62Chapter 1
I became self aware when I turned 1 year old yesterday. I seem to have the mind of an adult but no memory of how this is possible. I basically got common sense but no information or context. So while I'm here in my crib, I try to work out what is happening to me. I notice that there is this energy flowing around and inside me. I must have somehow used this energy naturally.
Deciding to investigate my internal energy first I notice two larger concentrations in my head and stomach. Then I try to map out the flow of my energy. I start by my head and watch as energy flows out right side of the concentration. Pausing I decide to call them cores instead. Continuing to watch the energy flow to my right eye, ear and nostril in small branches. Then back together by my jawline in my neck on the right. After that it thickens by my chest then turns down my right arm on top all the way to my fingertips, as the branches of current converge in my palm I feel like I can use the energy easiest from that spot as it's closest to the surface skin there. Next it flows up the bottom of my arm and down my body through the stomach core on the right side, I notice the core is spinning clockwise, then on the right outer leg to my feet and again the energy comes close to the surface in the soles of my feet. It then comes up my inner leg to my groin and back down my left leg inner. Deducing that my left half will just be the opposite I move on. First I try to slow down the flow of my energy when I do I feel sluggish but I notice my cores grow and those place closest to the surface is where the energy is coming from.
After that I decide to speed up the flow of my energy, the result surprised me by making my mind clearer and the energy felt purer. So the energy refines when sped up and increases when slowed down in my body. Next I need to check if I can manipulate the energy around me. First I try and observe the flow of the energy around me. I see that the energy interacts differently with different things in the room. The energy doesn't really touch much in my room. The metals in the room come into contact but I can't tell what it is doing wood seems to absorb a little and the window seems to slightly weaken the energy coming into the room. The walls don't seem to come in contact at all.
Maybe there are other materials that will help me later but I can't do anything else for now. I decide to slow down my internal current and watch the energy around me slowly change from a flow to spiraling toward me. So that is how my cores increase. Maybe if there are energy rich environment I can draw in more quickly. While I was thinking I had still been absorbing energy. So I was drawn out of my musings by feeling bloated and a slight headache. I stopped absorbing quickly and switch back to looking internally. There I see my cores have both grown to about the size of both my fists each. The energy also is less pure than before. Deciding first to purify my energy I speed up my current again. I watch closely as the impurities are pushed out my skin making the air around me smell foul. I can also see my cores shrink down and I stop when they a fist size. I repeat this until my mom comes into the room about an hour later to check on me.
"Oh my god, that smells terrible. What in the world is wrong with you? Are you sick? Should I take you to the doctor?" my mom starts to panic and asking me questions too quickly for me to catch.
Firmly to get her attention I say, "Mom! I am fine. I was just purifying my energy."
My mom looks at me weirdly. Then she smiles hugely and shouts, "Your first word was mom!" and she starts dancing a little jig on the spot.
Now I'm the one with a weirded out expression on my face. I decided when I became self aware not to lie to my parents about anything as they will be some of the most important people in my life and I will need their support until I can take care of myself.
Finally my mom stops dancing and she moves to the window first and opens it. I see the impure air in the room rush out like the room was depressurized and the energy goes back to how it was when I started growing my cores.
"There honey, that's much better. Let me check your diaper now." Seeing that she is just going to ignore my earlier comment I decide to drop it too.
I think I would be more embarrassed of this happening if I had memories of an adult but I don't so I'm not going to be since this is normal for me. I have all my memories as a baby and I can now remember them clearer than earlier so this must be one of the effects of increasing my cores and purifying them.
After my mom is done she takes me with her to the living area, where my dad is watching the morning news.
"Hmmm hmmm hmmm. Guess what just happened?" my mom playfully taps my dad's shoulder while holding me with her one arm. He looks up with his deep brown eyes to my mom and smiles at how happy she looks.
"What happened to get you in such high spirits?" he questions back.
"Well," she drags out the 'll' part, "this little mister said his first full word when I went to check on him. And you know what he said 'mom'" she then stuck out her tongue at him.
He started laughing as he stands up towering over us. He must be quite tall I didn't really pay all that much attention to how my parents looked before today and yesterday I was still confused and distracted by my birthday and becoming self aware. Now looking closer I see he has shaggy dark brown hair, tall muscular body structure and calloused hands as one approaches me to ruffle my hair.
"Aww, I for sure thought it would be 'daddy', I even secretly snuck in a couple times and repeatedly told him to call me that." He jests good naturedly to my mom.
Looking him dead in the eyes I decide to mess with him a little. "Father!" I shout while pointing at him. I see his shoulders sag as my mom bursts out laughing and I giggle alone hiding the depth of my amusement at his expression of defeat.
"So little guy, you just decided to start talking today?" he questions me when he regains his composure.
Looking between my parents I say, "I think I awoke an ability. I can talk now, have near perfect memory and can feel this weird energy that is around us and inside me." I state completely serious.
My parents share a look that I can't decipher. Then they sit down on the couch with me between them. My dad starts by saying, "Ok, first I'm going to tell you about our family and our connection to magic and supernatural in general. My family, although we don't have proof because it needs to be kept secret, are one of the families that are related to king Arthur Pendragon. A couple generations ago our branch of the family was removed because of politics and troublesome times. So while we have the noble blood of kings running through our veins we are not nobles. That is why our surname is Smith because we had to change it from Pendragon." My dad paused for me to let that sink in for a bit.
Then he continued, "That however is only from my father's side on my mother's side of the family we are descended from the Greek pantheon, specifically our last god ancestor is Apollo god of the sun. Of course I will explain his parentage later. And the human he was with was a prophetess and princess from the famous city of Troy. Her name was Cassandra."
So I know I said I had an adults common sense but that doesn't mean I actually know any of the things he mentioned. For the next few hours I asked about the Greek god pantheon and after we were done we moved onto the Arthur legend. Most of my godly family are apparently still around and there is Gaia Primordial of the earth and her husband Ouranos Primordial of the heaven their sons Kronos Titan of time and Coeus Titan of Intelligence and daughters rhea Titan of Fertility, wife of Kronos and Phoebe Titan of the moon wife of Coeus. Then there was Zeus son of Kronos and Rhea, God of the sky and Leto daughter of Coeus and Phoebe, Goddess of motherhood and wife of Zeus. Finally there was Apollo son of Zeus and Leto, God of the sun.
Now I need to see if I have inherited anything from my godly ancestors. Looking up at my dad I ask, "Is there any way to check if I have gained anything from our lineage?"
He seem surprised at first then turned thoughtful. "There is a place we can go and have a test done. The problem is if you have something special the individuals who administer the test can and probably will be bought off by any interested party."
Thinking hard I come to the conclusion that it is too soon. I have no idea what my energy is and how to use it so I should focus on that. I also need time to study and train to protect my family. "I think we should put it off for now. Maybe when I'm older and it's less dangerous."
My dad looked pleased and my mom proud of making such a mature decision. "We have spent half the day on this couch. Lets head to the kitchen and make some food for lunch. After we can play in the garden for a bit, yeah?" my mom stands up holding me in her arms as she says this.
Time skip 2 weeks
I have been refining my method of growing my cores. I want to eventually be able to do it without thinking and in my sleep after that. So I decided to match it with my breathing. When I inhale I speed up when I exhale I slow down. It should be second nature in no time. While practicing different methods I grew my cores to a fist and a half. I don't know what I'm going to do when I reach my max of two fists. That is an issue for future me though.
Other than that my parents have been really relaxed about my sudden maturity. They still treat me like a baby but I am so I'm not going to complain. They provided me with children's books so I can learn to read. It came very easy, we suspect I have a learning ability of some kind from Coeus the Titan of intelligence and probably a few other gifts from him to explain away my maturity. Next my parents said they are going to home school me at night after work. I don't need much time to learn things and they can't just not work to raise me. I don't forget anything I learn but I see a future downside to this. If I remember everything all the time I'm going to remember the bad things and pain constantly. When I brought this up to my parents they looked worried but I believe they can come up with a way to help.
Time skip 1 week
I've started my education, with mathematics, English and history. These seem to be the basics I want to build on in the future. Mathematics comes easiest and I'm enjoying expanding my horizons with history. English lessons have taught me many more words and we are going to focus on sentence structure after I have memorised the dictionary with meanings.
I found out what happens when I hit my maximum size in core. Nothing it just won't grow more, so I have been trying to compress my cores but its slow going and straining more than the normal of cycling my energy currents.
Time skip 2 months
Today I got my cores compressed all the way. I found it excellent will power training and now my mind feels like a stone wall surrounds it. I have been able to line up my breathing and cycles while busy with other things. So this has freed up some of my time I put into meditation. I realised I'm going to need a hobby in the future if I want a balanced life, so I took to reading fantasy novels. They are great and learning from dad and mom that magic is real I look for inspiration for spells I can use in my future.
I have completed the first and second grade work for my chosen subject and now a choice lays before me. What subjects do I add next? I have no doubt I will get to them all eventually but I need to think about a good base to grow from. My parents think I should take up a second language and I agree but which to start with? I'm trying to choose between Mandarin, one of if not the most spoken language and Greek to help me learn more from my heritage there. I will probably visit both places where they are spoken in my future travels in this world. I never want to be stuck anywhere for life, I never want to be bored and not learning more about everything.
Time skip 3 months
I had decided to learn all three languages of English, Greek and Mandarin. I added the subject called geography, this includes all the supernatural places my parents have information on. There is a surprising amount of supernatural information and their influence on the world is clearly shown, they control the governments in almost every country and the ones they don't are too small or are not important enough to make a difference. The supernatural rule the world. I guess if you could control the minds of weak humans, they don't really need consequences. Going back to that thought, 'control the minds of weak' that, can I do that? I haven't really thought too hard on what powers I might have. I should make a list and see what my potential powers are but maybe I should strengthen my mind before I go looking into other people's minds. I ask my parents to get me books on the mind arts that we have been discussing since we discovered that they exist. But it's not safe in the area where the books are to go alone. My parents will have to go together and they have to find me a babysitter. I wish I could take care of my self but even with the strengthening from the energy in my muscles, bones and skin, I was only strong for a baby.
They have a friend they want to leave me with for the day. They just don't know if she will pick up on my abnormalities and how she will react to them.
Apparently my skin became smoother and face was more slender. I think I'm becoming more handsome. I also noticed a few things, I had night vision and some kind of enhanced vision because I thought it was normal that you can notice everything around in 360 degrees and a 100 meter distant like a dome even under ground. I felt a connection with the earth and air around me and I'm almost impossible to surprise in that area. Of course that doesn't mean I can think or react as fast as some peoples speed. My dad demonstrated this when he discovered my dome ability. By appearing next to me without warning. I felt like my heart was going to leave my chest when he does that. We have made a game of it to enhance my range and speed of thought and reacting correctly in that situation. My mom has started to tease me about being her little big man and other cringe names so I can have a thick skin to words and to help with emotional problems I might need in the future when we discovered that I can feel what others feel when we went to the shop with them for the first time.
It was horrible I didn't realise how happy and in love my parents were but they are a young family with lots of love to give. But old people were in pain and either sad or angry. Kids weren't that much better with either being scared or having lots of excitement. It was overwhelming and apparently I screamed to "make it stop" until I passed out from pain. It was not a good day.
My parents decided to start watching intense movie and shows for me to feel different feelings around me to practice blocking till I can't go on, I'm up to 10 minutes without struggle and 15 till I can't go on. I want that number all the way up to 24/7 before I can start to travel. We have tested the range is less than the dome ability at 20 meter around me and only humans not animals unless I put effort or they have a spike in emotion like a scare or angry protectiveness. Interesting emotions aside, I hope this ability has some benefits I'm not seeing yet but the usefulness will only come after control. Apparently I discovered parallel thought when I tried to learn both Greek and Mandarin at the same time. It was jarring at first having two different voices in my head so I separated them in my mind, now I have part of my mind always learning new things since I can just leave a book open and flip the pages with a little bit of air manipulation to practice between learning with my second mind and dome ability and hold a conversation to learn social skills and other interactions between people. Like why people fight and what they believe is defined by good or evil in their unique conscious on each matter. All very confusing at first but the more I learn about someone the more easily I can predict their actions, patterns and ticks. It scares me how I can nail down any actor or neighbour but not my own parents. I have concluded my parents are unique and unpredictable. Thank goodness they are morally light grey like most hero types. I find myself still influx, I think it has to be something to do with my young unformed personality but its definitely chaotic maybe I'm chaotic neutral. That is kind of a terrifying thought I don't want to have such a shaky base. It will hopefully sort itself out when I learn enough about my world, my beliefs and myself through meditation. I can feel something draw ever closer when I'm deep in meditation, I haven't told my parents yet because we have been so busy with the new schedule. I'm basically nocturnal now with my night vision that is almost as good as during the day. I wake up around 6pm, start with a stretch and a light 15 minutes meditation and revitalizing all my body parts with targeted energy flow. Once that's done it's time for food because I'm hungry easily in the morning. Nobody can get in my way as I demolished all the soft foods and every potion that my parents can get to can keep me healthy and stronger in the future. I've begun to notice that some potions are better or have superior ingredient before preparation. I will definitely be discovering all I can on alchemy in all it's forms from potions to transmutations and finally cultivation pills. Oh yeah started reading up on cultivation stories and they seem to be similar if not the same as my energy ability, since I'm a real world example. They have helped me look at new ways to refine my cores in unique and interesting ways but has increased my refining process. Most of the tips were useless but some really well described breathing and exercises have worked wonders. I will probably steal some of the moves and techniques for cultivating. But since I'm different I have to forge my own path through endless trial and error. In the last 3 months I've only compressed once more. However I was right I gain another parallel thought processor per compression. Again I put it to active learning through study and abilities that centre around my mind arts and empathy. The sooner those skill go up the sooner I can travel further for longer.
Once done with breakfast I move onto my studies. I read all the course books while getting lectured and taking tests each time I hit a milestone. Then we have lunch at 10pm. After that we play and run around in the garden for exercise and fun. I'm back in my room and cleaned up by 12pm. I spend the rest of my time meditating and growing my cores.
Time skip 6 months and 6 days
It's my second birthday and I have made massive self improvement in this one year. I went from mindless baby to adorable, yes I checked with non biased unsuspecting shoppers, once my empathy training went up to train to focus solely on one person or group up to five, that my parents picked at random or at least I haven't seen the pattern.
Before I go into more detail on my abilities lets see how my cultivation, yes I'm calling my energy ability that, has been going for the past 6 months. My cores have compressed twice more. I have 6 parallel thought processes running constantly while I'm awake. I'm thinking that once I have 24 I'm going to see if I can trick my mind and body into thinking I have rested by giving 1 of the parallel thought processors an hour off, a complete shutdown like sleep but deep and instantaneous like clock work. But I feel I will need to increase the amount of thought processors I have which will take up most of my time but it will pay dividends.
In the past six months I have brought my mathematics, English and history knowledge to that of a seventh grader. My Mandarin, Greek and normal earth geography are at sixth grade level and is slowly catching up to my other subjects with my parallel thought processors increasing. My supernatural geography has lagged behind because of how much there is and it not being of immediate concern. I have focused on local United Kingdom for now and am about third grade with that. The next subjects I want to add when I have more processors are natural sciences, sword techniques and forms and mind arts that my parents got me the books for my birthday.
They were expensive and were rare too. We don't know if they will work for me since it was from this closed off community called the wizarding world. They have some weird views on how the world works and their importance in it. My parents explained how the leaders of that community believe in blood purity. This has only caused a decrease in magical potential with all the inbreeding and now they are some of the weakest magically gifted in the world. But because of this it's easiest to get information from them.
We learnt they have magical schools that could be a good base for me to start with. Most of the supernatural worlds magical users learn from parents or becoming apprentices for a more powerful magic user. The down side is that my dad is someone who focused on body training and internal magic while my mom hasn't brought up what she can do. I think she has some sort of shady past because she hasn't spoken about her heritage or family to me yet. When I asked about it she told me I could learn more once I mastered the mind arts and wards or barriers. It's a tall order but has given me immense motivation. The downside of becoming an apprentice is that I'll basically be a slave until they teach me all they know and many people have become stuck by crafty master mages. The downside of the schools are that they only start for 11 year olds when these wizard folks have a magical maturity and they rely on these sticks called wands instead of better magical foci like rings, amulets or your chosen weapon.
The problem is you can only go to the school closest. The school sends out these letters magically to all supernatural beings in the area. Most non wizards ignore it but normal humans with magical potential get sucked into this community that way. The supernatural leave things as they are because they keep magic secret and weaken the humans. If humans as a species could control magic like other species the world would be in constant chaos and even more wars than currently.
On a more positive note my babysitter is really awesome and knowledgeable. It doesn't hurt that the emotions coming from her is mostly a bubbly happiness. Her name is Ruby. She loves cookies and bakes them when she comes over to take care of me. My parents now have date nights since Ruby teaches new things while they are gone. She is a professional magic beast hunter. I have been learning about magical beasts and her fighting styles against them. She mainly uses a scythe and a sniper rifle enhance with magic. She is also a weapon nut, she can go on about any weapon you can name and the styles of fighting used with them. Now thinking about it she might be a battle maniac.
So now I have a small understanding of magical beasts. Like there are beast dragons and intelligent dragons that can take a bipedal form. Most myths exists just hidden from non-mages. I refuse to use the wizard word muggle, it sounds like an insult.
The abilities I have are improving well. My aerokinesis has gone up in skill level. I can now hold up multiple books and flip pages on command. I spend most of my study time with books literally spinning around me while either my father or mother and more recently Ruby lecture me.
I added the spinning to train my awareness and perception inside my dome. My range has increased to 200 meters. If I focus in one direction I can make out clear details at 400 metres.
My empathy is still giving me issues but because I have focused a large amount of my time on it I can withstand an hour at a time with no issues and a further 30 minutes with strain. I have also been able to separate my emotions and those of the people around me to some degree. Identifying people's emotions has also become easier and faster with our daily trips to the shop. I haven't actively been increasing my range but it still went up to 30 meters. Now I can feel the people more in the cars on the road.
My body strengthening through cultivation and exercise has brought me up to a active 4 year olds level. Good for a 2 years old but nothing special in the supernatural world.
I haven't used any external magic outside of aerokinesis because I just don't have the time yet. I do feel a deeper connection to the earth and air when I'm meditating though, so they are most likely going to be my main focus when I actively train magic.
My birthday party was just my parents and Ruby. I still can't handle large crowds and this has stopped me from making friends my own age.
As if reading my mind my mom comes up to me and says, "Don't worry honey. When you have your empathy under control you can make lots of friends and we will have lots of parties for you."
I look up at her from my high chair at the table, "You can read minds, can't you?" I accuse.
She bursts out laughing, "Hahaha. No but it's written all over your face and it was the most likely reason for such an expression." She then puts down the birthday cake, now that my body is maturing faster than normal I can eat more solid foods. I have a strict healthy diet outside of date nights when Ruby comes and makes cookies. It helps keep out the impure energies.
"Mom, thank you for this amazing birthday and presents. I know I'm not a normal child but you have done so much for me and I'm grateful."
"Oh Wesley you're going to make me cry." She leans down and hugs me with tears in her electric blue eyes, her blonde hair falling around me. I squeeze back with all my strength and love.
My dad comes up to us with the last present in hand it looks long and thin. Opening it up I see it's a wooden practice long sword for about 5 year olds to use.
"I know you can't use it quite yet but you have been growing so fast. I'm sure you'll be doing practice swings in no time." My dad comments when I've fully unwrapped it.
I smile up at him and say, "I look forward to it. I can practice all those sword forms I got the books for recently."
I can tell he wants me to be a swordsman like him. I find it endearing and I'm definitely fascinated with swords. With all the stories of king Arthur and Ruby's tales on different famous swords. How could I not want to find out if I have a skill for them? But I also want to learn how to use other weapons because of Ruby. She got me a rare potion that she had made from the most powerful magic beasts she has hunted recently. It will make my instincts sharper and strengthen my body further. It was thoughtful and must have taken a lot of time and effort to have made and it made me really happy.
Time skip 9 years
I'm 11 years old today. We are expecting my magic school letter today. I have improved greatly over the years. I look like a very athletic 14 year old. With my cultivation of my body and the near daily sword practice and spars with my dad, it's not that surprising. My hair has the same shaggy look as my dad but it is a creamy blonde like my mom. My eyes are a Safire blue instead of the lighter electric blue my mom has. I have an almost unnaturally handsome face and my skin is impossibly smooth even though it's as hard as steel now.
I noticed the effect my cultivation had was first stone, second bronze, third iron and fourth steel now. This isn't just my skin it is my bones, muscle and mind. Every time my cultivation increased in quality my speed dropped because I grew heavier and denser. So I had to retrain the basics until they became second nature at any speed I can go.
My mind arts were learnt my the whole family. My dad was the slowest. My mom kept up with me though and we ambush each others defences constantly. It helps keep us sharp and aware of our own minds while we can practice legilimency. We have expanded the arts of occlumency and legilimency from simple defence and attack to a full blown worlds of a fortresses and traps for defending our thoughts and memories. We use siege bombardments and viral thoughts with delayed activations and memory manipulation on attack.
My cores have been compressed a total of 35 times. I tried the no sleep thing at 24 but it didn't work as well as I hoped. I do need less time to sleep though and calculated that when I have compressed 71 times I can go without sleep.
I've completed a high school education and my language studies include English, Mandarin, Greek, ancient Greek, French, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese and Latin. Japanese I learnt because I fell in love with anime and manga. Latin for my beginning magic studies. The others are the most wide spread languages across the world. I am going to add a few ancient languages for when I go look into older magic and cultures. I picked up ancient Greek for that and to more easily learn from old records and my ancestral family. I've also gone through battle tactics in all basic forms from individual 1 on 1 fights to army warfare. I still need to learn air, sea and supernatural warfare.
I'm going to be taking my college course books with me to whatever magical school I get into. I decided to start with the sciences of computer engineering, programming, chemistry, biology, mathematical physics, business management, ancient history and psychology. Most of these are just stepping stones to greater knowledge and I will most likely spend years completely flushing out subjects as diverse as biology, chemistry and physics.
My magical education was limited to my natural talents. Like the mind arts, empathy, aerokinesis and geokinesis. I started to practice my geokinesis and to a lesser extent aerokinesis with my sword training in the garden corner. There my training ground looked perfectly flat. But when I start I change the terrain as I move through my forms either to work with me or against me depending on the style. I can now wield my sword I received as a present on my 10th birthday. It's perfect for training as it's scientifically and it's a magically engineered sword, that will fit and grow with me until I'm old enough to get a full time sword. It was a combination gift from my parents and Ruby. She knew the perfect people to create it and my parents had the money to afford a custom work for me. It has a diamond nugget on the hilt where the magic is stored for the effect. I don't know how the magic works but it's fascinating and I look forward to learning it.
Next my room looks like a library with all the books lining the walls and shelves. My bed is in the centre of the room, with side tables, 2 couches and a desk where I learn, relax and meditate. We have a spare room we converted into a school room a few years back where I get lectures from my parents, Ruby and more recently for the high school subjects private tutors.
We had an ever expanding charm ward set up on my room, eventually over time it will be larger than the house. It can be stopped once I leave the house because it feeds off my magic core in my head alone. This is one of my ways that I train my magic to become more potent and strain it.
I have also had to train my magic in hiding so that my presence isn't noticed by more dangerous supernatural factions like the church, devils and Grigori. They each might try recruit or kill me. So we stay hidden and thus we trained in ninja arts of stealth in all forms mundane and magical. By combining these we were some of the most average looking family to the public. My mom seemed very well versed in this and I feel like her family has something to do with it but she hasn't brought it up and I need to master wards next before I can know the details.
I also learnt how to use ninja weaponry such as kunai, shuriken and daggers. It was a complete turn around from straight up and close swordsmanship. It took me a few weeks to get to an acceptable level of accuracy and tactics.
Looking up and noticing the owl drop off the letter in the P.O. box we made a town away from our home, with my magical signature coming from the box. The owl looked confused then flew off. We wait to be sure no one was watching, like us or magically. After 10 minutes my dad walks up and opens the one next to mine that he opened under a false identity, and reach over to my ones side through a hole we made and hid through magic, my mom had. When put the envelope in between a device, disguised as a stack of envelopes, it scans for enchantments and tracking, magical and mundane. Once done it then removes any there are and displays what there was if any. The only enchantment found is a magical signature tracker. I guess we were right the letters lead the owls.
We wait until we are at home and a sealed off magic from leaving the house and set the envelope in an isolated room for safety. We then do further scans like harmful substances or trigger charms and runes. We open the letter remotely. And it reads:
HOGWARTS SCHOOLofWITCHCRAFTandWIZARDRY
Headmaster:Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin,First Class,Grand Sorc.,Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump,International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Smith,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted atHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed alistof all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on1 September. We await your owl by no later than31 July.
Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress
On the first page then:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic
by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory
by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration
by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions
by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
Yours sincerely, Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions
I internally cringe at the uniform. I hope I can learn to use illusions first so I can go back to wearing comfortable clothes instead. Why the pointed hat I have no clue. Seeing the telescope I decide to go out to the book shop later for an introduction on astronomy and instruction manuals on telescopes. We also have to get the most of the shopping done for this list by Diagon alley. Since it's only January we have plenty of time to prepare, train and study ahead as much as publicly available books as we can get. My birthday is still a small affair with my parents, Ruby and a friend I made a few years back when I first mastered my empathy at age 7. I now have full control of my emotions and those around me if I so choose. I was young and she was crying at a park when I saw her. She said that she just recently moved here from Japan and the kids here were being mean and wouldn't be her friend. I comforted her and she told me about this girl she was close with before coming to England. Her name was Issei and she was like the sun for Irina. She also knew about the supernatural world and was in training to be an exorcist with the Church. That was when we decided to become more stealthy, when Irina told me she could feel how strong my magical presence was up close. I didn't even realize how much magical Pressure I gave off while openly cultivating, now the currents of energy, that is apparently called mana, remain looking normal but still increasing my power with a new breathing and current flow changes that match any environment I'm in. By doing this I look like a non-mage aura but if someone has a magical perception ability they can tell I'm a supernatural of some kind. My dad has the same but mom I can't pick her out if she isn't right up close I can't tell where she is. That is only because she is using killer intent to train my danger sense ability we learned about in my swordsmanship training early on. It wasn't very comforting to have your mother terrify you every time she shows up. But it has helped train my mind for combat just in case I have to face that in the future and my mom blasted me with love and guilt afterwards every time, so that helped.
Now to prepare for Hogwarts. We headed into London proper for the following weekend, to get all the supplies and books I will need while away from home for an extended time away from home and the preparations. We first shop around for regular and stylish clothes. I get my first 3 piece suit, 4 plain white dress shirts, a great pair of black jeans, 4 plain black and grey T-shirts of each, a loose fit dark grey cotton tracksuit pants and hoody, 2 thick winter jackets and matching jerseys and lastly shoes for all occasions from fancy dress shoes to sneakers. Once done with that we head to store that sells custom electronics and we order a private satellite phone that only we will have access to, for when I'm away at Hogwarts, to stay in contact. Then we head to the book store for any books related to what I will need when I leave. Like the book on how to use a quill properly and the best equipment for measuring chemical instruments I might need to know for potions. There we a few more like that but I had to cut my hunt short when my parents came up to me, "Look I know you will need to come back here to find more related books but it's lunch time and there is a lull in Diagon alley just after lunch on weekends."
Looking up at my dad because I was very accurate with my dads height as a kid. He stood at a height of 1.98 meters tall. Kind of intimidating but in public he changes his posture and he looks down right average, to blend in.
"Okay. I have enough for a couple weeks till we can come back and since we are staying for the weekend I can check out some second-hand book shops around town for older and more obscure reads. Maybe we can find some of those lost exclusive books."
"Yup. What do you feel like eating?"
We just went to a café and had toasted sandwiches. After that we headed for the entrance of Diagon alley. The entrance was hidden in a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. It was in an alcove where we could sense magic that would divert any attention of non mages away. That is a good magic to have, we will have to check out how to do that and use it on our home for more security. Once in the alcove we had to press a sequence of bricks and the wall folded out of the way. First thing I noticed was a definite medieval theme to the whole street ahead of me. The cobble stone floor and old fashion architecture of the buildings felt like we stepped back in time. Then I looked at the people, most were dressed in robes but a few had these really weird combinations of clothes. One man walked past us in an evening gown and it looked two sizes too small for him. These people are ridiculous. I did however see a family similar to our own but they had a older witch showing them around and clearly they had a daughter. She was all wide eyed at every new and magical thing on the street. She was currently looking at a moving poster advert for a fungal cream. Taking the lead to explore my first time here, my parents followed. Walking up to the bushy haired brunette from an angle I was sure she could notice me from. She turn to us as we approached. I say, "Hello there. I noticed your family is new here like us but you seem to have a guide." I glance at the older witch who has stopped speaking with the girl's parents. From the look they are definitely her birth parents as I can pick out many similarities in facial structure. Looking back and down slightly since we are closer now I see she is shorter than me but the bushy hair gives her an extra 10cm of height. "I was wondering if there was a tour or guide service you can point my family to?"
"Aren't you a little old to only be starting Hogwarts this year?" she asks back, completely ignoring my question to my slight annoyance.
"Yes. I thought the age to start Hogwarts should be reduced to 7 myself. Like the rest of the education system the whole world over. But here I am 11 starting a new school."
She first blinks a few times at my beginning statements like she is thinking about it for the first time but recovers after learning I was the correct age. "Sorry. You just look older." She blushes a little now. When I do a quick check with empathy all I feel from her is a small amount of embarrassment but mostly excitement. Probably excited at the new world. She is definitely from a non mage family. I look at her more intensely hoping she hasn't forgotten. She starts to squirm. Looks like she has. Sighing internally but keeping a calm and understanding expression I ask again, "Do you know how to get a guide here, like you clearly have?" While I gesture at the older witch with my hand.
She flushes deeper, must have remembered my question from earlier. She then says, "Right. We wrote back to the sender to ask for more details and they sent Professor McGonagall here to talk to us about magic and to show that it's real. She has been busy ever since but had this weekend off and offered to show us around when we asked about the supplies list."
I looked more closely at the now identified Deputy Headmistress and possibly future teacher more closely. She looks like she is in her late thirties but her eyes seem much older and wiser. Magic must have some kind of decelerated aging effects I was not aware of or she isn't a pure human like me. She steps closer to us to add, "We have just arrived also. If it's alright with the Grangers you can join us on this supply run and tour?" she asks this while glancing at the girl's parents, I'm assuming Mr. And Mrs. Granger. They both give confirming nods and I look over at my parents who also give me affirmation.
Looking back and up at Professor McGonagall I reply, " We would be greatly honoured and thankful for your gracious offer Deputy Headmistress McGonagall." I bow my head slightly in respect and greeting. "My name is Wesley Smith it's a pleasure to meet you all." I put on a warm and welcoming smile hoping to get some names of the people we will probably spend the rest of the day with.
"Hi, my name is Leo, this is my wife Roberta and our daughter Hermione." He extends his hand to my father and gestures to his wife and daughter with the other.
My dad steps forward and shakes his hand while introducing himself and my mom, "Nice to meet you I'm Mark and this is my wife Renata."
"Then lets begin here." Professor McGonagall starts leading us around we first start at the bank. As we approach I notice the goblins on guard by the entrance tense up. Scanning them with surface legilimency and empathy, I feel their fear and awareness toward my dad and less so to me. They must sense he is a warrior. I see that I'm not the only one who noticed, my dad did and looks confused, my mom I'm convinced noticed just doesn't have any tells and lastly Professor McGonagall she seems now more weary of my dad. Well his cover as normal is blown. Anyway we move on and though the door with that cute warning to thieves, like they could protect anything from a determined supernatural. Money however is just another way the truly powerful supers use to control the world. By placing worth on a concept of financial security on the powerless. What is wealth if someone can walk up to you mind control you to sign over everything you own then make you forget you even had anything in the first place. The only real security in this world is power and knowledge.
Walking up to the closest open teller we see that he is counting emeralds. Before anyone speaks I say, "234, what an odd number to have in a bag I thought it would be a multiple of 5 or 10."
He peeks up at me then goes back to counting. "Just wait for him to finish counting. They don't like being interrupted." Professor McGonagall informs us. But I was using empathy when I said my statement and felt shock and interest from him not annoyance. He clearly knows how many emeralds there are but carries on counting. This must be some sort of test or delay tactic.
When he is done he looks up at me and nods, "Definitely 234 emeralds." He then puts them all back in a bag and picks up a bag of rubies and pours them on his counter. At this point Leo Granger looks visibly upset and takes his family to another counter where they get help rather quickly. Professor McGonagall goes to sit down away from us but is clearly still watching and listening.
"153 rubies." I comment off handedly while he goes back to counting again he has a spike of shock at my words. So he definitely knows the amounts of these bags on his counter. He has two more left after he is done. Next he pours out sapphires. Quickly counting and double checking for mistakes because I'm 75 percent sure it's a test now but there is no change. "67 sapphire." Again I feel the shock and a bit of excitement. He finishes again and repeats the process. All the while my parents quietly wait behind me either trusting me like my dad or working out the same thing that this is a test like my mom. McGonagall hasn't said anything further noticing the goblins strange behaviour. I'll have to be careful around her in the future she is sharp. Looking over the final precious stones are diamonds well most are but 3 are really good fakes as they are cut clear quartz. I can only tell the difference because of my geokinesis and heightened perception from training. Looking up I say, "There is 30 diamonds." I don't mention the quartz because McGonagall is still watching and when the goblin looks up in surprise I throw a quick glance McGonagall's way. He nods slightly at my gesture acknowledging he knows why I didn't say more. He quickly finishes up.
"Good day to you dear customers how may I help you?" His polite greeting must have caught McGonagall by surprise because she visibly reacts to his words.
"Hello my name is Wesley Smith. My parents and I would like to open an account and vault for future use, is there somewhere private we can sit and talk?"
He looked pleased when I said somewhere private. A pleased looking goblin is quite a vicious expression. "Right this way we have private rooms for just such occasions." He leads us out the main area down a side passage and into a sealed off room with no windows.
When the door closes and I feel the wards in the room go up I say, "and 3 clear quartz." Like I was continuing a conversation.
He smiles back at me, again not a great look on a goblin. "Yes. I noticed you had a gift for the precious stones. Next there is another reason we I wanted to talk to you in private. We have been running that test for hundreds of years now and you are one of the very few who have passed. Most muggleborn and their muggle parents are to impatient, like the family you came with. While the purebloods are to set in their ways and simply see waiting for us as a price of doing business. You on the other hand showed patience and helped out. This test makes you eligible for a full inheritance test if you so choose. There are many sealed vaults from extinct noble houses from the past 2 great wizard wars. Because of this if some of your ancestors were squibs you stand to inherit those vaults through this test." He stops for a moment to let that sink in. "We offer other tests that can be done here like the standard inheritance and powers test but we will have to go down stairs for the full inheritance test, it has this large monolith with all the magical families and branches."
I start by saying, "Can we get the powers test done now and head down after?"
He nods quickly then walks over to a bowl and knife that was set aside on a table and gestures for me to follow. "Now I'm going to put this parchment," he pulls out a draw on the table and lifts a parchment and the bowl, "under the bowl. Then I need you to cut your palm willingly with the knife and pour the blood into the bowl. Then the parchment will fill out with your blood. It will list your true name, age, likely inheritance and finally the powers you have and where you got them."
Looking over at him with a deadpan I say drily, "What stops you from sharing this information with others?" He looks taken aback at first but then leans over to another draw in the desk and pulls out a form.
"This is a standard binding magical contract. We can just fill out our needs here and we will both be bound to it." He tries to hand it to me but I gesture to my mom the shadiest person I know. The goblin smiles and hands it to her. She spends 10 minutes thoroughly reading it and scanning the document with the device we used on the Hogwarts letter. It is hidden in her sleeve. When she hands it to me she says, "All clear it's exactly as he states but be careful of the wording this type of contract is the one were it will keep you to your word, not intention." Nodding thanks to her for the advise I read over it my self to see how its set up. Basically it's a magical non-disclosure agreement. Where we won't share each others secrets as long as both parties involved don't intentionally break the contract together it binds us from any form of communicating the agreed secrets seen, heard, thought, sensed or magically, I wanted this to be as broad as possible an include any ways spying in the room. I also add that the secrets learnt can't be used against us in any form. Three devices deactivated and fell from the walls and ceiling. My mom then did another sweep and found two more hidden. The others were probably decoys.
Finally we got the ritual under way. Holding my left hand out over the bowl I slice it and watch as my blood slowly fills up half the bowl and my hand fully heals. See that there is still blood on the blade I turn to my mom, "Do you have a tissue for the remaining blood I don't want to leave any around." And I shit you not, she reached into her purse without looking and pulled out a whole toilet roll. It was definitely wider than what the bag should hold. Moving on I grab it with a quick thanks and clean up the blade the bowl looks like it absorbed the blood then injected it onto the parchment. When it's done I pick up the page and it read:
Name – Wesley Pendragon (Smith)
Age – 11 years old
British lineage:
King Arthur Pendragon
Powers – natural swordsman.
Greek lineage:
Gaia (the earth)
Powers – geokinesis and gamer system.
Uranos (the heaven)
Powers – aerokinesis and Spatial manipulation.
Kronos (Time)
Powers – heighten perception of time and space and time manipulation.
Rhea (Fertility)
Powers – unlimited stamina and guaranteed pregnancy without protection.
Phoebe (the moon)
Powers – night vision and regeneration.
Coeus (intelligence)
Powers – perfect memory and learning speed of never before seen genius.
Leto (motherhood)
Powers – empathy and telepathy.
Zeus (sky)
Powers – electrokinesis and super speed skill maxed.
Apollo (sun) and
Powers – perfect accuracy skill maxed and pyrokinesis.
Cassandra (human prophet)
Power – danger sense skill maxed.
Chapter End