would probably be one of the most prepared first-year students to attend Hogwarts in a while.


    A few weeks after my birthday, I was watching the twins run around the house. They never seemed to run out of energy. Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turned to see my father standing behind me. He made a motion with his head, indicating I should follow him.


    In a low voice, he said, "You know, you''ll be leaving us next year for Hogwarts, So I was hoping to spend more time with you before you left. It seems like I''ve barely seen you over this last year. I was hoping you might want to start coming to the workshop with me."


    A pang of guilt flashed through me, regarding how much time I''ve spent at the tower lately.


    He continued, "I know you normally spend your mornings with either your grandmother or your mom learning. But, I thought that it''s high time for me to do my part in your education. No son of mine isn''t going to excel at charm-work and enchanting." After looking around to make sure Leaning in close, he whispered, "Your mother and I have a little bet going on about what will be your favorite subject, charm-work, or potions. She keeps on bragging about how much of a head start she has, considering that she has spent years teaching you all about potions. But I''m confident that my workshop will lure you into the wonderful world of enchanting, by the time I''m through showing you how everything works, I sure potions will seem rather tame."


    Ecstatic that I would finally be allowed to go to the workshop where he did all his charm work. I eagerly responded, "Nothing would make me happier; I have always wanted to see how you make everything in the shop."


    The next day at breakfast, mom eyed me suspiciously, while dad smugly sipped his coffee. The twins, oblivious to the silent competition going on between mom and dad, started complaining that they didn''t want to start schooling with grandmother. I winced, feeling sorry for them, as their hands were destined to cramp up, trying to meet grandmother''s calligraphy standards.


    When breakfast was finished, we used the floo network to travel to Fawley Wondrous Enchantments in Diagon Alley. The front of the shop was full of enchanted items, on one side of the shop where larger items like magical tents, vanishing cabinets, school trunks enchanted with various spells woven into them. On the other were smaller, more delicate pieces, such as mirrors, clocks, and other small household items.


    Seeing the front of the shop was always exciting, but I had never been to the bas.e.m.e.nt where he enchanted everything. Heading downstairs, we came to a massive steel door containing our family''s crest. He pulled out his wand and tapped the stars seven times in what seemed like a random pattern. Once he finished, the door swung open, showing a huge rectangular workshop. Tables lined the walls, full of items, and knickknacks that he was working on.


    The middle of the workshop was empty except for a table in the very center, surrounding the table was a large circle etched into the stone floor. After studying the strange circle for a moment, I turned to my dad and asked, "What is the circle for."


    Seeing what my attention was focused on, He responded, "That a protective warding spell I cast so that I can experiment with new spells and enchantments inside safely. You have to be careful when doing experimental enchantments; if you mess up your charm work, there is a chance for the results to be rather explosive."


    Eager to see how objects were enchanted, I asked, "Are you working on anything new right now."


    Popping open his briefcase, he reached in and pulled out some old parchment and replied."Well, that''s what I was hoping to show you, recently at your grandmother''s, I came across some old drawings of your grandfather''s work that he had been working on outside the warehouse."


    Looking over the parchment, I saw several sketched broomstick designs on the parchment. Confused, I asked, "I thought all grandfather''s work had burned up in the fire or had been claimed by Whithorn."


    In a somber tone, he replied, "I think that these were some ideas for future designs that he drew at home but never got to take them to the warehouse. This may have been one of the last things my father worked on. I was hoping that we could work on it as a project as father and son."


    In my mind, I began imagining how we were finally going to take down Whithorn and the Nimbus Racing Company, finally getting revenge for my grandfather. Eagerly I asked, "Can we be finished before I go to Hogwarts next year?"


    As soon as I asked the question, dad started shaking his head. He replied, "There''s no way we could have it finished before you leave for Hogwarts. Designing a quality broomstick isn''t as simple as putting charms onto a broom and flying off into the sunset. Many standard charms don''t last very long, to make charms last longer. Enchanters often have to design variations of the charm, to see what is most effective. That''s why there is such a variation in the quality of brooms. My father spent years designing custom charms for his design. If there weren''t any variation in spells, all brooms would be equal. If we want to build a broom that can beat the nimbus, we''ll have to start from scratch, not to mention, brooms have dozens of spells laid into them, so we will have our work cut out for us. There are other factors as well such as materials, matching the best type of wood to charms can be tricky, one variation of a spell may work great with one type of wood, but perform differently on another type. It will take years for us to build a broom better than the Nimbus. After all, they have a twenty-year head start on us if we want to make a broom faster than theirs, we will have to get creative.


    Hearing the magnitude of the project didn''t sway me at all. I would do anything, to get revenge for the pain and suffering Whithorn has put my family through, I would go to the ends of the earth. Growing up without a family in my previous life has made me realize that the most important thing in my life was my family. May God have mercy on anyone who dares to harm my family, because they will get none from me.


    Wanting to banish the violent train of thought my mind was wandering down, I asked, "what are we going to name it?"


    With a wistful smile, Dad responded, "When I was young, dad always said he was going to make a broom that could shoot across the sky like a bolt of fire. What do you think about naming it the firebolt?"

 Chapter 9 - Uncle John

    During the following months, I spent nearly every day at the workshop with dad. The work was slow going, dad often having to stop to work on enchanting to replace what was sold in the store. Every once in a while, someone would even ask for a custom enchantment. He took to those with gusto.


    We did end up making some progress, after months of experimentation, dad created a brilliant new control spell, that would bring the level of control someone had over the broom to a whole new level. It seemed like the moment you thought of changing directions; the broom was already beginning to turn.


    Perhaps the most beneficial thing to me was I got to see how spells were created. What I saw my father doing to create the spell, changed my thoughts on magic forever. When he succeeded in creating the new spell, it got me to thinking, that spell creation is similar to a program being created on a computer system.


    A wizard talented enough to create a spell is like a computer programmer; they can create a program. After they make the program, they save the program to the computer, and anyone can learn how to use the program even without knowing how it was made.


    Time marched on, and the next thing I knew, there was only a few weeks until my Hogwarts letter arrived. In May, my parents ended up having to take a two week trip to France to help out mom''s sister. Due to the limited room, they had at their house, I was headed to my uncle''s ship for two weeks.


    Every time, I passed through the vanishing cabinet in our living room and passed to the vanishing cabinet on my uncle ship. I marveled at the power of magic, and the many different applications for it.


    When I stepped out on the ship, I found myself in the holding room; uncle John keeps his cabinet in. Knowing he and my Aunt were probably on the top deck, so I headed up. As I headed upstairs, I mused to myself that one of the reasons I loved this ship, was its design. It was like one of those pirate sh.i.p.s from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The main difference was the size of the inside.


    While on my way to the top deck, I passed by several witches and wizards who also lived on the ship. They were wizard and witches from all over the world, most of them greeted with an easy smile me as I passed by. It took a while to make my way to the deck because while the outside of the ship was normal sized, the inside, was the size of a cruise ship. When I reached the deck, I noticed that the ship was anchored outside the city of Alexandria, a port city in Egypt. Seeing that my aunt and uncle, were lounging in chairs under a ridiculously large pink umbrella canopy, I headed over


    Announcing my arrival, I greeted them in Arabic, knowing that my aunt greatly preferred speaking in her native tongue. "Uncle John, Aunt Nefret, how have you been lately."


    My uncle cracked an eye, looked me over, and said, "You know a little of this a little of that,"


    Knowing that their son Omar had started his first year at Uagadou, the wizarding school located at the mountain of the moon in Africa. I asked, " How has it been having Omar gone for the first time.


    "Perfect," "Miserable," my aunt and uncle replied at the same time.


    Hearing his reply, Nefret smacked him upside the head and demanded, "Oh and who has been moping around the last six months." Finishing her tirade, she shot me a relieved look and said, he be back before you have to head back home. Your uncle has planned a surprise trip to take you both on.


    Ecstatic I said, "That''s awesome, I have always wanted to go, but mom has a dim view of the dueling league, so she has never let us go to one and father isn''t about to cross her in this matter."


    The next day, my uncle told me over breakfast, "Well, you can either stay here or head out with me. I have some business, at the underground bazaar."


    Raising an eyebrow as I had never heard about the underground before.


    Seeing my expression, he replied, "You can think of it as a version of Diagon Alley.


    Always happy to see more of the wizarding world. I told John, "I want to go."


    Before leaving the ship, uncle John gave me a gold bracelet to put on. After I put it on, I asked "What is this bracelet for?"


    He pulled out a mirror and said "We''re headed to a place where I would rather no one knew your real face,"


    Upon seeing my reflection, I was shocked; an a.d.u.l.t stranger stared back at me. My new appearance made me look like a local. Amazed, I said, "This is bloody amazing; this bracelet is better than the Polyjuice Potion."


    Shaking his head in response, he replied, "You can''t compare them to a Polyjuice potion that can turn you into anybody, this bracelet has a set appearance it doesn''t matter who puts it on its always the same refection. Useful to be sure, but the flexibility of the Polyjuice potion is what makes it so valuable."


    As we made our way into the city of Alexandria, on the edge of town, we came to a deserted lot, where there was an ancient sandstone archway. Seeing the archway, I asked, "Where does it lead to."


    Winking at me, uncle John replied. "that would be telling."


    Rolling my eyes at his answer, we continued. As we approached, he informed me, "All you need to do is put your hand on the archway as you pass through if you have a magic touch the archway activates."


    Nodding my understanding, I grabbed hold of the stone as I passed through. The next thing I knew. We were standing in an old courtyard that dozens of archways within it. Before I could say anything, my John informed me, "The archways are one of the main ways wizards in Africa transport themselves. They have been using the archway system for thousands of years; I believe they inspired the wizard who invented the floo network."


    Not being able to smell the sea informed me that we were no longer in Alexandria, so I asked, "Where are we?"


    "We''re in an old section of Cairo, where muggles don''t have access to this place," he replied.


    As we began walking, I noticed certain similarities between the underground bazaar and diagon alley. They were both full of magical shops where wizards and witches sold goods. I noticed that the main difference was the underground was full of twist and turns as we made our way through.


    We eventually made our way to a to an old shop that was full of strange items, as soon as we walked a middle age Egyptian wizard wearing teal green and golden robes walked out from the back area. Holding his arms out before him in a loud voice, "Jonny my boy, how have you been"


    With a grin on his face, John replied pointedly looking at the wizard bald head. "Better than you old man Seth, At least I still have all my hair."


    Seth reacted by holding his hand to his heart as if wounded. I grinned at the antics between these two who were obviously old friends. Interjecting my self into the conversation, I asked, "Aren''t there spells that can make hair grow back?"


    Seth looked me up and down and asked, "And who is this man who speaks with a child''s voice."


    "This is my nephew; I had him put on the changer bracelet because I would rather not have certain individuals recognize him,"


    "Ah, I will secure the shop, I want to have a look at the boy, after all, we are family now," he responded, pulling out a wand, he flicked it to the doors and windows. The door locked behind us and all the windows darkened.


    Once the shop was secure, my uncle nodded to me, and I took off my bracelet. Curious about our relations, I asked, "How are we related?"


    Coming over and sweeping me off my feet in an enormous bear hug he boomed out, "I am Nefrets uncle, that makes us family."


    After speaking for a while, Seth boomed, "Now onto business," and brought out a large trunk and slammed it down before, my uncle. Watching the lid of the trunk shake as if something was trying to break free. I asked, "What''s in there?"


    Rubbing my head John said, "Maybe when you''re a little older we can talk about it."


    Hearing his reply, I shot him an annoyed look.


    Before leaving the shop, I put my bracelet back on, and John shrank the trunk and put it into his coat. We spent a few more hours going to random shops. Some we were at for less than a minute with my uncle dropping off a package, others took longer. When we were finished, we made our way back to the arches and passed through them. What awaited us on the other side, changed how I viewed my uncle.


    On the other side were two wizards and a witch waiting for us in a triangle formation. At first, I assumed they were preparing to use the arch until one said, "You know John, he isn''t happy with what you''ve been up to lately. You have been cutting into what he considers his for a while now."


    My uncle narrowed his eyes and spoke two words in such a deadly tone that it sent shivers down my spine, "Move, now." The tone of his voice promised violence if he was not obeyed.


    At first, I was worried about being outnumbered, but I noticed the strained expression on the witches and wizards expressions. It took me a minute to realize that they were terrified of my uncle; it was a strange sight to me as I had never seen this side of my uncle before.


    Speaking in a pleading tone, "Look, he just wants to make a deal."


    Uncle snarled, "If he wants to make a deal, then he can come down here and tell me himself,"


    He brushed past them as if he had no fear of turning his back on them. We spent the remainder of the trip back in silence. Once we made it back to the ship, his whole demeanor shifted, relaxing and turning to me, he said: "I sorry that happened."


    Confused about the whole situation, I asked, "Who were those guys?"


    Running his hand through his dark hair, he responded, "It''s a long story."


    Seeing my unimpressed look at his attempt to shrug off the events, he said, "Alright, Alright, we can talk. Follow me." Heading below deck, we went to his office, the first thing he did was pour himself a glass of fire-whiskey.


    After taking a few sips, He spoke in a sorrowful tone, "You know, it''s kinda funny how life turned out. When your young you have all these ideas for the future, but then one day life kicks you in the teeth and everything changes. For me, that day happened when my father died and disappeared, and then Whithorn betrayed us. I was still my sixth year at Hogwarts back when it happened. My original plan was to graduate and join my father in the business. Your father was the one who wanted to travel the world. After the worst happened, everything changed for me; I was no longer thinking about the business; what I wanted was revenge. I threw myself into dueling, learning everything there was about fighting."


    Taking a deep breath, he continued, "After I graduated, the first thing I planned to do was challenge Whithorn, he was out of the country then, but I tracked him down to Egypt. That''s when I met Seth for the first time, and he gave me a wake-up call. He sat me down and told me that if I took Delvin down, that I would be dooming my family. You see, supporting Delvin from the shadows was his Father, Declan. I told Seth that if his Declan came after my family, then he would meet the same fate as Delvin. I''ll never forget how hard Seth laughed at my naivety."


    Looking me in the eye, my uncle told me in a somber tone, "Perhaps one of the most dangerous wizards in the world is Declan Whithorn."


    Confused, I asked, "How can he be one of the most dangerous wizards in the world, I''ve never even heard of the guy?"


    Shaking his head, John replied, That''s what makes him so dangerous, most people don''t even know about him. You see he isn''t like a traditional dark wizard seeking power to rule the world. The thing that concerns him the most is money?"


    Giving my uncle a skeptically look, "Love of money, that not exactly the mark of an dangerous wizard," I said.


    My uncle shook his head and said, "You don''t understand; he has forged a global network of witches, wizards, goblins, vampires, werewolves and other creatures that are completely loyal to him. Their goal is wealth and power, and they will stoop to any level to achieve their goal. They have their fingers into everything. Recently, In the last twenty year, they have entered the muggle drug trade; they now secretly control most of the drugs in the world. The amount of money this has made syndicate has is astronomical; they are then able to reinvest that wealth into gold, silver, gems even land, which has value in our world. This wealth is what has allowed them to increase their influence and power. Anyone who opposes them is either secretly bribed to look the other way or quietly disappears. His syndicate has been quietly destroying families all over the world for 40 years."


    After hearing everything, I asked in disbelief, "Why the hell aren''t the Aurors taking him down?"


    Gnashing his teeth, John replied, "Like I said he is very clever, they people who work for him, have to swear an unbreakable vow never to betray him. Plus with the amount of wealth he has, it is surprisingly easy to bribe people. He also lives on a moving ship, and the number of defensive spells upon it make it a fortress. Not to mention, it''s constantly on the move and incredibly difficult to track. But most of all, he isn''t breaking the International Statute of Secrecy, you see a lot of dark wizards end up destroying things in a loud manner, Declan is more subtle than that, which lets him fly under the radar."


    Mulling over everything I had learned today, a thought occurred to me, "Uncle John, you said he lives on a ship right."


    John nodded back at me, saying, "That''s right."


    Sure of my hunch, I stated, "I''m betting that you procured this ship soon after learning about his ship right."


    With a shark-like smile on his face, He replied, "What an interesting observation to make, it''s almost like your suggesting I have some secret plan."


    His grin let me know I was on the right track, so I continued, "You said he had destroyed families all over the world, I imagine some of the people who disappeared, left families behind."


    With John giving me an encouraging nod, I continued, "If someone were to track these people down, I imagine that some of them would want revenge, and I can''t help but notice you have people from all over the world living on your ship.


    After downing his glass of fire whiskey, John replied with an evil grin, "Imagine that, a group of people coming together to bring down one of the most powerful organizations in the world. They would need to be patient, slowly positioning and infiltrating themselves to be able to take the organization down in one strike, it could take years to pull off, but you know what they say, revenge is a dish best served cold."

 Chapter 10 - Dueling

    The following two weeks flew by, and the next thing I knew, my cousin Omar was returning from his first year at Uagadou. When he came aboard the ship, he was mobbed by his mother, running her hands through his long dark curly hair, she fretted "You look exhausted, have you not been getting enough rest at that school because if you want, I can head down there. I know the headmaster, how dare he not ensure his students get enough rest. What kind of school is he running over there."


    As she continued making threats, Omar shot me an embarrassed look and rolling his dark brown eyes at his mother''s worrying. Seeing that I covered my grin with my hand, Omar remarked, "I don''t know what you think is so funny, seeing how ''lively'' your mom is, I imagine your homecoming will be ten times worse than this."


    His remark wiped the smug smile right off my face, and I blanched, thinking about the scene that my mother was bound to make at the Hogwart''s train platform. Seeing my expression, Omar laughed.


    John greeted his son with a hug and said, "So I have a little surprise for you." Pulling out several tickets to the South American regional dueling finals, whose final winner would go on to the International Dueling Competition.


    Omar''s eyes widened at the sight of the tickets whooping in excitement, turning to me he asked, "Have you ever been to a dueling competition,"


    Shaking my head in response, "My mom doesn''t approve of them."


    "You''re gonna love it," he replied.


    After rubbing Omar''s head, John said, "Well, I guess we better get the ship moving if we want to make it there by tonight." Walking over to Ship''s wheel, John pulled out his wand and began waving it around as if conducting an orc.h.e.s.tra.


    Immediately the ship began to react to his inaudible commands; ropes began lashing loose items down preparing for the journey ahead. Other items like the giant umbrella melted into the deck after the ship had finished preparing itself for the journey. The ship shuddered as it began to slip down beneath the water,


    As the ship sank below the water, an invisible bubble surrounded the ship, keeping the water from flooding into the ship. Once the ship was fully submerged underwater, the ship headed towards a shimmering stream of light and John shouted. "Everyone hold on."


    As soon as the ship entered the steam of light, the ship'' speed rapidly increased. The stream of light didn''t head in a straight line, sometimes it was near the surface, and at other near the bottom of the oceans, it even backtracked a few times.


    Turning to my uncle, I questioned, "Are these natural paths of wizard forged paths?"


    With a shrug, he responded, "nobody knows for sure, what we do know is that they have been around for thousands of years. Not that many wizards still use the ancient waterway, I imagine there are less than 100 sh.i.p.s worldwide that are even capable of using them. There are just too many other ways to travel long distance now. But thousands of years ago, this was one of the most efficient in crossing continents."


    A few hours later, John maneuvered the ship out of the waterway and made the ship rise back to the surface. Once we broke free of the surface, I noticed land in the distance, and I asked, "What part of South America is that."


    "That''s Brazil," John responded. "The dueling finals are held outside of the city of Salvador."


    After John decided to drop anchor where we were. he decided that we would fly in on brooms, to make sure no muggles saw us, he cast the disillusionment charm, which would make seeing us very difficult.


    By the time we made it to the other side of Salvador, the sun was starting to sink behind the horizon. We kept on flying until John motioned for us to follow him down. We landed on a large hilltop that was surrounded by trees. At the bottom of the hill was a small dirt path that ran off into the jungle.


    Motioning Omar and me to follow, John strode off as we made our way through the twist and turns of the dirt path. Eventually, we came upon a warehouse in the middle of the jungle; There were no other signs of habitation anywhere. It was like this building had sprung up all by itself in the countryside.


    Guarding the doors were two stone jaguars when my uncle showed the tickets to the jaguars their emerald eyes glowed for a moment then dimmed. After confirming our tickets, they stood aside to let us pass.


    The first thing I noticed upon entering was the noise, on the outside, the only sounds anyone could hear were that of the jungle. Once we came in though, the noise level increased as there were thousands of wizards packed into stands that rose from the bottom to the top. Omar and I eye''s widened at the sight of so many wizards, I got my uncles attention and asked, "How many wizards do you think there are here tonight."


    Looking around, he shrugged and said, "Probably around few thousand or so."


    At the bottom of the stands, sunk twenty feet below the ground was a circular platform with a diameter of fifty feet. As we took our seats on the bottom row, I ended up sandwiched between Omar and another English wizard who had a curious ring with a silver spear etched into it.


    Soon after sitting, the first match was announced, there would be twelve wizards and witches competing tonight, with only one moving on to the International Dueling Conference. When the first two competitors got onto the round platform, they both went to opposite sides and stood inside two-foot circles. On the platform, there were many lines and circles marked into the ground. Curious about what they were, I asked Omar, "What is the deal with all those lines in the platform.


    Before he could respond, the blond-haired wizard sitting next to me interjected, "Is this your first match." After indicating that it was my first match, he started to explain, "The line drawn down the middle separating the two sides are boundary lines if a wizard cross that line, he forfeits the match. The small rings that the wizards are standing in are both the starting position, but also if they can stay within the circle for the whole match, they are awarded points."


    Confused about the point system, I said, "I didn''t think there were points, I thought it only mattered if you won the match."


    He nodded and replied, "In some ways, your right, the point system has nothing to do with whether you advance or loose. However, the points a wizard get in the matches go into a ranking system, which ranks all the wizards in the league. Most often, the ones with higher points, are considered to be the better duelers, so there is also a bit of fame that goes with being ranked higher. However, a good duelist knows when to leave the circle."


    "Is there a penalty for leaving the circle?" I asked.


    Arms waving with excitement, he continued, "So, the first wizard to leave the circle loses a small number of points, once he steps out, the other wizard may leave the smaller circle with no penalty attached, but if he stays in the circle and the other wizard left his and wins the match, he gets a bigger number of points. It''s a delicate balance to maintain, I''ve seen many duels lost because a wizard overestimates his skill and tries to get more points and ends up losing the match."


    As the first match began, the wizard next to me fell quiet. Not wanting to miss a single moment I started at the two wizards on opposite sides of the platform, as they got into the small circles, they bowed towards one another. I jumped when there was a loud bang, which indicated the start of the match.


    Both wizards, instantly drew their wands, the one on the right side, wearing red and black robes went on the offensive right away. He started by quickly shooting a spell towards his opponent wearing dark green robes.


    As a flash of red hurled towards the green-robed wizard, he quickly cast a conjured a shield and position it to reflect the spell towards the caster. He quickly followed up with his attack. Both wizards not speaking a spell shot spell after spell at each other. After a few rounds out them trading spells, the red-robed wizard was on the defense was forced to move out of the small circle. However, that didn''t help him for very long and soon after the green robe wizard was able to obtain a victory by hitting the other wizard with a spell that tossed him out of the ring.


    The length of the match was only around two minutes, throughout the rest of the matches some were shorter, and others were longer, the green-robed wizard from the first match ending up winning in the end. I found out just before the final match his name was Carlos, and he was the favorite.


    After all the matches, we made our way back to the ship. Uncle John patted me on the shoulder and asked, "What did you think about the duels."


    After mulling it over for a minute, I responded, "It was different from what I expected. I didn''t realize how much strategy went it to dueling. I always had assumed that whoever tossed the more powerful spell would win, but it appears that timing and the ability to cast more appropriate spells that counter your appointment is more important. I can''t imagine how knowledgeable some of the best duelists must be. At their level, almost all spells were being cast nonverbally. So they had to guess what spells their opponents were using, based on the wand movement, the shape of the spell and some intuition. All in the heat of the moment, while trying to remain in the tiny circle. It''s impressive."


    Nodding in agreement, John added, "By the time, most wizard and witches who make it to this point, they are an experienced and knowledgeable duelist."


    In a skeptical tone, Omar scoffed, "Ya but a duel isn''t a real fight, just because someone is an accomplished duelist doesn''t mean they would be effective in the real world. There are too many rules inside the ring."


    Shaking his head in disagreement, John countered, "While that may be true for a lower-ranked duelist. The high rankers have so much experience having spells hurled towards them and being able to counter the spell without moving. Not to mention being able to quickly strategize and plan what spells to use in the middle of a fight is something that you have to train into yourself. And while it''s true a lot of curses and spells aren''t allowed in the ring, I would imagine that if the duelist didn''t recognize what that spell was, they would dodge the spell."


    After we made it back to the ship, the discussion moved on to what was the best match and who was the best dueler at the finals. Towards the end, I asked John, "How does one become a professional duelist?


    Grinning at my question, John smirked, "Why, do you fancy yourself a duelist when you grow up.


    "I''m just curious, besides considering the war the just happened, I think that learning how to fight that well seems like a good idea." I defended.


    Seeing that I had a point, John replied, "When I was at Hogwarts, there were some dueling clubs still around. Some were secret and hard to get into, but others allowed anyone to join."


    After learning about the dueling clubs, I made the decision then and there that I would be joining one. After all, Voldemort would eventually be returning, and I would be prepared for it.


    A few days, later when I got home, I found my parents waiting for me in the kitchen, with a letter with a red wax seal sitting on the table. I ran to the table and grabbed the letter and opened it and pulled out a letter.


    Dear Mr. Fawley,


    Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.


    Yours sincerely,


    Minerva McGonagall


    Deputy Headmistress

 Chapter 11 - Wand

    Running my fingers over the invitation made of heavy parchment, still a little in shock that it was finally here. I would be going to Hogwarts in a few months, even after everything I''ve been through in this new life, the idea of attending a magical school still a little mind-boggling.


    For the first time worry boiled up inside of me, now that Hogwarts was here, the war that would be coming suddenly seemed a lot closer now. In six years Voldemort would be returning and who knows what would happen when he finally makes his move in the open. Once I began changing things, the knowledge that I did have would become less reliable.


    Deciding to worry about the future another day, I took the invitation, over towards a desk and signed my name to the letter stating that I would be attending. Knowing that the act of signing applied the trace to me, I expected to feel something as it took ahold of me. After a minute or so of not feeling anything, I determined that the magical trace wasn''t something that I could feel affecting me.


    Turning back towards my parents, I handed my dad the invitation and asked. "The invitation says we are allowed to bring a pet if it is an owl, rat, cat or toad. Will Athena be allowed to come? As if understanding the conversation, Athena''s eyes widened as if she hadn''t considered the possibility of me leaving her behind was in the cards."


    Not for the first time, I wondered just how intelligent she was. Sometimes, it seemed like she could follow entire conversations, and other times, she would get a confused look on her face as if she didn''t understand what was happening.


    Dad reached out and scratched Athena''s head as if to comfort her. Turning to me, he said, "We can try to get special permission from the headmaster. I am sure there have been other exceptions made for magical creatures. Athena has bonded with you, and I am not sure what would happen if you and Athena were separated for that long."


    Athena hopped up onto my shoulder and wrapped her tail protectively around my throat. As if to declare that I wouldn''t be leaving her behind. I reached up and scratched her ears in her favorite spot to reassure her that I wouldn''t be going anywhere without her.


    Deciding to change the subject, I eagerly asked, "Now that we have my letter, can we go and wand." Ever since learning that I was in a magical world, and I was a wizard, I had been fantasizing about getting my wand and all the magic that I would do with it.


    Smiling at my expression, Dad responded, "I guess it is about that time; sometimes it''s hard to believe that you''re old enough for your wand. Let me take care of a few things, and then we can go to Diagon Alley, make sure to bring the list of everything that you will need so that we can get everything in one trip."


    By the time we were ready to leave a few hours had passed, mom had dropped the twins off at grandmother''s cottage. I think the idea of taking the twins to Diagon alley seemed like it would be too much of a headache trying to keep them in line. Stepping into the fireplace, I threw the floo powder I grabbed towards the ground and shouted, "Diagon Alley."


    After being transported through the network and arriving at Diagon alley, I found my mom had put on what I like to call her war face. While most women that I knew from my previous life seemed to enjoy the act of shopping, my mother seemed to hate it with a passion. She never wanted to window shop; her goal was to get in and out as quickly as possible. It could be somewhat annoying, there were so many magical trinkets I would want to stop and check out, but I was always forced to move along.


    She had the list of everything that I would need in her hand, waving it around like a sword she barked out instructions like a general giving order before a battle. "All right, this is how we''re going to do this; dad will head out and start picking up your equipment items and anything else he thinks that you will need. You and I will get you fitted for your robes for school, and then we can stop by and pick up your wand while they are being made."


    Rolling my eyes at the way mom approached shopping like it was a battle to be won. I shot a resigned look towards dad, and he wordlessly shrugged as if to say that there was nothing to be done about it, and it was just easier not to fight it.


    By the time I had finished getting fitted for my robes, I was bursting with excitement. After we left Madam Malkin''s Robes for all Occasions, I made a beeline for Ollivander''s wand shop. By the time my mother caught up, I was standing in front of the shop, "Go on," she said, "I''ll wait outside for you."


    Opening the door into the shop, I found that the front of the shop was empty, and behind the counter were rows and rows of shelves that were packed with small rectangular boxes that I assumed had wands in them.


    While I was marveling at all of the wands in the shop, I heard a spooky voice ring out, "Why hello there, young one, here to get your first wand." Turing, I saw an old wizard who I assumed was Olivander sticking his head out around the shelf at a weird angle.


    Gulping down my nervousness, I replied out in what I hoped was a brave voice not wanting him to realize just how creepy I found him. "Yes, I am here for my wand."


    Hearing my response, he seemed to glide around the corner. "Excellent, I do hope you will offer me a challenge. I do so love the challenge of matching wands to wizards."


    Thinking to myself, OK, Rowling did not do a good job explaining how creepy Ollivandor was because he was giving off and big creepy vibe. He reached out his hand and motioned for me to do the same. As soon as I did, he pulled down his glasses, which magnified his eyes. Grabbing hold of my hand, he turned it over and did a close inspection while muttering under his breath. He brought out measuring tape and measured different parts of my hand from my finger length to my palm.


    After a few minutes of closely inspecting my dominant hand, he seemed to come to a conclusion, "Ah, I know just where to begin with you," Without another word, he disappeared behind one of his shelves, all while muttering so low I couldn''t make out what he was saying.


    Popping out from behind a different shelf, he brought back several different boxes. See me look at the three boxes; he said, "Let us begin."


    Pulling out the first wand, he handed it to me and said, "Ebony and unicorn hair, good for transfiguration,"


    Knowing what to do from the books, I waved the wand, a small stream of water began to leak out of the tip of the wand. With a bright smile on his face, he was happy that this wasn''t the wand for me, "I think not." Grabbing another one of the boxes, he slid it open and handed me another one. As we went through all the boxes, none of them seemed to fit. This only seemed to encourage Ollivader, as if the harder the search was, the more satisfaction he got out of it.


    After about a dozen wands, he brought back another box and slid it open. Pulling out an ivory-colored wand, he said, "Aspen and dragon heartstring." The second I grabbed ahold of it, there was like a silent click and wave of satisfaction shot through me. Whatever it was, Ollivander picked up on it immediately.


    With a slightly disappointed look on his face that the search was over, he congratulated me, That''s a highly prized wand, that chooses you, Aspen is a highly coveted wood many wizards want."


    "Does it matter what type of wood a wand is made off?"


    "Oh yes," he responded, My family, has been making wands for over 1600 years. We have discovered many different kinds of wood to use; some seem to have different requirements for wizards. Others have strange quirks to them as well; I believe that my father published a book, about such things long ago. However, it ended up making some wizard react foolishly; they would try to demand wands of certain wood and cores based on their d.e.s.i.r.es for being good at certain types of magic. Not realizing that if the wand doesn''t choose you, and you use a wand that you are not suited for, it doesn''t mean that you will become good at certain types of magic."


    Clarifying, I said, So a wand doesn''t make you good at a certain type of magic. But rather, they select you for your natural abilities knowing that you will already one day be good at certain types of magic. How intelligent are they to be able to determine what type of magic you will be good at? How can they do that are they alive?"


    Shrugging he responded, "My family has been studying the nature of wands for generations, and we still haven''t learned everything, It has become clear though that wand has the ability to choose their owners, some wands even switch allegiance under certain circ.u.mstances. The longer a wizard has their wand, the more the wand seems to change and grow with their owner. They seem to catch a feel for how the wizard weaves his spells. A wizard can find certain spells they often cast easier to cast."


    Leaning forward as if to whisper a secret, he continued, "Most wizards don''t even realize how much their wands grow and change. When I carve wands, I leave them smooth and without carvings. But, if you look at a wizard who has had their wand for years, you can see patterns and shapes emerge on the wand, what''s curious is that most wizards and witches never seem to realize how different their wand is from when they bought it. All of these things lead me to believe that wands are actually alive, it may be a different type of life than you and I, but it is life all the same"


    Nodding my understanding, I thanked Ollivander, and I headed outside before I left, I called out, "What do Aspen wands normally indicate about their owners,"


    With a secretive smile, he replied cryptically, "If I were you I would be on the lookout for a silver spear."


    Not knowing what to make of that, I met up with my mom ¡ª the rest of the trip passed by in a blink of an eye. I was so distracted by the thought of heading the tower, where I could practice some beginner spells under the watchful eye of Anton.

 Chapter 12 - Magic

    When we returned home, dad and I were exhausted, it felt like we had just been through a shopping war, and we lost. The only one of us who didn''t look tired was my mother; she had a smug grin on her face as if everything had gone according to her master plan.


    Floating behind my dad was my truck; inside was everything that I would need for the year. Looking up at the stairs and corners, we would have to haul the trunk up, once again made me grateful that I was in a family of wizards, if we had to drag the trunk by hand, it would have taken forever. As it were, dad just followed me to my room with the trunk easily following behind him.


    After he dropped my trunk in the corner of my room, I eagerly opened my trunk, looking for my spellbooks for the year. Looking inside, I discovered the trunks'' expansion charm; it was a little strange to look inside the trunk and see around the inside dimensions around three times the outside dimensions. Finding my books off towards the side, I grabbed the first one and turned it over to find ¡ª Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk.


    The second I opened the book, my mother''s voice rang out, "Alex dinner time."


    Reluctantly I set the book down, knowing if I didn''t head down now, my mother would lose her temper. Dinner seemed to drag on forever; time itself seemed to be mocking my d.e.s.i.r.e to practice spells with my wand for the first time. Deciding that attempting my first spell in the house was too risky, I decided to wait till night when everyone was asleep.


    To pass the time, after dinner, dad and I played a few games of wizard chess. After his third loss in a row, dad threw his hands up and declared, "Your cheating somehow." Off to the side, mom and the twins laughed at dad''s expression.


    Thinking smugly to myself, sorry dad, but your no match for someone who has played computer chess masters before. And although wizard chess did have a few other factors to consider, like your pieces motivations, it was mainly similar to regular chess. In my previous life, one of my main pastimes at the hospital was playing chess online.


    I think the final straw for my dad was when Sasha stood up and went and hugged him to comfort his loss. At first, my dad seemed to draw strength from her support and almost issued another challenge. Then she patted him on the back and sweetly said, "It''s ok daddy, even though you stink at chess. I still love you."


    Hearing Sasha''s words, my dad''s face wilted, while my mom fell off her seat, laughing uncontrollably. After catching her breath, she crowed, "This is karma, all those time beating me and gloating when we used to play, now it''s your turn to lose all the time."


    As the night wore on, I couldn''t help but watch the clock, impatient for my chance to head to the tower. An hour after everyone had gone to sleep, I slowly my window open, wincing at the squeaks it made. After making sure the noise didn''t disturb anyone, I grabbed my book and broom and took off into the night sky.


    Luckily my tower master ring had some type of homing spell linked to the tower. If I concentrated, I could feel a tugging sensation in my mind, pointing the way to the tower. Upon arriving, I headed to the top of the tower where a broken branch hid a ledge with a door as soon as I landed the door melted away, leaving a gaping black hole in the tower. Once I crossed the threshold, torches on the wall began to light, and when I made it to the main floor where I found Anton sleeping in his portrait.


    "Anton," I called out, want to seek his instruction before I started casting spells.


    Upon hearing my voice, Anton''s eyes snapped open, and he began howling, "Intruder, How dare you wake me from my slumber, prepare to meet thy doom. Your fate shall be horrible, and all will tremble in awe of my power, and the whole world shall fear my wrath¡­ Oh, it just you, Alex."


    Rolling my eye''s at his antics and pulling out my new wand, I waved it threatening in his direction and joked. "You know, now that I have my wand, you might want to be a little more respectful."


    He scoffed at me and said, "Bah, the great wizard Anton, fears no one."


    Studying my fingernail, I innocently replied, "You know, the other day I was at my grandmother''s house, and I found another painting of one of our ancestors. Her name was Elizabeth Fawley."


    Upon hearing the name, Anton shuddered, and whispered, "You wouldn''t dare."


    Knowing that I had found a weakness, a Cheshire grin emerged on my face, "Well, I suppose I don''t have to mention I found her husband''s painting. I wouldn''t want to see my brave mentor who fears no one, to suddenly become fearful. Especially since I will need his instruction."


    Muttering to himself about how kids these days have no respect for their elders. Anton gave a small bow and asked, "How can I help you at this late hour."


    Pulling out my spell-book, I eagerly responded, "It''s time for me to cast my first spells. I want your advice before I do."


    Nodding thoughtfully, he responded, "Before you start casting, it would be better to work on learning the different wand movements beforehand."


    Tilting my head in confusion, I asked, "How many wand movements are?"


    There are dozens of different movements. Such as swishes, flicks, twirls, spins, pokes, and even compound movements that combine multiple movements. If you learn how to move your wand correctly, there is less chance of your spell going out of control. I believe I had a book on wand movements in the library on the lower level."


    After retrieving the book, from the library and looking over the movements, I began practicing the swish and flick movement, in anticipation of casting the levitation spell that Ron used to take down the troll in the first book. After practicing the wand movements for some time, I opened the standard book of spells book, to look up how to cast it. After memorizing the spell incantation Wingardium Leviosa and learning I needed to swish and flick my wand while saying the spell. I drew my wand and pointed it towards a wine glass that was on the desk and chanted "Wingardium Leviso" while preforming a swish and flick wand movement and concentrating on making the goblet float.


    To mine and Anton''s surprise, I achieved success on my first try. Having a wand made all the difference in the world when casting magic. The amount of mental effort compared to using a wand or trying to use wandless magic was night and day.


    Shooting a smug grin at Anton, I could see from his expression that he was impressed that I achieved success on my first try. After a few minutes of watching the glass float around, the spell began to wear off, and it floated back down to the table. Eager to try another spell, I began to flip through my book for another to try out, when Anton interrupted, "What do you think you are doing?"


    Raising an eyebrow at his question, I said, "Looking for another spell to try out, that one was too easy."


    Rolling his eyes at my answer, So you cast a spell once, and you think you have learned everything there is to the spell. Let me tell you there are many different ways to use that spell. You had it float in the air; true mastery involves being able to command it completely in the air.


    Hearing his response, I continued to practice the levitation charm. After thirty minutes of casting the levitation charm over and over, I realized that I was quickly becoming exhausted, and it was becoming more difficult to cast the spell. Finally, I went to cast the charm one more time, and it failed. Turning to Anton in confusion, I asked, "Why am I so tired? I feel like I can barely think, what is wrong with me?"


    Rolling his eyes at my questions, he said, "What did you think you could cast spells indefinitely with no consequence. You will have to build up a mental endurance, to be honest, you did amazing for your first time, I expected you to run out of steam fifteen minutes ago."


    To clarify, I said, "So it''s not because I ran out of magic."


    Shaking his head, Anton clarified, "Wizard don''t ever run out of magic, but rather, there is a mental limitation that wizards have; it is because of the mental component that spells require. When wizard cast spells, they can become exhausted by the mental effort needed to perform the spell correctly; if they can''t concentrate, they may not be able to perform the spell correctly."


    Nodding my understanding, I asked, "Is there any way to improve my endurance."


    Shrugging he responded, Sure all you have to do is cast spells over and over, as you get older you will also be able to last longer and longer. The mental component is like a muscle, you more you use it the stronger it gets."


    After confirming with Anton that wizards can build their mental endurance, I decided that I would cast spells at the end of every day until I was too exhausted to continue. The next night I returned to the tower with more of my spell books, Pulling out my transfiguration book, I asked for my first lesson in transfiguration.


    Shaking his head, Anton refused, "No, stay away from transformation magic, until a teacher teaches you, it is the most demanding subjects, and too much has the potential to go wrong. Perhaps next year when you have some experience with transfiguration we can move forward, but until then I would recommend just practicing, charms, jinxes and hexes. There is no rush to be in a hurry; you will have seven years at Hogwarts to learn more difficult magic."


    Seeing how serious Anton was on the subject, I decided to follow his advice. As summer continued, I split my time at my dad''s workshop and at the tower, where I practiced charms, hexes, and jinxes determined to impress my teacher at Hogwarts. By the end of the summer, I could tell Anton was half annoyed, half impressed on how easily I picked everything up. He said, "With how quickly you pick magic up, I wouldn''t be surprised if you are sorted into Ravenclaw."


    Having never heard him speak on the houses, I asked, "What house were you in?"


    Puffing his c.h.e.s.t up, "I was in the noble house of Hufflepuff,"


    Snorting in laughter, I said, "I don''t know, you seem like more like a Slytherin to me. I mean you did build this dark tower in a forest, which has a lot of traps built into it. Seems kinda like what a dark lord from Slytherin would do."


    Snorting in derision, he replied, "Hmpf. Shows just how little you know about the houses, Hufflepuff is the house dedicated to hard work. What could be harder than building a tower like this all by yourself? Besides, just because a few wizards from Sythernin go bad doesn''t make them all evil. Plus, there has been plenty of dark wizards who have shown up in some of the other houses. Although even I will admit, more of them seem to come from the Slytherin house."


    Not knowing what to think, the books seem to imply that all the dark wizards came from Slytherin house. But there is the possibility that the Harry Potter books were told from a narrow point of view. It does make sense, though if Sytherins were truly the only breeding ground for evil wizards, why would they be allowed to remain? The idea if you are sorted into a particular house either make you a hero or a villain is a childish idea.


    Over the next few days, the idea of what house I would end up in consumed my thoughts. I was curious about it would say about my character. If I remember correctly, Slytherin took those who were of the purest blood, and of great cunning. But I also remember that there have been plenty of talented half-bloods who ended up in that house as well. For Gryffindor house, I believe they sought the bravest wizards along with those who are chivalrous. Those in Ravenclaw were supposed to be the most intelligent wizards. And while Hufflepuff, didn''t have any mandatory criteria, her house was supposed to be hardworking and the most dedicated to teamwork.


    A few days before I was supposed to leave for school, we had a large family dinner with my grandmother along with my aunt and uncle. My cousin couldn''t join us because he had already left for school.


    Wanting to get some advice about the Hogwarts houses, from my family, I asked, "Does our family have a particular house we normally get sorted into."


    Hearing my question, Dad shook his head, "Not really, while some families seemed to stick to a particular house, our has been all over the place. I was a Ravenclaw student." He bragged.


    Considering what my father did for a living, I wasn''t too surprised. Eager to hear what house my uncle was in, I turned to him with an expectant look. A smug grin appeared on his face, and he pronounced "Slytherin."


    Not too surprised at the house he was in, I sent a look towards my grandmother, she said, "Well, I was a Hufflepuff, and your grandfather was a Gryffindor."


    Hearing that my family came from all the different houses, I asked curiously, "What house is the best."


    All three exchanged looks towards one another and responded at the same time.


    "Hufflepuff," grandmother exclaimed.


    "Ravenclaw," dad declared.


    "Slytherin," Uncle John replied.


    With an annoyed look on my face, I responded, "That''s less than helpful."


    Seeing my expression, dad comforted me, "It doesn''t matter what house you get suited into, the house the hat sorts you into, is the house in which you are most suited for, we couldn''t care less what house you are sorted into."


    Seeing that I was nodding to indicate that I understood, he reached over and hugged me and whispered into my ear. "That being said, Ravenclaw is the best house."


    Deciding to interject my mother said, "I don''t know why Hogwarts sorts people into different houses, it only seems to divide your school."


    Before anyone could express their opinion, I responded. "It''s rather clever; having different houses has multiple benefits. The first is it gives people motivation to try harder, when people have a sense of belong to a group, they naturally want that group to succeed. Having opposing houses ensures that you strive your hardest to do better than the other houses. The next benefit is that of behavior control. How else do you expect a few teachers control the behavior of almost a thousand wizards and witches? They achieve all of this through the house cup competition, on the one hand, they reward students for being the best and having achievements, and on the other hand, if they misbehave, they punish the house that they belong to, which encourages students to follow the rules. If they choose not to and continue to cost the house points, they often have to deal with fellow students disapproval from their own house. It is an effective social control formula."


    The rest of my family looked flabbergasted at my in-depth review of the house system. My uncle weakly offered, "I was just going to say it was a longstanding tradition."


    Dad proudly raised his nose and bragged, "Defiantly a Ravenclaw."


    The following two days went by in a flash, and the next thing I knew it was the first of September and I would be heading off to Hogwarts.

 Chapter 13 - Day one

    By the time sun''s beams of light pierced my bedroom window in the morning of September 1st, I had already been awake for several hours. Hogwarts was finally upon me; ever since being reborn in this world, I had been imagining how this day was going to go. Looking around my room, it was hard to imagine that I would be leaving all of this behind, part of me wished that students could travel home at nights to their homes.


    My mom''s voice shook me from my melancholy thoughts as it reverberated through the house, "ALEX, SASHA, REBECCA, DOWNSTAIRS IN 5 MINUTES, WE ARE RUNNING BEHIND SCHEDULE."


    Wincing at the piercing sound of my mother''s voice I couldn''t help but think, that maybe boarding at school has an upside to it as well. Dragging my trunk behind me, I made my way downstairs. When I made it to the kitchen, I found everyone sitting down for a quick breakfast.


    After wolfing down my breakfast as quick as I could, I asked eagerly, "When are we leaving."


    Dad smiled at my tone, set a small box on the table, and said, "Soon, but before we leave, there is something your mother and I want to give you."


    As he slid the package over to me, I reached out and opened the box to find a silver collar that had a round blue metal tag on it. On the back of the tag was our house coat of arms, and on the front said, Athena. While admiring the craftsmanship, dad informed me, "We got permission from the headmaster for Athena to go with you, but he suggested that we try and make her a bit more inconspicuous."


    Hearing her name called, Athena sauntered into the kitchen like she owned the place. With a nod towards Athena, he said, "Put it on her, you''ll get a kick out of it."


    I tapped on the table and called out, "Athena, come here, girl."


    Always happy to jump onto the table and to be the center of attention, Athena leaped towards the table coming at a stop before me. Picking up the collar, I said, "This is for you."


    Unimpressed, Athena looked at me like I was crazy as if to say, that there was no way in hell I was putting a collar on her.


    "Come on, don''t be like that." Seeing that Athena wasn''t swayed, I pulled out the big guns. "If you don''t put this on, you have to stay here while I leave for Hogwarts."


    Right on cue, Sasha called out, "Don''t do it, Athena." Rebecca quickly followed up, "Ya, if you don''t put the collar on, you can stay here with us. We''ll have lots of fun."


    Fully understanding what the twins viewed as fun, Athena leaped into my l.a.p shivering in fear, I slide the over-sized collar over her head and around her neck. The collar shrank in place, fitting her perfectly. Immediately her horns and wing seemed to fold inward and under her fur until they were no longer visible.


    "Oooh." The twins hummed in awe.


    Curious to see, it the horns were gone, or simply invisible, I rubbed Athena'' head. Not feeling a thing, I shot a curious glance towards my dad, "Don''t worry, when you take it off, everything will return." He reassured me.


    Admiring the enchantment as it was custom designed for Athena, I asked, "Did you do the charm-work yourself."


    A proud look appeared on his face "Of course; you think I would let someone else handle this. Besides custom charm-work is one of my favorite things to do; it challenges me to become a better enchanter. Over the years, I have had to do some interesting challenges. Once I made a clock for a lady that kept track of her families movement. Nice lady, loads of kids."


    Hearing him talk about the clock that could track family members, brought up an old memory from the books. I bet it was the Weasley family clock. "That seems like a useful thing to have, why don''t we have one."


    Dad shot a look towards mom, and she smirked, "What makes you think I don''t have something that can secretly track your movement."


    Of course mom magically load jacked me, I thought to myself. Thinking about all my extracurricular activities, that I''ve been up to in the forest, made a nervous laugh bubble up. Thinking to myself, of course, mom has been tracking our movement; I hope its more of a vague tracker like the Weasley''s rather than some time of real-time tracker.


    After a moment of uncomfortable silence, mom interjected, "Well, since dad gave you his gift, it''s time for me to give you mine. I have been saving this for you for years now." Sliding a small package towards me, she said, "Be careful while opening it."


    Slowly opening the box, I discovered a small vile with a golden liquid in it. Eyes wide, I turned to mom and whispered, "Is this what I think it is."


    Mom shot my dad a smug smile and replied, "I decided to save you a vial of the Felix Felicis that I made six years ago."


    A little stunned at the magnitude of the gift, I whispered, "But this has to be worth almost a thousand gallons."


    Mom reached out and bobbed me on the head, saying, "You''re worth it, besides not only is this your going away present, but it also counts as your birthday present as well."


    Not knowing what to say, I hugged her. She continued, "Now first some ground rules, I''m not going to go into the consequence about using the potion, during exams, or competitions or other regulated events. But know that they are severe penalties involved."


    Wanting to needle her a bit, I interjected: "Technically, you just did go into it."


    Smacking the back of my head, she went on, "Remember, once you take this, you can''t take any more for at least a decade. Otherwise, the only luck you will have when you take it will be bad luck."


    After nodding my understanding and handling the vial carefully, I packed it deep within my trunk. After securing everything I asked, "How are we getting to the platform in London?"


    "We''re taking the knight bus," Dad informed me.


    As we left our property, the heavy gate closed behind us with a loud click. Outside the gate was a small paved path that led to the road. Upon reaching the road, Dad whipped out his wand and flicked it out like he was hailing a cab. Within moments, a blue triple-decker bus seemed to appear out of nowhere.


    Seeing my trunk once we all made it on board, the driver made the connection and asked, "You guys headed to the platform then."


    Dad proudly replied, "Yes, our boy here, is headed for his first year at Hogwarts."


    "That will be 11 sickles per person."


    After dad handed over 55 sickles, we made our way to the seating area; it was half full of students with their parents heading to Hogwarts. A little apprehensive, from the description in the books, I sat down fully expecting to get thrown forward next time the bus stopped abruptly. However, as soon as I sat, Dad pointed his wand at me and muttered an incantation under his breath.


    All of a sudden, I was unable to move from the chair. Dad looked at me and said, " Sticking charm, trust me, you''ll be thankful in a moment. Once mom got the twins situated, the bus took off like a bat out of hell. The countryside began blurring because we were moving so quickly. With a loud bang, the bus slammed to a stopped. Luckily, the charm held me in place. Otherwise, I defiantly would have been thrown across the bus floor, just like in the books.


    After a few more quick stops, we made it to London in record time. At the train station, we left the knight bus behind. Once all the parents and students had gotten off, the bus left so quickly; it almost looked like teleportation. Making our way down the platforms, I kept eyeing the platform numbers. Once we got in between platforms nine and ten, dad pushed me towards the brick column and said, "Go on, you won''t feel a thing."


    Telling myself, that the brick column only seems solid and I was not going to run smack into a wall. Deciding to make a run for it, I charged ahead, at the last moment I couldn''t help but close my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was at platform 9 3/4, and the black and red Hogwarts express train were in front of me. Turning, I saw my parents come through the archway, each holding one of the twins, made their way through the platform wall.


    Students and their families filled the platform; most students looked eager to get on the train, while some of the parents were subtly wiping away tears, saying goodbye to their children. Hoping to avoid a scene with my parents, I hugged them goodbye


    Dad let go after a brief hug, but mom, held on, after a minute, I tried to pull away, but her arms were like vice grips, refusing to let me go. "Come on," dad consoled, "It''s not like you won''t see him again; he''ll be home for Christmas."


    Reluctantly she let me go, and demanded, "I expect weekly letters from you."


    Sensing freedom, I quickly reassured her, "Don''t worry so much mom, I''ll write to you all the time, I promise. Besides, Christmas will be here before you know it."


    As soon as mom let me go, the twins nearly knocked me over in a ferocious hug. After several minutes more of reassuring them that I would be returning at Christmas, I made my way to the train. Before I got on, a voice called out to me, "Alex."


    Turning towards the sound of the voice, I saw Cedric''s head sticking out the window of a train compartment, waving to me. "I''ll be right there, save me a seat," I called out. By the time I made it onto the train, it was packed full of students, making my way to the compartment where Cedric was difficult. Finally, I arrived at the compartment and found Cedric and Anna sitting on opposite sides, next to Anna was another girl with dark skin with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes.


    Looking me up and down, she boldly challenged me, with a slight accent that sounded somewhat familiar, "Who are you."


    Slightly taken aback at her tone, Anna nudged her elbow and said, "That just Alex, Ced and I know him from way back." Looking at me, Anna flicked her long blond hair towards the girl next to her and continued, "This is Alicia Spinnet; she is originally from Egypt. Her family moved near to my house about a year ago."


    Seemingly satisfied with that Anna response, she nodded and gestured like she was permitting me to sit. Cedric made eye contact with me and shrugged seeming to imply, what are you going to do. Girls are somewhat crazy.


    After sitting down next to Cedric, I looked at Alicia and greeted her with an old traditional Arabic greeting, "Welcome, how are you." Her eyes brightened at my Arabic greeting, she responded. "Well, thank you, and how are you."


    "I''m doing good, excited about attending Hogwarts," I responded.


    She responded, "I am as well, I am so glad I found someone else who can speak my native tongue; while I speak good English, sometimes it''s nice to speak to someone in my natural language."


    After a few minutes of small talk, I noticed Anna eyes narrowing and she snapped, "Don''t you know it''s rude to speak in front of other people who can''t speak the same language."


    Raising my eyebrow at her outburst, I said, "If you want to understand what we''re saying there is an easy remedy, all you have to do is ask, and I''ll teach you."


    After a moment of trying to find an argument to my response, she gave in and said, "Fine, just until we learn, no speaking in a different language in front of us."


    I shot a grin towards Cedric because Anna had volunteered him to learn Arabic as well and said, "Don''t you love it when you get volun-told to do something." Hearing my stamen Anna face went slightly pink


    Taking pity on her, Cedric responded, "No worries, besides, it will be nice to learn another language. How many languages are you up to now."


    "I''m up to four languages now, English, French, Arabic, and Spanish."


    Alicia raised her eyebrows impressed, while Cedric whistled, and Anna grumbled under her breath. Around thirty minutes later, the train started moving, and I said. "This is it; we''re finally on our way to Hogwarts."

 Chapter 14 - Hogwarts

    Around three hours into the trip, we were all getting a little bored. My dad had told me that the train normally takes around six hours or so to make it to Hogwarts. Doing a little mental calculation, considering the train was headed Northbound, that would put Hogwarts deep within Scotland.


    Suddenly, our cabin door was wrenched open, and two red-headed twins popped tumbled into our cabin. They both squeezed themselves onto the benches next to us, the one next to me blurted out. "If anyone asks, we were in here the whole time." The other sat next to Alicia and quickly closed the door.


    Seeing the red-headed twin''s identical crafty smiles, I knew that these two could only be the Weasley twins Fred and George. The two biggest hell-raisers ever to go through Hogwarts. Before any further introductions could be made, a tall dark-haired teenage wizard with a green badge with a silver snake that said Prefect on it, appeared in the hallway.


    When he made it to our compartment, he opened the door, eyeing the twins suspiciously and asked, "How long have these two been here."


    Not wanting to throw Fred and George under the bus, I quickly responded. "They have been in here since the start of the trip, what''s it to you."


    His eyes snapped to me, and retorted, "Someone thought it would be a good idea the toss a dungbomb into the prefect cabin. Someone saw two redheads running away from the scene." Finished speaking he glared suspiciously at the twin.


    The one next to me piped up with an innocent expression, "I don''t know what to tell you mate as my buddy told you, George and I have been in here since the beginning."


    Chiming in as well, George added, "This feels like a set up to me, I mean, if I were going to do something like throwing a dungbomb in the prefect''s cabin, I would have a disguise I wouldn''t run around with red hair. Not to mention this is a train full of wizards and witches. How do you know that they didn''t magically alter their appearance so they wouldn''t get caught?"


    Slightly taken aback, the prefect narrowed his eyes and warned. "I''ll be keeping an eye on you this year, if I so much as smell anything suspicious, you''ll pay dearly." Slamming the door behind him, he moved on.


    As soon as he was out of earshot, both twins evilly grinned at one another. George winked at me and said, "Thanks mate, for backing up Fred and I back there."


    Before I could respond Fred interrupted, "You know George, I just had a terrible thought, I bet they would never expect that whoever dumped the dungbombs would double back and do it again while they were looking for the culprits."


    A gleam appeared in George''s eye, and he puffed up and spoke out in a righteous tone, "Maybe we should go check it out, you know, to stop them, just in case whoever did it sneaks back to do it again. George reached up and slid open the door, and bolted from the room, with Fred right on his heels.


    The twins blew into our cabin like a storm of chaos, and they also blew out just as quickly, leaving silence in their wake. After a moment of stunned silence, Anna asked, "Who the bloody hell were those two, and did they do what I think they did."


    Grinning at Anna, I said, "I don''t know, but I''m willing to bet that they are going to be making trouble all year long."


    The trip continued with the four of us discussing random subjects, by the end of the trip, Alicia seemed to fit in our small group like she had been around forever. Around four-thirty, we all slipped our Hogwarts robes on knowing that the trip was almost over. By five, the Hogwarts express slowed to a stop, and there was a mad rush to get off the train.


    As soon as we got off the train, I saw him standing in the distance casting a huge shadow, with a wide grin on his face as if he had the best job in the world. Reading stories about a half-giant doesn''t prepare you for coming face to face with a half-giant. I couldn''t get over how tall Hagrid was, the book had described him as twice as tall as an average man and three times as wide, and boy, did J.K Rowling nail that description. He must be around eleven and a half feet tall, but while the height was impressive, his width is what made him intimidating, his arms were thicker than my whole body.


    Most of the first years seeing Hagrid were intimidated by him, not knowing that he had a heart of gold hidden beneath his massive size. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he bellowed, "First years, leave your trunks over here and follow me." Assuming everyone would follow, he turned and began striding away. Seeing that no one else made a move, I was the first to follow with Cedric, Anna, and Alicia following close behind.


    He lead us a dock on a lake so big; we could barely see the other at all. By the dock were around ten small boats with another forty or so out in the water floating. Hagrid waved to the first years and boomed in a loud voice, "Alright first years, three or four to a boat, come on now."


    Luckily, being at the front of the pack of around a hundred and forty students, my friends and I were first to the boat. After we all piled in, the lantern hanging from the front began to glow lightly, and we slowly moved from the dock. Another boat in the water, moved by itself to take our boat''s place.


    By the time everyone had been loaded up, the sun was beginning to set. The boat slowly began making their way through the water. Nervous whispering could be heard from the students nearby in other boats, as we crossed the lake. When about a third of the way there, Anna noticed that I was staring intently at the water and hissed at me, "What are you looking for, if you''re not careful you''ll fall in."


    Spotting the twins nearby a crafty thought appeared in my head, so I responded in a loud voice, "Supposedly there is a giant squid down there that is supposed to be friendly to students. I''m just trying to see if I can catch a glimpse. Besides, I have heard if students fall in the squid will save them."


    Two voices rang out next to our boat in response to my stamen. "Wicked." Looking up I saw the Fred and George, sitting in a boat with a black girl. They immediately began to rock the boat, trying to tip over. The girl warned, "Don''t you dare."


    George wheedled, "Come on Angelina, it will be fun."


    Before she could retort, their boat flipped and dumped them all into the lake. After flipping them, the boat flipped back up. All three broke through the surface, Angelina sputtered, "Your both dead, your bodies simply haven''t realized yet."


    Fred grinned and replied, "Don''t be like that Angelina, besides it was getting kinda warm. In fact, you should be thanking us for helping you cool off."


    After hearing Fred''s response, an outrage expression appeared on Angelina''s face, but before she could respond. All three off them were lifted into the air by giant tentacles and sent gently back into their boat.


    Seeing the giant tentacles put them back into the boat satisfied my curiosity on whether the giant squid in the lake was friendly, and I didn''t have to get wet to do it. It''s rather nice to have people around who are willing to do crazy stunts like that, even if they didn''t realize I planned for them to do that. Cedric nudged me and whispered, "I saw what you did there."


    Grinning at him, I quietly said, "I don''t know what you mean, I didn''t tell them to do it. They came to that decision all on their own."


    At the end of the path was a long flight of stone stairs leading to a pair of massive double doors. Halfway up, was a stern-looking witch, her pointed hat mast covered her graying hair that was pulled back into a bun. She started speaking in a slight Scottish accent, "Good evening, students. Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am Professor McGonagall, Head of the Department of Transfiguration and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. In a moment, we will move into the great hall and begin the sorting ceremony, where you will be sorted into one of four houses that represent the founders of Hogwarts. They are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. All four houses have long and glorious histories, and I expect for all of you to try and add to the achievements of your house. Once you are sorted into your respective houses, you will be representing them during your time here at Hogwarts. Succeed and do well and you will earn your house points, mischief will cost your house points. At the end of the year the points are tallied and whoever has the most wins the house cup. For those who end up in Gryffindor, I will be expecting the best behavior out of you, as I am the head of Gryffindor and I do not like to be embarrassed. All of that aside, don''t worry about your belongings; they will be delivered to your dorms before you get there."


    Turning around, she began marching up the steps her robes billowing behind her; all my fellow first years seemed to pick up on that this was not a witch to take lightly. I had even half-hardheartedly expected a crack from George or Fred, but they seemed to grasp that they needed to fly under the radar around Professor McGonagall.


    At the top of the steps were massive double doors that opened as soon as Professor McGonagall reached them. "Come along now," she said.


    Making our way into Hogwarts, we came upon another set of doors when she opened them, a great hall stood before us. Four long rows filled with witches and wizards wearing pointy hats, On the far end of the hall, was a long table full of older witches and wizards, and at the center was a tall wizard with an enormous beard with an equally as tall pointed hat and wearing half-moon glasses.


    Seeing his appearance, I concluded that he was definitely Albus Dumbledore. Scanning the table, I saw other teachers that I recognized from the books, such as Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape. When I saw him, I couldn''t help but think back to the final of the sixth book, when he killed Dumbledore. It''s still hard to believe what he did; I had always thought he was going to be a tragic hero-type character rather than a traitor. Maybe if I can make enough changes, things will go differently this time around.


    Cedric nudged me from my thoughts, as students had begun to make their way forward before the great table was a small wooden stool that had an old worn hat with several patches on it. Once we got the front, the hat burst out. "Over a thousand year ago, when I was newly made. I saw the rise of this hallowed place, where the four greatest wizards and witches began to enchant this space. Each took students to call their own. Crafty Slytherin took only those of purest blood, whose cunning matched his own. Brave Gryffindor, demanded his students be stout of heart. Wise Ravenclaw choose only the most intelligent to fill her house. And Good Huffpuff had no reservation on who she taught, and she passed on her dedication to her craft. To ensure the tradition continued, I was made to learn your minds, to best put you where you belong. Now don''t be afraid, let me look inside to be what your mind is made of."


    Seeing that the hat was done, Professor McGonagall turned around and pulled out a scroll. After unrolling it, she called out. "Angelina Johnson." At once, all eyes were upon her as she made her way to the sorting hat. "Gryffindor," it shouted a few moments after being put upon her head. As she stood up and went to the Gryffindor table, the students at the Gryffindor table clapped. Professor McGonagall continued to call out different names. A couple I recognized from the books, Such as Marcus Flint who was sorted into Slytherin and Roger Davies who went to Ravenclaw. But most were unknown to me.


    There seemed to be no pattern I could discern about how the students were sorted. Sometime a house would be called several times in a row and at other time it seems to skip a particular house for awhile.


    All of a sudden, McGonagall called out "Cedric Diggory."


    Cedric gave me a nervous grin, and he headed up to the stool after the hat was placed on his head. The sorting hat declared loudly, "Hufflepuff."


    Seeing Cedric sorted into Hufflepuff was not a huge surprise to me, after all that where he was in the books. A few names later, McGonagall called out, "Alicia Spinnet." As she went up to the stool, I mused to myself that she should be sorted into Gryffindor. According to the books, she was on the Gryffindor quidditch team with Harry Potter. After a few moments, the hat rang out "Gryffindor."


    "Anna Lancaster" Mcgonagall called out next.


    With a nervous gulp, Anna went to the stool and sat down, as the sorting hat was placed on her blond hair. It shouted, "Slytherin."


    Her purple eyes sought mine, I gave her a half-smile, indicating I didn''t care what house she belonged to. Although I had my suspicions about why she ended up in Slytherin, overall it didn''t matter to me, after all, my uncle was in Slytherin and he was awesome. The ceremony continued, and in a truly dramatic fashion, I was the final student to be sorted.


    "Alexander Fawley"


    Moving up to the stool, I sat down, and when McGonagall place the sorting hat on my head, I could hear the hat mutter, "Hmm, interesting, interesting, you have a lot of quality that makes you ideal for all of the houses. A pureblood who is extremely cunning, yes, you would do well in Slytherin." Determined not to influence the test at all, I indicated in my thoughts that I was content with whatever house it put me in.


    The hat continued "Ah, but there is more to you than cunning and guile, you have a great amount of daring and bravery as well, maybe you should go to Gryffindor. Let us go deeper into your mind. Ah, I see you value your family and friends greatly, and you''re a hard worker, those traits normally serve Huffpuff greatly."


    The sorting hat went on, "Ah, but at your core, I sense a ruthless intelligence, determined to learn and master magic in all its forms. To help you along your path to power, I know where to put you."


    "RAVENCLAW.," the hat shouted.


    Author''s note.


    It has come to my attention that some people believe that Cedric Diggory was in his 7th year during the tournament. This is incorrect, according to J.K Rowling Cedric began in 1989 two years ahead of Harry. If you need further evidence I believe in the third book, Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor team pointed out Cedric to Harry, he said something like Hufflehuff has a new seeker this year, a 5th year named Cedric Diggory. Needless to say. the triwizard tournament was one year later which puts Cedric in his 6th year during the Tournament. He was able to participate because his birthday was in between September 1 and Halloween, which was when the drawing happened. I hope this clears everything up for everyone.

 Chapter 15 - Ravenclaw

    The students at the Ravenclaw table politely clapped when the hat sorted me into their house ¡ª getting up from the stool; I made my way over to the end of the Ravenclaw table, where all the other first years were sitting.


    With the sorting ceremony concluded, Dumbledore got up and went to the podium with a pleased look on his face. Looking out over the students, he beamed and said, "Now that the first years have been sorted, I could go into a long welcoming speech, but I am sure everyone else would much rather get to the feast. On that note, let the feast begin."


    All the student cheered as he sat down, and massive amounts of food appeared on the table. Looking down the table, the older students immediately began tearing into the food; it seemed like it was every student for themselves. The first years took their cues from the older students and began eating as well. After filling my plate and eating, I couldn''t help but admire the ceiling that had been enchanted to show the outside sky. Even though it was dark out, and moon and stars were visible; the floating candles along with the torches on the walls made sure the hall was lit up.


    Next, to me, a dark hair kid introduced himself, "Roger Davies."


    "Alexander Fawley," I responded.


    Seeing how we were introducing ourselves to one another, most of the first years at our table did the same. By the time the feast was over, I had eaten so much food, that I was sure if I took another bite, my stomach would burst. When everyone was finished with the feast, Dumbledore stood back up, and the talking in the hall died away.


    After clearing his throat, he said, "Now that our bellies are full, its time to speak on a few matters. First of all, Mr. Flitch has asked me to remind you once again, that magic in the halls is not allowed." His voice trailed off, with his eyes twinkling mischievously.


    He went on, "Also, in the 2nd week of term, your house quidditch teams will have a tryout. There will be a sign-up form in your common rooms, alas they are restricted to second years and above. Next, it seems like I have to remind the students every year that the forbidden forest is off-limits to students, as there are creatures that dwell deep within some of which are dangerous. Now, I am sure you have heard me ramble on long enough, Time to tuck in, goodnight."


    When he finished, there was a flurry of movement throughout the hall, as all the students making a mad dash off to their dorms hoping to avoid the stampede of other students. I heard a female voice call out "Ravenclaw, first years this way."


    As we all shuffled towards them, they turned and began leading us away. As we began to make our way through Hogwarts, the girl spoke up again, "My name is Lisa Bailey, and this is Scott Miller, we are Ravenclaw''s 5th-year Prefects. Each house has a total of six prefects, and if you have any questions, you can seek us out for help, be aware, every prefect can give punishments out for misbehavior so watch yourself throughout the year."


    Eventually, we came to an open area that was full of moving staircases, Scott chimed in, "This is the grand staircase, as you can see, the stairs move and constantly change. It may take some time for everyone to get used to how they randomly move around. Sometimes you will be headed to a particular floor, and then staircase will shift and end up leading you to another floor."


    "Oh, and just so you know, some of the steps on the stairs are traps," Lisa said as she grinned and hopped over a particular stair.


    Lisa and Scott lead us to the fifth floor, where we came to a large door with a bronze eagle knocker attached to the middle. Turning to look at us, Lisa said, "Other houses have passwords to get into their rooms, but we do things a little different in our house. Our intellect is what most commonly defines Ravenclaw witches and wizard, and this knocker was designed to test our worthiness. Give the right answer, and you will be let in, fail, and you will be denied entrance until one of your classmates takes pity on you. " She fell silent with a sneer on her face, letting us know that she did not think highly of those who failed the challenge and needed assistance getting into the tower.


    When she finished, Scott reached out and knocked. A soft musical voice questioned, "What requires food to live, yet will die when given water."


    Scott turned and challenged with a slight mocking look on his face, "Anyone feels brave enough to give it a go."


    Seeing the apprehensive expression on everyone''s faces, as nobody wanted to fail and be embarrassed in front of everyone. I boldly spoke up, "I''ll give it a shot."


    Scott stepped aside and motioned me forward with a flourish. Furiously thinking about the riddle for a moment, the answer came to me. A smug grin tugged its way out, and I called out, "Fire."


    "Well done," the voice chimed, and I shot a triumphant look towards Roger Davies. The door swung open, letting us into the Ravenclaw tower. As soon as we went inside, we came to a large circular room that had several archways that led to other open rooms. I was a little surprised about how large the common room area was; the books always implied that the common area was small and cozy. But, this area looked like the entire house of Ravenclaw could be in the common area and not be packed in like a can of sardines. On the far side of the room, was a set of twin staircases, in between them was a statue of a witch with a wise look upon her face.


    Lisa saw my gaze and spoke up, "The stairs lead to the girls and boy dorms, girls on the left, boys on the right."


    We all made our way into the common area and began to look around; I saw that one of the archways lead to a room that had several large shelves full of books on the walls. Along one of the walls etched into the stone were Ravenclaw student names separated by year. I noticed the column representing 5th-year students had Lisa in first place with Scott in second, next to there name was a P mostly likely representing Prefect. I even found my name up there in the 7th column, but unlike the other columns, there were no numbers next to anyone''s name in our year.


    Speaking up, I asked, "Why are all of the names of Ravenclaw students up there?"


    Scott came over and said, "First years listen up, this wall of the name represents your standing in the house. While other houses, don''t pay attention to your grade, in our house, your grades determine how you are ranked. The best students, get more perks in our house, such as nicer dorm rooms, while those at the bottom, will be housed in shabbier dorms. Your first year is somewhat of a pass, your grades will constantly changing throughout the year, but the only thing that matter is your overall grades at the end of the year. What you achieve this year will determine your standing and benefits in Ravenclaw the following year."


    Scott''s words made some first years appeared worried, but others grinned at the thought of competing for better benefits. Lisa came over and interrupted, "All right, it''s past 9 and curfew is at 10, and no one is allowed to leave until 6 in the morning if you''re caught out, you will be punished, so let''s get everyone to their dorms. By the way, before leaving for breakfast in the morning, your class schedule will be down here in the morning."


    At her words, I headed to the right staircase, Scott called out, "There are seven floors in the dormitories, First years are at the top, with the seventh years at the bottom." A few boys g.r.o.a.n.e.d hearing they would be climbing to the top of Ravenclaw tower ever day. Hearing the grumbling, Scott laughed.


    Making it to the top of the dorms, I found a large circular room that had eight doors. Seeing my name along with three others, I headed towards the door, I found a large room, with four beds inside. Athena was sitting on one of the beds, as soon I came in she launched herself at me. After I caught her, she climbed her way up to perch on my shoulder. Seeing my trunk on the bed that she was on, I decided to unpack my things. Each bed had a large dresser next to it along with matching end tables to hold belongings.


    Before I could start, three other boys walked in, wanting to introduce myself, I called out, "I''m Alex Fawley,"


    The kid with dark brown hair on the right called out in a thick Scottish accent, "William Moore, nice to meet everyone."


    I had already met the dark-haired kid in the middle, but he still greeted, "Roger Davies."


    On the other of Davis was a slightly wide-eyed red-head who called out in an Irish accent, "Ryan O''Conner."


    After we had all introduced ourselves to one another, I returned to unpack, when Ryan asked, "Is it always like this."


    "What," I questioned.


    Waving his arms around to indicate everything, he said, "You know, everything is so nuts. I mean, the painting talk, the staircases move, there are even ghost running around. It''s like all the rules I''ve learned about the world are wrong. Like for instance, the tower from the outside shouldn''t have this much space on the inside. It''s like magic constantly breaks the laws of physics."


    Hearing his rant, it clicked, "Ah, you must be muggle-born."


    Seeing him nod his head, affirming that he grew up in the nonmagical world. So I told him, "You''ll need to put aside everything you have learned about the world. There is so much more to the world than meets the eye. Magic allows us to bend and break the natural rules. However, magic does have rules of its own that it follows."


    Seeing that all the magic didn''t fl.u.s.ter me, he asked, "Are your parents magical."


    Nodding, I said, "Yes, my whole family is magical. My mom is a master potioneer, and my dad runs an enchantment shop in Diagon Alley."


    Roger snapped his finger and said, "I knew your last name sounded familiar; your dad must run Fawley''s Wondrous Enchantment doesn''t he."


    A proud look emerged on my face, and I confirmed, "Yup, that''s dad''s shop."


    Roger replied, "That''s awesome, I got my trunk from there. There were a ton of interesting items in the shop, does he do all the enchantments himself."


    "The charm-work yes, but I know he has a few employees to help run the store, so he can spend most of his time enchanting and coming up with new ideas."


    "What about your guy''s parents," I asked curiously.


    Roger replied, "My dad, works for the ministry of magic as a full-time Obliviator, my moms a muggle who used to work as a nurse, but she quit a few years ago, the hours were terrible."


    Confused about what an Obliviator was, Ryan asked, "What in the bloody hell is an Obliviator, it sounds like he blows stuff up for a living."


    Roger barked out a laugh and said, "Nothing so exciting, whenever, a muggle sees something magical and need to have their memory modified, Obliviators show up to modify their memory."


    A stunned look appeared on Ryan''s face, and he stammered out, "Magic can mess with people memories."


    Roger nodding seriously, replied, "Yes, but it''s necessary, A lot of muggles don''t react well when they discover that magic exists. Sometimes they end up believing that magic is evil. Muggles are funny like that; I think it has to do with some god they worship. Also, many don''t react well to having their view of the world turned upside down; sometimes, they end up getting locked up in a muggle loony bin when they start ranting and raving about magic. Obliviators make sure that they forget so muggles can go on with their lives peacefully."


    "Hmm, my parents are fascinated by the concept of magic." Ryan defended. "But then again, they aren''t religious, and they have always maintained that there is always sometime more to learn about the universe."


    Curious, I asked, "What do your parents do for a living."


    "Mom runs one of the biggest libraries in Ireland, and dad is a history professor at a college," Ryan replied.


    Seeing how everyone had introduced their parents except for Willam, we all looked at him to say something. With a sigh, he responded, "I live with my mom; she runs an enormous greenhouse and sells potion materials from the plants she manages."


    "That''s cool," I responded, "my mom, has a small greenhouse that is terrifying to go into."


    Ryan asked, confused, "What''s so scary about plants?"


    Willam and I looked at each other and started laughing. "Remember when I said your gonna have to forget muggle rules, well rule 1 magic makes everything more dangerous, In our world plants are very much alive and dangerous, the plants have to be handled very carefully. Otherwise, you could end up hurt or even killed."


    A sobering look appeared on Ryan''s face as he digested the fact that magic plant could eat, or even kill him.


    "What about your dad," Roger asked.


    A sad look appeared on Willams''s face, "he was a hit wizard who died in the war against he-who-must-not-be-named."


    Not knowing what to say, I said, "I''m sorry, my grandfather was killed, by him as well."


    Willam met my eyes for a moment, nodded then turned and left saying he needed to get some fresh air


    As soon as he left, Ryan started firing off questions, "What is a hit wizard? What war? Who can''t be named."


    Roger looked at me and shrugged not knowing where to begin, So I said, "So a hit wizard is a wizard who serves the Ministry of Magic as part of the Magical Law Enforcement, they normally work in small squads, and sometimes they are used as backups for Aurors if they need assistance." Before Ryan could ask what Aurors were, I continued, "Aurors are dark wizards catchers, You can think of hit wizards almost like normal police officers that handle day to day enforcement of the law, whereas Aurors are more like military special forces, they don''t bother with petty crap, they handle more serious threats. Often they work alone, tracking and hunting down dark wizards. They are highly trained and efficient and not to be taken lightly."


    I went on, "Now make sure your s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e when asking about the war. I''d wager well over half of the kids at Hogwarts has either had a family member killed or knows someone who was. It was really bad; an extremely powerful wizard gathered a large number of followers he called death eaters. Their goal was to seize power in the wizarding world and conquer the muggle population and rule in the open. The reason why most won''t say his name has become a rather taboo word in our culture." Pausing for dramatic effect, I whispered: "His name was Lord Voldemort."


    Roger slightly flinched when I said his name, Ryan looked puzzled, and asked: "Why is everyone afraid of saying his name."


    "I asked my uncle that once, and he told me, that in the war since no one knew the identities of his followers, nor who they had magically enslaved. People didn''t know who they could trust; if someone would speak negatively about Lord Voldemort, it seemed like it wouldn''t be too long before death eater attacked their home. Eventually, people began to realize that anyone openly discussing Lord Voldemort was attacked, so many stopped saying his name, hoping that they wouldn''t draw his or his followers attention. Eventually, it became a taboo word in our society."


    While Ryan was digesting everything I said, Roger hissed, "Stop saying the name."


    Before I could, respond, William walked back into the room, and the conversation seemed to fade away. I spent the next hour unpacking, and when I was finished, I decided that I was done for the night and went to sleep, eagerly wondering what my first class was going to be.

 Chapter 16 - Classes

    Athena woke me up early in the morning by deciding that my face looked like a comfortable place to sleep. As I pushed her off to the side, she shot me a look of discontent and burrowed under my blanket. Hopping out of bed, I saw the sun peek beyond the clouds through our window. As I got dressed, the other boys in our dorm began to stir and wake up. When we got down to the common room, Scott the 5th year Prefect, was downstairs, with a stack of parchment, that had our schedule for the year laid out on it.


    On Monday, we had Charms 8:30-11:30, History of Magic 1-2 and Transfiguration 2:30-5:30. Tuesday was just as packed with Potions at 8:30-11:30, Astrology 1-2, Herbology 2:30-5:30. On Wednesday, Defense against the Dark Arts begins at 8:30-11:30, Flying Lessons 1-2, Charms 2:30-5:30 and late at night Astrology 11 pm-1 am. Thursday gave us a late start with Transfiguration starting at 9:30-12, History of Magic 1-2, Herbology 2:30-5:30. Finally on Friday, Defense Against the Dark Arts starts at 8:30-11:30, Flying lessons 1-2, and Potions 2:30-5:30


    Seeing how packed our schedule was, Ryan g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "Holy crap, why do classes go all the way to 5."


    Seeing how busy our schedule was, I asked Scott, "If I understand everything correctly, in our third year we have to pick at least 2 more elective classes. How will we be able to do that if are current classes fill the entire day up."


    Scott rolled his eyes and said, "In your first two years at Hogwarts, you have to learn a lot of theory about your class subjects, once your magical knowledge foundation is more robust you will spend less time in your classes. By your third year, you will have a basic understanding of your subjects and the teachers will spend less time lecturing you and more time doing practical magic which doesn''t take as much time. That will let you pick up additional classes in your third year."


    Seeing that we all understood, Scott made a shooing motion and said, "Now head down to breakfast, with your bags that have your spell books for your classes for the day. Trust me when I say you don''t want to be late on your first day."


    By the time we made it to breakfast, the great hall was half-filled, it seemed that outside of special feast, meals were much more casual, with students coming and going when they were finished.


    As we sat down for breakfast, a few owls started flying in to deliver mail. Considering it was only the second day of term, most of the letters were for the first years. I looked up warily, fully expecting a letter considering it was my birthday, and my mom was prone to passionate acts


    A barnyard owl swooped down and dropped a letter off; the letter had my name on it, and it indicated it was from dad. Opening the letter, I saw it only contained two words scribbled on the letter, "I''m sorry." After reading the words, a sinking feeling welled up inside of my gut. Seeing another owl head in my direction, I prayed that mom didn''t send anything too embarrassing.


    When the snowy white owl dropped off the letter it had, ad the letter fell on the table, steam began rising off of the letter. A groan escaped me when I realized what mom had sent before I could make another move; the letter activated.


    The letter began rising into the air, and it began loudly blaring a loud trumpet sound, that sounded suspiciously like a victory tune. When the tune faded away, the letter began loudly singing my mother voice with her French accent, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Alex, happy birthday to you."


    I could feel my blood rush to my face in embarrassment; students all around the hall began snickering and mocking me. Seeing the letter go silent, I prayed that it was over. However, my mom''s voice rang out again. "Happy Birthday Alex, I already miss you so much. I can''t believe that my baby is 12 already. I love you so much, have a good time at school. Try to make lots of friends and do well in classes and remember mommy loves you." When her voice died down, and the letter burst into colorful flames and sparks. Feeling everyone''s eye upon me, I shrank in embarrassment.


    Next to me, Roger, cracker up, "Man, I can''t believe your mom did that, is she trying to embarrass you."


    I defended mom weakly, "That''s just who she is; she is really passionate about things like this."


    Ryan had an entirely different reaction," That''s so cool, talking letters, it''s almost like voice mail message."


    A puzzled look appeared on William''s face, and he asked, "What is a voice mail."


    While Ryan started trying to explain what voice mail was to William. My thoughts drifted to our first class. After we had finished breakfast, we all headed out to the third floor. When we got to the third floor, we started looking for the correct classroom. Unfortunately, it was slow going as there were multiple corridors located on each floor. An older student passed by, and I called out, "Do you know where charms are taught."


    Without slowing down, the student called out, "Your in the wrong hallway, the charms corridor, is the next one over, you should easily find the class once your there."


    When we made it to the next corridor, I saw Anna start to enter a classroom with a fellow Slytherin witch. "Wait up, Anna," I called out.


    Turning and seeing me, she smiled and waited, the girl next to her saw me, laughed and said in a slightly mocking tone, "Well look who it is, it''s the birthday boy."


    Shrugging it off, I rolled my eyes and said, "My mom''s just like that, she doesn''t even understand that doing that would be embarrassing. I think some parents are like that; they do things they consider nice, but mortify their kids."


    Changing the subject, I asked, "What your schedule like."


    Anna pulled out her schedule, and we discovered that we had Charms, Potions, and Defense against the Dark Arts together. As more time went on the class filled up with everyone from Ravenclaw and Slytherin, at 8:30 on the dot, Professor Flitwick walked in, and the students murmuring quieted down. The first thing anyone noticed about Professor Flitwick was his short height; he stood at about three and a half feet tall. If I remember correctly from the books, this was due to him being a part goblin. However, if anyone ever underestimated Professor Flitwick, they stopped when he famously won the International Dueling Champion three times in a row. His hairline was receding, leaving the top of his head bald, while his hair on the side was grey and his beard hid the lower part of his face.


    Next to his desk, were stacks of old books, which he climbed like a set of stairs until he stood on his long rectangular desk. "Good morning first years." He squeaked out in a high pitched voice. "I am Professor Flitwick, the head of charms, and the head of Ravenclaw as well. I will be teaching you charms during your time here at Hogwarts; I want everyone to know my door is always open if you have questions or need help with anything."


    Professor Flitwick spoke with such enthusiasm as if it was his greatest wish to be able to help students learn. As he started teaching class, he moved and bounced around full of energy, if it were for his appearance, I would have thought he was an excited child.


    "Now, before we begin, I want to speak on the nature of what charms is all about. Let''s start with a basic overview of what charms are. The easiest way to explain charms is to think of charms as adding magic effects to things. Most are temporary effects; however, when you are older, you will learn how to cast long-lasting charm spells. You will find that charms are the most versatile subject to study in magic, and there are countless charm spells, and many variations to charms spell that you will discover how to use. One of the most important aspects of charms is wand movement and incantation. If you mess those up, there can be random consequences, best case scenario is nothing happens at all, other times you may produce random magical effects some benign, others less so. So, while there is room for personal creatively when working on charm spells, it is important to remain focused your mind on what you are casting and not mess up the wand movement or incantation."


    Professor Flitwick continued to speak to us about charm work, with the whole class furiously taking notes. When there was only less than an hour left until the class was over, Professor Flitwick eyes twinkled and said, "Alright enough talk, I''m sure everyone here wants to get down to it and cast some spells." He pulled out his ivory-colored wand that looked like my aspen wand and said, "This first spell we are going to learn is the levitation spell. So first, the incantation is Wingardium Leviosa, and while you say the spell, you give your wand a little swish and flick. Just like so, Wingardium Leviosa". A book rose off of his desk, and it zoomed around the room floating off the ground, with a flick of his wand.


    As soon as I heard what spell we were going to work on, a smile slipped out. I had been casting that spell all summer. I shot Anna and Roger a confident look, while Professor Flitwick was passing out white feathers, he said, "When I am finished handing out these feathers, I want you to attempt to make them float in the air."


    After he had finished, everyone pulled out their wands, and there was a flurry of wand movement and murmuring as everyone said the incantation. Looking at my feather, I gave my wand a swish and flicked and chanted "Wingardium Leviosa."


    Instantly my white feather rose around four feet off the ground, looking around I didn''t see anyone else with a feather in the air.


    Professor Flitwick bounced over excitedly, "Excellent work Mr. Fawley, 5 points to Ravenclaw for being quickest out of the gate. Try to maneuver the feather around; it''s easy to get things to rise into the air, making it move around is more difficult."


    Hearing his instruction, I flicked my wand, and the feather shot across the room zooming over Professor Flitwick head. He laughed and said, "A little more gently Mr. Fawley, no need to overdue it simple nice movements."


    Nodding, I slowly brought it back under control, after seeing I had got the basics, Professor Flitwick moved on to assist other students. About ten minutes and many attempts, Anna was able to get her feather to rise into the air, while it hung shakily in the air she shot me a triumphant look.


    Sitting next to us was Roger, whose face was turning red in frustration, he glared at the feather-like it had personally insulted him. By the end of the class, only around a third of the students had gotten their feather to float. As we were packing up to leave, Professor Flitwick called out, "Your homework is to write 6 inches on the history of the Levitation charm and to practices the spell. Hopefully, by the next class, more of you will be able to make it work."


    The day passed by quickly, and soon it was time to meet on the second floor for History of Magic. When I filed in, I saw Alicia with her some of her fellow Gryffindors inside already. I grabbed a seat next to her. Soon the class was started and our teacher, Professor Binns floated in and began roll call.


    Overall the class wasn''t so bad, while Harry and Ron always found the subject rather boring. I found it fascinating. I mean, who doesn''t like learning about ancient wizard civilization. Our history is full of fascinating wars, even some magical disasters. Although I have to admit, Professor Binns does speak in a monotone voice that makes even the most fascinating subjects seem rather boring.


    After class, it seemed like both Ravenclaw and Gryffindors had Transfiguration together as well. Even though there was a thirty-minute window in between the classes, I headed down to the first floor where the Transfiguration classroom was, so that there was no chance of me being late. Being one of the first students in the class, I walked into the empty classroom, on Professor McGonagall''s desk was a green and black cat watching me intently.


    Grabbing a seat in the front row as I have been looking forward to this class and didn''t want to miss anything. Knowing that the cat was Professor McGonagall, I was looking forward to seeing her transform.


    As my fellow students trickled in, the cat watched the clock tick down like a hawk. The Weasley twins barely made in on time, just passing the through the door when the clock hit 2:30. After everyone took their seats, students began whispering to each other, seeing how there was no teacher present.


    Alicia leaned over to whisper something, but I said: "Shh, you don''t want to miss this."


    On cue, the cat leaped off the desk and transformed into Professor McGonagall; it was strange to see. Her transformation involved a lot of twisting and whirling; it happened so fast I couldn''t see the transformation. One second she was a cat, the next after a blur of movement, she stood before a dumbstruck audience.


    Seeing how amazing and fluid the transformation was, I swore right then and there that no matter how long it took, I would become an animagus before I graduated. I don''t know why Europeans seem to have such a big issue with animagus; it''s crazy that only seven people have legally become animagus in the past century. Aunt Nefret told me that at Uagadou, the magic school she attended, over 80 percent of their student become Animagus by the age of 14. Her animagus form is a tiger shark, which is very useful, considering they live on a ship.


    Professor McGonagall''s voice shook me from my thoughts. "Transfiguration is one of the most difficult and demanding aspects of magic you will be learning; it is very different from charms, where there is room for creativity. Transfiguration is much more exact branch of magic; there isn''t room for personal creativity when it comes to transfiguration; any deviation can have drastic and dangerous consequence. If done incorrectly, whatever your transfiguring may get permanently stuck halfway between forms, on that note, any tomfoolery or mischief, in this class will see you banned, and you will not be returning to class."


    As she issued her threat sternly, she made eye contact with the Weasley twins as if she could sense they would be trouble. Seeing that her point was understood, she went on, "The art of transfiguration, is that of change, I will teach you to alter the form of an object, by transforming it into a different form." To ill.u.s.trate her point, she waved her wand at her desk, and it became a pig.


    Seeing that she had everyone''s full attention, she smiled and said, "There are four main branches in transfiguration, the first is transfiguration, which we have already discussed, next is untransfiguration, which like it sound returns object to their original form." Once again, to ill.u.s.trate her point, she waved her wand at the pig, and it transformed back into a desk.


    She continued, "The final two are Vanishment, which is extremely advanced and won''t be studied until your fifth year, and Conjuration which is learned in your sixth and seventh should you achieve the required grade."


    Professor McGonagall continued her lecturing on the subject for an hour before giving each person a match. "We will be starting small before you is a match, the goal of this transfiguration spell, is to turn it transfigure it into a silver needle," She said.


    I was slightly intimidated, looking down at the match. If I remembered correctly, Hermione was only was able to turn her match silver and slightly pointy, which demonstrates just how difficult this was going to be.


    Firmly concentrating on the spell, I grabbed my wand and pointed it towards the match and chanted, "Aculeus."


    Unfortunately nothing happened, as time went on no one was successful. With only 20 minutes remaining, I glared at the match like I had met my mortal enemy, "You will transform, or I will see you burned." I threatened the match.


    Closing my eyes, I tried to relax and focus, after easily learning some charms and hexes I had assumed that transfiguration wouldn''t be difficult. But to be honest, I was a little happy, after all, learning magic without effort, takes some of the meaning away. Having to struggle to succeed makes you feel better when you do succeed. After taking a few breaths and calming down, I brought my full attention to the match, and I deeply concentrated, seeing the match turn into a needle in my mind. I pointed my wand at the match and chanted "Aculeus."


    The match simmered and transformed fluidly into a silver needle; I let out a breath, I didn''t know I was holding and wiped the sweat off my brow. I looked about the room and saw everyone trying to transform their match. Next to me, Alicia and Roger both struggled to get their match to transform.


    A stern voice rang out from behind me, "Mr. Fawley, shouldn''t you be working on your match, rather than watch your neighbors work."


    Turning, I found Professor McGonagall standing behind me with a stern expression on her face. Before she could continue, I realized she couldn''t see my needle beneath my hand, so I moved my hand quickly. "I''m done, I was able to do it."


    Her eyebrows rose for a moment in shock, upon seeing the needle, after a moment, a small smile emerged on her face. "Well done." She congratulated me. "It''s rare to see someone succeed on their first day, five points to Ravenclaw for a job well done."


    By the time class was over no one else had succeeded as well as I had, I noticed a raven-haired girl in our house giving a glare as if I had wronged her in some way. After searching my memory for her name, I realized her name was Jessica Brooks. I was puzzled at her resentful stare; I don''t believe I had said two words to her.


    Before letting us go for the day, Professor McGonagall gave us a ton of homework on the subject. She left us a final warning, "While other classes may encourage you to try spells outside of class, transfiguration spells outside of the class are prohibited until your third year."


    As everyone shambled out of the class, I stayed behind, wanting to satisfy my curiosity. When the last student had left, I eagerly asked Professor McGonagall, "Can you teach me how to become an animagus."


    She didn''t look surprised by my question. "There is always one or two who end up asking me about becoming an animagus. To answer your question, yes I can, but not until you are older and have a much better grasp on transfiguration magic. Terrible things have happened to those who were unprepared. I didn''t learn how until my sixth year at Hogwarts. So until then, I will not teach you anything about animagus."


    Nodding my understanding, I left slightly crestfallen, I knew from my aunt that is was possible to become an animagus by the age of 14. Thinking for a moment, I decided I wanted more information on animagus. I knew that their was an easier way to get the information than digging around in the library for the information on animagus, it was time for me to visit the famous Room of Requirement on the seventh floor.

 Chapter 17 - Animagus and Potions

    Exiting the class, I made my way through the first floor when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a familiar-looking cabinet next to a suit of armor. It looked just like the vanishing cabinets, that connects my house to my uncle''s boat.


    Running my fingers over the dark wood, I mused to myself, if this is the cabinet that connects, to Borgin and Burkes''s shop. It still should be working properly; if I remember correctly, it didn''t break until Peeves smashed it in the second book. If I can move to the cabinet to a safe place without anyone noticing me, I can close the door on how the Draco had the death eaters penetrate Hogwarts. Additionally, if I buy the one at Borgin and Burkes, and put it in my tower, I will have a secret passage in and out of Hogwarts.


    Seeing that students were milling around and that I wouldn''t be able to move the cabinet without anyone noticing me, I decided that I would make my move later when there would be fewer people who could notice me.


    I wolfed my dinner down quickly and left the great hall intent on finding the Room of requirement. After reaching the seventh floor, I looked for the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy \, knowing that across from it was the entrance. I found the correct tapestry in the third corridor I tried, across from the tapestry, was an empty stone wall.


    Walking back and forth three times, furiously thinking, I need a safe place where no one can disturb me, to study books on how to become an animagus. A small wooden door appeared, opening the door, led me to a small circular room with a small round table with a small stack of books on top of it.


    Next to the table was an uncomfortable-looking hardback chair, wanting to test further the room''s magic, I thought, I really could use a more comfortable chair. Right as the thought entered my head, I saw a red plushly looking chair on the other side of the table. Oh, this is such a broken piece of magic, I thought to myself.


    Decided that I would continue my experiments later, I sat down and grabbed the first book available. The age of the book could be felt as I ran my fingers across the cracks in the leather spine. Seeing that the book was titled History of the Animagus, I opened it hoping that there would be valuable information inside.


    The book started with the origins of the spell; it stated, The origin of the animagus spell dates back to ancient Greece. The first recorded animagus was a wizard by the name of Falco Aesalon, who turned into a falcon. While it is possible that he did not invent the spell himself, most have credited Falco with inventing the animagus spell.


    Since then, the spell has filtered throughout the world and is used by many wizards worldwide. However, in Europe, there is a persistent belief that wizards who become animagus do so for nefarious reasons. That, combined with the difficulty, and danger, has led the spell not being frequently used in Europe.


    Continuing on I read, The most recent discovery in the field of Animagus transformation has to do with another charm called the Patronus charm. Difficult to cast, when cast correctly it produces a glowing white spirit in the form of an animal. Several wizards who have become animagus, have come forward showing that the form of the Patronus is the same as their animal form. Some wizards often try to discover what form their animagus would take, before attempting to become animagus.


    The book went on, The types of animals that wizards may turn into are many, it is even possible for a wizard to assume the shape of a magical creature, although this is a rare occurrence, as it normally only happens to the most powerful of wizards. Should you meet such a wizard, you would be wise not to anger him.


    Opening the book, I located the spell towards the beginning of the book, ''The process of becoming an animagus is long and difficult. It begins with the mandrake leaf; one must place the mandrake leaf within the mouth for an entire month. Should it leave your mouth for even a moment, you will have to start all over again. Once that has been accomplished, they must keep the leaf in their mouth until the night of the next full moon. Should the moon be hidden behind clouds, the process has to start all over again from the beginning. Should the moon''s rays of light be unobstructed, the next step is to create a potion using the spit-soaked mandrake leaf, one of their hairs, a silver teaspoon of dew that hasn''t seen sunlight for seven days or been touched by human feet for seven days. Finally, the chrysalis of a Death''s-head Hawk Moth must be included as well. After successful brewing the potion, it must not be touched by the rays of the sun, or it will be ruined. The next step is, to wait for a lighting storm to be overhead, for however long it takes to be it months or years, at every sunrise and sunset, you must place the tip of your wand at your heart and chant the spell Amato Animo Animato Animagus at every sunrise and sunset. When a lightning storm is overhead, take the potion to a secure area, point your wand at your heart one final time and recite the incantation and drink the potion which will have turned blood red in the storm. You will feel agonizing pain; then a second heartbeat will beat within your c.h.e.s.t, afterward, an animal will come to your mind, and you will transform.


    A word of warning the first transformation will be extremely uncomfortable, but this is normal. Should anything go wrong with the process, the consequences are irreversible. Many a wizard has overestimated their skill and tried to become an animagus only to become stuck halfway in-between forms, neither man or beast but some unholy mixture of the two. Even worse, their minds become deranged, often they end up killing themselves or others in a fit of rage.


    The book showed pictures of wizards who had messed up the spell; one wizard was shown to be screaming in agony as half of his body was twisted into something unrecognizable. After reading and seeing all the pictures about all the ways the spell could go wrong, I finally understood why Professor McGonagall said I would have to wait until I am older and had a better grasp on transfiguration. There would be no do-overs or second chances if I messed this spell up. Shaking my head at just how crazy James, Sirius and even Peter were, for becoming animagus without any guidance at all.


    Seeing how I had been in here for over an hour, I decided to head out so that I could make it back to my room well before curfew. By the time I made it back to the Ravenclaw common room, there was over an hour left before curfew. I saw the common room was filled with students, some chatting with their friends, and others working on their schoolwork. The rest of the night passed while I worked on my homework.


    The next morning was my first potions class, and I wasn''t going to chance being late to Snape''s class, as he was depicted, as someone who gleefully handed out lengthy detentions in the books. After breakfast, I made my way to the dungeons to find the potions classroom early. It took a bit because the dungeons were massive and maze-like. After I found the correct room, I walked in and noticed Cedric waving to me, from a small square table with four seats that already had another member of his house. Looking at the brown-haired mousy looking girl, next to Cedric the named Sarah Givens popped into my head.


    Grabbing a seat, I motioned for Roger to join us when he came in. When it was time for class to start, Professor Snape silently entered from the back room. His dark long flowing robes made it seems like he was gliding along the floor. Making his way to the front of the class, he spoke in a silky soft voice, "Potion making, is one of the oldest magic arts, it has the most versatile out of any branch of magic. No flashy wand movement can save you in my class, potions is a subtle art, if done correctly, you can bring someone back from the edge of death, turn someone invisible, even bottle luck. Those of you who are less thick-headed than others may find success in my class, while those you who have difficulty following instructions will fail." He glared resentfully at the class as if he was offended by having to teach students, who don''t meet his high standards.


    He went on, "One of the most important aspects in potion-making is your mind, the ability to maintain focus over long periods is critical in potion making, should you lose track of where you are in the process, and it could ruin the potion you have created."


    "Now open your books to chapter one, you will find the recipe, for the pepperup potion, you will be turning one in by the end of class. Begin."


    There was a moment of hesitation in the class; all of the other classes had long lectures before making any attempt at using magic. Professor Snape''s style seemed to be, to throw us in the deep end, and see if there was any talent worth teaching. For those who failed, well that was just him separating the wheat from the chafe.


    The Bicorn Horn was a solid piece of horn that I would need to ground to powder, after verifying nothing was wrong with the horn I grabbed, I put it aside to look at the mandrake root. I knew from both experience and the potion ingredient book my mom gave me on my sixth birthday, that the ideal mandrake root, should have a rubber-like consistency to it. The first root I grabbed was mushier than rubber and the second felt brittle like it could snap. Finally, the third one I grabbed had a good rubber feeling to it. From what I could see, the Sprigs of English Thyme looked normal, so I grabbed three of them. Next, I pulled out my dropper and filled it with Salamander blood, and then I grabbed four fire seeds, not wanting to take any chances on having a bad seed, I switched out one of my seeds due to its funky shape. After grabbing another one that matched my other seeds, I headed back to my desk. As I turned, I saw that Professor Snape, watching everyone at the ingredient stand like a hawk, silently judging them. Seeing his gaze, I knew that he was mentally separating those in his head who was worth teaching.


    Most of the students grabbed what they needed, but a few mostly those in Ravenclaw, clearly knew that having good ingredient was half the battle. The first thing I did, ground my horn down to a fine powder, I saw next to me that Roger had done a rather poor job, with small chunks being present in his powder. Whispering out of the side of my mouth, "You need to do a better job with your powder."


    The second I spoke, Professors Snape''s dark eyes snapped to me, a slight narrowing of his eyes, informed me to keep my helpful comments to myself.


    Deciding to take his silent warning to heart, I zoned everyone and focused on my potion. Once I had gotten every ingredient properly prepared, I started on my potion. The first step was to fill the cauldron to the fill line with water; then I added two pinches of Bicorn Horn, followed by the mandrake root. Taking a deep breath knowing that the timing was critical, I adjust the slider to medium, that was located on the outside of the cauldron, the slide controlled the enchantment, that would heat the material inside. For exactly ten seconds, and more time or less time would have a negative effect on my potion. Looking at my potion stopwatch my dad gave to me a few years before, I quickly turned the slider to the off position and set the timer to thirty minutes for the potion to brew.


    When my timer, showed exactly thirty minutes had expired, I added my three sprigs then stirred four times in a clockwise fashion. Next, I carefully raised my dropper that had salamander''s blood in it and made sure I added five drops exactly, stirred two times in a anticlockwise fashion. Finally, I added, my four seeds, one at a time every three seconds, when I was finished I waited 1 minute for my potion to set. After the 1 minute, my potion turned the exact shade of red shown in the book.


    Knowing that I had succeeded in creating my potion, I looked around the room to see how others were doing. I winced when I saw Sarah toss all four of her seeds in at the same time, her potion began boiling, and when it had finished her potion while technically still red was so dark, it was almost burgundy.


    Taking a vial of my potion, I got in a line of students that were handing in their potions. In front of me was Roger, and when he gave his potion to Snape, his eyes narrowed at the green color of Roger''s potion, which was supposed to be red. "Before next class, turn in a two-page essay, on the proper way to ground Bicorn Horn."


    As Roger winced at the Professor Snape''s scathing tone, while I marveled at Professor Snape''s ability to accurately judge where a student went wrong in the brewing process. Considering the hundreds of different ways a student may mess up a potion, being able to tell with a glance what that student did wrong, demonstrated Professor Snape''s mastery of potion-making. While the books had always portrayed Snape''s essays as unnecessary punishment, I took a different view; if Roger does his research and writes a good essay, he shouldn''t make this mistake again in the future.


    After him, I turned in my potion, Professor Snape looked at the color and didn''t say anything, which I took to mean I made it correctly. Behind me was Jessica Brooks, whose potions was also the correct color. She shot me another challenging look, and once again, I was puzzled by her behavior. When I got back to my seat, I asked Roger, "What is that chicks problem."


    Seeing my gaze, he laughed, "Apparently you did too well in your classes yesterday, I heard her this morning telling her friends that she was determined to beat you in today''s classes. It looks like you have a rival already."


    Scoffing, I replied, "If she wants to be my rival, she is going to have to step it up a notch."


    Apparently, I spoke loud enough for her to hear me, her face went red, and she glared adorably at me, with her eyes promising to defeat me.


    After mouthing the words, good luck, I turned my attention back to Professor Snape. He continued the class by lecturing on the subject of potion-making. Near the end of class, Sarah, the mousy looking girl at our table, raised her hand when it seemed like Professor Snape was finished.


    Seeing her raised hand, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Yes, Ms. Givens."


    "Umm. Professor Snape, I was just wondering, where do potions come from who invented them, some of the potions I''ve read about are extremely complicated, do wizards add random ingredient together over and over again until they get lucky."


    Professor Snape thoughtfully eyed her, turning he asked the class, "Does anyone here know the answer to Ms. Givens question."


    Jessica''s hand shot up so high as if she was afraid that Professor Snape wouldn''t see her. Seeing how eager she was Professor Snape sighed and motioned for her to speak, "Potions making is extremely difficult, and new recipes are rare, many potion masters never even experiment with new potions as the chances of them developing something new, is both expensive and the chances of success are low. Out of 100 potion master who is experimenting with new potions maybe 1 or two will invent something new. Even then, what they invent may not be useful, or it may be similar to another potion already."


    Professor Snape rolled his eyes at her response and mocked, "That is almost word for word what is in your textbook." Looking around the room, he asked, "Does anyone have an original thought on the subject."


    Seeing no one raise their hand, I threw mine up half-hardheartedly. Professor Snape saw me and sneered like he believed nothing I would say would impress him. "Go ahead Mr, Fawley and please enlighten the class."


    Clearing my throat, I said, "What Jessica said isn''t wrong, that''s the official line on how potions are invented, but there is another alternative that you won''t find mentioned in any official textbook."


    Pausing dramatically, I grinned as I saw the class lean forward in anticipation, "The Potioneer''s Touch, or as it was originally called, The Hag''s Blessing. Blank looks appeared on everyone''s faces, as none of them had ever heard about this before. The potioneer''s touch is a controversial topic, some believe, that every once in a generation or two, a wizard or witch will be born with a magical gift that allows for them almost supernaturally to understand how potions work. Some accounts of those who had this gift claimed that when they were trying to invent or perfect an old potion, it was like the idea of what to do next would pop into their head. Of course, many master potion makers scoff at this and argue that potion making is the result of long experimentation and that the idea of someone having a magical gift that helps with potion making is hogwash. That is why you won''t find The Potioneer''s Touch in any official textbook. Now what lends credit to their point of view, is that there has been potion master who has invented new potions recipes, and who clearly state that they don''t have any such magical gift. However, most of these recipes are rather simple, for me, all the proof I need to believe in the gift, is the potion that gives luck, Felix Felicis. One of the most complicated potions invented, it has to be carefully brewed for over six months. It would take dozens of lifetimes for a potion master to figure out how to create this potion from scratch, but if you look up who created the recipe, you will find out that Zygmunt Budge invented this potion is the 16th century when he was 22 years old. His young age is what makes me believe that this gift is real if there can be wizards who can transform their bodies at will or even speak to snakes, why can''t there be one who has a gift for potion making."


    Seeing Professor Snape''s expression, I knew he was impressed; I only ever knew about this because I was curious about how he had modified potions when he was still a student in Hogwarts when he claimed the title, Half-Blood Prince. It seemed a little far fetched that a student would have the ability to make potions so much more efficient, so when I was younger, I asked my mom about how it would be possible to modify potion recipes to make them better, and she told me about the myth of the potioneer''s touch.


    Grudgingly he called out, five points to Ravenclaw, and I shot Jessica a smug grin. I may have just set a record; I''ll bet Snape has never given points to another first-year who wasn''t in his house on the first day of class.

 Chapter 18 - Nemesis

    As I took my seat in Astronomy, I was a little confused about why this was a mandatory subject at Hogwarts. Don''t get me wrong, it''s a fascinating subject, but what are the practical needs to have ever wizard and witch study the movement of the stars and planets. It wasn''t just studied here at Hogwarts either; it was studied at most institutions as well, Aunt Nefret told me that Astronomy classes at Uagadou were really advanced.


    The class filled up with Ravenclaw and Slytherin students, sitting on either side was Roger and Anna. When the class started, a middle-age witch with dark hair introduced herself, "Good afternoon, I am Professor Aurora Sinistra. In this class, we will be studying the movement of the heavens.." As if sensing everyone''s lack of enthusiasm for the subject, as there was no magic involved, she smirked knowingly and set a small glass globe down on the table.


    Tapping the globe with her wand, it projected out an illusion of our solar system which filled the entire classroom. I looked wonderingly at the illusion; it had every planet, their respective moons, even the asteroid belt. Next to me was Jupiter, with its seventy-nine moons floating around it.


    Seeing that she had captured the classes, attention Professor Sinistra continued, "As you can see, while there may be no magic done with our wands, we will be using magical items to study and track the heavens."


    Ok, maybe this class won''t be so bad after all, I thought to myself. After Astronomy classes, I headed to the Herbology classroom, which was in the giant greenhouses of Hogwarts. Out of all of my classes, Herbology was my least favorite, the class wasn''t difficult, or anything and Professor Sprout was nice, But I couldn''t get over the creepy feeling magical plants gave me. In my mind, plants should be still, not be able to move or even attack. Maybe it was from the nightmare experience I had in my Moms greenhouse when I was younger, but the study of magical plants, while interesting, wasn''t my cup of tea.


    The next day, was a class I was greatly excited about, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hopefully, there was a competent teacher, teaching the class this year. In the books, half the time, the teachers were incompetent.


    As soon, as I walked into the class, I noticed, a fiery red-headed witch leaning against the table, a small scar running down her cheek, everything about her screamed danger, this was not a witch to underestimate. Her eyes met mine, and she briefly scanned me up and down to assess if I was a threat. after sitting down, I noticed she did the same thing to every student that walked in.


    As soon as everyone was seated, she barked out "I am Professor Patricia Rathpick, I was invited to come and teach this year, and as I needed a break from curse breaking, I decided to accept the position."


    Cedric and I made eye contact, both of us already impressed with her.


    She went on, "Now, this class is all about teaching you how to defend yourself from all manner of beast and wizards alike." Pointing her wand towards the board at the front of the room, three words etched themselves out in descending order, Jinx, Hex, Curse.


    "These are your primary forms of magic you will be defending yourselves. Let us begin with the most forgiving of the three. The jinx is the lowest form of malicious magic, with most effects being instant. A good example is a tripping jinx, it causes a person to trip and fall, but that is the end of it. Next up is the hex, the hex is often a longer-lasting spell, and while they are not as dangerous as most curses they are significantly more malicious than jinx, they also are not temporary with some effects going on from minutes to days depending on the type and the amount of strength used when cast. Finally, curses are the most dangerous of the three types, some curses may be permanent. Now, not all curses are permanent, sometimes healers, or curse breakers, discover or create a counter curse which can reverse the effects of a curse. There is also a great deal of grey-area in all of this, I have seen some wizards refer to the same spell differently, these are just general guidelines."


    There was a flurry of feather quills as the whole class was scribbling down her words as fast as they could. Near the end of the class, she said, "Now, one of the best defenses is to not let them be cast in the first place," Pointing towards a girl in the front she said, "Ms. River, up here if you please."


    Nervous, the blond-headed girl got up and went to the front. Professor Rathpick said, "Good, now pull out your wand," Sandy River pulled out her wand and held it loosely by her side.


    "Expelliarmus" Professor Rathpick softly chanted, a red beam of light hit Sandy''s wand and it was gently pulled from her hand and flew across the room. Turning, Professor Rathpick faced the class and instructed, "As you can see, now that my opponent has lost their wand, they cannot cast a spell against, me. While this is one of the most basic defensive spells there is, it is still worthwhile learning. For the last 30 minutes, I want everyone to divide up into pairs and practice."


    After all the chairs were pushed to the side, Cedric and I lined up against one another, I said, "You go first."


    With a look of deep concentration of his face, Cedric pulled out his wand and pointed it towards me and said, "Expelliarmus."


    Instantly, a scarlet red burst of light erupted from his wand and hit me, and my wand went flying across the room. Throughout the room, maybe 3 or 4 other succeed their first time. As Cedric retrieved my wand and through it my way, I mused to myself, that I shouldn''t be surprised Cedric was able to easily cast the spell. In the Goblet of Fire, he was selected to represent the whole school, meaning he should be rather talented. As he threw me my wand, a grin appeared on my face and I chuckled, "My Turn."


    "Expelliarmus" I ordered in a loud voice.


    As Cedric was hit by a burst of light his whole arm was yanked up, almost like it was trying to detach itself from the body, his wand went shooting across the room. Glaring at me, I shot him an apologetic look. Coming up behind me with Cedric''s wand, Professor Rathpick said, "As you can see, you can put different amounts of energy into a spell. Although I am sure you didn''t mean to overpower that spell, good job. However, the mark of true mastery is being able to control just how forceful your spell is, I have seen some masters cast that spell with enough force to throw someone across a room while disarming them or just barely disarm someone. Keep practicing, until you can control what level of force you project in your spell."


    We continued practicing until the end of class, as I concentrating furiously on casting, I could tell that part of what controls the amount of force that is used is willpower, but reducing or increasing it on purpose was difficult and would need more practice.


    After lunch was our flying class with Madam Hootch, as we all piled out to a wide-open field, there were numerous broomsticks on the ground. Seeing some of the nervous expression on some of the student''s faces, I realized that for some, this would be their first time on a broom. This is where the wizards who grew up out in the countryside had a distinct advantage over those who lived in a city. Most of us who lived in the country had been flying on brooms for several years, whereas those who lived in the city often didn''t have as much as a chance to fly because of the possibility of being seen. Even more worried looking were the few muggle-borns in our year. They looked nervously at the old tattered brooms, lying lifelessly on the ground.


    Doing a terrible job at reassuring them Madam Hootch said, "Come on now, nothing to be afraid of, don''t worry if you break a bone or something, Madam Pomfrey will fix you right up."


    Hearing her words, did nothing to comfort those who were already nervous, if anything it made it worse. Madam Hootch scoffed at there concerns and said, "Now the first thing you need to do, is stand next to your brooms, and give the command, UP!"


    I reached over and lazily commanded, "Up." Over my broom. Groaning to myself, this class was going to be boring, I have been flying since I was 5 years old, there should be a way for those who already know how to fly to test out of this class. I reached over and lazily commanded, "Up."


    The broom shot up, and I noticed that around half of the first years were able to do it on the first try. The class went quickly after that, we never even really got to fly, mainly we just hovered over the ground a few feet. Before I knew it, the class was over.


    Later that night at 11, we headed to the astronomy tower with our telescopes. By the time we got everything set up and ready to scan the night sky, I was ready to fall asleep. However, once I looked through my magical telescope, I was amazed by what I saw. Looking at the moon, it was like it was only less than fifty feet away. I could see fine details, of the surface, it was incredible.


    Looking at my brass telescope in wonder, I couldn''t believe it was able to provide such detail on something that far away. Professor Sinistra had us identify and mark the planets in our solar system. By the time class ended, I realized that I was going to love this subject.


    When I was younger, I asked my mom if wizards had ever been to the stars and she laughed and said, "No need to go there, not when we can see them so clearly." I had always been confused by that vague statement, but now I understood her meaning.


    Shooting the sky one last glance, I wondered if it would be possible to travel to another planet with magic. Would magic even work on another planet? Shaking my head, that was a goal for another time, maybe when I was much older.


    The rest of the week went by quickly and before I knew it, the weekend was here. Cedric and I met up on our way to great hall on Saturday morning, "Where are Anna and Alicia." Cedric asked.


    "They said they would meet us at the great hall," I replied.


    As we made our way to the great hall, as we rounded a corner I saw Anna and Alicia being harassed by four older students, Alicia looked like she was about to breathe fire. As we got closer, the one who appeared to be the ringleader was lecturing Alicia. As the larger brown-haired kid sneered at her he said, "What the hell is a Gryffindor hanging with the likes of a little Slytherin. You need to learn, Gryffindors and Slytherins are not friends."


    Puffing up in outrage, Alicia angrily retorted, "Shut up Whithorn, no one tells who I can and cannot spend time with." Giving him another look, she viciously added "Ya Gazma."


    I froze upon hearing the name Whithorn, I knew Delvin Whithorn had a son named Micheal at Hogwarts, but that was all the information I was previously able to gather.


    Deciding to interject myself into the conversation I drawled, "You know Alicia I don''t think you could have better described him if you had tried, ya gazma indeed."


    Cedric and I joined Anna and Alicia. Micheal''s eyes narrowed as he sensed he was being insulted but was unsure how. Deciding to enlighten him I said, "Ya Gazma, means that you''re a shoe."


    Micheal''s face scrunched up in confusion.


    Rolling my eyes I clarified, "It means that your sc.u.m, shoes are really dirty, and that''s what you are, a shoe covered in shit. Do you understand, or are you so dumb you need me to further explain."


    Michael''s face turned red, and for a moment it seemed like he was unable to breathe. His hand shot to his robe and drew his wand when Professor Snape rounded the corner. He took in the scene of the four of us, being faced some older students, one who had his wand pointed at us.


    With a malicious chuckle, Professor Snape said, "Tsk. Tsk. Isn''t this a sight Mr. Whithorn, pointing wands at first years. How brave of you, you must be the pride of Gryffindor house, which is known for its bravery. Twenty points from Gryffindor."


    A black-haired kid next to Micheal sputtered and argued, "But they called him a shoe." Alicia smirked, and Micheal winced at his friend''s protest, knowing that it would only make things worse.


    A delighted look appeared on Professor Snape''s face as if he couldn''t be happier that one of Micheal''s friends spoke up in defense of him. That will be twenty points each, Mr. Sullivan. Now get out of my sight before I put you in detention."


    In a small voice, Anna asked nervously, "Professor Snape, is it true, that Slytherins aren''t friends with the other houses, especially Gryffindor because I''ve heard some things."


    Professor Snape, dark eyes bore into Anna''s big lavender eyes. His face unreadable, he replied, "Why the hell would I care who you choose to associate yourself with. If you''re so worried about what other people think of you, you won''t make it far in life."


    Turning to leave, he paused and called out, "Ms. Lancaster, many people seem to forget, that once upon a time, Slytherin and Gryffindor were the best of friends." With his black robes billowing behind him he strode away.


    The rest of the day was filled with exploration, as we made our way through the castle exploring each floor.

 Chapter 19 - Hagrid

    The following weeks seemed to pass by quickly, most of my subjects were fairly easy for me. The one subject that offered the most difficulty was Transfiguration. By the time I transfigured a match for the third time, something seemed to click, and I was able to transform a match on command. Seeing my progress Professor McGonagall moved me onto larger objects.


    I began spending a lot of my spare time, in the room of requirement. Rather than hunt through the endless library of Hogwarts. It was much more convenient to have a room that would provide the books on subjects I wanted to learn about.


    It also made a good place to practice spells, I don''t know why but casting charms, was as easy as breathing to me. I was leagues ahead of my fellow first year, the only thing I really needed to work on was being able to modify the strength I used in my spells, which required endless practice.


    A few weeks into term, upon entering my room, I noticed Athena becoming listless. I knew it was hard on her being cooped up in my dorm when I was in class, not to mention having her wings and horns magical folded away. Scooping her up into my arms, I whispered, "Why don''t we go outside, and find a place for you to stretch your wings bit."


    Hearing my words Athena piped up and bleated in a cheerful tone. Making my way through the grounds, with Athena on my shoulder vibrating in anticipation. I saw a small wooden hut near the forbidden forest out of the corner of my eye. That must be Hagrid''s hut, I had seen him a few times on the grounds, but hadn''t had the chance to introduce myself to him.


    Passing the hut, I made my way to the lake, once I had put some distance between me and the castle, I reached up and grabbed Athena off my shoulder. "Hold still, silly," I told her, as she moved with excitement as I tried to remove her collar.


    Once I got it off her, her wings and horns shot out and back into place. After giving herself a shake, Athena launched herself into the sky with a happy bleat. I watched her sail off into the sky, I sighed, wishing that first year were allowed brooms, I missed flying through the sky with Athena next to me as we soared over our family property.


    As I sat by the lake with the forbidden forest to my back watching Athena aerial antics, I smiled. I jumped in surprise after a deep rumbling voice intoned, "It isn''t very often that I get to see a Lamassu."


    Jumping in surprise, what greeted me was a giant of a man. Standing over 11 feet tall I had to crane my neck back to see his bearded face. How can someone so big move so silently? Next to him was a huge black boarhound with drool leaking out of his mouth.


    "Your Hagrid, right?" I asked


    Nodding his head in affirmation, He rumbled "Yes and this big guy is fang, now, you know my name, but I don''t know yours."


    "Alexander Fawley, but most people just call me Alex," I replied.


    Setting down a huge rope he had slung over his shoulder he sat down next to me and asked, "Well, Alex what are you doing out here all by yourself? Shouldn''t you be out with some friends, it''s not good to be so near the Forbidden Forest all by yourself."


    Motioning towards Athena, with her midnight blue wings tipped with silver, flashing as she dove down toward the lake, trying to catch a fish, I replied, "Athena was getting restless in my house dorm, She has to wear a collar that forces her to assume the shape of a normal cat. So I brought her out to stretch her wings"


    Cupping my hands to my face I shouted, "Athena!"


    Athena''s head rotated towards me in a strange manner, seeing me wave towards her, a look of joy appeared on her face, and she flapped her wings madly, propelling her through the air. Bracing myself for impact, I let out an "oomph." As she nearly bowled me over. I held her out so Hagrid could take her and get a better look.


    Running his enormous hand down Athena''s back, a tender look appeared on Hagrid''s face and he crooned, "Oh, she little more than a baby."


    Protesting, I argued, "She is seven years old."


    Hagrid smiled and said, "Lamassu''s often live up to well over a thousand years old, in her lifespan, she is still really young. That''s why she is so small, a Lamassu like her will end up growing to the size of a leopard or tiger."


    As I tried to wrap my mind over Athena getting that big, I rubbed her head and I warned her, "If you get that big, you aren''t sleeping on my bed anymore."


    Rubbing her golden stripes, he asked eagerly, "Has she ever warned you of anything, Lamassu''s are supposed to be able to sense the future? As well as being able to see the true nature of people."


    Slightly taken aback at his question, I replied, "I''ve never been in danger don''t think I have ever been in danger before, so she has never had the opportunity to do so."


    Nodding his understanding, He replied, I feel sorry for anyone who tries to attack you around Athena, Lamassu''s are fiercely protective and have strong magical attacks."


    Confused I asked, "What kind of magical attacking abilities? I have never heard about any."


    Scratching Athena''s horns that curved slightly he said, "What do you think these horns are for, trust me they day you see her cut loose you will be impressed."


    A large sigh escaped Hagrid, and he grumbled, "I wish I could have a magical creature of my own, every time I get one, something inevitable happens and I''m forced to release into the forest."


    Rolling my eyes at Hagrid''s sigh, and giving the forest a nervous look, I wondered, just how many creatures Hagrid had released in the Forbidden the years. He should have a new title, Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Ground at Hogwarts, Supplying Monster to the Forbidden Forest since 1967


    Sensing an opportunity to get on Hagrid''s good side, I hesitantly said, "You know, Athena was a gift from my uncle. He has been known to¡­ locate certain creatures and¡­ relocate them discretely to people who like them."


    Sensing my tone, Hagrid lowered his voice and carefully replied, "That''s tricky, the ministry loves to put add regulations on what can and can not be brought into the country. Grubby bastards, the lot of them, always declaring magical creature a danger to the public and the Statute of Secrecy. They just don''t understand the instincts of the creatures they label dangerous, most creatures wouldn''t hurt a fly."


    Thinking to myself, Hagrid, you can''t use your personal experience to describe creatures personalities, your bigger and more dangerous than most creatures. I would bet the see your size and recognize that if they attacked you they would get squashed so they play nice, everyone else though is fair game.


    Clearing my throat I continued, "Ya, my uncle doesn''t like to get tied down in the Ministry''s red tape, he believes that wizards can manage their own affairs and that the Ministry has begun pushing their power into areas that they don''t belong in. So he has¡­ back channels, that he uses to conduct¡­ business without the ministry poking its nose into."


    He grinned at me and waggled his eyebrows, "Why don''t you have your uncle write to me, it sounds like we¡­. Both appreciate that sometimes creatures need to be able to travel to new places and meet people who would care for them."


    A couple of hours later, I put Athena''s collar back on her and headed back to the castle. As we headed back Athena''s ears went flat and she growled in a manner I have never heard before. Thinking that she was upset about heading back inside I tried to comfort her, "Don''t worry, we will come out to stretch your wings more often."


    Right as we were about to go through the entrance, Michael Whithorn strode out the door, wand in hand, blocking my way forward. He sneered at me and said, "Looks like the little Fawley brat is all by himself." Coming up behind him were three of his friends backing him up.


    Rolling my eyes at his childish display of intimidation I drawled, "Well if it isn''t the shoe."


    Upon hearing my words, Michael''s face turned red in anger. He savagely responded, "I warned you, that you would pay for the other day."


    Knowing that I wouldn''t be able to reach my wand before Michael was able to get off a spell. I tensed preparing to dodge whatever spell he sent my way. However, before I could make a move, Athena began hissing loudly, I could feel her hiss deep within my bones. From the wary look on Michael''s face, I could see he could feel it too.


    Eyes narrowing, he hissed, "What is that."


    Scratching Athena''s ears, "This is Athena, and she doesn''t seem to like the look of you," Deciding to bluff my way out of this, I drawled, "Go on do something, I dare you, just don''t blame me what happens next."


    With a final sneer, Michael threatened, "Whatever she is, she can''t be with you all the time." As he turned and backed away, he tried to get the final word in, he taunted, "Shame, about your little Slytherin friend, we just caught up with her on the third floor, where she was all by her lonesome. I sure hope she is able to get back to normal before dinner. I sure her little Slytherin friends will be surprised when they see her."


    Hearing his words sent a wave of hot anger through my stomach, Blood pounding in my ears as I tore through the castle. Making my way to the third floor, I started searching empty classrooms for Anna. Not finding her, I told Athena, "Go find Anna, she needs our help."


    Launching herself out of my arms, she began moving with a purpose. Athena seemed to hone in on a door at the end of the third corridor. As I got closer, I could hear sobbing coming from within. Twisting the door handle I found it refusing to move, so I banged on the door, and said, "Anna let me in."


    The sobbing paused for a second and Anna hysterically cried, "GO AWAY! I''ll be fine in a few minutes."


    Pulling out my wand I declared "Not a chance, one way or another I am coming in there." Not hearing a response I tapped the door handle and chanted "Alohomora." A loud click came from the handle and I swung the door open to see Anna crouched in a broom closet.


    Anna was trying to hide her face with her hands I noticed her hands were solid green. "Go away" she m.o.a.n.e.d.


    Consoling her, I said, "Anna, I don''t care if they turned you green or blue, now come out of there and let me take a look at what they did to you."


    Slowly she pulled her hands down her big lavender eyes peeking at me, I hissed when I saw what had been scribbled on her green face. Written with silver on her forehead, were the words, Squib Spawn. I sighed knowing that there was a stigma attached to squibs, some wizards believed that if you were descended from a squib made your bloodline more likely to produce squibs in the future. This unfounded belief was one of the reasons that I thought Anna was ashamed of her mother.


    Deciding that she needed some tough love, I barked, "So what if your mom is a squib, she clawed her way up in a society that looked down on her, that expected her to shuffle off into the shadows not to be seen. She couldn''t even attend a proper school, but did she let that stop her. No, she went on to become one of the best Master Potion Maker in the United Kingdom. You should be proud to have her as your mom.


    Anna''s refused to meet my eyes and muttered, "You don''t understand, my whole life, I have been looked down on for having a mom who is a squib, that''s all anyone saw me as the squibs daughter, who probably would have no magic of my own. Is it so bad, not to want to be seen as a squib''s daughter? I want people to see me for who I am, not who my mom is."


    I sighed, "Let''s get you to the hospital wing, I''m sure Madam Pomfrey can sort you outright quick, then we''ll meet up with Cedric and Alicia. If Michael and his friends want a war, we sure as hell will give them one."

 Chapter 20 - Ambush

    Madam Pomfrey took one look at Anna, and said, "Oh you poor dear, I''ll get you fixed up in a jiffy." She pulled out her wand, a murmured a spell and tapped Anna on the head with the tip of her wand.


    Immediately, Anna skin returned to a normal color, and the word faded from her forehead. Madam Pomfrey looked her up and down and said, "There we are, right as rain. I don''t suppose you would like to tell me who did this to you."


    A stubborn look appeared on Anna''s face, and she muttered, "It was just a spell gone out of control."


    Madam Pomfrey sighed like she had heard that excuse a million times. Hogwarts was sort of like a prison, no one rats on each other if someone hexes you, you either take it, or you can dish it back out. Those who go crying to teachers are scorned by the entire school body, it''s sort of like admitting you aren''t good enough with magic to get revenge.


    After we left, I told Anna, "Let''s find Cedric and Alicia, I need to show you guys something." After we hunted down Cedric and Alicia, they followed me to the 7th floor.


    As I stopped in front of the Room of Requirement, pacing back and forth, Anna questioned, "What exactly are we doing up here?" Her voice trailed off when she saw a door appear in the corridor.


    Opening the door with a flourish, I said, "This is the room of requirement, it''s probably one of the best-kept secrets at Hogwarts. All you have to do is need something, and if it can be obtained in the castle, the room will provide it."


    We came into a wide-open room with a round table with four chairs surrounding it. As we all sat down, I continued, "One of my favorite things about the room, is how it provides books that I require, rather than hunt the information down in the library, I just come here and think about what topic I need information on and it appears."


    As soon as I finished, a stack of books appeared next to me on the table. Cedric raised his eyebrow and asked, "Alright Alex, you dragged us to this secret room, enough with the theatrics, whats going on?"


    "You remember the idiot from the other day, the one who was bugging Anna and Alicia?" I said.


    Cedric nodded, taking a deep breath and shooting a glance towards Anna for permission, she nodded and I said, "Earlier today, He and his friends took a shot at Anna, They hexed her green, and wrote the words squib spawn on her forehead. Not long after, he tried to jump me but Athena scared him off."


    As I trailed off, Cedric and Alicia sat back in stunned silence. After a moment, Alicia began muttering in Arabic about all sorts of nasty things she was going to do to Michael. With a concerned look on his face, Cedric looked at Anna and asked, "Are you ok?"


    She nodded, and quickly replied, "Madam Pomfrey was able to get rid of it quickly enough."


    Wanting to inform them of my thoughts on the matter I said, "It is because I don''t think that this activity will cease, that I gathered everyone here for a war council." Alicia eyes lit up and eagerly asked, "Oh, are we going to war."


    Nodding I replied, "I think it''s safe to assume that we will all be targets, so rule number one, travel in pairs if you''re not with anyone from your house. Alicia, you may be the easiest to target because you''re in the same house as Micheal. Next, we retaliate, if we hunker down and do nothing it will only get worse. However, before this goes any further, it''s only fair guys know that there is some history between my family and the Whithorns, getting caught up in this could have far more consequences than just a petty feud at Hogwarts."


    After I told them about the details, about how Delvin Whithorn had somehow screwed my grandfather over. Even going into some detail about the little known shadowy organization that Declan Whithorn ran throughout the world.


    Out of all of my friends, Cedric was the most disturbed by everything I told him. After all, his father worked in the Ministry and he had always placed great faith in the system to work correctly.


    Anna inquired, "What is the name of the organization."


    Shaking my head, I responded, "I asked my uncle the same thing, according to him, they don''t have a name for it. He believes that Declan thinks that theatrical things like secret names or tattoos that could be used to identify someone are idiotic. The most he could tell me was there was a council of seven that is in charge of everything, with Declan at the head of it."


    Everyone fell quiet at the idea of antagonized the grandson of a powerful wizard, who had no scruples. Cedric sighed and said, "No one wants to say it, but I have to put it out there anyways. Is this a fight we should be seeking, I imagine, if we huddled up and let Michael and his friends hex us a few time, eventually they would get bored."


    Alicia scoffed and said, "Where is your sense of pride."


    I interrupted I shook my head and said, "No, Cedric actually makes a good, point, Honesty, the smart move would be to do as he said, and not make waves. But, I have a feeling Michael would enjoy it too much to stop, He won''t stop with a few hexes, people like him want to dominate others."


    Wanting to reassure everyone I continue, "Besides I doubt Michael gets his father or grandfather involved a small Hogwarts grudge, I bet Michael doesn''t even tell them. I only mentioned it, so everyone knows what kind of family he is from. Now that everyone is caught up to speed, what does everyone want to do if you want to back out I understand, it''s the smart move"


    After a moment of silence, Cedric scoffed and said, "Of course we''re in, who do you take us fo? So what do we do?"


    Seeing the agreement in everyone''s faces, I grinned and said, "So, they have the advantage, not only are they third years, but they also have a much better grasp of the castles'' layout. Now, I doubt they are expecting us to go on that attack, but the main idea is to force them to realize that consistently bothering us isn''t worth their effort."


    Sliding the books that appeared on the table to the center I continued, "I propose we brush up on some nasty hexes, and get them before they get us."


    Everyone grabbed a different book while looking through my book, I found a few particular nasty hexes in an old book on nasty spells. Hopefully, because the book is so old, the spells aren''t commonly used, so they won''t be able to get rid of them easily. However, I did recognize some of them from the books, so who knows.


    The following weeks were spent practicing hexes and jinxes in our spare time, in between classes, we made sure to blend with the crowd so Michael and his friends couldn''t get a shot at us.


    Looking back, I can pinpoint the true start of our conflict, it started on a normal Friday, that was the day Michael knew he had found an opponent he couldn''t bully into submission. That day, I saw one of Michael''s friend, Ray Sullivan, chatting with his friends in the hallway. On the other end of the hallway was Professor Snape headed this way.


    It was like the universe set up a perfect way to begin the war. I pulled out my wand and tucked it discreetly into my sleeves. Professor Snape neared and as I passed by Ray, I muttered softly, "Lingua Volucri." Stepping back into the crowd I stuck around to enjoy the show.


    As soon as Professor Snape passed by Ray, who was speaking with his friends, he suddenly blurted out "WHORE."


    Snorting into my hand, I watched Professor Snape pause, as if he couldn''t believe what just happened. His dark eyes gleamed dangerously, and he snapped, "What did you just say, Mr. Sullivan"


    With a panicked look on his face, Ray stuttered, "Nothing Professor ARSEHOLE." As soon as the final word slipped out, Ray''s eyes widened as if he couldn''t believe he just said that.


    Professor Snape''s eyes bulged out and he roared, "How dare you! 50 points from Gryffindor!"


    Trying to keep the smirk off my face, I can''t believe how diabolical the potty mouth jinx is. It takes random words you say and replaces them with curse words. Somehow, it picks the perfect words to swap with for maximum effect.


    Ray begged, "You don''t understand BITCH, It''s not my fault, you have to know that I would never F.U.C.K.I.N.G say anything like that to you C.U.N.T." At this point, the whole hallway was completely silent, shocked beyond words.


    Honestly, I was kinda worried Professor Snape was going to have a heart attack. Finally, he roared, "DETENTION FOR A MONTH MR. SULLIVAN! Come with me." As Professor Snape dragged Ray away.


    Ray''s eyes met mine, and he knew from my wicked grin that I was responsible for his predicament. That marked the beginning of our conflict, the following weeks, we were in a secret battle with Michael and his friends. Sometimes, we ambushed them and sometimes they ambushed us. All of us had been hit at least once with hexes and jinxes of all types, some rather basic and other fiendishly devious.


    A small part of me assumed, that a bully like Michael would back down after being hit a few times, but he actually seemed to thrive on the conflict between us. The on October 31 our little fight escalated.


    I broke the rules, and found myself all alone of the fourth floor, when I heard Michael shout, "Petrificus Totalus." Immediately, my limbs locked up and I found myself unable to move, so I crashed to the floor.


    Michael flipped me over and I glared daggers of death at him. He sneered down at me, raised hit the foot and snarled, "Who is the shoe now," and he smashed his foot on my face and breaking my nose.


    Ray sneered down at me and said, "I don''t know I think he needs another lesson." Micheal looked me over and his face lit up when he saw my tower control ring. After prying my ring off my frozen finger, he held it up to the light and whistled. "This ring looks nice and old, family heirloom?"


    Michael shot a cruel grin at Ray and said, open the window I have a good idea. As Ray opened the window, Micheal set my ring on the window seal, and pointed his wand at my ring and shouted, "Alarte Ascendare." My ring shot into the sky, like a bullet fired from a gun, in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.


    As I laid there helplessly unable to move, white-hot rage burned through me, along with a sense of shame. Never before had I felt such hatred. I swore to myself, that I would never be caught so unprepared again in my life and that I would get revenge.


    Micheal motioned for Ray to grab one foot and they both dragged me into a small closet. Just before he closed the door, Michael sneered at me and said, "There is only an hour before everyone has to be in their dorms, and I bet you are gonna be stuck like that for 3 or 4 hours. Sure hope you don''t get caught out of bounds."


    Around midnight just when I began to get some feeling back into my hand, I heard footsteps approach from outside. The handle creaked as the door swung open to reveal two grinning redheads one of whom was holding an old map.


    Fred said, "What happened to you, mate"


    Still unable to move I glared helplessly at them, Moving me into a better position, George pulled out his wand and muttered the counter curse to the full body bind curse. Finally able to move and speak, I quietly muttered, "Thanks."


    Fred whispered, "No problems mate, George and I were wondering what you were doing it the closet all these hours."


    While I guessed that the map in Fred''s hands was the marauder map, so I said, "How did you even know I was down here?"


    George grinned and excitedly said, we nicked this map from Filch''s office, it''s bloody useful, it shows where everyone is on the Hogwarts ground, that''s how we knew you were in here. After seeing you remain frozen on the map for a while, we decided to come and check it out."


    After telling them a quick condensed version Fred snarled and offered, "Want us to slip some bulbadox powder into their pajamas?"


    Laughing at his expression, I replied, "Sure if you want, but I plan on getting my own brand of vengeance as well."


    They used the map, to get me back to the Ravenclaw common room without being detected. As I laid in bed, two things remained on my mind, revenge and getting my ring back from the forbidden forest, who knows how deep in the ring went in, it could be anywhere.

 Chapter 21 - Revenge

    The next day, too embarrassed to tell my friends what happened, I tried to act as nothing had happened, but as soon as Anna saw me at our charm class, she asked, "Where is your ring."


    Shooting her an incredulously look, I asked, "What are you a bloodhound or something."


    Anna''s face reddened and she said, "You always have the ring on. I don''t think I have seen you over the last year without it. What happened?"


    When I finished tell her what Michael had done, her eyes narrowed and she hissed furiously, "He did what, how dare he do that to your house ring, He needs to pay for what he did."


    Trying to calm her down, I said, "Don''t do anything, I plan to get him back myself."


    A rebellious look crossed her face, and she quickly changed the subject, "How are you going to get your ring back."


    Narrowing my eyes at her deflection, I replied, "I''m gonna hang back, to speak with Professor Flitwick after class."


    The class flew by and when everyone shuffled out of class, I hung around. Once the room was emptied, Professor Flitwick kindly asked, "Can I help you with something Mr. Fawley."


    Shooting Professor Flitwick a sheepish expression, I asked, "Professor Flitwick, I seemed to have misplaced my ring, and I know there is a summoning charm, that can help wizard locate objects. I was wondering if you could teach me how to cast it."


    Professor Flitwick set his quill down and looked me in the eyes. After meeting my gaze for a moment, his eyes softened and asked, "Mr. Fawley, do you need any help, I know it can be hard to believe, but we teacher do keep our ears to the ground, and there have been some interesting rumors going around."


    Tring to keep my expression smooth, not wanting to give anything away, I replied, "I''m fine, it''s just it was an old family ring and I want to find it."


    Professor Flitwick sighed like he knew what I was going to say before I said it. He went on, "Well normally we don''t teach the summoning spell, until your second year. Right now most of the spell we teach in the first year have a small mental component to them, it''s more important to get the incantation and wand movement right. With the summing spell, there is a bigger mental component, and if you don''t get it right, it doesn''t matter if you say the incantation correct or not."


    I sighed, thinking that this was his way of turning me down. Interrupting my thoughts, Professor Flitwick interrupted with his eyes twinkling, "But, considering that you have been picking up the first year charms so quickly, We can give it a go, why don''t you come by my office at 7 tomorrow evening, and we give it a go. But be prepared, moving on to these more difficult spells, will be more challenging than what you have been learning so far."


    My eyes lit up and I said, "Thank you, Professor Flitwick." Grabbing my bag I headed out for my next class. Outside the door waiting for me was Anna, as we made our way through the castle. We spotted Ray talking with a girl on the third floor, Anna''s eyes glittered dangerously, pulling out her wand and before I could stop her she pointed it towards Ray and shouted "Defluxio."


    As soon as the spell hit Ray, a loud gurgling could be heard coming from Ray''s stomach. A moment later, an explosive sound came from Ray''s behind as he shit himself uncontrollably. With fecal matter, running down his legs and onto the ground, a foul smell filled the air. The girl he was talking ran off with a disgusted look on her face.


    I gulped when I saw the vindictive look on Anna''s face. I immediately created a new rule in my mind, never piss Anna off ever, no matter what. Hesitantly I said, "That seemed a little excessive."


    Glaring at the direction Ray ran off in, she gnashed her teeth and she responded, "He deserved it, no one does that to you and gets away with it."


    Ah, I had my own guardian angel, it was kinda adorable, in a creepy serial killer kind of way. By the end of the day, half the school was aware of what Anna did. Most of the third-year Gryffindors were glaring at her at dinner. Although Michael was giving her a wary look, after all, who wants to be the target of a spell that makes you explode with uncontrollable diarrhea.


    After dinner, I headed to the room of requirement, I was hoping to find something that would help me if I got caught off guard again. When I made it inside, I began thinking that I needed a way to be able to draw my wand in a hurry, rather than trying to get it out a pocket in my robe.


    On the table, a few options appeared before me, the first option was a wand holster designed to be worn on a belt, interesting, but not want I was looking for. Tossing the wand holster aside and grabbing the next option, it was a left-handed arm strap holster. The wand was to be hooked in backwards, with the handle of my wand near my left hand and the tip up by my elbow. Better, but still not what I was hoping for. Picking up the final option, I recognized that it was what I was looking for, it was a hidden dueling gauntlet.


    Sliding the leather forearm armband onto my right arm. Once I got it on, I located the wand holder on the bottom. Snapping my wand into the holder, I twisted my wrist backwards and my wand shot forward, with the handle in reach of my hand. Admiring the dueling gauntlet, I thought it looked eerily similar to the hidden blade weapon from Assasin Creed. Satisfied with my find, and now confidant my wand was only a small wrist movement away, I headed back to my dorm.


    The next evening in Professor Flitwick''s office, Professor Flitwick began lecturing, "The summoning spell is designed to summon objects to your hand. The incantation is Accio, plus whatever you''re trying to summon."


    Demonstration the spell Professor Flitwick pointed his wand across his office and chanted "Accio book." A book flew off of the shelf on the other side of the room and shot towards Professor Flitwick.


    After catching the book in his hand, he set it on his desk and said, "This spell while difficult is extremely useful. Now, remember, it''s isn''t about saying the words so much as concentrating on what you''re trying to summon. If you don''t have the proper concentration, all the proper chanting in the world isn''t going to make the spell work. This spell is about 90 percent mental effort and 10 percent spellwork. It''s best to begin practicing the spell with an object you can see. It makes it easier when you can visually see what you''re trying to summon. The farther away an object is, the harder it will be to summon."


    I started having flashbacks when I was younger and trying to summon a red quaffle across my room. Considering I had decent success summoning the quaffle when I was younger and didn''t have a wand. I was confident that this time around, it would be easier to manage, now that I had a wand to help me. Curious I asked, "Is there a limit to how far away an object you can summon can be."


    Shrugging, Professor Flitwick said, "Yes, the farther away something is, the more mentally draining the spell will be. If you can''t provide the mental energy to summon something far away, the spell won''t work. For instance, trying to summon something from London from here wouldn''t work, it would take too much energy. Now let''s start off with something easy try to summon that book over there on the shelf to your hands."


    Pointing my wand at the book, I focused all of my mental energy on the book of the shelve. Once I believed I had achieved the necessary concentration, I chanted "Accio book." The book shook slightly indicating that it almost worked. Annoyed at the failure, I demanded again "Accio book!" This time the book shot over into my hand.


    Grinning in success, I turned to see Professor Flitwick''s jaw wide open in shock. After a moment he recovered and quietly said, "Mr. Fawley, I have to admit, I''m impressed, I thought even with your prodigious magical talent it would take a bit longer. I find myself looking forward to seeing just how capable of a wizard you''re going to turn out to be."


    After a bit more practice, Professor Flitwick said, "Alright, obviously summoning objects inside a room is too easy for yours. All you need to do is continue practicing on your own, on objects out of sight, once you get that down, practice on objects further and further away. Keep me informed of your progress."


    Over the next few days, I continued with my practice, At first, I was confident that I would pick up summoning objects I couldn''t see with no problem, but I discovered it was vastly more difficult. It took me about a week to confidently believe, that I had mastered the summoning charm.


    On the evening I was confident I had mastered the charm, I opened our dorm room window, and deeply concentrating on my ring, I chanted, "Accio Ring." After five minutes, I concluded that it didn''t work. Annoyed I went back to practicing the spell over and over. A few nights later, I tried again when I was confident that I had mastered the spell.


    Unfortunately, my ring never appeared, confused I went back to Professor Flitwick to explain my issue. Stoking his white beard, he replied, "There are a few things to consider, the most obvious is that you are lacking in mental concentration and that''s why it isn''t working."


    Shaking my head, I replied, "Watch this, I threw a rock, carved with my name into the great lake earlier." Walking over to his window I opened it and chanted "Accio rock." About three minutes later I heard a whistling sound as the rock sped through the air. Catching the stone I showed Professor Flitwick the rock with my name on it.


    Professor Flitwick visually impressed, and said, "Well, I would have to say that you do appear to have mastered the spell, Well then, next up to consider, is that its too far away to summon, but considering you lost it here I dought that is the case. Unfortunately, with those two ideas discarded, it leaves us with some less pleasant theories to consider. First, it may be that the ring no longer exists how you remember it if it was damaged or destroyed the spell wouldn''t work."


    Seeing my face go pale, he quickly moved on. "The other possibility is that it is being magically prevented from being summoned."


    Confused I asked, "Is that even possible?"


    Nodding his head up and down, he answered, "Oh yes, off the top of my head I can think of a dozen or so ways to prevent something from being summoned. I could probably come up with more if I gave the thought more consideration."


    Seeing my crestfallen face, Professor Flitwick tried to cheer me up, "Well, there is a method to determine if whatever you seek is still intact. It can even point you in the direction you need to go to find it. There are a few drawbacks though, it doesn''t lead you right to the object more like in the general direction. It''s called the seeking spell, the incantation is "Requiro Fortitudo." Similar to the summoning spell, this spell requires a great deal of mental concentration. There is no wand movement, just balance your wand in the palm of your hand, concentrate and say the incantation."


    We spent the rest of the even practicing the spell, it was a little more difficult to cast because I was having trouble properly concentrating on my ring. Knowing that it was somewhere deep in the forest, where it was either destroyed or being magically contained somehow was distracting.


    Either option was discouraging, I couldn''t wait till Christmas, so I could go home, and speak with Anton at the tower, maybe he created a spare ring. Sighing and banishing the wishful thought. There is no way a wizard as paranoid as Anton would create a duplicate ring.


    I spent the rest of the week, practicing the spell, and by the end of the week, I felt I had a good grasp on the spell. Ever time I cast the spell, my wand spun in my hand with the tip of the wand pointing at the Forbidden Forest.


    Looking at the ancient forest nervously, I knew from the books that it was full of monsters and creatures, not to mention the centaurs who disliked wizards in general. Shaking off the temptation of charging straight in towards my ring. Going deep into the forest would require careful thought and deliberation, not some foolhardy plan that could end up getting me killed. After all, I was not some character in a book, this was real life. If anything over the past couple of weeks had taught me anything, it was if you do something stupid, expect there to be consequences.

 Chapter 22 - Vanishing Cabinet

    After Anna sent that devastating hex towards Ray, an unspoken truce seemed to form between our two groups. It seemed like Michael, and his friend had finally become aware that we would fight back viciously, and at most, they would only be able to achieve a Pyrrhic victory.


    In Ravenclaw, a pecking order seemed to develop, with those who were achieving better grades at the top of the Pyramid. Before coming to Hogwarts, I had assumed that everyone that sorted into Ravenclaw would be amazing wizards and witches. But, one thing the books seemed to leave out was the sheer number of average students attending Hogwarts. Although I shouldn''t be too surprised, in the books, it mentioned that half of the wizards who worked at the Ministry of Magic couldn''t even perform a shield charm.


    It seemed that if even if someone was clever, it didn''t mean that they were magical talented. While most Ravenclaw students overall did well in classes, some struggled to perform as well in classes that had more spell work involved. Such as Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and in Transfiguration. However, even though most average students in Ravenclaw seemed to have one or two subjects, they performed exceedingly well in.


    My grades, and the ease in how quickly I mastered spells, compared to everyone in our house. Put me at the top of the pecking order, in second place was Jessica, who always seemed to glare balefully at me because I consistently outperformed her.


    In November, the evening before the first quidditch match of the year between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I spent the evening in the room of requirement practicing the fire making charm, across from me was a wooden dummy, pointing my wand at it. I chanted, "Incedio." A bolt of fire erupted from my wand and hit the target.


    Deciding that I had enough practice on making bolts of fire, I switched tactics, making bolts of fire was becoming effortlessly to me. To truly increase my mastery of the spell, I wanted to make the fire more controllable rather than just blasting a fireball at something.


    Concentrating on making a stream of fire, once again, I chanted, "Incedio." This time, a stream of fire flowed out of the tip of my wand, making its way through the room. Getting the flow of fire to change directions took enormous amounts of mental concentration. Slowly but surely, the fire stream turned back towards me. After it circled me three times, I cut the flow of energy off to it, and the flame disappeared, taking the heat with it.


    As I continued practicing sweat began pouring down my face. Eventually, a headache began to build. Calling it a night, I headed back to the Ravenclaw common area, where I found my favorite comfy recliner free. Sitting down and leaning back, I began studying the strange patterns of stonework on the ceiling that had been bugging me since the start of term.


    A loud deliberate cough distracted me, turning to see who was trying to get my attention, I saw Jessica Brooks glaring at me. Rolling my eyes, I asked, "What do you want Jessica?"


    Looking like she had to swallow a bitter pill, she grudgingly asked, "How are you picking up everything so fast? I never see you practicing in the Ravenclaw practice areas."


    Shaking my head, I responded, "First of all, I do practice, where do you think I am every night. Second, you need to relax, and have fun learning magic, your studying, and trying so hard to master everything, that it''s becoming a chore to do so. Learning is always easier if you love and have fun with what you are learning."


    "You don''t understand, I have to be the best, my parents were both in Ravenclaw, and they had the number one and two spots in the house. If I don''t put in an enormous amount of effort, I will fall behind." Looking slightly hesitant, she cautiously asked, "Do you think we can practice together sometime?"


    Hearing her plea, I shrugged and said, "Sure, not tonight, my head is still pounding from pushing my boundaries earlier."


    Falling into a comfortable silence, she took a seat on a couch near me and pulled out some homework to finish. I continued to study the strange patterns, the more I studied them the stranger they appeared to me. Eventually, I could even swear I began seeing shapes and even more complicated patterns.


    Turning towards Jessica, "I asked, "Have you noticed anything strange about the ceiling."


    A confused look appeared on her face; she glanced at the ceiling and said, "No, it looks normal to me."


    Later in the evening, I headed back to my dorm, as I passed the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, I noticed at the bottom, there was a small inscription, "Knowledge is all around, for those wise enough to find it."


    The next day, everyone was in excited for the upcoming match. Most everyone was rooting for Gryffindor, because throughout the last couple of years, Slytherin had dominated the other houses in the quidditch matches and the house cup.


    I brought Athena with me to breakfast, and afterward, most of the student body, along with the teachers shuffled out to the quidditch field. Catching up with Cedric, I said, "Save me a seat, I need to do something."\


    |


    Nodding at me Cedric said, Fine but hurry; I don''t want to be stuck in the middle of Anna and Alicia today, they both are supporting their teams. Knowing how aggressive Anna gets about quidditch, I think I''m going to need some backup, to run interference with her. With you around, she won''t go to out of control."


    Raising my eyebrow in confusion, I asked, "Why would you think I have a better shot at making sure she doesn''t go crazy."


    Shooting me a look that seemed to question my intelligence, Cedric shook his head and said. "No reason


    As Hogwarts emptied, I made my way to the first floor, where the vanishing cabinet was located. Setting Athena down I told her, "Alright you''re the lookout if you see anyone coming down that hallway let me know. Athena flicked her tail at me and made her way to the end of the hall. After making a slight wrist movement, my wand shot out of my sleeve and into my hand, while performing the proper wand movement I chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."


    The black nine-foot-tall cabinet rose up three feet off the ground beside me, seeing that the cabinet was almost at the ceiling I rotated my wand, and the cabinet rotated from a vertical position to a horizontal one. Athena and I made our way through the castle; all was going well until we made it to the moving staircases. Athena let out a fierce hiss, panicking, I set the cabinet down along the wall, and made my way up the Athena.


    Peering around the corner, I saw a scrawny dust-colored cat with large yellow eyes, frozen in place. "Shit," I whispered. "That has to be Mrs. Norris, Argus Filch''s cats. Luckily she appeared to be frozen in fear, Athena let out another hiss and seemed to communicate something to Mrs. Norris. In response, Mrs. Norris rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. Athena shot me a smug look, demanding praise for her good work.


    Scratching her head, I laughed and said, "You know, pride cometh before a fall." Once I got the cabinet back up, and we started again. As we made it to the seventh floor, I assumed we were home free when all of a sudden, a burst of water hit me in the face. Sputtering, I looked for the offender so that I could unleash my wrath upon them.


    From above me, I heard a sing-songy voice ring out, "Look at the little wizard, squirm like a worm." Glancing up, I saw floating towards the top of the room, a small individual that could be mistaken for a child. He had on a blue jester hat, with matching pointy shoes. His orange shirt covered in stars clashed horribly with his blue and red striped pants. He gleamed maliciously at me, pulling back his arm to throw another water balloon at me.


    I sputtered, "Don''t you dare, Peeves."


    He laughed and pelted me in the face again, "I''m not doing anything, I am just helping you wash your face." Appearing on his face was a grin so big it distorted the rest of his features. Behind him was a pile of floating water balloon, seeing the number of ballons he had, I took off at a run.


    Running down the hall with the cabinet behind me, by the time I made it to the room of requirement, Athena and I were thoroughly soaked, Athena was less than amused the situation. She glared balefully at the small floating jester, her eyes tracking his every move. Smirking to myself, I reached down and unsnapped her collar, right when her wing unfurled she launched herself at him with a loud yowl.


    While Peeves and Athena chased each other in the air, I got the room to open, by thinking I needed a place to hide something where no one could find it. As I opened the door and got the cabinet in, I shouted, "Athena." Right on cue, she bolted my way after swiping her claws across Peeves face, with a howl of fury, he followed right on her tail. As soon as she passed, I slammed the door in Peeves face.


    I could hear Peeves shrieking in anger at being denied his revenge; Luckily, the room was so heavily enchanted, that he was unable to follow us in. Glancing around the room of requirement in shock, what was normally a small room was a giant-sized room filled with stacks of old objects that reached towards the enormous ceiling.


    Picking a spot near the entrance, I set the vanishing cabinet down. Hiding the vanishing cabinet was my first attempt at changing the future. I had secured one possible entrance to Hogwarts, all I needed now was to get the pair from Borgin and Burkes, and I could have a passage all to myself.


    Wanting to make sure the cabinet still functioned, I opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind me, I felt the familiar surge of energy that indicated I was on the other side, cracking the door open, I saw a poorly lit shop. Slowly closing the crack, I turned and faced the opposite direction and made my way back to the room of requirement.


    Staring at the exit door, I asked Athena, "Do you think he is still out there?" She flicked her tail in anticipation, Laughing at her response, I said, "It would be nice if we could get the door to let us out on the ground floor, so we wouldn''t have to deal with him.


    To my shock, when I opened the door, it was near to where the vanishing cabinet had on the first floor. Athena brushed past my legs looking for Peeves, seeing that he wasn''t there she chuffed and climbed up to my shoulder. Rubbing her head, I said, "Oh, this is going to be bloody useful, no more running madly back to the Ravenclaw room trying to make it back before lights out."


    The more I considered the endless possibilities of the ways I could use the room, the more impressed I was with whoever had come up with this enchantment. I imagine that it was Rowena Ravenclaw herself that laid the enchantment, after all, she is credited with many of the more complex enchantments throughout Hogwarts, such as, the moving staircases.


    By the time I made it the quidditch pitch, the match was heating up, with Slytherin and Gryffindor were neck and neck. I found Cedric sandwiched in between both Anna and Alicia looking helpless, as both had forced scarves representing Slytherin and Gryffindor onto him. When he saw me, his face lit up like he had seen a lifeline. Cedric wildly motioned me to join them, to help take some of the pressure away.


    As soon as I arrived, Anna furiously questioned, "You''re supporting Slytherin right." Not waiting for my response, she thrust a Slytherin scarf towards me, clearly expecting me to take it. Her eyes narrowed when I didn''t say anything.


    Thinking back to my new rule not to make Anna upset, I quickly nodded and defended, "Of course." Grabbing the scarf, I wrapped it around me to show her my support.


    Hearing my response, Anna shot Alicia a smug look, Alicia rolled her eyes. The rest of the match was enjoyable, and it ended with a Slytherin victory. The way back in, Anna taunted Alicia so much, one would have thought Anna won the match by herself.


    Wanting to give Alicia a break, I asked, "Are any of you going to try out next year for your house teams."


    Cedric nodded and replied, "Yes, my goal is to play seeker. I want to help Hufflepuff win the quidditch cup; we haven''t come close to winning in years."


    Anna not to be outdone chimed in, "I''m pretty sure if I didn''t, my dad would kill me."


    Alicia nodded as well. Looking them all over, I said, "Well, all three of you trying out makes me feel a little awkward for not wanting to do it myself."


    Confused, Cedric asked, "Why wouldn''t you try out, whenever, we play a pickup game of quidditch, you play the best keeper."


    Shaking my head, I asked, "Is playing quidditch something you would like to do when you are older?"


    Cedric shrugged and said, "What does that have to do with anything."


    Shaking my head, I informed him, "We only have seven years at this school; I do not plan on wasting several hours each day practicing for something I will never play outside of Hogwarts. There are many different branches of magic that I wish to study, while I am here and playing quidditch would slow me down."


    Nodding his understanding, we all headed back to the castle, eager to get back to the warmth.

 Chapter 23 - Making Plans

    Towards the end of November, while practicing in the room of requirement, I mastered the final spell in my charms book, Standard book of spells volume I. Closing the book shut, I was slightly surprised that I had been able to cast all 20 spells within the book before even half of the year was finished.


    Glancing around the room of requirement, I wondered if I should continue to practice mastering the amount of energy I put into spells to control the strength of the spell, or move on to the next book in the series. My true feelings gave me away when I spotted on the table another book titled, Standard book of spells volume II. I guess the room was able to sense my hunger to learn even more magic spells.


    The next day, Professor Snape seemed to be in a particularly bad mood. When Roger''s potion turned to a gunky green sludge, Professor Snape''s black eyes seemed to bore through him. He snapped, "Mr. Davis, do you have the ability to read and follow simple instruction?"


    Roger gulped nervously and replied, "Yes, Professor, I do."


    Professor Snapp''s eyes glittered, and replied dangerously, "Then why did you add the last two ingredients incorrectly, as well as stir in the opposite direction. As more time goes on, I find myself wondering just how incompetent someone can be. Are you doing this on purpose? Or are you just plain stupid?"


    Roger wilted at Professor Snape''s tone and the pointed questions. After a moment, Snape rolled his eyes and muttered, "Get out of my sight."


    After class, when Roger and I were making our way through the halls, he grumbled, "It''s not fair, what the hell is his problem anyway."


    When class was over, I tried to comfort Roger, "Don''t take it too personally; that is just how Professor Snape is around students. He is a brilliant potions master, but he isn''t what I would call a great teacher. I think that he is one of those geniuses that are so talented that when he finds other people doing poorly, he just can''t understand why they aren''t succeeding. So, he has a hard time teaching students who aren''t able to succeed on their own; he just throws you into the deep end to see if you sink or swim."


    Shooting me a bitter look, Roger grumbled as we made our way through the school, "That doesn''t excuse him from being a great big d.i.c.k."


    The rest of the week flew by, and on Saturday, I made my way down to Hagrid''s wooden hut. Approaching the enormous door, I could hear Hagrid deep rumbling voice crooning what sounded like a lullaby. As soon as I knocked, all sound from the hut vanished.


    After a moment of silence, I could hear objects being hastily moved around inside the hut. Hagrid''s voice rang out, "Just a minute."


    Eventually, Hagrid opened the door and glanced down at me. Once he saw who I was, he seemed to relax a bit. "Oh it''s just you Alex. Why didn''t you say so, come on in."


    Walking into the hut, the first thing I noticed was Fang, he seemed to have burrowed his way under a thick heavy blanket on the couch. If he was trying to hide, he wasn''t doing a good job considering his enormous size.


    On the other side of the hut, I noticed a familiar-looking trunk; it looked remarkably similar to the many trunks I had seen my uncle delivering to areas. Deciding to have a bit of fun with Hagrid, I wandered over to the chair next to it and took a seat. Stroking the trunk gently, I playfully remarked. "This is a fine-looking trunk you have here, Hagrid."


    Hagrid''s eyes shifted and replied nervously, "Oh that old thing, its nothing, just something I have lying about."


    As I moved my hand towards the handle, a Chesire cat grin appeared on my face, and I asked innocently, "Would you mind if I took a look inside it?"


    "No, don''t open it." Hagrid blurted out, and his face scrunched up in worry.


    Deciding to end his misery, I said, "I''m just messing with you Hagrid, I already know that my uncle gave you the trunk, it has his mark on it."


    Hagrid let out a deep breath, and a relieved expression appeared on his face. "You little brat, you had me worried for a moment."


    Curious about what type of magical creature my uncle gave him, I asked, "So what kinda magical creature did you get?"


    Hagrid made his way over, with a smile appearing on his face. Opening the trunk, he proudly bragged. "Your uncle got me a pair of baby Garmrs."


    As soon as he opened the trunk, Fang let out a fearful w.h.i.n.e, and the heavy blanket he had burrowed into began quivering. As Hagrid''s enormous hands reached in, he scooped out two big bundles of fur.


    At first glance, they looked like baby wolves; then I noticed the eyes. Specifically that they had four of them, and they were glowing blood red. Next, I noticed the teeth, even though they were babies, they were razor-sharp designed for ripping and tearing. Sharp spikes hid inside their dense black fur, and their claws on their paws were designed to shed their prey''s skin.


    After getting a good look at them, I realized that Fang had the right idea. These little monsters looked terrifying. Unsure of what to say, I interjected. "They look¡­ interesting."


    With a wide grin on his face, Hagrid sat and brought the garmr pups to his c.h.e.s.t. "Garmrs are amazing creatures. They were created by an ancient Norwegian witch named Hella. They have really interesting magical properties; it is said that none can hide from their eyes, and if they get a taste of someone''s blood, they can track them down no matter how far away they are."


    While Hagrid was bragging about his new pets, he didn''t seem to notice that they were chewing on his fingertips. One of them appeared to be annoyed that they couldn''t chew through Hagrid''s thick skin and shifted its eyes in my direction.


    Not wanting to take a chance on Hagrid''s ability to control the little monster, I put my right hand behind my back and extended my wand from its concealed holster. Just in case the little monster decided he wanted a taste of wizard blood.


    The other garmr pup seemed content to chew on Hagrid''s hands like they were chew-toys. Worried about Hagrid''s ability to control them, I asked, "What will you do if they attack students."


    A wounded expression appeared on Hagrid''s face, and he brought them to his c.h.e.s.t protectively and defended, "They wouldn''t hurt nobody; they are only misunderstood creatures, Look at them there just adorable babies."


    Sighing at Hagrid''s ability to pretend that dangerous monsters are harmless little creatures, I decided to let it go for now and move on to what I had come down to ask.


    Hesitant, I asked, ''You''ve been in the Forbidden Forest, right?"


    Nodding, he bragged, "Sure loads of times."


    Wanting to get as much information as I could I asked, "Is it really as dangerous as they say,"


    Scoffing, Hagrid replied, "It ain''t so bad in there, I go in there all the time. As long as you don''t bother the creatures in there, they mostly leave you alone. Just don''t piss off the centaurs, and you''ll be fine."


    Wanting more information, I asked, "Just how many creatures live in the forest."


    Hagrid eyes lit up and began passionately speaking, "The forest is enormous, and has a large population of magical creatures due to the enhancements on Hogwarts that protects the area from muggles, a place where they can be free."


    Curious, I asked, "What stops all the creature from coming onto the grounds."


    Waving his hand reassuringly, Hagrid replied, "Oh there are wards and enchantments that prevent the creatures from coming onto the grounds uninvited."


    Relieved that the castle grounds were protected, I decided to get to the heart of the matter, "So, I was wondering, if you could draw me a map of the forest, you know places to avoid if someone found their way inside forest."


    "I don''t know," Hagrid hesitantly replied, "I mean students aren''t really allowed to go into the forest"


    Knowing that Hagrid would do anything for magical creatures, I quickly replied, "Its not for me, it''s for Athena, she has been cooped up on the grounds, and I can tell she needs to get out and about more."


    A worried look appeared on Hagrid''s face, which made me feel slightly guilty for manipulating his love of creatures. Knowing he needed a final push, I continued, "Imagine if your baby garmr were trapped in the hut consistently, they would be miserable, sometimes magical creatures need to be able to run free."


    Sighing heavily, Hagrid nodded his acceptance, and I tried to contain my glee. The first step to recovering my ring had been accomplished. Hagrid put the garmr pups back in the trunk and wandered over a c.h.e.s.t in the corner. As he rubbished through the c.h.e.s.t, he mumbled, "I know it in here somewhere."


    Knowing that this could take some time, I sat on the couch next to Fang and tried to coax him out. After 10 minutes of searching Hargid said victoriously. "Ah ha! Found it, I knew it was in here somewhere." Wandering over, he set a sturdy leather tube down on the coffee table in front of the couch said "Here you go, one map of the forest, as requested"


    The rest of the evening passed quickly, and by the time I made back to my room back in the Ravenclaw tower, I was brimming with excitement. The tube holding the map seemed to imply that the map inside was valuable. Visions of a magical map filled my head; already I imagined a map similar to the marauders'' map that Harry had in the books.


    Grinning at finding Athena sprawled out on my bed as she owned it. Waving the tube around, I bragged, "This magical map is going to help me find my ring in the forest."


    Not wanting to wait a moment longer, I removed the lid of the tube and slid the map out. Unrolling the thick parchment I was stunned into silence after seeing the content. The map wasn''t like the Marauders map at all. It looked it had been drawn by a five-year-old. Where was my magical map, I want a refund.


    Curious about what I was looking at Athena hopped up and took a look at the contents. After seeing the map for herself she shot a look at me that seemed to question my intelligence and went and laid back down.


    Wanting to defend myself, I defended, "What? Its better than nothing." Athena closed her eyes, deciding to ignore my attempt to defend the map.


    I spent the next week carefully going over the map, trying to puzzle out what all the drawn creatures and symbols were. Some were easily like the Acromantula and the Centaurs. Others were less recognizable. Fortunately, I was able to find books in the room of requirement , which helped me identify all of the creatures drawn.


    After I had completely deciphered the map, I let out a sigh of relief in the room of requirement. I was ready to take the next step, transportation. No way I was walking into a forest full of dangerous magical creatures on foot. I''m gonna need a broom, as soon as the thought popped into my head, several options appeared on the table.


    Looking around the room, I still find myself flabbergasted at the complexity of the rooms enchantments. Out of all the spells laid down on the castle, this room''s enchantment is the best and most mysterious, I had already tried asking the room for the book with the spell in it. Unfortunately, the room was unable to provide one, which made me think that this room''s enchantment was a custom enchantment created by Rowena, but was never recorded. Making a promise to myself, I thought, One day, I am going to learn how to create new spells and I will recreate this lost enchantment.


    After testing the broomstick, I selected the fasted one and snuck it back to my room. This was it, tomorrow, I would venture into the forbidden forest for the first time.

 Chapter 24 - Forbidden Forest

    Standing at the entrance of the forbidden forest, reminded me of why the forest is off-limits. I can tell just from the look of the forest that is old and unconquered by civilization. Enormous trees as far as the eye could see tower over the ground, their branches and leaves so thick that hardly any sunlight makes it to the bottom. It was almost like the forest was created to be foreboding.


    Seeing how unconcerned Athena was acting about our voyage into the forest made me feel slightly better about not bringing anyone with me. Hopping on my broom, I took off with Athena following closely behind. Unfortunately, flying in a forest doesn''t allow for fast speed on a broomstick, but it was better than trudging through the forest on the ground.


    Right before we entered the forest, I stopped and pulled out my wand, letting it rest in the palm of my hand. I chanted, "Requiro Fortitudo," while concentrating on my ring. My wand turned to the south, and I told Athena, "At least we know what direction to head."


    It was slow going through the forest, and every few minutes, I would pause and recast the seeking spell and check the map. Luckily, we seemed to be heading away from the giant spiders, which is a great relief. As I was checking the map, all of a sudden, the hair on the back of my neck rose, and I could feel something''s eyes watching me.


    Athena''s hackles rose, and her body began to slowly vibrate as she hissed a warning so loud that it scattered all of the animals in the area. Afterward, the feeling of being watched slipped away. Feeling something watching me was unnerving, but what was even more disturbing was knowing something was watching me but not being able to see what it was.


    After a few tense minutes of scanning the forest, I recast the seeking spell and moved on. Luckily, after about 15 more minutes of flying, my wand began slowly rotating to the right. A burst of excitement shot through me; I was close; I could feel it.


    Deciding I needed to narrow the area down; I continued flying and noting when my wand changed directions. Eventually, I was able to pinpoint the general area and had mapped out a large circle where the ring should be. Luckily, the area had a small creek with a unique bend in it, which let me find where I was on the map.


    Studying the map closely, I was glad that there didn''t appear to have any markings warning me of anything in the area. However, I couldn''t help but think I was missing something. After pondering the issue for a few minutes, I decided to put it out of mind and focus on trying to find my ring.


    After landing on the ground, I started carefully searching the ground, knowing that whatever was keeping my ring trapped was most likely magical in origin. As I wandered through the area, I couldn''t get over the silence, a forest should be alive, but this area was as quiet as a cemetery.


    Still, the sight of that hole filled me with concern. I''ve seen how this plays out before in books I''ve read. No good can ever be found from going into a creepy cave in the middle of a deserted forest.


    Knowing my options were either to give up on my ring or to take a quick look in the cave. As I started mentally weighing my options, the urge to explore the cave began building within me. Trying to psyche myself up, I took a deep breath and whispered, "Come on, you''ve got this. This is how all great adventures start; no stupid cave is going to stop me from reclaiming what''s mine. Besides, what''s the worst that could happen."


    Athena shot me a look that seemed to say, "WTF. did you just say, are you nuts?"


    Holding my wand aloft, I chanted, "Lumos."


    Bright white light shot out of my wand, chasing away the darkness and illuminating the cave entrance. Moving forward and not waiting to see if Athena would follow, I called out, "Are you coming?"


    Athena let out a sigh, leaped onto my shoulder, wrapping her tail around my throat protectively. Not far into the cave and it started descending deep within the earth. Eventually, the cave tunnel opened unto a large cavern underground.


    Moving into the cavern, I saw that there were multiple tunnels leading to the cavern. I could feel the faintest touch of air moving against my skin, indicating that at least one of the other tunnels also went to the surface. On the far side of the cavern was a door carved into the stone.


    Curious about what could possibly be down here, I carefully made my way closer. My first impression of the doorway was how old it was. Above the doorway, "Ego Voluntas Evinco Moriuntur" was an inscription branded into the ancient stone, I was pretty sure it was in Latin, but I couldn''t be sure.


    Annoyed that I wasn''t able to understand the inscription, I decided to put learning how to understand Latin on my to-do list. Athena growled softly, reminding me that this was not the place to dawdle.


    After a minute of no further activity, I let out the breath that I was holding. Whispering softy to Athena, "What door do you think we should choose."


    Athena nodded her head to the door to my right. I shrugged and said, "Why not."


    Crossing the room was slow going as I didn''t want to disturb any of the cluttered material on the ground. By the time I made it to the door, my nerves were starting to become frayed with sweat pouring down my face and my heart pounding.


    I slowly opened the door. The hinges started to creak loud enough to wake the dead, panicking, I quickly pointed my wand at the door and whispered furiously, "Silencio."


    At once, the noise vanished, and once again, I froze as I strained my ears, listening for any response to the noise that was made. Satisfied that there was nothing, I made my way into the closed room.


    At first glance, the room was covered in a film of thick dust, indicating that no one had been in the room for many years. Something about the dust bothered me, like a itch I couldn''t scratch. Unable to figure it out, I brought my attention back to the room. It looked like an ancient study of some sort.


    Along the wall were shelves that contained a multitude of objects, some were mundane, like ancient tomes, but other objects were strange and sinister looking. There were even some jars of liquid that looked like they contained weird-looking organs.


    Creeped out, I turned my attention from the shelves to the desk. There was a book that was opened and written in the same script as the inscription above the entrance. It looked like a journal or logbook of some kind, whoever was writing in it appeared to have stopped mid-sentence.


    While I was examining the notebook, I heard a sound that chilled my blood. It sounded like stone grinding against stone. Tucking the journal safely within my robes, I backed out of the room and shut the door.


    While giving the circular room another look, the mess inside appeared to me in a different light. The way all the crap was strewn about was almost nest-like. A sinking feeling began developing within my stomach.


    Mentally chastising myself, ''I knew this was a bad idea, stupid, stupid, stupid. But no, I just had to explore a creepy hole in the middle of a forbidden forest.''


    Deciding that this train of thought was unproductive, I started moving, before I got halfway across the room, I heard a raspy voice softly plead from behind one of the doors, "Succuro me, Seccuro me."


    Freezing in place, unsure of what was said, it sounded desperate. Deciding I needed more information; I called out, "Whose there."


    Silence answered me for a moment, then the voice pleaded slightly louder, but in what sounded like a different language, "Voith¨ªste me."


    Quickly realizing that he was speaking in a new language to see if I understood, I started sounding off in different languages. After trying out French and Spanish and not achieving anything, I tried speaking in Arabic.


    As soon as I started speaking in Arabic, the raspy voice on the other side of the door excitedly responded, "Help me!, I''ve been trapped inside for ages."


    While I was glad that we finally had a common language, I was still rather suspicious of the voice coming from the door, so I demanded, "Who are you, and how long have you been down here."


    In a helpless tone, the faceless voice replied, "My name is Octavius Maximus, and as for how long I''ve been down here. I have no idea, I''ve been asleep most of the time, being trapped in a room behind an enchantment can be rather boring."


    Thankfully, Octavius was sitting on what looked like a stone sarcophagus that looked like it was trapped behind some enchantment of some sort. The carving on the floor reminded me of the spells that isolated the area where my dad tested new enchantments.


    Watching him warily, I accused him, "You''re a vampire."


    A shocked look appeared on his face, and he cried out sarcastically, "I''m am? Are you sure?"


    My left eye started twitching in annoyance, and I decided that maybe the cranky, sarcastic vampire needed some more alone time. So I quickly turned and left the room, shutting the door behind me.


    Octavius cried out, "Wait! I''m sorry, I was just having a bit of fun. It has been ages since I''ve had someone intelligent to speak with."


    Deciding he learned his lesson, I reopened the door and made my way inside. On the stone floor surrounding him was a series of circles branded into stone. They looked somewhat similar to the spells my father used to isolate an area where he could experiment safely. The spells trapping him made me feel secure enough to get closer.


    When Octavius saw me eye the enchantment a wicked look appeared on his face, crooned softly, he said, "You know, I''m the last person you should be afraid of, I can''t get in or out of this circle. What you really should be concerned about is what else has been living down here."


    His statement made me nervous, as it only confirmed my suspicion that something indeed was living in down here. Trying not show worry on my face. I sneered back at him, and coolly responded, "I''m not scared of anything down here, whatever is lives down here should be frightened of me." To reinforce my point, I waved my wand.


    A sly smile appeared on his face, and he replied with fake adoration, "I see young master, I didn''t realize you were such a powerful wizard. Since your such a powerful wizard, would you mind freeing me."


    His smile died away, and fear and anger took its place, and he bitterly replied, "It doesn''t have a name. But I can tell you; it used to be a wizard."


    Needing more information, I asked, "What do mean that it used to be a wizard."


    Sighing helplessly, the vampire replied bitterly, "It was a wizard by the name of Tatius, he trapped me here long ago. While I was trapped, he experimented on me; he was obsessed with eternal life. I offered to turn him, but he rejected my offer, saying that there were too many downsides to being turned. He said he was going to create a better version of immortality. One day, he said he was finally finished and that he was finished with his work. He even promised to free me when he was done. I''m not sure what went wrong, but the next time I saw him, he was off. It''s hard to explain, but he seemed wrong somehow. Over the next few days, he slowly turned into a monstrous creature and lost his humanity and his intelligence. Soon, he was no smarter than an animal, and I''ve been trapped ever since."


    Wanting more information, I asked, "Was he a teacher at Hogwarts?"


    Octavius turned his head in confusion and asked, "What could someone teach about a wart on the flesh of swine?"


    After puzzling over Octavius''s strange response, I came to a sudden realization. He predates Hogwarts! That means he has been locked down here for over a thousand years. Wanting to confirm my suspicion, I questioned. "Have you ever heard about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"


    Seeing him shake his head made me wince. I really didn''t want to be the one to break it to him that he had been trapped for at least a thousand years. Sighing heavily, I asked, "What year were you captured?"


    Raising an eyebrow at my question, Octavius replied, "I believe it was the year 709. Why? What year is it now, I expect it has been at least several decades."


    Hmmm. How do you break it to someone, that they had spent close to 1300 hundred years trapped in a small room? Deciding to dive right in and just tell him, I said, "It''s 1989, it has been almost thirteen hundred years since you''ve been in here."


    After a few more minutes of creative cursing, Octavius seemed to run out of steam, and he shot me a look of despair. Wondering who he was mad at, so I asked, "Who are you cursing?"


    Anger reappeared on his face, and he snarled, "My faithless progeny. They have had more than enough time to find me, the fact that I remain trapped only means that they are fine with me being out of the way."


    Curious I asked, "What if they just think you''re dead."


    Snorting at my question, Octavius scathingly replied, "Every vampire can feel whether their maker is still alive."


    Hearing his response piqued my curiosity and I made a mental note to learn everything I could about vampires. Always interested in learning new information, started drafting questions to throw at Octavius. But, before we could continue our conversation, Octavius froze, and Athena snarled violently.


    Eyes panicking, Octavius whispered, "Run boy, the beast is coming back from its hunt. Your no match for it."


    While Octavius urging didn''t worry me, Athena''s response did, I don''t think I''ve ever seen her more upset. While turning to make a run for it, Octavius called out, "Don''t come back until after the next full moon, the beast leaves for a hunt for a few days every full moon. That''s the only time its safe to come down here."


    Not wanting to slow down to respond, I simply nodded while running out of the room. Carefully making my way through the next in the outer room. When I made it back to the cavern, I whispered "Lumos." Seeing the tunnel I came in from, I made a run for it. Thankfully, I made it safely to the tunnel, and I started running for the surface. But, when I had made it about halfway to the exit, I heard a roar coming deep within the cavern Whatever it was, it knew something had been inside its home."


    The roar only increased my pace, and by the time I made it the exit, I could hear it coming up the tunnel I used. As soon as I exited the cave, found my broom and took off into the sky. When I made it to the top of the trees I paused and turned around wanting to get a good luck at whatever was chasing me.


    At the entrance of the cave, the beast stopped and remained in the shadows; it seemed to sense that I had escaped from its clutches. However, I could feel malevolent eyes upon me, watching, waiting to see if I would return.


    Deciding not to chance it, I headed back to the Ravenclaw tower; this had been enough excitement for one day.


    *********************************************************************************************************


    Author''s note.


    Alright guys, I want to head off what I know a few of you might mention. Going into the forest and cave alone isn''t the smartest thing to do, so why would Alex who is suppose to be really smart, do something so stupid. First off, while he has read about others doing stupid things and should really know better, deep down he craves an adventure just like in all of the stories he''s read, plus he is very young you can warn someone about danger all you want, but the burned hand teaches best. Next, the vampires, So their is almost no lore about them in the Harry Potter books except for a few hints like the blood flavored lolly pops and briefly a few other time. This implies that they have a place in magical society, so I will be exploring the vampire world throughout the story. Also, there is a ton of myths and ideas about vampires, and I will use some of it, but I will also leave other stuff out. So bear with me. Finally, The beast, Before anyone ask, No the creature is not a werewolf, I know its a suspicious that it hunts around the new moon, but that is only a coincidence. As for what it is.... that would be telling... ????????????

 Chapter 25 - Vampires

    While I was heading back to Hogwarts, I found my arms shaking as the adrenaline was coursing through my veins. Thankfully, by the time I made it back to Hogwarts, the shaking had mostly stopped. Knowing that I needed more information before deciding how to proceed, I headed towards the room of requirement.


    The first thing I requested from the room were books on vampires. On the table, dozens of books appeared on the subject. As I started perusing through the books, the first thing I noticed was the clear bias in the stories. Most of the information contained in the books was second and third-hand accounts about how evil vampires were, and how they were the enemies of all wizard kind. If that wasn''t annoying enough, many of the wizards were simple bragging about how superior wizards were and that vampires should bow down and be subservient.


    Rolling my eyes at the obvious grandstanding, whoever wrote these books, clearly didn''t have the faintest clue how to write an unbiased report on the subject. If that wasn''t bad enough, there were many inconsistencies. One book would say one thing, and another would say something different.


    Throwing the book that I was reading across the table, I grunted, "Useless. What I really need is an unbiased book and one not full of nonsense." As soon as the words left my mouth, all the books except for two disappeared, and the first title I saw didn''t inspire much confidence, Peering Beneath the Coffin.


    However, as soon as I started reading, I knew that this was the book I needed. The author included proof backing up his information and clarified many of the false assumptions about vampires. Like vampires being undead creatures, they were very much alive, just vastly different than humans. He explained that some false beliefs came from muggle-born wizards who grew up reading about vampire characters, and other beliefs were just consistently repeated so much that many people assumed they were true.


    The author dove deep into the origins of the vampire species, tracking vampiric bloodlines dating back 4 thousand years. While there is no clear evidence on where vampires came from. The author spent years seeking out ancient stories and myths and even spoke with some of the most ancient vampires in existence. He even claimed that the first vampire was a wizard, who was fearful of death and somehow transformed himself into the first vampire. However, many wizards condemn this point of view .


    As far as traditional weakness, according to the book, religious fixtures hold no power over vampires, a wooden stake through the heart theoretically kills one, but anything would die with something driven through the heart. The same holds true, if you cut the head off, as far as being allergic to garlic, the author pointed out that vampires have extremely acute senses, and for whatever reason, they find the smell of garlic intolerable to be around. But, otherwise, it has zero effect, other than pissing off the vampire for making him smell something nasty. In which case, they may attack you out of annoyance.


    However, it seems there is some truth to the matter of vampires being allergic to silver. Apparently, natural silver can restrain them, although the author pointed out that magic was far more effective than silver. A strong vampire would be able to ignore the pain silver caused them and retaliate. Whereas, most vampires had no defense against magic.


    It was then; the author explained that there were two different classes of vampires, low ranked and blood ranked. Around 95 percent of the vampire population consists of what is known as low ranked or lowlies, and the other 5 percent are known as blood ranked. The main difference between the two is that blood ranked vampires far stronger and have limited magical abilities. High ranked vampires are the only ones strong enough to sire more vampires.


    However, the book warned that the lowlies should not be underestimated, while they don''t have magic, they are strong, fast and can see perfectly in the dark and they tend to swarm when there are many of them attacking. The book also explained that vampires get stronger as they age, and it is possible for a lowly vampire to acc.u.mulate enough power and transform into a high ranked vampire, although it is incredibly rare for them to do so.


    If being at the mercy of your maker doesn''t scare most wizards off, the other glaring weakness that comes along with being a vampire, chief among them daylight. While sunlight doesn''t kill them, should the sun''s rays touch their skin, all of their strength will be drained away, and they would slip into a death-like state, leaving them completely vulnerable to attack. As a result, most vampire lairs are built underground giving them protection from the sun.


    As soon as I read that, being turned into a vampire would make me lose the majority of my power. I quickly stopped entertaining any thoughts of being turned. I loved my magic; there was no way I was ever giving it up, not in a million years. While it seems like an easy way to achieve eternal life, I bet there are other ways it could be achieved. Hell, I bet there have been others, throughout the ages, who have found different paths to immortality or at the very least extended their lives, like the previous Hogwarts headmaster, Armando Dippet, who lived to be 355 years old.


    In a small way, I began to pity the beast because I understood how the beast felt. He wanted to live forever but didn''t want to lose his magic, so he tried to find a different path, which was a sentiment I could understand. Perhaps, when I''m older, I will look into a way to become immortal or at the very least living a very long time.


    As I continued reading, I learned a lot of interesting factoids about vampire society. After finishing the book, I thought I had a good idea on how to proceed with Octavius. The book mentioned something called the blood oath. Apparently, it''s the vampire equivalent to the unbreakable vow. Although there were some differences, if a vampire breaks their oath, they won''t die, but most of their power would be stripped from them. Whereas if a wizard breaks the unbreakable vow they would die.


    One surprising detail was left out of the book, and that was how vampires are created, the author explained that the process is extremely secretive and vampires seem reluctant to discuss it.


    Curious about the other book, I noticed it was written by an ancient Romanian wizard named Van Helsing, who hated vampires with a unholy passion. In his book, he listed out dozens of spells, enchantments, potions, and strategies to deal with vampires. He also seemed bitter about the peace treaty that had been signed with the vampire, which forbade vampire hunting.


    Luckily the book explained that vampires had no immunity to magic; the main cause of concern was how fast they are. But the book gave several spells designed to counter their speed; there were even some really good ideas on how to deal with threats from multiple vampires, in case you were in danger of being overrun. One of my personal favorites was the bottled sunshine potions, rather than drink the potion; you smash the bottle, and when the potion is released, a light brighter than the sun explodes out, disabling any vampires it touches, leaving them at your mercy.


    Finished reading the books, I began planning out my next move. Obviously, I could just tell the teachers about what I had found. But I doubt they will do anything about it, and I would just probably get in trouble for entering the forbidden forest. The teachers seem to have a strict hands-off policy when it comes to the forbidden forest. As long as the creatures in the forbidden forest stay away from Hogwarts, what does it matter that there is one more beast out there?


    Not to mention, I was wary of bringing myself to Dumbledore''s attention; I preferred to fly under the radar for as long as I could. Although I imagine eventually, we will cross paths, and I was putting that day off if possible. Luckily, it seems it''s rare pretty rare for students to cross paths with the headmaster.


    Deciding that dealing with Dumbledore issue could wait, my mind turned to the journal I snagged. Opening it up, I was able to confirm that it was written in Latin, by comparing the words to a Latin language primer that the room provided, apparently since European spells are derived from the Latin language, it wasn''t uncommon for some wizards to learn it,.


    Although it makes me wonder, I know for a fact that my aunt''s spells are Arabic based, which implies that there are probably many cultures whose spells derived from different languages. I wonder if there are two identical spells out there but have different incantations due to being based in different languages. If there was, that would imply that language doesn''t really matter in spell casting. It''s just the medium used to activate the magic. On the other hand, it''s also entirely possible that no two spells are the same, and they are different spells that just happen to produce similar results. Slightly annoyed that I didn''t know the answer to this puzzling question, I made a mental note to peruse and experiment when I have the chance.


    Deciding that translating the journal by myself would take too long, I decided to bring Cedric, Anna, and Alicia into this. Hunting my friends down across the school took forever. Annoyed by how much time it took to track everyone down, I made a mental note to find a solution that would let us quickly find one another.


    Sitting across from me in the room of requirement, my friends were giving me curious looks, wondering what the impromptu gather was about. Not wanting to beat around the bush, I went straight to the point and said, "Earlier today, I went into the forbidden forest."


    After explaining everything that had happened during my trek into the forest, I noticed all my friends had different reactions, Alicia looked impressed, but considering she is in Gryffindor house, she probably thinks what I did was proper behavior. However, Anna looked far less impressed. While Anna was giving me the stink eye, I noticed Cedric''s easy smile fade away, revealing a decidedly neutral expression.


    Glaring balefully at me and clenching her teeth, Anna hissed at me, "What were you thinking, you could have been hurt."


    Rolling my eyes, I waved off her concern and replied, "Well, nothing went wrong; it''s fine."


    Interrupting me, Cedric neutrally asked, "Why didn''t you ask me? You know I would have backed you up and gone in there with you."


    Shooting Cedric an apologetic smile, I replied weakly, "It was my mess that got me into this situation. I wanted to clean it up myself."


    Not about to let me get a word in, Cedric continued, "You were lucky today, what if the beast who lived down there was present. You don''t know what the creature is; it could have deadly powers you know nothing about, and you could have easily been killed."


    Before I could come up with a counter argument, Cedric continued, "Did I ever tell you about my grandfather."


    Curious, I replied, "No,"


    A sad look appeared on Cedric''s face, after sighing he explained, "My grandfather was a curse breaker, he loved exploring ancient ruins and exotic locations. He was kind of famous in certain circles, he was very good at what he did, but that didn''t save him. One day, he came upon some information leading to an old abandoned ruin. Curse breakers normally work in small teams, so if they run into a sticky situation, they have back up to help them. But my grandfather''s team was busy and wouldn''t be available for months. He didn''t want to wait that long, so he went into the ruin all by himself, and was never seen again."


    Hearing Cedric''s story about his grandfather killed any notion I had of defending my actions. Holding my hands up in surrender, I said, "I''m sorry. I made a mistake."


    Wanting to lighten the mood a bit, I added, "I promise, next time I explore a deadly place where I could die; I will make sure you''re there right alongside me, that way if something goes wrong and we die, at least we die together."


    Cedric rolled his eyes at my joke and accepted my apology, but I could tell it really bothered him that I left him behind. Looking towards Alicia it looked like she was fine with how everything turned out. But, seeing Anna''s narrowed eyes, I could tell she hadn''t forgiven me, and I would be paying for my transgression.


    Alicia asked, "Did you at least find your ring?"


    Shaking my head, I responded, "No, I think it''s trapped down there somewhere. My best guess is that the creature came across it in the forest and took it down to its nest."


    Eyeing everyone hopefully, I said, "I don''t suppose anyone knows how to read Latin."


    My hopes were dashed seeing Anna, Cedric, and Alicia all shake their heads. Sighing I said, "Well, that was a long shot; it''s going to take some time for us to get this journal translated."


    Cedric spoke up with a concern, "I don''t think it will be very useful to have four people trying to translate 1 journal.


    Luckily Anna provided a solution to our problem, she had a self-writing quill that was enchanted to copy, but it would take a week or so for the pen to copy out 4 identical books.


    Concerned, I pointed out, "You know those things are forbidden at school; you could get in trouble."


    Winking and grinning evilly at me, she replied, "Only if I get caught."


    We spent some time in silence watching the magical quill write out copies. After a while we decided to call it a day and left the quill copying behind in the room of requirement.

 Chapter 26 - A Helping Hand

    The next few weeks flew by in a blur, and before I knew it, December was upon us, and Christmas break was rapidly approaching. Unfortunately, translating the journal was proving harder than I imagined, as my friends didn''t have much time to help. It seemed like our teachers resented the two weeks we would be missing and were determined to force everyone to make up for the time we would be missing.


    One night I found myself pouring over the journal in the Ravenclaw common room. Sick of trying to translate the scribbled writings of a madman, I rubbed my eyes in frustration.


    Across from me I heard someone snicker, really annoyed at whoever was mocking my struggles, I turned and found Jessica sitting on the couch across from me acting all innocent.


    Scowling at her, I complained, "Stop distracting me, I''m trying to concentrate."


    Smirking at me, Jessica teased, "What''s wrong? Finally, come across something you aren''t instantly good at."


    Pointing towards the journal, I grumbled, "Oh shut up, you can''t imagine how difficult this is."


    Jessica came over and sat next to me and asked, "What are you doing? That doesn''t look like any of the homework we have to turn in. Unless you''re taking a class I''m unaware of."


    Glaring hatefully at the journal, I replied, "It''s not; it''s a personal project. I''m trying to translate this old journal I found. It''s been incredibly difficult to translate."


    Curious, Jessica asked, "What language is it in."


    Closing the journal in frustration, I replied, "Latin."


    Jessica''s green eyes twinkled, and a delighted look appeared on her face. Shooting me a smug grin, she bragged, "Looks like I finally found something that I''m better at than you. I just so happen to be fluent in Latin."


    Examining her pink fingertips like she didn''t have a care in the world, she asked innocently, "Is that anyway to ask someone a favor?"


    Fighting an urge to strangle her, I had mentally weighed my d.e.s.i.r.e to have the journal translated or telling her to stuff it. In the end, I decided that having the journal translated was more important to me.


    Sliding the journal over, I asked, "Do you think you could translate it for me."


    Leaning forward, Jessica carefully opened the journal and started perusing the journal. After a few minutes, I asked impatiently, "Well, can you understand it?"


    Flipping her long raven-hair to the side, she looked up and grinned mischievously, "Sure, but I seem to remember some a promise you made earlier in the year to help me out with my spell work. So, I propose a trade, I''ll translate this for you, and you help me out with my transfiguration."


    Not seeing any issues, I replied, "Deal."


    Always happy to practice magic, I asked, "Want to get started right now."


    Beaming at me, she replied, "Sure, I''d love to."


    Not sure where to begin, I asked, "What do you even need help my help with? From what I''ve seen, you seem to be ahead of the rest of our peers."


    Jessica paused for a moment gathering her thoughts before saying, "I don''t know? How about explaining how you don''t seem to have any trouble when Professor McGonagall moves you on to a new object. When you moved on from matches to feathers, it didn''t seem to faze you at all. Every time I move to a new object, it''s like I regress back to the beginning, and it takes me awhile to get the hang of it all over again. How do you do it?"


    As Jessica grumbled, I considered her complaint before carefully responding, "I don''t think I should be the standard that you compare yourself to. It''s not really a fair comparison."


    Jessica''s green eyes narrowed dangerously after hearing my response. Holding up my hand to stop her protest, I went on, "I''m not bragging, I just have a thorough understanding of my abilities. If you compare yourself to all the other students in our year, I''d imagine that you are one of the top students."


    Jessica''s jaw clenched in annoyance, and she asked, "Are you going to help me or not?"


    Seeing how stubborn she was being, I decided she needed a small demonstration. So, I said, "It all comes down to the mathematical transfiguration formula." Pulling out a quill and some parchment, I quickly wrote out, T = (W*C/V*A)Z.


    Seeing the formula, she g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "Of course, I know the stupid formula. T is the final representation of the transfigured object. W represents your wand power, which is based on the individual traits of a wand, such as wood type, core, thickness and length, C is mental concentration, V represents viciousness, which represents the liveliness of an object, A is the mass of the object and Z is currently an unknown factor. We know it affects the formula, but no one has figured it out.


    Nodding in agreement, I said, "Exactly, that is what I use to help with my transfiguration."


    Jessica sputtered in protest, "But it''s just a theoretical representation of the spell, it doesn''t actually do anything."


    Shaking my head in disagreement, I said, "You''re missing the point, while it''s true you technically don''t actually need the formula. It still gives you a good indication how much concentration and energy to use in the spell. Transfiguration is one of the most difficult branches of magic, it''s not like the other disciplines at all, if you put too much energy in, or too little, and things can go seriously wrong with the spell. Not to mention the enormous amount of mental concentration that you need to have when picturing the transfiguration. Mastering the formula is half the battle because it lets you free up some of your concentration so that you can focus more on the actual transfiguration."


    Raising my eyebrow at her, I asked, "Are you sure about that? Just how close have you been watching me."


    Her face reddened, and she sputtered, "I always keep a close eye on my competition, and I''m sure you didn''t do any calculations."


    Knowing that she wouldn''t be satisfied unless I revealed the truth, but also not wanting to crush her dream of outperforming me I gently said, "I did do the calculation, I just did it in my head, it only took about 20 seconds. I''ve always had a good head for numbers."


    Jessica looked shaken at my explanation, and after a moment, she replied weakly, "But, its not just a matter of doing the calculations. There is information that is specific to every object; you need to find before doing the calculation, like the mass, and the viciousness of the object."


    Shaking my head gently, I informed her. "Remember, the formula doesn''t have to be exact, all the formula really indicates is how difficult the spell is going to be, and it''s a good estimate on how much energy you need to put into the spell. So, when you''re figuring out the mass if you''re close that''s fine, and I have been practicing estimating the mass of objects. As for figuring out the level of viciousness an object has. I have a near perfect memory, and there are books that give out the level of viciousness of all sorts of material. For example, let''s say you''re trying to transfigure stone; it''s viciousness''s base level is 1.5. Now having done all that, all I have to do is plug in the numbers and run the calculations in my head. That''s why you don''t ever see me calculating the formula in class."


    For the first time since I had known her, some of the fire left her eyes, and she hopelessly mumbled, "How the hell am I supposed to compete with that. I''m never going to be able to catch up."


    See her crestfallen expression made me sympathize with her. I knew she was under tremendous pressure from her parents to be number 1 in our class. Knowing that she needed a push, I said, "All you need to do is practice."


    She scoffed at me, and bitterly replied, "How is practice going to help me? There is no way I can do the formula in my head."


    Shaking my head, I replied, "Sure you can, when you were younger, and you start learning how to do basic mathematics, I imagine, you had to do the problems on parchment. But eventually, you got good enough to do it in your head. This is no difference, it may take you longer to get down, but if you do it enough, I''m sure you can do it."


    Glad she was back to her normal self, I smirked and teased, "I''ll be waiting."


    We spent the rest of the evening practicing; I was surprised how much fun we had. I love hanging out with my other friends, but they just don''t have the same passion about learning magic, but I found with Jessica, a kindred spirit for discovering the deeper mysteries of magic.


    The next day I found my friends and told them the good news about Jessica being able to help translate the journal and that hopefully, she would have it finished before we left for the winter holiday.


    Alicia let out a sigh of relief and said, "Thank heavens, I have had enough of trying to translate the writings of a madman."


    Cedric silently nodded in agreement, but Anna narrowed her eyes and whispered, "You didn''t tell her everything, did you? What makes you think you can trust her? She could give the journal to anyone."


    Defending myself, I said, "Of course not, I just told her it''s an old journal I was trying to translate. Besides, she wouldn''t do that; I bet you would like her, she is pretty interesting to hang out with."


    Anna''s lavender eyes glared balefully at me, and she said through her gritted teeth, "I doubt it."


    I was a little confused about Anna''s reaction; this was supposed to be good news. Just the other day, she was complaining about being forced to learn Latin on top of Arabic. Now we would have the journal translated in a couple of weeks, and she didn''t have to do a thing. What was she so annoyed about?


    I sent a wordless plea for help towards Cedric; he always seemed to know how to diffuse Anna when she got worked up. Across the table, Cedric looked at me with pity, next to him was Alicia, who looked amused by the whole situation.


    Anna looked annoyed at the obvious change of subject, but before she could say anything, Alicia piped up and said, "Gryffindor, of course, we''ve got the best team." Shooting me a sly grin she added, Besides, you know Ravenclaw students are too busy with their noses in books, to be competitive quidditch players."


    Even though I knew Alicia was trying to get a rise out of me, I decided that her quip needed answering, Sneering back at her I said, "Oh ya, I''m surprised your dull-headed team can even find their way to the quidditch field."


    Anna, always happy to smear the Gryffindors, let go of her annoyance of the quick topic change and added slyly, "The best team? Didn''t Slytherin flatten you guys earlier this year? I think that it is pretty obvious that Slytherin is the best team."


    Cedric wanting to defend the Hufflepuff team, shook his head and added, "I don''t know if I would agree with you on that. I think that Hufflepuff might have a shot at the cup this year."


    Anna and Alicia looked at each other in astonishment, then simultaneously burst out laughing. A stubborn look appeared on Cedric''s face, and he defended, "You never know, it could be their year." Shooting me a look of hope, he added, "Right, Alex?"


    It took all of my willpower not to make a face at his declaration of a possible victory for the Hufflepuff team. For the first time in a while, one of my rules to live by, flashed across my mind.


    Rule 51, always backup your bro, no matter what, even if he''s delusional."


    Hoping that my friends couldn''t tell that the big smile I had on was fake, I nodded sagely and said as earnestly as possible, "Absolutely, all that would have to happen, is for Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin to lose the rest of their matches, Why Hufflepuff pretty much has the championship locked down.


    Anna and Alicia shot each other looks of confusion; they couldn''t tell if I was serious or not. After a moment they both scoffed, and the lighthearted bickering continued. As I watched my friends continue arguing about who has the best team and who would win the quidditch cup, I couldn''t help but smile and be grateful for the friends I had.

 Chapter 27 - Homecoming

    Regrettably, Alicia''s words turned out to be prophetic, Gryffindor''s team flattened Ravenclaw in the match. Later in the evening, while relaxing in the Ravenclaw common room, my roommates were lambasting the loss to Gryffindor.


    A loud thud rang out as Roger Davis slammed his hand down on the table and complained, "410 points to 60 points, how they hell did that even happen."


    A low rumble of agreement came from those who were in earshot. Perhaps the most disheartened was Ryan O''Connor, even though he was a muggleborn and new to the world of wizardry, he quickly fell in love with quidditch. In the muggle world, he had been a huge fan of football, and he had been skeptical of a sport played on broomsticks. But, after being exposed to the wonders of quidditch, quidditch had become his new favorite sport.


    Adding his thoughts to the matter, Ryan gloomily said, in his thick Irish accent, "I think that were going to come in last place this year, considering that we''ve already lost our first two games and only one more game to go."


    William Moore, perhaps the most level headed person in our four-man dorm, spoke up cautiously, "Luckily, we play Hufflepuff last, and we stand a good chance of beating them, considering that they''re worse than us."


    Ryan melodramatically sighed and replied, "Knowing our luck, I doubt it." Ryan looked around to see if any members of the Ravenclaw team where nearby, before he quietly added, "What we need is some new blood on the team."


    Deciding to weigh in on the subject I said, "It''s too late, their not going to switch member this late in the season. The best thing to hope for is for better members to try out next year. Right now, three of the players including the captain, are in their final year. That means there will be several spots open next year."


    Roger perked up and said, "I''ve been thinking, we''ve gotten pretty good during our private quidditch games. So, next year, I am trying out for the team, and you guys should try out as well."


    Ryan''s face alternated between excitement and worry, concerned he asked,"I don''t know guys, I haven''t played the game a lot outside of the small pick-up games we''ve played."


    Not to be discouraged, Roger eagerly responded, "That''s no problem; we just have to spend the rest of the year practicing and playing quidditch by ourselves."


    Hopping on board with the idea, William excitedly added, "Plus, during the summer, we can get together and continue getting better. By next year''s time, we should be good enough for the team."


    They all looked eagerly at me, not wanting to burst their bubble. I turned my attention back to The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2. When out of the corner of my ear, I heard Ryan plead, "Come on Alex, you"re a great keeper, wouldn''t it be amazing if we all got on the team and won the house cup."


    Seeing my roommate''s hopeful expressions fall, made me feel bad, but I was not changing my position, I loved quidditch, but not enough to waste hundreds of hours practicing. Not when my time was better spent mastering magic.


    Turning back to my book, I completely missed the mischievous look Roger gave the others.


    The following two weeks quickly passed by, and after many stern warnings not to use magic over the holidays, it was time to go home. The day we all got on the Hogwarts Express and headed home for the holidays was chaotic, everyone was excited, if not from the two weeks free of homework, then being excited to see their families.


    I couldn''t wait to see my family; being separated from them had only made me more grateful for the family that I had been born into. As I watched the landscape blur by, I couldn''t help but wonder what mischief the twins had gotten into and how they had been dealing with being educated by grandmother. I had found out first hand that while she may look sweet as roses, beneath her innocent smile lies a cunning old wolf.


    We finally arrived, and there was a mad rush of students trying to get off the train. Cedric, Alicia, Anna and I started slowly moving through the walkways when I heard Jessica call out, "Hey Alex, wait up."


    Turning, I saw Jessica slowly slipping through the crowd, and when she caught up, she handed me two journals. One really old, and the other brand new. Her face was slightly flushed from trying to catch up, and she whispered, "Here are your journals, I finished earlier today, but I got sidetracked on the train."


    She went quiet for a moment, before continuing, "I don''t understand why you needed this translated, from what I could tell, whoever''s wrote this was crazy and probably died a terrible death."


    In a quieter voice, she said, "I hope your not doing anything stupid. Some of the ideas in the journal would be dangerous and crazy."


    Not wanting her to be worried or suspicious, I told her the excuse I had prepared, I said, "It''s just a project, I found the journal rotting in an old trunk I found in my Grandmother''s bas.e.m.e.nt. supposedly were related to whoever wrote the journal, and I wanted to show it off to her."


    Cedric, Alicia, Anna and I decided to stick together until we found our parents. As the crowd thinned, I started hearing students snicker, and some of my fellow first years shot me looks of pity. A sinking feeling appeared in my gut as I started having a flashback to my mother''s singing birthday letter.


    Muttering hopefully under my breath, "She wouldn''t dare."


    Somehow Cedric, who was in front of me heard what I said, he turned, pointed his finger, and said, "I pretty sure she would."


    My eyes darted to direction where he was pointing. I g.r.o.a.n.e.d loudly, and I found my parents and my little sisters in the center of a small crowd. My little sisters were proudly waving a banner with my face on it, and with moving words that said, Welcome Home Alex! We Missed you! It was so ridiculously colorful that I was stunned into silence.


    After recovering from the assault on my eyes and dignity, I glared at my dad, who gave me a sheepish expression. Knowing that he wasn''t to blame, I turned my glare to the one responsible, Mom. Unfortunately my glare seemed to bounce right off, and she pulled me into a hug.


    Trying to extract myself from her hug was like trying to escape from a very determined octopus. Finally, able to free myself, I found Anna grinning wickedly at me. "Ah, it''s so nice to see a family reunite."


    Seeing the mirth in her lavender eyes, made a plan hatch within my mind, and I decided that I would have my revenge on her before the school year was over. She would never see it coming.


    In an effort to escape the embarrassing attention, I waved goodbye to my friends and quickly left with my parents. Once we had left the crowd behind, I ruffled Sasha''s and Rebecca''s dark hair, and I asked fondly, "Did you miss me?"


    Sasha, always playing the part of the good little sister gave me an adorable smile and immediately said, "Yes."


    Not missing a beat I shot back, "Well, I guess it''s good that I decided to give Sasha your present as well."


    Unsure if whether I was messing with her, and not willing to chance it. Rebecca immediately backtracked, and latched onto me, saying pitifully, "Big brother, I missed you so much."


    She spent the rest of our trip home s.u.c.k.i.n.g up and trying to gauge whether she was getting her present or not.


    Dinner was served shortly after we got home, Lola, our house elf clearly delighted I was back served my favorite meal. However, during the meal, my mother began ruthlessly interrogating me about my classes. I came to the conclusion that it was highly likely that my mother had been a professional interegator in her past life.


    Eventually, my dad threw me a lifeline and asked, "How is life in Ravenclaw treating you."


    Thankful for the save, I answered, "I''m happy that I got sorted into in Ravenclaw, I guess the sorting hat really knows it''s business."


    Dad smiled fondly and said "Well, after a thousand years of practice, I should hope so. So, tell me the truth where is your name on the board."


    Smirking, I bragged, "Number 1, of course."


    Dad gave me a high five, and I asked him a question that had been bugging me. "Dad, when you were in Ravenclaw, did you ever see any magic formulas hidden within the patterns of the wall and ceiling. I swear sometime when I''m not paying attention, I''ll see something, but whenever I look closer, it''s gone. It''s been been bugging the crap out of me."


    I shot him a curious look, the way he had worded that, along with his cheerful tone was strange. He didn''t say he didn''t know about it, but rather that he couldn''t say that he did. His cheerfull tone and choice of words indicated that he knew what it was, but that he couldn''t say what it was. The rest of the dinner passed quickly, and mom sent the girls to bed soon after. Deciding to call it a night, I headed up to my room to wait for the house to fall asleep.


    Several hours later when I was sure everyone was sleeping, I grabbed the translated journal and snuck out my window after casting the silencing charm on it. Apparently, Athena was feeling too lazy to fly because she hitched a ride on my broom, and she showed no indication of getting off. Tracking down the back entrance in the dark took longer than I anticipated; I hadn''t been through this entrance in years.


    After paying the price in blood, the portal opened and sent me to the tower. Like last time, as soon as I made it to the tower, Anton began shouting, "INTRUDER, HOW DARE YOU BREACH THE INNER SANCTUM OF THE FAWLEY FAMILY. BEGONE, FROM THIS PLACE, OTHERWISE I SHALL DESTROY YOU."


    Hearing Anton scream the exact same threat as the last time that I came through the back entrance. I felt a moment of deja vu, knowing that the screaming and threats would only continue I called out while heading to the top floor, "Anton, It''s me."


    Anton''s voice went silent for a moment, before he questioned, "Alex is that you? Why didn''t you use the main entrance?"


    After hopping on the platform that would take me to the top floor, I replied, "I''ll explain when I get up there."


    I found the top floor just how I left it, with Anton''s painting next to the giant hawk throne. As soon as I came into view, Anton''s wolfish gaze bore into me, feeling his gaze, I couldn''t help but feel like I had let him down. He had spent his last remaining years building and fortifying our land only to have his descendant lose the key to the place.


    Feeling guilty, I decided to stop beating around the bush. Looking Anton in the eyes I said, "I don''t have the ring."


    A look of bewilderment appeared on his face, and he yelled, "What do you mean you don''t have it? How can you not have it?"


    It seemed as that was the final straw for Anton, he exclaimed, "Why didn''t you attach a sticking charm to the ring. Everyone knows to do that that."


    Although I was somewhat annoyed at myself for not using such a basic solution, I grumbled, "Clearly not everyone know that because I didn''t know. Why didn''t you put a spell on the ring that would attack someone from taking it?"


    Snorting in derision, Anton replied sarcastically, "And what would happen if you had a child tug on the ring with curiosity."


    Wincing at the thought, I began to understand why their weren''t passive attack spell preventing the ring from being taken off. Kids like to play with shiny things, and it would be all to easy for a kid to go after a ring if you were holding him and not being careful.


    Seeing that I understood Anton sighed and said, "It''s a pity this Micheal didn''t put it on, he would have been in a world of pain. But only an idiot would put on an enemy''s ring."


    Curious at what would have happened, I asked, "What would have happened to him?"


    An evil grin appeared on Anton''s face, and he gleefully replied, "Nothing to bad, just a little skin flaying curse I put on it. It moves really fast, it starts with the ring finger, and within a minute it would have traveled up the arm. After 5 minutes, he would have no skin left on his body."


    My stomach churned a bit at the description, and I asked, "Wouldn''t I have gotten in trouble for that."


    If anything, Anton''s smile grew larger, and he replied, "Nope, it has long been established that wizards have the right to defend their property, and should any wizards seize another''s property, they are solely responsible for any and all curses that may affect them."


    Seeing how his mood had lifted, I decided to break the rest of the news. I informed Anton, "Well, the good new is I know where the ring is located. The bad news is that it''s guarded by a monster."


    Raising an eyebrow, Anton questioned, "Why don''t you just summon the ring."


    With a frustrated sigh, I replied, " That''s the first thing I tried, it''s being prevented from responding to a summons. I found an underground wizard bunker of some sorts, while I was down there searching I found an ancient vampire trapped behind some circle wards. He said the year he was captured, was in 709, he''s been stuck down there for over 1200 years. According to him, he was captured by a wizard who was experimenting with ways to extend his life, and that the wizard ended up turning himself into a beast."


    Whatever Anton had been expecting me to say, clearly me finding a cave with a beast and a vampire wasn''t it. A solemn look appeared on Anton''s face as he considered what I had said, after gathering his thoughts, he said. "Forget about the ring, it''s to dangerous, and it''s not worth it. Maybe when your a little older, you can retake the ring from the beast."


    Smiling at Anton''s concern, I replied, "Don''t worry, I not going to foolishly charge in and face the beast unprepared. That is how idiots get killed."


    Anton raised an eyebrow and said, "What is your plan?"


    Shaking my head, I replied, "I don''t have a full plan yet, there is still so much I don''t know about the beast. Once I learn more about the creature, I can plan accordingly, I even got my hands on the wizard''s journal. Hopefully, between that and information I get from the vampire will be enough."


    Pulling out the translated journal, I sat down on the throne and started reading.

 Chapter 28 - Journal

    Opening up the journal, I decided to start from the beginning, hoping that I could gain an understanding of what the wizard had been experimenting on and what the beast guarding the underground fortress was.


    Day 1.


    Finally, since arriving on this godforsaken island, for the first time, I dared to hope for a better future. I found shelter, deep within the earth. When I found the cavern, I knew that this was where I would build my new home. Far from the wizard conclave in Rome, where the conclave sticks, it''s nose in everyone''s business. What a bunch of bastards they are, too rooted in tradition and afraid to push boundaries. Luckily, the wizard community on this island is rather clannish, and they seem reluctant to involves themselves in the affairs of others ¡ª what a refreshing change of pace. Finally, I can get some work done without some nosy wizards poking around. One day the conclave would regret banishing me, I would return and have my revenge for this embarrassment. I would make sure the name Aelius Sejanus was never forgotten.


    Day 32.


    I''ve finished building my stronghold, it''s not much, but it will suffice. After contacting some of my old friends who didn''t approve of my banishment, I informed them of my new location. Some of them were very interested in my work and have promised to continue to provide funding for my experiments


    Day 109.


    I caught an assassin sneaking around my fortress. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was a vampire. It claimed to just be in the area, but after some persuasion, the creature revealed the truth. It had been sent to kill me by one of the wizards who disapproved of my research. Having had the chance to study one of these creatures before, I was almost grateful to the conclave, for sending me a new creature to study.


    Day 154.


    Despite the vampire pleading otherwise, I am convinced that the vampire is a creature of death. Earlier today, the vampire had gotten particularly creative with its insults, and I''ll admit that I lost my temper, and sent the death curse at it. Imagine my surprise when the curse didn''t kill him. Curious if there were other spells that they were similarly immune to, I began experiment.


    Day 161.


    After a week of rather grueling tests, I found that vampires were not immune to many magics like I feared, to be precise, they were only immune to three spells. Curiously, they are the three spells wizards fear most. My current hypothesis is that the three spells only work on the living and since the vampire is an undead abomination, those particular spells have no effect.


    I took a break from reading the journal so that I could digest what the wizard had said about vampires. From what I understood, he had believed that vampires were undead creatures, but we now know that they are actually fact alive. I could understand how he came to that conclusion, the fact that they are seemingly immune to the death, torture and control curses is strange. Shrugging, I added this curiosity to one of the many things I wanted to study when I had learned more about magic.


    Turning back to the journal, I continued reading.


    My repeated test on the vampire revealed many interesting results. One result I found myself fascinated with is their healing factor. I found, if given enough blood, vampires can regenerate amputated body parts.


    Day 300.


    The more I study this wretched creature, the more convinced I am that it is a failed project of some ancient wizard of the past. I scrounged up what is little known about their race and have found stories dating back several thousand years. However, it can be difficult to track these vampires; they tend to stay in the shadows and avoid scrutiny.


    Year 2, day 40.


    I''ve decided on my next project, Immortally or at the very least, extending my life expectancy. It will be my most stunning achievement. On a side, upon hearing my new direction of study, the vampire offered to turn me. As if I would ever accept losing my magic, I can''t imagine any self-respecting wizard would give up their magic and turn themselves into such a lesser creature. But, what if there was a way to extend life and not lose one''s magic. Everyone has heard a myth or legend of a wizard or two living longer than normal. If I can figure out a way, the whole wizarding world will remember my name.


    Year 5, day 200.


    After years of failure, I believe I have identified why people age. It seems that as people get older, the essence of particles that makes up a body begins to degrade slowly. If I can find a mechanism to restore a person''s particles back to their original state I believe that I will have cracked the code of immortality.


    Pausing my reading, I mulled over what Aelius had written. Faint memories of my past life began to surface, what it sounded like, was that he had discovered when cells replicate, they aren''t able to produce a perfect copy, and as people get older, the copy of their cells get worse and worse. Impressed that a 7th-century wizard was able to figure that out, I continued reading, curious at what came next.


    Year 10, day 52.


    Year 13, day 200.


    I''ve located the perfect magical creature; it is a rare monster found in the deep within the depths of Britannia. The local magical community has known the creature by many names, but I believe that most of them call it a Grendel. It took years to track down and capture one because they are so rare. I believe that with their long lives they rarely breed, I was hoping to capture a pair of them, but just the one I have will have to suffice for now. It is a hideous creature, it''s shape is humanoid, and it stands taller than most men, with coarse, wiry black hair covering its head. It''s glowing yellow eye, stood out against its dark green skin. Its daggerlike teeth are designed to rend flesh. Defensive spikes cover portions of its body like it''s spine, shoulders, and knees. Equally impressive, large razor-sharp claws erupted from its finger''s tips. All in all, it is an impressive creature; I couldn''t wait to dissect it.


    Year 14, day 1


    After numerous tests, I''ve discovered many interesting things about the creature. Regrettably, my last test required me to put the creature down, but luckily, I believe it allowed me to locate what is responsible for the creature''s long life and incredible healing factor. It has a unique organ located near its heart. This incredible organ constantly repairs the creature''s particles to perfect condition. If I can find a way to harness this, I will have succeeded.


    Year 14, day 160


    I''m almost ready, I captured another Grendel and was able to successful remove the organ while keeping it viable. I''ve sent word to my friends back in Rome, they''re excited and have assured me that if this works, I can return to Rome with glory. In a few days, I will know if this last decade has been spent in vain or not


    Year, 14, day 165


    It''s done, I was able to merge the organ into my body. Even better, I seem to be physically stronger, and my magic hasn''t been affected whatsoever. Looking in a mirror is all the proof I need to see that it''s working as intended. In the morning before the operation, my hair had more grey in it than color, and my skin was full of wrinkles. But now, I''ve returned back to my prime, and I look like I did when I was in my 20s. I''ve sent word of my success to my colleagues in Rome; they have promised to join me in a few weeks.


    Year 14, day 172


    Year 14, day 175.


    I woke up in the forest today, with blood spattered on my torn robes, I can feel, my teeth sharpening. It''s becoming harder to think and my thoughts seem sluggish. I panicked and tried to magically remove the organ from my body. However, even after I removed it, it grew back, panicking, I cut it from my body like a muggle, but it seems like it''s become one with my body. I contacted my associates, and informed them of the ongoing situations, they''ve promised to send help. Fearing that I may lose myself before they get here, I put on an unbreakable collar and bound it to the local area, so that if I go wild, at least I won''t disappear from the area, and my colleagues can hopefully find me. I pray that they will be able to fix me, or at the very least put me out of my misery.


    Year 14, Day ?


    I don''t know what day it is; I''m losing time, I checked my reflection again, and was no longer able to fool myself. I would say my transformation is well over halfway complete, and that I''m turning into a Grendel. What''s worse is that I can feel my mind slipping away. I fear by the time my colleagues get here, there will be nothing left of the wizard I was.


    Unknown date


    Somehow, I was able to claw back to awareness, but I wish I hadn''t, I found a set of bloody, torn wizard robes that smell of death. From the flashes I got when I smelled them, I got the sense that I might have eaten whoever they belonged to. I know that should make me feel bad, but for the first time in a long time since the transformation started, the hunger has finally been sated.


    Upon reading the last paragraph, I realized that it was the final entry in the journal and that it was probably the last time he had human awareness. While thinking about what went wrong, I came to the conclusion that the organ merged with the wizard and slowly subverted it''s host until it was back in its original form, a Grendel.


    I was in two minds about the wizard; on one hand, he was brilliant in his own way, especially considering how long ago he lived. But on the other, some of the experiments he committed were terrible. I find it kind of ironic that he ended up turned into one of the creatures that he treated so terribly. Karma is a bitch.


    Deciding that I needed more information on what the strengths and weaknesses of a Grendel were, so I asked Anton, "Have you ever heard about a Grendel?"


    After checking the library and not finding anything, I called it a night. Hopefully, when I got back to Hogwarts, I could find some more information on the subject, which will allow me to make a plan to recover my ring, and if I can do it safely, free the vampire. After all, I''d imagine that the services of a vampire assassin might come in handy one day in the future.


    .............................


    Author''s note


    If anyone is curious about how I picture the Grendel check this out.


    pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/File:Grendel.jpg

 Chapter 29 - Borgin and Burkes

    The following day, I made a list of plans and goals, I needed to accomplish over the holiday. First up was securing the other vanishing cabinet at Borgin and Burkes. If I could successfully retrieve it and move it to the tower, I would have a safe, secure, and undetectable passage into Hogwarts.


    I also decided that I would need a number of rather questionable items for a 12-year-old to purchase. Thankfully, in knockturn alley, they didn''t ask questions if you had the money. I was familiar with the best stores to shop at, because of my trips there with my uncle. I bet he would be surprised at everything I had managed to glean from our little trips.


    Luckily, the one thing I wouldn''t need to worry about was money. I''m glad I was born into a family that had wealth. The only reason why my parents even worked, was because not working would have been boring, besides when you love your job as they do, it''s not really work. And while I believe that it''s true that money can''t buy happiness, it sure as hell makes life convenient.


    Knowing that everything I wanted to get could be costly, I dug into my considerable savings that had been growing over the years. I had been slowly saving the allowance my parents had been giving me for years. After counting everything up I had nearly a thousand galleons saved up, which should be more than enough for me to purchase everything I was planning on buying.


    When I got downstairs, I found a familiar scene with everyone sitting around the dining room table preparing for breakfast. Smiling fondly, I sat down and asked, "Dad, can I go with you to the workshop today."


    Looking up from the daily prophet, dad questioned, "Are you sure? I would have thought you would have wanted to stay home and relax for a bit."


    Knowing that I had a needed an excuse, I replied, ''I wanted to pick up a present for the twins. I didn''t want to order it through the owl mailing service. Too much of a chance that the twins would try and discover what I was getting them for Christmas."


    Wagging his eyebrow, Dad enticed, "Well, I guess that means I can show you what I''ve been up too lately."


    Mom glared at both of us and accused, "I know what you''re doing; you''re just trying to trick him into liking enchanting over potion crafting."


    Dad shot a smug look at mom, and righteously defended, "Are you trying to prevent our son from buying his sisters present?"


    Hearing what was at stake, the twins glared at mom, silently advocating their thoughts on the conversation. Laughing at my mom''s expression, I said, "How about tomorrow, we can spend the day in the potions lab, I can go over everything we did this past semester. Although, to be honest, most of what was taught, you had already shown me."


    Satisfied that she wasn''t totally losing me to the wonders of charm crafting, mom reluctantly nodded her approval. I didn''t have to heart to tell her that while I found potion-making useful and often underused by wizards. My heart belongs to the mysteries of charms and transfiguration.


    Later at the shop, dad took me to the back, where the real magic was done. Seeing all the interesting objects that my dad was working on lying all around the shop, reminded me of my plan for a communicator for all of my friends.


    I remember from the books that there were many different ways to go about doing this, nearly all of them consisting of different applications of the protean charm. I had looked into seeing if I could cast the protean charm, but it was well beyond my skill level for now.


    Looking up at him, I asked, "Could you make something for my friends and I to communicate with? With all of us in different houses, it can be difficult to track us all down if we want to get together. I thought it would be nice for us to have a way to signal each other if we wanted to meet."


    Dad stroked his chin thoughtfully and replied, "I assume that whatever method that you use, you would want all the device to be able to communicate with one another."


    Seeing me nod eagerly, dad let out an amused snort and teased, "You don''t ask for easy things, do you? What are you thinking? A mirror communicator won''t work; those only work with two mirrors, although I might be able to connect a few journals, where whatever you write in one, will appear in the others."


    Thinking about it for a moment, I smiled, remembering the golden coins that the DA army used to communicate with one another. I squashed a small feeling of guilt for ripping off Hermione''s idea. Giving dad a smirk, I said, "Let''s talk about coins."


    Dad loved my idea about the coins and promised to have them done by the time I went back to school. Luckily after promising I wouldn''t take very long; I was able to get out of the workshop. I never got tired of going through diagon alley; there were always so many interesting stores to explore.


    As I made my way through diagon alley, I located the entrance to knockturn alley. The side street entrance was rather small and unremarkable. Knowing the type of people who did business in this shady alley would take advantage of any sign of weakness. I channeled my uncle''s confident swagger and attitude and strode through the entrance.


    Some of the witches and wizards in the alley looked me over, seeing if I would be an easy mark. I glared back at them silently promising them that I would be more trouble than I was worth. When I made it to Borgin and Burkes the shop was just as dirty and dank as the last time I was here.


    When I passed through the doors, a bell announced my presence within the store. Looking around, I noticed that the store had no other customers. I heard Burke making his way from the back room. When he saw me, he scowled and said, "Come back when you''re a little older boy."


    Glaring back at him, my hand brushed my purse that was holding my coins. A loud jingle indicated that it was full of coins, and Burke''s attitude immediately changed, and his scowl was replaced by a sleazy grin. He asked, "What can I get you, young master wizard? We have many items I think you might find fascinating, many of them are unique and can''t be found anywhere else in the world."


    Burke glared hatefully at the enormous cabinet taking up space a lot of space in his store and gloomily replied. "Dame thing has been taking up space in my store for years. No one wants to buy one half of a set of vanishing cabinets."


    A thought occurred to me, and I said, "Why didn''t you just go through and check out the other side."


    Burke snorted at me, and replied, "Let me give you some advice, don''t ever go through a portal without knowing what''s exactly on the other side, you''ll live longer."


    I blushed, remembering I had done just that when I went through an unknown portal the first time I got inside my tower.


    Wanting to get on with it, I nonchalantly said, "I''ll take it."


    Somehow sensing that I really wanted the cabinet, Burke eyed me thoughtfully. No doubt estimating how much he could charge me and get away with it. After a moment, Burke seemed to come up with a number and said, "400 galleons."


    My left eye twitched upon hearing the price, even though I had the money, it was well over what one half of a vanishing pair was worth. Countering his high ball offer, I offered a more realistic price and said, "200."


    After seeing the shark-like smile on his face, I knew I made a mistake when I had immediately countered. It seems he was just testing how determined I was to have the cabinet and when I countered, instead of protesting the price, it gave my intentions away.


    Once he was sure that I wasn''t leaving without the cabinet, he refused to lower his price at all, and firmly replied, "400."


    Burke''s face scrunched up in confusion, so I added, "You should know my uncle." After pausing for dramatic effect, I continued, "John Fawley."


    Upon hearing the name of my uncle, Burke blanched, and stammered, "Ah, did I say 400, I meant 200."


    Ah, it''s so nice to have an uncle with connections in the underworld. Sneering back at him, I replied, "150."


    Burke glared at me and said through clenched teeth. "Deal."


    Deciding that Burke was too useful of an asset to burn, I didn''t push it any further. Looking around the store, I found a few other items that I thought would be useful in the future. From a set of unbreakable manacles, perfect for restraining a monster, to a cursed mask, that will haunt the subconscious of whoever''s touches it. If you happen to touch it, it will try to drive you crazy, making you see things that aren''t there. While this type of curse isn''t difficult to break, it''s tricky to identify; most wizards are reluctant to reveal that they are seeing things that aren''t really there. I already had a nice target in mind. I was happy with everything that I found; I even bought a few potions that I was hoping would help me deal with the Grendel.


    Luckily, Burke also sold expandable bags that could contain everything I bought. Heading out, I nodded my thanks and made my way back to diagon alley. On my way back to my dad''s shop, I remembered to stop by a few other shops, so I could grab presents for the twins.


    Later that night, when everyone in the house was asleep, I snuck out to the tower. After being bitten by the door yet again, I decided that I needed to learn how to perform the minor mending spell, and probably a few other healing spells as well. You never know when knowing how to mend broken bones or skin will come in handy


    I made my way to the top floor and removed the vanishing cabinet, and set it up against the wall. The levitation spell proved to be very useful in maneuvering the cabinet, considering it weighs probably over 200 pounds.


    Upon seeing the enormous cabinet, Anton''s curiosity was aroused, and he asked, "What is that?"


    Opening the cabinet, I stepped inside and closed the door, when I exited, I was back in the room of requirement at Hogwarts. It was still filled to the ceiling with stacks of objects filling up the room. These many objects must have been forgotten, lost or hidden by students over the last thousand years. One day, when I have time, I would need to see if there was anything interesting hiding in here. But, considering most of this stuff was left behind by students, I would imagine most of this crap is just junk, but you never know, I might find something interesting.


    When I got back to the tower, a wild grin appeared on my face, and I bragged to Anton, "Your looking at the owner of a secret passage into Hogwarts. This cabinet is connected to another inside Hogwarts. Now I can move freely between there and here."


    Anton whistled in appreciation, but cautioned, "Be careful who you tell, should any of the teachers find out, you can be sure they would destroy it, and they would be less than amused."


    Heading downstairs, I dug through the library, searching for any information on magic warding circles. What little information I found on the subject, warned me that I would need to find out how to bring down the spell in the correct order.


    Most magical circles, if breached, have a tendency to banish or destroy whatever is inside and around the circle. Hopefully the wizard kept notes or has the spell written down somewhere in the fortress. Otherwise getting the vampire out of the entrapment safely would be very dangerous, because I sure as hell wasn''t risking my life for a stranger that I don''t know.

 Chapter 30 - Details

    The next day, mom dragged me into her potions laboratory and started grilling me on everything I had been learning under Professor Snape. After explaining to her about Professor Snape''s sink or swim teaching method, she looked upset and scoffed, "That''s is no way to teach potions to first years. I bet many of the first years haven''t ever brewed a potion, especially the muggleborns. What your describing would be more appropriate for teaching older students, not 11 and 12-year old''s."


    Shrugging, I replied, "It''s not his fault that many of the students choose to spend their free time goofing off instead of studying and doing their homework. And while Professor Snape often hands out lengthy essays to those who fail, if they actually do the essay well, they will actually learn exactly why their potion didn''t succeed and hopefully in the future will not make the same mistake."


    Sensing my my mom''s disagreement, I hastily added, "I''m sure that there are probably better-teaching methods out there, but my understanding, is that the Hogwarts students who end up getting their NEWTs in the subject are some of the best potion masters in the world, probably only second to those who graduate with NEWTs from Castelobruxo, the magical academy in South America."


    Mom''s face puffed up in preparation to argue whether Hogwarts or Beauxbatons produces better potion master, so in an effort to distract her, I asked, "How do you think potions should be taught?"


    Mom took a moment to prepare her thoughts, and a small smile broke out on her face as she sank into her memories and she fondly explained, "Potion making should be fun. Potions aren''t like the other branches of magic. There are no fancy wand movements, or like lifting things into the air or transforming objects, mostly it involves hours of preparation and intense study. To get pupils truly interested in potions you must show them the joys of potion-making and all the wondrous things you can brew. I will never forget my first class on potion making at Beauxbatons, and I was hooked instantly. My professor, crafted an invisibility potion, the whole class was spellbound, potions can do pretty much do anything other branches of magic can do plus a whole lot more, as long as you''re willing to put the time into it."


    I tried to picture Professor Snape doing the same, but I just couldn''t imagine him utilizing such a soft approach. For better or worse, separating the wheat from the chaff was just Professor Snape style, he wasn''t going to hold anyone''s hand and help them along. Students either succeeded or failed, all on their own merit.


    From what I''ve witnessed, although Professor Snape is brilliant, I personally think he hates teaching students. More than once I''ve wondered why Dumbledore keeps him around. Considering that in the final book I read where Snape kills Dumbledore, I''ve consider warning Dumbledore that Professor Snape isn''t what he seems, but considering how often Harry said the same thing, I''d imagine that it wouldn''t do any good.


    Hell, it might not even happen now that I''m here. After I stop Cedric from being killed, who knows how different things will turn out. For now, I will just avail myself of having a knowledge potions professor and learn everything he has to teach me while watching him carefully.


    I should probably start looking into learning Occlumency, just in case. but from what I already know on the subject, teaching myself will be a pain and will probably take a year or two to learn.


    Christmas was a lively affair as it always was. I had always found it somewhat curious that wizards celebrate Christmas as it was originally a Christian holiday, and I don''t think I''ve ever met a religious wizard.


    But as it turns out, wizards all over the world had been celebrating the winter solstice for thousands of years, and Christmas was just one of the many things that muggleborns brought with them into wizard society. So as time went on, celebrating Christmas just became the norm. Although I''d imagine in other parts of the world, they still only observe the winter solstice.


    I was pleased with what my dad had gotten me for Christmas, on top of the coins, he gave me a book on enchanting wards. Although some of the theory was still beyond my grasp, sooner or later, I would master it.


    Before I knew it, the two weeks were up, and it was time to head back to Hogwarts. I was determined not to let mom make an embarrassing scene again. I was able to convince them just to have dad take me. Because we got such an early start I was one of the first students who arrived on the platform.


    After I assured my dad that it was fine to leave me and head back, I got on board the train and waited for my friends to arrive.


    Cedric, Anna, and Alicia arrived one by one and stuffed themselves into our cabin. As the train began rolling towards Hogwarts, I closed the cabin door and informed everyone, "I know what the beast is." Everyone leaned forward in anticipation, and I pronounced, "It''s a Grendel."


    Hearing that Cedric had heard about them before, I asked, "What do you know about them? I couldn''t find any information on them."


    Seeing how we were all wondering about where his knowledge came from, Cedric explained, "I''m not surprised you haven''t found any information on them; they''ve been extinct for well over a thousand years. I''ve only heard about them in passing because my dad likes to study magical creatures."


    Eager to know more, I said, "Really? How did they go extinct?"


    Shrugging, Cedric replied, "From what I can remember, I believe that some Grendels did something to some important wizards over a thousand years ago, So the local wizard community decided to wipe them off the face of the earth. it wasn''t very difficult. There weren''t very many Gredels in the first place."


    Hearing the explanation, I thought a more likely explanation was that the wizards who had been in communication with Aelius were responsible for the extinction of the Grendels. They probably wanted to continue the research, so they harvested the remaining Grendels. Considering it happened so long ago, the truth was lost to the sands of time.


    Seeing how difficult it would be to gather information on a species that was wiped out over a thousand years ago, we all agreed that the best bet would be to search the room of requirement for more information.


    After explaining that the Grendel used to be a wizard, Cedric and Anna looked slightly ill at the thought. However, Alicia calmly accepted what happened to the wizard, and informed us, "It''s not that unusual, there have been many wizards in the ancient past, who experimented upon themselves with disastrous results."


    Before we arrived at Hogwarts, I brought out the gold coins and said, "So, I thought that it''s kinda annoying to track everyone down outside of classes. Over the break I asked my dad to come up with a solution.


    Holding up a golden coin, I explained, "We can use these coins to signal each other to meet up."


    Everyone seemed to like the idea of being able to send a request to meet up. We had all at one time, or another spent hours tracking someone down throughout the large castle.


    When we arrived, we took the carriages that were pulled by the thestals. I couldn''t see them, but I knew from the books that they were there. By the time we arrived back at the castle, it was late, after dinner, we all split up and headed to our separate houses.


    Classes started up the following day, and in transfiguration, Professor McGonagall motioned for me to stay behind. Curious at what she needed, I waved Alicia on, indicating I would catch up later.


    Professor McGonagall took a seat at her desk and motioned me forward, as she tapped her fingers on the desk, she seemed to consider me thoughtfully. Seeing her stern expression, I gulped and prayed that she hadn''t found out about any of my escapades.


    After clearing her throat, she said, "Mr. Fawley."


    Even knowing that she had a naturally severe expression, I gulped and said, "Yes." I slightly winced, hating that my voice came out like a squeak.


    Seeing how nervous I was, Professor McGonagall let out a small smile and said, "You know, it''s rare for someone to pick up transfiguration as quick as you have. You''re well ahead of your peers, and I think that you have learned how to transfigure all the inanimate objects I was planning for this year. Today, I sensed that you were slightly bored because you had already learned the technique."


    She paused, and for a moment I thought she was going to scold me, then she let out the tiniest hint of a smile and said, "Let''s face it; you can only work the same piece of magic, so many times before you get bored. Really, the only thing left for you to learn this semester is what we cover during the last two months when we move on to live mice, I think you will find working on animals, a far more challenging endeavor."


    Seeing how I wasn''t in trouble, I relaxed, and eagerly asked, "Does this mean you will let me start working on small animals like bugs and mice."


    She picked up the staw that I had transfigured earlier into a knife and handed it to me and said, "You did a fine job on this earlier, the knife is completely metal, it''s also functional, and if any of the other students in my class had been able to do this today, I would have given them an outstanding for their grade. But from you, I am expecting more; you have a real talent for transfiguration."


    She grabbed another piece of straw from her desk and silently waved her wand over it, and I watched as it also turned into a knife. Handing that knife over to me as well, she asked, "Do you see the difference?"


    I was shocked at finding the incredibly detailed patterns covering the knife''s surface, I compared it to the plain knife I turned in and found it lacking. Looking back at Professor McGonagall, I said, "The patterns."


    Professor McGonagall nodded, indicating that I guessed right, and went on, "Indeed, Mr. Fawley. So, what I want you to start focusing on is working on putting detailed patterns into your work. It might seem pointless, but I promise as you get into more difficult spells, being able to work with such detail will help you one day become a true master of transfiguration."


    Curious I asked, "How do you know if someone is a master of transfiguration?"


    She smirked back at me and said, "Well the minimum to be considered a master would be getting an Outstanding on your NEWTs, and I promise you, wizards and witches who can achieve that grade are few and far in between. That''s why I want you to start working on mastering the small and intricate details. Only by laying a deep foundation, will you be able to go far in Transfiguration."


    While I was slightly disappointed that she wasn''t letting me work ahead, I sensed that she only had my best intentions and heart. Seeing my crestfallen expression, she added, "Seeing that you have mastered the material so far, I am giving you permission to practice your spell work outside of class time. However, should I get word of you practicing on new transfiguration spells that you have not been taught, there will be severe consequences."


    Getting the green light to practice transfiguration outside of class made me smile. Normally, they only start letting students practice transfiguration outside of the class beginning in the second year. There is just too much that can go wrong with transfiguration to allow first-years to do it. Although I will admit, it was nice to have official permission to practice without supervision. But, considering that I was already planning on practicing by myself, now that I had a good handle on my transfiguration, it didn''t really affect my plans much.


    The rest of the week moved on, and I spent a considerable amount of time practicing working in patterns in the items I transfigured. To merely say it was difficult, undercuts the difficulty of what I was trying to do. As soon as I started working in complicated patterns, part of me understood why many chose not to try this until they were further along in their training. But I was rather determined, and I spent a lot of time, transfiguring object after object, determined to one day become a master.

 Chapter 31 - Ring

    Thankfully, the night of the full moon happened on Friday, which according to the vampire, that would mean that the Grendel shouldn''t be in the cave for the next couple of days. I managed to scrounge up several broomsticks from the room of requirement, and everyone met up at the lake early Saturday morning. The


    Before we took off, I handed out copies of the map that Hagrid had given me to everyone and said, "Let''s go over a few things in case something should happen while were in there. First off, in the case we get separated, head north, and that should bring you back towards Hogwarts."


    Pointing towards the smiling spider that Hagrid had drawn, I continued, "Next, under no circ.u.mstance should you go anywhere near this area. Finally, should you meet with a centaur, treat it with respect, they have been known to attack overly arrogant witches and wizards."


    As I continued to list out possible dangers, the mood began to shift somewhat, with everyone showing more serious expressions, realizing that our trip through the forest needed to be taken in the proper frame of mind.


    Before we left, I freed Athena from her collar, after stretching her wings, she took off into the sky. She was an impressive sight with the sun shining off her blue and silver wings. We all got on our brooms and took off after her.


    After twenty minutes of flying on the old broomsticks, we arrived in the general vicinity of the cave. Before we landed in the clearing, I twisted my wrist, activating my hidden dueling wand holster, which shot out my wand into my hand. Although Athena hadn''t given any indication that something was near us, I wasn''t taking any chances.


    Seeing me draw my wand, everyone else followed suit and drew their wands from their robes. I smirked as Alicia had to struggle to get her wand out, and teased, "You should really think about getting one of these. I know the other ones the room provided weren''t in very good condition, but you can always order a new one as Cedric and Anna did."


    This wasn''t the first time I had suggested getting a wand holster for her. But for some reason she dug her heels in on this topic, she argued that using a hidden wand holster would mean that she would have an unfair advantage over someone else, and she was confident enough in her own skill not to use one.


    Her attitude only solidified that the sorting hat put her into the correct house. It was a brave attitude, but in my opinion, also kinda stupid. When Micheal ambushed me, it taught me that the best way to approach a confrontation is to seek ever advantage to a fight. Even if the holster only gives a small advantage, it is one I will take.


    Before Alicia could argue with me, we heard a loud snap, as a branch broke. The snap was quickly followed by a panicked squeal and a thud as something hit the ground. Turning hastily towards the sound, I saw Athena lying in a pile of snow looking disgruntled. She had landed on a branch, but it broke under her weight. I tried not to laugh at the offended look she was giving the tree. Brushing the snow off herself, she launched herself at me, climbing up to her favorite perch, secure in the knowledge that at least I wouldn''t be dumping her on the ground.


    Anna broke the silence by giggling, Athena turned her glare from the tree to Anna for daring to laugh at her misfortune. Anna needs to be careful; Athena can be quite vengeful to those who offended her.


    As we made our way through the snowy forest, the only sound we could hear was our muffled footsteps as we tramped through the snow. Eventually, we arrived at the cave opening, not about to let my friends be at risk; I took the lead. Raising my wand, I chanted, "Lumos."


    My friends followed suit, and the four illumination spells, lit up the pitch-black entrance, we slowly made our way down into the deep bowels of the earth. When we arrived at the cavern, I got a much better look at the place because of the additional wand lights.


    As everyone was looking around the cavern in curiosity, Anna pointed towards the Latin inscription above the entryway and asked, "What does that mean?"


    Cedric and Alicia both turned in curiosity to see what Anna was talking about. The inscription was one of the first things that I had translated when I had gotten the Latin language primer.


    Wanting to explain, I said, "Ego Voluntas Evinco Moriunyur, it means I shall conquer death. Aelius spent almost 15 years dedicated to that goal, and in a twisted way, he kinda succeeded, he is still alive 1300 years later. Although, if anything of his mind remains within the Grendel, I doubt that he is happy about it.


    After a moment, I decided it was safe to continue and entered the nest. Like last time, lamps lit up, illuminating the Grendel''s home. Seemingly waiting for me, no sooner than I entered, Octavius hopefully called out, "Young wizard, is that you?."


    Ignoring the other doors that lead deeper within the fortress, I made my back to the door where Octavius was imprisoned. Opening the door, we all found Octavius pressed up along the boundaries of his invisible prison. I thought he looked worse than last time. Considering that I didn''t return last month, he probably assumed the worst and had given up. From my previous life, I knew nothing was worse than being given hope only to have it ripped away.


    Upon seeing me, a demented grin showcasing his fangs appeared on his gaunt face, and he cried out, "I knew you wouldn''t leave me down, young wizard. When you didn''t show last month, I that feared you had decided to abandon me to my fate."


    Examining the complicated warding circles that kept him trapped, I shook my head and said, "Don''t get too excited, I don''t think we''ll be able to get you out of there until we learn what spells are keeping you trapped."


    Even after hearing my words of caution, hope still shown on his face. After a moment, he seemed to realize that I wasn''t alone and asked curiously, "Who else did you bring with you? Your master, perhaps."


    Shaking my head, I said, "No, just some of my friends. Besides, we don''t have a master, the master, and apprentice-style of teaching died out over a thousand years ago. It was far too inefficient."


    Octavius''s blinked his green eyes rapidly as he processed this new information. Perhaps he was only just now realizing that the whole world he knew was long gone. His face fell for a moment, trying to make light of his situation, he eyed my friends and teased, "Well, since you didn''t bring anyone who could free me. I don''t suppose you could bring me a snack."


    Even though I realized he was trying to make a joke about his situation. I couldn''t stop the anger coursed through me, and I replied flatly, "I know your just making a joke. But, if you ever joke about eating one of my friends again. I will leave you to rot in this prison for eternity."


    Not understanding why I was so annoyed, Anna put her hand on my arm, trying to calm me down. Cedric and Anna had made great strides in learning Arabic but hadn''t yet mastered it, so they didn''t catch his joke. Alicia, on the other hand, understood it perfectly and sneered a challenge back at Octavius.


    Faint hope appeared back in Octavius''s eyes, and he asked, "How long do you think it will take to free me?"


    Shrugging, I said, "It depends on if we can find out what spells he used, once we know, then we can work on dispelling them."


    Anxious to be free, Octavius pleaded, "Can''t you just wave your wand around, surely getting dispelling a barrier can''t be too difficult."


    Not about to be rushed into doing something stupid, I explained, "That''s not how it works, there are hundreds of ways to contain something inside a ward. Each one would have a specific way to deactivate it, and if we go poking around, we could make the situation worse."


    Grumbling bitterly, Octavius mumbled, I don''t see how it could get worse."


    Rolling my eyes, I scolded, "Oh, stop complaining. We''re going to go look around and see if we can find anything useful."


    Turning to my friends I said, "Alright, we have two objectives we need to accomplish quickly, just in case the Grendel comes back from his hunt early. First, we need to find my ring. Second, we need to look for any books down here. Hopefully, one of them will describe what was used to imprison Octavius."


    Alicia looked a little too enthusiastic after she heard about the possibility of the Grendel returning. She eagerly said, "How about we just fight the Grendel, that way, after we defeat it, we''ll have all the time in the world to search this place."


    After considering her idea for a moment, I shook my head and said, "It very well may come to that, but I would prefer to gather more information about the capabilities of a Grendel unless we have no choice. Besides,choosing to engage with a creature we know nothing about sounds like a recipe for disaster."


    Before we left the room to begin our search, Octavius called out ominously, "Take care in exploring the lower level, the wizard set up a strange enchantment. If you get caught in it, you will be frozen forever, and the only way to make it through safely is with the wizard''s bracer."


    Upon hearing his warning, a sinking feeling welled up inside of my stomach. I just knew that finding my ring was not going to be easy. That stupid Grendel probably found my ring in the forest and went and put it behind the barrier, which would explain why it was unable to be summoned.


    "I don''t suppose you happen to know where the bracer is?" I asked, hopefully.


    Octavius replied unhelpfully, "Sure, the last time I saw it, it was on the right arm of the beast."


    Of course it was, nothing could ever be easy. I stubbornly held out hope that my ring wasn''t behind the magical barrier Octavius had mentioned. So, we started the search in the main nest area, and I was determined not to miss a thing.


    While a thorough search revealed many interesting things, such as, ancient spells books, notes detailing Aelius experiments, old potions bottles containing who knows what, and I was pretty sure the strange organ I had found last time in the dust room, was one of the original Grendel''s organs Aelius experimented with. Planning to sort everything out later, we started bagging up everything we thought could be useful or interesting.


    Finally, I was forced to admit that my ring was not on the main floor, and we would need to descend to the next level. Opening the only door, we hadn''t searched revealed an unlit stone staircase leading into darkness.


    Similar to the main floor, when we entered, torches bolted into the wall lit up, exposing the stairwell. Curious at what we would find, Anna brushed past me, wanting to be the first downstairs.


    Following closely behind, I ran into her when she stopped suddenly at the last step. Before I could ask her why she stopped, I saw what had surprised her. Across the room, were chunks of precious metals like gold and silver, that looked like they had been pulled from the earth. Other strange objects also decorated the room, like wood carvings that had been shaped in strange patterns. I even spotted my ring placed carefully among the objects, whatever all this was, it was clear that the Grendel prized all of these things dearly, every object looked like it had been reverently placed and well cared for.


    Something about the stone bothered me; I was sure I had read something about a stone like this when I was young. While I was going through my memories, Anna took a step forward off the stairs, transfixed by the scene. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a moth unmoving in midair, almost like it was frozen in time.


    I suddenly remembered what I had read all those years ago. Horrified, I stepped forward and grabbed Anna, pulling her back towards me. I took a quick step back towards the stairs pulling Anna along. As soon as we got back to the stairs, Cedric and Alicia were waiting for us with panicked looks on their faces.


    Anna, not really understanding what was wrong with everyone, asked curiously, "Why is everyone so panicked?"


    Pointing back towards the chipped glowing stone, I explained in disbelief, "That''s a chrono-sphere, otherwise known as a time stone, they are unbelievably rare. Wizards have only ever found a handful of them throughout all of history."


    Looking back towards Cedric and Alicia, I asked, "How long were we stuck in there?"


    Cedric tersely replied, " Around half an hour, had you been much longer, we were going to get the headmaster."


    Anna asked, "What do you mean we were in there for 30 minutes? It was more like 3 seconds."


    Correcting her assumptions, I explained,"Time gets a little funny around time stones, you see those geometric symbols. I think those are an enchantment which is boosting its effects. My guess is that the distortion effects get worse the closer you get until time is almost completely frozen There is a moth above the stone, I bet that it has been trapped in there for centuries completely unaware that time is moving so slow it might as well be stopped."


    Realizing how close she had come to disaster, Anna shot me a grateful look and said, "Thank heavens that you were close enough to stop me before I got any closer. I can''t imagine what would have happened to me if you hadn''t been so close and responded so quickly. I could have been trapped in there forever."


    Looking at my trapped ring, I completely missed Anna''s face, reddening at my fierce declaration. After considering my ring for a few moments, I said, "I bet you all, that the missing chip in the time stone is in the bracer that Octavius mentioned. I imagine it lets him pass through unobstructed, which means the only way to get my ring back it to get ahold of the bracer. Alicia, it looks like your getting your wish; we''re going to have to go Grendel hunting.

 Chapter 32 - Barrier

    After accepting that I would not be getting my ring back for some time, we all headed back upstairs. When I made it back to the room containing Octavius, I glared at him and said, "You could have warned us that there was a time trap down there."


    Octavius turned his head in confusion, and defended, "I told you there was an enchantment down there, and I don''t know what the hell a time trap is. All I remember is when I was snooping around the place, one second I was down there, and the next thing I knew, I was trapped in here."


    Sighing in frustration, I had wanted to blame him for how close to disaster Anna had come to. But, from the sound of it, he didn''t know what was down there.


    Before I could go on, Cedric interrupted us and said, "Alex, it''s getting pretty late, we should probably be heading back soon."


    After calculating the amount of time we had been down here, I realized he was right, and it time to get going, so I said, "Sorry, Octavius, we need to get going back to school."


    Octavius looked ready to protest, so to comfort him, I explained, "The good news is we found dozens of books, and I bet one of has the describes the enchantments your trapped behind. Once I learn how to dispel the enchantments, we will return and free you."


    Hearing about his impending freedom seemed to mollify him. "How long will that take?" Octavius questioned.


    I glanced down at the enchantments imprisoning him, trying to get a better sense of them, and said, "It depends on how long it takes to translate the book, it looks like you have at least three wards locking you inside. My guess is at least several months."


    Octavius g.r.o.a.n.e.d, and said, "Well, I''ve been in here for so long, what is a few more months."


    Bidding Octavius farewell, we all headed back to the surface. The trip back to Hogwarts was brief and uneventful, and by the time we arrived, it was nearly dinner time. After dropping off everything at the room of requirement, we all headed off to the great hall, promising to meet back up after dinner.


    After dinner, we all met back up at the room of requirement, and we started with the books. We began separating them into two main piles, with one containing ancient spell books and in the other, all the research journals that Aelius had recorded his experiments. Although I was interested in Aelius''s research, I wasn''t even going to bother translating his research until I had mastered Latin. Instead, I turned my attention to the spell books; they were the ones that most likely contained the information that I needed to break out Octavius from his cage.


    Eventually, Anna came over and handed me a book and said, "I''ll bet that this is the book containing the information that we need."


    Carefully opening the ancient book, although I couldn''t read its contents, there were many depictions of wards inside the book. Grinning back at Anna, I said, "You''re right, this is it, it''s annoying it''s in Latin, but once it''s translated, we can get to work."


    In a casual tone, Anna questioned, ''Are you going to translate it yourself, or ask someone to help you."


    Not taking my eyes of the detailed drawings, I absently answered, "I''ve made great strides with my Latin studies, so I am going to translate it."


    I missed the happy look that appeared on Anna''s face, and she replied, "That''s good. How long do you think it will take?"


    Looking at the thickness of the tome, I said, "Hopefully, not too long, I''m more concerned about how long it will take to master the spells."


    It ended up taking me over a month to translate, and by February, I had started getting the hang of translating Latin into English. One thing nice about translating the material is that as I translated the book, I was also learning the material.


    Of all the things I learned, one of the most interesting was the need for layering wards. There would never be a single wondrous all-powerful enchantment, to create the best protection, you had to layer your spells.


    It seemed that the best way to go about creating practical barriers and wards was to leave an exception or loophole in your spell. Then cover that exception with an additional enchantment. By creating a loophole in a spell, it allows the spell to become much more powerful, whereas if you tried to create a general all-purpose ward, you might succeed, but the effects would be rather weak.


    The more I considered this, the more it made sense. All of the wards and enchantments that I''ve heard about seem to have an exception within them. For example, the unplottable charm it prevents a place from being put on a map, which would let others know of its location, but the spell does absolutely nothing should you walk up and see it in person. This rule can even be seen in the Fidelius charm, which is the most durable protective charm that there is. The spell makes a place absolutely unfindable unless you are told about it from the secret keeper.


    I was able to identify that Aelius had used three different wards to trap Octavius. The first was a ward against vampires. Next, it seemed a barrier against physical objects, probably to prevent Octavius from throwing something at deadly speeds. Finally, an enchantment against non-physical objects from passing through. It seemed that Aelius took no chances with Octavius. One interesting thing I learned was all these wards only work one way. If we needed to, we would be able to pass stuff to Octavius.


    The other useful thing I learned was that wards such as these were not as useful against wizards. The book warned that even if you took a strong wizard''s wand away, if they if had any knowledge about wards, they still might be able to break the wards. This would explain why they use dementors in the wizard''s prison, although I am curious about the methods used by other countries to imprison wizards.


    While I was happy to identify the spells containing Octavius, I struggled with being to cast them. They were complicated and advanced forms of magic. Luckily, after conferring with my father, I learned that it was easier to dismantle wards, compared to casting them. The only issue I ran into was it was impossible to practice the dispelling spell without practicing on an actual enchantment.


    Racking my brains for an answer, I had two main objectives that I needed to accomplish. First being able to practice dismantling wards, and next, I needed information on Grendel. For the first time, the room had failed me, the information it had able to provide on Grendels was vague and full of nonsensical rumors. Not surprising since because Grendels had been wiped out before Hogwarts had even been founded.


    I considered going to Hagrid''s hut and asking him, but his advice on dealing with a Grendel would no doubt be to make friends with it. I love him, but he has a huge blind spot when it comes to magical creatures. Besides, his garmr pups had been growing rather large, and they had been making me wary of visiting. I imagine it won''t be too long before he is forced to get rid of them; from what I''ve noticed, they are becoming rather bloodthirsty. He''ll probably release them in the forest as he has with so many other creatures.


    The following day I tracked down the twins, it wasn''t too tricky, chaos seemed to follow them around. I found them smirking at Argus Filch, who was scrubbing the castle floor, it looks as though someone had learned about Filch''s obsessive need for the floors to be clean and had used mud to spell out Filch''s name, in giant-sized words. Filch was glaring at each passing student as if everyone was a suspect in this grave crime.


    When I caught up with the twins, I asked, "Admiring your handiwork."


    Fred or the twin who I assumed was Fred, turned around and protested his innocence. "I don''t know what you''re talking about, George, and I are just admiring a man dedicated to his craft."


    Adding to Fred''s protest, George grinned mischievously, and earnestly said, "Besides, I''m sure whoever scrawled Filch''s name with mud, just wanted him to have something to justify his job. After all, if there were no messes to clean up, Filch would be out of a job. If you think about it, Filch really should be thanking whoever did the deed."


    George and Fred delivered their speeches with such earnestness and honesty, that if had I not known them, I would have believed that they were innocent. Raising my eyebrow, I said, "You would be more convincing if you didn''t have mud on your robes."


    Unable to stop themselves, the twins panicked and gave their robes a look over, after seeing that there was no mud on their robes, they looked back accusingly at me, so I smirked and teased, "If you are so innocent why were you looking for mud."


    A sheepish look appeared on Fred''s face, and he said, "You got us, mate. You look like you need something, What''s up?"


    Motioning for the twins to follow, I led them to a deserted corridor, and asked, "I have a favor that I need to ask."


    "What is it?" George asked.


    Fred and George looked at each other confusion, probably wondering how I knew about their brother. Fred asked, "What you need to speak with Charlie about."


    As I looked at the twin''s curiosity, I mentally weighed my options, on the one hand, I''m sure I could tell them some random excuse and get them to introduce me. But on the other, from what I have witnessed from them over the past year, they are fiercely loyal to those they call friends, even better, they have no problem breaking the rules and keeping secrets."


    Taking a deep breath, I decided to tell them everything, when I had finished, the twins looked torn from being impressed, and jealous at everything my friends and I had been through.


    After a moment of silence, Fred said, "Well, if anyone in this place has an idea how to deal with a wild beast, it''s Charlie. But you can''t actually tell him about the Grendel; he isn''t as¡­ flexible with the rules. We will have to be creative when trying to get the information."


    After Fred fell silent, George added, "And as for the other issue, it should be easy for us to get him to cast a ward for you to practice against."


    We spent the rest of the hour or so coming up with a plan, to get Charlie to help out without knowing what was really going on.

 Chapter 33 - Preparation

    Once we had come up with the plan, Fred pulled out the marauder''s map and started looking for Charlie on it. After a thorough search, Fred found Charlie out at the quidditch field with the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team practicing for their last match of the season.


    Once we had arrived, not wanting to disturb the players, we observed silently from the stands. Once the practice was finished, George motioned for Charlie to join us.


    Seeing the tall, stocky redheaded Weasley, headed our way, I noticed that he was one of the most muscled wizards that I have ever seen. As he lumbered over, a sincere smile appeared on his face, obviously happy to see his brothers.


    Charlie spoke in a surprisingly soft voice, and good-naturedly teased, "Counting down the days till you can get on the team."


    George grumbled, "It''s not fair that they don''t let first years on the team, Fred and I would be better beaters than what you have right now."


    Fred promised, "No matter, next year, there will be no stopping us, we''ll be the terrors of the sky."


    Hearing Fred''s promise, I started feeling sorry for the other teams, next year, Gryffindor would have some of the most talented and chaotic beaters ever to play for their team, no one would be safe from the bludgers.


    Charlie smiled and asked, "So what are you little trouble makers up to, some new scheme to drive Filch mad this year."


    An identical evil grin appeared on Fred''s face as well, and he added, "Besides what fun would that be, it''s far more fun to spread it out, we plan to have a lot of fun with him over the next seven years."


    Charlie nodded towards me and asked, "Who''s this?"


    Holding out my hand, I said, "I''m Alex."


    As he shook my hand, George stated, "Alex needs some help with a project of his, and we''re hoping that you can help him with it."


    Charlie looked at all of us suspiciously, no doubt thing we were up to something. It didn''t help that George and Fred were both trying to look innocent, which had the opposite effect.


    Deciding to step in, I said, "I''m trying to learn how to dismantle a ward."


    Charlie looked at me in disbelief and said, "That''s nuts, that advanced magic."


    Shaking my head, I explained, "I''m not trying to cast a ward, I''m trying to learn how to dismantle one. I''ve read that it''s easier to take one apart than casting.


    Eyeing me thoughtfully, Charlie mused, "Well, I suppose that is true. Why do you need to learn how to do it, most wards are there for a reason, it sounds like you''re trying to break into something."


    I didn''t know what that meant, but looking at Charlie''s horrified face, I''m guessing something happened. Charlie looked around anxiously and whispered, "You promised never to speak of that incident again."


    Fred grinned and said, "And we won''t, but remember you owe us, and we''re calling in your marker."


    Charlie grumbled and said, "Fine, where do you want to do this."''


    I smiled, and said, follow me, I have the perfect place. I lead them to the seventh floor to the room of requirement. When we got nearer, the room appeared, Fred and George looked at each other in confusion; this room wasn''t on their map.


    I motioned to them that I would explain later, and when I opened the door, a small unused classroom was revealed. Charlie looked around in confusion and said, "Huh, I could have sworn that I''ve been here before, but it looked different."


    While I planned on telling Fred and George, I didn''t want everyone in the castle knowing about the room. So I awkwardly said, "Well, a lot of these rooms look similar; you probably just went into a similar room."


    Looking around the room, Charlie asked, "So, what type of ward do you need me to set up."


    I pulled out the book that I translated containing wards and handed it to Charlie and said, "On page 29 there is a ward against physical objects, that''s the one I was hoping for you to cast."


    Opening the book, Charlie started reading, finding the spell, he looked up in confusion and said, "I don''t recognize this spell."


    Shaking his head, Charlie explained, "No, but I need to study this for a few minutes. I have reviewed similar spells to this, so it shouldn''t take me to long."


    While Charlie was studying the spellbook, I casually asked, "So, Fred and George were telling me that you are interested in becoming a magizoologist."


    Charlie answered without looking up from the book, "Yes, I''ve always found that working with creatures is preferable to working with people."


    Hearing Charlie''s response, I knew I had something that would pique his interest, so I suggested, "Maybe sometime, I can introduce you to Althena; she is a lamassu."


    Charlie looked up in surprise and clarified, "Did you say you have a Lamassu? How on earth did you get one? Their mothers usually never let their eggs out of their sight, and even then, Lamassus'' are incredibly picky about choosing who to bond with. They have been known to refuse to hatch if they disapprove of the person who has their egg."


    Shrugging, I grinned and said, "My uncle got the egg for me, and I guess I''m just lucky Athena liked me."


    Now that I had his attention, I casually said, "Speaking of magical creatures. Have you ever heard anything about a Grendel."


    Charlie grinned at me and asked, "Do you have an interest in magical creatures? There aren''t very many people who even know what a Grendel is because of how long ago they were wiped out."


    I shook my head and said, "No, it was just an old story my uncle told me about them, and I was trying to get more information on them."


    I tried not to let the frustration show on my face, gloomily I said, "So you don''t know anything."


    Charlie shrugged and said, "Well, legend has it that they were long-lived, incredibly strong, had healing that was so powerful, they could regrow limbs in minutes. Outside of those rumors, we don''t know what they were capable of."


    I winced at hearing how fast the Grendels could supposedly heal. An accelerated healing factor likely indicated that spells wouldn''t last very long against them. Not wanting to raise Charlie''s suspicion, I let the conversation drift into silence.


    Grumbling to myself, Fine, If I can''t find a specific weakness to attack the Grendel. I will simply have to prepare for any possible scenario that way, no matter what the Grendel does. I will be ready for it.


    Thirty minutes later, and I was looking for a ward that prevented physical objects from crossing the boundaries. As I looked at the glowing circle on the ground, I grinned and said, "Thanks Charlie, I owe you one."


    Waving off my gratitude, he said, "Don''t worry about it, I owed the twins, and this cleans the slate." He glared at the twins and added, "Right."


    Innocent grins on their faces, the twins responded in unison, "Right."


    As soon as Charlie left, Fred turned and asked, "What is this place?"


    "Ya, It''s not on the map, everything is on the map," George added.


    "So, say I wanted a broom," George said.


    As he finished, several brooms appeared in the corner of the room. Fred and George looked at each other, grinned in unison, and said, "Wicked."


    While they were testing out the enchantment of the room, I turned my attention to the ward in the center of the room. Charlie had set this one up opposite of the one holding Octavius. It only prevented physical objects from crossing, where the other prevented physical objects from leaving.


    I had wanted him to set it up the same as the one containing Octavius, but he had insisted on doing it this way as a safety precaution. Now that I had something to practice against, it was only a matter of time before I mastered dismantling wards.


    Over the next month, my free time was spent in the room of requirement, working on taking down the enchantment. Additionally, in preparation for confronting the Grendel, I began spending time preparing for any scenario that might come up.


    One great thing about the room of requirement was that it was able to provide access to Hogwarts potion ingredients. Although I''m sure this would end up driving Professor Snape mad as he tried to figure out why his potion ingredients were disappearing.


    The great thing about potions is that if you were willing to put in the time and effort. There were potion recipes for almost anything. The only downside to potions was that they were temporary and took a great deal of time to prepare.


    I ended up crafting dozens of different types of potions, all of which were designed to help any unforeseen circ.u.mstances that might happen.


    Knowing that potions alone wouldn''t be enough, I started working on more aggressive spells and curses, such as the Cutting charm, Blasting curse, and the Full Body-Bind curse and many others.


    Not alone in my pursuit to prepare, my friends often joined in the practice. One day, just as I was getting comfortable keeping track and being able to hit one bludger with spells. I heard Anna snicker at me, and yell, "Watch out."


    As I turned, I blanched as I saw an additional bludger headed my way. "Are you crazy," I shouted while dodging an angry bludger. that was doing its best job to damage my skull.


    Anna grinned and innocently said, "What. You said you wanted to prepare for the unexpected, and I''ll bet you weren''t expecting that. Besides, you were getting too good dealing with only one bludger; this way, you will be more effective."


    Glaring at her, I said, "You do realize that you''re just as much a target as me in here.


    She grinned and pointed at the bludgers who seemed to dislike me, as they were ignoring everyone else. "Are you sure," she asked, "They seem to be ignoring me.


    Seeing the unbearably smug look on her face, I decided she required a lesson. Luckily the room read my intent, and several more boxes containing bludgers appeared near me.


    When she saw the boxes, she panicked and said, "You wouldn''t dare."


    Busting out my own Cheshire cat grin, I opened the c.h.e.s.t containing more bludger, and said, "I would."


    Soon, there were a total of six bludgers flying around the room, bouncing off the walls in their attempt to bludgeon us. We spent the next half hour dodging and ducking while we tried to deal with them. But, at least I wasn''t the only one who had to deal with dodging the bludgers.

 Chapter 34 - Breakthrough

    One day in late March, I was in the room of requirement all by myself. What was convenient about the room was that I could ask it to set up a random scenario of targets, and it would provide it. During this last random placement. I found myself ducking an angry bIudger in the room of requirement, with three wooden mannequins surrounding me. Once I had dodged, I pointed my wand at a stationary target and shouted, "Reducto."


    A red beam of light burst out of my wand and hit one of the mannequins, reducing it to ash. Seeing the target reduced to ash, I''ve found that the blasting curse while not sufficient on living things, works fantastic against objects.


    In an attempt to punish me for my lack of attention, another bludger nearly took my head off. While I''ve have gotten pretty good at keeping track of multiple bludger as well as being able to hit them with spells. Sometimes, it can be challenging to keep track of everything when spell-casting gets involved.


    I quashed my instinct to hurl the blasting curse against the bludger, if I used the blasting curse against it, I would eventually run out of bludgers. Instead I chanted, "Immobulus." and a pale blue light hit the bludger freezing it in place. What was fascinating about the Freezing charm, was that it had so many applications to it, it was only limited by the imagination.


    Continuing on, I turned to face another mannequin, and shouted, "Diffendo." This time, no light burst from my wand, but the mannequin was split into two pieces by the Severing charm. The final two bludger coordinate their assault. but, I quickly froze them in place, like I had with the earlier one.


    As for the final mannequin, I pointed my wand at it, but this time, I chanted, "Petrificus Totalus." This time a small burst of light erupted from my wand, but that was the only indication given that a spell wast cast. It was difficult to know if you hit a inanimate object Full Body-Bind curse, because other than the small flash of light. The spell was invisible, similar to the severing charm. It was curious how some magic, reveled burst of color and others were nearly invisible.


    The total time to take down all the objects was less than a minute, I was pleased with the visible progress that I had been making over the past two months. Deciding that I had enough practical training today, I turned my attention to the ward that had been left in the room of requirement.


    Trying to take down the wards, had been a blow to my pride and a lesson in frustration. I had figured that it wouldn''t it take me more than a week or two, before I had figured it out and taken it apart.


    Apparently, the universe thought I needed humbling, I had felt that since I was so far ahead in my classes, that this would have been a breeze for me. I was even almost finished learning all of my second year charm and defense against the dark arts spells. Even moving onto live mice in transfiguration didn''t slow me down at all. Although I will admit, trying to transfigure a animal required a more considerable amount of concentration, due to living creatures having a higher viciousness level.


    And yet, even with all of that, it had been nearly 6 weeks since Charlie had laid the ward down and I was still struggling with taking it apart and I still didn''t feel close to taking it down. Deciding that I wasn''t getting anywhere by myself, there was only so much one could learn from a book, and I felt that I needed some advice if I wanted to move forward.


    After calling forth the vanishing cabinet, I made my way to the tower to speak with Anton on the subject. Thankfully, Anton did not start his caterwauling as soon as I arrived, even though I didn''t have the ring.


    As I haven''t felt the need to visit before, Anton looked gleeful at my arrival. "What can I do for you, Alex?" He asked.


    Frustrated at my lack of progress, I said, "I need some help. I''ve been trying to learn how to bring down a ward, but I haven''t made any progress in the last six weeks."


    Stroking his bushy beard, Anton replied, "Well that isn''t very surprising, wards are an advanced area of magic."


    "I know, but taking them down should be easier," I argued.


    "Well, why don''t you tell me how you are trying to bring down the ward." Anton soothed.


    After gathering my thoughts for a moment, I said, "Well, the counter spell for this warding spell is, ''Tollere Impedimentum.'' And all the instructions from the spell books seem to be worthless, I successfully casted the counter for the wards dozens of times. And while I can tell that I release a burst of magic, nothing seems to happen to the ward."


    Anton eyed me thoughtfully, and explained, "You know, there is a reason why this magic is advanced. You can''t just wave your wand and say the incantation with this type of magic. You have to be able to insert your counterspell into the ward''s knot."


    Before I could interrupt, he continued, "It''s not an actual knot in your spell. That''s is just what we called it back in my day; it''s kinda hard to explain. It''s best to think of it as a specific starting point for your counterspell, And that''s just the halfway point. Once you''ve successfully attached your counterspell into the ward, there is more work to be done."


    Confused, I interjected, "How do I find the knot?"


    Anton shrugged and explained, "Like any other skill, you have to practice until you get better at finding it. Some people are better at picking up signs than others. What you need to do is to study every aspect of the ward, you won''t see it, but you should be able to eventually at least feel it. But, remember this is normally a skill developed over time, don''t be discouraged if you can''t do it right away."


    Ignoring his warning that I might not be able to sense it. I nodded my understanding, and asked, "Once I''ve found the knot, then what do I do?"


    Anton replied, using his arms to help demonstrate, "Next, what you want to do is force your magic into the ward itself, similarly to how roots force their way through the ground. This can be tricky, the more skilled or powerful the wizard who made the ward, the higher level of difficulty locating the knot and forcing your way through can be. Likewise, a more powerful or skilled wizard will have less trouble getting through as well. Another thing to keep in mind, every ward needs to be approached slightly different, because each ward will be unique to the wizard who laid it down."


    After mulling over everything Anton said, I decided to head back to Hogwarts to practice sensing the knot in the ward. Once I got back to the room of requirement, I pulled up a chair, next to the ward that Charlie left, and began to study it.


    The glowing white ward was a simple circle. One fascinating thing about the circle is that it reacts to people. If I''m across the room, the glow is so faint that one can barely see it, but the close I get, the more it lights up.


    After examining every inch of the ward, I concluded that whatever the knot is, it is isn''t visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Shutting my eyes in concentration, I tried to feel the magic.


    Thirty frustrating minutes later, and I still didn''t feel anything. Maybe this was a sixth sense or something like that I needed to develop.


    As soon as the idea about it being a sense that I need to develop, I had an interesting thought. When I was home for the holidays, I found a few interesting hexes in Anton''s library. The hexes were able to make a person blind and deaf, and it only lasted around half an hour. So I wouldn''t need to fear being permanently affected.


    Perhaps If I removed my own senses, I would be able to develop whatever I needed to to be able to sense the ward. Hoping this wasn''t a mistake, I pointed my wand at myself and chanted, "Inauritus."


    Immediately I lost all sense of hearing, and the quiet was extremely unsettling. Usually, even if you are all alone and it''s quiet, there is still noise out there that you can hear. But, this spell removed all of that, there was just absolutely nothing to hear.


    I immediately realized that I probably should have struck myself blind first. So, that I could hear actually hear myself say the spell. Not wanting to wait, I said, "Caucus."


    At once, everything disappeared, it was like I was floating in a sea of absolute darkness. Combined with my lack of hearing, it was probably the most vulnerable I have ever felt in my life.


    Knowing I had done this with a purpose, I got back to work. I reached out with my senses trying to feel anything about the ward, and what I found was nothing.


    After chasing away a moment of doubt, I continued meditating. Thirty minutes later, and nothing changed except for the spells wearing off.


    Determined to continue, I simply recast the spells and started all over again and again all night until it was time for light. When that didn''t work, during the following two weeks, I spent every spare moment in the room of requirement practicing.


    Finally, one day, when I was meditating next to the ward, deprived of my hearing and vision. I felt something for the first time, it was faint, but I started to feel a sort of energy.


    Excited that I was finally feeling something, I continued on. I began to sense other energies all around me. Slowly, as I was able to get a better feel for it, I knew the next step was to try to detect the ward with my senses intact.


    Thankfully, it seems that sensing magic for the first time seemed to release or unlock something. As it didn''t take very long before I was able to feel the ward again.


    Feeling magic was a strange sensation, it wasn''t a physical thing, it was more like an awareness poking me in the back of my mind. Wandering around the ward, I continued feeling the energy, on my third pass around, I felt something. It''s was like a blip in the energy, I got excited, this had to be it, the so-called knot in the ward.


    Eagerly, I pointed my wand at the knot and chanted, "Tollere Impedimentum."


    An invisible connection if magic seemed to form between my wand and the ward, and I felt my magic try to penetrate the ward. Anton''s explanation made a lot more sense now that I had actually succeeded. It was like even though I had connected with the ward, it didn''t want to budge.


    Glaring at the ward, promising that it would break before me, I continued. I mentally forced my magic by pouring in more effort. Eventually, I could tell I had some success, as my magic started working its way through.


    Ten minutes later, just as I felt like I was about to pass out from the effort, my magic finally burst through, and the ward collasped in on itself.


    Wiping the sweat from my face, I shouted, "Victory!"


    While I was happy that I was able to dispell the ward. I knew there was room for vast improvement, I''m sure there are experienced wizards who would be able to break down a basic ward like this in moments.


    Unfortunately, I was fresh out of wards, Knowing that Charlie loved magical creatures I took Athena to charm him. Athena seemed to sense that I needed her help and was suitably charming.


    We struck a deal, a few hours studying Athena, and he would lay a dozen of those wards for me to practice on. Once he put the wards down, I went to work, each time I took down a ward, I seemed to learn how to do it slightly easier.


    By the time I got down to the final one, I had gotten the time bring down the ward to a couple of minutes. While I knew that there was still room for improvement, I decided that for now, this was good enough for my purposes.

 Chapter 35 - Confrontation

    By the time I felt confident in my ability to take down the barriers that were keeping Octavius trapped. The full moon was only a few days out, pulling out my coin I sent a message for all my friends to meet up.


    After everyone arrived at the room of requirement, I turned to my friends and declared, "We''re ready to free Octavius."


    Always eager for a fight, Anna leaned forward and asked, "Are we going to take down the Grendel?"


    I was getting a little concerned that Anna''s default response to most obstacles was to fight. So, I shook my head and replied, ''No, that is not the purpose of today''s trip. I figured that having an ancient vampire who owes us would be useful when we subdue the Grendel."


    Wanting to clarify our goals, I added, "Besides, the main goal in confronting the Grendel. Is to obtain the bracelet, which will let us pass through the time dilation field. As long as we can free Octavius and retrieve my ring, the beast can rot down there for eternity for all I care."


    I think my friends were a little surprised about my willingness not to fight the Grendel. What we were doing sounded like an adventure, and in most stories, the end goal was often to slay the monster.


    Both Alicia and Anna seemed disappointed that I was okay with leaving the creature alive. I had to force myself not to roll my eyes at their pouting.


    Turning my best friend Cedric, it seemed he didn''t have a preference, he was merely resolved not to be left behind. I think he may still be slightly offended that I left him behind the first time, and he was determined to prove his worth.


    Out of all my friends, he was the one I wanted watching my back. Over the past year, all my friends had made vast improvements while we practiced together. They were probably some of the best wizards and witches in our year. But, Cedric was perhaps the most reliable out of all my friends, his ability to remain calm no matter what happened was invaluable.


    Meeting my gaze with a level stare, Cedric asked, "When do we go?"


    "The full moon is in three days. We go then," I replied.


    Over the next few days, the more I anticipated the trip into the forest, the slower the time seemed to move. Finally, it was the day of, and we all made our way out to the forest.


    Before we could leave, I saw Hargid sitting with this back towards the castle, and facing the forest. He was crying, and his shoulders were trembling. I knew that only a terrible friend, would leave someone they like in pain, so I headed over to see what was troubling him.


    As soon as Hagrid saw me, he tried to weakly smile and rub away the tears leaking down his face. "G''morning Alex, What brings you out here today?"


    "Just out and about with my friends," I replied. After studying his downtrodden face, I asked, "What''s wrong?"


    For a moment, it looked like Hagrid was going to bravely declare nothing was wrong. But, the moment passed, and the brave face he was making fell away, and he bawled, "They made me get rid of my babies."


    Hearing that his babies were taken from him, Alicia interjected in disbelief, "They took your children away? They can''t do that!"


    I stifled a snicker, my friends hadn''t spent much time around Hagrid, so they had no idea that when Hagrid said "Babies." What he really meant was his two monster Garmrs.


    Wanting to let them know what Hagrid was talking about, I explained, "Hagrid had two Garmr he was caring for." Seeing that my friends didn''t fully understand, I added, "At six months they stood five feet at the shoulder and other than Hagrid, they didn''t seem to care for the students."


    I didn''t mention that I stopped by often to feed them so that they would see me as a caregiver rather than prey.


    Mumbling under his breath, Hagrid said, "They wouldn''t have hurt nobody."


    My friends looked at me to confirm Hagrid''s belief, and I quickly shook my head, indicating that he was wrong. That seemed to dry up any sympathy for the "babies" Hagrid was talking about.


    Knowing who was most likely responsible, I comforted, "Well, I''m sure Dumbledore knows what''s best."


    Hearing my reply, Hagrid sagged his shoulders and deeply sighed and mummbled something about Dumbledore having a point. Knowing how much he loved magical creatures, I turned to Athena and nodded towards Hagrid, indicating she should go and comfort him.


    Seeing how today was going to be a quick rescue mission, and that we shouldn''t need her, I suggested, "Why doesn''t Athena hang out with you for a little while, we can meet back up later."


    We left Athena behind with Hagrid, who was delighted to spend time with her. Seeing that Hagrid''s spirit had been lifted, we snuck off to an area where we could mount our brooms and head towards the cave.


    After arriving, I noticed that it was eerily quiet in the cave. As soon as we entered the underground cavern, I realized something was wrong. Stalagmites and stalactites were broken everywhere. Apparently, something had ripped them from the cave floor and ceiling and threw them everywhere.


    Inside of the fortress was no better. The nest looked like an angry deity blew through. I gulped, apparently, the Grendel took offense to us ransacking it''s home in our quest for information.


    My friends and I exchanged wary looks, and I whispered, "Let''s do this quickly, I don''t want us down here for a second longer than we have to."


    Opening the door containing Octavius prison, I was further shocked upon seeing the destruction inside as well. The Grendel must have followed our scent in here and decided since it couldn''t punish us, it would make Octavius pay.


    It looked like the Grendel was wise enough not to enter the wards containing Octavius. But, it had obviously figured out that it could throw objects inside.


    The stone coffin Octavius slept in, had been shattered by the large boulders that the Grendel had thrown inside. To the side of the coffin was a large pile of rock, I could see an arm sticking out, indicating that Octavius was buried within.


    I quietly hissed, "Octavius."


    Nothing happened for a moment, then we all saw a finger twitch, and Anna turned to me horrified, and whispered, "I think he is still alive under there."


    Turning sideways to my friends, I said, "This should take me long, watch my back."


    I reached out with my newfound magical sense to detect the first warding circle, which blocked physical objects from passing through. Once I had found the knot, I quickly chanted, "Tollere Impedimentum."


    Once I was connected, I found that this setup, was almost exactly like the once Chalie had set up for me to practice on. It took me less than a minute to break through the barrier.


    I turned to my friends and bragged, "You see, I told you that won''t take very long."


    Rolling his eyes, Cedric replied, "Less bragging, more doing."


    Emboldened by my success, I turned back to the barriers and quickly latched onto the second ward, which blocked non-physical things from passing through. However, this ward was very different from the one I had practiced on, which meant it would be more difficult to bring down.


    Closing my eyes, I concentrated on forcing my magic through the barrier, five minutes later, I broke through. Wiping the sweat from my face, I focused on the final barrier, the one that prevented vampires from crossing. This barrier was the most complicated and it took nearly ten minutes to penetrate.


    Once the final barrier was down, I felt so worn out, the going through three barriers in a row took alot out of me.


    Concerned Anna touched my shoulder, and asked, "Are you ok?"


    "Ya I just need a minute" I replied.


    After I took a minute to recover, I said, "Let''s get those rocks off of him."


    We all pointed out wands towards the rocks, and after a quick swish and flick, we chanted, "Wingardium Levios."


    As we removed the boulders one by one, Octavius''s body was eventually revealed. Anna gasped when we saw that he had been impaled on a stalagmite. His skeletal frame was so pale it had no color, his eyes were bloodshot, and it appeared, he couldn''t move.


    Seeing him impaled and crushed made my stomach churn, fighting the urge to throw up, I considered the best way to help. I came to the conclusion that there wasn''t another way to do this, other than the hard way. So, I pointed my wand at him and cast the levitation spell on the stalagmite embedded in Octavius''s stomach.


    When I magically yanked it from Octavius, and he g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain. At this point, I was relieved that Octavius was so damaged that he couldn''t move. I shudder to think of how to famished an injured vampire who hasn''t feed in centuries must be, at least this way he was so weak he couldn''t attack us .


    Thankfully, getting ahold of fresh blood was surprisingly easy, due to my contacts at Borgin and Burkes. It didn''t matter what it was, he would get you anything if you had the galleons to pay for it.


    Not taking any chances, I had purchased enough blood to feed a coven of hungry vampires. Digging into my magical expanded pouch, I withdrew a crystal container filled with blood.


    The container had a few useful charms woven inside of it. Not only did the inside have an expanding charm on it, but it also had a stasis charm on it, so that the blood wouldn''t go bad.


    I removed the crystal topper and carefully poured the blood down the throat of Octavius. For a while, nothing seemed to happen, but eventually, the huge gaping hole in his stomach began to repair itself.


    Once the hole was fixed, Octavius''s body seemed to focus on all of the other crush injuries he had. Bones began repairing themselves and his body started to fill out, and he stopped looking like a skeleton with skin on it. Eventually, Octavius''s arm reached up to angle the crystal to pour out the blood faster.


    Seeing how he was able to feed himself, I let him have the crystal and stepped back. After a moment, he was able to stop himself from feeding, and he looked at the four of us and said, "I''m glad you come, but I''m afraid that you shouldn''t have. After your last visit, it sounded like the Grendel sealed all the other exits to the cave, leaving only one entrance and exit"


    Pausing for a moment, he clarified, "It set a trap, and I''m afraid that I''m the bait."


    As soon as the words left his mouth, we all heard a rumbling coming from the cavern. It sounded like there had been a small cave-in, and if Octavius was right, it was deliberate.


    A loud roar of rage sounded out from the tunnel, confirming my fear. We were trapped underground with a furious Grendel.

 Chapter 36 - Fight

    As soon as I heard the Grendel roar, my mind raced with panic. This wasn''t how it was supposed to happen. My whole plan revolved around freeing the vampire and setting up the perfect trap for the Grendel after Octavius had recovered.


    I looked at my friends who were visibly freaking out after hearing the roar. Knowing we needed to take immediate action, I forced myself to speak. I said, "We need to bolt the doors."


    I hated how high pitch my voice sounded. Leaving Octavius behind to recover, and we all ran into the main room and to seal the outer door. Thankfully, Aelius, the crazy wizard who built this place, designed this fortress to last.


    Cedric and I ran to the entryway, which had twin stone doors that looked like they hadn''t been shut in a thousand years. We each grabbed one and tried to push them closed.


    I don''t know if it was because the doors hadn''t been closed in forever, or because they were too heavy, but the doors wouldn''t budge. At this point, we could hear the Gredel growling as it moved closer, and then I heard Alicia scream.


    The Grendel hurled a stone through the entryway at incredible speed. Unfortunately, the rock glanced off Alicia''s arm, breaking her arm. Hearing her cry of pain chilled my blood.


    Furious, I pointed my wand at the door and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa."


    Cedric followed suit, and just as the doors shut, I could make out the Grendel headed our way. It seemed bigger than I imagined, and I could feel it hatred wash over me. Just as the doors were closing, it launched another boulder towards us. Thankfully, I got the doors shut by the time it hit and was unable to penetrate.


    Knowing more needed to be done, I pointed my wand towards the door and shouted, "Colloportus."


    The locking charm did its job, and three thick metal bars slid out and barred the doors shut. I turned my attention to Alicia, who outside the initial cry of pain, hadn''t made any noise.


    She was gritting her teeth, determined not to make any more noise. Looking her over, I asked, "Are you ok."


    Anna harshly replied, "Of course, she isn''t ok, that monster almost killed her. What is even doing down here?"


    Shooting a dangerous look back to the room where Octavius was recovering, she added sarcastically, "I thought that the vampire said it was always gone for three days."


    Wanting to stop that train of thought, I replied, "I don''t think you can blame him. How was he supposed to know our actions would infuriate the Grendel."


    Anna seemed unconvinced and looked like she was about to scathingly reply, when Cedric barked, "Anna enough, this isn''t the time to assign blame. Alicia hurt, and in case you forgot, there is an angry monster out there that sounds like it wants to kill and eat us."


    Anna and I were both somewhat stunned, Cedric hardly ever raised his voice. If that didn''t convince her to let it go, the doors shuttering when the Grendel started beating on them did.


    I reached into my pouch and started pulling out potions. I had arranged them in a particular order, so I knew what I was retrieving. Handing the first one to Alicia, I said, "Here drink this."


    Alicia trusted my skill in potion making and downed the potion without hesitation. She looked at her arm in wonder and asked, "What kind of healing potion is this? It already feels better."


    I shook my head and said, "That wasn''t the healing potion, and your arm is still broken. What I gave you was a painless potion. It essentially takes your ability to feel pain for a few hours."


    I pulled out another potion and said, "This is the healing potion, it will heal you, but it takes a few hours. There are bone healing spells out there, but they are pretty advanced, and if you botch them, the consequences can be severe."


    After she downed the healing potion, she asked, "What are we going to do."


    Before I could answer, I heard Octavius from the door say, "Yes, I was rather curious about what your plan was as well."


    I turned to look at Octavius, and he was scarcely recognizable, his skin had filled out, and he looked healthy, albeit slightly pale. He seemed to glided as he moved closer.


    Anna, already distrustful of the vampire, kept her wand trained on him at all times. Octavius looked down at Alicia and offered, "You were injured in the pursuit of my freedom. I offer you a drop of my blood, which will heal you instantly."


    Before I could warn her that doing so could forge a tempory connection between them, Alicia carefully responded, "Respectfully, I decline your generous offer."


    He eyed her thoughtfully and asked, "Have you had dealings with my kind before."


    Alicia nodded and said, "I''ve met one of the blood before."


    Octavius sighed and complained, "Here I was hoping to get out of my debt easily. Fine, I offer you a favor in return for your injury."


    Turning to me, he added, "Three times you have come, and three barriers you penetrated to free me. To finish the cycle, I offer three favors for you to collect upon in the future."


    I nodded and replied, "And for my friends."


    He looked at them, and offered, "My line will forever consider you to be allies. Should any of you need sanctuary, seek one of my lineages, and they shall give assistance."


    His words seemed like a ritual, and I could feel something pass into all of us as he spoke. I got the sense it wasn''t harmful; it was more like a brand indicating we were allies.


    More angry pounding from the Grendel distracted us, and I said, "That door isn''t going to hold out forever. Were going to need a plan to deal with it."


    As I racked my brain for a minute, a plan began to form. I turned to my friends and said, "Alright, this is what we''re going to do."


    While I was getting ready to explain the plan, the pounding on the door fell silent, and all the noise from the Grendel fell away. We all eyed the door warily. The silence was worse than the constant pounding. At least when it was noisy, we could tell where it was.


    I turned sideways to Octavius and asked, "Can you still hear it?"


    He closed his eyes, listening for anything. Before he could say anything, one of the Grendel''s arms burst through the wall next to the door as the Grendel charge into it.


    Without thinking, I slashed my wand towards the arm and roared, "Diffindo."


    The amount of strength I put into the severing charm ended up more than enough to amputate the claw of the Grendel. It roared in pain and ripped what was left of its arm back through the hole.


    Before I could celebrate, it stuck its face up to the hole that it had punched through and peered through it. The head was too big to fit through, but we could all see it''s glowing yellow eyes twisted in pain and rage.


    The Grendel seemed to sense that I was the one who had hurt it, and it glared hatefully at me. After it roared its vengeance at me, I knew then, that the only way this ended, was to put it down for good.


    There was no way I was leaving this malevolent creature alive. Mainly because, it had enough intelligence to set a trap, and now bore a grudge against me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed on the severed claw was a bracelet with a chip of the time stone.


    I was sure that this was the bracelet that would allow me to get through the time. So, I concentrated on the bracelet, and chanted, "Accio."


    It zoomed over, and I pocketed it beneath my robes. As Grendel began tearing its way into the room, I noticed that the claw that I had severed had already started regrowing.


    Anna pointed her wand at the growing hole and shouted, "Impedimenta."


    As the spell hit, the Grendel froze for about two or three seconds. During our training, we had looked up ways to restrain magical creatures, and the impediment jinx will freeze or slow magical creatures down. Usually, the impediment jinx lasts longer against monsters, but I will take what we can get.


    I turned to my friends and shouted, "We need to time our spells to prevent the Grendel from getting inside. I don''t think fighting this thing in an enclosed space is a good idea."


    It seemed to get even angrier, and I noticed the spell was becoming less effective. Knowing that the only way forward was to deal with it out in the open. I lined up a shot and shouted, "Flipendo."


    The spell hit the Grendel, just as it became free. It was picked up and thrown across the cavern, smacking violently into the cave wall and then falling to the cave floor.


    Seeing we had a few free moments, I pointed at the growing hole and shouted, "Reducto."


    The stone turned to ash, and a large opening was left behind. Wanting to be first, I called out, "Follow me."


    As soon as I exited the fortress through the gap, I saw the Grendel pull itself up. When it saw me exit, it roared its frustration and charged.


    I couldn''t believe how fast it was moving, and I barely had time to cast the knockback jinx before it reached me.


    Once again, it was tossed back like a rag doll. Once everyone had made it out, I barked, "Octavius, only engage it if it reaches us, I don''t want to worry about friendly fire."


    Motioning to my friends, I ordered, "Spread out and continue trying to slow it down. I''m going to try and kill this beast."


    All the time we had practiced together really came in handy, as we had gone over scenarios on how to face the Grendel. While one might think that stick close to one another was most effective, it was better to spread out to present multiple targets.


    Everything started coming together, and while my friends always froze it in place, I started cutting. Over and over again, I chanted, "Diffindo."


    While the severing charm was useful in slicing up the Grendel, it was also continually healing. Trying to catch my breath, I glared at the Grendel and wondered what the hell it was going to take to bring this thing down.


    Seeing that cutting it to pieces was not going to work. I decided to change tactics, and I chanted, "Incendio."


    The fire spell was one of those spells that had a vast amount of variation to it. You could send out a short burst of fire, or as I had practiced over the year, have it run a continuous stream of fire.


    As a jet stream of fire erupted from my wand and engulfed the Grendel, as it screamed in pain, I roared right back at it.


    Anna joined in with another stream of fire, while Cedric and Alicia continued to slow the Grendel down.


    After a couple of minutes on continues fire, the screams died away, and I let the spell fade away. What was left was a burned husk, unmoving, and kneeling on the floor. Finally, I was getting worried that nothing was going to be able to put this thing down.


    I lowered my wand, breathing heavily, when all of a sudden, it leaped at me with a roar of rage. Cedric tried to freeze it, but unfortunately, the spell missed.


    Time seemed to slow down as I watched the Grendel fly at me with its claws out in front of it. Try as I might, I couldn''t get my wand up in time before it hit me.


    As soon as the Grendel reached me, it grabbed me on each shoulder, The claws on its hands pierced deep into my skin and threw me across the cavern back towards the fortress.


    As I was thrown across the room, Anna screamed, "Alex!"


    I blacked out as soon as I hit the wall. I don''t know how long. I was out. ?But, When I came to, I saw Octavius latched onto the back of the beast ripping into the creature with his claws and fangs. My friends were cautiously casting spells, not wanting to hit Octavius.


    I could tell that I had numerous fractures, and possibly a concussion. Thankfully, I had held onto my wand, and as I reached into my pouch to dig out some potions to help. Each movement sent a sharp slice of pain deep within.


    I felt better once I drank a few potions, but I was still in terrible condition. Then, I saw the Grendel swing Octavius so hard that it tore one of his arms, and he went flying across the room.


    Without pausing, it turned and sprang towards Alicia. Once it caught her, it used her as a shield blocking the next hex sent by Cedric and Anna.


    Struggling, I pointed my wand at its legs and weakly chanted, "Diffindo."


    When the spell hit, the Grendel let out a roar of pain, and it tossed Alicia at Cedric and Anna. They all got knocked down, and then the Grendel turned back towards me.


    Nearly spent, thoughts began racing through my head. This thing was virtually unstoppable, and it tanks everything we''ve thrown at it and come back for more. At this point, I was half-convinced that we needed to drop a mountain on top to bring it down.


    As soon as that last thought entered my head, I looked up and saw the large sharp stalactites hanging from the ceiling. I looked back at my friends, who were on the far side of the cavern, near the exit tunnel. Even though the Grendel had blocked the exit, I sure they could blast their way out.


    A felt a moment of fear, as I considered taking action. Doing this would lessen my chances of survial, but as I saw my friends slowly recovering my hesitation vanished, I would not let my friends die here because of my mistake.


    Mustering my strength, I yelled, "Octavius, I am calling in one of my markers. Get my friends to that tunnel."


    Hearing my shout, Anna, Cedric, and Alicia looked towards me in confusion. As I pointed my wand towards the ceiling, Cedric understood my meaning, and shouted, "Don''t do it, you''ll die!"


    Seeing the Grendel headed my way, I gathered the last of my energy and let loss the deadliest curse I had learned so far. "Confringo." I roared.


    A massive explosion rocked the ceiling, and loud cracking and rumbling could be heard as pieces of the cave''s ceiling began falling. The Grendel charged me, determined to have its vengeance.


    As the pieces started falling, I made eye contact with my friends and shouted, "Get out of here."


    They all looked determined to try to save me, but Octavius stopped them and started dragging them towards the exit. The last I saw of them was Anna''s tear-soaked face along with Cedric and Alicia fighting furiously to get free from Octavius.


    As soon as they were gone, I let out a sigh of relief and turned my attention back to the Grendel. I had hardly any strength left, but seeing the ceiling come down so hard, made me glad that at least I was taking the Grendel down with me.


    Seeing how quickly it was moving towards me, I feared it would reach me fore the falling rocks could kill it. In desperation, I pointed my wand at it and chanted my final spell, "Immobulus."


    The Grendel froze in place long enough for it be buried beneath an avalanche of rocks. Not wanting to give in, I dragged myself back inside the fortress, hoping that the spells holding it together would give me an edge.


    As more rock started falling, memories of my family began running through my head. Even if this was it for me, I was grateful for everything I had in this life. I had a loving family and found friends, and it was more than I ever hoped for in my previous life.


    As I laid the reminiscing, everything went black, and I knew no more.

 Chapter 38 - Victory

    When I came to, the first thing I noticed was the darkness. There was absolutely no light down here. Next, I realized I was trapped beneath some rubble. I couldn''t feel any pain, but considering the painless potion that I drank earlier ¡ª meant that I could be more injured than I realized. Before I could worry about that, I heard something that chilled my blood.


    A low guttural growl made its way to my ears, freezing me in place. No way, it can''t be. I saw it get buried.


    Panicking, I started feeling around for my wand. Unable to find it, I reached for my magic, while wandless magic was not particularly reliable. At least I was able to make things happen on command.


    Remembering my training, I concentrated harshly on my wand and commanded, "Come to me."


    There was a slight pop, and I felt my trusty wand appear in my hand. Quickly, I held it up and chanted, "Lumos."


    A bright light revealed the status of the area I was trapped in. The cave-in had demolished half of the fortress, and I was trapped beneath some rubble. But, what was even more terrifying, was the bloodied Grendel lying on the ground about twenty-five feet away from me.


    Apparently, it''s healing factor could be worn out, because it only looked a few steps from death. As it slowly started crawling my way, I panicked.


    When I caused the cave-in, I had accepted my death, but as I watched the Grendel crawling towards me with a hungry gleam in its eye. I found a new will to live burning inside of me.


    Pointing the wand towards the rubble trapping me, I chanted, "Reducto."


    Thankfully, the reductor curse only works on objects, so as the rubble faded away into a fine mist, I was untouched. Once the wreckage was gone, I pulled myself off the floor and turned back towards the Grendel.


    As I watched it slowly claw it''s way across the floor towards me, I noticed that it had nearly been split in two. The Grendel must have left its legs back in rubble, and it''s a healing factor was barely able to keep it alive, but was currently unable to regrow its limbs.


    I wonder if it''s because of all the damage it had to heal. Surely there is some limit to its healing ability. Seeing how wounded and disable it was, gave me some confidence, to keep myself safe.


    Studying the Grendel crawling its way towards me, I couldn''t help but admire its determination. I would have liked it more if that determination wasn''t driving it to kill and possibly eat me. But nothing perfect.


    I internally debated on my next course of action, I had tried slicing, burning, and crushing, and the Grendel was still alive. The only way to deal with this thing may require far more advanced magic.


    However, an intriguing thought accrued to me. Perhaps my thinking was too linear. I didn''t need to kill it; I just needed it out of commission. There was a perfectly good time-dilation field deep within the bas.e.m.e.nt, and I had the key to pass within it.


    The more I considered it, the more I liked the idea. I had always been curious about the Grendel and the transformation the wizard went through. Maybe when I''m older and have a greater understanding of magic, I could study it and see exactly what happened. Perhaps it was even possible to reverse engineer what happened and fix him. I could learn so much by studying him, the possibilities were endless.


    After putting on the bracer with the time stone, I pointed my wand at the Grendel, and chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."


    When the spell took effect, what was left of the Grendel rose several feet off the ground. Furious, the it roared and swiped towards me, but with no leverage, all it was able to do was harmlessly wave its arms in frustration.


    After making sure that the bracer was secure, I took a deep breath and followed. As soon as the Grendel was inside, it froze, unable to move. I deposited the Grendel near the center, where time moved the slowest.


    Seeing the Grendel frozen, I let a sigh of relief. Finally, after months of planning and training, I could retrieve my ring. Reaching out, I snatched my ring off the chunk of gold it was lying on.


    After slipping it on my finger, the first thing I did was attach a sticking charm to it. I was not going to deal with losing this ring ever again. Once the ring was secured, I opened another one of my pouches and started stuffing everything down here inside.


    Once the room was emptied of everything, but the Grendel and the time stone, I left determined to find a way back to the surface. But, when I got back upstairs, the adrenaline that was keeping me going started to fade, and I had to force myself to say awake.


    I downed another healing potion, but it didn''t help much, because what I needed was rest. After a quick break, I headed out to the cavern to see the damage.


    Climbing over all the rocks, once I got out into the cavern, the light from my wand illuminated the damage. Seeing the result of my actions made my heart sink; the tunnels were buried under massive amounts of rock.


    Not content to sit around and hope for rescue, I made my way over to where I thought the tunnel was located. We were so far underground that I knew this was going to be a struggle. Knowing that the sooner I got started, the sooner, I would make it out of here.


    I decided that it would probably be faster and safer to make a new tunnel rather than try and go through the rubble and find the old one. So, I pointed my wand in an upward slope towards the cave wall and chanted, "Reducto."


    A small hole formed in the wall as the rock turned to mist. I sighed; this was going to take forever. Over and over, I chanted the same spell. Slowly but surely, I made progress, and I started crawling through the tunnel I was making.


    At this point, my head was pounding due to the amount of magic that I had used during the past few hours. More than once, I was tempted to close my eyes and rest, but instead, I pressed on.


    Finally, after casting seemed like a million spells, my last curse punched a small hole to the surface, letting in the evening sun''s rays illuminate the darkness.


    Before I could try and worm my way through the small hole, an enormous familiar hand reached in and grabbed me and pulled me out. What greeted me on the other side, was Hagrid''s big face.


    Pulling me into a bear hug, he yelled, "What were you bloody thinking coming out to the forest all alone."


    Not letting me get a word in, he continued, "You''re damn lucky to be alive, if you didn''t look half-dead, I''d bloody thump ya."


    Wheezing, I whispered in a hoarse voice, "My friends."


    Setting me down, Hagrid patted me on the shoulder, and said, "Your friends are fine, they''re back at the castle, right now I bet they''re being looked over by Madam Pomfrey."


    As soon as I got put down, I heard a yowl and got bowled over when Athena tackled me. The first thing I noticed was she was bigger, almost twice the size of a typical cat.


    Looking her over in wonder, I asked, "What happened to you?"


    Looking pleased with her new size Athena, as Athena looked me over, making sure I was ok, Hagrid explained, "I imagine her new size has something to do with you.."


    Seeing my look of confusion, he explained, "Back at Hogwarts a few hours ago. Athena started making all sorts of racket and started growing. She must have sensed you were in trouble, so she forced herself to grow a bit, once Athena was finished, she took off into the forest like a bat out of hell. I figured something was wrong, so I took off after her."


    Hearing how she underwent a forced growth because of my actions, made me feel terrible. I pulled Athena in close and murmured, "I''m sorry little one."


    Hagrid continued, "When I arrived, I found your friends try to dig out the tunnel, they were having very much luck. Once they told me you were trapped down there, I sent them back to the castle for help. Dumbledore himself showed up soon after."


    Embarrassed and worried that I had gotten the headmaster involved, I nervously asked, "Where is the headmaster."


    Hagrid''s eyes shifted, and he said, "I think he is having a few words with the vampire and is explaining a few things."


    Closing my eyes, I leaned back and tried to think, preparing my story. But, as soon as my eyes closed, the exhaustion and injuries caught up to me, making it hard to stay awake.


    Seeing how close I was to passing out, Hagrid lowered his voice, and soother, "Don''t you worry about nothing, I''ll get you back safe and sound."


    I felt myself being scooped up by Hagrid, and I drifted off to sleep, secure in the knowledge that my friends were safe, and I would be back at Hogwarts soon.


    The next thing I knew, I was awoken by Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. I came to, lying in one of the beds, before I could register anything, Madam Pomfrey urgently asking, "What potions did you take."


    My mind still foggy, I confusedly muttered, "Painless potions, and the standard healing potion."


    I heard Madam Pomfrey murmur, "It would be helpful if I had a sample of the potion, I want to make sure there is nothing wrong with the potion itself. From what his friends said, he brewed the potions himself, and if he messed up at all, and I give him something else, it could have a negative reaction."


    Before I could reply, I saw Anna rummaging through the pouch, where I secured my potions. Pulling out a few potions, Anna turned and said, "Here, I''m pretty sure this is what he used."


    Professor Snape snatched the potion bottles from Anna and brought them closer to his face scrutinizing them. Seemingly satisfied at what he found, he sneered at me, and said, "Apparently, his recent stupidity didn''t tarnish his potion-making abilities. Although they are rather advanced potions, he brewed them correctly."


    Hearing Professor Snape''s harsh backhanded compliment, made my face turn red. What I had done was stupid; I should have just left it alone. No ring, however valuable, was worth the lives of my friends.


    Anna looked ready to speak up in my defense, but before she could say anything. Professor Snape turned to her and scathingly said, "I expect students of my house to conduct themselves a little more intelligence. Seeing you go along with this foolishness makes me question the sorting hats intelligence."


    Anna''s face turned beet red in embarrassment, and before she could reply, Madam Pomfrey intervened. "That''s enough, these children have just been through a very trying time, and they need rest. Out with all of you, you can return in the morning and deal with them when they recovered.


    Professor Snape turned his dark eyes on her, but Madam Pomfrey flinched at his annoyed gaze, but then puffed herself up and declared, "My hospital, my rules."


    Professor Snape sneered and seemed like he was going to say something. But then he seemed to think better of it and walked away.


    I sat back in relief; at least I would have time to strategize with everyone before we were interrogated about our activities. After Madam Pomfrey shooed everyone out of the hospital, I glanced at my friends.


    The only other person who had been injured was Alicia, but she looked like she was doing ok. Cedric and Anna seemed to have made it through the ordeal with just some light cuts and bruises. As I got up to speak with them, Madam Pomfrey demanded, "Get back into bed, it''s lights out and time for you to get some rest. You can speak to your friends in the morning."


    Even though Anna and Cedric''s weren''t injured, Madam Pomfrey made us all spend the night in the hospital wing. She was worse than a mother hen when it came to her students. I motioned for my friends to wait; we could discuss everything once Madam Pomfrey had left.

 Chapter 39 - Dumbledore

    Madam Pomfrey took one look at Anna, and said, "Oh you poor dear, I''ll get you fixed up in a jiffy." She pulled out her wand, a murmured a spell and tapped Anna on the head with the tip of her wand.


    Immediately, Anna skin returned to a normal color, and the word faded from her forehead. Madam Pomfrey looked her up and down and said, "There we are, right as rain. I don''t suppose you would like to tell me who did this to you."


    A stubborn look appeared on Anna''s face, and she muttered, "It was just a spell gone out of control."


    Madam Pomfrey sighed like she had heard that excuse a million times. Hogwarts was sort of like a prison, no one rats on each other if someone hexes you, you either take it, or you can dish it back out. Those who go crying to teachers are scorned by the entire school body, it''s sort of like admitting you aren''t good enough with magic to get revenge.


    After we left, I told Anna, "Let''s find Cedric and Alicia, I need to show you guys something." After we hunted down Cedric and Alicia, they followed me to the 7th floor.


    As I stopped in front of the Room of Requirement, pacing back and forth, Anna questioned, "What exactly are we doing up here?" Her voice trailed off when she saw a door appear in the corridor.


    Opening the door with a flourish, I said, "This is the room of requirement, it''s probably one of the best-kept secrets at Hogwarts. All you have to do is need something, and if it can be obtained in the castle, the room will provide it."


    We came into a wide-open room with a round table with four chairs surrounding it. As we all sat down, I continued, "One of my favorite things about the room, is how it provides books that I require, rather than hunt the information down in the library, I just come here and think about what topic I need information on and it appears."


    As soon as I finished, a stack of books appeared next to me on the table. Cedric raised his eyebrow and asked, "Alright Alex, you dragged us to this secret room, enough with the theatrics, whats going on?"


    "You remember the idiot from the other day, the one who was bugging Anna and Alicia?" I said.


    Cedric nodded, taking a deep breath and shooting a glance towards Anna for permission, she nodded and I said, "Earlier today, He and his friends took a shot at Anna, They hexed her green, and wrote the words squib spawn on her forehead. Not long after, he tried to jump me but Athena scared him off."


    As I trailed off, Cedric and Alicia sat back in stunned silence. After a moment, Alicia began muttering in Arabic about all sorts of nasty things she was going to do to Michael. With a concerned look on his face, Cedric looked at Anna and asked, "Are you ok?"


    She nodded, and quickly replied, "Madam Pomfrey was able to get rid of it quickly enough."


    Wanting to inform them of my thoughts on the matter I said, "It is because I don''t think that this activity will cease, that I gathered everyone here for a war council." Alicia eyes lit up and eagerly asked, "Oh, are we going to war."


    Nodding I replied, "I think it''s safe to assume that we will all be targets, so rule number one, travel in pairs if you''re not with anyone from your house. Alicia, you may be the easiest to target because you''re in the same house as Micheal. Next, we retaliate, if we hunker down and do nothing it will only get worse. However, before this goes any further, it''s only fair guys know that there is some history between my family and the Whithorns, getting caught up in this could have far more consequences than just a petty feud at Hogwarts."


    After I told them about the details, about how Delvin Whithorn had somehow screwed my grandfather over. Even going into some detail about the little known shadowy organization that Declan Whithorn ran throughout the world.


    Out of all of my friends, Cedric was the most disturbed by everything I told him. After all, his father worked in the Ministry and he had always placed great faith in the system to work correctly.


    Anna inquired, "What is the name of the organization."


    Shaking my head, I responded, "I asked my uncle the same thing, according to him, they don''t have a name for it. He believes that Declan thinks that theatrical things like secret names or tattoos that could be used to identify someone are idiotic. The most he could tell me was there was a council of seven that is in charge of everything, with Declan at the head of it."


    Everyone fell quiet at the idea of antagonized the grandson of a powerful wizard, who had no scruples. Cedric sighed and said, "No one wants to say it, but I have to put it out there anyways. Is this a fight we should be seeking, I imagine, if we huddled up and let Michael and his friends hex us a few time, eventually they would get bored."


    Alicia scoffed and said, "Where is your sense of pride."


    I interrupted I shook my head and said, "No, Cedric actually makes a good, point, Honesty, the smart move would be to do as he said, and not make waves. But, I have a feeling Michael would enjoy it too much to stop, He won''t stop with a few hexes, people like him want to dominate others."


    Wanting to reassure everyone I continue, "Besides I doubt Michael gets his father or grandfather involved a small Hogwarts grudge, I bet Michael doesn''t even tell them. I only mentioned it, so everyone knows what kind of family he is from. Now that everyone is caught up to speed, what does everyone want to do if you want to back out I understand, it''s the smart move"


    After a moment of silence, Cedric scoffed and said, "Of course we''re in, who do you take us fo? So what do we do?"


    Seeing the agreement in everyone''s faces, I grinned and said, "So, they have the advantage, not only are they third years, but they also have a much better grasp of the castles'' layout. Now, I doubt they are expecting us to go on that attack, but the main idea is to force them to realize that consistently bothering us isn''t worth their effort."


    Sliding the books that appeared on the table to the center I continued, "I propose we brush up on some nasty hexes, and get them before they get us."


    Everyone grabbed a different book while looking through my book, I found a few particular nasty hexes in an old book on nasty spells. Hopefully, because the book is so old, the spells aren''t commonly used, so they won''t be able to get rid of them easily. However, I did recognize some of them from the books, so who knows.


    The following weeks were spent practicing hexes and jinxes in our spare time, in between classes, we made sure to blend with the crowd so Michael and his friends couldn''t get a shot at us.


    Looking back, I can pinpoint the true start of our conflict, it started on a normal Friday, that was the day Michael knew he had found an opponent he couldn''t bully into submission. That day, I saw one of Michael, chatting with his friends in the hallway. On the other end of the hallway was Professor Snape headed our way.


    It was like the universe set up a perfect way to begin the war. I pulled out my wand and tucked it discreetly into my sleeves. Professor Snape neared and as I passed by Michael, I muttered softly, "Lingua Volucri." Stepping back into the crowd I stuck around to enjoy the show.


    As soon as Professor Snape passed by Michael, who was speaking with his friends, he suddenly blurted out "WHORE."


    Snorting into my hand, I watched Professor Snape pause, as if he couldn''t believe what just happened. His dark eyes gleamed dangerously, and he snapped, "What did you just say, Mr. Whithorn"


    With a panicked look on his face, Micheal stuttered, "Nothing Professor ARSEHOLE." As soon as the final word slipped out, Michael''s eyes widened as if he couldn''t believe he just said that.


    Professor Snape''s eyes bulged out and he roared, "How dare you! 50 points from Gryffindor!"


    Trying to keep the smirk off my face, I can''t believe how diabolical the potty mouth jinx is. It takes random words you say and replaces them with curse words. Somehow, it picks the perfect words to swap with for maximum effect.


    Michael begged, "You don''t understand BITCH, It''s not my fault, you have to know that I would never F.U.C.K.I.N.G say anything like that to you C.U.N.T." At this point, the whole hallway was completely silent, shocked beyond words.


    Honestly, I was kinda worried Professor Snape was going to have a heart attack. Finally, he roared, "DETENTION FOR A MONTH MR. SULLIVAN! Come with me."


    As Professor Snape dragged Michael away. His eyes met mine, and he knew from my wicked grin that I was responsible for his predicament. That marked the beginning of our conflict, the following weeks, we were in a secret battle with Michael and his friends. Sometimes, we ambushed them and sometimes they ambushed us. All of us had been hit at least once with hexes and jinxes of all types, some rather basic and other fiendishly devious.


    A small part of me assumed, that a bully like Michael would back down after being hit a few times, but he actually seemed to thrive on the conflict between us. The on October 31 our little fight escalated.


    I broke the rules, and found myself all alone of the fourth floor, when I heard Michael shout, "Petrificus Totalus." Immediately, my limbs locked up and I found myself unable to move, so I crashed to the floor.


    Michael flipped me over and I glared daggers of death at him. He sneered down at me, raised hit the foot and snarled, "Who is the shoe now," and he smashed his foot on my face and breaking my nose.


    Ray sneered down at me and said, "I don''t know I think he needs another lesson." Micheal looked me over and his face lit up when he saw my tower control ring. After prying my ring off my frozen finger, he held it up to the light and whistled. "This ring looks nice and old, family heirloom?"


    Michael shot a cruel grin at Ray and said, open the window I have a good idea. As Ray opened the window, Micheal set my ring on the window seal, and pointed his wand at my ring and shouted, "Alarte Ascendare." My ring shot into the sky, like a bullet fired from a gun, in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.


    As I laid there helplessly unable to move, white-hot rage burned through me, along with a sense of shame. Never before had I felt such hatred. I swore to myself, that I would never be caught so unprepared again in my life and that I would get revenge.


    Micheal motioned for Ray to grab one foot and they both dragged me into a small closet. Just before he closed the door, Michael sneered at me and said, "There is only an hour before everyone has to be in their dorms, and I bet you are gonna be stuck like that for 3 or 4 hours. Sure hope you don''t get caught out of bounds."


    Around midnight just when I began to get some feeling back into my hand, I heard footsteps approach from outside. The handle creaked as the door swung open to reveal two grinning redheads one of whom was holding an old map.


    Fred said, "What happened to you, mate"


    Still unable to move I glared helplessly at them, Moving me into a better position, George pulled out his wand and muttered the counter curse to the full body bind curse. Finally able to move and speak, I quietly muttered, "Thanks."


    Fred whispered, "No problems mate, George and I were wondering what you were doing it the closet all these hours."


    While I guessed that the map in Fred''s hands was the marauder map, so I said, "How did you even know I was down here?"


    George grinned and excitedly said, we nicked this map from Filch''s office, it''s bloody useful, it shows where everyone is on the Hogwarts ground, that''s how we knew you were in here. After seeing you remain frozen on the map for a while, we decided to come and check it out."


    After telling them a quick condensed version Fred snarled and offered, "Want us to slip some bulbadox powder into their pajamas?"


    Laughing at his expression, I replied, "Sure if you want, but I plan on getting my own brand of vengeance as well."


    They used the map, to get me back to the Ravenclaw common room without being detected. As I laid in bed, two things remained on my mind, revenge and getting my ring back from the forbidden forest, who knows how deep in the ring went in, it could be anywhere.


    Author''s note


    Ok, so someone correctly pointed out that the vanishing cabinets weren''t used to penetrate Hogwarts until the 6th book. So I have to go back and change a bit of the plot. So Alex was aware of the vanishing cabinet at Hogwarts becuase the twins force Montague into the cabinet. As for the cabinet at Borgin and Burkes. Alex read about it in the 2nd book when harry hid inside, and he saw it when he was making going around to shady places with his uncle. Now to fix how he became aware of how they were connected. Vanishing cabinet will have two things identifying them as a pair. First a makers mark, and each pair will have half a mystical rune that would fit together. So the new story is that Alex saw each cabinet and made the connection becuase of his memory. I know that is a little thin, but I still believe that is better than having Alex not having any info of the 6th and 7th books. Also, another change I made, was when Alex attacked in revenge for what happened to Anna when she was turned green and had the word Squib spawn marked on her face, his target for the potty mouth jinx will be Micheal rather than Micheal friend. I think that this better explains that escalation that led to Micheal ambushing Alex and stealing the ring.

 Chapter 40 - Mystery

    Before Amos dragged Cedric off, he called out, "Don''t worry about having to inform your families of what transpired. The ministry has taken care of that."


    My heart sank when I heard that, I hadn''t even considered my parents reaction. I wasn''t too worried about dad, but mom wasn''t known for being very understanding.


    On the way back to the Ravenclaw tower, I ran into the Weasley twins. Fred leaned in and asked in a conspiratorial whisper, "What happened to you yesterday, Half the school is saying that Hagrid dragged in your corpse."


    After giving Fred and George the same story I gave Dumbledore, George complained, "What were you thinking... Going off and having a dangerous adventure without inviting us to tag along."


    Fred winked, and added in an outraged voice, "You know George, I think he is trying to snatch our title as the biggest troublemakers."


    George gasped and replied, "We can''t have that. I guess we will have to get real creative to make sure we up our game."


    With an evil grin, Fred replied, " George, I think you might be right."


    As quickly as they arrived, they disappeared even quicker. I couldn''t help but laugh and feel somewhat responsible for whomever they decide to target.


    As soon as I entered the Ravenclaw tower, I ran into a tearful Jessica. Apparently, she had feared that worst after hearing the rumors. I ended telling them a watered-down version of the story to all my friends in Ravenclaw. By the time I made it to my room I was almost exhausted.


    Sure enough, the following morning, our families owl dropped off a letter. Hesitantly, I open the letter, surprisingly it wasn''t as bad as I feared.


    Alex,


    I''m so proud of you! The ministry informed us you performed an excellent service, something about helping an influential vampire out a tight spot. Any you were given a special award for it. That''s so wonderful, I told your father that my son was destined for great things


    The letter went on, gushing about how proud she was of my accomplishments. I felt relieved when I figured out that the ministry must have given her the watered-down version.


    However, that feeling disappeared when another letter showed up shortly after. I could tell from the way my name was angrily scribbled in my mother''s handwriting, that this letter had none of her previous praise.


    ALEXANDER NICOLA FAWLEY!


    I just received a letter from your headmaster. How dare you! You could have been hurt or even killed! Just wait till I get my wand on you. How could you be so irresponsible? You must get this recklessly from your father.


    She went on listing the many ways she was disappointed ultimately, ignoring all the praise she gave me in the previous letter. This reaction was more in line with what I had been expecting. I''m glad she had a month and a half to cool off before I got home.


    I ended up receiving another letter that morning as well after I opened it, I realized that it was from Octavius.


    Alexander,


    I am sorry for my abrupt departure, as I was not able to thank you once again for freeing me from that hell hole. I''m afraid my return came somewhat as a shock to my fellow brethren. After so long in that hole, I am returning to my beloved Constantinople, or as I guess it is now known Instanbul. I still am indebted to you, and should you ever need assistance send word, and I shall come immediately to lend you my aid.


    The following week, left me little free time. I spent my evenings in the care of Professor Flitwick, helping him while he graded papers. As far as dentitions go, it was fairly mild. He seemed happy to explain some of the questions that had been on my mind. Not for the first time, I was grateful that I had been sorted into Ravenclaw


    Anna, on the other hand, had a terrible time in her detentions, Professor Snape made her spend hours cleaning out the dirty cauldrons with no magic. Some of the gunk that remained was downright toxic.


    Now that I had my ring back, I could finally relax again. Ever since I learned about the Grendel, I had spent every spare minute practicing and preparing.


    Time passed quickly, and soon it was May and almost time for our final exams. What was great about not having to worry about my ring, was that it left me free time to pursue other mysterious that had been bothering me.


    Namely, I wanted to figure out what the magical formulas, runes, and symbols that randomly appeared and disappeared throughout the tower. Now that I had free time, I quickly figured out they were questions that I needed to solve.


    Most of the time, the questions appeared on the ceiling, and there would be dozens of possible answers scattered throughout the tower. Once I touched the correct answer with my wand, the symbols would disappear, and a new question would appear.


    I also realized that the puzzles dove into many different areas of magic. The problems also had arbitrary rules, like nothing would show up on a Tuesday. Or if I took to long to select the correct answer, sometimes more answers would show up, and sometimes question would disappear for the day, and nothing would replace it.


    What was infuriating was no one else could see them. I tried to show one to Jessica, and all she did was smile gently at me and suggest that I had been studying for our upcoming finals too much and that perhaps I needed a break.


    As I answered more and more questions, I quickly realized that the difficulty was increasing well beyond what a first-year should know. Finally, the day came when the room no longer offered up any questions to solve. Later that night. I found myself all alone in the Ravenclaw common room.


    Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw move. It wasn''t by much, but her arm moved, and now she was pointing towards a door that I had never seen before. I didn''t know if the door had suddenly appeared or if it was always there and I simply couldn''t see it.


    Opening the door, I found a circular stairwell leading deep within the tower. As soon as I entered, the door swung shut behind me. Well, that not creepy at all.


    At the bottom of the stairs, there was a large circular room with a giant bronze eagle statue. It stood in the middle of the room, with its wings spread wide across the room, preventing anyone from crossing to the other side of the room. In front of the bronze eagle, was a large leather binder sitting on a wooden pedestal.


    As soon as I entered the room, the eagle snorted, "Finally, what took you so long? I was beginning to wonder if you were mentally deficient."


    My left eye twitched when I heard the eagle statue mock me. Taking a deep breath and resisting the urge to bicker with a statue, that way lies madnesses.


    "I''ve been a little busy," I replied through gritted teeth.


    The eagle turned its head and sneered at me, and said, "Had you waited another week, you would have lost your chance forever. Only the top first-year Ravenclaw student is given a chance to pass the intial challenges. Should they fail to do so in their first year, they will never receive another chance."


    Ignoring how the eagle was able to make surprisingly sophisticated expressions, I looked around the strange room and asked curiously, "What is this place?"


    The eagle proudly pointed its beak to the ceiling and bragged, "This is the inner sanctum of Ravenclaw tower. You have been given a chance to complete a trial and become an heir of Ravenclaw."


    Skeptical, I responded, "I''ve never heard about any such trial."


    Gesturing towards the leather binder on the pedestal, the eagle explained, "There is no reason you should have. To attempt the trial, you have to sign the book, and it will ensure your silence."


    Raising an eyebrow, I said, "And what is stopping me from leaving without signing it."


    Ruthlessly grinning at me, the eagle replied, "Nothing, except for losing your chance to try and learn valuable knowledge from the Library of Rowena Ravenclaw."


    No wonder word of the trial had never gotten out. There is no way any Ravenclaw student would pass up at learning any secret knowledge from Rowena''s library. While all the founders created Hogwarts, it was her, who laid the magical foundation for Hogwarts. Most of her enchantments have been lost to time, and some claim, it wouldn''t be possible to cast the spells without her Diadem that boosted her intelligence.


    A little suspicious, I inquired, "In over a thousand years, no one has passed the trial."


    C.o.c.king its head, the eagle statue said, "What makes you think no one has passed the trial. Over the past thousand years, hundreds have attempted the trial, yet only six passed the trial. Each of them brilliant wizards and witches who pioneered new magics, and they added their knowledge and works to the Library of Ravenclaw."


    At this point, I was practically drooling with greed and expectation. Seeing my expression, the eagle slyly asked, "So, what will it be? Sign and give up your chance to tell others about the trial, or will you leave the chance of gaining access to the legendary Library of Ravenclaw."


    To me, it wasn''t even a choice. I stepped forward and grabbed the quill and signed my name in the book. I noticed a few names above mine was my father''s name. He must have been selected for the trial as well. But, I''m guessing he most had failed his trial


    Once I had signed the book, I asked, "What is involved in this trial?"


    Similar to how the room of requirement operates, four books appeared on a table, and the bronze eagle explained, "You have four choices to choose from, potion invention, ward crafting, enchanting, and occlumency. Each choice would tax you to your limits, and you have but a year and a day to master the subject. Choose carefully, many talented wizards and witches have tried, and the overwhelming majority have fallen short."


    I had spent time researching each subject extensively in the room of requirement this year. which made me believe that perhaps there was more to the eagle than I was previously aware


    Testing out the waters, I suspiciously asked, "Just how much activity in the castle are you aware of?"


    The eagle smirked at me, choosing not to say anything.


    Ignoring the eagle''s annoying smirk, I considered the options before me. Each choice laid out by the bronze eagle seemed like a trap to me.


    My time training with my mother made me aware of just how difficult crafting a new potion could be. I am not confident enough in my abilities to invent a new potion in one year.


    Ward crafting seemed like an intelligent choice, considering that I had already learned how to take them apart. But, I know from my studies on the subject, that it could easily take me more than a year to be able to craft a ward. And that would only be a basic one, should the trial require a more complicated ward, there is no way I could finish in time.


    As I gave Occulmecy some serious consideration, I had always been interested in learning. But, from what I''ve read on the subject, teaching yourself Occulmency would be extremely difficult. Besides, how would you even know if you had mastered the subject?


    I have to admit; enchanting seems like the obvious choice. But, there are insanely difficult enchantments out there. If the trial selects one of those, I most likely won''t pass the trial.


    No wonder only six students had ever completed the trials in 1000 years, expecting first and second-year students to complete this insane.


    Moving over to the book on mental defense, I said: "I choose Occulmency."


    The other books disappeared, leaving the book on Occulmency behind. At this point, I was sure that the enchantment in this room was similar to the one in the room of requirement.


    The bronze eagle made a dismissive motion, and said, "Take the book and leave, do not return until you are ready to complete your trial. I urge you not to attempt it too soon, as you only receive one chance to pass the trial. Should you fail, you will never see this place again."


    I grabbed the book and started to leave. Before I got to the stairs, I turned and gave the eagle one last look, and clarified, "Am I allowed to get help with training myself in Occulmency?"


    The eagle smirked at me and said, "It would hardly be a real trial if you could be spoon-fed the answers."


    There goes my initial plan of asking Professor Snape for help, although considering what Harry went through when trying to learn, maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

 Chapter 41 - Going Home

    When I got back to the Ravenclaw common room, I sat in my favorite comfy chair and eagerly opened the book on occlumency.


    Inside, the book went into great detail about the art of mental defense. It explained that there were two levels of mastery when it came to occlumency.


    The first level of success was the furthest that most people ever progressed to. It involved reaching a state that would prevent legilimency from revealing a person''s secrets. It involved building an impenetrable barrier around your mind.


    While this was considered a success by most wizards, this level had the disadvantage of informing whoever used legilimency that a person was invoking a mental defense.


    The second level involves crafting sophisticated fake memories that can completely fool someone using without them detecting that you are using occlumency.


    I''m guessing that Professor Snape had to be at this level, considering he was spying on Lord Voldemort, who was rumored to be the most accomplished legilimency users in the world.


    After reading about the different levels of mastery, I had a sinking feeling that the first level wasn''t going to cut it for the trial. But what made me curious was the trial was how was I supposed to prove that I had mastered occlumency. It wasn''t like the eagle statue would be able to tell if I learned it or not.


    There must be something down there that will be able to use a mental attack or something similar. That''s the only way I can think of being able to prove that someone had mastered occlumency.


    If I can work out what is probably down there, and get something similar, perhaps it can help me practice my occlumency, otherwise, how will I know if I am progressing.


    As for how to succeed, the book was maddeningly vague. This branch of magic is extremely personal and requires a person to have complete mastery of their mind.


    The book described this state as an awaking or enlightenment of the mind and warned that what may work for one person may not work for another. I rubbed my eyes in frustration; this was going to be a long year.


    The following day, I decided to try and test the magical bindings restricting me from seeking help. The results shocked me. I had assumed that I would only be prevented from speaking about the trial.


    But the results were more effective than I anticipated. When I planned to get around the restrictions by being clever, I found myself unable to enact any of my plans. If this was the type of spell that Whithorn got my grandfather to sign, I understand why he wasn''t able to fight it afterward.


    It was infuriating. The bindings seemed to be based on my intent, any action that I took, no matter how subtle as long as I intended for someone to find out, the spell kicked in and prevented me from doing it.


    Not wanting to give up, I kept trying methods to see if there was a workaround. One time, I tried to ask for books on occlumency around my friends innocently and was prevented from doing so. Another, I decided to leave the book given to me by the room, and when Cedric picked it up, all he saw was a blank book. It seemed like I was on my own for the trial.


    Before I knew it, the final exams were upon us, and I blew threw them without any trouble. I was confident that I would keep the top spot in Ravenclaw, and I was looking forward to having the better dorm reserved for those who achieved the top grade. As competitive as the academic competition is in Ravenclaw, my roommate silently cheered me on, knowing that they would get to share in my victory.


    At the end of the year feast, Slytherin ended up winning both the quidditch and house cup. I wasn''t too surprised if I remembered the books correctly, they had won for several years in a row. Although this led to Anna being unbearably smug for a few days.


    A small part of me at the beginning of the year had imagined me raking in points and leading Ravenclaw to win the house cup. But, in the end, after dealing with the Grendel, worrying about something as silly as the house cup, seemed rather mundane. At least that what I told myself.


    After the feast was over, students who held off packing, spent the rest of the evening running around trying to get packed, because we were supposed to be on the Hogwarts Express first thing in the morning.


    In that endeavor, I enlisted the help of Fred and George. No strangers to rule-breaking, they agreed when they heard what I had in mind for their fellow Gryffindor.


    Later that night, past lights out, I drank the potion that I acquired from Burgins and Burkes over the Christmas break. Knowing I had less than an hour to get to Gryffindor and back, I quickly made my way through the castle, making my way to the portrait of the fat lady.


    As soon as I arrived, I found George and Fred looking towards the direction I was in confusion. George looked down at the marauder''s map and back towards where I was standing and questioned, "Maybe something is wrong with the map."


    Before Fred could reply, I spoke up, "There is nothing wrong with it, I drank an invisibility potion, I don''t have the luxury of having a map that shows me where the professors are patrolling."


    Identical looks of d.e.s.i.r.e appeared on their faces, and they said in unison, "Where can we get one of those."


    Thinking of all the trouble a pair of invisible Weasley twins could cause, I laughed and said, "Good luck, they are insanely difficult to make, and their ingredients are rare. Plus, they are highly regulated by the ministry. Most wizards make do with the disillusionment charm, and while it''s not real invisibility, it''s pretty effective at concealing a person."


    Seeing their disappointment, I added, "However, there are those who obtain such mastery over the disillusionment charm, that they can use it to become invisible."


    Now let''s get going; I only have about half an hour remaining before the potion wears off. As we approached the fat lady''s portrait, she glared at the twins annoyed and said, "You two again, I should have known."


    Smirking, Fred said, "Leo de corde."


    Grumpily, the portrait swung open to the Gryffindor common room, and they led me to the dorms, where Micheal was sleeping.


    Not taking any chances, I casted the silencing charm on myself and slowly made my way into the dorm. After locating Micheal, I pulled out the cursed mask from my robes and placed it on his face.


    Once attached, the mask sunk beneath his skin and was no longer visible. With my mission accomplished, I quickly left the Gryffindor tower and made my way back to my dorm.


    The following day, we all loaded up on the Hogwarts express and headed home for the summer.


    On the train, I ran into Micheal, and he noticed I had my ring on and sneered at me and drawled, "Glad you seemed to have finally found your ring. I can''t believe that it took you so long to retrieve it, I guess the rumors that are praising your abilities as a wizard are exaggerated."


    Thinking about the mask that was going to drive him crazy, I smiled pleasantly at him and cheerfully said, "Have a good summer Micheal, these are the best days of our lives, and I''m sure it will be one you will never forget."


    Micheal looked at me suspiciously. This wasn''t how the game was played. He had been expecting me to react in a similar manner; instead, I smiled pleasantly and told him to enjoy his summer.


    As the trained rolled away from Hogwarts, my mind ran over everything that had happened to me this year. I had accomplished a lot this year, but I still had a ton of things that I needed to accomplish. Hopefully, this trial would help me prepare for what was coming. Thankfully, I still had years to get ready.


    As we got closer to London, I couldn''t wait to see my family, although part of me missed Hogwarts and couldn''t wait to return. Hopefully, my second year would involve a less life-threating situation.


    When we arrived at the station, I had expected another embarrassing welcome, but only my father was here. At first, I was relieved until he told me that mom was waiting for me at home, and his voice indicated that she was not pleased.


    As we left the station, I cracked my neck in anticipation, it had been too long since my mom and I had engaged in one of our infamous verbal sparring matches. I would need to prepare my arguments if I wanted to obtain victory.

 Chapter 42 - One Month

    I glared at my bedroom walls in frustration. It had been a month since I had returned from school, well to be exact, twenty-nine days. I was keeping track because I had mostly been imprisoned in my room since I''d come home.


    The day I arrived home, I knew my mom was upset, and I had been expecting one of our verbal spars. But, what I got was a no-hold-barred ambush of epic proportions.


    Apparently, my mom took exception to her son risking his life for a ring, and it seems Professor Dumbledore included the minor detail of me pulling the cave ceiling down on my head to take out the Grendel. Needless to say, my mom had not been amused.


    I had been banned from leaving the house for a month, no visiting my friends, or flying over our property. It seems like she didn''t trust me because she hexed my windows, preventing me from sneaking out.


    The first week I didn''t mind, I was perfectly happy to stay in my room and practice my magic. When she discovered how little I cared, she confiscated my wand and books leaving me little to do other than stare at the walls in frustration.


    I tried to work my occlumency by meditating, but there is only so much meditating that one can do without losing one''s mind. I hadn''t had any success in reaching the state described by the book, but I knew that this was going to be a long process. Thankfully my imprisonment would be over tomorrow, and I would be free once more.


    The following day, my mom reluctantly returned my wand and books to me. I had planned on heading to Cedric''s house, but I got stuck watching Sasha and Rebecca while our parents went to visit my uncle.


    When I had heard where they were going, I asked to come along. But, for some strange reason, my dad vehemently refused to allow me to go with them.


    Pulling me from my thoughts, I felt Rebecca tug on my arm and childishly demand, "Do some magic."


    I turned and looked down at the twins who had turned six recently. Rebecca was staring at me with a cute, defiant look on her face. Sasha, on the other hand, had gone down a different route. She was trying to make herself too adorable for me to refuse their request.


    Ever since I had gotten home, Sasha had taken to carrying Athena around as if she was convinced that Athena couldn''t manage to get around.


    Pulling out my wand, I grinned and asked, "Want to see a magic trick?"


    Both of them nodded eagerly, so I tapped Rebecca on the head and said, "Aurantium Dulcis."


    Immediately her black hair turned a horrible looking orange color, and Sasha almost dropped Athena and let out a large gasp in surprise.


    Curious about what I had done, Rebecca turned and looked into a mirror. When she saw her hair, she screamed, "What did you do? "


    Glaring at me, she demanded, "Turn it back."


    With a Chesire cat grin, I innocently said, "What? I thought you wanted to see some magic."


    Grinning, I turned to Sasha and asked, "Did you want to see some magic as well."


    Sasha quickly shook her head and held Athena out in front of her as a shield, worried that I may turn my wand on her.


    Rebecca looked back at me and asked fearfully, "Is it permanent?"


    I shook my head and said, "Of course not, I would never do something like that."


    A relieved look appeared on her face, and she asked, "So when does it wear off."


    With an evil grin, I said, "All you have to do is cut off your hair, it will grow back normally."


    Tears pooled in her eyes, and she w.h.i.n.ed, "No... I don''t want to cut my hair off."


    Seeing her tears, made me sense that I might have taken the joke a little to far. So, I smiled at her and said, "I''m kidding. It only lasts for about ten minutes."


    It was funny how quickly her tears disappeared, and I looked at her suspiciously. It seemed like she was able to call out those tears whenever she needed to make someone feel guilty. Is this skill all little sisters develop to manipulate their big brothers? If so, I''m going to have to up my game.


    I spent the rest of the afternoon, entertaining my little sisters. I did everything from making chairs dance to levitating the twins through the air.


    Later that night, at the dining room table, my dad said, "Alex, after dinner, I want you to go clean up the library."


    I looked at him in confusion. I don''t think I have ever been required to clean up a room. Hell, if one of us tried, Lola, our house elf, would burst into tears, thinking she hadn''t done a good enough job.


    When I got to the family library, I looked around in confusion. The place was spotless as usual. I sighed when I heard a faint sniffle coming from outside.


    "Come on in Lola," I called out.


    A tiny elf peered her head out from around the corner, with big tears leaking from her large eyes. She tearfully asked, "Did Lola mess up cleaning the library?"


    I knew that I had to be careful, if I said the wrong thing, she might try and punish herself. Carefully I said, "No, Lola, look at this place it is spotless, I don''t think it''s ever been so clean before."


    Half-sobbing, Lola stuttered, "But, Master Henry said that... that... you needed to clean the library, that is Lola''s duty."


    While I was annoyed at my father, a thought occurred to me. Musing out loud, I said, "Ya, he did."


    Looking around the library in suspicion, my father doesn''t do anything without reason. He would have known that what he said would have made Lola upset, and he wouldn''t have done that without cause. There was something in here that he wanted me to find, and he intended Lola to help me find it.


    "Lola," I said.


    With her ears drooping in sadness, Lola said, "Yes, master Alex."


    "I think my father left me to find something in here. Is there anything in here out of place?"


    As she looked around the room, Lola''s eyes came to rest on the far shelf. She pointed at the shelf and m.o.a.n.e.d, "Oh no. There is a book out of place."


    She tried to start smacking her head, "Bad Lola. Bad Lola."


    I grabbed her arms quickly, and soothed, "You didn''t do anything wrong, Lola. You just helped me out a great deal."


    She stopped trying to bang and said, "Lolo did good?"


    I smiled at her and said, "That''s right. I needed this book, and you found it for me. You''re the best house-elf ever, way better than the ones at Hogwarts."


    Tears of joy swiftly replaced tears of sadness as Lola proudly said, "It is my honor to be of service master Alex."


    She poofed out of the library, no doubt running off to complete other duties around the house. I wasn''t going to try and interfere with her; I had learned my lesson years ago. House-elves were a weird bunch; they seem happiest when they''re helping.


    I walked over to the shelf that she pointed at and began perusing the titles. One of the books stood out to me; my father divided his books by category and then alphabetically.


    On the shelf dealing with enchantments, there was a book that didn''t match up with the others. It described several strange creatures from the far east, such as Beholders, Illithids, Mind Flayers, and several others.


    All the creatures in the book seemed to have a unifying theme. They were all magical creatures that could use legilimency in one form or another. Some of these creatures often used Legilimency to infiltrate the minds of others and can trick play tricks.


    Some of the creatures described were extremely dangerous and were immediately exterminated when found, while others were less so and were allowed to thrive in areas were muggles couldn''t reach.


    Several magical governments in the east had employed a small group dedicated to this task. They were each a master in the art of mental defense and were trained to deal with these tricky creatures.


    The creature they used was a bearded mushroom; it was a cross between a plant and a creature. It used legilimency as a defensive tactic, tricking the minds of anyone near it that it didn''t exist.


    I was surprised to learn that there were creatures out there who could use legilimency in this way.


    A surge of excitement shot through me; this is how I would know if I was making progress when training with occlumency. If I got to the point where I could be in the presence of this creature and were able to detect it, then that would mean I had made significant progress.


    My father must have secretly searched my trunk and found all the books on occulmency that I copied from the Room of Requirement. He would have known that I couldn''t implement any plans to request for help, so he sidestepped the entire issue.


    I had wondered why my mom confiscated all my books; it must have been at my dad''s suggestion. I wondered if the magic binding me would prevent me from asking my uncle to track down one of these creatures for me.


    As I left the library with the book, I saw my dad in the family room. Without saying anything, I gave him a wordless hug, and he patted me on the back and said, "I know what you have to do is hard, but if anyone can do it, you can."


    I tried to tell him that I would complete the trial and make him proud, but I was unable to do so; any mention of the trial was forbidden. I think he understood when he saw my frustrated expression. And considering that he also took part in the trial, he must understand exactly what I was going through.


    The following day, I was planning on visiting my uncle to see if he had any connections in the east. I got a little sidetracked during breakfast when I saw a small article written by Rita Skeeter in the back of the Daily Prophet.


    Shadow over Nimbus Racing Broom Company.


    The article made me laugh; it seems that the mask that I planted on Micheal, had led to him embarrassing his father. I bet that he wasn''t in there for very long, it wouldn''t be difficult for a healer to tell that a cursed mask was on him.


    I grabbed a copy of the article for my uncle. I figured that he would get a kick out of the story. Once I got permission, I headed towards the vanishing cabinet that led to his ship; I had a lot I needed to discuss with him.

 Chapter 43 - Yu Yan

    Stepping through the vanishing cabinet, I arrived on Uncle John''s boat. Knowing that everyone was probably waiting for me upstairs, I made my way through the ship.


    When I got to the top deck, I found Aunt Nefret quickly speaking with an African witch I didn''t recognize. When they saw me arrive, Aunt Nefret whispered something to the witch, who nodded, turned into a graceful black heron, and flew off. Once she had exited the boundary of the spell that prevented apparition, she disappeared with a loud crack.


    As I watched her fly off, I couldn''t help but imagine wistfully what my animagus would be. I should try to make sure to master the patronus spell this year, to find out what my animal form was. If it was something stupid like a bug, I might not even bother.


    It was slightly annoying that Professor McGonagall refused to teach anyone how to become an animagus until the sixth year. I know that there were risks to the spell, but I was willing to take them.


    Aunt Nefret smiled when she saw my expression and asked knowingly, "Wishing you had an animagus form?"


    Grumpily, I explained, "Professor McGonagall, our transfiguration professor refuses to teach anyone to become an animagus until the 6th year."


    Aunt Nefret nodded and said, "I''m sure that she merely has your safety in mind. Although your sixth year seems a little excessive, then again, there are only seven registered animaguses in Europe. So she probably doesn''t have much experience teaching students the spell and wants to make sure that you stay safe. There are no do-overs in the animagus spell; if something goes wrong, it''s permanent."


    Seeing how I wasn''t convinced, she hesitantly added, "You know, Uagadou has a student exchange program for students in their fourth year. It last for six months, I think you would find it interesting, and most of our students become animaguses in the third and fourth year."


    Hearing about an opportunity to visit the oldest magical institution in the world made my eyes widen. "That''s a great idea," I replied.


    While we were talking, Uncle John appeared suddenly back onto the boat, holding a glass jar. Knowing that you couldn''t apparate on the ship, I asked curiously, "Is that a port-key?


    Uncle John nodded and said, "I never leave the ship without one; one never knows when they may need a quick exit. And what''s nice about them is that they can penetrate protective enchantments, if you set them up beforehand."


    I mentally added yet another thing I wanted to learn about, at this rate, I will never finish my list.


    Taking a seat at the table, Uncle John leaned forward and said, "So, tell me all about your first year at Hogwarts. And make sure to include all the vampire business I heard about."


    When I got to the part of my feud with Micheal, I thought I saw my uncle''s eye twitch. I paused to give him a chance to respond, but he motioned for me to continue. In the end, he let me finish the entire story without interrupting once.


    When I finished speaking, Uncle John sighed heavily and said, "You know Alex, ever since you were little, you have been way ahead of the curve. Your parents and I have always known you were going to be a great wizard, and being able to break a ward at your age only reinforces that."


    Looking at me with a worried gaze, he continued, "I''m not going to lecture you. But, let me give you some advice that I wish I had gotten at your age. Your problem right now is your pride; you''ve let your abilities go to your head. I have seen many strong wizards brought low by their pride, and if you''re not careful, your enemies will use that against you."


    My ears turned red; I knew he was right, but it was still embarrassing to have my flaws pointed out to me.


    Sensing my embarrassment, he changed the subject and said, "So, tell me about this mask."


    I slid over the article describing Micheal''s freakout. When my uncle read it, he laughed maliciously and said, "Oh, I bet his father is furious."


    Looking me in the eye, he said, "Considering that you practically taunted him, unless this Micheal is an idiot, he is probably aware that it was you who did it."


    I shrugged, and said, "My friends and I can handle Micheal and his idiotic lackeys. The only thing I am slightly wary of is pushing him so far that his grandfather gets involved."


    Uncle John snorted and explained, "You are assuming that their family is close. From what I know, Delvin is a complete disappointment to his father. There is a reason why he isn''t involved in his father''s syndicate. Delcan''s true heir is his daughter. And while he hasn''t entirely written off his grandson, the last thing Micheal or his father would do is go and complain to Declan that a first-year wizard got the better of him. Hell, he would probably be happy someone was challenging him, and he would expect Micheal to crush you with his own strength."


    Hearing about their strange family dynamic surprised me. I knew that this meant that Micheal would probably be desperate in his d.e.s.i.r.e to put me in my place this year.


    Mentally I sneered, I wasn''t afraid of Micheal, the best chance he had to deal with me had been in my first year. I was learning more and more every day, and soon, I would surpass him in every way.


    As we continued talking, eventually, I brought up the reason why I was here. "Uncle John," I said, "I need a favor, I''m looking to get my hands on a bearded mushroom."


    Uncle John held up a hand and said, "Your father sent word over a week ago, and I''ve already found a seller that we can trust."


    Eager, I asked, "Where."


    Wagging his eyebrows, Uncle John said, "How do you feel about popping over to Shanghai for a bit."


    When we arrived, we hailed a cab, and my uncle gave the cabbie a destination. As we made our way through the city, we ended up stopping what looked like a run-down pawnshop.


    When we went inside, Uncle John greeted an older Chinese man with a nod and motioned for me to follow as he walked to the back. As my uncle approached the back, he pulled his was and drew a glowing Chinese character upon the wall.


    The character seemed to sink into the wall, revealing a door to another shop. Inside was an older Chinese woman with a gruesome scar running down her cheek, sitting behind a glass counter.


    Looking around, the shop reminded me of Burgin and Burkes. There was an assortment of random things scattered throughout the shop. Figuring that some of the objects were probably cursed, I made sure not to touch anything.


    Uncle John said something to the lady in Chinese and made a motion towards me. The lady looked at me and replied in English, "John, its been too long since you''ve visited my shop. Who is this youngster."


    Uncle John put his hand on my shoulder and explained, "This is my nephew, Alexander."


    Motioning towards the scarred lady, he said, "Alex, this is Yu Yan. She is an old... friend."


    Curious, I asked, "How do you know her?"


    "You remember when I told you that I threw myself into dueling. Well, Yu Yan handled my introduction to a dueling master named Fei Hong, who I trained with for about a year."


    On my second glance, I noticed that she had a familiar-looking ring on one of her fingers. The ring had a silver spear etched into it, I racked my memory, trying to remember where I had seen the other ring. After a moment, I remember the wizard from the dueling tournament in South America. I had noticed that he had on a ring with a silver spear on it while he was explaining the rules for dueling.


    While I was trying to figure out their connection, Yu Yan grinned toothily at Uncle John and said, "Master Fei Hong, misses you. He always said you were one of his most entertaining students."


    Uncle John slightly reddened and quickly changed the subject, "We''re here because I need a bearded mushroom."


    Yu Yan wagged her finger and sincerely replied, "Johnny, you know should know that the ministry restricts the sales of class three magic creature."


    Yu Yan and my Uncle glared at each other in silence. For a moment, I thought that they were going to draw on each other, then they both grinned at each other and laughed.


    "Hold on; I think I have one in the back." Yu Yan said as she turned and went to the back of her store when she came back out, she was carrying a dark clay pot filled with dirt.


    When she set the pot in front of me, I looked at it in suspicion. Without mastering occlumency, there was no way to tell if anything was there.


    I pulled out my wand and hesitantly ran it over the pot. It was a little unnerving as I watched my ivory-colored wand pass-through without being stopped. The bearded mushroom was actively replacing my thoughts, convincing me that nothing was there.


    That is unless Yu Yan was trying to rip us off by selling us a pot filled with dirt and acting like there was something there, knowing that unless we had mastered occlumency, we wouldn''t be able to tell.


    But, considering that my uncle trusts her, I imagine that she wouldn''t try and rip us off. Looking up, I asked, "How much."


    Yu Yan flicked her eyes towards my ivory-colored wand and said, "Well, for you, my young friend. I will give you the friends and family discount of 100 galleons."


    I glanced at Uncle John to see is that was acceptable, and he nodded his head in acceptance. I pulled out the funds that I had brought with me in preparation. Once I had given her the money, my uncle and Yu Yan discussed some matters in Chinese.


    Seeing how they were busy talking, I started looking around the story, in the far corner, I found several large strange-looking swords. The designs were strange, and they were too big to have ever been used for sword fighting.


    Curious, I grabbed one and took it to the front and asked, "What is this used for."


    When Yu Yun saw what I had, she smiled and said, "That is known as a flying sword. It''s what many magical families use to fly around on."


    "What about broomsticks?" I asked.


    She smiled and said, "Normally, the only people who use broomstick here are those who play quidditch. Otherwise, our community prefers these; we''ve been using them for thousands of years. "


    Warning me, Uncle John said, "Those are banned in Europe."


    I smiled at him, and sly said, "I guess it''s a good thing I have an uncle who lives in the middle of the ocean."


    Even though I wouldn''t be able to fly the sword back home, I still ended up purchasing it. One does not simply find a flying sword and leave it behind.


    On our way out of the store, Yu Yan gave me a small smile and said, "Farewell, young Alexander, I''m sure we will meet someday again."


    By the time I made it home, I was exhausted, I took pot containing the mushroom up to my room, and tried some more meditation. Without meaning to, I fell asleep and dreamed of bearded mushrooms chasing me through the sky on flying swords.

 Chapter 44 - Dinner

    The following late afternoon, I went downstairs when I heard my sisters arrive back from my grandmother. I found my grandmother waiting for me in the dining room with my dad.


    When I saw how she was dressed, I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Although the clothes she usually wore were expensive, they were typically modest and low-key.


    Today she had gone for a different look, everything about her broadcasted wealth and power. Typically when someone tries to pull off that look, it comes across like their trying too hard, but she seemed to make it appear natural. It had been a while since I had seen her go all out.


    Hugging her, I said, "What are you doing here, grandmother?"


    She replied, "I''m here for you. I thought you might join me tonight, I''m visiting with some of my fellow governors, and I would like the company of my grandson."


    Across the table, my dad grumbled, "Politics."


    Grandma pointed her finger at dad and said, "Shush Henry. I swear sometimes you''re too much like your father. There is nothing wrong with making socializing with other families. It will be good for Alex to make connections with other families, and you never know when you may need a favor. Besides word got out about the incident earlier this year, and some of my fellow governors would like to meet him."


    Before dad could argue, I piped up, "Dad, Grandma is right." Meeting his gaze, I quietly continued, "One can never have too many friends; we never know when our family might need a favor."


    As our eyes meet, I knew we were both thinking about the Whithorn family. Sighing heavily, dad said, "I just wanted you to focus on being a kid."


    Thinking about the war that was coming in a few years, I said, "I wish I could too, but like it or not, we all have to grow up at some point."


    A look of defeat appeared on his face, and he g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "Fine, but don''t have him out too late,"


    Grandmother turned to me and said, "Go get ready and make sure to dress appropriately. A good first impression can go a long way."


    After nodding my understanding, I took off upstairs and dug out a set of my best dress robes. By the time I was ready, the sun was starting to set.


    When I got downstairs, I found my grandmother waiting on me and asked, "Are we going to use the floo network?"


    She looked me up and down, making sure I was appropriately dressed before responding. Once she was satisfied, she replied, "No, we''ll being going by apparition."


    Having always wanted to travel by apparition, I eagerly asked, "Really? I thought that I had to be older."


    Motioning me to follow, we headed outside while she explained, "No, that''s only taboo for kids who haven''t started schooling, we learned a long time ago that when children who hadn''t begun using magic are subject to apparition, their magic can sometimes burst out and interfere with the process. Once children have begun using magic on a regular base, they''re no longer prone to random bursts of magic, and it becomes safe for them to travel by apparition."


    Holding out her arm for me to grab, she continued, "It also serves another purpose, it''s a subtle demonstration of power, less than half of the magical community has the talent to apparate."


    Turning towards me, she said, "Hold on tight, the sensation will take some getting used to."


    I felt her twist away from me, and then everything went black, immediately I felt like I was being stuffed into a tiny tube and s.u.c.k.e.d through it. Unable to breathe, I tried to scream in frustration, but there was no sound, only darkness.


    Just as it almost became unbearable, we reappeared outside a large estate. Grandmother let me recover for a few seconds and soothed, "I know it''s rather unpleasant, but the more you apparate, you''ll become used to the feeling."


    It''s know wonder why so many people choose not to use this method of travel. Not only is it difficult, but the claustrophobic feeling of being squeezed through space was also extremely unpleasant, if it wasn''t such a convenient way of travel, I don''t think I would be interested in learning apparition.


    After my breathing returned to normal, I noticed the enormous estate we had apparated outside of, and asked, "So, whose family is hosting tonight."


    She gestured for me to follow and clarified, "One of my fellow governors, Lucius Malfoy, was generous enough to host the gathering."


    I tried not to let the distaste show on my face. The Malfoy family was full of deatheaters, and now, I was going to have to play nice with them and pretend like they weren''t apart of the group that killed my grandfather.


    I remembered my meditation technique and tried to center myself. After a few deep breaths, I buried my feeling deep within me.


    Thankfully, my grandmother assumed that I was still recovering from the apparition.


    When we arrived at the door, it opened to reveal a small elf on the filthiest toga that I had ever witnessed. Although I had never seen this elf before, I knew from the books, that this had to Dobby, the Malfoy''s house-elf.


    Bowing deeply, Dobby said, "Welcome to Malfoy Manor."


    After we entered, Dobby shut the door and promptly disappeared. Proper wizard etiquette dictated that we remain in the foyer until we invited to proceed deeper within. Proceeding into a wizard''s house without permission would have been a great insult.


    We didn''t have to wait long before a tall, blond-haired witch came into the foyer and said, "Welcome Danielle, it''s good to see you again." Turning to me, she added, "And this must be young Alexander, it''s nice to meet you."


    I smiled a greeting as I studied her platinum blond hair and blue eyes; this could only be Narcissa Malfoy.


    "Narcissa, it''s so thoughtful of your family to volunteer to host tonight''s dinner," my grandmother replied.


    "Please, it''s always an honor to host such a gathering," Narcissa denied waiving the praise. Turning, she invited, "Come on, let me show you where everyone has gathered."


    Narcissa led us through the house to a large dining hall. Inside the room were dozens of witches and wizards socializing in smaller groups.


    As soon as we entered, a sleek blond-headed wizard made his way towards us. Seeing his snake cane, confirmed that this had to be Lucius Malfoy.


    As he approached, Lucius inclined his head and smoothly greeted, "Danielle."


    Turning his watchful grey eyes to me, he praised with a smile, "Ah, And this must be Alexander. The young ward breaker that freed a vampire and caused such a ruckus this year. I have to say, when we all heard that a first-year wizard broke through a ward, all of the governors were rather impressed."


    Several of the witches and wizards nearby turned to evaluate me. To my chagrin, my ears turned slightly red in embarrassment.


    Not wanting to give away my distaste for him, I held out a hand and replied, "You must Mr. Malfoy, of course, I''ve heard about you."


    A satisfied look appeared on his face, no doubt thinking that I was complimenting him. When what I was alluding to was the fact that I knew him from the books where he was a death eater and one of Voldemort''s highest lieutenants.


    Lucius nudged me on the shoulder and said, "Of course, it''s not too surprising to see such a wizard produced from such a prestigious lineage."


    I had to force myself not to roll my eyes, Lucius''s statement was a compliment, but at the same time, it also subtly implied that bloodlines were responsible for producing powerful wizards.


    Lucius gestured across the room towards a miniature version of himself, and said, "That is my son Draco. He is eager to begin his schooling at Hogwarts, but unfortunately, he is to young to attend this upcoming year and will be forced to wait another year. I hope you will look after him, ancient houses like ours should watch out for one another."


    I saw Draco standing next to his mother, speaking with a few others. If he was anything like he was in the books, I doubt we will get along.


    Thankfully, it seemed like Lucius had business with other people and drifted off. As I watched him saunter off and continue to socialize with other people at the party, I realized why Lucius was able to fool so many people.


    I have always been baffled about how Lucius was able to blend back into society after the first war. Lucius had claimed he was under the imperius curse like many others during the first war.


    But, seeing how he maneuvered crowd, I understood, he was a master manipulator. Had I not known about him being a death eater, I wouldn''t have suspected him. He always seemed to know what to say to put the other party at ease and make them view himself in a positive light.


    Shaking me from my thoughts, my grandmother said, "Come, I want to introduce you to someone."


    She led me across the room to an elderly witch and said, "Alex, this is an old friend and fellow governor, Augusta Longbottom."


    My ears perked up when I heard the name; this must be Neville''s grandmother. I was a little surprised when I heard that she was one of the governors of Hogwarts. The books had only revealed Lucius as one of the twelve.


    Augusta silently evaluated me before turning to my grandmother, and bluntly said, "Danielle, you must be pleased with your grandson showing such skill."


    My grandmother quickly replied, "It wouldn''t matter how much potential he showed; I would be proud regardless."


    Augusta sighed and said, "It is easy to say, but harder to do."


    I quickly realized that they weren''t speaking about me, I remember from the books, that while Neville''s grandmother loved him. She always seemed disappointed that her grandson didn''t seem to measure up against his talented father.


    "So, how is Neville doing these days? Grandmother questioned.


    Augusta cracked a smile and replied, "Well, last year, Neville showed his first sign of magic. We were beginning to fear that he was a squib, but my brother Algie dropped him out the window, trying to force some magic out of him. And it worked, he bounced all the way to the garden."


    I looked at her in disbelief and thanked all the gods in the universe that I hadn''t been reborn into the Longbottom family. I mean, my uncle can be a little crazy, but if he ever did something like that, I''m pretty sure my mom would kill him and destroy the body.


    Grandmother winced when she heard the story, but said, "Well, at least now you know he will be going to Hogwarts. I know he is getting close to the age requirement, will he be attending this coming year or the following."


    Augusta continued smiling and replied, "He will be attending the following year. I just hope he doesn''t tarnish his father''s legacy."


    Man, I bet she would be happy when Neville came into his own as a wizard. In the books, he was mediocre, barely passing many of his classes until the fifth book.


    However, after the death eaters that had tortured his parents into insanity broke out of Azkaban. Neville''s unrealized willpower and potential burst out.


    A considerable component of spell casting is mental willpower, and in the fifth book, when Harry was training the D.A. Neville was so driven by his d.e.s.i.r.e for retribution that only Hermoine was able to learn spells faster.


    Speaking up, I said, "I''m sure your grandson will live up to the Longbottom name."


    Augusta grunted in response.


    Deciding to change the subject, I asked, "So, what do the governors of Hogwarts do?"


    Speaking up, my grandmother explained, "The governors don''t have many responsibilities. Our main responsibility is choosing the headmaster. And, if necessary, override the headmaster."


    Remembering that the ministry appointed Dolores Umbridge as the headmaster in the fifth book, I questioned, "I thought that the ministry would handle that."


    "No, Hogwarts predates the ministry by 700 years, and while I''m sure that the ministry would love to be able to take control and appoint whoever they wanted. Without the blessing of the governors, Hogwarts would never accept them." Augusta replied.


    Well, that might explain why Umbridge was unable to control the school or even get into the headmaster''s office.


    My grandmother continued to introduce me to each of the governors throughout the night. One thing I noticed was that each of the governors happened to be a pureblood from one of the so-called sacred twenty-eight.


    Turning to my grandmother, I asked curiously, "Is it a requirement to be a pureblood from one of the twenty-eight families to be a governor."


    She shook her head and said, "No, there have been half-blood members before. But it''s not uncommon for the governors to elect new members from ancient families."


    Hearing our conversation, Augusta added, "Besides, the so-called sacred twenty-eight is a bunch of nonsense. When Cantankerus Nott published his book back in the 1930s, he left out dozens of pureblood families off his list. Nott fancied himself a historian, and only included ancient magical clans that were mentioned in the oldest text."


    Sneering, she added, "Not to mention, several of the twenty-eight families have proudly pointed out that some of their ancestors married muggles and muggle-born wizards. And I would wager that if you go back far enough, all of the families have a muggle or two hidden in their bloodline."


    As the evening wore on, I considered everything that Augusta and my grandmother said. They had given me a lot to think about, not to mention, my view of my grandmother had changed. The way she handled the room was incredible; she was as skilled as Lucius was when it came to saying the right thing.


    At first, I thought that Malfoy''s charm had hoodwinked her, but there were subtle indications that I was able to pick up on because I knew her. I don''t think he fooled her at all, and I''m pretty sure she disliked him a great deal for what I couldn''t say.


    Thankfully, I didn''t have to deal with Draco this evening. He spent most of the evening beside his parents. It seemed like their mission was to make sure Draco made connections. I almost smiled when I considered that I was here to do the same. The rest of the evening quickly passed by, and soon it was time to head home.


    On our way back, I turned to my grandmother, and asked, "What do you think about the Malfoys?"


    She looked thoughtfully at me, and said, "The Malfoys appear to be the very definition of a proper magical family."


    Her voice trailed off, so I questioned, "Appears?"


    She sighed, and explained, "You know, during the war, there were hundreds or witches and wizards that were controlled by he-who-must-not-be-named and his followers. After the war was over, trying to sort out who had been controlled and who was nearly impossible."


    She glared back at the Malfoy estate we were leaving behind, and said, "But, I remember Jack telling me about the amount of people Lucius gathered to attend the early meetings where you-know-who was gathering support. I don''t have any evidence, but I can''t seem to shake the feeling that Lucius was a death eater. Until I''m satisfied that he was innocent, I will be keeping a watchful eye on him."


    Baring her teeth she added, "What is it they say? Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."


    Seeing the steel in my grandmother''s eyes, reminded me that she was not to be underestimated. There was an old cunning wolf lurking deep within, and it had not forgiven or forgotten the death of her mate.

 Chapter 45 - Friends

    "Duck!"


    As soon as I heard the shout I threw myself to the side, not wanting to get hit. I toppled off the bench I had been reading on and went sprawling on the wet grass.


    A red quaffle passed by where my head had been. Pushing myself off the ground, I glared up at the offender.


    "Merlin''s Beard, Alicia! You almost hit me!" I shouted, annoyed that the book I was reading was now on the ground.


    She grinned down at me from her broomstick, with her red and gold robes fluttering in the breeze.


    She grinned maliciously at me and innocently said, "Oops... I dropped it."


    She swooped down to grab the quaffle that she had ''dropped'' and pleaded, "Come on, Alex, I need someone to practice with if I''m going to make the Gryffindor team this year."


    I didn''t have the heart to tell her that she was probably only going to make the reserve team this year.


    In the books, she was on the reserve team for a year before she made the official team. Her first year was the same year that Harry got on the Gryffindor team to play seeker.


    Rolling my eyes at her antics, I pointed out, "Alicia, we can''t play with only two people, we need at least four to for a decent game."


    Flying in small circles around me, she complained, "I''m so bored."


    After cleaning off my robe, I grabbed my book and said, "We can play when Cedic and Anna get here."


    Dragging out the word, she grumbled, "Fine."


    After landing, she took a seat next to me. Looking around our backyard, she asked curiously, "How much land does your family own?"


    Sighing, I closed the book that I was trying to read. I sensed that it was going to be impossible to get any more reading done today.


    Looking around our property, I explained, "We have over a thousand acres of land. Surrounding our land is a wall that has enough spells and wards in it to prevent any muggles from sneaking in."


    Alicia looked around our property wistfully and said, "You''re so lucky to have this much open space. My family lives in a townhouse in London and we can''t even fly around unless it''s at night."


    Wincing, I sympathetically said, "That must suck, having to be so careful with your magic around muggles. Our house is chock full of magical items and if a muggle ever saw them, they would think they are going crazy."


    Having never met her parents, I questioned, "Your parents are healers. Right?"


    "Ya, they both work at St. Mungo. They''re both healers, but my dad typically works in their research division," Alicia answered.


    "What does your dad research?" I inquired.


    She rolled her eyes and said, "To hear him tell it, he is on the frontier of the fight against dark magic. But, all he really does is figure out new basic counterspells for minor curses and jinxes. People are constantly coming up with new spells known only to them and if none of the known counterspells work, he tries to figure out a new way to remove it."


    My eyebrows rose in surprise. I had known that they were healers, but hearing about her dad''s work was new. Hearing that he researched new counterspells was impressive.


    Counterspells had always interested me, especially those against dark magic. Not only was it challenging to discover new counterspells, if you did create a new way to counter a specific curse, a hundred others would spring up in its place. Trying to root out the dark arts was futile.


    I also found it curious that dark magic tended to leave behind wounds that weren''t able to fully heal. Theoretically, magic should be able to cure anything but as of yet, healing spells are limited in what they can do against dark magic. It was something I wanted to research at some point.


    "So, speaking of your parents, on a scale of 1 to 10, how upset were they?" I questioned.


    Alicia''s eyes shifted nervously, "Well, they weren''t pleased with me, and they''re not your biggest fan." She replied hesitantly.


    I grunted in acceptance and kicked at a pebble that was half-buried in the ground. It wasn''t a big surprise, we had almost been killed during the year and her parents hadn''t even met me.


    A thought occurred to me and I said, "If your parents don''t like me, I can''t imagine that they would approve of you being here. Where do they think you are?"


    She smirked and replied, "Who said they know I''m here? Besides, if I get caught I''m just going to blame you for being a bad influence."


    Speechless, I half-heartedly glared at her and pointed out, "You were the one spoiling for a fight with the Grendel, I just wanted to free the vampire and find my ring. If anyone is the bad influence, it''s you."


    Her eyes danced with mirth and she soothed, "Well, they were impressed with the special service to the school award we got. And my mother was pleased about us freeing the vampire. She has a few friends inside the vampire conclave and they were grateful for the release of one of their own."


    I glanced over at her and asked, "Were they told about the Grendel?"


    "Yes, my dad interrogated me endlessly on the matter," she answered. "He told me that long ago, there was a period in time when many wizards and witches performed similar experiments on themselves. It almost always ended horribly and eventually the magical community learned that it wasn''t a good idea to mess with such magic."


    I nodded, it made sense that the wizards and witches in the magical community would stop experimenting after so many horrible outcomes.


    While we were speaking, I heard the back door open. Turning, I saw Cedric exit wearing a set of black and yellow robes with a pair of quidditch goggles on his forehead.


    Following close behind was Anna wearing green and silver. For some reason, everyone showed up wearing their house colors. I almost made fun of them, but to my chagrin, I realized my robes were blue.


    I noticed that both of them were carrying broomsticks. It seemed like they had come prepared to play. I glanced wistfully at the book I had been reading, it appeared that I would not be finishing the book today.


    Alicia pointed at them and accused, "You''re late."


    Cedric slowed and hesitantly said, "Didn''t we agree to meet up at 2?"


    I gave Alicia a playful shove and replied, "We did. Alicia is the one who forgot and showed up an hour early."


    Alicia just grinned and asked excitedly, "Are you guys ready to play some quidditch?"


    Cedric matched her grin, motioned towards his broomstick, and taunted, "I brought my Cleansweep 9 with me. You don''t stand a chance."


    Alicia playfully sneered back and scorned, "That''s cute, bringing in your little model 9." Pointing towards her broom, she bragged, "This is a Comet 280, Good luck trying to catch me."


    Cedric narrowed his grey eyes and argued, "Speed without control is nothing, the Cleansweep brooms have always handled better than the Comets."


    Anna and I moved off to the side, taking a seat on the wooden bench, content to watch the show. This wasn''t the first time they have had this argument about which brand was superior. Anna and I always were entertained by the sparks that flew between them.


    Initially, they had both been fans of the Nimbus model, which was unquestionably better than the Cleansweep or the Comet series. But, after they all heard how the Whithorns stole my grandfather''s work, all my friends vowed never to ride a Nimbus ever again.


    While Cedric and Alicia were bickering, I turned to Anna and asked, "How has your summer been?"


    "Ugh," Anna g.r.o.a.n.e.d and turned her head so that her long blond hair made a curtain covered her face. Grumbling, she added, "I''ll bet about the same as yours. My parents were furious."


    "Hopefully, they don''t blame me too much." I hopefully said.


    Anna parted her blond hair and looked at me with her violet eyes. "Why would they blame you?" She asked


    "Alicia''s parents do. And it''s kinda my fault about how everything else went down." I pointed out.


    Anna softly smacked the back of my head and said, "Stop trying to act like the whole world revolves around you. We all decided to enter the forest, you didn''t force any of us to follow. The only actions you are responsible for are your own. Don''t try to shoulder everyone else''s mistakes. It''s condescending."


    After mulling her words over, I decided she was right. My friends weren''t mindless drones who obeyed my every whim. Their choices were their own.


    I nudged her with my shoulder and joked, "Well, I guess I can stop saying I was being stupid, and start saying we were all stupid. It''s nice to have company."


    She laughed and pointed out, "Well, I don''t know if you get to count Cedric among our company. His father was actually pleased with him; he said Cedric showed great courage and claimed that the special award we all got would help him in the future."


    I couldn''t help but roll my grey eyes at that. Cedric''s father always had ambitious plans for Cedric. Amos''s goal was to have his son become the Minister of Magic one day.


    It''s too bad that Amos hadn''t ever paid attention to what Cedric wanted to do with his life. According to Cedric, he plans on being a professional quidditch player. I didn''t care what he did as long as he was alive to do it.


    We turned our attention back to the passionate debate between Alicia and Cedric. They had moved on from ''which broomstick was better'' and were now belittling the quidditch team that the other supported.


    Anna leaned her head on my shoulder and stage whispered, "Wake me when they stop bickering."


    I smiled and replied, "I know how to end this."


    I called out in a louder voice, "I guess you guys are just not in the mood to practice."


    Alicia shot me a dirty look, while Cedric just looked sheepish at getting s.u.c.k.e.d into the same argument that they had before.


    "So, how are we doing this? Boys against girls?" Alicia eagerly questioned.


    Shrugging, I replied, "We can do that, but if your goal is making the team this year. I would suggest doing more specific training for whatever position you''re seeking rather than just playing a casual game."


    Eyeing me thoughtfully, Cedric asked, "What do you suggest?"


    I gestured towards Anna sitting next to me and replied, "How about we get some advice from the daughter of a professional quidditch player. I''m sure she can come up with a better plan than I ever could."


    Anna''s ears burned red at my compliment. "Well, what position do you guys want to play?" She questioned.


    Without hesitation, Cedric replied, "Seeker."


    I could tell Alicia was tempted to say the same, but after a moment of consideration she answered, "I think I want to try out for chaser."


    Anna mulled over their choices for a moment, then turned to Cedric and explained, "You probably have the easiest training method. The seeker only has one job: retrieve the Golden Snitch. While it''s one of the most difficult positions, it has the advantage of having a straight forward training method. Maybe we can get a Golden Snitch for you to practice with."


    A memory of a Harry soaring through the sky chasing a small glass object surfaced in my mind. "Well, I don''t have a snitch, but I have an idea."


    I reached down and grabbed a small rock off the ground. I pulled out my wand and pointed it at the rock and chanted, "Speculo."


    The rock morphed into a small glass ball. I tossed the glass ball towards Cedric and said, "Think fast."


    Cedric snatched the glass ball and looked at me in shock.


    "What?" I asked.


    Anna looked at me in panic and said in a strangled voice, "You just broke the law on underage magic. The Ministry can track your magic. You could be expelled from Hogwarts."


    Hearing their fears, I laughed and said, "Didn''t I ever tell you about how the Trace works?"


    They all shook their heads, so I explained, "The Ministry can only detect magic around the Trace. They can''t tell who cast the spell. As long as you''re at home, they will assume that any magic detected is from your family."


    Cedric thought about it for a moment and pointed out, "It seems like this rule was invented to monitor muggleborns."


    I nodded and said, "You''re right. But remember, most of the rules that the Ministry enforces has to do with maintaining the International Statute of Secrecy."


    After hearing about how the Trace worked, Anna and Cedric both seemed relieved. The only one who didn''t look surprised about how the Trace worked was Alicia.


    Wanting to get back on topic, I drew Cedric''s attention back to the glass ball and explained, "If you can see and catch that in the air, you shouldn''t have any issue finding a golden snitch."


    After hearing about Cedric''s training, Alicia looked excited to hear what was in store for her. She looked and Anna and said, "What about me?"


    Anna paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, and said, "Although the chaser position seems less demanding than the seeker, it''s actually a very demanding position. You''ll need to learn to coordinate your movements with your fellow chasers and how to pass the quaffle between yourselves. Also, you''ll need to know how to block and steal the quaffle from the opposing team. All while dodging angry bludgers that are trying to smash you."


    "What should I focus on?" Alicia questioned.


    "For now, I would suggest focusing on practicing coordinating with other players," Anna suggested. "We can practice passing the ball back and forth while Alex plays interference."


    Eager to begin practicing, Alicia and Cedric hopped on their brooms and took to the sky. I turned to Anna and complimented, "You''re pretty good at this. Are you going to try out for the Slytherin team?"


    Anna shook her head and said, "No, I love quidditch, but it''s not something I''m interested in doing. I know from my dad just how much time it takes to be a quidditch player."


    "I know what you mean," I responded.


    Seeing Alicia impatiently flying above us, I continued, "Well, we better get going. Otherwise, I think Alicia is going to lose it."


    We both hopped on our brooms and took to the skies. Alicia and Anna started by practicing passing the ball between them while I tried to steal the quaffle from them.


    To help Cedric, I would toss the small glass ball and watch him chase it down. He would often lose track of it and let the ball shatter on the ground, forcing me to make a pile of replacements.


    After a few hours of practice, we were all covered in sweat and exhausted. We decided to call it a day and they all headed home after Anna and I agreed to help them practise a few days each week.

 Chapter 46 - Summers End

    The following evening, I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom trying to find the correct mental state for occlumency.


    With my eyes shut, I tried to shut out my thoughts, memories, emotions, and anything else that would distract me. I needed to master myself. The books that I read suggested that this a unique process. No two people would learn occlumency the same way.


    Unfortunately, I started getting bored. Letting my thoughts drift away into nothingness was difficult for me. I wasn''t used to not doing anything, and I decided that I didn''t enjoy it.


    Soon, my mind wandered as my memories of my life started surfacing. At one point, I thought I felt something within me change when suddenly I was brought back to the present. A noise from the door behind me slightly creaked as it was slowly opened.


    I was a little annoyed at being interrupted, but then I smirked when I realized what was happening. Rebecca or Sasha were trying to sneak up on me. I guessed that it was Rebecca, she had been getting ornery lately.


    Slowly, I slid out my wand, not wanting to give away I that I was onto her. Quickly, I turned and saw Rebecca crouched a few feet away, getting ready to pounce on me.


    Pointing my wand at her, I chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."


    Rebecca yelped as she floated into the air, "Cheater." She accused.


    Her black hair dangled as she floated in midair helplessly. She tried to grab my bedpost, unable to grab hold of it. She put her hands on her h.i.p.s and demanded, "Put me down."


    While I was smirking at Rebecca, my left knee almost gave out as it was tackled from behind. Looking down, I found Sasha attached to my leg. I think that between Sasha and Rebecca, she was the more clever one. She sent her sister in as a distraction so she could try and ambush me.


    "Got you," she bragged.


    Nodding gravely, I replied, "You did. However, I don''t think you thought this through."


    I put one hand on her shoulder and with my other, I showed her my wand. Seeing her confusion, I explained, "Now that you ''got me,'' I seem to have you as well."


    She protested, "But, I won. I got you."


    Smirking, I cheekily replied, "You did, but haven''t you learned? I cheat."


    After a quick chant, Sasha joined her sister in the air. "Now, what should I so with the two of you?" I mused.


    Rebecca''s blue eyes flashed in adorable anger, and she loudly demanded, "Put us down."


    I paused and carefully considering her demand, then replied with a simple, "No."


    Taking a softer approach, Sasha pleaded with sad wide eyes. "Please."


    I smirked at her and said, "You should stop using your puppy dog eyes so often. I think I''m becoming immune."


    As I considered what to do to them, an old birthday memory concerning my uncle surfaced within my mind. With a malevolent grin, I said, "I know just what to do to the two of you."


    Pointing my wand at them, I quickly chanted, "Rictusempra."


    A silver stream of light burst forth from my wand and hit Rebecca. She started laughing uncontrollably as the tickling charm took effect.


    Sasha sensing that she was next looked at me in fear.


    I flicked my wand in her direction and sent the same spell at her,


    They both hung in midair, laughing as the spell tickled them both. Once I felt that the lesson had been learned, I asked, "Who isn''t going to sneak into their brother''s room anymore."


    Eager to stop the torment, Sasha pleaded, "Me."


    Turning to Rebecca, I looked at my fingernails and said, "Anything you want to say?"


    For a moment, I thought she wasn''t going to relent. But then, she gasped, "Me too."


    Deciding that they learned their lesson, I maneuvered them over my bed and dropped them abruptly. They both made identical squeals as they fell and landed.


    Rebecca and Sasha both bounced off the bed and ran from the room, as they exited, Rebecca called out, "We''ll get you next time."


    ***


    The next day, my dad pulled me odd to the side after breakfast and said, "Do you remember the project I started last year?"


    "Of course, how is project firebolt?" I asked.


    He grinned and replied, "There is still a lot of work to be done. But, I thought that you might like to come to the shop to take a look at the progress I''ve made."


    Eagerly I replied, "Of course, I can''t wait to see what you''ve been up to."


    Overhearing our plans, Mum chimed in, "Perfect. You both can pick up your books and supplies for the coming year."


    When we made it Fawley''s Wonderous Enchantments, dad led me to the workshop in the back.


    The workshop was the same as I remembered it. Lining the walls were tables full of items that my dad regular enchanted. In the center was his warding circle, where he experimented with new enchantments.


    Ignoring everything else in the room, dad led me to the table on the far wall. It had been cleared except for several different broom designs.


    Dad reached down and picked up one of the racing brooms and informed me, "The others are earlier concepts."


    Dad handed the broom to me and added, "But this prototype is the one that I have settled on."


    As I ran my fingers over the polished ebony wood, I marveled at the design. The broom had a slight curve built into it, making it look sleek and aerodynamic.


    "How close is it to being finished?" I asked.


    Dad rubbed my head affectionately and replied, "Well, there is still a lot of work to be done before it''s ready."


    "Like what?" I questioned.


    "Well, one of the main issues is that I still need to modify a unique and faster flight charm." Dad explained, "I can''t just stick any old flight charm on the firebolt. We need the enchantment to be better and faster than any other broom."


    I nodded my understanding and asked, "What spells have you worked out so far?"


    Grinning at me, Dad asked, "What do you think is the most important aspect of a racing broom?"


    After considering his question for a moment, I replied, "Acceleration."


    Wagging his finger at me, Dad replied, "Not a bad guess. That is probably the second or third most important thing."


    Gesturing towards the broom in my hand, Dad continued, "The most important thing is stopping quickly."


    I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "Stopping? That doesn''t seem like it is the most important thing. I think that speed and acceleration are a little more important."


    With a wide grin, Dad explained, "Think about this, the quidditch field is only so big, so rarely do players reach their top speed. Now consider how often quidditch players have to change direction. They have to change directions constantly, and the faster you''re traveling, the wider and longer turn you have to make. Now, imagine being able to stop almost instantly and then bolting off in a different direction."


    Taking the broom from me, Dad fondly said, "What I have created is an unbreakable braking charm that is so effective that it allows for a near-instantaneous stop, allowing the flyer to turn and take off instantly in another direction."


    Dad pointed towards the metal on the back-half of the broom, and continued, "The braking charm was so strong, that I needed to add goblin ironwork to the broom to stabilize the whole thing."


    Curious, I asked, "Now that you''ve done that, are you going to work on your flight charm next?"


    Dad shook his head and explained, "No, next is the maneuvering charm. I want the enchantment to be so s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e and precise, that the broom seemingly responds to the flyer''s every whim. After I work out that charm, I will move onto the flight charm and all the other enchantments that will be going into the broom."


    I sighed in frustration. It was going to take forever for this to be finished, and I couldn''t wait till it was finished. The books never said when the firebolt was created, but considering Harry got one in his third year, it should be completed sometime in 1993. It will be interesting to see if the timeline will be altered at all because of me.


    Once dad had finished showing me the progress, he took me out to pick up my school supplies for the coming year. Thankfully, it didn''t take as long as the previous year.


    It seemed that shopping without mum made the whole process a lot smoother. When I mentioned this to dad, he told me never to tell mum, unless I wanted to get hexed.


    As the summer continued, I continued to divide my time between meditating, practicing my magic, hanging out with my friends, and spending time with my family.


    Time flew by, and soon it was September, and it was time to go back to Hogwarts.

 Chapter 47 - Return to Hogwarts

    The day I was to head back to Hogwarts was similar to the previous year. There was a flurry of activity around the house as I packed and moved all my things.


    "Hurry up Alex, or we will be late," mum pleaded as she passed by my bedroom.


    "I''ve almost got everything packed." In my bedroom, I hastily stuffed a few more things inside my trunk, and just as I was getting ready to call out that I was ready. Athena meowed at me, trying to get my attention from the other side of the room.


    I looked over and found her sitting on my dresser next to a seemingly empty ceramic plant vase. Once I saw the jar next to her, I glared at it in suspicion. I could have sworn that I meant to pack that away last night. But, it seems as if the bearded mushroom had cleverly made me forget about its presence.


    Fl.i.c.k.i.n.g my wand towards the invisible mushroom and muttered, "Trickly little bastard aren''t you?"


    With a quick spell, I sent it zooming across the room, and once it was tucked safely inside my trunk, I headed downstairs with my trunk floating behind me.


    I found my mum tapping her foot impatiently at the front door. She gave me a look over before nodding her approval and called out, "Sasha! Rebecca! Hurry up. We''re waiting on you."


    While we were waiting, I pulled out Athena''s collar from my robe. Kneeling, I attached it to her neck. She narrowed her green eyes and hissed her disapproval as her black horns and dark blue wings were magically tucked away.


    "I know little one. But if you don''t have it on, you can''t come with me to Hogwarts." Wanting to reassure her, I added, "Besides, I will make sure you get the chance to stretch your wings."


    Athena chuffed her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, so I picked her up and put her on her my shoulder. Ever since she had forced herself to grow the previous year, she had been grown almost too big for my shoulder.


    As Athena kneaded my shoulder pleased at being in her favorite perch, Rebecca and Sasha came trudging down the stairs.


    "We want to go to Hogwarts." They declared in unison.


    I chuckled at their proclamation. It seemed that the twins believed if they demanded it, it would happen.


    "Girls, we had this conversation before. You''re only six years old, and you have another five years before you''re old enough to go to school." Mum patiently explained.


    "But, we want to go now." Sasha wined.


    "Time goes by faster than you think. Before you know it, you''ll be eleven and ready for school. I bobbed her on the nose and added, "Just think. When you two start school, I''ll be in my sixth year."


    "Hmph." She sniffed and turned her head away.


    Once we had all gathered, we made our way out to the road, and dad signaled for the knight bus.


    Once the bus had arrived and we all loaded up, it took off and after a few quick stops, we arrived at the train station in London.


    Once we found the platform between nine and ten, I quickly pushed my cart of belongs towards the brick column that led to the platform nine and three quarters.


    On the other side, the platform was full of students and parents saying their goodbyes. After my family joined me on the other side, I turned to my mum and confirmed, "No singing birthday cards this year, right?"


    Her eyes shifted, and I complained, "Mum, we talked about this."


    "I don''t see what''s wrong with showering my son with affection on his birthday," She protested.


    I turned to dad for backup, and he said, "Honey, we agreed, no singing birthday cards."


    "Fine, I promise no singing letters." She agreed with a smile.


    I felt like she accepted the ban too quickly, so I added, "Or any other colorful displays of affections that may embarrass me."


    Mum''s face flushed in embarrassment, giving away that she had been planning on getting around the ban by being creative.


    Knowing it would be months before I would see my sisters again, I bent down and scooped them into a hug and whispered, "I''m going to miss you two troublemakers. Be good for mum and dad, and I''ll see you at Christmas."


    I had to pry Rebecca and Sasha off of me, and I gave mum and dad a hug goodbye as well. Going back to Hogwarts was always a bittersweet experience.


    As I pushed my way through the crowd towards the Hogwarts Express, I heard a voice call out, "Hey Alex."


    Turning, I saw Alicia standing next to two a.d.u.l.ts who I assumed were her parents.


    The size difference in her parents almost made me smile. Her dad was tall, well over six feet, and her mum was rather short, standing only a few inches over five feet.


    As I approached them, Alicia said, "Mum, Dad, this is my friend Alex."


    As soon as her dad heard my name, his nostrils flared out in annoyance. He glared at me with his dark eyes and grunted, "Hmph."


    Her mum was a little more diplomatic and said, "It''s nice to meet one of


    Alicia''s friends."


    I smiled at her Egyptian accent. It reminded me of my Aunt''s way of speaking English.


    Wanting to improve my standing in her eyes. I greeted in Arabic, "It''s nice to meet you, Mrs. Spinnet."


    Alicia''s mum smiled at me and said, "I''m glad Alicia had found some friends at school."


    "It would be better if those friends didn''t put my daughter in danger." Mr. Spinnet grumbled under his breath.


    Alicia elbowed her dad in annoyance, "Well, it nice that you guy met." She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back towards the train and called out, "Love you. See you in December."


    "Nice to meet you two," I added.


    When we got on the Hogwarts Express, we tried to track down the compartment that Cedric and Anna were reserving.


    Seeing that Cedric was the only inside, I questioned, "Where is Anna?"


    He shrugged, "She said she would be back soon."


    Soon after we got settled, the train loudly whistled, indicating the upcoming departure. About 10 minutes after the train started rolling, Anna showed back up and took a seat next to Alicia.


    She reached over and picked Athena up and started spoiling her immediately.


    The one thing that s.u.c.k.e.d about the Hogwarts Express was the time it took to travel from London to Hogwarts. It was in-between six and seven hours, in a world with apparition, port keys, and the floo network. One would think that there would be a more efficient way to get students to Hogwarts. After all, Hogsmeade is a purely magical town right outside Hogwarts where they could have students arrive.


    When I voiced my complaints to my friends, Anna argued, "I kinda like it. It gives students a chance to reunite with their friends."


    "I''m with Alex on this," Alicia asserted, "Where did the Hogwarts Express come from? Who built it?"


    Everyone turned their eyes to me for answers. "That''s easy to answer." I paused for dramatic effect, and explained, "We stole it."


    "How could you possibly know that?" Anna demanded.


    I smirked and replied, "One of these days, I need to introduce you guys to the painting of one of my ancestors by the name of Anton. He was still around when the train was acquired."


    "So how did they do it?" Cedric asked.


    Repeating what my Anton told me, I explained, "According to Anton, the whole idea was Minister Ottaline Gambol. Apparently, she was intrigued by the Muggle invention and saw the potential in trains. She conducted an operation that needed one hundred and sixty-seven memory charms as well as the biggest concealment charm ever performed in Britain. They ended up stashing the train at Hogsmeade, but then to their chagrin, they realized it was useless without a railway and station."


    Anna laughed and said, "I bet those muggles never got over it, memory charm or not."


    Around halfway through the trip, the compartment door slid open. I turned to see Micheal Whithorn standing in Gryffindor robes, with a few of his cronies standing behind him.


    I noticed that his long brown hair had been sheared off into a buzz cut. "I know it was you." he angrily hissed.


    "I''m afraid I don''t know what you mean," I replied in my most fake innocent voice.


    "I spent three days at St. Mungos before they figured out a mask was causing my hallucinations. My dad thought I was a nutter!" He roared.


    Anna snorted, and Micheal turned his angry eyes towards her. Before he could say anything to her, I quipped, "It sounds like you got a little taste of karma. Maybe you should think about that, the next time you feel the urge to take what belongs to others."


    Micheal turned his dark eyes back towards me. I saw his hand twitch towards his robe for a second, not about to be ambushed again. I stood up and flexed my wrist, shooting my aspen wand into my hand.


    Sneering at him, I said, "Try it. I dare you."


    Right as an impromptu duel was about to break out, a silky voice interrupted, "What do we have here? Are you two trying to match the redheaded twins in getting detention before school even starts?"


    Coming down the railcar hallway, was a tall, pale black-haired teenager with a green and silver Slytherin prefect badge attached to his black robes.


    As he took in the scene, he drawled, "Didn''t you understand me? Get lost, or I''ll put you in detention."


    Micheal gave me one last furious look and promised, "This isn''t over."


    As he and his friends stormed off, I mocked, "Anytime."


    I turned to see the Slytherin prefect eyeing my aspen wand with his green eyes. After I put the wand away, I said, "Thanks,"


    He turned and gave a lazy wave, "Just doing my job, I''m sure we''ll meet again.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed on his left hand was a familiar looking ring with a silver spear engraved on it. I looked back at him in curiosity. This was the third time I had seen that particular type of ring. Once, one the hand of a wizard at the dueling regionals in Brazil, and the other at Madam Yu''s shop in China.


    Distracting me from my thoughts, Anna giggled, "What did you do to Micheal?"


    Grinning evilly, "I put a cursed mask on him the night before we left. It makes you start seeing things, and the longer you have it on, the stronger the hallucinations get. All you have to do to remove the curse is to take off the mask. I was counting on it taking a while to figure out because it isn''t very common curse used in Europe."


    I dug out the article written by Rita Skeeter detailing Micheal''s freakout and the embarrassment to the Nimbus Racing Broom Company. Everyone got a kick out of the story and laughed.


    The rest of the journey proceeded without incident. I had been expecting Fred and George to make an appearance, but it seems as they were too busy being in trouble.


    We all slipped on our Hogwarts robes right before we arrived. Unlike the previous year, when we took the boats across the lake. This year, we would be taking the carriages pulled by the thestrals.


    When we all got off the train, we could hear Hagrid directing the first years to the lake as he did for us the previous year. We selected an empty carriage and loaded our luggage inside.


    I found it a little curious that I couldn''t see the thestrals pulling the carriage. Most of my memories from my previous life had faded away, but I vaguely remember seeing people die at the hospital.


    I wonder if it''s because it was a previous life and not in this life. I mentally shrugged, magic was weird like that.


    As the carriage pulled us away, Cedric said, "I can''t wait for the opening feast."


    I nodded, "Ya, the welcoming feast is impressive. It will be interesting to see the opening ceremony from a new perspective."


    When we arrived at the great hall, we all went our separate ways. I saw Roger Davis waving at me from the Ravenclaw table. He was sitting next to our other roommates, William and Ryan. They had saved me a seat next to them.


    At the front of the Hall, I saw all of our professors excluding Professor McGonagall sitting at their table. Soon, she entered with all the first years, and sorting hat gave a similar speech as the previous year.


    The sorting ceremony seemed to move along fairly quickly. It''s funny, when I was a first-year, I seem to remember it taking longer to finish.


    After the last name had been called, Professor Dumbledore stood and said, "It''s good to see all your familiar faces, as well as all the new ones. Before we begin the feast, I think we should begin the year with our welcoming Hogwarts song."


    Professor Dumbledore took a deep breath and began waving his arms as if he were conducting a symphony, and the whole hall erupted in song,


    "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,


    Teach us something, please,


    Whether we be old and bald


    Or young with scabby knees,


    Our heads could do with filling


    With some interesting stuff,


    For now they''re b.a.r.e and full of air,


    Dead flies and bits of fluff,


    So teach us things worth knowing,


    Bring back what we''ve forgot,


    Just do your best, we''ll do the rest,


    And learn until our brains all rot."


    Professor Dumbledore''s blue eyes twinkled in delight. As if there were nothing in the whole world that he would rather be doing.


    Clearing his throat, Professor Dumbledore said, "Now, that we had some fun, it falls to me to bring up a few rules that students seem to forget every year. I would once again like to remind everyone that spell casting in the hallways is not permitted."


    Students throughout the hall twittered in amus.e.m.e.nt, the day they can stop a thousand students from misbehaving would probably signal the end of the world.


    "Also, I would like to remind our students to stay out of the Forbidden Forest." Professor Dumbledore''s blue eyes seemed to meet mine, and I flushed in embarrassment.


    Professor Dumbledore went on to mention a few more rules, before he said, "Alright, that''s enough rambling from this old coot. It''s time to get to what everyone had been waiting for, let the feast begin."

 Chapter 41 - 1 Month

    I glared at my bedroom walls in frustration. It had been a month since I had returned from school, well to be exact, twenty-nine days. I was keeping track because I had mostly been imprisoned in my room since I''d come home.


    The day I arrived home, I knew my mom was upset, and I had been expecting one of our verbal spars. But, what I got was a no-hold-barred ambush of epic proportions.


    Apparently, my mom took exception to her son risking his life for a ring, and it seems Professor Dumbledore included the minor detail of me pulling the cave ceiling down on my head to take out the Grendel. Needless to say, my mom had not been amused.


    I had been banned from leaving the house for a month, no visiting my friends, or flying over our property. It seems like she didn''t trust me because she hexed my windows, preventing me from sneaking out.


    The first week I didn''t mind, I was perfectly happy to stay in my room and practice my magic. When she discovered how little I cared, she confiscated my wand and books leaving me little to do other than stare at the walls in frustration.


    I tried to work my occlumency by meditating, but there is only so much meditating that one can do without losing one''s mind. I hadn''t had any success in reaching the state described by the book, but I knew that this was going to be a long process. Thankfully my imprisonment would be over tomorrow, and I would be free once more.


    The following day, my mom reluctantly returned my wand and books to me. I had planned on heading to Cedric''s house, but I got stuck watching Sasha and Rebecca while our parents went to visit my uncle.


    When I had heard where they were going, I asked to come along. But, for some strange reason, my dad vehemently refused to allow me to go with them.


    Pulling me from my thoughts, I felt Rebecca tug on my arm and childishly demand, "Do some magic."


    I turned and looked down at the twins who had turned six recently. Rebecca was staring at me with a cute, defiant look on her face. Sasha, on the other hand, had gone down a different route. She was trying to make herself too adorable for me to refuse their request.


    Ever since I had gotten home, Sasha had taken to carrying Athena around as if she was convinced that Athena couldn''t manage to get around.


    Pulling out my wand, I grinned and asked, "Want to see a magic trick?"


    Both of them nodded eagerly, so I tapped Rebecca on the head and said, "Aurantium Dulcis."


    Immediately her black hair turned a horrible looking orange color, and Sasha almost dropped Athena and let out a large gasp in surprise.


    Curious about what I had done, Rebecca turned and looked into a mirror. When she saw her hair, she screamed, "What did you do? "


    Glaring at me, she demanded, "Turn it back."


    With a Chesire cat grin, I innocently said, "What? I thought you wanted to see some magic."


    Grinning, I turned to Sasha and asked, "Did you want to see some magic as well."


    Sasha quickly shook her head and held Athena out in front of her as a shield, worried that I may turn my wand on her.


    Rebecca looked back at me and asked fearfully, "Is it permanent?"


    I shook my head and said, "Of course not, I would never do something like that."


    A relieved look appeared on her face, and she asked, "So when does it wear off."


    With an evil grin, I said, "All you have to do is cut off your hair, it will grow back normally."


    Tears pooled in her eyes, and she w.h.i.n.ed, "No... I don''t want to cut my hair off."


    Seeing her tears, made me sense that I might have taken the joke a little to far. So, I smiled at her and said, "I''m kidding. It only lasts for about ten minutes."


    It was funny how quickly her tears disappeared, and I looked at her suspiciously. It seemed like she was able to call out those tears whenever she needed to make someone feel guilty. Is this skill all little sisters develop to manipulate their big brothers? If so, I''m going to have to up my game.


    Later that night, at the dining room table, my dad said, "Alex, after dinner, I want you to go clean up the library."


    I looked at him in confusion. I don''t think I have ever been required to clean up a room. Hell, if one of us tried, Lola, our house elf, would burst into tears, thinking she hadn''t done a good enough job.


    When I got to the family library, I looked around in confusion. The place was spotless as usual. I sighed when I heard a faint sniffle coming from outside.


    "Come on in Lola," I called out.


    A tiny elf peered her head out from around the corner, with big tears leaking from her large eyes. She tearfully asked, "Did Lola mess up cleaning the library?"


    I knew that I had to be careful, if I said the wrong thing, she might try and punish herself. Carefully I said, "No, Lola, look at this place it is spotless, I don''t think it''s ever been so clean before."


    Half-sobbing, Lola stuttered, "But, Master Henry said that... that... you needed to clean the library, that is Lola''s duty."


    While I was annoyed at my father, a thought occurred to me. Musing out loud, I said, "Ya, he did."


    Looking around the library in suspicion, my father doesn''t do anything without reason. He would have known that what he said would have made Lola upset, and he wouldn''t have done that without cause. There was something in here that he wanted me to find, and he intended Lola to help me find it.


    "Lola," I said.


    With her ears drooping in sadness, Lola said, "Yes, master Alex?"


    "I think my father left me to find something in here. Is there anything in here out of place?"


    As she looked around the room, Lola''s eyes came to rest on the far shelf. She pointed at the shelf and m.o.a.n.e.d, "Oh no. There is a book out of place."


    She tried to start smacking her head, "Bad Lola. Bad Lola."


    I grabbed her arms quickly, and soothed, "You didn''t do anything wrong, Lola. You just helped me out a great deal."


    She stopped trying to bang and said, "Lola did good?"


    I smiled at her and said, "That''s right. I needed this book, and you found it for me. You''re the best house-elf ever, way better than the ones at Hogwarts."


    Tears of joy swiftly replaced tears of sadness as Lola proudly said, "It is my honor to be of service master Alex."


    She poofed out of the library, no doubt running off to complete other duties around the house. I wasn''t going to try and interfere with her; I had learned my lesson years ago. House-elves were a weird bunch; they seem happiest when they''re helping.


    On the shelf dealing with enchantments, there was a book that didn''t match up with the others. It described several strange creatures from the far east, such as Beholders, Illithids, Mind Flayers, and several others.


    All the creatures in the book seemed to have a unifying theme. They were all magical creatures that could use legilimency in one form or another. Some of these creatures often used Legilimency to infiltrate the minds of others and can trick play tricks.


    Some of the creatures described were extremely dangerous and were immediately exterminated when found, while others were less so and were allowed to thrive in areas where muggles couldn''t reach.


    Several magical governments in the east had employed a small group dedicated to this task. They were each a master in the art of mental defense and were trained to deal with these tricky creatures.


    Wizards and witches skilled enough to use legilimency were extremely rare. Even rarer were those who could take legilimency to another level and influence the mind of a person. So, these groups used a reasonably harmless creature to train themselves.


    The creature they used was a bearded mushroom; it was a cross between a plant and a creature. It used legilimency as a defensive tactic, tricking the minds of anyone near it that it didn''t exist.


    I was surprised to learn that there were creatures out there who could use legilimency in this way.


    A surge of excitement shot through me; this is how I would know if I was making progress when training with occlumency. If I got to the point where I could be in the presence of this creature and were able to detect it, then that would mean I had made significant progress.


    My father must have secretly searched my trunk and found all the books on occulmency that I copied from the Room of Requirement. He would have known that I couldn''t implement any plans to request for help, so he sidestepped the entire issue.


    I had wondered why my mom confiscated all my books; it must have been at my dad''s suggestion. I wondered if the magic binding me would prevent me from asking my uncle to track down one of these creatures for me.


    As I left the library with the book, I saw my dad in the family room. Without saying anything, I gave him a wordless hug, and he patted me on the back and said, "I know what you have to do is hard, but if anyone can do it, you can."


    I tried to tell him that I would complete the trial and make him proud, but I was unable to do so; any mention of the trial was forbidden. I think he understood when he saw my frustrated expression. And considering that he also took part in the trial, he must understand exactly what I was going through.


    The following day, I was planning on visiting my uncle to see if he had any connections in the east. I got a little sidetracked during breakfast when I saw a small article written by Rita Skeeter in the back of the Daily Prophet.


    Shadow over Nimbus Racing Broom Company.


    The future of the broomstick racing at risk! This brave reporter has discovered the truth first hand. The son of Delvin Whithorn, wizard tycoon that took the racing world by storm, has recently been admitted to the mental ward at St. Mungo Hospital. An insider has informed me that Micheal Whithorn was admitted after raving about ghosts haunting his every move. A source in the council of ghostly affairs told me that he is outraged at the accusation, and that is is more probable that Micheal is mentally disturbed. One must wonder if Delvin Whithorn is making sure that the future owner of such a large business is capable of running the business.


    The article made me laugh; it seems that the mask that I planted on Micheal, had led to him embarrassing his father. I bet that he wasn''t in there for very long, it wouldn''t be difficult for a healer to tell that a cursed mask was on him.


    I grabbed a copy of the article for my uncle. I figured that he would get a kick out of the story. Once I got permission, I headed towards the vanishing cabinet that led to his ship; I had a lot I needed to discuss with him.

 Chapter 42 - Yu Yan

    Stepping through the vanishing cabinet, I arrived on Uncle John''s boat. Knowing that everyone was probably waiting for me upstairs, I made my way through the ship.


    When I got to the top deck, I found Aunt Nefret quickly speaking with an African witch I didn''t recognize. When they saw me arrive, Aunt Nefret whispered something to the witch, who nodded, turned into a graceful black heron, and flew off. Once she had exited the boundary of the spell that prevented apparition, she disappeared with a loud crack.


    As I watched her fly off, I couldn''t help but imagine wistfully what my animagus would be. I should try to make sure to master the patronus spell this year, to find out what my animal form was. If it was something stupid like a bug, I might not even bother.


    It was slightly annoying that Professor McGonagall refused to teach anyone how to become an animagus until the sixth year. I know that there were risks to the spell, but I was willing to take them.


    Aunt Nefret smiled when she saw my expression and asked knowingly, "Wishing you had an animagus form?"


    Grumpily, I explained, "Professor McGonagall, our transfiguration professor refuses to teach anyone to become an animagus until the 6th year."


    Aunt Nefret nodded and said, "I''m sure that she merely has your safety in mind. Although your sixth year seems a little excessive, then again, there are only seven registered animaguses in Europe. So she probably doesn''t have much experience teaching students the spell and wants to make sure that you stay safe. There are no do-overs in the animagus spell; if something goes wrong, it''s permanent."


    Seeing how I wasn''t convinced, she hesitantly added, "You know, Uagadou has a student exchange program for students in their fourth year. It last for six months, I think you would find it interesting, and most of our students become animaguses in the third and fourth year."


    Hearing about an opportunity to visit the oldest magical institution in the world made my eyes widen. "That''s a great idea," I replied.


    The only thing that s.u.c.k.e.d was I would have to wait two more years, but at least I still have a lot I need to accomplish that will keep me busy.


    While we were talking, Uncle John appeared suddenly back onto the boat, holding a glass jar. Knowing that you couldn''t apparate on the ship, I asked curiously, "Is that a port-key?


    Uncle John nodded and said, "I never leave the ship without one; one never knows when they may need a quick exit. And what''s nice about them is that they can penetrate protective enchantments, if you set them up beforehand."


    I mentally added yet another thing I wanted to learn about, at this rate, I will never finish my list.


    Taking a seat at the table, Uncle John leaned forward and said, "So, tell me all about your first year at Hogwarts. And make sure to include all the vampire business I heard about."


    When I got to the part of my feud with Micheal, I thought I saw my uncle''s eye twitch. I paused to give him a chance to respond, but he motioned for me to continue. In the end, he let me finish the entire story without interrupting once.


    When I finished speaking, Uncle John sighed heavily and said, "You know Alex, ever since you were little, you have been way ahead of the curve. Your parents and I have always known you were going to be a great wizard, and being able to break a ward at your age only reinforces that."


    Looking at me with a worried gaze, he continued, "I''m not going to lecture you. But, let me give you some advice that I wish I had gotten at your age. Your problem right now is your pride; you''ve let your abilities go to your head. I have seen many strong wizards brought low by their pride, and if you''re not careful, your enemies will use that against you."


    Sensing my embarrassment, he changed the subject and said, "So, tell me about this mask."


    I slid over the article describing Micheal''s freakout. When my uncle read it, he laughed maliciously and said, "Oh, I bet his father is furious."


    Looking me in the eye, he said, "Considering that you practically taunted him, unless this Micheal is an idiot, he is probably aware that it was you who did it."


    I shrugged, and said, "My friends and I can handle Micheal and his idiotic lackeys. The only thing I am slightly wary of is pushing him so far that his grandfather gets involved."


    Uncle John snorted and explained, "You are assuming that their family is close. From what I know, Delvin is a complete disappointment to his father. There is a reason why he isn''t involved in his father''s syndicate. Delcan''s true heir is his daughter. And while he hasn''t entirely written off his grandson, the last thing Micheal or his father would do is go and complain to Declan that a first-year wizard got the better of him. Hell, he would probably be happy someone was challenging him, and he would expect Micheal to crush you with his own strength."


    Hearing about their strange family dynamic surprised me. I knew that this meant that Micheal would probably be desperate in his d.e.s.i.r.e to put me in my place this year.


    Mentally I sneered, I wasn''t afraid of Micheal, the best chance he had to deal with me had been in my first year. I was learning more and more every day, and soon, I would surpass him in every way.


    As we continued talking, eventually, I brought up the reason why I was here. "Uncle John," I said, "I need a favor, I''m looking to get my hands on a bearded mushroom."


    Uncle John held up a hand and said, "Your father sent word over a week ago, and I''ve already found a seller that we can trust."


    Eager, I asked, "Where."


    Wagging his eyebrows, Uncle John said, "How do you feel about popping over to Shanghai for a bit."


    After a quick trip through the ancient water-ways, soon, the ship was near the coast of China. When we arrived, it was dark out, allowing us to fly in on broomsticks.


    When we arrived, we hailed a cab, and my uncle gave the cabbie a destination. As we made our way through the city, we ended up stopping what looked like a run-down pawnshop.


    When we went inside, Uncle John greeted an older Chinese man with a nod and motioned for me to follow as he walked to the back. As my uncle approached the back, he pulled his wand and drew a glowing Chinese character upon the wall.


    The character seemed to sink into the wall, revealing a door to another shop. Inside was an older Chinese woman with a gruesome scar running down her cheek, sitting behind a glass counter.


    Looking around, the shop reminded me of Burgin and Burkes. There was an assortment of random things scattered throughout the shop. Figuring that some of the objects were probably cursed, I made sure not to touch anything.


    Uncle John said something to the lady in Chinese and made a motion towards me. The lady looked at me and replied in English, "John, its been too long since you''ve visited my shop. Who is this youngster."


    Uncle John put his hand on my shoulder and explained, "This is my nephew, Alexander."


    Motioning towards the scarred lady, he said, "Alex, this is Yu Yan. She is an old... friend."


    Curious, I asked, "How do you know her?"


    "You remember when I told you that I threw myself into dueling. Well, Yu Yan handled my introduction to a dueling master named Fei Hong, who I trained with for about a year."


    Impressed, I gave the women another look. I had just assumed she was a shopkeeper. I needed to keep in mind that appearances can be deceiving, a smiling old lady could be just as dangerous as anyone.


    On my second glance, I noticed that she had a familiar-looking ring on one of her fingers. The ring had a silver spear etched into it, I racked my memory, trying to remember where I had seen the other ring. After a moment, I remember the wizard from the dueling tournament in South America. I had noticed that he had on a ring with a silver spear on it while he was explaining the rules for dueling.


    While I was trying to figure out their connection, Yu Yan grinned toothily at Uncle John and said, "Master Fei Hong, misses you. He always said you were one of his most entertaining students."


    Uncle John slightly reddened and quickly changed the subject, "We''re here because I need a bearded mushroom."


    Yu Yan wagged her finger and sincerely replied, "Johnny, you know should know that the ministry restricts the sales of class three magic creature."


    Yu Yan and my Uncle glared at each other in silence. For a moment, I thought that they were going to draw on each other, then they both grinned at each other and laughed.


    "Hold on; I think I have one in the back." Yu Yan said as she turned and went to the back of her store when she came back out, she was carrying a dark clay pot filled with dirt.


    When she set the pot in front of me, I looked at it in suspicion. Without mastering occlumency, there was no way to tell if anything was there.


    That is unless Yu Yan was trying to rip us off by selling us a pot filled with dirt and acting like there was something there, knowing that unless we had mastered occlumency, we wouldn''t be able to tell.


    But, considering that my uncle trusts her, I imagine that she wouldn''t try and rip us off. Looking up, I asked, "How much."


    Yu Yan flicked her eyes towards my ivory-colored wand and said, "Well, for you, my young friend. I will give you the friends and family discount of 100 galleons."


    I glanced at Uncle John to see is that was acceptable, and he nodded his head in acceptance. I pulled out the funds that I had brought with me in preparation. Once I had given her the money, my uncle and Yu Yan discussed some matters in Chinese.


    Seeing how they were busy talking, I started looking around the story, in the far corner, I found several large strange-looking swords. The designs were strange, and they were too big to have ever been used for sword fighting.


    Curious, I grabbed one and took it to the front and asked, "What is this used for."


    When Yu Yun saw what I had, she smiled and said, "That is known as a flying sword. It''s what many magical families use to fly around on."


    "What about broomsticks?" I asked.


    She snorted and said, "Normally, the only people who use broomstick here are those who play quidditch. Otherwise, our community prefers these; we''ve been using them for thousands of years."


    Warning me, Uncle John said, "Those are banned in Europe."


    I smiled at him, and sly said, "I guess it''s a good thing I have an uncle who lives in the middle of the ocean."


    Even though I wouldn''t be able to fly the sword back home, I still ended up purchasing it. One does not simply find a flying sword and leave it behind.


    On our way out of the store, Yu Yan gave me a small smile and said, "Farewell, young Alexander, I''m sure we will meet someday again."


    By the time I made it home, I was exhausted, I took pot containing the mushroom up to my room, and tried some more meditation. Without meaning to, I fell asleep and dreamed of bearded mushrooms chasing me through the sky on flying swords.

 Chapter 43 - Dinner

    The following late afternoon, I went downstairs when I heard my sisters arrive back from my grandmother. I found my grandmother waiting for me in the dining room with my dad.


    When I saw how she was dressed, I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Although the clothes she usually wore were expensive, they were typically modest and low-key.


    Today she had gone for a different look, everything about her broadcasted wealth and power. Typically when someone tries to pull off that look, it comes across like their trying too hard, but she seemed to make it appear natural. It had been a while since I had seen her go all out.


    Hugging her, I said, "What are you doing here, grandmother?"


    She replied, "I''m here for you. I thought you might join me tonight, I''m visiting with some of my fellow governors, and I would like the company of my grandson."


    Across the table, my dad grumbled, "Politics."


    Grandma pointed her finger at dad and said, "Shush Henry. I swear sometimes you''re too much like your father. There is nothing wrong with making socializing with other families. It will be good for Alex to make connections with other families, and you never know when you may need a favor. Besides word got out about the incident earlier this year, and some of my fellow governors would like to meet him."


    Before dad could argue, I piped up, "Dad, Grandma is right." Meeting his gaze, I quietly continued, "One can never have too many friends; we never know when our family might need a favor."


    As our eyes meet, I knew we were both thinking about the Whithorn family. Sighing heavily, dad said, "I just wanted you to focus on being a kid."


    Thinking about the war that was coming in a few years, I said, "I wish I could too, but like it or not, we all have to grow up at some point."


    A look of defeat appeared on his face, and he g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "Fine, but don''t have him out too late,"


    Grandmother turned to me and said, "Go get ready and make sure to dress appropriately. A good first impression can go a long way."


    After nodding my understanding, I took off upstairs and dug out a set of my best dress robes. By the time I was ready, the sun was starting to set.


    When I got downstairs, I found my grandmother waiting on me and asked, "Are we going to use the floo network?"


    She looked me up and down, making sure I was appropriately dressed before responding. Once she was satisfied, she replied, "No, we''ll being going by apparition."


    Having always wanted to travel by apparition, I eagerly asked, "Really? I thought that I had to be older."


    Motioning me to follow, we headed outside while she explained, "No, that''s only taboo for kids who haven''t started schooling, we learned a long time ago that when children who hadn''t begun using magic are subject to apparition, their magic can sometimes burst out and interfere with the process. Once children have begun using magic on a regular base, they''re no longer prone to random bursts of magic, and it becomes safe for them to travel by apparition."


    Holding out her arm for me to grab, she continued, "It also serves another purpose, it''s a subtle demonstration of power, less than half of the magical community has the talent to apparate."


    Turning towards me, she said, "Hold on tight, the sensation will take some getting used to."


    I felt her twist away from me, and then everything went black, immediately I felt like I was being stuffed into a tiny tube and s.u.c.k.e.d through it. Unable to breathe, I tried to scream in frustration, but there was no sound, only darkness.


    Just as it almost became unbearable, we reappeared outside a large estate. Grandmother let me recover for a few seconds and soothed, "I know it''s rather unpleasant, but the more you apparate, you''ll become used to the feeling."


    It''s know wonder why so many people choose not to use this method of travel. Not only is it difficult, but the claustrophobic feeling of being squeezed through space was also extremely unpleasant, if it wasn''t such a convenient way of travel, I don''t think I would be interested in learning apparition.


    After my breathing returned to normal, I noticed the enormous estate we had apparated outside of, and asked, "So, whose family is hosting tonight."


    She gestured for me to follow and clarified, "One of my fellow governors, Lucius Malfoy, was generous enough to host the gathering."


    tried not to let the distaste show on my face. The Malfoy family was full of deatheaters, and now, I was going to have to play nice with them and pretend like they weren''t apart of the group that killed my grandfather.


    I remembered my meditation technique and tried to center myself. After a few deep breaths, I buried my feeling deep within me.


    Thankfully, my grandmother assumed that I was still recovering from the apparition.


    When we arrived at the door, it opened to reveal a small elf on the filthiest toga that I had ever witnessed. Although I had never seen this elf before, I knew from the books, that this had to Dobby, the Malfoy''s house-elf.


    Bowing deeply, Dobby said, "Welcome to Malfoy Manor."


    After we entered, Dobby shut the door and promptly disappeared. Proper wizard etiquette dictated that we remain in the foyer until we invited to proceed deeper within. Proceeding into a wizard''s house without permission would have been a great insult.


    We didn''t have to wait long before a tall, blond-haired witch came into the foyer and said, "Welcome Danielle, it''s good to see you again." Turning to me, she added, "And this must be young Alexander, it''s nice to meet you."


    I smiled a greeting as I studied her platinum blond hair and blue eyes; this could only be Narcissa Malfoy.


    "Narcissa, it''s so thoughtful of your family to volunteer to host tonight''s dinner," my grandmother replied.


    "Please, it''s always an honor to host such a gathering," Narcissa denied waiving the praise. Turning, she invited, "Come on, let me show you where everyone has gathered."


    Narcissa led us through the house to a large dining hall. Inside the room were dozens of witches and wizards socializing in smaller groups.


    As soon as we entered, a sleek blond-headed wizard made his way towards us. Seeing his snake cane, confirmed that this had to be Lucius Malfoy.


    As he approached, Lucius inclined his head and smoothly greeted, "Danielle."


    Turning his watchful grey eyes to me, he praised with a smile, "Ah, And this must be Alexander. The young ward breaker that freed a vampire and caused such a ruckus this year. I have to say, when we all heard that a first-year wizard broke through a ward, all of the governors were rather impressed."


    Not wanting to give away my distaste for him, I held out a hand and replied, "You must be Mr. Malfoy, of course, I''ve heard about you."


    A satisfied look appeared on his face, no doubt thinking that I was complimenting him. When what I was alluding to was the fact that I knew him from the books where he was a death eater and one of Voldemort''s highest lieutenants.


    Lucius nudged me on the shoulder and said, "Of course, it''s not too surprising to see such a wizard produced from such a prestigious lineage."


    I had to force myself not to roll my eyes, Lucius''s statement was a compliment, but at the same time, it also subtly implied that bloodlines were responsible for producing powerful wizards.


    Lucius gestured across the room towards a miniature version of himself, and said, "That is my son Draco. He is eager to begin his schooling at Hogwarts, but unfortunately, he is to young to attend this upcoming year and will be forced to wait another year. I hope you will look after him, ancient houses like ours should watch out for one another."


    I saw Draco standing next to his mother, speaking with a few others. If he was anything like he was in the books, I doubt we will get along.


    Thankfully, it seemed like Lucius had business with other people and drifted off. As I watched him saunter off and continue to socialize with other people at the party, I realized why Lucius was able to fool so many people.


    I have always been baffled about how Lucius was able to blend back into society after the first war. Lucius had claimed he was under the imperius curse like many others during the first war.


    But, seeing how he maneuvered crowd, I understood, he was a master manipulator. Had I not known about him being a death eater, I wouldn''t have suspected him. He always seemed to know what to say to put the other party at ease and make them view himself in a positive light.


    Shaking me from my thoughts, my grandmother said, "Come, I want to introduce you to someone."


    She led me across the room to an elderly witch and said, "Alex, this is an old friend and fellow governor, Augusta Longbottom."


    My ears perked up when I heard the name; this must be Neville''s grandmother. I was a little surprised when I heard that she was one of the governors of Hogwarts. The books had only revealed Lucius as one of the twelve.


    Augusta silently evaluated me before turning to my grandmother, and bluntly said, "Danielle, you must be pleased with your grandson showing such skill."


    My grandmother quickly replied, "It wouldn''t matter how much potential he showed; I would be proud regardless."


    Augusta sighed and said, "It is easy to say, but harder to do."


    I quickly realized that they weren''t speaking about me, I remember from the books, that while Neville''s grandmother loved him. She always seemed disappointed that her grandson didn''t seem to measure up against his talented father.


    "So, how is Neville doing these days? Grandmother questioned.


    Augusta cracked a smile and replied, "Well, last year, Neville showed his first sign of magic. We were beginning to fear that he was a squib, but my brother Algie dropped him out the window, trying to force some magic out of him. And it worked, he bounced all the way to the garden."


    I looked at her in disbelief and thanked all the gods in the universe that I hadn''t been reborn into the Longbottom family. I mean, my uncle can be a little crazy, but if he ever did something like that, I''m pretty sure my mom would kill him and destroy the body.


    Grandmother winced when she heard the story, but said, "Well, at least now you know he will be going to Hogwarts. I know he is getting close to the age requirement, will he be attending this coming year or the following."


    Augusta continued smiling and replied, "He will be attending the following year. I just hope he doesn''t tarnish his father''s legacy."


    Man, I bet she would be happy when Neville came into his own as a wizard. In the books, he was mediocre, barely passing many of his classes until the fifth book.


    However, after the death eaters that had tortured his parents into insanity broke out of Azkaban. Neville''s unrealized willpower and potential burst out.


    A considerable component of spell casting is mental willpower, and in the fifth book, when Harry was training the D.A. Neville was so driven by his d.e.s.i.r.e for retribution that only Hermoine was able to learn spells faster.


    Speaking up, I said, "I''m sure your grandson will live up to the Longbottom name."


    Augusta grunted in response.


    Deciding to change the subject, I asked, "So, what do the governors of Hogwarts do?"


    Speaking up, my grandmother explained, "The governors don''t have many responsibilities. Our main responsibility is choosing the headmaster. And, if necessary, override the headmaster."


    Remembering that the ministry appointed Dolores Umbridge as the headmaster in the fifth book, I questioned, "I thought that the ministry would handle that."


    "No, Hogwarts predates the ministry by 700 years, and while I''m sure that the ministry would love to be able to take control and appoint whoever they wanted. Without the blessing of the governors, Hogwarts would never accept them." Augusta replied.


    Well, that might explain why Umbridge was unable to control the school or even get into the headmaster''s office.


    My grandmother continued to introduce me to each of the governors throughout the night. One thing I noticed was that each of the governors happened to be a pureblood from one of the so-called sacred twenty-eight.


    Turning to my grandmother, I asked curiously, "Is it a requirement to be a pureblood from one of the twenty-eight families to be a governor."


    She shook her head and said, "No, there have been half-blood members before. But it''s not uncommon for the governors to elect new members from ancient families."


    Hearing our conversation, Augusta added, "Besides, the so-called sacred twenty-eight is a bunch of nonsense. When Cantankerus Nott published his book back in the 1930s, he left out dozens of pureblood families off his list. Nott fancied himself a historian, and only included ancient magical clans that were mentioned in the oldest text."


    Sneering, she added, "Not to mention, several of the twenty-eight families have proudly pointed out that some of their ancestors married muggles and muggle-born wizards. And I would wager that if you go back far enough, all of the families have a muggle or two hidden in their bloodline."


    As the evening wore on, I considered everything that Augusta and my grandmother said. They had given me a lot to think about, not to mention, my view of my grandmother had changed. The way she handled the room was incredible; she was as skilled as Lucius was when it came to saying the right thing.


    At first, I thought that Malfoy''s charm had hoodwinked her, but there were subtle indications that I was able to pick up on because I knew her. I don''t think he fooled her at all, and I''m pretty sure she disliked him a great deal for what I couldn''t say.


    Thankfully, I didn''t have to deal with Draco this evening. He spent most of the evening beside his parents. It seemed like their mission was to make sure Draco made connections. I almost smiled when I considered that I was here to do the same. The rest of the evening quickly passed by, and soon it was time to head home.


    On our way back, I turned to my grandmother, and asked, "What do you think about the Malfoys?"


    She looked thoughtfully at me, and said, "The Malfoys appear to be the very definition of a proper magical family."


    Her voice trailed off, so I questioned, "Appears?"


    She sighed, and explained, "You know, during the war, there were hundreds of witches and wizards that were controlled by he-who-must-not-be-named and his followers. After the war was over, trying to sort out who had been controlled and who was nearly impossible."


    She glared back at the Malfoy estate we were leaving behind, and said, "But, I remember Jack telling me about the amount of people Lucius gathered to attend the early meetings where you-know-who was gathering support. I don''t have any evidence, but I can''t seem to shake the feeling that Lucius was a death eater. Until I''m satisfied that he was innocent, I will be keeping a watchful eye on him."


    Baring her teeth she added, "What is it they say? Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."


    Seeing the steel in my grandmother''s eyes, reminded me that she was not to be underestimated. There was an old cunning wolf lurking deep within, and it had not forgiven or forgotten the death of her mate.

 Chapter 48 - Ravenclaws Reunited

    After Professor Dumbledore finished his speech, food appeared and filled the tables, and everyone started quickly grabbing their favorite dishes.


    To my left, William seemed to be trying to inhale his favorite dessert, treacle tart. I watched in fascination at how quickly it disappeared.


    He grabbed two more pieces of golden brown tarts and started in on them as well. When he got to the third, he went so fast he started choking on it.


    I thumped him on the back, and once his throat was clear, I joked, "You know, we have teeth for a reason. You''re supposed to chew before you swallow."


    William took a deep breath and defended in his Scottish accent, "You don''t understand, my mum doesn''t allow dessert. What kind of parent doesn''t believe in having dessert? It''s been two months since I''ve had a treacle tart, and a little choking is well worth it."


    Finishing the final bite of the tart with a vengeance, he declared, "The best thing about Hogwarts is the food."


    Across from us, Ryan snorted and incredulously interjected, "Are you mad? We''re in a magical castle, and you think that the best thing about Hogwarts is the food! Try spending a few months in the muggle world with no access to magic. Then I''ll bet you change your mind about what''s the best thing about being here."


    I winced, after having access to magic, I couldn''t imagine having to go back to the mundane world and pretend everything was normal.


    "What did you do back in Ireland over the summer?" I asked curiously.


    Ryan rolled his eyes, "I spent the summer being interrogated by my parents about magic. They''re both academics and are endlessly fascinated by the concept of magic. They were bitterly disappointed about the rule of no underage magic allowed, the first thing they asked me to do when I got home was to see some magic. They had to settle by reading my first-year books."


    "What kind of questions did they ask?" I questioned.


    Ryan replied, "Mostly questions where I didn''t know the answers. Such as, where does magic come from? Why do some muggles develop magic?"


    "If you could answer those questions, I''m sure the wizard community would be grateful. After all, no one knows the answers to those questions." I replied.


    Shrugging helplessly, Ryan replied, "That''s what I told them. Most of the questions they asked were like that, but they did ask some that made me curious."


    "Like what?"


    "Well, one thing they were curious about was how the magical community in Europe handled the parents of muggle-born wizards who might refuse to let them attend school," Ryan explained.


    "What!" Roger interrupted. "Why would muggles try and prevent their children from learning magic?"


    I could tell from the confused look on Roger''s face that the concept of preventing a wizard or witch from learning magic was such a strange idea, that he had no frame of reference to understand.


    An awkward look appeared on Ryan''s face, "Well, for religious reasons. Some Christians seem to believe that magic is evil." Seeing the confused look on Roger''s face, he added. "You know, they had the whole suffer not a witch to live inquisition."


    "Wait, I thought that you told me that the leader that Muggles worship was a wizard," Roger questioned.


    "Huh? I never said that." Ryan replied.


    Roger countered, "Yes you did, I distinctly remember you telling me last year about some wizard named Jesus that Muggles worship."


    "Yeah, but I never said he was a wizard," Ryan argued.


    Raising his fingers one at a time, Roger counted off, "You said he walked on water, turned water into wine, multiplied food to feed people, healed people, and rose from the dead. All clear examples of magic."


    "But, those are supposed to be miracles," Ryan defended.


    Decided to mess with Ryan, I interjected, "Technically, all of those could be easily explained with magic. Enchanted shoes could allow someone to walk on water, turning water into wine is obviously transfiguration. Regarding the food, it''s interesting that you say he multiplied it. Food is one of the five exceptions to Gamp''s Law of Transfiguration. While you can''t magically create it from nothing, you can summon, transform, or increase the amount you already have with magic. Moving on to healing, magical healing can heal almost anything not related to dark magic. And finally, rising from the dead could be explained if instead of dying, he faked his death by taking the draught of living death and was given the cure three days later."


    Nodding his head agreeing with me, Roger piled on, "See, obviously this Jesus person was a wizard."


    "Well, Christians don''t see it that way," Ryan mumbled. "And the original question still stands, what would happen if the parents of a muggle-born wizard were religious and refused to let their child go to school to learn about magic?"


    After a moment of silence, Roger awkwardly spoke up, "Muggles aren''t legally actually allowed to stop a witch or wizard from learning magic."


    "What do you mean?"Ryan asked.


    Lowering his voice, "The only reason why I know this is because my Dad works for the Ministry of Magic as an obliterator. If the parents turn the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts away, and refuse to allow their child to be taught. The school has to inform the Ministry of Magic about the situation. What happens next is an obliterator is quietly dispatched to modify the parent''s memories and feelings about magic. Which ensures that the muggle-born is allowed to go to school."


    A horrified look appeared on Ryan''s face, "They... they can''t do that," he sputtered.


    "Actually, if you think about it, it''s the only reasonable action." I pointed out. "It''s not like the magic will go away with no training. Without proper training, magic would still escape at random from the untrained wizard or witch, just like it did when we were kids."


    "But, it still seems wrong." Ryan weakly contended.


    "Well consider this, what would you want if you''re parents decided magic was evil and that you couldn''t be taught?" I asked.


    Ryan''s silence was illuminating. He spent the rest of the feast in thoughtful consideration.


    Soon the feast was over, and Professor Dumbledore stood up and said, "Now that we have eaten our fill, it''s time to say goodnight."


    Not wanting to get bogged down by all the students, we rushed out of the Great Hall. When we got to the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower, I stepped forward and pulled on the bronze eagle knocker.


    A cool, musical voice rang out, "When I am filled, I can point the way. When I am empty, nothing moves me. I have two skins, one without, and one within. What am I?"


    Ok, obviously the eagle knocker had stepped up its game and asked older students harder riddles.


    To my left, Roger said hopefully, "A water-skin."


    When the knocker remained silent, Roger g.r.o.a.n.e.d in annoyance. He started grumpily at the door and muttered something unflattering about the bronze eagle.


    "I think you were on the right track." I comforted. After puzzling over the riddle for another moment, I said with more confidence than I felt, "A glove."


    The door swung open and said, "Acceptable."


    When we arrived in the common room, I noticed that the room leading down to the Ravenclaw trial was on the far wall. None of the other Ravenclaws seemed to be aware of its presence. The door was just there waiting and tempting me to return. I ''ll bet there have been a lot of students who have been tempted to return and attempt the trial before they were ready.


    I turned away from the door. There was no way I would be attempting the trial before I was completely confident that I would be successful. On the opposite wall was the Ravenclaw student rankling. Everyone''s name in my year had been moved from the first year column over to the second.


    Because I finished the previous year with the highest marks, my name was at the top of the list. Jessica''s name was right below mine, but there was no prize for second place.


    The best benefit of being on top was the new dorm rooms. There were eight levels to the dormitory, with first years being on the very top and the seventh years being on the second floor.


    Because they were my roommates for my time at Hogwarts, they got to enjoy the benefits as well. Eager to see what our new dorm was like, we all headed up the boy''s staircase, passing by the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw.


    The dorm on the first floor was even more impressive than I had imagined. Calling it a dorm isn''t an accurate representation of what the room looked like, it was more like an apartment.


    Each of us had a bedroom to ourselves, and there was even a common room with a couch and some recliners sitting in front of a fireplace. But probably the best thing was the bathroom, no longer would I have to share a bathroom with the entire floor of students. The apartment had a massive bathroom with an enormous tub that one could easily swim in.


    From behind me, Roger called out, "Alex, I hope you realize that we''re going to need you to get the top marks every year. Now that we''ve experienced such luxury, I don''t think we could go back to a regular dorm."


    "You know, you could always shoot for the top spot," I replied.


    Weighing in on the matter, William pointed out, "Please, if it wasn''t you, it would be Jessica."


    I acknowledged his argument with a wave, Jessica is smart and friend or not she will definitely try and seize the top spot from me this year as well. She is one of the most academically competitive people that I know.


    Roger was right. There was no way I am willing to go back to the standard dorms after seeing how nice the apartment was.


    Opening the door to my private room, I found Athena sprawled out on my bed, obviously enjoying the luxurious bed. She peeked one eye open before lazily yawning and going back to her nap.


    After unpacking, I set the ceramic pot containing the Bearded Mushroom that I couldn''t see on the dresser across from my bed.


    I sat cross-legged on my bed and started practicing my occlumency.


    I woke in the morning slumped over, I must have fallen asleep while I was trying to meditate. I glared at the empty pot while trying to rub the creak that had worked its way into my neck.


    Down in the common room, I met up with Jessica while we picked up our schedules for the upcoming year. It was somewhat similar to the previous year.


    "Happy Birthday, Alex," Jessica greeted with a smile. "Should we be expecting a serenade from your mum again?"


    "Ugh." I g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "She better not. We had a long conversation about it., and I warned her not to do it again."


    She smirked and said, "I don''t know. It was kinda entertaining."


    "If you think it''s so amusing, I can arrange something similar to happen on your birthday," I warned.


    Jessica let out a nervous laughed and quickly changed the subject, "So, is your room as amazing as what I''ve heard?"


    "Even better," I teased while smirking back at her.


    "Ugh," she g.r.o.a.n.e.d. "You better be on top of your game this year, because I''m coming for you. I spent the whole summer studying our books required for this year, and I''ve gotten pretty far into them."


    After faking an exaggerated yawn, I taunted, "You only got started this summer? I finished those last year, and I''ve already been working on my third-year textbooks."


    "You... you," Jessica sputtered.


    "Yes," I replied with my best cheshire cat smile.


    "Grrr..." Jessica growled.


    "You know, you sound just like Athena did when she was a baby. Just like a little baby kitten." I playfully mocked.


    Jessica''s eyes narrowed, and she warned, "You better watch it, this kitten bites."


    A snort of amus.e.m.e.nt escaped me, and her face turned red in embarrassment. "Oh, you know what I meant."


    Deciding to retreat, she stormed off in a huff, but not before stepping on my foot to show her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.


    I grinned at her outburst, it was nice to be back at Hogwarts. This year is going to be fun.

 Chapter 49 - Old Fear

    During breakfast down at the Great Hall, I nervously awaited the morning owl post. Soon, I saw our family''s great grey owl that Sasha had affectionately named Hootie, she had named it after the bird sounds it makes.


    Swooping down silently, she dropped off a small package with a letter attached to the outside.


    Remembering the shenanigans from last year, I hesitantly opened the letter. Thankfully, the letter was normal and didn''t do anything, but I could almost feel the disappointment in the quill strokes.


    Happy that I wouldn''t be the center of attention, I opened the package to see what was inside. After tearing it open, a small black leather bag fell out.


    I smiled with happiness. My dad knew that my last bag with the expanding charm had been mostly destroyed in the cave during the previous year, and he had promised to make me a replacement.


    I now knew from experience that having something like this could make the difference between life and death. Tucking it snugly beneath my robe, I was determined never to go anywhere without this bag. All I needed to do was start filling it full of things that may be useful in the future. If the grendel incident taught me anything, it was that I always needed to be prepared for anything.


    I ended up receiving a few more birthday letters from the rest of my extended family. My uncle''s gift was a new hider bracelet that was able to give me a different appearance, along with the present was a note warning me not to get into too much trouble.


    Not wanting to be late for my transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall, I quickly wolfed down the rest of my breakfast. This year, Ravenclaw had transfiguration with Hufflepuff, so when I got to the class, I saved a seat for Cedric.


    While waiting for class to begin, I noticed that there was a stack of stones around two feet high sitting next to a pile of snuff-boxes on Professor McGonagall''s desk.


    Professor McGonagall began the class with the same no-nonsense attitude as the previous year. "Last year, you all experienced what it is like to transfigure things. This year, we will be increasing the difficulty of the objects to be transfigured."


    Upon hearing her words, most of the class let out a groan. Professor McGonagall chose to ignore the noise and continued, "But, before we move on to the hard stuff. Our first couple of weeks, we will be covering perhaps the easiest topic you will ever learn in my class."


    Seeing how the class had perked up a little at her words, she smiled and asked, "Now, having been exposed to the wonders of transfiguration. Have any of you wondered why all wizards don''t live in wondrous mansions? After all, when you can transfigure everyday items into more valuable material. What is stopping magical families from transfiguring their homes?"


    A mousy looking Hufflepuff raised her hand, "Yes, Ms. Greenwood." Professor McGonagall called putting.


    Lowering her hand, she hesitantly answered, "The difficulty."


    "Well, that would stop some, but not all." Professor McGonagall rebutted.


    Silence ruled the classroom, seeing how no one else was going to answer. I raised my hand.


    "Go ahead, Mr. Fawley," Professor McGonagall said.


    "Because even if you transfigured something, it''s not real. For example, if I transfigured metal into gold, it''s not real gold, it''s just metal that has been magically altered." I answered.


    Nodding her agreement, she went on, "Correct, and in the future, should any of you feel the urge to transfigure metal into gold. I suggest you look up the tale of Gregory the Unwise and learn what happens if you try and give transfigured gold to goblins. They have methods of confirming whether the gold is real or not and do not take kindly to those they consider thieves. However, what I believe Mr. Fawley is alluding to, is that any object no matter how masterfully transfigured, they will never truly be real. Now, this leads to two key problems. The first is that most magical families heavily enchant their home and it is vastly more difficult to weave additional spells into a transfigured items. And second, it is also infinitely easier to return transfigured items to their original form, which is why it is considered especially foolish to construct a home out of transfigured items. Any half-trained wizard would be able to revert the materials to their original form."


    To demonstrate her point, she waved her wand towards the dozen or so stones stacked on her desk. Several of the rocks reverted to sand, and the whole stack of stones came tumbling down.


    "Now imagine what would have happened if that was a building you were in." She added.


    Personally, I thought her last comment wasn''t really necessary. The demonstration was more than enough to demonstrate her point.


    Although, this explains why the Weasley house was a strange assortment of buildings that seemed magically sandwiched together, had they tried to transfigure their home, it probably would have fallen apart.


    "Now, the first thing we will be focusing on this year is returning transfigured objects to their original form. The nice thing about untransfiguration is that it is generally easier to return an object to its original form."


    Professor McGonagall waved her wand again, and the small snuff-boxes on her desk began flying towards us. As they honed in on us, they shot off in different directions, with one going to each student.


    "You all should recognize the snuff-boxes from your previous year. I like to save your final project for this lesson because I''ve learned that it generally helps students master untransfiguration if they work with an object that they have transfigured themselves." She explained.


    Professor McGonagall pointed her wand towards the chalkboard, and a white piece of chalk rose and wrote Reparifarge on the board. "Now, this is a general spell that can work with most basic transfigurations. When you chant it, try to visualize the object you are working with returning to its original form."


    When her voice trailed off, there was a flurry of movement as students pulled out their wands eager to begin practicing.


    Ejecting my wand from its holster, I pointed the ivory-colored wand towards the small ornamental snuff box that I transfigured the previous year. Concentrating heavily on the little brown mouse that it used to be, I muttered, "Reparifarge."


    The snuff box gave off a small shimmer as it quickly returned to being a mouse. Looking up, I found Professor McGonagall observing me carefully. I couldn''t help but let out a wide grin. Magic is so awesome!


    "Well done, Mr. Fawley." She congratulated, "Five points to Ravenclaw for succeeding on your first attempt. For the rest of the class, you should continue to transfigure the mouse and then return it to its original form.


    A few chairs down, I saw Jessica eyeing me. Gritting her teeth, she turned back to her snuff-box, determined to be successful like me.


    Ten minutes later, Cedric was the second to find success, and a few minutes later, right on his heels was Jessica. She shot me a happy smile, glad that she was one of the few that had succeeded so far.


    By the end of the class, a little less than half had succeeded with the spell. But, considering that this was transfiguration, that was impressive. I suppose this was what Professor McGonagall meant when she explained that it wasn''t a demanding spell. I fully expect that within a couple of weeks, everyone will be able to complete the spell.


    After lunch, the next class up was History of Magic. Professor Binns started the year off with the second goblin war of 1612. I found the goblin wars to be a fascinating subject. Goblins didn''t have access to magic like wizards do, but they have their own magical abilities and were able to threaten wizards.


    From what I could tell from my reading, most of their abilities come from imbuing or enchanting deep-dwelling earth metals. One of the most common warnings wizards had about goblins, was never to confront them in their homes beneath the ground. Many arrogant wizards and witches who died in wars and rebellions do to goblin traps beneath the ground.


    In our charms class, Professor Flitwick started on the summoning charm. To be honest, the class kind of bored me, I had already mastered the spell in the previous year along with all the other spells that would be taught this year in charms.


    Thankfully, the Room of Requirement had already provided me with the next year''s book. Along with learning those spells in my off time, I figured that I should look into the Patronus Charm as well.


    If Harry could learn it in his third year, I am confident that I could master it in my second. Although, it wouldn''t be as effective as learning it with a boggart that turned into a dementor.


    I was relatively confident that I could find a boggart somewhere at Hogwarts. They tended to spawn every once in a while in an unused classroom. I think it has something to do with the amount of magic that Hogwarts gives off.


    Although, the ghosts of Hogwarts are pretty vigilant in making sure that professors are told of when new boggarts form. I bet I could use the Room of Requirement to either bring one to me or help me track one down.


    I wonder what my biggest fear would be, there are things I am afraid of, but nothing sticks out too much. I started going through my memories, what in this like had scared me. A swift thought of the Grendel''s unyielding face as it dragged its bloody body towards me flashed through my mind, or maybe it was the Whithorn cartel. Hell, perhaps it was snakes, I had never been too fond of those as well.


    As the rest of the class flew by quickly, I couldn''t get over my curiosity about what my deepest fear was and what it was. To be able to confront your greatest fear was a boon if I could learn what it was and master it. Maybe in the future, it wouldn''t be able to affect me as much.


    After a quick bite to eat, I rushed to the Ravenclaw tower to grab Athena. No way was I going to try and confront my biggest fear without my trusty sidekick. I learned my lesson from last time.


    When we made it to the Room of Requirement, I found a book on boggarts waiting for me. After reading it, I learned some interesting information. The book warned that while boggarts aren''t deadly creatures and that most won''t attack you physically at all. They simply assume the form of your worst and deepest fear and force you to face it.


    However, the book warned that if the Boggart assumed the form of such a deadly creature that there could be negative consequences because it would act similarly. Which explains why Harry was so impacted by the dementor form that the Boggart assumed because it performed like a dementor would in the real world.


    The counter was the boggart-banishing spell. Weirdly, it doesn''t kill the Boggart, but rather the spell merely banishes the creature away. Not much is known how they are created, or even how many of them there are. Boggarts tend to show up in magical populated areas, often spawning in small dark enclosure waiting to surprise someone.


    The biggest key in countering them is humor. While chanting Riddikulus, it is vitally essential to imagine whatever form the Boggart assumed into a more amusing form. When done correctly, the Boggart will vanish.


    When I opened my eyes, I fruitlessly scanned the small room for a closet or wardrobe. Well, since that didn''t work, how about access to a place in Hogwarts that contained a boggart within.


    Wanting to see if it worked, I made my way over to the door and opened it slowly. On the other side was a pitch-black room that I could barely see a few feet within.


    Holding up my wand, I chanted, "Lumos."


    A bright light pierced through the darkness, illuminating what appeared to be an unused classroom. The design of the room made me think of the classes down in the dungeons.


    When I stepped inside, I let the light spell fade as I used my wand to light the first candle on the wall. Once it was lit, it started a chain reaction lighting all the other candles inside the room. Once the class was appropriately lit, I was able to confirm that this was definitely a room inside of the dungeons.


    On the far side of the room, an old creaky potions cabinet started shaking as if whatever was inside wanted out. I''m not going to lie, that sound raised the hair on the back of my neck.


    Athena hopped up to her favorite perch on my shoulder and let out a loud hiss that seemed to penetrate the room. The vibrating cabinet went still for a moment, before starting up again.


    "It''s ok, that''s what we''re here for," I soothed.


    Pulling out my wand, I forced the potion cabinet''s door open. A swirling black cloud erupted from the cabinet when it stopped moving. The scene chilled my blood.


    My heart started pounding heavily. I never thought I would see that visage again. It was me, but not the current me, it was me from my previous life.


    The Boggart started crawling its way to me, and I could help but shake the feeling that something horrible would happen should it touch me.


    Pointing me wand at it, I shouted, "Riddikulus,"


    It just grinned viciously at me and continued crawling over. It seemed to move the way bodies did when a demon possessed them. I thought that this was as bad as it got, but then it did something I never expected, it spoke, "You''re dreaming," It taunted.


    Sneering at me it continued, "It''s always been a dream, you''re still stuck in the hospital bed wasting away."


    The Boggart''s words shook me to my core. This was my deepest, darkest fear. I thought I had dealt with this long ago, soon after I had been born, but I guess I just buried it deep within my subconsciousness.


    "That''s... that''s not true, my new life is real," I weakly defended.


    Glaring at me with its bloodshot eyes, it spat, "Do you think you''re somehow unique? That you were worthy of being reborn into this world? No, you''re still lying helplessly in your bed, barely too weak to move and dreaming about a better life. Think about it, how many times did you wish for something like this to happen? This life is just your deluded mind dreaming up something nice and cozy for you to escape the pain that you''re constantly feeling. Now, I''m here to wake you up and send you back to that miserable excuse of an existence that you have."


    As it continued to crawl over towards me, the fear that it was telling the truth started building within me. Maybe this life was all a delusion.


    "Riddikulus. Riddikulus. Riddikulus" No matter how many times I said it, the Boggart continued to crawl towards me.


    Then out of nowhere, I felt something I had only felt once in my entire life. Athena bit me.


    For the second time in my life, I felt an awareness pass through me the same way it happened on the night we bonded. But, this time, somehow, she was able to communicate her deep love for me and that she was real. I felt it deep within my soul. There is no way I could have dreamed this feeling up.


    Opening my eyes in confidence, the paralyzing fear the Boggart created in me started to bleed away slowly. Now, seeing the Boggart crawl towards me in my previous body started to piss me off.


    Glaring at it, "You''re just a bully aren''t you," I muttered.


    Full of confidence, I pointed my wand at it and said, "Riddikulus."


    This time, there was a dramatic effect. The Boggart started shrinking, and as it continued to proclaim that this life wasn''t real, I laughed at how high pitched his voice sounded, it sounded like the Boggart had been inhaling helium.


    The more it protested in its high-pitched squeaky voice, the more I laughed. Soon, the Boggart seemed to fold in on itself and disappeared.


    Happy that I had been able to deal with this old fear of mine, I made my way back to the Ravenclaw tower. When I got back to my room, on my bed was a thick white envelope with a silver spear etched on it.

 Chapter 50 - Invitation

    As I traced my fingers over the silver spear, I knew I had seen its image several times before, most recently on the hand of one of the Slytherin prefects.


    I carefully broke the red wax seal that had a wand crossed with a spear and slid out the contents. Inside was an invitation card that read.


    Mr. Alexander Fawley


    You are hereby invited to attend the next gathering of the Silver Spears, an exclusive club for aspiring duelers. The meeting takes place on Saturday, September 7, at 7 pm. If you are interested in attending, please respond below.


    As I thoughtfully considered the invitation, I started running over the pros and cons of joining a club. On the one hand, my plate was already pretty full this year. I needed to master the art of Occlumency, not to mention my other goal this year was to work my way through both volumes three and four of the standard book of spells.


    However, on the other hand, knowing that there was a war coming with Voldemort and his followers, it might be a good idea to start working on wizard combat. While junior level dueling wasn''t necessarily a good comparison for real fighting, those who reached the pinnacle of dueling had moved to a level where they become incredibly formidable opponents. There was also any future interaction with the Whithorns that I needed to consider.


    After weighing all the options, I grabbed a white feathered quill and scribbled that I would be attending. As soon as I finished writing, the invitation went blank. After blinking in surprise, a new message slowly appeared informing me that someone would meet me outside the Ravenclaw tower at 6:30 pm.


    The next day in potions, I could feel Professor Snape''s dark eyes on me as soon as I entered the class in the dungeon. I think I had destroyed any standing I had with him with my adventure in the forbidden forest.


    Thankfully, we had the class with the Slytherins, and for all his faults. Professor Snape seemed to have a soft spot for the members of his own house, so I took a seat next to Anna and one of her Slytherin friends.


    Roger quickly grabbed the last seat available at our table. Potions was his worst class, I think it was because he had trouble concentrating for long periods.


    The class was remarkably quiet. We had all learned in the previous year that Professor Snape didn''t tolerate students socializing before class, and if they did, the day would be particularly challenging.


    The second that the clock stuck 8:30, Professor Snape swept forward from the corner where he had been observing everyone like a hawk and began speaking. "I see everyone was able to pass the first year," Professor Snape eyes shot towards Roger, and he sneered, "Barely."


    As Roger''s face turned red in embarrassment, Professor Snape swooped away and continued. "You will find that this year will be far more challenging than the previous one."


    Professor Snape pointed towards the chalkboard at the front of the classroom where he had written the instructions, and stated, "Today, you will be working on the swelling potions, you will find this potion more challenging than potions from the previous year."


    Knowing it was better to read the instructions from my potions book, I opened my book to the correct page and started reading the instructions.


    Part 1


    Add two scoops of dried nettles to the mortar.


    Add three puffer-fish eyes to the mortar.


    Crush into a medium-fine powder.


    Add two measures of the crushed mix to your cauldron.


    Add two tablespoons of water to the powder in the cauldron and mix them.


    Heat on a medium temperature for twenty minutes.


    Point your wand and chant "Superba."


    Leave to brew and return in 60 minutes.


    Part 2


    Add one bat spleen to the cauldron.


    Stir four times, anti-clockwise.


    Heat to low for thirty seconds.


    Finish by waving your wand over the potion and chant "Infatio."


    After learning all the ingredients needed, I gathered them from the potions cabinet and started working on the potions. While everyone was working on their potions, Professor Snape seemed to glide silently about the room.


    Next to me, Roger seemed especially determined to make it through the day with no mistakes. But somewhere along the way, he made a mistake, and his potion began billowing toxic yellow clouds of smoke.


    Before anyone could do anything, Professor Snape swooped up behind and vanished the potion and its toxic contents. "Mr. Davis, I see you''re up to your old habit of not reading the instructions correctly. Tell me why you decided to add a bat liver rather than a bat spleen to the potion."


    Roger''s face went beet red, but before he could say anything in his Defense, Professor Snape informed him, "I expect eighteen inches on the subject of the swelling potion and its many uses by next class."


    When I had finished brewing my potion, it had turned to the shade of blue described by the book, and after putting a small amount into a beaker, I took it to Professor Snape''s desk. His dark eyes met my grey eyes for a few seconds as I laid the potion down.


    Professor Snape collected the potion and looked it over before silently putting it to the side. I knew from the previous year that no comment on a potion was often the highest compliment Professor Snape would give.


    Right after lunch was Astronomy with Professor Sinistra, we spent the first class going over a star chart. While I didn''t mind the classroom, I much preferred our evening classes, where we got to use our magical telescopes.


    Afterward, was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Rathbreak. If I had to use a word to describe the class, it would be average.


    Everything about Professor Rathbreak was mediocre, and he conducted his class in the same way. If anything, how boring the class was only cemented my decision to join the silver spears, especially considering that I was looking at several more years of mediocre teachers. The next competent teacher in Defense Against the Dark Arts would be Professor Lupin, and he wouldn''t be teaching until my fifth year.


    The rest of the week seemed to fly by, and soon it was Saturday evening, and it was time to meet up with the Silver Spears. As soon as I left the Ravenclaw common room, I saw the same tall, pale, black-haired Slytherin prefect who had interrupted Micheal on the train, leaning against the opposing wall from the door.


    Half a grin appeared on his face, and he said, "Glad you decided to show, Alex."


    Holding out his hand, he added, "Zackary Hawk, but you can just call me Zack."


    As we made our way through the castle, I asked, "So, what exactly are the Silver Spears?"


    Zack held up a hand and replied, "Well, it''s a very select club, and you have met the minimum requirements for recruitment. As for everything else, you''ll get the full explanation when we get to our destination."


    "What requirements?" I asked curiously.


    Zack just shot me a silent smirk.


    Eventually, we made our way to a large full-sized mirror inside an old wooden mahogany frame tucked away in a deserted corner on the fourth floor. Zack pulled out his ivory-colored wand and held it to the mirror''s surface.


    The mirror''s surface rippled like quicksilver, and Zack waved, "After you."


    As I passed through the mirror''s rippling surface, I expected a cooling sensation. But, the best way to describe it would be like passing through a thin layer of damp heat, but as soon as I passed through, the feeling faded away.


    Darkness greeted me on the other, so I pulled out my wand and chanted, "Lumos."


    On the other side was a relatively spacious human-made tunnel lined with stones. The tunnel behind the mirror made me think that this was one of the seven secret passageways that connected Hogwarts to Hogsmeade.


    Sure of my suspicions, after Zach passed through, I asked, "Does this tunnel lead to Hogsmeade?"


    "Yeah, but that''s not where we''re going," Zack explained I followed him down the tunnel.


    After a few minutes, Zack stopped at what seemed like a random point, pulled out his wand, and tapped it in a similar manner that people do at the entrance of Diagon Alley.


    The wall unfolded, revealing a doorway. I looked at it in suspicion. The last time I entered a door underground, it didn''t go so well.


    Not about to back out now, I went through the doorway. On the other side was a large room with a dueling ring on the ground. Five students were inside of the ring, standing behind an older, blond-haired wizard that I recognized from the dueling tournament from South America. When I entered, the room went quiet as a tomb, as I studied their faces, I thought I recognized a few of them.


    From what I could tell from their robes, there were students from each house and different years in the room. Counting Zack, two were from Slytherin, two from Gryffindor, one from Hufflepuff, and one from Ravenclaw, for a total of six.


    The student from Ravenclaw was a witch with auburn hair, and if I wasn''t mistaken, she was in the fourth year. I bet that she is the one who arranged the invitation that I found in my bedroom.


    The older wizard stepped forward to shake my hand and greeted, "Well, Alex. I''m Jean Batt."


    As we shook hands, I replied, "We''ve actually met before."


    Jean''s eyebrows rose while he tried to place my face. "A few years ago, we met at the dueling finals in South America." I clarified.


    After a moment of remembrance, he replied, "Ah, yes, I remember now, you were with another lad. I''m glad you decided to come and see what the Silver Spears are all about."


    "Well, I have to admit that the mysterious invitation in my room was a nice touch. But I can''t help but wonder why did you choose to try and recruit me? The message mentioned that I had passed a minimum requirement to be recruited. What requirement?" I questioned.


    "Well, as you know, this is an exclusive club for serious duelers. And while we all come from different backgrounds, but we all have one thing in common."


    Jean paused, and I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "What?"


    He grinned and pulled out an ivory-colored wand whose color matched my own. "Every member of our group has an aspen wand."


    Not sure of the significance, I asked, "Why does it matter what type of wand a person has?"


    Jean explained, "The type of wand and core a witch or wizard has, tells a surprising amount of information them. We learned long ago that aspen wands perform martial spells with great ease, and people that are chosen by aspen wands often become proficient duelers. So, in 1784 a small group of accomplished duelers formed the Silver Spears with the rule that only people with aspen wands would be invited."


    "I''m guessing from the few members here that having such a unique requirement prevents there from being many members."


    Jean shrugged and replied, "It doesn''t need to be. We have around 100 active members coming from schools like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, Koldovstoretz, and Tianlong."


    After digesting the information, I asked, "Why join a club at all? I thought that dueling was more of a solo sport."


    Zack cut in, "It is, but the road to the top is difficult, and the club offers several advantages. The first advantage is practicing against one another; becoming an accomplished dueler doesn''t happen overnight. It takes time and endless hours of practice. Next, with your parent''s permission during the summer, retired members are often are willing to take the time to train with you. Depending on your performance, you could get someone who has won the international dueling conference to train you. We have a surprising amount of past champions among our ranks."


    I had to admit, the thought of being trained personally by an international dueling champion sounded terrific. "How would I impress them? I''ve never heard about any dueling competitions at Hogwarts."


    "There isn''t any, but, with your parent''s permission. The British Isles has one over the winter holiday, and if you go far enough in it, there is an international competition during spring break." Jean explained.


    "Really? How does that work? Will we be competing against one another?" I asked.


    Zack shrugged and said, "Sometimes, dueling is a solo sport after all. There is an age bracket involved, but you can duel outside of it if you feel confident enough." Smiling mischievously, he added, "But, don''t tell me that you think that we are the only dueling club at Hogwarts."


    Author''s note


    So, recently someone pointed out that potion often require a magical incantation to complete. For awhile I didn''t believe this because not once was it shown in the books. But, I recently read at pottermore that potions do in fact require magic incantations and Rowling herself said no muggle or squib could create one. Because I have made every effort to make sure that this fanfic does not go against any of Rowling world building, this requires me to change Anna''s mom backstory. So Anna''s mom is still a squib, but instead of being a master potioneer, she started and created one of the largest and successful Apothecaries in Britain.

 Chapter 51 - Silver Spears

    "What? How many secret dueling clubs does Hogwarts have?" I incredulously asked.


    Zack chuckled at my expression, "There are three other clubs, the Dragon Fangs, Hidden Lotus, and the Relentless Wanderers."


    When I heard how many secret clubs there were, I almost rolled my eyes. I seem to be becoming aware of more secret orders and organizations than I know what to do with, from Voldemort and his death eaters to the Order of the Phoenix that confronts them. Not to mention the Whithorn syndicate and my uncle''s secret cabal that opposes them. Now secret underground dueling clubs, I''m beginning to think secret societies are like crack to wizards. They can''t seem to help themselves.


    "Do the clubs every interact with one another?" I asked.


    Zack''s brown eyes shone with amus.e.m.e.nt, and he explained, "You may face some challenges at some point, but that''s half the fun. Although most of our interactions still happen at the dueling conference in December.


    "How many members do they have?"


    Shrugging, Zack replied, "It varies, normally within the range of 10 to 14 members. numbers constantly shift, some graduate, or sometimes one of the members will quit because they lose interest or decide that dueling isn''t for them."


    Looking around at the six other Hogwarts students, I questioned, "Why don''t we have more members? Surely there are more students with aspen wands at Hogwarts."


    "Not as many as you might think. But you''re right; there are more than just us. However, just because someone has an aspen wand doesn''t mean they like dueling. To be an accomplished dueler, you have to put in a lot of time and effort, and some students aren''t interested in doing that, or they may not enjoy dueling, it can be difficult to put effort into something you don''t enjoy doing."


    "Why didn''t you recruit me last year?"


    "A couple of reasons, the first is that none of the clubs are allowed to recruit first-year students." Seeing my raised eyebrow, he added, "Rules from the headmaster. "Also, most first-year students have little exposure to magic and hardly know any spells. Plus, it gives the clubs time to evaluate which students would be the best to recruit."


    Zack nodded towards The auburn-haired Ravenclaw witch and remarked," Thankfully, Laleh was able to get you your invitation before the Hidden Lotus made their move and tried to recruit you."


    "I would have thought that they would have assumed that I would be joining the Silver Spears."


    Similarly, annoyed looks appeared on everyone''s faces, and Zack explained, "Normally yes. The Dragon Fangs and the Relentless Wanderers leave aspen wand holders to us, but over the past five years or so, Hidden Lotus has been trying to poach aspen wand users."


    "Well, considering what you said about aspen wand users typically being talented at combat, it only makes sense that they would be targeted for recruitment." I pointed out.


    With an annoyed look appearing on his face, Zack explained, "It would be one thing if they tried to recruit following the rules, but they have been breaking the rules. We first found out when they tried to recruit me in my first year. Luckily, my uncle is a member of the Silver Spears. Otherwise, I might have joined them. After being chastised for breaking the rule on recruitment, they changed tactics, so we try to make sure to be first to recruit. Unfortunately, they got a kid two years ago."


    "Can he just switch clubs?" I asked.


    "That is one of the rules all the clubs abide. We''re not allowed to recruit any current or past members from other clubs. So, even though that kid is no longer belongs to the Hidden Lotus, were still not allowed to recruit him," Zack explained with a scowl on his face.


    "That sucks, why did he quit?"


    Narrowing his brown eyes, Zack explained, "When he found out about our club, he showed some interest in leaving and asked us if he could join. Even though we turned him down, his club found out and kicked him from their group. I''m half-convinced someone orc.h.e.s.trated the whole thing. So, don''t be too surprised if they approach you over the next couple of weeks."


    "Speaking of which, let''s make this official. Alex, would you like to join the Silver Spears?"


    Having already made up my mind, I replied, "Of course. Everything you''ve told me about the Silver Spears has made clear that this is the perfect place to hone my dueling skills."


    Zack grinned and pulled a ring and handed it to me. Finally able to get a closer look at the club ring, I noticed that the ring had two silver spears on the ring facing one another, possibly as a reminder of the duels to come. After sliding the ring on my right ring finger, the silver ring shrank until it fit snugly on my finger.


    "Great, now that you''re officially in the club, there are a few rules to explain about our dueling club."


    Seemingly out of nowhere, a line surfaced from my previous life. Finding it amusing and appropriate, I said, "Let me guess, rule one that you don''t talk about fight club."


    Zack laughed and said, "Not a bad way to put it. However, while none of the dueling clubs go around and advertise that we exist, we aren''t precisely forbidden secret either. If a student is really into dueling, they will generally discover one of the clubs, many times by invitation. Also, if you plan on challenging an opponent of another organization. There are protocols to set that in motion without announcing it to the whole world."


    "Should I be preparing for challenges right away?" I questioned.


    "No, most challenges happen after the December conference. Mainly when someone is holding a grudge over not advancing and wants to prove something." Zack explained.


    "Finally, I want to go over practicing. If you plan on attending the conference this December, I recommend getting as much practice in over the next few months. Dueling isn''t just two people entering a ring and slinging spells at one another. There is a lot of strategies that are involved in winning and advancing in a match. This is why a duelist who refuse to join a club and tries to compete, have such difficult times in the beginning."


    Motioning towards the other members, Zack continued, "You can count on the rest of us to help, all you need to coordinate times. During the week after dinner, you can almost always find a couple of us down here dueling. And on Saturday and Sunday, all of us spend a few hours down here dueling."


    The next day, I found myself back in the Silver Spear''s dueling circle with Zack. The diameter of the ring was precisely forty feet. As we both stepped into the ring, Zack asked, "Are you familiar with the rules of dueling?"


    Nodding, I said, "Yes, I can''t cross the line running down the center of the circle. If I do, I would automatically forfeit the match. The duel starts with each dueler standing in the small three-foot circles on opposing ends, and the first person who is forced from the smaller ring is deducted points. After the first person has left their starting ring, the other may freely choose to leave their ring without points. Also, should you win the match without leaving the starting circle, you are granted additional points."


    Satisfied with my understanding, Zack replied. "You''ve got the basics down. But remember, the most important thing is winning the match. The points you earn in a match don''t have anything to do with winning, merely the ranking system. Nothing is more embarrassing than refusing to move from the starting ring, when doing so may allow you to win."


    Finished Zack asked, "Now, before we begin, do you have any questions?"


    "Well, I understand a little about the points, but what else are they judging in the match," I questioned.


    Zack pulled out a small leather book and handed it to me and explained, "This book has everything that they judge and how points are assigned. You should study this carefully. Most of the top-ranked duelers have reviewed books like this and tailored their style to maximize points in a match."


    As I opened the small leather-bound book, Zack asked, "Have you ever wondered why duelers don''t just cast the stunning spell at one another? It''s one of the most effective ways to take someone down, one hit, and they go down for the count. Instead, top duelers try and use a wide variety of spells, from hexes, jinxes, charms and transfiguration spells. The wider the array of the spells used, the more the judges assign points. The same goes for defense. You can rack up more points if you can cast the counterspell or even block with the shielding spell."


    After hearing all the different ways to increase your ranking, I was beginning to understand how much work I had to do before December. I didn''t want just to win. I wanted as high of ranking possible.


    Seeing how eager I was to get started, Zack grinned and said, "I can see your anxious to get started. How about we leave everything else for later?''


    My eyes lit up in excitement, and I grinned and quickly replied, "That sounds like a great idea."


    Confident that I would be able to surprise Zack with my skills, I headed towards the starting position on one side of the ring. Once inside the small circle, I inquired, "Do we start with wands out?"


    "No, I find it best to practice like this is a real match, and drawing your wand is part of the duel. Although, I''m just going to focus on defense because I want to see your offensive capabilities." Zack replied.


    After seeing Zack''s relaxed face, I tried not to smirk. I rather doubt that Zack would be expecting me to have on a dueling gauntlet. Not to mention, I imagine he thought I would only know some basic spells. Last year, dealing with Micheal, and preparing for the Grendel had led me to learn some combative spells. I was pretty sure I would get the jump on him.


    One hour later, I found myself kneeling on the ground with sweat pouring down my face, head pounding, and feeling humbled. I had spent the last hour getting school on what it was like facing a skilled dueler.


    Not only was Zack not surprised about my dueling gauntlet, but he had one himself. Even though we both had gauntlets, he beat me in getting his wand out first.


    I made a mental note to practice speed drawing my wand from my gauntlet and possibly buying a newer one. The one I had was relatively old and had been left long ago at Hogwarts. I bet they''re better models out there.


    If losing the draw surprised me, what came next was somewhat embarrassing. Every spell I sent towards Zack was countered. He didn''t even have to dodge or use the shielding spell, he just used the specific counters spells.


    Dragging myself up to my feet, I complained, "What are you a mind reader? How the hell were you able to counter ever spell I used?"


    Zack chuckled, and replied, "What were you expecting? I have spent thousands of hours practicing, not to mention getting trained by my uncle, who was a two-time International Dueling Champion. So while the spells you used were impressive for your age, I have a lot of experience countering them. When you see the same spells cast towards you so many times, it becomes second-hand nature to counter them. That''s why constant practice and developing a deep repertoire of spells is crucial to being a successful duelist."


    A small part of me had thought I would be able to go toe to toe with Zack. Being reminded that as talented as I was, I was still human and had limits. I think I had been letting all my successes go to my head again. Maybe getting humbled every once in awhile was a good thing.


    Coming over to my side of the ring, Zack praised, "You know, I was expecting a lot worse. You''re way better than I was at your age. Not only do you know a surprising amount of spells for your age, but your aim is also surprisingly good. You would be surprised how many inexperienced duelers have trouble hitting their opponent from forty feet away."


    Happy with his praise, I bragged, "Yeah, I got really good practicing hitting bludgers with spells last year."


    After hearing about how I learned, Zack''s eyebrows rose in surprise. After a moment, He shrugged and said, "Well, whatever you did, keep it up. If you keep practicing, I bet you''re going to surprise everyone this December."


    Knowing that constructive criticism was influential in improving one''s self, I asked, "Is there anything else you noticed I should work on?"


    Seeing how receptive I was, Zack smiled, and said, "A couple of other small things. Your wand movement, while precise, I would recommend trying to make the movements as small as possible. Also, try to be as quiet as you can when chanting your spells. You want to make it as difficult as you can for your opponent to know what is coming his way. Other than that, I would say just keep practicing with opponents and learning more spells."


    We ended up calling it a day, with plans to continue practicing throughout the week. Before he left, Zack recommended spreading out my practice sessions with different members as it would expose me to different styles of dueling.


    He also suggested that I spend some time watching the others duel, as ideas and strategies could be learned from watching others.


    When I made it back to my room, I dug out my enchanted coin and sent a message to my friends for us to meet up at the Room of Requirement. I had a lot of information I wanted to share.

 Chapter 52 - Tryouts

    After grabbing my golden coin and sending a message to my friends to meet up at the Room of Requirement, I headed to the seventh floor.


    Once I arrived, I found Anna already inside, sitting at a wooden round table. After sitting down at the table, I saw her glance down at my new ring and let out a small grin.


    Before I could ask, Cedric and Alicia came in together. Both of their hair looked wild and untamed. If I had to guess, I would say that they had been flying around on broomsticks practicing for their upcoming tryouts.


    "When are you guys trying out for your teams?" I asked.


    Fixing her hair, Alicia replied, "Mine is later today, and I think Cedric is trying out tomorrow."


    Cedric nodded, indicating that she was right. Turning to Anna, he asked, "Are you sure you don''t want to try out for the Slytherin team? I know Alex had no intention of joining, but I bet your dad would like it you tried out."


    Anna vigorously shook her head, sending her blond hair flying. "No," She declared. "I''ve already made up my mind. Besides, I''m going to be busy this year."


    Anna reached over and slid up her robe on her right arm, revealing a solid black tattoo that looked like a fang of a great beast running down her forearm. "I joined a dueling club called the Dragon Fangs," she declared with a grin on her face.


    Her lavender eyes sought mine expectantly. Before I could say anything, Alicia squealed in shock, "Merlin''s beard! Anna, you got a tattoo!"


    Coming out of her seat, she leaned over and carefully inspected Anna''s arm. "Aren''t your parents going to be pissed?"


    Anna smirked, "They would if they could find it," she gloated. "Check this out." Pulling out her wand, she touched it to the tattoo and murmured, "Absconditum."


    The black fang faded away, leaving behind clear pale skin. "It''s not a real tattoo. It''s an enchantment that I can make fade away." She explained.


    As I looked at her tattoo, I felt a small pang of jealousy rise within me. I shot my new ring a disgruntled look, where was my magical tattoo?Clearly, the Silver Spears are behind the times. Secret rings that designate membership have gone out of style.


    "Could we join?" Alicia asked.


    "I don''t know," Anna replied, "But they mentioned that they don''t recruit quidditch players because they have to spend so much of their free time practicing quidditch."


    Alicia shook her head, "Nevermind," she said. "There is no way Cedric or I would be willing to give up playing quidditch. Maybe Alex can join."


    Anna smiled at Alicia''s suggestions, and her lavender eyes sought my grey expectantly, "I also found out that there are several different dueling clubs at Hogwarts. One of them only recruits people who have aspen wands." She mused with a smile on her face.


    Cedric and Alicia''s eyes quickly darted back towards me. Holding up the hand with my new ring on it, I confirmed, "Guilty, I just joined the Silver Spears last night."


    Anna''s eyes twinkled with happiness, "It''s nice that we''re both in dueling clubs. We''ll be able to practice together." She remarked with a smile on her face.


    Thinking of my less than impressive performance against Zack, I replied, "From what I learned this morning, we''re going to need a lot of practice to complete competitively."


    A little curious about how Anna got into her dueling team, so I asked, "How did you come to the attention of the Hidden Fangs?"


    A small blush slowly appeared on her face while she explained, "Apparently, I came to the attention of some of the members last year when we were feuding with Micheal and his friends. They really thought my bowel-exploding hex that I hit Ray with was impressive."


    I chuckled at the memory, that was the hex that turned our fight into more of a Cold War, no one wanted to walk around Hogwarts with the chance of being hit with explosive diarrhea.


    "I guess this means that you will be competing against one another this December," Alicia remarked.


    "It''s possible, but at least I know there will be some good competition in our age group," I mused out loud while inwardly thinking of Zack''s explanation of how one could choose a higher age group came to mind.


    While I wasn''t on the same level as a fifth-year student, I believed that I should be able to mount a decent challenge to third or possibly even fourth-year students.


    Once the conversation on dueling was finished, and we started talking about other topics, Cedric turned to Alicia and asked, "So how many open spots are on the Gryffindor team this year?"


    "Four spots," she explained. "A pair of chaser positions and both of the beater positions as well."


    "Well, at least you have a better chance of making it than me," Cedric grumbled with his eyebrows scrunched up in worry. "There is only one seeker position, and if I''m not the best, I won''t make it onto the team."


    As I saw the worried look on Cedric''s face, I wished I could comfort him on this issue while I didn''t know precisely when Cedric would make the Hufflepuff team. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Cedric was both the seeker and the captain of the Hufflepuff team.


    Locking eyes with Cedric and with as much conviction in my voice as I could manage, I declared, "Cedric. You''ve got this. There is zero doubt in my mind that you will be on the Hufflepuff team."


    Weighing in as well, Anna and Alicia both assured him he would make it. "Not like it matters too much," she teased with a smile. "If I make it on the team this year, Gryffindor is definitely winning the house cup."


    Alicia declaration set off a new round of arguments about who would win the quidditch cup this year. If I remember correctly, it should be Slytherin, unless things have changed.


    The rest of the day went by quickly, and soon we were all headed down to the quidditch stadium. Alicia was all decked out in her gold and red quidditch robes that she usually wore during practice.


    As she took to the field meeting up with the other contenders, the rest of us made our way up to the stands.


    Charlie Weasley, the muscular, red-headed Gryffindor captain, apparently decided to test the beaters first. Anna g.r.o.a.n.e.d when she saw Fred and George take off into the sky.


    She wasn''t their biggest fan, while they generally subjected everyone to their pranks, I cannot deny that a more significant number of them ended up being on Slytherins.


    Around 15 hopefuls rose into the air, each one of them had a wooden beater bat clutched in their hands.


    "What are they doing?" Anna questioned as Charlie Weasley unsealed a pair of bludgers from a quidditch trunk. The round, dark bludgers took off with a vengeance, determined to start bludgeoning anyone on a broomstick.


    As the Gryffindors began a mad scramble to avoid being smashed, I guessed out loud, "I think it''s going to come down to the last man standing."


    My prediction seemed to be proven right when one Weasley twins, swung and hit a well-timed bludger towards another Grffinndor which nearly unseated him when it smashed into his back.


    Fourteen of the remaining hopefuls continued flying around dodging bludgers. The whole scene was incredibly chaotic. I''ll bet that this is why Fred and George seemed to be doing so well. They are chaos incarnate.


    Fourteen was soon whittled down to seven. The remaining seven Gryfinndors proved to be more talented than the rest, but their biggest problem was a lack of teamwork.


    However, Fred and George were the sole exceptions. They worked in seamless unity as they smashed their fellow Gryffindors one by one.


    When it came down to the last one remaining, I almost felt sorry for him when I heard Fred and Georgie cackling madly while mercilessly cornering him with the angry bludgers.


    Unsurprisingly, the twins were the last two standing. I couldn''t tell if Charlie was pleased or worried about how his little brothers ruthlessly hunted down their fellows Gryffindors.


    Soon, it was time for the chasers to tryout. Their method of selection was much more straightforward. They were each given ten chances to score against the Gryffindor keeper, Oliver Wood. The two candidates who racked up the highest number of goals would be selected.


    Around twenty hopefuls were wanting to be chosen for the team. It seemed like they were going in order by grade, so Alicia was one of the few second years confident enough to try out.


    The first two who went first set the bar extremely low, neither one of them were able to make a score on during their ten attempts.


    I could tell by everyone''s faces that they expected Alicia to perform the same. I smirked, they had no idea how good she was, I spent the entire summer playing keeper against her, so I knew from experience how tricky she could be when trying to score.


    Not to mention, some of our practices were overseen by Anna''s dad, who played quidditch professionally. He had given Cedric and Alicia plenty of advice over the summer.


    "That''s it, Alicia, show him what you''re made of!" Anna cheered, happy that their friend scored. Not to be out cheered, both Cedric and I started yelling our support as well.


    I smiled when I saw Oliver Wood straighten up on his broom.


    Clearly, he hadn''t been expecting a second year to score on him. Oliver blocked the next two attempts, and just as he seemed to start thinking it was a fluke that Alicia scored, she scored twice in a row.


    By now, I could tell Oliver was getting annoyed at himself. Of her remaining five shots she ended up scoring three more, for a total of six.


    As Alicia started descending to the field, we all made our way down, eager to congratulate her on an excellent performance. Alicia smoothly landed on the green quidditch field with a happy grin on her face.


    By the time Alicia made it to us, Charlie had meandered over and said with a smile, "Alicia, right?"


    Alicia nodded eagerly, and Charlie continued, "You did a great job, make sure you stick around until the end."


    A sneering voice cut in, "She wasn''t that impressive. I think that the keeper just sucks. He let a twelve-year-old score six points. I''ll bet when it''s my turn. I''ll make all my shots."


    Turning in annoyance, I saw Ray Sullivan, Micheal''s black-haired toady sneering at Alicia. Before I could angrily retort, Charlie remarked, "I''ve always found that deeds speak louder than words." Motioning towards the field, he continued, "Since you''ve taken it upon yourself to judge your fellow housemates, you can go next and show everyone your talent."


    While Charlie didn''t raise his soft-spoken voice, there was no mistaking the anger contained within his words. For a moment, it seemed like Ray sensed that he had made a mistake. Shooting a condescending look towards Alicia, he scathingly said, "Let me show you what a real contender looks like."


    As he took off into the air, I noticed Anna glaring daggers at his back, if Ray wasn''t careful, if he wasn''t careful, he might find himself being hit with the bowl-exploding hex again.


    When Ray took his first shot at the goal, Oliver quickly blocked it. Red in the face, Ray tried again. After he missed his third, the Gryffindors started jeering at him. They had heard his bragging, and they didn''t appear to like it any more than we did.


    The whole ordeal snowballed, the more he missed, the more furious he became, which caused him to miss again. After he missed on his tenth try, he bolted away on his broom, too embarrassed to return to the field, not having made a single point.


    The rest of the tryout went more smoothly, and soon it was finished. There was only one other person who had scored more than Alicia, but thankfully, because there were two open spots, she made it on the team.


    As I eyed my friends celebrating, I mused that I probably had changed the timeline slightly. Not significantly, in the books, she was only supposed to make it to the reserve team her second year, and then on the primary team during Harry''s first year.


    I imagine that our group friendship is what changed the timeline. Us practicing together over the summer must-have elevated her skill level to the point where she made the team.


    While I was a little worried about the change, it was only a small ripple in the timeline. It shouldn''t affect the future that I knew was coming. I needed to be careful not to change too much in the beginning. If I wanted to prevent the deaths that I knew were coming, I needed Harry''s first few years not to change, if they did, who knows what could happen.


    Squashing my worry down, I swept Alicia up in a congratulatory hug. Soon she was pulled away from our group by Charlie, who wanted to conduct a team meeting. After reassuring Alicia that we would celebrate later, the rest of us headed back to the school.

 Chapter 53 - Not again

    It seemed as if all the hard work that Cedric and Alicia put in over the summer paid off because the following day, Cedric made it onto the Hufflepuff team as their seeker.


    Over the next couple of weeks, I discovered to my dismay, that it was a lot harder for all my friends to hang out together during the week. It always seemed as if one or two of us were busy with our new activities. Thankfully, we were still able to find time to get together on the weekends.


    As for me, I split my time alone dueling with my fellow Silver Spears, acquiring new spells that I could use in duels, and working on occlumency.


    Once again, I marveled at the efficiency of the Room of Requirement. It provided me with a way to learn new spells without spending countless hours hunting through the enormous library. Zack had suggested that I try to add some rarely used spells to my repertoire because it would increase the chances of forcing my opponent to dodge if he didn''t recognize what spell was coming at him.


    I ended up finding dozens of new and interesting spells, many of which had gone out of style and hadn''t been mainstream for generations. But, before I started mastering those, I needed to shore up my defenses.


    The shielding spell, while quite basic, was a tricky spell to learn. Many fully a.d.u.l.t witches and wizards aren''t capable of using it, but I''d imagine that part of that is due to lack of practice. While that sounds implausible that someone capable of using magic wouldn''t take the time to master the shielding spell. Many of them don''t put themselves in any dangerous situations, and just because someone can use magic, doesn''t mean that they''re badasses. If my time in the wizarding world has taught me anything, it is that plenty of people in our society are for lack of a better term, are average people.


    One of the main difficulties with the shielding spell was the effort it took to form. You can''t just say the incantation and expect the shield to appear. The spell was all about willpower. You had to will the shield into existence. The more focused you were, the stronger your shield would be.


    However, according to the book I read on the subject, the shield wasn''t perfect and wouldn''t protect against everything. Powerful enough magic would be able to break the shield, and extremely dark magic like the unforgivable curses wouldn''t be slowed down at all and would go right through the shield like it wasn''t there.


    The author of the book I was reading believed it had to do with the generality of the spell. This meant because it was designed to be an all-purpose spell, and it wasn''t capable of stopping stronger spells.


    The author''s belief made sense. This rule seemed to be fairly consistent with other areas of magic that I had studied, like warding. However, it doesn''t explain why dark magic can penetrate the shield like it wasn''t even there.


    There is so little known about dark magic and why it acts the way it does, and I''m not dumb enough to get caught seriously studying it at Hogwarts. But I had never really understood why the dark arts were so frowned upon.


    All magic could be extremely deadly when properly used. Take the severing charm. While typically used to cut mundane items, it could easily slit someone''s throat, or how about the fire charm, which could burn someone to death. One day, I plan to dig in and plume the depths of dark magic; it bugged me that so little was understood about dark magic.


    Putting the dark arts to the back of my mind, I turned my mind back to shielding spell. As useful as the shield was, it had other downfalls. Timing, it was all about the timing.


    Unfortunately, the protection spell didn''t last. According to the book, the shield only lasts for a few moments, just enough to block a spell, then it would fade away.


    Putting the book down, I brought out my wand. Concentrating on producing a shield, I said, "Protego."


    At the tip of my ivory-colored wand, silvery wisps seemed to form a shield for a moment before fading away. I glared at my wand in frustration. I had been working on this spell for the last couple of weeks. I could tell I was getting closer, but trying to will a shield into existence was challenging.


    Zack had told me that most duelers don''t master the shield until their third or fourth year and not to worry about it. But I was planning on competing at a higher level, and if I wanted to get far in the tournament, I would need to master this spell.


    "I know, I know," I comforted.


    Being so busy with everything had stopped me from taking her out into the grounds and letting her stretch her wings.


    Motioning towards my shoulder, I said, "Come on. Let''s go for a stroll. Maybe we can find Hagrid."


    Athena bleated with happiness and climbed up on my shoulder. Heading outside, I mused that I hadn''t seen more than a glimpse or two from Hagrid so far. It was strange. Usually, he was always out and about, the last time he was so absent was when he was raising the garmr pups in secret.


    As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I mentally g.r.o.a.n.e.d. Seeing Hagrid''s hut in the distance, I decided I might as well get it over with and see what creature he had now.


    When I reached the hut, I could hear Hagrid crooning something inside in his deep rumbling voice. Reaching out, I knocked on the heavy wooden door. The noise vanished, and the hut became as silent as a tomb.


    Rolling my eyes at his attempt to be sneaky, I called out, "Hagrid, I know you''re in there. It''s Alex."


    I heard some shuffling and movement inside before the big door was suddenly pulled open, and giant hairy arms reached out and scooped me up in a hug.


    "Alex," Hagrid exclaimed, while I was buried in his bear hug.


    Hurriedly tapping him on the beefy arm, I gasped, "Can''t breathe."


    Hagrid set me down with a wide grin on his face, closing the door behind him, he turned to Athena. He picked her up with a surprising amount of gentleness. I tried not to frown at the difference of our treatment, why does she get the V.I.P. treatment and I''m nearly suffocated.


    "It''s good to see you, Alex. I was beginning to think that you had forgotten me," Hagrid reproachfully mumbled. Reaching up, he pulled off Athena''s collar, which freed up her wings and horns. "Who''s a good girl?" He crooned while scratching the base of her horns.


    Athena purred in p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e while I tried to explain, "Sorry, Hagrid. I''ve been swamped. There is so much for me to do this year."


    After a moment, I realized that it was a little strange that he hadn''t invited me into the hut. "Hagrid, is there a reason why you haven''t invited me inside?" I asked.


    A guilty look appeared on his face, "No, nothing to it," Breathing deep, he added, "Ah nothing like that fresh air."


    Seeing my unimpressed look, he surrendered. "Fine, come on in, just don''t make any sudden moves."


    Hearing his warning should have sent me running, but I was curious to see what he had inside. As soon Hagrid opened the door, Fang squeezed his way out, parked his b.u.t.t twenty feet from the hut. "Fang, get back here," Hagrid bellowed.


    Fang shook his big head, sending drops of drool everywhere. After a minute of coaxing with no success. Hagrid threw his hands into the air and grumbled, "Coward."


    As soon as I entered the hut, my gaze was instantly drawn to the far side of the hut where Hagrid had built a makeshift fence. Behind the fence was a small creature whose makeup was jarring to the eye.


    Watched the beast munch on a giant slab of meat twice it''s size. I m.o.a.n.e.d when I heard the bone inside the meat snap like a twig, "Oh Hagrid, not again. That''s a Chimaera. You can''t possibly think you can keep it here."


    As I saw Hagrid eye the Chimaera with all the happiness of a proud parent, I realized that he indeed thought he could keep the creature. I sighed in defeat, yet another dangerous magical creature soon to be added to the Forbidden Forest.


    At least it was still a baby. I dreaded how dangerous it would get when it got bigger. But at least if last year was any indication, Professor Dumbledore would step in and force him to get rid of the Chimaera when it got too dangerous.


    "How did you get your hands on a Chimaera?" I asked.


    "Yer uncle put me in touch with a Greek wizard, who was able to sneak me a Chimaera egg." Hagrid bragged. "He hatched a week ago. His name is Aegeus."


    As I warily watched Aegeus happily rip meat off her bone. Athena seemed to agree with me that Hagrid was crazy. She soared her way back onto my shoulder and wrapped her tail around my throat protectively.


    Athena hissed threateningly when Aefeus burped flames out. "Ahh, his first flame," Hagrid crooned in joy.


    Of course, it can breathe flames. Hagrid was obsessed with dragons, and I''d imagine that a fire-breathing Chimaera was the next best thing.


    As I took a seat on Hagrid''s old, lumpy, stained, maroon-colored couch, Hagrid asked, So Alex. What have you and your little friends been up to?"


    "Well, Alicia and Cedric have been busy ever since they made it onto the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff quidditch teams," I replied. Not sure if I should tell him about Anna and I joining dueling teams, so I evaded, "And I have been working on mastering the shielding spell."


    "That''s good," Hagrid grunted. "I bet that spell would have been helpful last year."


    "Maybe," I replied. "But, I think it''s more useful against spells rather than creatures." As soon as I said the words, a light went off in my head. I bet that''s what I needed. Someone to sling spells at me, the risk of being hit would force me to dig deep and genuinely d.e.s.i.r.e a shield to protect me.


    I spent the next hour catching up with Hagrid, on my way back to my room. Fang w.h.i.n.ed at me, pleading for me to take him away from the horror of Aegeus.


    The next day, I sent a message to Anna to meet me in the Room of Requirement. For what I needed, she would be perfect. I needed someone to force me into a situation where I needed to protect myself.


    When Anna arrived, I explained my idea to her. For a moment, her face was blank. Then a wicked grin seemed to emerge. Pulling out her wand, she narrowed her lavender eyes and remarked, "Do you remember when we were younger and we went to my dad''s quidditch match? You got your dad to cover me in silver and blue." Maliciously chuckling she added, "I warned you that you would pay for your sins."


    Seeing her expression, I started sweating, "Anna, that was a long time ago. You still can''t be upset, right?" I implored.


    Seeing no change in her expression, my heart fell, I better master this shielding spell quick, fast, and in a hurry. The second she moved, I drew my wand out from its holster.


    As the first spell was sent my way, I roared, "Protego."


    Pale light erupted, my wand forming a weak shield. It seemed like the fear of being hit with another spell was the slight push I needed to get the spell to work.


    Even though I was able to get the shield to form, I could tell from the way Anna''s spell broke through that I needed to work on it. The stronger my need was, the firmer my shield would become.


    By the end of the night, I think I had gotten the hang of the spell. I was now able to form a decent shield on command.


    The practice was also good for Anna. She was getting skilled at moving from spell to spell seamlessly. I had the feeling that she was going to focus on pure offense, if she kept this up, I imagine that one day facing her would be like facing an unrelenting storm of spells.

 Chapter 53 - Occlumency

    As the days turned into weeks, while I found my dueling skills improving by leaps and bounds, I hadn''t found success in occlumency. I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that merely making my mind blank wasn''t going to work.


    One evening, in October, I was lounging on my bed, slowly stroking Athena''s tiger-striped fur while trying to clear my mind.


    At first, I had thought that it was best to meditate in the lotus position, but after the first month with no success, I decided to find a more natural pose. Otherwise, I would end up straining a muscle.


    As I laid there, listening to Athena''s satisfied purrs, my mind started slowly drifting as one of my oldest and fondest memories began to surface.


    Most people would assume that a reincarnated person with memories from his previous life would be born fully aware. That was not my experience. I''m not sure why, as I''m not an expert on reincarnation.


    My earliest, clearest memories started when I was between one and two years old. Sometimes I get flashes of earlier times, but they''re more like feelings and sensations with no real substance. Like a half-forgotten dream where you remember how the dream made you feel but not what happened. I think it might have something to do with the brain of an infant not being developed enough to support a functioning consciousness, but I can''t say for sure.


    As I floated in a sea of my fondest memories, a feeling of safety and peace enveloped me. Suddenly I felt something within me shift, it was hard to describe, it was like I discovered a new muscle and upon activating it, I felt a band of energy spring out from the depths of my mind and envelope my head in a cocoon of protection.


    Opening my eyes in curiosity, I half-expected to see some visual cue of the magic surrounding my head. Unfortunately, the second I opened my eyes, I lost the state of mind I was in, and the magic winked out of existence.


    "Merlin''s saggy pants!" I swore in annoyance.


    Athena turned her head in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and nudged my hand, wanting me to resume petting her.


    "Sorry," I apologized, "I almost had it, I''m sure of it."


    Athena''s satisfied purring resumed after I started petting her again. I closed my eyes, determined to find the mental state that I previously discovered. However, the more I tried to find the mental clarity that I previously had, the further it slipped away. Finally, I had enough of it, and I decided that I was too frustrated to continue for the night.


    Over the next two weeks, I found success a few more times, however holding the correct mental state proved to be enormously difficult. Any distraction caused me to lose it immediately, it was like doing a complex mathematical problem, having a conversation, and writing something down at the same time.


    One evening towards the end of October, I was trying to reach the correct state, and for the first time upon opening my eyes, the sensation didn''t fade away. Burying my excitement, I slowly turned my head towards the normally empty-looking clay pot on my dresser.


    The first time that I saw the bearded mushroom I was a little surprised it was really there. I''m not going to lie, part of me thought Madam Yue pulled a fast one and sold me an empty pot. Its head was a deep red, and it had beefy eyes that were extremely far apart, and it had a wispy whiteish beard covering the rest of its face.


    The Bearded Mushroom had a look of panic on its face. I felt invisible tendrils brush up against the shield of occlumency I had up. The stupid mushroom was trying to edit my thought to pretend it doesn''t exist


    Dancing a small victory jig, I bragged, "Not today, today you have been bested by me." Pointing my finger at the mushroom, I continued, "No longer will you have access to the mind of the great Alexander Fawley, for I have bested you in a contest of wills."


    Apparently, the universe felt I was getting uppity and needed a smackdown because I tripped over one of Athena''s chew toys, and I crashed down on the floor.


    "Merlin''s balding head!" I shouted


    The shock made concentration slip, and the shield slipped away, and the bearded mushroom followed suit. I could swear that before the mushroom disappeared, it shot me a smug look.


    For a moment, I was torn between wanting to hurl something at the mushroom for its smug look or chastise Athena. I ended up going with the latter.


    "Athena, you know you''re not supposed to leave your toys out," I complained.


    Athena shot a look of interest at the toy in my hand before she started grooming herself, completely unapologetic.


    As I sat back on the bed, I was a little disappointed, but I was still happy. I had made progress; not only was I finding it easier to slip into the correct mental state, I finally was able to keep the shield going with my eyes open. Now, I just needed practice. My first goal was to be able to maintain the shield at all times.


    And that was just the beginning, before I attempted the trial. I planned on mastering to its fullest extent. Which meant that not only did my shields have to be infallible, but I also needed to learn how to craft fake memories to fool someone.


    After all, a true master of occlumency would be able to trick someone using legilimency into believing something that''s not true. I imagine that Professor Snape has to be on this level as he had to successfully trick Voldemort into thinking that he was a faithful follower.


    Had he approached Voldemort with his shield raised, I''d imagine that Voldemort would have been suspicious. No, I bet he is so skilled that allowed Voldemort to pierce his shielding without any resistance and discover fake crafted memories and thoughts that led Voldemort to believe that Snape was still his faithful servant.


    Thankfully, the books I had on the subject actually went in-depth on how to do this. But, they cautioned that it took even more mental fortitude than maintaining the shield. Supporting the shield would be the easy part; the true challenge would be crafting fake memories and thoughts, which requires mental dexterity and flexibility that is difficult to learn.


    The few skilled and dedicated enough to learn occlumency often are unable to progress any further than the mental shield and are content with merely safeguarding their minds from unwanted intruders.


    I already had future goals I wanted to accomplish with occlumency. I wanted to be able to stand in the same room as the Bearded Mushroom without it realizing that I could see it by making it think that it was successfully modifying my thoughts and memories.


    Over the following days, I found myself being able to slip into the correct mental state more easily. It seemed like the more often I found the proper mental state, the easier it became to find it again, and I was able to push the bounds of my ability to maintain the shield.


    I''m guessing that all this practice would help with other advanced spellwork¡ªsome of the more difficult spells required specific thoughts or feelings to be successful. For example, the patronus charm needed a sense of extreme happiness supplied from memory, and some darker magics like the unforgivable curses required a genuine d.e.s.i.r.e to inflict pain. It seems one of the keys to being a skilled wizard is the ability to force your d.e.s.i.r.es out on command. While that may sound easy, it requires building mental dexterity only achieved through hard work.


    Over the next few weeks, once I could maintain my shield for an hour or so, I decided I wanted to test it against a wizard. Initially, I had toyed with the idea of trying to use it against Professor Dumbledore, but in the end, I decided to go with Professor Snape.


    Besides, this year I had felt Professor Snape''s penetrating gaze on me more than once. I had the secret suspicion that I had attracted his attention from the adventure last year, and I believed he had been employing legilimency to see if I had been up to anything.


    I countered initially by refusing to meet his gaze, while I bet he is a master at occlumency. From the description in the fifth book, I bet that he wasn''t as skilled using the wandless version of legilimency. He had to use his wand to break into Harry''s mind, whereas Dumbledore and Voldemort were so skilled that they didn''t even need a wand.


    Professor Snape started the class in the same no-nonsense tone he always used. "Today, we will be brewing the fire-protecting potions." Motioning towards the chalkboard at the front of the room, Professor Snape continued, "It''s a fairly useful potion. Once consumed, the potion renders a person immune to flames until the effects wear off."


    Sitting at our table, Roger Davis eagerly interjected without thinking, "That''s awesome, I bet dragon tamers use that potion all the time." Roger''s voice trailed off, realizing that he had made a mistake.


    Jessica, Anna, and I all unconsciously leaned away from Roger, not wanting to be anywhere near the inevitable blowback from Professor Snape.


    "10 points from Ravenclaw for speaking out of turn, and 20 for sheer stupidity." Professor Snape icily remarked. "Mr. Davis, you will also turn in fifteen inches of parchment on the magical properties of dragon fire and why it would be the height of stupidity to confront a dragon believing that a simple fire protection potion would protect you."


    Twisting the knife one final time, Professor Snape viciously added, "I expect that kind of thinking from Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs, but not Ravenclaws. I wonder if the sorting hat made a mistake with you."


    Roger''s face went deep red in embarrassment,. In Ravenclaw, one of the most effective insults is being told that you are dumber than students in the other houses. It''s not a logical insult as there are plenty of talented wizards in all the houses, but Ravenclaws were definitely the magical nerds of Hogwarts. As such, we considered ourselves to be smarter than the rest of the houses.


    As the lesson continued, I found it challenging to maintain my shield and concentrate on the potion. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure that Professor Snape didn''t regularly go around employing legilimency against students.


    I don''t believe that he cares enough about what is going on in the minds of all his students to use the mental arts consistently. My guess is that he only employs it when he comes across some shenanigans and wants to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. I will have to get him curious enough to begin using legilimency.


    After racking my brains for a minute, an idea appeared in my head. I glanced over at Roger, who appeared to be on track to brew the potion successfully. Part of me felt terrible, rarely did things go right for Roger in medicines, it was like he was cursed.


    One of the key ingredients for this potion was salamander blood. More than once, Professor Snape warned the class that salamander blood was extremely volatile, and not to put more than five drops in the potion.


    Sweat was dripping off Roger''s forehead as he was carefully adding the salamander drops into the potion. Knowing that it wouldn''t take much to distract him, I casually asked, "Hey Roger. What are our chances against Gryffindor in the upcoming quidditch match?"


    Ever since Roger made it onto the team this year, quidditch was his favorite topic, and he loved to talk about it.


    Turning to me with a grin on his face, he bragged, "I think our chances are pretty good, we''ve put one of the best teams together this year."


    Not taking her lavender eyes off her potion, Anna snorted condescendingly from across the table.


    As Roger puffed up in outrage, my eyes bulged in shock when I saw Roger dropped his entire beaker of salamander blood into the potion. I was so surprised that I almost dropped my shield of occlumency.


    I had been expecting Roger to add a few more drops than necessary, not drop all of his supply into the potion. What was he even doing with that much salamander blood?


    For a moment, it seemed as if the potion wouldn''t react, but then it started angrily boiling and letting off an icy blue vapor made of flame that chilled the air.


    Within moments the potion boiled over the top of the cauldron spilling its contents down the side were it immediately destroyed one of the legs stabilizing the cauldron. Consequently, it tipped and spilled its contents down the table and onto the floor.


    I was a little surprised about how badly that could have gone. Luckily, Professor Snape watches everyone like a hawk. After this experience, I have a feeling that he gives Roger even more attention.


    Professor Snape had a thick throbbing vein on his forehead as he turned his furious gaze from Roger to the burned-out remains of his cauldron. "What on earth were you doing adding that much salamander blood to the potion?" He barked.


    "I... I got distracted," Roger stammered.


    Knowing that this was my cue to let Snape know that they''re some shenanigans going on, I put on my best I-did-something, but-you-can''t-prove-it look. I picked up the expression from Fred and George. They had mastered the art of taunting someone without saying a word.


    As Professor Snape shifted his annoyed gaze to the rest of us. When his dark eyes took in my expression, he paused for a moment before he snapped, "Mr. Davis, detention. I will see you in my office after dinner."


    I tried not to wince in sympathy. I hadn''t meant for the potion to get that bad.


    "Get back to your stations," He snarled, "Everyone excluding Mr. Davis will still be required to turn in a potion."


    As everyone made their way back to their cauldrons, I could feel Professor Snape''s eyes on the back of my head. Sure enough, a few minutes later, I felt a mental brush against my shield. It was weaker than the psychic tendrils of the Bearded Mushroom. Turning my head, my grey eyes met his seemingly black eyes, and I felt the pressure slightly increase, but he was unable to get past my shields.


    Ha, take that Professor Snape, no rooting around in my thoughts and memories whenever the mood strikes you. As I felt the pressure slightly increase, I blew a mental raspberry at the professor and turned back to my work.


    A headache had formed, and I wanted nothing more than to go pass out. As I turned in my potion, Professor Snape took one look at my potion, which was slightly off-color and sneered, "Your potion is barely passable. I wonder if something was distracting you? It will be interesting to see how you cope with more distractions in the future."


    His remark set off all sorts of mental alarms. Surely he didn''t mean that he would do this in every class I had with him. As I saw the gleeful, vindictive look in his eyes, my heart sank, that''s precisely what he intended to do. I should have tested my shield against Dumbledore, at least he doesn''t hold grudges.


    Thankfully, potions was the last class of the day. Too tired for dinner, I made my way back to my room and passed out. My final thought before oblivion was that at least I will become skilled at holding a shield of occlumency up while being mentally attacked

 Chapter 54 - Patronus

    "Expecto Patronum," Not for the first time, wispy white vapors poured out of my aspen wand.


    During the past month, I had spent some of my free time working on the patronus charm. I figured the better I got at manipulating my mind, the easier it would be to get a handle on occlumency. While I had finally found success with occlumency, I was still working on the patronus charm in my spare time. I hadn''t yet succeeded in creating a corporeal patronus, but I had at least managed the wispy vapors that would offer partial protection from a dementor.


    Being able to handle dementors was high on my list of priorities. Considering the mass breakout of Azkaban, the dementors surely will follow Voldemort.


    Out of all the magical creatures that I have studied, dementors are one the most dangerous. To date, not one dementor has ever been killed. For now, they are immortal beings. Not in the sense that they don''t age, but rather no known spell can kill them. Well, at least not yet, I''m sure it is theoretically possible to create a spell that would kill them, but currently, nothing fazes them.


    Many witches and wizards have tried to bring one down in the past, from the killing curse to fiendfyre, nothing works. That''s why the Ministry made a deal with the dementors to guard Azkaban, who knows what would have happened if they refused to cooperate.


    What''s even more horrible about dementors is that they were created through extremely twisted dark magic. A talented dark wizard named Ekrizdia back in the 15th century is responsible for creating them.


    Ekrizdia enchanted the Island of Azkaban to be impossible to find and started his mad experiments. Not much is known about everything he was up too, but upon his death, other witches and wizards discovered his island and fortress where they found the horrors he left behind.


    Some have speculated that the origins of dementors lie with the dark magical creature known as the lethifold. A lethifold resembles a black cloak roughly half an inch thick and appears slightly thicker if the creature has recently digested a victim. It glides along surfaces in an unknown form of locomotion in search of its prey, humans. It attacks at night, when the target is asleep, by suffocating and then digesting them.


    There are a couple of reasons why some speculate that the origins of dementors can be found with lethifolds. One apparent reason is that lethifolds have an eerie similarity with the cloaks that surround dementors. And the other is that when a lethifold attacked Flavius Belby in his sleep, he discovered that the patronus charm could force a lethifold to retreat.


    Turning my thoughts back to the patronus charm, I decided to concentrate on another memory. This time, I focused on an older memory, back to when Sasha and Rebecca had just been born, and I was allowed to hold them for the first time.


    "Hey Alex," Anna chipper voice rang out from behind me.


    "Expecto Patronum," I called out half a second later.


    For the first time, a bright silvery light shot out of my wand and zoomed across the room.


    Turning in surprise, I saw Anna had arrived in the Room of Requirement. We had planned on doing some more practice with our dueling skills. Anna was looking up towards the ceiling in wonder.


    "What is that?" she asked in wonder.


    Looking back, I saw what she was staring at my patronus. Flying around the room in circles was a glowing silver red-tailed hawk with a three-foot wingspan.


    "It''s my patronus," I replied proudly.


    I was ecstatic that I had finally been able to summon my patronus. I hadn''t been in a huge hurry to complete the spell because I knew that we wouldn''t see a dementor for a few more years.


    I planned to master the spell this year and teach it to my friends next year. I was confident that if Harry could learn how to summon a patronus in his third year going up against a boggart pretending to be a dementor, that my friends could also learn how to summon one in their third year as well.


    I smiled at the sight of my patronus flying around. I had lucked out in getting such a cool animal. What was even better was that it could fly, while it may not seem like flying patronus matters at all. Most of the time, a person''s patronus is the same as their animagus form.


    Thoughts of soaring through the sky with the wind beneath my wings appeared in my head. One day, I will become an animagus, and I hope it''s the same as my patronus.


    Interrupting my thoughts, Anna interjected, "How in Merlin''s sweaty socks are you to summon a patronus? Aren''t they supposed to be incredibly difficult to summon, even for fully trained wizards?"


    I grunted, "The spell itself isn''t difficult. What''s difficult is getting your head in a certain frame of mind, which is happiness. Once you start learning how to control your emotions on command, it becomes easier to use spells that require emotions to work."


    What I didn''t tell her was I had spent the last five months practicing how to control my emotions with occlumency. All that work is what helped me learn the spell in a month.


    Seeing how impressed she was, I added, "It''s not that impressive. Casting the spell in a bright room with no cause for fear isn''t anything to brag about, who knows how it would have gone if an actual dementor had been here."


    Anna looked taken aback, in a slightly confused tone she asked, "Why are you so worried about dementors? Don''t they work for the Ministry of Magic? It''s not like we have any reason to come in contact with them.


    Thoughts of a dementor on the Hogwarts Express came to mind. "Don''t be so sure," I mumbled. "Besides, It never hurts to be prepared."


    Changing the subject, I asked, "So, are you ready to practice?"


    As Anna looked at me, a predatory look appeared on her face. Anna had taken to dueling like a fish to water, and lately, she had begun our dueling succession with a surprise attack. Seeing how it looked like she was going to draw on me, I protested, "Hold on, Anna. Let the room set up a ring before we start."


    She fluttered her lavender eyes in an attempt to act innocent like there was no way she could be up to anything, but I had little sisters, I knew that look. More than once I told her that I think her Slytherin is showing, but all she did was smirk at me.


    Before I knew it, a dueling ring had slowly formed around me, that little sneaky Slytherin. She must have requested the Room of Requirement to form the dueling ring to form around us.


    We both stared at each other like hawks hunting for mice. I saw Anna try to slowly and subtly twist her wrist to the right. I grinned, we had made a small game of trying to force our opponent to draw first. Her little wrist twist was a feint trying to get me to make the first move.


    Turning the tables back on her, I acted as I fell for her ploy and threw my arm out. She quickly responded by moving to withdraw her wand from her new dueling hostler. Once it was clear that she was drawing her wand, I brought my wand from my hoster as well.


    I had a new one as well, as the one I got from the Room of Requirement was ancient. My dad had taken on the challenge of designing a new hidden holster, I had gotten him to design one for Anna as well.


    He had come up with a new innovative, simplistic design. Now, my dueling hostler was a small wrist strap, on the bottom side was a narrow two-inch metal tube that had an extension charm attached inside of it. When my wand was retracted, the whole thing disappeared seamlessly into the tube. The design was a lot more comfortable and less bulky than my old design.


    Shooting Anna a taunting smirk, I teased, "I win again."


    She narrowed her eyes at my remark and threatened, "We''ll see who has the last laugh."


    Done with talking, she pointed her wand at me and started casting, "Dextra Firmus."


    A yellow burst of light came flying at me from across the room. Timing it just right, I chanted, "Protego."


    A glowing white shield shimmered into existence surrounding me. When Anna''s spell hit my shield, it went bouncing off back towards her. Lately, I had been practicing angling the shield to send the spell back at the caster.


    "Really," I mocked, "The jelly-fingers curse is amateurish at best."


    Anna retorted, "If you can''t hold your wand, you can''t cast spells."


    This time, Anna sent two spells at me. I think she was hoping that my shield would block the first spell and fade right as the second would hit me,


    Wanting to take her off guard, instead of casting the shield charm, I jumped out of the starting circle while pointing my wand at her and shouted, "Aurisursum Deorsum."


    Anna, not expecting me to leave the circle, was caught off guard and got hit by my spell. For a second, she smiled, thinking that the spell must have fizzled out.


    Just as she was about to say something, she went tumbling to the floor with a yelp.


    Groaning from the floor, Anna cried, "What did you hit me with."


    I laughed when I saw her try and push herself off the ground unsuccessfully, and a few moments of trying, she closed her eyes, gave up, and lied back down.


    Trying not to smirk, I explained, "That was the dizzy-ear hex. Once you''re hit with it, it''s almost impossible to remain upright."


    "How long does it last?" She pleaded.


    "Only a few minutes." I comforted.


    "You''re going to pay for this," Anna warned. "Just... once the room stops spinning."


    We spent another hour testing ourselves against one another. True to her word, she paid me back a few times. Her strategy revolved around a constant barrage of spells. To counter her approach, I liked to use shields and counterspells and then attack when she was least expecting it.


    The following day, I had my new least favorite class. True to my prediction, for the last week, Professor Snape seemed to have resolved himself to testing me each day.


    He kept up a constant barrage of mental attacks, holding my shields took almost all of my concentration. As a result, my potions suffered. My only comfort is that he has shown that it is possible to multitask


    At the end of the class, Jessica tapped me on the shoulder on her way out and teased, "If your not careful, Alex. You''ll lose your top spot in Ravenclaw."


    Hopefully, I will get to the point where I can maintain the shield and function normally.

 Chapter 55 - Going Home

    The remaining weeks before it was time to head home for the holiday break passed by fairly quickly. Soon, it was the last day of the semester and we were all headed home for a couple of weeks. During breakfast at the great hall, I was mentally going over the progress I have had over the past semester.


    I made great strides on mastering occlumency, and my dueling skills have greatly improved. I had developed a few unique ideas that I thought would take my opponents off guard. I was counting on occlumency and dueling to help me enact my plans in the future.


    On a side note, Professor Snape''s continued mental intrusions have made my occlumency skills improve by leaps and bounds. By the time winter break had arrived, I was able to hold a mental shield up during his entire class, with only developing a mild headache.


    As such, I put aside my initial plans of revenge on hold. As frustrating as the past month has been, at least it has merited results. During the first couple of weeks of mind-numbing headaches, I had briefly toyed with the idea of poisoning Professor Snape, nothing deadly, just something to let him know that there are consequences for what he had been doing. He''s lucky that when it comes to all matters relating to occlumency, my lips have been magically sealed because of the Ravenclaw trial.


    Shaking my head, I turned my thoughts away from the deep rabbit hole of revenge. It probably wouldn''t have worked anyway, what kind of potions master walks around without a few anti-poison potions?


    Across the table, I could see Jessica sulking. As the headache had become more manageable, my grades in potions had started to return to normal. They weren''t one hundred percent back to where it was, but it was getting there. When it came to grades, she was within spitting distance of catching up, the only area where she struggled was in transfiguration and some other practical magics.


    I''m pretty sure she didn''t do anything but study all the time, I bet if Hermione and Jessica met they would be the best of friends. Well, only if they didn''t compete against one another academically. Now that I think about it, best to make sure they don''t interact, I don''t need that headache.


    I turned my thoughts to my efforts in spellcraft this semester. Outside of transfiguration, I''m ahead in the rest of my classes. If it weren''t for Professor McGonagall''s warning that anyone would be banned if she caught any student practicing transfiguration outside of class. She had given me permission to practise the spells I had already mastered, but warned me not to proceed any further.


    I wasn''t sure about how serious she was, so I didn''t take the chance, transfiguration has the most potential to go horribly wrong. Right now, it was frustrating. It felt like I was being slowed down, at least according to her, once we''re in our third year, we will be able to work outside of her class on projects.


    Interrupting my thoughts was a familiar mental poke on my mental shield. "Son of a mountain troll." I cursed.


    Turning, I scanned the front of the hall, looking for a familiar sneering face. My eyes narrowed when I found my target, sitting up with the rest of the Professors looking smug.


    Seeing his dark eyes glittered smugly at me, outrage welled up within me, and I mentally cursed. Dammit Professor Snape! It''s breakfast time. It''s the most important meal of the day. Is there nothing sacred to you? A man should be allowed to eat in peace.


    Grabbing the bagel in front of me, I tore into it furiously. If there was a competition for angry eating, I''m pretty sure I would win hands down.


    While I sat there devouring my breakfast like a starved wolf, I brooded, and not the useless type of brooding where someone just feels sorry for themselves. No, I was mulling over how I would pay Professor Snape back, I was willing to let the classroom attacks slide as I had almost set the room on fire, and my occlumency was improving, but I refuse to surrender my mealtimes to that... That monster.


    While I sat there, several avenues of revenge came to mind. The most satisfying included locking Professor Snape in a room with Hagrid''s chimaera. It had been rapidly growing in size, and after almost burning down Hagrid''s hut, it was getting too dangerous to keep around. Yet another monster homeward-bound to the forbidden forest.


    As amusing as it was to picture Professor Snape being chased around by a chimaera, I tossed that idea to the side. He was too talented a wizard to be caught like that. No, this called for something more subtle, something he wouldn''t be able to escape.


    Thoughts of Sirius flashed through my head, and the b.a.r.e bones of a plan were hatched. Professor Snape wouldn''t see this coming. It was an act of slow revenge, and it would take years to come to fruition. But, by the time he knew what hit him, it would be too late, and he would be absolutely miserable.


    "Alex... Are you ok?" Jessica''s voice rang out.


    Turning, I saw her looking at me with concern. Giving her a wolfish smile, "I''m fine, just plotting the downfall of my enemies."


    She gave me a nervous laugh, not sure if I was joking or not.


    After breakfast, everyone heading home for the holiday break, shuffled off to the Hogwarts Express eager for two weeks with no homework.


    As Jessica and I made our way through the train, I stopped when I saw Cedric waving that he had a compartment reserved. Alicia and Anna were already inside, and as I slid into the seat. Jessica asked, "Mind if I join you?"


    "Sure, the more, the merrier," I replied.


    Jessica took a seat next to me, sandwiching me in between her and Cedric. Across from me, Alicia let out a slight groan, leaned forward, and put her head in her hands. Anna narrowed her eyes, seeming displeased with something.


    As the train started rolling towards London, our cabin was filled with uncomfortable silence. Saving me from the growing tension, Cedric remarked, "Micheal stopped by just before you got here."


    Grateful to take my mind of the cold war that seemed to be developing between Anna and Jessica, I turned to Cedric, "What did that little troll turd want?"


    "I don''t know. My guess is you. Michael took one look at us, and once he saw that you weren''t here, he stormed off." Cedric explained in a low tone. "Have you had any more run-ins with him this year?"


    "Outside of an odd hex or two, no, not any more than usual. Which is actually strange, I''ve been expecting the blowback for what I did to him over the summer. It''s odd that he hasn''t retaliated yet."


    Cedric made a low murmur of agreement. It was strange the Micheal hadn''t retaliated. I didn''t like it, while Micheal is decently talented, it was offset by his impulsive and easily enraged personality. The fact that he hasn''t made a move means something.


    Whether Micheal is suddenly developing patience or receiving advice on how to react, neither option is pleasing. I will need to be on my guard.


    Around midway through the trip, Alicia, Cedric and I were arguing about which broomstick Cedric should get. Cedric''s father had promised to buy him a new one for Christmas.


    While we were discussing the pro and cons of the various models, part of me was paying attention to Anna and Jessica. They seemed to be engaged in some form of verbal combat that only they knew the rules too. If one didn''t know better, they might think that they were just conversing, but from their facial expressions and tones, there seemed to be some complex point system that only they understood.


    At one point, Jessica was innocently studying her fingernails when she remarked, "You know, I''m glad I''m in Ravenclaw."


    Anna narrowed her eyes, sensing a trap but not sure where it was, "Oh really, why is that? It''s not like your quidditch team is worth bragging about."


    Jessica stopped admiring her fingernails as she clenched her hands in anger for a moment before releasing them and answering in a sugary sweet voice, "It''s nice because Alex and I get to spend a lot of time together." Jessica adopted a sympathetic expression, "It must be hard for you to spend time with your friends, considering that they''re all in different houses. It''s great that all I need to do is go down to the common room.


    "Not at all," Anna countered. "Just because something is convenient doesn''t mean it''s good. Besides, I''ve hung out with my friends a lot, having to put in some effort to hang out just shows how close we are, Alex and I will even be getting together over the break."


    Jessica''s eyes flared with annoyance, and countered, "I agree, effort is important. Alex has even spent time helping me with my transfiguration."


    Anna ground her teeth together for a moment before a sly look appeared on her face. "You need tutoring? I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart." she sneered in disdain.


    "We are," Jessica gritted through her teeth. Mimicking Anna''s sneer, Jessica viciously returned, "And it''s good that Alex is in Ravenclaw, at least there he can be around his... Intellectual equals."


    As they continued to throw verbal barbs at one another, I turned my full attention back to Cedric and Alicia. There is no way I was getting involved in their little spat. I wish that they would learn to be friends, you would think since I was friends with both of them they would be able to find some common ground.


    The rest of the trip seemed to pass slowly. By the time we got to London, Alicia was glaring at me like everything was somehow my fault. I don''t know what her problem is. I didn''t do anything.


    When the train stopped, Alicia and Cedric bolted from our compartment as quickly as they could. "See you in a couple of weeks," Cedric called out over his shoulder as he disappeared into the crowd.


    Grumbling under my breath, "Traitor. And here I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be loyal."


    Just as I was about to follow, Jessica grabbed my arm and asked, "Hey Alex, how about you introduce me to your parents and those little sisters you like to brag about."


    Not seeing a way to decline, I replied, "Sure, you''ll like my dad, he was in Ravenclaw as well."


    Making our way out to the station, I noticed Anna was following as well. Seeing me raise an eyebrow, she answered my wordless question, "I want to say hi to your parents as well. She turned to Jessica and smirked, "Our families have been friends since we were kids."


    Not waiting to see Jessica''s reaction, I started making my way through the crowd eager to get this over with and go home.


    When my parents saw me, they unleashed Sasha and Rebecca, who took off like rockets and bulldozed into me, nearly bowling me over.


    I couldn''t help but smile fondly. I had missed the little stinkers. Once I got the twins to settle, I motioned towards my friends, "Mum, Dad, this is Jessica, she is a friend of mine from Ravenclaw. She is right below me in the rankings."


    Dad smiled and said, "Alex has said you''re brilliant. Its good to know that Alex has some competition in Ravenclaw, nothing keeps you on your toes like healthy competition ."


    Jessica blushed, "It''s all I can do to keep within sight of Alex." Shooting me a halfway annoyed look, "He''s so good at everything it''s annoying. Anyways, It''s nice to meet you, Mr. Fawley. My parents have told me that your enchantments are of the highest quality," Jessica complimented.


    On the other side, Anna snorted, "Everyone knows that Fawley''s Wondrous Enchantments is the best." Reaching down, she hugged the twins and whispered something in their ears. I don''t know what she said, but Sasha gasped in surprise, and Rebecca laughed and developed naughty smirk as she eyed Jessica.


    You know what? I don''t even want to know. Giving dad a helpless look, I mouthed, "Save me."


    He raised an eyebrow as he took in Jessica and Anna glaring at one another before he shot me a wry grin, like he had all the answers and the whole thing was amusing to him. I would need to interrogate him later, if he knew the solution to my problem, it was his father-bound duty to help me understand.


    Interrupting everything was Mum, she enveloped me in one of her famous octopus-like hugs where it was nearly impossible to escape her grasp. "I missed you." She whispered as she almost squeezed the life out of me.


    After a few more moments of greeting, Dad shook Jessica''s hand, "Well, we have to be going, it was nice to meet you, Jessica." Turning to Anna, he added, "Anna, it''s good to see you again, tell your parents to contact us, maybe we can have dinner soon."


    As we left, I waved goodbye. Anna shot Jessica one final victorious look as she called out, "Alex, I''ll see you in a few days."


    It was all I could do not to shudder, why did that sound like a threat? I was ready for a break from those two. Being stuck in a train compartment for the better part of six hours with them was exhausting.

 Chapter 56 - Family Feud

    During the journey home on the Knight Bus other than the screeching stops, it was relatively uneventful. It was impressive how the bus maneuvered through the icy slush that covered the roadways. Best guess was that there had to be some form of enchantment involved.


    Athena sat nestled in Sasha''s arms, glaring around at the Knight Bus like it was her nemesis. She hated the Knight Bus, every time it slammed to an unceremonious stop, and tried to throw its passengers across the bus, her resentment grew.


    It was amusing to watch Athena, as she went from basking in the attention of Sasha to glaring at the bus like it had insulted her. Personally, I was fed up with the bus as well. Don''t get me wrong, it was fun the first few times. Now? Every time the bus makes a stop and my guts feel like they''re trying to leave my body. I can''t help but wonder why there isn''t a better way to get to King''s Cross Station, where the Platform 9 3/4 is hidden, or even to Hogwarts itself.


    For Merlin''s sake, we''re wizards, why aren''t fireplaces at the platform? It would be easy to use the floo network to get to the Hogwarts Express, the Ministry of Magic has them. Hell, for that matter, most of the magical community could get to Hogwarts by using the floo network to get to Hogsmeade rather than take a six-hour train ride. I understand the need for the train itself, how else would muggleborns get to school? But, for the rest of the magical community, it seems unnecessary.


    Distracting me from my thoughts was Sasha and Rebecca. They were peppering me with questions about Hogwarts.


    "Tell me more about the Forbidden Forest," Rebecca demanded with her blue eyes wide with anticipation.


    Seeing how eager she made a feeling of unease well up within me, "You know it''s full of monsters, right?"


    If anything, my warning made her eyes tingle with excitement. "That''s the exciting part," she explained, "I''ll get that giant you told me about to come with me. You know, the one who fills the forest full of creatures."


    Seeing the stars in her eyes made me sigh, Rebecca was the mischievous one between her and Sasha. She wasn''t even at Hogwarts, and she was already planning on breaking the rules. Fred and George would be proud.


    I turned my attention to Sasha, who was trying to comfort Athena. At least I don''t have to worry about her going off and doing something crazy. Even though they were twins, they had different personalities.


    Twins don''t always make it to the same house. Fred and Geroge were both in Gryffindor. But in the books, Padma and Parvati were in different houses. Ultimately, I bet that they end up in separate houses, well I''ll find out in my sixth year.


    I had a surprise waiting for me when we all got home. Sitting on the grey sofa was Uncle John wearing his custom black leather duster. Next to him was Aunt Nefret and a banded mongoose lounging on the armrest. The mongoose''s fur was dark brown with white stripes on its backside.


    My eyes widened in surprise when the mongoose sat up when I walked in and leaped off the couch. In midair, there was a flurry of blurry movement as the mongoose turned into my cousin Omar who attended Uagadou.


    A wry grin appeared on Omar''s face, "Hey Alex. What do you think of my animagus form?"


    Seeing Omar having already become an animagus even though he was only a year older made a feeling of intense jealousy well up within me. Not wanting to spoil his moment, I shoved the ugly feeling aside and grinned, "That''s so awesome. When did you complete the rite?"


    Shifting his long dark hair to the side, Omar bragged, "Just a few weeks ago. I was one of the first ones in my class to complete the ritual."


    "That''s so awesome," Letting out a sigh. I continued, "At Hogwarts, my professor won''t even let you begin the training until after your fifth year."


    Omar''s face twisted in confusion, "Why?"


    I shrugged, "Animagi aren''t that common in Europe." I shot Uncle John a suspicious look. I was pretty sure he was an animagus too, just that he hadn''t registered. "I think "officially," Europe only has seven animagus right now."


    Uncle John''s eyes widened in an exaggerated attempt to look innocent. Seeing my unconvinced look, Uncle John smirked, "I guess it''s a good thing I live on a boat in the ocean. No government to report to out there."


    "I knew it," I declared. "I knew you were an animagus." Remembering how Uncle John tends to smuggle things, I wondered if European wizards had a point. Maybe animagi are a bit dodgy, come to think of it. All the animagi in the Harry Potter books other than Professor McGonagall always used their animal forms for mischief.


    Rebecca''s blue eyes widened when she heard Uncle John was an animagus, "Show me." She demanded in an adorable bossy tone that only a little sister can manage to get away with.


    Hearing her demand, a pained expression appeared on my uncle''s face. "What''s the matter? Too embarrassed to show off your animal form." I teased.


    Uncle John shot me a promising look of revenge. Aunt Netret patted his t.h.i.g.h, "Come on, my love, I think your animal form suits you very well."


    Uncle John sighed in defeat. After a blur of movement, a set of beady-eyes surrounded by darkness greeted me.


    Just arriving into the living room was Sasha carrying Athena in her arms. "Puppy!" Sasha screamed in excitement. Abandoning Athena, Sasha tried to grab the small little creature.


    The little fur-ball dodged Sasha''s grab with a quick spin, waved a tiny fist at her, and began scolding her with chittering squeaks.


    Barely able to breathe from holding in my laughter, "Sasha." I gasped, "That''s not a puppy."


    Sasha paused from taking another lunge towards Uncle John and looked at me. Not convinced, she hesitantly asked, "Are you sure?"


    Not able to hold it in any longer, I burst out laughing. Once I got control of myself, I mocked, "Sasha, that''s a trash panda."


    Uncle John chittered in outrage and leaped off the couch towards me, determined to get revenge. Thankfully, Aunt Nefert was prepared and reached out and scooped him out of the air and brought the adorable looking raccoon back to her side.


    After giving his wife a disgruntled look, Uncle John morphed back into his normal self. He shot me a look that warned me not to say a word.


    Unable to help myself, "Uncle John, Aunt Nefert was right." I praised, "Your animagus form suits you perfectly. You can sneak and skulk wherever you need too." For a moment, Uncle John looked pleased, but then I added, "I can see it now, no trash can will ever be safe again."


    Not waiting to see his reaction, I bolted out of the room. A few seconds later, I heard a mad scramble from behind me. "Get back here, you little rascal. I''ll show you what it means to be a trash panda."


    Knowing that Uncle John had the transfiguration skills to back up his threat made me run even faster. Being chased through the house by Uncle John made a strong sense of deja vu well up in me. We had done this dance before, but unlike last time, I was older and wiser. This time I would successfully getaway.


    A plan of escape flashed through my head, I ducked into the back room and softly called out, "Lola."


    Appearing with a loud crack, our house elf appeared wearing her white toga with our family crest inscribed on the upper right-hand side. "Master Alex, You''re back!" Lola happily cried out as she wrapped her arms and buried her face into my leg as she hugged me.


    Knowing I had only moments, I gently pried her off my leg, "Lola." I whispered urgently, "I need you to take me to the safest place from Uncle John."


    She nodded, flapping her big droopy ears, "I know just where to take you to master Alex."


    Outside the door to the room, I could hear Uncle John chuckle, thinking he had trapped me. "Fee-do-fo-fum, I smell a brat about to become a raccoon."


    Uncle John slowly opened the door, no doubt wanting to relish his revenge. However, when he saw me holding Lola''s hand, he protested, "That''s cheating."


    I smirked at him and blew a loud raspberry. "Now," I commanded. Lola nodded, and we disappeared with a loud crack.


    Similar to the last time I apparated with my grandma, it was one of the most uncomfortable sensations I had ever felt in my entire life. It was like being squeezed through a small rubber tube. What was worse about it was not being able to breathe or see anything. Just when it feels like you''re about to explode, you arrive at your destination. The only thing that gave me hope about apparating was it supposedly got better. I was somewhat skeptical about that. I bet you just get so used to it that it doesn''t bother you as much.


    A little disoriented, I looked around and discovered I was in my grandmother''s living room. Perfect, Grandma had always been a safe haven when I ran afoul of Uncle John and needed a shield.


    Knowing I wasn''t in the clear quite yet as it wouldn''t take Uncle John too long to figure out where I had gone, hesitantly, I called out, "Grandma, are you here?"


    From the back of her house, her voice rang out, "Alex, is that you? What are you doing here?"


    When she got out to the living room, my heart sank when I noticed that she was dressed up. She was wearing a midnight-blue dress robe, on her neck was her favorite jeweled necklace that grandpa gave her. The last time I saw her that dressed up, we went to the party full of her fellow governors, she must have plans for tonight.


    Trying not to give away why I was here, I said, "Can''t a grandson visit his favorite grandmother."


    She raised an eyebrow at my response. Maybe I laid the flattery on a little too thick. "Hmph, you''re decades too young to fool me. What are you hiding from?"


    "Uncle John, chasing me. He might be a tiny bit upset about a comment I made about his animagus form and possibly wants to transfigure me into a similar form." Once I explained, I put on my most innocent grandson look and pleaded, "You wouldn''t let him do that to me, would you?"


    Seeing her thoughtfully looking at me, I felt a shiver of worry worm it''s way inside of me. Had I overestimated my status as her favorite grandson? I let out a sigh of relief when she replied, "No, we can''t have that."


    However, the relief I felt slowly faded when she continued, "But, as they say. Nothing in life is free."


    Seeing her knowing smile, she knew I had no choice but to accept¡ªmy grandma, what big teeth you have.


    "What do you have in mind?" I asked suspiciously.


    Smirking, she replied, "Nothing much, I just may have you attend a few more dinners with me, and I don''t want you to back out after experiencing them. They can get quite boring sometimes, and I could use the company."


    Seeing her knowing smile, I knew she already knew my answer, "Deal," I grumbled. "But, you have to get rid of Uncle John, I don''t feel like spending the rest of the day as a raccoon."


    "Don''t you worry about me, I know how to handle my son." She replied with a smirk.


    Uncle John showed up five minutes later. I flashed him a quick grin when he saw us seated in the living room. Grandma was sitting in her favorite red comfy chair while I had chosen the plushy couch.


    "Johnny," Grandma gushed. "It''s so nice of you to join us for tea."


    Putting his arm around me, he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "You can''t stay here forever."


    "Want to make a bet?" I cheekily replied.


    I was confident that Uncle John would beg off before I did. Grandma had a way of trying to correct behavior she thought was unworthy of our house. And as much as I love him, Uncle John is a bit of a scoundrel and is a little rough around the edges. It''s part of his charm, but that hasn''t stopped Grandma from trying to get him to clean up his act.


    As Grandma sat in her favorite chair, her pose was perfect. Each movement was made to perfection as she sipped her tea. After thoroughly judging both of us with her gaze, she set her tea off to the side. "Johnny, when was the last time you had a haircut? You look like you''ve been living in the wild."


    Next to me, Uncle John shifted uncomfortably in his seat and brushed his long black hair into a more presentable condition.


    I hid a grin behind my hand. Sometimes it seemed as though every mum could zone in on their children and complain about them. Before Uncle John could muster a defense, grandma shifted tactics, keeping him off his game. "And that long coat is so dreadful. It definitely could use a sprucing up."


    Eagerly leaning forward, she offered, "If you want, I''m sure I can make it a little more presentable."


    Uncle John leaned back as if her words had landed a physical blow. "I like my coat just the way it is," he defended. "Besides, my coat has plenty of useful enchantments woven inside of it, and I don''t want them damaged."


    Grandma raised her eyebrow, and sternly asked, "John Fawley, Are you saying I don''t know how to weave a simple enchantment? I''ll have you know I''ve been casting spells since before you were born."


    Sensing that only arguing would make it worse, Uncle John sighed in defeat. "No, mum." He appealed, "That''s not what I meant. I meant I like my coat is fine the way it is. Besides, it''s very useful out on the high seas."


    At this point, holding in my laughter was becoming difficult. I liked how she went from pestering him about his appearance to seamlessly acting as he had somehow wronged her. Grandmother knows how to maintain control of the flow of a conversation. I need to take notes.


    The side of Grandma''s mouth rose at his response; it seemed as though Uncle John had given her a new avenue to attack. "You, and that boat of yours. When are you going to set some roots down? I hardly ever get to see you or my other grandson. You know we have a few vacated properties you could move your family into."


    As Grandma continued to berate the aspects of Uncle John''s life she disapproved of, I could see he was quickly becoming suspicious that we were ganging upon him. After unsuccessfully defending his choices to his mum, he glared at me and grumbled, "You win this round."


    Soon, he made his excuses and claimed he had to be going. On his way out, Grandma winked at me. Being his mum allowed her to know what buttons to push.


    Even though I required an assist, I put this down as a win in my book. It was rare that I pulled one over on Uncle John, thankfully I got grandma on my side.


    Interrupting my thoughts, Grandmother cleared her throat. "Now that I''ve held up my end of the bargain, I do believe you have an obligation to fulfill."


    Seeing her expectant look, I put the pieces together. "Tonight? But I just got home." I complained.


    Seeing her uncompromising look, I sighed, I guess I needed to get my dress robes out. Not taking the chance of Uncle John catching me back at the house, I had Lola grab them for me.


    It seemed I was in for another night of rubbing elbows with some of the most connected magical families out there.

 Chapter 57 - Clan Macmillan

    The dress robes I ended up going with were rather dull compared to others I had seen. Black pants, along with a white button-up shirt. Completing the ensemble was a Ravenclaw blue robe that had our family crest, which depicted a hawk surrounded by stars.


    What was cool about the coat of arms was that it wasn''t stationary. The crest was enchanted to move and shift positions. The hawk also seemed to be alive. Sometimes it would stare at a person if they looked at it for too long.


    When I got downstairs, my grandma looked me over and made a small adjustment to my tie. It took enormous self-control not to roll my eyes. She always seemed to need to correct something. Everything had to be perfect. When she finished, she nodded and said, "Alex, I need to prepare you for tonight."


    I c.o.c.ked my head in confusion, "What do you mean? I''ve been to dinners with you before. I thought I did fine last time."


    Grandma waved a hand in reassurance and placed the other on my shoulder. "You did excellent, my dear, but tonight you may bear witness to some tension. You see, tonight, we are headed to the Highlands of Scotland, to the home of the Macmillian clan."


    That name sounded familiar if I remember correctly, I think that there was a Macmillian in the same year as Harry Potter. But, for the life of me, I can''t seem to remember his name. Damn, this was going to bug me, it''s on the tip of my tongue.


    While I was trying to remember the name of the Macmillan, Grandma said something that distracted me from my remembrance. "Wait, say that again," I asked.


    Grandma gave me a stern look, not pleased I hadn''t been paying attention. "I said, there may be some tension because I haven''t been back home to the Macmillan clan in around two decades."


    "What do you mean home? This is your home." I argued.


    She gave me a sad smile and explained, "You know, I wasn''t always a Fawley. I was born a Macmillian."


    My eyes widened, this was something I hadn''t ever considered, Grandma always seemed so proud of the Fawley name, she had never mentioned her maiden name before. Seeing her melancholy, I hesitated, "You''ve never mentioned them before." I added, "Neither has Dad."


    "Your father wouldn''t, and neither would your uncle. Some grudges are too deep. You see, back when Henry disappeared and was rumored to be a death eater, it was a dark time for the Fawley family. Many of our friends stopped coming by, and while we could manage that. I didn''t expect my family to turn their backs on us. You see, my birth family is obsessed with appearance, and when Henry was accused, they decided to draw a clear line between them and us. The rest of the magical community took it as a clear sign that Henry was indeed a death eater. This all happened when John and your Father were at school. It didn''t go well for them. Students back then were scared and angry and wanted someone to blame. Your uncle and father became scapegoats to many of their peers."


    Hearing how the Macmillian turned their back on my family when they were at their lowest, made my blood boil. Sneering with disgust, "Then why the hell are we even going back? Screw the Macmillans. We don''t need them." I viciously responded.


    My words made a tiny wince appear on her face before it disappeared. Sighing heavily, "It''s not that simple." She explained, "It wasn''t all of them, but once the head of the clan made the decision, the rest of them fell in line."


    "Who was the clan head?" I asked, instantly adding him to my mental list of nemesis.


    Grandma paused for a moment as if the topic was difficult to speak on. "He was my father."


    For a moment, I couldn''t think of anything to say. Her Father? How the hell could he abandon his daughter at her darkest hour? What an utter arsehole. No matter what I did, I couldn''t imagine any of my family doing anything like that. They would never abandon me, I bet I could break the law, and my family would protect me. My uncle would probably show up and give me a grin and ask when we were leaving.


    I guess my thoughts showed on my face, because she gave a wry smile, "You''re so much like your father and uncle. They had a similar reaction, but as in life, it''s more complicated. Normally, the position of the clan head is an empty title. They aren''t very united, but during times of trouble, the clan bands together for protection. So during the war, my Father had many responsibilities back then."


    Not as willing to let it go, "Like what?" I challenged.


    "Well for starters, the Macmillian clan is rather extensive. There are around six different branches of the family that live up there in the Highlands of Scotland. Not to mention, there are dozens of other families who have intermarried with the Macmillians over the years. They all lived in the area and looked to the Macmillian clan for stability and leadership during the war. So when his daughter''s husband was rumored to be a death eater, he made a decision that best suited the clan."


    Unable to help myself, I interjected with a sneer, "And this is the clan who you want us to go visit?"


    Grandma''s eyes tightened, "Not everyone in the clan was supportive of his decision. My brother was furious." She explained, "Regardless, My father died over a year ago, and my brother took over being the clan head." Pulling something out of her robe, she showed me an invitation card.


    "Why wait so long? Grandpa Henry''s name has been cleared for years. Why are they just now sending an invitation?" I questioned.


    "It''s easy to forgive someone when you were in the right, but when you''re in the wrong, it can be difficult to admit. My Father refused to apologize for his actions. In his mind, he did nothing wrong. He just did what was best for the clan. I think he expected me to come back on my own after the war, but I never did. Eventually, the years passed, and before I knew it, he died."


    Hearing the bitterness in her voice, I couldn''t help ask, "I thought that you said you understood why he did what he did?"


    Grandma''s steely gaze met mine, and I saw hints of the wolf I knew was inside her, "I said I understood he had many responsibilities." She scoffed. "Not that I forgave him for what he did." She sighed, "But, he''s dead now, and it seems pointless to hold a grudge against the rest of my clan due to the actions of a dead man. Besides, I haven''t seen the rest of my family in years."


    I bit back my retort on what I thought about grandma''s side of the family. It was clear that she was looking forward to this dinner, and I wouldn''t be the one to spoil it for her.


    Ready to go, we went outside. Grandma put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you ready?" She asked.


    Wanting to get this over with, I nodded. A second later, my world went black.


    Unlike the time where we went to dinner at the Malfoy''s manor, which was an old-style mansion built on an enormous estate, the Macmillian''s house was much more low key. The brick two-story house was built on top of a cliff overseeing a lake and a small muggle village and seemed to fit seamlessly with the land. The whole thing looked like it belonged in a painting.


    Before we entered the property, Grandma gave herself and me one final glance. After determining nothing was out of place, she took a deep breath, "Come along, Alex."


    As soon as we entered the property, an old, scrawny house-elf appeared with a crack. When I saw the elf, I was a little surprised. This was the first house elf I had ever seen with a beard. I couldn''t tell if the elf was trying to bow or just hunched over from old age.


    "Welcome to clan Macmillan," the elf croaked with his face pointed towards the ground. "Your invitation, if you please."


    "Hoopy, is that you?" Grandma asked fondly.


    Hoopy raised his head, rubbed his green eyes, and gave a toothy grin, "Master Danielle?" He rasped happily, "You''re back; it''s been so long since you''ve been home."


    Grandma wistfully smiled, "I''m afraid I haven''t been very welcome here." Changing the subject, she praised, "It warms my heart that you are still here serving the family."


    Hoopy swooned with p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e at Grandma''s compliment, then hastily replied, "It''s Hoopy''s greatest honor to serve the Macmillan family."


    Eagerly waving his arms, Hoopy happily continued, "Come, come. Follow me."


    We followed the happy elf into the house. Leading us down a hallway, we passed dozens of portraits of proud-looking wizards and witches. The unique thing about them was that they refused to speak to us. Most paintings love to talk and engage with people. But, they all eyed my grandmother with wary eyes.


    I tried not to smirk. It looked like they all bore a grudge against her, but knew it was unwise to engage in a verbal spar. My grandmother has a razor-sharp tongue and had no issue destroying someone if she thought they deserved it. From their glares they were giving her, I bet that the paintings had been on the receiving end of one of her tongue thrashings before.


    Grandma momentary paused by the last painting containing an old pompous looking wizard in red and black robes. The wizard''s eyes widened, and for a moment it looked like he was going to say something. But, the moment passed, and he turned his eyes away.


    As I passed the painting, I glanced at the bottom of the portrait, where it listed the name, the birth, and death date. Seeing the final date was last year, I figured that this must be my great-grandfather. Unimpressed, I shot him my best look of disdain and continued behind my grandmother.


    Hoopy led us to a heavy oak door thst swung open with a click of Hoopy''s finger. For a second, the inside threw me for a loop. It wasn''t the people that threw me off. It was the size of the room.


    The dimensions didn''t match the house. Outside, the room looked like the size of a bedroom, but the inside was nearly as big as the entire house.


    I had seen rooms with extension charms before, but never to this degree. Whoever laid down the charm must have been a prodigy. While the extension charm was a NEWT requirement at Hogwarts, being able to manipulate the spell to this extent said a lot about the skills of the wizard. Most people would only be able to get the room to about half its current size.


    A gentle elbow from Grandma distracted me from my musings. Once I brought my attention back to the present, I could see we were the center of attention. I recognized some of the witches and wizards present from the last gathering I attended. They were all well connected in wizarding society.


    But, the ones paying most attention to us, were those I had never met before. Of course, when I say we were the center of attention, a more accurate description would be Grandma was the center of attention. It seems even though she received an invitation, most people assumed she wouldn''t show.


    From their expressions, it seemed as though we were welcome. A hazel-eyed wizard whose hair had more grey than black in it approached us with wide-open arms. "Danny, it''s wonderful you came home." He said with a happy smile on his face.


    As the wizard swept Grandma up in a hug, she patted him on the back, and fondly replied, "Richy. It''s good to see you."


    After the embrace was over, he turned his attention to me, "And who is this fine young wizard?"


    Grandma gave my back a slight push, "This is my grandson, Alexander. Alex, this is my brother, Richard."


    My eyes widened in surprise as Richard brushed aside the arm I had extended and scooped me up in a hug. It seems as though great-uncle Richard was a hugger. Just as I was about to try and get away, he released me. As Richard beamed down at me like he was having the time of his life, I realized that he was one of those overly expressive people.


    "You must meet my grandson. He will be attending Hogwarts next year, and I''m sure you will get along." Not waiting for me to say anything, Richard called out over his shoulder, "Ernie, get over here. There is someone I want you to meet."


    My eyes lit up, that was his name, Ernest Macmillan. It had been bugging me all night.


    Out of nowhere, a well dressed dark blonde hair kid appeared. "Yes, grandfather," he said in a formal tone.


    Now, this is more like I was expecting the Macmillans to act, I could already tell that grandma approved of his respectful nature.


    Widely gesturing towards Grandma, Richard introduced, "This is my sister, Danielle."


    Ernie''s hazel eyes widened in surprise. Before Ernie could say anything, Richard continued, "And this is your cousin, Alexander."


    "Second cousin," I corrected without thinking.


    Richard looked at me like I had just kicked his puppy. After seeing his hurt expression, I muttered. "Fine, cousin."


    Richard''s sad face melted away like it had never been there. As if he were afraid I would take it back, he shooed us away and said, "Ernie, take Alex to meet the rest of the youngsters while I speak with my sister."


    As we made our way over, there was an awkward wall of silence between us. Thankfully, I knew just what to say to break it. "I''ll bet you''re looking forward to going to Hogwarts next fall."


    And just like that, the silence was broken, "I can''t wait." Ernest eagerly answered.


    I smiled at his earnest expression. Every kid below the age of eleven can always be counted on to have a conversation about Hogwarts.


    Ernie went on about how much he was looking forward to going to school and how he was going to be the best in his year. I tried not to smirk. Sorry buddy, but you have the misfortune of being in the same class as Hermoine, the best you can hope for is second place.


    While he went on, I tried my best to remember details about him from the books. I couldn''t remember if he was in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. I was pretty sure it was Hufflepuff.


    While I was trying to remember details of Ernie, a familiar Scottish voice called out, "Alex."


    I looked over and found a familiar face of one of my roommates looking at me in surprise. "William? What are you doing here?"


    "Mum and I always come round to the Macmillans when they have a gathering. We live in a house on the other side of the muggle village, and my great-something-grandmother was a Macmillian. So we''re always welcome."


    My eyebrows rose in surprise. "That would make us distantly related," I mused. Pointing a thumb towards Ernie, I explained, "This is my cousin, my grandmother was born a Macmillan."


    William''s brown eyes enlarged, "We''re related?"


    As he tried to wrap his head around that concept, I emphasized, "Distantly. Probably like sixth or seventh cousins depending on the generation."


    William smiled, "Still kinda cool."


    Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, Ernest added, "If you go back far enough, many wizarding families are related."


    While we caught up, I heard another voice that I recognized coming from near the entryway. It was Augusta Longbottom. Her voice tended to fill up the room as she often spoke louder than necessary. I wasn''t sure if it was because she was hard of hearing or just didn''t feel like lowering her voice. Either way, no one called her on it.


    Augusta''s voice rang out through the room, "Danielle, is that you? I''m surprised you came back to the Macmillian after everything they put your family through."


    I hid a grin behind my hand. Augusta also tended to say things others would consider impolite with no regard to her audience''s feelings. I think when you get to a certain age, it brings a certain amount of freedom. You can just say whatever you want. It''s not like you will have to deal with the consequences for very long.


    As Augusta scanned the room, she caught sight of me in the corner. "Neville," She half-shouted. Pointing towards me with her cane, she said. "Go over there and make some friends."


    With her voice being as loud as it was, many of the eyes in the room were drawn to a round-faced, plumpy blonde-hair child who looked like he would give anything to turn invisible.


    Pushing him with her cane, Neville scooted his way over. I felt a little bad for him. She probably thought she was helping him, but considering his personality from the books, that was perhaps the worst thing she could have done for him.


    Some people can''t be shoved into the deep end and survive. They need careful guidance and instruction. When he got near, I put on a welcoming smile, holding out a hand in greeting, "I''m Alex."


    Hesitant, he reached out, "Neville." he half-whispered.


    I sighed; it was like his grandmother had smothered his voice. She was suffocating him while trying to force him into an image of his Father. Frank Longbottom was supposed to have been an extremely talented Auror.


    I knew from the fifth book that there was a spine within Neville; it just was waiting for the right encouragement to emerge. In the books, it was his parent''s torturers breaking out of Azkaban, which transformed him into a driven wizard.


    Harry once remarked that Neville''s transformation was so great that he was learning spells only slightly slower than Hermoine. And considering Hermoine''s skill level, that is saying something. I wonder if I should take a hand in trying to coax out Neville''s skills as a wizard.


    Surely it wouldn''t change too much of the timeline considering that it wouldn''t happen overnight, and it was already going to happen.


    As I watched Neville try and sink into the background of the conversation, I considered what I knew about him. My guess is two things are going to hold him back. The most obvious was his willpower. Magic needed a strong mental mindset. Now, while it appears he lacks in this, a strong mind can be forged over time. His other issue is his wand. In the books, he used his dad''s wand. If his father''s wand refused to recognize him, it would have a drastic impact on his spellcasting ability. From what I could infer from the book, his father''s wand also wanted revenge and decided to work together with Neville in the fifth book.


    He probably chose to use the wand to please his grandmother, who was always pushing him to be like his father. Considering the touchy nature of the problem, I would need a light touch. I can''t just come out and say, don''t use the wand, while Neville seemed like a pushover when push came to shove, he could be quite stubborn.


    After examining the problem from a few angles, I had an idea. Turning to Ernest, I asked, "Have you gotten your wand yet?"


    He proudly nodded, "Yes. I turned eleven in November and received my letter from Hogwarts. Dad took me to Ollivanders the next day."


    Smiling at his enthusiasm, I said, "There is nothing like having a wand choose you. Is there?"


    Ernest nodded, "It was an incredible feeling. I can''t wait to cast my first spell."


    Raising an eyebrow, "You mean you haven''t cast anything yet?"


    Ernest looked scandalized, "Of course not, I would never break the rules regarding underage magic."


    Hearing his self-righteous deceleration made me roll my eyes, no wonder Harry and his friends didn''t hang out this pompous kid. Seeing that we were getting off-topic, I turned to Neville and asked, "What about you, Neville? Have you been to Ollivanders?"


    Stammering nervously, "No, my birthday isn''t until the end of July."


    Patting him on the shoulder, "That sucks it''s going to take you so long. Having your wand choose you is a rite that every wizard goes through. When you find the right one, you can feel your magic almost sing. Isn''t that right, William?"


    William shrugged, "Mine was more like finding a shoe that fits after wearing one that doesn''t."


    I shot a mock glare at William, "Really? A shoe? I''m talking about a magical coming-of-age tradition that goes back over a thousand years, and the best you can come up with is shoes?"


    William crossed his arms defensively, "The feeling is hard to describe." He defended, "I thought it was a decent analogy."


    Waving off his excuse, I put my arm over Neville''s shoulder, "Don''t listen to that boring stick in the mud. The only shoe you need to worry about is some guy named Micheal, but that''s a whole other story. What is important is getting your first wand. It''s a tradition that goes back almost seventeen hundred years. Make sure you go to Ollivanders, he is the best. His family has been wand-makers since wands were invented"


    I paused and looked at Neville expectantly. I think he sensed that I wasn''t going to budge without some kind of reply because he stammered, "I think my dad got his wand from Olivander''s shop."


    I smiled at his response as it set me up perfectly, "You see. All you need to do is follow in your father''s footsteps and go to Ollivanders."


    Deciding I had pushed far enough for the night. I let the topic fade away as the conversation turned to Hogwarts. I suppressed a smirk at seeing the thoughtful expression on Neville''s round face. Hopefully, this sets him on the correct path, and if not, well, I''ll just have to come up with something else.

 Chapter 58 - Dads Wisdom

    As the evening wore on, witches and wizards departed at random. At one point, William introduced me to his mother, who specialized in rearing rare and dangerous magical plants. She has a large nursery surrounding her home in the woods where she grows them.


    When she invited me to visit sometime, I gave a vague assurance that I would, while mentally promising that it would never happen. Magical plants gave me the shivers. I would always remember the day that I snuck into my mum''s greenhouse to explore.


    What started as a fun adventure for a child quickly turned into a nightmare. It happened back before I realized how dangerous magical plants could be in this world.


    One of the most significant dangers occurs because many people don''t consider them a threat. Most of the plants we deal with at Hogwarts are relatively harmless to a wary wizard. Students don''t deal with the more dangerous plants; they read about them, which doesn''t precisely convey how sneaky and deadly plants can be, I found out first hand when I was young and went exploring. Ever since then, I refused to enter Mum''s greenhouse.


    Shaking my head, I banished that particular memory back into the deepest, darkest vault of my mind.


    Soon, it was time for us to leave, on our way back home, I observed, "There were more Macmillans at the gathering than I thought there would be."


    Grandma shot me a questioning look, "Oh," she remarked. "How many members did you expect?"


    After kicking at a rock in the dirt, I shrugged, "I don''t know, I was just surprised at how many different Macmillan branches there were. Why aren''t there more Fawley branches out there?"


    "I believe there are," she explained. "But none in Britain, and remember it''s not uncommon for names to die out. Although, I believe that there are some distant branches in the United States and France. I think your father met some of them when he went to France when he was just out of school. If you want to know more, you should ask him about them."


    By the time I made it home, I was exhausted. Today had been a long day, from the train ride with two of my friends bickering, messing with Uncle John, and then being introduced to long-lost relatives.


    When I emerged from our fireplace, I wanted nothing more to go upstairs and collapse in my bed. However, on my way, I noticed the warm glow of a fire burning in my father''s study.


    Peeking through the door, I froze when I saw my uncle inside with my father. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes let me know he had not forgotten my crack about him being a trash panda.


    "Why hello there, Alex." Uncle John softly crooned with a sinister smirk. "Come on in."


    Not trusting his smile, I took refuge next to my father on his couch. Dad put his arm around my shoulder and casually asked, "So, what did you think about the Macmillans?"


    Even though dad was playing it cool, I could tell from the tension in his voice that he was controlling his emotions. Hesitant, I said, "Grandma''s brother seemed friendly enough, and I''m glad she reunited with her old family."


    As my voice trailed off, Uncle John sensing I was holding something back, "But?" he interjected.


    Gathering my thoughts, I carefully articulated, "Family that isn''t willing to stick around during hard times doesn''t deserve to be called family. I only went with Grandma because I could tell it was important to her, and she deserves to be happy. So, while I''m pleased she is happy, the Macmillans mean less than nothing to me."


    My response seemed to poke a hole in the tension in the room. Dad seemed content to stare at the fire, seemingly lost in old memories.


    After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Uncle John waggled his bushy eyebrows suggestively at me and teased, "So, your father mentioned you were having girl trouble."


    Refusing to take the bait, I pointedly mimicked my father and stared at the burning logs in the fireplace. I couldn''t tell if the heat on my face was from the flames, or being embarrassed.


    Dad protectively put his arm around me, "Don''t tease him," he admonished. "You should know better, or do I need to remind you about Alice."


    Uncle John shuddered, "Are you crazy? Don''t say her name. She might appear." After looking around to make sure she wasn''t here, satisfied we were alone, he relaxed. Reaching deep into his long, leathery duster, he pulled out a package.


    "Catch," he said while tossing me the wrapped box. "Think of it as an early Christmas present."


    I tore the gift open, curious to see what was inside. Reaching in, I pulled out a set of blue robes with many different shades of blues complete with designs colored in bronze.


    "They''re dueling robes," Uncle John explained. "We can''t have you going out and dueling in just anything."


    Tearing my gaze from the robe, I turned to Uncle John, "I love it. Are you going to be able to make it to the competition this weekend?"


    Uncle John locked eyes with Dad before shaking his head, "Sorry buddy, I have some business to take care of this weekend that can''t be avoided."


    I knew from the look that it meant he had work that he felt I had no business knowing.


    I guess my disappointment showed on my face because he comforted, "How about this. If you make it the international tournament in the spring, I will be there."


    Grinning, I said, "Deal."


    Not long after, Uncle John had to leave, leaving just my dad and me in the office. At first, we sat in comfortable silence, watching the fire burn down.


    Breaking the silence, "Talk to me about Hogwarts," Dad said.


    After telling him all about the secret dueling clubs, Dad mused, "Dueling was never really my thing, that was more up your uncle''s alley."


    "Really?" I asked, "You don''t talk much about your time at school. What were you into back then?"


    Dad seemed to sink into his memories, "Charm club," he said with a fond smile on his face. "I was the captain of the charm club."


    I smiled, no shock there. Dad''s favorite thing to do was enchantment. "Of course you were," I teased, "How about trying to surprise me."


    "Hmph." Dad grunted, "I have you know that I was also on the Ravenclaw quidditch team for a few years."


    "What? You never told me that."


    Dad looked a little regretful while running his fingers through his brown hair. "It''s not my fondest memory about Hogwarts. I made it onto the team during my fifth year, but during my sixth year, my father disappeared and then the whispers started."


    With a frown on his face, dad continued, "Officially, I didn''t make the team during the tryouts, but I knew what it was really about, my father being a death eater. Outside of a few close friends, my last two years at school were spent mostly alone."


    I couldn''t help but scowl, those who had wronged my family would pay. Not today, not tomorrow, but someday.


    Dad saw my expression and decided to change the subject, "How is life in the Ravenclaw tower?" He questioned. "Is your project going well."


    It took me a second to understand that he was trying to speak around the binding concerning the Ravenclaw trial. I shot him a confident smirk, "It''s going about as good as it could get. I would say I''m around halfway there." I tried to say more, but I found I couldn''t get the words out of my mouth. The binding has decided I said too much and kicked in, preventing me from saying another word on the subject.


    Inwardly I was fuming at the restriction. I didn''t like the fact that I would be forever restricted from speaking on the subject. I should look into seeing if there is anything I can do about it. While it would be difficult, it should be possible. Hell, if I could figure a way out the binding, I bet I could think of a way to slip the magical trace. While the trace didn''t prevent me from using magic at home, it still restricted my use of magic outside the house.


    Already the b.a.r.e bones of an idea presented itself to me. I would need to do more research to see if it was a viable idea. The only problem is I would need to revisit my mum''s greenhouse.


    Interrupting my plotting, Dad patted my shoulder with a proud look on his face, "That''s my boy."


    Deciding to put the matter of slipping magical bindings on the back burner, I asked, "Speaking of projects. How is Project Firebolt coming along?"


    Dad sighed, "Slow, at our current pace, it will be at least two years before it''s ready."


    I c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at hearing two years. If I remember correctly, Harry got the Firebolt in 1993. But, the books never clarified when the model was actually released, it could have happened a little earlier. I had always found it a little weird how the Nimbus 2001 was released one year after the Nimbus 2000. Typically, five to seven years pass between model releases.


    I mentally shrugged, there wasn''t much I could do about the whole thing. I wish I were a more experienced wizard, as of right now, the most I could for my dad was to cheer him on from the sidelines. While I know he appreciates it when I watch him work. I wish I could contribute more.


    With another heavy sigh, Dad grumbled, "I''ve heard that Delvin is releasing his newest model next month, the Nimbus 2000. It''s supposed to be the fastest broom ever created."


    I reached over and patted Dad''s arm, trying to reassure him, "Don''t worry," I comforted. "You''re the best enchanter in Britain. I know you will succeed in creating the fastest broom in the world."


    Dad nudged me with a grin, "The best? That''s a pretty high bar for me to live up to, but I suppose it''s accurate."


    "Well, don''t be too full of yourself. You still have to complete the Firebolt." I warned. "I''m looking forward to the day we get to crush Delvin Whitehorn and the Nimbus Racing Broom Company."


    A vengeful gleam appeared in Dad''s eyes, "Me too," he murmured.


    Our conversation lapsed into silence for a few minutes, before Dad gently asked, "So, do you want to talk about your friends fighting. I could tell it was bothering you earlier."


    Part of me hesitated, had it been Mum, or Uncle John, I don''t think I would have answered. Mum would have interrogated me about everything, and I can picture Uncle John smirking about everything.


    But, looking at Dad''s calm grey eyes, I could tell he just wanted to dispense some fatherly advice, whether I wanted to listen was entirely up to me. Had I said no, I imagine he would have dropped the subject entirely. Dad is the best.


    Giving into the urge, I confessed, "It was so annoying. The train ride home was filled with constant snide comments, and there seemed to be some type of competition going on between them. I''ve never seen Anna or Jessica act like that before."


    Dad took a minute to soak in my rant, "Do you remember when I made the twins a miniature unicorn doll that could move and run around on its own?"


    I g.r.o.a.n.e.d. "Yeah, they both loved that toy so much they each wanted it for themselves. The toy was the cause of the great spat of 1988, which will forever go down in infamy."


    Dad shivered, no doubt remembering all the screaming, hair pulling, and wild underage magic.


    Normally the twins got along great, but that particular summer they fought like cats and dogs.


    "Well, now you''re the unicorn," Dad explained.


    Concerned about the analogy, I pointed out, "Didn''t the twins end up tearing the unicorn in two?"


    Dad sagely nodded, "Exactly, and if I were you, I would remember that before you put yourself in between those two."


    "Daaad." I complained, "That doesn''t help me at all. How do I get them to stop fighting?"


    Dad shrugged, "Alex, sometimes you have to realize that some of your friends may not like each other. Just because they''re friends with you doesn''t mean they will get along. In fact, being friends with you is the problem."


    Seeing how I wasn''t fully understanding, Dad rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair. "Whatever happened to my genius son? You know, there is such a thing as too much study. I can''t believe I''m saying this, but I think you need to put your books down more often."


    As I glared at him, Dad put his arms up in surrender, "Alex, those two girls like you."


    As his words sunk in, my face started to turn red in embarrassment. "You don''t know that." I retorted.


    Dad snorted, "Alex, I watched you and Anna grow up. Trust me, that girl has had her eye on you for a while, she may not have understood her feelings for you in the beginning, but considering her behavior with Jessica, I bet she has figured it out."


    Trying to buy time to think about this, I decided to poke holes in his argument, I said, "Well, what about Jessica?"


    Dad gave a half shrug, "I don''t really know her that well, but didn''t you say her parents were both top of their class in Ravenclaw. Is it such a stretch that she might think you two will be the same?"


    I couldn''t decide if I was more embarrassed about having this conversation with my dad in the first place or having to have it pointed out to me. In my defense, I have been busy for the last two years. Pretty much every free moment I have had has gone into studying magic.


    As my mind started going over my past interactions with Jessica and Anna, I realized I had been missing a lot of obvious signals. The burning in my face intensified the more I thought about everything, both from the humiliation of having the obvious pointed out to me and some feelings those memories made me feel.


    I shot Dad a pleading look, "What am I supposed to do with this knowledge?"


    "I don''t know. It depends on what you want to do. Just because they like you doesn''t mean you like them." After a short pause, Dad hesitantly asked, "You do like girls, right?"


    I had thought I was at the limit of how red my face could get, but my dad proved me wrong because I was pretty sure I was red as a tomato at this point. I tried to channel the heat in my face into laser beams as I glared at Dad, "Yes, I like girls," I growled at him.


    He held up his hands, "Just checking."


    Seeing how I wasn''t satisfied, he offered an olive branch. "Well, that narrows your options. You need to figure out how you feel about each of them. Remember, just because they''re interested doesn''t mean you have to do anything. You''re young, figuring out things like this is part of growing up."


    A look of worry crossed my eyes, "What if I make a mistake?"


    Putting his arm around me, Dad tried to confront me, "Alex, you''re definitely going to make mistakes."


    "Dad! You''re supposed to say I won''t make a mistake."


    Dad laughed as I tried to shove him off me, "Sorry Alex, but making mistakes is part of life. And speaking of mistakes, it''s time for you to go to bed. Otherwise, your mother will be fuming in the morning."


    Before I left the study, I turned back and asked, "So, who is Alice, and why did Uncle John look like he just saw a boggart when you mentioned her name?"


    Dad smirked, "Alice is a good example of what happens when you anger a witch. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Remember that wisdom in the future before doing something stupid."


    Sensing that was all I would get out of him, I turned and left the room. As I laid in bed, I tried to sort out my feelings. Even with the advice I got, I didn''t know how to proceed.


    Turning to Athena, who was curled up into a ball, "What do you think?" I asked


    Athena opened an eye, before yawning and ignoring my plight.


    "Fine, be that way," I grumbled.


    I didn''t have any revelations that night, nor the following days. Soon the weekend was upon us, and it was time for the dueling competition.

 Chapter 59 - House

    On the day of the dueling competition, I found myself racked with nerves. I was planning on jumping years, and competing with the third-year students.


    I wasn''t worried about my repertoire of spells. I was into my 4th-year spellbooks and had mastered useful defensive spells like the shielding spell, which would come in handy.


    What worried me was the experience the others had in dueling. Dueling was like a complicated chess match. It wasn''t just about overwhelming your opponent with spells, although if you were able to accomplish that, nobody would complain.


    No, it was more about planning, and each spell you cast, should build to the next, and by the time you got to the end, you had led your competitor into a trap. Now, what made this difficult, is that your opponent was trying to do the same thing to you as well, so the whole match was an intricate dance of trying to outwit your opponent.


    Of course, some choose not to rely on such strategies. They relied on a single spell, such as the stunning spell, and cast it over and over, trying to spam their foe into submission.


    While technically a valid tactic, those who try rarely find fame in the world of dueling. No one wanted to watch a single spell be used over and over. It was boring. No, spectators wanted to see all sorts of different spells and strategies.


    It was why there was a point ranking system. Wizards and witches who used different spells and strategies, would receive more points and rise in the rankings. The most talented duelers would try and invent a new spell known only to them, or at least a variation on an old spell. Not only was it more challenging for an opponent to defend against an unknown charm, using a unique spell was rewarded with more points. Of course, none of this matters if you don''t win the duel.


    After getting out of bed, I slipped on my new dueling robes. Turning in a circle, I asked Athena, "What do you think? They make me look badass, right?"


    Athena c.o.c.ked her head and gave a bleat that almost sounded like a question.


    Ignoring her response, I replied, "I''m taking that as a compliment."


    Heading downstairs, I found everybody in the dining room. When I entered, Rebeca''s blue eyes lit up at the sight of my dueling robes.


    Pointing at me, she declared, "I want a set of those robes."


    Mussing her black hair, "That''s easy. All you need to do is make it onto a dueling team when you get to Hogwarts. I''ll get you a pair myself."


    Annoyed, she leaned back into her chair and sighed, "Ugh, that''s what you always say. I wish I were eleven already."


    Looking towards Sasha, who was sitting next to Mum and had her nose in a book, "What about you, Sasha? Are there going to be dueling robes in your future?"


    Sasha put the book down, looked up, and shot me an uninterested look, "Why would I want to do that? Dueling is play fighting. You should put your talents to better use."


    I''m not going to lie, a small part of me was hurt when I saw her uninterested look. Where was the unwavering support I usually got from my little sister? I don''t like this new development at all.


    A little curious, I asked, "Like what?"


    Sasha shifted guiltily in her seat, "I don''t know, maybe the potions club."


    I eyed Sasha suspiciously. Her last remark was one Mum had made before in her letters. She wasn''t a fan of dueling, and more than once she tried to get me to quit and join the potions club.


    Turning my eyes towards Mum, I noticed she was avoiding my gaze by hiding her face behind her Potion''s Weekly magazine. What gave the whole thing away was innocent little Sasha, who was sneaking looks of approval towards Mum.


    Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the magazine hiding Mum''s face and thought, You must be getting old Mum, you''ve lost a step.


    Turning back to Sasha, "Well, since I guess dueling is so boring, you can stay here. No need to spend the day watching me sling spells at my opponents."


    I smirked when I saw Sasha turn her panicked blue eyes over to Mum. Receiving no support, Sasha looked back at me and pleaded, "But, I want to come."


    Turning my head in mock confusion, "But, I thought you said you didn''t like dueling."


    After thinking about it for a moment, her eyes lit up, "I changed my mind," she declared, completely reversing her earlier statement.


    Thankfully, Dad put an end to everything by asking, "Alex, are you ready to go?"


    Eager to be on my way, "Yes, I''ll see you at the dueling arena."


    Not letting me go without a fight, Mum argued, "I don''t see why we can''t take you."


    Trying not to roll my eyes, "Mum, we''ve been over this. I''m meeting up with the other Silver Spears at the Silver Spear''s chapter house in Liverpool. It''s a tradition for us to arrive at the dueling arena on the Isle of Man together."


    "Fine," she huffed, clearly not pleased.


    I made my getaway before she could find something else to be upset about. I was going to use the floo network to travel to the chapter house. Typically, the place wasn''t connected to the system because they didn''t want unwelcome visitors, but they temporarily joined it to the network to reduce travel time.


    Not wanting to wait around, I made my way to the fireplace, where I found Athena sitting on the wooden mantle above the fireplace guarding the floo powder bowl with a disgruntled look on her face.


    When I reached for a handful, she reached out with her paw and smacked at my hand in warning. "Athena," I rebuked. "I know you want to come, but you have to stay here."


    Not persuaded, Athena moved her paw behind the crystal container holding the floo powder. "Don''t you dare," I exclaimed.


    Rolling my eyes at her antics, "Fine," I gave up.


    With a happy bleat, she leaped onto my shoulder and started grooming herself and pretending nothing happened.


    Grabbing a handful of floo powder, I tossed into the fireplace and said, "Silver Spear''s Chapter House."


    A flash of emerald green flame washed over me, and the next thing I knew, I was in an unfamiliar room that had a few recognizable faces.


    "Alex, happy that you made it, I see you brought company," Zack greeted with a lazy smile on his face as I stepped out of the ash-filled fireplace.


    Athena bleated cheerfully, happy that she had forced me to bring her along.


    Looking around the room, I saw all the Hogwarts students who were in the Silver Spears already waiting in the room. Jean Batt, the blond-haired wizard that I met at the dueling competition was also in the room, as well as a few others I didn''t recognize.


    Before I could ask for an introduction, Jean said, "Good, now that you''re all here, we can begin. I know most of you have heard me give this spiel before, but it bears repeating. The tournament today is double elimination. This means if you do lose a match, you still have another shot at advancing in the losing bracket. Now, there are two ways to make it to the international tournament. The first is to win your bracket, and the other is with points. The top two with the highest points in each division, not counting the tournament winners, will be invited as well."


    Jean paused for a moment and looked us each in the eye, "Now, I know some of you will end up competing against one another. I want to remind everyone here that outside of the ring you are on the same side, but inside is another story. If you end up facing a fellow member, don''t hold back, give it your all, and if you lose, you will have another shot to make it to the international competition."


    I couldn''t help but glance at Mason and Harper, the two seventh years in our group. Mason was in Gryffindor, and Harper was in Slytherin, both were wearing unique dueling robes with colors that indicated their house.


    Those two had been competing against one another for the last five years. From what I''ve heard and seen, they usually are evenly matched against one another. Both had serious expressions on their faces, this was their last year at Hogwarts, and they each wanted to do well.


    Each of them was hoping to find the best mentor possible, and this would be their last shot at impressing veteran Silver Spears, who would be their dueling coach if they stepped into the professional ring.


    On the far side of the room was Addison, she was in her sixth year and was proudly wearing dueling robes consisting of yellow and black robes and was twirling her brown hair impatiently.


    Next to her was Zack, the fifth year Slytherin prefect. Those two would probably meet in the competition as Zack had told me he was competing in the sixth year bracket. He had won his division for the last three years and wanted tougher competition.


    Turning my eyes to my fellow Ravenclaw, I saw Lelah shifting her auburn hair into a tight bun so that none of her hair would get in the way. Finally, my eyes turned to my competition, Adam. He had on robes with Gryffindor colors, and his black hair was cropped short.


    I would be competing in his division with the other third years. I hadn''t sparred with him much this year because I didn''t want him to be familiar with my style. Unfortunately, that left me just as unfamiliar with him as well. Plus, I would be dealing with all the other third years in the Dragon Fangs, Hidden Lotus, and the Relentless Wanderers.


    Turning my thoughts to the upcoming competition, I sheepishly realized that I hadn''t read anything to do with the point ranking system. Curious about the ranking system, I asked, "How are points awarded?"


    Jean gave me a disapproving look and pulled out a small booklet from his robe and tossed it towards me. "Make sure to look that over before the competition. If you don''t win your divisional bracket, it is important to know how your match will be scored. There are dozens of ways to rack up points in a match. But, be careful, there are also ways to get points deducted from your overall score as well."


    Knowing it was important, I opened the booklet and started committing the contents to memory. After finishing the book, I realized that I should have read this earlier.


    In the back of the book was a list of banned spells and curses as well as a warning that the use of any curses designed to inflict permanent harm would result in the offender having a lifetime ban in the sport.


    Soon, it was time for us to leave, and Jean gathered everyone around an old rubber tire. "This is a portkey that will take us to the arena on the Isle of Man."


    Seeing everyone nod, he said, "Alright, grab on now."


    I reached out and grabbed hold of the tire with my right hand. I was a little nervous as I remembered from the books that this method of travel wasn''t that pleasant.


    A few seconds later, I felt a hook jerk my navel, and my feet left the ground as we swirled through time and space in a whirlwind of colors, just as I was getting used to the sensation, my feet slammed into the ground, and I promptly fell on my a.s.s. "Merlin''s Sweaty Arsehole," I swore. "No wonder most people only like to use the floo network, apparition and portkeys suck."


    It seemed as though Athena agreed with me because she was glaring at the tire like it was her new mortal enemy. Not content to glare at it, she swiped it with her claws shredding the side of the tire. After dishing out what she deemed enough punishment, Athena returned to my side content that she had shown the tire who was boss.


    Still on his feet, Zack laughed, "First time using a portkey?"


    After I nodded, he explained, "If you don''t brace yourself for the landing, you''ll end up on the ground every time. Once you do it a few times, you''ll figure it out.


    Getting up and dusting myself off, I realized we were in a valley near a small mountain. Not far away was an old stone structure that would look abandoned if not for people heading inside.


    Once we were ready, we all headed inside. As I watched the building grow larger, my excitement grew. I couldn''t wait for the competition to begin.

 Chapter 60 - First Round

    As we made our way through a descending staircase in the ancient stone dwelling, I noticed the inside was far nicer than the outside. On the outside, the whole building looked like it was only a few steps from being declared a ruin.


    At the bottom of the stairs, the floor opened up to a massive chamber with a dueling ring raised on a platform in the center. Surrounding the ring were rows of seats extending from the floor to the ceiling. I bet the arena could fill at least twenty thousand people.


    Thankfully, the building wasn''t that packed, not as many people were interested in watching underage wizards compete. Had this been a pro league competition, the place would have been filled to the rafters. It would have been nerve-racking to compete in front of that many people.


    "Alex," a familiar voice called out.


    Turning, I saw Anna making her way over. Her blond hair had been carefully weaved to prevent it from flopping around. Seeing her rush over made me panic a little on the inside. I was still processing the information my Dad told me and I didn''t know what to do, so I decided to follow in the footsteps of so many guys before me. Which was to ignore the issue and hope the problem went away on its own.


    She had on emerald green robes with just a hint of silver weaved into the fabric. I assumed the group she was with were her fellow Dragon Fangs. It looked like they had about seventeen members altogether.


    While we were catching up, Anna took Athena into her arms and started spoiling her. Ruining our reunion was a familiar sneer, "Well, it looks our new members will have an easy year if you''re the best the other clubs could come up with."


    Turning towards the voice with a scowl on my face, I shot my best look of disdain towards the speaker.


    "Michael," I drawled. "That''s rich coming from you."


    Seeing the group he was with all had a flower weaved into their robes, I realized he was with the Hidden Lotus. Knowing that the best way to deal with Michael was keeping him off-balance, so I went on the offensive, "Do your friends know that you couldn''t take down a mere first-year student when you were in your third?"


    Anna laughed, and Michael''s face started to turn red. "You," he sputtered.


    Before he could say anything else, I decided to twist the knife in a little deeper, "Careful. You don''t want your friends to think you''re unstable." Tilting my head to the side, I continued in a concerned mock whisper, "Do your teammates know that you spent the summer in the mental ward at St. Mungo''s?"


    Considering the look Micheal shot me, If looks could kill, I would be dead twice over. I saw his hand twitch towards his pocket, and I grinned inwardly. One of the rules in the booklet that I read explicitly warned that any spell casting outside the ring would end with their perpetrator being disqualified.


    But, before he could do anything, one of the older members of the Hidden Lotus put his hand on Michael''s shoulder in warning. "Enough," he warned, "Don''t do anything to embarrass us."


    My eyes danced in delight as Michael''s face turned almost purple in rage as they dragged him away.


    "Alex," Zack called out.


    Turning, I saw Zack motioning for me to join him and Jean near a booth. As soon as I wandered over, Jean pointed towards the table, "You need to sign up for the tournament."


    Jean raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you sure you want to do that? You wouldn''t be the first young wizard to bite off more than you can chew. It''s better to compete in the younger division and make it to the international competition than compete in an older one and lose."


    Nodding firmly, "I''m sure."


    Jean glanced at Zack, who shrugged, "Alright, for your sake, I hope you do well. There will be other members of the Silver Spears watching, and they won''t be impressed if you lose in a higher division, it will only make them question your judgment."


    As Jean wandered off, I started second-guessing my decision. Maybe it would be better to compete against the lowest division.


    Trying to comfort me, Zack explained, "Don''t worry about him, Jean is just looking out for your best interest."


    Zack, having tried to build my confidence, apparently felt that he needed to balance the scales because he teased, "Although, just so you''re aware, it''s been a decade since we''ve had a member not make it to the international competition."


    "Thanks," I sarcastically replied, "No pressure then."


    Leaving with a smile on his face, Zack wandered off to bother Addison.


    Coming up to the booth was Adam, as he signed, he paused for a moment when he saw my name. "Someone''s feeling confident," he mused with a stern expression on his face. "I hope you don''t expect me to go easy on you because we''re in the same club."


    The competitive spirit in me burned at Adam''s dismissive tone. The worst part was he wasn''t even trying to be offensive. He genuinely didn''t believe I had a chance in beating him."


    Making sure none of the fire I was feeling inside made it into my tone, I joked, "I was just going to say the same thing to you. Don''t worry, there is more than one way to make it to the international competition. I''m sure you''ll be fine."


    Adam rapidly blinked for a moment while he processed my statement, then he smiled, "Well then, I hope you don''t get eliminated before I get the chance to see what you''re made of."


    As he walked away, I knew I would need to be on top of my game today, Adam took second place last year at the international competition, and I imagine that his skills have only improved since then.


    Sometime later, I saw my parents wandering around the stands, each holding onto a twin so that the girls wouldn''t wander off. Waving them down, I handed Athena to Sasha to hold onto during the tournament.


    "When are you dueling?" Dad asked.


    "In a little while, the first round of competition in the tournament is starting soon. But, I''m competing in the second division. It shouldn''t take too long since only eight people are competing during the first round."


    Dad raised an eyebrow, "You''re competing in the second?"


    After I nodded, he fell silent. I could tell he knew what that meant while Mum was oblivious. From the look in his eye, I knew not to say anything. Mum was already annoyed that I was dueling, no need to tell her I was dueling older students.


    Not long after, Anna''s parents, Taylor and Barbra Lancaster, came over and sat down next to my parents.


    In a stern tone, Taylor remarked with cold brown eyes, "So, Alex, I''m assuming you''re to blame for dragging my precious little girl into dueling."


    For a moment, my mind blanked. Taylor''s usual smile and kind eyes were nowhere to be found.


    Then, the tension broke as he laughed, "Alex, I''m just messing with you. As if anyone could get Anna to do anything she didn''t want to do in the first place."


    Realizing Anna''s Dad was just messing with me, a feeling of relief welled up within me. As they settled in, I wandered off to the set of chairs reserved for the Silver Spears. Soon, it was time for the competition to begin, and the first two duelers competing were from the Hidden Lotus and Relentless Wanders.


    As much as I wish to say that the duel was impressive, I understood why the seats weren''t filled to the rafters. Seeing two 2nd year students duel each other wasn''t the most exciting thing to watch. I hope there are some better duelers out there. If not, Anna was going to smoke them. I definitely made the right call to jump to the next year. It would have been annoying to compete on this level.


    The only exciting thing that happened in the match was seeing some of the spells miss and leave the ring. But, surrounding the ring were heavy-duty enchantments, which created a clear, strange, gelatin-like shield that trapped the spells until they faded away.


    In the end, the boy from the Relentless Wanderers pulled out a victory. This made me smile, with Michael being in the Hidden Lotus. I was planning on rooting against them in every match.


    While the judges recorded the points, the referee wanted to keep the matches moving because he called for the next two to come up to the ring.


    This time, it was Anna''s turn, her opponent was a dark-haired kid named David, he was also from the Hidden Lotus. I knew from the narrowing of her eyes that she was going to treat her opponent as a substitute for Michael.


    I was expecting this duel to be a little more entertaining than the first one. Anna had undoubtedly put in the hours of practice to start on her path of a great dueler. More complex spells like the shield charm were still beyond her skill, but since none of the others would be able to use the spell, it wouldn''t really matter.


    What she had focused on learning was pure una.d.u.l.terated speed in her duels. At first, she had tried to hide it during our practices, but once she knew she wasn''t facing me in the competition, she started showing off her strategies during our practices. Needless to say, over the semester, she had improved by leaps and bounds.


    In the end, Anna had come up with a name for her strategy. She called it, ''chain-spells.'' But, I pointed out that a more descriptive term was chain-casting. But she had dug her heels in and wouldn''t budge on the name. Personally, I think she was just a little embarrassed that she missed the obvious connection.


    I was rather impressed with the amount of research that she put into her study. She studied and mapped out wand movements for all her spells and had chosen to group together spells where she could easily flow from one movement to the next. The result allowed her to cast more spells. She had put together three different chains of spells consisting of three to five spells depending on which chain she used, which was impressive for only having a few months of practice.


    Although Anna''s strategy was good, it wasn''t without flaws. Her main problem was when someone broke her rhythm and counter-attacked. During our duels, whenever I countered and attacked, she had a hard time adjusting her rhythm, which led to an easier victory.


    Overall, She was a lot better on offense than defense. As long as she can keep up her offensive, I''m guessing that she will overwhelm her opponents today.


    The referee put his wand to his throat, and a magically enhanced voice rang out, "Begin."


    Both of them instantly drew their wands. I smiled when Anna got hers out a fraction of a second ahead of her opponent. It might not seem like it mattered too much, but against an offensive specialist like Anna, it was a crucial mistake.


    Anna extended her arm, flicked her wand up, then back at her opponent and chanted, "Colloshoo." A barely noticeable shimmer shot out of her wand at a downward angle. She then flowed right into the next spell with a slight right twirl and shouted, "Flipendo." Unlike the previous jinx, the knockback jinx was much more apparent. A pulsing blue light shot across the ring.


    Of course, her opponent wasn''t just sitting still the whole time. While Anna got off a spell earlier than him, he was able to cast one just as she shot her second spell. I rolled my eyes when I heard David yell, "Expelliarmus."


    Don''t get me wrong. Taking away someone''s wand from them is often a crippling move that will force them to retreat. But, as I watched the red jet of light shoot across the ring, I could help but be bored by it. Of all the interesting spells out there, David went with the most common spell of all, the one every first year is taught.


    I smirked when I observed David''s eyes widening in panic. Anna had followed up her second spell with the jelly-leg curse seconds after he finished his first. He didn''t appear to be alarmed about the barely visible shimmer that was heading towards the ground near his feet. He had his eyes on the pulsing-blue light and the bright yellow spell moving towards him. I shook my head, that was a mistake.


    There was a reason why Anna had explicitly chosen that subtle spell as the first in her chain-spell. Her following spells were there just to get your attention. The real trap was the barely visible spell that looked like it wasn''t even going to hit you. More than once, I privately admitted that she was in the perfect house. She really was a cunning little snake, but unless she considered you an enemy, that wasn''t a problem.


    While Anna ducked under the red beam of light, David quickly realized that he needed to move from the small starting ring if he didn''t want to be hit. Right as he tried to move out of the way, he yelped as he toppled over from losing his balance and crashed into the ground and sent his wand across the floor.


    The spell he hadn''t paid attention to was the Stickfast Hex. It was a hex that stuck the target''s shoes to the ground, causing them to trip if they attempt to move.


    Anna, having realized that David had fallen into her trap, quickly capitalized. Pointing her wand at him, she chanted, "Petrificus Totalus," the Body-Bind Curse.


    David was in no position to dodge as his feet were still trapped and his wand out of reach. When the spell hit him, he froze in place on the ground.


    I think the whole audience was a little stunned. The duel was over in less than ten seconds. While the more experienced duelers in the audience were impressed by Anna''s decisive victory. They understood that she wouldn''t find future duels as easy as her first because all the others she was competing with would be warier. Already, her future opponents were watching her. Some looked worried, others looked eager.


    After the referee declared Anna the winner, one of the older students in the Hidden Lotus retrieved David''s frozen body and muttered the counter-curse freeing him from the spells. While Anna wandered back down to her section, her eyes sought mine. She beamed when I gave her a smile and two thumbs up.


    The next match were the losers from the first two matches. Everyone was allowed a second chance in a double-elimination tournament. But, they weren''t given any respite to recover. David still looked a little woozy after being released from the Body-Bind Curse. But, I think from his intense second duel, he was trying to prove his first match was a fluke. He ended up winning his second chance and would have another shot at victory.


    Most of the remaining matches went by pretty fast. Out of the eight competing in the second year division, there were one or two others that showed promise like Anna. To be fair to the others, it is their first year, and they only had a few months of practice, they will probably perform better during the following year.


    As I predicted, Anna ended up winning her division. She didn''t lose one duel. The only tough matches she had were against a girl with auburn hair named Hazel, who was in the Relentless Wanders and a brown-haired kid named Oscar, who was also in the Dragon Fangs. Those two ended up also being chosen to advance to the international competition. Behind Anna, they had the highest point totals.


    I shot a teasing smirk towards Michael, who scowled when he saw that no one at the second-year level from his team would be at the international competition.


    Although I wanted to go over and congratulate Anna for winning, there was no time. The competition was already getting set up for the third-year students. I cracked my neck in anticipation. Now, it was my turn.

 Chapter 61 - First Up

    When it was time for the third-year division to start, the referee waved for everyone competing to approach him. Pulling out his wand, he explained, "This will show you when and who you will be dueling during the tournament."


    After the referee waved his wand, a glowing white tournament bracket formed in midair, all of our names had been randomly selected and matched against opponents.


    There were ten names on the bracket, with four being in the Silver Spears and Relentless Wanderers. The remaining six were split between the Hidden Lotus and Dragon Fangs.


    My stomach sank when I saw that my name was in the first match up. Apparently, the universe was conspiring against the Silver Spears. Both Adam and I were in the first two matches, which meant we both had to duel an extra round.


    The only good news about this situation was that I wouldn''t have to compete against Adam until the very last round, assuming both of us made it that far.


    Because there were ten people in the bracket, the four people who were competing in the first two matches had to duel an extra round. This meant that if I didn''t lose a single match, there were five duels between me and victory.


    I had been hoping I would be a part of those who only had to win four duels. It also would have let me see some of the other fights so that I could get a sense of the skills from the other third years.


    With this being my first time in the ring, I didn''t know what to expect from the others. I''m guessing that at least one or two of them might have mastered the shield charm. Knowing the shield spell was something of a wall among duelers, there was a clear dividing line between those who knew the spell and those who didn''t.


    Of course, just because someone knew the shield charm didn''t mean they were completely protected from hostile magic. The strength of everyone''s shield was different because the power of the shield was directly connected to the skills of the person who cast it.


    Not to mention, strong spells have been known to break through shields. I learned last year that with enough concentration and skill, you could empower spells to be more powerful.


    Giving the tournament bracket another look, I noticed that my opponent was a dark-hair kid named Jackson. I smirked when I saw he was in the Hidden Lotus. I was going to make it my mission to make sure no one from that club advanced.


    As I entered the ring, Jackson sneered at me, "You''re going to regret not knowing your limits." Nodding back towards his teammates, he added, "Michael bet that you wouldn''t last ten moves against me, but I told him I would put you down in five."


    I know I shouldn''t let talk like that affect me, but I couldn''t stop my eye from twitching in annoyance. Initially, I was just planning on beating him, but now I think he deserves something a little more embarrassing.


    I got in the small starting ring and faced Jackson, who had a confident grin on his face. Did this idiot really think he was going to beat me? Oh, I am going to enjoy watching that stupid smirk fall off his face.


    Soon, the referee shouted, "Begin."


    Immediately I twisted my wrist, which activated my dueling holster, and my wand shot out of the small metal tube attached to my wrist. Even though I got my wand out first, I chose not to attack. It was time to teach this idiot a lesson.


    Jackson was right behind me in getting his wand out. Once he had lined up a shot, he shouted, "Glacius Tria."


    My mind raced with options, I knew the counterspell that would dispel it, but that wouldn''t mesh with the message I wanted to send. I wanted to send a clear message to this jackass that I was beyond his skill, and he would regret looking down on me.


    You see, with all my practice with Anna, I mastered the shielding charm. And during my training, I learned it was not just about being able to cast the spell or even time it correctly. I learned it was all about the angles.


    As the spell raced towards me, without giving it much conscious thought, I mentally calculated the timing and angle that I needed. I couldn''t tell you how I knew when it was time. It was an instinctive feeling I had built through countless hours of practice, and when I felt it was time, I shouted, "Protego."


    Seconds before Jackson''s spell hit me, a glowing shield appeared. Once the Freezing Spell hit the shield, it got reflected right back at Jackson.


    Jackson''s eyes widened in surprise. Whatever he had been expecting to happen, having his spell rebounding back at him wasn''t what he imagined.


    I smiled when I tracked the angle the spell was heading back on. I had nailed the perfect trajectory. Had it been too high, he could duck below the charm, and if it had been too low, he could jump over it. Now, his only options were to use the shield charm, which he probably couldn''t use, or move out of the way of the rapidly returning spell.


    Jackson scowled as he took the latter option, as he spun out of the circle. He shot another spell my way. I mentally thanked him as he had provided me with more ammunition to send his way.


    After getting a sense of his skills, I knew I could have beat him the normal way, but I thought it was more humiliating to be knocked out using his own spells against him. That would teach the cost of deriding me.


    As Jackson sent spell after spell at me, I simply reflected them back at him one by one. You would think his spells would lose momentum as after they hit my shield, but if anything, the spells seemed to pick up speed. Eventually, he made a mistake, and he was hit by his own Knockback Jinx, which promptly picked him up and tossed him flying out of the ring.


    As I turned my attention to the judges, I noticed that they seemed to be torn from being impressed and annoyed at my strategy. In the end, they awarded me thirty-one points total for the match, twenty-five points for winning, one point for the use of the shield charm, and an additional five points for winning the duel without taking a step from my starting ring. I could have racked up more points if I had used more spells, but I wasn''t planning on getting to the international competition with points. I was here to win it all.


    When the judges shot a big glowing 31 in the air, I could hear my family cheering loudly. As I walked back to my section, I noticed the other members of the Hidden Lotus glaring at me. It was one thing to win a match and another to humiliate someone like that.


    As I glanced at the other teams, I couldn''t help but feel a small amount of satisfaction when I noticed my fellow competitor''s wary looks. Even Adam, my teammate on the Silver Spears, was carefully observing me. I think that he finally figured out that I was going to be his real competition in the match.


    When I got back to my seat, I let out a relieved sigh, even though I was confident I would win, I was still covered in a nervous sweat. Thankfully, Jackson had annoyed me. It had helped take my mind off the idea of competing in front of everyone on the stage. Hopefully, my remaining duels would go as well as my first one. With one match down, only four more fights stood in between me and victory.


    Unlike the previous division that had the losers compete immediately, because of the odd teams, they wouldn''t have to fight until the standard matches got to the end of their bracket. What was annoying was after the second match, I was already back up to duel again, I had been hoping for more time to recover.


    Next to me, Adam muttered, "Showing off like that may make you look impressive to others. But you just wasted a chance to pull ahead in points. Let me show you how it''s done."


    Up next was Adam and a blond-haired girl named Taylor from the Dragon Fangs. I leaned forward in anticipation. I knew Adam was going to be a problem, and I was looking forward to seeing how he handled himself.


    A few minutes later, as I watched the judge shoot a large 49 into the sky, I couldn''t help but be impressed and a little worried. Adam had won a decisive victory without being forced from the starting ring. I was also pretty sure he missed half of his spells on purpose. Every different spell you use in a match is worth a point, and he cycled through a large amount of them to maximize his available points.


    Seeing how many points Adam got made me realize I screwed up. I should have done the same thing Adam did and maximized my overall points rather than send a message to that idiot.


    What concerned me was if everyone else did the same thing, they would have an advantage in points. If I didn''t take the first place, I might not make it to the international competition at this rate.


    Adam shot me a smug look when he returned to our section. As I got up to compete in the next match, I mentally resolved to stretch out the next duel as long as I could to maximize my point total. Now that I thought about it, it was kinda lucky that I was chosen to have the extra duel.


    This time, my opponent was a girl named Robin from the Dragon Fangs. I recognized her from being in Ravenclaw, and she obviously took great pride in being in our house as her hair was magically dyed to a deep midnight blue that had glowing strands of bronze sprinkled throughout her tightly woven braid.


    As the match began, we both went for our wands. Like in my previous duel, I got mine out first, but unlike last time, I made the first move. Pointing my wand at Robin, I shouted, "Impedimenta."


    I had chosen the Impediment Jinx due to its ability to slow an opponent down to a crawl. I figured it not only would it allow me to get off several more spells if she was moving like a snail, but it would also shield me from her retaliation.


    I learned that no plan survives first contact with the enemy because half a second after I had got my spell off. She smirked and spun outside of her circle while chanting, "Lassus Fumus."


    A cloud of thick white smoke poured out of her wand, enveloping her inside a cocoon of fog. For a moment, the mist seemed to slow. Then it resumed with a fury filling up her side of the ring.


    For a half-second, my mind blanked, I was a little fl.u.s.tered. I had never even considered such a strategy, then a small voice in the back of my mind reminded me that I was in danger. While I couldn''t currently see Robin''s position, I was still in my starting circle, which let her know where to send spells.


    As soon as the thought occurred to me, I hurled myself out of the circle. Moments after I got out of the way, a red beam of light shot out of the smoke and passed where I had been standing.


    I swore, "Merlin''s dirty underpants." Being forced from the circle had already cost me five points.


    I bet she was counting on a second year, not knowing how to proceed. But, informally for her, I had learned a spell to track during the previous year.


    After ducking below a silver beam of light, I rested my wand on my palm and chanted, "Requiro Fortitudo."


    My wand spun towards the right of the ring, not wanting to waste this chance, I shouted, "Rictusempra."


    Even though it was a childish hex designed to tickle and induce laughter, I knew from experience that it was impossible to keep quiet if it hit you. I wanted Robin to laugh so that I could locate her position.


    Unfortunately, I missed her because I heard her chant, and seconds later, I ducked beneath a blue beam. We went back and forth a couple of times before I noticed a worrying trend.


    The smoke she had produced was starting to drift over. Soon it was filling up my side of the ring as well. As soon as I took a few breaths, I felt an intense struggle to keep my eyelids open. A few seconds later, I was almost ready to pass out.


    That sneaky little rat, this wasn''t normal smoke. It was some type of sleeping gas. As my thoughts started to slow, my mind went over options. Thankfully, after last year''s excursion had left me trapped underground, I had gone a little overboard in my planning for future emergencies.


    Along with filling my new magically enhanced bag with everything I could possibly need, I had endeavored to learn some spells that would improve my ability to survive in a life-threatening environment. Being trapped a mile beneath the earth taught me that it was better to be prepared for anything.


    Before I lost consciousness, I muttered, "Saccus Caeli."


    A bubble of air surrounded my head. The good old Bubble Head Charm, it was a spell that made you look like you stuck your head in a fishbowl, but all things considered, I''ll take it.


    Ok, it was time to stop playing nice, I had almost just been eliminated. The problem with most spells I knew was they didn''t affect large areas. But, last year, I fiddled around with the Fire Charm a lot. I learned it was a very versatile spell.


    Most people used it as it was intended, like a bolt of fire. But, I had learned that it was possible to keep a stream of fire pouring out of the wand. It took a lot of effort, but I had mastered it.


    Since Roblin likes to fill up her opponent''s side with sleeping gas, let''s see how she likes it when I return the favor and fill her side of the ring with fire.


    After using my wand to locate her relative position, I mustered all my remaining mental strength and let loose. "Incendio," I roared.


    A thick jet of fire streamed out of my wand like water being shot from a fire hose. Not letting up for a moment, I poured more and more of my energy into the spell. The heat on my face was intense, but I knew as long as I kept it up, Robin would have it a lot worse.


    I heard a scream, and a second later, the referee''s magically enhanced voice shouted that Robin had left the ring, giving me victory.


    I''m not sure what spell the referee used because moments later, the smoke vanished, revealing my fishbowl face to the arena.


    On the other side of the arena, a singed and smoldering Robin was glaring at me through her version of the Bubble Head Charm. I smirked, her smoke screen was what allowed my spell to take her by surprise.


    Had the whole arena been visible, she would have seen my fire spell coming. There are spells out there that can reduce fire to nothing more than a tickle, but because she didn''t have time to react, she was forced to retreat from the ring quickly.


    The only thing that slightly soured my victory was I only scored thirty-two points. Being forced from the starting ring had cost me five points. And I only used seven different spells throughout the duel, but considering how close to losing I came, it was better than nothing.


    Exhausted and sticky from the match, I made my way back to my seat, eager to rest as long as I could before it was my turn to duel again. Thankfully, I had three duels to rest and recover from the sleeping fog that nearly made me pass out.


    Zack leaned over and patted me on the back, "That was quick thinking with the Bubble-Head Charm. We were all taking bets on whether you figured it out on time."


    As I shot Zack a glare, he held his hands up, "Don''t look at me, I bet that you would figure it out and pull out a victory."


    Turning back to the arena, I mulled over my opponents. Ignoring Jackson, I realized that I needed to be on my A-game, my fellow competitors weren''t more powerful than me, but as Robin just demonstrated. It was entirely possible to bring down a more powerful opponent through guile.


    Even though I tried to reign in my ego, I still struggled with treating my competitors as equals. I needed to remember that even though I was probably stronger than they were, they had experience on their side, and they could leverage that experience to bring me down.

 Chapter 62 - Finale

    As I stood in the ring for my third match, seeing the Referee declare me the winner filled me with no p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. I had won the duel by default, my opponent had been hurt in his previous match and wasn''t in any shape to duel.


    If he had an hour or two to recover, he would have been healed enough to compete, but with how fast the matches were moving, he wasn''t able to make it in time and had to forfeit.


    Even though I was two duels away from winning the competition, this duel actually reduced my chances to make it to the international competition. I had been awarded a meager twenty-five points by default for the match.


    As I looked at the scoreboard, I realized that this duel was the final nail in the coffin of my hope to be at the top of the food chain in points. Looking at the scores stand right now, there was a chance I may not even be in the top three.


    But in a way, it almost was freeing. Now, I had no other alternatives, my back was against the wall, either I won the tournament, or I probably wasn''t going to make it to the next level. And If I was honest with myself, that''s how I liked it. I didn''t come here to place second best. I came to win the whole damn thing.


    Even though the next match hadn''t started, I knew Adam was going to win. He didn''t make mistakes in his duels; every move he made during his matches were a complex set of actions designed to maximize his winnings.


    Even if Adam lost a fight, he had scored close to fifty points in each of his matches. Not only would he have another shot at victory in the loser''s bracket, but it would also allow him to continue building points.


    My prediction turned out to be true. Adam dominated his last match with an additional fifty-two points. After watching him duel for three times, I was starting to understand his strategies. One of the things that helped him rack up points besides casting different spells was countering his opponent''s spells with their counterspells.


    Doing so was riskier than dodging or using the shield charm to evade a hex. Spells move so fast that you have to react initially to counter them, if you misunderstand your opponent and cast the wrong counterspell, it''s game over.


    I also resolved to try and keep my voice down while chanting¡ªno need to give Adam any help with figuring out what I was casting. Sometimes it was hard to keep your voice down when casting. I don''t know why. But the mental effort needed for some spells seemed easier to muster when you yelled or shouted during a match.


    It was something I resolved to work on over the next couple of years, eventually working my way up to nonverbal casting, which was supposed to be incredibly difficult.


    I will never forget the professional duel Uncle John took me to in South America. It was awe-inspiring, the duelers down there were utterly silent, only using nonverbal spells in their duels.


    Countering a spell in the pro-leagues was extremely risky, you had to figure out what was cast with simple wand movements that had been perfected to have as little movement as possible. Sometimes the color of the spell helped identify it, but at that level, it was smarter to either use the shield or get out of the way.


    The main reason why Adam has been able to pull off so many points was that he outclassed his opponents. It also probably helped that he had seen them duel before. Should he go up against a tougher opponent, I bet he doesn''t spend as much time trying to rack up points. After all, while points are nice, they are secondary to winning.


    The more I strategized about my upcoming match, the more I realized that I was fairly lucky, the way my previous duels went down didn''t reveal that much of what I was capable of.


    Yes, I gave away the secret that I knew how to manipulate the shield charm to great effect, but most of my second match was fought in a cloud of smoke where he couldn''t observe me. And since my third match was a victory by default. Adam hadn''t got much insight into what I was capable of doing.


    Soon, it was time. As we walked to the ring, Adam remarked, "I''m impressed you made it this far. When I first saw you sign up, I assumed you would get knocked out during the first or second round."


    I could tell from his tone that he was implying that this was as far as I got. I smiled while baring my teeth at him, "Yeah, just think, only two more matches to go before I win it all."


    Adam''s eyes hardened, "You''re going to have to do better if you want to get past me."


    "Don''t worry, I was planning on it. Do try to keep up."


    With the smack talk out of the way, we both made our way to our opposing starting rings. Both of us were tense, each waiting for the go-ahead from the Referee to begin.


    We both watched each other''s movements like two cowboys getting ready to duke it out. All we needed was the signal. While the tension built, I gathered my mental energy, I had a strategy for this match, and it required me to make the opening move.


    The second the ref gave the signal, I was already moving. Half a breath later, my ivory-colored wand was in my hand, and with a quick twist of my wand, I chanted, "Aguamenti."


    Usually, the water charm was used to summon a clear stream of drinkable water. But, like the fire charm, I had discovered it was far more malleable. With enough concentration and energy, I learned that I could increase the water pressure. The results were fascinating,


    A thick beam of water as wide as my fist erupted from the tip of my wand with enough speed and pressure to strip skin from bone.


    Almost faster than the eye could track, the water reached Adam. But then he smirked as he brought up his wand, and countered, "Protego."


    A glowing shield shimmered into existence, protecting him from the water.


    As my spell crashed into his shield for a moment, it looked like the shield would buckle under, but it held fast, sending water crashing all around him soaking his side of the ring.


    Having accomplished my goal, I let the spell fade away.


    He shot me a smug look, "What? Did you think that you were the only one who knew the Shield Charm?"


    I held in a smirk, not wanting to give away the game. Unbeknownst to Adam, I had been counting on him knowing the shield charm. Now I just needed to keep up the ruse. Putting on a frustrated expression, I tried to give the impression that things weren''t going to plan.


    Adam, done quipping, fired off his own spell in kind. As I watched the silver jet of light approach, I did something that I hadn''t willingly done all day.


    Rather than choose to block or counter the spell headed my way, I spun out of the circle. I was pretty sure Adam was surprised at my move, not wanting him to catch on to my plan, I pretended to stumble as I muttered, "Gracius," under my breath.


    I hid a smirk when I saw the blue beam go wide completely, missing Adam and hit the ground. The trap was set, now all I needed was to distract Adam


    Everything was going to plan except the universe decided to remind me that what can go wrong, will go wrong. My pretending to stumble turned into a real one as I crashed towards the floor. I think Adam sensed blood in the water because a shark-like grin appeared on his face.


    I''m not going to lie, I almost panicked, this was turning out to be more riskier than I had initially planned.


    As I turned my fall into a roll, I caught a glimpse of Micheal staring gleefully at me. He probably thought that this was the end for me. I couldn''t wait to see his expression when I pulled this off.


    It was a good thing I rolled as soon as I hit the ground because a jet of red light smacked into the area I just left. Had I fallen, it would have hit me.


    When I got back to my feet, I realized I only had moments before I was hit with another spell. "Protego." I loudly shouted, afraid that the shield wouldn''t appear in time.


    Having made it past the difficult part, I knew all I needed to win was one more thing. Somehow, I needed to find a way to force Adam to move from the starting ring.


    With that in mind, I took a page out of Anna''s playbook. One of the benefits of spending so much time with her practicing was that I picked up on her chain-spells.


    Knowing that her chain-spell with three moves wouldn''t cut it against Adam, I went with her longest one. Originally, it consisted of five spells, but after some research, I had discovered another spell that fit in seamlessly at the end.


    What made that final spell such a game-changer was that it also was a bridge where I could flow right into Anna''s second-longest chain-spell. It brought the total to a ten layered spell-chain that was very difficult to pull off.


    I had been planning on surprising Anna with the series when we got back to school. But, this was a good time to show it off. I''ll bet she''s going to be jealous. If I know her, she will probably spend every waking moment practicing the series until she could make it through to the end. But, it''ll probably take her some time to master it, one wrong wand movement, and the whole thing is useless.


    Not wanting to waste another second, I started the spell series. As the first spell was sent towards Adam, I saw him track and dismiss the threat, but when I got to the second spell before the first had reached him, he narrowed his eyes.


    Unsurprisingly, he deflected the first and made ready to deal with the second. His narrowed eyes rose in surprise because while he was making ready to deal with the second spell I had already finished my fourth.


    He gritted his teeth in determination as he cast shield after shield determined not to move. But, as the pace picked up, I saw a hint of worry appear in his eyes by the time I reached my seventh spell.


    Surrounding Adam were shields blinking into existence only to block one of my spells and then disappear. My spells arrived faster and faster, not allowing Adam anytime to counter and interrupt me. If he hesitates for a single second, he will be buried beneath an avalanche of spells.


    The hints of worry I saw in his eyes had morphed into full-blown panic by the time I got to my ninth spell, he was being overwhelmed, and he knew he had to do something to turn the tables, or he wouldn''t make it.


    Following my example, Adam left the circle to block my tenth and final spell. It was the first time today that he had been forced out of the starting ring.


    Sweat was pouring down my face, that spell series took a lot out of me. As I took in the sight of Adam leaving the circle, I knew he was planning on going on the offensive. I sighed in relief. The trap was sprung.


    I will always treasure the look of absolute shock on Adam''s face as he left the ring and went down in an ungraceful tumble to the floor.


    You see, I had set my trap back at the beginning of the match. Adam had assumed that I used a high-powered water charm intending to force him out of the ring.


    But what he didn''t know was that I was counting on him using the shield. What I really wanted was flooding his side with water. My stumble out of the ring may not have been as graceful as I intended, but it did its job of distracting him with thoughts of victory.


    He was so engrossed with winning at that point that he completely missed the fact my second spell that went wide was supposed to miss him. It was a Freezing Charm, and I had been aiming at the water.


    The water surrounding Adam had turned into a transparent, slick sheet of ice. When he left his circle intending to counterattack, he wasn''t paying that much attention to his footwork and crashed onto the ground.


    And it wasn''t a nice fall either, his legs went sliding forward and left the ground, leaving Adam falling back towards the ground, he ended up landing on his back. For a moment, I felt bad, that looked like it hurt.


    As Adam laid on the ground gasping for air, I knew that I needed to capitalize on this moment. Following in Harry Potter''s footsteps, I chanted, "Expelliarmus."


    Adam''s ivory-colored wand shot out of his hand with no resistance landing on my side of the ring. As I picked up his wand, Adam started pushing himself off the ground while staring at me in disbelief as I waved his wand at him.


    No wonder Harry likes to disarm people and take their wands. It was an immensely satisfying feeling to see the look of understanding in my opponent''s eyes that he was finished, and there wasn''t anything he could do.


    The Referee called the match in my favor, and the judges released a large 39 into the air. But, at this point, I was hardly paying attention to my points. I had reached the end of the regular bracket, only one match stood before me and total victory.


    After the ref dispelled the ice, I walked over and put out my hand, intent on helping Adam up. After I pulled him to his feet, I handed his wand back to him.


    Adam shook his head, "You''re a sneaky little git." He accused.


    I shot him a sly smile, followed by an innocent look, "Who, me?" I questioned. "I don''t know what you mean. It was completely accidental."


    For the first time today, Adam was looking at me with grudging respect. "I''ll be ready for you next time," he warned.


    I smiled, "I''ll be waiting for you at the end of the line, just make sure you don''t lose in the next bracket. It''s nice to face someone who forces me to push past limits."


    When we got to our sections, I could tell the other members of the Silver Spears were still a little bit shocked. I was a second-year who was casually throwing out third and fourth-year level spells. Then I outwitted Adam, who they assumed would win the competition.


    I think that out of everyone, the most surprised was Jean. In the beginning, he had assumed I didn''t understand the level of competition I would be facing and would lose. But now, he was carefully evaluating me with new eyes.


    I knew sprinkled throughout the crowd there had to be some older members of the Silver Spears watching me with interest. No doubt wondering if I can pull this off in my second year, how impressive will I be during my seventh.


    I had the next thirty to forty minutes to rest and relax before I had to duel again. I would face whoever won the losers bracket for the title.


    I was expecting Adam to win since he made it so far in the tournament, he was seeded high in the second bracket. He only needed to win one duel, and we would be butting heads again. This time, he would be on his guard for little tricks.


    It didn''t take long for the competition to keep on rolling. I watched with glee when the final dueler from the Hidden Lotus got eliminated by Robin, the sneaky Ravenclaw chick who almost eliminated me with sleeping gas. Not being able to resist, I shot Micheal a smug look.


    The final two ended up being against Robin and Adam. Although Robin didn''t use the same strategy that she used against me against Adam. Her style was full of tricks and traps trying to trick her opponent. I inwardly remarked that she probably would have made a good Slytherin.


    However, Adam had been put on guard against tricks. He took no chances on the feigned openings that Robin made.


    Instead, he slowly wore her down with his relentless battery of spells. It took him a while, but in the end, he won the bracket. We would be facing each other in a grudge match. Winner takes all.


    When it was time for Adam and me to head to the ring for the final match, Jean pulled Adam and me off to the side, "I want you to know you''ve both been amazing today. I know it''s never easy to duel and compete against fellow team members, and no matter who wins, you should both be proud of yourselves. Remember, give it your best shot and leave everything behind in the ring."


    As I approached the ring, I had already picked my path to victory. My first duel showed my skill with the shield. My second showed my ability to get myself out of a trap. The third doesn''t even bear mentioning, and my fourth revealed my speed and cunning.


    I''ll bet Adam thinks he has me figured out, but now I''m going to show him what power looks like, there will be no subtle schemes in this duel. I will be going with raw, n.a.k.e.d, power.


    Last year, I had figured out that I was different from others, and I''m not even talking about my memories of my previous life.


    I don''t know if it was because I was reborn, or if I just won the magical genetic lottery. But there existed an insurmountable gap between my peers and me. It wasn''t my intelligence, or that I picked up spells quickly. It had to do with raw power that I was able to access.


    For example, on the scale of a wizard and witch''s ability, Hermione was in the top 98-99 percent. She was probably as talented as a normal person could get, with Harry and Ron being down at 80 to 90 percent.


    But, some were outliers, they threw off the scale of power so much they really couldn''t be quantified in the same group. The four founders of Hogwarts, Merlin, Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort all belong to this rare group.


    More than once, Harry mentioned the feeling of absolute power Dumbledore projected. Similarly, Professor Snape often remarked with a wary reverence that Voldemort''s power was unfathomable.


    I was becoming increasingly confident that I belonged to this group. Of course, I wasn''t their match yet, I was only thirteen, and they had plenty of age and experience. But I do not doubt that one day my power will be a match for them.


    It was this raw power I was planning on tapping into. Last year, in Defense Against the Dark Arts I had discovered even simple spells I used were overwhelmingly powerful compared to my fellow students.


    Once, last year, Cedric disarmed me, and all I felt was a simple tug on my wand. But, when I tried to do the same, his arm was nearly ripped off. It had actually taken more practice to tone down and master my power output than it had been to learn the spells.


    But today was different, no more toning it down, it was time to cut loose. I will not let anyone stand in my way.


    Today marks my first steps on a long journey. One day, the whole world will know my name. The one thing that is standing before the start of the Legend of Alexander was Adam, and teammate or not, nothing was going to stop me today.


    As Adam and I got in our circles, we both eyed each warily. By this point in the tournament, we were both exhausted. It wasn''t just the spellwork that drained our energy. There was a mental component to fighting. The amount of concentration required in a fight was mentally draining over time, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and take a nap.


    I had already decided to end this match as quickly as possible. So, when the Referee gave the signal, I pulled out my wand, pointed it at Adam, and cut loose. "Flipendo." I chanted.


    Even as quick as I was, I wasn''t that much faster than Adam, he had also gotten his wand out and sent a spell my way.


    We were both prepared to raise a shield, but our spells collided with a bang and went ricocheting in different directions. For a moment, our eyes locked in surprise. While it wasn''t too rare for spells to hit like that, it still didn''t happen very often.


    Knowing that I needed to overwhelm Adam, I reached deep within the well of power within me as I cast my spells. Every spell I cast was at the absolute maximum power that the spell could contain. When they would crash into Adam''s shield, they did so with a loud bang before jetting off in another direction.


    Of course, Adam wasn''t content to go without a fight. As many spells I sent at him, he returned the favor. For several minutes the ring was dominated by beams of red, blue, and silver spells flying back and forth all over the place. I bet that the audience was getting a kick out of the show.


    For a while, it seemed as though we were deadlocked, but I could tell the power of my spells were slowly taking their toll on Adam. He had to put more and more energy and concentration into his shield, which reduced his offensive ability.


    After blocking Adam''s latest spell, I knew I had to do something about that shield. I couldn''t use the more powerful spells that I used against the Grendel. There was too great of a chance of injury.


    So, my thoughts turned to the stunning spell. It was a fantastic spell to put someone down. One hit and you were done, there was no fighting it, or shaking it off, just instant unconscious.


    The reason why I thought it might be useful was the power that could be packed into the spell. There was a reason why the stunning spell was the bread and butter of Aurors.


    Gathering all my energy, I shouted, "Stupefy."


    A red spell shot out of my wand pulsing with power. When it crashed into Adam''s shield his eyes widened with alarm as cracks formed in the shield before sending the spell bolting away.


    A wolfish smile crept out. I almost had him. Redoubling my efforts, I roared, "Stupefy."


    The red beam of light seemed to crackle with energy as it shot across the stage. This time, when Adam called forth his shield, my stunning spell punched right through and rammed him in the middle of his c.h.e.s.t.


    Instantly unconscious, Adam collapsed like a rock. The Referee rushed out on to the stage. Pointing his wand at Adam, he chanted, "Rennervate."


    Adam stirred sluggishly, slowly opening his eyes full of confusion. He had no idea what happened.


    Relieved that Adam was ok, I noticed the silence surrounding the audience. I could feel everyone''s eyes on me. It was a little uncomfortable being at the center of so many gazes. I don''t know what prompted me, but I felt the overwhelming urge to raise my mental shields.


    As soon as they slammed in place, I felt several pokes at my shield. Wanting to get out of there, I pulled Adam to his feet and returned to our seats.


    At first, I was a little worried that Adam would hold a grudge due to my victory. But if anything, he was happy to find someone to push him, someone to overcome. On our way back to our seats, he made me promise that we would get some practice in with each other before the international conference.


    Point-wise, Adam was at the very top, and Robin was in a close second. They were invited to the international competition, although since I won the division, I will be in a higher seed, and they will start in a lower seed.


    I ended in fourth place, missing out on third by two points. But it didn''t matter, I won the division. Although I need to work on my strategy more, as long as I keep winning, that is what is important.


    ***************


    Author''s Notes


    Update, due to many request I rewrote in the final duel.


    Also, I feel like I need to talk about Alex''s pride or arrogance. I want to be clear. Alex isn''t going to run around and beat his c.h.e.s.t like a caveman needing to assert dominance over everything. It''s more like the arrogance that a professional athlete excludes. They act like they''re the best because they are the best. So, it''s not undeserved arrogance; it''s more like he is just aware of his power. Sometimes it will serve him well, and other times it may get him into trouble. For example, going into a cave containing an old vampire and monster because he thinks he can handle it. Also, even though he has become aware of the issue, the very nature of pride and arrogance makes an easy trap for him to fall into.


    I developed this flaw within Alex because I think it makes him less of a perfect person. I''ve read so many stories about MC who are OP and also somehow remain extremely humble perfect characters. Alex is not a perfect person. He has flaws and blind spots. I also like the pride/arrogant trap because it mimics the pride and arrogance shown by Dumbledore and Voldemort. I think it''s rather natural for people that are powerful to become a little arrogant. Of course, I believe Dumbledore finally learned to curb-tail his worst habits after the tragedy with his sister.


    Anyways, comment below with your thoughts on the chapter.


    P.S. I pumped out 4 chapters in 8 days because I had been planning this arc for a while, and it was easy to write because I had imagined it in my head for a while. Expect me to go back to my regular schedule of one or two a week.

 Chapter 63 - Mind Palace

    The fourth-year division started ten minutes after the third year finished. I noticed that more people were beginning to trickle inside. I guess some people consider older students dueling more interesting to watch.


    Now that I had already secured my victory, I relaxed and had a lot of fun watching the duels. Unfortunately for Lelah, our fourth-year competitor, she lost at the very end to a guy in the Relentless Wanders, but at least she did well enough in her matches to score enough points to be invited to the next stage.


    Micheal made it farther than I expected, as much as I can''t stand the sight of him, he is not without some talent of his own. Like Lelah, he acc.u.mulated enough points to make it to the international competition.


    When the fifth-years started dueling, the level of competition visibly rose. Everyone competing had several years of experience dueling, and it showed during their matches. The Silver Spears didn''t have anyone in this round because Zack had also chosen to jump ahead.


    Similarly to the fifth round, the sixth also showed an increase in the skill level of those competing. Some of those fighting had even begun to comprehend nonverbal spell-casting, although they still had far to go before complete mastery.


    Zack thrived during this round. It was clear that he was a cut above the rest of the competitors, even Addison. He handily won the division with only a couple who put up a token resistance. After seeing him duel, I do not doubt that one day he will become an International Dueling Champion if he decides to compete at the professional level.


    If students in the sixth round had started dipping their toes in the water with nonverbal spells, then those in the seventh had dove right in. I think what I enjoyed the most out of the last two divisions were the advanced forms of transfiguration. High-level transfiguration spells, like conjuration, added so many more layers to the duels.


    The seventh-round winner ended up being from the Hidden Lotus, which annoyed me, but at least Mason and Harper made it through. It was their last year competing, and they would soon need to decide whether or not they were going to go pro or not.


    Not every member of the Silver Spears would end up going pro. It was a huge commitment, but if they did, they would each be selected by a retired member who would foster them and take them to the next level.


    I hadn''t even thought about if I wanted to do something like that, although I enjoy it, I don''t know if that is what I want to do with my life. Besides, If my math is right, Voldemort would be returning around the time of my sixth and seventh year, and the next war would soon begin. The main reason why I even joined was to hone my combat ability and build experience dueling.


    I decided to put away the heavy thoughts. I still had time to prepare for the future. Although, the little voice in the back of my mind reminded me that Harry Potter''s time at Hogwarts was rapidly approaching. In less than a year, both he and the spirit of Voldemort would be at Hogwarts. I would need to watch my steps in the future very carefully.


    When the competition was over, I joined my parents. Apparently, Mum had a change of heart during the tournament because when I was reunited with her, she swept me up in a proud, mother-hen hug.


    "Did you see my son up there?" Mum bragged to Dad. "I knew he was going to be amazing."


    "I know darling, but try and remember that Alex is our son." Not for the first time, Dad reminded Mum.


    I hid a grin behind my hand while they good-naturedly squabbled over who was more responsible for my talent. Mum had the bad habit of taking credit for everything, but it seemed like Dad wasn''t going down without a fight.


    While they bickered, I nudged Sasha, "Not so boring, was it?"


    She hugged my waist and looked up at me with shining eyes. "That was amazing. You beat everyone."


    When I saw the hero-worship was back in her eyes, I smiled. That was how it was supposed to be. Big brothers should always be amazing in the eyes of little sisters.


    Rebecca jumped in, "One day, it will be me up there."


    I turned and tapped her on the forehead. "It takes a lot of effort to make it as a dueler," I warned. "Anna and I spent hours practicing to get ready."


    "I will," Rebecca vowed.


    I smiled when I saw the fire in Rebecca''s eyes. Hopefully, she''ll stay motivated, Rebecca has the personality of a brawler. I think that if she put in the time, she might make a great dueler one day.


    It didn''t take us long to get home, and by the time we did, I was thoroughly exhausted. I wasn''t the only one, Rebecca and Sasha fell asleep on the couch soon after we arrived home. Dad and Mum levitated them and took them to their rooms.


    After dinner, I called it a day as well. While I was lying in bed stroking Athena. I started to mentally go over my schedule of training during the upcoming semester.


    I had two events to prepare for, and both of them would require my time and energy. The first was the international competition. I needed to keep up my dueling practice if I wanted to make an impression at the International Competition. I was under no illusions that it would be easy. The competition would field students from all around the world.


    The second was far more important to me, mastering occlumency and finishing the Ravenclaw trial. I had already achieved the first layer of success, but if I wanted to master occlumency, I needed to learn how to craft fake memories.


    If the first layer of success were any indication, I would need to put in a great deal of effort over the next few months. I was only given a year and a day to complete the trial, and now that the new year is upon us, May didn''t seem very far away.


    The rest of Christmas break breezed by, and soon it was time to return to Hogwarts. When I got to the Hogwarts Express, I found Cedric waiting for me at the station.


    "How was the competition?" Cedric inquired.


    I shot him a smug look, "I went undefeated."


    Cedric smiled, "I wish I could have gone, but we went to visit some relatives."


    Once we found a train compartment, we filed in and waited for the others to join us. Soon, Anna and Alicia arrived walking side by side. As soon as Anna saw me, she demanded, "So, when are you going to share that ten layered chain-spell."


    I wagged my finger at her and teased, "Don''t you mean my ten-layered chain-casting series?"


    Anna huffed and glared at me, "Whatever you want to call it, I want it."


    "I need to hear you say the words," I informed her with a Cheshire Cat smile.


    Anna''s purple eyes blazed at me, "Fine," she said with gritted teeth. "The ten-layered chain series."


    I sensed that I had teased her enough, so I promised, "As soon as we get together, I''ll show you. It may take some time to master, but if you can master the series before the international competition. I''ll bet that not many will be able to stand in your way."


    Anna''s face tightened with determination, "I will," she vowed.


    When Jessica arrived, I feared that we were in for another long trip filled with venomous barbs. But surprisingly, unlike last time, she didn''t respond to any of Anna''s thinly veiled insults designed to get a rise out of her. I could tell that it threw Anna for a loop, but after a few attempts, she gave up and eyed Jessica suspiciously.


    I was just happy that at least one of my friends was attempting to be pleasant. Hopefully, Anna can take some cues from Jessica and follow her example. They don''t have to be friends, but not being at each other''s throats would be nice.


    Over the past two weeks, I often racked my brains on what to do with the information that my dad told me about them. As of right now, I was determined to do nothing to change the status quo. Both of them are my friends, and a relationship with one of them didn''t seem worth it if it hurt the other.


    Not to mention, I am up to my eyeballs in studying, I only had a few months before the end of the Ravenclaw trial, and if I didn''t make it, I would never get the chance again. I wasn''t sure what the rewards would be, but I knew that I wanted them. There was so much I needed to learn before the coming storm, I don''t have time for distractions.


    Of course, some of my hopes were dashed when I briefly saw inside Jessica''s bag during the trip. Inside was a thin red book, and on the spine, the title read, A Witch''s Guide to Romancing/Trapping Foolish Wizards.


    I couldn''t help but gulp, that title seemed ominous. I raised my eyes to the ceiling and inwardly cursed the heavens. Of course, that''s why Jessica seemed so pleasantly different. She''s cheating!


    She must have bought a book on the subject, and if I know her at all, it wasn''t the only one. How was I supposed to ignore her if she gets advice from experts? It not fair.


    Cedric seemed to sense my distress and grinned mockingly at me. I don''t know what he thinks is so funny, according to the books, he is going to be beating off girls with a stick. Normally, I would laugh it off, but when there are things like love potions hiding inside of candy out there, one can never be too careful.


    When we arrived back at the castle, there was a small feast waiting for us. Having reached enemy territory, I threw up my mental shields. Professor Snape was sure to be skulking about, and I doubt that the holidays hadn''t softened him at all.


    The only bonus to having such a vindictive, I mean, "helpful teacher," was I was now able to maintain my shield for nearly the entire school day. I wanted to get to the point where I could keep my shields up even in my sleep, but I had yet to find success.


    More importantly, I needed to learn how to craft fake memories. From the books I''ve read, I had some idea of how to get started. The only discouring part were the warnings that most people who found some success in Occlumency never reached the next step.


    When I got back to the tower, I felt a sense of urgency well up within me. Inside my room, I brought out the rare books on Occlumency that Dad had secretly given me. Rereading the book didn''t help much. They stated that the next step was to construct a mind palace.


    No two witches or wizards would end up with the same mind palace. Of course, some constructs would be similar, but since every mind is unique, it leads to differences.


    As I sat on my bed in the lotus position, I cleared my thoughts. It wasn''t challenging to shift into the proper mindset.


    As I listened to Athena''s constant purring, I seemed to sink deep within my mind. I found myself floating in a vast realm of darkness, in the distance were tiny slivers of light.


    In the darkness, I could feel my magic surrounding me, like a warm blanket wanting to protect me from the world. The more I studied my surroundings, the more I wanted to explore this strange world within my mind. Trying to walk towards one of the slivers of light proved futile, there was no ground, no gravity, just nothing. It was like being inside a pool of water, except that there was no water nor the sensation of being wet.


    I remembered that the books I read warned that the rules of the real world would hold no sway in the mental world. Here only the mind and imagination held any power. So I decided to change tactics, rather than try to overtake the twinkling light, I willed the light to approach me.


    To my surprise, the light moved closer. I had expected a little more resistance. As I got a better look at the light, I noticed that it was more like a gleaming prism.


    When it arrived before me, I reached out and grabbed it. As soon as my fingers wrapped around the glowing crystal, everything changed. Gone was the vast empty darkness, replaced with a familiar room. My bedroom to be precise.


    Not only that, but I could also see a younger version of myself lying on my bed and impatiently staring at a black egg. I remember this memory, it was the night that Athena hatched.


    As the memory progressed, it sort of weirded me out. The whole thing was like a trippy out of body experience. Except, instead of my current body, I was watching the five-year-old version of me.


    I couldn''t help but smile. I watched the younger version of myself hardly unable to contain his excitement when cracks began to form in the egg. I didn''t know it then, but getting Athena was the best present I ever got.


    Athena tumbled out of her egg with her soft, glistening black fur with golden tiger stripes. Her wings were made of dark midnight blue feathers with streaks of silver running through them. I had forgotten how adorable her tiny little horn nubs were back then.


    I winced when I saw Athena bite my younger self, but being able to watch from a different angle revealed something interesting. A golden flash seemed to connect Athena and my younger self, it happened so fast if you blinked you would have missed it. I''m guessing that was our bond. We joined back then when she chose me, had I not been suitable, Athena would have refused to hatch.


    Soon, the memory faded, and I returned to the darkness. I let the glowing prism drift away. Looking around, I realized there were countless bright crystals in this dark world. Each was probably a memory. I couldn''t help but wonder if my memories of my previous life are somewhere here as well.


    Seeing all the memories out there, I realized I had to build something to contain them. The first thing I needed to do was come up with a plan of what was right for me. What kind of mind palace would suit me?


    After some time, I opened my eyes in the real world. I was covered in sweat and had a slight headache. It felt like I had been gone for hours, but looking at the clock showed that only five minutes had passed. Laying back, I called it a night. After all, this was a marathon, not a sprint.


    Author''s Note


    So, I feel like I need to explain what I am doing with Occlumency. As most of you are aware, I am trying to keep this fanfic strictly in line with the HP universe described in the books. The problem I run into with Occlumency is that even though Rowling had Snape "Teach" Harry, she also had Dumbledore acknowledge that Snape never really tried to teach him. So all we are left with is the idea that mediation/keeping your thoughts blank is someone related to a magical discipline. I''ve always found that a difficult pill to swallow because occlumency is a branch of magic, and keeping your thoughts blank isn''t really magic. So I have sort of come up with my own version of what Occlumency is and how it really works. I know other people will have other ideas about Occlumency and Legilimency, and that''s ok. This is fan fiction, it''s a place were we can explore these wondrous worlds together. But, for the purpose of this fanfic, what I''ve laid out is how Occlumency works.

 Chapter 64 - Struggle

    During the following week, I mulled over what kind of mind palace I should construct. The book warned that if the mind palace wasn''t compatible with your spirit, the whole thing would crumble.


    I had several ideas on what to build. The annoying thing was it took time and energy to make the palace. It was very mentally draining. But, if I wanted to pass the trial, this was the first step in being able to craft false memories. Knowing that I had around four months before the trial ended, I decided to go ahead and make my first attempt.


    After meditating, I found myself back inside the empty void of my mindscape. Bringing my imagination and willpower to life, paved stone rocks began slowly forming a floor beneath my feet. Once I had gotten it about six feet wide, I started expanding the floor one stone at a time.


    After expanding the floor a decent amount, I noticed that it was becoming harder and harder to form more of the floor. Exhausted, I opened my eyes in the real world, content with the amount I had progressed. I felt drained. It was like my brain had just lifted weights to the point of complete muscle fatigue.


    The rest of the week continued in the same manner. Each night before sleep, I spent some time working on my mind palace. After the floor, I started on the walls and the arched ceiling. When I was building the hallway, it looked like it stretched into infinity. Now that the hard part was over, all I needed to do was bring my memories inside. One by one, doors began forming next to one another.


    Each door contained a memory within. From what I could tell, they were in seemingly random order. One entryway held memories from the previous day, and the next was from when I was a toddler. But, after giving it some thought, the randomness seemed right. How often do our minds flit from one idea to another? Who hasn''t caught themselves thinking about one thing, only to move to a completely different train of thought? Sometimes memories are like that. They are connected in strange ways that we can''t always fathom.


    Unfortunately, after admiring my handwork for a few minutes, the infinite hallway began to shake. Cracks started to form in the stone floor and then large chunks started disintegrating into nothingness before my eyes.


    My eye twitched in annoyance. "Merlin''s Chafing N.i.p.p.l.es." I cursed, I was furious about how quickly the whole thing came apart at the seams. It hardly seems fair, with the amount of time and effort I put into this place for it to fall apart in minutes.


    The following day I couldn''t help but be a little grumpy. My brain was exhausted, one week into building my mind palace, and I was already fed up with the process. It was like studying for a test so much that even the idea of reading one more page made you cringe with fatigue. Then when it was time to take the test, you find out that you had been studying the wrong subject, and you have to start all over.


    What s.u.c.k.e.d about the whole process of building a mind palace, was that sleep didn''t fully rejuvenate my mind. I now understood why the books recommended the slow and steady approach and why most never advanced past this point. Building a mind palace was mentally exhausting, and then to see all your hard work go up in smoke was discouraging. Plus, most people were satisfied with being able to keep out the few who had learned Legilimency out of their minds with Occlumency shields.


    Thankfully, there were classes I could sneak short naps into, like History of Magic. I don''t even know if Professor Binns realizes that half the class doesn''t pay attention to his monotone, droning lectures. When I first started his class, I found the subject exciting and I scoffed at the inattentiveness that Harry had shown in the subject. But ever since I read ahead in the textbook. I mostly use the time to study other branches of magic. But today, I buried my face into my arm and dozed off listening to Processor Binns rambling on in his monotone voice.


    Of course, there were other consequences to being so out of it during the day. I found myself making slips ups in other classes, and some of those teachers were far less forgiving that Professor Binns.


    "Mr. Fawley!" a sharp voice rang out.


    I jerked as my eyes snapped open, "I''m awake." I defended.


    Looking around the dungeon, I found Professor Snape looming over me. His dark eyes glanced over at what remained of the smoldering potion I had been brewing. "Clearly," He sneered. "20 points from Ravenclaw and tonight see me for detention after supper. Tell me, Mr. Fawley, is my class so dull that it puts you to sleep?"


    I struggled not to roll my eyes at the question. Why do people ask questions like that? I wonder what he would do if I said yes? Judging from the throbbing vein in his forehead, I''m guessing nothing pleasant.


    Not wanting to end up further on Snape''s shit list, I stayed silent, he didn''t want me to answer. He just wanted me to say the wrong thing and dig the hole deeper. When I didn''t rise to the bait, he lectured the class on how only incompetent wizards take their eyes off potions that they are brewing. From his pointed glare, he let everyone in the class know he was speaking about me.


    I took my licks in silence. I had messed up. I was so tired that I shut my eyes for a second, and the next thing I knew, I fell asleep. Plus, I kind of felt bad, from the suspicious look in Snape''s eye, I think he might believe that I did it on purpose. It was hands down, the worst I''ve ever done in a potion''s class, not to mention that the Davis incident was only a couple of months ago.


    After scrubbing the stained and burned potion cauldrons under the watchful eye of Professor Snape, I again went to work on my mind palace, no matter how many times it took, I was going to succeed. Exhausted or not, I needed to step up my game if I wanted to pass the trial. I was beginning to realize why so few had ever passed the test. A year isn''t much time to master a difficult subject like this.


    I can say with confidence that the following month was probably one of the worst months of my life. Every morning was a struggle to get started with the day. I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and stay there.


    After the first week, I realized that I had too much on my plate. So I started prioritizing. The time I usually spent practicing my fourth-year spells was replaced with quick naps. I even reduced my dueling to the annoyance of Anna. While I want to do well at the International Dueling Competition, there is always next year.


    The Ravenclaw trial is a once in a lifetime event, and there are no do-overs. I was curious about what the prize was for winning. I had looked up all of the previous Heirs of Ravenclaw. Each of them had been pioneers in magic, but if they were good enough to complete the challenge, then they probably would have been successful whether they succeeded or not.


    That was how I spent the following month, every night I worked on my palace. Outside of a few slip-ups in classes, my grades didn''t suffer too much because I was so far ahead in my subjects. One of the most frustrating things about the whole thing was I couldn''t talk about what was going on with me. More than once, my friends tried to find out what was going on, but the trial''s geas thwarted any attempt to let them know.


    By the end of the month, I was beyond fed up. Never before in my life had I felt such fatigue and failure. I had studied other difficult magics previously, and even when it took me some time, there was always some sense of progress. It was like I had come across a wall that not only I couldn''t pass, but actively mocked my attempts. Every mind palace I created fell apart shortly after its creation. No wonder most people who found success in occlumency never moved on to the next step.


    I tried a vast lake, where the waters contained my memories in the shapes of fish. I even created a small wooden boat where I could sit and fish out a memory with my b.a.r.e hands.


    When that didn''t work, I built an elaborate labyrinth system inside of a cave where my thoughts and memories could be viewed in shallow pools that dotted the floors. Similar to my previous attempts, it fell apart.


    After a few more failed attempts, I started trying to think outside the box and dredged up my faded memories of my previous life. I built a house of mirrors, a futuristic spaceship, a castle, an underground bunker. It didn''t matter what I did. One by one, they all fell apart in the end.


    When those didn''t work, I held off for a few days so I could rest and cover while thinking about what kind of mind palace would fit me. While I meditated on the issue, I concluded that I needed something more relatable to me.


    Had it not been for the Ravenclaw trial, I would have given up. The whole point of building a mind palace was that it was the first step in being able to craft and store fake memories. I didn''t even know how useful it would be to me in the future. It wasn''t like I was planning on being a spy. I was perfectly happy with keeping people out of my head with my shields. I imagine only those like Professor Snape needed to master the ability to craft fake memories. But, if I wanted to pass the trial, I needed to figure this out, I had less than three months remaining, and this was only the first step.


    Once I settled down and started to reflect on what would suit me. I settled on something that I loved, books. Ever since coming to this world, I have gotten my hands on as many books as I could. I even had started a secret operation to copy as many books as I could from the Room of Requirement and sneak them back to my tower. I loved to read and study about magic in all its wacky forms and applications.


    Once I decided on books, I figured the next step was to form a library. I decided to base mine on the Hogwarts Library because I thought it was the most suitable option. A week later, as I watched in annoyance as my duplicate of the Hogwarts Library fell apart.


    While I was annoyed that it fell apart, it wasn''t all bad. I could tell it was closer. Unlike my previous attempts, the library nearly lasted a day before dissolving into nothingness.


    I tried to examine what went wrong. I concluded that the main problem was while the Hogwarts Library welcomed all students, it wasn''t my library. The more I thought about it, the more it felt like that explanation was the truth.


    This was to be my mental fortress, a place that held my most precious thoughts and memories. It needed to be mine. I needed it to be a place of peace and safety, a refuge from the outside world. Once I realized what I truly needed, I grinned. I knew what I needed to do.


    Closing my eyes, I imagined my seat of power forming around me. My lip curled in satisfaction when I felt my gleaming hawk throne form beneath me. It was an exact match to the one in my secret tower. I didn''t care if sitting in such a throne was one of the trademarks of an evil wizard. Now all I needed was to build my tower.


    As the days progressed, I perceived that I was on the right track. The amount of effort that it took to build my mind palace this time was far less than before. My previous attempts had felt like I was trying to push a square peg through a round hole.


    I modeled the tower to be an exact match for the one in the real world. The only difference was the inside was one enormous library. Each level was filled to the brim with shelves that would hold my memories.


    Like the Fawley tower, there were seven floors to my library. As soon as I finished the tower, I could feel in my bones that I had succeeded. It was a similar feeling to when I got my wand. I could just tell it was right, like putting on a pair of shoes that fit after wearing a pair that was two sizes small for some time.


    Books started appearing on the shelves. Each contained a memory. Like my previous attempts, they came in random order. But, unlike last time, I discovered with some effort, I could shuffle books to different areas.


    I left the shelves on the first floor mostly empty. This was to be my decoy area. Once I figured out how to craft a memory, this was where I would store it. Should I decide to let someone past my shields one day, they could look through my fake memories all they wanted.


    One of the most appealing things about the mind palace was the ability to review memories. I found the effect similar to the pensieve that was used in the Harry Potter books to view memories. I have always had a great memory. But, being able to see your memories from outside of your body was a whole new experience. It allowed me to view things from a new perspective.


    Unable to help myself, I searched for memories of my previous life. At first, I thought it would take forever because the books were blank, not giving any indication of what was contained within. However, I discovered that if I picked up a book, I could get a sense of what was contained within without opening it.


    The book did end up containing a memory of my previous life. I decided to move it to the top floor, which was the farthest it could be from any outside detection. I wasn''t too worried that they would be discovered, someone would have to wade deep within the depths of my mind to discover them.


    I figured I would have more significant problems to deal with in the real world if they were in a position to go that deep. All I had to eject someone that was in my head was raise my shields, and if I couldn''t do that, then I was probably in more danger than having a few of my secrets being discovered.


    As I searched the tower, every memory I discovered from my previous life, I moved up to the top as well. Most of them were in terrible condition, it made me wonder how long I would have access to them all. It was apparent they were degrading, but the thought it didn''t bother me as much as I thought it would. My old life didn''t matter to me. This was now my life, I was learning magic at Hogwarts with my friends, and perhaps best of all I had a loving family.


    After seeing how damaged my memories of my previous life were becoming, I made a point to review my memories reading the first five books of Harry Potter. I ended up sitting beside my previous self and followed along. Since all this happened at the speed of thought, it didn''t take me too long. Now, I have fresh vivid memories of reading the Harry Potter books, even if these memories degrade to the point where I can''t view or remember them, at least I have a back up set.


    Now that I had finished my mind palace, I discovered that it was possible to open my eyes in the real world and still be somewhat aware of what was going on in my tower. It made organizing my memories go a lot faster.


    Now that I had built my tower, I had to learn to craft memories. But, what concerned me was that the books warned that this was even more difficult than completing a mind palace. I didn''t have much time left until the trial. It was near the end of February, only a couple of months were remaining until the deadline


    I had a few ideas on how to get started. There were several spells related to memory. I figured that I would be an excellent place to start.

 Chapter 65 - Lockhart

    Once I started thinking about memory charms, I couldn''t help but think of the infamous Professor Gilderoy Lockhart from the second book. He was famous around the world, from his many adventures. But, Harry and his friends discovered that he was a fraud.


    While Lockhart was pretty much a failure of a wizard, he did excel in one area, memories charms. In that, he was almost an artist. Lockhart would find unsuspecting wizards who had accomplished great things and modify or erase their memories to where he was the one who had performed the deeds. The sheer number of times he got away with it highlighted his skill.


    The books on memory I got from the Room of Requirement explained that there are several different types of memory spells. Some can seal memories away, and others can be used to craft them into something else entirely. The book also warned that memory charms didn''t require power, but rather finesse. I wasn''t as interested in learning how to seal memories away as much as learning to craft new ones.


    I frowned when I read how most memory charms are illegal for any non-sanctioned ministry wizard. How in Merlin''s Shitspackled Beard was I supposed to practice memory spells when they are illicit spells? There are exceptions, one can get from the Ministry, but they involve hours of paperwork and getting around a lot of red tape. But I doubt underage wizards can apply for one.


    Somehow I was supposed to learn how to create a fake memory, which is an extremely delicate process. Not only that, but I also couldn''t practice memory charms on other people, and I was expected to somehow learn with myself as a test subject.


    The more I thought about it, the less I liked my chances. It was almost March, and I only have until the second of May to finish the trial. The only good news it seems is speaking about memory charms appears to be a loophole in the binding contract I signed. It appears that Occlumency and Memory Charms are different enough to where I can seek help.


    The problem is there isn''t a good way to ask for help. No Professor in their right mind is going to teach a second-year any of the memory charms. While I''m confident I can theoretically cast the spells on my own, without practice, I was wary of trying it out on myself.


    Then I had an idea. If I couldn''t get someone respectable to help, then I just need to go in the opposite direction. After all, I knew the identity of one of the most talented memory artists in the world. I just needed to be careful about how I approached him. No way I could risk approaching him as a student, too many things could go wrong.


    Pulling out a quill and a piece of parchment, I scribbled out a letter.


    Mr. Lockhart.


    Should you not wish for your deep darkest secret to be revealed to the world. I suggest you meet me at the Hog''s Head in Hogsmeade this Saturday at six in the evening. Send a reply with the owl. I understand that you may not believe meeting me worth your time, and I imagine that you require some evidence that I know your secret. So, I shall end with a simple incantation. Obliviate.


    Sealing the letter, I headed toward the Owlery in the west tower. Once I got to the tower, I selected one of the school''s owls at random. After securing the letter, the barn owl took off into the sky. I wasn''t worried about Lockhart tracing where the owl was from. Outside of his talent of the mind, he was pretty incompetent.


    Now all I could do was wait and see if he showed. I had a few preparations to make. Since I obviously couldn''t meet him with my natural appearance, I had a few things I needed to gather. First was the hider bracer my uncle gave me. It produced a generic illusion. As long as I wasn''t touched, no one would find out. Next, I needed to find and brew a simple potion that would change my voice.


    Once again, I got everything I needed from the Room of Requirement. This place was such a cheat. Once I brewed the potion, there was nothing more to do than wait till Saturday.


    I got a reply the next day, after opening the letter and reading the response, I wasn''t sure if Professor Lockhart was sane or not. I knew from the books that he could be oblivious, but this was a whole new level of crazy.


    To my mysterious fan


    It is always a delight to meet with those who earnestly follow my career. I am always happy to meet with fans and discuss my many adventures. I recommend that you buy my latest book and bring it with you. I would be glad to sign it, letting you take a piece of me with you. I also have pre-signed photos for your p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e at the low, low price of ten galleons each. Isn''t that a great deal?


    I stopped reading when I noticed that he continued to write about how awesome and great he was. He couldn''t really be that thick, could he? I had sent him a letter that was essentially blackmail, and he thought I was a fan. How deluded could he actually be?


    It was possible he was playing dumb and planning on ambushing me. From what I remember from the books, Lockhart was an interesting mix of clever and stupid. Part of me thought to ask my best friends to back me up. I knew that they would without hesitation. But, I didn''t feel comfortable involving them in my blackmail scheme, if this went bad, I didn''t want it blowing back on them. Besides, I should be fine. After all, it''s Lockhart, how dangerous could he actually be?


    As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I reached out and snapped a rubber band that I had put on my wrist. Bad Alex, this is how you ended up trapped underground with a monster. This isn''t going to be like when I ran off half-c.o.c.ked before. I need to look into some precautions.


    Knowing that Lockhart''s area of strength laid within memories charms, I decided that it would be worthwhile learning their weakness before I met with him. After devouring several books on the subject I couldn''t help but smirk, I couldn''t wait to see the dumbfounded look on Lockhart''s face if he tried something.


    I also learned where I needed to begin. I wasn''t too interested in the Forgetfulness Charm. While learning to seal memories away was interesting, it wasn''t what I was after. I wanted to learn how to edit and change someone''s memories. I thought that it was an excellent place to start. Modifying memories seemed like it was an only short step away from crafting new ones from scratch.


    The rest of the week flew by, after dinner on Saturday, I headed towards the fourth floor. The secret passageway behind the mirror leads to the Silver Spears dueling chamber, but also leads to the town of Hogsmeade.


    The exit of the tunnel was in a back alley behind Three Broomsticks Inn. I pulled out the hider bracer my uncle gave me and slipped it on my arm. It changed my appearance and size with the illusion of an a.d.u.l.t with plain features. It was a decent way to hide your identity. The main problem was that the appearance was fixed and couldn''t be changed, as well as not being real. If someone waves their hand where my head is, they will discover that nothing is there because I am shorter than my illusion. To complete my disguise, I grabbed the green voice-changing potion I brewed and downed it in a single gulp.


    Having never been in Hogsmeade before, I wasn''t quite sure where the Hog''s Head was located. Remembering that it was a run-down bar, I just walked until I started to come across seedier looking buildings. I knew I found the place when I came across a pub that had a wooden sign with a wild boar''s severed head leaking blood onto the white cloth around it.


    Heading inside, the first thing I noticed was how dirty the bar was. It had to be a statement of some kind because there are plenty of charms that can clean a place up. I headed over to the barman, who was a tall, thin, grumpy old-looking wizard with a long, wispy beard.


    My deep enchanted voice softly rang out, "I''m looking for a place where I can have a conversation in private."


    The barman motioned with his hand at the mostly empty bar, and scoffed, "There is plenty of privacy to be found around here."


    I struggled not to roll my eyes. No way was I going to have this conversation in the public view. I knew place''s like this thrived on information that could be gleaned from others. I''ll bet one or two of the fellows drinking in here tonight are here for any sort of gossip they can pick up. Information was always a valuable asset that could be sold for some coin.


    Having been with my uncle on some of his deliveries, I knew places like this always had a room where s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e information could be discussed. I reached into my robe and set a few golden galleons on the bar, "I was thinking of a place with a little more privacy."


    The barman snatched up the galleons so fast that I almost missed his movements. Once he was satisfied that they were real, he reached beneath his bar and did something. On the back wall of the bar, a door swung open. "It''s yours for two hours," He stated.


    Knowing that I had only given enough for the room and nothing else, I slapped several more galleons on the table. "To make sure we are not disturbed by anything," I explained.


    This time, I held my hand over the galleons until the barman slowly nodded that he understood my meaning. After I released the coins, he snatched them up as well.


    Heading to the secure room, I said, "I''m meeting someone here shortly, could you send them to the back room?"


    The old barman c.o.c.ked his head and questioned, "How am I supposed to know who you''re meeting?"


    Not stopping, I scoffed, "Trust me, you can''t miss him. Just send the most pompous looking jackass that comes in your bar to the back."


    Inside the secure room, there was a small round table. I took the far seat, so my back would be against the wall, and I could see Lockhart coming. Not taking any chances, I pulled my wand out and hid it beneath the table. I noticed that there was a clock on the wall and there were less than ten minutes till six. Now, all I had to do was wait and see if he shows.


    With this being my first attempt at blackmail, I was a little nervous. As I watched the clock, time seemed to move slowly. When it finally showed it was six, my eyes drifted towards the door where I expected him to come through at any moment.


    Twenty minutes later, and I was fuming. Was this idiot not going to show? I decided to wait it out. Maybe he was running a little late. Thirty minutes later, and it was almost seven in the evening, and the bastard still hadn''t shown. Perhaps he thought I was bluffing. In a way I was, I didn''t have any evidence, and Lockhart was a highly respected member of the community. It''s not like I could say that I knew what he did because I came from a world where I read a book detailing his crimes. There is a special place at St. Mungos that they would lock me in and throw away the key.


    Just when I was about to give up, the door opened, and an annoyingly handsome blonde-haired idiot walked in with an award-winning smile. No wonder he was so popular with women. All he has to do was flash them a smile, and they were hooked. His smile was so charming that it was almost at the point where I suspected magic was involved.


    Plenty of witches and wizards had small little changes made to their appearance from their unconscious d.e.s.i.r.es. Harry had hair that stuck straight up, and even if it was shaved off, it would grow back within a day. Even Anna''s purple eyes weren''t natural. When she was four, she had been getting bullied by some of her cousins about the possibilities of being a squib when her brown eyes turned purple in a defiant expression of magic.


    Ignoring Lockhart''s white smile, I snapped, "You''re an hour late."


    Lockhart wagged a finger at me, "Don''t you know that it''s fashionable to be late to a gathering. I make it a point to never show on time."


    I forced myself to take a deep breath and not curse him. Anna had taught me her bowel-clearing hex, and I was half-tempted to use it. But, I squashed the urge. I was here because I needed his help, and further antagonizing Lockhart didn''t seem like an effective way to secure his help. I was already blackmailing him, cursing him would probably be a step too far.


    Controlling my anger, I countered, "But, this isn''t a party. This is a meeting."


    I caught the briefest hint of a frown before it vanished. It looks like Lockhart doesn''t like to be rebuked. Once again, he turned on the charm, "Well, I''m here now, and I must say, it''s always nice to meet a fan."


    Lockhart looked around at the dusty, dank room and continued, "Although, I do wish we could have met over at the three broomsticks. It''s a far nicer establishment, and Madam Rosmerta always has a table for me if I swing by."


    Seeing how I didn''t design to respond to his suggestion, he shrugged. "Well, it matters not. I have plenty of experience in places like this. Let me tell you a story. Once, I was in Eastern Europe, hunting down a vicious vampire. You wouldn''t believe the places I had to tramp through to track him down. Of course, I got him in the end. If you want, you can read all about it in my book titled A Bloody End."


    As I watched Lockhart ramble on, I was more convinced than ever that he was an idiot of epic proportions. I had been willing to give him a little bit of leeway, just because I didn''t want to be blinded by the book''s narrow point of view. But, I had literally told him I knew his stories were full of dragon dung, and here was going on about one of his adventures. I have no doubt that the story is true, but it wasn''t his story.


    "Enough," I snapped. "As I already told before you in the letter, I know your books are full of nonsense. All those wonderful stories that brought you such fame belong to other people. Your skill with memory charms allowed you to steal the brave deeds of many witches and wizards."


    The grin on Lockhart''s face fell away, revealing a blank look. I could see the wheels turning in his head through his blue eyes. After mulling it over, Lockhart went on the offensive, "That''s not what the world believes. Everyone knows the adventures of Gilderoy Lockhart. I''m a member of the Dark Force Defence League, I''ve received numerous awards for my deeds, including an Order of Merlin. Who do you think the public will believe, me, or some nameless wizard?"


    This time it was my turn to wag my finger, "True. If it was just me, I''m sure the world would stay on your side. But, deep down, you know the weakness of the Forgetfulness Charm. A powerful or skilled enough wizard can break through your spells and bring those memories back to the surface. Even though I''m sure you tried to cover your tracks. It only takes one person to start putting cracks in your legend. Are you sure you covered all your tracks deep enough."


    I smirked when I saw the first hint of worry in Lockhart''s eye, so I pressed on what I assumed he feared most. "Imagine no more fame. No more fans wanting your autograph. Just a small cell, where the dementors will rip apart who you are, one piece at a time. You''ll die in disgrace, completely forgotten and alone."


    Lockhart''s eyes darted around the room nervously. I could tell he had come to a decision. I inwardly smirked when I saw his hand slowly move to his pocket. I knew he needed to be out of options before I could trust him to help me. Right now, I''m guessing that he thinks he can turn the situation around and erase the problem.


    In a ridiculously dramatic fashion, he pulled his wand from his robe and pointed it at me. Even though I was expecting it, my wand hand jerked a little. He didn''t know it, but I have had my wand trained on him since he walked in and sat down.


    Lockhart''s smile appeared on his face, but this time it was more deranged than charming. "I bet you didn''t expect this," He crowed. "You''re right, of course. I did steal all those adventures for myself. You see, I''ve never been much of a wizard. But when I was young, I found I had a talent with memories. From sealing them to rewriting them into something else entirely. And all I need to do to make this go away is do what I do best one more time."


    Lockhart stared at my expressionless face, "Don''t worry whoever you are," he sneered. "I''ll make sure you don''t remember a thing." With one hand, he brushed his wavy blond hair back over his head, and with the other, he pointed his wand at me and chanted "Obliviate."

 Chapter 66 - Memory

    Lockhart''s face paled with fear and panic when he saw his spell had no visible effect. Panicking, he tried again, "Obliviate, Obliviate, Obliviate."


    With each failed attempt, the worry on Lockhart''s face increased. I sat there calmly, not reacting to any of his spells. When I went looking for the weaknesses of memory charms, I discovered that they couldn''t get past Occlumency shields.


    After his three failed attempts, Lockhart let out a nervous chuckle, "Well done, sir. I was testing you, and you passed with flying colors."


    Seeing how I wasn''t buying it, Lockhart did the second thing that he was good at, running away. Just as he turned to run, I murmured, "Libramen."


    From under the table, I had my wand pointed at Lockhart''s legs. When the Tripping Jinx hit his ankles, Lockhart went down hard, flailing his arms about trying to break his fall.


    Getting up from my seat, I slowly strutted over towards Lockhart. As I stood over him in silence, I titled my head and held my wand out as if I were trying to figure out the best way to deal with him.


    "Please don''t hurt me," he begged. "I''ll do anything you want. Do you need money, contacts, fame? Whatever you want, I can give it to you."


    I could tell by the look in his eye, that he was finally where I wanted him. I showed him that his spells wouldn''t work, and he couldn''t get away from me. Now that I had deliberately taken away his primary tools, Lockhart fell back to cowardice. Making him feel helpless was the only way I could think of to secure his help. People like him will always look for a way out if they have alternatives.


    Looming over him, I pointed back towards one of the chairs and said in my most menacing voice. "Sit down... Now." My voice trailed off, giving a silent warning and letting his imagination come up with the consequences if he refused.


    Like I predicted, Lockhart crawled to the chair and obediently sat in the chair. On his face was an innocent smile like he didn''t just try and erase my memory and run away. I almost rolled my eyes at his shamelessness display of sincerity. I''m guessing his charm is what let him get away with erasing so many people''s memories. He befriends them, and when they''re least expecting it, he strikes.


    Resuming my seat, I pulled out the last bit of preparation that I made for tonight. I pulled out a magical contract and tossed it towards Lockhart. I wasn''t good enough yet to create one that would be as restricting as the one I signed. So, I took my inspiration from Hermoine and hexed the contract with a spell that I know Lockhart would fear about all else. It was a spell that targets one of his greatest weaknesses, vanity.


    I''m not sure if I used the same spell as Hermoine, but if not, it was close. It was a curse that would cover your entire face with pus dripping boils that wouldn''t go away. I''m sure the curse could be broken eventually, but spells attached to contracts that you voluntarily sign, root deep within you, and are a pain in the b.u.t.t to remove.


    It accorded to me, that what I was doing to Lockhart was probably similar to what happened to my grandfather. I''ll bet that Delvin Whithorn used his father''s goons to get the drop on him, or maybe he threatened his family. Whatever was used, it was effective, and I bet they erased his memories afterward. When Grandpa George disappeared, Delvin swooped in and took what he wanted.


    A small part of me felt terrible doing something similar, but at least it was against Lockhart. He was a garbage human being, whose days were numbered. I felt no urge to stop him from making the foolish mistake of using Ron''s broken wand to try and permanently erase the minds of Harry and Ron.


    Once Lockhart finished reading the contract, he looked over at me in surprise. He probably thought that I was after money. But, the agreement was pretty simple, in exchange for not telling the world of his crime. Lockhart would explain how to work with memory charms.


    From the stupid smirk that slowly started appearing Lockhart''s face, I could tell he was beginning to think that he had an advantage over me due to having something I wanted. To head off that train of thought, I showed Lockhart my left hand where I held a quill, and then to prove a point, I showed him my wand with my right hand. "Sign it,'''' I demanded.


    "Of course, I would be happy to, Mr..." Lockhart''s voice trailed off in an attempt to learn my name.


    "You can call me Mr. Box, or Jeremiah if you prefer. It makes no difference to me," I replied.


    After putting his signature on the paper, Lockhart slid it over to me. I signed it with my real name and pocketed the doc.u.ment within my robe so that he didn''t get a chance to look at it.


    I glanced over at Lockhart and commanded, "Now talk to me about memory charms."


    "Do you want to know about sealing, or rewriting?" Lockhart responded.


    Crossing my arms, "The latter, I think the Forgetfulness Charm is rather transparent."


    Lockhart shook his head, "That''s a common misconception, you have to be very careful when it comes to erasing memories. Memories are connected and flow into one another, if you''re not careful when sealing a memory away, it can have a cascading effect leading other memories you didn''t intend to be sealed to be erased as well. If you''re not careful, you can end up deleting a good chunk of someone''s mind. For example, say you decided to erase the memory of a person buying their wand. If you aren''t careful, you could erase every memory associated with their wand. Which would be devastating."


    "I suppose you found this out first hand," I replied, disgusted by his actions of erasing the minds of brave witches and wizards.


    "It only happened a few times," He defended. "Besides, if you think about it, I did them a favor. Their deeds will live on through my books."


    "Except that they won''t get the credit they deserve." I scoffed.


    "Yeah, but without me, their stories wouldn''t have sold so well. No one wants to read a story about an ugly, elderly Armenian warlock taking down a pack of werewolves attacking a small town. He''d look terrible on the front cover. No sense of style at all. And the witch who took down the Bandon Banshee never would have been taken seriously. She had a harelip. Without me, none of those stories would see the light of day."


    The more I heard, Lockhart defending his actions, the more I wanted to curse him. I shoved the feeling aside. He would pay for his crimes one day when his entire memory was permanently erased. The only silver lining I could find was that at least I could profit from his experience.


    "How difficult is it to undo the spell?" I asked.


    Lockhart shrugged, "From my experience, it takes almost no effort to undo if you''re the one who cast the spell. But, cracking another wizard''s memory charm is a completely different story. It can be done, but if you''re not careful, you could end up shattering their mind."


    "So, how do I prevent that from happening?" I questioned.


    "It''s a careful mix of power, skill, and experience." He replied, "I don''t have a lot of experience taking apart memory charms.


    I was happy to hear that it was easy to undo what you did with the spell. It gave me some confidence on what I was planning on doing later. Wanting to steer the topic back to casting the spell, so I asked, "So, how do you cast the spell without it going haywire?"


    "It''s all about the intent within your mind when you cast the spell. You have to get extremely specific with what you want to be erased. The more precise you are with what you want, the better the outcome. But, one thing to keep in mind is the older the memory, the more likely other memories will be affected. There is a reason why Obliviators have to go through specialized training before they are allowed to erase memories."


    Hearing how dangerous memory charms could be made me glad I didn''t experiment on my memories without getting instruction. "So, what about rewriting memories? Do they need the same level of precision."


    Waving his arm, Lockhart explained, "No, it''s the opposite with rewriting someone''s memories. The more you interfere, the less realistic it is, and a higher chance they will recognize it as false memory. All you need to do is insert a vague d.e.s.i.r.e of what you want, and the mind will naturally do the rest. If you overdo it, the memory can become extremely distorted."


    As I mulled over his words, I was happy I came to him for instruction. I probably would have done the opposite of what he suggested. The books I read were vague on details like this. Perhaps in an attempt to limit the damage that someone could do without Ministry instruction, or at least make it easier to track someone down when they performed the spell poorly.


    Coming to a decision, I said, "Well, I guess we should practice, shouldn''t we?"


    Lockhart looked around the room in confusion, "Yeah, but who are you going to practice on?"


    As I looked at him silently, it dawned on him that I intended to use him as a practice dummy. "No," he protested.


    Gesturing to the empty room, I said, "I don''t see anyone else volunteering. Besides, you don''t have a choice. Didn''t you read the fine print of the contract? It specified that you would help me until I was satisfied, and I won''t be satisfied until I get some practice in. Besides, I don''t think you want to risk your pretty little face being covered in pus-dripping boils for who knows how long. I''m pretty sure that would put a damper on your book signings."


    Lockhart''s face twisted in horror when he heard the conditions of breaking the agreement. One of the things he was most proud of was his looks.


    "Can''t we grab some random person in the bar?" He w.h.i.n.ed. "It will be a piece of cake for me to convince someone to join us. Afterward, I can erase their memories. They will never know.


    I slowly picked up my wand, "I think that the world has had enough of Gilderoy Lockhart erasing memories. Plus, I believe in karma. As you have sown, so shall you reap."


    I pointed my wand at Lockhart and ignored his whimpering, "Obliviate."


    Not wanting to chance messing up Lockhart''s mind before he did it to himself, I targeted the last two minutes of our conversation where he discovered he would be a guinea pig.


    Lockhart''s eyes crossed in confusion, and a blank look appeared on his face. After a moment, his eyes fluttered. "Uh, where were we?''''


    I showed him my wand and gave him the same spiel about needing to practice. What followed was a near word for word repeat of our conversion during the last two minutes.


    After a few more memory resets, I felt like I started to get the hang of it. I would need more practice, but I could do that on my own. So, I moved on to rewriting his memories.


    I stuck with changing his most recent memories, I decided to rewrite our introduction, and when I cast the spell, I gently intended for him to view me as an enthusiastic fan. I was surprised how easily it worked, but I guess that thinking everyone was a fan of his was how Lockhart usually viewed the world.


    Still, to say I was disturbed by the changes would be an understatement. Lockhart''s entire view of me changed. In his mind, the last thirty minutes had gone down in an entirely different way. In his mind, he reinvented me as an enthusiastic fan of his and that I had been happily listening to him recant his adventures.


    The whole process creeped me out so much that I immediately erased what I had changed, which reverted him to normal. No wonder the Ministry made this spell illegal and restricted information about the spell. I don''t always see eye to eye with the Ministry of Magic. But, in this case, I agree with them completely.


    I thanked the heavens that Lockhart was such an idiot, had he been more intelligent and driven, the amount of damage he could have done with it could have been astronomical. Already, I could think of dozens of ways it could be horribly abused in the wizarding world and the muggle world. Although now that I think about it, maybe using the charm in the way he did, is what allowed Lockhart to get away with it for so long. Maybe Lockhart wasn''t an idiot?


    Turning, I looked at his foolish expression before shaking my head. No, he was definitely an idiot, he just showed bouts of cunning ever now and again.


    I still needed a lot of practice, but I sensed that I had gotten everything out of Lockhart that I needed. I pointed my wand at Lockhart one final time. I targeted Lockhart''s memory of receiving my letter, and all of our time together and erased them. "Obliviate."


    Lockhart''s blue eyes shifted out of focus, and I left him drooling in the room. I needed to get out before he regained his focus.


    By the time I made it back to Hogwarts, it was past lights out, and by sheer luck, I made it back to the tower without being discovered. Harry Potter had it easy sneaking around with his invisibility cloak and map. I need to look into a spell that will let me move around without being detected.


    The following day, I spent some time rummaging around in my mind palace. Every memory I had was in here, and I was looking for some I wouldn''t miss. Part of me considered using one of my memories from this life as practice, but they were far too precious to me. Luckily, I have some worthless memories from my previous life that I hold no attachment to and wouldn''t care if they were erased.


    Looking around at the shelves that were packed onto each level in my mind palace. I felt like I understood Dumbledore''s comment to Harry about having so many memories that it felt like your mind was too full. I''ve always had a great memory, now that I had established my mind palace, every moment of my life was stored inside my tower.


    I was a little nervous about moving forward. It was one thing performing the spell on Lockhart, but doing it to myself raised the stakes to a new level. Taking a deep breath, I made the way to the top of my tower, where I stored all memories from my previous life. In the real world, I clutched my wand as I selected one of my memories from my last life.


    Concentrating on only affecting this memory I murmured, "Obliviate"


    Inside my tower, the book started folding back in on itself, getting smaller and smaller until all that was left was a tiny black marble. I looked around at all my other memories and grinned when I saw they were undisturbed.


    Immediately, I undid the spell and watched as the marble turned back into a book. I spent the following week practicing the Forgetfulness Charm until I was satisfied that I had a handle on the spell. I wasn''t planning on using it on anyone if I didn''t have to. But, at least now I am confident if I have to use it, I won''t break someone''s mind.


    I moved onto rewriting memories. I stuck with the same memories. That way, I wouldn''t suffer a loss if there was permanent damage.


    My first attempt went wrong, I put too much input into my rewrite. When viewing the memory, it became hazy and foggy to where I couldn''t see anything that was happening. What was strange is that I could hear what was going on, but it didn''t sound natural. It was like someone was narrating the memories for me.


    As a fun experiment, I tried to rewrite one of my memories, where I met some aliens. But, when I viewed the memory, the aliens looked like the first attempts at CGI. They seemed so fake that it was humorous to view. By the end of March, I felt like I finally had a good grasp on how to rewrite my memories effectively.


    Now, I had a little over a month to figure out how to build a brand new memory out of scratch. I was a bit worried about the amount of time I had left. My backup plan was to see if I could get away with just rewriting memories, but I was wary because I had already learned the hard way that it was easy to lose track of what you revised.


    Done the right way, a rewritten memory feels so real that it becomes difficult to distinguish it from any other memory. And it feels like the revised account is what happened. To prevent this from happening, I started to keep a written account of what I was changing. If I got confused, I could use what I wrote to discern what was real and fake.


    With only a month and a few days left, the clock was ticking. The spring break was rapidly approaching. When the break was over, I would only have around ten days to complete the trial. I had to get started right away if I wanted to complete the trial.

 Chapter 67 - Surprise

    As April rolled in, I discovered the difference in difficulty between modifying an existing memory and building a new one from scratch was enormous.


    My first attempts were complete failures. I was essentially fumbling around in the dark, trying to figure this out. When I finally cobbled a memory together for the first time, it was a mitigated disaster.


    If I thought that my attempts at modifying a memory were terrible, it was nothing compared to the first fake I created. At least in my modified memory, I could see hints of the original memory, even if it was a little fogged up, and the words were out of order.


    The fake memory I put together didn''t have anything to see. When I opened the book, I was suddenly in what looked like an infinite white void that held no borders, and then my voice narrated what was supposed to be happening. Needless to say, I was embarrassed and glad no one would ever see that particular memory because I erased it from existence.


    I started experimenting with what worked and what didn''t. At first, I assumed I needed to act like I was modifying a memory, so I was vague with what I wanted the memory to be and tried to let my mind form the memory without much input.


    A week later and hundreds of attempts with no visible progress, I decided I was at a dead-end and needed to switch things up. This time, I went in the opposite direction and tried to obsessively craft details into the memory.


    The results were a bit mixed. I did have some results in creating a fake memory. There were two main problems I had came across when crafting a memory. The first was the time it took to create one, the amount of detail I had to overlook increased the amount of time I used when creating a memory. I could spend endless hours rendering features in the memory. I needed to get to the point where I could throw one together in seconds, not hours.


    The other problem was, no matter how much time I worked on the details. It was never enough to be convincing. Some parts of the memory would be normal, but other parts were full of gaps, which gave away that it was fake. I suppose if someone spent enough time on the details, it''s possible to end up with a coherent memory. But, the amount of time it would take makes it a unfeasible idea. There has to be a way to speed things up.


    The reason why I failed when trying to create the memory by acting like I was modifying was that when you edit a memory, the framework is already there. But when creating a memory from scratch, you have to work a lot more on the details. Likewise, if you concentrate solely on the details and try to control every aspect of the memory, the memory will be fuzzy and have gaping holes in it, which makes the memory feel artificial. Whereas by using a careful mix of both strategies, crafting a memory that will fool somebody becomes possible.


    Now that I had reached the point where I could make fake memories, I could say I had mastered occlumency. Part of me wanted to immediately charge down to the common room and call forth the door that leads to the trial. But, in the end, I stopped myself. I felt like I could still improve on my memory crafting. It still took me far too long to create a memory. I needed to get to the point where I could throw one together in seconds.


    Opening my eyes, I examined the bearded mushroom, which lately had chosen to close its eyes whenever I was around. Now that it couldn''t affect my thoughts, I think it was trying to pretend to be a regular mushroom. Athena had been toying with it for the last few months, trying to get it to react. One of her favorite methods was to push it to the edge of the table like she was going to knock it down to the floor.


    The next day on the Hogwarts Express, Anna leaned forward in our cabin and excitedly asked, "Are you ready for the tournament?"


    I shrugged, I had practiced some dueling over the past few months. But, I had spent most of my time working on Occlumency. "I don''t know. The international competition is going to be very different from what we experienced in December. There will be participants from all over the world competing. And not just from the eleven major schools of magic. There are going to be people from smaller and less known academies attending as well. With all the people in attendance, I bet it will be far more difficult to advance to the finals."


    Anna shot me an accusing look, "I bet we wouldn''t have as much trouble if you had practiced with me more."


    It was times like these that I cursed the stupid contract. It wasn''t the first time I had been asked. I wanted to drop hints, but as soon as I tried. The geas kicked in and stopped me from acting.


    "I''m sure you will be fine." I soothed. "Did you ever master that chain series I used in December."


    Anna shot me a disgruntled look, and complained, Once or twice, but now that the other Dragon Fangs in my year have seen its potential. They''ve been copying me, plus they''ve figured out that the best way to stop me is at the beginning before I get ramped up."


    I shook my head. Anna had fallen into the trap that a lot of new duelers fall prey to, they become so obsessed with the point system that they lose track of what''s important in a duel.


    Wanting to put her back on track, I explained, "That''s because you''re trying to stay in the starting ring. Practice moving around while casting the chain-spell and abandon the circle. Remember, while it''s important to get points. Winning the duel is really all that matters in the end. I was fourth in overall points, and yet I went undefeated."


    Anna nodded, "I know, I know. It''s just everyone likes to focus on the rankings."


    "That''s because you can make it to the international competition by being in the top two in points. But, at the international competition, there is nothing to be gained by trying to rack up points other than pride."


    Joining the conversation, Cedric asked, "Have you heard anything about how the tournament is going to be set up?"


    Turning to Cedric, I replied, "From what I''ve been told, due to the sheer number of participants. The tournament will be single-elimination, so if you lose once you''re out. And unlike the last tournament that was over in a day, this time, the tournament is six days with each year being given an entire day. Why do you want to know?"


    With a grin on his face, Cedric revealed, "I talked to my dad about going, and he sent me an owl yesterday informing he was able to score tickets for Alicia and me to attend the competition."


    Anna shrieked with joy, "What! Why did you wait so long to tell us?"


    A sheepish look appeared on Cedric''s face, "Well, the original plan was to surprise you there. But, when Alex told me how expansive the tournament was, I figured we should coordinate our travel plans. Speaking of which, where is the tournament being held?"


    I replied, "The location rotates every year, this year it''s being held in the middle of the United States. Someplace called the Ozarks."


    Next to me, Jessica spoke up, "Really? My aunt lives deep in the Ozark mountains. Maybe, I should ask my parents if I can go for a quick visit."


    Anna glared at Jessica and said through with a forced smile, "Cedric only got tickets for him and Alicia."


    Jessica countered with a smile and replied, "That''s ok. I''m sure I can work something out with my parents."


    Not wanting to get involved, I turned to Cedric and said, "Speaking of coordinating our travels, this time I''m traveling with my parents. We''re going on my uncle''s ship. There is a water-way that he can use that will take us to a secluded area at the Lake of the Ozarks. We should find out if you guys can come with us, that way we can all go together."


    Cedric grinned, "That would be great, I''ve never been on a ship before."


    I shook my head, "Just wait until you see the ancient water pathways. We''re not sure who constructed them, but they are an impressive sight to see."


    The rest of the trip passed smoothly, and when we got back to the platform. I told everyone to speak with their parents and to contact me tonight after I had a chance to talk with my parents and my uncle.


    Dad was the only one at the station. The twins weren''t feeling that great, and even though Mum gave them a potion to heal them. She decided to keep them at home for the day.


    When I brought up the idea with Dad, he thought it was a great idea and when we got home. He went through the vanishing cabinet that connects our living room to our uncle''s ship.


    After dad returned with the ok, I told my friends as soon as they contacted me. Everyone was coming aboard except for Jessica. Her parents had their own method for reaching the tournament. Winking at me, she said with a laugh that it was mainly because her father had an unreasonable fear of the ocean.


    Two days later, my friends arrived with their parents in tow. Anna and Cedric''s parents were already familiar with our family. The only ones that needed introductions were Alicia''s parents.


    A short while later, the vanishing cabinet''s door swung open, filling the room with the smell of the salty sea. Uncle John strutted into the room wearing his long leather duster. I guess he was feeling particularly ornery today because he had added a full-blown pirate hat to his ensemble. Seeing his Cheshire cat smile, I''m guessing that it won''t be too long before he adds an eye patch.


    While Cedric and Anna''s parents found it funny because they understood Uncle John''s sense of humor. But, it had the opposite effect on Alicia''s parents, who looked like they were debating grabbing their daughter and fleeing from the crazy looking pirate-wizard.


    Thankfully, Aunt Nefret came through after him. She was always a calming influence on Uncle John''s eccentric personality. Most of their worries seemed to evaporate when they started speaking Arabic with Aunt Nefret. Eavesdropping on their conversation, it looks as though Alice''s parents had grown up in Cairo and been to the shop that Aunt Nefret''s father ran.


    Excited to show my friends the ship, I motioned for them to follow me as the a.d.u.l.ts planned out our schedule. On the other side of the vanishing cabinet, we arrived at the small wooden room that was deep within the bowels of the ship.


    Waving for my friends to follow, I said, "Come on, the view is better from the deck."


    As we made our way through the magically enlarged ship, I couldn''t help but notice that there were more of Uncle John''s crew aboard than I thought. They usually were scattered throughout the world, expanding the extensive smuggling operation that Uncle John ran. Each member of his crew had a grudge with the Whithorns, and they were slowly expanding their influence in the underworld.


    When we got to the deck, Cedric whistled while admiring the three towering mast that rose into the sky, "I didn''t think they used sh.i.p.s like this anymore."


    Weighing in, Alicia remarked, "This ship looks like one of those pirate sh.i.p.s in the old tales we hear about."


    I rolled my eyes, "Don''t tell Uncle John that it would only please him to no end. I once tried to convince him to use a modern ship, and from the look he gave me, you would have thought I cursed him."


    It didn''t take long for everyone else to arrive. When it was time to set sail, I whispered to my friends, "You''re going to love this part."


    Uncle John took his place at the helm and started waving his wand like he was a conductor for an orc.h.e.s.tra. Immediately, there was movement around the ship as it began to prepare for a descent. Then the ship shuddered as it began sinking below the surface. A shimmering shield appeared, preventing water from flooding the ship. Once the vessel was fully submerged underwater, we headed towards a bright stream of light, and John shouted. "Everyone hold on."


    As soon as the ship entered the steam of light, the ship''s speed rapidly increased. The stream of light didn''t head in a straight line, sometimes it was near the surface, and at others near the bottom of the oceans, it even backtracked a few times.


    My friends were amazed at how we were traveling. I couldn''t blame them. The first time I rode the underwater pathways, I was amazed as well.


    Anna turned to Uncle John and asked, "What''s the ship''s name?"


    I g.r.o.a.n.e.d and covered my face with my hand as Uncle John smiled delightedly, and replied in a dramatic voice, "I call her, the Jolly Roger. The fiercest ship that ever sailed the seven seas."


    "Ooh," Anna''s eyes sparkled with excitement.


    I rolled my eyes. Uncle John had changed the ship''s name after reading some old muggle books on pirates that I gave him years ago for Christmas. I tried to explain that the Jolly Roger was a pirate flag and not a ship''s name, but he didn''t care.


    The trip through the ancient pathways took a few hours. Uncle John spent the trip regaling my friends about adventures on the high seas. After the first few stories. I realized that he had taken old muggle pirate adventure stories, added magic to them, and then repurposed them.


    After we arrived, the ship slowly rose above the waterline. We surfaced in a restricted area in the Lake of the Ozarks. The magical community had magically enchanted to the area to be inaccessible by muggles.


    He wasn''t the only one who was tense, Aunt Nefret and my Father were looking at the ship with alternating looks of worry and anger. Seeing their expressions made it clear whose ship that was, it had to belong to Michael''s grandfather. Years ago, Uncle John had told me that Declan Whithorn ran his organization from a ship that was always moving.


    I shot a suspicious look at my uncle, did he know they were going to be here? I had thought it was strange that most of his crew that was usually scattered throughout the world were on board. Declan must be here to watch his grandson compete or maybe was using the tournament as a cover to establish further connections in the wizard community for his organization.


    Soon, it was time for Anna and me to head to the dueling arena. We needed to sign in and meet up with our teams from Hogwarts. Uncle John decided to tag along with us, claiming he was meeting an old friend.


    Before we left, I pulled Dad and Uncle John off to the side, "Should we be worried about that ship over there?"


    Uncle John locked eyes with Dad for a moment before responding, "No, it''s not Declan''s style to make a move with so many witnesses. He didn''t make it this far by acting rashly. That being said, don''t do anything stupid like sneak over to his ship."


    I scoffed at the idea, I could be prideful, but I wasn''t suicidal. Mounting up on brooms, Anna and I were escorted to the arena. When we got there, it was packed full of young witches and wizards from all over the world. No wonder we needed to arrive early, it was a madhouse.


    When Anna caught sight of her team, she and her dad broke off and headed that way. Soon after, I spotted Jean waving at me to join him. "Alex, I''m glad you made it. Come on, I''ll show you the room reserved for our team.


    As we made our way into the building, I noticed that this building was leagues above what we dueled in back in England. From its size, I was pretty sure this was a professional dueling arena.


    Jean led us through a series of hallways that were lined with rooms. Soon a door appeared that had a silver spear engraved on it. When Jean opened the door, I saw most of my fellow duelers already inside. Inside, I had already been assigned a sizable temporary locker where I could store my belongings during the tournament.


    We didn''t spend long in the room before Jean shuffled me out. He wanted to get me signed in as quickly as possible. Once everything was settled, Dad and Uncle John escorted me back to the ship. Anna was already back on the ship. She had already been given her schedule for tomorrow. Her first duel was at ten in the morning. Jean had promised to get my schedule to me sometime tomorrow.


    The next day, we all headed out early to the stadium. Normally, I would have watched the duels with the other Silver Spears to show support for any member dueling. But since no members of the Silver Spears were dueling today, I was free to sit where I pleased.


    Before the tournament got started, I leaned over to my dad and whispered, "Cedric and I are going to go and drop my stuff at my locker now rather than at the end of the day. That way, once we are ready to leave, we just leave rather than fight our way through the crowd."


    Dad nodded, "Alright, but come straight back."


    Cedric and I made our way through the packed stadium, eager to drop off my stuff and get back before the duels started. We ran into Micheal in the hallway, "Are you ready to watch your girlfriend take a beating." He sneered.


    "I don''t know about that," I drawled. "But, at least she made it to the tournament by winning. Unlike others who barely made it by the skin of their teeth."


    Knowing that I was poking fun at his record from the last tournament, Michael stormed off and scoffed, "Laugh while you can Fawley, I bet you don''t even make it past your match."


    Rolling my eyes, I decided to ignore Michael''s taunt. I may not make it to the end, but I am still confident in my abilities.


    When we got to the room, I said, "This will just take a second. Heading over to my locker, I noticed it had a small leather pack inside. I guess someone else on the team thought that this locker was theirs.


    Reaching in, I picked up the leather bag and turned to move it to the table. A second before I dropped it, the pack started glowing, and I felt a familiar sensation of a hook pulling at my navel. Cedric noticed the glow a second before me and grabbed at the bag. A half-second later, we were both yanked away to parts unknown.

 Chapter 68 - Broken

    Still not used to portkey travel, my breath was taken away when I slammed into a rocky outcrop. It was just outside the entrance of a cave that led deep into a cliff. As bad as my landing was, Cedric had it worse. He landed on the edge of the outcrop with his legs hanging in midair.


    Cedric''s eyes bulged with shock after slamming into the hard rock. Before he could say anything, the edge he landed on crumbled away, and he fell backward.


    Panicking, I rolled to the edge and drew my wand. I saw Cedric plunging towards the ground. At a hundred feet off the ground, I knew the fall would kill him if I didn''t act quickly.


    After a quick swish and flick, I yelled, "Wingardium Leviosa."


    Cedric stopped and floated in midair. Groaning, Cedric called up, "Thanks for the save."


    Now that he wasn''t in any danger of dying, I pushed myself up to my knees as I considered what to do. I decided to lower him gently towards the ground because he was closer to the ground than he was to me.


    But, when he was around five feet off the ground, I heard a low guttural growl behind me as well as sharp claws tearing furrows into the rock. Whatever was in there, was rushing towards my exposed back.


    Every instinct I had screamed at me to move or die. Trusting them, I threw myself forwards. Before I cleared the edge, a razor-sharp set of claws swiped right where my head had been a few seconds ago. I was saved from a deadly blow to my head. But, the tip of the claws tore into my shoulder and down my back as I was sent flying off the cliff at an awkward angle.


    Unfortunately, the angle I left the cliff was quite possibly the worst way I could have gone. Half a second later, I crashed head first into the side of the cliff.


    My face was taught a valuable lesson. When a fast squishy moving object meets an immovable force, It''s the fleshy object that gets squashed. If that wasn''t bad enough, I felt my wand slip through my fingers.


    As I bounced off the cliff, I spun uncontrollably. The next time I smashed into the cliff, I felt something inside me crunch, and my world went black.


    I don''t know how long I was out, but slowly a red fog of pain dragged my mind back from unconsciousness.


    If the pain wasn''t bad enough, Cedric''s fearful voice sent sharp streaks of pain into my brain. He fearfully asked, "Alex, are you okay?"


    I g.r.o.a.n.e.d in response. As I slowly tried to open my eyes, they immediately slammed shut. The beams from the setting sun felt like a knife digging through my eyes into my skull.


    Laying on the ground with my eyes shut, I started coughing up blood. I tried to catalog my injuries mentally. The only part of my body that didn''t feel destroyed was my lower half.


    Mustering the strength to speak, I gasped in one-word sentences, "Bag... Potions... Heal."


    As Cedric moved my right arm, I screamed in pain, and tears leaked from my eyes. My arm was definitely broken, possibly shattered. Cedric pulled my bag out of my robes and started rummaging inside, trying to find my bandolier of potions.


    "I got it. I got it. You''re going to be fine." Cedric whispered over and over as if it were a mantra that could control the future.


    As I laid there in a haze of pain, I realized from the fear in Cedric''s voice that I may be in worse shape than I previously thought.


    I felt cool glass touch my lips as one of the vile tasting healing potions was poured down my throat. It wouldn''t heal any significant injuries, but it would help with the smaller ones and give me a fighting chance.


    Once I felt restored enough, I cracked my eyes and found Cedric getting ready to force another potion down my throat.


    "Wait," I cautioned. "We need to use those sparingly. Besides, the potion I just drank will work slowly over the next few hours. No point in drinking another until the effects wear off."


    Lying flat on the ground, I looked at our surroundings. I noticed we weren''t anywhere near the cliff where the portkey dropped us, "Where are we?" I questioned.


    Words just started tumbling out of Cedric''s mouth. I could tell he was almost in shock as he finally started processing everything that had happened. "I don''t know, Alex. You saved me from hitting the ground, and the next thing I knew, I saw you get crashing into the side of the cliff. I was barely able to stop you from hitting the ground at full force."


    An apologetic look appeared on Cedric''s face as he continued to explain what happened, "But, the damage was already done, you must have collided into the cliff around a dozen times during your fall. I didn''t want to wait around and see what the creature was going to do next. So, I hit you with the Full-Body Bind Curse, which made sure that you wouldn''t get any more injured as I levitated you and ran. I don''t know how long I ran, but I ran until I couldn''t run anymore."


    Flashes of claws and teeth filled my mind, "You did the right thing," I reassured. "Now, help me to my feet, I don''t want to be anywhere near that beast."


    Cedric was strangely silent for a moment, "Alex... There is no way you are getting on your feet."


    I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain that was ripping through me. After a painful breath, I attempted to sit up, "I''ll be fine as long as I can get to my feet." I gasped.


    The fear that had been slowly leaving Cedric''s voice came back with a vengeance, "Alex. What are you talking about? Look at your legs."


    Both of my legs were broken in multiple places, and one of the breaks had bone jutting through the skin. If that wasn''t bad enough, the other leg was twisted in the wrong direction. But, what terrified me the most was that I couldn''t feel a damn thing down there.


    Until Cedric pointed it out, I had thought my legs were perfectly fine. Old memories from my previous life started welling up within me. Towards the end of my life, I was so weak that I could barely move.


    My breathing started going out of control. This couldn''t be happening, not again. I tried to control my fear with anger. I sent furious commands to my legs, demanding that they move. But, the anger turned to anguish when they refused to budge. I must have broken my back during the fall and was paralyzed.


    I may have laid there forever wallowing in denial. But, a distant roar shocked me to my senses. Knowing that we were probably still in the hunting grounds of that monster, I looked at Cedric and said, "We need to move."


    As my eyes took in Cedric''s exhausted appearance, I quickly explained, "There''s a purple potion in my bandolier. It''s a strengthening solution. It will give you limitless physical energy, as well as increase your strength for two or three hours. But, be careful, after it wears off, you will be useless for a day until you recover. Once we''ve gotten far enough away, I''ve got a tent in my pack that we can use."


    Cedric gave me a resolved look, and vowed, "Alex, don''t worry about anything, I''ll get us through this."


    Cedric grabbed the potion and chugged it. At once, all signs of exhaustion faded away. He pulled his wand out and pointed it at me. I couldn''t help but be frustrated at my situation. This wasn''t how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to be the one saving Cedric, not the other way around.


    But, I have to admit, out of all my friends I''m glad it''s him saving me. He''s by far the most dependable and excluding me, the most capable. There is a reason why Cedric was chosen to represent Hogwarts in the Goblet of Fire.


    Being frozen and unable to move did little to dull the pain. It didn''t occur to me that I had a few painless potions in my bag until after I was already frozen. As I floated in a sea of agony drifting in and out of consciousness, a small part of me was impressed by the amount of ground Cedric was seemingly able to cover.


    A painful laugh escaped me, "Cedric, we''re going to have to work on your rescuing skills. It''s bad form to leave your broken friend lying on the dirt and passing out when there is a nice warm tent just a few feet away."


    Cedric''s snores were all I got in reply.


    Knowing he was exhausted and needed to sleep it off, I murmured, "Don''t worry, now that you did the hard part, I can finish up."


    Sharp spikes of pain racked my upper half. I used my least broken arm to pat my robes, searching for my most prized possession. My heart sank when I didn''t find it. Even though I knew it was fruitless to hope for a reply, I called out, "Umm... Cedric, I don''t suppose you grabbed my wand before fleeing the monster with my unconscious body?"


    After a brief moment of silence, "Yeah, that''s what I thought. Just so you know, I''m officially bumping your score from Outstanding to Exceeds Expectations."


    Knowing that I needed my wand, I tried to shut out the pain and concentrate solely on my desperate d.e.s.i.r.e for my wand. I had done small exercising like this before, but never at this distance.


    What I was trying to do, wasn''t merely a wandless version of the summoning charm. Wandless magic didn''t follow the rules of known spells. If you could get it to work, the results were often unpredictable. It''s one of the reasons why wands have become the dominant way of using magic throughout the world.


    Trying to use magic without a wand was like trying to forge a path through a jungle. With enough effort and dedication, it could be done, but those who used wands followed a clear path and would leave those who tried to use wandless magic in the dust


    As I concentrated on my need for my wand, I felt a surge run through me, and my wand appeared in a puff of smoke. I swear I felt the wand shudder with joy upon being reunited with me.


    Knowing if I wanted to be of any use, the first thing I needed to do was eliminate the pain. Pointing my wand towards my bag, I chanted, "Accio potion."


    A vial of clear liquid potion shot out of my bag and landed on my c.h.e.s.t. Uncorking the cap, I took a swig of the potion. As soon as the liquid poured down my throat, the pain started fading. I knew I needed to use this potion sparingly. I only had a couple of painless potions, and who knows how long we would be stuck out here.


    Thank Merlin, that I got super paranoid after last year''s underground adventure. I had packed a ton of survival gear in my pack. There was enough food for us for weeks. More if we used the engorgement charm, which would expand the food to greater proportions. But, as I coughed up more blood, I realized that food would be the least of our problems.


    Once my thoughts were free of pain, I was able to evaluate my situation a bit more clearly. My injuries were catastrophic. But, as long as I could get to a healer, I should be able to survive. Healers weren''t like muggle doctors, as long as magic wasn''t involved, they could heal people of almost anything. The real problem would be living long enough to receive treatment. I could tell that as bad as the surface injuries were, the real danger lay within me.


    While I was scheming on how to survive this disaster, a thought occurred to me. Maybe there was an easy way out of this mess. If it worked for Harry Potter, perhaps it would work for me. Holding up my wand, I chanted, "Accio bag."


    Even though it was a long shot, I figured getting a hold of the portkey may allow us to get back to our families. My heart sank when I saw what remains of the bag arrive. Whatever the creature was, it appeared that the bag offended it because it was torn to shreds.


    With my injuries being as bad as they were, even the use of a few spells sapped my strength. Knowing I didn''t have much time before I lost all my energy, I used my wand to move Cedric into the tent. Then I summoned a mat from inside, and I slowly crawled onto the mat, trying not to make my injuries worse. Once I was situated, I used the levitation charm and directed the mat inside the tent.


    The tent was incredibly spacious. It had an Undetectable Extension Charm woven into every fiber. There were a half dozen rooms inside, not including the central area. After getting Cedric into one of the beds, I got in one myself and passed out.


    I don''t know how long I slept for, but eventually, the pain dragged me back to consciousness. I tried to tough it out and wait for Cedric to wake up, but the strain proved to be too much. Rather than waste more of the precious painless potion. I drank another healing potion and a sleeping potion that would knock me out regardless of my injuries.


    I woke to the sounds of Cedric moving around in the tent. Shifting in my bed, I g.r.o.a.n.e.d as even taking a deep breath hurt. I felt even weaker than I did the day before. Something was wrong; I could feel it. The healing potions I had on me were only able to keep it from getting worse. I grabbed one of my few remaining healing potions and drained it completely.


    Hearing that I was awake, Cedric shuffled over with a few biscuits on a plate. "Here you go, Alex. You need to eat to get your strength up."


    In between bouts of agony, I ate the biscuits one piece at a time. I struggled not to laugh as Cedric hovered like a worried mother hen.


    Once I had finished eating, I said, "Cedric, we need to talk."


    Cedric nodded. We hadn''t really had a chance to talk about our situation. "It was a portkey that brought us here, wasn''t it?" He asked.


    Seeing me nod, Cedric asked, "Any chance of us using it to return?"


    Wordlessly I pointed towards the shredded remains of the bag that brought us here.


    "Ugh, that''s unfortunate." Cedric g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "Do you have any idea where we are?"


    "From the bamboo trees, I''m guessing we''re somewhere in Asia. As for what country, I have no clue."


    Cedric rapidly blinked as he processed that we had been transported to the other side of the world. "Was this an attempt to take you out of the competition?" He angrily demanded.


    I half-shrugged, "It''s possible, some people take this tournament extremely seriously. That being said, considering where the portkey was set to drop me off too, it feels more like a more personal grudge. Not to mention, remember who we ran into in the hallway."


    Cedric narrowed his eyes and spat, "Michael."


    I nodded in agreement, "I''ll say this, the bastard sure up the ante with this stunt."


    "He crossed a line. He''ll be tossed inside Azkaban for this." Cedric replied.


    "I doubt it," I gloomily replied. "There''s no way to prove it was him, and even if we did have proof. His grandfather has his fingers in everything. I bet by the time we are found. The investigation will have already concluded with it being an accidental misplacement of a portkey."


    Cedric latched onto my statement like it was a lifeline, "How are we going to make it home? It could take ages for them to find us, and you''re in no condition to be moved."


    I didn''t want to destroy his hopes, so I pointed out, "You forget one important thing. Athena and I have a bond that she can use to track me down, I bet you anything that she is going crazy right now."


    Cedric''s face lit up, "That''s right. How long do you think it will take for them to find us?" He eagerly asked.


    I shrugged, "I would guess at minimum a week, maybe two. They''re on another continent, so it will take some time for then to track us down."


    Cedric sneaked a glance at my injuries, and worriedly asked, "Can you make it that long with your injuries?"


    Even though I knew I only had enough for a few days, I gave a weak smile, "I''ll be fine."


    I think Cedric might have sensed I wasn''t telling the whole truth, because he pleaded, "There has to be another way."


    "Well, there is another option," I slowly said. "It''s actually a better option than waiting around to be rescued. But, I don''t think you will like it."


    "What is it?" Cedric questioned.


    "Look through the bottom of my pack. You''ll find a sword somewhere near the bottom."


    With a confused look on his face, Cedric started pulling item after item from my pack. Finally, he found the sword and pulled out what looked like a Chinese Jian sword.


    He looked at me in confusion, "What do you want me to do with this?"


    "In Asia, the broomstick is mainly used for quidditch. Everyone else uses flying swords."


    "What? That''s crazy," he argued, "Wouldn''t they stab themselves if they sit on the sword?"


    "For one, they''re not sharp, and two, they stand on them," I explained. "There are two spots on the blade that act similar to sticking charms. There are also some spells that protect you from being knocked over."


    Cedric''s expression was full of doubt. As a quidditch player, he probably had never considered the idea of using anything other than a broom. "


    "They''re actually fun to fly on," I soothed. "Riding the sword is like surfing through the sky."


    As the doubt began to fade, Cedric questioned, "How are you supposed to stand on a sword? You can''t even move your legs."


    "Cedric," I quietly explained, "There is only one flying sword."


    Cedric''s face twisted in confusion, "Then how are we supposed to get out of here? Can the sword carry both of us?"


    I didn''t answer for a moment. How did I get lucky enough to have a best friend who''s so selfless that the idea of leaving his friend behind didn''t even occur to him?


    Knowing this next part wouldn''t be easy, I took a deep breath ignoring the sharp knife-like pain in my side. "No, Cedric. The sword is built for one person, any more, and it wouldn''t leave the ground. And with me being paralyzed, I don''t think I''m getting on a flying sword anytime soon."


    Cedric''s face darkened as he realized my meaning, "No," he snapped.


    "Cedric."


    With his face turning red from anger, Cedric interrupted me, "I said no, it''s out of the question."


    I was both happy and a little annoyed by his refusal to even consider my proposal. But, knowing it was the best move, I calmly pointed out, "Cedric, It''s the logical move, you could be gone and find help within a day or two."


    For the first time since we''ve been friends, I finally witnessed Cedric losing his temper. Grabbing the plate in front of him, he threw it across the room and roared, "No! I''m not leaving my best friend out here all alone."


    Annoyed that he wasn''t listening, I pleaded, "Cedric, be reasonable."


    "No! Find another way,"


    Finally, I lost my temper and shouted, "There is no other way! What are you going to do when my potions run out? I barely have enough for two days. Then I''m going to be completely unable to do anything. And that''s not even factoring in the infection that will most assuredly set in after I run out. I''ll be lucky if I''m not dead within a week, are you going to sit here and watch me slowly die?


    I could see each word I spoke was a blow, but if that''s what took to get through to him, then so be it.


    "You said you would be fine!" Cedric accused.


    "I lied!" I fired right back, "I didn''t want you so worried that you wouldn''t leave!"


    "Well, you did a piss poor job of that!" He yelled as he stormed off.


    As I watched him march off, I realized we were just yelling at each other because we were scared. The realization drained my anger away, and with it gone, it sapped what little strength I had.


    Calling out weakly to Cedric, "Cedric... I''m dying, there is something wrong inside of me, I can feel it. The potions are keeping the worst of it at bay, but they aren''t designed to deal with my level of injuries. If I don''t get help from a healer soon, I don''t think I''m going to make it."


    Cedric stopped in his tracks. He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before turning back with tears in his eyes. Looking me in the eyes, he swore, "If you die while I''m gone, I''m going to kill you."


    Even though it was totally inappropriate, I couldn''t help but laugh at Cedric vow. His face reddened, "You know what I mean."


    After picking up the flying sword, Cedric asked, "Where do I go to find help?"


    I paused for a moment. I had been so distracted by trying to come up with a way to get Cedric to leave that I hadn''t thought that far ahead.


    Shrugging, I suggested, "I don''t know. Find a decent size town and do some magic. I guarantee that the local Ministry of Magic or whatever they call their government monitors magic in muggle areas. How else would they enforce the International Statute of Secrecy? Don''t worry about getting in trouble. The statute clearly states that people are allowed to use magic in a life and death situation, and I say this qualifies."


    Thinking it over for a second, Cedric''s eyes lit up, "Wait a minute, won''t the trace work? We''ve done magic, shouldn''t the British Ministry of Magic be able to track us?"


    I shook my head, "I already considered that, distance matters in magic. I bet they can''t monitor anything outside their country."


    Cedric''s face fell in disappointment. Knowing that my time was ticking away, he gave me one final look and promised, "I''ll be back as soon as I can."

 Chapter 69 - Alone

    As soon as Cedric went outside, the tent felt colder. Like it had turned into a mausoleum and was prepared to house my corpse for all time. I tried to banish the morbid thought, but it persisted.


    Outside the tent, Cedric was trying to figure out how to use the flying sword. At one point, I heard an awkward thud, and Cedric hurriedly called out, "Everything''s fine."


    The embarrassment in his voice almost made me laugh. It helped banish the dark thoughts that had been plaguing me. I knew from experience what he must have done. After I got the flying sword from Yu Yan''s shop last summer, I must have fallen on my a.s.s a half a dozen times before I figured out the trick. Straining my voice, I called out, "You need to bend your knees."


    "Like this?." He asked.


    Before I could say anything, Cedric screamed, "Ahhhh." His screams faded as the sword shot into the sky.


    As his scream faded, I smiled and said to an empty tent, "Yes, just like that."


    For a second, I felt guilty about laughing at Cedric discovering first hand that flying on swords feels very different than a broom. "He''ll be fine," I said out loud to reassure myself.


    With Cedric gone to get help, I was alone with my thoughts. Hopefully, he would make it back before I ran out of potions. I wasn''t looking forward to dealing with the pain once I ran out.


    Being a crippled as I was, there wasn''t much to do but think about how this had happened. Someone had slipped a portkey into my locker without anyone discovering them in the act.


    Had we been transported someplace normal, my first thought would have been someone in the competition was trying to take me out. Working to remove your competitors before you have to face them isn''t unheard of in the wizarding world. I had wrongly assumed that the Silver Spears would have taken precautions and that the locker room would be a safe place. How in Merlin''s Beard was I supposed to know that the pack that I assumed belonged to a teammate, was a portkey?


    If I were going around assuming every object in the world could be cursed, I would end up as crazy as Mad-Eye Moody. Of course, I sympathize with some of his paranoia now. I can already picture him glaring at me with his magical glass eye and barking "Constant Vigilance."


    If I make it out of this mess, I will have to be warier in the future. Last year, when I had been learning how to break through wards, I had discovered that it was possible to sense magic when I concentrated. I hadn''t used it much because I''ve been busy with Occlumency, and detecting magic takes effort. But, after this debacle, I swear I''m going to get to the point where I can keep on my magic detection sense all day. It will take time to get to that point, but if I can get to where I have my Occlumency shields up all day. Surely I can learn to manage one more thing in the background.


    I put my plans for the future on hold, as my thoughts turned back to the portkey that landed me in this mess. Portkeys are supposed to be regulated by the ministry. But, growing up with my uncle, I have learned there are cracks in every system. The Ministry of Magic can''t possibly track the creation of every portkey. Hell, even Barty Crouch Jr. was able to turn the Triwizard cup into a portkey and not be discovered. Even their whole stance on unforgivable curses, where the use of one will give you a one-way ticket to Azkaban, only happens if they catch you.


    I would guess that they try to monitor the magic a portkey will give off when used. But, there is no way they can monitor the whole world. They probably focus their efforts into areas where muggles live, which means that the chances of the local magical government detecting our unauthorized use of a portkey, are slim to none.


    My thoughts turned darker when I thought about the person I assumed was responsible for my fate. I may be a little biased in my thinking, but I can''t help but assume that this had something to do with Michael. That little shit-stain had promised payback for the embarrassment of appearing loony at one of his father''s public engagements and getting thrown in St. Mungo''s mental ward. I just hadn''t been expecting such an out of proportional response.


    Already, thoughts of revenge were swirling in my mind. While we had taken swings at one another, this was on a whole new level. A small part of my mind pointed out that if it was Michael, he might not have realized what was on the other side of the portkey, especially if he stole it from his grandfather.


    I had already ruled out Declan Whithorn as being involved. There was no way he would be stupid enough to be involved in something so noisy and attention-grabbing. Even if he can somehow spin the story, there is no way to cover up it up completely. Not with my family being as connected as it is, and I''m sure the Silver Spears will make a big stink about one of their players disappearing. This whole thing screamed at being an amateurish attempt to deal with me.


    On the one hand, the rational part of my brain warned me that I needed to think this through. If I took out Michael, his grandfather was sure to get involved. Maybe he wouldn''t get me, but what about my little sisters. And on the other hand, a dark, rage-filled part of me whispered that that little f.u.c.ker almost killed me, and even if it was accidental, he needed to pay. I knew if I put my mind to it, I could find a way to get rid of him.


    When my thoughts turned to my family, I couldn''t help but worry. I knew we weren''t ready to take on the Whithorn''s organization, but my disappearance could be the match that sets everything ablaze. Thoughts of how they would respond worried me. My little sisters were at the match. If a fight broke out at the arena, what would happen to them?


    While part of me was worried, the logical part of my brain pointed out that beneath my uncle''s eccentric personality was a calm, cunning, ruthless mind. He would make sure events didn''t spin out of control.


    The first day I was alone, I was furious that there wasn''t much I could do other than lie on my bed and think about the future. The more I thought about everything, the more pissed I became. I refuse to believe that this is going to be my fate. I didn''t die and reincarnate in this magical world to die in a nameless forest, broken and alone. No, I would survive this and come out on the other side stronger.


    When the last beams of sunlight faded away, I drank one of two healing potions I had left, as well as my final sleeping potion. If Cedric didn''t arrive back sometime tomorrow, tomorrow night was going to be bad. My last conscious thought was a prayer that I would wake and find Cedric to have returned with help.


    I woke to an empty tent. What could be keeping Cedric? I hope nothing went wrong. I drank my final healing potion along with the last of my painless potion. I prayed to the heavens that help would arrive now before the agony returned. Knowing what awaited me was a form of torture. The more I worried about what was to come, the faster time seemed to go.


    Soon, the sun was setting, and I could feel a dull throbbing pain begin to spread. The agony consumed my every thought. But, what was worse was the rise in my skin''s temperature, which told me that I was developing an infection.


    At one point, the pain got so bad that I even became a little grateful that I was partially paralyzed. Not being able to feel anything in my legs had become a blessing in disguise.


    In stories, you always hear about how the hero somehow embraces the pain, and it makes them stronger. But, after experiencing it for myself, I say the stories are a crock of shit. Pain doesn''t make you stronger. It just beats you into submission, then invites suffering, agony, and torment to join in on the fun. It invades your mind and becomes part of your every waking thought until you can''t think of anything other than pain.


    Ironically, time seemed to slow down now that I wanted it to speed up. The bouts of agony made a minute seem like an hour. Unable to move, sinister thoughts began creeping in. There were spells that I could use, spells that would end the pain, end everything. It''s not like I haven''t experienced death before. Maybe I would go somewhere else, somewhere with no pain, just peace.


    I beat the seductive thoughts down with memories of my family and friends. They were coming for me, and they would break into hell to find me. I just needed to do my part and find a way to stay alive.


    I lost track of time completely. I couldn''t say how long I laid there suffering in pain. Eventually, the pain became too much, and I ended up retreating to the last safe harbor I had, my mind. I tried to put up a barrier between my mind and my body. As the delirium from the infection set it, it seemed to have some success. I could still feel the pain, but it didn''t seem as important.


    Part of mind was alarmed, it tried to warn me that as bad as the pain was, it kept me alive, and its reduction could only mean one thing. But, after everything I had been through, I was too tired to go back and fight. If my time was almost up, then I would spend it in my mind palace, where my memories of my family surrounded me.


    Over and over, I watched memories of my family. The first chess game I had with Dad, or Mum teaching me how to brew a potion. The first time Sasha got my name right, Rebbeca''s first step. The many adventures Athena and I had exploring our family property. So many good memories, even if I died, at least I got to experience a loving family this time.


    I was so absorbed in watching the memories that I didn''t realize that something else entered my mind palace. It was only when I heard it try and break into the second floor that I realized I was no longer alone.


    At the speed of thought, I appeared on the first floor, sitting on my hawk throne. A fifteen-foot, tar-black eel had somehow sneaked into the first floor of my mind palace. It was a Mind Lamprey. In the real world, it was fragile and only targets the dying. They latch on the head and can project themselves into the minds of their target, where they consume memories.


    The more memories they consume, the larger and stronger their projections get. Seeing how big this thing was, I''m guessing it had already consumed most of the fake memories I had created. Now, it was trying to go for the real stuff.


    "Get out of my mind," I yelled while trying to raise my shields. My Occlumency shields snapped into place, but the creature seemed unaffected.


    For a moment, I was confused. The books said I could easily boot any witch or wizard that gained access to my mind with Legilimency. I guess whatever mental magical abilities that Lamprey was employing were more stronger than what a wizard or witch could do.


    The Lamprey seemed to swim through the air as it tried to maneuver around me. Panicking, I summoned more of my fakes memories and threw the books at the otherwordly creature.


    It didn''t take long for the creature to devour as it''s appetite seemed to increase the bigger it got. Eventually, the Lamprey spun and knocked me out of the way with its tail and proceeded to the next floor.


    Furious, I charged and jumped on it''s back and tried to squeeze it to death. "Don''t even think about it." I fiercely whispered. Even though the second floor was full of utterly mundane memories, like brushing my teeth, I wasn''t willing to lose a single one.


    Unimpressed with my struggle, the Lamprey rolled and threw me off. By the time I recovered, it had already devoured a book. Panicking, I tried to create some more fake memories. But, the creature''s ability to consume a memory was far faster than my ability to create. For every memory I cobbled together, it destroyed at least ten others.


    Eventually, it seemed to become unsatisfied with the memories that were available and sensed juicer ones deeper within. Nothing I tried stopped its advance to the third floor.


    "No!" I screamed in mental anguish as I saw the Lamprey destroy an old memory of my mother reading a story to me as a toddler. It may seem silly, but those early moments of pure motherly love grounded me and helped me stay sane as a baby.


    Instantly, I came to a decision that would forever change the rest of my life. I commanded my tower to switch my third-floor memories with the seventh, where I kept all my memories of my previous life. Those memories meant nothing to me compared to memories of my current life.


    As I watched the Lamprey consume and destroy the remains of my previous life, I knew I had made the right decisions. I wouldn''t trade one of my precious memories for all the memories of my previous life. It''s time to stop looking back and look to the future.


    I had bought some time by sacrificing those memories. I needed to find a solution before it was finished and moved on to the next floor. I knew the answer laid with creating new artificial memories, but I wasn''t sure how to proceed. Normally, it took around ten minutes for me to create one, and the Lamprey was using around thirty seconds to devour one.


    I figured I had bought a few hours to figure out the trick. Closing my eyes, I started laying the groundwork for a memory. Ten minutes later, and I had a fresh fake ready to go. Frustrated, I threw the book at the Lamprey.


    Ten minutes wasn''t going to cut it if I wanted to prevent this creature from devouring my mind and leave me with nothing. There had to be a way to speed up the process.


    I discarded one idea after another as I watched the Lamprey run rampant through the level. At this point, it had worked its way through more than half of the memories on this floor. It''s a shame that I can''t treat memories like computer programs from my precious life, like being able to save a backup or copying and pasting a doc.u.ment.


    A light went off in my head, rather than cobble together memory, I just copy one then change what I need. That would solve the problems with speed. It would almost be just like editing a memory, with a small extra step.


    Quickly, I summoned a mundane memory from downstairs to get started. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but I saw immediate improvement. I went from ten minutes to about five. Encouraged, I kept at it, making copies, then changing the framework that already existed.


    Soon, I got the process to be below a minute, but that wasn''t enough. The Lamprey had gone through most of the memories on the level, and I only had a few minutes before it moved on to the fourth floor.


    The rage that I had been holding back burst forth in a torrent. It drove me to create memories even faster. Soon, I had the time down to fifteen seconds, but I wasn''t satisfied. I kept pushing them out, one by one. Slowly, the level started filling up with fakes because the Lamprey couldn''t keep up anymore. Knowing I could do more, I kept at it. Eventually, I was pumping them out every few seconds, and the level was filling up.


    We fell into a stalemate at that point. I couldn''t make it leave. But, it couldn''t eat faster than I made fakes. I don''t know how long our stalemate went on for, but soon, I felt the energy that the anger provided me start to fail.


    I was too far gone from my injuries. The anger had helped give me the energy to stay in the fight. But, once it flagged, I could sense the end approach. Soon, I lost the ability to create fakes, and the Lamprey began to feast and pulled ahead. By the time it was finished, it was nearing forty feet long and a foot wide.


    Too empty to do anything, I sat in my throne powerless. The Lamprey hissed with victory and started winding through the air towards the fourth floor. But, just as it was about to move on, it screeched a fearful tone and abruptly disappeared.


    I blinked in confusion, where did it go? Did I somehow win?


    Suddenly, I felt a liquid run down my throat that started to chase away the pain. Struggling, I cracked an eye and found an Asian witch pouring a potion down my throat while running her wand over my c.h.e.s.t, murmuring incantations. Next to her was Cedric, who was worriedly pacing back and forth.


    Mustering the last of my strength, I choked out, "I knew you would make it."


    I wasn''t able to hear a response because once I got the words out, my world went black, and I knew no more.

 Chapter 70 - Fawley and Whithorn

    Henry watched Alex scamper off with Cedric with a smile on his face. He was excited that his son had joined a club, even if it was a dueling one. Often he worried that Alex was trying to grow up too fast, and that he was rushing to fulfill responsibilities that he was too young to handle.


    Speaking of children, Henry turned to see Sasha and Rebbeca entertaining Athena. With her collar on, Athena appeared to be a large house cat: except no one could be fooled into thinking that she was mundane with her black fur and golden strips.


    Athena was lazily perched on her back on Sasha''s l.a.p, swiping her paws curiously at the shiny rock tied to a piece of string that Rebecca was teasing her with.


    "Where is Alex?" Camille asked.


    Henry turned to his blond-haired wife and smiled, "He had to run something to his locker. He''ll be back soon."


    Camille snorted, "He''d better. Anna will kill him if he misses her match."


    Henry laughed at the thought. Sometimes it seemed like Anna wanted to strangle Alex when she sent out signals, only for them to be ignored because Alex had his head in a book.


    Being able to enlighten Alex about the two girls who were competing for his affections made Henry''s day. Too often, Alex seemed not to need any fatherly advice, seeing his face go red in embarrassment had been a treat to see.


    As time went on, the stands began to fill with parents from all around the world. Each was hoping that their child would make it to the end and seize victory.


    While waiting for Alex to return, Henry heard a sound that shook him to his soul. Athena yowled a heart wrenching sound that screamed of rage and pain. It was a magically penetrating sound that filled the enormous stadium and all eyes turned to seek the source.


    Henry turned his head to find Athena on the ground and her fur standing on end. Her vertical emerald pupils began glowing and were wide with fear and fury.


    Pure magic began emanating from Athena in waves. Her next yowl turned into a roar as the collar hiding her nature snapped and revealed her wings and horns.


    Camille gripped her husband''s arm in fear. Not of Athena changes, but what her actions indicated.


    The surrounding seats began to empty as people''s instincts warned them that the winged cat was a danger.


    Athena let out another scream as a pulse of magic shot through her, and she began to grow. By the time it was over, she had doubled in size, her wings and horns had matched her growth.


    While she was growing, John ran over in a panic. "Where''s Alex? The only reason why Athena would act like that is if he was in grave danger."


    "He and Cedric went to his locker." Henry rapidly explained.


    "Something must have happened to them," John said.


    Upon hearing that something had happened to his son, but not realizing the full danger, Amos Diggory snapped, "What kind of show is the United Dueling League (U.D.L) running here?"


    Henry looked at John with the most severe expression that had ever crossed his face. "Tell me the truth, do you think this was him?"


    Looking just as dangerous, John thought about it for a moment, "I would be surprised if he did something so public, but we can''t rule it out."


    John turned to Camille and said, "Honey, take the girls back to the ship, then use the cabinet to go home."


    For a minute, it looked like Camille was going to argue, but then she countered, "I''ll leave them with your Mum, and then I''m coming right back."


    Her eyes blaze defiantly, daring her husband to refuse her the right to search for her son. But, Henry nodded, "Tell her to take the girls to the Macmillan clan."


    Not waiting for another second, Camille turned and grabbed Sasha and Rebbeca and started pulling them away. The twins were still confused about what was happening and were asking questions about Athena and Alex as they were dragged away.


    Before they could do anything else, a tall dark-hair enforcer for the U.D.L. approached their group with his wand out. "I''m going to have to ask you to remove that creature. Before it does anything dangerous."


    Henry looked at the enforcer with disgust, and thundered, "My son is a competitor in this tournament. This is his familiar, and she is only acting like this because his life is in danger. Now, instead of worrying about my son''s familiar, do your damn job and find my son!"


    Athena was finished with waiting and took off determined to find Alex. Without saying another word, Henry spun and stormed off behind her with the rest of the Fawleys, Spinnets and the U.D.L. enforcer


    behind.


    When they arrived at the door to the Silver Spears, John didn''t hesitate. Wordlessly, he pointed his wand at the wooden door, which opened with such force that it was almost knocked off the hinges.


    "I must say that this is unusual. I assure you these rooms are protected. " The U.D.L enforcer protested.


    Ignoring the protest, everyone poured inside the room. Henry approached Alex''s locker with his wand drawn. He murmured, "Revelio


    The space in front of his locker seemed to distort and twist. Amos asked, "What on earth is that?"


    Henry turned, glared at the U.D.L enforcer, and spat with cold fury, "That is the effect a portkey leaves on its surroundings."


    The enforces brown eyes widened when he saw the distortions. "I have to report this to my superiors immediately."


    "Can we use it to find where they were taken?" Amos wondered.


    "No," Henry bitterly replied. "Not only that, but the evidence will be gone within the hour."


    John hugged Henry, "It doesn''t matter where the portkey transported them. Athena can find him anywhere. I swear to you, we will find him."


    "Yeah, but they could be anywhere. If Athena is acting like this, how much time do you think Alex has left?" Henry gloomily replied.


    Silence filled the room as no one wanted to voice their thoughts. It could take them days to track them down.


    Eventually, Amos spoke up, "Umm. did anyone see where Athena went?"


    While everyone had been talking, Athena had already slinked out of the room, determined to find Alex. Once outside, she took off into the sky, not willing to wait for the slow humans.


    It didn''t take long for everyone to make it outside. Henry pointed to a small dot in the west, "There she is, she is already tracking Alex."


    He turned to his wife and said, "I need you to stay on the boat and wait for my signal. Henry and I will follow the trail on brooms."


    "If Athena can tell where he is, why don''t we apparate with her? Surely that would be faster than flying." Amos questioned.


    John shook his head, "Bad idea, there is too much magic pouring off Athena. If you were to try and apparate with her, there is an excellent chance that you will splinch yourself and end up missing a piece of your body."


    Before they could leave, Alicia pleaded with her parents, "Let me go with them, Alex and Cedric are my friends."


    Alicia''s father, Abasi, shot her down. "Absolutely not, whatever happened to them, it''s too dangerous for you to get involved."


    Alicia''s eyes narrowed as a rebellious look on her face appeared on her face. Playing the role of the peacemaker, her mother, Zaliki, intervened in the argument. "How about I accompany them? If Alex is hurt, having a healer on site will be useful."


    "Fine," Alicia grumbled.


    Hearing that a healer was coming along, Henry interjected, "Thank you."


    Zaliki waved away his thanks, "That is what healers are here for."


    John, Henry, Amos, and Zaliki took off on brooms following the trail of Athena. Half a day later, there was no sign of Athena slowing down. Amos yelled over the wind, "Where could they possibly be?"


    John pulled up next to him and replied, "Since we''re dealing with portkeys, they could be anywhere."


    Soon, Nefret sent a message that Camille was ready to join the search party, so Henry apparated back to the ship and grabbed her.


    As they continued to follow Athena, it became apparent that she wasn''t going to stop for the night. Luckily, Camille was a master potioneer and had come prepared. Soon, everyone''s energy was restored as Camille gave them potions to keep them awake and their energy up.


    The following evening, as they neared the coast, John angrily swore, "Damn, they must be on another continent. If I had known that, we could have used my ship and saved almost two days."


    John sent a message to Nefret to meet them at the coast. When the two parties met up, everyone was exhausted. While everyone rested, Nefret guided the ship though the underwater pathways. Going through the routes wasn''t as fast as normal because the paths didn''t follow a normal route. The ship needed to surface to allow Athena to get Alex''s bearing. Soon, it became apparent that they were heading towards China.


    On the morning of the third day, the group started moving through Asia. By nightfall, Athena''s panic was increasing. As she beat her wings ferociously, energy began building near her horns. With a loud scream, a bolt of lightning was ejected from her horns and struck the ground with a large explosion. Camille looked at Henry with tears in her eyes. They understood that the more Athena panicked, the closer to death Alex was.


    Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Athena seemed to calm slightly as she abruptly changed directions. Soon, Nefret sent word. Alex was alive. He and Cedric had been found by the Chinese Ministry of Magic and had been taken to the hospital in Beijing.


    Whithorn''s POV the night after Alex''s disappearance.


    In the depths of the Flying Dutchman, seven seats were ringed in a u-shape, out of which four of were empty. Declan Whithorn occupied the seat in the middle. His previous black hair now had more white than black. Even though age had taken its toll on him, his limbs were still full of strength, and his icy blue eyes were glaring at two people in front of him.


    "You did what?" He coldly asked.


    The older of the two w.h.i.n.ed, "I was just teaching the brat a lesson. He embarrassed me last summer when my son had to be publicly sent to the mental ward. I don''t see what the big deal is. It''s not like a competitor hasn''t ever been ported away at the last minute."


    Delcan rubbed his head like a headache was developing, "You idiot, your actions may have started a war."


    "What do you mean?" Delvin w.h.i.n.ed. "I just used one of the old portkeys that you use for drop offs. From where I found it, it hadn''t been used in a while."


    "Did it not occur to your tiny brain that there is a reason why we hadn''t been using that portkey?" Declan replied scathingly. "Ten years ago, a Nundu took possession of the cave on the other end. We haven''t used it since. The boy is most likely dead. "


    Turning to the younger of the two, Declan sneered, " It seems as though you were too weak to handle a boy two years your junior and got your daddy to solve all your problems."


    Michael paled under his grandfather''s scrutiny, "I didn''t have anything to do with it. I was planning to deal with him myself."


    Declan studied Michael''s face searching for the truth. Finally, he grunted, "Well, at least your father hasn''t completely ruined you."


    "I didn''t know," Delvin complained.


    Declan sneered in disgust, "That makes it worse. If you had tried to kill him deliberately, I would have been annoyed at how you did it, but I would have respected you more."


    Delvin pleaded, "It not like anyone will discover what I did. I covered my tracks, I''m sure of it."


    Declan snorted in disgust, "Let''s put aside the issue that the son of a Ministry of Magic Official was most likely killed in your idiotic stunt. Do you think not being able to prove it was us, will stop the Fawley family from acting?"


    "What could that washed up family possibly do to us?" Delvin complained.


    Declan heavily sighed as he leaned back into his chair, "You know, you just proved your stupidity and confirmed I was right to leave you to your own devices in London."


    Pulling out a file from his robe, Declan threw it at Delvin and shouted, "What can they possibly do? Their family is well connected. The boy''s grandmother sits on the board of governors at Hogwarts and routinely rubs elbows with some of the most influential people in Britain. Not to mention, her brother is the head of the Mcmillian clan."


    As Delvin opened his mouth to protest, Declan pointed his wand at him and shouted, "Silencio."


    "You''ve lost your right to speak," Declan sneered. "Now, where was I? Oh yes. Now, let''s talk about the boy''s uncle, who in the last twenty years has been building a world-spanning organization called ''The revenants'' that rivals mine. Is that what you claim is a washed up family?"


    Worry started creeping in on Michael''s face as he heard his grandfather rant, "Surely, they can''t do anything to us.".


    Declan turned to his right, where a small beady-eyed goblin with a hooked nose sat in one of the seven seats, indicating that he was one of Declan''s six lieutenants that ran the syndicate. "What do you think, Nadluk?"


    Showing his pointed teeth, Nadluk replied, "After running the numbers, I calculate that our chances of victory are 71 percent."


    The newest member of the seven was a brutal, wolfish-looking, one-eyed wizard with a scar running down from his forehead to his jaw named Graham. When he heard the numbers, he snorted, "If our chance of victory is so high, maybe your bumbling son did us a favor. We should put John Fawley down and absorb the rest of the Revenants into our ranks."


    Delvin''s eyes lit up upon hearing one of the seven speak up in his favor. But, his hopes were quickly dashed when Declan asked, "Nadluk, why don''t you inform Graham about the consequences should we go to war and win, what would our casualties look like?"


    Nadluk shot a toothy sly grin towards the newest member of the council for not thinking it through. "I calculate our casualties to be around sixty percent, and that''s assuming no Ministry of Magic gets involved, which they most surely will. That will only be the beginning of our troubles. With our syndicate weakened, vultures will begin to circle and try to pick us apart piece by piece. Also, Graham''s assumption that we could absorb the Revenants is wrong. I have been trying to get a member of their organization to come to our side, but they strongly resist any attempt I''ve made. Even upon capture, they choose death rather than to betray their own. That kind of loyalty is impressive."


    Delvin''s eyes widened with shock when he heard everything about John Fawley''s organization. Declan coldly remarked, "Yes, now you begin to see what you set in motion with your rash actions."


    Michael asked, "Surely, there must be something we can do to stop this."


    Declan looked at the ceiling as his mind picked apart the problem. "The first thing to do is to insulate us from the disappearances. Should anyone be able to trace this back to us, our problems will start to snowball. I''ve already contacted your aunt, who runs our operations in North America. She will help us control the narrative of the story, she has people inside the Magical Congress of the United States of America that will help us."


    Looking at his son in disappointment, Declan demanded, "Tell me every move you did so I can start cleaning up your mess."


    Once Declan heard the whole story, he nodded, "I can work with this."


    Now that he had a plan, he shot his son a withering look and commanded, "Go back to Britain and run your broom company. I know it will be hard, but try not to do anything stupid."


    Turning to his grandson, Declan motioned for Michael to follow, "I think it''s time I took a greater hand in your education. I sense potential within you, and I don''t want you to end up as useless as your father."

 Chapter 71 - Healer Chen

    After days of pain, and the damaging mental battle I went through, being free of all pain was the best feeling in the world. I wanted nothing more to sleep until my body forced me to wake because I was so well rested that I couldn''t possibly sleep another wink.


    Now, imagine my grouchiness when I had my eyes peeled open, and a glowing wand stuck in my face by an elderly Asian witch with a "malicious" expression.


    My first instinct was to push the wand out of my face. I panicked when I realized that my arms weren''t responding to my commands. When did I lose control of my arms?


    Seeing the panic on my face build, the witch cautioned, "Don''t try to move. You were very severely injured, and we had to restrain you, so your movements won''t interfere with your healing.


    Glancing down, I noticed dozens of hair-thin glowing needles piercing my body. I looked like a victim of an angry porcupine.


    Without my consent, she pinched my cheeks together and started forcing some of the foulest tasting potions I have ever had down my throat. When she was finished, I warned her with my eyes that if she tried that again, I would be taking a piece of her flesh. To emphasize my threat, I showed her my teeth.


    Before I could ask about everyone, my eyelids began to droop as the urge to sleep overcame me. The last thing I heard was a soothing voice, "Don''t worry, the next time you wake up, everything will be back to normal."


    I fell into a dreamless sleep, and I lost all sense of time. Several times, I started waking and heard the voices of my friends and family. But, each time I was close to consciousness, I was given more potions that dragged me back to sweet oblivion.


    Eventually, I slowly regained consciousness, and I became aware of a weighted pressure on my c.h.e.s.t. Struggling, I slowly opened my eyes and yelped. "Ahh."


    Athena was two inches from my face. Her vertical green pupils were watching me like a hawk. Like she was afraid I would disappear if she took her eyes off me for a second.


    Reaching up, I stroked the back of her head, "What happened to you?" I questioned. "You feel like you gained twenty pounds."


    Her eyes narrowed in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, and brought up a paw and smacked me several times in the face. "Alright, alright, I''m sorry. I won''t mention your weight again." Satisfied that she had asserted her dominance. She playfully chuffed and nuzzled my face with her own, happy that we were reunited.


    All of a sudden, it occurred to me that for the first time since I was portkeyed, I could feel my legs. I tried to sit up, but Athena shifted her weight, trying to hold me down and prevent me from moving.


    "I''m not going anywhere. I just want to sit up. Stop being such a worry wort."


    Thinking about my physical injuries led me to ponder my mental ones. I was cut off from my past life. Before the attack, most of the memories of my previous life had already faded away, but now, nothing remained. I didn''t regret what I did, between memories of this life and my last, I would choose this life without hesitation every time.


    It was a strange feeling. I still remember thinking about my old life and even what happened to me there. But the actual memories were gone, it was like hearing and thinking about a story that happened to someone else when in reality it happened to you. The knowledge was there, but the feelings it created were gone.


    I tried to process what this all meant, was I not me anymore? If I wasn''t, could I even tell? While I was pondering what defined me as a person, I heard two young voice''s that I feared I would never hear again.


    "Alex!" They cried in unison.


    I turned and saw my little sisters at the door. Both of them were wearing casual blue robes. Rebecca''s hair looked like it hadn''t touched a comb in days, while Sasha''s didn''t have a hair out of place.


    With identical shrieks of joy, they ran towards me and climbed on my bed. I wrapped my arms around them and pulled them close. While I was trying to squish them in a hug, I saw my parents watching us with tears in their eyes.


    "Mum, Dad," I croaked with delight.


    They wandered over and joined in on the family hug. I don''t know how long we sat there on the bed. But, it was there that I made the decision not to fret about those decaying memories I had sacrificed.


    Whoever I was in my previous life didn''t define me now. I was Alexander Fawley, a happy son, loving brother, silly nephew, dutiful grandson, best friend, and a wizard who would find a way to protect all that was important to me. That was more than enough for me. I could figure out the rest later.


    Once I got some breathing room, I asked, "Where''s Cedric?"


    Mum and Dad exchanged awkward looks before Mum explained, "Alex, Cedric isn''t here. None of your friends are."


    A little confused, I asked, "Why not?"


    Dad gently replied, "Your injuries were so extensive that the healers decided to keep you unconscious while they fixed you. The process took over seven days."


    "What? Why did it take so long?" I demanded.


    "Because young man, your injuries were catastrophic and proper healing takes time." A voice replied from the doorway.


    Turning, I saw the witch I had dubbed, she-who-brings-potions-most-foul enter the room. Now that I got a look at her without being all groggy, I guiltily realized she was the witch that Cedric brought that saved me from dying.


    "You had 32 broken bones, a cracked skull, a shattered pelvis, a detached ribcage, and your spinal cord was so badly damaged we had to regrow you a new one." She said in a no-nonsense tone.


    I felt flashes of phantom pain with each listed injury. Hearing her list out all my injuries, highlighted how close to death I was when she found me.


    "When I found you in the forest, you were running a dangerously high fever and had developed a severe infection that was in the process of shutting down your organs."


    Mum tearfully sniffed as the lady added, "Not to mention the mind lamprey I found attached to your head. At first, I was worried that you would end up being a drooling imbecile, and you trying to bite me every time I fed you potions didn''t instill me with much confidence. But, it seems as though I got there in time, and the creature didn''t have a chance to devour your mind."


    As my face turned red in embarrassment, Mum gripped my shoulder in fear. Apparently, this was the first she had heard about the lamprey.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad narrow his eyes. He may have realized that there was more to the story. The books he had secretly gotten me the previous summer pointed out that occlumency could be used to defend yourself from magical creatures.


    "Thank you, Healer Chen." Mum gushed. "I don''t know what we would have done if you hadn''t found Alex."


    Healer Chen waved away Mum''s praise. "I''m just happy everything worked out. Your son did half the battle. Without his healing potions, he wouldn''t have lasted long for me to arrive."


    She turned to me and said, "You should think about a career as a healer. It''s a difficult but rewarding profession."


    "Maybe," I said, not knowing what to say. "There''s a lot of areas of magic I would like to study."


    "Just something to keep in mind." Healer Chen


    I glanced at my parents and Healer Chen, before asking, "So, when can I get out of here?"


    Healer Chen smiled, "Today if you want." She pulled out a jar of lotion from her robes, "This is for the scar on your shoulder and back. The creature that attacked you had enough to magic in its claws to make sure the scar wouldn''t easily heal. If you apply this daily, it will disappear over the next few months."


    Twisting my head, I pulled the hospital robe down to try and see the scar. Running my finger down the rough scar, "I don''t know, it''s kind of cool. Maybe I''ll keep it."


    Mum let out a loud, "Hmph."


    She snatched the jar of lotion from Healer Chen and dared me to say that again with her eyes. Having learned to pick my battles over the years, I wisely didn''t reply.


    "Now, before you go, I need to give you a final exam." Healer Chen explained. She pulled out her wand and began murmuring incantations as she ran it over my body.


    Once she was satisfied with what she found, she remarked, "I still can''t believe that this happened. The U.D.L needs to get their house in order. It''s outrageous that a promising teenage wizard was almost killed by the actions of an aging elf with dementia."


    "Wait. What?" I incredulously asked.


    "Right, you wouldn''t have known." Healer Chen replied.


    Her dark eyes widened, and she leaned forward and whispered like she was about to let me in on a particularly juicy piece of gossip and didn''t want anyone else to overhear. "They''re saying that the portkey that transported you and your friend was accidentally put there by an elf that didn''t know what he was doing."


    I looked at her in disbelief, what a bunch of hogwash. I don''t care what she says, Michael was involved somehow.


    Just as I was about to express my opinion, dad caught my eye and slowly shook his head.


    Healer Chen took my silent disbelief as surprise, "Well, it''s water under the bridge now." She remarked.


    "What do you mean?" I asked.


    "Oh, once they found out who was responsible, they retired the elf." She explained.


    The way she said retired made the hair on the back of my neck rise. Most people didn''t view elves with great importance. If they U.D.L thought an elf was responsible for almost killing a wizard, then they would respond harshly and quickly.


    Healer Chen turned to leave. But, on her way out left, she informed me, "You may feel strange over the next week. Most of your insides were either regrown or heavily repaired. It''s common in cases like this to feel out of sorts, some have described it as wearing a new pair of shoes. They fit just right, but it takes some time to break them in and feel comfortable."


    Getting discharged didn''t take long. While leaving the hospital, I felt the sensation Healer Chen described. It was almost like my whole body was asleep and sent tingling sensations through my body every few steps.


    At the receptionist''s desk, I saw something that shocked me. After doing a little mental math, I turned to my parents and exclaimed, "It''s Monday the 25th! The train back to Hogwarts left yesterday."


    "We know, that''s one of the reasons why your friends weren''t here when you woke up. They had to return to school." Mum explained.


    I scowled, not pleased about missing the train, "Fine, let''s get going. We''ve got a lot of ground to cover if I''m to make it back to Hogwarts today."


    Mum put her hand on my shoulder, and gently suggested, "Alex, I think that you need some rest at home. I spoke with Professor Dumbledore, and he assured me that your grades were good enough to miss school for a week or two and still be back in time for finals."


    "What? No, I need to get back to school." I pleaded


    Mum tried to hide it, but I saw her wince in sadness. Guilt welled up within me. She had spent the last week and a half in fear for her son''s life. "Well, maybe for a couple of days." I hesitantly suggested.


    Mum pulled me into a hug, and I locked eyes with Dad, "But, no more than that, I have things back in the Ravenclaw tower."


    Dad''s eyes widened with comprehension. He knew I had the trial. I had less than a week until I lost my chance forever. He silently mouthed, "I''ll speak with her."


    One way or another I was completing that trial, I didn''t spend the last year spending countless hours working on Occlumency for nothing. If worst came the worse, I could always sneak back into Hogwarts. But, I would rather that be plan B.


    We took a taxi to the harbor where Uncle John''s ship was hiding behind the illusion of a modern boat.


    The rest of my family was on board waiting for us. Grandma looked exhausted. Under her eyes were bags, and her normal impeccable hair was undone. Like she hadn''t bothered with it for days.


    Next to her was Uncle John and Aunt Nefret. Uncle John had his usual leather duster on while Aunt Nefret had on black robes with gold-colored borders.


    Uncle John studied me intensely for a second, once he was satisfied that I was fine, he smirked, "You know, Alex. If you wanted a vacation, all you had to do was ask. There are more pleasant and less hazardous destinations you can get to by portkey."


    Aunt Nefret smacked his arm, while I rolled my eyes at his attempt at humor, "I''ll keep that in mind the next time I get unwilling portkeyed across the world."


    I looked around at the rest of my family and asked, "Speaking of portkeys, what was that nonsense Healer Chen was saying about an elf being responsible? That''s a load of crap. Cedric and I ran into Michael Whithorn a few minutes before being teleported away. He has to be involved."


    As my voice trailed off into bitter silence, my family looked at each other awkwardly for a minute.


    Uncle John weighed in, "Well, there''s what we know officially and unofficially. Where would you like me to start?"


    "With the unofficial version," I replied. I needed to know every detail about what happened.


    Uncle John sighed, "First, I have to tell you that you''re wrong about Michael being involved."


    Seeing that I was about to object, Uncle John held up a hand, "I have a source inside their organization. Today, I got confirmation that it was Delvin who planted the portkey. It seems that he wanted revenge for being embarrassed last year when you got his son thrown in St. Mungos for a week"


    Mum shot me a glare. This was the first time she heard what I did. I pointedly avoided her gaze and focused on Uncle John''s explanation, "It seems as though he only meant prevent Alex from competing. He had no idea that there was a Nundu on the other side."


    I leaned back in disbelief. I couldn''t tell what made me more furious, that Michael wasn''t involved, or that his father nearly killed me through incompetence.


    One of the things that had given me the strength to go on was my hatred for Michael and all the things I would do to him if I made it back alive. What was I supposed to do with this need for revenge I had growing inside me?


    Let it go? I don''t think so. Someone was going to pay for everything I went through. If it wasn''t Michael, then his father would have to suffice to quell my anger.


    Apparently, Mum and I were on the exact same page because she shrieked, "An accident."


    She turned to Dad and raged, "That stupid..." Mum''s voice trailed off while she tried to find the appropriate words.


    "That stupid Troglodyte almost kills our son, and now he wants to get away with it!"


    Normally, it took a lot to anger, Dad. Never before had I seen such a hard look in his eyes.


    "No," he ground out through gritted teeth. "We''re not going to let him get away with it. I don''t care what the official story is. He''ll pay for almost killing our son."


    Uncle John heavily sighed, "The problem lies with his father and his syndicate. If we take out his son, he will respond in kind. As much as it pains me to admit, we''re not ready for a full-blown confrontation."


    Silence rained throughout the room, before I questioned, "Who says we need to take him out?"


    Thinking about how Delvin almost took everything from me, I snarled, "What we should do is take away what he loves most."


    Uncle John raised an eyebrow and replied, "I think taking our revenge on Declan''s grandson, would have the same negative effect."


    "Your thinking like a Fawley, and not a Whithorn," I countered. "Delvin didn''t do this for his son. He did it for himself."


    Leaning forward and looking Uncle John in the eye, I earnestly emphasized, "Remember what you said earlier. Delvin did this because he was embarrassed in public. He has carefully cultivated an image as a respectable businessman. He loves being the owner of the world''s fastest racing broom. It brings him money, respect, influence, everything that he craves."


    I slowly turned my head around the room so I could look everyone in the eyes, "So, I''m suggesting that we take it away from him. Besides, the Nimbus Broom Racing Company was built off the hard work of Grandpa George. We would just be rightfully reclaiming what belongs to our family."


    "How are we going to take away the company? We''ve tried before, but Delvin clearly owns the rights to George''s work." Grandma questioned with a sad look in her eyes.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad sit up with a startled look on his face. I think he understood where I was going.


    Turning to him with a confidant smile, "I think it''s time to let everybody in on Project Firebolt."

 Chapter 72 - Meetings

    "That''s ridiculous," I shouted as I threw the current releases of The Circadian Inquisitor and The Daily Prophet across the room. Around the wooden cabin, papers from both newspapers were strewn across the floor.


    The Circadian Inquisitor was the American version of the Daily Prophet. Today, they had one thing in common, they were both full of dragon piss and pixie shit.


    As I scanned through the papers for the last week and a half, I could see the fingerprints of Declan Whithorn''s puppet mastery.


    I have to admit, Declan was a master manipulator. While my family had been desperately searching for me, he had gone on the offensive. After the initial shock of a competitor disappearing under the nose of the United Dueling League, Declan flooded the papers with so many fake stories and rumors that no one knew what to believe.


    Three days later, when it was announced that I had been found alive, but near death, the public was incensed, and a call for an official investigation was underway. It was then Declan made his ultimate move, investigators called in from the Magical Congress of the United States announced that they had discovered the culprit.


    They claimed that an aging house named Zabkey was responsible for displacing a portkey. With all the portkeys that were being utilized for the competition, it wasn''t a stretch for the public to imagine one being mishandled.


    The U.D.L. received a very public black eye when it was discovered that the elf in question served the U.D.L. The Silver Spears were outraged and claimed that the elf must have been acting on orders by targeting one of their members.


    Wanting to put this behind them, the U.D.L quietly turned Zabkey over to investigators. Within days, the papers published that after an extensive investigation, it was apparent that Zabkey''s advanced age was what led to him being confused and accidentally misplacing the portkey.


    They even produced the records of the portkeys creation, which I knew had to be fake. All that was left was to punish Zabkey. Typically, if an elf were to bring harm to a witch or wizard, the punishment could be anything from being given clothes to execution.


    But, with Zabkey''s advanced age and memory problems, the U.D.L. "generously" allowed the elf to "retire." The retirement of elves is not widely practiced, but it''s not unheard of either.


    The idea behind retirement is when an elf becomes too old or feeble to serve and becomes a burden on their masters. A potion is created and given to the elf, which will put them into an endless sleep until they die.


    The choice to consume the potion is entirely up to the elf. The vast majority of elves will choose to drink the potion rather than being a burden on their masters. Some argue that the method is barbaric. But, more than one elf has severely hurt themselves and crawled into a hidden space to die when they are no longer capable of serving their masters.


    Personally, I found the method distasteful, but house-elves were a strange lot. The very idea of freedom, or not being useful was enough to send them into a panic attack.


    While I was fuming over the retirement of Zabkey, Uncle John put his hand on my shoulder, "It''s not all bad. I was able to identify two of Ember''s operatives in the Magical Congress of the United States as well as a few others under her thumb."


    I was still a little disheartened about how easily Whithorn was able to manipulate the public and couldn''t muster much interest. "Who?" I muttered.


    Uncle John laid a photograph on the table in front of me and explained, "Ember Whithorn is Delcan''s daughter. She is everything that Delvin is not; she is strong, smart, and above all else, ruthless."


    I picked up the photograph as the blue-eyed witch inside coldly looked at me like I was a bug and was debating on whether I was worthy of being stepped on. Part of me had been expecting her to look like Bellatrix Lestrange with crazy lidded eyes and strung-out hair. But instead, I saw a middle-aged witch with her dark hair pulled back and dressed professionally. She reminded me of some of the prominent witches my grandmother introduced me to at various functions.


    "She is one of six lieutenants that report to Declan, she runs operations in North America and has built an efficient operation. It was her people that ran the investigation," Uncle John explained.


    "I was wondering how the investigators came up with that story. It makes more sense now that I know that they work for the syndicate," I replied bitterly.


    Uncle John put his hand on my shoulder, "I know you''re disappointed with how everything turned out, but have patience. One day, the Whithorns will get what they deserve."


    I waved my arms in frustration and vented, "What pisses me off more than anything is how easily they got away with it."


    Uncle John sighed, "Most people tend to believe trusted sources or authorities. Sure, there will be some who don''t, but they will be in the minority."


    I grunted in dissatisfaction, what a bunch of sheep. For the first time, I felt like I understood why Harry was bewildered and frustrated on how easily the Daily Prophet turned so many against him.


    Once we got home, I still couldn''t shake my annoyance. I knew that Declan''s syndicate was connected, but knowing and seeing are two completely different things.


    It''s no wonder Declan can operate in the dark, he either owns or pays off everyone. I wouldn''t be surprised if he owns a piece of the newspapers. It will take a lot to take him down, but I don''t know if we can take his organization down. When something that efficiently gets built, even if the head is decapitated. Someone else will move in to take his place.


    In the end, I pushed my worries to the back of my mind. Right now, there wasn''t anything I could do to the syndicate. One day, when I am older and have come into my power, I will turn my attention back to them.


    xxx


    After a few relaxing days at home, it was time for me to go back to school. Getting back was rather easy. Rather than taking a six-hour train ride, all I did was use the floo network to travel to Hogsmeade, the town outside of Hogwarts.


    When I approached the iron gates to Hogwarts, I saw the shortest Professor at school waiting for me. When Professor Flitwick saw me, he jumped up and waved one arm in the air, like he was afraid I would not see him.


    "Mr. Fawley," he squeaked. "It''s good to see you looking well. I was worried that you might not make it back this year."


    I smiled faintly before replying, "And risk losing the top ranking in Ravenclaw. I don''t think so."


    A high pitched laugh escaped Professor Flitwick, "Well, now that you''re back, I think you''re safe from losing the top spot."


    As I started following Professor Flitwick through the castle, Athena trailed behind me, a little disgruntled that she no longer fit on my shoulder. As we made our way through the castle, I soon realized that we weren''t going to the Ravenclaw tower.


    "Where are we going?" I asked.


    "The Headmaster would like to see you." Professor Flitwick explained.


    Either way, I had a choice to make, to use my Occlumency or not. Professor Snape had probably told him that I had mastered the occlumency shield. I had gotten to the point where I could keep my occlumency shields up for the entire day. So if he encountered my shield, he shouldn''t be too surprised.


    I could always rely on my ability to craft fake memories to fool him, but I didn''t know if I wanted to take that step. There was a difference between keeping someone out of my mind or deliberately misleading them with fake memories. It felt like lying, and even though I could get away with it, it felt like I would be drawing a line between me and Dumbledore.


    As we approached the gargoyle on the third floor that blocked the entrance to the Headmaster''s office, I decided to keep my shields up. While Professor Dumbledore hasn''t ever done anything to me, that didn''t mean I was ok with him ruffling through my memories.


    "Toffee Eclairs," Professor Flitwick said.


    A rumbling sound came from the gargoyle as he spun to the side, revealing a staircase.


    "Up you go," Professor Flitwick urged.


    After going up the stairs, I knocked on the door to the Headmaster''s office. "Enter," a brisk voice called out.


    Opening the office, I noticed more details than the last time I was here. I had been in trouble because of my excursions into the forest and didn''t pay much attention to the office. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses. There was also a large, claw-footed desk, and the sorting hat rested on a shelf behind it. I even caught sight of a sword resting in what I would swear was an umbrella holder. I quickly reassured myself that there was no way that Professor Dumbledore kept the sword of Gryffindor in such a weird place.


    My eyes focused on one of the most powerful wizards in existence. Professor Dumbledore was lovingly tending to his pet phoenix, Fawkes, whose red and gold feathers were looking a bit aged. In a couple of years, Fawkes would die and be reborn in his ashes.


    Fawkes and Athena seemed to stare at one another for a moment, both magical creatures taking each other measure. Soon the moment passed, and they seemed to ignore each other''s presence.


    Professor Dumbledore glanced up at me before saying, "Please take a seat, Mr. Fawley."


    "Please call me, Alex. Whenever someone calls me Mr. Fawley, I think they''re talking to my Dad," I replied.


    Professor Dumbledore''s eyes twinkled in delight.


    As I sat down, he deposited Fawkes to his perch before turning back to me, and blandly said, "Well, Alex, you had quite an adventure over the spring break."


    I snorted, "I don''t know if adventure is quite the right word. Mostly I just laid in pain on a cot and tried not to die. Cedric did all the hard work."


    Professor Dumbledore''s blue eyes darkened, and a chill seemed to emanate from him. "Yes, I spoke with Cedric about your experiences. I''m not happy with the U.D.L. allowing harm to come to my students."


    As quickly as the chill arrived, it vanished when Professor Dumbledore''s eyes gently relaxed. "If you ever need to discuss anything about what happened, I want you to know my door is always open."


    As we continued speaking, I kept expecting to feel a mental probe from Professor Dumbledore, but it never came. I didn''t know if it was because he had already gotten all the info he needed from Cedric, or because he knew I had occlumency shields.


    One thing I gleaned from our conversation was that Professor Dumbledore hinted that he knew there was more to what happened and wasn''t buying what the papers were selling.


    I couldn''t tell if he knew who was responsible, but on my way out of the office, he absently commented, "I''m glad that at least one student that missed the train returned."


    A little confused, I asked, "Who else missed the train?"


    Professor Dumbledore looked me in the eye and replied in a serious tone, "Michael Whithorn''s family has chosen to withdraw him from Hogwarts and finish his schooling elsewhere."


    I nearly dropped my occlumency shields in shock. I hadn''t been expecting that. What did that mean? One thing I picked up on was Professor Dumbledore''s slight inflection when he said the word family. Was he implying that it wasn''t Delvin but Declan who made the call? Did he even know who Declan was? Ah, so annoyingly vague.


    I was so lost in thought that when I made it back to the Ravenclaw tower, I realized I didn''t remember walking through the school.


    Once inside the tower, I was nearly tackled to the ground by raven-haired blur.


    "Alex!" Jessica cried out while wrapping me in a bear hug.


    "It''s good to see you too, Jessica," I replied with a wry grin.


    A few of the other Ravenclaw students snickered, and Jessica pulled away red-faced.


    "I read about what happened. It''s absolutely horrible what that elf did." She furiously remarked. "I''m glad that they retired him."


    I gave a wan smile and chose not to correct her. Jessica didn''t know anything about the Whithorn syndicate, and I wasn''t sure if I should tell her or not.


    "Are you still injured?" Jessica worriedly asked, "The papers said you were nearly killed. So when you didn''t return on the train, I feared the worst."


    I shook my head and explained, "I woke up a few days ago completely healed. Mum and Dad wanted me to rest for a few days at home before returning to school."


    As we continued to catch up, Athena purred in delight as she rested on Jessica''s l.a.p. At this point, it was apparent that she wasn''t a typical cat since she was double the size of one. I was curious as to how big she was going to get, maybe Hagrid could tell me.


    Before I knew it, Jessica was yawning, and I noticed that the common room was deserted. Calling it a night, Jessica wandered back into the girl''s dormitory.


    Once I was finally alone, my eyes turned to the secret door that had been teasing me with its presence all night. As I approached the door, butterflies welled up within me. I took a deep breath to settle myself. I could do this. Everything I went through this year had prepared me for this moment.


    With a quick turn of the doorknob, I descended within the depths of the Ravenclaw tower. It was time to prove my worth and become a true Heir of Ravenclaw.


    xxxx


    John''s POV


    In an old dank alley, a tall dark-haired man wearing a black leather duster appeared out of thin air. John glanced around making sure there were no witnesses before quickly walking away heading towards a small park that rarely received visitors.


    He paused and carefully looked around when he caught sight of the man he was meeting, it wasn''t the first time they had met alone, but when dealing with this person one could never be too careful.


    As John approached the agreed upon meeting place, he sized up Declan Whithorn. He was sitting on a park bench as if he didn''t have a care in the world. If a passerby saw him they would think he was an old man enjoying the sunset, well at least until they caught a glimpse of his cold eyes.


    John wordlessly took a seat on the far side of the bench, the two sat in silence each wanting the other to make the first move.


    Finally, Declan huffed in annoyance, and remarked, "I heard your nephew is going to be just fine."


    John scoffed, "Barely, he nearly died due to the actions of your family."


    Declan held up a hand, "I had nothing to do with that."


    "I know, that''s why I was willing to meet and see what you were willing to offer before I decided how to respond to your son''s actions." John replied.


    Declan glared at John, "We both know your bluffing, my forces are stronger than yours and you know it."


    John gave a mad grin, "Maybe, but we both know the cost to you would be crippling."


    Tension filled the air as the two glared at one another. Finally, Declan sighed and said, " Fine, I agree, this requires restitution. Name your price, as long as it''s reasonable, we can work something out."


    After thinking about it for a moment, John said, "I want you to lift your hand of protection off of Delvin."


    Declan snorted, "My son may be an idiot, but I''m not going to let you kill him."


    "His life doesn''t concern me. What I want is for you to let him stand on his own two feet concerning his business, no propping him up or bailing him out.


    Declan closed his eyes for a moment then grunted, "Ah, I see what you have in mind. Fine, but I have a condition of my own. You can''t be involved at all. If your brother wants to try and take on Delvin, that''s fine, but if you meddle, all bets are off."


    John thought about it for a moment, "Agreed."


    Done talking, John got up and walked away. On his way out of the park, Declan called out, "You know John. If you join my little group, we could accomplish great things."


    John paused for a moment, then left without a word.

 Chapter 73 - Trial of Ravenclaw

    As I walked down the steps, my pulse increased as the excitement continued to build within me. Once I reached the doorway at the bottom, I paused when I saw the giant Bronze Eagle Statue waiting motionlessly in the center of the circular room.


    Unlike last year, there was nothing in the room except the Eagle. I couldn''t help but wonder what the Eagle usually did to keep busy. Did it go dormant? I gave a mental shrug. Who knows, maybe it wasn''t even capable of being bored.


    An impatient voice cut in, jolting me from my thoughts, "Are you going to stand there all day with that idiotic look on your face?"


    My face burned red in embarrassment. I had forgotten how sharp the Eagle''s tongue could be when it was impatient.


    I shot the Eagle my best scowl and rebuked, "I''ll enter when I''m good and ready." I waited a few more seconds just to prove a point, "Now I''m ready."


    "You''re probably just afraid you''re going to fail like so many others before you." The Eagle gloated.


    My left eye started twitching in annoyance, and I felt the urge to draw my wand and curse the Statue. I squashed the feeling because I didn''t want to chance the Eagle messing with me during the trial.


    Standing before the bronze eagle, I said in a formal tone, "I''m ready for the trial."


    The Bronze Statue lowered its head, peered down at me and grunted, "Well, at least you put it off to the last moment. I''ve seen many proud Ravenclaws fail because they are overconfident and try months before they run out of time."


    The eagle lifted its wing for a moment, and a pedestal rose from the ground. On top was a small pitch-black stone that looked like it drained any light touching it away.


    I glanced at the stone for a moment before turning back to the bronze statue and warily questioned, "What is that?"


    The Eagle explained, "It''s a mind stone. It''s a rare curious piece of magic that occurs in nature."


    "What do I do with it?"


    Smirking at me, the Statue replied, "That''s easy. All you have to do is pick it up."


    "For how long?" I asked.


    The eagle refused to say another word, and I got the sense that not knowing how long the trial would last was part of the test. Not knowing how long something would last could really mess with your head. But, I wasn''t too worried about anything getting through my shield, not after a certain potions master spent countless hours battering on them.


    Instantly, I felt a faint buzzing in my mind, and I could feel a slight pressure on my shield. I smirked. If that was the best it could do, then this test was in the bag.


    Almost like it heard me, the pressure slightly increased. I frowned at the increase. While the increased demand was well within my capabilities, if it kept going and didn''t have a limit to how much it could increase. This trial could be a lot harder than I thought.


    As time went on, the pressure increased. But, my shield held firm. I gave a mental thanks to Professor Snape for his constant mental intrusions. Thanks to him, I have experience weathering long drawn out incursions against my shields.


    Eventually, the pressure rose to where it felt like a physical weight on my mind. It reminded me of the times I dealt with Professor Snape''s intrusions.


    As time went on, the pressure increased tenfold, and soon sweat was pouring off me as it took every ounce of my will to maintain my shield. I lost all track of time, and not knowing when the trial would end made the test more difficult. Small voices in the back of my mind whispered that it was ok to give up, that not even Dad was able to complete the trial.


    I gritted my teeth in frustration. There was no way I was giving in. I didn''t come this far to lose to a stupid rock. One way or another, I was beating this trial.


    But, as each minute rolled by, the pressure increased without fail. When was this stupid trial going to end? It had to have been almost three hours by now. I was starting to feel completely drained, it was one thing to keep your shields up all day and another to weather a constant attack. Not to mention the pressure the mind stone was currently emitting made Professor Snape''s attempt seem childish. I didn''t know how much more I had in me.


    I cracked my eyes open and found the eagle staring at me in fascination. I wearily grunted, "How much longer?"


    "Oh, you were done ages ago, you only needed to keep it up for an hour. I was just curious how long you could keep going." The Bronze Eagle brought its wings together in a suspiciously sarcastic clapping motion, "Good job, three hours is impressive. I didn''t think you had it in you. "


    I was so drained that it took me a minute to register. I dropped the mind stone on the floor, and the instant it hit the ground, it disappeared. I pointed my arm at the Bronze Eagle and threatened, "I''m going to pluck those feathers of yours and scatter them across Hogwarts."


    "Now, now, don''t be so dramatic," The Eagle scoffed, "You passed the first half with flying colors. But, that was the easy part. What comes next is far more difficult and dangerous."


    Now that I had passed the first round, the Eagle seemed to be a little less snarky as he explained, "As you should be aware, Occlumency has two stages of success. Most people who can gain some mastery in the art only make it as far as the shield. To prove yourself worthy of being an Heir of Ravenclaw, you must show that you have mastered Occlumency, which involves being able to create fake memories."


    "How am I supposed to do that?"


    The Statue pointed one of his wings to the wall, and a door appeared. "On the other side lies the nest of a griffin. Your test is to fool him into thinking you have already completed the trial and now are an Heir of Ravenclaw. A griffin has strong mental powers and will exam your memories. They have been known to extract a price if it discovers you lied to it."


    "What kind of price?" I asked.


    "The only kind that matters, blood." The Bronze statue explained. "It''s not too late to back out. There''s no shame in quitting. You''ve come farther than the vast majority of others by completing the first trial."


    My stony silence was answer enough for the eagle. "Fine, if you can convince the Griffin, it will give you a token. Return with it, and you will have proven yourself to be a true Heir of Ravenclaw."


    "What kind of token?" I asked.


    The Bronze Eagle replied,''If you if can fool the Griffin, it will give you a feather. They contain interesting magical properties."


    To me, this confirmed that the trial room had the same magic at the Room of Requirement. I knew I shouldn''t be too surprised, Rowena Ravenclaw was the one who laid the more complex enchantments in Hogwarts.


    As I moved forward, I made sure to prop the door open. I didn''t want to get stuck out here and have to make the trip back on foot. Not quite sure where to go, I decided that since this was a griffin I was looking for, up was probably the best bet, so I followed a path up the cliff.


    On my way up the cliff, in my mind palace, I was throwing together half-a-dozen memories of me becoming the Heir of Ravenclaw. I wasn''t exactly sure what the Griffin would be looking for, I knew from reading my book on magical creatures that only the truth may be spoken in a griffin''s presence. But, with my recent experience with the mind lamprey. I should be ok.


    As I approached the summit, I could feel eyes following my every move. I was tempted to draw my wand, but I knew the Griffin might view that as a provocation.


    I froze when I heard a rustling coming out in front of me. A small creature about the size of a dog with the head and front legs of an eagle and the body and back legs of a lion peered out at me from behind a rock.


    Not wanting to scare it, I knelt and used a gentle tone that one would use on a scared dog, "Oh, you''re a lot smaller than I was expecting."


    The small Griffin c.o.c.ked its head to the side as if it didn''t know what to make of me.


    Then I heard a loud whoosh through the air. I looked towards the sky, and I saw a version of the Griffin that was ten times bigger than the small one. With each mighty beat of its wings, a gust of wind blew past me.


    It let out a loud screech as it landed protectively in front of its young. Sharp eagle eyes glared at me, daring me to approach. Logically I knew as long as I didn''t attack, neither would the Griffin. But, knowing and doing are two very different things.


    "Hey, big guy, I''m here to get a feather for a certain annoying bronze eagle statue." I cautiously said.


    The Griffin''s eyes narrowed when it heard my words. Wanting to get this over with, I said, "If it helps, I''m an Heir of Ravenclaw."


    I felt a monstrous presence enter my mind. It was challenging to fight the urge to keep the Griffin out of my mind. But, I knew that it needed to see and be fooled if I wanted this to work.


    As it callously rummaged through the memories I had crafted, I was a little unnerved by its presence. While it was obviously intelligent, I was struck by how foreign its way thinking was compared to humans. When it didn''t appear satisfied with the few memories I crafted, I immediately started making more.


    Eventually, the Griffin appeared to be satisfied that I was telling the truth and left my mind. The second it left, I raised my shields. It was an uncomfortable feeling having something rummage through your mind.


    The Griffin reached out and plucked one of its feathers with its beak and tossed it towards me. As I picked up the feather, I noticed it hummed with magic.


    Without taking my eyes of the Griffin, I slowly backed away. Once I had gotten far enough away, I turned and rushed down the path. When I went back through the door, I noticed the Bronze Eagle staring at me in surprise. Apparently, it didn''t think I had fully mastered Occlumency and was doomed to failure.


    Smugly, I handed the feather towards it and asked, "What else you got?"


    Without saying a word, the Eagle reached out a wing. As soon as the magical feather touched the statue''s wing, it disappeared.


    "You did it," The Eagle muttered in surprise. "It''s been so long since we had an Heir of Ravenclaw."


    A little unnerved by the intensity of the Statue''s gaze, I asked, "Does that mean I passed the trial?"


    "Yes, you are the seventh wizard in nearly a thousand years to pass the trial." The Bronze Eagle replied earnestly.


    I smiled when I heard that I was the seventh, seven was a powerful number in magic.


    Part of me realized that it was ironic that I owed some of my success to Delvin. Had I never been exposed to the mind lamprey, I wouldn''t have been able to create those fake memories so quickly.


    Curious about what the rewards were, I said, "So, what do I get now that I''m an heir?"


    The trial room changed in an instant. The circular room was now filled with ancient tomes, scrolls, and even clay tablets. "Most of these predate Hogwarts and go back thousands of years. Rowena was a collector and spent years gathering ancient knowledge."


    My eyes sparkled in joy. Ancient wizards rarely shared their knowledge. It wasn''t uncommon for something to be discovered only to be lost. Before the era of schools, so much was lost. Ancient wizards had access to wondrous magic, but they jealously guarded their secrets.


    But, even after seeing all of this, I couldn''t help but be a little disappointed. It could take half a lifetime to translate all of these works. I had been hoping for something a little more substantial.


    As if sensing my thoughts, the Eagle smirked and said, "That was just her collection of ancient works. Now we can get to the good stuff."


    The room changed again, and several dozens of tomes and grimoires appeared. "These are Rowena''s grimoires that contain spells she created over her lifetime."


    Even though the number of books was far less than the previous amount, I knew that even this much was impressive. Most witches and wizards could go a lifetime without creating a new spell. I prayed that the lost enchantments that created the Room of Requirement were in here somewhere. One day, I would love to enchant my tower with the same spells.


    "How did she create so many spells?" I asked.


    "Rowena was one of the smartest and gifted witches of her time. Her intelligence outstripped the other founders by a great deal. But, when she put on the diadem, her wisdom was boosted to an unimaginable level. She was on a whole other level as she created some of the most complicated spells ever made."


    .


    The Eagle made another motion, and other books joined the collection. "These are the other heir''s knowledge. They each went on to pioneer magic in new and exciting ways. You should recognize some of the names, like Ignatia Wildsmith, who created the floo network. Some you won''t recognize because their work was so on the edge that it was banned, like Rowan Ibex, who pioneered cronomagic.


    There were so many choices to choose from that I didn''t know where to begin. Sensing my indecision, the Statue smirked, "Let me help you out, I know where you need to begin."


    The Eagle carefully slid a massive tome across the floor, "Here, out of all the books here, this may be Rowena''s most valuable book that she wrote."


    Picking up the heavy tome, I asked, "What is it?"


    "It''s a book she wrote while wearing her diadem, about magic itself, and creating spells. This book will help you reach a deep understanding of magic itself and will allow you to push the boundaries of magic and create spells of your own making. That way, one day, you too can leave behind a legacy for the next Heir of Ravenclaw."


    I held the tome carefully, this was more like it. Being able to understand magic on a deeper level was my dream, and being able to create spells was a close second.


    All the effort this year I made was worth it. I could see that this library was going to help propel my magical skill to a new level. It might take a while to master everything, but I''m confident that one day I too will have an impressive legacy to show the world.

 Chapter 74 - End of Year Two

    As the night wore on, exhaustion reared its ugly head. I didn''t want to leave this collection of books. When I suggested that I should take some of the books with me, the Bronze Eagle gave me a look that indicated that I had spoken blasphemy.


    Hovering over the ancient grimoires like a mother hen protecting her helpless chicks, the Statue exclaimed, "No, absolutely not! These books are not allowed to leave the sanctum."


    "Why not? I''ll bring them back." I promised.


    The Bronze Eagle somehow puffed up its feathers and slammed its claw down firmly, and replied, "No, if these books left the sanctum, there is too great of a chance that others may get a hold of her work. Master Rowena''s knowledge is for her heirs only."


    "I suppose that means a copy is out of the question?" I asked half-hardheartedly.


    The Eagle shot me a grumpy look and compromised, "You can make copies of the other heir''s work."


    Sensing that I had pushed as much as I could for the time, I decided to stop bothering the large Bronze Eagle Statue that could crush me with one claw.


    I ended up calling it a night. I would have plenty of time over the next five years to study. I wasn''t even planning on letting the summer break stop me. What is the point of having a secret passage into the castle if I don''t utilize its full potential?


    Over the summer, I would have to dodge house elves, ghosts, and any of the staff who sticks around during the break. I should probably look into the Disillusionment Charm if I''m going to be sneaking around Hogwarts. We can''t all be like Harry Potter and have an invisibility cloak, which makes sneaking around a breeze.


    The next day, I tracked down the rest of my friends in the great hall during breakfast. It was good to see their faces. Even though it had only been less than two weeks, it felt like we hadn''t seen each other in ages.


    I noticed that Cedric shooting questioning glances where my worst injuries used to be.


    Answering his unspoken question, I said, "Everything is back to normal. There is no lasting damage."


    Alicia numbed Cedric''s elbow, "I told you, as long as dark magic isn''t involved, healers can take care of almost everything."


    Cedric grumbled, "I know, but you didn''t see how bad it was."


    Not wanting to dwell on my injuries, I asked Cedric, "So, what happened when you left? Did you have any trouble getting help?"


    Cedric snorted, "You could say that."


    Eager to know what happened after he left for help, I gave Cedric my full attention.


    A wronged look appeared on Cedric''s face, and he pointed his finger accusingly at me, "Next time, put a damn broomstick in your bag. Learning to use a flying sword on the go slowed me down. If it weren''t for the sticking charms on the sword, I would have fallen off a dozen times."


    A sheepish look appeared on my face, I held up a hand in surrender, "I know, I know. I''ve already rectified the problem."


    Getting back to his story, Cedric went on, "Well, after a few uncontrollable loops, I finally got the hang of the flying sword and started looking for civilization."


    Cedric looked at me and asked, "Do you remember the creature from the cave?"


    I rubbed the tender scar on my shoulder, "Of course, it''s kind of hard to forget."


    "Well, on a hunch, I decided to backtrack our trail through the forest. I wanted to make sure the creature didn''t follow and put you at risk."


    Curious, I asked, "Did it follow us?"


    Cedric nodded and explained, "I discovered it following our trail through the woods, so I tried to annoy it and get it to follow me."


    Part of me wondered if I should tell Cedric how incredibly lucky he was to be alive. He didn''t know it, but that creature was a Nundu, it''s deadliness was on par with dragons. The only thing that probably saved him was being in the sky.


    "At first, it tried to ignore me, but after a few annoying hexes and curses, the creature was enraged and chased after me."


    Anna and Alicia were both nodding along as if they had heard this story before. "How did you lose the creature?" I asked.


    Cedric shrugged, "After chasing me for a few hours, I guess we ran into a different magical creature''s territory. The last thing I saw was them tearing each other apart. Once I was certain that neither creature posed a threat to you, I left the area looking for civilization."


    I smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt. It seemed as though Cedric saved me twice. I would have been in no condition to fight off a Nundu. Had it found our campground, I would have been killed.


    "It took me the rest of the day to find a decent-sized town. By the time I got there, it was nearly midnight. Not wanting to be seen by the muggles, I landed on the roof of the tallest building," Cedric explained.


    I did the mental math in my head. I had been by myself for the better part of three days. If Cedric found a town in one day, what took home so long to return with help.


    "From the amount of time it took you to show up with help, I''m assuming something went wrong," I said.


    Cedric''s face darkened with annoyance, "I knew that the town was big enough that it would be monitored. I figured that if I started casting magic, it would draw the attention of the Meritocracy of Sorcery. It took a few dozen spells and about twenty minutes before a guardian of the Meritocracy showed up. Needless to say, he wasn''t happy to find a foreign teenage wizard breaking the Statute of Secrecy. Before I could get two words out, he hit me with a spell, and the next thing I knew, it was the afternoon of the following day."


    I winced in sympathy, and I said, "It probably didn''t help that you couldn''t speak the same language."


    Cedric scowled, "You could say that. The same Guardian tried to interrogate me when I woke up. It finally dawned on him that I didn''t speak Chinese and he would need a translator. Even after the translator got there, the Guardian assumed I was making up the story about my injured friend so I wouldn''t get in trouble for underage magic and breaking the statute. No matter what I said, the Guardian didn''t believe me."


    "So, how did you finally convince him?" I asked.


    Cedric shook his head and explained, "I wasn''t ever able to convince the Guardian. I guess he thought if I stewed in my cell for the night, I would crack and tell him the truth in the morning. Thankfully, the next morning I guess the interpreter mentioned what I had said the previous day to someone who wasn''t as thick-headed. It didn''t take long for me to repeat my story, and for them to summon a healer."


    Cedric shot me an embarrassed look, " It took me the entire day to track down our campground. When I left you, I didn''t fly in an exact line, plus when I got the creature to follow me, I guess I flew all over the place. It made finding you difficult."


    I waved away his concern and made a mental note that I need to teach all my friends my seeking spell.


    Across from us, Anna''s eyes blazed in anger, "How dare the Guardian not take you seriously. Alex could have died, and it would have been his fault."


    Cedric smirked, "When Healer Chen saw that Alex was minutes from death and learned that they could have been there a day or two earlier, she let him have it. I can still picture her waving her wand at the Guardian in anger and threatening to sanction him with the Meritocracy."


    Alicia cut in knowingly, "Healers are a highly-respected profession, and they take their oaths seriously. My parents probably would have cursed him in anger if they were there."


    A look of satisfaction appeared on Cedric''s face, "Well, It only got worse when they discovered I was the son of a Ministry of Magic official, then they learned how connected Alex''s family was. I''m pretty sure that guy''s career is over."


    A small part of me wanted to feel bad for the guy, but his delay nearly cost me my life. According to Healer Chen, had it been another thirty minutes, I wouldn''t have made it.


    Anna made her feelings on the matter quite clear when she fiercely said, "Good, it''s the least he deserves."


    She turned to me and lowered her tone and darkly said, "Speaking of punishments. Cedric told us that you guys think Michael probably was responsible. Is that why he didn''t show up after the break?"


    I found an empty classroom on the second floor, and after ushering everyone inside, I closed the heavy oak door behind me.


    I turned to Cedric. Since he was nearly killed as well, I figured he deserved the truth. "It wasn''t Michael," I whispered.


    He froze and intensely studied my face, "Are you sure? We ran into him a few minutes before we were f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y teleported. When you didn''t show up, we were planning on teaching Michael a lesson he would never forget. But, he didn''t show, and we didn''t know what to think."


    I wasn''t sure how much I should tell them about my uncle. They knew from my hints that he dabbled in smuggling. But, they weren''t really aware of the full extent of his organization in the underworld. Every piece of information I told them would bind them tighter to my family''s struggle.


    I sighed in defeat, as much as I wanted to protect my friends from being exposed to the darkness of the Whithorn family. Since I was involved, they were determined to be included as well. What did I ever do to make such amazing friends?


    Not wanting to keep them in the dark, I started explaining my uncle''s organization. When I finished, I could tell my friends had different feelings on the matter.


    I think Cedric was the most surprised, he had spent a lot of time around Uncle John and never seen anything more than a goofy uncle with some eccentric traits. I understood where he was coming from. The first time I saw Uncle John get serious. It was like seeing a whole new person for the first time.


    Anna had a different reaction. She just looked impressed upon hearing about the deep undercurrents Uncle John hid from the world. I think she was tempted to ask him for pointers on sneakiness, given that they''re both Slytherins, no surprise there.


    "He really is a pirate," Alicia murmured in awe. "My parents insisted that he was, but I didn''t believe them."


    Wanting to get back on track, I said, "Anyways, he was able to confirm that it wasn''t Michael. Apparently, it was his father, Delvin."


    I could tell they were all a little confused about why Delvin would target me. I explained, "Do you guys remember the cursed mask I slipped on Michael last year. Well, apparently, when Michael freaked out at one of Delvin''s dinner parties. He was embarrassed and wanted revenge."


    "So, in response, he tried to kill you via a portkey to a magical beast?" Alicia asked incredulously.


    I shook my head in denial, "No, from what my Uncle could ascertain, Delvin had no clue what was on the other side."


    Scowling, Anna vengefully countered, "That doesn''t excuse what he did. He needs to pay for almost killing you two. Even if it was by accident."


    I shrugged helplessly, "I''m not saying it does. But, we can''t count on the government. They''ve bought the elf story, hook, line, and sinker."


    "So, he just gets away with nearly killing us." Cedric bitterly remarked.


    I shook my head and firmly vowed, "No, he doesn''t get to walk away from this like it never happened."


    My friends all looked at me. Channeling my inner Slytherin that the sorting hat claimed I had, I coldly remarked, "Due to his father''s protection, we can''t touch Delvin personally. But, who says that we can''t hurt him without touching him. We''re going after the thing he loves most in the world."


    Seeing all the confusion, I clarified, "His business, the Nimbus Broom Racing Company. It''s time for my family to reclaim what is ours."


    Cedric considered my plan for a moment before reluctantly nodding. I understood what he was thinking. I wanted nothing more to tear Delvin apart for what he did. But, we had to be smart about this. Otherwise, this could get bloody fast, and I wasn''t willing to risk sacrificing a member of my family for revenge.


    Anna surprised me when she helpfully chimed in, "Your family should talk with my mum. She went to some muggle school called Oxford. I guess she is a Doctor of Business Management or something like that."


    I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Usually, Anna avoids talking about her mum at all costs. It was heartening to see that slowly changing.


    Interrupting my musing, Alicia innocently asked, "I thought that Doctors were muggle healers that cut people open. Why does a business need a doctor?" A worried look appeared on her face, "Can a business get sick?"


    Hearing the serious tone that Alica used with that question made me nearly collapse with laughter.


    Anna''s face burned red in embarrassment, "I don''t know. All I know is it takes a lot to run one of the largest and most successful apothecaries in the world. She has a lot of experience competing with other businesses."


    Soon, we had to leave for class. The Professors were giving excessive amounts of homework on top of reviewing what we had learned over the year.


    I wasn''t worried about the end of year exams. I was nearly finished with my fourth-year studies. Now that I wasn''t consumed with Occlumency, I could help my friends study.


    Now that we were near the end of our second year at school, everyone''s magical talents were becoming clearer to behold.


    Anna and Alicia were neck and neck in a lot of subjects. Their main difference was Charms and Transfiguration. Anna did well with Charms but struggled with Transfiguration. Whereas Alicia was the opposite, she was doing good in Transfiguration but had to work harder in Charms.


    Neither of them was a big fan of potions and were in the middle of the pack. Both were near the top in Defense against the Dark Arts. Although, this year, I think Anna had the advantage over Alicia there, due to all her dueling practice.


    Cedric, on the other hand, was proving why the Goblet of Fire selected him for the Tri-wizard tournament. He had quietly become one of the best students in the year. While I couldn''t say that he was the best student in any subject, he was near the very top in all his classes. Most witches and wizards had a subject or two that they struggled in. If Cedric kept this up, he would be a well-rounded wizard.


    His real competition for the most well-rounded student was Jessica. The main difference between those two was that Jessica was better with studying and got better grades on the homework. But Cedric proved to be better with the practical magical side of things.


    What was amusing was that Jessica was so focused on trying to pass me, she didn''t realize that Cedric had already passed her. I didn''t have the heart to tell her the truth, and being who he was, neither would Cedric. I only hoped Anna didn''t put the pieces together, because I''m sure she would rub Jessica''s nose in it.


    The last month passed by quickly, and soon the exams were over. On the last night before we left, I received a surprise when we had the end-of-term feast. Ravenclaw won the House Cup. According to what I remember and my journal, Slytherin was supposed to have won the previous six years before Harry started school.


    Even though I have tried to keep my impact as low as possible, the ripples of my actions affecting the timeline were starting to show slowly. I need to make sure the next two years stay as closely as possible to what I know. That way, I can predict what will happen in Harry''s third and fourth years and implement my future plans.


    The next day, we boarded the Hogwarts express. It was strange. I kept expecting Michael to show up. Snapping at one another had almost become a tradition. Thankfully, it was a smooth ride home. Jessica and Anna didn''t snipe at each other. While I couldn''t say they were friends, the cold shoulder they used against one another was far more pleasant than the bickering.


    When we rolled into the station, I felt a moment of bitter-sweetness. I had survived my second year and was back home with my family for a few months. I couldn''t wait to see what this next year would throw at me. No matter what it was, I was determined to come out on top.

 Chapter 75 - France

    My initial summer plans for sneaking back into the inner sanctum that dwelled deep within the heart of Ravenclaw tower were a little derailed when my parents announced we would be spending the month of June in France.


    Our trip was a mixture of a vacation/family reunion with mum''s side of the family. I hadn''t spent much time with my relatives on that side of the family. Mum was the youngest of four daughters. Her parents died when she was young. Her great Uncle and aunt raised her and her sisters.


    We had more contact with them when I was younger. But, as my older cousins started attending Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, our visits became rarer and rarer.


    As frustrated as I was to have my plans delayed, I made sure not to make a fuss about it. Mum was still shaken over my near-death experience and wanted to get away and reconnect with her family.


    Normally, it was a pain to cut through the Ministry''s red-tape to connect our fireplace with France''s floo network. But, Grandma was able to get it done smoothly.


    One thing I found fascinating was that we would be staying in Paris. Paris was known to the magical community as the City of a Thousand Charms. I was looking forward to seeing some of the hidden enchantments that made that city famous.


    It''s not a big surprise that Paris is known for its enchantments. Beauxbatons is well-known for its focus on charms and producing some of the best enchanters in the world. I know dad had some friendly colleagues that went to Beauxbatons that he often writes.


    "Alex," Mum softly called out from my doorway, distracting me from my thoughts.


    Already knowing what she wanted, I replied, "I''m almost finished packing."


    When she left, I grabbed the copies I had made of Ignatia Wildsmith''s work and hid them carefully within my trunk. She was an impressive witch and Heir of Ravenclaw. She was fascinated with magical transportation and advanced how wizards and witches travel in Europe.


    The best thing about the books the other heirs had left behind was that they weren''t merely books full of incantations. No, they were almost like diaries in nature, as Ignatia recorded her ideas and described all her trials and errors when creating new magics.


    The books were an excellent example of how to go about pushing the bounds of magic. Most witches and wizards aren''t skilled enough to develop new magic, and the majority who do invent spells are just modifying or creating simple spells.


    When I was younger and saw the magical archways that the magic community used in Africa, I had assumed she based her floo network on them. But, the more I read about what she set up, the more impressed I got.


    At the beginning of her magical career, I believe she did emulate the African archways. Besides inventing the Floo Network, she also pioneered vanishing cabinets.


    According to her books, vanishing cabinets have to be carved from a tree with two trunks. Their innate connection is what helps the spell to take hold and creates a connection between them. The vanishing cabinets bear a striking resemblance to how two archways are connected.


    While that was impressive, it pales in comparison to her true masterpiece, the floo network. What she did with the floo network was meld her complex enchantment with the very concept of a fireplace.


    Now, it took me a few minutes to properly grasp the enormity of what she did. By melding her enchantment with the idea of a fireplace, she ensured that neither the material nor construction of a fireplace mattered.


    Normally, when dealing with transportation magic, you need to have direct access to the material so you can weave charms into the object. But, with the Floo Network, all of that is bypassed. Every fireplace, from the moment it is built, is already melded within the enchantment. All that is required is for whoever is running the network to grant access.


    It''s why the Weasley family could get a muggle fireplace temporarily connected and pick up Harry. As far as I could tell, it didn''t matter where on Earth it was built. The floo network could theoretically connect to every fireplace on Earth.


    The one thing that slightly irks me about Ignatia''s magical tomes is her smug tone. It''s like she knows exactly how high she set the bar and is challenging future heirs to compete with her. If I hadn''t already made up my mind about one day adding my work to the collection. Her smug tone would have convinced me. I haven''t gotten to the other heir''s work, but it wouldn''t surprise me if they had similar tones.


    I couldn''t help but smirk, Ravenclaws were very competitive when it comes to academics. Separated by time and death, the Heirs of Ravenclaw are still competing with one another about who can come up with the best work. I''m not sure when, but one day, I will add works of my own. I''m not sure what it will be about, but I''m sure mine will be the best.


    xxx


    When we got to Paris, I received a small surprise. I had been expecting that we would be staying in a house. But, it turns out Aunt Caroline owns an apartment building and is letting us stay in an empty one for the month.


    The apartment we arrived in was larger than I had been expecting, and the detour was pleasant to the eye. Finished wood floors met light painted walls that rose to high vaulted ceilings. There would be plenty of space for our family as there were two separate floors and four bedrooms.


    Even more interesting were the lights, the building was wired with muggle electricity. Seeing the lights made a strange feeling well up within me, I had memories thinking and comparing muggle technology with magic. But, my memories detailing my previous life were gone. The best way to describe the feeling was knowing about something because you were told about something, rather than experiencing it yourself.


    Athena sauntered off with her wings tucked in, wanting to explore the apartment. Rebecca and Sasha chased after her giggling with glee and made a game of exploring our temporary residence.


    I was a little concerned that we would be in such proximity to muggles. Being from the countryside, we didn''t have a lot of experience in acting like muggles. But, it turns out that the building is full of magical families. Some are muggleborns and are new to the magical world. Others are older magical families that had lived in the building since it had been built. There are even some muggles who live here, having married into a magical family.


    Magical families that live in massive muggle cities tended to gather together for a sense of community. It allowed them to use magic in their homes without fear of discovery and let their children interact with other children in the isolated community without fear of breaking the statute of secrecy.


    Later that evening, we were having dinner with Aunt Caroline''s family. Except for her short height, Aunt Caroline looked similar to Mum, with blonde hair, calm blue eyes, and a gentle smile.


    Gabriel, her husband, had long dark hair and a pale complexion with dark shadows under his brown eyes. My two cousins, Liana and Madeline, had blond hair like their mum, but they had their father''s pale skin and dark brown eyes. Both of them were older than me, with Liana being fifteen and Madeline sixteen.


    "So, Alex, are you happy about the summer break?" Aunt Caroline asked me from across the lengthy dining table.


    I was tempted to tell her it was annoying being separated from my new horde of hidden knowledge. But, both the geas and simple manners directed my reply, "Yes, it''s good to be home with my family, but I am a little torn, learning new magic is one of my favorite things to do.


    A look of amus.e.m.e.nt appeared on Aunt Caroline''s face, "Well, at least that means your parents don''t have to worry about your grades."


    She shot a warning glare at Madeline, "Unlike my carefree daughter."


    Pointing her finger like it was a wand at Madeline, she warned, "You had better hope you did well on your sixth-year examinations. The number of OWLs you receive will determine your future."


    Madeline let out an exasperated sigh and tried to roll her eyes discreetly. I was willing to bet this wasn''t the first time she had this conversation with her mum.


    Seeing how her mum tried to use me against her, I decided to throw her a bone and change the subject. I turned to Uncle Gabriel and asked, "What''s it like managing a building like this? Do you have trouble with the muggles?"


    Uncle Gabriel seemed to be pleased with the change of the current topic, "Well, the most serious thing is keeping muggles unaware of our presence. It''s mostly kids who can get us in trouble, when their magic burst out uncontrollably. There is a chance of a muggle seeing them, but I am licensed from the Commonwealth of Magic to use the memory charm on muggles."


    I nodded in understanding, Sasha and Rebbeca had started to have small magics escape them lately. I imagine that he probably has to use that charm often. Kids rarely develop any semblance of control until they are older and begin using magic on a regular basis.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Rebecca sending me a disgruntled look. She had been pretty lax in learning French from Mum and didn''t like it when she couldn''t follow the conversation. On the other hand, Sasha had been putting in her full effort and could get the gist of our discussion.


    Later that night was the first time I had a moment alone with Dad since returning from school. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to discuss with him.


    First off, was the trial. I already had figured out that I couldn''t come out and tell him. At first, I had assumed that I would be able to if I passed. But, if that were the case, the information about the trial would inevitably spread. I had spent some time considering how to let him know without saying anything and not having the geas activate.


    I reached into my robe and pulled out a book I had received from him a year ago. "Here, I don''t think I would be needing this anymore."


    I handed him one of the leather-bound books on Occlumency he had gotten me last year.


    As he took the book from my hand, he shifted his gaze from the book to my face. Knowing I couldn''t even think about saying something without the binding activating, I shot him a smug grin.


    Dad''s grey eyes widened in disbelief. I had done it. I had become the seventh wizard to succeed in a thousand years. He bent down and wrapped me up in a tight hug and whispered into my ear, "I''m so proud of you."


    Letting go he absentmindedly patted my back and added wistfully, "I wish I could know what you know."


    After reading some of Rowena Ravenclaw and Ignata''s work, one thing has become clear. Just because something isn''t possible right now doesn''t mean magic can''t do it, it just means the solution hasn''t been found. One day, I will find a way to break this binding and find a way to tell Dad everything. I imagine that he has been wondering about the contents of the reward since he failed the trial.


    Plus, if I could find a way to slip the binding, I could definitely find a way to break the magical trace. While it didn''t have a huge impact on me, I still wanted it gone. I wanted the freedom of using magic off my family''s property without fear.


    Turning my thoughts to the other worry, I asked, "So, how is Project Firebolt."


    Before when we used to talk about the project, Dad''s eyes always danced with happiness. He loved tinkering with magic. But this time, I saw his eyes darken, "I''m getting close, I''ve even suspended all my other projects to focus on this one."


    He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye and swore, "Delvin will pay for what he did to you. Hopefully, we can be ready to go within the next year."


    Voicing a concern that had been bugging me, I asked, "Even if we can somehow cripple his business, won''t his father bail him out? How are we supposed to take him down, if his father continues to bankroll his business?"


    A smirk appeared on Dad''s face, "Well, according to your Uncle, he has made an agreement with Declan so that he won''t interfere with his son''s business. Of course, it also means your Uncle can''t help us at all."


    "What does Uncle John have to do with your business?" I asked.


    Dad reddened and turned to make sure Mum wasn''t around, "I get some harder to find resources from him."


    I grinned mischievously. Mum would blow her top if she found out Dad was using Uncle John''s connections. Ah Dad, more blackmail material, it''s like you don''t know me at all.


    As if sensing the mischief, Mum came into the room and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"


    Dad jumped and defended, "Nothing, nothing at all."


    Mum eyed Dad suspiciously as he quickly left the room. Once he was gone, mum asked, "Do you remember when you were young, and you found out we were distantly related to the Flamels. You went on for weeks about wanting to meet him."


    I blushed in embarrassment, "I was five," I defended.


    Learning that I was related to such an impressive wizard had filled my thoughts. I had assumed I would somehow meet him and impress him and that he would take me under his wing and share the secrets of magic with me.


    My face continued to burn in embarrassment as I remembered my childhood fantasy. As time went on, the d.e.s.i.r.e slowly faded away. In the end, I did end up gaining an old grandpa-like mentor. But, being a painting limited what he could teach me. Speaking of which, I should visit that crazy old coot when we get home.


    Turning my attention back to Mum, I asked, "Why are you bringing this up?"


    Smiling at me, she asked, "Nicolas Flamel doesn''t see many people these days, but I got in touch with his wife, and she told me I could bring you by their home."


    My eyes swelled with excitement. I couldn''t wait to meet with Nicholas Flamel. He was over six hundred years old. I could barely imagine all the knowledge he must have acc.u.mulated over the centuries.


    The only thing weird was the timing. I wondered if he still had the Philosopher''s Stone on him or had Dumbledore already moved it to Gringotts. Now that I think about it, this will probably be my only chance to meet him. After Voldemort''s attempt to steal the stone, Dumbledore and Nicolas decided to destroy the stone, which would ultimately lead to him finally losing to the ravages of time and dying. Meeting him now was a once in a lifetime opportunity, I couldn''t wait any longer.

 Chapter 76 - Nicolas Flamel

    The next few days dragged as I couldn''t wait to meet Nicolas Flamel. I tried to imagine what it would be like living through so many centuries. Flamel grew up before the Statute of Secrecy was in place. He must have seen many changes in both the magical and muggle community.


    When it was time to visit the house of Flamel, rather than take magical means of transportation, Mum decided it would be better to walk. She had grown up in Paris and wanted to show me the streets where she lived while growing up.


    It was fascinating walking through the streets of Paris. The city was brimming with magic unseen. The muggles seemed to be scurrying around and never seemed to notice all the secret enchantments surrounding their city.


    There are plenty of spells designed to encourage muggles not to pay attention to magic. Its how the Knight Bus can move around without detection.


    One thing that caught my eye for a moment was a street sign that was named after the person we were visiting.


    I nudged Mum''s arm, pointed at the street sign, and asked, "Mum, why do the muggles have a street named after Nicolas Flamel?"


    She gave a silvery laugh and cheerfully explained, "Flamel was rather well known in the 14th and 15th centuries. Magic wasn''t as big of a secret back then. Wizards and Witches would sometimes mingle with certain circles in society. Flamel gained a reputation as an Alchemist, and rumors of his ability to create gold spread like wildfire. Annoyed by people clambering after his techniques, he withdrew from public life. After his assumed death, the myth of his skills remained and turned into an urban legend."


    It was a little challenging to imagine magic being out in the open, even if it was only known in small circles. Secrecy defines wizardry today. Almost all of our laws have something to do with keeping the secret. It''s why the original council of wizards was dissolved, and the Ministry of Magic was formed.


    Many magical families still resent the magical government intruding on their lives. Before the Statute was signed, people mostly governed themselves.


    I curiously looked around the buildings and asked, "Does he live on the street named after him?"


    Mum shook her head and replied, "No, we''re headed to 51 rue de Montmorency."


    I noticed ancient runes and symbols carved into the stone walls. The windows were darkened, only giving vague hints to what was inside. Muggles walked by like they didn''t see the rusty iron-forged sign advertising the services of an Alchemist. Honestly, the place didn''t look like a home at all. It looked more like a workshop masquerading as a house.


    My suspicions were confirmed when Mum opened the door without a care in the world and motioned me to follow. The first floor was mostly wide-open, with a few doors on the back wall. Usually, that would mean the room was spacious, but it was cluttered, filled with shelves and tables full of random items.


    My magical sense that I had been keeping up ever since the portkey incident was screaming at me. Everything in here seemed to pulse with magic, from a harmless looking lamp to an old tattered pair of boots. In the corner, beakers full of strange-colored liquids on a shelve drew my eye. I clamped down on my urge to start examining everything. I had resolved not to touch strange items if I couldn''t figure out what they did.


    Mum seemed ignorant of my inner d.e.s.i.r.e to pick apart everything in the room and seemed content to sit and wait in a cushy blue chair. Soon, a faint voice called out, "Camille, it''s so nice to see you again."


    Turning in curiosity, I saw a stunningly pale elderly woman whose skin was like wax. Her hair was white as snow as if she had never had color in it. Aged wrinkles lines hinted at her advanced age, but her pale blue eyes seemingly twinkle with energy and delight.


    She moved through the room slowly, as if it took a great effort to take each step.


    I was a little surprised at her age when I first heard about the Philosopher''s Stone from the book. I had assumed the immortality that it granted would somehow stop you from aging. This lady not only moved as if she were over six hundred years but looked like it as well.


    Mum smiled at the lady and replied, "Perenelle, I''m glad you replied to my letter."


    Perenelle waved away Mum''s response, "Nonsense, it''s nice to receive visitors. We don''t get many these days."


    Slowly turning her head in my direction, she asked, "Now, who is this strapping young man?"


    Mum motioned for me to join her and replied, "This is my son Alex, the one I mentioned."


    Perenelle gave me a grandmotherly smile, "So you''re the one your mother write me about. She told me you were interested in meeting my husband, Nicolas."


    Trying not to make it obvious, I glanced subtly around, hopeful to see the six hundred-year-old alchemist.


    Perenelle smiled at my eager look and suggested, "Why don''t you head down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Nicolas has been at it for days and could use a good distraction."


    She pointed towards a door in the back and added, "It''s right through that door."


    I shot Mum a look, and when she nodded. I got up and eagerly headed downstairs. It sounded like he was working on an alchemy project. I hadn''t really studied Alchemy much, other than to learn that you needed a good foundation in the main branches of magic.


    I tried to be as quiet as I could going down the stairs. I knew if Nicolas was experimenting, the worst thing I could do was distract him. The stairs led deep underground, far enough, so if there were an accident, it wouldn''t affect the house too much.


    The bottom opened up to a surprisingly clean and well-lit workroom. From all the clutter upstairs, I had been expecting a little more chaos. It reminded me of Mum''s potion room. In the center of the stone room was a white-haired wizard of average height, sitting on a stool and leaning forward and muttering something under his breath. He appeared to be intensely examining a rock of some sort under a ridiculously big magnifying glass.


    Deciding not to interrupt him, I took a seat in a small wooden chair along the wall. Waiting patiently for him to finish, I examined the room in curiosity.


    There was a little bit of everything in the room. On the fall wall were some plants I didn''t recognize hanging from the ceiling. Although hanging may not be the best term, it looked like they were being restrained with ropes and didn''t appear to be pleased about it.


    I hated magical plants. For some reason, I don''t mind magical creatures, but plants that can move and attack you, no thank you. I couldn''t wait until I was able to drop Herbology. Personally, I blame Mum for my intense dislike of plants, who takes their eyes off of a kid in a magical greenhouse.


    I turned my attention away from the angry plants, on the adjoining wall, there were shelves filled with potion ingredients and other knick-knacks. On the opposite side of the room were empty cages that were thankfully empty. There were tables full of empty beakers and burners. In the center of one table was a potion cauldron surrounded by round glass containers filled with some cloud-like aether.


    Ok, now that I got a good look at the place, I was getting vibes of a mad wizard. Many wizards are a little wacky in the first place, and six hundred years is plenty of time for a wizard to go crazy. I shook my head. I shouldn''t be throwing stones. I mean, I have a hawk-throne in a secret tower with a crazy old man in a painting. I bet if someone found that out, they would assume I''m mad as well.


    As I sat in silence, Nicolas retrieved his wand and tapped the stone he was examining. The rock started buzzing, and I leaned forward, curious about what was about to happen.


    My eyes widened in concern as the buzzing intensified, but Nicolas seemed to be fascinated by what was happening. Before I could say anything, the buzzing vanished, and the rock seemed to silently explode in slow motion, filling the room with purple powder.


    Unable to prevent it, I inhaled some of the powder and started coughing uncontrollably. Seconds later, the powder vanished as Nicolas waved his wand and eyed me in surprise.


    "Who are you?" he asked.


    Unable to do more than cough, Nicolas pointed his wand at me, and the sensation vanished.


    Finally, able to breathe correctly, I replied, "I''m Alex Fawley."


    "Fawley," he muttered several times to himself, "I knew a Fawley a few hundred years ago. Went by the name of Anton, he was a crazy old coot. You wouldn''t happen to be related, would you?"


    Nicolas''s ancient waxy face furrowed in concentration as he stared at me with his faint blue eyes.


    A snort nearly escaped me, if Anton is crazy, then what are you? Choosing not to voice my thoughts, I replied, "Yes, we are related."


    "Wonderful," he murmured and then turned back to his work, content to ignore my existence. I was a little surprised about his lack of reaction. He didn''t even question why I was in his lab.


    Before he could get too absorbed in his work, I fired off a few questions, "What was that rock? What did you do to it? Why did it explode?"


    Nicolas turned with a happy smile on his face, "I have no idea," He cheerfully admitted. "Isn''t it wonderful?"


    His answer illuminated that he was a pure scholar. I had been curious about the type of personality it would take to continue to experiment throughout the centuries. Nicolas seemed to be all about the pure pursuit of knowledge. He didn''t seem to care to put the knowledge to use in the real world. He wanted to know how things worked, and although his version of immortality appeared to have some severe flaws, it has allowed him to continue his research.


    Wanting to know more about what he did, I asked, "Was it an alchemy experiment? I thought alchemy involved more potions than anything."


    Nicolas turned to me and explained, "Alchemy is so much more than that."


    I gave him my full attention as he seemed to morph into a teacher than a mad wizard.


    "Alchemy is often confused with potion-making. The truth is far more complicated than that. Alchemy is the study of what happens when you start combing three disciplines." Nicolas explained.


    Showing me three fingers, Nicolas lowered one for each discipline he named, "Potions, Transfiguration, and Chemistry."


    I blinked in rapid succession, "Chemistry?" I clarified in confusion. I remember having a conversation with Ryan O''Conner about the subject. He was one of my roommates and was muggleborn. When he first heard about potions, he had assumed that it was like chemistry and had given our dorm a crash course on chemistry. Back then, I seemed to have a better understanding of what chemistry was, now I just somehow know it''s what muggles use for their science.


    Nicolas nodded excitedly, seemingly pleased to have found an audience willing to hear him explain alchemy. "Oh yes, the three disciplines play a key role in alchemy. Only by adding them together can the secrets of alchemy be truly unleashed."


    Not knowing where to begin, I fired off the two questions on the top of my mind, "I thought muggles invented chemistry and isn''t it supposed to be extremely dangerous to mix the magical arts?"


    Nicolas waved away my first question, "Bah, in the beginning, it was us alchemists who taught muggles who had a passion for wanting to understand. Unable to perform magic and become alchemist, they focused their entire attention on the elements and learned how to manipulate them without magic."


    Nicolas smiled at me, "It''s quite amazing how far they''ve come. You should look into their so-called science. You might be surprised by what they have learned despite being so limited."


    Nicolas trailed off as he seemed to relive old memories. Mulling over what he said, I had to agree with him. Muggles were clever little buggers. Maybe I should try to get a hold of some muggle books. They may come in handy one day.


    Nicolas seemed to come out of his memories and asked, "Where was I?"


    "Mixing magical disciplines." I helpfully replied.


    "Ah, yes. Very dangerous indeed. It takes a deft touch to succeed, and even then, it can be dangerous. More than one alchemist has blown themselves up in the pursuit of knowledge." He explained.


    Nicolas passionately added, "It''s why there are so few true alchemists left in the world. Most of those who claim to be alchemists are just those following in the footsteps of their forebears. Unwilling or unable to branch out and look for new mysteries, they are content following the guidelines the previous generations of alchemists discovered. A true alchemist must embrace the unknown and explore the mysteries of magic no matter the risk."


    I tried not to roll my eyes on how he skirted right on by how many alchemists had blown themselves up. No wonder Alchemy is not one of the main subjects at Hogwarts. I heard a rumor that you can learn alchemy in your sixth and seventh year if you are skilled enough.


    Seeing that Nicolas seemed content to answer questions, I continued peppering him with questions while he worked. Throughout the day, he showed me all sorts of interesting things he had created. Some were by design, others were accidental and were challenging to replicate. He could spend years, sometimes decades, on a single experiment.


    I realized that some of his success as an alchemist had to be attributed to his long life. When you have centuries to experiment, spending a decade on a project no longer seems unreasonable. We might have been down there all day if Perenelle didn''t force Nicolas to take a break for lunch.


    Upstairs on the first floor, Nicolas motioned for me to follow him through a back hallway. Once I got through the door on the far end, I received another surprise. I could see the countryside from the windows. Small rolling hills and trees decorated the horizon. We were not in Paris anymore.


    I could tell that even Mum was surprised at the view, somehow their house was built in multiple places.


    "Where are we?" I asked.


    Nicolas smiled at my confusion, "We live in England. Rather than leave my old workshop behind, I decided to connect the houses."


    I decided that it had to be the hallway we walked through. Ignatia''s books were like a primer on transportation magics and had given me a good foundation when it came to spatial enchantments. If I had to guess, I would say that the hallway resembles vanishing cabinets and archways.


    During lunch, I continued to ask Nicolas questions. Not so much on magic, but what it was like living through the centuries. Growing up, I had sometimes mused about seeking a path to immortality. Not because I feared death. Being reincarnated seemed to imply that death wasn''t the end, only the next step in a longer journey.


    But, I still wondered what it would be like; one lifetime didn''t seem like it was enough in this magical world. I''m not saying I would want to live forever, but living for five or six centuries would be nice.


    When I was younger, I had sometimes imagined getting a hold of the Philosopher''s stone or perhaps creating my own. But, seeing how frail and ancient Perenelle and Nicolas Flamel were had dulled my d.e.s.i.r.e. What use was immortality when a simple handshake could break bones and made me so frail that I didn''t want to leave the house. Not to mention, they hardly seemed to be living. I think they welcomed us visiting because they were lonely. Even though we were very distantly related, all of their real family was dead, and I imagine it was difficult making new friends when they would just die and leave you alone. If I decide to seek a longer life, I will find a new path


    Thinking about how lonely immortality seemed to make them made me ask, "Why didn''t you use the Philosopher''s stone to make your friends and family immortal?"


    Mum''s eyes widened, and she smacked my arm, "Don''t be rude," she hissed.


    Perenelle and Nicolas exchanged glances for a moment, "We did," Nicolas quietly explained. "Although the amount of elixir the stone can produce per year is limited. We had enough for our children and grandchildren. But, because the stone only keeps you alive and doesn''t prevent you from aging. After a few centuries, they decided they were ready to depart this life. We are all that is left."


    Nicolas reached over and patted his wife''s hand, as glimmer had formed in her eyes. "One day, we will make that journey as well."


    Breaking the somber mood, he added with a wink, "But, until then, I will continue with my research."


    Trying to change the subject, I asked, "Is it true that you can make real gold? My transfiguration professor said that it was impossible to fool a goblin with magical transmuted gold, and warned that goblins would not be pleased by any attempt to fool them."


    Nicolas smiled and admitted, "Goblins and I have a complicated relationship."


    He pulled out his wand and pointed towards the living room. The wall on the far side of the room, spun in place, revealing a stone pedestal with a mostly red stone with white streaks running through the center.


    My eyes widened as the rock soared through the air, that had to be the Philosopher''s stone. They must not have moved it to Gringotts yet. Nicolas slowly reached up and grabbed the stone that was floating in front of him. He touched it to one of his spoons, and I watched the spoon turn from metal into gold.


    Nicolas tossed me the spoon to inspect. "It''s real gold," He explained. "Not even a goblin could tell the difference. They seem passionately divided on whether it''s a good or bad thing that I can make gold. Some of them love me, and others hate me. Centuries ago I hatched out an agreement about how much gold I would make. It all seems a little silly now, I haven''t needed to make gold in centuries."


    Before I could ask anything else, there was a polite knock at the front door. Perenelle got up, went to open the front door. She sounded pleased when she opened the door and saw who it was. My jaw nearly dropped in surprise when she came back followed by a rather tall, thin wizard with a great bushy beard and half-moon glasses. It was Professor Dumbledore.

 Chapter 77 - Secret Meeting

    I have to admit that Professor Dumbledore handled our unexpected meeting better than I did. Other than a hint of a raised eyebrow that was gone so fast that I was half-convinced I imagined it. He acted as if it were perfectly normal for us to run into each other at the Flamel household.


    "Albus," Nicolas cheerfully called out. "It''s good to see you."


    While I had mastered the art of keeping people out of my head, I was struggling a little to keep my thoughts off my face. This had to be the visit where Professor Dumbledore convinced Nicolas to give him the Philosopher''s Stone and store it within the vault at Gringotts.


    Professor Dumbledore''s bright blue eyes twinkled, "It''s good to see you as well, my friend." Turning his head in my direction, he added with a smile, "Mr. Fawley, I didn''t expect to run into you before September."


    Mum looked a little out of sorts at seeing Professor Dumbledore. She had never met him before, and he had an intense magical presence. Not to mention, he is widely regarded as one of the most powerful and influential wizards in the world.


    She rose to shake his hand and said, "It''s finally to meet Alex''s headmaster. I hope Alex hasn''t caused too much trouble for you at school."


    Professor Dumbledore''s eyes sparkled cheerfully as he shook Mum''s hand, "Alex''s teachers say that he is a wonderful student, and I believe his grades are at the top of his class."


    Winking at me, Professor Dumbledore added, "I must say, it''s always nice to put a face to a voice."


    Mum looked puzzled for a moment, before Professor Dumbledore explained, "I think I can speak for most of the staff at Hogwarts when I say we all enjoyed your singing letter to your son."


    While Mum looked absolutely delighted that at least someone had enjoyed her letter, I glared at Professor Dumbledore. Please don''t put any ideas into her head. I had barely convinced her not to send any more singing letters to me while I was at school.


    From the gleeful look on Mum''s face, I had a sinking feeling that I better get started on my fifth-year charmwork. I know that one of them is the silencing charm, and I''ll be damned if I''ll get serenaded by my mum in front of the whole school again.


    As Professor Dumbledore took a seat at the table, I noticed his eyes drifting momentarily to the Philosopher''s stone that was resting in front of Nicolas Flamel. "I hope my unscheduled arrival didn''t interrupt anything important." Professor Dumbledore casually mentioned.


    Nicolas waved away his concern, "Nonsense, I''ve just been explaining the basics of alchemy to young Alexander here. He has an inquisitive mind. He sorta reminds me a little of you all those years ago."


    Professor Dumbledore studied me for a moment before replying, "Curiosity can be a good thing in a young wizard. What were you talking about before I arrived? Perhaps I can weigh in on the matter."


    I held up the gold spoon Nicolas had transmuted, "I was just asking about how this was real gold. Professor McGonagall told us that it was impossible to create gold from transfiguration."


    Professor Dumbledore leaned forward and explained, "I see. First, you should be aware that there is a clear difference between transfiguration and transmuting. As I''m sure Professor McGonagall has informed you, when you transfigure something, you are magically forcing something into a different form."


    As if to demonstrate, Professor Dumbledore picked up a glass cup, pulled out his wand, and tapped it. The cup turned into a plate, he touched it again, but this time it became a plate made of gold. Continuing his lecture, Dumbledore added, "But, no matter the skill level involved, it will always be a transfigured object."


    Rather than use a nonverbal spell, Professor Dumbledore pointed his wand at the plate made of gold and chanted, "Reparifarge." The plate instantly reverted to its original form of a glass cup.


    Then he picked up the golden spoon Nicolas transmuted and said, "No transfiguration counterspell will change this gold spoon back into metal. Its original form will forever be a gold spoon."


    Demonstrating, he changed the gold spoon into a glass cup, then muttered, "Reparifarge." The glass cup turned back into a gold spoon.


    "When you transmute something, you change its base form permanently. Magic has many rules it follows, but in alchemy, you learn that you can bend and break them. However, by its very nature, it is extremely dangerous. It''s why there are so few Alchemists left."


    I couldn''t help but be interested, Alchemy sounded fascinating. "Professor Dumbledore, Alchemy is taught at Hogwarts, right?"


    Professor Dumbledore considered me for a moment before replying, "Technically yes. It''s offered as a NEWT level course. But, only if there is a demand for the class, and there hasn''t been a demand for Alchemy class for over a decade. If you are interested in it, you will need to pay close attention to your elective course this year and make sure you choose Arithmancy. Also, on your OWLs, you need O marks in Potions, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy to be accepted into alchemy."


    I raised my eyebrows at the high demands. No wonder there hadn''t been a class in over a decade. Transfiguration, Potions, and Arithmancy were some of the hardest classes taught at Hogwarts. Still, now that my interest has peaked, I was determined to take Alchemy in my sixth year.


    "Who teaches the class at Hogwarts?" I asked curiously.


    Professor Dumbledore winked, "Well, it has been a while, but I have that privilege. So, if you do decide to take Alchemy, you and I will be spending more time together, but this time in a classroom."


    After lunch, Professor Dumbledore turned to Nicolas and said in a serious tone, "As much as I have enjoyed our conversation, I need to speak to you in private."


    I watched in frustration as they headed to the back of the house, where Nicolas had an office. I knew this had to be when Professor Dumbledore asked for the stone, and I wanted to hear what he had to say.


    While Mum and Perenelle were distracted, I casually made my way out of the room. I snuck inside the room next to Nicolas''s office. I had a perfect spell in mind to let me hear what was being said.


    I pulled out my wand and softly muttered, "Auditus."


    I winced as every sound magnified. I could hear both Nicolas and Dumbledore, as well as Mum and Perenelle speaking. I did my best to blot out and ignore Mum and Perenelle and focus on the conversation in the next room.


    "Are you sure?" Nicolas whispered.


    Dumbledore sighed, "Yes, I''ve been seeing signs and whispers of his return. I''m not sure how he will do it, but he is coming."


    "How is that possible? I thought he was dead." Nicolas asked.


    "I have my suspicions on how he survived the night his power was broken. But, he was never dead. He merely fled and has been biding his time. I don''t believe it''s a coincidence that he will be returning soon. Harry will be returning to the magical world, and I think that Voldemort is unable to resist meeting him."


    "What does this have anything to do with me? I hope you aren''t here to ask me to teach at Hogwarts. I''m far too old to deal with all of that nonsense."


    Dumbledore chuckled for a moment, "I wouldn''t dream of it, my friend. Besides, I''ve already filled the post with a young wizard named Quirinus Quirrell."


    In a more severe tone, Dumbledore continued, "No, I''m afraid I''m here to give a warning and a plea. I am convinced that Voldemort will target you, or more specifically, your stone. It offers him the most straightforward return to his former power. It is absolutely critical that this does not happen. Harry will need time to grow before he can face Voldemort at the height of his powers."


    Nicolas grunted, "So, he is the chosen one then. I had wondered."


    After a moment of silence, Nicolas questioned, "Where will you keep the stone?"


    Dumbledore let out a sigh of relief, "For now, at Gringotts."


    Nicolas replied, "Why not keep it? Voldemort always seemed reluctant to face you, and I''m sure the last thing he would want is to face you when he is at his weakest."


    "There are a few reasons. One, I am not infallible. Also, I will make sure a few rumors get out that I stored something valuable. I need to draw out whoever is helping Voldemort. I am sure whoever is helping him will be unable to help himself and will make a move."


    "But, you will be taking a big risk with the stone." Nicolas pointed out.


    Dumbledore sighed, "I know, but there are a few steps I can do to minimize the risk."


    Silence filled the room again, and for a moment, I thought my spell wore off. Then Nicolas let out a heavy sigh, "Fine, I trust you know what you are doing."


    Hearing that their conversation seemed to be near the end, I canceled the hearing spell and snuck back out to the living room where Mum and Perenelle were speaking.


    When Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas returned, their expressions were sober. Professor Dumbledore made his excuses and soon left us behind. I couldn''t help but wonder what steps he was going to take to secure the stone in Gringotts.


    I had always found it curious that Quirrell and Voldemort broke in on the same day that Hagrid had removed the stone from vault 713. Was it a coincidence? The more I thought about it, the more I doubted it. Professor Dumbledore must have learned that it wasn''t safe somehow and moved it.


    We didn''t spend too much longer at the Flamels. Nicolas seemed to be lost in thought, but he did invite me to return and spend time with him in his lab as much as I wanted to.


    The following month was fun. When I wasn''t at the Flamels, I spent my time exploring Paris and seeing Place Cach¨¦e. It was the French version of Diagon Alley and could be accessed through a magical bronze statue.


    One day, when exploring Place Cach¨¦e, I noticed a familiar shop name, Lancaster''s Apothecary. I knew Anna''s Mum ran a very successful Apothecary. I just didn''t realize that it was international.


    Soon enough, it was time to head home. Personally, I was grateful, I had finished reading all of Ignatia''s work and was eager to get back home, so I could sneak back into Hogwarts and get some more books. Plus, I think Dad was going a little stir crazy. He had left his employees in charge of the shop, and I could tell he was anxious to return to work.


    Ever since the portkey incident, he had thrown himself into his work on the Firebolt. I think I was starting to mess with the timeline because he was acting like he was going to be ready to launch within a year. After a little mental math, I figured that would be around the time the Nimbus 2001 was released.


    I just wish I could do everything Delvin put me through, I wanted to contribute something to the firebolt project, even if it was a single spell. With the knowledge that Rowena Ravenclaw left behind, I was curious to see if I could invent a spell that would help with the Firebolt project.


    To that end, I decided that I would go to York, a nearby muggle town. Although I don''t remember my past life, I knew that muggles were smart with their technology. Perhaps I can find a book in one of their bookstores that deal with their way of flying. Although most wizards won''t admit it, seeing muggle planes fly so high in the sky is impressive. Maybe, I will be inspired.


    I knew Mum would have her doubts about letting me go alone, so I waited until she took the twins shopping before I made my move. After putting on the hider bracer that gave me a plain appearance of an a.d.u.l.t, and snuck out to Diagon Alley. I knew I needed to get some muggle money, so I went to Gringotts.


    Before I entered, I made sure to stow away my bracer. It would have been the height of stupidity to visit Gringotts with a false appearance. Not only would I be discovered, but I''m also pretty sure the goblins would be pissed.


    The goblins at Gringotts were interesting. Most wizards rarely paid them attention, but I had noticed some odd facts. Anytime I had been inside with my family, a goblin by the name Garnock, was the one who dealt with us. It made me wonder how goblins ran Gringotts and how they determined who dealt with who.


    As I admired the massive stone architecture, I could feel subtle magic pulsing within. It wasn''t a big surprise. Goblins were great at enchanting earthly materials. Every wizard knows it''s foolish to challenge goblins within their underground lairs. Many arrogant witches and wizards in the past goblin wars were killed when they tried to fight underground.


    Soon, I saw Garnock approach. He was about half my height and had long slender fingers, a pointed nose, slanted pitch-black eyes. I could always recognize him because he had a habit of wearing a pointed hat with a silver hammer etched on it.


    "What can I do for you, Mr. Fawley?" He rasped in a scratchy tone. "I''m afraid that if you need to visit your vault, you will need to wait till you come of age, or bring one of your parents."


    I shook my head and reached into my coin pouch and pulled out some galleons. "I''ve heard that I can exchange this for some muggle money."


    Garnock''s dark eyes flicked from me to the gold, "I''m sure we can come to an arrangement." He said with a sinister smile that revealed sharp pointed teeth.


    As I left Gringotts, I was sure I had gotten ripped off. There was entirely too much smugness in Garnock''s eyes by the end of our transaction. I made another mental note to start learning Gobbledegook, the goblin language. I had a feeling that I would be dealing with more goblins in the future, and it will be useful to speak their language.


    Once outside, I slipped the bracer back on and made my way back home through the communal fireplace in Diagon Alley. Once I was back, I headed out to the main road, where I summoned the Knight Bus to take me to York.


    After the third time of being thrown on the floor, I finally understood the annoyance of the main cast. I didn''t want to chance casting a sticking charm out in public. It was one thing to ignore the trace in a magical home, but it was another to do it in public.


    When the bus finally stopped, I couldn''t wait to get off. As I looked around, none of the muggles seemed to notice the Knight Bus as it took off with a bang.


    The last month in Paris has given me a lot of experience wandering around the muggle world without drawing attention. After some wandering around, I found a bookstore. Once I explained what I was looking for, the elderly lady who ran the store directed me to the far end of the store.


    It didn''t take long for me to find what I was looking for. While waiting in line, I ran my fingers over the picture of a muggle airplane on the outside of the book. Once it was my turn, the elderly women read the title and smiled, "Are you interested in learning how to fly?"


    I smiled, "Something like that."


    As I walked out of the store, I reflected that if this book didn''t inspire me, no muggle book would. After all, the book was titled, The Mechanics of Flight.

 Chapter 78 - Spell Creation

    A little disappointed, I closed the Mechanics of Flight book. Ninety-nine percent of the contents were useless to me. Magical flight and mechanical flight were just too different for it to be useful.


    However, there was a section in the book that gave me pause. The book mentioned that the four forces that affected flight are lift, thrust, weight, and drag. Each force has an opposing force that acts against it.


    Lift is the force that enables an airplane to rise due to pressure generated by air passing over and under the wings. While I found this interesting, I disregarded it because we don''t rely on wings to fly. We rely on flight spells, which technically can be applied to almost anything.


    While I disregarded lift, it''s opposing force, weight, made me pause. Gravity was the pull of the earth, and I wasn''t sure how much weight played a role in our flight spells, it was something to think about in the future.


    Similarly, thrust didn''t interest me too much. Unlike muggles, we don''t burn fuel to produce thrust. Our flight spells take care of that. However, I have to admit the speed that planes can achieve is impressive.


    The one force mentioned that really interested me was drag. Drag was interesting to consider because it was essentially friction generated by an object as it passes through the air. The result is that it opposes thrust and can slow down objects moving through the air.


    While I wasn''t sure what to think about the other forces, drag was something I could work with. If I could somehow create a spell that reduced drag on the Firebolt, I am sure it would increase the speed. By how much, I have no idea. But, it would be awesome if I could create a spell and apply it to the Firebolt. It would be my own contribution to my family''s revenge on Delvin.


    I knew if I wanted to contribute to the Firebolt project, I would need to get started right away. I needed to get back into the sanctum in the Ravenclaw tower. Some of Rowena''s books go into great detail in creating new spells. While there are other books out there that discuss spell creation, I have a feeling that Rowena does a much better job explaining it.


    To that end, I have been practicing the disillusionment charm. I''m not sure what the consequences would be for being caught sneaking into Hogwarts, but I''m sure I don''t want to find out.


    Not for the first time, I wish I had the Marauder''s map. Right now, it was in Fred and George''s hands. While I have an inkling of how it was created, it would be too time-consuming to recreate a map of my own from scratch.


    Rather than spend countless hours creating a map of my own, I had an idea of how to copy the map by linking the Marauder''s map to a blank sheet with the Protean Charm. The only thing holding me back right now is that the charm is a Newt level spell, and I''m not quite there yet. But hopefully, by the end of the school year, I will be.


    Until then, the only thing I can rely on is my disillusionment charm. Supposedly, it was possible to reach a point of mastery that a disillusionment charm could turn one invisible. But, I wasn''t anywhere close to that yet. Right now, the best I could do is produce the basic chameleon effect.


    While it wasn''t real invisibility, if you stayed real still, it was close. To practice my ability sneaking around and not being caught, I had been honing my skill against my little sisters. I have to admit. It is fun seeing them scream in fright when I sneak up on them.


    Pulling out my aspen wand, I pointed it towards myself and muttered, "Indespectus."


    Immediately, I felt the sensation of an egg cracking against my head and raw egg running down my neck. My arm took on the exact color and texture of my wooden desk. The rest of my body followed suit and blended into whatever was closest.


    On my bed, Athena c.o.c.ked her head in curiosity. I haven''t been able to sneak up on her at all. Whatever abilities she had, they allowed her to track my movements. The first time I used the Disillusionment Charm, I had spent twenty minutes slowly sneaking up on her, all the while she gave me a look reserved for idiots. Since then, I decided to go after softer targets.


    After a few more days of practice, I figured I was ready to sneak into Hogwarts. I chose to go during the day, seeing as the house-elves were very active at night during the school year. For added security, I was bringing Athena. With her skills, I should be able to avoid any unnecessary attention.


    I waited till Mum was gone before I made my move. I went ahead and initiated the disillusionment charm because once I left our property, I couldn''t risk using magic. Once I got to the tower, I made my way to the vanishing cabinets that I stored next to Anton''s personal library.


    Its collection had grown a great deal as I had been adding copies of books from Hogwarts. Many were outdated or had similar material, but I figured there was no harm in expanding my collection.


    Once I stepped through the vanishing cabinet, I found myself back in the Room of Requirement. Looking around, there were stacks of dusty old objects that reached the ceiling. Over a thousand years of lost or forgotten things lay hidden in the warehouse-sized room.


    I made my way through the winding aisles trying to remember the quickest path to the door. On my way, I passed by a familiar old bust with a wig and tiara on top.


    Once I found the door, I started concentrating on the exit opening next to Ravenclaw tower. I knew that this was the easy part. The tricky part would be sneaking back through the tower as the Room of Requirement''s door relocated back to the seventh floor.


    After slowly opening the door, the first thing I saw on the other side of the hall was the Bronze Eagle Knocker that asked riddles. I peeked my head out slowly, wanting to make sure the hallway was clear.


    When I got to the sanctum, I had been expecting to find the Bronze Eagle waiting for me. Instead, I found an empty round room. Puzzled, I looked around the room, Where the hell could it have gone? Was it wandering around the castle somewhere?


    Knowing it was useless to wonder, I turned my attention back to the empty room. I knew that this room was similar to the Room of Requirement, and it took barely any effort to summon the Library of Ravenclaw.


    While I perused through the other heirs work, I knew I needed to make more copies. There was so much valuable knowledge here. Each heir had been a pioneer and had set the bar high. Ignatia Wildsmith was obsessed with magical transport and created the Floo Network and several other magical transportation devices like vanishing cabinets and portkeys.


    Hesper Starkey was a genius potion maker who was obsessed with the effects that the moon had on potion ingredients. She created several famous potions such as the Polyjuice and Wolfsbane potions. After skimming her books and seeing the dozens of potions she created, I was convinced that she had been born with the Hag''s Blessing, or more modernly known as the Potioneer''s Touch.


    Equally impressive was Mungo Bonham. He was the founder of St. Mungo''s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injures. He is widely considered to be the father of modern magical healing in Europe. However, some criticized that many of the modern healing techniques he created came at the expense of the Muggles he experimented on. Regardless, before him, healers were scattered and unorganized, and there is no doubt the overall good St. Mungo''s had brought to the magical community.


    Another heir whose work impacted magical society is that of John Homme. He invented talking portraits. I found his work to be mind-blowing, the enchantments and spells that go into a portrait are able to somehow take an imprint of the person and bind it to a portrait. One of the necessary components is the blood of the person being painted. It gets magical mixed with the paint being used. Was it a little creepy? Yes, but the art was still amazing.


    Most wizards households have a few paintings of their ancestors to seek advice from. The only downside of portraits is that they cannot evolve as individuals. They are frozen, unable, and incapable of growing and changing. It''s why Anton has the same reaction every time he gets surprised and throws a fit about intruders. Hundreds of years from now, he would react in the exact same way.


    I was a little surprised to learn that the first Heir of Ravenclaw, Willis Fern, was responsible for refining the mental arts of Occlumency and Legilimency. Before his time, the mental disciplines were extremely shallow. He took them to a whole new level. I was also pleased to discover that his work included more abilities in the mental arts than I previously knew about. I had a feeling that these abilities would be useful someday.


    I turned my attention to the least known heir, Rowan Ibex. The Ministry of Magic had banned his work on Time Magic. All of his work had been confiscated or destroyed. The same went for any books written by him, although I imagine that there is a grimoire or two floating around out there.


    As much as I wanted to delve into their work, I was here for something else. If I wanted to create a spell on time for the Firebolt release, I needed to study Rowena''s book on spell creation.


    Thankfully, the room''s enchantment was able to summon a comfortable chair, so I grabbed the book on spell creation and sat down and began reading. Two hours later, I closed the book and tried to digest everything I read.


    Spell creation wasn''t going to be simple. Even creating simple spells can take months for people who have experience in creating spells. I can''t imagine how much time the other heirs went through in pioneering new areas of magic.


    The book explained that the first thing I had to do was know precisely what I wanted my spell to do. While this may sound like an easy step, it is one of the most crucial steps. Without a clear idea of how I wanted the spell to perform, it would be nigh impossible to forge it into a real spell. The reason why it was so important was there were so many ways magic could accomplish something.


    The next step was far more difficult. Once you knew exactly what you wanted the spell to do, you had to bind it with an incantation. In Europe, it was common to use Latin. Thankfully, back in my first year, I learned Latin. What was interesting about binding a spell with an incantation was that the wording mattered. You can''t just use any word or phrase. You needed to use mantras that alluded to the spell.


    The final step was to establish the best wand movement that would let the spell be performed. Once all of these steps were finished, the spell would come into being and would be permanent.


    I still found it curious that someone could create a spell and teach someone to cast the spell without knowing what it did. Some of Rowena''s other books discuss her theories on why magic acted this way. I had my own thoughts on the matter, but that was something to study another day.


    I ran my fingers over the book fondly. The great thing about getting a hold of Rowena''s books on spell creation was all the detailed instructions on how to go about each step. It was like giving me a comprehensive blueprint on how to create a spell. All of this knowledge was going to lay my foundation as a wizard. I wasn''t going to be content with merely following in others footsteps like the majority of witches and wizards. One day, I will pave my own path and plume the depth of magic.


    A yowl interrupted my thoughts, I turned and found Athena staring at me intently warning me that we needed to get going. I needed to get back home before Mum noticed I was gone, or my disillusionment charm wore off.


    On that note, I left the sanctum and made my way to the common room entrance. I let Athena take the lead through the castle. We didn''t run into any of the staff or elves, but we had a few close calls with a couple of ghosts. Luckily, Athena was able to sense them in advance with her senses, and we were able to avoid them. I was relieved that Peeves didn''t mess with us. Ever since he found out that Athena could hurt him, he had been giving me a wide berth.


    I got back to the Room of Requirement and made my way through the maze of stack objects. Opening the door of the vanishing cabinets, I stepped into the darkness and opened the other side where I found a big surprise waiting for me.


    The Bronze Eagle from the Sanctum was standing in my tower with its bronze feathers puffed up and was arguing with the painting of my ancestor, Anton.


    "Get out of my tower, you feather-brained intruder!" Anton screamed as his unruly hair made him look like a wild hermit.


    The Bronze Eagle Puffed up his feathers in rage, "Feather-Brained! How dare you!" It screeched in outrage. Proudly raising its beak, the Statue scathingly, " I''ll have you know I am the most complex creation that Rowena Ravenclaw ever crafted."


    Anton sneered, "And yet it seems you lack the intelligence to follow simple instructions."


    I rubbed my temples as I could feel a headache forming as I listened to them arguing against one another. I had a feeling that they could spend the entire day insulting one another, so I interjected before the Eagle could respond. "Both of you shut up."


    Both of them looked at me in surprise, not realizing I had arrived. Anton seemed to sense my dark mood, "Alex, this thing broke into the tower in your absence. You should banish it to the dungeons. That will teach this monstrosity the consequences of trespassing."


    I rolled my eyes, Anton hated anyone trespassing. Last summer, a squirrel had gotten into the tower, and he still grumbled about me letting it go free. If he had gotten his way, that squirrel would be in the dungeon receiving a painful education on the consequences of trespassing.


    "Enough, I will deal with it," I replied.


    Turning to the Eagle, I fired off a few questions, "What are you doing in my tower? How long have you been here? How did you get in?"


    The Bronze Statue shrugged, and snidely remarked, "You snuck into my home, I was just returning the favor. If you didn''t want visitors, you should have locked the Vanishing Cabinet''s doors."


    My face flushed in embarrassment upon hearing the Eagle''s snarky tone. I hadn''t even considered that someone from Hogwarts could gain access to my tower. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Anton giving me a dark look. I sensed that he wasn''t too happy I had left a hole in the defenses.


    Wanting to change the subject from my mistakes, I asked, "How are you even here? I would have thought you were bound to Hogwarts."


    The Statue sneered, "Don''t confuse me with those lesser puppets. They were crafted with a singular purpose in mind. I am on a whole other level."


    "So, Rowena Ravenclaw made you." I clarified.


    "Yes," It bragged. "I am the culmination of her research into bringing a statue''s awareness to a higher level. Unfortunately, she was unable to create any more like me."


    "Why not?" I asked.


    The Eagle clamped its mouth shut and refused to say more on the subject. No matter how I worded the question, he refused to give away Rowena''s secret. Something bad or embarrassing must have happened that prevented Rowena from making any more statues with intelligence.


    In the end, I gave up. The statue was far too loyal to its creator. Maybe one day, I can worm my way into his loyalties and find out the reason. Until then, I had more than enough to do to keep me occupied. First, I need to get a spell to prevent the cabinets from being used without my permission. The last thing I need is a random student gaining access to my tower.


    It didn''t take me long to find a spell that would lock the cabinet. I set up a verbal password on the doors, and without the chant, the doors would remain shut. The Bronze Eagle seemed content to stay in the tower while I worked out how I wanted my new spell to work. Honestly, I think it stayed because it was a little bored. While the statue could be rather snarky, it was nice to have someone to talk to other than Anton in the tower.

 Chapter 79 - Main Cast

    As July passed, I couldn''t help but keep a watchful eye on the days. Harry Potter would be visiting Diagon Alley on his birthday, and I couldn''t help but want to get a glimpse of him. I mean, it was Harry Potter, the chosen one, the main character in the books. I had been wondering what he would be like after thinking and planning for so many years.


    For now, I knew it was essential to keep my distance. One day, I am sure we will interact more. Until it was time to start making serious changes to the timeline, I needed to stay in the background.


    Thinking about the upcoming year filled me with some sadness. Nicolas Flamel was destined to die sometime in the next year or so. After spending a month with him, I couldn''t help but like the old alchemist. He had an impressive depth of knowledge about magic, and his love of discovering new things was admirable.


    Before I met him, I didn''t give too much thought about his death. He was just a faceless character who would die in the background. But, now that we had met, his impending death left a bitter feeling within me, and there wasn''t anything I could do to stop it.


    I had considered trying to steal the stone for myself and then giving it back to him. But, the problem is he agreed with Dumbledore that the stone is too big of a temptation to Voldemort. As long as it existed, Voldemort would come for it, and whoever was in the way would pay.


    The only silver lining is having met him and heard Nicolas''s thoughts on death. I understand he doesn''t fear death. To him and his wife, death is merely the next step in a journey. But, it still sucks knowing that he will die.


    As July neared its end, I think I had gotten a handle on how I wanted my spell to work. The books warned that it was better to keep it simple, the more complex the spell, the harder it would be to bring it into fruition.


    I imagine an invisible cone beginning at the front of the Firebolt extending out towards the rear that completely ignored any drag produced by the broom and rider as they flew through the air.


    I decided to keep my plan to create a spell to help with the Firebolt a secret from Dad. I didn''t want to show him until I was able to get this spell to work. I couldn''t help but wonder how much faster it would be with my spell attached to it. According to what I remember and recorded in my journal, the firebolt max speed was 150 miles per hour and could reach its top speed in ten seconds. As long as I get this spell to work, the Firebolt''s performance should be even better.


    I couldn''t wait to see that stupid smug grin wiped from Delvin''s face when he realized that he no longer produces the best racing broom. Once we get our production rolling, I can''t imagine any professional team using the Nimbus anymore. If the teams wanted to stay competitive, they would need to buy Firebolts.


    The next day, I decided to go to work with Dad. Not only was it the 31st, but I wanted to see his progress on the Firebolt. I also was going to suggest taking a meeting with Anna''s Mum, Barbra Lancaster. She had experience running an international business, and I had a feeling that she could give us some valuable advice on how to move forward.


    I couldn''t help but be a little curious the next day. I had a feeling that Hagrid would bring Harry to our family shop. Fawley''s Wondrous Enchantments supplied a few items on the Hogwarts''s supply list.


    By the time I was ready to leave, Dad was pacing impatiently by the fireplace. Normally he apparated to his shop, but since I was tagging along, we took the floo network. After a quick flash of emerald flame, I arrived at the communal fireplace built at the beginning of Diagon Alley.


    Diagon Alley was starting to fill up with families that needed to get their kids supplies for the upcoming year. Summer was definitely the busiest time for shops in Diagon Alley.


    As I made my way to Dad''s shop, I grimaced when I saw a few kids eyeing the Nimbus 2000 in a window of a store. Ever since it''s release earlier in the year, the model had been selling like hotcakes. I forced myself to move on. It was no use dwelling on the matter.


    Dad likes to split his time between the workshop and the store. But, ever since the portkey incident, he had been working back here full time. I was interested in seeing how far along he was on the Firebolt. While we headed downstairs, Athena scampered off. She liked to explore the store and watch over everyone from a high perch.


    A thick steel door with our family crest of a hawk surrounded by stars guarded the workshop. The closer I got to the door, the more my magical sense was lighting up. Since Delvin stole from us, Dad had always been a little paranoid about someone taking his work. So, he had warded and enchanted every square inch of his workshop to prevent thieves from gaining access.


    There was a trap door beneath us that would activate if the wrong sequence was used. I''m sure Anton, our crazy ancestor, would be proud of Dad''s caution. Dad made me tap the pattern this time. He wanted to make sure I knew the code in case anything ever happened, and I needed to get inside.


    Once I tapped the code on our family crest''s stars, the thick steel door swung open, revealing the workshop. I let out a surprised whistle when I saw the room. Usually, the tables lining the walls were full of items that Dad was working on for the shop.


    But now, all I could see were broomsticks lying about haphazardly. Some had been carefully taken apart, and others looked like they exploded into tiny pieces. I shot a worried look at Dad, the whole workshop screamed of obsession. Although I was concerned about him, I knew Dad was just frustrated at not being able to take out Delvin for almost getting me killed.


    Looking back at our family vacation to France, I had a feeling Mum arranged it more for Dad than anyone else. He must have needed a break from work. The sooner we can get project Firebolt up and running, the sooner we can put this mess behind us.


    Dad''s main workbench was the center of the workshop, surrounded by layers of wards. On the old scuffed up table was a polished broomstick. On the backside of the broom were rugged goblin-forged foot gears that helped stabilize the broom in midair.


    Hanging off the table was the streamlined birch twigs. Each twig would end up having a charm attached to it. Everything from an unbreakable charm to make sure the other twigs wouldn''t break, to anti-theft charms that would make sure the broom couldn''t be casually stolen. Most people don''t realize how many spells brooms have woven into them.


    I was a little worried when I saw how close Dad was getting to be finished. I had a feeling I had for less than a year to complete my spell. I turned my head to him and asked, "How close are you to being done?"


    Dad fondly ruffled my hair, "Soon, I plan to have the first completed prototype finished within a month or so."


    A hint of a frown appeared on my face, "I thought you said it would be sometime early next year. This broom looks like it will be ready in a few months."


    Dad laughed, "Getting the prototype finished is only there first step. There will be further testing and tweaking as I put the broom through its paces. Plus, if we''re going to compete with the global Nimbus Broom Racing Company, it''s going to take time to ramp up production."


    "I actually have an idea about that," I replied.


    Dad turned to me with a questioning look.


    "I think we should sit down with Anna''s Mum. She runs an international apothecary business, went to a muggle school, and learned how to run a business. If we want to succeed and crush Delvin''s company, I think we could use some advice."


    Dad thought about it for a moment before nodding, "I think that''s a great idea."


    Nudging me with his elbow, he teased, "You know, if you wanted to see Anna, all you had to do was say something."


    Magnanimously, I chose not to respond to his comment and decided that Elaine may need my help more than Dad. I hastily retreated upstairs, ignoring Dad''s plea that he wouldn''t say anything else.


    Upstairs, the store was starting to get some customers. I mostly spent my time pointing out where things were. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept watching the windows for a certain half-giant that was supposed to be milling about.


    I got so distracted that I almost ran into a small, pale-skinned, bushy-haired girl with buck-teeth. Standing behind her were two a.d.u.l.ts I assumed were her parents. Their eyes were twice as big as their daughters as they eyed the magical effects some of the store''s items were giving off. On their shirts were badges that identified them as parents of a muggleborn. The pass is what got them past the magical doorway at the Leaky Cauldron.


    I have seen enough first years to know what they looked like but considering the bushy-hair and buck teeth. I quickly made the connection. This had to be none other than Hermione Granger. I nearly froze in surprise. I had been expecting to run into Harry, not the smarter one of the trio.


    Gathering my wits, I asked, "First-year?"


    She nodded quickly. As if she wanted to confirm that she belonged in Diagon Alley, she pulled out her Hogwarts acceptance letter and replied, "Yes, I have my letter right here."


    Seeing how I didn''t even bother to look at the letter, she put it away.


    "Muggleborn, right?" I clarified.


    She nodded, I said, "I''m guessing you need supplies."


    She shook her head, sending her bushy hair flying about and replied, "I got my supplies ages ago. I''ve already gone through several of the textbooks for the upcoming year."


    With a know-it-all-look on her face, she added, "Did you know that Diagon Alley was built in the early 1500s? I read about it in A History of Magic."


    I struggled not to roll my eyes at Hermione''s impromptu history lesson. I hoped I didn''t sound so smug when I talked with my friends. No wonder it took some time for Harry and Ron to look past her know-it-all-attitude.


    Not wanting to hear a history lesson from an eleven-year-old, I changed the subject before she could continue, "So what can I help you with today?"


    Oblivious to my annoyance, Hermione looked around the shop and explained, "All I need is a trunk for school, the one I have at home won''t fit everything I need."


    I motioned for her to follow, "If you need space, we''ve got just the thing."


    On the far side of the shop, I pointed towards a stack of trunks in the corner. "Since you mentioned needing space, I recommend getting one of my Dad''s enchanted trunks. You''ll find it useful when packing for school."


    Hermione''s Dad lifted the lid on one of the trunks and looked inside. I hid a grin at his confused look. He closed the lid and suspiciously checked the trunk''s dimensions. He opened the c.h.e.s.t again and turned to his family and stage whispered, "The inside is too big."


    Hermione looked like she was torn from being embarrassed and wanting to check it out for herself.


    "It has an undetectable extension charm woven into it." I helpfully explained.


    Hermione''s Mum had a better handle on things because she just nodded like she knew exactly what I was talking about and that it was perfectly normal for the inside of the trunk to be three times what it should be.


    Hermione''s Dad replied, "We''ll take two."


    Hermione looked up at her Dad in confusion, "I only need one."


    An embarrassed look appeared on his face, and he awkwardly replied, "Those were supposed to be for me."


    Hermione''s face turned red in embarrassment, and his wife elbowed him in the ribs, before telling me, "We only need one for now."


    I almost laughed at seeing Hermione''s Dad''s expression. He looked like a kid who had a piece of candy stolen from him. After getting the trunk on the cart that they brought along, I led them to the front.


    Waiting in line, Hermione looked around the shop wistfully and asked, "So, your Dad makes all this stuff?"


    I looked around the shop fondly, "Yeah, this is his passion. He often says he loves what he does so much. Enchanting doesn''t feel like work for him, more like a hobby."


    It didn''t take long for them to pay for the trunk. On their way out of the store, I waved goodby and said, "I guess I will see you at Hogwarts."


    Hermione''s eyes lit up at my remark about school. I bet she couldn''t wait until she got to start seriously learning magic.


    Once the door was closed and they were gone, I let out a breath of air. I think that went as well as it could. I need to be careful around Hermione. She was the smart one of the golden trio, and probably the most suspicious. Any forced attempt to create a connection with her group would likely raise red flags in her mind.


    I knew I needed to build a connection with them, but not so much that it derailed the first two years of school. Hopefully, once their third year rolls around, our connection will have developed enough so that they don''t get suspicious when I make my move.


    While I was planning out the future, a dark shadow blocked the sun from the windows. The door opened with a loud thud, and a familiar half-giant appeared. With the door being too short for someone of Hagrid''s stature, he had to duck to get inside the store.


    I frowned when I noticed how thin he was, it was apparent that he had missed his fair share of meals growing up. The only good news is once the Dursleys realized that the wizarding world knew that they forced him to sleep in a cupboard. They improved his living conditions out of fear of retribution.


    "Lo Alex, I want you to meet someone." Hagrid rumbled. He patted Harry on the back, nearly making him stumble forward. "This here is Harry Potter."


    An uncomfortable look appeared on Harry''s face as the other customers paused what they were doing and glanced our way. Remembering that Harry never liked it when people treated him differently, I stuck out my hand and said, "Alexander Fawley, but you can call me Alex."


    Harry reached out and shook my hand. Before he could say anything, Athena glided down from the rafters and landed on the table next to Harry.


    Harry stiffened in surprise, unsure what to make of a winged cat with horns dropping from the ceiling. Something about Harry seemed to fascinate Athena, and she approached him demanding tribute in the form of pets and strokes.


    "That''s Athena," I clarified. "I think she''s feeling ornery today."


    Harry reached out and started stroking Athena''s striped fur. "What is she?" He asked.


    Answering for me, Hagrid eagerly explained, "Athena is a Lamassu. A magical creature of great power. What''s interesting about Lamassus is that no two are alike. They come in various forms."


    "Are they all so friendly?" Harry asked while scratching the base of Athena''s horns as she closed her eyes in p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.


    I smiled, "I can''t speak for other Lamassus, but Athena is a teddy bear unless she considers you an enemy."


    Hagrid replied, "I would say most Lamassus that attack people are simply misunderstood. In my experience, magical creatures are overwhelmingly friendly."


    Harry looked at me for confirmation and grinned when I shook my head, completely denying Hagrid''s claim. Once Athena had enough attention, she launched herself off the table, heading off to who knows where.


    It didn''t take long for Harry and Hagrid to gather what Harry needed for school. Hagrid mumbled his apologies for not being able to stay any longer and explained they had a lot of things to take care of and needed to move on.


    After they left, I mused that it was a good first meeting. I left a good impression, but not one of desperately trying to force a connection. I''m glad I came to the shop today, meeting two of the three was interesting. As if the universe wasn''t satisfied with me seeing all three of the golden trio. Later in the day, I saw Fred and George on the other side of the street, with a middle-aged woman I assumed was their Mum. As I took in sight, I noticed another redhead with freckles on his face.


    That had to be Ron. I found it a little strange that Harry, Hermoine, and Ron were at Diagon Alley on the same day. It was like fate was trying to ensure that they would meet. Although I was curious about what would happen if they all met each other early, I ducked back into the store. It was none of my business to interfere with their eventual meeting on the train. Trying to force something could derail everything I had planned.

 Chapter 80 - Lancaster Commodities

    A few days later, Dad and I made our way to Barbara Lancaster''s office in London. Originally, I thought she ran her business out of Diagon Alley, but I guess that location was too small for her to run her business.


    "Are you sure this is the right address?" Dad asked while looking at the tall muggle building.


    I reached into my pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment that had an address scribbled on it. After checking the numbers on the building to make sure we''re in the right place, I showed Dad the paper and said, "I think so."


    I understood his confusion. We were in the heart of London. I would have assumed Barbara''s headquarters to be a little less conspicuous. But, maybe she was hiding everything in plain sight. It wasn''t like it was unheard of in the magical world, both St. Mungos and the Ministry were in London.


    Inside the lobby, our footsteps echoed off the marble floor as we approached the help desk.


    "Can I help you?" A bored security guard whose cap failed to hide his balding brown hair asked while reading a muggle newspaper.


    Dad checked the scrap of paper I gave him again, and hesitantly said, "Yes, we''re looking for Lancaster Commodities."


    "Do you have an appointment?" The guard asked.


    Dad checked his watch and replied, "Yes, our appointment is at five."


    The guard sighed, clearly annoyed that he was going to have to do his job. He set down his paper, picked up the phone, and called someone to get approval for us to enter the building.


    Hanging up the phone, the guard issued us visitor badges, pointed out the elevator behind him with his thumb, and said. "Take the elevator to the top floor."


    Satisfied that his job was complete, the guard picked up the paper and resumed reading, content to ignore the lobby.


    After pushing the button for the tenth floor, Dad and I rode the elevator in silence. Soon, the elevator dinged, indicating we were on the tenth floor, the doors opened, revealing a small reception area.


    A dark-haired lady with glasses motioned for us to take a seat. I wasn''t sure if she was a witch or not, but my magical senses were starting to itch, indicating that there were probably enchantments all around the room.


    It didn''t take long for Barbara Lancaster to arrive. With her long blond hair, she looked like an older version of Anna, minus the violet eyes. Rather than wear robes, she was wearing a sharp grey women''s suit.


    Upon seeing us in the lobby, she smiled and greeted, "Henry, Alex, it''s good to see you, let me show you around." She motioned for us to follow her through the wooden door she came through.


    On the other side was a fairly mundane office divided up into cubicles. I''m not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I shouldn''t be surprised. Outside of a couple of goblins who appeared to be working on accountants, this place looked pretty mundane.


    "Why does an apothecary need an office in London?" I asked.


    Barbara smugly smiled and explained, "I don''t just run a simple apothecary. While I have apothecaries on all six continents, that is only a small portion of my business now."


    Throwing open a door that sizzled with magic, we left the office behind. On the other side was a massive warehouse filled with shelves holding ingredients that ran to the ceiling. "You see, some years back, I realized something was missing from the magical world. Before me, apothecaries had a hundred different suppliers they had to deal with to get potion ingredients. But now, with Lancaster Commodities, you can get every ingredient you need from one convenient place, and with the amount of volume I deal with, my prices are the lowest in town."


    With a pleased smile on her face, Barbara continued, "I''ve grown so big, that I even supply my competitors in the apothecary business. Now it doesn''t matter if someone buys ingredients from my stores or someone else''s, either way, I profit."


    I couldn''t help but be impressed with Barbara. In a world where the majority expected squibs to slink off into the background and be unnoticed. She had built an empire. I tried to imagine how many galleons her company was making. Was Anna richer than me? Looking at the warehouse that stretched into the distance, I had a feeling that if she wasn''t yet, she soon might be. Next time we went for ice cream at Florean Fortescue''s, she was paying.


    A little curious, I asked, "How do you deal with¡­ Aggressive competitors?"


    Dad gave me a frown. I think he thought I was being rude in pointing out that she might not be able to defend herself. But I was just impressed. Being able to hold onto a business like this in the magical world was impressive. She would have all sorts of people trying to sink their claws into her business.


    Barbara gave me a toothy smile and explained, "I hire only the best to protect our company. It''s expensive but well worth it."


    We followed Barbara back through the door into the main office. She led us to the far side of the building to a door with her name on it. Inside was a reasonably large office that even had a wizarding fireplace in the corner. Sitting down in her expensive chair, she motioned for us to take a seat in the two chairs on the opposite side of her desk. Leaning back, she asked, "So, what can I do for you two?"


    Dad looked at me awkwardly. We hadn''t really discussed how we were going to broach the subject with Barbara. Dad gave me an expectant look, clearly communicating that I could explain everything since this was my idea.


    I decided that I might get it over with, so I blurted out, "We''re going to take down the Nimbus Broom Company, and we need your help."


    Barbara''s eyebrows rose in surprise, whatever she had been expecting me to say. Taking down the world''s leading broom racing company probably wasn''t what she was expecting.


    She held up a hand to stop me for a second, "I think I need a drink," she said. Getting up, she walked to a cabinet in the corner.


    Pulling out a bottle and two crystal wine glasses, she poured out a rich purple wine and offered Dad a drink, "Seelie Elderberry Wine." She boasted with a smug grin.


    Dad''s eyebrow rose as he took the expensive glass of Seelie Wine while Barbara poured another and settled back into her chair. "I find a glass of wine is best when plotting the demise of enemies."


    Turning her gaze from me to my Dad, Barbra asked, "So, how about you start from the beginning."


    This time, I let Dad do all the talking. By the time he had fully caught Barbara up on everything, she had drained her glass of wine.


    "I don''t know how much help I can be," She admitted. "Delvin Whithorn and I don''t run in the same circles."


    "It''s not your help, so much as the advice that we need," I assured her. "We don''t have any experience in setting up such a large operation."


    Barbara leaned forward with her elbows on her desk and rubbed her temples, contemplating our request. After a few minutes, she looked up and said, "I have a few thoughts on where you need to begin. The first thing you need to establish is ironclad contracts for your raw materials. Make sure you buy from multiple sources, so if one is shut down, it won''t interfere in your production."


    When she saw Dad''s raised eyebrows, she gave a slight smile, "Don''t look so surprised, you are going after a world-spanning company. Delvin will have investors he can turn to for help, don''t be surprised if they try and go after your suppliers. It''s one of the easiest ways to undercut someone''s business."


    Hearing her tone, I was guessing that she was speaking from experience. But from her tone, I think that she may have been the sneaky one in her business dealings.


    Dad thought about it for a minute before replying, "It shouldn''t be too difficult to set up multiple contracts for the broom materials. There are plenty of suppliers for the wood that I use in the broom''s construction."


    "I employ several highly educated squibs who specialize in magical contract law. I can ask them to give your contracts a thorough look." Barbara offered.


    "I''m sure that will be helpful," Dad replied.


    "What about the goblin iron-forged material?" I pointed out.


    Barbara winced, "You''re relying on Goblins for material. That is a bad position to be in, especially for a new company."


    "They''ve been pretty consistent so far," Dad defended.


    "For now," Barbara sneered. "But, once they realize that you are dependent on them for your product, you can bet that they''ll start holding out until they get more gold."


    "Couldn''t we just ask another Goblin Clan to help if they did that?" I asked.


    Barbara shook her head, "That won''t work either, the next clan would pick up on your need and probably hold out for even more."


    Dad''s eyebrows furrowed in frustration as he scowled, "What about a contract? I''ve always known Goblins to follow them religiously."


    Barbara nodded, conceding his point, "True, but over the years, many witches and wizards have discovered that goblins are devious when it comes to interpreting contracts and are often able to twist things to benefit themselves."


    "Then, what do you suggest?" Dad asked.


    Barbara bit her lip worriedly as she clicked her nails one at a time on the wooden desk in front of her. After thinking it over, she advised, "Give them a stake in the company. Not only will it provide you with additional capital to help set up everything, but you will also ensure that they are motivated to keep supplies running smoothly."


    While Dad and I both scowled at the implication that our family wouldn''t fully own the company, Barbra rolled her eyes. "It doesn''t have to be a large stake," she explained. "You could give them five percent and get your iron-forged material for free. Not only would they not screw you, but they''ll also protect your company from other goblin interest."


    Sensing that we needed a final push, Barbra informed us, "You''re going to need investors anyways. Unless you want to risk your family fortune, investors will allow you to get the gold to build a global company''s infrastructure.


    Barbara''s face clearly showed how idiotic that would be. "Besides," she soothed. "I know for a fact that the Nimbus Broom Racing Company has goblin investors. You can bet that they will not simply roll over and let profits sift through their fingers."


    Dad sighed, "Fine, I''ll set up a meeting with the goblins I''ve been working with."


    Pleased that he had given in, Barbara continued, "The next thing you need to focus on is production, you''ll need to hire employees so you can ramp up production. I imagine you don''t want to spend all of your time working on firebolts."


    "I''ve already got a few people in mind," Dad reassured her.


    "Good, now that leads me to my final point. If you really want to take the Nimbus Company down, you have a small window to act." Barbara explained.


    "What do you mean?" I asked. "No matter when we release the Firebolt, it should decimate Nimbus sales around the world."


    "I''m not saying it won''t," Barbara explained. "But, even if you make the best broom in the world. Being the second-best will ensure that the Nimbus will still have a piece of the market, even if it''s a much smaller piece. That''s why it''s critical you act within the next year or so. I''ve heard from my contacts in the market that next year the Nimbus 2001 will be released."


    Dad furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "But, they just released the Nimbus 2000. Why would they release their next model so soon? If the Nimbus 2001 is better than the 2000, why even release the Nimbus 2000?"


    Barbara smiled as if she admired the moves the company made. "Because," she explained. "Instead of having the faster broom on the market. Now, they''ll have the two fastest brooms on the market. I''ll bet they plan to milk these two models for all their worth for the next decade."


    Barbara''s brown eyes twinkled with schadenfreude as she gleefully pointed out, "But, the first couple of years are periods of vulnerability for the company. I guarantee you that they have ramped up production in preparation for both of the model''s release. They probably have huge stockpiles of the brooms ready to go. So, what would happen if all of a sudden, there was a huge decrease in demand for both the Nimbus 2000 and 2001?"


    Seeing where she was going, I smiled, the Nimbus would have to slash prices to stay competitive. Not to mention, if they ramped up production that much, I bet they borrowed money to do it, banking on the two brooms being so successful that it wouldn''t be a problem to clear their debts.


    Now, that I think about it, I can see another way to sink the knife in deeper. What if instead of keeping the spell I am working on for ourselves, I sell the spell to the Comet and Cleansweep Companies. While both of their best models are slower than the Nimbus 2000, they are also cheaper to make.


    Since Delvin won''t be able to turn to his father for a gold infusion that would let them survive, I''m sure the investors would start bailing out, which could allow us to buy their shares and seize control of the company and reclaim what was stolen from us.


    While I was going over future plans on the best way to screw Delvin out of his company. Another bright idea occurred to me. Turning to Dad, I said, "We should time our release of the Firebolt to coincide with the release of the Nimbus 2001."


    An evil grin appeared on my face, "If you can, we should try and challenge him to a race. We can turn it into a big event and get the public to follow the story. He''ll probably think it will be good publicity for him when in reality, it will allow us to use his brooms as a stepping stone."


    Barbara smiled, "That''s a great idea," She said.


    "Remember, the Whithorns have a lot of influence at The Daily Prophet. They may downplay or bury the story if they lose," Dad warned.


    I frowned, Dad had a point. If the portkey incident taught me anything, it was that the Whithorns had good connections in the news industry. But as an idea occurred to me, I smiled. I couldn''t help but think about a specific obnoxious reporter who was also an unregistered animagus.


    I think it is about time for Rita Skeeter and me to meet. While dealing with her will be a pain, I''m tired of the amount of sway the Whithorns always seem to have with the press. It''s time for my family to have some influence on the Daily Prophet.

 Chapter 81 - Goblins

    The meeting with Barbara Lancaster illuminated that we had a lot to do before we were ready to release the Firebolt. We had less than a year to get everything ready if we wanted to release the Firebolt at the same time as the Nimbus 2001.


    As August wore on, Dad threw himself back into work. I split my time between learning new spells and working on my personal spell.


    One evening Dad informed me he had set up a meeting with the goblins clan he had contracted to build the gear he needed for the Firebolt. They were a relatively small goblin clan by the name of Sharpclaw, and he had done business with them in the past.


    I decided since our family was going to be getting into bed with goblins. It would be a wise idea to get more in-depth information about them. Outside of the occasional goblin rebellion, not much about them is taught at Hogwarts.


    Although their society isn''t covered in any of the primary textbooks, I figured that with the size of the Hogwarts Library, there had to be some decent books about goblins.


    My faith in the library was rewarded, even if I didn''t step one foot inside the library. The Room of Requirement was quicker and far more thorough than spending hours hunting through stacks of books. Part of me mused that Hermoine would probably be offended with how I bypass students who traditionally have to hunt for knowledge in the stacks. I get the feeling that she will like rummaging through the library.


    But, to me, the room is way better. Why spend hours in the library hunting through thousands of books? When all I have to do is offer up a simple request for what I am looking for, and the room provides all. So help me, I will find a way to replicate this spell. I''ve gotten used to having things delivered with no effort on my part. I refuse to go back to doing things the normal way.


    The first couple of books I skimmed through made me sigh in disappointment. They reminded me of all the garbage I had read when I was studying up on vampires. They were full of derogatory thoughts and assumptions about Goblins. Wizards can sometimes be very condescending when it comes to other magical races.


    Eventually, I found an interesting book written by a wizard by the name of Gabriel Stars. He was able to develop a sort of kinship with a clan of goblins.


    Reading his book illuminated the origins of some of the problems that have developed between wizards and goblin. After reading the book, I would say the biggest problem is our cultures are so different, and there is a general lack of interest in understanding one another.


    For instance, goblins often refer to wizards as liars and thieves. This is because when a goblin makes a bargain with a witch or wizard, they assume their agreement will be passed on through their bloodline. When it inevitably doesn''t, the goblin who made the agreement will accuse the descendant of lying and breaking a bargain.


    Wizards, of course, view this as pure nonsense. How could someone who didn''t make the bargain be held responsible for one of their ancestor''s choices?


    It doesn''t help when goblins wait centuries before approaching the family whose ancestors supposedly made the agreement and demand things agreed upon hundreds of years prior. Many wizards assume that goblins wait deliberately for centuries, so that time muddies the waters and they can twist the agreement in their favor.


    In the end, most magical families will completely ignore the goblin in question. Which circles back to goblins accusing wizards of being liars. To be honest, both sides have a point in this. But, they are too stubborn and are happy to go about hating one another rather than working things out rationally.


    Adding the tension between cultures is when Goblins accuse wizards of being thieves because of issues over ownership of goblin-forged objects. In goblin society, only the smith who forged the item is the true owner. So, when a wizard buys something from a goblin, they argue that they are renting the object, and upon death, ownership should revert to goblins, or the family can pay to rent the object for another lifetime.


    Witches and wizards naturally object to the idea that their family should have to pay for an object multiple times. This aspect of goblin culture has led many wizards to believe that goblins are greedy and trying to drain gold from wizards.


    While I had mixed feelings on agreements made between wizards and goblins, I was solely on the side of my fellow wizards on this issue of ownership. In my opinion, it was unreasonable for goblins to claim ownership of things that are sold by them. Even more so, because they don''t tell the person they are selling to that to them, they are only renting the object. Only after their death, do they come forward and try to reclaim the object. One of the most famous cases involves the sword of Gryffindor, which goblins claim ownership.


    All of this made me realize that Barbara''s suggestion to give the goblin clan a stake in the company was the correct move. The ownership issue would be neatly sidestepped because they would already own a piece of the company and would continue to profit throughout the years.


    Towards the end of the book, I picked up another valuable piece of information. Apparently, there were many different status goblins assigned to their trading partners. From dishonest partner to blood-kin, there were about a dozen different statures they can label you with. The higher the status, the more honest their dealing was. I rolled my eyes when I read that most wizards fell somewhere between dishonest partners to foolish rube.


    The level of status assigned was mostly based on how much of a benefit or wealth you bring to the clan. Your status could also be increased if you provided a great service or boon to the clan.


    The highest possible status was to be considered blood kin. At that point, the goblin clan would consider you kin, and your enemies would become theirs and vice versa.


    The amount of money the Firebolt should make the clan should at least grant us the status of a favored trading partner. While it would be nice to attain the status of blood kin, I''m not sure how it would be possible, or if it would be worth the trouble.


    Closing the book, I nearly had a heart attack when I noticed the Bronze Eagle was standing silently right behind me. I didn''t like that something that big could be so quiet when it moved.


    "Merlin''s Bloody Piss!" I cursed. "I''ve told you to stop doing that."


    Although the Eagle couldn''t do expressions very well, he somehow oozed smugness at catching me off guard. "I thought you were working on your awareness." The Eagle teased.


    The Eagle craned it''s neck over my head looking down at my reading material. "Goblins." The statue sneered in distaste. "Why are you studying up on goblins?"


    "My family is about to set up a business arrangement with them, and I wanted more information on their society," I explained.


    In the same disproving tone, the Eagle warned, "Goblins aren''t to be trusted."


    "How would you know?" I scoffed. "Have you dealt with goblins before?


    "Not personally," The Eagle sniffed in disdain. "But, the founders had to deal with a goblin clan deep in the mountains."


    My eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really? I''ve read Hogwarts, A History, and there isn''t anything in there about the founders having to deal with goblins."


    "History is written by the victors, and the founders didn''t want word getting out what happened. It could have ruined everything." The Eagle explained.


    "What do you mean? Did they do something wrong?" I asked.


    The Eagle shrugged its wings. "It''s complicated," The statue explained. "When Rowena, Godric, Salazar, and Helga built Hogwarts, they didn''t realize that there was a goblin den a few dozen miles to the south. Once they realized that there was a goblin clan nearby, Helga was sent to draft a treaty of noninterference. I''m not sure of the exact details, but it essentially boiled down to staying out of each other''s territory and leaving each other alone."


    Sensing that the story was about to get darker, I mused, "I''m guessing someone did something stupid."


    Once again, the Eagle shrugged, "I wouldn''t say stupid, more like unfortunate occurrence. Back then, there wasn''t any official way for students to come to school. Some flew by broomstick, others rode creatures, or had carriages bring them. A few years after opening the school, a carriage carrying a few students went through land belonging to the goblin. Curious about the goblin den, they made the mistake of going underground and trespassing. Long story short, two students were killed, and a third barely escaped with her life but missing a few fingers."


    I winced when I heard about the deaths. Wizards, as a rule, tended to respond poorly when a goblin killed a wizard, and that doesn''t even take into account that the students were underage. Right or wrong, more than one goblin war has been started over the death of a wizard.


    "What happened next?" I asked in a morbid tone, half-sure of the ending.


    The Eagle let out a sigh, which was curious because it didn''t need to breathe. "Godric and Salazar were both furious. Each of them had lost a student, and when the four founders gathered to discuss a response, they advocated for immediate retaliation. Always the peacemaker, Helga pleaded for cooler heads to prevail. At first, her plea seemed to succeed, and some of the fire left Godric. But, Rowena cooly pointed out that if they didn''t respond, Hogwarts would most likely fail. You see, back then, there were no schools of magic. Families passed down and taught their kids magic. The idea of sending your children away was very new, and many were still skeptical of the idea. If word got out that students were being killed. Parents would probably refuse to send their kids to school."


    "I take it that they dealt with the goblins then?"


    The Eagle shook its bronze beak, "No, it turned out to be a moot point. While the founders discussed and debated what to do, they didn''t realize that a student took matters into his own hands. Salazar''s prized and most skilled pupil, Merlin, was incensed at the assault. The surviving girl, Morgana Le Fay, was a dear friend of his, for whom he cared a great deal. At high noon, he launched a lone assault upon the goblin den, and by nightfall, there were none left alive."


    "Wait, Merlin was a Slytherin?" I asked.


    The Eagle c.o.c.ked his head curiously, "Yes, he was the most talented pupil ever taught by Salazar. Although they disagreed on some things, they were quite close."


    I tried to wrap my head around Merlin being a Slytherin. Somehow that little tidbit didn''t make it into the history books. I wonder if that knowledge has been deliberately ignored.


    Turning my mind back to the matter, I asked. "How did the Founders react to what Merlin did?"


    "Salazar was pleased with the demonstration of his student''s prowess and decisive action. Godric was displeased that a student acted without them, and he didn''t think it was a proportionate response. Helga was furious because she had wanted a peaceful solution, and Rowena didn''t care, she was satisfied that the situation was dealt with."


    "How come none of this is in the history books?" I asked.


    The Eagle shook its head and pointed out, "Having it known that students were killed would have been bad for Hogwarts. So, Rowena cast several high-order spells to make all the students forget what happened. I''m not sure what happened to the parents, but in the end, they didn''t make a fuss, and so the terrible incident became a forgotten memory, known only to a few."


    I spent a few more hours researching goblins. I found dozens of stories similar to the story the Eagle told me. Wizards and goblins had been happily killing each other for centuries. It was challenging to say what side held more responsibility. Both sides had made mistakes and held blame in the wars that happened over the centuries.


    But, it is undeniable that wizards hold a clear advantage over goblins. The magic we use from our wands has allowed wizard-kind to advance our powers, while Goblin magic is at a standstill. Their magic is subtle, and from what I can tell, has something to do with earthy material. More than once, Goblins have advocated for the right to bear wands. Not once, have wizards budged on the issue.


    While I sympathized with goblins wanting to expand their powers, I also understood where wizards were coming from. Why give your enemy the chance to advance and grow their power, when that power would one day be directed at you?


    In the Room of Requirement, I also grabbed a few books on Gobbledegook. Ever since meeting the goblin who shortchanged me at Gringotts, I had wanted to start learning the goblin language. If my family were going to be dealing with goblins more, it would probably be good to know what they are saying. It may even offer me a slight advantage when dealing with them, as most wizards don''t bother learning their language.


    As August neared its end, the meeting with the Sharpclaw Clan rapidly approached. Mum wasn''t that pleased that Dad was planning on bringing me along, but after some convincing, she grudgingly allowed me to tag along.


    Soon the day of the meeting arrived, and before I knew it, it was nearly time for us to leave. Searching the house, I found Dad in his study organizing files into his briefcase.


    The glow of the fireplace sent streaks of warm light throughout the room, forcing shadows to hide in the corners. I was tempted to whistle when I saw Dad. Grandma had clearly passed on her lessons on how to use one''s appearance as a tool.


    The sparse grey flicks of hair that had recently been showing up in his dark, brown hair had been banished. His stubble-beard had been neatly groomed. Adding to his appearance was a set of silky black wizarding robes that had an emblem of a feather crossed with a wand. It was the official symbol of the charm-crafting guild. The emblem was stitched in gold, signifying that he had reached the third and highest level of skill recognized by the guild.


    I can''t help but feel proud when I see the golden symbol on Dad''s dark robes. There is a reason why he is one of the most trusted enchanters in Diagon Alley. Becoming a gold-level enchanter wasn''t easy.


    Most members of the guild begin at bronze, which is the lowest tier available. Most bronze level members were young and just out of school, still perfecting their craft. If someone can''t make it to the next level within a decade, they often leave the guild recognizing that they don''t have the skill to be an enchanter for a living.


    The next level up is silver and is where the vast majority of the guild remain throughout their lives. Silver level enchanters were the backbone of the enchanting industry. Most witches and wizards refuse even to consider shopping at a store if it doesn''t have at least a silver emblem. The emblem is almost like a guarantee that the products sold have decent quality, and the spells will last.


    The last rank is gold, the highest level available. This level is what separates the great from the average. Gold level members are skilled enough to innovate with their spells, whereas silver level members are not skilled or creative enough. Only a small portion of the guild ever reaches that level.


    Dad isn''t too fond of the guild, other than the small symbol on the window of his shop, I''ve only seen him use the symbol outside of his shop a handful of times. He claims it''s ostentatious and is like walking around with a sign that says, look how great I am. But, he does acknowledge that the guild is a great way to build contacts in the enchanting world.


    Unable to contain the nervous energy, I pleaded, "Come on, we''re going to be late."


    Spouting off some of my new-found knowledge about goblins, I explained, "We need to go if we''re going to make it on time. Nothing angers a goblin more than someone being late to a meeting. They consider it to be the height of rudeness."


    Dad gave me an exasperated look from his desk, where he was organizing his work. I paused when I saw the dark bags under his eyes that indicated he was exhausted. "Were not going to be late, Alex. I almost have everything I need for the meeting."


    After a few more minutes of organizing all his papers into a briefcase, Dad looked me over, making sure I was also dressed to impress.


    Like Dad, I utilized Grandma''s lessons and had selected a set of deep midnight blue robes. Stitched onto the robe was a bronze hawk surrounded by stars, our family crest. Of course, the hawk wasn''t content to stay in one place and tended to flap its wings and periodically shift its location.


    I didn''t have to do much else to make myself presentable. To Mum''s dismay, when I got home from school during the summer, I decided to cut my dirty-blond hair short. I had less than an inch of hair on top, and down by my ears, I buzzed my hair down to almost nothing and carefully blended to the top.


    After looking me over, Dad simply nodded, satisfied with my appearance, "Come on, we don''t want to be late."


    I held back a retort that I had been ready for an hour. I sensed it would only annoy him, and I didn''t want to chance being left behind. Outside, Dad motioned for me to follow him to the road. "Are we taking the Knight Bus?" I asked curiously.


    "No," Dad replied, "We''re going off the beaten track, where the Knight Bus doesn''t go."


    Dad grabbed my arm tight and said, "I know you''ve apparated before, so you know what to expect."


    I couldn''t help but grimace in anticipation. Apparating was bloody useful, but the sensation was the worst. Before I knew it, darkness was all I could see, along with the uncomfortable feeling of being forced through a small rubber tube that seemed to do its very best to force me into a smaller tube-like shape permanently. Just as the sensation of not being able to breath became too much, the world blinked back into existence.


    .


    Standing before me was a small mountain covered in sharp jagged rocks that warned you that you might need a new pair of shoes should you reach the top. Looking around, I saw we were in the middle of nowhere. No wonder we couldn''t take the Knight Bus.


    As I was scanning the mountain, a small hole opened in the side of the mountain. Two goblins approached us silently. They were both wearing dark suits that could easily pass in the muggle world. Their faces were blank, perhaps in an attempt to hide their feeling on allowing two wizards into their home.


    I couldn''t tell if allowing us into their home was a good thing or not. One one hand, showing us where they live could be a sign of trust, and on the other, their home is the one place goblins could get away with ambushing and killing us. All the reading I did, illuminated that most wizards killed by goblins did so underground.


    The idea of being able to use wandless Legitimacy couldn''t help but occur to me. No wonder Dumbledore and Voldemort couldn''t help but use it all the time. Being able to get a peek at the goblin''s plans would be bloody useful right now. I let out a small sigh of regret. It was something else I needed to add to my list of ever-growing things to learn.


    The goblin on the right, glanced at me with his dark slanted eyes when I let out my small sigh. Without pause, the goblin on the left hissed in annoyance, "When we set this meeting, it was with the understanding that there would be only one wizard in attendance, Mr. Fawley."


    Dad shrugged off the complaint. "Gragnast, This is my son, Alex. Since he is underage, I''m sure he doesn''t fit the requirement of a full wizard."


    I carefully made sure my expression was blank. Dad played that very nicely. The goblins probably weren''t even annoyed when I was here. They know that we were here to negotiate a deal. They were just trying to seize a slight advantage before negotiations had even started, by acting like Dad was up to something suspicious.


    When he countered that I was underage and shouldn''t count, he put the ball back in their court. Either they could take a slight advantage in the negotiations by admitting they were intimidated by a thirteen, almost fourteen old wizard, or they could ignore the fact that I was a wizard on account of me being underage.


    I could see in Gragnast''s dark eyes, both annoyance, and p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. He seemed to be annoyed that Dad escaped the trap but also pleased at his wit. Goblins enjoy a good verbal jousting. The exchange also allowed the Gragnast to get a sense of Dad''s personality. Whatever his response had been, it would have given them a small glimpse at the type of wizard they were dealing with. There were a lot of layers to the opening greeting. I gave a mental sigh, we would have to be on our toes tonight


    Gragnast smiled, showing us his sharp teeth, "Very well, I welcome both of you to our clan. May we both profit from this meeting."


    Turning sharply, Gragnast marched back to the small opening. I tried not to roll my eyes when I saw we would have to crouch to get through the small door. They surely had larger doors, but I have a feeling that Gragnast is probably making us use this one as a way of getting back at Dad for not falling into his verbal trap. Did I mention that goblins can be petty?


    Taking a deep breath, I ducked down and entered the mountain.

 Chapter 82 - Negotiations

    I''m not sure what I was expecting to find on the inside of the mountain. Maybe a dimly-lit cavern full of goblins holding sharp implements. But, what greeted me on the other side was a bright, torch-lit room with no apparent exit. As soon as we entered, the doorway behind us closed and seemed to meld into the walls.


    The stone walls and floor were eerily smooth. It was strange, with how flat and smooth they were, I would have expected to see some kind of tool marks. But, it looked like someone had shaped them like putty or clay.


    The only other thing of interest in the room was a familiar-looking cart. It looked almost identical to the carts at Gringotts. At Gringotts, you have to use the cart attached to a rail-system to access your vault. I guess I shouldn''t be too surprised. I''ve never seen a goblin on the Knight Bus, or use the Floo Network. I''ll bet they have a system of underground rails that they use to get around Britain.


    Gragnast waved his left hand and motioned for us to get on the cart and chortled, "Come on, you don''t want to keep the clan leaders waiting. The last person to do that, well, let''s just say it didn''t end well for them."


    Gragnast voice trailed off, most likely in an attempt to force us to imagine the worst. I kept my expression blank, and I saw Dad give me a look of approval with his eyes. Every move the goblins were making were a test, I''m not sure what they''re testing for, but I was determined to pass.


    There were four seats in the cart, Gragnast and the other nameless goblin claimed the seats on the right side, leaving Dad and I to fill the positions on the left.


    Musing out loud, I quipped, "I take it that we''re going down."


    The nameless goblin pushed his stringy hair to the back and answered with a pointy grin, "You could say that."


    Before I could say anything else, Gragnast abruptly pulled a lever, and I felt my stomach try to exit my mouth. The drop was so sudden, I almost screamed in surprise.


    The cart we were on took a steep dive, down into the bowels of the earth. The tunnel was mostly dark, every fifty feet or so, we passed by a bright torch. After passing by a couple of them, I figured those were probably a way to mess with a wizard''s sight. Goblins could see perfectly in the dark, and the torches would ensure a wizard''s sight couldn''t adjust to the darkness.


    Of course, there are spells or potions a wizard could use to combat the darkness. But I had a feeling that our host would be offended if I did something about the darkness. After gaining some speed, I noticed we were about to level out, and at the bottom of the curve was a small waterfall pouring over the tracks.


    It was a familiar sight, Gringotts had one as well. The water was enchanted to remove all magical disguises. Once we passed through the water, the goblin next to me visibly relaxed and removed his hand from another lever.


    "Out of curiosity," I asked. "What would have happened if the waterfall had revealed we weren''t who we said we were?"


    The goblin gave an insidious grin as if it would have made his day if the waterfall had revealed we were impostors. "I would have pulled the lever, separating the cart into halves." He explained with an evil glint in his dark eyes.


    He pointed to an upcoming branch to the rail system that only traveled about ten feet or so and abruptly ended at a wall with razor-sharp spikes. "We would have continued, and you would have had a short trip."


    I gulped as we flew past the spikes. I made a mental note to be extra careful if I ever had to sneak into a goblin lair.


    As the trip continued, I lost all sense of direction. Sometimes we spent a minute going straight, only to double back, then change directions again. I had a feeling that they were taking us the long way, so we didn''t know where their den was located.


    Without warning, Gragnast pulled another lever, and the cart loudly screeched as the brakes f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y slowed the cart down. The cart rolled to a stop at a torch-lit alcove. Both of the goblins got out, and Gragnast motioned for us to follow.


    Happy to get back on solid ground, I hastily exited the cart. I couldn''t help but wonder how deep underground we were. There was an absolute stillness to the air. As if at any moment, we could be crushed by a mountain of stone.


    Banishing the unpleasant thought, I took a closer look at the massive steel door that was in the alcove. The door was full of strange geometric carvings and symbols that I recognized from the goblin language. I wasn''t far enough in my studies to understand more than a word or two. One of the words I recognized was Sharpclaw. I had made a point to look it up before leaving.


    Gragnast approached the door and started running his long finger over the geometric pattern in an order that seemed to be random. Even more curious was his whispers. My first thought was he was chanting a spell. Even though wands are forbidden to goblins, they have their own magic. But, as I strained my ears, I realized he was softly crooning something to the door, almost like it was a pet.


    When he finished, the geometric patterns started shifting and rotating like gears. Once they were done, there was a final click, and the steel door slowly swung open, inviting us to enter the home of Clan Sharpclaw.


    At this point, I had put away any expectations on what to see. What greeted us on the other side was a long hallway with a deep, rich red carpet running along the floor. Statues and busts of goblins decorated the edges of the hall. As we made our way through the hallway, I couldn''t help but notice some small holes in the wall that looked suspicious.


    Most of them seemed to be angled towards the height of an average wizard. I caught a glimpse inside one of them and noticed a sharp, wicked-looking blade with a purple paste smeared along the edge.


    The hairs on the back of my neck rose at the sight of the poisoned blade. I tried to look around subtly. I lost count at how many murder holes I found. What really made me nervous, was if these were the ones I could see, how many was I missing.


    I let out a sigh of relief as we left what I had dubbed, the hallway of death. We came to a large hollowed out dome, along the sides, I could see several goblins moving on different levels carved into the walkways on the side of the dome.


    Gragnast moved along the edge of the first floor. We made our way to the far side of the dome. This time, he opened a standard door that we once again had to duck to get through. On the other hand was a simple room that had a long rectangular table.


    At the table waiting for us were two elderly goblins with silvery stringy hair. Although it was difficult to tell, I was pretty sure one was female. They were dressed in suits, with the female wearing a burgundy red suit and the male wearing a plain dark grey one. I was beginning to think that suits were to goblins as robes were to wizards.


    Seeing the deference that Gragnast had towards the two goblins, clued me into their identity. Before we left, Dad had told me the names of the two goblins who ran Clan Sharpclaw. The female goblin''s name was Nurlock, and her counterpart was Kurlaff. Each of them had separate responsibilities within the clan.


    Nurlock was responsible for gaining and growing the clan''s wealth, and Kurlaff was responsible for defending the clan from outside forces. I understood why Nurlock was here, but I hadn''t been expecting Kurlaff to be here. But, after giving it some thought, I realized why he needed to be here. What we were proposing would inevitably bring them into conflict with the goblin clans that are invested in the Nimbus company.


    As we were getting situated, I could feel Nurlock and Kurlaff evaluating us with their dark eyes. They seemed content to sit in absolute silence until we were ready.


    Just as Dad was getting ready to speak, Nurlock spoke up in a high pitched voice, "So, Mr. Fawley. Why are you here? I trust the custom work we provided you is to your satisfaction."


    Dad smiled and flattered Nurlock, "As always, the work your clan provided was top quality."


    For half a second, I saw a glitter of appreciation in Nurlock and Kurlaff''s eyes. Similar to wizards, goblins like to be flattered on their work.


    Dad continued, "We''re here tonight to offer your clan an opportunity."


    Nurlock narrowed her eyes in suspicion.


    "How much do you know about the Broom Racing Industry?" Dad asked.


    Nurlock exchanges a quick look with Kurlaff before replying, "There are around half a dozen companies worldwide that are relatively stable. At the top of the list is the Nimbus Broom Racing Company."


    Dad nodded in agreement. "That''s right," he said. "Now, what would you say If I said that within a year, the Nimbus Broom Racing Company would no longer be number one?"


    Nurlock scoffed in disbelief, "That''s unlikely, it''s difficult to break into an existing market. In my experience, most newcomers to the Broom Racing Market end up being swallowed by one of the bigger companies within a year or two."


    Dad smiled and held up a finger as if to dispel that notion. "You may be right, but those companies didn''t have me."


    Pulling open his briefcase, Dad started removing drawings of the Firebolt and slid them across the table. Nurlock and Kurlaff both looked at the drawings with interest.


    Nurlock pointed to the metal gear on the back of the broom and said, "I see you plan on using our work to complement your design."


    Not as impressed, Kurlaff remarked, "The pictures are pretty, but I believe in what I can see."


    Dad nodded as if he expected that response. Reaching deep into the briefcase, he pulled out a prototype of the Firebolt and set it in front of the goblins.


    Kurlaff''s eye lit up in appreciation when he saw his clan made-gear on the rear of the Firebolt. He quickly clamped down on his emotions and casually asked the most critical question, "So, how fast does it go?"


    Dad gave them a sly grin and proudly said, "As of my last test a week ago, the Firebolt can go from 0 to 240 KPH in ten seconds."


    There was silence as the two goblins did the math in their head. The fastest broom on the market right now was the Nimbus 2000, and its top speed was around 160 KPH.


    Both of their eyes started shining as they realized they were sitting on a gold mine¡ª so to speak. Nurlock reached out and ran a long slender finger down the goblin forged gear. Already imagining the gold, she greedily purred, "I take it you would like to set p a contract to get more of these gears."


    I hid a smirk at seeing the greed in her eyes. I knew she was thinking about all the ways she could screw with us. If we were dependent on them for materials, there were a million ways they could wrangle more gold from us.


    For the first time tonight, Dad took the goblins off guard when he replied, "No, that''s not what we''re here for."


    An outraged look appeared on Nurlock''s face as if Dad had just stolen all the coming gold she had been imaging the Firebolt bringing to her clan. With a snarl on her face, she hissed, "Then what are you doing here, wizard?"


    Dad graciously chose to ignore her tone, put his arm on my shoulder, and passionately declared, "We''re here because we want you to go into business with our family. We want you to invest and have a real stake in this new Broom Racing Company. I want you to have a genuine d.e.s.i.r.e to see the Firebolt dominate the competition. Not because it will mean there will be more materials needed from your clan. But, because with each sale will benefit the company and by default your coffers."


    Both Nurlock and Kurlaff appeared to be surprised at Dad''s declaration. I couldn''t blame them, most wizards and witches were reluctant to go into business with goblin clans. They often prefer just getting a loan from Gringotts. Even though the bank will gouge them on interest, they prefer that to have goblins owning a stake in a company. Of course, this excludes the larger companies that have an international market. Often they need capital and are more than willing to take on a goblin clan as an investor.


    As delighted as Nurlock seemed to be at the invitation, Kurlaff seemed suspicious about the whole thing and demanded in a rough voice, "Why? Why are you asking us to be apart of this?"


    Dad hesitated for a moment, which only seemed to deepen Kurlaff''s suspicion. "It''s a trick," he hissed to Nurlock. "I bet they want our gold, and as soon as we invest, they''ll take our money and disappear. My father always said that you could never trust a wizard with gold."


    I was a little surprised at how quickly the atmosphere changed. Even Nurlock was starting to narrow her dark eyes and look at us in suspicion.


    I figured dad was going to probably say something along the lines of building a company and making profits, but I sensed that they needed a better reason. They wouldn''t believe that a wizarding family would offer this to them for just any reason. I needed to put things in a perspective that they would understand and possibly sympathize with.


    Before Dad could say anything, I thought about the few words and phrases I knew in Gobbledegook. Making sure to pronounce it correctly, I carefully said, "Rhuul dhol. That''s why we''re coming to you."


    Both of the goblins froze for a moment, "We do not have a blood feud between us," Kurlaff carefully said while shooting a puzzled glance at Nurlock.


    I smiled, "True, but we have one with Delvin Whithorn. The owner of the Nimbus Broom Racing Company."


    As my voice trailed off, Karloff tilted his head slightly in curiosity. Knowing I had captured his attention, I had to force myself not to smile.


    In a tone that had less suspicion, Kurlaff said, "Tell us of this Blood Feud that compelled you to seek us out."


    I looked at Dad, but he indicated that since I had started this, I needed to finish it. Gathering my thoughts, I decided to frame everything in a way that would resonate with a goblin clan.


    After taking a deep breath, I went back to the beginning, "It all started with the death of our Patriarch, George Fawley."


    As I told our story, I could feel dad''s incredulous eyes on me as I added colorful viewpoints on what happened. I didn''t lie. I just told our story from a unique perspective.


    As I finished the tale, by explaining the recent assassination attempt by Delvin Whithorn, the suspicion in Kurlaff''s eyes had faded away. Gravely nodding, he acknowledged, "You do have a Blood Feud with this Whithorn clan."


    He looked straight into my eyes looking for the truth and asked, "What does any of that have to do with starting a new company?"


    This time, I looked at Dad for confirmation to reveal our intentions. Once he nodded that it was ok, I turned back to Kurlaff and fervently said, "This isn''t about the gold."


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nurlock take offense at that. Knowing that gold was significant to them, I retracted, "Well, not just about the gold. You see, we don''t just want the Firebolt to become the best broom on the market. Our real motive is to seize control of the Nimbus Broom Racing Company."


    I could see that Nurlock seemed to be convinced, but Kurlaff seemed still on the fence. He pulled her to the side and started to hiss in Gobbledegook."


    Although I had yet to learn Gobbledegook, I could tell from their tone that Karloff seemed to be lecturing Nurlock on something.


    Once they had finished their quiet argument, Kurlaff turned back to us and pointed out, "You seem to have left out, that joining with you in your attempt would put us at odds with the clan that backs the Nimbus Company. Something like that could bring trouble to our clan."


    I almost rolled my eyes, Kurlaff wasn''t scared of conflict with another clan. Goblin clans came into conflict with one another all the time. Mostly it was about gold. What he was doing right now was really a negotiating tactic. Acting as trouble could come to their clan, was really him saying they should be better compensated for their trouble.


    At this point, I let Dad take over the negotiations. He had taken several meetings with Barbra Lancaster''s squib lawyers. While they couldn''t cast magic with wands, they proved their worth with creating complicated and detailed contracts.


    I almost laughed when I saw the two goblins eyes widen to the size of saucers when Dad passed them a preliminary contract. They were used to dealing with wizards who didn''t have the faintest clue how to write up ironclad agreements.


    Nothing would be signed right away, but it was a good place for us to start. One of the main demands from the goblins was that if we successfully took over the Nimbus company, that it had to be folded into the company. That way, they could get access to any profits from the nimbus models that we sold.


    Since we were counting on the Sharpclaw clan to help counter the goblin clan invested in Nimbus, Dad agreed to their request. But, Dad also clarified that this would be a new company, separate from Fawley''s Wondrous Enchantments. Nurlock''s eyes flashed in disappointment. I think she had been hoping to get her claws into Dad''s shop.


    As the evening wore on, Nurlock brought up several good points that would help our Company would have to address before we could go public and release the Firebolt.


    As the meeting came to a close, Dad set up a meeting for the following week. It was the first of many. He would probably be meeting with them weekly. I wouldn''t be surprised if they attached a few goblins to work closely with him.


    Unfortunately, I wouldn''t be in attendance. The first of September was right around the corner. I was torn, I wanted to be more involved, but I would probably be more useful at school. If I can get this spell I am working on to work, it will be the nail in the coffin for Delvin and the Nimbus Company.


    My suspicions about the goblins taking us on a scenic route on our way inside the mountain were confirmed when they took out to the exit in a far shorter trip that barely lasted a minute. I guess that it means that they trust us more now.


    After getting outside, Dad grabbed my arm and apparated us back home. A few days later, and it was September first, and it was time to return to Hogwarts.

 Chapter 83 - Return

    For the first time since I started attending Hogwarts, our family''s departure from the house to Platform 9 ? went smoothly. Having learned from previous years, most of my belongings had been packed for weeks. All I had to do to prepare was add a few things the night before and move my trunk downstairs.


    I could tell Athena was excited to return to Hogwarts. She had been pretty restless ever since she had ''accidentally'' woke me up early this morning.


    Soon, it was time to leave. I said my goodbyes to Sasha and Rebecca at the house. They were staying behind with Grandma. Over the past couple of years, we had discovered that the trip to the Hogwarts Express was more relaxed if there were fewer of us.


    Making our way outside, Dad summoned the Knight Bus when we got out to the main road. The bus was packed full of families who were also heading to the train station.


    When we got to the train station, I kept my eyes out for my friends. With the families at the station, it could be challenging to find one another. Not seeing anyone, I said my goodbyes to my parents and boarded the Hogwarts Express.


    I headed to the third rail-car. My friends and I had an understanding that if we didn''t see each other on the platform, we would always meet up there. After checking the compartments and not finding my friends, I selected an empty one and slid the door open.


    I felt a weight leave my shoulder as Athena hopped off and inspected the seats. Finding a spot on the seats with plenty of sunshine, she curled up and promptly shut her eyes. Athena wasn''t too happy with the new collar Dad made her. After destroying the old one at the dueling arena, she needed a new one. Her new bronze collar functioned similarly to her old one. It hid her wings and horns, allowing her to blend in with other cats. However, ever since her growth spurt, anyone who looked at her would know she wasn''t a normal cat.


    Athena was almost twice the size of a normal house cat. So, Dad took it upon himself to add a new function to her collar. When I put the collar on her for the first time, Athena quickly shrunk to the size of a house cat. It had some sort of a shrinking charm attached to it. As amazing as the collar was, Athena wasn''t too happy with it reducing her size. Only after a promise to take it off whenever we were alone did she calm down.


    Distracting me from my thoughts was a cheerful voice that had a trace of an Egyptian accent, "Yo Alex,"


    Looking up from Athena, I saw a familiar girl with thick black hair and caramel skin smiling down at me. "Alicia," I replied. "It''s good to see you. It feels like it''s been forever."


    Giving me a reproachful look, she scolded with a wagging finger, "If you could pull your head out of those books of yours, you could have visited more during the summer."


    A flash of guilt ran through me for ignoring my friends. We had only hung out a few times this summer.


    "I''m sorry," I apologized. "I was swamped this summer, between going to France and working with my Dad. I''ll make it up to you guys."


    Alicia''s mock glare faded away, and she grinned, "I was hoping you would say that. You can make it up by playing keeper for me. I need to get some more practice in."


    I g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "I thought being on the Gryffindor quidditch team meant you would have plenty of people that could help you practice."


    "Yeah, but practicing against the same people over and over gets repetitive and boring. It''s better to practice against a wide variety of people." She explained.


    Sensing my reluctance, she sniffed dramatically, "But, if you''re too busy to help a friend in need, I understand."


    I rolled my eyes at her antics, "Fine. But, only if the others agree to play as well."


    Alicia took a seat next to Athena and scooped her up and started stroking her fur. Shooting me a smile, she replied, "They already have."


    It didn''t take long before Cedric and Anna arrived. After getting their trunks put away, Cedric asked, "Did you guys hear who was starting school this year?"


    Anna and Alicia turned to Cedric in curiosity. Cedric pushed his dark hair away from his grey eyes and whispered, "Harry Potter."


    Anna and Alicia''s eyes widened, "What?" They said at the exact same time.


    "How do you know?" Anna demanded.


    "My Dad told me," Cedric explained. "Apparently, it''s all anyone has been talking about at the Ministry for the last few months."


    Alicia pointed out, "But, those could just be rumors."


    Before Cedric could reply, I weighed in, "They''re not rumors."


    Everyone turned to me for an explanation, and I smirked at their eager faces. I should have expected this. Harry Potter was both an urban legend and hero to the wizarding world.


    I can''t really blame them for being so curious. The war Voldemort waged was so severe that it touched the lives of nearly every witch and wizard. Naturally, the cause of his defeat would be the topic of wide discussion.


    Many people have tried to explain what happened the night Voldemort disappeared. Most people think that Voldemort died and that Harry was responsible. This led to many people speculating about the powers Harry Potter possessed.


    Some thought Harry was the second coming of Merlin and was so strong in magic that his magic lashed out and broke Voldemort. Others argued that Harry had unique magical power and was somehow immune to the death curse. There were dozens of theories out there, and they had been the topic at many people''s dinner tables.


    Of courses, having read the fifth book. I knew the real reason, and it didn''t have anything to do with Harry or his magic. The reason Harry survived that night was solely due to his mother''s sacrifice. Her love for her son, combined with her willingness to die, enacted an ancient and powerful magic.


    It wasn''t a real spell like we learn at school. It had more in common with wild and untamed magic, the sort of magic that reads your soul''s intent. That night, Lily''s soul cried out with every inch of her being to protect and save her son''s life. Her love and life fueled the spell, and so, the most potent protective spell in existence took root within Harry.


    Curiously, it was the strongest protection spell imaginable, but also the weakest. It was the most powerful because it granted Harry absolute protection from Voldemort. It didn''t matter what spell Voldemort tried. They would all be useless against Harry. Voldemort would soon learn this firsthand later this year, even the mere touch of Harry could cause him unimaginable pain, and lead to the disintegration of his vessel, Professor Quirrell.


    But, the protective magic also had one gaping hole in its protection. It would do nothing to stop any of Voldemort''s followers from acting against him. If Voldemort wasn''t so determined to deal with Harry himself, he could have had one of his followers simply kill Harry and be done with it, but I guess it''s a good thing for Harry that he doesn''t.


    For now, the spell lives on. As long as Harry lives with a blood relative of his mother, the protection will last until he reaches the age of 17. Although Voldemort used Harry''s blood to resurrect himself and create a new body, he was finally able to get around that restriction. I''m not sure why, but the fifth book seemed to imply that Dumbledore counted on Voldemort using Harry''s blood. But, that was a puzzle for another day.


    An impatient grunt brought me out of my thoughts to find my friends staring impatiently at me. Anna flicked her blond hair to the side and demanded. "Well, how do you know it''s not a rumor?"


    Returning her impatient look with a smug smile, I teased, "That''s because I met him this summer."


    I was content to sit in silence while everyone seemed to process that Harry Potter was coming to Hogwarts. After a minute, Alicia asked, "Well, what was he like?"


    I shrugged, "I don''t know. He seemed like a normal kid."


    As the train pulled away from the station, my friends wrote debating what house Harry would end up being sorted. Somewhere along the line, it became a friendly argument of which house was the best, which naturally led right into what quidditch team was the best.


    Cedric was so excited about the upcoming year. He had dreams of winning the house cup. I didn''t have the heart to tell him that the Gryffindor team was getting ready to acquire a talented seeker, who would also have access to one of the fastest brooms on the market.


    Well, fastest for now. If I can get this spell to work and work out a deal with the Cleansweep and Comet Broom Companies. The Nimbus may go from being the fastest to the middle of the pack. Now that I think about it, it will be interesting to see how Harry competes with others when they have faster brooms than him. I suppose he should be fine. He was able to beat Malfoy, even though the Nimbus 2001 was slightly faster than the 2000.


    In my opinion, it was completely unfair when he got the Firebolt. He was going up against other seekers whose top speed was 50 to 70 miles per hour slower than him. I made a mental note to make sure Cedric got his hands on a Firebolt. If Harry was going to get one, then it was only fair for my best friend to get one as well. Maybe we''ll finally see a fair competition between the two of them.


    About midway through the trip, I saw a familiar curly blond-haired kid nervously opening compartment doors, sticking his head in and asking something, only to leave disappointed.


    I slid the door open and called out, "Neville."


    Neville turned his cherub cheeks towards me. His eyes lit up when he recognized me. We had met a few more times since our first meeting. At each gathering, his grandmother had pushed him towards me. I didn''t mind, mostly Neville was quiet, content to listen and observe.


    Neville approached our compartment and asked in a desperate voice. "Have you seen a toad? I lost mine. His name is Trevor. He was a gift from my uncle. He keeps getting away from me."


    The more Neville spoke, the faster the words tumbled out of his mouth, and he didn''t seem like he was going to stop talking. Holding up a hand, I said, "Wow, slow down, Neville."


    A hint of red appeared on Neville''s round face as embarrassment set in. I had been wondering if this was going to happen. It happened in the books, but you never know.


    After shooting a quick glance around the cabin, I said,


    "Sorry, Neville, it doesn''t look like your toad is here."


    As Neville''s face fell in disappointment, I pulled out my wand with a smile. "Neville," I chided. "We''re wizards. We work smarter, not harder."


    I motioned for Neville to sit, and I pointed my aspen wand towards the open door. "Accio Neville''s Toad."


    It didn''t take long before we heard something. The first indication that my spell was working was a high pitched yelp. I had a feeling that someone had nearly been smacked in the face with a fast-moving, floating toad.


    Sure enough, a large toad came soaring into the compartment and before it could land on my l.a.p, I snatched it out of the air. Everyone seemed to have a different reaction to the toad. Cedric looked at the toad with interest, but I think that was him just being polite.


    Alicia didn''t react at all. I guess toads magically entering compartments was just another day for her.


    Anna made her feelings on the toad quite clear, "Eww, gross."


    Athena, on the other hand, simply licked her lips in anticipation. She gave me a look of betrayal when I returned Trevor to Neville rather than feeding her a snack.


    I''m not sure why, but I was pretty sure there was a basic intelligence to the toad. Not at a human level, more along the lines of a magical creature. I smirked at the grumpy toad before I looked up at Neville. "You know, there is a spell that will prevent him from leaving your side."


    Hope appeared in Neville''s blue eyes. "Really? That would be amazing. If I lose him before Christmas, Gran is going to kill me."


    I pointed my wand at Neville''s toad, who croaked in protest. "Reillgo."


    A pale blue tether of light attached itself to Trevor. Once that was done, I snapped my wand towards Neville, and the other end of the tether attached itself to Neville.


    "That will keep him within five feet of you," I explained. "It should last until tonight. If you want to dispel it, just tap the tether with your wand and say, "Eximo."


    Neville repeated the spell several times, trying to commit the spell and counter-spell to memory. I remembered from the books that Neville sometimes forgot things. So, I pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled the spells down and handed it to him.


    Having successfully retrieved his toad, Neville left to rejoin the other first years where the rest of his belongings were. The rest of the trip passed smoothly, and before I knew it, we were at the great hall, waiting for the sorting ceremony to begin. I got my first glimpse at Professor Quirrell and his purple turban.


    Although I was sure Voldemort wouldn''t be stupid enough to snoop around Professor Dumbledore, it never hurts to be careful. The books described Voldemort as one of the most accomplished Legilimency users in the world, and I was taking no chances. My mental shields were at full strength, and I wasn''t planning to lower them this year.


    Not wanting to draw his attention, I forced myself to not look in his direction. Luckily, it didn''t take long for Professor McGonagall to open the doors to the Great Hall and stride inside, followed by the nervous first years.


    At the front of the Great Hall, the frayed and patched sorting hat sat atop a small four-legged stool. Once the first years had gathered in front of the hat, a rip near the brim opened, and the hat began to sing.


    "Oh, you may not think I''m pretty,


    But don''t judge on what you see,


    I''ll eat myself if you can find


    A smarter hat than me.


    You can keep your bowlers black,


    Your top hats sleek and tall,


    For I''m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat


    And I can cap them all.


    There''s nothing hidden in your head


    The Sorting Hat can''t see,


    So try me on and I will tell you


    Where you ought to be.


    You might belong in Gryffindor,


    Where dwell the brave at heart,


    Their daring, nerve, and chivalry


    Set Gryffindors apart;


    You might belong in Hufflepuff,


    Where they are just and loyal,


    Those patient Hufflepuffs are true


    And unafraid of toil;


    Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you''ve a ready mind,


    Where those of wit and learning,


    Will always find their kind;


    Or perhaps in Slytherin


    You''ll make your real friends,


    Those cunning folk use any means


    To achieve their ends.


    So put me on! Don''t be afraid!


    And don''t get in a flap!


    You''re in safe hands (though I have none)


    For I''m a Thinking Cap!"


    After the applause was finished, Professor McGonagall strode forward and began to call out names one at a time. Some of the names I recognized from the books, and others I didn''t. They were the students who, for whatever reason, didn''t make it into the story. There weren''t any real surprises during the sorting. The names I recognized were sorted into the houses that I remember from the books. It was nice to see everything was going according to plan.


    The only real thing of note was when Harry was sorted. All the students in the Great Hall seemed to hold their breath in anticipation. When the sorting hat called out Gryffindor, their table gave a louder than usual applause, and I could hear Fred and George yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"


    The rest of the sorting went by smoothly, and before the feast could begin, Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.


    "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"


    "Thank you!"


    Most of the students clapped and cheered with grins on their faces. Professor Dumbledore had a gift at making students feel disarmed in his presence. It was hard to view him as anything other than a goofy headmaster when he pulled stunts like that.


    Once he was finished, the feast appeared, and everyone dug in. There was nothing quite like the feast at the beginning and end of the term. Knowing that the year''s upcoming meals wouldn''t offer as many options, I eagerly filled my plate.


    As the feast went on, my eyes roamed the Gryffindor table. Sir Nearly-Headless Nick appeared to be speaking with Harry. It seemed as though everything over there was going according to the script.


    Seeing Nick made my thoughts turn to the Ravenclaw ghost. Most Hogwarts students assumed she refuses to speak to anyone, but the truth is that she does, just only to Ravenclaw students. She can be particularly helpful if you''ve lost something or need help finding your way.


    I haven''t had much interaction with her. I think it was something to do with Athena. Every since she attacked Peeves back in my first year, most ghosts avoid her like the plague.


    At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.


    "Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.


    "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."


    Dumbledore''s twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.


    "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."


    "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."


    "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."


    "Is he serious?" Roger Davis asked in a whisper.


    Thoughts of a giant three-headed dog flooded my mind. Turning to Roger, I replied, "Have you ever known Professor Dumbledore to lie."


    Across the table, William asked, "What could be so bad in the right-hand side corridor on the third floor that it will kill you?"


    Everyone seemed to ponder the question. I couldn''t blame them for being curious. It was the first warning of its kind, and judging from the older student''s response, they were just as confused. I kept my mouth shut and put the third floor far from my mind. It was none of my business. I already had a full plate to deal with this year, Harry could deal with the stone and Quirrell.


    It may sound cruel to leave Harry to face Quirrell and Voldemort. But, this was an essential milestone for Harry. It was the first time he would confront Voldemort face to face. After all, it wouldn''t do Harry any good to hold his hand. If Harry had all his problems solved for him, it would turn him into a paper-tiger, which would only lead him to be killed by Voldemort. Besides, as long as everything goes according to plan, nobody will get hurt, well, at least permanently.


    Before anyone could start guessing, Professor Dumbledore continues, "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"


    Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.


    "Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"


    And the school bellowed:


    "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,


    Teach us something please,


    Whether we be old and bald


    Or young with scabby knees,


    Our heads could do with filling


    With some interesting stuff,


    For now they''re b.a.r.e and full of air,


    Dead flies and bits of fluff,


    So teach us things worth knowing,


    Bring back what we''ve forgot, just do your best, we''ll do the rest,


    And learn until our brains all rot."


    Throughout the song, Professor Dumbledore used his wand like he was conducting an orc.h.e.s.tra. When it came to an end, most students fell silent, but the Wesley twins dragged out the final line in a low, slow tenor.


    Professor Dumbledore didn''t seem to mind as his eyes twinkled in delight.


    As the song finally came to a close, Professor Dumbledore wiped his eyes and mused, "Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"


    After being dismissed, there was a familiar mad dash of students who didn''t want to get stuck in the slow-moving crowd.


    When we got to the tower, I made my way to my room. Having kept the top spot, the luxurious apartment was still mine to enjoy.


    I found Athena inside like always. She had claimed a spot on my bed and sprawled out, trying to take up as much space as possible. The best thing about her collar is it made sure she wouldn''t hog the bed. If she got any bigger, I would have to get a new mattress at home or force her to sleep elsewhere.


    As I laid in my bed, I started narrowing down the elective classes I would be taking this year. There were five options to choose from, Arithmancy, Divination, Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, and the Study of Ancient Runes. We were required to select a minimum of two electives this year. I needed to come to a decision quickly as I needed to turn in my choices to Professor Flitwick after breakfast in the morning.


    I knew off the bat that there was no way on earth I was taking Divination. A lot of students choose this class because it had become infamous as a blow-off class. But after reading about it in the books, there was no way I was going to was my time in Divination. I had too much to learn to waste my time in a class that would be useless to me.


    After some more thought, I also discarded Muggle Studies. It may be an interesting course, but ultimately it would do nothing to advance my power. Seeing Harry at Hogwarts was like being constantly reminded that Voldemort was coming. Between the Dark Lord, and the Whithorns, I was feeling the pressure.


    As for the remaining three, they all had good points. I knew from my conversations with Nicolas that I would be taking Arithmancy no matter what, as for the remaining two, they both had their pros and cons.


    Learning how to deal with Magical Creatures would be useful. My recent brush with magical creatures in China showed me that. But, as much as I hate to say it, Hagrid would soon be taking over, and if he teaches like he did in the books. The class could prove to be unpleasant.


    The study of Ancient Runes could also be useful. Half of Rowena''s collection was ancient. If I wanted to translate them, I would need to learn the ancient written wizarding language. Who knows what I could find in all that ancient knowledge.


    After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to take the three classes that interested me. I will only experience Hogwarts once. I might as well learn everything I can.

 Chapter 84 - Arithmancy

    The next day came soon enough, and I found myself down in the Great Hall. I was barely paying any attention to everyone in the hall. Half of my focus was on the sheet of parchment in my hand that laid out my schedule for the year.


    What was different about this year was classes were way shorter. Rather than being two to three-hour blocks, they were shortened to little more than an hour. I had a feeling we would be expected to do a lot more approved practicing on our own time. I guess being in our third year means they trust us to practice magic alone.


    Whenever my eyes weren''t on my schedule, they would flick to the ceiling, watching for the morning post. It was my fourteen birthday, and I knew from the compliment that Professor Dumbledore had given Mum during the summer, that she would probably be up to her old tricks. But, I was different now, I wasn''t a first-year student with a limited repertoire of spells. I had been preparing for this moment.


    A voice distracted me from my watch when it asked, "Alex, what courses are you taking this year?"


    Tearing my eyes from the ceiling, I found a raven-haired face girl with blue eyes staring at me expectantly.


    "Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures," I replied. "What did you end up selecting?"


    "Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Muggle Studies," Jessica replied.


    I raised an eyebrow, "Why Muggle Studies?"


    "Studying Muggle culture is important," Jessica explained. "Look how far they have come in a century. A hundred years ago, they were using horses and carriages to get around. Now, they build flying aeroplanes and cars to get around."


    Seeing how passionate she was on the subject, I held up a hand in surrender. "You don''t have to convince me about the subject. Muggle technology is useful. Look at everything we''ve copied or modified."


    I counted with my fingers as I said," The Hogwarts Express, The Knight Bus, The Wizard Wireless Network, and let''s not forget the most important one of all."


    Everyone looked at me with curiosity, so I announced with a grin, "Indoor plumbing."


    As everyone either smiled or rolled their eyes, I continued, "I could go on and on. All were originally muggle inventions until we copied and improved them with magic."


    Looking at Jessica, I said, "I just didn''t know you were so interested in muggles."


    "Did I ever tell you what my parents do?" Jessica asked.


    "Sure, you said they are researchers," I replied.


    "Technically, they are," Jessica explained, "They work for the ICW."


    As I let out a whistle, Ryan, still learning about the magical world, looked from Jessica to me and asked, "What''s the ICW?"


    Wanting to buy time to mentally process that Jessica''s parents worked for the highest wizarding organization. I turned to Ryan and explained, "It''s the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW)."


    Ryan leaned back while he took in what I said. After mulling it over, he said, "So, I''m guessing that it''s like the U.N. But, for wizards."


    Slightly confused, Roger interjected, "Wait, what''s a U.N."


    Ryan''s face scrunched up as he mulled over how to explain. "After the second great war that tore Europe and the rest of the muggle world apart. Nations decided that they needed to create an organization that would help foster peace and prevents another world war."


    Not being a big believer in the sincerity of governments, I sarcastically remarked, "I''ll bet they have done the best job ever. There probably hasn''t been a war since the U.N. was founded."


    Hesitant, Ryan said, "Well¡­"


    I waved him off and said, "Alright, It''s not the worst comparison. In the late sixteen hundreds, magical governments worldwide got together and signed the International Statute of Secrecy. They realized that they would need an organization with members from every country to keep an eye on the situation. They created the ICW. Every country would send a representative. Their responsibility was to look after any issue that may break the Statute of Secrecy."


    "Wait, who''s our representative?" Ryan asked.


    I nodded towards the front hall, where the professors were eating breakfast, "Who else but the headmaster. Currently, he is the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW."


    While Ryan shot an impressed look towards the front of the hall, I turned back to Jessica and clarified, "So, your parents research muggles for the ICW."


    She nodded, "They study muggles and their tech, then create new corresponding spells and programs that help wizarding governments stay ahead and keep the secret."


    "Are you planning on going into the same field?" I asked.


    Jessica shrugged, "I don''t know," she said. "I just know it''s an important subject."


    Leaning in and lowering her voice, she added, "My Dad is convinced that within a century or two, it will be all but impossible to keep the secret."


    Wide-eyed, Roger, whose Dad was an obliviator for the Ministry of Magic, replied somewhat skeptically, "Really? How are they going to manage that? We''ve successfully hidden from them for centuries. It''s not like anything they have can penetrate our magic. Due to our protective spells, muggle technology doesn''t even work around Hogwarts."


    Jessica shook her head, "I never said they would find our places of refuge, merely that it would be impossible to keep the secret."


    Siding with Jessica, Ryan said, "To be honest, I''m surprised the secret hasn''t gotten out."


    Everyone around the table paused as they tried to imagine a world where magic was back in the open.


    Speaking up with his Scottish accent, William asked curiously, "Do you think muggles would be able to handle it?"


    I shrugged, "Depends how religious they are, if you look at our histories, monotheistic religions were the reasons why we went into hiding. The common people could easily get worked up into a mob when they started hunting for witches."


    Roger seemed a little worried, "Great, if the muggles learn about magic, we can expect more burning at the stakes."


    I rolled my eyes, "Don''t be so dramatic. If you paid attention in History of Magic, you would know ninety-nine percent of those charged with witchcraft were muggles themselves. We didn''t go into hiding because we were in great danger. It was our muggle friends and families who were paying the ultimate price.


    After a moment of silence, William said, "Well, this is a depressing topic. How about we change the subject?"


    Across the table, Ryan took his advice and asked, "Speaking of changing the topic. Why are you both taking three electives? I thought we only had to pick two."


    Roger rolled his eyes and answered before I could say anything, "They''re just overachievers."


    Turning to me, he warned, "Make sure not to bite off more than you can chew. If you take on too much, your grades could slip, and you could lose the top spot."


    I smirked, "What, are you afraid of losing access to the apartment?"


    A sheepish look appeared on Roger''s face, "It''s all your fault," He accused. "Now that I''ve been pampered, I can''t go back to the normal dorms."


    "I''m coming for the top spot this year," Jessica promised me with a grin.


    I let out a confident smirk, "I welcome all challengers."


    The soft beating of wings and some shrill hooting turned my eyes from my friends back to the ceiling. The owls were here to deliver the morning post.


    Seeing how focused I was on the mail, Jessica teased, "Are you expecting something. Should we be looking forward to another serenade?"


    Unwilling to take my eyes off the ceiling, I decided a grunt was the only response that her question merited. Soon, I spotted what I had been waiting for, it was Hootie, our family owl. My eyes glared death at the suspicious envelope that it was carrying.


    When Hootie swooped down and landed in front of me, I tried to snatch the letter from her, but she hopped out of reach. Rolling my eyes, I bribed her with a treat from my plate. Satisfied with my offering, she dropped off an envelope with my name written in my mother''s handwriting.


    Once the letter was in my hand, it gave all the same signs that the one from my first year did. Looks of schadenfreude appeared on all my friends'' faces. Traitors, the lot of them.


    Not waiting a single moment, I pointed my wand at the letter that seemed to be preparing to start drawing attention and demanded, "Silencio."


    As the letter burst into a silent song, I turned and gave Jessica a look of triumph. Anticipating my mother''s plan, I had spent last week mastering the silencing charm. It worked like a charm. The letter seemed to be ramping up in a crescendo, and yet, not a peep was heard.


    But, I discovered that I had underestimated my mother''s cunning. While I had prevented my letter from bursting out into song, I hadn''t anticipated that there would be additional celebrity aspects to the message.


    Once the letter had gone silent, it seemed to unravel into pieces, sending ribbons into the air that formed the words Happy Birthday Alex. I glared at the eye-catching streamers celebrating my birthday, and comforted myself that at least it wasn''t as bad as my first year.


    It didn''t take long for the magic powering the streamers to faded away and sink down and wrap themselves around my shoulders. I inwardly resolved to learn the vanishing charm sometime this year. I didn''t care about the fact that it was an advanced transfiguration spell. I was tired of holding back in transfiguration. It was time to move ahead.


    With my Mum''s embarrassing birthday mail taken care of, I turned my full attention back to my fellow Ravenclaws, who all had on suspiciously blank faces.


    "Not a word," I warned. "Or I''ll make sure each of you has a similar birthday greeting."


    I think my friends took my warning seriously because Ryan successfully changed the subject again by asking, "Who else is looking forward to the Hogsmeade trips? Did everybody get their parent''s permission slip signed?"


    Ryan''s question set off a new round of conversation. Everyone was eager for the monthly weekend visit to the only entirely magical town left in Britain. Out of all my friends in Ravenclaw, Ryan was excited the most. He wanted to see what the only fully magical village was like.


    I had my own plans for the visits, after some research, I discovered that Rita Skeeter has a small home in town. I still needed to contact her. I wasn''t quite yet sure of the strategy I was going to use in dealing with her. If the books held true, the threat of turning her into the Ministry for being an unregistered animagus would be useful in controlling her actions.


    Soon, breakfast was over, and it was time to get to my first class. I noticed on my schedule that my first class was Arithmancy. I was looking forward to the new elective and the small class size. Due to the rumored difficulty, it wasn''t a popular class. But, I knew from Nicolas, Arithmancy would be useful to me in the future.


    As I left the great hall, I saw a familiar flash of auburn hair headed my way. It was Lelah, a fifth-year Ravenclaw and one of my fellow duelers in the Silver Spears.


    When she caught up to me, she whispered, "Saturday night, 6:30, you know where."


    I nodded my agreement, "I''ll be there."


    "Good," she remarked. "I''ll see you there."


    Having said what she wanted, Lelah wandered off. From my experience last year, the meeting this Saturday should be us greeting potential recruits. I was looking forward to meeting back up with the other members of the Silver Spears. I hadn''t gotten into much dueling since the portkey incident. It would be nice to dust off my wand and get back into it. I couldn''t afford to let my dueling skills regress if I wanted to win it all this year.


    Not wanting to be late to my first class in Arithmancy, I headed to the Seventh floor where the class was located.


    After making my way to classroom, I found Jessica had already beat me here and had saved a seat. On the other side of the open seat was Cedric, he had also decided to take on the difficult subject. I had tried to get Anna and Alicia to take the class, but when they heard the class was involved mostly numbers, they had laughed in my face.


    The only elective I had got them to agree to was Care of Magical Creatures. As for their other elective, both Anna and Alicia selected Divination. I had tried to tell them it was a useless class, but they refused to listen. Divination was widely known to students as a blow-off class that required minimal effort.


    As I took a seat in-between Jessica and Cedric, the front of the classroom caught my eye. It had three enormous chalkboards full of complex mathematical calculations that I couldn''t make heads or tails of. The calculations were obscure. It was like someone was annoyed that there weren''t enough numbers out there and decided to add letters in a fit of pique.


    It didn''t take long for our teacher to walk in and close the door behind her. It was Professor Septima Vector. I hadn''t really interacted with her before, but I had heard she brooked no-nonsense in her class. She strode through the room purposely, with her dark hair and burgundy robes flowing behind her.


    She stopped at the front of the class, pulled out a list, and did a simple roll call. I thought I caught a gleam of satisfaction in her dark eyes as she finished the list.


    "Who can tell me what Arithmancy does?" Professor Vector briskly asked.


    Next to me, Jessica''s hand shot up. When Professor Vector nodded to her, Jessica answered, "It''s the study of the magical properties of numbers."


    Professor Vector nodded and asked, "But, what does that really mean? What can one do with that knowledge?"


    As she looked around the room, she enticingly whispered, "What if I told you that numbers could predict the future?"


    Eyes wide with passion, Professor Vector explained, "Everything is mathematical, and understanding the magical properties of such allowed me to calculate where you all would choose to sit."


    Seeing the skeptical looks around the room, she smugly smirked at everyone''s disbelief and walked towards the corner of the room. She pulled out a rolling chalkboard and brought it to the front of the room and flipped it around.


    Drawn on the board was a simple diagram of the seats in the classroom, each box had one of our names written inside. It took me less than a split second to realize that each position on the board corresponded with our actual location.


    Professor Vector looked on in satisfaction as she watched my fellow class members come to the same realization.


    "So, how did I do it?" She asked. "How could I predict where each of you would end up sitting?"


    A bespectacled Hufflepuff named Lisa raised her hand, and once she got the nod, she said, "You could have divined it. Do you have any seer blood in your family?"


    A hint of a frown appeared on Professor Vector''s face, "There is always one."


    With disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e leaking from her voice, She asked with a slight frown on her face, "Does this look like the divination tower? You will find we will deal with facts and absolutes you can prove. Not some wishy-washy magical discipline that relies on tea leaves and smoke and mirrors to fool people."


    Next to me, Jessica raised her hand and asked, "But, Professor Vector. There are real seers. It has been proven and doc.u.mented."


    Professor Vector nodded and countered, "While it is true that those who are real seers who have the inner eye that can divine the future. It is incredibly rare, perhaps one in ten thousand have the gift. Most diviners out there are merely clever fakes, who have learned to trick the gullible. Even then, true seers have trouble seeing into the future because of the complexities of every single action and the complexities they unleash. Only true prophecies are unchangeable."


    Continuing, Professor Vector passionately said, "We will not be dealing in that which is murky and unreliable. You don''t need any rare magical blood to predict the future. Here we deal with numbers, which are in the realm of reason. They are reliable and rational, and there is no guesswork. Any missteps or mistakes in your calculations shall be of your own making."


    Professor Vector pointed at the board behind her that held mind-numbing calculations, and said, "Using certain formulas, I was able to predict where each of you would end up sitting."


    As she paused to let that sink in, I raised my hand for the first time. "What are the limitations? There have to be some. Otherwise, there would be more arithmancers out there predicting the future."


    Professor Vector nodded in agreement, "There are," She admitted. "The more variables that are introduced increase the difficulty at an exponential rate. There is an old tale of a talented arithmancer who was approached a week before a quidditch match and asked to predict the winner. Agreeing to the proposal, he locked himself away and began working on the calculations. He refused to see anyone until he had finished the calculations. Locked in his tower, he lost track of time as he worked the problem. When he exited his tower in triumph, he summoned the wizard who employed him. The Arithmancy was embarrassed to learn although he correctly predicted the winner, it had taken him weeks to finish the calculations, and the match was long over."


    The class snickered with amus.e.m.e.nt as Processor Vector shook her head, laminating the arithmancer''s mistake.


    "The most useful way to employ Arithmancy is in a careful and controlled environment. Such as this classroom. There were a set number of students and seats available and a set time for you to arrive. All of the set variables make it far easier to calculate things. The farther out you go, the more variables you have to factor, which makes it difficult to complete the calculations. The more talented you are, the further out you can predict. But, a word of warning, you will need to be careful. Pulling back the curtain of the universe and staring into its inner workings has been known to make more than one Arithmancy a little eccentric. And that''s putting it mildly."


    Sensing worry, Professor Vector steered the class in a new direction. "Now, this is just one application of Arithmancy. There are many more ways Arithmancy and Numerology can be used. Such as predicting how long a spell will last."


    As Professor Vector further explained the different ways Arithmancy could be used, I understood why Nicolas Flamel said this was a critical class for someone who wants to push the bounds of magic. It would be life-saving to predict if an experiment is about to blow up in your face. It also made sense why curse breakers were also required to take this class. If you were breaking into a forgotten tomb filled with curses, it would be helpful to predict harmful actions.


    I had a feeling I was going to like this class. I always did have a way with numbers.

 Chapter 85 - The Unspoken Reward

    After Arithmancy, I made my way to Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. During the first class, we didn''t cover anything new. It was more about what would be expected of us throughout the year.


    With classes barely over an hour, Professor McGonagall informed us that we would be allowed to practice on our own time. But, we still weren''t allowed to work ahead of the curriculum without Professor McGonagall''s permission.


    At the end of the class, as I prepared to leave. Professor McGonagall said, "Mr. Fawley, please remain behind. I have something I would like to discuss with you."


    As I nodded in acceptance, Cedric shot me a curious look. Normally, anytime someone is asked to stay behind, it''s because Professor McGonagall is displeased with you.


    Confused, I racked my mind for any reason for Professor McGonagall to be displeased with me. Although, I was planning on breaking her rules and working ahead this year. I hadn''t actually done anything yet.


    As the final student left and closed the door, the sense of being in trouble within me grew. Professor McGonagall stared at me from her desk chair with a stern gaze. It was a look that urges one to confess, even if you hadn''t done anything wrong. I''ll bet many students over the years have crumbled beneath her gaze.


    After a moment of inspection, Professor McGonagall''s stern expression seemed to relax, and she said, "Mr. Farley. Last year you indicated to me that you were interested in our student exchange program. Are you still interested in the program?"


    After hearing what she wanted to know, my insides relaxed. With all the shenanigans Fred and George get up to, I don''t see how they get away with anything under Professor McGonagall''s watchful eyes. It''s a wonder they aren''t always in detention. But, I suppose having a magical map that allows them to track her movement helps.


    Realizing that Professor McGonagall was waiting for an answer, I hurriedly nodded and replied, "Yes, I''m very interested. My cousin attends Uogadou, he''s told me a lot of stories, and I''m curious to see if they hold true."


    Professor McGonagall nodded thoughtfully as her lips pressed together in a firm line.


    "Uagadou is a good choice," she said.


    After a moment of silence, the faintest hint of a grimace appeared on Professor McGonagall''s face as she admitted, "They have the best transfiguration program in the world. Having such a huge focus on transfiguration leads to their students having the largest percentage of students graduating with OWLs and NEWTs."


    After processing her statement, I replied, "If they put that much focus on transfiguration, I imagine that it leads to them suffering in other areas."


    Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement, "It does, you''ll find they don''t focus as much on Charms and Herbology. Their students tend to score lower in those subjects. If you are selected for the exchange program, I recommend bringing along volumes of our fourth-year textbooks in those subjects and studying them. That way, when you return for your fifth year, you aren''t behind and can prepare for your OWLs."


    Part of me danced with joy when I heard Uagadou doesn''t focus that much on Herbology. It was my least favorite class, and I looked forward to my sixth-year when I could drop it. As for Charms, I wasn''t concerned. I was already partway through the fifth-year book. I was looking forward to getting to the NEWT level spells. According to dad, that''s when we start learning permanent or long-lasting enchantments.


    While I was inwardly celebrating about less Herbology class, one of Professor McGonagall''s statements caught up with me, she mentioned having to be selected for the program.


    A little unsure, I asked, "Could you tell me more about the exchange program. How does it work? Who gets to decide who gets selected?"


    "Well, it''s a bit of a process." She answered, "There are several layers to getting approved. The first is the head of your house, which for you is Professor Flitwick. Once you get his approval, he will submit a small list of names from Ravenclaw. Once I get the lists from every house, I send it to the Board of Governors."


    I couldn''t help but ask, "Really? Why do the Governors decide who gets to go?"


    Professor McGonagall''s eyes tightened in disapproval, "The Board involves itself in the matter because they believe it''s important only to allow students who will best represent Hogwarts."


    "Although," she reluctantly admitted, "There is a considerable amount of politics involved with sending students to other schools."


    Professor McGonagall answered my unspoken question. "The eleven great schools of magic guard their secrets carefully and are careful about letting outsiders. Each student in the exchange program has to be personally vetted by both the school and government they wish to visit. The Board of Governors makes sure this process runs smoothly."


    The thought of not being selected for the program briefly crossed my mind. But luckily, I know someone who can help me out. For the first time, I was grateful that Grandma was on the board. Some people may complain of nepotism, but who cares what they think. What''s the use of having and building connections with influential people if I don''t use them? On that note, I should get Augusta Longbottom and the other governors I''ve made a good impression on to make sure my name is selected.


    Still a little curious, I asked, "How many students will be selected?"


    "Each house is allowed to send one student." Professor McGonagall explained.


    "Are they allowed to choose whatever school they want?" I questioned.


    A knowing look appeared on Professor McGonagall''s face. "Each person selected is allowed to choose what school they wish to attend. Although it is rare, multiple students have chosen to attend the same school."


    With my curiosity about the program satisfied, I fell silent. For a few moments, there was only silence between us. Breaking the stillness, I asked, "Professor McGonagall, Is that all?"


    She shook her head and said, "There''s something else I wanted to discuss with you. Back in your first year, you indicated that you wished to explore becoming an animagus."


    I nodded in agreement, "You said I would have to wait till my sixth year before you would teach me."


    Professor McGonagall''s eyes narrowed at my reply. I had tried to keep the accusing tone out of my voice. Judging by her eyes, I doubt I succeeded.


    "Well, Uagadou happens to have the most successful animagus success rates in the world. I believe their success rate is around 90 percent."


    Having questioned my cousin on how so many became animagi, I explained, "They actually have a class that is dedicated to teaching their students to become animagus. It''s similar to an elective class, but once you successfully become one, you can stop attending."


    Professor McGonagall nodded as if she wasn''t surprised by this information.


    "It''s actually one of the reasons I want to go to Uagadou," I confessed a little guiltily. I didn''t want to wait until my sixth year to become an animagus.


    For a moment, I was worried that she would be offended. But she said, "If you truly wish to become an animagus, going to Uagadou is probably your best chance at success."


    Professor McGonagall gave a wry smile at my shock expression. "In all my years of teaching, I''ve only had one student successfully become an animagus. In all of Europe, there are only seven animagi."


    When she said that, I smirked to myself, seven that you know of. I could think of three right off the bat, Uncle John, Sirius, and Rita Skeeter.


    Not willing to correct her, I quietly listened as she continued.


    "Part of the reason is there just isn''t as much of a demand. But, the other is the difficulty involved. Almost every single student who has asked me to teach them has quit in frustration."


    Professor McGonagall smirked at my confidant expression, "You''ll understand when you have to try and keep a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month. I will never forget that foul taste. It''s been permanently burned into my memory."


    The smirk on her face faded away, and her tone became rather casual as she said, "I''ve actually been wanting to set up an official class for animagus, but while I know how to teach students theoretically. Hogwarts doesn''t have the best track record at teaching students."


    Sensing where she was going with this, I jumped in, "But, if I am selected, and successfully take the animagus class. I''ll be able to study their methods and bring that knowledge back to Hogwarts."


    After she nodded, I clarified, "Won''t they be annoyed if I copy their method."


    Professor McGonagall shook her head, "Not as long as you''re just studying their methods and not their secrets. Our student exchange programs are designed to show other schools how we do things. As well as learning that there might be other ways to accomplish things in magic."


    Part of me was a little skeptical of her high minded thoughts on the student exchange program. If the magical schools of the world were so eager for others to adopt their ways, why were they so cagey about letting outsiders visit and learn?


    Before I said yes, a thought occurred to me. This whole conversation had led to this request. I wouldn''t even be supposed if this request came from the very top. Now, I don''t mind spying and gleaning knowledge for the school. But, it seems to me that I should be compensated for my effort, and like most Ravenclaws, the most valuable thing to me is knowledge.


    Of course, I can''t just blurt out a demand. I need to be subtle about this, just like Professor McGonagall was during this conversation. After running through a few ideas, I grinned. I knew just what to say.


    Trying to hide a smirk, I said, "Of course I don''t mind. Helping you set up a successful animagus program for Hogwarts would be good for the school."


    Seeing the satisfied look appear on Professor McGonagall''s face made it clear she was pleased with my response.


    Now for my payment. My time with grandma had taught me to ask for things politely and subtly. I couldn''t just come out and demand things quid pro quo. No, that would be considered rude and do nothing more than draw her ire.


    That''s why I just subtlety reminded her that I was doing both her and the school a favor. Now all I needed was to carefully bring up my request in a way that didn''t seem like it was a demand or payment for services rendered.


    After looking around the empty classroom, I mused, "You said Uagadou focuses heavily on transfiguration."


    Unsure of where I was going with this train of thought, Professor McGonagall nodded in curiosity.


    Keeping my tone causally, I asked, "Wouldn''t it be embarrassing for Hogwarts if their student showed up and couldn''t keep up with the rest of the students at Uagadou?"


    Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes, and I knew she wasn''t fooled for a second, which was good. I wanted her to know what I was asking for without actually asking for something. I guess I shouldn''t be too surprised that she picked up my request immediately. One doesn''t climb to the rank of Deputy Headmistress and be the right arm of Professor Dumbledore without learning a few things.


    "I suppose that may be embarrassing," Professor McGonagall reluctantly agreed.


    As we say there in silence, Professor McGonagall studied me carefully as if she was trying to see what made me tick. Her intent gaze made a few droplets of sweat roll down my neck. I couldn''t help but wonder if I just made a grave mistake. The silence became so great that I was sure I could hear a pin drop. The lizard part of my brain warned me to run. I was young and could surly outrun her.


    After what seemed like forever, Professor McGonagall leaned forward and said, "In the interest of making sure Hogwarts isn''t embarrassed next year. This year, some private lessons in transfiguration may be in order¡ªSaturday, my office, nine o''clock sharp.


    Worried that I would say something to screw it up, I just nodded in agreement.


    My eyes widened in panic as Professor McGonagall pulled out her wand. I nearly bolted in panic right then and there. But, before I could do anything, she flicked her wand, and a few forms appeared. "Make sure to get these filled out and turned in to Professor Flitwick by October. You''ll also need to get at least one parent''s signature of approval."


    Once I grabbed the forms, she flicked her head towards the door, "You better get going if you don''t want to be late to your next class."


    Eager to get away from her stern gaze, I gathered my things and headed to the door. By the time I made it to History of Magic, I had got my heart rate under control. I barely listened to Professor Binns as he started lecturing in his slow, monotone voice.


    Most of my mind was pleased that I had maneuvered Professor McGonagall into private lessons. Not moving ahead had been frustrating for the last two years. So, when I saw a shot that would let me move forward at full speed, I couldn''t help but take it. But, a small part of my mind warned me that I might have made a mistake back there. It was never a smart idea to piss off the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. While I wasn''t sure if she was genuinely annoyed, I resolved to stay off her radar as much as possible this year. Of course, I realized it was ironic that with the extra lesson, staying under the radar would be rather tricky.


    The rest of the class flew by, and soon it was time for lunch. I wanted to broach the subject with the rest of my friends. I knew some of them might be resistant to the idea, but I had two months to wear them down.


    Luckily, meals were relaxed during the year, and you could sit where you pleased. It didn''t take long before my friends were seated and eating lunch.


    As I sat there playing with my food, I tried to come up with the best way to broach the topic. Being my best friend, Cedric knew when I had something I wanted to say but was trying to figure out the right way to say it. Eventually, he had enough of my hesitation and said, "Alex, whatever it is, just spit it out."


    "Fine," I huffed. I had wanted to come up with the perfect arguments of why everyone should go to Uagadou with me.


    Seeing as I had everyone''s attention, I decided to rip off the bandage. "I''m applying for the student exchange program next year."


    Three sets of eyes rapidly blinked at me in confusion. Wanting to explain, I said, "My cousin Omar attends Uagadou. He''s the one who told me about the program."


    Cedric, being the steady one in our group, calmly asked, "How long is the exchange?"


    "The full year," I replied.


    "What?" Anna demanded, "You''re going to be gone all year."


    I nodded and held up a hand to stall any other questions. "And, I want you three to come with me."


    Ever since Professor McGonagall explained that there was an open spot for each house, I couldn''t shake the idea of my friends coming along. Next year, a giant snake that can kill you just by looking at you will be slithering the pipes and halls. I know in the books no one was killed, but I couldn''t help worry about my friends. It would ease my mind a great deal if they came along. I wish I could bring all my friends, but I will settle for my three closest friends.


    Not surprisingly, Anna had gone from annoyed to being pleased in two seconds, "Sounds fun, I''m in."


    I turned to Cedric, hoping for the same reply. A worried look appeared on his face. "I don''t know Alex. I''m on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. If I leave for a year, I will probably lose my spot."


    Jumping into the conversation, Alicia added, "I''m in the same boat. Competition to be on the team is fierce. If I leave, I may not make it back."


    I tried not to sigh in disappointment. I knew quidditch would be the major hurdle in getting Cedric and Alicia onboard. I decided to roll out the big wands, "You''ve got two months to think it over, but here is something that may change your minds."


    As my friends leaned in with curiosity, I continued, "Uagadou has a class dedicated for their students to become animagus. Wouldn''t it be awesome to go down there and learn? We would be the only students at Hogwarts who could freely transform ourselves without a wand."


    I could see the idea of becoming an animagus tempted my friends. Professor McGonagall''s demonstration in our first year left a profound impression on all of us.


    A little hesitant, Cedric asked, "I thought becoming an animagus was extremely difficult."


    "It is," I confirmed. "But, over the centuries, they''ve perfected their teaching methods. Almost everyone who attends the class is successful. My cousin was able to do it within a couple of months."


    Alicia spoke up, "It''s true, both of my parents attended Uagadou, and they both have animagus forms. I''m sure they would be thrilled if we went."


    I could see Cedric was still torn, so I decided to stop pushing him so hard. "You don''t have to answer right now, just think about it. You have until October to decide."

 Chapter 86 - A Game

    The following day after breakfast, I made my way to the one class I was a little wary of, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Upon entering the dimly-lit classroom, my senses were assaulted by the pungent smell of garlic. The aroma was so intense I could taste the spice on my tongue.


    Looking around, I noticed cloves of garlic hanging all over the walls. If that wasn''t bad enough, in the far corner, heavy incense smokers were burning. The incense that was burning conflicted severely with the garlic and produced an awful smell that made my eyes water.


    As I made my way to my seat I noticed Professor Quirrell and his purple turban sitting at his desk in the front of the room. I wasn''t quite sure what to expect from him. The books always described him as a stuttering coward, but I knew that was just a clever mask hiding his true self. But, as he sat there nervously eyeing each student like they might be a monster in disguise that was out to get him. I had to admit. He was committed to his role.


    After giving the matter some thought, I realized I shouldn''t dismiss the danger that Professor Quirrell represented. Being skilled enough to break into Gringotts shows that he was not to be underestimated. Not to mention one of the most powerful wizards of our age is currently residing in the back of his head.


    Regardless, all I had to do was stay out of his way, and Harry would end up taking care of him. I wasn''t going to get involved in that mess. Besides, if Harry was going to take down Voldemort in the future, it was vital for him to get his feet wet when he was younger.


    "N-n-now that everyone''s here, we can begin." Professor Quirrell stammered


    Next to me, Roger raised his hand and asked without being called on, "Professor Quirrell, what''s with all the garlic?"


    Professor Quirrell looked around nervously like he was afraid of being overheard, "V-v-vampires." He muttered.


    Not satisfied with Professor Quirrell''s response, Jessica interjected, "But, everyone knows that vampires fearing garlic is a myth."


    Professor Quirrell shook his head as if it would ward off Jessica''s statement. "T-t-that''s not true," he defended. "O-o-once I used garlic to great effect as I tracked a vampire in the most eastern part of Europe."


    With a quiver, he added, "F-f-fearsome creature."


    His voice lowered to a near whisper, "Even with the protection Hogwarts offers, I suspect the creatures brethren are hunting me."


    I struggled not to roll my eyes at Professor Quirrell''s performance. His pale and frightened complexion might as well shout that there was no way on earth that he was brave enough to face a vampire. My classmates'' faces were torn between disbelief and concern that our new teacher was half-mad with fear. A heavy sigh escaped me. This was going to be a long year.


    With no one in the class willing to call out Professor Quirrell on his unbelievable fears, he launched a lecture on what the course would be covering throughout the year.


    Most of what he said, I promptly ignored. I was having a little trouble focusing. I was distracted by the fact that the world''s foremost expert in Legilimency was currently residing in Quirrell''s head and was only ten feet away from me. While I was at the point where I could maintain my mental shields without concentrating on them. I dedicated most of my mental energy to making sure my shields were completely impenetrable, and I made a mental note to study up on Legilimency.


    I let out a sigh of relief when class was over. At first, I was sure I hadn''t felt anything brush up against my shields. But, As I left the classroom, I thought I heard a faint voice whisper within my mind, "Interesting."


    Glancing back, I saw Professor Quirrell facing the blackboard. A small part of my mind reminded me that Voldemort was looking in my direction since his back was turned to me. The thought made the hairs on my neck stand, warning me that a predator was secretly watching me. Forcing down a nervous gulp, I turned and left the class.


    Outside the classroom, Roger caught up to me and whispered, "What was Dumbledore thinking when he put Quirrell in charge of Defense Against the Dark Arts? He''s afraid of his own shadow. How will he teach us to defend ourselves against the Dark Arts and every other foul creature out there?"


    Since I was little weirded out by the voice in my head, I barely heard Roger''s question. When he asked again, I thought about all the teachers we would be dealing with for the next five years and weakly joked, "Who knows? Maybe one day you will look back and remember Professor Quirrell''s time here fondly."


    Roger snorted in disbelief, "I doubt it."


    As we pushed our way through other students, Roger asked, "Where are we headed next?"


    I let out a teasing smirk, "We''re headed to your favorite class, Potions."


    Roger let out a pained groan, "Noooo. Anything but Potions."


    I let out a murmur of sympathy. Roger s.u.c.k.e.d at potions. His biggest problem was his focus. When he got bored, his mind tended to wander off, and an unfocused mind in brewing potions was a recipe for failure.


    Professor Snape loathed any and all mistakes. He seemed to take each one as a personal insult to his craft and had no problem lashing out at those he considered too lazy to follow directions.


    "Maybe he''ll be in a good mood," Roger hopefully said.


    There was a bit of awkward silence as Jessica, and my other roommates looked away, not wanting to spoil Roger''s unrealistic fantasy.


    Personally, I couldn''t help but have a sinking feeling that not only would Professor Snape not be in a good mood. After seeing the son of his childhood tormentor, who was by all accounts the spitting image of him, he would probably be in a particularly foul mood all year long.


    Any hope Roger might have had died when he saw Professor Snape waiting in the dark, unused corner of the dungeon classroom. Already, the hints of his infamous glare showed as he kept one eye on the clock and the other on the door, no doubt hoping to snag a straggler or two. I shook my head. Only idiots arrived late to Potions. If you made that mistake, you only ever did it once.


    Professor Snape''s glare faded away in disappointment when everyone arrived on time. When the last-second ran out, he pointed his wand at the door, and it swung close with a bang.


    "Who can tell me what the Wiggenweld Potion does?" Professor Snape snapped as he strode from the corner to loom threateningly over the class.


    I shook my head. You would think after two years of abuse. She would change her tactics. But, Jessica could be just as stubborn as Professor Snape. In her mind, the perfect answer was the textbook answer.


    Professor Snape glared at the rest of the class as if he was trying to force one of them to raise their hands by the sheer force of his will.


    "No one," he remarked with a sharp edge in his voice.


    Professor Snape''s dark eyes glittered dangerously, and I knew our class was about two seconds from paying for it with a ton of homework. Since I didn''t want to spend half my night writing a long pointless essay, I raised my hand.


    I already knew everything about the Wiggenweld Potion because last year, I used about a dozen of them to save my life when I was dying.


    After Professor Snape gave me the nod, I said, "The Wiggenweld Potion is a strong healing potion that can heal injuries."


    Seeing the unimpressed look in Professor Snape''s face, I knew he wasn''t satisfied, so I went on, "While an effective healing potion, it''s recommended to be careful when using it if you are seriously injured. The potion can cause a false sense of security, because while it can handle minor to medium injuries just fine. When it comes to major issues, it can only deal with surface problems, which may lead one to believe that it healed them. More than one witch or wizard drank a Wiggenweld and believed they were fine, only to die from their injuries later on."


    As I explained the Wiggenweld Potion, I felt a flash of phantom pain in my lower spine. I couldn''t help but think back to when the only thing keeping me alive was the vials of potions I had squirreled away. I can still remember the taste of mint and honey as I chugged each potion.


    After realizing that I had stopped speaking, I forced the painful memories back into the deepest vault in my mind. Continuing on, I added, "Another curious use for the Wiggenweld potion is that it can be used as an antidote for a simple Sleeping Draught and the Draught of Living Death."


    As I fell silent, Professor Snape seemed to accept my explanation because he turned and said, "Open your textbooks to page 52. I expect each of you to turn in a vial by the end of class."


    Jessica shot me a competitive look that told me we would be competing against one another. Potions was one of the classes where she was pretty much as good as I was. She had the proper mental focus and attention to detail that is needed for potion-making. But, I wasn''t too worried because I had an edge she didn''t know about, I had brewed this potion a couple of dozen times and had mastered the process.


    Under Professor Snape''s watcher gaze everyone started scrambling for ingredients, Jessica nudged me with her elbow and whispered, "Alex, you''re so going down today."


    I gave her a teasing smirk and drawled, "Is that so? Cause I like my chances."


    Her grin matched my own as she mischievously challenged, "Then you should be happy to make a wager."


    "What did you have in mind?" I asked in an amused tone.


    She pulled out a badge with a dark blue background and had the word Queen scripted in bronze.


    I raised an eyebrow at the badge and asked, "Why would I want that?"


    Wordlessly, she held out the badge for me to take. Once I had it in my hand, the word Queen faded away and was replaced by King.


    A feeling of amus.e.m.e.nt tinged with something else I wasn''t prepared to deal with arose within me.


    Alright," I said playfully, "Game on."


    It took some time to gather all the ingredients, and even though I knew I had the steps memorized. I went ahead and opened my textbook to double-check the steps. While I was preparing, Jessica set up right next to me and gave me a whimsical smile like everything was going according to her plan.


    I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. I knew Jessica was up to something, I could practically smell it. When she saw my suspicious gaze, she widened her blue eyes and flashed me a look that pleaded her innocence.


    Ha, nice try, Jessica. I wasn''t falling for that innocent look. I knew better. I grew up with two sneaky little sisters.


    From behind me, Professor Snape''s impatient voice rang out, "Are you waiting for an invitation to get started, Mr. Fawley?"


    The second Jessica smirked at me. Snape waspishly added, "That goes for you too, Miss Brooks."


    Not wanting to piss off Professor Snape, I started brewing my potion. Jessica mirrored my actions, and I began to tune out the rest of the class as I focused on my brewing.


    The trickiest part of brewing a Wiggenweld Potion was the waiting. Several steps in the brewing process involve heating the potion over periods of time and waiting for it to turn to a specific color. If one gets distracted, it''s easy to miss the change and ruin everything.


    "Nervous," she whispered in a low voice.


    Unwilling to take my eyes off my potion, I fired back, "Not one bit."


    Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed she had drawn close. I decided to keep a close eye on her hands. It wasn''t unheard of for Ravenclaws to sabotage one another. After all, we do tend to take our academic competitions seriously.


    "Whatever you''re planning, it''s not going to work." I promised.


    She brushed up against me and whispered into my ear, "Are you sure?"


    I could feel a slight burning in my cheeks as my thoughts wandered in a direction that I promised I would stay away from. When Jessica saw me blush, she gave me a cheshire cat grin as she moved back towards her potions. I couldn''t help but have the feeling that we were playing two different games.


    When it came time for us to compare our potions, we each held up a vial of our work. Both our potions were turquoise, but mine was just a hair off. I glared at Jessica''s smile and accused, "You cheated."


    "Did I?" She said innocently. "I didn''t do anything."


    I glowered at her teasing smile that told me she knew exactly what I was talking about. I wasn''t willing to say it out loud because admittance felt like a trap. Either way, I think I was outplayed today. But, that''s ok, I''m a quick study. If Jessica wanted to play, she would find out I was more than capable of learning the game.


    "Next time that badge is mine," I warned.


    Her satisfied smile at my reply set off a little alarm in my head. I had a feeling I just walked into another trap, but I wasn''t quite sure where it was. I gave her one last suspicious glance, before I turned my vial in.


    On our way to the dungeon, I asked, "Alright, it seems like we will be doing this again. So, how about we lay down some ground rules?"


    Jessica''s blue eyes peeked at me through her dark hair. "Fine," she said. "Rule one, only one challenge per week allowed."


    I narrowed my gaze, but after giving it a moment of thought, I said, "Agreed. But, no two challenges in a row can be in the same subject."


    This time it was Jessica''s turn to narrow her eyes. This rule clearly favored me because I was way ahead of her in Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.


    She reluctantly nodded her agreement and countered, "Fine, but every class is on the table.


    I smiled at her and said, "I guess that means it''s game on."


    She smiled back at me and teased, "Well, since I won the first round. For the next week, you can consider me to be your Queen."


    Once again, her words sent my thoughts wandered off. I was so distracted that I crashed right into a statue of armor and tumbled down to the floor. She erupted in peals of laughter and said with a coltish smile, "If you want me to call you, King, you''ll need to watch your step."


    Turning, she left me behind and sauntered away towards her roommates, who were giggling at me.


    I shook my head and pushed myself off the floor. As I made my way to the next class, I took the long way around so I could walk alone. I needed some time to think and come up with a strategy. Whatever game Jessica was playing, I was planning on winning. Next time, she would be all mine.


    It''s a little embarrassing to admit that it never occurred to me that by playing at all, I had already fallen into her trap.

 Chapter 87 - Two New Professors

    "No matter the size, never underestimate any magical creatures," Professor Kettleburn warned.


    When I glanced over at my fellow students, I noticed that they were all paying close attention to our Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, and I understood why. Professor Kettleburn was rather eye-catching.


    While he was rather tall, standing well over six feet, that wasn''t what made him so interesting. It was his past injuries that made him so striking.


    Wiry silver hair framed his face, partially covering up a scar that ran from his forehead to chin. His milky- brown, right eye was a casualty of the injury and contrasted sharply with his other eye, which was alert and rather animated.


    But, what really drew the class''s attention was his right arm. It had been severed in the past and replaced with a mechanical pincher-like claw. Part mechanical and part magically enchanted, Professor Kettleburn emphasized his warning by pointing the claw at the class and closing the claw with a solid click.


    As we followed him across the grounds of Hogwarts, I noticed beneath his billowing robes that he was missing a full leg and part of the other. Magical prosthetics had replaced them, and I couldn''t help but laugh at the thought that Uncle John would be jealous of how much Professor Kettleburn looked like an old pirate.


    Up ahead, a familiar, friendly half-giant with a large coat waved eagerly at me.


    Once we got closer, Professor Kettelburn said, "I''m sure most of you have seen Hagrid before. He''s something of an assistant of mine who helps me take care of our more¡­ Energetic creatures."


    I wasn''t the only one who noticed the pause. Professor Kettleburn''s scars and missing limbs didn''t exactly fill the class with very much confidence. They had started connecting the dots and realized that it was magical creatures who had severe damage to Professor Kettelburn. I could see some hints of regret for choosing this class forming on my fellow students'' faces.


    Sensing the class''s concern, Professor Kettleburn waved his metal claw dismissively, "Relax. You won''t be exposed to any of the truly dangerous magical creatures until your sixth year."


    Cedric shot me a look of doubt. I shared his concern. I had this bad feeling that Professor Kettelburn was like Hagrid and had a skewed sense of what constitutes a dangerous magical creature. No wonder Hagrid and Professor Kettelburn seemed to get along, they''re both crazy.


    Cedric and I weren''t the only ones hesitant. Most of the class looked just as worried. I was just happy that by the time Hagrid becomes the teacher and introduces the Blast-Ended Skrewts. I will have gotten my OWL and dropped the class. No way I was going to get in the NEWT level class and tangle with some of the most deadly magical creatures. Ever since I almost had my head ripped off by a Nandu, I had decided to adopt a curse first and ask questions later policy towards magical creatures. And I had a feeling that Hagrid would frown on me blasting one of his precious creatures apart.


    When the class was over, Professor Kettleburn called out, "Mr. Fawley, could I have a moment of your time."


    Hanging back, I motioned for my friends to go on without me.


    Once we were alone, Professor Kettelburn eyed me intently with his remaining good eye and eagerly said. "Hagrid tells me you are bonded with a Lamassu."


    Hagrid shifted nervously and gave me a guilty look as if he wasn''t sure if he had something wrong. I winked at him to reassure him I wasn''t upset.


    Turning my attention to Professor Kettleburn, I confirmed, "Yes, I''ve been bonded with Athena since I was five."


    A pleased look appeared on Professor Kettleburn''s face. "If you don''t mind, Mr. Fawley. I would love to show her off in class. It''s not every day that I can show my classes such a rare magical creature."


    After a moment of consideration, I shrugged. "I don''t mind, Athena will probably bask in the attention. But, make sure you don''t let anyone she doesn''t like approach her."


    Professor Kettleburn waved his mechanical arm and reassured me, "Don''t worry, I''m familiar with making sure my students stay safe."


    Eyeing all three of his prosthetics, I replied a little sarcastically, "I can see that."


    My remark seemed to go over Professor Kettleburn''s head and he excitedly started rambling on what he knew about Lamassu.


    Professor Kettleburn clicked his claw excitedly and said, "What''s so interesting about Lamassu is as a species they don''t have a set shape. Their most common forms are winged cats and bulls, but their size varies greatly."


    I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I read about that in Fantastic Beast and Where To Find Them."


    Professor Kettelburn''s eyes seemed to lose focus in remembrance. A faint smile appeared on his face. "My good friend Newt wrote that book. He did the wizarding world a great service when he released it. Before him, many magical creatures were greatly misunderstood by wizards. Many magical creatures have been summarily wiped out because of misunderstandings."


    Shaking off the nostalgia, Professor Kettelborn leaned forward and eagerly asked, "So, you said you were bonded with Athena. What was it like? How exactly are you bonded? Can you feel one another?"


    I felt the urge to lean away as I was bombarded with question after question.


    "Sorry, it''s been so long since I ran into a wizard that was bonded with a Lamassu. You see, it''s quite rare for a Lamassu to let an egg go free, even rarer for an egg to bond with someone and hatch."


    I shook my head to indicate that it was ok. Turning my thoughts to the night Athena and I bonded, I said, "It''s hard to explain. I remember it like it was yesterday. She hatched from a pure black egg, just before she emerged, red glowing symbols and patterns appeared on her egg."


    "Symbols? Are you sure they weren''t runes of some kind?" Professor Kettelburn interrupted.


    Pausing to think it over, I replied hesitantly, "Maybe, But, I wasn''t paying too much attention to the glowing symbols. Once the hatching began, it didn''t take long for Athena to emerge."


    I didn''t mention that I could view the memory in perfect clarity in my mind palace. As well-intentioned as Professor Kettleburn may be, whatever symbols or runes that were on Athena''s egg were between Athena and myself.


    Getting back to the story, I continued, "The bond didn''t initiate until she bit me. It''s hard to describe, but I felt something surge through me and connect me to Athena."


    I turned to point at the castle, and explained, "If I concentrate hard enough, I can sorta feel where Athena is."


    "Can you communicate through the bond?" Professor Kettleburn inquired.


    I shook my head, "I don''t think so. But, she can feel if I''m in distress."


    "Hmm.." Professor Kettelburn stroked his scared chin and mused. "The other wizard I met who was bonded could communicate with his Lamassu with a mere thought. But, your bond might be too imm.a.t.u.r.e to allow for real communication. It may also have something to do with your age. Would you be interested in working with me and trying to develop your bond?"


    Although I was a little surprised that there was more to my bond than I previously knew, I eagerly replied, "I would like that."


    Professor Kettleburn beamed. "Excellent, I know that the beginning of the semester is rather hectic. So, why don''t you bring Athena to my office in the next couple of weeks once you''ve settled in?"


    Before I turned to leave, I asked a final question, "Professor Kettleburn, if you don''t mind, can I ask who was the wizard you knew who was bonded with a Lamassu? I would love to meet him or at least exchange letters."


    Professor Kettleburn hesitated for a moment, "I''ll write to him and see if he is interested in contacting you. But, it may take some time, he is a busy man."


    On my way back to the castle, I realized I needed to run if I didn''t be late for my first class in Ancient Runes. I had never been late to a class before, and I wasn''t about to start now.


    Nearly breathless, I made it to the class just in time. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I spotted Jessica. She had saved me a spot next to her.


    "Cutting it rather close, aren''t you?" She murmured as soon as I took my seat.


    Before I could reply, a bookish middle-aged witch whose red hair had begun to age into a faded copper color entered the class. Framing her face was a set of horned rimmed spectacles that took away attention from her freckles splattered across her face.


    "Welcome to The Study of Ancient Runes. I''m Professor Bathsheda Babbling."


    After Professor Babbling did a quick roll call, she said, "Now, before we begin, I always feel like I need to take some time and explain what the next three years will entail."


    Looking around the class, she asked, "How many of you signed up for the class believing in the fairytale of mystical runes that our ancient ancestors used to enchant wonders?"


    When several hands eagerly went up, Professor Babbling shook her head in dismay, "There''s always a few in every class."


    In a brisk tone, Professor Babbling added, "Unfortunately, it falls to me to break that myth. Ancient Runes are simply an ancient wizarding language. There is no magic involved."


    The students who had their hands raised slowly lowered them in disappointment.


    Sensing the disappointment, Professor Babbling''s green eyes softened with understanding. Comforting the class, she said, "While there isn''t anything inherently magical about ancient runes. If you enjoy mysteries and hunting through ancient hoarded knowledge inscribed on faded scrolls and clay tablets, you will come to love this class. Here you will learn how to decipher ancient knowledge long forgotten to the sands of time."


    I hid a smile behind my hand. Professor Babbling was good. Already she had half the class eagerly leaning forward, wanting to know more, and those who had been disappointed had already half-forgotten why they were let down in the first place. I''ll bet she has been perfecting this speech since she started teaching.


    Seeing how she had the class''s attention, Professor Babbling added a warning.


    "It won''t be easy," she said. "Translating runes can be frustrating, especially in the beginning. I can guarantee most of you at one point, will want to bang your head against the wall when trying to translate ancient runes. But, if you stick it out, it will be worth it, I promise."


    "Now, before we get started on what Ancient Runes are, I need to clarify what they aren''t. Other than being a recorded language, ancient runes have little to do with modern language. For example, the way the english alphabet works is that sounds are associated with letters, and letters are grouped together to form words. Once you learn the alphabet, you can sound out words even if you don''t understand their meaning. And while I am simplifying the English language down to a couple of sentences, my main point is that ancient runes are nothing like the modern alphabet."


    Next to me, Jessica raised her hand.


    "If runes aren''t connected to sounds like the english alphabet, how do they work?" She asked.


    Professor Babbling smiled, "There''s a reason why we call them ancient runes. They bear a striking similarity to some of humanity''s oldest recorded language, Hieroglyphs."


    Looking around the class, she asked, "Does anyone know what Hieroglyphics are?"


    I raised my hand, and when Professor Babbling pointed at me, I said, "Normally, hieroglyphs represent the image of a thing or action. But, the ancient Egyptians also used them in a more complex way than simply using them as a vague picture script. They also used them to stand for a sound or the sounds of one to as many as three syllables or clarify the precise meaning of adjoining glyphs."


    Professor Babbling raised her eyebrows in surprise, not expecting me to go into detail.


    "My aunt is Egyptian. She gave me a lecture on the subject." I sheepishly replied.


    "Well, since your aunt isn''t here to receive any points, five points to Ravenclaw for paying attention to her lecture."


    Glancing at the rest of the class, she added, "Mr. Fawley is correct in how Hieroglyphs can be used in several different ways, and so can ancient runes. But for now, we will focus on runes that represent objects, concepts, or ideas."


    Professor Babbling pointed her wand at the black chalkboard. Several pieces of chalk rose into the air and began drawing a set of ten different runes.


    "Today''s lesson will be the easiest step in your journey of learning ancient runes. Your assignment is to hunt down the meaning of the runes in your books. The first to correctly label all ten of them will earn twenty points for their house."


    There was a thick flurry of movement as students in the class all reached for their bags as they brought out their book on ancient runes. Seeing how most of the students taking the class were Ravenclaws, the class''s competitive steak was in full swing.


    To Ravenclaw students, the only thing better than getting good grades was being able to be able to prove your academic superiority by achieving points. Have I mentioned how serious we take academic competition in Ravenclaw?


    Not being immune to the competitive nature of Ravenclaws, I opened my book to get started. The only problem was there were thousands of runes to search through. If I wanted to win, I would need to narrow it down.


    Rather than search page by page hoping to catch a glimpse of a familiar rune, I decided to study the runes drawn on the board to see if I could discover a clue. From my aunt''s lecture, I knew that hieroglyphs often take a shape that is supposed to simplify whatever it is representing.


    Let''s see. She said it was simple, so the ten runes need to represent a basic idea. One of the runes I zeroed in on looked like a unicorn. Now that I think about it, several of the runes look like simplified symbols of magical creatures. Some I knew off the top of my head like the twin-horned graphorn or a spider.


    All of a sudden, a light went off in my head, and I made a connection. They were all symbols of magical creatures that had easily identifiable numerical traits.


    I raised my hand, and Professor Babbling eyed my closed book skeptically and challenged, "So, you figured it out without using your textbook."


    Hearing the doubt in her voice made me grin. Confident in my theory, I announced, "They''re numbers."


    She raised an eyebrow and waved to the board, "The points are yours if you can correctly label all of them."


    As I approached the board, my mind went into overdrive. Professor Babbling had placed them in a random order to make it more difficult. Trying to appear confident, I picked up the white chalk and went for the most obvious runes first.


    Beneath the unicorn rune, I drew the number one. The unicorn was easy because it had one horn. Next, I went for numbers two and three. They were easy to spot due to the runes having a twin-horned graphorn and the three-headed runespoor on them.


    Since I had no idea which one was four, I moved on, saving it for the end. Five was easier to find. The rune was in the shape of a crab with five legs. Six and seven received the same treatment as four. When I spotted a rune in a spider''s shape, I drew a large eight beneath the rune.


    With half the runes completed and all the easy ones out. I focused on the five remaining runes. I gritted my teeth in frustration. A couple of the runes I couldn''t make heads or tails of. They were supposed to be creatures of some kind, but of what, I had no idea.


    After racking my brains for a moment, I turned to the other three that I could identify. One looked like a salamander, and the other a snake. If I tilted my head and squinted, the third one sort of looked like a fwooper, a small magical bird from Africa.


    In my mind palace, I was going through my memories of reading books about magical creatures. I focused on the snake first. The way it was drawn tickled the back of my mind, I knew I had seen that symbol somewhere before.


    Just as I heard a quiet snicker from the back of the class, it came to me. I had seen a similar symbol in Fantastic Beast and Where they Came From in the chapter about Hydras. The only difference between the symbols was in the book was that there were nine of them drawn out in a fan shape, whereas the rune only had a single one. Confident of my decision, I drew the number nine beneath the hydra-head.


    I turned my attention back to the salamander and fwooper rune. The remaining numbers were zero, four, six, and seven. I decided to ignore the salamander''s four legs; too many creatures had four legs for that to be significant.


    Everything I knew about salamanders and fwoopers rushed through my mind. In the end, I settled on two key facts. One, fwoopers come in four different colors, and two, salamanders can''t spend more than six hours outside a flame, after confirming four and six. I turned my attention to the last two.


    One looked sort of like a wide-eyed monkey, but there were too many creatures out there to narrow it down. The other looked like a squabble of lines if that was supposed to be a creature I didn''t have the faintest clue what it was supposed to be.


    A subtle cough from Professor Babbling told me I was just about out of time, so I decided to give it a fifty-fifty shot.


    When I finished, Professor Babbling gave a nice slow clap and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Fawley. I thought those last two had you stumped, how did you figure the runes out?"


    I shrugged and replied, "Well, the first five were kinda obvious."


    Professor Babbling nodded along, agreeing with my statement.


    "The next three, I worked out by remembering traits about the magical creatures from books I''ve read. But, the last two were a flat out guess. I have no idea what the runes for numbers one and seven are supposed to be."


    "Don''t feel too bad. Those two runes often stump newcomers. The rune for zero is a demiguise, which can turn invisible. A fitting rune for the number zero."


    "And the other?" I pressed.


    This time, Professor Babbling smirked, "Ancient witches and wizards knew there was something magical about the number seven, but to what end was unknown to them. So, they created a rune that was deliberately confusing, or otherwise seen as unknowable."


    We spent the rest of the class practicing drawing the runes on parchment. I''m not going to lie. I kind of s.u.c.k.e.d at it. I guess drawing runes was a skill I was going to have to work on. My only comfort was Jessica was just as bad.


    Near the end of the class, Professor Babbling asked, "I know the class is almost over. But, if any of you have any questions, now is the time to ask them."


    I went ahead and raised my hand, something she said at the beginning of the class had made me curious.


    "How widespread were ancient runes? You mentioned clay tablets, but I don''t think anyone in the British Isles ever used them."


    Professor Babbling smiled, "That''s a good question."


    She pointed her wand over to a small bookcase in the corner, and around a dozen books came floating out. Each book''s title appeared to be written in foreign languages. I quickly realized that many languages pretty much covered the majority of the world. With another wave, the books fluttered open, each showing ancient runes drawn similarly.


    "What is so fascinating about ancient runes is that it is taught at all the major schools worldwide. Some of the runes appear to have slightly different meanings. But, it''s pretty obvious that they all share a common ancestry. This leads some of us who have devoted ourselves to translating ancient works to suspect that at one point, there was a single worldwide magical society."


    Professor Babbling leaned forward excitedly, and the class just as eager to hear more leaned in to listen.


    "Have any of you ever heard of a place called Atlantis?"

 Chapter 88 - Private Lessons

    After Ancient Runes was over, I couldn''t stop thinking about the legend Professor Babbling had mentioned, Atlantis. Supposedly, there was an Atlantean empire, which was an ancient magical civilization that spanned the globe more than ten to fifteen thousand years ago.


    While there are many theories about how the empire operated, most researchers who specialize in ancient runes agree that a titanic apocalyptic incident occurred roughly ten thousand years ago. Whatever it was, the central hub of the empire collapsed and disappeared.


    No one is quite sure what happened to the Atlantean capital. There are dozens of theories out there. Some say it sank, others that it was banished into a hidden pocket realm. Out of all the theories, the one that claims Atlantis sank is the most popular. People who believe this theory argue that there are ancient myths and legends from around the world that speak of sunken cities, and they claim that what these myths are describing is the fall of Atlantis.


    Hearing about the supposed Atlantean empire made me think of the ancient underwater pathways my uncle uses to get around. He once told me that no one knew who made them, but they spanned the globe. Perhaps, they were the primary method of travel by ancient Atlantean witches and wizards.


    In the end, I turned my thoughts away from ancient magical empires. Because of the large gaps in ancient records, it''s not like we will ever know the real story. Whatever disastrous event happened back then, life went on. While disconnected from one another, magical communities from around the world went on to create many unique societies.


    The rest of the first week blurred by like it had the two previous years. Having such a regimented schedule always ensured that it took some time to get back in the swing of things. I was so swamped with everything that part of me wished I had a time-turner like Hermoine did in her third year. But, time travel is for suckers, and I will have no part in it.


    Soon enough, it was Saturday and time for my first private lesson with Professor McGonagall. I was looking forward to it. The last two years in transfiguration had been slightly frustrating. We normally could spend up to a few weeks on a particular transfiguration in class, only for me to be finished after a class or two. But now, with private lessons and the ability to work ahead outside class, I finally felt like I could move forward at my own pace.


    Knowing that punctuality was important to Professor McGonagall, I was outside her office ten minutes before our appointment. At precisely nine, the door to her office opened, and Professor McGonagall peered out.


    "Mr. Fawley, come on in."


    Unlike Professor Dumbledore''s office, Professor McGonagall''s office looked like a normal teacher''s office. Old books lined the shelves, and on her wooden desk were stacks of parchment, most likely homework turned in by other students.


    Professor McGonagall motioned for me to take a seat in the chair opposite hers. After a few moments of intently studying me, she said, "I only agreed to these lessons because I sensed you have been getting rather bored in class. I would rather supervise you moving ahead rather than you going off on your own and experimenting and blowing something up."


    My face flushed a little. I had been planning on doing exactly that, and being called on it was a little embarrassing.


    Seeing that she had made her point, Professor McGonagall moved on. "Now, before we start, I want to explain what the next two years of classes will cover. The first and second year was all about introducing you to transfiguration by having you transfigure small items like matches, buttons, and even small rodents. You also learned how to undo a transfiguration in your second year. All of this laid a foundation for you to move on to more complicated transfigurations. The next two years are all about learning to do bigger and more complex transfiguration. You will find that the difficulty increases exponentially as the transfiguration becomes more complex."


    Professor McGonagall reached down and opened a drawer, pulled out her long pointed hat, and set it down in front of me. "Your first task is to turn this hat into a rabbit."


    Having already read the textbook, I knew the spell she wanted me to cast. She was talking about the lapifors transfiguration spell. I thought it was a little amusing that she wanted me to practice on her hat. The spell had a bit of an infamous history in our world.


    Louis Comte was a muggleborn wizard who decided to become a traveling magician in the muggle world. His magic act inspired and was loved by muggles who had no idea that the ''tricks'' he was performing was real magic being disguised as sleight-of-hand.


    It didn''t take long for the Ministry of Magic to come down on him like a ton of bricks. But, by then, it was too late. His act had been seen by too many, and he inspired others to try and emulate his tricks. Pulling a rabbit from a hat became one of the most standard tricks a stage magician would show.


    At his trial, Louis argued that performing so-called magic tricks was actually a benefit to the Statute of Secrecy. He claimed that the more muggles got used to seeing magic at shows and dismissing it as mere trickery. The easier it would be to explain away any accidental magic that was seen by muggles. Surprisingly, he won his case, and now you can apply for a permit from the Ministry of Magic to perform magic tricks in the muggle world. So, if you ever go see a magician perform and see an unbelievable trick, it may be real magic.


    "Did you bring your textbook?" Professor McGonagall''s voice rang out, bringing my thoughts back to the hat sitting in front of me.


    Nodding, I pulled out my text and flipped it open to the correct chapter.


    "I''ve already read the book, so I already know all about the spell."


    A slightly raised eyebrow was all the response I was given.


    I pulled out my wand and focused my full attention on the hat. Twisting my wand like a drill, I chanted, "Lapifors."


    I could tell right away. I didn''t entirely succeed. Rather than turn into a rabbit, fluffy bunny ears grew from the top of the hat, and the bottom rim grew hoppy little legs.


    I also must have given the hat some level of awareness, because it immediately got up and tried to hop its way to freedom. As it leaped off the desk, Professor McGonagall snatched it out of the air and set it back down in front of me.


    A little embarrassed, I muttered the counterspell, and the hat returned to normal.


    Sensing my dissatisfaction, Professor McGonagall encouraged with a slight smile, "That was an excellent first try. I''m surprised you managed to get anything. Most fail completely when moving on to more complex animals. Even with your skill level, it will probably take you some time to get this spell down."


    If anything, Professor McGonagall telling me it would take time made me more determined to master this spell. Again and again, I cast the spell. With each attempt, I got closer and closer to successfully casting the spell.


    Thirty minutes later, with sweat beading on my forehead. A small rabbit sat on the desk in front of me. Unlike my first attempt, it didn''t try to run off. When the Lapifors spell is cast correctly, the rabbit is entirely under the control of the caster.


    I looked up at Professor McGonagall and grinned at her astonished expression. She had clearly expected me to take far longer to cast the spell correctly.


    She narrowed her eyes at my smug look, "Very good, Mr. Fawley. Now that you have achieved the basics. We can move on to other aspects of the spell."


    She waved her wand over the rabbit turning it back into a hat.


    "Now turn this hat into a rabbit with black fur."


    Inwardly I g.r.o.a.n.e.d. I had a feeling this was where she was going. We spent the remainder of the hour with me trying to control every aspect of the rabbit. Between the coloring of the fur and eyes, I was kept busy.


    As my private lesson was winding down to a close, I looked down at the innocent white rabbit with blue eyes I had transfigured and asked. "Is this rabbit alive?"


    Professor McGonagall shook her head, "No, I''m afraid as realistic as your rabbit is, it''s not really alive. One of the exceptions to Gamp''s law of elemental transfiguration tells us that life cannot be created."


    "What are the other exceptions?"


    Counting off with her fingers, Professor McGonagall said, "Food cannot be created from nothing. Real-life cannot be created. The dead cannot be returned. Magical creations like wands and genuine gold cannot be created.


    I blinked in confusion. I knew for a fact that one of those wasn''t true. Having spent the summer with Nicolas Flamel, I knew that he had used the Philosopher''s stone to transmute lead into gold.


    "What about the Philosopher''s Stone," I countered. "Nicolas Flamel was able to create real gold."


    A frown appeared on Professor McGonagall''s face. "Where did you hear about the Philosopher''s Stone?" She asked suspiciously.


    Her reaction confused me for a moment before I remembered that the professors at Hogwarts had been tasked with protecting the stone. It probably wasn''t the smartest thing to mention that I knew what it was.


    "I spent the summer with Nicolas Flamel." I hastily explained. "Apparently, we are distantly related on my mum''s side."


    After mulling over my reply, Professor McGonagall explained, "The Philosopher''s stone doesn''t count. It''s the product of supreme alchemy, and alchemy is all about bending and breaking magical rules."


    Seeing that I wasn''t satisfied with that, she went on, "There are some wizards and witches out there that have dedicated their lives to proving Gamp''s rules to be false. But, other than the Philosopher''s stone breaking the rule on gold. Thus far, they have been unsuccessful."


    "I guess that means that it would be a bad idea to eat a transfigured animal." I mused out loud.


    Professor McGonagall made a face that seemed to doubt the intelligence of anyone who would try such a thing.


    "Of course! Not only would it taste wrong. But imagine the transfiguration failing, and whatever you consumed reverting to its original form inside your body."


    Professor McGonagall shook her head in dismay as if she were imagining the consequences in her head.


    "I can''t imagine any witch or wizard would be foolish enough to try that. Even if they were starving, a simple summoning charm would be far more effective than trying to eat a transfigured animal."


    After a few more points on transfiguration, Professor McGonagall dismissed me after telling me to continue to practise variations of the spell during the week.


    The rest of the day was mine to do as I pleased. My only other obligation was tonight the Silver Spears were inducting our newest members. After dinner, I needed to head to our secret dueling arena that was hidden away in a secret passage on the fourth floor.


    Although the secret tunnel led to Hogsmeade, our secret arena wasn''t that far into the passageway. I kept an eye out for a particular mark in the stone wall on my way through the tunnel. It was a subtle marking, and if you didn''t know about it, you wouldn''t think anything of it and would pass right on by without noticing.


    Once I spotted the mark, I stopped and tapped a pattern into the wall with my wand. A section of the wall unfolded, revealing a large room with a dueling arena in the middle. Since Mason and Harper had graduated last year, we were down to five members.


    Inside, I saw three of our Hogwarts members waiting, Addison the brown-haired Huffleput, the oldest remaining member. Lelah, a fifth-year fellow Ravenclaw with auburn hair. Adam the Gryffindor, who was now in his fourth year, and my frequent sparring partner. Next to them was our blond-haired representative to the professional members of the Silver Spears, Jean Batt.


    "Zack getting the newbies?" I asked.


    "He will be here soon," Addison confirmed.


    Lelah muttered something about Zack to Addison, which made her flush red in embarrassment. She had finally given in to Zack''s advances, and they were officially a couple.


    Ignoring the two, I leaned up against the wall next to Adam, "How many newbies have been invited?"


    "I''m not sure, more than one, I think."


    "Nice, we could use some more members." I mused.


    It wasn''t long before the door unfolded, and Zack entered, following him were three second-year students. There were two boys and a girl. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at seeing three newcomers. It was rare that more than one or two students were chosen by an aspen wand in a single year. It was easy to see that they were each from different houses from their robes, but it seemed as Ravenclaw''s colors were missing.


    Seeing that the dark-haired girl was from Hufflepuff, Addison smiled, pleased that someone else from her house was joining. The other two boys had on Gryffindor and Slytherin markings. Seeing how Mason and Harper had each belonged to those houses, I found it appropriate for our new members to fill those empty spots.


    Once the newcomers were settled, Jean introduced himself and gave a similar speech that he gave me last year. While he was answering all their questions, Zack approached me with a smile.


    "Alex, I''m glad you could make it. I was a little worried after the fiasco at the tournament that you may not return."


    I snorted, "I''m not going to let a little thing like almost getting killed stop me."


    Zack clapped me on the shoulder, "That''s the spirit."


    Seeing the newcomer''s excited expressions when Jean told them how our club would help train them for professional dueling if they wanted made me curious. Leaning over to Zack, I whispered, "So, what happened with Mason and Harper? Did they each get a sponsor?"


    "Yeah, both of them did well in the tournaments for the last few years. Word is they both got sponsored by different masters. It will be interesting to see what happens if they meet again on the professional dueling circuit."


    After a moment''s pause, I asked, "What about you, are you going to go pro?"


    Zack shrugged, "Maybe, I already have an offer to be trained from a master who graduated from Tianlong. Although he retired, during his prime, he won the International Dueling Conference three times."


    Impressed, I let out a whistle. Even winning one conference is incredibly difficult, not to mention doing it three times. I guess I shouldn''t be surprised that Zack had gotten such an offer. Like me, he had jumped a year to duel older students and ended up winning. Right now, Zack was unquestionably the best dueler at Hogwarts.


    Hearing about his offer made me muse about the future. I doubt I will end up going into professional dueling. By the time I graduate, Voldemort will have returned. That doesn''t leave a whole lot of time for me to go off and get trained. I need to keep in mind that being in the Silver Spears is merely a means to an end for me to get some dueling experience.


    Even after Voldemort is dealt with, I doubt I will have the time. One day, my family will inevitably go head-to-head with the Whithorn syndicate, and I''m going to be prepared.


    After introductions were out of the way, members started leaving in ones and twos. Just as I was about to leave, Adam grunted, "Alex, want to get some practice in?"


    As much as I wanted to call it a night, I decided to stay behind for a few dueling rounds. I hadn''t dueled all summer and was bound to be a little rusty. Besides, the only way to stay at the top of your game, according to Mad-Eye, ''was constant vigilance!''

 Chapter 89 - Changes?

    With the first week out of the way, I found my routine and settled in. In my very limited free time, I turned my attention back to the project I wanted to get done by Christmas.


    Creating a spell was a new experience for me, one that many witches and wizards are never able to achieve. But, I knew that this step was necessary for my development and would help me along my path to power.


    I knew that spell creation was complicated from my reading, but knowing something is difficult and finding out firsthand how hard something is to do are two entirely different things.


    Initially, the spell I had in mind would somehow create an invisible bubble around a broom that would reduce drag to zero. I religiously studied the muggle textbook I got on aerodynamics and ended up going down a never-ending rabbit hole with exactly how the spell would work.


    After weeks of frustratingly slow progress, I found a tip in one of the journals that the heirs left behind. It suggested that when creating spells, especially for the first few times, it''s better not to focus on all the little details.


    It explained that while it is essential to know what you want your spell to do, trying to micromanage every aspect of the spell can sometimes be counterproductive. It''s far more likely that you will get distracted, and your spell will be all over the place and will not form correctly.


    After some thought, I decided that it made sense. I doubt whoever invented spells like apparition or the animagus ritual sat down and tried to reason every inch of their spell. No, they simply had an end goal in mind and let magic take care of the rest.


    So, I abandoned my detailed plans for the spell. Now, I have decided that the charm will just remove any sort of drag from the broom and by extension, the rider. As for how magic goes about and accomplishes that, I have no idea, and as long as it works, I don''t care.


    As the weeks flew by, I moved on to the next step in the process, binding an incantation to the spell. This is one of the more challenging aspects of bringing a spell into creation. The best way I can describe the process is that it''s like putting together a puzzle in the dark, and as a plus, you can''t feel the pieces to know if you are doing it right.


    One thing I learned was you couldn''t just make up a random incantation, slap it on a spell and expect it to work. It''s interesting how contradictory magic can sometimes be, the language used to create the spell matters, and yet at the same time, it doesn''t.


    While in Europe, we tend to use Latin for our spells, Latin isn''t necessarily required. Most other countries use different languages to base their spells on, which indicates that magic doesn''t care what language is used. It''s all the same.


    From everything I could piece together has led me to believe it has something to do with communication and intent. Humans use language to communicate their wants and needs, and I think that''s why specific phrases are important.


    As strange as it sounds, I come to believe that when someone creates a new spell. They need to use a phrase that explains their intent with the spell. Fusing an incantation that describes what we intend to happen makes it easier for magic to recognize what we want to happen, which in turn makes it easier for the spell to form.


    I think the best examples are the fire and water charms. The fire charm incantation ''incendio'' literally means fire. Similarly, the water charm ''aguamenti'' can be broken down into two words, water and mind, which could represent the mind concentrating on water.


    Another weird thing about creating a spell is how once it is created, anyone can use it, even if they have no idea what the spell entails. It''s like once you''ve created a pathway for the spell, anyone can traverse the path. It''s something I want to study, maybe once I get some free time.


    The weeks blurred together and soon it was October. After a lot of research and narrowing it down, I had come up with a few different possible incantations that could work. But, the whole process was annoying. Most of the books I read claimed that you would just know once you''ve found the perfect incantation. Vague much?


    After a lot of research, I narrowed my choices down to three different incantations, Nulla Resistentia Aeris, Nihil Sentire Aeris, and Ne Caeli Tactus.


    On the first Tuesday in October, I found myself deep in Ravenclaw tower''s sanctum, glaring at the Eagle Statue in annoyance.


    Gritting my teeth, I demanded, "Can I get some peace and quiet? I''m trying to work on something."


    The bronze statue puffed up its feathers and sneered, "This is my house. I don''t come to yours and tell you what to do."


    Hearing his childish reply made the vein in my forehead throb in annoyance.


    Resisting the urge to blast the eagle into oblivion, I pointed out, "Yes, you do, I''ve caught you in my tower more than a dozen times, and you constantly made snide remarks."


    The statue shrugged its wings, "I was just messing with that grumpy old wizard."


    Grunting, I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the giant bronze eagle who was currently acting like an annoying five-year-old.


    In an attempt to bind one of the incantations to the spell I was working on, I muttered "Ne Caeli Tactus," while concentrating on how my spell was supposed to work.


    After a few minutes of this, I was once again distracted by a snide remark.


    "I don''t recall any of the other heirs having this much trouble creating a simple spell."


    My eyes shot open in annoyance, "That''s it," I snapped. "You are officially in timeout."


    "You wouldn''t dare."


    "Silencio."


    As silence rang out in the sanctum, the eagle glared death at me, and threateningly waved his wings at me, promising revenge.


    "Keep it up," I warned. "I''ve come a long way with my transfigurations. I could always use more targets to practice on and I think you would make a good pig."


    The eagle shot me an unsure look that seemed to say you wouldn''t.


    My only reply was an evil grin that promised I would.


    With the eagle silent and cowed, I turned my attention back to the incantation. By the end of the night, I officially crossed that particular phrase off the list. Over the past couple of weeks, I had tried every combination of it and was finally convinced that it wouldn''t work.


    Hopefully, I would have better luck with one of the other two incantations. If those didn''t work out, I would have to reevaluate my plans.


    With Halloween fast approaching, I could tell that the timeline was moving right along. Harry had just made the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and outside of his house, there were a few raised eyebrows and complaints. The complaints mainly came from some of the jealous first-year Slytherins.


    As for the rest of the students, most didn''t care. The glow of Harry Potter was still going strong, and while it had been a long-standing rule that no first-year could join the quidditch team, it was mainly meant to protect the first-years because many of them didn''t have a lot of experience riding a broom. Since his appointment to the team came from Professor McGonagall, most everyone was satisfied that Harry would do just fine. I don''t think anyone had the stones to say that she would endanger her students for a quidditch match.


    As the Halloween feast approached, I had to admit to myself that there was a strange sense of enjoyment of knowing what would happen before anyone else. I was very much looking forward to the play that Professor Quirrell was going to put on when he runs into the hall and says there is a troll in the dungeon.


    I had to hand it to him. Quirrell was genuinely dedicated to his performance. If I told any student at Hogwarts that he was Voldemort''s vessel, I would have been laughed out of the room, and I didn''t blame them.


    Had I not known the truth and someone told me that, I would do the same. Since the beginning of the term, Professor Quirrell had fainted in fear no less than six times, and as long as nothing in the timeline had changed, tonight would be his seventh.


    As we all settled in for the Halloween feast, I found myself ignoring my friend''s conversations. It didn''t take long for the double doors at the far side of the great hall swing open, revealing a pale and sweaty Professor Quirrell. I leaned back into my chair and decided to enjoy the show.


    With the doors wide open, Professor Quirrell sprinted into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. He was so eye-catching that he had that majority of the hall''s eyes upon him as he reached Professor Dumbledore. He slumped against the table, trying to catch his breath.


    Once he caught his breath, he shouted, "Trolls! Down in the dungeons, thought you ought to know."


    Having delivered his warning, Professor Quirrell''s eyes promptly rolled up into his head, and he collapsed to the floor.


    As for me, my enjoyment of the play faded away. Did he just say Trolls? As in more than one? That wasn''t supposed to happen.


    Sensing that things weren''t going to plan, a curse escaped my lips.


    "Merlin''s Saggy Nutsack."


    It seems as though ripples of my being born in this universe have already affected the timeline. Instead of Professor Quirrell bringing in one troll, he seems to have brought a pack of them.


    I rubbed my temples, feeling a slight headache forming. Damn it, why did it have to be tonight of all nights for the timeline to have changed? It was when Harry and Ron''s friendship with Hermoine was set in stone.


    They barely survived one troll attacking them. I doubt they could survive a second. I knew from the prophecy that I probably didn''t have to worry about Harry dying. But, Ron and Hermoine were fair game. If one of them died, it could change everything about the timeline. All my future knowledge could go up in smoke.


    A plan instantly formed in my head. Even though I had planned not to involve myself, it would seem as I had no other choice. I just needed to make sure I blended into the background. Thankfully, I had learned the perfect spell for this over the summer.


    As the noise level in the great hall grew out of control, Professor Dumbledore pulled out his ringed wand and shot purple firecrackers, which exploded and silenced everyone in the hall.


    "Prefects," he rumbled. "Lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"


    Students at every table rose and began heading out of the hall. The first years quickly followed the prefects as everyone left the hall.


    I bided my time as we traveled through the halls, and when no one was paying attention, I slipped into an unused classroom.


    I quickly pulled out my wand and pointed it at myself.


    "Indespectus."


    Immediately I felt the sensation of a raw egg being cracked on the back of my head and the yoke running down my neck.


    With the disillusionment charm successfully cast, my body blended into the background. Once the hall was mostly clear, I slipped out and went troll hunting.


    As I started roaming the halls, I quickly realized an embarrassing thing. While I knew that Hermione was in the girl''s bathroom, I had no idea on which floor. They could be anywhere. I quickly ruled out the top floors and decided to work from the ground up.


    On my way to the girl''s bathroom on the first floor, I froze in place when I rounded a corner. Less than a few steps away was a huge green and shaggy forest troll.


    At twelve feet tall, I had to crane my neck to get a good look at the troll''s face. To be honest, it looked confused, as if it had no idea where it was and how it got there. But, who knows, that vacant look may just be its normal face.


    I couldn''t help but eye the large wooded club in its right hand. The club was about my height, and I could only imagine the damage it could if it hit someone.


    Although the forest troll couldn''t see me, it sniffed the air suspiciously.


    After first, I didn''t think it mattered. Surely the troll couldn''t possibly smell anything over the foul and rotten odor it was emitting.


    But, as it turned in my direction, I sensed the jig was up. I raised my wand and readied a spell. One of the reasons why I was confident to hunt down trolls all by myself was because I had prepared for this moment.


    Even though I originally had no intention of helping, I''ve learned through experience that it''s better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. So, before this year had even started, I had studied the best spell to deal with trolls.


    I pointed my wand at the green troll and spun it in a circular motion.


    "Ebublio "


    When the spell hit the troll, a transparent bubble formed around it, trapping it inside. At first, the troll was confused and poked the bubble with its fat finger. But, when the bubble didn''t pop, a look of rage appeared on its square-like, hairy face.


    Raising its huge club, the troll roared its anger and swung with all its might.


    As for me, I held my breath. Even though the book I read said, this was the best way to deal with a troll. A small voice in the back of my mind whispered that the author had probably never been face to face with an enraged troll swinging a club that was as thick as a tree trunk.


    A sigh of relief escaped me when the club smashed into the bubble, and nothing happened. The spell I used was the Ebublio jinx. It trapped a target inside a bubble that could not be broken by physical force.


    The spell was absolutely useless against anything that could use any drop of magic. But, for trolls, it was the best thing to use. While they had incredible strength, it was all they had.


    Satisfied that this troll was secure, I moved on. As I neared the girl''s bathroom, I caught sight of the two small first years rounding a corner at the far end of the hallway. Seeing how one of them had bright red hair and the other black, I figured I had found Harry and Ron.


    Now all I had to do was follow and make sure the timeline stays on track, at least for now.


    I kept a reasonable distance between us so they wouldn''t discover me.


    When they caught sight of the grey mountain troll, they both froze, hoping not to draw its attention.


    When the troll ducked into the girl''s bathroom, I shook my head in dismay when I saw Ron and Harry lock the door, hoping to trap it inside. It didn''t take long for a loud girlish scream to inform them that they had indeed trapped the troll, but they had locked Hermione in with it as well.


    I had to admit both of them were pretty brave to go back and unlock the door and follow the troll into the bathroom. Both of them had only been at Hogwarts for a couple of months and only knew a handful of spells.


    As I stepped in front of the door, making sure nothing else got through, I felt like a bit of a bastard when I heard the troll start smashing things inside. I tried to comfort myself with the knowledge that they needed this bonding moment. It helped soothe my conscience, but only slightly.


    Just as I assumed that everything was on track, I noticed another troll lumbering my way. It wasn''t a mountain troll or a forest troll. Considering its hairy purple skin and thick protruding tusk, I figured it was a river troll.


    It looked like someone crossed a troll with a hippopotamus, and like the hippopotamus, it was aggressive as hell.


    Without warning, the purple troll started charging towards the noise coming from the girl''s bathroom. Part of my mind argued that something that big shouldn''t be able to move that fast.


    By the time I got my wand up, it was nearly upon me. But, then the troll did something that shocked me.


    It chucked its club right at me. At first, I thought it was targeting me, but then I realized it was targeting the door behind me.


    Not wanting to let the troll distract anyone in the bathroom, I reacted without thinking.


    "Reducto!"


    As the curse hit the club, it disintegrated into a mist of ash that kept moving and covered me with it.


    The troll screeched to a stop, confused about what just happened. But, then I noticed its eyes seemed to narrow and focus on me.


    I quickly realized that since I was covered in ash, my form could now be seen.


    Before I could do anything, the troll leaped at me. After rolling out of the way, a hint of fear welled up within me when I realized that it was now standing at the girls'' entrance.


    The troll looked torn between ignoring the blob of ash that just rolled out of the way and all the shouting that was happening in the girl''s bathroom. Sensing that the troll may choose to ignore me, I quickly dismissed the disillusionment charm.


    Wanting to get its attention, I figured that it probably hates fire since it was a river troll.


    "Incendio!"


    The hallway temperature rose as a lance of fire poured down the hall and splashed against its back.


    Enraged, the troll turned towards me and roared its disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.


    Pouring more gas on the fire, I mockingly waved at the troll, "Yes, you big dumb bastard. That was me."


    While some claim that trolls aren''t intelligent enough to communicate, I would have to disagree firmly. From the pissed off look it gave me. While it may not precisely understand what I was saying, I could tell it clearly understood I was mocking it, and it wasn''t happy about it.


    The troll let out an angry howl, letting me know it was displeased.


    So, to piss it off even more, I shot another fireball at it.


    I''ll be honest; seeing the raw hatred appear in that creature''s eyes made me think I had gone a step too far.


    But, at least my mission of firmly setting its attention to me was accomplished. I don''t think there was anything in the world the troll wanted more than to rip me apart, piece by piece.


    I moved on to the now most crucial step of my impromptu plan, running away.


    I turned and bolted down the hallway leading it away from the trio.


    The troll roared again, this time so loud the windows shook. Part of me wondered if I did too good of a job in pissing it off. Honestly, I need to stop being such an overachiever in everything I do.


    Turning around the corner, I ducked behind a


    statue of armor and prepared my next spell.


    When the hairy purple troll rounded the corner intent on my destruction, I let loose my next spell.


    "Offendo."


    Yes, the tripping jinx. Some may knock it, but my experience in the dueling ring has taught me that every spell can be used to great effect if used properly.


    Promptly, the troll tripped and crashed to the floor. Of course, since it had built up some momentum, it didn''t just fall to the ground and stop. The troll rolled some distance and crashed into a stand that held a heavy stone bust of some ancient wizard.


    An annoyed voice rang out. "How rude."


    The stone bust tumbled off and smashed into the troll''s bald purple head.


    A laugh escaped me as the stone head proudly proclaimed, "That is what you get for knocking me off my ledge, you stupid troll."


    Dazed, the troll put up no further resistance when I trapped it in an Ebublio bubble.


    After returning the stone bust back to where it belonged, the nameless wizard continued to taunt the troll about its mighty prowess.


    Wanting to get back to the trio, I chanted the Disillusionment charm''s incantation and started making my way back to the girl''s bathroom. But, when I got back to the right hallway, I caught a glimpse of Professor McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell, making their way into the bathroom.


    I let out a sigh of relief. All was as it should be. Harry and Ron had rescued Hermione, and the trio''s friendship would be cemented.


    Satisfied, I made my way back to my dorm, content to have my work stay in the shadows. Although, I imagined that it was going to confuse some of the professors when they found the other two trolls trapped in the hallways.

 Chapter 90 - The Next Day

    In a room guarded by a gargoyle, Professor Dumbledore absently stroked his long white beard while eyeing four of the most capable witches and wizards at Hogwarts with his piercing blue eyes.


    The tension in the room slowly built until the silence was finally broken.


    "How did this happen?" he demanded. "Three trolls were wandering about the castle. It''s a miracle that no student was killed."


    The four house leaders of Hogwarts leaned back, feeling the anger coming off the Headmaster.


    As he fell silent, Professor Flitwick stepped forward and explained in a high pitch voice, "I''ve examined the castle''s wards. There was a hole in the dungeon''s wards."


    All eyes turned to the master of the dungeons.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Professor Snape snapped. "I routinely check the wards in the dungeons. Two days ago, they were completely fine."


    Before the room could devolve into a shouting match, Professor Dumbledore calmly interrupted, "Severus, no one is accusing you of anything. We are simply trying to find out the truth of what happened so we can stop it from happening again."


    Professor Snape briefly locked eyes with the Headmaster before nodding.


    Professor Sprout broke the uncomfortable silence with a question, "Could a student have done this? Maybe as a horrible prank gone too far. It wouldn''t be the first time a student has gone overboard."


    Turning to her longtime friend, Professor McGonagall replied, "I doubt a student could pull that off. It would take a powerful and skilled person to poke a hole in the wards while leaving the rest of them intact."


    Nodding in agreement, Professor Dumbledore added, "I agree with Minerva, whoever did this has experience breaking into highly secured places."


    Connecting the dots, Professor Snape quickly concluded, "You''re talking about the break-in at Gringotts. You think they''re connected, don''t you?"


    Professor Dumbledore gravely nodded his head.


    "I want you all to tighten security in the third-floor corridor. We can''t let anyone get their hands on the stone."


    Seeing agreement on everyone''s face, Professor Dumbledore changed gears. "What about the troll''s memory? Perhaps through them, we can discover who led them to the castle."


    Professor Snape grimly shook his head, "I''m afraid that''s a dead end. It appears whoever let the trolls in the castle confounded them. All they remember is they were having a boundary dispute, and then a shadow appeared. They don''t remember anything past that point."


    The only visible response Professor Dumbledore had to that piece of knowledge was his blue eyes slightly narrowing.


    "What about the two trolls trapped with the Ebublio Jinx? Have you discovered who was responsible?"


    "Well, I was only able to get something out of the river troll. The only thing on its mind was that a little brat was responsible. The troll was obsessed with revenge and was planning to hide in the forest near Hogwarts and wait for an opportunity. Considering that it was likely a Hogwarts student, I deemed it necessary to erase its memory."


    Professor McGonagall frowned, "You shouldn''t have done that, Severus. The ministry is sure to make a fuss."


    A sneer appeared on Professor Snape''s face, "Professors are given a lot of leeway when they act in defense of Hogwarts students."


    "What about the paintings?" Professor Dumbledore asked. "Surely with as many talking statues and paintings we have in the castle, someone saw something."


    "I may be able to shed some light on that," a high pitch voice replied.


    All eyes turned to the shortest professor at Hogwarts.


    "None of the paintings or statues near the captured forest troll saw anything. Most of them agree that one minute the troll was wandering around, and the next it was trapped."


    "This means whoever was responsible either had an invisibility cloak, or had mastered the Disillusionment Charm. Considering the rarity of the former, I doubt a student would have one."


    With all eyes on Professor Flitwick, no one noticed the slight twitch Professor Dumbledore made.


    Leaning forward, Dumbledore asked, "What about the other?"


    A little hesitant, Professor Flitwick replied, "Well, one of the paintings reported seeing a young male Ravenclaw student appear out of nowhere and draw a second troll away from the girl''s bathroom on the first floor."


    "Why didn''t they come forward?" Professor McGonagall asked. "Saving three fellow students is a worthy accomplishment."


    Professor Snape sneered, "Perhaps whoever it was doesn''t feel the constant need to be congratulated and praised."


    Professor Dumbledore ignored the heads of Slytherin and Gryffindor, who were glaring at one another.


    "Who was it?" He asked in a tone that suggested that he already figured out the answer and was only asking to let everyone else in on the secret.


    "According to the paintings, it was young Mr. Fawley."


    Professor Sprout''s bushy eyebrows rose in surprise, "Isn''t Mr. Fawley in his third year? The Disillusionment Charm and the Ebublio Jinx are very advanced fifth-year spells."


    Professor Flitwick gave a proud grin, "Mr. Fawley is extremely advanced for his age. I knew he was working ahead on his own, but I didn''t think he was that far ahead."


    Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement, "I''ve been working with Mr. Fawley on the weekends. He has already gone through a great deal of the third-year curriculum."


    Professor Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and absently drummed his fingers on his desk. The four house heads fell silent at the sight of the Headmaster in deep thought.


    It didn''t take long for Professor Dumbledore to nod to himself as if he had formulated a plan and had carefully weighed all the options.


    His electric blue eyes locked with a pair of seemingly black ones.


    "Severus," he commanded, "I want all other troll''s memories completely erased."


    Looking around the room, he added, "I don''t want any word of what happened last night to get out. As far as the rest of the school is concerned, the professors dealt with the other two trolls."


    "What about the paintings?" Professor Sprout pointed out. "Many of them are prone to gossip."


    "I''ll take care of it," Professor McGonagall said firmly. "The paintings understand they have a duty to Hogwarts."


    "It''s a shame," Professor Flitwick squeaked with a regretful sigh. "Mr. Fawley did a great service to the school. It''s a shame he won''t get rewarded for his deeds."


    "Bah," Professor Snape sneered, "He should be grateful that he isn''t getting punished."


    "Maybe there is something we can do for him," Professor McGonagall mused.


    "Mr. Fawley has indicated to me that he is interested in the student exchange program."


    "Yeah, but the board of governors are the ones who choose in the end." Professor Sprout logically pointed out, "And doesn''t his grandmother serve on the board? Somehow, I doubt he needs help in getting chosen."


    "What about his friends," Professor McGonagall countered. "Alicia Spinnet turned in a student exchange form, and I''ll bet his other friends have as well. If I had to guess, they''re all planning to visit the same school if they get selected."


    Professor Sprout nodded, "If I remember correctly, he spends a great deal of time with Cedric Diggory, who also turned in a request."


    All eyes turned to Professor Snape expectantly, who snapped defensively, "What? I don''t spend all my time learning who my students spend their free time with."


    Professor McGonagall gave Professor Snape a stern look of disapproval.


    Choosing to ignore the potions master, Professor McGonagall turned to the others and said, "When I turn over the list to the board of governors. I will recommend that his friends be chosen. While they don''t have to follow my recommendations, the board tends to go with those I recommend."


    Seeing how everyone seemed to be satisfied with Professor McGonagall''s suggestion, Professor Flitwick asked, "Do you want me to send for him?"


    All eyes turned to Professor Dumbledore, who nodded, "Yes, I want to know what happened first hand. He might have unknowingly seen something that could help us identify whoever let in the troll."


    The day after Halloween, I found myself down at the lake with my friends. We were all playing tag with Athena. Except we decided to spice things up a bit and play the game in the air. I smiled when I saw Athena in the air, happily chasing everyone around. She wasn''t the best at tag, she did fine chasing everyone down, but her problem was that she wanted to be the chaser at all times.


    When Athena was worn out, we all headed back to the castle. The castle was still buzzing about the previous night''s events. Rumors flitted about the castle, most involved Harry Potter battling against an army of trolls. The rumors made me laugh. If things went according to plan, he wasn''t even the one who took down the troll. It was Ron who did the deed.


    "So, what do you think really happened?" Anna wondered out loud. "How on earth do trolls gain access to the castle?"


    "Some could have let them in. It was in the dungeon, maybe one of the older Slytherins did it," Alicia teased.


    Anna rolled her eyes and fired back, "Yeah, except if one of us did it, we wouldn''t be stupid enough to set them loose where the entrance to our dorm was located. That kind of planning is more Gryfinndor''s style."


    Playing peacemaker, I interjected, "Not to mention, I''m pretty sure Professor Snape would kill them."


    Anna, Cedric and Alicia all nodded in agreement. If there was one professor you didn''t want to piss off, it was Professor Snape.


    "It had to be the wards failing," Cedric thoughtfully replied. "There is no other way it could happen. Remember, Hagrid told us that spells prevent creatures from the forest coming into the grounds. One of them must have failed."


    I glanced over at my best friend, without any information, he had gotten extremely close to the truth. The only thing preventing himself from seeing the whole picture was not knowing that there was a highly valued artifact the Voldemort was seeking. Sometimes, I forget how smart Cedric can be.


    "Do you still think they''re down?" Alicia asked with a hopeful glint in her eye. "If three first-years can take down a troll, I bet we could take one."


    I must have made a face because Anna looked at me and asked, "What was that?"


    "What was what? I didn''t do anything."


    "You made a face."


    "No, I didn''t."


    "Yes, you did."


    "Describe it," I challenged.


    Anna smirked, "It was your smug face."


    I puffed up my c.h.e.s.t and declared, "I do not have a smug look."


    Anna grinned and looked to Alicia for backup. Alicia, the traitor, smiled and nodded like she knew exactly what Anna was talking about.


    Feeling outnumbered, I looked to Cedric for backup. "Tell them, Cedric. Tell them I don''t have a smug face."


    Feeling confidant, I turned back to Anna and awaited Cedric''s reply that would vindicate me. After a few moments of silence, I turned back to Cedric and saw him looking at me with an awkward look.


    "You see," Anna crowed triumphantly. "Even Cedic thinks you have a smug look."


    I shot a betrayed look towards Cedric that asked whatever happened to the bro-code.


    Sensing victory, Anna pounced, "Now, what did you?"


    Seeing how all my friends were ganging up on me, I rolled my eyes in surrender. "Fine. I''ll tell you."


    I glanced around to make sure there wasn''t anyone around to overhear, "Last night, completely by coincidence. I happened to come across two trolls on the first floor."


    Everyone blinked in surprise.


    Alicia was the first to recover, and she shot me a hurt look, "You went troll hunting and didn''t bring me along."


    I rolled my eyes. Gryffindors, am I right?


    "You did what?" Anna hissed.


    Always the level headed one, Cedric replied, "Since you''re here, I''m assuming everything went fine."


    "Of course, who do you think I am? Those two trolls didn''t stand a chance."


    Anna pointed a finger at me and announced, "There it is again, that''s your smug face."


    My face flushed red in embarrassment. "Fine, I have a smug look. Deal with it."


    Before anything else could be said, a note came soaring through the air and landed in my l.a.p. Quickly opening it, I realized it was a summons from Professor Flitwick, but instead of summoning me to his office. He wanted me to come to the Headmaster''s office immediately.


    Looking over my shoulder, Alicia teased, "Ohhh, someone''s in trouble."


    Anna snatched the note out of my hand to read it for herself.


    "How do they know what you did?" Cedric asked. "Did someone see you?"


    My mind raced over everything that happened last night. How did they find out? No one else was there. No one could have seen me, well except for a... Almost immediately, the answer came to me. A stupid painting must have seen me when I dismissed the disillusionment charm.


    "You think you''re in trouble?" Cedric asked.


    Before I could reply, Anna snapped, "Of course he won''t be in trouble. Didn''t they give Harry Potter points? How could they punish Alex for doing the same thing?"


    Seeing Anna going from being furious at me to being riled up at the idea of me being punished for the very reason why she was mad in the first place made me smile.


    "I''ll be fine," I soothed.


    As I headed out to the Headmaster''s office, I prayed in a lower tone, "I just hope my mum doesn''t find out."


    Professor Flitwick was waiting for me at the gargoyle who was guarding the Headmaster''s office entrance. Try as he might, Professor Flitwick had trouble keeping his expressions in check, and the happy smile and proud look on his face set aside any worries that I was in serious trouble.


    "Come along, Mr. Fawley, follow me."


    Heading up the stairs leading to Professor Dumbledore''s office, I made sure my occlumency shields were as tight as they ever had been before. If Professor Dumbledore wanted to know my secrets, he would have to get them the old fashioned way.


    I paused when I saw Professor McGonagall, Snape, and Sprout in the office. I hadn''t been expecting them to be here. But, after some thought, it made sense. If they were trying to learn everything that happened last night, it makes sense that they would all be here.


    Professor Dumbledore looked at me with a twinkle in his eye, "Take a seat, Mr. Fawley."


    As I took a seat, silence filled the room. My guess is they were using their presence to try and get me to talk. While I''m sure that would have worked on most students, I was perfectly content to wait them out.


    I could feel Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape doing their best to make eye contact. Legilimency works best with direct eye contact. I resisted the urge to give them my best cheshire cat smile and simply stared right back at them.


    Once again, the thought of learning legilimency crossed my mind. It hardly seemed fair that I was always the one on the receiving end. It was about time I learned to turn the tables.


    Eventually, the silence was broken by a stern-faced Professor McGonagall, "I assume you know why you''re here."


    A strong sense of deja vu welled up in me. Those words were similar to what mum used to try and get me to confess to something I had done.


    Two choices presented themselves to me. I could follow trusty rule number eleven, which is to deny everything unless presented evidence of said crime. Or, I could just go with the truth or some version of said truth.


    I''m not going to lie. I was very tempted to follow rule eleven. It had served me well growing up. But, seeing the look in Professor Snape''s dark eyes made me hesitate. I had a feeling that he wouldn''t be as amused as my mother had been.


    Before I could say anything, Professor Snape acidity remarked, "Don''t bother lying, the paintings told us everything."


    Deciding that the truth would serve me better, I replied, "I assume you''re talking about the two trolls I trapped last night."


    Speaking for the first time, Professor Dumbledore said, "We''re trying to piece together everything that happened last night. Why don''t you start at the beginning?


    On my way to the office, I had already decided how to explain why I was on the first floor last night. It wasn''t like I could tell them the truth. St. Mungo had a special place to keep people when people thought someone had lost their mind.


    So, even though rule number eleven was denied to me, rule twenty-one, shifting blame was still useful.


    Keeping my face as serious as I could, I told a version of the truth.


    "Last night, when all students were leaving the great hall, I spotted two first-years slipping away."


    Yes, that''s right, I was blaming it all on Harry Potter. If you''re going to punish me, you will have to punish the golden child.


    When Professor Snape shot a gloating look at Professor McGonagall, I inwardly smiled. I knew Professor Snape would be all too happy to blame Harry for everything.


    From there, my story didn''t take too long. I''m not sure precisely what Professor Dumbledore was looking for. He just kept his eyes focused firmly on me throughout my story.


    When I got to the part about the second troll, Professor McGonagall questioned, "Why didn''t you go inside the bathroom. From your own words, you could hear noise coming from within."


    I knew I needed to choose my words carefully. I hadn''t mentioned the part where I stood guard while Harry, Ron, and Hermione dealt with a troll. Thank Merlin, I didn''t drop the disillusionment charm until the troll was between me and the bathroom. I had a feeling that the professors would have responded poorly to that little tidbit.


    "The troll was between me and the door," I explained. "I thought it would be better to draw it away, and once it was dealt with, I could return for the others."


    Trying to project embarrassment, I added, "I may have gone a little overboard in getting its attention."


    Professor Snape snorted, "I''ll say, the only thing on that troll''s mind was getting revenge. You should take better care when dealing with enemies."


    Nodding that I understood, I finished my story, "Once the second troll was trapped, I went back to help. But, I saw Professor McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell enter the bathroom, and I figured they wouldn''t need any help. So, I retreated to my dorm.


    When I finished my story, everyone was silent as they absorbed everything.


    Out of everyone there, it was Professor Sprout who seemed the most surprised. I couldn''t blame her. I wasn''t too active in her class. Outside of getting a good grade in her class, I pretty much kept under her radar.


    The others didn''t react as much to my story as I thought they would. Snape was too busy smirking at McGonagall. If not for her students, I wouldn''t have even been in this situation.


    At first, I was worried that Professor McGonagall might hold a grudge, but she seemed impervious to Snape''s gloating and just seemed grateful everything worked out for the best. Professor Flitwick seemed to react the best, his features proud as I explained everything that happened.


    Sighing heavily, Professor Dumbledore clarified, "So, outside of the professors and the two first years, you didn''t see anything suspicious?"


    I shook my head, "I wish I could be more helpful. But, no, I didn''t."


    After a few stern warnings about how lucky I had been, I was dismissed. On my way back to my dorm, I made a mental note to try and stay as far away from cannon as I could. I had a lot of things I needed to do and I didn''t need to be distracted.

 Chapter 91 - The Grey Lady

    With the incident at Halloween firmly behind me, I decided I would take some time and take Athena down to meet with Professor Kettleburn.


    He had been asking to see her and had promised to help us explore how our bond worked. Earlier this year, he had mentioned that he knew a wizard in Africa who was bonded to a Lamassu, and I was eager to learn more about our bond.


    Finding Professor Kettleburn''s office proved to be slightly challenging. I knew his office was supposed to be near his classroom, but the problem was we haven''t had one class inside.


    I would love to get my hands on the marauder''s map. It sure would have come in handy during my little Halloween adventure.


    Currently, Fred and George had it and were using it to cause untold amounts of mischief, which I knew would please the map''s creators to no end.


    I knew the map would eventually make its way into Harry''s hands, but recently I had an idea of getting my own version of the map and still making sure Fred and George could give Harry the original.


    It would take me some time before I was ready. The charm I had in mind was a NEWT level spell. I should finish my fifth-year books by Christmas at my current pace, and then I will finally move on to NEWT level spells.


    When I finally found Professor Kettleburn''s office, it was dark and clearly empty. Frustrated, I looked down at Athena, who was closely following me in her magical disguise.


    "You think you can track down Professor Kettleburn?"


    Athena shot me a wronged look as if she were offended that I had any doubt.


    As I followed her through the castle, I couldn''t help but notice that she seemed to know exactly where she was going.


    She even expertly hopped over the traps on the staircase.


    "You seem to know a lot of the castle tricks," I suspiciously remarked. "Have you been going out on your own during the day?"


    Athena turned and shot me a smug look. At that moment, I felt like I understood what my friends were talking about. Seeing such a smug face directed at you was a little irritating. I quietly resolved to control my facial expressions, so that at least when I was feeling smug, I could do so without being called on it.


    As Athena led me through the castle, we arrived on the third floor. I had no idea how she was tracking down Professor Kettleburn, but she seemed confident that we were going in the right direction.


    Just as I was about to say something, Athena froze, bared her teeth, and let out a low yowl that filled the air.


    It immediately dawned on me that this was the third floor, and just around the corner was Professor Quirrell''s office.


    Had I been younger and less m.a.t.u.r.e, I might have chosen to ignore Athena''s warning. However, the slowly disappearing scar on my right shoulder was a potent reminder to pay attention and not take things for granted.


    I hadn''t considered the possibility of Quirrell and Athena meeting. Although I''m not exactly sure what would happen if they did, the rumbling deep within Athena''s body promised a violent confrontation.


    After a split second, I decided to retreat. I knew I needed to keep Athena away from Quirrell at all costs. There were far too many unknown variables. Who knows how fast events could spin out of control if they met. Besides, Quirrell was Harry''s responsibility, all I needed to do was keep out of their way, and Quirrell would be toast.


    Turning, I quickly left the way I came. Once I got some distance between Professor Quirrell''s office, Athena quickly calmed down.


    "It''s ok," I soothed while rubbing her head.


    I could feel Athena start to shake, as if she were coming off an adrenaline high and couldn''t fully control her limbs. I pulled her off my shoulder and hugged her tightly to my c.h.e.s.t which seemed to help her calm down.


    I shot a pissed off glare in the direction I came from, and it wasn''t directed at Professor Quirrell. As talented as he is, I knew it wasn''t him that scared Athena. It was the powerful dark wizard who was currently residing in the back of his head.


    "Let''s go outside by the lake," I murmured. "We can go to your favorite spot."


    Athena made a noise of agreement. Soon, we arrived at her favorite spot, a large tree on the lake''s far side. The large tree had dozens of branches, some of which hung low over the lake. I was just happy her favorite tree wasn''t the infamous Whomping Willow. That tree would attack any who neared it. I knew there was a spot on the tree that would paralyze it. But, I didn''t care to try and find it. As far as magical plants are concerned, they leave me alone, and I leave them alone.


    Athena didn''t seem ready to leave my arms, so I sat beneath the shade, content to hold her in my arms.


    "Such a brave girl, aren''t you?" I praised her while giving her a belly rub.


    Athena happily nodded, content to be praised.


    Once I felt she was back to normal, I turned her head slightly so that we were looking eye to eye. "I want you to promise me not to seek out that thing you saw. If you ever see it coming, and I''m not there. I want you to run and hide."


    She reached up and gently touched my cheek with her paw. I could almost hear her unspoken question, what about you?


    I snorted, "I''ll be fine. He isn''t here for me. All I need to do is be careful and act like I don''t know who he is."


    Athena reluctantly nodded her assent and chuffed her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. She benevolently decided I could make the whole thing up to her with another belly rub.


    A few days later, I received a letter from Dad explaining that everything was going well with the Firebolt. He expected to have it finished by Christmas, and once everything was ready, we could move on to phase 2.


    Phase two involved obtaining a new location where we could ramp up production before we released the Firebolt. In that regard, Clan Sharpclaw, the goblin clan we''ve gone into business with, are secretly scouting the best locations. We decided it would be best to set up deep in the countryside and keep what we were doing a secret as long as possible.


    Considering the fire that had destroyed most of my grandfather''s work, Dad was taking no chances. I completely agreed with his paranoia. We were planning to take down a global business. Not only would it involve the shady Whithorns, but they had investors who wouldn''t take too kindly to us dethroning them, namely goblins.


    According to the intelligence that was brought in by Clan Sharpclaw, Clan Golddust owned part of the Nimbus, and we could expect them to try and do anything to keep the company afloat and keep the gold pouring into their coffers.


    Dad also was looking into hiring people to help him in the production of Firebolts. There was no way he could do everything himself as he does at the store. Even if he spent every hour of the day enchanting, it wouldn''t be enough.


    Recruiting help shouldn''t be too difficult. Dad was a gold-level enchanter in the Charm-Crafting Guild. Many enchanters never become skilled enough to open and run their own shop, and it''s not uncommon for them to seek employment with others. The only real challenge would be to keep everything a secret for as long as possible. Although, I''m sure Dad can get a lawyer from Lancaster Commodities that can help draft a magical contract that will ensure their silence. Barbara Lancaster shouldn''t mind. She is going to be an investor in the company as well.


    All of this news upped the pressure on me to finish my spell. I needed to get it done quickly and get it to Dad if I wanted it to be used. Dad would need time with the new spell. It wasn''t like he could slap my spell onto the existing framework. He would have to figure out the best way to fit the spell onto the Firebolt.


    So, whenever I had spare time, I worked on my spell. Of the three possible incantations, I had already discarded one, which left me with two other possibilities.


    From what I have learned, merging an incantation into a new spell sort of remind ed me of my old attempts with wandless magic. You have to be in a specific frame of mind. Connecting with raw magic is primal. It''s a hard feeling to describe. For me, it''s like reaching for a warm ball of energy in the dark, you can''t actually see anything, but the feeling is inescapable. But, the whole thing is a balancing act, the slightest distraction, and the feeling is gone, and I have to start all over.


    So far, meditating is the best way I have discovered to put myself in the correct frame of mind. Thankfully, my younger attempts with wandless magic and my previous attempts to create a spell have let me connect faster. It should be just a matter of time before I succeed.


    During a cold evening in the beginning of November, I found myself back in the inner sanctum of the Ravenclaw tower, working on my spell. Thankfully, the Eagle seemed to have taken my previous threat of transfiguration seriously and gave me some peace and quiet when I worked on my spell.


    I closed my eyes and tried to find the feeling of a warm ball of energy I had started to associate with magic. "Nihil Sentire Aeris."


    Even though I didn''t feel anything, I preserved and tried to focus on how I wanted my spell to function. Eventually, I called it a night and decided to pick up the following evening. I didn''t care if it took me forever. I would figure this out, one way or another.


    The following night, I didn''t give up on the incantation, and I decided I would try using different combinations to see if that would work.


    Sentire Aerisnihil.


    Aeris Nihil Sentire.


    Nihilaeris Sentire.


    Nihilsentire Aeris.


    The following week, I went through every combination of that incantation that I could think of, but nothing worked. Disheartened, I decided that no matter what I did, this particular incantation wasn''t going to work, so I moved on to my last possible incantation.


    I closed my eyes and tried to shut out everything. I sought the ever increasingly familiar feeling of connecting with magic and tried to create my spell.


    Nulla Resistentia Aeris.


    My heart sank when I didn''t feel any spark of life in the spell. I tried not to put too much negative thought into it. I knew there were still many different ways to put the incantation together. But, part of me was beginning to think that I had taken a wrong step somewhere in my design.


    A cold, proud voice shook me from my next attempt, "So¡­ There is a new heir to the Ravenclaw library."


    My eyes opened in shock. There wasn''t supposed to be anyone else in the Ravenclaw sanctum. The first thing I saw was the Bronze Eagle''s face bunched up in anger and glaring at someone over my shoulder.


    "What are you doing in here?" The Statue thundered angrily.


    Turning, my eyes widened when I saw a pale, dark-haired ghost at the entryway. It was the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw House ghost. She had long flowing hair that reached her waist and was dressed in a cloak that reached the floor. Although she was beautiful, she seemed to radiate a cold and arrogant attitude.


    I guess I shouldn''t be too surprised that the Ravenclaw house ghost could find me in here, but I was puzzled by the look of distaste she had on her face as she eyed the surroundings.


    "You know about the Ravenclaw heirs?" I asked.


    "Of course I do," She proudly remarked. "I''m aware of everything that happens in this tower."


    The Eagle snarled, "If you know so much, then you know you aren''t welcome here."


    I shot a puzzled look at the Eagle, "Why not? She''s the Ravenclaw ghost."


    The Bronze Statue snorted, "But, she doesn''t deserve to be. She betrayed Master."


    As the Grey Lady and the Statue glared at one another, I couldn''t help but feel like I was intruding on a family affair.


    I stiffened in surprise. "You knew Rowena Ravenclaw?"


    "Know her," the Eagle snorted. "You''re looking at her daughter, Helena."


    The look on the Grey Lady''s face confirmed the Eagle''s statement.


    "Really?" I asked curiously. "How come no one in Ravenclaw knows you''re Rowena''s daughter?"


    "Because I am my own person," Helena proudly said. "All my life, I was always referred to as Rowena''s daughter. It didn''t matter that I had my own accomplishments; there was no way for me to step out of my mother''s shadow."


    A bitter look appeared on her face, "Ironically, it was only in death that I was able to step out of her shadow."


    "She gave you everything," the Eagle accused.


    A flash of regret briefly appeared on Helena''s face before it faded away.


    "Everything?" she coolly rebutted. "You say she gave me everything. What she gave me was nothing more than a burden I was forced to bear. Everyone expected me to succeed her, and follow in her footsteps. I had massive expectations put on me all my life, when I met them, it wasn''t because I was talented or worked hard. No, it was because I was Rowena''s daughter. And if I failed to meet expectations, well then, it was because I wasn''t as gifted, or I was just too lazy and was squandering my education."


    Helena sneered and waved her arm around the room, "And then there''s this place."


    She turned her transparent head in my direction. "Did you know she set this place up before I left her? I was her only daughter, and I wasn''t good enough for her. It didn''t matter that I had dedicated most of my life to trying to learn everything she had to teach. No, as talented as I was, I wasn''t good enough to be her heir. Everyone always holds up Rowena as a shining example of a great witch. But, the truth is she could be cold and neglectful, nothing I ever did was ever good enough ."


    "So you betrayed her," the Eagle unforgivingly interjected.


    All the anger seemed to drain from Helena, leaving only sadness behind.


    "I¡­ I just wanted to outgrow her. For her and the world to acknowledge me, to leave my own mark on the world, just as she did."


    Shaking her head in disappointment, "We never saw each other again."


    Having said all she was going to say, Helena sadly drifted away. As I watched her float away, a feeling of pity welled up inside. It was somewhat sad, Helena was stuck here. She wouldn''t ever get to move on, to make peace with her mother in whatever afterlife there was in this universe.


    Right then, I promised myself that no matter what happened in the future, I wouldn''t ever allow my family to split apart. I couldn''t imagine existing for a thousand years and having such unresolved issues.


    A brief thought occurred to me, and I called out to Helena, "If you ever want to go through any of the stuff in Rowena''s library, just let me know."


    Helena paused, and for a moment, I thought she would leave without saying anything.


    "Perhaps, one day," A faint voice floated through the air as Helena disappeared through a wall.


    As I turned, I saw the Statue glaring at me. "How dare you offer her the chance to peruse Rowena''s library."


    I rolled my eyes, "She''s Rowena''s daughter. I don''t think it''s a big deal for her daughter to see the library."


    "That''s because you don''t know what she did."


    "Oh, I don''t suppose you would be interested in telling me what she did."


    The Bronze Statue refused to meet my eyes. "That''s Master''s secret, and I swore I would never reveal it. If you want to know so bad, you can ask her."


    I rolled my eyes, "Well, as the heir apparent. I say she is welcome anytime she wants."


    The Eagle sniffed, "Fine. But don''t expect me to stick around if she shows up again."


    My eyes widened in surprise. "Wait a minute. If she''s here, you''ll leave?"


    Turning to the wall that the Grey Lady went through, I half-jokingly called out, "Helena, wait, come back."


    Annoyed with my plea, the Bronze Statue left the sanctum. I shrugged in response. At least now I can work on this spell in peace.


    I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and began to concentrate on creating my spell. I reached out with my senses and tried to connect with the feeling of magic. Once I finally felt the energy, I got started.


    "Nullresistentia Aeris."


    For the first time, I felt something connect. It was like before I was trying to force a square peg through a round hole. But now, I had finally found the square hole. It just felt right, like the feeling I got when I first connected with my wand.


    I finally understood why the books said you would know when you had found the correct incantation. It was a hard feeling to quantify. It was something you had to feel for yourself.


    I opened my eyes in glee. I had done it. I had finally found and merged an incantation with my spell.


    I repeated the incantation several times. Each time I felt a stirring, a spark of life. Of course, nothing happened. I still needed to find the perfect wand movement that would release the spell. But, I was close, so close I could almost taste it.


    Now, I would need to find old brooms to experiment on, and I knew just where I could find some. Eager to move on to the final step, I got up and rushed to the room that would provide me with everything I needed to get started¡ªthe Room of Requirement.

 Chapter 92 - Hogsmeade

    By the time I made it to the Room of Requirement, I was nearly vibrating with excitement. This was it, the final step, all I needed to do was find the correct wand movement that would allow my spell to come forth, and I would have created my very first spell. If I had my way, it would only be the first of many.


    The first thing I did when I got to the RoR was ask it to make an isolated room that was suitable to experiment with a new spell. Dad had warned me numerous times how unstable new spells could be. That''s why he has such a heavily warded circle in his workshop.


    The Room of Requirement instantly complied with my request. I let out an appreciative whistle when I saw the results.


    The new room was a spacious round room, easily being fifty feet in diameter. But what was really impressive was the walls and floor. They looked reinforced. The whole room looked like it was inside of a bunker, designed to withstand a long drawn-out siege.


    Of course, that thought made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Just what in Merlin''s name did the room expect was going to happen. Nope, not ominous at all.


    The room also provided me with a heavy wooden bench in the center of the room. Seeing the set up reminds me of my father''s workbench. I just wish I had learned how to lay down wards like those that surround his workstation. But, wards were NEWT level spells, and I hadn''t got that far in my private education.


    When I approached the table, I twisted my wrist, drawing out my wand from my dueling holster. Seeing the empty table, it occurred to me that I need something to practice on. Even if it takes me some time to get the spell to work, having a broom on the table will help me have something for my spell to target.


    Sensing my d.e.s.i.r.e, the Room of Requirement made two old, dusty brooms appear. Both were missing around half of their twigs, and I wouldn''t trust these old, tattered brooms farther than I could throw them. But, for an experiment, they will be just fine.


    For a minute, I stood there dumbly. Now that I was finally at the last step, I wasn''t quite sure where to begin. There were literally an untold amount of possible wand movements, and somehow I would have to find the perfect one. The one that would let my spell be cast. In the end, I decided that I would start with simple movements and just work my way through more complicated ones.


    Concentrating on my spell, I pointed my wand at one of the brooms and gave it a shallow poke, "Nullaresistentia."


    Other than a small spark that I normally felt when I normally chanted the incantation, nothing happened.


    I let out a sigh. This was going to take some time. Over and over again, I changed my spell. Each time, I changed the wand movement.


    As soon as the words Nullresistentia were uttered, blue and red sparks shot out of my wand like fireworks. Although I was a little pleased that I had finally seen a reaction, I knew not to get my hopes up. The books I read warned that seeing a reaction didn''t mean you were on the right track. As it were, sparks were a very mild effect, and I knew I would probably see more magical effects in the future.


    It seemed the universe decided to take my last thought and run with it. From then on, nearly every attempt produced a magical phenomenon. Most seemed harmless, often involving sparks or strange colored lights bursting out of my wand. I think the most amusing effect I had was when my wand produced what sounded like a goose honk. The sound was so amusing. I repeated the same wand movement so that I could hear it again.


    Of course, there were less amusing magical effects as well. On one attempt, green slime poured out of my wand like water from a facet and covered the floor. I gagged when I smelled the slime. It emitted a smell that rightfully belonged in a sewer. The smell was so overpowering that I emptied the contents of my stomach. Thankfully, it didn''t take the Room of Requirement long to respond, and the smelly, green slime vanished along with my puke.


    After the slime incident, I decided to call it a night and headed back to my dorm. I knew from the beginning that I was unlikely to succeed so soon. It was a marathon, not a sprint.


    The following day at breakfast, I found my roommates buzzing with excitement. The first Hogsmeade trip was this weekend, and everyone was excited about it.


    "I can''t wait to see Hogsmeade," Ryan declared. "It''s the only fully magical community left in Britain. I can''t wait to see what it''s like."


    "You should rain in your expectations," Roger warned.


    Butting into the conversation, William rebutted, "Don''t listen to him. I''m with you on this. Saturday cannot come soon enough. The first place we should go to is Honeydukes. I''ve heard they''re shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows."


    As Williams'' voice wistfully trailed off into silence, his eyes seemed to lose focus as if he imagined himself in the store. I shook my head in amus.e.m.e.nt. Growing up, William''s mum never let him eat desserts, and he had developed something of a sweet tooth after finally being exposed to treats at Hogwarts.


    "Of course, that''s the first thing you want to visit." Roger scoffed.


    "Oh yeah," William defended, "Where do you think we should go?"


    Roger''s eyes narrowed, and he clenched his teeth. "I''m headed to Zonko''s joke shop. A few weeks ago, Fred and George put Bulbadox powder in my quidditch gloves. My hands were covered in boils. I''m going to find something that will help me put them in their place."


    Wanting to nip this in the bud, I said, "If you''re planning to go to war with Fred and George, I think I can speak for the rest of us when I say to keep us out of it."


    Around the table, all our fellow Ravenclaws nodded their heads in agreement. No one wanted to get into a pranking war with the twins. Last year, two Slytherins tried that and spent the rest of the year being Fred and George''s sole focus. Needless to say, no one sane wanted to get into a pranking war with them.


    Seeing the lack of support from everyone, Roger seemed to deflate but muttered something beneath his breath.


    Ignoring Roger''s sulking, William looked over at me, "What about you, Alex? Where do you want to go?"


    A certain journalist''s name flashed through my mind. I thought it was about time I met Rita Skeeter. I had a feeling that having a reporter in my pocket would be useful in the future.


    Thanks to future Hermione, I had the perfect blackmail material. Rita Skeeter was an unregistered animagus. In the books, she used her animagus form, a small beetle, to spy on people. When Hermione discovered her, she trapped Rita inside a glass jar that had been enchanted with the unbreakable charm.


    The only issue I needed to workout was somehow getting to Rita Skeeter. Maybe I''ll take a page from Hermione''s playbook and trap her in a jar until I need her. Or I could take the softer approach and gently hint that I knew her secret and would keep quiet in exchange for future favors.


    "Umm. I''ve heard that the Three Broomsticks is supposed to be a nice place. They''re supposed to have one of the best butterbeer brews in all of Britain."


    I turned to Jessica, "You live in Hogsmeade. What''s the most interesting place to visit?"


    Jessica thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Tomes and Scrolls is a good store. They have a decent selection of books."


    Roger rolled his eyes. "Of course you would mention a bookstore. You''re as bad as William. If I wanted to read more books, I would go to the Hogwarts Library."


    "Hey, there''s nothing wrong with a good bookstore," I defended.


    Jessica shot me a grateful smile before turning her glare towards Roger.


    "Maybe you could buy a book to help you with your potion making," She remarked waspishly.


    Jessica paused for a moment, then added with a sneer, "Then again, I doubt any book can help you."


    A fine mist of pumpkin juice shot out of William''s nose when he heard Jessica''s insult.


    As Roger''s pale cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, the rest of us tried not to react and pointedly concentrated on our food.


    Roger''s abysmal potions skills were a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e topic in our dorm. Even more so because most Ravenclaw students tend to do fairly well in Potions class. Roger''s main issue was he had a short attention span and tended to lose focus, and the main thing you need in potions is mental discipline and being able to focus for long periods.


    Satisfied that she had punished Roger for his remark, she proudly turned her attention back to her meal and continued her breakfast.


    As William and Ryan continued to debate where they would go, my mind turned back to the problem of luring Rita Skeeter to Hogsmeade.


    I could come out and accuse her of what I know in a letter, as I did to Professor Lockart. But, I have a feeling that Rita is more crafty than him, and I didn''t want to take any chances.


    After mulling it over, I decided I would use Rita''s weakness against her, her curiosity. If she is anything like she was in the books, then she has an overpowering need to spy on people and learn their secrets. All I need to do is tip her off on a fake story. Hopefully, she will take the bait.


    Later that night, I finished sealing the letter I had written to her. I decided to keep the contents relatively simple. Since she was a journalist, it shouldn''t be too uncommon for her to receive tips about scandalous stories. All I did was insinuate that a high-ranking member of the ministry would be meeting someone at The Three Broomsticks on Saturday at noon, and if she were there, she would find a juicy story.


    While I wasn''t one hundred percent sure she would take the bait, I figured there was a good chance she would show up to see if she could get some dirt. And if the books are accurate, she''ll probably be lurking around in her animagus beetle form.


    The following morning, I got one of the Hogwarts owls to deliver the letter. Now, all I needed to do was wait for Saturday, well and enchant a glass jar.


    On Saturday morning, all the third-years Ravenclaws met with Professor Flitwick in the common room. Eager and impatient looks could be found on everyone''s faces as Professor Flitwick went over the guidelines for the Hogsmeade trip.


    Seeing how he was about to lose the third-year''s attention, Professor Flitwick quickly concluded, "Remember, everyone needs to be back at Hogwarts by five o''clock. Anyone not back on time will have their Hogsmeade privileges suspended."


    Having finished laying the ground rules, Professor Flitwick shooed with his hands, "Alight, go, get out of here. Have a good time."


    As my fellow third years nearly started a stampede on their way out of the common room. Professor Flitwick squeaked out a final reminder, "Remember, no magic."


    Not wanting to fight the crowd, I stayed behind. I wasn''t in a rush because I would be meeting Anna, Cedric, and Alicia at the Great Hall.


    Athena had informed me that she was tagging along by way of refusing to leave my shoulder. No amount of coaxing could get her to budge. I tried to pull her off, but she dug her claws into my robes and wrapped her tail around my neck, and she let out a piercing caterwauling sound that sounded like she was being tortured.


    "Athena," I hissed. "Stop it, you''re embarrassing me."


    My face burned red as some of the older Ravenclaws came out of their dorms to see what was happening. I overheard a few of the girls whispering that I must have been mistreating Athena. More than one glared resentfully at me, muttering under their breath that I wasn''t worthy of owning Athena.


    Athena had done a thorough job of integrating herself with my fellow Ravenclaws over the past couple of years. She was almost the mascot of the Ravenclaw Tower.


    Feeling wrongfully accused, I let go and threw my hands up in surrender. "Fine," I gave in. "If it means that much to you, you can come along."


    Athena ceased her theatrics and let out a smug bleat. To really rub it in, she reached up and condescendingly patted my head.


    Anna immediately cooed, "Athena."


    She scooped her off my shoulder without any resistance and promptly began to pamper her.


    I felt my left eye twitch in annoyance, and I couldn''t help but glare at Athena. Oh, now you don''t mind leaving my shoulder. Earlier, you were acting like staying on my shoulder was a matter of life and death.


    Athena''s only response was to close her eyes and let out a satisfied purr.


    On our way to Hogsmeade, Alicia was nearly bouncing up and down in excitement.


    "Where should we go first?" She questioned.


    Without bothering to wait for an answer, she suggested, "How about we go see the Shrieking Shack? It''s supposed to be the most haunted house in Britain."


    Since I knew the real secret behind the Shrieking Shack, I wasn''t too interested in going. "I don''t know, the Shrieking Shack? It kinda sounds lame."


    "Ooh. Is Alex scared of a little haunting?" Alicia teased with a smile.


    I narrowed my eyes at her little taunt and chose not to sink to her level.


    "Don''t worry," She cooed. "I''ll protect you. I''m not afraid of a haunted house."


    Always the peacemaker, Cedric interjected before I could reply.


    "How is the Shrieking Shack the most haunted?" Cedric questioned. "I would have thought with all the ghosts that inhabit Hogwarts. It would be considered the most haunted."


    Alicia paused and brushed her hair back. "I don''t know." She retorted defensively, "That''s just what people say about it." Unable to refute Cedric''s reasoning, she fell silent.


    "I don''t think the ghosts should count. They''ve always been more than welcome at Hogwarts. Haunting implies that it''s unwanted." Anna said in agreement with Alicia.


    "Really?" I snorted, "Have you forgotten about Peeves?"


    Anna opened her mouth to argue, but after a moment closed it. Even she couldn''t make an argument that Peeves, the poltergeist, was truly welcome at Hogwarts. Over the centuries, there had been numerous attempts to force him from the castle, but Peeves was just too strong and was deeply infused into the foundations.


    The debate continued as we took the winding path that led to the Shrieking Shack. But, we all fell silent as the shack came into view.


    "Ok," I admitted. "It certainly looks like the most haunted house in Britain."


    Everyone nodded in silent agreement as we took in what was supposed to be the most haunted house in Britain.


    The house looked like it was about two seconds from caving in on itself. The walls looked flimsy, and ivory had wrapped the house. The ivory seemed alive and reminded me of a snake squeezing the life out of some prey. Considering everything I knew about magical plants, that could be what was happening.


    There was no obvious way inside because all the windows and doors had been boarded up. Considering this was the place Professor Dumbledore made for Lupin to stay at during his werewolf transformation, I was willing to bet there were other enchantments in place to prevent outsiders from entering.


    If that wasn''t bad enough, rotten weeds surrounding the house gave off a rotten stench, and the house creaked and m.o.a.n.e.d as the wind moved through. The whole effect was rather hair-raising and creepy. The only one who was seemingly unaffected was Athena, who gave the house a look, then flicked her tail dismissively.


    Seeing Alicia putting on a brave face made me smirk. Remembering her earlier taunts about me being afraid made an idea appear in my head. Sneaking up behind her, I motioned to Cedric to keep quiet and not warn her. Once I was close enough, I grabbed her arm and shouted, "AHH!"


    Alicia shrieked in fear and launched herself into the air, trying to get away from whatever had grabbed her.


    She landed in a roll and came up with her wand out.


    "I thought haunted houses didn''t scare you," I snickered.


    Her relief at not finding anything holding her quickly turned to anger when she saw it was just me. From the glint in her eye, I knew it was best to start backing away.


    "Calm down, Alicia," I soothed while backing up. "It was just a joke."


    After putting away her wand, she started to roll up her sleeves, "I''m glad you''re in a joking mood. Come here. I also have a joke I want to tell you."


    Understanding that discretion is the better part of valor, I turned and bolted with a laugh.


    Seeing her target getaway, Alicia followed suit, swearing to get revenge. Behind her, Athena cheerfully yowled and jumped out of Anna''s arms, thinking that another game of tag had begun.

 Chapter 93 - Rita Skeeter

    My c.h.e.s.t burned as it heaved over and over, trying to provide me with the necessary ingredient to keep on running. I turned to look back at the monster dr.a.p.ed in red and gold that was currently chasing me. From the expression on its face, I knew there was no escape, and it would chase me to the end of time.


    "Come on, Alicia." I gasped with bated breath. "Let it go; it was funny."


    If anything, my plea only firmed the resolve in Alicia''s dark eyes. She gritted her teeth and seemed to find enough energy to increase her speed even more.


    My eyes widened when I saw her narrowing the gap between us. I knew if I could use magic, I could easily get away. But that would be cheating.


    As I neared the end of the pathway, I heard Alicia grunt. I turned to see how far away she was, and time seemed to slow as I saw her leaping right at me through the air. I couldn''t help but mentally catalog her features. The whites of her wide-open eyes contrasted vividly with her caramel skin, her long dark hair danced about, and her mouth was wide open, showing her teeth like she was a beast about to sink her teeth into her prey.


    As she crashed into me, we both went down to the ground in a rolling heap. I ended up face down in the ground, with Alicia on my back.


    A bitter, earthy taste filled my mouth, as several leaves had gotten into my mouth. After spitting them out, I complained, "Merlin''s Beard, Alicia. What are they feeding you in Gryffindor?"


    "Jokes," she ruthlessly replied with an elbow into my kidney.


    A loud, excited yowl filled the air as Athena bowled into Alicia and sent her tumbling off my back onto the ground next to me.


    "Ha," I gasped, "That is what I like to call karma." Turning over, I noticed Athena had manipulated her new collar, which allowed her to grow back to her normal size, which was getting rather large.


    Ironically, Alicia ended up in the same position I had been in, face down on the ground with Athena on her back, looking very pleased with herself.


    "Ugh," Alicia g.r.o.a.n.e.d while Athena kneaded her paws victoriously on Alicia''s back.


    "Cheater." She declared while shooting me a glare.


    I smirked at her, "Athena and I are a package deal. You mess with one of us, you deal with both of us."


    Lying on the ground, I tried to slow my breathing so I could catch my breath. The painful stitch in my side informed me I should get out and run more. Thankfully, Alicia didn''t seem to be doing any better.


    I held out a hand and gasped, "Truce?"


    Alicia eyed my hand for a second, then shook my hand and agreed, "Truce."


    When Cedric and Anna arrived, Cedric held out a hand and helped me to my feet.


    "Was that necessary? Now your robes are dirty." He said in a disapproving tone.


    Alicia and I grinned and looked at one another like we were kids being lectured by an a.d.u.l.t. Cedric was always trying to do the proper thing; we all enjoyed teasing him about it behind his back.


    "Yes," we cheekily replied in unison, trying not to give away that Anna was behind Cedric, miming him giving us a lecture.


    As we left the area, heading back to Hogsmeade, Cedric asked, "So, what now?"


    Anna and Alicia eyed each other and seemed to have a wordless conversation.


    "Shopping." They declared in unison.


    I let out a pained groan to voice my opinion. Cedric, ever the proper gentleman, chose to keep his dismay to himself.


    Two hours later, Cedric and I found ourselves inside Gladrags Magicwear, waiting on the girls.


    "This is a hostage situation," I fumed to Cedric. "We have been here for almost two hours." I held up two fingers to really emphasize the time. "That''s two hours of my life that I will never get back. Two hours being asked about purses, shoes, and robes."


    Waving my finger between Cedric and myself, I continued, "We. You and I have been kidnapped and are being held hostage by a pair of crazy teenage girls."


    Miming my two fingers in a walking motion, I added in a whisper, "We should go now and get out while there''s still time."


    Cedric eyed me worriedly, "How hard did Alicia hit you?"


    I leaned back into the wooden chair I was sitting in and huffed, "Ok, fine, maybe hostage is a strong word." I craned my neck as if to get a better view of the store. "I''ll bet it''s a prank or something. They''re probably back there laughing at us, wondering how long it will be until we snap. No one could possibly need that many pairs of shoes."


    What made things worse was the large grandfather clock in the waiting area. The clock seemed to be mocking me as its fingers seemed to slow down to prolong this experience.


    Thankfully, twenty minutes later, even Cedric seemed to reach the end of his patience with the girls shopping. "You know," He said thoughtfully. "Scrivenshaft''s Quill Shop is right next door, and I do need to grab a few new quills and some extra inks."


    Seeing how quickly I perked up, Cedric quickly added as if he were concerned he was doing the wrong thing. "It wouldn''t take long; I would be in and out in a few minutes. We would be back before they knew we were gone."


    I nodded and said self-righteously, "You know, we could even pick up a few things for Anna and Alicia, you know, to save some time. If you think about it, us not leaving and getting them some new supplies is kinda selfish."


    Cedric seemed to mull that twisted bit of logic over for a few seconds, then nodded. "When you put it like that, we''re doing them a favor."


    Trying to keep the eagerness off my face, I nodded and agreed, "Exactly."


    We both slowly got up, looking around carefully. Once we saw the coast was clear, we fled from our captors immediately.


    It didn''t take us long to grab some new supplies. Once we had paid, I could sense that Cedric was just as reluctant as I was to leave the quill shop. I don''t think either one of us ever wanted to step back into Gladrags again.


    "You know," I said enticingly, "That didn''t take us very long, I bet we could hit up a few other places, and the girls wouldn''t know."


    Cedric''s brow furrowed with concern. "I don''t know." He worriedly said.


    "Don''t worry," I soothed, "We''ll be back before they know it."


    With Cedric''s conscience satisfied, we left and started exploring the other stores. By the time we had hit up four other places, we had both come to a wordless understanding that we were truly ditching them and not going back.


    Cedric worriedly asked, "You think they''ll be mad."


    As I looked over at Cedric''s concerned eyes, I didn''t have the heart to break it to him, "Naw, I''m sure they''ll understand. Right, Athena?"


    The look Athena gave me said that she clearly knew I was lying but would go along with it anyway.


    As the sun neared the middle of the sky, I knew it was time to make my way to the Three Broomsticks to see if Rita had taken the bait. It didn''t take much to get Cedric on board. We had discussed grabbing lunch there earlier in the week.


    For some reason, I felt an itch in the back of my mind at that thought. I had a feeling that I forgot something. Unable to figure it out, I let it go and began to plan my confrontation with Rita.


    The Three Broomsticks ended up being a lively place. I understood why Sirius told Harry if he wanted to have a secret meeting, it would be easier to hide what he was doing here rather than at the Hog''s Head. The place was pretty packed with Hogwarts students and locals who lived in Hogsmeade.


    My first impression of the place was how warm and inviting the place was. A smoky haze filled the room coming from a merrily burning fireplace on the far side of the dining area. Wooden tables filled the middle of the room, with more private booths along the walls.


    One thing I was happy about was the cleanliness here compared to the Hog''s Head. When I visited the bar last year, I felt like I needed to take a shower afterward. Although, considering how easy it is to clean with magic, the filth there is probably deliberate so they can attract a specific type of patron.


    A middle-aged, blonde-haired witch whose hair was beginning to show the faintest hints of grey stepped out from behind the bar.


    "What can we do for you?" She asked with a warm inventing smile. "You boys here for drinks, or will you be wanting a meal?"


    Since neither of us fancied going back to the castle for lunch, I replied, "Meal, thank you."


    Nodding, she turned and waved at the room, "All our tables are full, but I have a few booths available."


    Once we got seated, she asked, "Can I get you boys something to drink?"


    "How about two of your famous butterbeers?"


    She nodded and summoned two bottles with a flick of her wand, "I''ll have someone to take your order in a few minutes."


    Once we were alone, I noticed an interesting effect of the booths. There was some sort of sound damping spell taking place. The rest of the noise coming from the inn was muted, not gone completely, but reduced to low background noise.


    I set Athena down next to me and whispered in her ear, "You know what to do."


    Athena''s green eyes lit up; I had already explained to her to be on the lookout for a magically transformed beetle. If Rita was here in disguise, there was no one better than Athena to sniff her out. I had learned over the years that it was impossible for anyone to sneak around Athena.


    "Um. Alex." Cedric whispered in a worried tone.


    Looking up, I saw Cedric glancing across the room with a concerned look.


    Standing in the doorway was Anna and Alicia who were scanning the room like birds of prey hunting for their next meal.


    "Maybe they won''t see us," I half-heartedly said.


    As if the universe was mocking me, the girls immediately honed in on us right away, and boy, did they look pissed.


    "Maybe they''re not mad." Cedric hopefully said.


    Seeing Anna''s blazing purple eyes made me snort, "Oh, I think that ship sailed long ago."


    Both Anna and Alicia made their way across the room, every movement filled with anger. Once she got to the table, she pointed her finger at me.


    "You." She was so annoyed that she seemed to lose track of what she was going to say.


    Alicia took over, "You ditched us," she accused. "Who does that?"


    Deciding that the best defense was a good offense, I retorted. "You''re damn right we left. Do you have any idea how long you were in there for? Two and a half hours. Did you ever think Cedric and I had some stuff we needed to get done?"


    Both the girls seemed a little taken back at my counter-attack. Knowing that momentum was everything, I kept going. "Did you ever think that we also needed to get some supplies? Cedric even made sure to get you both some fresh ink and quills."


    Anna and Alicia both looked a little chagrined.


    "You still could have told us you were leaving." Anna resentfully retorted as she slid into the booth.


    Playing the peacemaker, Cedric interrupted my reply. "I think we can agree that we all made mistakes. Before the next trip, we should work out a better schedule."


    Cedric flagged down one of the servers. "How about we get you two a drink? The butterbeer here is delicious."


    I inwardly smirked when I saw Anna and Alicia unable to rebut Cedric. Sometimes he can be so reasonable that it is annoying. I could tell they wanted to continue the argument, but it would be like kicking a puppy with him being so reasonable.


    Although from the look Anna kept shooting me during lunch, I had the feeling that the next time we got together to duel, she would be particularly aggressive.


    All throughout lunch, Athena and I kept our eyes open for Rita. At one point, I even sent Athena out to scout for her, but she returned empty-handed. Eventually, I was forced to conclude that Rita wasn''t going to show. Maybe she ignored my letter or had other things to do. Whatever it was, it seems as though I would need to find a better way to get her attention.


    Our group hit a few more stores before we called it a day and headed back to the castle. But, something interesting happened on our way to the castle. Athena made a low, throaty yowl that something was wrong.


    I glanced down to see what was wrong to find Athena focusing her green eyes on something in the sky behind me. I took a subtle glance behind me, and for a minute, I was confused. There was no one behind me, but knowing that Athena never gets worked up unless there is a reason, I kept my eyes peeled.


    Eventually, I saw what she saw. It was only by chance that I caught a glimpse of a tiny dot moving through the air. It was suspiciously shaped like a beetle, or a witch transformed as one. Rita Skeeter was following me.


    My mind raced as I tried to puzzle out how she figured me out. She must be cleverer than I thought. However she did it, I now had a nosy reporter following me that I needed to deal with. My mind spat out several options, and after selecting one, I told my friends, "You guys go ahead inside. I''m taking Athena down to the lake. I promised her I would get her a fish as a treat."


    My friends were accustomed to me taking Athena down to her favorite spot, so they didn''t find it suspicious when I waved their offers to join me. It had been a long day, and they had plenty of homework to do before the following week.


    As I made my way through the Hogwarts ground, I kept my eyes peeled for Rita. Thankfully, she decided to follow me rather than my friends. Once I got to Athena''s favorite spot, I pulled out my wand and summoned a fish from the lake.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Rita freaked and hid her beetle form on the other side of the tree when I first pulled out my wand. But, after I pulled a few fish out of the lake, she seemed to relax and crawled over to my side of the tree to get a view.


    It took a little effort to keep a grin that kept wanting to emerge from spilling out. That''s right, Rita, nothing to be scared of, just a few more inches.


    Once I felt like she was in the perfect position, I snapped my wand in her direction. "Stupify."


    A red beam of light emerged from my wand and hit the beetle dead on. I smiled when I saw the fat beetle fall to the ground; all my dueling practice has really helped me with my aim.


    I pulled out the jar that I had enchanted to be unbreakable, and scooped up the beetle. After securing the jar, I waited for Athena to finish her snack.


    A small part of me wondered if I should feel guilty about my sneak attack on Rita. I mean, technically, she hadn''t done anything to me. But, the other part of me assured me that this couldn''t happen to a better person. Rita was a real piece of work. She delighted in ripping apart lives and tearing down others. I found it a little ironic that someone whose job it is to find others'' secrets would have such a damming one herself.


    The penalty in Britain for being an unregistered animagus is heavy. It''s five years in Azkaban, five years of subjecting yourself to dementors. Even though there are different levels in Azkaban, the worst offenders are subjected to a dementor''s presence 24/7, and those with lesser sentences have less exposure. It''s still a horrible penalty, it''s why I''ve decided to register when I become an animagus. The penalty just isn''t worth the risk. The one good thing about the penalty is that it ensures that Rita will do anything to prevent herself from being exposed.


    After tucking the jar into my robes, I headed back indoors. I should have a few hours before Rita comes to her senses.


    To that end, I decided to have our meet and greet in the same place I met with Professor Lockart.


    While the common room at the Hog''s Head doesn''t allow for much privacy, their secret backrooms that you can rent do just fine.


    After dinner, I made my way down to the secret tunnel where the Silver Spears were located. But, rather than stop at the dueling headquarters, I continued onward to Hogsmeade.


    Before I left the tunnel, I snapped on the old hider bracelet that Uncle John gave me, and a rather forgettable illusion replaced me. The bracelet''s only weakness was it only provided a single identity.


    As soon as I entered the Hog''s Head, I could taste a moldy grimness in my mouth. Ignoring the few customers seated around the room, I strode over to the bar where the barman whose head was wrapped entirely in bandages was nursing a drink.


    I pulled out my coin purse and set down a few golden galleons. "I need the back room for an hour."


    The barman''s fingers slid across the bar and claimed the gold. After inspecting the galleons, the barman nodded and pointed his wand at the back wall.


    What had seemed like a solid wall, gave way as a door appeared.


    "One hour," The barman confirmed in a raspy voice.


    Inside the familiar room was a dirty, stained table along with a couple of chairs. Before sitting, I pulled out Rita''s jar and a few other things I had specifically gathered for this meeting. After I sat Rita on the table, I saw her antennae twitching, and I figured she was just about ready to wake up. Perfect timing.


    After a few more odd twitches, the beetle that was Rita woke up. She seemed a little disoriented as she looked around the jar in curiosity. I couldn''t help but smirk when I saw the outrage as Rita realized she was trapped in a jar. She started flapping her insect wings and buzzing angrily around the jar.


    I could almost see it when she tried to transform and escape, but her transformation failed in an unbreakable jar. It was then that the real panic seemed to set in. She started making this chittering, clicky sound that was mostly muted by the jar.


    Wanting her to know who she was dealing with, I pulled off my hider bracelet. Rita seemed to calm down for a moment as the beetle looked at me with surprise. Her calm didn''t last long, enraged that a student took her down, she started buzzing around in small little circles.


    "Hello, Rita." I began.


    I picked up the jar, twisted the lid open, and laid it on its side. "We need to talk."


    The beetle froze upon hearing me speak. It probably came as a surprise that I knew her secret. She stopped buzzing around, landed, and tried to act like a regular beetle.


    I snorted, "I know it''s you, Rita."


    When the beetle continued to act normal, I sneered. "Fine, have it your way."


    I reached forward and dumped Rita onto the table and snapped my wand at her, "Contarium."


    After the spell hit her, there was a bright flash and a blurring of movement, and a curly blonde haired witch with long pointed nails stood before me.


    "How dare you," She screeched.


    I held up a finger and wagged it at her. Then pointed across the room. Rita''s pale green eyes hidden behind glasses followed the direction my finger was pointed. Her face paled at the sight of the camera set up that had captured her transfiguration.


    She lunged towards the camera but froze in place when I hit her with the body-bind curse. Her eyes glared at me with murder as I tucked the camera away safely.


    "I thought using a camera to expose that you''re an unregistered animagus was poetic considering your profession."


    Freeing her from the curse, I said, "Sit, we need to have a conversation."


    "Do you have any idea who I am?" She thundered.


    "Yes," I replied calmly. "Rita Skeeter, a top journalist at the Daily Prophet and a soon to be Azkaban inmate if-you-don''t-sit-down."


    A brief look of fear appeared on Rita''s face at the mention of Azkaban. "What do you want?"


    I showed her my teeth and gave her the wolfish grin I copied from my grandma, "Why, Rita. I want to be friends."


    A look of confusion appeared on Rita''s face.


    "After abducting me, you want to be friends." She sarcastically remarked.


    "Ok, maybe friend is too strong of a word. How about acquaintances?"


    I snapped my fingers, "Oh, I know, someone who can do me a few favors in exchange for not turning a certain unregistered animagus into the Ministry of Magic."


    "Let start with how you figured out that I sent the letter."


    Rita scoffed, "You think you''re the first one to send me a mysterious note. When you write something, a tiny part of your essence sinks into it and I know a spell that can lift the imprint and show me where it came from. Tracking you down was easy."


    I let out a whistle of appreciation, "That''s pretty clever." I complimented while inwardly determining that I will have to find a fix for that if I ever needed to write another mysterious letter.


    A pained look appeared on Rita''s face as she gave away her secret. "Now that I told you my little secret, how about you tell me how you figured out that I was an animagus."


    "Don''t worry," I assured her. "No one else knows your secret, and as for how I know, well, I think I''ll be keeping that little nugget to myself."


    Rita sagged back into her chair, "So what''s this favor you want?"


    "For now, nothing," I replied as I waved away her concern. "But, one day, I may ask you to write a story. When that day comes, I expect your full cooperation."


    "That''s all you want, a story written?" Rita suspiciously asked.


    "It will be more than one story," I corrected.


    A relieved look appeared on her face. "If that''s all you want, that''s easy to take care of, to be honest, I expected a little more."


    "Well, now that you mention it, I suppose there''s one more little thing you can do for me."


    I pulled out a scroll and slid it across the table, "I would like you to sign this."


    Rita eyed the scroll like it was a dangerous animal that might bite her. She carefully opened it and started scanning the contents.


    "It''s nothing much, just a contract ensuring you won''t try to work against me or mention our little meeting to anyone."


    Trying to buy time, Rita clarified, "So you''re forcing me to sign this."


    I smirked at her. Rita was trying to get around the magic that came standard with the contract. Agreements like this have to be willingly entered into. It''s why curses that come along with breaking a contract are so hard to get rid of; when a curse is self-inflicted, they tend to sink more deeply.


    "Nice try, but no, I''m not forcing you to do anything; you are free to leave at any time."


    Rita gritted her teeth in frustration at me seeing through her intentions. Defeated, she pulled out her green feather quill and scribbled her name on the parchment.


    Once she was finished, I reached across the table, grabbed it, rolled it up, and tucked it away


    "That wasn''t so bad," I soothed.


    "What now?" She asked.


    I shrugged, "You can leave. When the day comes that I need you to write something for me, I''ll be in touch."


    "Who are you?" she bitterly asked as she got up to leave.


    I gave her my best wolfish smile, "My name is Alexander Fawley. Remember it."

 Chapter 94 - Success

    With the Hogsmeade trip behind me, I turned my full attention back to the project I had been working on all year. The Firebolt spell, I was so close to completing the spell, I could almost taste it.


    All I needed to do was find the perfect wand movement, and it would be finished. But, as I discovered, finding the right movement was just as if not more difficult as finding the right incantation.


    I tried out hundreds of wand movements, each of them failures. Most fizzled out harmlessly, but others were a bit more dangerous. The worst nearly took my head off as it caused an old broom to explode violently.


    I got so obsessed with wand movements that soon, it was all I could think about. I even started dreaming about them when I was sleeping.


    "Alex," a voice hissed, bringing my thoughts back to the present.


    Startled, I blinked rapidly and saw Jessica nodding toward the front of the classroom where Professor Sinistra was looking at me with an expectant expression on her pale face framed with long dark hair.


    Having drifted off, I wasn''t sure what she wanted. "Can you repeat the question?"


    Professor Sinistra''s expression morphed into disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e as it became apparent I hadn''t been paying attention. "Well, I originally wanted you to list how many moons Saturn has. But, now I think I will have you list them out. Oh, and just for fun. For every moon you miss, I want you to write an inch of parchment on Saturn''s moons."


    Jessica shot me a smug look as if she were sure I wouldn''t be able to list them all. After all, they were eighty-two of them.


    With a sly smile, Jessica covertly mouthed ''challenge'' at me. Over the past couple of months, we had been challenging one another in a little game. The rules were relatively simple. Once a week, a challenge could be issued to the holder of a badge that displayed King or Queen, depending on who was holding it.


    Jessica won the first challenge, using what I have decided to call unfair tactics. But, I claimed the badge the following week in a transfiguration challenge. Since then, I''ve only lost the badge once, and that was in a Herbology class, which didn''t bother me, not one bit. Magical plants can suck it.


    I slowly raised one eyebrow at her challenge, which made her grin more as she was positive she had me. I hid a grin. She still didn''t understand that storing and retrieving information was a piece of cake for me.


    Inside my mind palace, I retrieved the memory of when I read the chapter on Saturn''s moon. I turned my back to Professor Sinistra and started counting off moons.


    "Titan, Iapetus, Rhea¡­"


    Around halfway through the moons, the smile had been gracing Jessica''s face slowly slid off as worry began to replace it.


    When I got down to the final ten, I turned to Jessica and gave her a toothy grin. I waggled my ten fingers at her and continued listing off moons while lowering a finger for each one I listed.


    "Janus, Prometheus, Helene."


    When I got down to the final four, I decided to play with Jessica and pretend to struggle to remember. When a glint of hope appeared in her blue eyes, I smirked and quickly listed the final four so she would know I was teasing her, "Dione, Hyperion, Calypso, and Pandora."


    Jessica narrowed her eyes and glared at me when she realized I was teasing her.


    At the front of the classroom, Professor Sinistra looked torn between being impressed and annoyed that I had slipped out of the punishment she had intended.


    After class, Jessica caught up to me and gave me a nudge in the hall.


    "You tricked me," she pouted.


    I showed her my pearly whites, "You''re gonna have to step your game up if you want the crown."


    "I thought I had you," Jessica sighed. She gave me a sideways glance filled with concern, "What''s up with you? Lately, you''ve been distracted."


    I rubbed my eyes, "I''m fine. Just been burning the midnight oil on a little side project."


    Jessica accepted my deflection and changed the subject. "Are you ready for Arithmancy? Professor Vector said she had a surprise for us in the next class."


    "I hope so," I replied. "We haven''t don''t much in her class other than having advanced calculations drilled into us. I''m looking forward to putting them to the test."


    Jessica nodded in agreement, "Me too."


    We ran into Cedric on our way to Arithmancy, and when we got to class, the other students were buzzing with excitement.


    Our regular desks had been replaced with small round tables meant to seat three or four students. What had everyone interested were the four mysterious vials of liquid on each table. The vials themselves were made of darkened glass, which concealed what laid inside.


    Cedric, Jessica, and I grabbed a table for ourselves. Before we could speculate on what the lesson would be. Professor Vector entered the class. She smiled at the sight of all the student''s eager eyes.


    "Today, we are going to do something different." Professor Vector explained. "For the last two months, we''ve gone over and over calculations used to predict future events. Now, it''s time to put that knowledge to the test in a controlled environment."


    She strode over to our table, plucked one of the darkened vials off the table, and held it up before the class.


    "Before each of you sits four vials. One contains harmless water, but the other three have potions that cause relatively different effects. Identifying the water will net you a passing grade. But, if you can identify the effects of the other potions. I will give you extra credit."


    Next to me, Jessica eagerly raised her hand. "How will we know if we picked the right vial?"


    A gleam appeared in Professor Vector''s brown eyes. "I''m glad you asked that. One of you will need to drink the vial to test it." With a terrible, sweet smile, she added in a sugary voice, "Make sure to double-check your calculations."


    Some of the class paled when they realized we would be testing the vials ourselves. As for me, I thought it was a great idea. It was a potent reminder to take the calculations seriously and to make sure we double-checked our work.


    Amy, a bespectacled mousy, Hufflepuff raised her hand. Once Professor Vector gave her a nod, she asked, "Are we supposed to do these alone or as a group?"


    Professor Vector gave a half-shrug. "How you handle your calculations is up to you. I don''t care if you do it individually or as a group. But, keep in mind, someone from each table will be drinking a vial at the end of the class. And keep in mind, if they are incorrect, someone else will continue until each table has selected the right vial."


    Seeing a lack of reaction among the class, Professor Vector said with a wave, "Well, you don''t have all day. Chop, chop."


    As everyone started discussing with their partners, I turned to Cedric and Jessica.


    Always a team player, Cedric asked, "Should we do this as a group or individually?"


    Jessica looked unsure and turned to me for an answer.


    I shook my head, "I think we should do both. First, we do our separate calculations. Then we can compare our work at the end to see if we arrived at similar conclusions."


    Since I was trying to predict what would happen if I consumed a vial, I also needed to convert myself into a set number. This was the easy part. One of the first things we had done in class was to figure out our basic mathematical representation. All that was required was to convert each letter in my full name into numbers and add them together.


    The conversion chart was fairly straightforward. It took the twenty-six English characters and assigned them numbers with A represented by one and Z, twenty-six.


    What is interesting is this is just one way to determine your mathematical representation. There are many different ways for people to figure their representations.


    My first name, Alexander, equaled out to eighty-four. Nicola, my middle name, fifty-four. Fawley, my last name was seventy-two for a total of two hundred and ten. This was my number, the one that represented me. It would stay the same for the rest of my life. The next step was to multiple it by my age, which was fourteen. My final number was currently two thousand, nine hundred, and forty.


    Professor Vector had told us that there are other factors we can add as what we calculate becomes more complicated, but at this level, this was all we needed.


    Since I had my starting point, I started to write out the magical formulas and started punching in the numbers. The formulas themselves were mentally draining to use. Professor Vector explained that muggles would be driven mad if they tried to use them as we did.


    There was almost a mentally draining feeling as we used the formulas to predict the future. But, I''m not quite sure how much of it was caused by the sheer complexity or the inherent magic in the formulas themselves.


    There are many tried and true formulas that we can use to predict specific general actions. Supposedly, a talented Arithmancer can craft unique formulas on the spot. But, being able to do so is far beyond my abilities at the moment.


    As I scribbled page after page, my calculations eventually spit out the number fifty-five, which I had to put through another formula designed to break down that number into a series of numbers that would give me two, twenty-one, eighteen, and fourteen.


    I mentally converted the numbers into letters, which translated as burn. If I did everything right, the vial''s contents should have some burning effect. It could also mean fire, heat, or something similar. It''s possible to come to a different number depending on the formulas. Arithmancy can be as much an art as a science.


    Knowing I had three other vials to do, I rubbed my eyes and got back to it.


    Forty minutes later, I found myself staring at four different words with a slight headache forming behind my eyes.


    Burn, freeze, heave, and water. I was quite sure that I had figured out each of the effects of the vials. I wasn''t sure how they would cause these effects, but I was positive that I was right.


    I was the first of my friends to be finished, and seeing the looks of concentration on their faces as they scribbled their feathered quills, it may be some time before they were finished.


    Jessica finished next, and I wasn''t too surprised by that. She had a good head for numbers. Cedric quickly followed, and for a moment, I considered that it might be a little unfair to the other students that all of us were at the same table.


    Hiding her work beneath her arm, Jessica challenged me, "Since you were first, I think you should go first."


    I reached out and slid my work to the center of the table. "For the first vial, I predicted a burning effect."


    I alternated between Jessica and Cedric. "What about you?"


    Cedric nodded, "I got heat."


    We both looked at Jessica, "Fire," she simply said.


    It wasn''t too surprising that we all ended up with different words. Not including the changes that vary from person to person, you can use different calculations, or go about the formulas differently. The end results may slightly change, but they all should describe something similar.


    I set the first vial off to the side. "Alright, I think we can all agree that none of us want to drink whatever is in that particular vial."


    We had similar results for the following three options, with all of us identifying the final one containing the water.


    Not long after, Professor Vector spoke, "All right, we are just about out of time."


    Looking around the room, she asked, "Now, who is feeling confident they identified the vial containing water.


    Everyone at our table raised their hand. I looked around the room and noticed that only about a third of the students raised their hands. The remaining two-thirds looked decidedly nervous.


    Professor Vector pointed at our table. "Since you were done first, I think you should go first."


    As I turned to Jessica and Cedric to see who would be volunteering, I found someone had scooted the vial of water into my area of the table.


    I figured Cedric wouldn''t do such a thing, so I turned my suspicious gaze towards Jessica.


    "What?" she said innocently. "You were so confident that you were right, I figured you wouldn''t mind testing the vial.


    "Uh-huh," I sarcastically remarked.


    "I don''t mind drinking it," Cedric offered.


    I held up a hand to stop him. "Oh no. I''ve got this."


    Even though I was mostly confident, I still felt a sigh of relief when I tasted the cool, refreshing water running down my throat.


    I turned back to Professor Vector and triumphantly showed her the empty vial.


    "Excellent," She remarked with a pleased smile. "Mr. Fawley, Mr. Diggory, and Miss. Brooks have successfully used Arithmancy to predict which vial was harmless."


    The students at the next table also found the correct vial on the first try. It wasn''t until the third table that there was a mishap. A bespectacled, brown-haired girl from Hufflepuff drank the vial and shrieked seconds after finishing it. She quickly turned into a frozen block of ice. There was a flash of amus.e.m.e.nt from everyone as we recognized what she had drunk.


    It was a prank potion from Zonko''s joke shop, the flash-frozen solution. She would thaw out in about two minutes, and other than some embarrassment, she would be fine.


    By the time every table had tested their vials, the last two options were made clear. They were from Zonko''s as well. One was the gaging solution, which made a person gag and throw-up for a few minutes, and the other was the fire-breathing solution. While it didn''t let a person breathe fire, it sure felt like it. One interesting effect was that if you opened your mouth, smoke would pour out like a chimney.


    If the usefulness of Arithmancy wasn''t apparent before this class, it sure was now. I can imagine how useful pioneers in the art of potion-making and Alchemy find Arithmancy to be life-saving. Even curse breakers can use Arithmancy to discover curses and avoid traps as they move through ancient tombs.


    While Arithmancy does have limits, and it''s best to use it in controlled environments. I am looking forward to seeing how far I can push Arithmancy in the future.


    As November continued, I continued to experiment with my spell. It wasn''t until the last Saturday in November that something finally changed.


    Pointing my wand at an old dusty broom on my workbench, and spun the tip of my wand in a circle. As I completed the loop, I flicked it up and down at an angle like I was about to write an A.


    "Nullaresistentia."


    I felt something within me click. Like I had just put in the final piece of a really complicated puzzle.


    The old broom I had pointed my wand at shuddered for a moment, then fell still.

 Chapter 95 - Testing

    I gave the old broom a suspicious look. After all the effort it took me to get to this point, I was expecting little more of a reaction when I succeeded. Plus, this was the third broom that I had worked on. The previous two accidentally exploded when I was searching for the correct movement.


    Using my wand, I reached out and flipped the old tattered broom over. When nothing happened, I let out a relieved sigh.


    Once it finally dawned on me that I had finally done it, I wasn''t able to keep the grin off my face. I danced a little jig around the old broom.


    Not only had I created my first spell, but I had also developed a spell that would help stick a knife in Delvin Whithorn''s business. Taking down the Nimbus company was merely the first step in our family''s revenge. The Whithorns would pay dearly for everything they did.


    As I turned my attention back to the old broom, I sheepishly realized that I would have no way to gauge my spell''s effectiveness since I didn''t test the broom beforehand. Not only that, I would need to test it out on multiple brooms to get a good idea of the spell''s capabilities, and I didn''t trust this ragged old broom to keep me aloft.


    If I wanted to start seriously testing out the spell, I would need to get some help. It was time to let my friends in on my secret project.


    The following day beneath the shade of Athena''s favorite tree that overlooked the Great Lake, Alicia suspiciously questioned, "What do you mean you want to experiment on our brooms?"


    I struggled not to roll my eyes at how Alicia wrapped her arms protectively around her broom as if she were afraid I was going to unspeakable things to it.


    "I told you," I softly said as if I were trying to lure a wary puppy over. "I just need to test out the effects of a new spell I''ve been working on."


    "What spell?" Cedric said with a tad of reluctance in his voice.


    I tried not to be hurt by the concerned look on their faces. Why is everyone looking at me like I''m a crazy wizard? I just want to fiddle with their brooms. If anything, they should be thanking me. I''m going to make them go faster.


    I took a deep breath.


    "Ok, you guys know how my dad has been working on a new broom designed to compete with the nimbus."


    When everyone nodded, I continued. "Well, after everything the Whithorns have done to my family, I wanted to do my part. So, I spent the last few months working on a special project. Last night, I finally succeeded, and I created a spell that is going to change everything."


    I smiled when I saw Cedric and Alicia perk up. Being quidditch players, they were avid flyers and broom nuts.


    Unable to stop himself, Cedric asked, "What does the spell do?"


    I grinned, "The spell reduces drag to zero."


    Seeing the blanks on everyone''s faces took some of the wind from my sails. Of course, they don''t know what drag is. I only know the term because I read that muggle book on aerodynamics.


    "Ok," I explained. "The best way to wrap your mind around it is that its sort of like a resistance that builds as you fly through the air. My spell removes all that resistance, so it should increase your speed a great deal."


    Upon hearing that her broom would go faster, a gleam appeared in Alicia''s eyes. "How much faster?" She demanded.


    I shrugged and admitted, "I have no idea. That''s why I need everyone''s brooms. I need to test it out on several different models so I can figure out the general effects of my spell."


    Alicia looked torn between excitement and reluctance. "Why don''t you use Anna''s broom?" She suggested. "If anything happens to my broom, my parents will kill me."


    I waved away her concerns, "If anything happens, I''ll buy you a new one."


    Sensing that she needed a final push, I slyly enticed, "Anyone who helps me test out the spell will be first in line for a heavily discounted Firebolt."


    Before anyone could ask, I explained. "That''s what we''re calling it. Oh, and just so you know, the prototype''s speed is already at 240 KPH (150 MPH)."


    There was a slight pause as everyone tried to comprehend the changes the Firebolt would bring to the broom racing world.


    "Wait," Alicia said. "Did you say 240 KPH? But the top speed of the Nimbus is only at 160 KPH."


    "And that''s not even including the speed that will be gained with my spell," I added.


    A sneer crept out as I imagined the look of despair on Delvin Whithorn''s face when he realized that our family''s broom had reached speeds the Nimbus would never be able to reach¡ªforever regulating him to second-best at the b.a.r.e minimum. Knowing how vain Delvin was, that would be sure to drive him batty.


    I was brought back to the present by Alicia shoving her broom at me. She nearly brained me in the head, trying to get me to take the broom.


    "Take it," she demanded with a mad grin. "Just remember, I get a Firebolt of my own when you are finished."


    Seeing Alicia rub her hands together made me think of a greedy goblin drooling over gold.


    Seeing that Alicia would be out of it for a few minutes as she fantasized about getting a firebolt, I turned my attention to Cedric and Anna.


    "You can use my broom," Anna immediately offered. "I don''t play quidditch, so it''s not a big deal if something goes wrong.


    "Why does everyone keep acting as something will go wrong?" I complained.


    Cedric coughed under his breath twice, "Grendel." "Portkey."


    I shot Cedric a betrayed look, "Those weren''t my fault." I protested.


    "Hmph. Fine, maybe those incidents were just a tiny bit my fault. But this is different."


    Cedric didn''t look convinced but handed over his broom anyway.


    Alicia and Cedric both had Cleansweep brooms, but Cedric had Cleansweep 7, and Alicia had the 6. I was more familiar with Anna''s broom as we both had Comet 260s. Just to be thorough in my testing, I had even dug out the old Bluebottle broom that I got for my fifth birthday.


    Not wasting any time, I pulled out my wand and pointed it towards Alicia''s broom. I twisted the tip of my wand in a circle, and as I completed the loop, I flicked it up and down at an angle like I was about to write an A


    "Nullaresistentia."


    Her broom vibrated for half a second while the charm settled. Pleased, I moved on and cast the spell over the remaining brooms.


    Still amped up by the promise of a Firebolt, Alicia grabbed her broom and took off flying over the Great Lake. As I watched her zoom away, I held my breath. This was it. I was finally going to see my spell in action.


    I kept my eyes on Alicia as she accelerated over the lake. Everything seemed to be going perfectly until she made a sharp turn. Then she seemed to slide right off the broom as it turned.


    As she plunged thirty feet down to the lake, we could all hear her shouting expletives, most of which were directed at me.


    For a moment, words failed me. Whatever I had been expecting, that certainly wasn''t what I had in mind.


    Recovering quickly, I defended my spell. "Well, that was clearly her fault."


    Both Cedric and Anna seemed somewhat skeptical towards my analysis of why Alicia fell out of the sky. They seemed content to wait in silence as Alicia paddled over to her broom and climbed on top of it.


    She launched herself out of the water and began slowly making her way back to us. As she approached, her blazing eyes warded off any comment on her waterlogged appearance that made her look like a drowned rat.


    "What did you do to my broom?" She raged.


    "Made it go faster." I offered.


    Alicia narrowed her eyes, "You did way more than that. Everything was weird, and I''ve never fallen off my broom before."


    I motioned towards the first broom I got as a child. "Perhaps the Bluebottle is more your speed." I teased with a smile. "It has a built-in anti-falling charm."


    For a second, I thought she was going to curse me. But then she held out her broom with a snarky grin, "If you''re so confident, then give it a go."


    I immediately backpedaled, "I don''t think that''s necessary. Perhaps Cedric or Anna want to give it a go."


    I hopefully glanced over to see if I had any volunteers. But to my chagrin, I realized that Cedric and Anna had silently moved away from me when I wasn''t paying attention, and neither one of them would meet my gaze.


    Traitors.


    "Fine," I said with more confidence than I felt. "Let me show you how it''s done."


    I''ll be honest. I was very tempted to grab the Bluebottle. It was probably the safest broom on the market. But I knew I would never hear the end of it if I got on what was widely called the kiddie broom. Besides, I cared more about my pride than about a quick dunk in the lake.


    I grabbed my Comet 260 and slowly rose into the air.


    "This isn''t so bad," I called down.


    Alicia shooed with her hands, "Well, go on then. Show us mere mortals how it''s done."


    From the schadenfreude look on her face, I knew Alicia was hoping I would take a dump in the lake as she did. A quick glance at my other friends told me Anna and Cedric also seemed a tad too eager for me to get on with it.


    Hmph, I''ll show them.


    I started relatively slow as I flew over the lake. Seeing how everything seemed familiar, I leaned forward to pick up speed.


    It was then that I realized what had thrown Alicia off her game. It was my spell. It had done its job and removed all resistance through the air. But, it also had the side effect of making me feel like I was hovering in place as I flew around. I couldn''t feel the touch of wind on my face or it running through my hair as I flew forward.


    Below, I could see the lake moving. But, it felt almost felt like I wasn''t moving at all. If I shut my eyes, I would assume I wasn''t moving at all. The whole effect threw me for a loop, it was a strange sensation to have your eyes tell you that you are moving, but the rest of your senses insist that you aren''t.


    As I started to slow down and speed back up, trying to get a feel for the broom, I realized it wasn''t as bad as I thought. Not all sensation of movement was gone. I could still sort of feel the acceleration and deceleration, but it was muted. If I wasn''t concentrating on it, I could almost ignore the feeling entirely.


    The reason for Alicia''s fall also became apparent. Compensating for the air''s effect on you as you made a turn at top speed becomes second nature as you learn to fly. I''ll bet she leaned in anticipation like she always does, but since there wasn''t any air to compensate for, so right as she turned, she slipped right off.


    Everyone is almost going to have to retrain themselves slightly. It shouldn''t be too difficult to pick up now that I understand what happened.


    Since I wanted to get back so everyone else could start getting used to their brooms, I made a turn. Now that I didn''t have to compensate for the air, I barely had to lean right before my broom started to turn.


    As I got near the shore, Alicia''s dark eyes narrowed. It seems she wasn''t too pleased that I didn''t follow her example of falling into the lake.


    Before I had even landed, she snapped, "You cheated."


    I decided to needle her a bit. "I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    I held out my broom to Anna and Cedric to inspect, "As you can see, my broom held up perfectly fine. I have no idea why Alicia fell off her broom. Maybe she''s losing her touch."


    Alicia''s eyes bulged in outrage. She pointed her finger at me. "You."


    Before she could continue, my shoulders started shaking as I couldn''t stop myself from laughing at her expression.


    "Alright, alright. I''ll tell you why you fell off."


    After telling everyone my thoughts on the effects of my spell, Alicia seemed mollified. But it didn''t stop her from punching me in the shoulder.


    "I told you it was your spell." She grumbled.


    Rubbing the pain away, I turned to my less grumpy audience. "Well, now that we got that out of the way, I think we should all spend some more time familiarizing ourselves with the effects of my spell. No sense in pushing them too fast until we get a better grip on how they operate."


    Now that there had been two or should I say one successful test flight, Cedric and Anna seemed more willing to try out their brooms.


    Thankfully, it didn''t take too long for everyone to become accustomed to the new way of flying. The main thing was there were less exaggerated movements.


    Once everyone had mostly achieved their previous skill level when flying, I motioned for everyone to follow me back to the bank where I had left my bag.


    "Is that all," Anne questioned.


    I shook my head. "No, I still need to find out how much faster everyone''s broom has become, and I don''t have any of my dad''s equipment, so we''re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. We will need to find someplace that is measured so I can start calculating everyone''s new top speed."


    "How about the quidditch pitch," Cedric offered.


    "Too many eyes," I rejected. "If we start flying around with our brooms moving faster than they should be, it will draw attention. It only takes one curious student writing a parent for questions to be raised. Part of my family''s plan to take down the Delvin Whithorn and the Nimbus Company relies on absolute secrecy."


    My friends fell silent at my reminder that there was a lot at stake for my family.


    "Don''t worry," Cedric grimly said. "We won''t tell a soul."


    Anna and Alici both fervently nodded in agreement.


    Seeing everyone agreed, I turned my attention to my bag and unfolded a yardstick that I had brought with me since I anticipated this issue.


    "This will take some doing, but we can make this work."


    It took some doing, but we eventually marked out two spots with 500 yards between them.


    "Who wants to go first?" I asked. "Alicia, how about you?"


    She shot me a suspicious look, no doubt remembering the events of going first last time.


    "It''s your spell. Why don''t you do it?" She challenged.


    "Because every great wizard needs a good minion or two to help him with his spell work. This test has minion written all over it," I shot back.


    Before she could react, Cedric stepped in, "I''ll go first."


    "Remember, get a good head start before you pass the first marker. I need you to be at full speed when you cross."


    Turning, I paled when I saw Alicia glaring at me. She hadn''t forgiven me for the minion comment. Sheesh, you would think that being in the same house as Fred and George would teach her to take a joke. But, it probably didn''t help that her robes were still wet from her trip to the lake.


    Pretending that I couldn''t see her glare, I remarked to Anna. "I''ll just head on down to the far marker. Send me a signal when he crosses down here."


    I hopped on my broom and jetted away, not waiting for Alicia to react to my little joke.


    Once we all got into position, Cedric took off and started building speed. When he crossed the first marker, Anna shot off some green sparks into the air.


    I immediately started the watch on my wrist. My eyes widened as I realized how quickly Cedric was approaching. Once he passed my marker, I jotted down the time.


    All smiles, Cedric called down. "How was it?"


    Grinning back, I showed him a thumbs up and shouted back, "Do it two more times."


    Cedric nodded and took off. The second he finished his two runs, Alicia got in on the action, followed quickly by Anna.


    Since Anna and I had the same broom, I figured there was no need to test my comet 260 at this time. It waved my friend to join me on the far side of our test lane.


    "How was it? Anna asked with a pleased look on her face.


    Out of all my friends, I think she was the only one who had instantly grasped how much my spell was worth. Even with her trying to ignore her mum''s business, over the years something must have rubbed in."


    I held up a finger, "Hold on. I''m almost finished."


    "We had to have been going as fast as the Nimbus," Alicia prattled to Cedric.


    While they were excitedly guessing their top speeds, I was finishing the calculations. Once I worked everything out, I was a little stunned at the numbers. I


    I wanted to do my part in taking down Delvin, but this was more than I hoped for.


    Once I finished, I looked up at my friends and said the first absent thing that came to mind. "You did."


    Everyone stopped speaking, "Did what?" Alicia asked.


    I gave them a lopsided grin. "Go as fast as a nimbus."


    It took them a few seconds to process what I said, then they all started speaking at once.


    "Alright, alright," I said while motioning them to be quiet. "As near as I can figure, after averaging your three attempts, each of you exceeded your top speed by at least twenty-five percent."


    "Cedric had the fastest time, but since his broom has the best top speed at 136 KPH (85 MPH), that isn''t a big surprise. He clocked in at 171 KPH (106 MPH), beating Nimbus 2000''s top speed of 161 KPH (100 MPH)."


    Looking up from my calculations, I rolled my eyes when I saw Alicia''s sulking expression. "You and Anna were almost just as fast," I assured her.


    "Both of your brooms started evenly matched at 128 KPH (80 MPH) but are now dead even with the Nimbus 2000."


    "Merlin''s sweaty socks," Anna cursed. "How fast did you say your dad''s firebolt was?"


    "240 KPH (150 MPH)," I answered.


    We all fell silent, imagining my spell being added to the Firebolt. If the numbers held true, that would bring its top speed somewhere in the range of 300 KPH (187 MPH).


    A smirk emerged on my face. The Nimbus Broom Racing Company was so going down.


    On our way back to the castle, Anna raised a topic I hadn''t thought about. "What are you going to name it?"


    I blinked a couple of times, "I don''t know, I haven''t thought about it. I was more concerned with creating the spell than naming it."


    "Well, it needs a proper name," she admonished.


    "You could call it the Make Fly-Fly Go Zoooomies Charm," Alicia suggested.


    As one, we all turned to her.


    "What?" She defended. "I like it."


    Anna, Cedric, and I turned to one another and had one of our wordless conversations.


    Formerly, I spoke up, "I propose from henceforth Alicia should be banned from any and all spell naming. Do I have a second?"


    "Heh." Alicia defended.


    With zero pity in her purple eyes, Anna said, "Seconded."


    Cedric, ever the gentleman, added guiltily, "Third, the motion is passed."


    "Hmmph," Alicia huffed, then grumbled," I''d like to see you do any better."


    Ignoring Alicia''s pouting, Anna suggested, "How about Fawley''s Frictionless Flight?"


    My eyes sparkled," Ooh, I like it."


    Something about having my name in the spell pleased my inner wizard to no end.


    " I don''t know?" Cedric interjected." Frictionless isn''t an exact fit for what the spell does. Plus, having your name worked into the spell''s name is tacky."


    " Fine," Anna huffed." Why don''t you give it a try?"


    After giving it a few moments of thought, Cedric suggested," How about the Slipstream Charm?"


    "That''s pretty good," Anna admitted.


    They both looked at me to see if I thought the same. I sighed. It looks like having a spell named after me will have to wait.


    "It is pretty cool," I agreed. "Slipstream Charm it is."


    Jumping back into the conversation, Alicia interjected, "How long will the spell last on our brooms?"


    I shrugged, "Probably a couple of weeks. You can''t throw a spell onto an existing framework of spells and expect it to last. A spell-like this needs to be enchanted in a specific way to make sure they last. I''m sure my dad knows what to do."


    "Sure, sure," Alicia causally agreed. "I assume you would be against enchanting the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team''s brooms."


    I didn''t even have to reply as Anna and Cedric immediately shot down that idea.


    "Fine," she sulked. "But, I get the first crack at a Firebolt."


    "I think you mean we get the first crack at a Firebolt." Cedric corrected.


    I put an arm around each of them, then mussed Alicia''s hair. "Don''t worry. I take good care of my minions. There will be firebolts for everyone."


    Alicia''s only response was an elbow to my ribs. I shook it off, I think I might have had that one coming.


    As we walked back to the castle, I mused to myself that Harry Potter wouldn''t be the only one with a firebolt in the future. He had better watch out on the quidditch field.

 Chapter 96 - Going Home

    Having completed the Slipstream Charm, I suddenly found myself with an abundance of free time. At first, I wasn''t quite sure where to focus my attention. There was still so much I wanted to learn. Sometimes I felt like I could spend lifetimes learning, and it still wouldn''t be enough.


    Having learned Occlumency, I thought it might be time to start teaching myself Legilimency, but I was a little hesitant to begin. The biggest problem with using Legilimency was the beginning stage. Unlike Occlumency, there was an incantation to a legilimency spell that I could pick up within a few weeks if I put my mind to it.


    The problem with the incantation of the Legilimency spell is that it lacks any and all subtlety. It''s more of a brute force version. The book I had from the Heir''s library compared the spell to cracking someone''s mind open and trying to gain knowledge from a chaotic jumble of memories. From what I remember from the fifth book, where Professor Snape used the spell on Harry. It seems like an accurate description.


    I really would like to bypass the beginning somehow and move onto the wandless version that Dumbledore and Voldemort can use. But, the book also warned that performing Legilimency without a wand is even more difficult than fully mastering Occlumency.


    I''m sure I could turn to my friends for help, but considering how invasive the spell is, I put that option at the bottom of the list.


    The coldest and most logical part of my brain suggested that I could practice on someone I didn''t like and erase their memories when I was finished. But I wasn''t sure I wanted to go down that road. Legilimency was useful, but forcefully ripping open someone''s unwilling mind so that I could learn an obscure branch of magic was a line I wasn''t willing to cross. Yes, I had stuck a toe across the line with some blackmail. But, there is a big difference between blackmailing someone and tearing into their minds.


    Since I wasn''t willing to practice on the unsuspecting, nor did I want to do it to any of my friends. That left me with few options. I suppose I could ask Professor Flitwick or Dumbledore for some advice. But, I doubt they would be willing to teach a third-year student advanced mind magic.


    Since I didn''t have a solution, I decided I would put off learning Legilimency for now. After weighing all my options, I decided to throw myself into finishing my fifth-year spells. I have almost finished with them anyway and should have done it in a couple of weeks. I was looking forward to learning NEWT level magics.


    The following weeks slipped by without any significant incidents happening. While I wasn''t too surprised by this because nothing happened in the first book, the troll incident had taught me first hand that canon was slowly changing, and I would need to be careful.


    I decide to keep my success with my spell a secret from my family. I wanted to surprise Dad with it when I went home for the winter break. I looked forward to seeing his face when he realized how much faster it would make the Firebolt.


    During the first week in December, I finally completed all the fifth-year spells and moved onto the next year''s textbooks. After reading the first chapter in the Standard Book of Spells Volume 6, I figured out what I would be spending my newly found free time on, Nonverbal Spells.


    Nonverbal spells were precisely what they sounded like. Spells cast without the incantation uttered out loud. You still had to say the incantation, but you said it with your mind rather than your mouth.


    The biggest advantage of this was an adversary would have no warning about what kind of magic you are about to perform, which gives you a split-second advantage. I will never forget the professional dueling tournament that Uncle John took me to when I was younger. All the top duelists there used nonverbal spells. Seeing spells tossed at one another in silent fervor was an amazing sight.


    As useful as nonverbal spells are, many people never become very efficient with them. They require a great deal of concentration and mental discipline, which some people lack. There are other reasons why some people don''t use them as well. For example, some spells can have their potency reduced when used nonverbally.


    A great example is when Hermoine was cursed by Antonin Dolohov, a death eater in the Department of Mysteries'' Battle. Had Dolohov not had the silencing charm used on him, the curse he used probably would have killed Hermoine.


    Another reason why some may not use a nonverbal spell is that it''s not needed. My dad rarely uses them in his work. He prefers speaking the incantations as he claims it helps him concentrate on what he is working on, rather than dedicating mental energy to getting the spell to work nonverbally.


    Still, I was looking forward to practicing nonverbal spells. I probably won''t have many spells ready for the dueling competition in a couple of weeks. But, I bet by the time the international competition comes around in April I can give everyone a big surprise.


    I was still somewhat sore that my debut on the international stage was interrupted by an unexpected trip to China. But, if I can''t master enough nonverbal spells by April, I have a feeling I will shock the seniors in the Silver Spears. Although I hadn''t been as focused on dueling this year as I did last year, I still had hopes of one day receiving training from a dueling master.


    The Silver Spears guarantees assistance and some training for any member in good standing if they wish to join the Professional Dueling League. But honestly, I don''t think I am too interested in going pro. Not to mention, by the time I graduate, Voldemort will have returned. So, who knows what will be going on by then.


    But, if I can impress one of the masters, I could be offered a summer apprenticeship starting after my fifth year. I know Zack was offered one this past summer, and I expect it will show during the competitions this year.


    With all that in mind, one evening at the beginning of December. I was deep within the sanctum of the Ravenclaw tower, practicing nonverbal spells. Just like the books promised they would be, I found nonverbal spells to be extraordinarily difficult.


    Not for the first time, I mentally chanted ''Incendio'' as I made a triangle motion with my wand. Like all my previous attempts, no fire erupted from my wand.


    "Work, damn it." I cursed.


    Working on nonverbal spells could be maddening. Not being able to work a spell I could have performed with my eyes closed was annoying the crap out of me. I had been performing the basic fire charm for years at this point.


    Logically, I knew that it would take some time for me to succeed. But still, part of me had silently scoffed that this would be only slightly more challenging, and I would pick it up right away.


    Determined to make this work, I gritted my teeth and held my breath in concentration. Incendio, Incendio, Incendio, I mentally murmured.


    "You know," a snide voice cut in. "When you make that face, I can''t tell if you''re trying to cast a spell or just really constipated."


    Furious, I turned the Bronze Eagle Statue, who was smirking at me. I snapped my wand at it, "Reducio."


    I''ll forever treasure the look on the Statue''s face. It was a delicious mixture of shock and outrage sprinkled with a hint of surprise. I don''t think it ever expected me actually to do anything to it.


    Slowly, the Statue began shrinking before my eyes.


    "What did you do to me?" The Eagle demanded as it continued to shrink.


    I chuckled maliciously. "Oh, nothing much. I just thought you could use a benefit from a change in perspective."


    The shrinking continued until the Bronze Eagle was about the size of a baby chicklet.


    Looming over the Statue, I chuckled, "There. Now you should have a more accurate measure of our relationship."


    The Eagle waived its wings about and squeaked out in a tiny voice. "How dare you. You''ll pay for this."


    Peals of laughter erupted from behind me. Turning, I saw the Grey Lady hovering behind me, looking absolutely delighted at the Statue''s predicament.


    Fuming, the Statue hopped around in a little circle. With each hop, the stature demanded, "Turn¡­ Me¡­ Back¡­ Right¡­ Now."


    " Not until you''ve learned your lesson," I explained.


    Not willing to remain shrunken in the presence of the Grey Lady, the tiny Statue huffed its disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and disappeared.


    "Don''t worry." The Grey Lady said. "He''ll be back once he calms down."


    "Out of curiosity, what did he do to get shrunk?"


    "He kept distracting me with snide comments while I was working on a nonverbal spell."


    As silence filled the room, my face reddened in embarrassment as I realized how petty that sounded. "Maybe I went too far," I lamely offered.


    The Grey Lady chuckled in amus.e.m.e.nt. "I''m sure it''s fine," she said. "I''ve known the Eagle for far longer than you, and you''re not the first Heir of Ravenclaw to curse it."


    Hearing that I wasn''t the only Heir to use magic on the Eagle made me feel better.


    "What is the Statue''s problem? It constantly makes rude and snarky remarks. I would have thought me being the Heir of Ravenclaw would make it more agreeable."


    Helena snorted, "That Statue has only loved and respected one person, and that was my mother. He only tolerates you because you''re an Heir. It probably doesn''t help that he has pretty much kept to himself for a thousand years. Anyone who spends that much time alone is sure to have a few loose screws."


    "Sounds like a lonely existence." I mused. "Why does he spend all his time alone? Being personally created by Rowena ensures that he would be more than welcome in Ravenclaw tower."


    Helena shrugged, "Who knows. I doubt it was my mother''s intention that he remain so isolated. She could be cold, but she was never needlessly cruel. Perhaps that''s just the way he is. Maybe you should ask him sometime."


    We fell into a comfortable silence, and just when I was about to return to my silent casting, Helena remarked, "So you moved onto nonverbal spells, that''s quite remarkable, even for an heir."


    I grimaced, "Well, I haven''t actually successfully yet. I''m having more difficulty than I thought I would."


    "That''s not a big surprise," Helena soothed. "There is a reason why they don''t introduce nonverbal spells until the sixth year."


    "Do you know of any tricks I can use?"


    Helena shook her transparent head. "I''m afraid not. There isn''t any trick or clever workaround to nonverbal spells. It simply takes a great deal of mental discipline and concentration combined with a great deal of repetition."


    For some reason, her reply relaxed me. For the last two years, if I have learned how to do anything, it was how to persevere. First with Occlumency, then with creating a spell. If the only thing standing in my way from learning nonverbal spells was mental focus and repetition. Then it was only a matter of time before I would succeed.


    Thoughts of fire filled my mind, and I mentally shouted Incendio.


    A small glowing orange ember shot out of the tip of my wand. Even though it was far from the fire charm I had been going for, it was a start.


    By the end of the night, I was getting firey, ember sparks shooting out from the tip of my wand nearly every time. I went to bed pleased with my results. It was only a matter of time.


    A few days later, my persistence paid off. With a mere thought, I was now about to send streams of fire at anyone or anything I wanted.


    The next two weeks went by in a blur, and soon it was time to board the Hogwarts Express and head home for a few weeks.


    When I got to the platform, I found Mum waiting for me alone.


    "Where is everyone?"


    "The girls are with your grandma, and your dad had to take care of some business, so it''s just me today."


    After trying to smother me to death, mum motioned for me to follow. "Come on, Lola has been whipping up a feast for everyone all day. She''ll be in tears if we''re late."


    As soon as I got inside, I was nearly bowled over by the twins. But, they quickly abandoned me in favor of Athena, who was always happy to be the center of attention.


    Hearing all the commotion, Grandma wandered into the room. "Alex," she happily greeted. Sweeping me into a hug, she added, "It''s so good to see you."


    In a playful voice, she said, "So a little birdie told me you are at the top of the list for the student exchange program."


    A ghost of a smile appeared on my face. "What do you think of my chances."


    She patted me on the cheek and winked at me, "If I had to guess, I would say you have it in the bag. You might even see some familiar faces along the way as well."


    I smiled, pleased at her reassurance about my friends coming along. When I had written to her earlier in the year and asked for her help, she warned me that while she could pretty much guarantee I would have a spot, my friends were another matter.


    "Your professors must like you and your friends. All of you were at the top of the list for consideration. It made it easy for me to push for all of you to be selected."


    "So it''s official," I eagerly confirmed. "We all got selected for the student exchange."


    Grandma nodded, "I''m sure you will be informed when you return to school. Now that you have been selected, you still have to choose what school you wish to attend next year officially."


    "Are you still planning on going to Uagadou?"


    Seeing me nod, she mused, "I think that''s a good choice. Your cousin Omar goes there, and I think it will be nice for him to show you around Uagadou."


    I nodded. Having Omar around next year would be nice. But, it wasn''t a factor when I chose Uagadou as my destination, more of a bonus.


    Eager to talk to dad about the Slipstream Charm, I asked, "Where''s dad?"


    Grandma waived towards the back of the house. Your father is in his study working. I swear, sometimes he is so much like his father, always bringing his work home with him"


    I left grandma behind and went to Dad''s study. Once I got to the door, I noticed Dad had set up a work table in the corner and was currently leaning over a gleaming broom."


    "Is that it?" I asked. "Is that the Firebolt?"


    Startled, Dad looked up and beamed when he saw me standing in the doorway. "Alex, you''re home. When did you get back?"


    "Just now," I replied.


    I was so focused on the Firebolt. I barely registered moving through Dad''s study.


    I ran my fingers along the gleaming ebony handle. "It''s beautiful," I breathed.


    From the streamlined handle to the birch and hazel twigs, every inch of the Firebolt screamed that it was built for speed. Adding to the design was the goblin ironwork. Dad had broken the mold when he added metal to the broom for unparalleled stability. Near the rear by the birch and hazel twigs was a golden plate with 001 inscribed on it.


    Putting his arm around me, dad asked, "So, what do you think? Think it will be enough to take on the Nimbus?"


    "Take on," I jeered. "The Firebolt is going to destroy the Nimbus. I almost feel sorry for Delvin, almost."


    After admiring the Firebolt for a few more minutes, I turned to Dad and said, "Speaking of destroying the Nimbus, I have something that I think will help."


    Dad raised an eyebrow and rubbed his short stubble-like beard.


    "What is it?" He asked.


    Decided to get it over with, I replied, "It''s a spell I made."


    Dad nodded for a moment, then jerked to a stop. "Wait, what?" He said in disbelief.


    "A spell you made? From scratch?"


    Blinking rapidly in confusion, he clarified, "Are you sure you didn''t find this spell in some forgotten text? Or maybe you modified an already existing spell?"


    I shook my head, "It''s my spell," I promised. "I spent the better part of six months working on it."


    After searching my face for the truth, a smile broke out on my dad''s face. "That''s incredible," he crowed. "Do you realize that you''ve done something ninety percent of wizards will never do?"


    Dad''s eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. "Alex, how far along in your studies are you?" He asked suspiciously. "There''s no way a third year should be able to create a spell."


    He narrowed his eyes when I hesitated.


    "Alexander Fawley."


    I winced at the full use of my name. I usually only got that from Mum, and then it was only when she was really serious.


    Seeing how there was no reason to conceal how far ahead I was, I answered, "I''ve started working on NEWT level magics."


    Dad blinked rapidly in surprise and muttered, "Merlin''s soiled underpants. My son is a genius."


    I shot Dad a smug look, "Are you just now figuring that out?" I teased.


    "Hmmph," Dad grunted, trying to act like he wasn''t as impressed as we both knew he was, "So, what''s this spell you made?"


    My smirk went from a smug grin to a full-on Cheshire Cat smile. "Oh, nothing much. It will just increase the speed of the Firebolt, or any broom by twenty-five percent."


    Dad''s eyes bulged, "Twenty-five percent." He half-shouted. "But¡­ That¡­ I mean"


    Dad''s voice trailed off as he wasn''t quite sure what to say.


    As for me, I simply radiated smugness.


    Once Dad recovered, he said in a proud tone, "Alex, that''s incredible. I''m so proud of you."


    His eyes widened as a thought occurred to him, "With this spell, I could get you into the enchanters guild. You could even skip the bronze stage and go right to silver."


    I snorted and shook my head, "I don''t think so. The second I join the enchanting guild, Mum will drag me down to the potioneers society and force me to join. Maybe one day, but for now, I have enough on my plate."


    "Fine," Dad sulked.


    From the crafty look in his eye, I had a feeling that this wasn''t the last I had heard of it.


    Putting his disappointment behind him, Dad eagerly asked, "How does your spell work?"


    "It removes all drag," I eagerly blurted out.


    Seeing Dad''s puzzled look, I further explained, "Think of drag like resistance that builds as you move through the air."


    Dad rolled his eyes at me, "I understood you the first time."


    Pointing at the aerodynamic Firebolt, he added, "I did just build the fastest broom in the world."


    My face heated up in embarrassment. I should have realized my dad would be somewhat familiar with the concept of air resistance.


    "Well, you looked a little confused." I defended myself.


    "That''s because I was thinking," Dad replied. "You said your spell would increase the speed by twenty-five percent, right?"


    I nodded, "I tested the spell on multiple brooms to be sure."


    Dad stroked his stubble beard, "Hmmm."


    "What is it?" I asked.


    Making eye contact with me, dad replied in a serious tone, "Are you sure your spell does what you think?"


    Confused, I asked, "What? I already told you, it removes all drag from the broom and rider."


    Dad gave me a skeptical look, "I don''t know," he said. "An increase of twenty-five percent seems a little low for removing all air resistance."


    "Really? How much faster should it be?" I questioned.


    Dad shrugged, "I have no idea. It just sounds a little off to me."


    "But that''s what I intended when I created the spell," I argued.


    Seeing I was a little frustrated, Dad suggested, "How about we do some testing and try to work out how your spell works?"


    "Really?" I eagerly asked. "Can we get started right now?"


    Dad mussed my short hair. "Tomorrow," he said. "It''s about time for dinner, and your mother will be upset if we spend the night playing with spells."


    I wanted to argue, but I knew he was right. Besides, it was my first day back¡ªno need to poke the momma bear quite so soon.


    Dinner was excellent as always. Lola, our house elf, went above and beyond.


    The next day, Dad and I took one of his older prototypes outside for testing. Dad had a wide array of tools strapped onto a tool belt.


    Eager to get started, I quickly explained the spell''s effects so he wouldn''t fall off like Alicia.


    Once the Slipstream charm was attached, Dad said, "There''s no better way to get started than to take it out for a test run."


    Rising slowly into the air, Dad started to feel how the broom operated with the slipstream spell attached. Once he got used to it, he started pushing the broom to go faster.


    Dad spent the rest of the day running test after test on the broom. He was so focused that he forgot to eat lunch. I knew better than to bug him when he got like this, so I left him alone.


    He finished just as the sun was heading down. Landing in front of me, Dad remarked," Alex, this spell of yours is something else."


    "So, does it work as I thought it did?"


    Dad frowned, "Partially," he explained. "Your spell definitely reduces air resistance. But, only partially, as for how much, I can''t really give you a number."


    "Then how come you can''t feel any air resistance when you''re flying on the broom?" I questioned.


    Dad scratched his head, "I''m not sure. I believe the spell isolates you somehow. That''s also why the feeling of acceleration and deceleration are somewhat muted. But, just because you''re isolated doesn''t mean you are completely immune to the forces at work."


    Disappointed, I said, "I was hoping for a little more clarity. Like how the spell works rather than just the effects of the spell."


    Dad waved his arms helplessly, "It''s magic, sometimes magic is just unexplainable."


    Seeing my disgruntled expression, Dad laughed, "If wizardkind can''t even really explain how simple spells work. Spells like yours are far beyond us."


    Dad pulled out his wand, "Think about this. We can''t even fully explain the fire charm."


    Seeing my disbelief, dad smiled and summoned a flame. "We all know fire exists by burning things. So what is this fire burning?"


    Remembering my shallow chemistry lessons with Nicolas Flamel. I guessed, "I don''t know, perhaps the air."


    Dad smirked like he had been expecting that. He waved his wand again, encasing the burning flame in a solid glass ball.


    "And now?"


    Seeing the flame burning merrily within the glass ball, I admitted, "I don''t know. How is it doing that?"


    Dad shrugged, "I haven''t the faintest clue. Magic?" He suggested.


    With a wave of his wand, the fiery glass ball vanished.


    "Whenever I test a spell, I''m not trying to puzzle out how the spell is possible, but rather what the spell is doing. Trust me, trying to do the former will drive you mad."


    Sensing my disappointment, Dad laughed. "Try not to think of it if it bothers you so much. Regardless of what you initially assumed, your spell is still impressive. I was able to get the broom to speeds of nearly 300 KPH (187).


    I grinned, even though I had calculated the same number. It was gratifying to see it in action. We were so close to being ready. It was only a matter of months until we were ready to move. Delvin and the Nimbus Broom Racing Company wouldn''t know what hit them.

 Chapter 97 - Charm Crafting 101

    The following day after breakfast, Dad looked me over. "You ready to go?"


    Before I could say anything, Mum asked, "And where do you think you two are you two going?"


    With a happy smile, I explained, "Last night, Dad told me that he would show me where the Firebolt was being made."


    Mum shot Dad an annoyed look.


    "Fine," she grumbled. "Don''t take too long. Alex is only home for a couple of weeks."


    "Don''t worry," Dad soothed. "I''ll have him home before you know it."


    As Mum left the room, Dad winked at me, "Let''s go before she changes her mind." He quietly urged.


    Once we got outside, Dad motioned me to grab his arm.


    "Hold on tight."


    As my world went black, I felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a small rubber tube. As uncomfortable as apparition was I was starting to get used to the feeling.


    Of all the magics I had yet to learn, I was looking forward to apparition the most. Being able to travel the world at a mere thought was extremely tempting. I had once considered trying to teach myself, but after learning that it was very common for beginners to leave behind body parts, I graciously decided I would wait until professionals could teach me.


    We popped out in perhaps the most mundane looking room I had ever seen in my entire life. The room was relatively small with an ugly dark green carpet stretched out over the floor. Several uncomfortable folding chairs were leaning against the walls that seemed to discourage anyone from sitting. On one side was a door leading to the outside, and on the other, a door that led deeper into the building.


    A little weirded out by the room''s aesthetics. I remarked, "This looks like the waiting room for purgatory."


    Dad laughed, "It''s camouflage, it''s supposed to be boring and unremarkable."


    Motioning me to follow, "Come on, let me show you the good stuff."


    Dad opened the door that led deeper into the building, revealing a ridiculously long hallway that seemed to go on. At the end of the hall was a pair of armored statues that looked out of place but knowing the magical world, they were probably there to defend the elevator behind them.


    Once inside the elevator, Dad held his wand up to an unmarked button and, without warning, he pushed it to the handle and then gave it a turn. With a lurch, the elevator started going down. When the elevator stopped moving, the doors opened and revealed a large warehouse.


    Inside were dozens of workstations lined up next to each other. I saw a dozen witches and wizards with their wands out as they worked on various pieces of Firebolts. I even saw a couple of goblins assembling the goblin forged parts.


    "It''s called an assembly line," Dad explained. "Barbara explained the concept to me. It''s supposed to make manufacturing a lot more efficient."


    I started counting workstations and asked, "How many spells go into the Firebolt?"


    "Quite a few," Dad admitted. "Many are relatively simple spells, like the anti-theft, anti-rot, and a dozen other spells designed to keep the Firebolt in top condition. But, that''s not counting the more potent spells worked into the broom that make it the fastest in the world. "


    "Who''s doing the work? Where did you get everyone from?"


    Dad nodded, "That''s where the enchanting guild comes in. I made some very discreet inquiries among the bronze and silver level enchanters. Most of those I spoke with were happy to get the work and signed ironclad contracts that guarantee secrecy."


    "What if someone tries to sell the secrets of what goes into the Firebolt?" I worriedly questioned.


    "That''s one of the best parts of the assembly line," Dad explained. "Even if someone were somehow able to get around their magical-binding contract. Not one person knows how to do everything, it''s all broken up into sections, and no one person knows how to do everything."


    Dad ushered me into the back that mirrored his secure workshop in Diagon Alley. From the looks of everything, he used it for experimenting just like his other workshop,


    After looking around, I asked, "What about my spell?"


    Dad chuckled and patted my shoulder. "You''ve thrown a wrench into our plans," he admitted. "Your spell is way too effective not to incorporate it into the Firebolt."


    Dad sat down and sighed, "Unfortunately, that means all the Firebolts we''ve stockpiled up until now are scrap."


    "I''ve been thinking about that," I said. "What if instead of just incorporating the Slipstream Charm into the Firebolt, we create another model. Like have the Firebolt, and the Firebolt X or something along those lines."


    Dad nodded thoughtfully, "That sounds like a good idea. It will let us continue building a stockpile in preparations for our launch while I figure out how to layer in the Slipstream Charm."


    "Do you think it will be tough to fit it into the framework of spells you already have?"


    Dad shrugged. "It could take me days, weeks, or even months."


    "Months?" I replied in disbelief.


    "That''s the worst-case scenario. It shouldn''t take that long," Dad assured me. "My guess is that it takes me a few weeks to figure it out."


    "Oh," I said. "That''s not so bad."


    As Dad started pulling out pieces of the Firebolt, I brought up an awkward subject.


    "Umm, Dad."


    Looking up from his work Dad noticed my awkwardness. "What''s on your mind?" He asked


    Wanting to get this over with, I spat out quickly, "So since Anna, Cedric, and Alicia helped me test the slipstream charm, I kinda, sorta, promised them Firebolts as long as they paid for the materials."


    Dad blinked rapidly, processing what I said.


    "Alex," Dad reproached. "You can''t go around promising things like that without discussing it with me."


    "I know, I know. We just got caught up in the moment when we tested my spell."


    Dad let out a sigh, "Fine," he agreed. "I''ll build them each a Firebolt."


    "But the materials aren''t cheap," Dad warned. "They probably cost almost as much as the brooms they currently ride."


    I blinked in surprise and admitted, "I didn''t realize how expensive the materials were."


    Dad nodded, "Our spells aren''t the only reason why the Firebolt is so fast. Each piece of the Firebolt is hand-selected and carved without magic to prevent any magical spillage."


    "Spillage? I interjected. "What''s that?"


    Dad waved away my question, "You''ll learn about that later when you get into long term enchanting."


    Dad tried to return to his speech, but after a moment, he asked, "Where was I?"


    "Material cost." I helpfully replied.


    "Oh, right," He continued. "Even the Birch and Hazel twigs have been carefully handpicked to ensure they are suited for holding spells. Then you have to factor in how much the goblin forged gear cost. When you add up all the material costs, you are looking at almost 100 galleons."


    "Oh," I lamely replied. "Well, I''m sure my friends can afford it. They know they are getting a good deal out of it."


    Dad snorted as if that were an understatement.


    Still a little put off at my promise, Dad grumbled, "Not to mention the time it will take for me to figure out how to work your spell into the Firebolt."


    Dad paused as if an idea just occurred to him. "You know, "I just had an interesting thought. Rather than take the time to build three Firebolts for your friends, how about I teach you how to make one yourself? That way, when your friends can afford the materials, you can make it yourself."


    My eyes lit up, "Really? That would be great. I would love to learn how to put one together."


    Eager to get started, I asked, "Do you think you can teach me everything in the next two weeks?"


    Dad snorted, "No, there is way too much to learn about enchanting in that amount of time."


    Before I could protest, Dad added, "But, I can teach you the hard parts and teach you enough where you can get started on your own."


    The protest I had been about to make faded away. I was always happy to learn new things.


    Dad rubbed his brow while trying to decide where to begin.


    "Alright," he said." I suppose I should start with how to make spells last."


    Before I could ask what he meant, dad asked," Have you noticed that all the things you''ve charmed in class never last long?"


    I nodded," I just assumed they weren''t designed to last."


    "They aren''t," Dad agreed.


    "But, if spells like that don''t last long, how come enchanters can sell things that have spells that last for years?"


    Dad smirked at me, "Come on, Alex. You''re smart. I know you can figure this one out on your own."


    I avoided the temptation to roll my eyes. Dad liked to let me puzzle things out by myself. He says that one thing that holds many enchanters back is they don''t have the skill to reason out problems for themselves.


    After thinking about it, I replied, "Two things come to mind."


    Dad motioned me to explain with his hand.


    "The first is that you use more advanced spells to enchant things. But, considering how many spells that would entail, I doubt that is the answer."


    I scanned dad''s face for a reaction, but he kept it blank, not wanting to give anything away.


    "My other idea is there is a spell or something that you can use that will somehow make the charm last longer than it should."


    Dad smiled, "You''re on the right track."


    He rubbed my head affectionately and declared victoriously, "I told your mother that you were more suited to becoming a charm-crafter like me than a potioneer like her."


    This time, I rolled my eyes. Dad and Mum had been doggedly trying to get me to favor one of their professions my entire life. They had done the same to the twins, but in their case, they each got one.


    Mum got Rebecca and was forcing as much potion knowledge down her throat as she could. I felt a little guilty towards Rebecca. I think I had warped Mum''s understanding of how much a kid could reasonably learn. More than once, I had caught Rebbeca giving me the stinkeye after a grueling lesson.


    Sasha had it way easier. Dad took the easier route and simply dazzled her with magical trinkets he made. It didn''t take long for Sasha to become fascinated with Dad''s work and begging to let her tag along to the shop, especially when her other option was going into a stuffy bas.e.m.e.nt and brewing potions.


    Dad interrupted my musing when he explained, "You were right. Some charms can retain spells and make them last for years, sometimes decades."


    Seeing my eager look, Dad went on, "While there are dozen or so spells that can accomplish this, my favorite is the Amber Charm. It''s a little known spell that one of our ancestors invented or found somewhere. It''s been passed down in our family for generations."


    "Is that spell why you''re so good at enchanting?"


    A slight frown appeared on Dad''s face. "Of course not," he retorted. "The spell is only one part of what goes into charm crafting. Actually grafting the spells you want into the Amber Charm is the hard part. It''s more of an art form than anything else."


    As ideas started forming in my mind, a question popped into my head. "What about magical spillage? What is it, and how does it affect enchanting?"


    Dad''s eyes brightened when he saw how interested I was and morphed into what I called Dad lecture mode.


    "Magical spillage or contamination occurs when magic is used on objects. Even as the spell fades away, small bits of magic are left behind. Normally this isn''t a problem. The main issue that arises when you try to enchant materials that have magical spillage. They tend not to hold spells very well. Say I used magic to create all the pieces of the Firebolt. I guarantee that within a year, the broom would be grounded and useless. If you want your enchantment to last, it''s better to pay for material gathered naturally."


    A look of disapproval appeared on his face as he continued, "There are some charm-crafters out there who will try and sell you things that have magical spillage to make a quick buck."


    I waited patiently for dad to finish his rant against enchanters who lack integrity.


    He finished his rant on shoddy enchanters by making sure I knew only to buy from a shop with the charm-crafting guild symbol. The guild frowns on anyone making shoddy enchantments unless they are priced accordingly. Having heard this speech on the sanctity of an honest enchanter a million times, I patiently nodded along.


    Once he was finished, I eagerly asked, "So what''s the incantation?"


    "Succinum."


    "But, that''s only part of the spell." Dad continued. "You also need to picture in your mind Amber in its liquid form."


    I shot Dad a questionable look to see if he was messing with me, and all he did was smirk, "Trust me, I know what I''m talking about."


    As I looked around the room, I asked, "What should I practice on?"


    Dad blinked for a moment, then looked around the room, "Ah-ha." He said. "I have just the thing."


    He walked over to a cabinet, pulled it open, and started digging around.


    After a few tossed items, he pulled out an old dusty mug and set it down in front of me. "Use this to practice on for now."


    I pulled out my wand and pointed it towards the mug. Thankfully, due to my childhood exploration of our land, I had seen Amber collecting on trees many times and was able to imagine it easily.


    Using all my experience of using mental imagery, I pictured the mug caught in Amber, similar to an insect trapped in Amber.


    "Succinum."


    I tried not to frown when nothing happened. I guess my mental imagery needed a bit more concentration.


    Mentally concentrating, I tried to blot everything out except for my mental image of a mug drowning in Amber.


    Right as Dad murmured, "It''s a challenging spell. It may take some time to learn it." I chanted, "Succinum."


    This time a burst of amber light emerged from the top of my wand and entered the mug. The mug started giving off a soft Amber-like glow.


    I turned back and smirked when I saw Dad''s eyes bulging in surprise. Unable to help myself, the smug face my friends claimed I had slipped out.


    Deciding to tease him a bit, I said in a confused tone, "I thought you said this would be difficult."


    Dad gaped at me for a moment before he realized I was needling him.


    Sniffing proudly, he replied, "I must be an amazing teacher."


    Before I could reply, he turned my attention back towards the mug, "You''re only halfway done. Try to see if you can add a simple charm before the effects fade."


    Ten minutes later, I shot my dad an annoyed look. As it turns out, getting a spell to attach to the Amber spell successfully was difficult. My freezing charm kept sliding right off.


    Frowning, I turned to my dad, who was watching me in amus.e.m.e.nt. "What am I doing wrong?"


    "I told you, enchanting is more of an art," Dad explained. "You''re trying to force it, like a hammer beating on a nail. You need a subtle touch. Think of a potter molding clay."


    "Keep trying. From the looks of the amber glow, I would say you have a few hours before it fades away."


    While I went back to trying to figure out how to attach a freezing charm to the mug, Dad started doing his work¡ªtrying to figure out how to work in the slipstream charm. I found it a little ironic that we had essentially assigned each other homework.


    Keeping dad advice in mind, I changed my approach. I tried dozens of different ideas. Discarding the ones that failed, I persisted. As I had learned over the years, failing at something could teach me as much as succeeding. Each failure taught me a different approach, and sooner or later, I would figure it out.


    "Glacius."


    "Glacius."


    "Glacius."


    "Glacius."


    I froze in surprise at my last attempt. I had finally got the spell to attach to the mug.


    "I did it," I crowed triumphantly.


    Dad looked up from his workbench in surprise.


    Wandering over, he picked up the mug and started examining it.


    Dad murmured something, waved his wand over the mug, and the amber light faded away.


    "Aguamenti."


    A small stream of water poured out of the tip of his wand and filled the mug. Dad picked up the mug and closely examined the contents before showing me the results.


    "What were you going for?" He curiously asked.


    "A mug that keeps a drink cold at all times," I replied.


    As soon as he brought the mug closer to me, I immediately recognized a problem. The water inside the mug had utterly frozen solid.


    Not missing a beat, I changed my story. "What I meant to say was that I was trying to make an ice maker."


    Dad let out a hearty laugh, "Don''t be embarrassed. It took me weeks to do my first enchantment. I''m more surprised that you got a spell to stick rather than it not working as intended."


    "What went wrong?" I asked.


    Dad shrugged, "It could have been a hundred things. Enchanting isn''t like other magical disciplines. There is a lot of leeway in how you apply charms. You have to figure out what works for you."


    "How do I do that?"


    Dad wagged his eyebrows at me, "By experimenting."


    He paused for a moment as a thought occurred to him, "Just don''t do it at home where your mother can see you."


    As I promised him I wouldn''t, the image of a certain tower popped into my head. I had the perfect place where I could play. I mean experiment.

 Chapter 98 - The Guild

    Later that evening, I was, for lack of a better term, playing with my mug-ice-maker. I couldn''t help but think that a whole new world of magic had opened up to me.


    I had a ton of ideas floating through my head, some of which were probably impossible. But, I was looking forward to discovering whether they were feasible or not first hand.


    I had to admit that in my parent''s silent contest trying to get me to prefer potioneering or charm crafting, Dad had taken a commanding lead. There was just something cool about taking an idea for an enchantment and experimenting to get it to work. While potions were useful, they just weren''t as interesting as charm crafting.


    "Alex!"


    I almost jumped as I heard Mum call my name.


    I glanced over at Athena, who was lounging on my bed. "She knows," I whispered.


    It was like Mum had a superpower. Anytime I was thinking something I knew she would disapprove of, she would call out for me. She must have somehow sensed my thought that potions weren''t as interesting as charms.


    Before my mind could run away with panic, Mum called out, "Come on down, Alex. It''s dinner time."


    I let out a sigh of relief. She doesn''t know.


    Of course, my relief was short-lived. The second I saw Dad''s face at dinner. I knew he was going to spill the beans and brag to Mum. On a side note, I now know who I inherited my smug look from.


    "Honey," Dad said, trying to get Mom''s attention.


    Mum looked over at him and raised an eyebrow at seeing his smug face.


    Wary of falling into a trap, she cautiously said, "What is it?"


    Annoyingly wagging his dark brown eyebrows, "Guess what our son did?" He said in a sing-songy voice.


    Mum''s darted towards me, but I looked away before our eyes could meet. Whatever was about to happen. I wanted no part in it.


    Unable to gleam any answers from me, she reluctantly turned her gaze back towards Dad, who gave her a playful wink.


    "What did he do?" She said through a forced smile.


    "Oh, nothing much," Dad remarked while waving his hand casually. "He just created a spell that is going to revolutionize the world of flying."


    Not sure if he was kidding, Mum turned to me and asked, "Alex, what''s he talking about?"


    I don''t know why, but my cheeks turned red.


    A little embarrassed at Dad''s description of my spell, I mumbled, "I sorta made a spell that can increase the speed of any broom by twenty-five percent."


    Mum blinked silently in surprise.


    She got up and scooped me up in a bear hug. "That''s amazing," she gushed. "My baby is so talented."


    "Mum," I grumbled while trying to extract myself from her tentacled grasp.


    Across the table, Dad smirked at Mum, "I guess we know who Alex takes after. He''s got charm-crafting talent running through his veins."


    I winced. Why Dad? Why would you say that? That''s like waving a bloody cow in front of a dragon. You know the dragon will devour the cow. And I have this awful feeling that I''m the cow in this scenario.


    The only indication Mum gave to Dad''s was tightening her grip. Ignoring Dad completely, she said, "Alex, How about tomorrow, you spend the day with me down in my brewing room? It will be just like old times. You can tell me all about your spell while we work. I even have a few ideas for a new potion. Well, it''s not a new potion, more of a modification."


    Mum continued to ramble about how much fun we would have experimenting with new potions. I shot Dad a bitter look and inwardly grumbled, you-son-of-a-beech, this is all your fault.


    There is nothing fun or pleasant about experimenting with new potions. It''s like playing Russian roulette with chaos magic. You never know what might happen.


    It could be anything from liquid fire exhaling out deadly fumes or an acid that erodes through the cauldron and eats a hole open in the bas.e.m.e.nt floor. And those are some of the more pleasant options. Let us not forget the Day of Slime. A day which will forever be held in infamy in the House of Fawley.


    I swear, sometimes I still have nightmares about being consumed by a slime monster. Even though Mum quickly vanished the slime and still to this day claims that it wasn''t sentient and was just your normal run-of-the-mill slime. I know what I felt, that slime was pure evil. It tried to eat me. One doesn''t forget what it''s like to be almost eaten by a slime monster. It was almost as bad as the greenhouse incident. No, bad Alex. Don''t even think about the greenhouse incident.


    Mum couldn''t get me to go anywhere near her lab for a month after the Day of Slime, and it was the last time I ever volunteered to help with her¡­. experiments. That''s Rebecca''s problem now, or at least it was until Dad started bragging.


    What I''m trying to say is don''t play around with potions. Stick with the formulas, and you will be fine, and if you don''t, well, don''t say I didn''t warn you.


    Before I knew it, it was the weekend, and it was time for the local Dueling Tournament. I decided to stick with the same group I was in last year. While I hadn''t practiced as much as I did last year, I was still on top of my game as I took first in the fourth-year division.


    Unlike me, Anna had thrown herself into dueling, and her skills had significantly increased. She dominated the third-year division, and we would both be moving on to the international competition in the spring. Hopefully, things would go better for me than it did the previous year.


    With the tournament out of the way, I spent my free time in my secret tower. Anton''s library had some impressive tomes on enchantment. When I was younger, these books had made no sense to me. But, now that my foundation in magic was more robust, they were more useful.


    The more I studied, the more I realized I had been underestimating Charms. Charms had always come easy to me, and that led me to underestimate them. Now, I understood that I was merely scratching the surface of what a talented charm-crafter could do.


    I had always felt that mastering Transfiguration was the mark of a talented wizard. But, I was coming to see that Charms more than held its own against Transfiguration.


    The big difference between the two magical disciplines was that Transfiguration was strict and Charms was flexible.


    Mastering Transfiguration will allow you to accomplish many amazing things, but you have to follow strict rules. It''s a magical discipline that is almost scientific in nature. Charms, on the other hand, allow for a great deal of flexibility. Two people could cast the same charm and come up with varying results.


    My mug-ice-maker is a perfect example of the wide-ranging variance in which a charm could be used. My original intent was to produce a mug that constantly kept the contents chilled, but I ended up with a mug that would freeze the contents.


    It wasn''t that I somehow failed, but rather that I applied the charm in such a way that it did not work as intended. A master charm-crafter like Dad could probably use a simple charm in a dozen different ways, each producing a slightly different effect.


    That''s why I didn''t view my first attempt at enchanting as a failure. It merely opened my eyes to the many different ways to apply a single charm. Looking back, I''m a little embarrassed that I thought I had fully mastered all the charms below the NEWT level when it was now clear to me that I only had a superficial understanding.


    The magical discipline of Charms is like a clear pool of water. From the outside, it looks shallow. But, once you dive in, you discover that it''s a deep pool of water hiding many mysteries. Never one to back down from a challenge, I was looking forward to wading in and plumbing the depths and learning the mysteries of Charm-Crafting.


    I knew right away that this wouldn''t be like my other projects. I wasn''t going to be able to spend a year doing it before I could claim success. I had a feeling this would be a long term thing I would have to continue to work on. Even Dad says that he learns new things all the time, and a true Charm Crafter is always trying to improve and learn new things.


    Having learned a good foundation in magic, I knew where to begin. Similar to other branches of magic, the only way to become genuinely skilled was to practice. They''re no shortcuts in magic, no trick to somehow mastering a subject. The only way to advance was to put the work in. Yes, natural talent could help tremendously, but without effort, all the talent in the world amounts to nothing.


    The one issue I had been concerned about was materials. But, when I raised my concerns to Dad, he just laughed and told me to transfigure items to enchant. When I pointed out that the items would surely have a ton of magical spillage and wouldn''t hold enchantments for long, he countered by explaining that the point was to practice charm crafting, not create lasting magical items.


    The rest of my winter holiday went by fairly quickly. Outside of late-night charm crafting practice in my tower, I spent time with my little sisters. They were growing up so fast. It was hard to believe that it would be time for them to start Hogwarts in a few years. The only disappointing thing was Uncle John couldn''t make it. He was currently dealing with something somewhere in South Asia.


    The day before I was to return to school, Dad pulled me into his office. "I have a meeting set up with our partners at noon, and I want you to come along."


    I blinked for a moment. I had noticed since I had shown Dad the Slipstream Charm that he went out of the way to include me more in the family''s business. It''s not like he never listened to me when I had an idea. Dad had always listened to my ideas, but it was a passive thing. He wouldn''t seek me out and ask. He would wait for me to come to him.


    Ever since I showed him my spell, it was like I had passed some test or hit a benchmark in his eyes. During the last two weeks, he had sought me out and asked for my thoughts on several issues.


    The last time we had gone to meet with his partners, I tagged along like a kid accompanying his father. Now, he was asking me to join him, not necessarily as an equal, but like I could contribute and was worth bringing along.


    Our talks also included him passing on his wisdom in Charm-Crafting. He tended not to give answers outright. Instead, he gave me hints, wanting me to puzzle things out for myself.


    Seeing how Dad was waiting for a reply, I banished my musing and said the only thing I could.


    "Sure. I would be happy to come. Who all is going to be there?"


    "Well, Barbra Lancaster and Nurlock Sharpclaw will be there." Shifting his eyes away from mine, Dad continued, "As well as a friend of mine, a mentor really, who is interested in meeting you."


    I shot Dad a suspicious look. He looked guilty as sin when he mentioned his friend. He was up to something. I could practically smell it.


    "Uh-huh," I said suspiciously.


    Following Dad outside, he grabbed hold of me and apparated us to the warehouse. Deep within the underground building, Dad led me to a conference room that I could swear wasn''t here the last time I visited.


    Outside the door were two goblins. Neither of them looked pleased to be here. Their dark eyes stared at us suspiciously.


    Before I could ask why two goblins appeared to be standing guard outside a newly formed conference room, the answer popped into my head as soon as I saw one of the occupants in the room. Nurlock, the goblin matriarch, was waiting inside, as well as Barbra Lancaster, the squib CEO of Lancaster Commodities.


    I had seen him at dinner parties my parents had thrown. He was Geovani Mancinelli, an Italian wizard and more importantly, the Charm-Crafting Guild leader. He was widely considered to be one of the best enchanters in the world.


    As my attention left the occupants, I took in the conference room. Other than a short goblin sized door on the other side, the room was fairly mundane, having a long rectangular table with half a dozen chairs on either side. The only reason why the door stood out was that I was pretty sure this conference room was on the far side of the warehouse. There shouldn''t be anything on the other side.


    It didn''t take long for me to realize that the Sharpclaw clan must have built a tunnel. I imagine they use it for delivering the goblin forged gear that goes with the Firebolt.


    After a quick introduction, Nurlock impatiently asked, "What was so important that I needed to leave my clan halls?"


    Dad looked at me for a second, then turned back and explained to everyone with pride, "My son, Alex. Has invented a new spell that is going to slow things down."


    Nurlock hissed, "What spell could be so important? Every delay cost us gold, and our clan didn''t get into bed with your family to lose gold."


    Dad smirked at Nurlock''s protest. He knew that once she understood that the Slipstream Charm would make her clan more gold, she would probably be its biggest fan.


    Having understood that Dad wouldn''t make this suggestion lightly, Barbra asked, "What does the spell do?" She asked.


    Dad turned to me and motioned for me to take over.


    Feeling everyone shift their eyes to me, I cleared my throat and said, "Without getting into all the details. My spell can roughly increase the speed of any broom by twenty-five percent."


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Geovani twitch in surprise.


    Showing her talent with numbers, Barbra blurred out, "That means the Firebolt would have a top speed of 240 KPH."


    Dad chimed in, "Or roughly 187 MPH."


    As silence took the room, I was a little unnerved by Nurlock staring fondly at me. It made me think that she imagined me as a newly found gold mine. And nothing makes a goblin happier than gold.


    Having a good head for business, Barbra merely muttered, "Well, that does change things. How long will it take for you to get it ready for production?"


    Dad shrugged, "Probably another week or two. Then we can start making a stockpile. I am still hopeful that we can launch in March. There is a huge conference that every Broom company attends. Journalists from all over the world will be there. It''s the perfect place to unveil the Firebolt."


    I inwardly smirked. I can think of one reporter who will be busy that weekend.


    Nurlock''s fond expression faded away as something occurred to her. "Does this mean everything we''ve made is scrap?" She demanded.


    Dad glanced at me for a moment. "Thankfully not. Alex also had the bright idea of creating two lines of the Firebolt. One with his enchantment and one without."


    Dad smiled, as if he could already imagine the look on Delvin''s face, and gleefully added, "That would make us the only supplier of the top two fastest brooms in the world."


    Norluck chortled, "It seems your Rhuul Dhol (Blood Feud) is proceeding as planned. I imagine in the next couple of months, Delvin Whithorn will be tearing his hair out and cursing your name."


    Dad gave her an evil grin, "Adding the Slipstream Charm is just the beginning. Alex had another diabolical idea. One that is sure to make Nimbus bleed."


    Turning to me, Dad said, "Your idea of leasing out your spell to other broom companies is brilliant. While we soak up all the top end customers of Nimbus, the other companies can drain the bottom. If we time this right, the Nimbus Broom Racing Company will be hemorrhaging money hand over foot."


    Motioning for Geovani to step over, he said, "On that end, I''ve consulted with an old friend who has experience in doing what you''ve suggested."


    Geovani approached me with a bright gleam in his eyes. "Alexander," he gushed. "I can''t believe how much you''ve grown. I know your grandfather would be so proud of you if he could see you today."


    "When your father told me that his son created a spell at the age of 14, I knew I just had to meet you. Then your father brought up your idea for leasing the spell out, and I knew it was my duty to help out a promising young Charm-Crafter."


    "Having sold a few spells myself, I have a few ideas if you''re willing to listen."


    After I nodded, Geovani continued. "First, don''t lease your spell through your father''s company. Considering that you intend to work with many companies, it''s a better idea to create your own company, your own brand that is separate from the Firebolt."


    "I''m too young," I protested. "There''s no way anyone would take me seriously."


    Geovani grinned, "That brings me to point number two. If you want any company to trust in your brand, you should join the Charm-Crafting Guild."


    I saw a victorious look appear on Dad''s face. So that''s what he was acting so suspiciously smug about. He and Mum have both agreed not to push me into joining either the Charm-Crafting Guild or The Society of Potioneers. Now he could get someone else to sponsor me into the guild, not breaking their deal.


    After a moment of thought, I inwardly smirked and thought of a way to pay him back for using me to bait Mum last week.


    Seeing how Geovani was waiting for an answer, I said, "I would love to join, but don''t you only recruit students who have taken the OWL exams."


    Geovani waved away my concern. "We can make exceptions if we want."


    "Fine," I said. "I would love to join the guild."


    A pleased look appeared on Geovani''s face. "Excellent."


    Seemingly out of nowhere, Geocani conjured a stack of paperwork and a feathered quill.


    "Do I have to take a test or something?" I joked.


    Dad and Geovani looked at each other, then said in unison. "How did you know?"


    "What?" I panicked, "I was just kidding about that."


    Unable to help himself, Dad started laughing at my facial expression.


    As I inwardly swore revenge, Geovani explained, "No, these are your admission forms and a few other agreements you have to sign before you can join the guild."


    I shot a look at Dad to see if this was normal. When he gave me the nod, I said. "Where do I sign?"


    Once I was done with the paperwork, Geovani pulled out a small box and opened it. Inside the velvet case was a silver ring with the Guild logo neatly etched on it. I tried not to roll my eyes. Wizards sure do love their rings. I was building quite a collection of rings¡ªone for my tower, one for my dueling club, now the guild. I better be careful, or I''ll run out of fingers.


    Seeing the silver ring made me ask, "Why is it silver? I would have thought it would be bronze, the lowest level in the guild."


    Geovani smiled. "There are a few ways to reach the silver tier in the guild," he explained. "Creating a new spell and having a master decide that it is a worthy accomplishment is one of those ways. Considering how much your spell will impact the wizarding world, I say it more than qualifies."


    Wanting to make sure I understood, I said, "So, now that I''m in the guild. I''m supposed to set up a company, then hire some enchanters. Then send them out to other Broom companies."


    Geovani nodded, "Don''t worry about them stealing your spell. We have ironclad contracts that will prevent it from happening. But, let me give you one final piece of advice. When setting up contracts with other companies, try to sign long-term contracts that lock them into your company."


    Seeing my look of confusion, Geovani explained, "Your spell is so outstanding that others are going to try and follow in your footsteps. I give it no more than a decade before someone else has made a similar spell. It may not be as good as yours, but you can bet people will be trying."


    I frowned for a moment before shrugging. This whole thing wasn''t about money for me. Our family had money. For us, this was about revenge. It was the first step in reclaiming everything that belongs to our family and making the Delvin pay for stealing my grandpa''s life work.


    There were a few more things we had to work out. Because I was going back to school, there was a lot he would have to take care of. He offered to conduct the negotiations with other companies, but I laughed and told him to let Grandma do it. They''ll never know what hit them.


    The following day, my parents dropped me off at the train station. I made sure to select a cabin that faced the station. When the Hogwarts Express started rolling away, I knew it was time for my revenge. I opened a window and waved to my parents.


    "Mum," I called out.


    I think Dad sensed something terrible was about to happen because his eyes widened in panic. But, it may have been my Cheshire cat smile that gave it away.


    Once I had her attention, I followed through, "I forgot to tell you. Dad introduced me to the head of the Charm Crafting Guild. I''m now a full-fledged member of the guild.


    To make sure my revenge was total, I waved my hand, making sure she saw the silver guild ring.


    As the train rolled away, I could hear Mum screech her outrage. Ha, take that Dad.

 Chapter 99 - The Mirror of Erised

    The train ride back to Hogwarts seemed to go by in a blink of an eye. There was one topic that dominated in our cabin, the Firebolt.


    "100 galleons," Alicia yelped. "That''s practically what my Cleansweep six cost brand new."


    "It surprised me too," I replied. "But, my dad explained that materials are an important component in charm-crafting. And considering that the Firebolt is going to be the fastest broom in the world, it only makes sense that the materials are expensive."


    "My parents are gonna go nuts if I ask them for the money for another broom," Alicia grumbled. "They just bought me my Cleansweep last year."


    Seeing a carefully neutral expression on Cedric''s face made me realize I had stuck my foot in my mouth when I mentioned the money. I guess I had taken how well off my family was for granted. All I had to do was mention it to my parents if I ever wanted anything, and they got it for me. Considering Cedric''s Dad worked for the Ministry, coming up with a 100 galleons was probably a bigger deal to him.


    My eyes brightened as an idea occurred to me. "What about your share of the stash from the Grendel''s vault?"


    Alicia looked embarrassed and mumbled, "I kinda spent it all."


    "How in Merlin''s name did you spend it already?" I asked.


    "A girl had needs," she defended.


    Hoping that she wasn''t alone in her spending, she looked to the others.


    Cedric shook his head, "My dad took mine and opened me an account at Gringotts. But, he doesn''t want me to touch it till I come of age."


    Anna, being the daughter of a tycoon, was in a similar boat to me. She shook her head, "I haven''t touched mine."


    Seeing how uncomfortable Alicia and Cedric were, I decided to backpedal, "Well, you''ll have plenty of time to come up with the money. It''s going to take me some time before I get skilled enough to enchant at that level."


    Inwardly, I was already planning on how to make sure my friends could get the money. Knowing Cedric, he would reject any attempt at what he viewed as charity. I would have to give this some thought. One way or another, I was going to make sure he ended up on a Firebolt. I was looking forward to the day he could match his seeker skills against Harry when they were on even footing.


    If things went according to canon, Harry spent much of the break gazing at The Mirror of Erised, at least, before Professor Dumbledore took it and enchanted it to be the final layer of defense for the Philosopher''s Stone.


    Thinking about the Mirror made me tempted to go and check it out. I even knew of an easy shortcut that would let me bypass all the other obstacles, the Room of Requirement. The room might even allow me to summon the Mirror directly.


    For whatever reason, during the next couple of days, the idea of visiting the Mirror of Erised haunted my thoughts. It was like a mental itch I couldn''t scratch. One evening, unable to fall asleep, I finally decided to check the Mirror out and see if it did everything the books claimed it did.


    Not wanting to be caught out of bounds, I applied the Disillusionment Charm. After feeling the sensation of an egg running down my neck, I paused to examine my camouflage.


    I had come a long way with the charm. The chameleon effect was nearly perfect. But, I knew it could be taken further. Supposedly Professor Dumbledore could cast one powerful enough to make him fully invisible. I wasn''t quite there yet, but I was looking forward to the day I achieved perfect mastery of the spell.


    Knowing I would probably need help, Athena tagged along. I knew better than to try and use the Disillusionment Charm on her. The one time I tried it out on her, I instantly regretted it. Her caterwauling nearly burst my eardrums.


    Carefully sneaking through the castle, I made it to the Room of Requirement without incident. I closed my eyes and tried to summon the Mirror of Erised.


    For the first time since I''ve been at Hogwarts, the Room of Requirement failed me. I can''t say I was too surprised. I assumed that it didn''t work because Professor Dumbledore put down some pretty strong spells on the Mirror, preventing it from being summoned.


    Since Plan A didn''t work, I moved onto plan B. I had discovered quite a while ago that the exit to the Room of Requirement could be moved through the castle. The plan was to get the exit to open by the Mirror, bypassing all the layers of defense surrounding the Mirror. The only other thing I needed to do was have Athena keep the door open, so I didn''t get trapped down there.


    Looking down at Athena, I whispered, "Stay here and keep the door open."


    The first thing I noticed was that the chamber only had one entrance. It was blocked by eerily black flames that promised to sear the flesh off anyone who hadn''t drunk the correct potion. Thankfully, I was able to bypass Professor Snape''s puzzle.


    Satisfied that no one was coming through the black flames, I turned my attention to the only object in the chamber, the Mirror of Erised.


    When most people hear the term mirror, they tend to think of a small mirror hanging above a sink in a bathroom, or perhaps a larger one in the bedroom. The Mirror of Erised put those to shame. It was enormous, standing at around fifteen feet. Perhaps only Hagrid could view a mirror of that size as normal. Its ornate golden frame was supported by two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi


    As I drew closer, I could feel my heart beating in my c.h.e.s.t. Part of me wanted to turn back. Having one''s innermost d.e.s.i.r.es laid out in front of them could be both enlightening and troubling at the same time.


    Professor Dumbledore warned Harry that the Mirror had driven people mad before. Still, even with that warning rumbling through my head, I drew closer to the Mirror. I had to know. I wanted to see what it would show me.


    For a split second, I only saw myself in the Mirror. Just as I was wondering if the Mirror was broken, the scene changed.


    It was everything I thought it would be and more. They say a picture was worth a thousand words, but the images shown in the Mirror were worth tens times that amount.


    The first thing I saw was a very familiar image. It was the family room in my house. Everyone in my family was there, all having a good time. The more I studied the image, the more it changed. It started adding people, it wasn''t just my family, but all my friends as well.


    One strange detail I noticed while I was in the gathering happy as a clam. I noticed it wasn''t the only image of me. Taking a step back, I noticed an older shadowy version of myself was watching the gathering.


    I seemed to be sitting on my Hawk Throne with one hand supporting my chin as I lazily gazed down at my friends and family. If I had to put an age to my older self, I would say my mid-twenties.


    Focusing on the shadowy version of myself, I started noticing more details. Like a shallow scar running through my left eyebrow and down my cheek. Or the ring with a gem that shifted colors on my right hand.


    If those details weren''t strange enough, the older version of myself glanced up and made eye contact with me.


    Without thinking, I took a step back from the Mirror. What in Merlin''s Addled Mind was that?


    His steely grey eyes seemed to focus on me for a moment before he playfully winked. Like he was amused by my reaction. He waved his other hand, and the family scene he was watching over started morphing.


    The next scene showed me another d.e.s.i.r.e that I kept buried deep down???the downfall of the Whitehorn family along with their syndicate. Part of me wanted to look away from the nightmarish scene, but another part of me, a colder part of me that I rarely let out of its cage, kept my eyes glued to the Mirror.


    I was standing wand in hand in a dark room with seven large chairs in a U shape. Shadowy figures whose facial features I couldn''t make out sat in six of the chairs. But one I recognized, it was Declan Whithorn, head of the syndicate. Standing on either side of his chair were Michael and Delvin.


    What happened next was grisly, even for me. The me in the image started tearing through them like a sickle cutting a path through wheat.


    Spells that I didn''t recognize were being fired off one after the other¡ªeach producing a different effect. One shadowy figure exploded into a bloody pink mist. Another had their face melted off. Declan ended up being hit by a slicing spell that cut him from head to groin. He collapsed into two separate pieces spilling his guts across the floor.


    Delvin, his cowardly son, died quickly with a look of terror on his face when he was hit by a green jet of light. The scene ended with me towering over Michael, who was tearfully blubbering on his hands and knees. The cold sneer on my face told me Michael wouldn''t survive.


    Bile rose in my throat, and my stomach threatened to empty its contents. "That is not me," I pointlessly shouted at the mirror version on me. "I would never."


    My voice trailed off as the Mirror showed a nearly identical scene. It didn''t go down the same as the previous times. But it didn''t change anything. The mirror image of me ripped through them, gleefully tearing them apart. Over and over, the Mirror showed me this scene, ruthlessly pounding it into my head that part of me, however small, wanted this.


    I don''t know how many times I viewed it, but I was starting to understand how the Mirror of Erised could drive someone mad. The Mirror didn''t just show you your main d.e.s.i.r.e. It showed all of them. Even the ones you weren''t proud of, the ones you wouldn''t act on, the d.e.s.i.r.es you knew were wrong but still had.


    Only after finally admitting to myself that yes, a part of me wanted to do horrible things to the Whitehorn''s and their syndicate. The part that would do anything to protect my family, the part that would ruthlessly crush anything that threatened my family. Did the Mirror move on and showed me other things I d.e.s.i.r.ed.


    The next scene was thankfully less violent; it was a picture of me waving and receiving awards and accolades for breakthroughs in magic. All while being congratulated and welcomed by the best minds in magic.


    The Mirror moved on and showed me leaving behind my contribution to the Library of Ravenclaw. It was so impressive that it overshadowed all the other heirs, even Ravenclaw herself.


    On and on, the Mirror showed me the things I wanted. Most were good, but some were dark and better left unspoken. Some were obvious, like being the youngest international dueling champion or mastering magical disciplines. Others were more confusing, like me winning the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup for Ravenclaw when I wasn''t even on the quidditch team.


    Just when I thought it was over, the Mirror started showing images of what every teenage boy thinks about, girls. Apparently, part of me wanted to be a real Casanova because there was no shortage of girls, most of whom were my classmates.


    My cheeks burned red in embarrassment when I saw an image of Jessica, teasing me about what she wore under her Hogwarts robes. When Anna joined her, I nearly passed out. I tried to cover my eyes with my hands, you know, out of respect for my friends. But for some reason, the gaps between my fingers refused to close, showing me everything, EVERYTHING.


    I''m not sure how long I was standing there, mesmerized by the images shown, but a noise startled me and brought me out of it.


    I shook my head, trying to clear the fuzziness. Once my head was clear, I took several deep breaths. The kind when you''re underwater for way too long, and you surface gasping as if you want to inhale all the oxygen in the world.


    Turning, I saw Athena staring at me with concern. She must have turned up the volume when she saw how deep the Mirror had drawn me in.


    Turning back to the Mirror, I frowned. Whoever invented the Mirror of Erised was a real bastard. No wonder wizards could be driven mad looking into this thing. Who knows what long-term damage could be done if someone was allowed to stare at the Mirror uninterrupted. I bet someone could easily starve to death, so drawn in that they lose perspective of everything. Or perhaps they would become so lost in the illusions the Mirror showed, preferring it to reality. Perhaps that was its original purpose before Professor Dumbledore repurposed it to defend the Stone.


    Although, I knew I should leave it alone. I decided to try one more thing. I was a little tempted to see if I could get the Philosopher''s Stone. All I would want is a piece, something I could experiment on.


    The Stone could make anyone who drank the water it produced immortal. Yes, it was a shitty version of immortality. But still, it was a powerful piece of magic, and I had a weakness for those.


    This time, I was warier when I looked into the Mirror. I wasn''t about to get s.u.c.k.e.d deep in again.


    The Mirror showed me what I wanted, me holding the Philosopher''s Stone. But, similar to Quirrell''s experience, that was all it did.


    As I watched myself experimenting and learning the Stone''s secrets. I realized I would never in a million years pass Dumbledore''s test of wanting to find the Stone, but not use it. It just wasn''t who I was. If I had the Stone, I would use it or experiment on it, hoping to perfect the immortality it gave.


    As soon as the thought appeared, the older version of myself appeared behind the version of myself experimenting on the Stone. For the second time, he winked at me, like he knew something I didn''t. He pulled out a familiar aspen wand dispelling that version of me.


    Seeing him smirk at me made the hairs on the back of my neck rise up. He, I mean me, whatever it was, was starting to seriously weird me out. So, I slowly backed away and let out a sigh of relief when the image faded away.


    Turning to Athena, who was still holding the door to the Room of Requirement open, I said, "I think I''ve seen enough for tonight. Let''s go back."


    Athena happily chuffed, pleased to be leaving the creepy Mirror behind.


    When we got back to the dorm, I realized it was nearly morning. Just how long had I been staring at the Mirror before Athena snapped me out of it?


    Already, I could feel the urge to return to see what else it would show me. A small part of me argued that perhaps the Mirror''s power could be harnessed in some way. Maybe I could use it as a guide to get things I wanted.


    I shook my head, snapping out of it. I privately swore never to go back. It was just too dangerous, too addictive, and not worth the danger. I sounded like someone strung out on pixie dust and was making excuses to get my next fix.


    As I laid in bed waiting for the sun to rise, I couldn''t help but think about everything I had seen. In a way, the Mirror had given me a brutally honest glimpse into who I was, of what I wanted.


    Some of the things the Mirror showed me were pure childish fantasies. Like being the Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team and winning the Quidditch Cup. Sure, I had fantasized about it when I was younger, but that wasn''t really something I thought about anymore. Maybe the Mirror doesn''t care. Maybe as long as you''ve wanted it, it will show it to you, trying to entice you to sink deeper within the delusion.


    Some of the other stuff it showed me weren''t even things I actively thought about. Somehow it reached deep within my subconscious and pulled them out.


    Of course, most of what was shone was spot on for what I wanted. But, the one thing my mind kept going back to was the older version of myself. I knew not to take the things I saw seriously; the Mirror was just trying to tempt me. But still, he somehow felt different.


    The obvious conclusion was it was a version of myself that mastered magic and was at the height of power, everything I wanted to be. Still, the way he looked at me, it was like he was so real.


    I shivered as goosebumps flooded my arms.


    Thankfully, the sun''s rays peeking through my windows distracted me from my thoughts. Somehow in the daylight, last night''s events seemed more distant. Knowing that it would be a long day, I dug through the many potions I had brewed, looking for a wide-eye potion.


    Normally I would power through the day, but I had potions later today, and the last person who dozed off in class ended up with a month''s worth of detentions testing antidotes. The wide-eye potion would keep me awake, and even with the cost of me being twice as tired when it wore off, the effects were more than worth it.


    The next couple of days s.u.c.k.e.d. The urge to return to the Mirror of Erised was nearly overpowering. I was halfway tempted to erase the whole experience from my mind but ultimately decided against it. If I couldn''t handle something like this, how was I ever supposed to master magic?


    While the driving urge to return to the Mirror slowly faded away, I was left with some very confusing dreams, most of which I couldn''t remember the contents other than remembering that they were strange.

 Chapter 100 - Athenas Origin

    Banishing the incident with the Mirror of Erised to the back of my mind, I threw myself back into my enchanting practice. I had a long way to go if I wanted to build firebolts for my friends.


    I had so many ideas I wanted to explore. One of which would give me my own map of Hogwarts. Of course, I was planning to cheat to get my version. Now that I have a better understanding of charm-crafting, I am more impressed with the Marauders. James, Sirius, and Lupin, and I guess Peter went through a ton of effort in creating the map. I wonder what they would think about me piggy-backing off their hard work? Probably equal parts being annoyed that I was cheating off their work and happiness that their work would continue to bring more mischief to Hogwarts.


    As the days rolled by, other matters were brought to my attention. My fledgling little company needed a name, and grandma was getting pretty insistent in her letters that I come up with one soon. My first act as CEO had been to hire her to handle all my negotiations while I was at school. Grandma was as sharp as they come, a real wolf in sheep''s clothing.


    She had already set a meeting with the Cleansweep and Comet Broom Companies. Always the overachiever, she had even snagged a meeting with Universal Brooms, the most prominent company across the pond in The States. All she needed now was a name.


    "Mr. Fawley," a sharp voice cut in, gaining my attention.


    Turning, I saw Professor Kettleburn, the professor who taught the Care of Magical Creatures waving his claw, motioning me to stay behind.


    Today was a rare day in class. Most of the time, we did class outside. From what I could tell, Professor Kettleburn was a big believer in hands-on teaching. But, it was inevitable that there were days where we would be inside a class learning. Some of the creatures we learned about were either too rare or dangerous to bring into a school.


    When I approached Professor Kettleburn, I couldn''t help but notice that he radiated disapproval. Confused, I asked, "Did I do something wrong?"


    Professor Kettleburn frowned, tightening the scar that ran from his forehead to chin. "I''ve been waiting months for you to come by with your Lamassu."


    Before I could say anything, he went on with a disapproving frown, "I had hoped that you wanted to explore the bond that exists between the two of you. Your bond is extremely rare and precious. I hope you understand that it won''t just benefit you to explore it, but your Lamassu as well."


    A small pang of guilt shot through me. With everything that had been going on, I had pretty much pushed his offer to the back of my mind and forgotten about it.


    Embarrassed, I replied, "I do. I''ve just been swamped lately."


    My voice trailed off, and silence filled the room. Even I could tell my excuse fell flat. I should have made more of an effort. A wave of self-doubt welled up within me, was I taking Athena for granted? If our bond could be better understood, didn''t I have the responsibility to do so?


    Perhaps sensing my regret, Professor Kettleburn offered me a lifeline. "How about this Friday evening, you come by my office at 7:00 with your Lamassu."


    After nodding in agreement, I soon left to catch up with my friends.


    Later in my room, I found myself alone with Athena. She was lounging on my four-poster bed and looked worn out for some reason. Not for the first time, I wondered what she got up to when I wasn''t around. She was definitely smart enough to get out of the tower if she wanted to.


    "What do you think?" I asked. "Have I taken our bond for granted?"


    Athena gave me a lazy yawn, rolled to her feet, stretching for a moment before coming over, and curled up into a ball on my l.a.p.


    I couldn''t help but smile at the sight. Seeing Athena like this reminded me of when she was younger and smaller. Athena was now twice the size of an average cat. But, since Dad enchanted Athena''s new collar to give her the ability to manipulate her size, she likes to shrink and curl up on my l.a.p.


    Unfortunately, I couldn''t find anything. Not even in the Room of Requirement. It didn''t help that Lamassus, like Athena weren''t native to the British Isles and most Lamassu were wild and unbound.


    One couldn''t force a Lamassu to bond to a person. It didn''t even matter if you got one when they were still in their egg. Lamassu have been known to refuse to hatch if they disapprove of whoever has their egg.


    All this got me wondering why Uncle John gave me Athena''s egg in the first place. I had never wondered about it before, but Looking back at the memory, he seemed confident Athena would hatch for me. I ended up sending him a letter asking why.


    A few days later, I received Uncle John''s reply during breakfast in the great hall. Rather than a letter, he sent a thickly padded brown envelope. Curious, I tore the top off and felt inside.


    I pulled out a cool, smooth pane of glass that showed my reflection. It came with a small card that bore Uncle John''s handwriting that was similar to mine. Clearly, Grandma had given him the same treatment when he was a child.


    The note was fairly brief.


    This is a two-way mirror. Tonight, when the clock strikes twelve, look at the mirror.


    Sincerely John Fawley


    P.S.


    Make sure you are alone.


    I rolled my eyes at Uncle John''s theatrics. Midnight. Really? This was so typical of him. Anytime he could make something more dramatic, he would do it in a heartbeat. I should have just written Dad. If it were really important, Uncle John would have told him.


    But, even though it was a little annoying that I wouldn''t be getting a full night''s sleep, I stayed up till midnight, intent on having my curiosity sated.


    As midnight approached, I let one eye on the mirror and the other on the transparent glass clock with shiny brass gears silently turning within that dad had given me.


    The second the clock struck midnight, Uncle John''s face appeared in the two-way mirror. I shook my head in silent despair. See what I mean, theatrics.


    "Alex," Uncle John greeted with a smile. "How''s school?"


    Wagging his eyebrow, he added, "I hope you''re putting down your books everyone once in a while and having some fun."


    Ignoring his advice, I asked, "Where are you?"


    Uncle John waved away my query, "Oh. Nowhere important."


    I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and angled the mirror, trying to get a better look. I caught a glimpse of white sand, and if I listened closely, I could also hear the sound of waves crashing against a beach. Uncle John was probably on an island of some sort. And judging from the sunlight, I could surmise that he was on the other side of the world.


    Before I could question his location again, Uncle John changed the subject to what this meeting was about.


    "So, you want to know about Athena''s origins." He remarked.


    Taking a deep breath, Uncle John dramatically. "There was a prophecy."


    "Uncle John," I protested. "Be serious."


    After faking a sigh, Uncle John''s serious look faded away. "You''re no fun." He w.h.i.n.ed.


    Seeing that I wasn''t in the mood, Uncle John said, "Fine. Have it your way. Years ago, I found myself deep within the Zagros Mountains exploring a lost and long forgotten magical stronghold."


    "You were looking for treasure, weren''t you" I accused.


    Uncle John''s face reddened. "No, I wasn''t." He defended about as convincingly as a five-year-old who had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.


    Uncle John coughed and cleared his throat, trying to recover his dignity. "Anyways, As you know, many of these ancient sites are filled with curses or other ancient magics that have gone awry."


    "Did you find Athena''s egg within?" I questioned.


    Uncle John shook his head. "No, we didn''t find Athena in the stronghold. But, the event that led me to getting ahold of her egg began with our exploration."


    "For safety concerns, we hired a local wizard named Karem."


    "That was Aunt Nefret''s idea, wasn''t it," I interjected.


    Uncle John shot me a reproachful look and defended, "I can be safety conscious."


    Thoughts of how he let my five-year-old self get on a broom without any training surfaced within my mind.


    "Sure you can," I sarcastically reassured him.


    Giving me a suspicious look, Uncle John continued, "When we were exploring, we ended up unsealing an old room that contained a cursed fire that sought to destroy and consume us. It was almost sentient in the way it chased us through the ancient dwelling."


    An old memory of reading one of Anton''s books in the Fawley tower gave me a name.


    "Fiendfyre," I whispered.


    Uncle John shot me a questioning look as if he was wondering where I had learned the term. For a moment, I was sure he would ask, but he simply nodded and confirmed. "Aye. It was Fiendfyre. As the cursed fire chased us through the ancient stronghold, Karem and I got separated from the rest of our group, and we ended up being trapped within the stronghold deep underground."


    The words, "How did you escape?" Left my mouth before I could stop them.


    Uncle John preened for a moment shifting his pirate hat and smugly explained, "As destructive as Fiendfyre is, there is a counterspell that can dispel it if one is skilled enough."


    The proud look Uncle John gave me clearly wanted me to ask him all about it.


    I squashed the urge to roll my eyes. In a fake, exaggerated tone, I replied, "No way."


    Ignoring my tone, Uncle John proudly tapped the tip of his nose. "Of course, no cursed fire is going to get the best of the Great Pirate Wizard John Fawley."


    This time, I couldn''t help it, I rolled my eyes. "What does any of this have to do with Athena?"


    Uncle John deflated a little at my unimpressed look. "You used to be more fun." He complained.


    Seeing my impatient look, he surrendered, "Fine. Like I told you before, the events of the exploration led me to getting ahold of Athena. Karen''s family was grateful that I saved his life. So, they gave me Athena''s egg, which they had been safeguarding for generations."


    "Why did you give her egg to me? When I think about it, you seemed sure at the time that she would hatch for me."


    Uncle John''s eyes shifted for a moment. "Well, do you remember when I said there was a prophecy?"


    Not liking where this was going, I nodded warily.


    "Well, while there wasn''t actually a prophecy, I did consult a seer. After handling Athena''s egg, she suggested I give it to my nephew."


    While I was a little unsure of how I felt about a seer directing Athena''s presence in my life, I couldn''t really complain. Honestly, I can''t imagine my life without Athena. She had been there for me nearly all my life.


    "Is that all the seer said?" I asked.


    Uncle John held up his hand and crossed two fingers, "Pirates Honor."


    "Wait," I said as a thought occurred to me. "I thought pirates weren''t supposed to have honor."


    Uncle John chuckled evilly, "We don''t."


    Before I could say anything else, his image faded from the mirror. Unable to get him to return, I put away the mirror to think about everything I learned.


    To think that a seer suggested I get Athena. I wonder just how much she saw. Seer magic was notoriously tricky. Most of the time, the future was filled with constant shifting pathways. Sometimes just getting knowledge from a seer is enough to change the future that they saw.


    Knowing that a seer put Athena in my path made me think that I should pay close attention to everything Professor Kettleburn has to say about our bond. I can''t shake the feeling that it''s going to be important.


    Maybe it will be Athena who saves us all in the end.


    I turned to study Athena, who was lounging on the edge of my bed, looking for any sign of magical prowess that the seer must have seen in her future.


    Feeling my eyes upon her, Athena twisted to stare at me with her green eyes. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a look of surprise filled her face as she and my pillow slipped off the bed and crashed down to the ground in a whirlwind of fur and claws.


    Deciding that the pillow was responsible for her fall, Athena started wrestling with it to prove her dominance.


    Ok¡­ maybe she wasn''t going to be saving us all.


    The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. Before I knew it, it was Friday evening and time for my meeting with Professor Kettleburn.


    I grabbed Athena after dinner and started making my way down to the first floor, Professor Kettleburn''s rarely used classroom was located. Ninety percent of the time, Care of Magical Creatures was held outdoors. It was a hands-on type of class.


    As I approached the classroom, I noticed Professor Kettleburn leaning against the wall. He appeared to be having a conversation with himself. Anywhere else, this would be cause for concern. But, this was Hogwarts, with all the moving portraits here, it wasn''t uncommon to see someone staring at the wall and having a lively debate.


    As if sensing my approach, he murmured something to the nearest painting and turned to me.


    "Mr. Fawley." He greeted, "I''m so glad you could make it."


    With a much greater intensity, he glanced down at Athena, who was watching him with careful eyes. I couldn''t blame her. Professor Kettleburn was nearly vibrating with excitement.


    "This must be your Lamassu." He gushed, "What''s her name?"


    "Athena," I supplied.


    Professor Kettleburn raised a scarred eyebrow, "Named her after the Ancient Greek Wizardess. Curious, I would have thought you would go with something more Persian, considering her origins in the Middle East."


    "Athena seemed to like it," I defended.


    "Forgive me," Professor Kettleburn murmured. "Sometimes I think out loud."


    "Come," Professor Kettleburn said. "Let''s continue this in my office."


    I followed into the rarely used classroom and through another door in the back that led to his office. Once again, I marveled at how easily he moved despite only having one remaining limb. His two magical prosthetic legs allowed him to move swiftly, and his arm that ended with a magical pincher-like-claw gave him a surprising amount of dexterity.


    His office was more cluttered than I assumed it would be. Along the walls were pictures. Most of them showed Professor Kettleburn posing with strange magical creatures. Others showed him smiling next to foreign witches and wizards.


    "There was a lot more of me back then," Professor Kettleburn''s amused voice rang out.


    I looked closer at the pictures. They almost told a story of Professor Kettleburn''s injuries. In his younger pictures, he was a blonde hair wizard with bright eyes. But, as he got older, he became closer to his current incarnation. First, it was a scar, then a leg. The older he got, the more injuries he acquired.


    If I hadn''t already determined that I would be dropping the subject once I received my OWL, the injuries would have convinced me.


    Don''t get me wrong. I love Athena. But she is the only magical creature that I wish to get acquainted with, as for all the other magical creatures, not so much.


    As I took a seat, I couldn''t stop staring at what looked like a stuffed hyena sitting on a shelf behind Professor Kettleburn''s desk. In my defense. It was staring back at me. It even blinked once or twice.


    "So," Professor Kettleburn suggested, "Tell me about the night you and Athena bonded."


    Summoning the memory from the night of my fifth birthday, I began, "It was nighttime when she hatched. I''m not sure what time it was, but it was late, and there was no moonlight."


    Professor Kettleburn nodded, "Yes, Lamassu only hatch during new moons."


    Getting back to my story, I continued, "Once she hatched, she bit me."


    I ran my fingers over a small, faint scar on my left hand.


    Noticing my movements, Professor Kettleburn eyed my left hand. "Is that where she bit you?" He asked.


    He held his hand out, "May I?"


    I shrugged and showed him my hand.


    Once he was satisfied that he had gleaned everything he could from the scar, Professor Kettleburn asked, "And the bonding, what was it like? How did it feel?"


    I shrugged, "It was like¡­" my voice trailed off as I struggled to find the words."


    "I felt something pass through me. I don''t know how to describe it, like a wave of energy. Once it passed through me, it was like I wasn''t alone anymore."


    "What do you mean you weren''t alone?"


    Fidgeting with my fingers, I struggled to explain, "It''s hard to describe. It''s only something I became aware of after bonding with Athena. It''s like only after we connected did it become apparent that I was previously alone.


    Seeing Professor Kettleburn wanted more, I continued, "Imagine I''m in a dark room, I can''t see or hear anyone. Anyone else in that situation would be alone. But, not me, Athena would be with me, even if she weren''t physically with me."


    Professor Kettleburn muttered something in a language I didn''t recognize. Seeing my curiosity, he said, "It''s an old Persian saying, it means Soul-Bond. That''s what they would call it in the region Athena originates from."


    As my mind chewed on the term soul-bond, I nodded thoughtfully. That wording felt right.


    Eyes brimming with curiosity, he asked, "So you''re always aware of one another."


    I nodded, "it''s like a faint touch in the back of my mind."


    "Is it distracting?" Professor Kettleburn asked.


    I shook my head. "No, I don''t even really notice it anymore unless I actively concentrate on it."


    Leaning forward, Professor Kettleburn asked, "Can you communicate with Athena through the bond."


    I looked down at Athena, who was lounging lazily on my l.a.p. "I don''t think so. All I''ve ever really been able to do is have a sense of her direction."


    "Are you sure? My friend in Africa has informed me that limited communication through the bond is possible."


    I peeked up, "Really? Like with words."


    Athena must have felt my excitement because she perked up as well.


    Professor Kettleburn held up a hand, "I don''t know if words are possible. I believe it''s more along the lines of an idea or meaning."


    Pointing towards Athena with his claw, "I imagine Athena here is already a few steps ahead of you. Think about it, have you ever needed to train her to do something? Or does she always just seem to know what you mean?"


    I blinked at Athena, who was watching me with her big green eyes. "I just thought it was because she was so smart," I murmured.


    Athena nuzzled my hand in appreciation.


    Suddenly, a whole world of possibilities opened up. "How do we deepen our bond?" I questioned.


    "Practice," Professor Kettleburn explained. "Start with small things. Now that it''s clear that she is listening to you through the bond try to expand on that. Maintain contact at first. Your bond is strongest when you''re touching. As you become more aware of your bond, try to sense what Athena wants and go from there."


    "Will we always have to be in physical contact for it to work?"


    "No, my friend tells me it''s more than possible to communicate with his Lamassu at a distance."


    Curious about who this mysterious friend was, I asked, "If you don''t mind me asking, who is your friend. I would love to write to him."


    Professor Kettleburn''s eyes danced with mischief. "Oh, I think you will be meeting him before long."


    Seeing my puzzled look, he explained, "My friend, Kasim, is a professor as Uagadou. I would imagine you will run into him next year when you are visiting his school."

 Chapter 101 - A Few Snippets

    After weeks of procrastination, I finally settled on a name for my new company.


    Fawley''s Arcane Solutions.


    The name seemed to resonate with what I envisioned my company doing now and in the future.


    Unfortunately, my reward for buckling down and coming up with a name left a lot to be d.e.s.i.r.ed. Namely paperwork, gobbling heaps of it, delivered every morning in a seemingly never-ending stream of owls. I swear, there must be half-a-dozen rumors floating around the castle about all the owl deliveries.


    In fact, I''m getting so much paperwork to sign. I''m starting to suspect the real reason Grandma was so insistent about me naming the company was so she could send the paperwork to my doorstep rather than deal with it herself.


    Still, I have to admit, Grandma never does anything halfway. Fawley''s Arcane Solutions had already grown past my initial expectations. Already I had over a dozen enchanters under my employ with more on the way. Once the contracts with the other broom companies were signed and sealed, they would be dispatched.


    It didn''t surprise me that she had even hired a goblin accountant from Clan Sharpclaw to keep an eye on the books. After all, goblins make some of the best bookkeepers, and no sane wizard would try and cheat one.


    Speaking of my newly employed goblin bookkeeper, Larpick. He sent me the copies of contracts Grandma had worked out with Comet, Cleansweep, Universal, and even with Dad''s new company, the Firebolt Racing Broom Company.


    Each contract had slightly different terms. Dad''s contract was the most favorable. I had tried to convince him and Grandma that they could use the spell for free. But, they insisted we put a line in the sand between our two companies. Still, Dad got the best terms for the slipstream charm by far. His contract specified that he would receive the rights to the spell for a period of fifty years, with Fawley''s Arcane Solutions receiving 3.9 percent of the sales of any Broom with slipstream enchantment attached.


    While Grandma had apparently given Dad''s company a good deal, she had gone for the throat with the rest of them. The Comet Broom Company had the next best contract, at a rate of 6.85 percent over the next ten years.


    Cleansweep and Universal Brooms got worse rates because they didn''t want to commit to a ten-year deal. Cleansweep settled at a rate of 7.9 percent over seven years, and Universal got a rate of 8.4 percent over a period of five years.


    Dad had warned me that this would happen. No broom company would want to be on someone else''s hook forever. While they wouldn''t have a clear understanding of how my spell worked. Now that they knew it was possible, they would be experimenting with their own spells, hoping to create a charm similar to mine.


    While my spell wouldn''t be used by these companies forever, I was still looking at five to ten years of significant profits. Even after paying my employees, I would be raking in the galleons. Larpick had sent me some early projections, and the number of galleons per month I would be pulling down was massive. I was going to be rich! Well, richer than I already was right now.


    Wiping the sweat from my brow, I made sure to clamp down on my amus.e.m.e.nt as I watched my dueling partner hop like a frog around in a circle.


    "Alex, undo the curse," Anna demanded from her frog-like position on the floor.


    Against her will, she made a frog sound. "Ribbit."


    Anna''s purple eyes blazed at me from behind her blond hair, which was also soaked with sweat. We had just had an intense dueling session. She spent most of it taunting me because I had been spamming the shield charm blocking every one of her spells. After a few suggestive nicknames, I retaliated by introducing her to a petty curse I discovered in the Fawley Tower.


    While its official name was the Frog curse, I had mentally dubbed it as the Frogger. It didn''t actually turn you into a frog. It merely made you imitate a frog''s movements and habits.


    "I mean it," Anna warned as she hopped around a few more times.


    "I don''t know," I said with a smirk. "I think your new movements might improve your dueling skills. Think about it. You can hop out of the way of any incoming spells."


    Anna replied with a growl.


    I tilted my head, "Was that sound intentional? Or is there some type of growling frog out there that I don''t know about?"


    "Alexander Fawley! If you don''t remove this spell right now, I''ll¡­"


    Anna''s voice trailed off for a moment as she mentally searched for a worthy threat.


    Her eyes lit up as something occurred to her.


    "If you don''t remove this spell right now, I''ll write to your mother." She threatened.


    I leaned back as if I was warding off a blow.


    "You wouldn''t."


    "Ribbit."


    Her face turned red as the unplanned sound slipped out once again.


    I let out a laugh. "You know, it could be worse. I could always whip up a batch of flies and really test the limits of the Frogger Curse."


    Hearing my musing, Anna paled, and f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y clamped her mouth shut with her hands and promised vengeance with her eyes.


    "Alright, alright," I surrendered. "I''ll undo it."


    Freed from the curse, she got up from her crouched positions and silently marched over to her wand that I knocked across the room.


    Sensing I was in trouble, I remained out of her way. I would need to be careful for the next few days. Anna had been known to hold a grudge.


    Looking back, I should have had my guard up. I should have known Anna wouldn''t wait for her revenge.


    Just as we were parting to go in different directions, I heard Anna call out, "Alex."


    Glad I wouldn''t be subject to any more of her silent treatment, I turned around, and my eyes widened in panic as I saw a pair of purple eyes framed by blond hair glaring gleefully at me.


    Anna had somehow snuck her wand out without my noticing and had it pointed right at me.


    Before I could say anything, she chanted, "Somnum."


    Unable to get my wand out in time or dodge out of the way due to our closeness, my world went black as the spell hit me.


    The next thing I knew, I woke up on the hard stone floor of a classroom I had never been in before.


    "Merlin''s Beard," I grumbled. "She needs to learn how to take a joke."


    Pushing myself up, I checked myself and my surroundings, looking for anything out of place. I wouldn''t put it past Anna to get real creative in her revenge.


    As I made my way back through the castle, my heart nearly stopped when I nearly ran into the Astronomy professor, Professor Sinistra.


    Panicking, I ducked behind a suit of armor, closed my eyes, and held my breath. My heartbeat was so loud. I figured I was done and would be spending the next few days in detention.


    Whether it was a lack of attention, or my Disillusionment Charm working so well, Professor Sinistra walked right by me, not noticing a thing.


    I gave it a few minutes to make sure everything was clear before making my way to the Ravenclaw tower. On my way back to my room, I decided it was about time for me to enact my plan in getting a hold of my own version of the Marauder''s Map.


    It wasn''t until the following day that I realized that Anna had indeed gone the extra step in her revenge. I was late for breakfast but noticed that I was getting some odd looks on my way to the Great Hall.


    The second Roger caught sight of me. He burst into laughter.


    Jessica turned to see what he was laughing at. When she saw me, she exclaimed, "Alex, what have you done to your face?"


    Confused, I reached up and felt my facial feature. "What are you talking about?"


    Pulling out a small mirror from her robes, she showed me my reflection with compassion in her blue eyes.


    As soon as I caught a glimpse of my face, I swore, "Dragon Shit."


    Apparently, Anna hadn''t been satisfied with knocking me out. She had covered my face in makeup. My grey eyes were darkened with eyeshadow, and blush covered my cheeks. Worst of all was the cherry colored lipstick that adorned my lips.


    Furious, I turned to the Slytherin table to glare at the person responsible.


    Anna flashed me her pearly whites and mockingly waved her fingers at me.


    Realizing that I was drawing more attention to myself, I turned back to the Ravenclaw table and tried to wipe the makeup off my face with the edge of my robes.


    "Is it off?" I asked Jessica.


    She shook her head, "I think whoever did it may have used a permanent charm."


    Roger''s laughter doubled, and he fell off his seat.


    I shot him a furious glare.


    Dammit, Anna. This was not a proportionate response.


    After a few moments, the best option presented itself to me, but at the same time, it was the most embarrassing.


    Knowing that waiting wouldn''t help, I stormed off, heading to the hospital wing muttering dark promises of revenge. Madam Pomfrey would surely be able to get this crap off my face.


    As I stormed into the Hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey took one look at me and said, "Oh dear."


    It didn''t take long for Madam Pomfrey to get rid of the makeup. It seems like this isn''t the first time she has seen someone in my condition. She quickly whipped up a magical solution and applied to my face. Thirty minutes later and the makeup was gone. While I waited, I plotted my payback.


    Having gathered all the necessary materials needed to make my own Hogwarts map, I set out to track Fred and George Weasley down to get the Marauder''s Map.


    Of course, tracking down Fred and George may be the trickiest part in all of this. Outside of class, they''re like invisible wraiths of chaos. Although, perhaps a better term would be a poltergeist.


    I swear, they have so much in common with Peeves I''m beginning to think they''re his secret apprentices, or maybe it''s the other way around.


    I finally found them on the third floor, in the Far East corridor. They had opened a window, and they were both seemingly focused on something below.


    As I got closer, I noticed one of them had a wand out and the other hastily checking a piece of parchment before returning beneath his robe. Probably using the Marauder''s Map to ensure no one was sneaking up on them while they enact whatever prank they were about to pull.


    Confirming my suspicions, Fred called out without looking in my direction, "Hey Alex."


    Curious about what they were doing, I approached them to see what George was pointing his wand at. Outside, a dozen feet from the castle, was a slimy greenish-brown substance hovering in the air. Even from that distance, a foul, rotten sewage smell invaded my nose, almost making me gag.


    "Is that Stinksap?" I asked, trying to hold my lunch.


    Fred gave me an evil grin. "Maybe. It depends on who''s asking."


    I couldn''t help but feel a moment of pity for their chosen victim. Stinksap smelled awful, and the smell took forever to get out.


    Fred pulled the map out and rechecked it.


    "We''ve got incoming." He warned. "It''s Snakehead."


    George hissed, "Dammit, what''s he doing up here? He''s supposed to be in the dungeon."


    George sent the ball of floating stinksap flying off into the distance with a flick of his wrist. Mere seconds after the twins got the window closed. Professor Snape rounded the corner, his dark robes billowing out behind him as he purposefully strode in our directions.


    His gaze paused on me for a brief second as if he were wondering why I was here. But his dark eyes and carefully blank face refused to give away his inner thoughts.


    Deciding to ignore me, he turned towards the twins. Professor Snape snapped, ''What are you doing up here?"


    "Nothing," the twins declared in unison.


    I wanted to shake my head in despair. They said that in a tone that was about as convincing as a toddler trying to deny some wrongdoing. Knowing Fred and George, they did it on purpose. They were taunting Professor Snape, knowing he couldn''t prove what they had been doing.


    Professor Snape locked eyes with George for a moment, then sneered, "Why do I detect a hint of Stinksap in the air?"


    George''s face morphed into innocence. "Does it?" Looking around the empty hallway, George remarked, "I don''t see any. What about you, Fred?"


    "Nope," Fred cheekily replied.


    Glaring at both of them in frustration, Professor Snape warned, "If I hear of any tomfoolery involving Stinksap, I''ll have your hides."


    Ignoring me, Professor Snape glided away.


    Once he was gone, Fred whistled, "That was close."


    "It''s like he has a sixth sense about these things," George complained. "He''s been dogging our footsteps all year."


    Weighing in, I said, "I know how."


    Fred and George both looked at me. "How?" They demanded.


    I wagged a finger, "Uh-uh. Nothing is free."


    George c.o.c.ked a red eyebrow, "What''s it going to cost."


    I pointed at Fred, "I want the map."


    Before Fred could protest, I added, "Just for a night."


    Fred and George made eye contact, having a wordless conversation.


    "Deal." They said in unison.


    Then George added, "But, you have to sweeten the pot."


    My guard went up as suspicion welled up within me. "What do you want?" I asked.


    "We need access," Fred replied.


    "To the Ravenclaw Tower," George clarified.


    "What? Why?"


    "Your friend, Roger Davis, snuck some Mud Molasses into our drinks. It took days to get that crap out of our teeth."


    Thinking quickly, I defended, "Yeah, but wasn''t he just paying you guys back for what you did to his Quidditch gloves."


    "Doesn''t matter," Fred said, waving away my argument. "Since he wants to play, we can only accommodate him."


    "Why now?" I questioned. "I would have thought you would have immediately retaliated."


    George smirked, "Sometimes the anticipation of something bad happening is actually worse than what you''re expecting. He''s been a nervous wreck, anticipating our revenge."


    For a moment, I weighed my obligations as both a friend and member of Ravenclaw. Then, I remembered how Roger had yet to stop poking fun about the makeup incident.


    I nodded my head, "Deal. Access to the tower for a night with the map."


    Fred added, "And you have to tell us how Snakehead is discovering our deeds before we actually do them."


    "That''s the easy part," I replied. "He can read your minds."


    Fred and George both froze in shock.


    Smirking at the nervousness on their faces, I clarified, "Well, it''s not really mind reading. But, it''s a close enough example without going into detail."


    After giving them a brief explanation on how Legilmency and Occlumency worked, George swore, "So, that''s how he''s been doing it. That¡­ Cheater."


    "Well, at least the Map gives us the advantage." Fred reasoned. "If he can''t catch us in the act, then it doesn''t matter."


    Inwardly, I wondered what Professor Snape''s reaction would be if he found out that Marauders and their creation were still messing with him today. My guess is that a few dark spells would be involved.


    As Fred handed over the map, he asked, "What do you even need the map for?"


    For a moment, I considered telling him the truth. But then I figured they would bug me endlessly for a second copy. And I think the twins only having one map made the world fair. Who knows what would happen if they each got their hands on a map. I shuddered at the thought of how much chaos that would unleash.


    So, I just winked and said, "What? You think you''re the only ones who can get into mischief."


    That night, I gathered all the materials to make the map and headed down the Ravenclaw Sanctum. Gently, I pulled out the Marauder''s Map to admire its craftsmanship. There were two main pieces to the map creation.


    The first, while technically the easier part, would have required a great deal of time to complete. James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter had to physically chart out every inch of Hogwarts and the grounds, not leaving one stone unturned. While this sounds easy, Hogwarts is enormous, and that''s not even including all the secret passages included on the map.


    The other main piece of magic came after they had mapped out the Hogwarts and the grounds. It was what made the map so special, the Homonculous Charm. The spell tracked the movement of every living thing at school. How the spell accurately labels everyone is still a mystery to me. The charm even bypasses every known method of concealment, from Invisibility Cloaks to Polyjuice Potions. Not even animagus could fool the map. The charm-crafting that went into making the map is beyond impressive. It''s no wonder that James, Sirius, and Lupin were at the top of their class.


    The final piece of enchantment that went into the map involved erasing the map, turning it into an old blank piece of parchment. It required a password to unlock the secrets within, and the map tended to insult any who didn''t know the password.


    While I am reasonably sure if I spent the time, I could recreate the map on my own. I''ve learned it better to work smarter than harder. My plan to create my copy involved the use of Protean Charm. The same charm Hermoine used to create the D.A. coins in the fifth book that were used to communicate with one another. Voldemort also used the same spell on the Dark Mark, the tattoo all the death eaters had on their forearm. When a wand touched it, it would send a burning sensation to the others.


    The Protean charm was a NEWT level charm. Its primary purpose was to forge a connection between two or more objects. I plan to forge a connection between the Marauder''s Map and my own map. It should turn out to be a mirror image of the original.


    The interesting thing I''ve learned about NEWT level spells is that there is so much variation that a single spell can have. A skilled Charm-Crafter can twist a spell in so many different ways. Since the December break, my level of skill in charm-crafting has skyrocketed.


    After preparing my new map to receive a permanent enchantment, I set both the Marauder''s Map and my empty, blank sheet of folded parchment next to one another. I mentally focused on imagining lines of energy connecting both pieces of parchment. What was on the original would be on the new edition.


    "Coniunctionem."


    I felt the spell take effect, and I picked up my map to see if I was successful. Touching my wand to the surface, I said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."


    Ink lines began appearing, spreading out like spiderwebs until the school''s layouts fully appeared. Eager to see if the original''s primary enchantment transferred over. I opened the map to the Ravenclaw Tower, looking for my dot and name.


    An unconcealable grin emerged on my face as I caught a glimpse of me. Weirdly enough, my dot and name were in a blank spot on the map. I guess even the marauders couldn''t find every secret place in Hogwarts.


    I spent the next half hour checking names making sure the map was working correctly. I briefly paused when I saw Peter Pettigrew''s name in the Gryffindor area. I hadn''t forgotten about that little rat. I had to fight the urge to storm the Gryffindor area and kill that little traitor.


    But, after a few deep breaths, I calmed down. I needed him alive, at least for now. I had plans for him, plans that counted on things unfolding how I remembered in the books. But, I hadn''t forgotten that it was him who killed Cedric in the books. Peter Pettigrew was destined for a terrible ending. He just didn''t know it yet. Nobody touches my friends or family and gets away with it. Nobody.


    The rest of the semester seemed to fly on by. In my free time, outside of learning 6th-year magics. I divided my focus into a few different areas. My skills with nonverbal spells were improving at an exponential rate. Once I figured out the necessary amounts of concentration required, nonverbal spells became easier to master. I was looking forward to my showing at the International Dueling Competition. It will be interesting to see the looks on my opponent''s faces.


    Of course, I kept up with my dueling practice. Probably not as much as I should, but enough to satisfy my fellow Silver Spears. I also made time to


    practice enchanting. I had a feeling that charm-crafting was going to be a huge area of focus for me in the future.


    Fawley''s Arcane Solutions was doing well, but as much as we kept the secret, whispers began emerging in the flying community of a game-changer. Delvin Whithorn tried to take advantage of the rumors and announced that they would be releasing the Nimbus 2001 in the summer. I couldn''t wait to see the look on his face at the Flying Convention that was rapidly approaching. Dad and I were both unveiling our new companies. In preparation, I had already contacted Rita Skeeter and informed her what she would be writing. It should be quite a hoot to read.


    Finally, I spent time with Athena, trying to deepen our bond. What we discovered is she is way better at it than me. She was able to understand almost everything I told her. We even tried experimenting with reading and arithmetic. But, I discovered unlike me, she had no love for numbers. Anytime I bring them up, she closes her eyes and pretends to sleep. She even growled at me when I tried to explain Arithmancy.


    Before I knew it, it was the end of March, and it was time for the Flying Convention. Luckily for me, it was being held in Hogsmeade all weekend, and we just so happened to have a Hogsmeade Pass.

 Chapter 102 - Conference

    Delvin Whithorn POV***


    Delvin chose to ignore the annoying pest behind him as he stared into the mirror, looking over his appearance. His dark eyes narrowed as he spotted a few streaks of grey starting to peak out in his hair. Moving closer to the mirror, he brought up his wand and banished the offensive grey strands.


    Delvin paused when a deliberate cough from the pest behind interrupted him. Annoyance bubbled up within him. Not bothering to turn around, he demanded, "What is it now, Gimley?"


    A nervous voice corrected, "Mr. Whithorn. It''s actually Gimbel."


    Delvin stopped what he was doing and slowly shifted his eyes from his appearance in the mirror to the bespectacled brown-haired wizard holding stacks of papers in his hands behind him. They locked eyes for a moment before Gimbel''s eyes turned downward in submission.


    Satisfied that Gimbel wouldn''t presume to correct him again, Delvin snapped, "I''m still waiting for an answer, Gimley. Or do you intend to stand there all day like a buffoon?"


    "It. It. It''s the board, Sir." Gimbel stuttered. "They''re concerned about releasing the Nimbus 2001 little more than a year after the Nimbus 2000.


    Delvin smugly curled his lip, "That''s because the board members are idiots and lack vision. Last year profits soared when we released the Nimbus 2000. Releasing the 2001 will net us similar profits allowing us to expand into some new areas."


    Gimbel nervously bit his lip, trying to build the courage to voice the board''s concern. "Sir, the board is worried about alienating our customers, particularly the professional quidditch teams, who made up a majority of our sales last year. They''re worried that the teams will be feeling tricked and betrayed if a new and faster model comes out a year after they purchased large quantities of the Nimbus 2000. Especially when you consider our past business practice has been to release a model once a decade."


    Delvin flashed a look of disdain at Gimbel. "They can complain all they want to, but in the end, it won''t matter one bit as long as we''re the producer of the fastest broom model out there. They will have to buy our products if they want to stay competitive."


    "But sir."


    "SHUT UP, GIMLEY! I don''t want to hear another word on this matter. The board can burn in dragon fire for all I care. This is my company. I built it. I made it into the most successful broom company in the world. I''ve made the board wealthier than they ever dreamed. All they need to do is sit down, shut up, and watch the galleons roll in. Do you understand me?"


    Gimbel paled and nodded rapidly and refused to say another word on the matter.


    Delvin let out a deep breath. "Good," he said. "Now, what have you uncovered about this supposed new broom company that there have been whispers about?"


    Gimbel nervously readjusted his glasses. "Well, Sir. Not much, mostly just rumors. We feel that whoever they are, they will announce themselves at the Flight Conference."


    Delvin rolled his eyes. "Really? That''s it? I could have told you that much. Why in Merlin''s name am I paying you when I can do your job in my sleep? Just get out of my sight, you useless piece of garbage.


    Gimbel turned to flee but hesitated at the doorway. Turning around, he spoke up one final time. "Mr. Whithorn, one last thing. When I was investigating the rumor about a new broom company forming, I came across something else."


    Gimbel paused, waiting for Delvin''s reaction. Seeing Delvin turn in his direction, Gimbel explained. "Someone is making moves in the dark. The word is, there is a new player that is supposedly going to revolutionize the world of flying."


    Devin rolled his eyes. "I''ve heard that rumor almost every year. It''s a common tactic used to build interest before the conference. Truth be told, I''ve done it myself."


    "But sir."


    Delvin held up a hand, silencing Gimbel. "If there were any truth to the rumor, I''m sure I would know about it. I have my sources, and they haven''t said a word about anything."


    "But."


    "But nothing," Delvin coolly rebuked. "I''ve said all I am going to say on the matter. Now get out of my sight, or I''ll turn you into a doorknob. At least then, you would be useful."


    *******


    "ALEX!"


    I grinned at the sound of my name being shrieked after Anna''s disproportionate response to my keeping the Frogger Curse attached to her for admittedly a tad too long. We had spent the last two months one-upping each other in a magical war of pranks with neither one of us surrendering.


    My latest gambit originated back when I was sitting in the hospital wing with the goopy solution Madam Pomfrey whipped up. Apparently, my situation wasn''t all that unusual. Madam Pomfrey informed me that Zonko''s Joke Shop sold magic markers that left permanent ink on all types of surfaces. So, while the makeup was a new touch, it wasn''t anything she hadn''t dealt with before.


    That piece of information led me to conclude that if I truly wanted to win, I would need to go to the drawing board. The main problem is so many spells, and hexes are repeated variations of themselves. I would need something new, something that Madam Pomfrey couldn''t get rid of in a few minutes.


    In the end, I was inspired by Ryan, my muggleborn dormmate. He spent one evening trying to explain to us about a muggle play called OZ. Or something like that. I was only paying half attention at the time. The part that really stuck out was that there was a green witch in the story, and wala, the beginnings of a new hex was hatched.


    Now, there were plenty of spells out there that could change the color of someone''s skin. Anna and I had even experienced it back when we were younger when we all went to quidditch matches. Dad would use magic to color our skin showing support for our team. The problem was there were dozens of ways to counter or remove the spell like that. I needed something that would stick, something new.


    So, I spent a few weeks inventing a new unique hex I had dubbed the Slytherin Special. The best part of the spell was it was designed to resist all common counterspells. Short of going to Professor Dumbledore and having him overpower the spell, the only way to remove this hex was to say the magic words, so to speak.


    While I was mentally patting myself on the back, Cedric, who was leaning against a tree in the courtyard sighed.


    "Alex, what did you do now?"


    I blinked innocently. "Whatever do you mean?"


    Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a door to the castle being slammed open. In the doorway was a young teenage girl whose normally pale skin was solid green and had silver hair hanging down past her shoulders.


    Although I was gleeful that the hex was working as planned, I kept my face carefully neutral as if Anna''s condition had nothing to do with me.


    Blazing purple eyes glared at me, silently accusing me of malfeasance.


    "Well." She gritted out through clenched teeth.


    I turned to her in mock surprise, "Anna, I know you''re proud to be in Slytherin, but don''t you think this is going too far."


    Anna''s eyes narrowed dangerously. "I know it was you."


    "Ahh." I sagely replied while holding up a finger. "But it''s not what you know, but what you can prove that counts."


    Anna stamped her foot, "Alex, undo it, right now."


    I curled my fingers and examined my fingernails as if they were the only thing that mattered. "If you don''t like the look," I replied. "I''m sure Madam Pomfrey can clear that right up."


    She gritted out through clenched teeth, "She already tried. When she couldn''t lift the hex, she asked me about the spell. I told her it was a spell I found in an old book in the Library that I must have messed up. She sent me to find the book so she could learn more about the spell."


    Once again, Anna stared at me with daggers in her eyes.


    I smirked, "Good luck tracking down that spell. You won''t find it in any textbook. It''s a Fawley original."


    Anna''s eyes widened upon hearing I invented a hex to deal with her. "You¡­" She struggled. "You cheater."


    My only response was to show her my teeth.


    Abandoning her attempt to convince me, she turned to Cedric. "Ced, make him undo it."


    Cedric waved his hands, "Nope. I''m staying out of this. You''re both being childish."


    "Come on. Tomorrow''s a Hogsmeade visit." She pleaded with wide, unblinking eyes that began to glisten.


    I inwardly smirked at the doe-eyed innocent look she was making. I had two conniving little sisters. I''ve become immune to that sort of trickery.


    But, as Cedric turned to me, I realized I lost my ally. He had no such immunity and thus was defeated.


    We had a wordless argument made up of head gestures and eye movements.


    Finally giving in, I surrendered, "Fine."


    I turned back to Anna and rolled my eyes. "Ok, Anna. I can tell you how to remove the hex. In fact, it''s so easy you won''t believe it."


    "But first, let me give you a small lesson on how to really make magic sink in and make it harder to get around. It''s all about your loopholes. The bigger the loophole, the stronger you can make the effects of the spell."


    I pointed towards her green arm, "For example, the reason why Madam Pomfrey can''t lift the hex is because of the gaping loophole I built into the spell. It doesn''t even take any magic to lift the hex."


    Anna leaned forward, wanting to know how to remove the Slytherin Special.


    Grinning from ear to ear, I enlighten her, "All you need to do is say the magic words. Three, to be precise."


    Anna''s eyes narrowed, not liking where this was going.


    "All you have to say is, Alex, you win. And you need to really mean it for it to work."


    Anna recoiled like a cat that just got sprayed with water. "Never," she hissed.


    Getting up to leave the courtyard, I snorted in amus.e.m.e.nt, "Well then, I hope you like being green because you''ll stay that way until you surrender."


    ****


    The following day as we all began making our way to Hogsmeade, I caught a glimpse of Anna next to Alicia. Her skin and hair were back to being pale and blond.


    I smiled at the sight. She must have given in and said the magic words. Deciding I would be magnanimous. I didn''t say a word as I joined them. Although I couldn''t keep a small smile from peeking out, what can I say? I''m only a wizard.


    We soon learned that this Hogsmeade visit wouldn''t be like the others. Hogsmeade was filled to the brim with witches and wizards from around the globe. The one thing they all had in common was they were passionate about flying through the sky.


    On the far side of town, tents and stalls had been set up side by side, forming a maze filled with items related to flying that you previously never knew you needed. But having seen them, you were now convinced you couldn''t survive without them.


    I smiled at the sight of all the people haggling and hawking items. It sort of reminded me of the bazaar Uncle John took me to when I was younger.


    I pushed through the maze, looking for my parents. There was a large stage on the far side of the maze where companies could reserve times for showcasing new items.


    I spotted Dad pacing nervously back and forth. He was dressed in a set of expensive dress robes colored dark midnight blue with hints of bronze. His normally tangled dark brown hair was combed to perfection, and his short beard had been neatly groomed. He was even wearing his gold guild ring, noting his mastery of enchantment.


    Mum was next to him, wearing her own set of fine silky red and black robes. Her blonde hair looked professionally done but with magic. Who can tell?


    Standing next to them were the twins, who both appeared to be unhappy that they had been forced to dress up as well. Keeping an eye on them was Grandma, who looked as she always did. To her there was no such thing as dressing up. Being dressed in expensive fine clothing was her norm.


    Mum appeared to be rubbing Dad''s back, trying to calm him down. I didn''t blame him for being nervous. This was our first step in taking down Nimbus. We didn''t just want to top them as the producer of the fastest broom. That was an assured thing set in stone. What we wanted was to seize the company from Delvin. Nimbus was built off the back of my grandfather''s hard work. And we wanted it back in the family, back where it belonged. But to do that, things needed to happen in a specific order.


    What really pleased me to no end was it was going to be my spell that sealed the coffin for Delvin. He had no idea what was coming. Today was the beginning of the end for him.


    Dad''s eyes lit up when he caught sight of me. He scooped me up into a hug, "Alex," he greeted. "This is it. Are you ready?"


    "Of course, he''s not ready," Grandma interjected.


    Turning, I saw grandma evaluating me with a critical eye.


    "Where are your dress robes? We''re revealing your company to the world today, and I will not have you dressed like a ragamuffin."


    "Grandma," I protested. "I''m wearing my Hogwarts robes. I think ragamuffin may be a tad harsh."


    Waving a hand at my robes, I continued, pleased with my ready-made excuse, "I didn''t pack any dress robes to school. Otherwise, I would have worn them."


    Grandma gave me her customary wolffish smile, letting me know I had just walked into her trap.


    "No worries," she beamed. "I have a set for you."


    Part of me wanted to protest, but I knew, in the end, she would win.


    "Fine," I grumbled.


    A short while later, I found myself in a similar set of dark blue and bronze robes to my dad''s robes. Grandma wanted us to match today.


    Back at the stage, I asked Dad. "So when do you go on?"


    "A little after lunch," Dad replied.


    Motioning me to lean closer to him, Dad whispered conspiratorially, "I''ve gotten word that Delvin is announcing a new model for the Nimbus brand. So, I made sure to get the spot right before him. I can''t wait to see the look on his face when he realizes that he isn''t the producer of the fastest broom anymore."


    I grinned at the look on Dad''s face. He had been waiting for this day for a long time, ever since Delvin betrayed my grandfather and stole his work for his own.


    "What about my company," I asked. "Are you sure we should go ahead with my announcement? Today''s kind of a big day for you. We don''t have to announce Fawley''s Arcane Solutions."


    Dad snorted, "Are you kidding? The Firebolt is going to send Delvin into a panic, but it''s your slipstream charm that is really going to send him over the edge of despair. In one day, he''s going to go from having the fastest broom to competing with several other companies who can now produce brooms at far cheaper rates but who''s brooms can match the Nimbus''s speed."


    A happy dreamlike smile appeared on Dad''s face. "I even made sure to schedule you to appear right after his presentation. I can''t wait to see the look on Delvin''s face when he realizes that the only way to stay competitive is to try and convince you to lease Slipstream Charm to him."


    Joining in on Dad''s fantasy, I murmured, "Me too."

 Chapter 103 - Nimbus Falls, Firebolt Rises

    As the day wore on, I got to see some exciting demos on the stage. Witches and wizards from around the world were at the conference, and they had brought with them flying gear that was technically illegal in Britain.


    Wizards from the Far East had brought their flying swords. From India and the Middle East, several companies showcased different flying carpets designed for families to fly on.


    While most of what was shown were classical flying instruments, there were some new innovations as well. A young wizard in his early twenties from the states brought out a flying skateboard and tried to convince the crowd it was the next big thing in the world of flying.


    It was a shame none of it was legal to fly in Britain. It didn''t always use to be that way. Fifty years ago, witches and wizards could fly in the sky in whatever manner they deemed fit.


    But, the rise of the modern racing brooms changed all that. Broom Makers were a dime a dozen back then. Then one day, a few got together and realized that if they could convince the Ministry of Magic to create a list of what was legal to fly on, their profits would soar.


    To hear dad tell it, a lot of gold was involved in ''convincing'' the Ministry to institute the ban. Now anything that isn''t a broom is on the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects.


    Hopefully, one day the Ministry will pull its head out of its arse and lift the ban. After all, what does it matter if someone rides a rug, sword, or skateboard through the air? It''s not like those things are somehow more noticeable in the sky than a broom.


    Of course, not everything was pleasant to watch. It didn''t take long for Delvin Whithorn to waltz in surrounded by an entourage of minions from Nimbus.


    Delvin was dressed in a dark set of his finest robes that did nothing but broadcast wealth. His dark hair was slicked back, and his mustache and goatee had been waxed. He had come prepared to be interviewed and to have his picture taken. But, I bet by the end of Dad''s presentation, being interviewed will be the last thing on his mind.


    As Delvin made his way through the crowd smiling and shaking hands with other big names in the flying world, I could sense that this was what he loved most. His eyes shined with delight as others paid homage to the producer of the fastest broom in the world.


    Maybe it says something about my character, but I was quite looking forward to taking that away from him.


    Soon, I noticed Delvin and his entourage making their way in our direction. He never could seem to pass up an opportunity to run his success in our family''s face. But that''s ok. I have a nasty reporter on standby who will ensure our success is all he reads about in the Daily Prophet.


    "Henry," Delvin greeted pleasantly as if there weren''t a blood feud between them. "It''s good to see you here at the conference. Your father, George, never missed a single one. I''m sure he would take great p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e seeing you here."


    Now, Dad was not what I would call a violent man, he wasn''t prone to outbursts, and he always seemed to be in complete control of himself. But everyone has a weak spot, and Delvin seemed to be his.


    Delvin always seemed able to get a rise out of Dad, and he took great p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in poking and prodding him like a goblin torturing a chained dragon, knowing that the dragon wouldn''t be able to fight back. Little did he realize that the dragon had slipped its leash and was hungry for revenge.


    But, instead of rising to Delvin''s bait, Dad just smiled like he had a big secret and coolly agreed. "You know what, Delvin? I think you''re right. My father would enjoy seeing what happens at the convention this year."


    Leaning forward, he added cryptically, "In fact, I think you will be seeing a lot more of me at these gatherings from now on."


    Delvin paused looking confused, and unsure of dad''s reply. Whatever he had been expecting dad to say, agreeing with him wasn''t it.


    Shaking it off, Delvin curled his lip and replied, "Well, I must be going. So many people to meet. Sometimes it''s a burden being so desirable."


    Unable to help myself, I rolled my eyes as Delvin sauntered off.


    Sharing my opinion, Rebeca piped up, "What a goober."


    She said it in such a matter-of-fact way. It caused the rest of us to burst into laughter.


    Soon it was time for dad to get ready for his presentation, and he had to make his way backstage. As for me, I positioned myself where I could keep an eye on Delvin. I didn''t want to miss a single expression on his face as his worldview crumbled.


    Eventually, Dad made his way up on stage. The few assistants he had brought with him helped set things up.


    While they were setting up, my friends caught up with me. They were excited to see the Firebolt in action for the first time.


    While setting up the stage, many of the crowd''s eyes were drawn to a long rectangular object resting on a table. A shimmering blue cloth-covered it, drawing everyone''s interest.


    As for Delvin, an unhappy frown had appeared on his face the second my dad walked out on stage. Whatever his feelings towards my dad, not even he could deny that dad was recognized as one of the best Charm-Crafters in all of Britain.


    "Welcome," Dad''s magically enhanced voice rang out over the crowd.


    "It doesn''t matter that everyone here is from all over the world. We all share something in common."


    Dad paused for a moment before beaming, "Whether you like the rush of speeding through the air. Or the beauty of flying through the clouds. We all share a passion for soaring through the sky."


    "My passion was brought to life by my father, George Fawley. He dreamed of creating the fastest racing broom in the world. Although he never realized his dream, I inherited his ambition."


    Dad''s gaze passed over Delvin as he paused for a moment. Delvin looked a little unsure at Dad''s speech. Like an animal that senses a predator nearby but hasn''t quite figured out where the danger is coming from.


    "For several years, I have labored untold hours towards this goal. To create something never seen before in the world of broom racing. In my restless pursuit, I have broken new ground and created a masterpiece the likes the world has never seen."


    At this point, the whole crowd was utterly hanging onto every word. The exception was Delvin and his entourage from Nimbus. Alarm bells seemed to be going off in Delvin''s mind as a nervous sweat had begun to appear on his brow. His assistants looked quite nervous as well, and they appeared to be whispering to an unresponsive Delvin.


    Dad pointed his wand towards the shimmering blue cloth, banishing it away, revealing what it had been concealing. "I present the Firebolt."


    The crowd murmured in appreciation at the sight of the Firebolt. Even to the untrained eye, every inch of the Firebolt screamed acceleration, power, and above all else, speed.


    Delvin, of course, had a different reaction. He clearly recognized the name that grandpa Geroge intended to give to his work. Almost unconsciously, Delvin leaned back as if warding off a blow that originated from my grandfather''s spirit but was delivered from his son.


    Distracting me from my thoughts, Cedric gave me a nudge, "Your dad''s pretty good at showmanship."


    Before I could agree, Alicia fiercely hissed, "Shhh. I don''t want to miss anything."


    Having been silenced, we turned out full attention back to the Firebolt on stage.


    The handle was polished ebony wood with gleaming goblin forged iron gears attached above the birch and hazel twigs. On the front edge was a golden registry of numbers, 001, which marked the broom as the first of its kind.


    The only people in the crowd who didn''t appear appreciated were Delvin and his entourage. Delvin''s face was nearly magenta as he appeared to have forgotten to breathe properly.


    "Now, rather than just spout out how fast the Firebolt is, I think it would be more fun to show you."


    Dad raised his wand and shot a red flare into the sky.


    The crowd looked into the sky, eager for the show.


    Off in the distance, two black spots were rapidly approaching. They zipped over the crowd so fast some missed it because they were blinking.


    As noise erupted from the crowd, the two flyers turned back and made another pass. More prepared this time, flashes of light erupted from the crowd as reporters took pictures.


    On the stage, Dad started listing out the goods.


    "As you can see, the Firebolt boasts unparalleled speed and is capable of reaching speeds of 240 kph (150 mph.)"


    Alicia tore her eyes off the riders and turned her puppy dog eyes to me.


    "When do we get ours?" She drooled.


    I gave a half a shrug, "Probably not till the end of summer. The Firebolt is a complex web of enchantments, and it''s taking me more time than anticipated to master it."


    The crowd drowned out our conversation when they went nuts upon hearing the top speed. Everyone could sense that the Firebolt heralded that the world of competitive racing brooms was upon a vast precipice of change.


    I glanced back at Delvin, wanting to savor every second of his pain. The purple color in his face was gone, replaced by a pale white as he recognized that his world was ending.


    Dad shot a green flare into the sky, and both riders pointed their firebolts up into the sky, gaining altitude. Once they were mere speaks to us on the ground, they turned 180 degrees and started driving towards the ground at their top speed.


    As they approached the ground at blazing speed, a few people cried out warnings of the dangers of a crash. But, just as the two flyers seemed liked they would slam into the ground. They hit the breaks and seemingly stopped on a dime hovering a mere few feet above the crowd.


    On stage, dad explained their actions, "As you can see, the Firebolt''s unique design and build allows for near-instant breaking all while remaining completely stable. As an added benefit, it allows the rider to change directions instantly without risking the rider or broom."


    To demonstrate, the riders rocketed to the sky again, demonstrating instant turning that allowed them to change directions without missing a beat.


    As dad continued his presentation, I stopped paying attention, focusing entirely on Delvin. He seemed to have lost touch with reality as he stared glassy-eyed off into the distance. He didn''t even seem to hear his pack of minions who were moving around him like chickens with their heads cut off.


    As dad''s presentation came to an end, he informed the crowd that he would be here the whole weekend and had a tent where questions could be asked, and orders could be made.


    It seemed like nearly half the crowd was prepared to leave right then and there, wanting to mob the tent mum had set up. But, a playful look appeared on Dad''s as he spotted Delvin. The best comparison of his look was Athena decided that she wants to play with her food.


    "Before anyone leaves, make sure you stick around for my good friend Delvin Whithorn. Owner of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company. I hear he has a great presentation for us. Let''s all give him a warm welcome."


    Eyes in the crowd wandered in the direction that dad was pointing towards.


    I smiled when I saw that Delvin''s face was blank, lost, like his world crumbled when his back was turned, and he was still trying to puzzle how things had gone so wrong.


    Our family wasn''t the only one in the crowd who enjoyed how frazzled Delvin looked. For over two decades, Delvin had been top dog, and he had made quite a few enemies among his competitors in the flying world. They all seemed to be shooting him looks of schadenfreude.


    Cedric leaned over and whispered, "I almost feel bad for Whithorn. Anything after the Firebolt''s presentation is going to seem lame."


    I shot him a mischievous grin, "I know, right. It''s almost like it was planned that way."


    While we were talking, Delvin was nearly pushed to the stage by his employees, who hadn''t quite grasped how bad things would go for Nimbus. Of course, they didn''t know what we knew. For the first time in a long time, Nimbus was financially vulnerable. Delvin had taken the profits from the Nimbus 2000 and sunk everything into launching the Nimbus 2001. Had Delvin taken it slow, milking the Nimbus 2000 for all its worth before ramping up a new model, they would have been fine.


    But, he got greedy and pushed when he should have patience. In an ironic twist of fate, Delvin''s impatience is what''s going to let us sink Nimbus for good.


    Now, the die was cast. The first domino had fallen, soon my grandfather''s work will be back where it belongs. The best part was, I could see the wheels spinning in Delvin''s eyes. He could see the train wreck coming, but it was too late to get off the train. For a moment, we locked eyes. I couldn''t help but flash him a contemptuous smile. I was looking forward to watching him squirm on stage.


    By the time his team had assembled everything on stage, Delvin seemed to recover somewhat and begin his presentation. Unlike dad''s presentation, Delvin didn''t bother hiding the new model from the crowd.


    Rather than its predecessor, which was made up of polished mahogany and golden bronze, the Nimbus 2001''s color was black and silver.


    Behind Delvin were white banners that showed people in quidditch uniforms flying around on the new model. Overall, the presentation wasn''t horrible, but coming on right after the Firebolt made the Nimbus 2001''s presentation seem lackl.u.s.ter.


    There were a few unpleasant muttering in the crowd. The fact that Nimbus was releasing a new model so soon after the Nimbus 2000 made people feel like they had been duped. The ones who looked most upset were representatives of professional quidditch teams. They had bought vast quantities of the 2000s, and less than a year later, Nimbus released a faster model, which would make their current models second rate.


    I shook my head at Delvin''s arrogance. That was going to cost him.


    The rest of Delvin''s presentation was filled with unplanned pauses as he was forced to reword his memorized speech. No longer could he claim to produce the fastest broom, and outside of a few who were diehard nimbus fans and perhaps a plant or two. I think Delvin could sense he had lost most of the crowd interest. He cut his presentation short and stormed off the stage, completely embarrassed.


    As I watched him disappear into the crowd, I raised a complaint, "Hey, he''s not supposed to leave yet. He hasn''t seen my presentation yet."


    Dad patted me on the shoulder, "Don''t worry, Alex."


    He pointed out some of the Nimbus employees who stuck around. "I''m sure he''ll get the memo."


    I couldn''t help but pout a little. I wanted to see the look on Delvin''s face when he realized how much my spell would be taking from him.


    A heavy pat on my back pulled me from my dark thoughts.


    "Alex, my boy. It''s good to see you out and about."


    Turning, I saw Geovani Mancinelli, the Italian leader of the Charm-Crafters Guild.


    Before I could say anything, he spun towards grandma, sending his deep red robes flying.


    "Danielle," he greeted, taking her hand and pressing his lips to her fingers. "You haven''t aged a day. You''re still as beautiful as the day I met you."


    I blinked when grandma giggled like a schoolgirl in response. Grandma didn''t giggle. She laughed or chuckled.


    I narrowed my eyes and gave Geovani the stink eye when he winked at me, and I wasn''t alone. Dad was right there beside me, doing the same thing.


    "Geovani, you rascal." Grandma greeted him fondly. "I see you''re still up to your old tricks."


    Geovani clutched his heart as if he were wounded. "Only for you, my darling," he promised.


    Dad coughed, breaking up the moment.


    "What are you doing here, Geovani?"


    Geovani turned his attention away from grandma and wrapped his arm around me, "Why, I''m here to support our guild''s youngest member as he shows himself to the world."


    Dad grumbled, "More likely you''re here to use Alex''s success to drum up more publicity for the guild."


    Geovani flashed an innocent smile, "Why can''t it be both?"


    Before Dad could reply, Grandma interrupted their bickering and asked me, "Alex, are you ready to start your presentation."


    I nodded and waved to a small group of people, motioning for them to join us. They were representatives of the three companies that had signed contracts with Fawley''s Arcane Solutions.


    During my presentation, we would be showcasing all the slipstream edition models to the world. Originally, they had wanted to do their own press releases on the matter.


    But, grandma was sneaky. She had secretly slipped in verbiage into their contracts that prevented them from announcing on their own until I had come forward. She also included that they would have to send reps to demonstrate their products during my official launch.


    Universal, Cleansweep, and the Comet Broom Company had grudgingly sent their reps with the finished products.


    We were anticipating that my presentation would drum up a lot of business. In particular, we thought my spell would be a big hit with the Flying Carpet crowd. Flying carpets tended to be relatively slow, and companies were always on the lookout for something that would increase their speed.


    Taking a deep breath, I turned to the stage and went on.


    Delvin''s POV, starting from Henry''s presentation***


    Delvin tilted his head in confusion when he saw a familiar face appear on the stage. He couldn''t help but think, What is Henry doing up there? Fawley''s shop doesn''t have anything to do with the flying community. I made sure of that years ago."


    Delvin''s mind conjured up the scene that led him to become a leader in the flying community.


    George Fawley tore his eyes off the basin whose liquid had a shimmering image of his wife and two sons setting up a picnic in a wide-open field.


    "You''re mad," he whispered fearfully.


    "You should be thankful I''m giving you a choice at all." Delvin coolly replied. "My father would have simply killed you and your family, leaving nothing behind."


    "Now make your choice, your family''s life or ownership of all the spells related to the broom you''ve spent the last decade designing."


    George shook his head as if he were still trying to wrap his mind around things. One minute he had been heading out for a picnic with his family, but then Delvin asked him to step into his office for a quick discussion.


    If being shown a live image of his family had raised questions, having their lives threatened raised even more.


    "Why?" George asked. "We''re partners, friends. Why do this?"


    Devlin sneered back at him. "You may be one of the best enchanters in Britain, but you lack vision. I''ve done all I can to expand and grow the business, but I''ve had to fight you every step of the way. Always claiming it''s not about the money."


    "Well, guess what," Delvin suddenly snapped, sending specks of spit everywhere. "It is about the money. If it weren''t for me, your store probably would have gone out of business years ago. Consider this payment for services rendered."


    Delvin held up a magically binding contract that would give him complete ownership of all George''s unique spells related to the broom he had been designing.


    "Now choose. Your family, or your precious broom."


    "It''s not even a choice," George replied with a disgusted look on his face. "If you had a family that loved you, you would know that."


    George froze when he noticed that Delvin''s left eye was twitching dangerously¡ªworried that he may have pushed Delvin too far and that he might do something to his family in response. George reached out and grabbed the contract that would sign over his life''s work.


    "There," he said. "It''s all yours, now leave my family alone as you promised."


    "But, of course," Delvin silky replied as if there were never any doubt. "After all, I''m a man of my word."


    Delvin leaned forward and whispered something into the basin. The scene quickly changed, showing the people who had been stalking his family disappear into thin air.


    George sighed deeply, with most of the worry leaving his face. With the immediate danger to his family gone. Thoughts of what came next rushed to the forefront of his mind.


    "What now?" George bitterly asked. "You going to kill me?"


    Delvin placed a hand on George''s shoulder and laughed, "Kill you. Why would I kill you?"


    Annoyed at Devlin''s cavalierness, George snapped. "You''re not dumb enough to think that contract will be enough. My family is highly respected in the wizard community. All it would take is a single word from me, and the Ministry would launch an investigation."


    "That would require you to remember this happening."


    Deldin nodded at someone behind George. Sensing someone else was in the room, George turned and caught a glimpse of a wizard with skin as black as night. The wizard made a strange motion with both of his hands, and a flash of red erupted from them, rendering George unconscious.


    Delvin smiled at the sight, "Thank you, Samuel. You''re the best."


    "Send your thanks to your father," Samuel rebuffed. "I wouldn''t be here if it weren''t for him."


    Delvin''s smile grew strained at the mention of his father. "I''ll be sure to do that. Now make sure George doesn''t remember anything about this conversation."


    "You know, he has a point. It would be cleaner just to kill him." Samuel remarked as they moved closer to George''s unconscious body. "I can do it for you if you want."


    Silence filled the room as Delvin pondered Samuel''s offer. After a few moments, he rejected his offer. "No, it would draw unwanted attention. I have my own plans for moving forward."


    Delvin took a deep breath and calmly added, "Besides, we have to do the same to his family, and the Fawley''s are too well known to disappear. They''re related to half the purebloods in Britain, and they''re friends with the other half. There would be too many questions if they all disappeared."


    As Samuel placed the tips of his fingers around George''s skull, Delvin made another request.


    "While you''re in his head, I need you to do one more thing to George''s mind. You see, he made a point when he pointed out his connections. Rather than killing him, I''ve come up with a much better idea. There have been a few anti-ministry gatherings by some upstart calling himself Voldemort. Seeing how George isn''t a huge fan of the Ministry, it should be easy to stroke his interest in attending these meetings. I''m sure once the Ministry gets wind of who is attending these meetings, any influence he might have at the Ministry will dry up."


    Delvin''s mind was pulled back to the present as his employees jostled him.


    This can''t be happening, Delvin pleaded to himself as Henry continued his presentation. George was a genius enchanter. His work was so good we are still using it all these years later. His son can''t possibly have made a better broom. It wouldn''t be fair to have two genius enchanters in a single-family.


    Delvin continued to reassure himself over and over that Henry couldn''t top his father''s work. But, when Henry ripped off the blue cloth and announced the Firebolt to the world, Delvin forgot to breathe.


    Shit. Shit. What is the... Dragon... F.u.c.k.i.n.g...Phoenix... Pissing shit is that contraption?


    That isn''t a racing broom. It''s¡­ It''s an unholy melding of goblin steel and magical wood. What dark god did Henry sell his soul to, and how can I contact him.


    Delvin felt a constant tapping on his left arm


    "Sir. Sir."


    "Shut up, Gimley." Delvin roared." I''m trying to think."


    As the tapping ceased, Delvin softly reassured himself. "Maybe it''s just cosmetics. People do that, right? They make fancy things, but the spells can''t match up to the design."


    After a red burst of light in the air, Delvin heard others in the crowd point out two flying objects in the sky rapidly approaching.


    Devlin shook his head in denial and repeated over and over, "It can''t be. It can''t be. They''re moving too fast. Brooms don''t go that fast."


    Delvin was quickly proved wrong as the two firebolts zoomed by. Delvin''s vision nearly went white when he heard what Henry said next.


    Dazed, Delvin asked Gimbel, hoping he misheard. "What did he say?"


    Gimbel seemed reluctant to speak, fearful of Delvin''s response.


    Trying to be helpful, another employee spoke up, ruining Delvin''s day, "He said the Firebolt''s top speed was 240 kph."


    His voice trailed off when he noticed how pale Delvin was. For a split second, he even considered if his boss had died and somehow become a ghost.


    For the rest of the presentation, Delvin remained silent, lost in his own world.


    He came to when he realized his name had been spoken. Looking around, he saw people in the crowd were looking at him.


    Gimbel tugged at his arm, "Sir, it''s time for our presentation. We need to go."


    "Are you crazy?" Devlin scoffed. "We can''t go on right now. What are we supposed to say? Hey, look, our new amazing broom is much slower than the broom you just saw. Please buy it."


    Gimbel shrugged helplessly. "What do you want us to do? There are no more available spots. Maybe we can trade with someone."


    "Hmm¡­ that''s not a bad idea," Delvin said. But as he scanned the crowd, he saw his competitors'' faces shooting looks of schadenfreude towards him gleefully.


    Delvin murmured to himself, "Somehow, I doubt we can find anyone willing to accommodate us."


    Another employee from Nimbus, whose name escaped Delvin, suggested, "Maybe we should just cancel and not go up."


    The nameless employee''s suggestion seemed to bring Delvin out of his spiral of despair.


    "Nonsense," He snapped. "I have a reputation to maintain. Nimbus has a reputation to maintain. We will just have to press on and accept that there will be some changes."


    As Delvin''s employees started to set things up, his mind was racing. All his plans had changed in an instant. If Nimbus were to survive the Firebolt emergence into the market, adjustments would have to be made. It would be difficult, and they would lose their high-end customers, but it was still possible to survive this.


    As Delvin scanned the crowd, he locked eyes for a moment with the Fawley spawn. Delvin burned with rage when he spotted the smug look the kid was giving him.


    How dare you look at me like you''re better than me, you little brat. You should have done the world a favor and died last year. Delvin viscously thought to himself. If you think your precious Firebolt is enough to end me, you have another thing coming. I have been doing this business since your father was a brat.


    The rage Delvin felt was enough to snap himself from the world of despair he had been floundering in. Ideas began pouring in as he continued the presentation. When it was over, he moved quickly off stage, wanting to return to his offices.


    The more Delvin pondered the day''s events, the angrier he became. How had this happened without him getting word from his contacts in the Ministry? Not one word of warning was given to him.


    Delvin paused for a moment when he reached Nimbus''s headquarters. The four-story brick warehouse was hidden in a sea of similarly built warehouses. Even with the crappy day Delvin had been having, the sight of his headquarters always cheered him up. This was the seat of his empire, one he had seized and taken to unparalleled heights. And he would be damned if he was going to let it be taken away from him.


    By the time Delvin reached the top floor where his office was, he already had a list of people he wanted to speak with. Brushing off his secretary''s greeting, Delvin snapped, "I want Oliver Hawthorn in my mirror in less than ten minutes."


    "But sir, it may take some time to get a hold of him."


    "TEN MINUTES!" Delvin roared before slamming the door to his office shut.


    As Delvin sat in his leather-bound chair, he did the one thing that always calmed him down. He poured himself a glass of brandy. Drinking deeply, Delvin drained the glass in one gulp and poured another while he waited for Oliver to contact him.


    It didn''t take long for a pudgy wizard wearing bland robes to appear in the full-length mirror Delvin had in his office.


    A few feet away from the mirror sat Delvin, who was turned in the opposite direction, seemingly quiet and lost in thought.


    "Ahem," Oliver deliberately coughed.


    Without turning around, Delvin mused in a calm tone, "Do you know many galleons I''ve spent over the years ensuring you rise in the Ministry."


    Just as Oliver was about to reply, Delvin answered his own question, "Hundreds, if not thousands. All to ensure you rise high within the Department of Magical Transportation and keep me informed of any developments that may concern me or my company."


    Spinning his chair abruptly, Delvin got up and hurled his glass of brandy into the fireplace, which sent out a jet of flame.


    "So why, in Merlin''s name, did I just get blindsided by Henry Fawley and his new Firebolt? Are you just incompetent, or did you betray me?


    Oliver''s jowls jiggled as he opened his mouth to defend himself. "It''s not my fault," he pleaded. "The Broom Regularly control only released Information about the Firebolt yesterday. The Fawleys somehow bypassed the normal route of getting Ministry approval and went straight to the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation, Myria Sterling. From what I''ve heard through the gr.a.p.evine, Myria and Danielle are good friends."


    The more Oliver talked, the angrier Delvin became. With his face flushed red, Delvin spat, "Useless."


    With a wave of his wand, Delvin dismissed Oliver. One by one, Delvin contacted each of his informants in the Ministry. Each person revealed a small piece of the puzzle of how he was blindsided.


    It was that bitch, Danielle Fawley, who was responsible. Apparently, she had been a busy little bee as she spent the two decades repairing the Fawley name after George disappeared. It was no wonder he didn''t receive word of what was going to happen. She had her fingers in everything.


    I underestimated her, Delvin fumed. I assumed she would slink quietly off into the night after George''s disappearance. But from the looks of things, she has been preparing her revenge against me all this time. Ungrateful sow, I should have taken Samuel''s advice and killed the Fawley''s years ago.


    Delvin spent the rest of the night downing glasses of brandy and planning for the future. It would be painful, but Nimbus would survive the Firebolt.


    Having slept in his office, Delvin was slightly disheveled the following day. Having called an emergency meeting of the board, Delvin did his best to straighten up. Appearance were important, and he needed the board to have complete faith in him.


    Delvin strode into the conference room, projecting confidence that he didn''t feel inside. As he glanced at the other five board members, he felt pleased that he could project confidence while most appeared defeated. It supported the belief that he was a natural leader.


    Of the five members, the only one who didn''t show any emotion was Filnock. He was the goblin representative of Clan Crusher.


    Of course, it mattered little that Flinock showed little emotion. Flinock rarely showed emotion at board meetings.


    As for the other four members, two were wizards, and two were witches. They all came on board as investors years ago when Delvin first started the company.


    Their initial funding was what allowed Delvin to grow the company into what it was today. It was a point of pride with Delvin that he received no financial support from his father.


    Nimbus had grown to an international level under his guidance. No matter what his father said, he couldn''t deny everything Delvin accomplished.


    Wanting to seize the momentum, Delvin got started.


    "I know yesterday must have been a shock to you all. I know it was for me."


    As a murmur of agreement went around the room, Delvin felt bolstered and continued his speech, "The Firebolt''s emergence into the market changes things for us. I can almost guarantee we will lose the Quidditch leagues."


    One of the witches nodded reluctantly and said, "I can confirm that. I''ve already had dozens of cancellations from Quidditch Leagues, and we can expect the trend to continue."


    Although he was annoyed that he was interrupted, Delvin pushed down his feelings and said, "Thank you for that, Susan."


    "Now, as much as it hurts to lose the leagues, they only represent a portion of our sales. While I''m not sure of the Firebolt''s final price, I''m sure it will be out of the reach of at least half of our customers."


    Delvin frowned at the lack of reaction from the board. So he reminded them, "We still have the second-fastest broom on the market. Speaking of the Nimbus 2001, I''ve already stopped all production. As long as we can sell our current stockpile, we can get through this tough patch."


    Refusing to be deterred at the looks of confusion members of the board were giving him, Delvin continued, "I have already come up with several strategies to help us sell our stockpile. First, we can lure back old customers by offering discounts by turning in their old Nimbus models for the latest model. We can also offer deals by selling models in groups."


    Delvin''s left eye twitched in annoyance when he was yet again interrupted, this time by David.


    "Delvin," he sighed. "How early did you leave the conference?"


    Confused at this line of questioning, Delvin c.o.c.ked his head and replied, "Right after our presentation for the Nimbus 2001."


    Seeing the looks the other board members giving one another made Delvin wary.


    "I didn''t have any time to waste," he hastily explained. "I spent all last night planning Nimbus''s response to the Firebolt."


    This time it was Susan who spoke up.


    "Delvin," she said kindly.


    Immediately the hairs on the back of Delvin''s neck rose. The tone in which Susan said his name would be recognized by anyone. It was the tone you used when you were about to deliver devastating news, and you wanted to break it to them gently.


    "It''s not the Firebolt that has us all worried. We all know that we''re too big to be brought down by simply being bumped to second place."


    "Then why do you all look like the sky caved in?" Delvin asked. "I spent half the night coming up with strategies, and you all look like you don''t give a damn."


    Susan gave a pained smile, "It''s what happened after your presentation that has us all down."


    Delvin''s stomach twisted nervously when he heard Susan speak. It was the same feeling he got during Henry''s presentation.


    Seeing the same grave looks on everyone''s face, Delvin whispered, "What happened after I left?"


    Susan looked helplessly at the others, "Does anyone have the paper? It would be easier just to show him."


    The other witch on the board, Martha Smith, reached into her bag and said, "Hold on, I think I have one in my purse."


    She pulled out the paper and handed it to Susan, who in turn slid the folded newspaper across the wooden table.


    Delvin glared at the paper wanting nothing more than to vanish it into nothingness. He could sense that it contained more bad news, and to be honest, his plate was already full dealing with Henry and his Firebolt.


    But, sensing everyone''s eyes on him, Delvin reached out and grabbed the paper. He snarled when he saw the first headline.


    Nimbus Falls, Firebolt Rises.


    If the headline was bad enough, there were two pictures below side by side. One showed a confidant Henry showcasing the Firebolt. While the other was a horrible photo of himself looking like he just got kicked in the head and needed to puke.


    As an afterthought, he noticed the article was written by someone named Rita Skeeter. She had nothing but praises for the Firebolt while reducing the Nimbus to a mere afterthought.


    As furious as the article made him, he looked up at everyone. "I don''t see why this surprises anyone. We knew it would be bad."


    Speaking for the first time, Flinock said, "You''re looking at the wrong half. Look at the bottom."


    Devin flipped over the paper and spotted the Fawley Brat with a smug grin on his face. Something in his gaze seemed to say that he knew Delvin would be reading the paper and was pleased by all the trouble he was giving him.


    Moving his gaze from the annoying picture, Delvin''s blood froze upon reading the title.


    Like Father, Like Son. A Legacy of Excellence.


    Taking after his father, young Alexander Fawley shocked everyone when he revealed himself and his fledgling company, Fawley''s Arcane Solutions too the world yesterday. At the young age of fourteen, Alex crafted a unique charm that promises to revolutionize the world of flying. For anyone doubting young Alexander''s ability to create this spell on his own, Geovani Mancinelli, the Master of the Charm-Crafters Guild, has informed the Daily Prophet that Alex is the youngest member and has reached the rank of silver at the age of 14. If that wasn''t enough, jaws dropped when Alex informed the crowd that his spell can increase the speed of any flying object by roughly twenty-five percent.


    The paper fluttered to the table as Delvin was too shocked to continue. Unable to stand anymore, Delvin collapsed into a chair.


    "Twenty-Five percent," he whispered in part disbelief and part despair. Immediately, he understood everyone''s looks. This was a death blow. There wasn''t any way to compete against something like that.


    Delvin complained to himself, It''s¡­ It''s not fair. Do the Fawley''s have some ancient magical bloodline that ensures they produce genius enchanters. First, George makes the Nimbus. Then his son makes the Firebolt, then his grandson outdoes both of them and invents a spell that makes all brooms go faster. How am I supposed to compete with that? It''s not fair.


    David brought him out of his spiral of despair, only to make him more worried. "Keep reading. It gets worse."


    Reluctantly, Delvin picked up the paper and continued reading.


    On stage, Alex was joined by several prominent broom companies, including Fawley''s Firebolt, Comet inc, Cleansweep, and Universal Brooms. Each produced Slipstream models of their fastest broom. While the Firebolt Slipstream dazzled the crowd with speeds reaching 300 KPH (187 MPH.) The other three surprised the crowd by revealing that their models could now go toe-to-tow the newest model of the Nimbus 2001. As for why Nimbus, the previous fastest broom, was excluded from the lineup, your favorite reporter Rita Skeeter has unearthed an interesting tale¡ªcontinued on page twelve.


    Delvin rapidly turned the Daily Prophet and felt a sense of alarm when he saw the title of a small story.


    Nimbus''s Origin.


    It was in 1967 when Nimbus took the broom racing world by storm. From seemingly out of nowhere, Delvin Whithorn emerged with the fastest broom in the world. The Nimbus Broom Racing Company rapidly dominated the local markets, then quickly expanded internationally. Nimbus is a model company for all appearances, but for all their shiny appearances, I, your favorite reporter, smelled a dirty secret. After some research, I discovered something you might find interesting. Before Delvin Whithorn was known for running the most successful broom racing company in the world, he was a business partner with George Fawley running Fawley''s Wonderous Enchantments. From all accounts, George was responsible for the enchanting, and Delvin handled the business side. But, like so many good things, it didn''t last.


    Soon, George Fawley disappeared and was initially suspected of being a supporter of he-who-must-not-be-named. After his disappearance, Delvin emerged and started his own company, the Nimbus Broom Racing Company. However, it is now confirmed that George Fawley was one of the first of many to oppose he-who-must-not-be-named and was killed in his rise to power.


    Perhaps, I should have left this tragic story in the past. But I couldn''t shake the feeling that something was off, so my dear readers, I dug deeper. And what I found truly fascinated me, according to an unnamed source, "George Fawley spent years working on a broom that he claimed would be the fastest broom in the world."


    Now, my faithful readers. Don''t you find it curious that Delvin Whithorn, a wizard with no background in enchanting, somehow emerged with a contract giving him rights to George''s design? As for how that happened, I leave it to my intelligent audience to ponder and reflect.


    "Rubbish!" Delvin roared while throwing the paper on the table.


    Adding insult to injury, the back of the paper revealed another blurb about Nimbus.


    Nimbus Almost Does What You-Know-Who Couldn''t.


    It has come to the attention of this honest reporter that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, was nearly killed at Hogwarts riding a Nimbus 2000. If the Nimbus can nearly kill the chosen one, what chance do the rest of our children have?


    Refusing to read another word, Delvin pointed his wand at the paper and roared, "Incendio."


    As a blast of flame consumed the paper, Delvin shouted, "Lies. All Lies. Who the f.u.c.k is Rita Skeeter. I''ll have that bitch''s job by the end of the week."


    Silence reigned supreme in the conference room as all eyes watched the slightly deranged leader of Nimbus.


    "I take it that we stand no chance of obtaining a contract with Fawley''s Arcane Solutions?" Robert, the last board member, inquired.


    The question made Delvin gnash his teeth. Of course, they stood no chance of signing a contract. He could only imagine the looks of glee on that stupid brat''s face as he denied them, damning Nimbus to oblivion.


    Imagining that look helped pull Delvin from his funk. This wasn''t how he was going down. Delvin refused to let that brat be the end of him.


    Immediately, the path forward revealed itself to Delvin, and he declared, "We need to make our own version of the Slipstream charm."


    Looking around the table, Delvin saw looks of doubt.


    "We can do this," he implored. "We have half a dozen enchanters under contract. We''ll buy every slipstream model available and let our enchanters tear them apart. It will take time for them to engineer their own versions of the spell, but once they do, we''ll be back in business."


    Not convinced, David pointed out the critical flaw in Delvin''s thinking. "Yeah, but how long will it take? We are already bleeding galleons. I''ve run the numbers, and if sales drop like we all know they will. We will only have months before it''s over, and we have to shutter our doors.


    "Months?" Delvin asked. "How many months?"


    Frowning, David readjusted his glasses. "Two, maybe three or four if we let most of our employees go."


    Shaking her head, Susan added, "That''s nowhere near enough time for our enchanters to develop our own spell. It will take years, three or four if we''re lucky, five or six if we''re not. We would need a massive infusion of coin to stay afloat."


    Desperate to save Nimbus, Delvin suggested, "We could each add a portion from our personal funds. That way, the burden would be easier to bear."


    Silence reigned throughout the conference room. None of the board members were willing to risk their personal fortunes.


    Fury flooded Delvin''s veins. Their fortunes had been built on the back of his company, and now none of them were willing to pitch in when Nimbus needed help.


    Delvin''s eyes turned to Flinock, "What about Clan Crusher? Would they be willing to give us a loan?"


    Flinock shook his head, "No, my clan doesn''t have the habit of throwing good gold after bad."


    Flinock looked around the room with his piercing dark eyes, "Since none of you want to voice the obvious solution, then I will. We should sell. We can strip Nimbus for all its worth and sell to the highest bidder."


    While none of the other members said anything, it was apparent they agreed with the goblin.


    Breathing heavily, Delvin hissed, "Never. This is my company, and I will never agree to sell it."


    "Delvin," Susan pleaded. "Be reasonable."


    Jumping in, Robert added, "Think about it. If we sell now, we''ll make a fortune."


    Seeing the other join in agreement made Delvin furious. After all the opportunities he had given them, they wanted to bail at the first sign of trouble.


    "No," Delvin spat. "Not happening."


    To enraged to continue, Delvin stormed off, leaving the board behind. Back in his office, he poured himself another glass of brandy. He didn''t care that it was morning. He needed to think.


    Ideas on how to raise money ran through Delvin''s mind. He considered going to Gringotts, but he doubted he could get a loan. Goblins could sense weakness, like a shark smelling blood. Even if he did get a loan, the terms would be so unfavorable that one mistake would ensure Nimbus was handed over.


    But, there was another option, one that had been swirling in the back of Delvin''s mind. His father, and his syndicate could easily keep Nimbus afloat while Nimbus''s enchanters worked on matching the slipstream spell.


    But, even knowing the syndicate could help, Delvin felt reluctant. His father would no doubt insist on bringing in his people. Not to mention all the snide comments his perfect sister would make.


    After a mental battle, Delvin sighed. This was the only way left to him now. He would have to give up some control of the empire he built. But, at least it would stay in the family, so to speak.

 Chapter 104 - The Syndicate

    As Delvin stood on the deck of his father''s ship, The Flying Dutchman, he was once again reminded why he disliked being on board. Currently, the ocean''s waves were crashing into the ship, sending them bobbling up and down.


    Delvin couldn''t help but compare the waves to a vengeful child playing with a toy ship in the bath, wanting to see how much it would take to capsize the ship.


    Logically Delvin understood that the ship was more than safe. The Flying Dutchman had so many spells woven into it. There was zero chance of capsizing. There were even charms that ensured they wouldn''t be thrown around like a sack of potatoes while the ocean threw them across the deck. But, even with all the protections, Delvin much preferred his stately mansion to his father''s moving fortress.


    That''s what the Flying Dutchman was, a fortress. It simply masqueraded as a ship. The most obvious protection was the ability to move above and below the oceans. Additionally, the ship had every known concealment charm woven into every plank. If the Flying Dutchman didn''t want to be found, it was nigh impossible to do so.


    If movement wasn''t enough, strong enchantments ensured no one could magically breach the ship uninvited. The only way to get on the ship was to board it physically.


    Even if someone could penetrate all the protections, a small army of wizards, security trolls, werewolves, and vampires defended the ship. Declan even employed a few highly trained muggles commandos.


    That was one of the many ways his father was different from most in the magical community. Being a muggleborn himself, Declan had no issues hiring competent muggles. While they didn''t have magic, they were skilled enough to be considered beneficial. They helped advise on the best way to move through muggle society, not drawing any attention to the Syndicate''s dealings.


    A deep, barely understandable voice rumbled, bringing Delvin out of his thoughts.


    "Yur fathder. Se yo now."


    If the troll''s intimidating size and strength weren''t intimidating enough. Solid black goblin forged armor encased the green troll''s head and c.h.e.s.t giving the troll slight protection from spells. Slung across its back was a mighty club that had dark stains on the end, suggesting that it had seen blood recently.


    Not wanting to feel like he was being herded, Delvin chose to trail behind the troll giving it a wide berth. The security troll led him below deck, where the inside was completely different from the outside.


    Below deck, it was apparent expansion charms had been used liberally. The inside of the Flying Dutchman rivaled the giant sh.i.p.s muggles use to transport goods.


    As Delvin followed the troll, he grimaced when he caught sight of himself in a passing mirror. Dark bags had formed beneath his eyes, and new age lines made him look a decade older.


    It had been a week since the conference, and he was still dealing with the fallout. As predicted, thousands upon thousands of Nimbus 2001s were gathering dust in their warehouses.


    That Slipstream charm had ground his empire to a halt. It seems most people were happy to pay for brooms that could go as fast as the Nimbus for one-third the price. Nimbus was able to generate a few sales by offering amazing deals, but it wasn''t enough to matter.


    It also didn''t help that Delvin read some new snide article about him or his company in the paper every day. That bitch Rita Skeeter had to be working for the Fawley family. She was really careful not to come out and openly accuse Delvin of anything officially. No, she just made snide observations and pointed out possible conspiracies. Her readers ate it up.


    Delvin could hardly go anywhere in Britain without pointed looks and mutters behind his back. Two weeks ago, he was a highly successful CEO of the fastest broom in the world. Now, he was having trouble getting people to take his calls, and those who used to fawn over his every word refused to meet his gaze and would quickly leave the room. If he was honest with himself, deep down, Delvin considered his social fall from grace worse than possibly losing his company.


    While Delvin didn''t yet know how to fix his social status, he did have one to save his company. Devlin patted the duffel bag he had slung over his shoulder that carried all his plans and ideas. He knew if he wanted his father''s support, he would be asked to show his plans for the future. Declan didn''t have a habit of wasting money on what he considered failed business ventures.


    Now that Rita pointed out that Delvin seemed to profit when George Fawley was killed, many in the magical community were outraged. Too many had lost loved ones in Voldemort''s rise to power, which made them resonate with the Fawley family. No, if Devlin were to save Nimbus, he would need to leave and seek his fortunes elsewhere. The British Isles was lost to him.


    As the troll led Delvin through the maze of the lower deck, He frowned. This wasn''t the way to his father''s office. This was the way to the inner sanctum. Or, as Delvin jokingly referred to it in his mind, the throne room.


    It was where Declan met with his six lieutenants. Each was responsible for an area of influence. They were largely independent, able to run their operations without oversight.


    Delvin''s silent plea that the lieutenants wouldn''t be there was not granted. When he entered the room, he immediately noticed the seven chairs were all filled.


    The seven chairs were wrapped around a solid table made up of dark wood with a map of the seven seas etched on the surface. The map wasn''t like muggle maps. It was filled with movements showing the ocean''s currents and waves. There were even glowing lines shown beneath the surface, indicating the ancient magical pathways that let sh.i.p.s move quickly across the globe.


    At the head of the table was his father, Declan Whithorn. While his father''s white hair and wrinkles may fool some into believing that age was catching up with him, Delvin would never make that mistake.


    Delvin knew it was his father''s frozen blue eyes that you had to pay attention to. They radiated a ruthless intelligence that promised to cut down anyone who challenged him. More than once, he had been challenged by those who took his age for a sign of weakness.


    The last challenge came from one of his lieutenants, who suggested that it might be time for Declan to choose a successor. To this day, no one knows what happened to him. He simply disappeared, and none of the other lieutenants dared to ask Declan what happened to him.


    Delvin''s eyes shifted to the other lieutenants. Nadluk, the goblin, sat to the immediate right of Declan. Beneath his dark beady eyes, hooked nose, and sharp teeth hid a brilliant mind that tracked every cent that the Syndicate made.


    While some goblins found it difficult to rise in the world of wizards, Nadluk had no such difficulty. Declan didn''t care about race, only ability. As the official accountant of the Syndicate, Nadluk wielded a great deal of power. Even the other lieutenant knew not to cross him. Otherwise, Nadluk might find problems with their accounts.


    On the opposite side was the oldest member of the Syndicate by far, Erkan. But, no one would know that he was the oldest by looking at him. Erkan''s dark curled hair and smooth, dusky skin tone would lead most to assume that he was in his 30s rather than 300s. He was a wizard-turned vampire.


    Unlike most vampires, Erkan was a high-born vampire. The main difference between high and low-borns was the ability to sire other vampires and access to unique magics to the vampire race.


    Delvin made sure not to meet Erkan''s gaze. While he broadcasted kindness, Delvin knew that was a facade. Erkan was a cruel and vindictive creature that wasn''t even welcome in vampire society. Erkan had killed his sire, which was a huge taboo among vampires. The bond between a vampire and his sire was said to be closer than the bond between a parent and child.


    Sitting next to Erkan was perhaps the most mysterious member, Madam Zhao. She was a sorceress from the far east. While she was near Declan''s age, she didn''t show it. Even with her hair going white, she had an ageless quality that made it difficult to pinpoint her age.


    Even now, Delvin was always a little unsure of Declan and Madam Zhao''s relationship. When Declan was younger and putting together the Syndicate, he ran into Madam Zhao, who was second in command of a similar organization in the Far East.


    After two years of bloodshed, Declan and Madam Zhao met in secret and formed an alliance. After killing her leader, Madam Zhao seized control and folded her organization into the Syndicate.


    She was also the only original lieutenant of the Syndicate still standing. All the others had either retired or had been killed in one fashion or another.


    While technically none of the lieutenants were above one another, Madam Zhao was often regarded as the unofficial second-in-command.


    Next to her was a familiar face. It was Samuel, the black wizard that assisted Delvin in dealing with George Fawley. For the longest time, he was the best fixer the Syndicate employed. Anytime the Syndicate needed something smoothed over, they sent him.


    Then a few years ago, out of nowhere, that lieutenant had decided to retire and recommend that Samuel replace him. Considering Samuel''s mental art skills, everyone suspected that he had something to do with the lieutenant''s d.e.s.i.r.e to retire. Even if it were true that Samuel had something to do with it, Declan wouldn''t have cared. As far as he was concerned, someone skilled enough to pull that off would be welcome.


    On the other side were the two final members that Delvin liked to refer to as the power couple. The first was Graham. The left side of his face had four scars running from his forehead to his jaw. They were from a werewolf that he killed in single combat without his wand.


    Whether that was true or not, the attack left him not only as a werewolf but one with only a single natural brown eye remaining. In place of the ruined eye was a mechanical glass eye. If you looked closely at the eye, you could see tiny, interconnected gears around a glowing, red pupil.


    Next to him was Graham''s wife and Delvin''s least favorite person in his room, his perfect little sister. Her blonde hair didn''t touch her shoulders, and everything about her was styled to project an innocent housewife''s appearance.


    But, Delvin knew nothing could be further from the truth. Amy was a psychopath and was just as ruthless as their father. She could smile at you one moment, and without blinking, kill you the next. When he was younger, Delvin had fallen for her tricks more than once.


    Delvin felt a surge of fury well up in him when he saw the barest hint of a smirk appear on his younger sister''s face. She was probably delighted at the week he had been having. More than once, he had mentioned that while she was living in the shadow of their father, he had left and built his own empire.


    Of course, Delvin chose to conveniently ignore the fact that the Nimbus was a mere speck compared to the Syndicate. As far as he was concerned, he was the more successful of the two of them.


    Delvin could never quite grasp why his father didn''t respect everything he had accomplished. Wasn''t he following in his father''s footsteps by building his own business? Why did he prefer his sister over him?


    Knowing that this line of thinking wouldn''t help his case, Devlin turned his attention to his father and tried to ignore the knowing smile on his sister''s face.


    Once his attention was back on his father, Delvin uncomfortably realized that his father had been studying him. And from the look on Declan''s face. He didn''t appear pleased to see him. Not one bit.


    Delvin decided right then to scrap his original plan of asking for a loan. His father didn''t seem to be in the giving mood, and if he wanted to succeed here, he would half to offer more.


    Thankfully, over the past week, he had made several different plans. His primary backup plan involved bringing the Syndicate on board as a silent partner in his company. It wasn''t ideal. Delvin would probably have compromise on some things. But, it wasn''t like it would be all bad. There were all sorts of things they could do in the dark to his competition.


    Seeing how the whole room was waiting on him, Delvin cleared his throat and said, "Father, I''ve come to you with a business proposition."


    Delvin reached into his bag, pulled out a set of doc.u.ments, and set them on the table. Before Delvin could do anything else, Declan pulled out a wand and summoned the doc.u.ments to him.


    Delvin paused for a moment, not sure whether to take his father''s actions as a sign of encouragement or not.


    Seeing how his father seemed content to remain silent, Delvin continued, "As some of you may know, the world of flying changed considerably in the past week."


    Looking his father in the eye, Delvin admitted, "I''m not going to lie to you, Nimbus has taken several big hits this week. Most of my board members are ready to abandon ship and sell. But I believe deep in my gut that Nimbus can survive this and come back better than ever. We have a deeply trusted brand, and once we get past this, I predict that we will be stronger than ever."


    As time went on, Delvin settled into a grove. He found it was constructive to treat the council like they were just another company. Delvin was ecstatic to see that several of the lieutenants seemed open to the idea of expanding into the lucrative broom market.


    This was it. Nimbus was saved. With the Syndicate backing him, the Fawley''s were doomed.


    Delvin was so caught up in his fantasy that he was totally caught off guard when his father leaned forward and said, "No."


    Delvin blinked rapidly, not understanding. What did he mean, no? Why not? Didn''t he understand what he was offering? What they could do if they partnered up. He could once again dominate the industry.


    Seeing the final chance to save his company go up in flames made Delvin go slightly mad.


    "Why not?" He belligerently demanded. "You have to help me. I''m your son."


    Declan''s icy blue eyes flashed dangerously. "You have a lot of nerve coming here and asking for money." He spat. "Do you have any idea how much I''ve had to spend cleaning up your messes?


    Delvin flinched at his father''s tone and seemed to shrink inward.


    "First, there was that fiasco at the International Dueling Tournament last year, where we had to spend countless galleons ensuring that the investigation went our way."


    Declan reached into his robe, pulled out a rolled-up newspaper, and hurled it at Delvin.


    "Now, reporters are digging through your past looking for your skeletons."


    Delvin unfolded the paper and panicked when he saw the latest damning headline written by Rita Skeeter.


    What Else is Whithorn Hiding?


    Delvin slammed it shut as if that would make it all go away.


    "She won''t find anything," Delvin promised.


    Declan snorted, "You''re damn right she won''t. I''ve already sent someone to deal with her. One way or another, she won''t be writing any more headlines about Whithorn''s.


    Hearing that Rita Skeeter would no longer be a problem made Delvin sigh with relief. He was sick of seeing her in the paper every day. If Rita were smart, she would take whatever deal was given her. If she refused, well, it wouldn''t be the first time the Syndicate had dealt with a nosy reporter.


    Delvin was jolted from his thoughts when Declan scathingly added, "Compared to the other problems your bubbling has created, silencing a reporter and lining the pockets of the United Dueling League is of no concern."


    Declan shook his head. "Even now, you don''t even realize the mess you''ve created."


    Declan decided to enlighten his son, "All this time, You''ve been focused on the wrong son of George Fawley. It''s not Henry that you should have been worried about. It''s his brother, John. While Henry seems to be content in following his father''s footsteps, John went down a different path. In less than two decades, he has put together an effective organization that has repeatedly intruded on my business."


    Declan moved his eyes off Delvin and started speaking with the others, "Originally, I thought of recruiting him. Someone talented and driven enough to build an organization is always welcome within the Syndicate. But, imagine my frustration this week when I found out that twenty-five years ago, my son screwed over his father."


    Declan turned back and glared at Delvin, "It puts all of John''s actions of intruding in our business in a very different light."


    Delvin gaped for a minute, trying to wrap his head around this new piece of information. What was wrong with the Fawley family? Why couldn''t there be one normal one? It was like each of them was on a mission to screw with him.


    Seeing the cold fury in his father''s eyes, Delvin knew he needed to tread carefully. It wouldn''t be the first time that his father turned his wand on him.


    Still reeling from the fact that he had created a problem for the Syndicate, Delvin questioned, "Surely he isn''t a problem for you."


    For a moment, Declan seemed to hesitate as if he wanted to say something. But then the moment passed, and he scoffed, "Of course not."


    With a pointed gaze, he added, "But, had I known that our families had such history, I would have moved on him when he was weak. Now, we''ll have to pay a price if we want to take him down.


    At this point, all eyes on the council were on Delvin, and none of them were friendly. It was probably only out of respect for Declan that they kept silent.


    Delvin wilted at their cold gazes. He could sense that there was no chance of any help from the Syndicate. Panic flooded his mind. Getting help from the Syndicate had been the only thing keeping him going this past week. Without help, Nimbus would slowly die piece by piece. His work over the past two decades, ruined in the span of a week.


    Still seething, Declan continued without thought for his son''s feelings, "I''ve heard the whole story from Samuel. Everything that has happened is due to your weakness. Had you the stomach for blood, you would have dealt with the Fawleys years ago. So, no. We will not be intervening."


    Each word made Delvin wince. They were like the nails being driven into his coffin. Nothing mattered, not anymore. He didn''t have anything, not his company, not the prestige that came along with it, nothing.


    Seeing his son so broken made Declan hesitate for a moment, then added in a softer tone. "I think what''s best for you is to let Nimbus fade away. Then you can withdraw from society and come back to the Syndicate. I''ll even find something for you to do."


    Declan didn''t know it, but his last words were the final blow for Delvin. He turned to leave, a hollowed-out shell compared to how he arrived.


    Had Declan known his son''s actual state of mind, perhaps he would have stopped him.


    With his son gone, Declan turned to his lieutenants, "Any thoughts on how we should deal with John and his crew?"


    Graham snorted, "Give me the order, and I''ll put together a strike force to take care of this once and for all."


    Erkan sneered at him, "And lose most of them in the process."


    While Erkan and Graham glared at one another, a soft voice spoke up. "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."


    All eyes turned to Madam Zhao as she cautioned, "There are other organizations out there that would try and seek advantage over us if we move rashly against John. What this requires is careful planning."


    Declan eyed her thoughtfully as he drummed his fingers absently against the table.


    "What did you have in mind?" He asked.


    Madam Zhao smiled, with a crafty look appearing in her eyes, "Do you remember 1958?"


    Understanding appeared on Declan''s face as his icy blue eyes shot to the map on the table, focusing on three specific points.


    Showing his teeth, he replied, "That will do nicely."

 Chapter 105 - Back to Alex

    "Please."


    "No."


    "Come on."


    Losing patience, I snapped, "For the last time, I said no."


    Looking up from my complex arithmancy calculations, I found Fred and George Weasley shamelessly grinning at me. Having just come from quidditch practice, they still had their quidditch gear on. Since it had been raining earlier, their red and gold robes were still damp, although, from the smell radiating from them, part of the dampness had to be sweat.


    Looking around, I realized they had brought a small crowd with them this time. Half the Gryffindor Quidditch team seemed to be here, including Harry Potter. Ever since I revealed Fawley''s Arcane Solutions to the world, the twins had been bugging me to enchant their brooms. I guess they thought numbers might make me change my mind.


    Speaking firmly, I said, "It doesn''t matter how many times you ask me. I''m not adding the Slipstream Charm to your brooms."


    "Come on," George wheedled. "If we win our last match, we will overtake Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup. No one wants to see the stupid snakes win again."


    Next to me, Anna cleared her throat, drawing attention to her, and lazily drawled, "Maybe if you Gryffindors used your brains more than your brawn, you wouldn''t lose every year."


    All the Gryffindors glared at Anna, who glared right back with her purple eyes daring them to do something. While they had their staring match, I rolled my eyes. A lot of students tended to take the quidditch matches way too seriously. Don''t get me wrong. I loved to watch, but to me, it was just a game.


    Quidditch was responsible for probably half of the school''s hexes. After a game, there is always a rash of students being sent to the Hospital Wing. Sometimes, students from the losing team vent their frustrations out on the students from the winning team. Other times, it''s the winning team''s side who is riding high after a victory and wants to continue feeling like the top dog. Still, that was just life at Hogwarts. Getting randomly hexed after a quidditch match was almost like a rite of passage. It''s even happened to me.


    Deciding to break up the tension, I looked at George, "You do realize that your final match is against Ravenclaw?"


    I brushed my hand against the Ravenclaw Badge attached to my robe, "If I were going to enchant anyone''s brooms, it would be the Ravenclaw Quidditch team''s brooms."


    "Oi, you can''t do that," Fred argued. "That would be cheating."


    Fred fell silent, realizing he had undercut his own argument for getting the Gryffindor brooms enchanted.


    A small voice spoke up in such a matter-of-fact tone that I knew who it was immediately.


    "According to Section D, Paragraph 2 of the Quidditch Rule Book, adding new spells or modifications to an existing broom is prohibited and is grounds for disqualification and forfeiture."


    The Gryffindors parted, revealing a pale, first-year student with bushy hair and front teeth that were slightly too big for her face. Hermoine turned pink when she realized everyone was staring at her.


    Standing next to her was a familiar-looking student with red hair and freckles splattered across his face. Ron was looking at Hermione like she had grown two heads.


    "Of course, you memorized the rule book," Ron grumbled under his breath.


    I waved toward the two first years, "There you have it. I won''t be applying my spells to anyone''s broom."


    George and Fred both glared at Hermione like it was her fault I wasn''t going to help. As they slunk off in defeat, George grumbled, "Nosy little git."


    I blinked in surprise when I realized not all the Gryffindors had left. Harry Potter had stayed behind and was looking at me, his green eyes filled with determination.


    "Alex, right? We met at your dad''s shop."


    Seeing me nod, he continued, "I just wanted to apologize. If I had known, I would never have used it."


    Puzzlement must have shown on my face because Harry held out his Nimbus 2000 as if to explain.


    Ah, now I saw where this was going. Ever since Rita had started printing stories about Delvin and my grandfather, there had been an outcry in Britain''s magical community that filtered down to students at Hogwarts.


    Mostly it was just vocal offers of support coupled with promises of boycotting all of Nimbus products. The fact that most of them probably couldn''t even afford a Nimbus made their support less impressive, but I thanked them all the same.


    Some took it more seriously. I had a few distant cousins from Clan Macmillan who were pretty vocal about everything. But, every time I saw them, I couldn''t help but remember that the clan effectively banished my grandma just when she needed them most. When it comes to my family, I don''t forgive or forget.


    I turned my attention back to Harry Potter. Seeing him standing before me looking so anxious made me feel a little awkward. Not wanting to interfere with his early years had made me want to stay away, yet here he was, standing right in front of me.


    With a half-smile, I waved away his concern. "Don''t worry about it. It''s just a broom."


    I motioned for him to draw closer, "Can you keep a secret."


    Nodding eagerly, Harry leaned in.


    "I have a feeling that soon, my grandfather''s work will return to where it belongs. So, don''t throw away that Nimbus just yet."


    Harry flashed me a grin, seemingly pleased to be in on the secret and promised to keep it quiet.


    As the golden trio wandered off, I sighed. It was a little annoying having everyone know my family''s business. But, as long as it hurt Delvin, it was an acceptable tradeoff.


    Having my family''s history known to everyone wasn''t the only thing that changed since the Conference. Revealing both my company and my status as the youngest silver-ranked charm-crafter had stunned the magical community.


    Already, I had received dozens of letters. Some were the gold-rank enchanters from the guild. Geovani had kept my entry a secret, and they wanted to introduce themselves. While most of the letters were full of congratulations, a few were downright condescending. Almost like I should be grateful that they were taking the time to write to me. I guess I shouldn''t be too surprised. It''s probably difficult for most of them to take a 14-year-old seriously. I know I should do the m.a.t.u.r.e thing and just let it go, but that''s not who I am. One day, when I make it to the top, I''ll be sure to rub their noses in it.


    I also received letters from some silver-rankers suggesting possible future collaborations on projects, which made me preen a little. I was a little embarrassed when Anna had to inform me that my so-called smug look was back with a vengeance.


    Of course, not all letters were congratulatory. I got a few from some lower-ranked guilders who insisted that I somehow cheated my way to silver and that the Slipstream Charm had to be the work of my father. Those I tossed, some people will always feel jealousy when they see others succeed where they failed.


    What was annoying was it became almost impossible to study in the Ravenclaw common room peacefully. Other Ravenclaws constantly hovered like flies buzzing in my ear. The girls were the biggest distractions. They were constantly asking me things and giggling and flashing pretty smiles when I looked up to reply. Thankfully, Jessica came to my defense and was able to chase most of them away. Out of everyone in Ravenclaw, she was the only one who didn''t treat me any differently. Being around her was pleasant and relaxing. We had many late-night discussions where we discussed magic.


    It wasn''t just the students who had taken notice of what I had done. Many of the professors started treating me differently. Professor Flitwick was probably the proudest. After class one day, he pulled me aside and handed me an advanced book on enchanting.


    It wasn''t all good. I think Professor Snape was a little annoyed seeing my name constantly in the paper. He singled me out in class and forced me to brew an invisibility potion, a highly unstable potion requiring the utmost focus. I think he may have been trying to hint to me in his own way that being so visible isn''t a good thing. But, there was a real possibility that he was just being a d.i.c.k.


    As for me, now that project firebolt had been launched, I found myself with some additional free time. Seeing as how the International Dueling Tournament was right around the corner, I made sure to spend some of the time practicing against my fellow Silver Spears.


    Having missed last year''s tournament, I was looking forward to competing this year. This wouldn''t be like the local tournament, where I competed against fellow students. This time, I would be competing against the best duelers from around the world. Part of me was curious whether I would meet anyone who would be my match.


    I had a feeling I would surprise a few Dueling Masters from the Silver Spears. Over the past few months, I had dedicated a small amount of time each week practicing my nonverbal incantations. In the beginning, they were a pain in the b.u.t.t, requiring a tremendous amount of focus. But, like a snowball getting bigger as it rolls down a hill, I find that nonverbal spells are getting easier for me to use.


    As time rolled on by, the only thing of concern was Rita Skeeter quit writing stories about Delvin. At first, I was annoyed, thinking she was trying to worm her way out of our deal. But then she didn''t respond to any of my letters, and I began to worry that it might be something else.


    So, the night before the spring holiday, I decided it was time for a house call. I knew from my research on her that she had a small cottage in Hogsmeade.


    I waited until it was well past midnight before I made my move. Before leaving the Ravenclaw common room, I made sure my preparations were ready. Unfolding a large piece of parchment, I waved my wand over it and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."


    Not taking any chances, I also used the Disillusionment Charm, making me nearly invisible. I had come a long way with the charm, and I was determined to get to the point where I could make myself completely invisible.


    Feeling a slight tap on my leg, I turned and found Athena looking right at me, even with the Disillusionment Charm activated.


    Knowing what she wanted, I said, "Yes, you''re coming."


    My past adventures taught me that it paid to have someone you couldn''t sneak upon watching your back.


    Moving through the castle, I made my way to the large, floor-length mirror tucked away in a forgotten corner on the fourth floor. It was the entrance to the underground passageway that led to the Silver Spears dueling room. But, it also led to Hogsmeade.


    The mirror rippled like quicksilver when I placed my wand on the surface. As always, passing through felt like I was moving through a layer of damp heat. On the other side, I found myself in a tunnel lined with stone.


    Holding my wand aloft, I lit up the tunnel and started making my way through. I passed by the secret door leading to the Silver Spears dueling arena and pushed on to Hogsmeade. Tired of walking, Athena leaped onto her favorite perch, my shoulder. How she could accurately aim for my shoulder when I was nearly invisible was beyond me.


    The tunnel exit took me to the back alley behind the Three Broomstick, the most famous pub in Hogsmeade.


    Thankfully, at this time of night, Hogsmeade was mostly empty. I did pass by a few people stumbling out of the Hogs Head as I made my way to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. One of them rubbed his eyes in disbelief when he caught sight of Athena, who was seemingly floating along in midair. If I weren''t on a mission, I probably would have stayed to mess with them¡ªno doubt due to Fred and George''s influence.


    When I finally located her two-story white house, I paused. All of the windows were covered with dark curtains preventing me from seeing inside.


    Seeing how I had a ready-made people detector with me, I turned to Athena and asked, "What do you think? Anyone home?"


    While I haven''t improved my ability to communicate with Athena, she almost always understands what I need from her.


    She leaped off my shoulder and started circling the house making sure to stay on the outside of the small wooden fence. I followed behind, content to let Athena do her thing.


    After lapping the house, she turned, looked up at me, and nodded her head.


    "How many?" I asked.


    Athena looked back at the house and chuffed.


    I rolled my eyes, "That''s hardly helpful. I need a number."


    Athena looked at me with her reproachful green eyes as if to say if I had a better grasp on our bond, it would be clear what she meant.


    "I promise I will work on it," I assured her.


    I held up a single finger and asked, "This many?"


    Athena looked back at the house before looking back at me and nodding.


    I knew if she claimed that there was only one person in the house, there was only one person. No one in the magical community could quite agree on how, but it was pretty much agreed that it was impossible to surprise or sneak up on a Lamassu. Merlin knows I''ve tried.


    Wanting as much detail as possible, I asked, "Do you remember Rita Skeeter?"


    Athena hissed, which I took as confirmation. Athena had met her once, and she disapproved. Something about Rita set her off.


    "Is that her up there?"


    I got another hiss confirming it was Rita.


    Even knowing Rita was in there, I still didn''t make a move to cross the fence. Most Hogwarts graduates could lay down a basic ward, and using a fence as the framework makes it even easier.


    Back in my first year, I had learned to break through a ward. Of course, it was mainly by brute force. Now, I was on a whole new level. Wards significantly focused on sixth-year Charms and DADA, and I had always been a quick study.


    I pointed my wand at the fence and silently cast, "Moirus Revelio."


    The wooden fence began glowing, ghostly blue color. I smiled at the sight. It was a basic Screaming Ward, straight from the pages of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6. It wouldn''t keep anyone out but cross it without the owner''s permission, and it would start wailing a piercing sound that made it difficult to think and draw attention for miles.


    I started making my way around to the front of the house, examining the ward for any weak point. I could easily bulldoze my way through the ward. But, I wanted to test my skill level and see if I could sneak through the ward.


    Ever so softly, I silently cast, "Tollere Impedimentum."


    It was the same spell I used to drop the wards surrounding Octavius, the vampire I freed back in my first year. Back then, I didn''t really know what I was doing. I merely poured power and magic into the ward until it collapsed. Now that I have a much better understanding of wards, I am far more efficient. The best way to look at it is like picking a lock. Only instead of using tools to move tumblers, you mentally pick your way through the ward. The only way to do this is by being s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to magical fluctuations. A skill that I have constantly been sharpening ever since my unexpected trip to China. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.


    Less than a minute later, I smiled as I felt my magic slip through the other side. At this point, I had two options: I could drop the ward entirely or slip by and let the ward reform behind me. After thinking it over, I decided to leave the spell up. Dropping it would let others know that someone had been here.


    Rita''s house had a red door, and as I approached, I felt another spell. I leaned closer, trying to get a feel for the spell. Once I figured out what it was, I was almost offended. It was a basic locking spell. I know students at Hogwarts with better security spells on their trunks.


    "Alohomora." I nonverbally cast.


    There was a loud click as the lock turned in the door. I froze at the sound, and mentally chastised myself. I should have used the silencing charm in conjunction with the unlocking charm.


    Still, after a few moments, I decided no one had heard me. Not wanting to be heard again, I pointed my wand at myself and added the silencing charm. That way, Rita wouldn''t hear me coming. Yes, it would give her a bit of a scare to have me materialize right in front of her. But, she needs to remember how our relationship works.


    Moving through the doorway, I started moving through Rita''s home. Decorating the walls were framed newspapers of Rita ripping into people''s lives. In my opinion, her animagus form says everything about her personality. She is a bug, a lower life form. One that needs to be stepped on, and I am happy to be the boot that does it.


    I cast another variation of the Revealing charm, which let me know the downstairs was empty. A glowing red pulse indicated that Rita was upstairs in the far-right bedroom.


    Thanks to the spell I had cast on myself, I moved through the house, silent as a ghost. Well, maybe not a ghost. They tended to talk one''s ear off if you let them.


    Once I reached the top of the stairs, I made my way to the master bedroom. The door was slightly open, letting me peer inside. Surprisingly a tiny lamp on the end table was lit, allowing me to glimpse a person wrapped in a white blanket on a large bed with blue sheets.


    Even though I didn''t make a noise, Rita must have felt someone was watching her.


    "Who''s there?" A fearful, hoarse voice rang out.


    Pushing open the door, I dropped my spells, revealing myself.


    "You," Rita accused from the bed. "You ruined my life. I hate that I ever met you."


    I watched her rant and raved from the bed. Rita looked terrible. Her blond curly hair was starting to grey and fray, her skin was full of poxes that were oozing pus, and her teeth were starting to rot. It didn''t take me long to put together the clues. Rita was suffering from a Wasting Curse.


    "You broke our contract." I pronounced, my voice full of judgment.


    Rita w.h.i.n.ed pitifully, "It''s all your fault. If I had known who was backing Delvin Whithorn, I never would have agreed to write about him."


    I shook my head. "I warned you. I warned you not to dig into the Whithorn Family. But, you couldn''t help yourself."


    Rita wailed at me. "I was just being thorough."


    I let out a sigh, "What happened?"


    Rita''s green eyes darted around the room, looking for shadows. "Someone came to my house." She whispered. "I don''t know who it was; they were wearing a mask. They. They forced me to the ground while they tore through my office, destroying all my notes."


    Unable to help myself, a feeling of pity rose within me. I hadn''t wanted this to happen. Yeah, Rita was a piece of work, but I never intended for her to be targeted by the Syndicate.


    Wanting to know more, I asked, "What happened next?"


    In a small voice, Rita replied, "They made me swear an unbreakable vow. To never investigate, write, or report about anyone named Whithorn."


    She held up a wavering hand that had a few fingernails falling out. I could see the faint outline of chains wrapped around her hand¡ªsigns of an Unbreakable Vow.


    I narrowed my eyes as a thought occurred to me. "None of what you''ve told me would break our contract."


    Rita gulped as tiny beads of sweat started rolling down the sides of her face. "They wanted to know."


    "Know what?" I harshly demanded.


    ''Why I was writing so much about Delvin."


    In a cold voice, I questioned, "What did you tell them?"


    Rita fell silent, so I repeated myself, "What did you tell them?"


    "I didn''t have a choice," Rita pleaded. "I thought they were going to kill me. I told them how we met and everything I had learned about you since then."


    A small voice in the back of my head told me it wasn''t her fault. Rita wasn''t equipped to deal with the Syndicate.


    Then, just as I was about to let it go, Rita added, "I told them everything I had learned about your family."


    That small voice in the back of my head pleading for mercy fell oddly silent.


    Without realizing it, I had moved across the room and loomed over Rita''s bed. Unlike the boiling rage that I felt inside, my voice came out in a deceptively calm tone. "What did you just say?"


    Rita shrank at the tone of my voice. Despite the calmness in my voice, I think she realized that she had crossed a line that she should never have crossed.


    At once, any sympathy I had for her dried up. I could have forgiven Rita for giving them information on me. But, my family was the most important thing in the world to me. Anyone that threatens them, no matter how slight, will have to deal with me.


    As I stood over Rita, the hand holding my wand twitched for a second. I couldn''t help but have a sneaking suspicion that she gave them more than she needed to. I always knew Rita might one day try and screw with me. But, I didn''t imagine that it would involve my family. Part of me, the dark part of me, wanted to take my wand and teach her how badly she had miscalculated.


    But, after a few deep breaths, I was able to banish that impulse. Besides, seeing how badly the Wasting Curse was affecting her, the best punishment was to leave her here to suffer the fate of breaking our contract. There was a reason why people didn''t break magical contracts with curses on them. To do so was to invite the curse to really sink into your body, making it extremely hard to remove. Looking at how bad the curse was affecting Rita, I would guess she will be dealing with the Wasting Curse for several years. It couldn''t happen to a nicer person.


    I guess the only thing to do was remove any trace of my involvement. I used my wand to render Rita unconscious. Using what I learned from Professor Lockart, I went to work on her memory and removed all traces of our encounters. Then I created a few memories of why she went after the Whithorns. As for her memories of the Syndicate, I left those but added a few details, making them the ones responsible for her condition. Considering her newfound fear of the Syndicate, I knew she wouldn''t be explaining her condition to anyone.


    When I was finished, I went through her office to make sure she didn''t have anything in there that would give me away. Thankfully, the Syndicate was thorough. What they didn''t take, they destroyed.


    Once that was finished, I left the house and slipped through the ward with none the wiser. It didn''t take me long to get back to Hogwarts. As I lay in bed, I decided on my next move. I needed advice. It was time to speak with Uncle John.

 Chapter 106 - Rome

    The following day went by in a blur. Since I didn''t get much sleep the night before, I slept most of the way on the train ride to London.


    When we arrived at Platform 9 ?, I found a small surprise waiting for me. Grandma was waiting for me dressed in black robes with faint geometric patterns stitched with yellow thread. A wide-brim sun hat mostly covered her dark hair that was beginning to grey.


    After greeting her with a hug, I asked, "Grandma, what are you doing here? Where''s Mum and Dad?"


    Grandma fondly ruffled my dirty blond hair. "Your father had an important meeting he couldn''t get out of, and your Mum just got in a large order for potions. So, I volunteered to pick you up."


    Grandma fondly smiled as she looked around at all the parents reuniting with their children on the platform. "It''s been so long since I''ve been here," she mused. "I''ve nearly forgotten how busy the platform could be."


    Snapping out of memory lane, Grandma turned back to me, "You ready to get out of here?"


    Seeing me nod, she pushed her way to an open area designed for apparition. Once we were in the clear, she held out her arm for me to grab. Typically, we would have to take the bus, but we could apparate since I didn''t have any luggage and Athena didn''t count.


    As I gripped her arm tightly, my world went black as the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a small rubber tube.


    After what seemed like an eternity, we reappeared outside the iron gates that led to the Fawley estate. The gates were bound to our bloodline and opened with no prompting as if to welcome us home.


    Once we got inside the house, I was immediately swarmed by the twins. Rebbeca started interrogating me about school with a hungry look in her blue eyes. While Sasha settled for snuggling Athena and listening to everything I said.


    I could smell a delightful smell from the kitchens as Lola tended to go overboard whenever I returned from Hogwarts. Once, I had tried to convince her that it wasn''t necessary, but all I got in response was some shaking and fat watery tears leaking from her big green eyes. So now we always have a big family dinner the night I return.


    The next few days went by quickly as I got ready for the tournament. I had tried to see Uncle John, but he wasn''t on his ship, and no one would tell me where he was at, only that he promised to be back in time for the tournament.


    There were a few things different about the tournament this year. The tournament changes locations every year, and this year it would be held in Rome, in the Colosseum. Not the muggle one, the real one that lies beneath it.


    Back when Rome was at the height of its power, the Magical Conclave of Rome built the Colosseum. Back then, magic was not a secret and was commonly used. Even today, half of Rome still pulses with remnants of ancient magics.


    It''s a shame that the historical records had to be altered when wizards went into hiding. The ancient Roman wizards were capable of crafting wonders. It didn''t come as a surprise that I learned that the headquarters of the Charm-Crafting Guild was located there.


    The location wasn''t the only thing that would be different. Neither Cedric nor Alicia was coming this year. Alicia''s parents took her back to Egypt for a family reunion, and Cedric''s dad was dragging him on some Ministry retreat. Amos Diggory wanted Cedric to rise high in the Ministry. I''ve heard him suggest that Cedric would make a good Minister, and the retreat was a good way for Cedric to build connections.


    I don''t think that the fact that Cedric wants to play professional quidditch has even registered with Amos. Sometimes Cedric is too accommodating for his own good.


    This year, I will be traveling with the Silver Spears. After last year''s fiasco, they tightened security, determined not to let anything else happen on their watch.


    The morning of the tournament, I headed downstairs dressed in my dueling robes. They were dark blue with a hawk colored in different shades of bronze on the front.


    Not wanting to be late, I used the Floo Network to instantly travel to the British Chapter House of the Silver Spears.


    At the chapter house, I found the other members of our club waiting. Zack, our fearless leader, was dressed in dark robes with hints of silver. He acknowledged me with a lazy grin, not wanting to move. He was lounging without a care in the world on a faded grey couch, with his head in the l.a.p of his girlfriend, Addison.


    Addison''s robes went in the opposite direction of Zack''s robes. She was wearing bright sunny yellow robes with black runic symbols running along the seams.


    She sat on the couch, absently running her fingers through Zack''s blond hair, mentally preparing for the upcoming competition. This would be her final year competing at the junior level. And while she was guaranteed a mentor from the ranks of the retired members of the Silver Spears, she wanted to land a mentorship with a former champion. Zach had already received several offers in his sixth year, and I knew she was aiming for similar offers.


    Lelah, the fifth-year Ravenclaw, was focused on a mirror as she tied her lengthy, auburn hair up into a tight bun. She had on light blue robes with white patterns woven into them. As I passed her by, I noticed she shot a few sneaky glances my way, which I attributed to my current social status in Ravenclaw.


    Not everyone was as welcoming. Adam, the dark-haired, fourth-year Gryffindor that I frequently spared with, tried to hide a glare. He had failed to qualify this year and more than once had grumbled that if it weren''t for me competing in his year, he would have made it.


    I couldn''t blame him for being a little annoyed at me; I had been distracted this year, not putting in nearly as much time into practicing as he did. I can imagine how frustrating it must be to put in the time and effort to lose out to someone who only put in half the effort. I had considered competing against the fifth-years this year but decided against it because of how busy I was with my other projects.


    Adam wasn''t the only one who didn''t qualify this year. Of the three newest members, only Hannah, the second-year Hufflepuff, qualified. Richard and Stephen didn''t were both knocked out. It was moments like this that reminded us that even though we were all a part of the same club, dueling was ultimately a solo sport.


    It didn''t take long for Jean to appear before us with a bright smile on his face. Jean''s job was to both manage and mentor the junior members that attended Hogwarts. From everything I learned about him, he never found success in the professional leagues. But, his love for the sport couldn''t be denied. For the past ten years, he had done his absolute best to help any interested member find an appropriate mentor and transition into the professional dueling leagues.


    He was flanked by two people who appeared to be in their early twenties. One was a tall blond witch and a wizard with rich brown hair. Judging from the matching dark robes decorated with crosses silver Spears, I guessed they were older members of the Silver Spears.


    Jean cleared his throat wanting to grab everyone''s attention. "Everyone gather around. I want to talk about this year''s tournament."


    Once everyone had gathered in a semi-circle, Jean continued, "Due to an incident last year, there is going to be some changes to the way we operate."


    Jean motioned for the witch and wizard standing behind him to come forward. "This is Ben and Katerina. They are both Professional Duelers of the Silver Spears and have graciously offered to guard our area to make sure there are no mishaps."


    Everyone seemed to sit up straighter when Jean introduced Ben and Jamie. Jean smirked when he saw he had a captive audience.


    "Now that I have your attention," Jean remarked. "I want to remind everyone not to go wandering off all by themselves this year. If you do feel the need to go somewhere, for Merlin''s sake, take someone with you."


    Jean rattled off a few more guidelines, but when he noticed that everyone seemed to be shooting glances at the two professional duelers, Jean shook his head and gave up.


    "Alright, that''s it from me. I''m going to let Ben and Katerina introduce themselves.


    The pale, blond witch stepped forward and introduced herself.


    "Hello, I is Katerina." She said in a heavy accent that I suspected was Russian. "Is nice to meet you."


    I thought she would continue for a second, but she stepped back, content with what she said.


    Ben stepped forward to fill the silence. "It''s nice to meet you all. As Jean said, my name is Benjamin, but everyone calls me Ben. If you''re wondering, I attended Ilvermorny."


    Ben stuck a thumb towards Katerina, "My silent friend over here graduated from Koldovstoretz."


    Katerina snorted, "I not silent. I introduce myself just fine. Not my fault you like talking rabbit."


    Katerina motioned her hand in a yapping manner, "Always the che che che with you. Never stop."


    Ben shot her a toothy smile, seemingly pleased that Katerina had responded. Holding up a finger, he proclaimed, "Ah hah, but I know for a fact that you think rabbits are cute. So by comparing me to one, you admit you find me cute."


    Katerina looked at Ben thoughtfully. "Maybe." She admitted. "But, pretty face is ruined by loud mouth. I talk with my Babushka. She has a spell to fix problem. No more loud mouth."


    Ben laughed nervously, not sure if Katerina was joking or not.


    Jean cleared his throat, wanting the two to act more professional in front of everyone.


    Ben tried to shoot Jean an apologetic look, but his shameless smile ruined it. Turning back to us. "Alright, does anyone have any questions?"


    Zack lifted a lazy hand and decided to stir the pot. "Which one of you is the better duelist." He asked while his eyes danced with mirth.


    Ben rubbed the stubble on his jawline for a moment. "I would say we''re about the same level."


    Immediately contradicting him, Katerina snorted, "I better duelist."


    Ben narrowed his amber-brown eyes and challenged Katerina. "Really, what about last night''s duel? I seem to remember winning."


    Katerina waved a pale hand dismissing Ben''s argument. "So. I have more wins. 25 to 24."


    Ben rubbed his temples as if trying to ward off a headache. "That just means we''re nearly tied, which is what I said in the first place."


    Katerina stubbornly shook her head. "No. I have more wins. So I better duelist. When you have more wins. You better duelist."


    Pleased with her logic, Katerina fell silent.


    Sensing that it was pointless to continue, Ben threw up his hands up in surrender.


    I smothered a laugh seeing the two of them go back and forth. And I wasn''t the only one. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, well, except for Jean. Jean looked like he was having second thoughts about bringing the two of them along.


    Sensing that it was futile to argue with her anymore, Ben turned back to us. "Any other questions?"


    Hanna, the second-year Hufflepuff, raised her hands. "Do you have any advice for the upcoming tournament?"


    Ben considered her for a moment. "From your age, I''m guessing this is your first time dueling internationally?"


    When Hanna nodded, Ben continued, "One thing you need to pay attention to is spell familiarity. What I mean by that is, for the first time, you''re going to be going up against people who use spells you''ve never seen or heard about before. Not knowing what spells are coming at you will force you to adjust your strategies. Don''t be stubborn and try to remain in the starting circle. If a spell comes at you, and you don''t know what it is, get out of the way."


    Even though that advice was for Hanna, I took the advice seriously as well. I missed out on last year''s duels, and I was looking forward to the challenge of not knowing what was coming at me. It should be an interesting experience.


    Ben spent the next twenty minutes answering questions. Most revolved around getting into the Professional Dueling Leagues. As for me, I remained silent. Perhaps in another life, I could imagine myself becoming a professional dueler. But that life wasn''t for me. I was here for a very singular purpose, to learn how to sling spells at someone.


    Even if there weren''t a war coming, I probably wouldn''t go into professional dueling. I enjoy dueling, but it''s not what I''m genuinely passionate about. Over the past few months, I''ve found that I enjoy pushing boundaries in magic, exploring the unknown, and creating new spells.


    The portkey we used dropped us off in a large spacious room that had no windows. Along the walls were bunk beds where we would be sleeping. The tournament was always a multi-day affair. The second and third-year students were dueling on day one. Since I was dueling against fourth-year students, I didn''t have to do anything till tomorrow.


    While the Colosseum above ground was slowly crumbling into ruin, nothing could be further from the truth when speaking of the underground. A few of us decided we wanted to explore and get a feel for the place.


    The sounds of our footsteps reverberated as we walked through the stone hallways that were brightly lit with torches enchanted never to go out. It took us some time to find our way through the maze-like passageways. When we finally found the arena, my eyes widened in surprise.


    Being underground, I had sort of expected the arena to be dimly lit, with perhaps the bottom arena being the brightest. But, a familiar enchantment ensured that the Underground Colosseum was just as bright as the muggle one above us.


    Rather than a rocky ceiling, we could see the clear blue sky with the sun shining brightly down on us. It was the same enchantment used in the Great Hall back at Hogwarts. If I didn''t know better, I would assume the Underground Colosseum was built above ground.


    There was plenty of seating available; the first day was never as popular as the latter half of the tournament. Mostly, the stands were just full of family members cheering on their kids.


    I didn''t blame dueling enthusiasts for not showing up on day one. I imagine it''s hard to go from watching professional dueling to students dueling.


    Eventually, it was about time for the duel to start, and we all headed to our assigned area. As the duels started, I couldn''t keep my eyes off the competition. There were witches and wizards from all over the place.


    Each of the eleven schools had sent their best. From the Far East, students from Tianlong School of Sorcery were dressed in robes made from silk embroidered with glowing characters that seemed to move in random patterns known only to them. While the school''s location was a secret known only to them, it was speculated to be deep within the mountains of China.


    Not to be outdone were the students from Mahoutokoro School of Magical Study. Their school''s location wasn''t a secret. It was located on the Japanese Volcanic Island of Minami Iwo Jima. Each of their students was wearing their unique and famous robes.


    When students begin their schooling at Mahoutokoro, they each receive a set of robes that grow alongside their owners. The robe''s colors start pink but slowly change colors depending on the student''s grades. Gold robes indicate that the student has top marks.


    The only color that is taboo is white. Any student that breaks the Mahoutokoro Wizard''s Code or practices the Dark Arts would result in their uniform turning white. The change would bring great shame to their family, and they would be immediately be expelled from Mahoutokoro.


    Taking my eyes off the students from the Far East, I snuck looks at the students from the Jaadoo Temple of Sages. Their students wore elaborate wrapping around their heads. Their robes seemed to explode in a splash of bright colors. Their school''s location was said to be at the mouth of the Ganges River in the Himalayan Mountains, forever protecting the sacred river.


    The Indian Sages were getting pretty unhappy with how muggles have been dumping into the Ganges River. Only the International Confederation of Wizards was stopping them from purging the river of toxic filth.


    From there, I glanced at the students from the Babylonian Tower of Magical Learning. The school was named in honor of the ancient city. Supposedly, the founder was so fascinated with the original city that he had tried to recreate the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon on the walls of the School''s Tower.


    The Tower was said to be a marvel whose only competition was the luxurious gardens of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.


    As it turns out, I wasn''t the only one who was checking out the competition. I locked eyes with a dark-eyed wizard with long dark hair from Koldovstoretz. Like the rest of the students from Koldovstoretz, he wore heavy robes similar to ones from the Durmstrang Institute.


    Interesting enough, I noticed he was in the


    Koldovstoretz branch of Silver Spears. But, since he looked like he was in his sixth or seventh year, I wouldn''t have to worry about dueling him.


    My eyes passed over the students from the Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbaton Academy of Magic and drifted to the American Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


    Ilvermorny was perhaps the school that had the most in common with Hogwarts. The school was founded by Isolt Sayre and her muggle husband James Steward. While Isolt was forcible homeschooled by her wicked aunt, she remebered all the happy stories her parents told her about Hogwarts and fashioned her school after them. While I wasn''t sure what they were called, the school sorted its students into four houses.


    Of course, none of their students enjoyed having their school constantly compared to a knock-off version of Hogwarts. More than one duel had started over the touchy issue.


    Putting the witch from Ilvermorny to the back of my mind, I turned my attention to the South American students from Castelobruxo. Most of them were wearing robes in various shades of green. Their school was located deep within the Amazon Rainforest.


    Mum once told me that if she had to choose a school to attend outside Beauxbatons, she would choose Castelobruxo. They produced the finest Potion-Makers and Herbologists in the world. Thankfully for the rest of us, potions were forbidden in dueling.


    I finally turned my eyes to the people I was most curious about. The group from Uagadou wore colorful robes decorated with patterns orange, blue, and purple. What was curious was half of them had wands, and the other half have them, preferring to use hand gestures. I was looking forward to testing out the differences between our magics and seeing if one was stronger.


    While few may argue in favor of hand gestures over wands, I wasn''t convinced. My wand had served me well over the years. These days, it felt like an extension of my hand. I can''t imagine not having my wand. It was like we were partners. Olivander always claimed that the wand chooses the wizard and not the other way around. From everything I''ve experienced, I believe him. I wouldn''t give up my wand for anything.


    I did notice that there were other students not from the major schools in attendence as well. Most were from minor schools that were often critized for lacking the foundations of the major schools. But, seeing some of the expressions of the Aussie students, any suggestion that their school lacked the foundation to be a major school of magic would be met with spells. It was a sore point that their school hadn''t been elevated to a major school of magic.


    As the duels commenced, I paid close attention, trying to memorize the effects of spells I had never seen before. I would be dueling tomorrow, and I wanted to be prepared.

 Chapter 107 - Duels

    Early next morning, I learned that I would be dueling in the first round starting at eight in the morning. There were thirty-two opponents in the fourth-year division. Which meant that if I wanted to win, I would have to win five matches in a row. Unlike the December tournament, this was single elimination. One loss, and you''re out.


    There were only two of us from Hogwarts competing. The other contender was a fourth-year Gryffindor named Adrian. He wasn''t a member of the Silver Spears. He was in the same club as Anna, the Dragon Fangs.


    When it was time, I made my way down to the dueling ring. The previous day, I learned it was nick-named the pit. Most of the pit was filled with sand, but in the center was a large stone dueling ring.


    As I stepped out onto the sand, my eyes scanned the seats in the stadium. I found my family sitting as close to the pit as possible without actually being in the pit.


    Rebbeca waved at me and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Yeaaah Alex! Kick their asses!"


    I hid a grin seeing Grandma''s eyes widened as if she couldn''t believe Rebbeca had just cursed. She dragged Rebbeca close and whispered something in her ear. Probably something to do with acting like a lady.


    Seeing the rebellious look on Rebbeca''s face, I knew Grandma had lost that battle. If she wanted a proper lady, she would have to focus on Sasha.


    Not wanting to bring attention to herself, Sasha just silently held up Athena with one hand and used the other hand to wave Athena''s paw at me.


    Dad showed his support by cupping his hands to his mouth and shouted similar encouragement.


    Mum, on the other hand, did her very best to embarrass me, "Alex, be careful, baby."


    A warm heat flooded my cheeks. You would think I would be used to Mum''s antics by now. She always seems to find new ways to embarrass me. But that was my family in a nutshell, embarrassing, warm, and loud. Honestly, I wouldn''t have it any other way.


    As I made my way to the ring, I noticed a few of my competitors pointed towards me, mocking my family''s vocal show of support. I narrowed my grey eyes in annoyance. No one makes fun of my family, at least not without consequences. I memorized each of their faces. Should I meet any of them in the arena, I will be sure to show them what true embarrassment looks like.


    Since my opponent was already on the left side of the ring, I made my way to the right. Each side had a smaller circle that we were required to be in at the start of the duel.


    It was known as the starter circle, and it was something of a mental trap in dueling. While winning the duel was technically all that mattered. There was a point system used to rank duelers, and one way to earn a lot of points was not to leave the starting circle for the entire match. If I''m being honest, being able to brag about bringing down an opponent without being forced to move is also part of the attraction.


    Those who ranked at the top were the most famous duelers, and fame was half the reason why many people got into professional dueling in the first place. Plus the money, the top-ranked duelers tended to earn the most as well.


    Of course, this being the junior leagues and a single-elimination tournament, points don''t matter as much as they do in the professional leagues.


    Once I got in the ring, I got a look at my first opponent. He stood at a little over five feet, and his skin was the color of smooth beige. He had dark eyes and short black hair, and judging from the intense gaze he was shooting my way, he seemed to be trying to initiate a staring contest.


    Ha, he obviously didn''t know that he was challenging someone who had weekly staring contests with a bored Lamassu. And while I rarely won, I was confident enough to claim that I was one of the best.


    He was introduced as Kazan, a student from Mahoutokoro. His robes had turned bright red and had streaks of gold running through them. Mahoutokoro robes change color depending on the student''s grade. The gold streaks told me that he had some high marks, but since they weren''t completely gold, it was probably only in a few classes. I had no idea what the red meant, but my intuition told me to be careful.


    Seeing how he was so intense, I figured he might be one of those people who might get offended if I didn''t react the same way. Hoping to goad him into making a mistake, I gave him a lazy smile which turned into a wide yawn as I gave the impression that I wasn''t taking him seriously.


    From the narrowed red glare I received, I think it worked. However, a small voice in the back of my head told me that giving my opponent even more reason to want to hex me wasn''t the brightest idea.


    Oh well, let''s see what Kazan has to offer.


    As we waited for the referee to signal the match, Kazan''s body language reminded me over a coiled spring that was tightened and itching to be released. As for me, I kept projecting a lazy vibe, even though on the inside, I was tense and ready to draw my wand at a moment''s notice.


    The tension built and built as I tuned out the crowd and waited for the signal. When the referee announced the start of the match with a loud green bang coming from his wand, Kazan and I made identical moves¡ªdrawing our wands.


    My wand was concealed inside a dueling holster Dad had made for me. The holster was a small two-inch metal tube strapped to my wrist. The tube was enchanted with an undetectable extension charm and was able to conceal my foot-long, ivory-colored aspen wand.


    A simple wrist movement released my wand, and it shot forward into my wrist. Across the dueling ring, Kazan did the same.


    Seeing how tense and annoyed Kazan was with me, I figured he was the type to get off an offensive spell as soon as possible. So, I prepared to cast the shield charm at first sight of a spell being slung my way.


    But, instead of a spell being sent my way, Kazan smirked at me when he whispered an unknown charm, and he disappeared before my eyes in a hazy swirl of colors.


    Why that sneaky little bastard.


    While I had been projecting laziness, Kazan had been doing a similar performance, making me think he had lost his cool. It was a subtle reminder that I was now facing the best duelers my age from around the world. They would each have unique strategies.


    Scanning the supposedly empty ring in front of me, my mind raced over my options. I heard Kazan, murmur something, and a white object appeared out of nowhere and came flying across the ring. Judging from the spell''s origin, Kazan had left the starting ring.


    With barely a conscious thought, I silently activated the shield charm, "Protego."


    A see-through bluish shield sprung up surrounding me. Although I was tuning the noise from the crowd out, I could still hear the announcer narrate our match. While Kazan''s invisibility spell had drawn praise, my nonverbal spell was even more surprising to the crowd. Typically, they wouldn''t see nonverbal spells until the third or fourth day of the Tournament.


    I was a little surprised when the white substance reached me. It splattered across my shield. From the look of things, I was guessing it was designed for restraint and capture. I narrowed my eyes when I saw that it was slowly growing and enveloping my shield. Onc shield dropped, whatever this substance was would probably collapse on top of me, trapping me within.


    Not only that, if I didn''t take care of this and go on the offensive, I would always be on the back foot, and Kazan would continue to dominate the match.


    A plan formed within my mind, and I went to work. I let the shield charm fade away and simultaneously focused my will on the white goo and swept my wand out diagonally.


    "Depulso." I mentally invoked the banishing charm.


    The banishing charm was commonly considered the opposite of the summoning charm.


    As the white goo flew across the ring back towards its maker, I smiled as I made sure to add a little something extra for Kazan.


    "Engorgio, Engorgio, Engorgio."


    Three icy blue bolts shot out of my wand and slammed into the white goo. The goo grew larger and larger with each spell until it was nearly half the size of the dueling ring.


    As the white goo came down on his side of the ring, I heard Kazan curse, "Chikush¨­."


    My grin turned preparatory when I caught sight of a human-shaped lump where the goo had swallowed up Kazan.


    "Not so invisible now, are we?" I muttered.


    I figured I only had a few seconds before Kazan freed himself, So I began my own offensive.


    "Flipendo."


    The knockback jinx worked better than I imagined as Kazan was still struggling to free himself. When the blue spell hit the goo-covered Kazan, he was picked up and thrown out of the ring, giving me an easy victory.


    Taking pity on him, the ref pointed his wand at Kazan and vanished the white goo that seemed determined never to let go of Kazan with a lazy flick.


    Finally free from his own creation, Kazan''s face fell when he realized he was out of the ring and that his place in the Tournament had come to an abrupt end.


    Pushing himself to his feet, Kazan shot me a bitter look. I didn''t blame him one bit. No one liked having their spells turned on them. Unfortunately for my opponents, it was my favorite way to win.


    Although the duel didn''t last long, I still worked up a slight sweat. When I got back to our team area, Zack tossed me a towel and complemented, "Nicely done."


    I spent the next few minutes being interrogated about my use of non-verbals. I hadn''t used them once in any of our dueling practices, and they were just as surprised as the crowd.


    The only one who didn''t seem happy was Adam. His expression was bleak. The best way to impress possible mentors was at the International Tournament, and I think he sensed his chances at beating me were slipping further and further away.


    There was about a ten-minute break in between duels. Since the average time of a duel was anywhere between one and five minutes, I knew I had a couple of hours of free time before I needed to be back for my next duel.


    So, I left and made my way to where my family was seated. Once I got close, I noticed another member of my family was there. Uncle John had joined everyone and was in deep conversation with Dad.


    I noticed Grandma looking slightly annoyed, and if I had to guess why, it would be the way Uncle John was dressed. His black hair was wild, untamed, and looked like it had never seen a brush before. From the stubble on his face, it was apparent he hadn''t shaved in the last week. He had on his customary black leather duster that had half a dozen pockets, each with magical extension charms attached to them.


    Overall, the coat looked like it belonged in a box for the homeless. Uncle John loved it.


    Personally, I thought Grandma should just be grateful that he wasn''t wearing his pirate hat. Outside of defeating the syndicate, I''m pretty sure Uncle John''s deepest d.e.s.i.r.e was to go back in time when pirates openly roamed the seas.


    When I got closer, Dad and Uncle John ended their conversation, and Uncle John flashed me a wink.


    "Good job out there," He said. "Keep that up, and you''ll be headed to the professional leagues."


    I smiled at him, but before I could say I wasn''t interested in going pro, I was swallowed up by the devourer.


    "Mum," I complained as I struggled to free myself from her tentacle-like grasp. "Let me go. I can''t breathe."


    "Fine," she reluctantly agreed but kissed my cheek in consolation before letting me go.


    "I''m just so proud of you."


    Sensing that another all-consuming hug was on the horizon, I retreated to the safety of Dad''s side, where the twins bombarded me with questions, and Athena graciously allowed me to pet her.


    Before the next match started, I whispered to Uncle John, "I need to talk to you later."


    Uncle John eyed me curiously for a moment before nodding. "Later tonight."


    With that out of the way, I turned my attention to the duel that was about to start. It was essential to watch all the matches to get a sense of all my competitor''s strategies.


    As the duels went on, some were as fast as mine, barely lasting a minute. Others dragged on with the longest match lasting nearly 10 minutes because the two duelers were so evenly matched. It only ended because one of the duelers slipped up due to exhaustion.


    It didn''t take long for the rest of the matches to conclude. Seeing how my next match was approaching, I left my family and made my way back down to the field.


    When it was time, I noticed my opponent was one of those who mocked my family''s show of support. His name was Lukas, and he was from Durmstrang. He was wearing dark brown fur-lined robes with red swirling patterns. His blond hair, blue eyes, and large size made me think he was descended from ancient Viking wizards.


    When Lukas saw me step out onto the sands, his lips curled, and he jeered, "Look who it is, the little momma''s boy."


    I had to bite my lip to keep myself from retorting. I cracked my neck to relieve some tension and made my way to the starting circle. I had already planned on teaching this Neanderthal a lesson. But now, I was going to embarrass him. I even knew exactly what strategy to use.


    Early this year, during a late-night dueling session with the other Silver Spears members. We spent the evening coming up with the most outlandish dueling strategies. One of Zack''s proposals was really out of the box, but it was surprisingly effective when I tried it against Anna. But, the strategy did have a significant flaw. Once you knew what was coming, it was pretty easy to stop it from succeeding.


    As soon as the referee gave the signal, I drew my wand. Unlike the last duel, I was not planning on letting my opponent make the first move.


    Since I hadn''t yet mastered the nonverbal version of this spell, I barked, "Avis."


    A small golden bird with a sharp beak shot out of my wand with a loud bang and started fluttering around my head.


    Not expecting me to conjure a small bird, Lukas laughed dismissively.


    "That''s your opening move." He mocked. "You clearly got lucky in passing the first round."


    My infamous smug look made its first appearance in the Tournament. Lukas had just made a critical mistake in mocking my strategy, namely because he gave me time to move onto phase two.


    "Gemino," I mentally intoned.


    Phase two of my strategy was the Doubling Charm. Interestingly enough, the Doubling Charm is, in my opinion, wrongly named. It implies that it''s only possible to create a single duplicate when you can through both skill and intent to make multiple copies. And I had been practicing.


    Immediately, ten copies of the bird appeared around me. Before Lukas could react, I cast the same spell over and over and over. Each second brought ten more birds into existence. By the time Lukas realized what I was doing, I had a small army of birds flying around me.


    Once I deemed I had enough, I went to phase three. From my position, I saw Lukas gulp nervously as every bird simultaneously looked in his direction. Willing the birds into action, all I could hear was wings fluttering and birds chirping war cries as they swarmed in mass towards Lukas.


    I smiled when I heard Lukas curse. Panicking, he started firing off spells. Red and blue streaks erupted from his wand blurred towards the small golden birds now mere moments from their prey. His spells had little effect, for every bird he brought down, ten more took its place.


    My smug look turned into a vicious smile when the first birds drew blood. Nobody insults my family and gets away with it.


    I took a break from casting the duplication charm when I noticed Lukas had abandoned offense to focus on defense. I didn''t blame him one bit; there were close to two hundred birds over there, each determined to claw and peck for blood.


    Thankfully, the shield charm wasn''t unbreakable. A strong enough spell can break one, as I learned in the previous year.


    Concentrating on bringing out all my raw power, I abandoned the nonverbal spells and roared, "Reducto."


    A massive pulsing blue light erupted from my wand and shot across the ring. When it crashed into Lukas''s shield, it shattered it into pieces, and Lukas was swarmed uncontrollably by little blood-thirsty yellow birds. After being clawed and pecked bloody, he dropped his wand, using his hands to cover his face.


    Wandless, Lukas took the only action left to him. He fled outside the ring.


    Once Lukas crossed the ring, I mentally called off the birds. Outside the ring, a bloody and deeply scratched Lukas was balefully glaring at me. I had the feeling that I had just made a lifelong enemy. But who cares. No one mocks my family and gets away with it.


    Now that I had won, I turned my attention to the crowd. While Zack was cackling loudly at the sidelines, everyone seemed to have a different reaction. Some approved of the novel strategy, while others pointed out that the strategy wouldn''t be effective again. Because the one thing was sure, no one would let me take the time to build a golden army of birds ever again.

 Chapter 108 - Its Over

    As the tournament went on, the competition became more fierce. Duels started lasting longer since no one was able to seize an easy victory.


    I knew I was lucky in my first two duels, I caught Kazan completely off guard, which prevented him from doing his best, and Lukas made the foolish mistake of taunting me, then giving me time to build my bird army. Bird army sounds dumb, but I don''t know what else I can call it, and I can''t believe it actually worked. Had he reacted sooner, he would have put up a much better showing.


    Zack had been delighted that I used his strategy in an actual duel. He decided that he would name it angry birds. Since It was his idea in the first place, I didn''t fight him over the silly name. From the gleam in his eye, I wouldn''t be surprised if he tried it in one of his duels as well. If anyone could pull it off after everyone had already seen angry birds in action, it was Zack.


    Having made it past two rounds, I was in the top eight. Only three duels stood in my way. My next opponent was a witch named Abeba, who was a student from Uagadou.


    She had ebony skin with hair tightly twisted into a bun, ensuring her long braids wouldn''t distract her in the duel. Her colorful robes made up of blue and orange patterns didn''t extend past her elbows.


    I couldn''t help but wonder if the reason why her robes didn''t extend past her elbows had anything to do with her style of magic. She was one of the Uagadou students who didn''t use wands, preferring to use hand gestures and finger movements to cast magic.


    Seeing how half the students from Uagadou used wands and the other half doesn''t. I can''t help but wonder how classes are taught. I knew my cousin used a wand, but the subject had never come up.


    It will be interesting to find out how they do things at Uagadou compared to Hogwarts.


    As our match approached, I banished all my shifting thoughts to the back of my mind and started mentally going over what I knew about Abeba''s dueling strategy.


    While two matches weren''t enough to learn much about her strategy, I noticed in both her previous matches that she targeted the ground beneath her opponent''s feet. Once she succeeded in manipulating the ground environment, she quickly seized control and won the duel.


    When it was time for our duel, I already had the vague beginning of a plan. Usually, I like to sit back and take and play defense before using my opponent''s strategy against them. But against an opponent like Abeba, that would be a mistake. She''s the type of dueler who gains a bigger advantage as the duel wears on, so this time, I am going on offense from the start.


    As I stood in my ring, I focused all my attention on Abeba. My eyes took in every subtle movement she made, from the slight shift in her stance to her curling and stretching her fingers. Anyone who had gotten this far in the competition was not to be underestimated. Likewise, Abeba was doing the same to me.


    Time seemed to stretch as we waited for the signal. When the green signal from the referee appeared, we both made our move.


    In the back of my mind, I noted that Abeba held a very slight advantage in speed. While I had to draw my wand, she didn''t have to, so she could make the first move.


    Hyper focused on her every movement. I noticed her thumb and pinky extended, leaving her other three fingers curled inward.


    Like most duelists I''ve come across in this tournament, she murmured her incantation, preventing me from hearing the spell she used. It wouldn''t have mattered anyway. Uagadou students have different spells than the ones we use at Hogwarts.


    I didn''t see a spell emerge, which almost certainly meant that the spell she used was some sort of transfiguration. Considering Uagadou''s reputation as being the top school in transfiguration, I should expect more of the same.


    While all this was happening, I was enacting my own plan. Before my wand had even left the holster, I lunged to my right, leaving the starting circle behind.


    Part of my mind notated that the angle of her arms was aimed towards my feet. I knew she was going to try something like that. I''m sure I could have deflected or blocked it, but I choose to dodge and sling something back at her. I wanted Abeba to always be on the defensive.


    With that in mind, I turned to a spell that no one can ignore. It was a spell I had learned back in my first year, the Fire-Making charm. Usually, it was used to create a ball of fire, but I learned that the spell was versatile over the years.


    "Incendio."


    A jet of fire shot out of my wand, extending like a fiery snake. The fire stream slid through midair beyond my side of the ring towards Abeba.


    Her dark eyes widened at the stream of fire coming her way. Before the flames reached her, she thrust her hand towards the ground.


    My stream of fire slammed into the rock, scorching the stone black.


    I tried to angle the stream of fire around the stone shield, but at that distance, trying to get the fire to move in the direction I wanted was like herding cats.


    For the first time in the duel, I was caught off guard. Abeba leaped over the burned and blacked stone straight into my stream of fire. Her ebony skin glistened with some sort of fire-protecting charm.


    My moment of shock cost me because she sent another invisible transfiguration spell my way the second she jumped out. But this time, it was aimed at the area where I was about to step.


    Before I could stop, I moved right into the area that Abeba had transfigured. I instantly sunk down past my knees in what felt like quicksand. For a brief moment, I thought it was all over.


    Since I was stuck and my fire didn''t seem to be bothering Abeba, I shut off the flames and turned my attention to freeing myself.


    From the white smile Abeba was giving me, I knew she thought she had me. But a plan to free myself presented formed in my mind.


    When she sent a red pulsing spell that looked suspiciously like the stunning spell my way, I showed her another skill I had mastered dueling against Anna.


    "Protego."


    A bluish shield formed around me. Abeda''s red spell bounced off the shield, and because I had angled it perfectly, it shot right back from whence it came.


    With Abeba distracted, I turned my attention to my situation.


    "Reparifarge."


    I smiled in victory when the untransfiguration spell worked, and the ground hardened around my legs. I was still stuck, but it was progress.


    Abeba seemed determined to make sure I didn''t have any more extra time to free myself. She went after me, sending a barrage of spells my way.


    Although being unable to move was extremely inconvenient, I had plenty of practice dueling from a spot I refused to leave. I alternated between battering her spells away and sending my own barrage of spells towards her hoping to get a moment of freedom.


    I closed my eyes when an idea occurred to me.


    "Lumos Maximum."


    A light so bright that it would temporarily blind anyone who looked into the light erupted from my wand and hung in midair


    Hoping that I caught Abeba off guard, I carefully lowered my wand and aimed it at the ground in between my legs.


    "Reducto."


    I felt the solid rock trapping my legs shatter into pieces. Hastily, I scrambled up to free myself.


    Mentally, I felt my blinding spell wink out of existence. I cracked my eyes open, and a wolfish smile emerged when I saw Abeba groaning and rubbing her eyes.


    I didn''t envy her; she must have caught the full blast. Not wanting to give her any time to recover, I levitated the pile of rubble I had just freed myself from and sent the small rocks lying across the ring.


    Blind and unprepared, the rubble crashed into Abeba''s torso, throwing her backward. Landing heavily on her back, Abeba curled up and painfully g.r.o.a.n.e.d.


    Feeling a little bad, I knocked her unconscious with a stunning spell so she wouldn''t feel any more pain.


    The referee declared me the winner, and I could hear cheers from the crowd as the two designated healers rushed out to pull Abeba away and treat her injuries.


    As I watched them take away Abeba, I knew she would become a great duelist in the future. I hadn''t been cornered like that for some time.


    Turning to leave, I made my way back to the stands. Once I got back to the Silver Spears, I sat down to recover. Duels that intense could be draining, both physically and mentally.


    Her full name was Livie Delacour. From her looks, I was guessing she was a cousin to Fluer. Something about her was extremely distracting, and it was hard to force myself to look away.


    Of course, any good feelings I had were rapidly worn away when I discovered her true passion. Fire. Lots and lots of fire. Stupid ungodly amounts of fire.


    Part of me wondered if it was the Veela in her. Veela had a bad reputation for throwing fire at anyone who annoyed them.


    She put on a great showing. She almost had me a few times. By the end of the match, my robes were singed, and smoke was wafting from them.


    Maybe it was a petty act of revenge for all the fire I had been forced to contend with, but I ended the match by trapping her in a ball of frozen water.


    That should teach the little inner arsonist.


    I was so pleased with myself I missed the look she gave me as I walked away. Uncle John would later describe it as part-fury, part-attraction, and one hundred percent crazy. But that''s a story for another time.


    With my fourth victory, I had ensured I would be in the final round. It didn''t take long for my final opponent to be announced. It was a wizard named Marcos. He was a student from Castelobruxo, the Brazilian school of magic located deep in the heart of the Amazon Rainforests.


    Marcos''s black hair was cut short on the side of his head but was longer on the top. His hair was streaked with sweat and dr.a.p.ed across his forehead, hanging above his dark protruding eyes. His dark green robes covered most of his bronze skin. We locked eyes for a moment. He seemed to be studying me as intently as I was him.


    When we both got to our starting positions, Marcos gave me a nod, offering a token of respect. I did the same. Anyone who could make it this far couldn''t be underestimated.


    When the referee gave the signal, Marcos and I both drew our wands. From what I could tell, neither of us had an advantage over each other when it came to speed.


    Hoping to stop Marcos in his tracks, I started with the Impediment Jinx. If it landed, it would slow Marcos to a crawl. I had once tested it on a bee, and it slowed the bee''s wings to a point where I could track them as they slowly moved through the air.


    I slashed my wand and mentally intoned, "Impedimenta."


    A turquoise light streaked out of my wand like a wild horse.


    At the same time, Marcos matched my speed and sent his spell towards me.


    My turquoise spell crashed into Marcos''s purple spell in the middle of the ring, sending them both crashing into the shield set up around the ring that prevents errant spells from hitting the crowd.


    While having two spells collide in midair wasn''t all that rare, it didn''t happen all the time.


    Neither of us paused for a moment, sending spell after spell towards one another. Some of them bounced off one another. Others passed by mere inches from touching. Using the shield charm, I deflected the spells that reached me.


    After a couple of minutes, I realized that neither of us was going to be able to seize an easy victory.


    Marcos must have come to a similar conclusion because he stopped sending spells towards me and started working on a more complex spell. His wand started weaving multiple movements, and he voiced a long and particularly complex incantation.


    A simmering red light popped into existence. For a moment, it hung there motionless, but then I felt something lock onto me. It was a difficult sensation to describe. It was like feeling someone''s eyes following your every move.


    As if waiting for a signal, the flickering red spell didn''t move until Marcos waved his wand at me.


    As it drew closer, I summoned my trusty shield charm, fully expecting it to protect me.


    At first, everything seemed normal. The spell crashed into my shield and was deflected. But, instead of continuing in the direction that it was deflected in, the spell seemed to recover and started moving back towards me. It had to be some sort of homing spell.


    It didn''t help that Marcos started taking advantage of me being distracted by his homing spell. He started firing off rapid spells, hoping to overwhelm me, and take me off guard.


    I quickly realized that if I stayed in the starting circle, I would be doomed to lose. No matter how good I was, I would become distracted, and then it would be game over. So, I went on the move, with Marcos''s stupid homing spell harassing my every move.


    Having never been in this situation, inspiration struck me after dodging the stupid homing spells for the third time. I''ve never tried to use the vanishing spell on another person''s spell before, so I had no idea if it would even work. If it worked, it would banish the charm into nothingness.


    As the homing spell approached me for the fourth time, I ducked out of the way of another spell Marcos had sent at me and aimed carefully at the annoying flickering red spell.


    "Evanesco."


    I could feel the veins in my head start throbbing as my magic overpowered the homing charm and vanishing it into non-being.


    I bared my teeth in frustration when I saw Marcos release another homing spell.


    So, that''s how you want to play. Fine, you''re not the only one who knows how to play that game.


    At a rapid pace, I started weaving spells.


    "Vertigo Telugu."


    A stunning silver arrow with a sharpened point that gleamed popped into existence. Let''s see how you like it when things follow you around and try to poke you full of holes.


    Before the arrow could leave to complete its mission, I added a final touch. A homage to the ridiculous name Zack came up with for his dueling strategy.


    Hmph.


    Angry Birds.


    Dumb name.


    I''ve just decided. I''m not calling it that.


    I won''t.


    He can''t make me.


    "Gemini."


    Ten identical arrows appeared next to the gleaming silver arrow, each one with a pointy tip that promised pain.


    As the eleven seeking arrows launched themselves towards their target, I nodded in satisfaction. That''s what you get for siccing your annoying homing spell on me. Let''s see how you like dodging arrows that will follow you around trying to lodge themselves in your insides.


    I wasn''t able to celebrate long. The second homing spell forced me to dive and roll out of the way. Once I got clear, I vanished that spell into nothingness as well.


    While I was taking care of business, Marcos enacted his strategy to deal with the eleven arrows doing their best to poke him full of holes.


    A silver light burst out of his wand, striking one of the arrows. Moments after it struck, an invisible wave of energy dragged the other arrows towards it like it was a giant magnet. Once clumped together in a chaotic mass, the arrows fell to the ground, unable to move.


    We spent another few minutes throwing spells at one another, trying to knock each other out.


    A stitch started forming in my side as I tried to catch my breath. This duel had become one of the longest matches I have ever had.


    With all the running and dodging, I was starting to flag and lose energy. Thankfully, Marcos was in the same position. We were both covered in sweat. Neither one of us was willing to go down.


    I decided I needed to do something different, so I changed tactics. I threw a few more spells and subtly moved closer to the dividing line. I wanted to be as close as I could before making my next move.


    "Incarcerous."


    Thick corded ropes sn.a.k.e.d out of my wand and slithered to Marcos''s side of the ring. At this point, only a dozen feet separated up.


    A wolfish grin appeared on my face when the rope successfully wrapped around Marocs''s foot. But, before I could successfully tie him up, Marcos enacted a transfiguration spell.


    The rope coming from my wand shimmered for a moment before turning into a dark green aggressive anaconda. The snake''s tail was on Marcos''s side, and the head of the snake was mere inches from my skin.


    The anaconda attacked me, opening its mouth wide and sinking its surprisingly long curved fangs into my forearm. As the fangs sunk into my flesh, I could feel twin needles of pain dig into my muscle as the snake tried to wrap itself around me.


    Personally, I think I reacted like any reasonable person who had a giant snake latch onto them.


    "Ahhhhhhhhh!."


    I wasn''t proud of how high pitched my voice came out, but I also refused to be embarrassed about it as well.


    At that particular moment, I had many thoughts and feelings running through my head.


    Ahhh! A snake was trying to eat me.


    Death to all snakes.


    Maybe I should warn Harry, no one deserves to be chased by a snake.


    Death to all snakes.


    I mentally dubbed us brother snake survivors. I chose to ignore the fact that one was an ordinary anaconda snake and the other was a magical snake monster that could kill you with its eyes. As far as I''m concerned, it''s the same.


    Death to all snakes.


    The most prevailing thought rummaging around my head that didn''t include snakes was a sense of resentment and embarrassment that Marcos turned my spell against me. That was supposed to be my thing. How dare he do that to me.


    My embarrassment, combined with the pain, produced what some would later say was an overreaction. But, I am of the firm opinion that anyone with a giant snake attached to their arm is entitled to whatever reaction they deem necessary. Those without snakes attached to their arms can sit down and shut up.


    I swapped my wand to my left hand and gave a vicious swipe.


    "Diffindo," I screamed.


    I can''t say whether it was from the shock, fear, pain, having my pride pricked, or some sort of combination of the above. But the severing charm I unleashed was a tad bit overpowered.


    The spell went through the snake and followed the path my wand made.


    From an outside perspective, it looked like a giant invisible sword took a swipe at the ring. The spell left a twelve-inch deep groove across the ring, almost splitting it in two. Even the shield that protects the crowd wasn''t unscathed. It took a half dozen officials to keep it from fracturing.


    Thankfully, the path didn''t lead to Marcos. If it had, I probably would have been disqualified. It would not have mattered to Marcos. I''m reasonably sure that it would have split his shield in two and kept ongoing.


    There was a brief moment where neither Marcos nor I reacted but simply stared at one another. But, when the dust settled, we went right back at one another with the silent agreement that he wouldn''t bring any more snakes into our duel, and I would refrain from destroying the dueling arena.


    When I had a spare moment, I ripped what was remaining of the snake from my arm. A new red color was added to my blue robes as blood started seeping from the snake bite.


    The following few minutes dragged on as we switched up strategies. But nothing either of us did gave us a big enough advantage to win.


    In the end, it came down to bad luck. Both of us were ending the end of our ropes. Most duels only lasted for a couple of minutes. Our duel was nearing fifteen minutes.


    Marcos stepped on a piece of rubble kicked up from the overpowers severing charm I used. His ankle rolled, and he stumbled right into a Full-Body Bind Curse that would have otherwise missed him.


    Unable to move and frozen in an awkward position, Marcos tumbled to the ground.


    Not expecting that to happen, I was already in the process of slinging another spell. The referee flicked his wand, sending a spell to countermine.


    I was in a daze when they announced my victory. I felt cheated, like I didn''t deserve to win. My victory rang hollow in my c.h.e.s.t.


    The referee freed Marcos, and he sat up awkwardly. He looked like he was still in shock over how it ended.


    For a brief moment, a frustrated look appeared on Marcos''s face. But he forced it away, and he schooled his expression into a more neutral look.


    After shaking it off, Marcos pushed himself up and made his way over to me. He stuck his arm out, and I returned the gesture. The crowd cheered when we shook hands.


    "That was a great duel," he congratulated.


    I nodded in agreement and said, "I only won due to luck."


    A grimace flickered onto Marcos''s face for a moment before he shook his head. "Don''t sell yourself short. Paying attention to where you step is an important part of dueling. The rubble I stumbled on was from a spell you used. Even if it wasn''t your intention, you won fair and square."


    Turning to walk away, Marcos briefly looked back. "I''ll be waiting for you in the finals next year."


    As he walked off, I was sure I was looking at a future International Dueling Champion. Marcos''s dueling skills were almost perfect. I can''t imagine the number of hours he must have put in to bring his skills to that level. I do not doubt that one day he will find his way to the top.


    As for me, I made my way to the healing station to take care of my arm. I needed to get rid of the two bloody holes the snake left behind. Mum was sure to blow a gasket at the sight of all my blood.


    After the healer forced a potion down my throat, he traced the fang marks with his wand muttering an incantation. As the holes closed up, I leaned back and relaxed. It was all over now. I had won.

 Chapter 109 - Final Days

    My family was ecstatic when I found them. They swarmed me like a pack of starving hyenas.


    Predictably, Mum reached me first and did her very best to crush my lungs.


    "Alex, I''m so proud of you."


    Circling around us, the twins were going nuts reenacting my last duel.


    Uncle John slapped me on the back, congratulating me on my victory.


    "So, does this mean you don''t want the snake I got for your birthday?" He joked.


    I snarkily snapped back, "Only if you want to receive the same welcome the snake did in the match."


    Uncle John laughed, not realizing I was completely serious. If he tried to put a snake in one of my presents, he would regret it. Family bonds only go so far.


    There was a brief intermission before they started the duels for the fifth-year duelers. The officials had to fix the dueling ring that I had split in half.


    The fifth-year duels were interesting to watch. But most of my attention was inwardly focused. I went over every move I and my opponents made in my duels. Dueling against unfamiliar competitors who used spells I wasn''t familiar with forced me to use strategies I hadn''t ever implemented before.


    Transfiguration and conjuring in duels opened up a whole new world in dueling. Already, new strategies were churning within my mind giving me new ideas and things I wanted to try out.


    The rest of the day went by quickly, and I found myself on the wooden planks of Uncle John''s ship. He wasn''t planning on staying for the rest of the tournament, and I wouldn''t get another chance to speak with him face-to-face until sometime over the summer break.


    I found Uncle John in his office sifting through letters and small notes. Hanging on the walls were nicknacks Uncle John had collected over the years. There were African Curse Masks, like the one I put on Micheal. A set of fangs from a dragon, maps of unknown islands, mosaics, and a few paintings.


    But the item which caught my eye the most was hanging on the wall behind Uncle John in a place of honor. It was a strange muggle contraption. It was a fish attached to a wooden plaque. If that wasn''t strange enough, there was a shiny red button on the plaque. If pressed, the fish would come alive and start singing and dancing.


    Obviously, Muggles have gone mad with their technology and can no longer be trusted.


    Choosing to ignore the suspicious fish that seemed to be staring at me, I turned my attention to Uncle John. Worry lines were etched across his face as whatever he was reading appeared to make him concerned.


    Craning my neck to get a better look, I noticed many letters were in different languages. Others seemed to be in code. Uncle John had contacts all over the world feeding him information.


    Noticing my presence for the first time, Uncle John looked up and asked, "What''s up, champ?"


    "I need to talk to you," I replied.


    I paused for a brief moment, then emphasized, "Privately."


    Uncle John raised an eyebrow, and without a word, he pointed his wand at the door.


    "Alright, Alex. What''s on your mind?"


    I took a moment to organize my thoughts, carefully editing out a few key things.


    Once I was done, I took a deep breath and got started, "So, there was this reporter¡­"


    As I told my story, Uncle John''s eyebrows rose as his expression slowly morphed into an incredulous look then turned into full-on disbelief.


    By the time I finished, he was rubbing his temples like he had a pounding headache.


    "I just know your mother is going to blame this on me." He complained.


    "I would rather she never found out."


    As I waited for Uncle John to say something, he stared at me so intently it seemed like he was trying to use Legilimency. Thanks to my occlumency shields, I knew that wasn''t the case. But it was still a little unnerving.


    Finally, Uncle John leaned forward and asked, "Do you know what your first mistake was?"


    After thinking for a brief moment, I replied, "Trusting that Rita would abide by the terms of the contract."


    Uncle John shook his head, "Your mistake was the way you entered into the contract in the first place. Don''t get me wrong, finding out that Rita is an unregistered animagus is a useful bargaining chip. It let you force her into a one-sided contract, but it also ensured her hatred towards you."


    "We needed her help," I defended. "Her articles shredded Delvin Whithorn''s reputation and ensured his business in Britain was over."


    Uncle John waved a hand, not wanting to argue the point, "I''m not saying she wasn''t useful. What I am saying is there were other ways to go about gaining her cooperation. The simplest of which would have been buying her off. Considering her reputation, Rita probably would have jumped at the chance to bring down Nimbus."


    My face flushed when Uncle John pointed out the obvious. Maybe I had gone about this a little ham-fisted. I didn''t even think about buying Rita off. It seems a little obvious now.


    In a way, my previous knowledge of Rita from the books prejudiced me against working with her in any meaningful way. I would need to make a note of that when dealing with others in the future.


    Willing to admit my mistake, I looked Uncle John in the eyes and said, "You''re right. I didn''t even think of that as an option."


    Uncle John gave me a reassuring look, "Just remember, sometimes it''s more effective to use a soft approach rather than a hard one."


    I couldn''t help but think back to the way I dealt with Lockhart. I had been even more forceful with him, forcing him into a contract and making him teach me memory-erasing magic. Then using said magic against him.


    Did I cross the line with Lockhart?


    After a moment, I dismissed the worry. Uncle John had a point with how I recruited Rita. But, there was a big difference between Rita and Lockhart. While Rita was nasty and unpleasant to be around, Lockhart was a whole different animal. He ripped through and erased people''s minds at will. In my book, anything bad that happens to him, he deserves.


    Wanting to get back to the reason I was here, I asked, "What about Rita giving information to the Syndicate."


    Uncle John snorted, "I wouldn''t worry about it. There''s no way she could have given them any information they didn''t already have or couldn''t easily obtain."


    Uncle John''s reassurance wiped away the knot of tension that built within me. For the past couple of weeks, the idea that my family would be vulnerable due to my actions had dominated my thoughts.


    Interrupting my thoughts, Uncle John said, "Now that we got that out of the way. Let''s talk about your biggest mistake in this whole thing."


    Once Uncle John saw he had my full attention, he said, "Your biggest mistake in all of this is you''ve left yourself exposed."


    There''s no proof," I defended. "I erased all her memories containing our interactions. Rita Skeeter has no idea we''d ever met."


    Uncle John snorted, "It seems to me that you''ve forgotten about an important piece of evidence that ties you to Rita."


    The answer appeared in my mind right away. The magical contract


    Uncle John nodded at my realization, "Yeah, that magical contract creates a magical bond between you and Rita. And worse, it can be traced. What happens when people start missing her, or if she checks herself into St. Mungos? I guarantee that the moment she shows up with no idea why she is under a curse, they will contact the Ministry and start investigating. It won''t be long before they show up on your doorstep. The unauthorized memory wipe alone could get your wand snapped and have you packed off to Azkaban."


    Uncle John fell silent, letting me consider everything he said. It didn''t take long to voice my next move.


    "I need to destroy the contract."


    Uncle John nodded and agreed, "Right now."


    Even though I was reluctant to free Rita from the wasting curse she was under for breaking our contract, the risk wasn''t worth it.


    I reached into my robes and pulled out my emergency bag. I never went anywhere without it. The bag had an undetectable extension charm allowing me to pack away things I may need in the future. Ever since my unexpected trip last year, I''ve gotten a little paranoid and have packed away supplies and all sorts of items that would last me a long time.


    Not wanting to dig through everything, I summoned the contract with my wand. Not willing to wait any longer, I used the fire-making spell and burned the contract to ash.


    Uncle John looked visibly relieved when the contract was gone.


    "Now what?" I asked.


    Uncle John considered me for a moment, "Now, you''re getting a mandatory lesson on subtle power plays."


    I spent the next few hours listening to Uncle John. I liked that he didn''t bring up my mistakes again and even talked about his mistakes when he was younger.


    The rest of the tournament went smoothly. When it was over, I received a shiny gold trophy that had a duelist holding a wand. Mum immediately confiscated the trophy, promising to find a worthy place to put it on display.


    With the tournament over, the rest of the break flew by, and it was time to head back to Hogwarts.


    The final weeks at school seemed to go by in a rush. Outside of working on my sixth-year textbooks, I spent quite a bit of time enchanting and experimenting. Every day was something new; I learned to manipulate spells to achieve a variety of effects.


    Dad kept me informed of the ongoing situation with Nimbus. Their sales had slowed to a crawl, and the value of the company was plumbing. Using intermediaries, Dad made discrete inquiries about whether the board was interested in selling the company.


    Everyone but Delvin wanted to sell, but Delvin swore he would rather see Nimbus go entirely out of business before he would consider selling.


    According to some of the reports, Delvin was becoming increasingly unhinged, spending most of his time in his office drinking the days away.


    Clan Sharpclaw, the goblin clan our family was in business with, suggested a devious plan. They put Dad in contact with the Clan Chrusher, who had a significant stake in Nimbus and wanted out while there was still a profit to be made.


    An agreement was reached where Clan Crusher would offer Delvin enough gold to keep Nimbus afloat for the next two years. But in trade, Delvin had to give them ten percent of his ownership in Nimbus. Desperate to keep the doors open till Nimbus''s enchanters could find a way to become competitive again, Delvin accepted the deal.


    Within a week of Delvin making the deal, Filnock, the goblin representative of Clan Crusher, held a closed meeting with the board. With the additional ten percent stake in the company, the board held a majority, and they accepted Dad''s offer.


    Nimbus was coming home. We now own Nimbus and all its designs, past and present. After two decades and some change, Grandpa George''s life''s work is back where it belongs, back with the Fawleys.


    Adding to the good news, Canon seemed to be mostly on track. Harry, Ron, and Hermoine took care of Professor Quirell and prevented Voldemort from getting the Philosopher''s Stone.


    Harry was currently unconscious in the Hospital Wing, recovering from his first encounter with the dark lord who killed his parents. It was an essential step in his development¡ªone that he needed to become a wizard capable of standing up to Voldemort.


    Rumors flooded the halls of Hogwarts. Ironically, Professor Quirrell''s performance of a stuttering coward had been done too well. Many students had trouble accepting the idea of Professor Quirrell attacking a student.


    There were also faint whispers of he-who-must-not-be-named being involved but most students, not knowing what to think, dismissed them.


    I don''t blame them for not believing the whispers. To most of the wizarding world, Voldemort was dead. Only a few knew the truth. One day Voldemort would return, greater and more terrible than before.


    The day we were going home, I was shocked when I noticed the headline of the Daily Prophet.


    In bold letters, the headline stated.


    Delvin Whithorn Dead!


    Delvin Whithorn POV**


    Hovering somewhere between being tipsy and drunk, Delvin found himself in a conference room with the rest of Nimbus''s board members.


    The last couple of months had lowered Delvin''s previous immaculate grooming standards. Where once his hair was well-groomed and gelled to perfection, now his hair was stringy and unwashed. His wardrobe had taken a similar hit, having gone days without being changed and full of dark stains.


    Delvin shook his alcohol-induced red face and rubbed his bloodshot eyes in disbelief, "What did you say?"


    Finlock, the goblin representative, spoke slowly, like he was speaking to a child. "We are here to tell you that the board voted unanimously to sell the company."


    "You can''t do that," Delvin protested. "This is still my company."


    "On the contrary," Finlock rebutted, "I think you''ll find that we can."


    The goblin pushed a small file across the conference room table.


    "You traded me for ten percent of your stake in the company. That ten percent plus the rest of Clan Crusher''s holdings and the rest of the board''s stakes gives us a majority in the company.."


    "Yeah, but that deal was in exchange for your clan shouldering Nimbus''s financial burden for the next two years." Delvin protested.


    Finlock showed his sharp needle teeth and sneered, "And Clan Crusher would have loved to meet that obligation. Unfortunately, the board decided to sell the company, preventing us from throwing away good gold at a sinking ship. Perhaps if you hadn''t been in a drunken stupor for the last few months, you would have included a clause ensuring that the company wouldn''t be sold."


    Devon turned his gaze to the other board members.


    "Don''t do this," he pleaded.


    Most of them refused to meet his tearful gaze.


    Robert sighed, "Delvin, this is for the best. One day, I hope you can see that."


    Concluding the meeting, the board members began leaving the room.


    "At least tell me who you sold the company to," Delvin begged.


    With a look that said he was savoring Delvin''s pain, Finlock answered, "To the only people who were interested in this place, the Fawleys."


    Everyone on the floor heard Delvin''s howl of anguish.


    Later that evening, Delvin had gone from being partially drunk to full-on bad decision drunk.


    "It''s not fair," he raged to no one in particular.


    Not thinking clearly, Delvin started blasting things in his office. He would be damned if he gave the Fawley''s anything resembling a clean office.


    When Delvin reached the bottom of his glass, he poured himself another drink of dragon brandy, spilling heavily and alcohol all over the desk.


    He took another deep drink before throwing the glass at the mirror he last used to contact his father. It shattered into pieces sending shards of glass everywhere.


    With blurry eyes, Delvin continued to rant drunkenly.


    "This is all your fault! You could have helped."


    After letting out a few choice curses towards his father, Delvin refocused his ire towards the Fawley family."


    "Why did you have to ruin everything?"


    "I hate you."


    "I hope you f.u.c.k.i.n.g die."


    As the night wore on, Delvin continued to pour himself drinks and have one-sided rants.


    "This is both of their faults." He claimed, excusing himself of any responsibility.


    A dark thought that had been floating in and out of Delvin''s mind for the past couple of months resurfaced.


    Maybe I should just end it.


    A deranged grin appeared on Delvin''s face as he imagined the consequence. His death would set so many things in motion. In the end, Delvin would still matter.


    The Fawleys must think they''re so clever, Delvin fumed. If they think its over, they have another thing coming.


    Delvin found a piece of paper and started writing. He wanted to make sure his father knew he was responsible for this.


    By the time he was finished, some of his nerves had left him. With shaky hands, Delvin poured himself another glass of liquid courage and downed it.


    Trembling, Delvin raised his wand to his temple.


    "Do it." He urged himself. "Come on, do it. It''s over."


    Unable to do it, Delvin lowered his arm to his side.


    In his mind, Delvin could hear his father sneer, "Useless."


    Delvin let out a scream of frustration and brought his wand back to his temple.


    Breathing heavily, images of the people Delvin blamed for his situation appeared in his mind. His father, sister, the Fawleys. All of them were to blame.


    Raw hatred filled him as he considered the sins they had committed against him.


    "I hope you f.u.c.k.i.n.g kill each other!"


    "Avada Kedavra!"


    A flash of green light and Delvin''s body collapsed to the floor.

 Chapter 110 - Changes

    The first indication I got that something was wrong was the uncontrollable vibration coming from the brass door handle that I had been enchanting. I knew I didn''t need to worry about the room taking damage because I was in a multi-layered warded circle similar to the one at Dad''s shop where he experiments with new ideas.


    The wards are keyed to me and will prevent anything from crossing from the inside to the out. However, while the room was safe from damage, I was very much at risk.


    Without pause, I turned and dove out of the circle just in time to see the shiny brass door handle I was working on explode, sending pieces of brass shrapnel in every direction. Thankfully, my wards worked perfectly and stopped anything from leaving the circle.


    With a groan, I picked myself up off the floor.


    Over the summer break, I had been pushing my charm-crafting skill. For the past two months, I had been working on one of the most complicated and complex pieces of magic I had ever worked on. I was trying to make my own version of a self-contained transportation network. To say that it has been slow going is an understatement.


    Don''t get me wrong, the Floo network is great. Probably around sixty to seventy percent of people traveling use the Floo Network. But, it was old and hadn''t been updated in centuries. One of the unfortunate things about wizard society is that there tends to be a lack of progress in that area once there is something that works.


    I couldn''t help but wonder what Ignatia Wildsmith would think of me wanting to replace her life''s work. We were both Heirs of Ravenclaw, and yet here I was working to replace her greatest achievement.


    I still hadn''t worked out just how everything would work in my new system. Having Ignatia''s journals would save me a ton of time. But, I knew this was a long-term project and would probably take a few years to work out all the kinks.


    Like Ignatia, I would be using the idea of something to base my network on. She used fireplaces. As long as something resembles a fireplace, the floo network could connect with it.


    My idea was more straightforward. It was to use doors in the place of fireplaces. Of course, the door was only of secondary importance. The real piece of magic would be the door handle.


    Imagine being able just to open a door and walk through to your destination. Way better than getting into a fireplace full of ash and having to douse yourself in floo powder.


    Since most people either don''t have the skill or talent to apparate, I figured my way would be more convenient. If I could get this network up and running, it would put Fawley''s Arcane Solutions so far into the black. I would never need to worry about my company becoming unprofitable ever again.


    One significant change I was planning to my travel system was to increase security. As of now, travel is unrestricted amount fireplaces that are actively connected to the Floo Network. All you need to know about to get to travel to someone''s fireplace is the name of the residences. While most take active precautions, some never even consider that the floo network is an easy way into people''s homes.


    My way of fixing this glaring hole is to do away with voice activation commands used in the Floo Network and introduce a coded system. On the door handle, I plan to add a backplate with the numbers 0-9. Each handle will get a designated number that someone must use for the doorways to connect. It won''t solve all the security concerns, but it''s better than what people have now with their fireplace.


    As I finished cleaning up the mess, two loud voices drew my attention as their bickering filled the Tower.


    "What were you thinking, you old, paranoid, billy goat?" A screeching feminine voice shouted. "Building a secret tower in the middle of nowhere. Did it ever occur to you that maybe you should have told someone where it was?"


    I smiled when I heard Anton''s scathing reply, "It wouldn''t be much of a secret if I told anyone where it was, now would it?"


    "And look where that got you, a few hundred years of complete isolation." The feminine voice sneered.


    "At least it was quiet and peaceful." Anton countered.


    "Peaceful." The other voice said in shock before snapping, "I''ll show you what you can do with your peace."


    Anton''s squawk of surprise made me think he had just been reminded that people in paintings near each other can travel outside their paintings into other paintings.


    I shook my head as the two paintings kept bickering and making snide remarks to one another. The other voice belonged to Anton''s wife. Her appearance in the Tower was only one of the many changes the Tower had experienced during the summer. After years of keeping the Tower as my own personal playground, I finally came clean with my family and showed them the secret Fawley tower.


    As I packed up my copy of Ignatia''s personal spellbook, my thoughts drifted back to the emergency family meeting we had when I got home from Hogwarts.


    The family meeting took place late at night for two reasons. The first was to make sure the twins were asleep. Mum and Dad didn''t want to worry them. Mum made a half-hearted attempt to get me to skip the meeting but gave up when Dad said I should be there. The other reason why it took place at night is we were waiting for Uncle John to arrive.


    We waited for Uncle John in the family room. The lights were dim, as if they could somehow sense the serious situation. I sat in the middle of our lightly colored couch. To my left was Grandma. As always, she was dressed to impress, wearing finely tailored burgundy robes. Dark hair that was streaked with grey didn''t do much to hide the worry lines on her face.


    To my right was Mum. Unlike Grandma, she was dressed in her brewing robes. They were dark, tattered, and full of stains from years of brewing potions. Whenever Mum was worried, she would starting making potions. I bet if I went down to her brewing room, I would find dozens of potions bottled and ready to go.


    Sensing my gaze, Mum let go of the ends of her hair she had been nervously twisting. She reached over and drew me closer as if she wanted to protect me from the world.


    I turned my gaze towards Dad, who was sitting in his favorite chair. Tiny flecks of grey were beginning to show in his dark brown hair and trimmed beard. He appeared lost in thought as he absently traced the design in his guild ring.


    Mum and Grandma passed the time by interrogating me about every aspect of the past year. Not wanting to increase Mum''s protective instincts, I made sure to exclude some of my extracurricular activities like hunting trolls.


    Eventually, the large door to a tall cabinet in the corner room opened, bringing the smell of the salty sea into the room. The vanishing cabinet was one-half of a pair. The other was located on Uncle John''s ship.


    Grandma frowned at the sight of Uncle John dripping water everywhere.


    "Come here, Johnny," she fussed. "You''ll give yourself a cold being all wet like that."


    Grandma got up and flicked her wand towards Uncle John. Once the water dripping off him vanished, she swooped in for a hug.


    I smirked at the sight and felt slightly better about being trapped in my Mum''s grasp. It seems no matter how old someone gets. Mothers will always try to baby their kids.


    Once all the small talk was out of the way, the smile that Uncle John always had on his face faded away, leaving a much more serious look.


    "Well, we all know what we''re here for." Uncle John said.


    Dad nodded, "Delvin Whithorn is dead."


    "How?" I asked.


    I lowered my voice and followed up with something I had been wondering since I heard the news. "Was it us?"


    "Apprentice suicide," Uncle John shook his head and explained. "According to my source within the syndicate, he even left a note behind."


    A brief glimmer of regret flashed in Uncle John''s eyes. As if he was saddened by the fact that he wasn''t able to take his revenge personally


    Shallow tears formed in Grandma''s eyes as she realized that the man who stole so much from her husband was dead.


    "Good riddance," she spat.


    Dad and Uncle John didn''t say anything, but their faces reflected agreement. They were both happy Delvin was gone.


    Uncle John rubbed his forehead as if a headache was bothering him. "In the end, It doesn''t matter if Delvin killed himself or not. Delvin''s father is going to blame us either way."


    Worried about the future, Mum asked, "What do we do?"


    Dad got up and moved behind Mum. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "Don''t worry. I may not be much of a fighter, but I am a master charm-crafter. I''ll turn our house into a fortress. By the time I''m done, It will take a small army to get inside."


    Uncle John sighed, "The problem is Declan has a small army."


    Hearing Dad''s declaration that he would turn our house into a fortress made me think of my Tower. While I''m sure, Dad''s enchantments would secure the house. It wouldn''t be as good as the Tower.


    Anton Fawley was paranoid and built the Tower with the expectation of it being besieged. There are defensive spells woven into every stone. Not to mention it''s hidden and almost impossible to find.


    The choice of keeping the Tower to myself or using it to help my family wasn''t a choice at all.


    "Umm," I began. "I might know of a way to protect ourselves till this blows over."


    I turned to Uncle John, "Remember when I was younger, and you told me about the old legend about the Fawley Tower."


    Uncle John smiled, "Your dad and I used to look for that Tower when we were kids. But I don''t think it''s a good use of our time to go tramping through the woods. Besides, it''s an old wives tale. It probably doesn''t exist."


    Awkwardly, I replied, "I found the tower years ago."


    Feeling everyone''s eyes on me, I sheepishly added, "I''ve been using it as my hideout."


    Uncle John shook his head in disbelief at my announcement. He turned to Dad and asked, "Do you remember how much time we spent during the summers looking for the tower?"


    Dad smiled in remembrance, "Too much." He said fondly.


    "When did you find it?" Uncle John asked.


    "That first summer you told me about it," I replied.


    "Of course you did," Uncle John grumbled. "Probably stumbled right up to it."


    "Athena helped," I admitted.


    "What''s it like?" Dad asked curiously.


    I looked up at him and grinned, "You''re going to love it. It''s everything a wizard tower should be."


    The next day, after showing off the Tower to my family, an argument broke out.


    "Absolutely not," Grandma declared, stamping her foot into the ground and crossing her arm. "I''m far too old to be strolling around in the woods. I''m not leaving my house, and that''s final."


    "Mum, be reasonable." Uncle John pleaded. "It won''t be forever, just until things calm down."


    Dad jumped in, "Besides, it''s not like we''ll be cramped in here. The Tower is big enough to hold dozens of families comfortably."


    Once I saw how Grandma had dug in her heels against the idea of moving into the Tower, I decided to jump in and throw some guilt her way.


    "Please, Grandma. What would we do if something happened to you? What would Sasha, Rebecca, or I do without our grandma guiding us?"


    Grandma gave me a look of betrayal as she took in my innocent puppy dog eyes.


    "Hmph." She sighed in defeat. "Fine, but only for the summer. I''ll not be spending the rest of my life living in fear."


    I gave Grandma a cheeky smile and a swift kiss on the cheek in consolation of her loss.


    But, before I could do anything else, Grandma looked at me and unleashed a predatory smile. A sinking feeling started creeping up within my gut.


    It''s a trap.


    "Well, since I''ve given in to your demands," Grandma said innocently. "I just have a small request of my own."


    Dad and I exchanged suspicious glances. Yup, Grandma was definitely playing us. She never intended not to move into the Tower with the rest of us. She was just trying to get something out of this thing.


    "It''s been far too long since Fawley manor had thrown a dinner party. I think it''s time to pen some invitations and unseal the Fawley ballroom."


    Dad and I let out identical groans while Uncle John made faces at us, mocking our situation and thinking he was in the clear.


    "What are you smiling at?" Grandma asked him. "I''ll be sending your wife an invitation as well. I''ll be expecting you in dress robes. Make sure you leave that ridiculous coat at home."


    As Uncle John''s face fell, I made a face back at him sticking out my tongue. Ha, that is what I like to call karma. If we have to suffer, then you get to suffer right along with us. That''s what being a family is all about, suffering together.


    Grandma tsked and wagged her finger at our expressions, "Don''t be so glum. Believe it or not, this is for our family''s benefit."


    Sensing our doubt, Grandma explained, "Last night, I thought long and hard about our situation. The reason why this Syndicate can thrive is that they operate in the dark. So, all we need to do is open our home and invite Ministry Officials, Hogwarts Governors, Business leaders, Old Families, anyone influential to our home."


    Understanding appeared on all of our faces as Grandma explained her plan.


    "That¡­ That''s a good idea," Dad reluctantly replied.


    We all looked to Uncle John to see what he thought. If anyone could predict what Declan would do, it was him.


    "It''s a good plan," he admitted. "Probably even better than holing up in this Tower. As long as you keep the spotlight on our family, Declan will be reluctant to make a move."


    Grandma smiled like a cat who just caught a canary. She had been trying to get Dad to host parties in the manner for ages. Now she had the perfect excuse.


    "Well, I guess I have some planning to do," Grandma mused.


    She turned to leave, humming her happiness about how things worked out, which left the rest of us wondering how we went from holing up in the middle of nowhere to hosting dinner parties in the span of two minutes.


    "Alex, are you ready to go to the house?"


    Mum''s echoing voice brought me back to the present. I gave my copy of Ignatia''s work a longing glance before turning to leave it behind.


    True to her word, Grandma had been hosting dinner parties every other week at the house. Since our family was the host, we all were expected to attend.


    "Don''t wait for me," I shouted back. "I''ll be there soon."


    I took the magical platform up to the third floor. The floor was a large circular room that had dozens of doors built into the walls. Each door led to a large bedroom, whose spatial dimensions had obviously been magically altered. Otherwise, there was no way the Tower could have so many bedrooms.


    In the corner of my room was a small familiar-looking cabinet. It was the vanishing cabinet that led to the cabinet I had stashed at Hogwarts. Even though I had come clean with some of my secrets this summer, I figured no one needed to know about my secret passage to Hogwarts. To make sure no one found out, I used magic to alter the exterior and hid it in my temporary bedroom. I also made sure to seal it up tight because the twins had a bad habit of sneaking into my room when I''m not there.


    Outside of a plain bed and a small dresser, there wasn''t much else in the room. I left everything back in my old room because this was all supposed to be temporary. Once Uncle John gave us the ok, we would all move back home.


    I quickly threw on my dress robes and made my way to the ground floor, where dad had put a newly enchanted cabinet that led to the house. Like me, he sealed it up when it wasn''t in use.


    With this being my 7th or 8th dinner party, I knew exactly what was expected of me. Ever since I unveiled my company, everyone seemed to want a piece of me.


    While some wanted to discuss business ideas and cooperation, young ministry officials were always looking for patronage that would help them rise through the ranks.


    At first, I was tempted to blow them off, but Grandma explained this was how the game was played. With some gold and the right thing whispered into the ears of those in power, I would start gaining influence over those who wanted a patron. They wouldn''t be very useful right now, but as they rose through the ranks, the benefits would only increase.


    Sensing that wasn''t enough to sway me, Grandma pointed out that Dad and Uncle John had chosen not to follow her advice to make connections when they were young. Right now, the main reason our family had such pull in the Ministry was because of her contacts. Then she pointed out she wouldn''t be around forever, and someone had to make sure the family stayed influential.


    So, I gave in and started playing the game, as Grandma called it. I shook hands, smiled, and made conversation with the current leaders and their underlings. Many, I recognized from other parties Grandma had dragged me to when I was younger. But, the difference was now I was someone important rather than just someone''s child.


    Speaking of change, while I was busy greeting guests, I noticed the appearance of someone else who had caused a change in my life over the summer.


    The raven-haired girl noticed me looking at her, and a shy smile crept out on her face.


    "Alex," she cheerfully greeted.


    I glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then leaned forward and stole a quick kiss. Then I whispered in her ear, "I''m glad you could make it, Jessica."

 Chapter 111 - The Board

    "Does Anna know?"


    The question asked by my best friend brought me out of my thoughts.??


    I turned and looked at Cedric. Like me, he was dressed in fine robes, although his were dark black stitched with golden threads. His dark hair made his skin look even paler.


    Seeing that Cedric''s grey eyes weren''t focused on me, I turned in the direction he was looking. Immediately, I understood the origin of his question.


    It was Jessica, my girlfriend.


    She was over with her parents, who seemed to be networking. They worked directly for the International Confederation of Wizards. Their main job was to monitor muggles, make spells, and offer suggestions that would help keep wizardkind hidden from the rest of the world.


    Jessica''s blue eyes sparkled as she noticed me glancing at her. She sent me a smile that made me lose my train of thought and brought a dumb, goofy grin to my face.


    Damnit, why does that keep happening to me?


    "What did you ask?" I murmured, trying to distract myself from my pretty girlfriend.


    Cedric repeated himself, "I asked if Anna knows that you and Jessica are a thing?"


    Feeling a little defensive, I crossed my arms and muttered, "It''s not like it''s any of her business."


    Cedric gave me a look that made me fidget uncomfortably.


    Feeling the urge to defend myself, I explained, "It''s not like I''m hiding it from her. I just haven''t had the chance to tell her yet."


    My friendship with Anna had been a little rocky over the past year. We never really talked about our escalating prank war. Even though it had been over for months, there was an uncomfortable wall of silence between us. Of course, we were still friends. We still hung out. But, things were still a little tense.


    I wanted to fix it, but I didn''t know-how. Whenever I tried to say something, my mind would blank, and I wouldn''t know what to say. I missed the easy friendship we had before.


    Breaking the uncomfortable silence, Cedric suggested, "Well, you should tell her before she finds out from¡­ other sources."


    Cedric''s eyes shifted in Jessica''s direction, leaving no doubt she was the source in question.v\


    I wanted to shake my head and protest, but memories of Jessica and Anna constantly sniping at one another came to mind.


    Cedric had a point. Jessica would definitely tell Anna. And knowing my luck, it would come out the worst possible moment.


    "I''ll tell her," I promised. "I just need to find the right moment."


    I fell silent and forced my attention back to the dinner party.


    Sensing that I was done talking about this topic, Cedric stopped pushing and casually changed the subject.


    "So, how did you two get together?"


    I paused upon hearing the odd tone in Cedric''s voice. It was like he was asking for directions rather than just wanting to know how Jessica and I began.


    My suspicions were proved correct when I prodded him with a sly grin.


    "Why Cedric, it sounds like you have an ulterior motive. Has some lady caught your eye"


    Cedric''s cheeks flushed red, and he pointedly turned away and ignored my childish antics.


    I patted Cedric''s shoulder and teased him, "Don''t be embarrassed."


    "Come sit, let me share my wisdom on how to approach girls." I bragged with all the confidence of a guy who now had a girlfriend and thus knew everything.


    Cedric snorted in response.


    But after a few awkward moments of silence, he turned back to me.


    "Well," he demanded. "Where''s all that wisdom you were claiming to have.


    As Cedric was staring at me, waiting for me to say anything, I quickly realized I didn''t know what to say.


    I raced through my memories, trying to piece together exactly how Jessica and I had gotten together.


    Jessica and I had gotten really close last year with all the competitive challenges we did in class and late-night study sessions.


    The night our feelings were made clear was a bit of a blur. We were studying and mentioned that I would miss this next year, which led to a conversation on how I volunteered for the student exchange program.


    That was followed by Jessica''s deep blue eyes shimmering with tears and then a lingering hug. During which I couldn''t help but be distracted by how good she smelled. Well, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, we were kissing.


    Damn it, now that I think about it. I didn''t do anything to get Jessica; she''s the one who got me. I just was kind of along for the ride.


    Damn me and my big mouth.


    I can''t tell Cedric that¡­ Or can I?


    I took a deep breath, as if I were about to reveal a great secret, then I started spouting out nonsense.


    "Let the girl do all the work."


    "You know," he pronounced, "That might be the dumbest thing I''ve ever heard you say."


    I held up a finger and countered, "Wrong, the dumbest thing I ever said was telling Athena to go off with Hagrid''s before we went deep into a monster''s lair.


    Cedric nodded, agreeing with me.


    Getting back on point, I pointed out the obvious, "Besides, who''s the one with the girlfriend?"


    As the night went on, I continued to spout more BS rather than admit I didn''t know what I was talking about. Thankfully, Cedric was a good enough friend not to call me out on it.


    I kept busy enchanting outside of the dinner parties that our family was using as insurance against the Syndicate.


    On the last day of July, I found myself slumped over my table, my head leaning on a thick heavy tome. The book''s title read A Charm-Crafters Guide, Vol 1.


    The book series could only be obtained from the Charm-Crafters Guild. It was one of the benefits of belonging to the guild. Dad had got it for me at the beginning of summer and told me to have fun.


    After blazing through the first volume, I couldn''t wait to get the next. I found dozens of complicated and high-level enchantments not taught at Hogwarts.


    I wasn''t shocked at finding so many new spells. It wasn''t like Hogwarts taught every spell in existence. The School''s strategy was if you could obtain an OWL or NEWT in a subject, you had a good enough foundation in that subject to learn new spells on your own.


    I followed Dad''s advice on becoming a great charm crafter and went on an enchanting spree this summer. The only way I would become the best was to practice repeatedly, building both skill and experience.


    With that thought, I pushed myself up with a groan and looked at my latest creation. At first glance, it looked like a plain feathered quill. But, my magical senses told a different story. The magic I could feel told me there were almost a dozen spells crafter onto the quill.


    While that doesn''t seem very impressive, my enchanting table was covered with burnt-up failures. Quills were so fragile that they had a good chance of breaking once you put more than a couple of spells onto one.


    Picking the white, feathered quill up, I began testing it to make sure my spells were in working order.


    Floating above a blank piece of paper, the quill''s white feather seemed


    to dance as it began recording my every word.


    Seeing that the quill''s primary enchantment worked correctly, I started working on its other spells, starting with the grammar charm. I deliberately began speaking improperly to see how the quill would react.


    I was pleased to find the charm working properly as the quill would instantly rearrange anything I said into a well-written sentence.


    After that, I started testing the quill''s ability to deal with homonyms and other tricky areas of the English language.


    With all that writing, the quill never had to be refilled because I added a refilling charm to the ink so it wouldn''t ever run out.


    In the end, everything was perfect, and I was left with an enchanted quill that could be sold for around a single galleon.


    It''s too bad these types of quills were banned at Hogwarts; it would make writing all my essays a breeze.


    Of course, not all my projects were successful. My eyes narrowed as they darted to a seemingly innocent-looking glass cup. While I had been testing the quill, it had been inching its way across the table, getting closer to me.


    "Don''t you dare," I warned the cup.


    I rolled my eyes when the glass froze in place, trying to pretend to be innocent.


    The class cup was designed to be a never-ending cup of ice-cold lemonade that would appear before me whenever I was thirsty.


    Technically, I succeeded. The glass cup did indeed provide a never-ending glass of refreshing lemonade.


    However, I must have screwed up somewhere because I was left with a cup that seemed to have a fanatic need to be used whether I was thirsty or not.


    Even worse, I had given it the ability to move on its own. So now, I was constantly stalked by a glassy cup that was determined to fill my stomach with lemonade.


    I''ve also learned that I have to lock it up at night because it tends to douse me with lemonade in the middle of the night.


    Part of me was tempted to vanish it into nothingness after that first night, but I decided against it in the end. Who knows, maybe one day I will find another use for it.


    "Alex!"


    My younger sister Rebecca shouted, interrupting my thinking.


    "What!" I shouted back.


    "You got a letter."


    I let out a brief sigh. Sometimes I missed having the tower to myself.


    I found Mum on the fourth floor dressed in her brewing robes and looking a little frazzled as she searched for potion ingredients.


    A''s soon as I entered, Mum turned to me and fumed, "I hate this place. Nothing is where it''s supposed to be."


    I could see why she was having issues, unlike her brewing room back at the house where everything had a proper place. The brewing room in the tower looked like some had tossed in jars at random.


    "It won''t be forever," I soothed. "I''m sure Dad is almost finished with the house."


    Dad had taken the possible threat from the Syndicate seriously. Over the summer, he had stripped our home of every enchantment and was in the process of weaving new spells into every inch of the house, turning it into a magical fortress.


    More than once, he had joked that it would be as secure as Hogwarts. I didn''t have the heart to tell him that Hogwarts wasn''t as secure as he thought it was.


    Getting back on track, I said, "Rebbeca said I got a letter."


    Mum pulled out a sealed letter and handed it to me before turning her attention back to the jars that had been stacked in seemingly random order.


    As I left the room, I glanced down at the letter. The font and spelling of my name tickled my memory. Then, after a brief moment, I realized it was nearly identical to my invitation to Hogwarts.


    Tearing the letter open, I eagerly read the contents.


    Me. Alexander Fawley.


    Your presence is requested to appear before the Hogwarts''s Board of Governors this Saturday on August 7th, 1992. This meeting concerns the Student Exchange Program that you volunteered for. Should you not appear, your spot in the program will be given to another.


    Your best regards, The Board of Governors.


    I wasn''t surprised by the contents of the letter. Grandma had told me I would be summoned before the Board. She told me they would be giving us information about our trip overseas and a lecture on how we would be expected to behave. Thankfully, I wouldn''t be alone during the meeting. My friends would be there as well.


    On the day of the meeting, I got dressed in my favorite set of blue robes. Grandma would throw a fit if I showed up in anything casual. I used to find it annoying, but ever since I started Fawley''s Arcane Solutions, I had truly begun to recognize the importance of one''s appearance.


    When Grandma caught sight of me, she gave an approving nod. Since we were both going to the same place, she volunteered to escort me to the meeting.


    Unfortunately, we couldn''t leave directly from the tower. When Anton built the tower, he refused to put any fireplaces, so there was no way to connect the tower to the floo network. And due to Dad''s new security measures, no one could apparate on the family grounds.


    With Anton, Dad had found an eager collaborator. Dad would spend hours on the top floor with Anton''s painting, going over spells that would make our house secure.


    The only issue was Anton was a little crazy and had a skewed idea of what reasonable defensive spells were. After convincing Dad that it was a good idea to put a flaying curse on anyone sneaking through one of our windows, Mum put her foot down and demanded that she have final approval over each spell.


    Normally, Dad is the level-headed one in our family, having to reign in Mum when she goes overboard. But I don''t hold it against him. Everything he''s doing is making sure our family is safe. So, if we have to leave our property to apparate, it''s a small price to pay.


    Once Grandma and I were outside the grounds, she reached out with her left arm. I grabbed on tightly and braced myself.


    There was a slight twisting sensation, then everything went pitch black, and I felt the familiar sensation of being forced through a rubber tube two-sizes-two-small.


    Just when I thought I would suffocate in the darkness, we reappeared on the edge of Hogsmeade.


    We had reappeared in front of a small stone building that had ivy climbing the walls. The few windows were smoky and prevented anyone from seeing inside. If there was any doubt that this was our destination, the Hogwarts crest carved on the stone wall next to the door chased them away.


    I followed Grandma''s lead as she opened the oak door that guarded the entrance. Inside was a small waiting room with wooden chairs. Cedric and Anna had already arrived with their parents and were seated in the far right corner.


    Arriving last was Alicia, who showed up with both of her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Spinnet appeared to be in high spirits as they both had gleaming smiles on their faces.


    It probably had to do with the fact that they were graduates of Uagadou. They both moved to Britain after completing a Competitive Healing Apprenticeship in Egypt. From what I understand, Mrs. Spinnet is a standard healer, while Mr. Spinnet''s job has more to do with trying to find new treatments for incurable magical damage.


    When it was time for the meeting, my friends and I were led into a large room with half a dozen lamps floating in midair, giving off a warm glow.


    On the floor beneath the floating lights was an enormous polished table that filled up the room. I blinked in surprise when I noticed thirteen people seated rather than the twelve I was expecting. The thirteenth member was a familiar face. She was the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professional McGonagall.


    Professor McGonagall and the twelve Governors were all seated on the far side of the long table. Our transfiguration professor was seated in the middle and was flanked by six governors on either side.


    Professor McGonagall waved for us to take a seat in the four empty chairs situated on the opposite side of the table.


    As I took a seat, my eyes drifted towards the other board members. They were all familiar faces due to the many dinner parties I had attended with Grandma over the years. Each board member was well connected and highly respected in the magical community. While being a Governor didn''t give you much power, it was a high mark on someone''s social status.


    My eyes paused on the least trustworthy governor, Lucian Malfoy. His long blonde hair was so pale it was almost white. He was dressed in expensive dark robes etched in silver. The blue veins on his hand stuck out starkly as he absently gripped his cane that had a silver snakehead. Although I hadn''t ever seen him draw his wand, I knew from the books that the cane held his wand.


    This would be his last year on the BoardBoard if things remained faithful to the books. He''s supposed to blackmail or threaten the board members into suspending Dumbledore as Headmaster. I had always been a little puzzled by this; there was no way Lucius could bully Grandma into doing whatever he wanted.


    The way I saw it, Lucius probably only needed to get a majority of the BoardBoard to vote his way. But, I could also see Grandma playing along, giving Lucius just enough rope to hang himself.


    Grandma had never liked Lucius. Although she couldn''t prove anything, she had kept track of people who had vocally supported Voldemort''s ideas before he showed his true colors.


    She couldn''t prove anything, but I knew she privately suspected Lucius had been a death eater. I know it galled her to rub elbows with him constantly. More than once, I had seen her lock her jaw when Lucius suggested our families had a lot in common.


    During and shortly after the war, there had been whispers about both our families being Voldemort supporters. It wasn''t until an investigation revealed that Grandpa had been killed on Voldemort''s orders that the whispers about our family faded.


    Lucius pleaded innocent, claiming that he had been under the influence of the imperious curse. His plea and family connections had been enough to remove any suspicion. However, I would bet that there was some gold involved as well.


    What made it easy for people like him to slip back into normal society was that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had enslaved hundreds during the war. It was a time of great confusion, and after Voldemort''s ''apparent death,'' the Ministry just wanted it all to go away.


    Idiots.


    Professor McGonagall''s curt voice brought me back to the present.


    "As you all know, this meeting concerns the Student Exchange Program." She briskly stated.


    "You four were selected out of many candidates. I hope you understand what an honor it is to represent Hogwarts as you go abroad. I expect each of you to act accordingly. I will be most displeased should I find out that you weren''t on your best behavior."


    As Professor McGonagall paused, I squirmed in my chair as I noticed she seemed to be staring at me rather than my friends.


    What was that look for?


    I''ve always been on my best behavior. It''s not like I go looking for trouble. The Grendel, the portkey, the trolls, none of those were my fault.


    Ok, maybe the Grendel incident was a little bit my fault. But that''s it. I''m innocent of the rest. Save that judgey look for the golden trio.


    Satisfied that she had made her point, Professor McGonagall continued, "With that out of the way, I would like to bring up one more point. Next year will be your fifth year, and you will be taking your OWL exams. Therefore, I want to caution you that you may find yourself slightly behind when you return to Hogwarts next year.


    Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and four similar pieces of parchment appeared in front of us.


    "Here is a list of books you would have used this year at Hogwarts. I highly recommend you get them and take them with you and study them in your free time."


    Alicia raised her arm and asked, "Why do we need these? My parents told me that Uagadou teaches similar classes."


    Professor McGonagall eyes her for a moment before replying, "While it''s true that you will find magical disciplines to be similar to the ones taught at Hogwarts. You will find that their incantations and approaches are different from the ones taught at Hogwarts."


    Professor McGonagall sighed before adding, "Had you requested to visit Ivormeny, Beauxbatons, or Durmstrang, this wouldn''t be an issue as they all use similar spells. You will find Uagadou''s spells to be the equal of the ones taught at Hogwarts, but that won''t matter on your OWL exams as you will be tested off of Hogwarts curriculum."


    Looking us each in the eye, Professor McGonagall said, "If any of you have any doubts about keeping up, there is no shame in backing out. I can''t stress enough how important the OWL exams are to your future. They will dictate what advanced classes you can take and will have a huge impact on your future careers."


    Seeing how none of us planned on backing out, Professor McGonagall turned to her right and nodded toward the plump witch sitting next to her.


    The witch''s name was Martha Goldvein. I wasn''t quite sure how old she was, but I know she and Grandma attended Hogwarts at the same time.


    She had warm brown eyes, and every time I met her, she always had a smile on her face.


    Martha smiled at us like there wasn''t any other place in the world she would rather be.


    She winked at us and cheerfully said, "Alright, with that out of the way, now we can get to the good stuff."


    "I know most of you are probably wondering how you will be getting to Uagadou."


    My friends and I nodded. We all had different ideas on how we would be transported.


    Martha pointed towards a governor I recognized as Stewart Rowle. He had short graying hair that did little to cover his giant dumbo ears. While his hairline was receding, the opposite was true for his thick braided beard. Even at his advanced age, he still had large arms that were thicker than my legs. He looked more like an aging warrior than a wizard.


    "Luckily for you, Stewart has a good relationship with the Elders of Uagadou, who are our equivalents. He was able to get a port key set up that will take you to the outskirts of Uagadou."


    Before I could ask, Martha answered my unspoken question, "You''ll meet up at King''s Cross Station like normal, and portkey from Platform 9 3/4."


    "Are there any other questions?" She asked.


    Cedric raised his hand, and when Martha nodded at him, he asked, "What about books and supplies? Has Uagadou given us a list of what we need?"


    This time it was my Grandma who spoke up.


    "The headmaster at Uagadou has informed us that they will be supplying any books or equipment that you need. As for other supplies like quills and ink, I suggest you bring anything you normally bring to Hogwarts."


    Thirty minutes later, the meeting came to an end. Before we were dismissed, Martha asked us a question.


    "So, what made the four of you choose Uagadou? It''s quite unusual to have all four students choose the same School."


    The other governors subtly leaned forward. Apparently, they were all curious.


    My friends all looked at me to answer.


    I hesitated for a moment. I wasn''t all that happy letting Lucius know I was planning on becoming an animagus, but it wasn''t like I was going to be able to keep it a secret for long. Professor McGonagall already knew about our plan, and she would definitely ensure we registered with the Ministry.


    With a shrug, I explained, "My cousin goes to Uagadou, and he''s an animagus. He told me around 80% of students become animagus by 14, and by the time they graduate, almost all students from Uagadou become animagi."


    I nodded towards my friends and added, "So, this year, we are all planning on becoming animagi."


    "Hmph."


    Everyone turned to look at the oldest member of the BoardBoard. It was Fredrick Bones. Having been forced by my Grandma to attend his last birthday celebration, I knew Roger to be 120 years old.


    He was old, bald, had a face full of wrinkles, and was in a generally grumpy mood all the time.


    "I knew it," he exclaimed. "I knew these rapscallions were up to no good."


    The other board members shot us looks people customarily reserved for family members they were embarrassed by but had to invite because they were family.


    Fredrick continued speaking without realizing that the other board members were glaring at him, wanting him to shut up.


    "Only the untrustworthy become animagus," he continued to preach.


    Most of the board members subtle glances at the elephant in the room or rather the cat. Professor McGonagall was one of 7 registered animagi in Europe.


    "That''s enough," Grandma stood up and scolded. "Becoming an animagus is a worthy pursuit and has no bearing on a person''s character."


    "But, they''re always up to no good," Roger grumbled. "Always sneaking around."


    "Roger," my Grandma warned.


    I tried to hide a grin. Grandma used the same tone on the twins when they were doing something wrong, and she wanted them to stop.


    Roger fell silent and settled into his chair, but his face had an unhappy expression l had only ever seen on toddlers when they were told no.


    Embarrassed by the actions of one of their BoardBoard, the governors rushed the rest of the meeting. Before we left for the night, we were given packets for our parents. They covered everything that we went over in the meeting.


    The rest of the summer flew by, and before I knew it, September had arrived. Finally, it was time to go to Uagadou.

 Chapter 112 - Hodari

    I was up bright and early on the first day in September. We would be departing hours before the Hogwarts express typically left the station. The portkey was set to leave at 9 am, and we were warned multiple times that if we missed the activation, there wouldn''t be another.


    Even though I had been packed for the last week, I gave my bedroom one last look to make sure I hadn''t forgotten anything. We had moved back into the house a few days ago, and I hadn''t quite gotten everything organized yet.


    A shiny glint caught my eye, and I swore once I realized what it was. It was the necklace I had enchanted for Jessica. I had finished it a few days ago and meant to send it to her. But, the move back home distracted me, and it slipped my mind.


    When I first made plans to visit Uagadou, it was done with several things in mind. First, I wanted to become an animagus. When I was younger, I thought about doing it in secret. Just like James, Serius and Peter did when they were at school. Then I read everything that had the potential to go wrong with the spell, and I couldn''t believe how reckless stupid the Marauders had been.


    A tiny mistake could have transformed them into monstrous creatures. So, I decided to go to the one place that had seemingly perfected the process, Uagadou. Almost all their graduates were animagi, and there weren''t any rumblings coming from the school that indicated they were having to lock up any of their students for becoming mad half-transformed creatures.


    I had also decided to go to Uagadou this year for another glaring reason. This year there would be a giant snake slithering through the bowels of Hogwarts. Since I planned to leave the Basilisk to Harry, I decided it would be an excellent time to get out of dodge. Not wanting to risk my closest friends, I had convinced them to join me.


    Of course, things have changed since I first made those plans. I was now leaving my girlfriend vulnerable.


    So, I spent the summer debating my plans. I must have changed my mind half a dozen times. A simple warning to Dumbledore would fix the issue. I even thought about intercepting Voldemort''s Journal that Lucius planted on Ginny Weasley. Without that journal, the Chamber of Secrets would stay sealed, and I wouldn''t have to worry about anything.


    I''m not going to lie. I was also a little tempted to steal the journal for study. I had never come across a living journal like the book described and was curious about the spells Voldemort used in its creation.


    But, in the end, I decided to do nothing. This year was another important milestone in Harry''s development. Not only would he face a young Voldemort, but he would also face a massive Basilisk. These confrontations would forge Harry into someone who could face-off with Voldemort when he returned.


    Or at least, that''s what I told myself so that I could sleep at night.


    I turned my attention back to the necklace I designed to protect Jessica. It was fairly simple, a silver chain that held a small sapphire. However, what was really important about it were the two subtle charms I had added to the necklace.


    The first subtle encouraged the wearer not to remove the necklace. The second and more critical charm wrapped the wearer in an almost skin-tight invisible bubble. The bubble only had one purpose, it would protect Jessica from dying if she accidentally came across the Basilisk later this year.


    There only needed to be a slight barrier between Basilisk and its victim for its curse not to work. So while it wouldn''t stop Jessica from being petrified, it would stop her from dying if she made eye contact with the Basilisk.


    After wrapping the necklace up, I decided to add a letter whose contents were marked for Jessica''s eyes only. She should get the package first thing tomorrow.


    Speaking of packages, I decided to head off Mum''s traditional Happy Birthday Letter to me. Yesterday, I found a suspicious letter in her office with my name on it. A quick inspection confirmed this was the singing letter she planned to send to me. It didn''t take much effort to swap the letter leaving me wondering why I never thought about this before. Now she gets to believe she sent her embarrassing letter whereas I don''t have to worry about it when it arrives.


    With everything in my room sorted out, I brought everything downstairs, eager to leave. But, unfortunately, the rest of my family wasn''t as ready to leave. The twins were moping and dragging their feet getting ready to go. I swear, they got like this every year. It was like they believed I wouldn''t leave if they could delay me from going to school.


    Normally, this wasn''t a big deal. Mum would always get them ready to leave on time. But this year, she seemed to be silently encouraging them.


    When Mum first found out I volunteered for the Student Exchange Program, she was beyond excited, thinking that I would go to Beauxbatons. However, when she learned I was planning on going to a school on the other side of the equator, she became far less enthused.


    It wasn''t until I finally put my foot down and threatened to leave on my own for her to stop indulging the twins.


    When I wasn''t looking at the clock and mentally gagging whether we would make it in time for the Portkey''s activation, I was shooting lasers eyes at Mum. Usually, I didn''t mind her overprotective antics. They were often from a place of love, but this was going too far. Maybe it was time to stop indulging her.


    Thankfully, we made it to the King''s Crossing with a few minutes to spare. Not waiting for my family, I stacked my stuff on a trolly and took off running. I didn''t even slow down at the brick wall that led to platform 9 ?.


    Platform 9 ? was a strange sight. We were so early the platform was deserted, and the Hogwarts Express was nowhere to be seen.


    The only people on site were Martha Goldvein, Grandma''s friend on the Board of Governors. As well as Cedric, Anna, and Alicia along with their families.


    Martha shot a slight frown towards me and showed me her watch.


    "Glad you finally decided to join us, Mr. Fawley. Another couple of minutes, and the portkey would have left you behind."


    Upon hearing Martha''s rebuke, I narrowed my eyes and gave Mum an accusing look as she exited the portal.


    Even though I was still annoyed with her, most of my anger had faded now that I had arrived on time. Knowing that time was of the essence, I gave my family a quick goodbye hug before moving my trunk next to my friends.


    Having traveled by portkey before, Athena leaped onto her favorite spot and wrapped her tail around my throat protectively.


    The portkey was a waist-high metal stand with a large metal ring on top. It allowed for someone to easily have one hand on the ring and the other on any belongings.


    At 9 o''clock sharp, the portkey vibrated, and I felt like a hook had grabbed me by the navel. As I was torn from space and time, I absently wondered if this was what a fish felt like when it years yanked from water.


    Everything blurred into a kaleidoscope of blurring colors, and just when I couldn''t take it anymore, I popped back into reality and was slammed onto the ground.


    I shut my eyes, trying to ignore the sensation of spinning like a top. However, even with my eyes shut, I still felt like I was spinning.


    Once I felt the sensation fade, I opened my eyes to see where we landed. What greeted me was a surprise.


    For some reason, whenever I pictured Uagadou, I thought it would be on a mountain that was dry, dusty, and perhaps in the middle of a desert. It was probably because the only part of Africa I had been in was Eygpt.


    Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, I was greeted by a large body of water that seemed to have streams and rivers flowing from it.


    Giant rocky mountains stretched into the sky, dominating the landscape. Flowing down and around them was a mist that invoked a sense of mystery.


    Far from my expectations, the mountains were far from barren. Instead, they were partly covered in a green landscape. Green wasn''t the only unexpected color on the mountains. A few were so high the mountain tops were covered in a blanket of icy white snow.


    "Wow," Cedric muttered as he looked around in appreciation.


    Anna, Alicia, and I let out similar murmurs of agreement. The mountains were stunning and left me with a primal d_e_s_i_r_e to climb the tallest one.


    "Ahem."


    Startled by the sound of someone clearing their throat, we all turned to find someone silently sitting on a large rock.


    My friend and I exchanged looks, silently debating whether this was the person who was supposed to meet us.


    Answering our unspoken question, the man sitting on the rock stood up. He was a large, barrel-c_h_e_s_ted man with massive arms and stood several inches past six feet. Dark ebony skin contrasted sharply with his broad white smile. Other than small strands of grey hairs that peppered his hair, the wizard looked like he was in the prime of his life.


    After brushing something off from his fine orange robes with geometric patterns colored in a deep blue, the unknown wizard spread his arms and greeted us in perfectly spoken English.


    "Welcome, my young friends from Hogwarts. Hodari is pleased you chose to visit Uagadou, not many who use the exchange program do."


    Before we could say anything, Hodari continued, "Now come, introduce yourselves to Hodari."


    Unable to help myself, I shot a questioning look to my friends. Was this guy Hodari? Why was he referring to himself in the third person? With the clarity in which he spoke English, I was assuming he was doing it on purpose.


    After we all introduced ourselves, Hodari clapped his hands then gestured with one arm out towards the unknown body of water, "Now that we are all friends, let me be the first to welcome you to Uagadou."


    I looked around the impressive landscape but failed to see anything. My friends showed similar looks of bewilderment.


    Unsure of what we were supposed to be seeing, Alicia asked, "Is the school invisible?".


    Hodari laughed for a moment. "No, my young friends."


    He reached out and pointed upwards and across the lake. "Uagadou is there."


    My eyes turned in the direction that Hodari was pointing at. Across the lake was a tall pointed mountain whose lower half was entirely concealed by a thick mist, giving off the impression that the top half of the mountain was floating in midair.


    "Is the school on top of the mountain?" I asked.


    Hodari grinned, showing us a proud pearly smile.


    "Uagadou is the mountain," he declared.


    Feeling a little defensive about Hogwarts, I changed the subject, "How do your students arrive?"


    "It varies," Hodari replied. "One thing to keep in mind is that there are many magical civilizations in Africa. And while we are all on one continent, we are far from united. When Kiama Atieno founded Uagadou well over a thousand years ago, he envisioned a school of magic where magical folks from all over Africa could come together and forge bonds and learn from one another."


    Curious about the lands of her ancestors, Alicia asked, "Just how many groups are there?"


    "Hmm." Hodari intoned as he thought about all the different magical cultures.


    "Well, first we have our brethren along the northern coast, the Heka. They are a proud bunch, descendent from wizards who built ancient empires. But, for the past few centuries, they''ve chafed under the regulations brought on by the International Statute of Secrecy."


    "Neighboring the Heke to the south are the tribes of the endless sand. Constantly on the move, the sand folk rarely stay in one place for long. They are secretive and protective of the desert''s many secrets. They claim to be guardians of ancient magical secrets that the sands of the Sahara have swallowed."


    "Along the eastern coast, the Mchawi have developed a love for the oceans and the depths within. They spend as much time beneath the seas as on land. Some of the things they''ve claimed to see are hard to believe."


    "Unlike the Mchawi on the east coast, those on the west coast are far more interested in what''s on land rather than the sea. So they''ve taken it upon themselves to create giant magical preserves where magical creatures can still roam free."


    "That brings us to the magical denizens of the rainforest. Deeply steeped in tradition, they practice ancient forms of magic that many feel are too dangerous and unstable. They are a highly insular group of folks who absolutely refuse to have any dealings with Kawaidas."


    Seeing the puzzlement on our faces, Hodari clarified, "I believe you call them Muggles."


    Having explained what Kawaida were, Hodari continued, "Finally, we have the folk from the south. Famous for producing some of the best alchemists in the world. Uagadou graduates who specialize in alchemy will almost all end up spending some time in South Africa honing their skills or gathering rare ingredients.


    "Well, that''s about it. Of course, you may meet a few folks not affiliated with any of them. But they are few and far between."


    As Hodari continued his impromptu history lesson on Uagadou, I was only half paying attention. I started mentally calculating just how many students attended Uagadou.


    Hogwarts typically had 800 to 1000 students. When I compared the size of the British Isles to Africa and factored in the size of the mountain that was Uagadou, my mind started giving me some impressive numbers. That was even factoring in that Africa had a few lesser-known schools, plus there would always be some families who chose to educate their children at home.


    As the sun climbed higher in the sky, my predictions about the number of students proved to be slightly off.


    In small groups, students began showing up. I noticed a few emerging from a familiar-looking archway that was cleverly hidden between two large rocks. When I was younger, Uncle John took me through a pair of archways located in Egypt.


    While that mode of transport was familiar, other students showed up in shocking ways. Some rode in on giant birds with shockingly bright colors¡ªeverything from red and blues to green and yellow. No two birds were the same.


    When I saw some begin to appear in the water, I wasn''t too surprised. Having traveled on Uncle John''s ship, the ancient underwater paths were familiar to me.


    While some arrived in small sh_i_p_s only capable of carrying a few, others arrived by more exotic means. They came on the backs of giant sea turtles or the insides of enormous fish that opened their mouths and spat out their passengers before slipping away.


    Creatures from the air and sea weren''t the only methods of travel. A little past noon, a convoy of camels arrived. But they weren''t your typical camels. Each camel teleported 100 feet with each step. Even after they had arrived, they seemed unable to stop teleporting as they blinked a step to their right or left before appearing back in their original spot.


    While I was generally impressed with all the exotic means of travel, I saw one that screamed of danger.


    When I saw a crack in space appear, the small lizard part of my brain screamed that what was happening wasn''t normal. A few minutes after it appeared, there was a sound that chilled my blood. It sounded like space itself was tearing itself apart. Finally, the crack expanded, opening up a whole. Craning my neck, all I could see was a blank white fog teaming with shadowy figures.


    I''m not going to lie. I almost drew my wand right then and there. Something about that portal rubbed me the wrong way. The only thing that stopped me was that nobody else was reacting. A few seconds later, the shadowy figures began emerging. When I realized what I was seeing, I let out a breath I didn''t know I was holding. The shadowy figures were only students.


    Dangling off each student were small bones with mysterious symbols carved into them. From where I stood, I could feel pulses of the magical power wafting off them. My instincts told me that the bones were packed with protective enchantments. Which begged the question, why did they need them? Was there something in that mysterious fog? And why in Merlin''s name would they choose to travel in such a seemingly dangerous way.


    Before I could continue that train of thought, a familiar voice shouted my name.


    "Alex."


    Turning, I saw my cousin with long dark hair and golden skin waving me down. His robes were like everyone else, orange, with stripes of deep purple. Dr_a_p_ed across his shoulders was a blue sash or scarf of some sort. As I compared it to the other students, I noticed some had the same type while others had different colors. Seeing how everyone who had on a similar sash appeared to be of a similar age, I guessed they had something to do with what year they were in. This year, Omar would be starting in his fifth year.


    "Omar," I greeted him with a brief hug. "I didn''t see your Dad''s ship."


    Omar rolled his deep amber eyes. "Please," he said, "You think I let him take me anywhere. Last time he dropped me off, he had his ship blasting pirate sea shanties."


    Omar pointed a lazy thumb in the direction that he came from. "I stayed at Giddu''s house last night and took one of the archways to get here."


    Next to me, Hodari boomed, "Omar, Hodari had no idea that you were related to young Alexander. This is wonderful news."


    Speaking through my teeth, I whispered to Omar, "Is it normal to speak in the third person around here?"


    Omar grinned back, "No, we all find Hodari weird as well."


    As the day wore on, students kept arriving¡ªmore and more each hour. There were thousands of them. Everyone seemed content to wait as the day passed. Some swam in the lake. Others conjured chairs and positioned them under some shade. As for my friends and me, we hung out with my cousin asking him all sorts of questions about Uagadou.


    Finally, as the sun started slipping down beneath the horizon, Hodari stood up and made his way to the lake. Turning his back to the water, he shouted, "Alright. Alright. Hodari doesn''t want to be here all night. You all know what to do."


    In unison, thousands of students started pushing to get closer to the lake. Then, a loud rumble began developing as people started chanting, clapping their hands, and stomping their feet as if they were all listening to a song they could hear.


    My eyes widened as I felt a large pulse of magic surge through the crowd. They were performing some sort of mass spell in unison.


    Omar smiled at my expression and nudged me. "Just wait until you see what happens next."


    I felt the magic continue to rise. I tried to puzzle it out as everyone continued. From what I could tell, the spell required a specific number of people to do different things. The spell was like an orc_h_e_s_tra that required many different people to work in unison. I couldn''t help but remember what Hodari said about the founder of Uagadou wanting to bring people together. I guess the first step to gaining access to the school needs a spell of cooperation.


    After a few minutes, I felt whatever spell they were doing finally activated. Over the lake, a shimmering bridge appeared. The path to Uagadou was open.

 Chapter 113 - Uagadou

    When the bridge appeared from nowhere, I couldn''t help but mentally note that it didn''t seem to have any pillars holding it in place. Instead, it gave the impression that the whole bridge was floating over the water, and with everything magic can do, I wouldn''t be surprised if that were the case.


    I half-expected a mass rush of students streaming forward towards the bridge. But, instead, everyone seemed to hang back.


    Hodari called out, "First years. Come on. Come on. We don''t got all day."


    A thick steady stream of excited 11-year-olds started pushing through the crowd making their way down to the bridge.


    I smiled at the eager energy the first years were projecting. I couldn''t help but think back to my first trip to Hogwarts.


    Hagrid looming over everyone calling for the first years to follow him, crossing the Black Lake in a small self-propelled wooden boat. Fred and George tipping their boat, sending themselves and Angelina Johnson into the lake. The amazed look on their faces when the giant squid plucked them from the water and returned them to their boat. The first glimpse I had of Hogwarts. Being sorted into Ravenclaw. I wouldn''t trade those memories for anything.


    Cedric brought me out of my thoughts when he asked, "How did we understand Hodari just now? I''m almost positive he wasn''t speaking English and yet still understood him."


    I stilled in surprise at Cedric''s remark. Then, I quickly reviewed my memory of events confirming Cedric''s theory.


    "You''re right." I agreed, "I totally missed that."


    Omar laughed at our confusion.


    "That''s just the universal translation spell at work," he explained.


    Omar waved towards his fellow students. "Think about it. Uagadou has over five thousand students from all corners of Africa. Between everyone here, that''s hundreds of languages. That''s where the spell comes into play. No matter what language you speak, the spell translates it into whatever language you think in. If you don''t pay close attention, you won''t even notice the effects."


    I let out an appreciative whistle. That is a bloody useful spell. Immediately, my mind went to work, trying to puzzle out how the spell worked.


    I ?ssumed it was a charm of some sort, such a large area of effect narrowed the choices down. The two most apparent choices was a giant ward that covered the entirety of Uagadou or an enchantment that acted similarly.


    Alicia interrupted my musing when she asked, "Why is Hodari leaving with the first years? Isn''t he our guide?


    Craning my neck, I saw Hodari being swallowed by mist as he followed behind the first years. Behind them, second-years slowly started making their way forward.


    Shaking his head, Omar explained, "Hodari always travels with the first years."


    Before any of us could say anything, Omar continued, "But, don''t worry. Uagadou always ?ssigns a fellow student to act as a sponsor."


    "Where are they?" Anna asked as she looked around at the throng of students.


    "You would think they would have already introduced themselves to us," she added waspishly.


    Omar let out a nervous chuckle and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.


    Putting things together, I asked, "You''re our sponsor, aren''t you?"


    Anna blushed in embarrassment as Omar sheepishly nodded.


    Anna blurted out an apology, "I''m sorry, Omar. I didn''t know."


    "It''s all right," Omar ?ssured her. "Besides, technically, Alex is only half right. I''m not your sponsor."


    Omar nodded towards Cedric and me, "I''m their sponsor. Your sponsor is a girl named Sanura. But it looks like she is running a tad late. Don''t worry. I''m sure she''ll be here soon."


    Around the time the third years were making their way over the bridge, Omar''s prediction was proven to be true. We all heard a faint voice pleadingly shout, "Slow down, Raza."


    Turning towards the noise, I immediately noticed a strange sight. A girl with high cheekbones and onyx skin was hanging on for dear life on what seemed like an ostrich. That is, if ostriches had gleaming purple feathers and razor-sharp claws on the ends of their two feet.


    Following behind the bird, a tight, leather-bound trunk bobbed in midair as if attached by an invisible tether.


    As Raza approached at racing broom speed, I realized the bird was taller than I initially ?ssumed. Its head hovered around 8 feet off the ground.


    When it seemed like Raza would run into the crowd of students, Raza applied its breaks and screeched to a sudden halt. Not having the best grip, the girl screamed as she slipped forward off the bird. But, before she could go anywhere, Raza''s beak shot forward like a snake attacking a mouse.


    The beak latched firmly on the girl''s robe, preventing her from flying off but also leaving her awkwardly dangling several feet off the ground.


    "Don''t you even think about it," the girl warned.


    A rebellious gleam appeared in the bird''s black eyes. Then, as if to prove that it didn''t have to listen to the girl, Raza promptly opened its beak freeing the girl''s robes and promptly dropping her on the ground.


    A muffled voice rang out, "You stupid bird."


    Turning over with a groan, the girl glared daggers at Raza, "One of these days, I''m gonna pluck your feathers and cook you in a pot."


    Raza didn''t seem concerned with the girl''s threat, completely ignoring her and moving to the lake to slate its thirst.


    Omar rushed to the fallen girl.


    "Sanura, are you ok?" He asked, helping Sanura to her feet.


    "I''m fine," she huffed while still giving the bird the evil eye.


    Brushing the dirt off her robes, Sanura complained, "Stupid bird took the long way here. I b?r?ly made it on time."


    "That''s the last time I will ride Raza to school," she grumbled to herself.


    When the duo made their way back to our group, Omar happily introduced us to the new girl, "Everyone, this is Sanura. She is the other sponsor I was telling you about."


    Anna and Alicia both gave the girl a look over, clearly unimpressed with Sanura. I couldn''t help but agree. Arriving in the manner certainly didn''t inspire confidence.


    Soon, it was our turn to move across the bridge.


    "Leave your luggage," Omar said. "It will be waiting for you in your rooms."


    Leaving our luggage behind, we made our way to the bridge and started crossing the lake.


    Sanura, perhaps trying to make up for her late entrance, began acting as a model tour guide on the bridge.


    "If you were wondering, Uagadou''s founder, Kiama Atieno, built and enchanted this bridge himself. He invented a ritual that requires the cooperation of many for it to appear."


    I perked up upon hearing about the ritual. Rituals were ancient magic, not taught at Hogwarts.


    Wanting to know more, I asked, "Has the bridge ever failed to appear?"


    Sanura exchanged looks with Omar before reluctantly admitting, "Twice. But that was a long time ago, within the first century of Uagadou''s founding. Since then, there has never been a problem."


    When we got to the other side of the bridge, there was a path leading to the Mountain of Moon. However, when we got closer, I noticed the path diverging. One led up the mountain, and the other around.


    Curious, I asked, "Where does the other path lead to?"


    Sanura shot a questioning look at Omar, who shrugged, "They will find out in DEC."


    "What''s DEC?" Cedric asked.


    "Defense, Evasion, and Combat," Sanura explained. "You guys will love it; it''s a class where you will learn to defend yourselves from all manner of magical beasts or anyone wanting to harm you."


    "That sounds similar to our Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Alicia mused out loud.


    While I technically agreed with Alicia, I hoped Uagadou''s DEC class would be better run than DADA. Hogwarts had a problem keeping a Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts for more than one year. A lot of students thought the position was jinxed, and I happened to agree with them. I had done some research on the matter, for over two decades, not one person had lasted more than a year in the post.


    If it was only a few teachers, I might dismiss the rumors. But, after going through more than twenty professors, Dumbledore still hadn''t gotten a single teacher to stay on for more than one year.


    I couldn''t find any pattern that explained why the teachers left. Some found other jobs, others had children, and they wanted to spend more time at home. But, not all were as benign. A few had gotten seriously hurt and needed time to recuperate, and that''s ignoring that last year where Quirrell died. If everything goes to plan this year, Lockhart would also be permanently losing his memory. So, yes, there was definitely something fishy about the teaching post for DADA.


    Ignoring whether the position was cursed, that many teachers cycling through had left the class''s syllabus chaotic and poorly managed. Each Professor had their own ideas about what the class should learn.


    A few were ok, but others were horrible. Last year with Professor Quirrell, we didn''t even use our wands in class. And not having to sit through Lockhart this year was a plus. But, I was looking forward to meeting Lupin next year. By all accounts in the books, he was one of the most competent professors Harry had in DADA.


    Distracting me from my thoughts on DADA, Omar explained the other path. "You guys are going to love the paths we use in DEC.


    Alicia cut in, "I think I heard my parents say something about paths. Something about the path of mind or body."


    Omar nodded, "Yeah, but you missed one. There are three paths used in training. The Path of Mind, the Path of Body, and the Path of Spirit."


    Before anyone could ask more, Sanura shushed Omar, "Don''t tell them everything. It takes away from their first experience."


    Omar shrugged and dropped the subject.


    As we ascended the mountains, I realized we were gaining altitude at an abnormal rate. It took a few seconds, but I figured out what was happening. The ground seemed to be slowly moving. It was propelling us up the mountain, but if you weren''t paying attention, it was easy to miss.


    It was a good thing the mountain was helping out. If it weren''t, we would be at this half the night.


    Sometime later, the path ended, and I got my first look at the entrance to Uagadou. It was a large rectangular entrance carved right into the sturdy rock of the mountain. Etched on the sides of the opening were ancient runes. Most I recognized from The Study of Ancient Ruins, But a few were foreign to me.


    Even though I didn''t understand everything, I got the gist of what the runes meant. They described the founder''s journey to the mountain, of a bargain made with something I didn''t recognize the rune.


    Above the opening, there was another set of runes. The message had two parts, a warm welcome for students and a warning against enemies.


    The runes warned about something''s wrath and included a warning about eating/swallowing/crushing any who threatened something.


    Ancient ruins weren''t always exact. A single symbol could have multiple meanings.


    I tapped Omar on the shoulder and pointed at the unknown tune.


    "What does that symbol mean?"


    Omar looked in the direction I was pointing.


    "Oh," he responded. "That represents Uagadou."


    My eyes widened as my mind filled in the blanks.


    The runes roughly translate as "Enemies of Uagadou will be swallowed by Uagadou."


    Hodari''s explanation that Uagadou was the mountain took on a whole new meaning to me, and an idea bloomed in my head. I wanted to stay and study the runes more, but I was pushed forward by the eager crowd of students wanting to get inside.


    Just before we entered the mountain, I whispered a question to "Omar, is Uagadou alive?"


    Omar gave me an evaluating glance before rolling his eyes, "Not even here five minutes, and your already trying to uncover secrets. Yes, Uagadou is alive. It''s home to a Mzuka. A mountain spirit."


    "Millennia ago, our founder discovered the Mzuka when he was searching for the perfect place to build a magic school. The mountain spirit was lonely, it didn''t even have a name. You see, Mzuka can''t leave their mountain. So a bargain was struck, the mountain would gain a name and family of never-ending students. In return, the mountain would protect us. And so, Uagadou was born."


    I fell silent in thought as we made our way into the Uagadou. The idea that the school was alive didn''t surprise me as much as I would have thought. Maybe it''s because I''ve spent too much time around weirdos like my paranoid ancestor and grumpy eagle statues who constantly make snide remarks.


    A mountain that was alive, that''s just par for the course.


    The entrance led us right into a long hallway. The polished stone that made up the walls, ceiling, and floor didn''t seem to have any markings on them. It was as if the stone had melted into place, leaving behind a perfectly smooth hallway.


    Along the walls were ever-burning torches that chased away all the shadows. Staggered on both sides of the walls were large glass panes that showed the outside of the mountain. The effect seemed to make one forget that they were deep in a mountain.


    At the end of the hallway was an arch built into the wall with over a dozen symbols. Every so often, a student would put their hand on a particular symbol, and a shimmering blue veil would appear inside the archway. After a few students passed through, the veil disappeared, and the process would start all over again. Having been through similar portals, I didn''t hesitate when it was my turn.


    The portal spat me out in a large circular chamber, easily five times the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, and like Hogwarts, the ceiling was a reflection of the sky.


    Seeing all the students seated in different areas indicated that the chamber seemed to have a similar function. But, unlike Hogwarts, where the students are divided by their houses. Uagadou seemed to do things differently.


    The circular chamber was divided like a pie with seven sections. At the back of each section on the wall was a numeric rune. The runes numbered 1-7. It was easy to see that students were divided by their year rather than a house.


    What really stoked my curiosity was the runes weren''t in proper order. Section one and two were next to each other, but then it went up to seven. Then back down to three, followed by six, four, and five. Section five was on the other side of section one.


    Ignoring the runes, I turned my attention to the center of the room. There was a raised circular platform filled with long tables filled by those I ?ssumed were Professors.


    The only thing that surprised me about them was the numbers; there seemed to be around seven to eight times as many professors compared to Hogwarts.


    Omar and Sanura motioned for us to follow them, and we made our way to section four. I raised an eyebrow when they sat with us.


    "What''s the deal with all the professors. Surely you don''t need that many."


    Omar shook his head at my confusion, "We do," he said. "This isn''t Hogwarts. There are over five thousand students here.


    Weighing in on the conversation, Cedric inquired, "Does each year have its own professors?"


    "No, except for the teachers for the first-year students, each professor is responsible for two years worth of students."


    Omar pointed around the room, "Do you see those numeric runes at the back. There is a reason why they are out of order. Two and seven, three and six, and four and five are grouped for several reasons. The first of which is that they share professors."


    "What''s the other reason?" Alcica asked.


    Omar smirked, "Challenges. You''ll find out more about those later."


    I ran the mental math, "That doesn''t account for all the professors up there." I argued.


    Omar held up a hand as if he were revealing a secret, "Ah, but you forget something really important."


    Seeing my confusion, Omar explained, "Wands. Only around half of the students use them. When you first come to Uagadou, you have to decide on if you are going to use a wand or not. What you decide determines what set of classes you attend."


    Anna waded into the conversation, "Why wouldn''t they want to use wands? They are clearly the most effective way to use magic."


    "Is that so?" A sneering voice cut in. "It sounds to me like you''re speaking out your ?ss."


    Anna''s blond hair flapped, and her purple eyes blazed as she spun to see who had rudely interrupted her.


    The voice belonged to an athletic teenager, whose veins pulsed against his rich black skin. His wiry black hair was threaded tightly in neat rows running down the back of his head.


    He might have been considered good-looking if it weren''t for the angry scowl plastered across his face. His dark brown eyes challenged Anna, utterly unapologetic about his remarks.


    "Balondemu," Omar rebuked. "These are guests. They don''t understand. She didn''t mean any offense."


    For a second, it seemed like everything would calm down. But unfortunately, Balondemu had picked the worst person to insult among the four of us. Anna wasn''t one to back down.


    "Seems like you should pay less attention to my ?ss and more time worrying about all the troll dung coming from your mouth."


    Everyone paused, digesting what Anna had just uttered.


    I closed my eyes and palmed my hand to my forehead, trying to prevent the headache I knew was coming.


    Any hope of the incident fading was destroyed when an uncontrollable burst of laughter burst out from Sanura.


    Hearing Sanura''s gleeful laughter, Balondemu''s eyes darkened with hate.


    Hoping to avoid an incident, I tried to intervene.


    "Anna," I chided. "That''s hardly diplomatic."


    "But Alex," She stomped his foot and wh?n?d. "He started it."


    "You should listen to your friend." Blondeau mocked. "Why don''t you be a good little girl and sit down and shut up."


    Cedric and Alicia both winced while I shot Balondemu an annoyed look. Didn''t this jackass know I was trying to help him? Don''t come whining to me when Anna hits you with her diarrhea hex. Having seen the spell in action before, I can honestly say that hex has given me nightmares. Thankfully, even when we were fighting, Anna never crossed that line.


    Seeing my look, Balondemu spat, "What, you want to take this to the ring."


    Suddenly, I realized I couldn''t care less what happened to this jackass. It will be amusing to see him shitting his und?rw??r.


    Perhaps sensing the change in my mood, Omar quickly said, "You don''t want to do that, Bal. This is my cousin, the one who took first place in the International Dueling Competition last year."


    Blondeau gave me another look before dismissing me as a threat. "That''s only because I was too ill to compete last year. If I were there, I would have won the whole thing."


    Omar shook his head, "You misunderstand. You wouldn''t have faced Alex even if you competed. Alex won competing in the fourth year bracket when he was in his third year."


    I could see from the look in Balondemu''s eye that he wasn''t entirely convinced. So Omar added a final detail, "He beat Abeda."


    Disbelief appeared on Balondemu''s face as he reevaluated me. "Him, there''s no way he beat her."


    Deciding I wasn''t worth the trouble, Balondemu turned his attention back to Anna. Which only showed his ignorance. Sure, I would have beat him. But, I would have done it quickly. Anna''s like a cat, she likes to play with her food, and she happens to be way more vindictive than I am. And judging from the glare in her purple eyes, Anna hasn''t forgiven him for his previous comment. Nothing drives Anna crazy than when people underestimate her. If Professor Trelawney were here, she would predict that there was some explosive diarrhea in this guy''s future.


    Thankfully, everything was put on hold when the Headmaster stood up. It seems as though no matter what school you went to, there was always a speech.

 Chapter 114 - No Magic?

    Like everyone else in the Great Chamber, I fell silent as the Headmaster made his way to a wooden podium that had numerous tiny animals carved into it.


    I was a little surprised when I heard the name of Uagadou''s Headmaster. It was one I recognized from a small blurb in the fifth book, Babajide Akingbade.


    He was the wizard who replaced Albus Dumbledore as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW).


    I had already decided I wasn''t going to hold that against him. Akingbade didn''t have any control over the idiots in the British Ministry of Magic. Someone had to fill the void when they foolishly decided to remove Dumbledore as Britain''s representative to the ICW.


    Of course, none of that may happen now. Already I have seen changes to the timeline. While they were small, I have noticed they were getting bigger. By the time the fifth book arrives, who knows how different things will turn out.


    Not wanting to give off the impression that I wasn''t paying attention, I turned my attention back to Akingbade.


    I couldn''t help but compare him in my mind to Dumbledore. They were both tall. But, where Dumbledore was tall and willowy, Akingbade had a little more meat on his bone. He looked very fit beneath his solid black robes.


    I noted several other things about Akingbade that were both similar and slightly different to Professor Dumbledore.


    They both wore hats, but Dumbledore''s hat was long and pointy in the European wizard tradition. But, Akingbade wore a black flat-topped kufi with golden geometric patterns skillfully woven into the hat.


    They both had glasses, but rather than the old-styled half-moon glasses that Dumbledore favored, Akingbade''s glasses looked far more modern. And rather than having a long beard, Akingbade had a small goatee that was half-grey.


    While they had a lot of similarities, they did have notable differences. The biggest other than Dumbledore''s pale skin and Akingbade''s rich dark skin was their age. You wouldn''t know it by how he acted and the energy he projected, but Dumbledore was around a hundred and ten years old. In comparison, Akingbade was still in his prime and looked to be in his mid-forties.


    I stopped focusing on my comparisons when Headmaster Akingbade began speaking in a deep timbre. "Students, it pleases me to no end that you have chosen to return to Uagadou and continue your journey. The Path to becoming proficient at magic is long and will require persistence and dedication."


    Akingbade turned his attention to the section where the first years sat. He smiled at their eager faces as they took in everything.


    "For you, my young first years, your journey has just begun. I urge you to take your studies this year seriously. The Path of magic is filled with many challenges. During your first year of study, you are exempt, but next year, you can expect your Path to be far more challenging."


    Satisfied that they had gotten the message, Akingbade turned to the second-year students and said more seriously, "As for you second years, I hope you took my warning last year and put forth your full effort. Starting this year, you will face challenges, and I am sure you will rise to meet them."


    Akingbade relaxed a bit and gave a reassuring smile upon seeing some of the nervous looks. "If anyone is worried about some of the challenges, remember there are those who you can turn to for help. There is a reason why we pair years together. The seventh with the second, the sixth with the third and the fifth and the fourth."


    Akingbade scanned the room, making eye contact with the older students, "For your first few years, you received help from those older than you. Now it is your turn to give back."


    Akingbade went on for a few more minutes, going over what would be expected from the students. Then, as his speech came to an end, he said, "Well, that''s enough out of me. I''m sure you are all hungry, so let''s get dinner started."


    The feast that followed wasn''t as grand as the one at Hogwarts. There were far fewer selections, but I have to admit the food was more than adequate.


    As we started pushing through the crowd of students, Cedric asked Omar, "Since you guys don''t have houses, how do you separate your dorms?"


    "There are four dorm floors," Omar explained. "The first years are at the bottom and have an entire floor to themselves, but the other floors are grouped like they are in the Great Chamber."


    Cedric nodded and confirmed, "So, since you''re in your fifth year and we''re in our fourth, we will be on the same floor."


    Omar nodded. "Exactly."


    Seeing how everyone was headed to the many arch portals that lined the back of the Great Chamber, Anna remarked, "Do you guys use portals for everything? I''ve not seen a single staircase since we''ve been here.


    Sanura spoke up, "And you won''t find any. Each level of Uagadou is self-contained. The only way to move between floors is to use the portals."


    Suddenly, I was reminded we were beneath a mountain. While I am sure the portals always work, I hope they have a backup plan.


    When we got to the arch, Omar reached for a particular symbol. Looking at it closely, I realized it was a circle containing the numeric runes for four and five. Having gone through many portals, I didn''t hesitate and went through the shimmering portal.


    On the other side of the portal, I realized Anna, Alicia and Sanura were missing from our group.


    Seeing my confusion, Omar explained without me asking, "They were taken to the girl''s side. They have their own set of dorm rooms."


    In a more serious tone, Omar added, "Oh, and before I forget. Whatever you do, don''t try to sneak onto the girl''s side."


    "Why," I questioned.


    Thinking of Hogwarts''s preventive measures, I asked, "Will we set off a wailing alarm?"


    Omar shook his head


    "A barrier of some kind," Cedric guessed.


    Once again, Omar shook his head before explaining, "No, you''ll get teleported outside to the Path of Body."


    Cedric and I exchanged puzzled looks.


    Wanting to know more, I said, "You''ve mentioned the paths earlier when we were going up the mountain. But, you didn''t explain what they were."


    Omar hesitated for a moment but eventually shrugged, "I guess it doesn''t matter if you find out now. The best way to describe the three paths would be to call them magical obstacles courses."


    "How is that a punishment?" I asked. "That sounds fun."


    "Maybe the Path of Mind and Spirit," Omar replied, shaking his head. "But, the Path of Body prohibits any form of magic."


    I leaned back, utterly scandalized by the idea of not using magic. "No magic. That''s¡­"


    I struggled for a moment, trying to find the right word.


    I finally settled on, "That''s archaic."


    "I don''t know," Cedric thoughtfully said. "It could be fun."


    I snorted and replied sulkily, "Maybe to you."


    Cedric shot me a cheeky grin, already anticipating beating me in the Path. There was no denying that he had put on some muscle over the past year. And he also had outgrown me by several inches and was approaching six feet.


    Feeling a bit rebellious, I muttered. "No magic. Hmph. We''ll see about that."


    "I wouldn''t try anything," Omar warned. "Trust me, the Path is monitored. If you start using magic in any way, the course doubles in length. There have been students who have gotten stuck on the Path for hours."


    As I continued to suggest possible ways to beat the system, Omar led us to our room for the year.


    The fourth and fifth-year dorms were essentially located in a long hallway that ran in a circle. Half of the circle belonged to the girls, and a thick wall divided the two sections. Omar did show us the door that could be used to cross over, but after hearing about the obstacle course with no magic, any d?s?r? to cross was gone. Merlin himself couldn''t get me to cross that line.


    No magic. What are we, barbarians?


    On the boy''s side of the floor, everything was set up in a specific way. Fourth-year dorms were on the left side and the fifth year on the right. From the way the dorms were designed, I knew that there had to be spatial shenanigans.


    I could see the logic behind the dorm grouping. Everything about Uagadou seemed designed to get students to interact with one another. Grouping the years differently every year ensured that students interacted with their fellow students, and it also fostered relationships with students from other years.


    While I loved Hogwarts, I couldn''t help but see the advantage of the system at Uagadou. A lot of what I had seen appeared to be designed to get students to cooperate with others. With students coming from so many different magical societies, getting them to interact when they were young only makes sense.


    Although, not everything was as unified as it appeared. There seemed to be some pretty intense division coming from those who use wands and those that don''t. The fact that they have different classes depending on whether they use wands is telling. If the school doesn''t get a handle on things, I could see the schism growing wider as time goes on.


    The dorms themselves were pretty spartan. There wasn''t a whole lot in the rooms. Just a few small beds pushed up against b?r? walls and a few dressers. Seeing the dorms made me long for the Ravenclaw Tower, already I missed my private dorm and the Sanctum where I could pursue my studies in peace.


    The following morning after breakfast, Omar and Sanura informed us that we had a meeting with Professor Balogun. He was in charge of the day-to-day problems of the fourth and fifth years.


    Each group had someone like that. The closest comparison I could think of was Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. But, it wasn''t an exact comparison because there were four of them at Uagadou.


    My first impression of Professor Balogun was surprising. He was short, only a few inches taller than me. His skin was dusky, and he had a faded scar that ran from his left temple down to his jaw. Long dark hair mostly concealed the shark teeth that were dangling from his ears.


    Any comparison to Professor McGonagall quickly faded from my mind. This guy looked like he belonged on Uncle John''s ship. I had a feeling Professor Balogun was a Mchawi, the wizards who lived half their lives in the water.


    "So," Professor Balogun briskly remarked as he sat down at his desk. "We need to go over your class selection for the year."


    He pulled out a scroll of paper from his robe. With a snap of his fingers, the scroll unraveled and floated in mid-air.


    "These are the classes that are available for your study. The core classes are required learning, but you are free to choose any number of electives. However, as you are no doubt also trying to keep up with your Hogwarts studies, I would suggest no more than two electives."


    Core Classes


    Transfiguration


    Potioneering


    Astronomy


    Chronicles of African Magic


    DEC


    Enchantments


    Magical Creatures


    Electives


    Magical Botany


    Rituals


    Study of Runes


    Numerology


    Kawaida Learning


    Extra-Curricular


    Path of Animagus


    I quickly memorized the list and started making a mental list of the classes I would take. Honestly, the classes offered weren''t that different from those offered at Hogwarts, but thats not a big suprise. Of course, some of the names were different, but they should be relatively similar. For example, Numerology was probably the Uagadou equivalent of Arithmancy, and Kawadia Learning was their version of Muggle Studies.


    But, Ritual magic sounded new and exciting. Unfortunately, Hogwarts didn''t teach anything like that. I couldn''t help but think of Voldemort''s return in the fourth book. That had to be a ritual of some sort. I had always wanted to know more about it, but I couldn''t find anybody''s information on rituals at Hogwarts.


    I also decided to take Study of Runes and Numerology since I was already taking their equivalents at Hogwarts. I wasn''t worried about Professor Balogun''s suggestion about limiting the number of classes I was taking. I was well into my seventh-year studies at Hogwarts. By the time this year is down, I should have completed everything.


    I couldn''t stop a brief smile from creeping out when I noticed that Magical Botany was on the elective list. It looks like there will be no magical plants for me this year. That means I will only have to endure Herbology one more year before I can ditch it forever.


    Finally, I turned my attention to the reason I had chosen to come to Uagadou.


    "Professor Balogun, can you tell us more about the extra-curricular animagus class?"


    Professor Balogun eyed me for a moment. "It''s not a normal class," he explained. "There are no tests or exams. You simply attend until you successfully become an animagus. The class meets once a week, on Saturday."


    Seeing the eager look on our faces, he cautioned, "Even if you take the class, there is no guarantee that you become animagi. Everyone''s journey is different. Some manage it within a couple of months, but I''ve seen others take a couple of years."


    Professor Balogun''s warning went in one ear and out the other. Nothing was going to stop me from becoming an animagus.


    After choosing our classes for the year, Professor Balogun issued us textbooks that we could use. One nice thing I noticed was our similar schedules. Other than ritual magic and magical botany, we would all be attending the same classes. Back at Hogwarts, there were never more than two of us in a class.


    As we left Professor Balogun''s office, Alicia asked us, "So what do you think our animagi forms will be?"


    Briefly, the thought of my Patronus popped into my head. It was a red-tailed hawk. From everything I''ve read, while there were a few exceptions, there appears to be a connection between one''s animagus form and one''s Patronus.


    I had to admit, the possibility of being a hawk appealed to me. Being able to take flight with a mere thought would be freeing.


    Alicia interrupted my thoughts. With her hands on her h?ps, she bragged, "I''m going to be a lioness."


    "You don''t get to choose your animagus form," I corrected.


    Alicia chose to ignore me, and she went on like I didn''t say anything.


    "I''m in Gryffindor," she explained with her childish logic. "And our symbol is a Lion."


    Anna rolled her eyes. "You know, I never got why Grffindor''s animal symbol is a lion. Why wouldn''t you have a Griffin as your symbol? It''s literally in the name"


    Alicia, caught off guard, sputtered for a moment. "You¡­ Well¡­ Why doesn''t your animal."


    Alicia fell silent as she couldn''t make the same argument against the House of Slytherin. Snakes pair well with the name, maybe because they sliver around.


    Deciding to throw Alicia a rope, I weighed in. "The symbols don''t have to match the founder''s last names. Look at Ravenclaw. Our symbol isn''t a raven. It''s an eagle."


    "Perhaps the four founders were secretly animagi," Cedric suggested. "And they used their animal forms as symbols for their houses."


    "Maybe," I replied. "But I think it''s more likely that the founders simply chose animals that embodied their ideals. For example, Gryffindor valued bravery, so he chose a lion. Ravenclaw used an eagle, representing wisdom, and Hufflepuff a badger, often underestimated, until provoked. And Slytherin¡­"


    Anna narrowed her eyes when my voice trailed off.


    "Gone on," she said dangerously. "What does the snake symbolize?"


    "Creepiness," Alicia blurted out. "Ooh, never mind, it''s sneakiness."


    Sensing we were about to go rapidly off-topic, I quickly clarified, "Cunning. Snakes represent cunning."


    "Cunning is just another word for sneakiness," Alicia sang.


    Leaving Alicia to her fate, I turned back to Cedric, who nodded thoughtfully.


    "You''re probably right," he agreed. "Anyone who knows the truth is dead."


    A thought went off in my head. Maybe the dead are exactly who could answer this question. The Grey Lady was the daughter of Rowena. And while we weren''t blossoming friends, she and I had spent some time together, mostly bullying the Bronze Eagle statue in the Sanctum. But I bet she would know the truth.


    I made a mental note to ask her when I got back to Hogwarts.


    While Anna and Alicia were arguing the merits of Gryffindor and Slytherin, Cedric and I tuned them out. Once or twice a year, they bicker like 5-year-olds, so we were used to it.


    By the end of everything, they will unite and agree that both Gryffindor and Slytherin are the best, then try to suck Cedric and me into an argument by claiming superiority over Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.


    I gave Cedric our nonverbal sign we had set up for whenever we wanted to ditch the girls. Slowly we snuck away to find Omar.. He had promised to show us how to find our classes so we wouldn''t be lost.