Year – 2197

Dighton, Kansas

Lux Avery sat in the middle of a wheat field, the sun beating harshly against the back of his neck. It was only 36 C outside, nowhere near the hottest summer he had experienced, but the lack of a breeze caused sweat to drip from his brow onto the drone in his lap.

He put down the screwdriver and wiped his forehead with his shirt, the slight burn of the salty perspiration stinging his eyes. It was his own fault, really. He had been putting off repairing the old drones around their farm for weeks now, and the work began to pile up. Not for the first time did he wish the government would upgrade them from a class 5W farm to a class 4W so they could finally get some assistance from the wizards, or at the very least some drones with magical artifacts built into them. 4W only granted them one or two devices, at most, but the effect on their quality of life and crop yield would be tremendous.

Lux sighed and picked up his screwdriver and got back to work. To his right, an open toolbox that looked like it belonged in a historical museum sat open with various tools, and on his left was the family computer plugged into the drone’s port. Lines of code ran through the screen, Lux doing his best to run the various programs to troubleshoot the drone’s issues.

The bot was a model that was 40, if not 50, years old. Its primary job was to test topsoil and subsoil moisture levels, as well as the current nutrients found within. Then, it would relay that information to Lux and his parents, who would then apply the necessary steps to their automated equipment to change the levels when necessary. More advanced farms than theirs had automatic processes built to take out the human element of imputing the changes, but, the cost of that was outside of their current budget.

Right now, this drone’s issue was it wasn’t relaying back the information to their computer, so they were having to check on-site with the drone at the end of every day to see what the day’s statistics were. Some might think that this would make Lux want to repair this drone quickly – checking manually every single day was a giant pain in the ass. However, like any good procrastinator, logic doesn’t usually have a huge say in the decision of putting things off.

“Stupid…cheap…piece of…crap…” Lux muttered to himself in between grunts as he tried to loosen a particularly tight screw, which had long been stripped and required more brute force to remove than precision.

A few hours went by before he finally found the issue – the chip that stores the information had a wire frayed, the same wire that routed to the drone’s remote communication capabilities. Lux tore off some wire tape and applied it where he could. He scanned the lines of code to make sure they were getting good readings before closing up the computer and toolbox. It was frustrating to Lux that this problem could have been fixed by a professional within 10 or 15 minutes, rather than an 18-year-old with on-site training only, but they didn’t have much choice. His parents were already spread thin with their duties, and he had to help where he could.

He went to boot up the drone, and of course, the damned thing wouldn’t turn on.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” He shouted to no one in particular. “I’ve worked on you for hours! HOURS! And you won’t even turn on now!?” He felt his blood begin to boil to the point where it began to feel uncomfortable under his own skin. He hit the drone with his hand, and a sharp shock went up through his arm, causing him to yelp and hit the drone again.

The next thing he remembered was walking back to the farm, muttering to himself as he calmed himself with deep breaths, the itching feeling under his skin beginning to subside. Admittedly, this wasn't the first time this happened to Lux. Sometimes when he got really angry, or upset, he would lose track of where he was for a minute. It wasn't a complete blackout, he just lost the attention to details when looking back on the moment.

Lux walked away, heading home to see which drone he needed to work on next. The drone he was working on sat perfectly taken apart, piece by piece. The motherboard overloaded, it sat smoking on the ground like it had received a giant jolt of electricity...

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“Hello my light, dinner is almost ready.” Lux’s mom spoke as he entered the front door. No matter how many times he asked, she always referred to him as her light – after his namesake. Apparently, his parents had tried for many years to have a baby. They were poor, the farm was doing worse than ever, and they were struggling to conceive.

Then, it finally happened, the good news. They were pregnant. Soon after, the farm began to pick up slightly, and they were commissioned by the government to switch to wheat production. He, meaning Lux, was the start of some better luck. The light at the end of the tunnel, so his parents said. Thus, his namesake came to be.

“Thanks, mother, my moon, my stars, my hope, my everythinggg...” Lux began to rattle off more increasingly dramatic responses. He tried to fight her emotional love with sarcastic love – the typical response for any 18-year-old.

Not phased, his mother just continued on finishing up dinner. She had learned to never poke the bear, so to speak, when it came to Lux. Like any typical man, once they knew something bothered them, they would never stop. Ever.

She removed the pot from the stove and began to drain the pasta. At the sound of this, Lux perked his head up. “Fresh food tonight!?” he said, his voice rising an octave in hope, mouth already beginning to salivate at the thought. The last several weeks had been nothing but powdered food and frozen rations the government handed out. Fresh food wasn’t necessarily a luxury for them, but it wasn’t an everyday occurrence either.

“You only turn 18 once,” she explained as the steam rose from the sink. “I figured we would spoil you, even more than you already are.”

Lux scoffed at that remark, knowing damn well he was nowhere near spoiled. He didn’t mind, even though he knew a few friends from the online school he attended that his life was… less glamorous than others, he still felt fulfilled. His parents, and himself, were providing food for the entire country. Even though they were on the lower end of farms out there, they were still a certified government wheat farm. It didn’t pay well, but, with the food shortage crisis of 2098, farmers were highly regarded as a crucial part of today’s society. It made him proud, to be able to help his country. There were people out in the world that drew a worse lot in life than he did, and he was just thankful for the things he did have, rather than the things he didn’t.

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“Can we watch something on the ‘gram while we eat?” Lux asked nonchalantly, knowing full well there was no hologram watching while eating. His parents stared at him with eyebrows raised. “I mean… it is my birthday. I think, what you said, as I only turn 18 once?” His mom gave a short laugh before tapping the watch on her phone that was linked to the home’s personal system.

“Yessss!” Lux clinched his fist in victory as he got up from the table to grab the tablet. He put it at the center of the table as his mother searched the channels before settling on the news. A ridiculously good-looking woman appeared, with clothes that easily cost the same as their hologram. She was talking about the anniversary of The Pact.

“In just a week’s time, we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Pact. The United Nations and United Wizards plan on meeting in France this year. Wow, I remember like it was yesterday when the 92nd anniversary was being held in the United States...I can only imagine the festivities that will take place for the 100th. Anyone who is anyone will be there; I know for us here at US News we will be there to give you live coverage the entire time!

"As always, enjoy the festivities, but I urge everyone to remember the reason for our celebrations. Where once our race was fading into darkness, starved and at war, the UW returned the light. Never forget. Back to you at the studio."

Lux sighed at the theatrics of the news anchor and took a large bite of pasta, savoring the fresh food. “Did grandpa or grandma ever mention anything about the Pact?” Lux asked between mouthfuls of food.

His mom laughed and shook her head. “They were just kids at the time.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and leaned back in the chair and took a sigh. “They did, however, remember what their parents told them of it as they got older.”

Lux looked with raised eyebrows, egging his mom on with the story.

“Well, for starters, the world was on the verge of collapse. The end of humanity, they had said.”

Lux laughed, “Ennnd of huummannnityyy.” He joked in a spooky voice.

“Looks like someone has paid absolutely NO attention in their history classes.” His father jested while dipping his hand in a glass of water and flicking some droplets at him.

“I do to listen,” he said, “just… well they make it so boring.” Lux began making random shapes with the few remaining noodles, hoping to switch off the subject of school as quickly as possible.

“Well, for starters, it wasn’t really said as a joke or a corny zombie movie poster quote. It was quite real. Wars, famine, global warming, energy crisis, more wars, no resources… no food.” She trailed off after that, remembering stories she had heard from her parents growing up with multiple days of no food on the table.

“So, if the world was increasing in population, and resources were running out, why didn’t they do anything about it?”

His parents laughed in response and looked at each other, seeing who would try and explain the older generation's rationale at the time.

“Well, first of all, hindsight is 20/20, and all we know is what we have learned from our ancestors and what’s in the history books. But, what we know is there was a huge surge in technology. Things we take for granted today.” He pointed in the direction of the hologram, the news anchor having moved to a different topic, her lips moving inaudibly as his mom had turned it on mute. “Like this. Even we, the lower class, can afford one of these. The inventors and engineers of our grandparent’s generation, and their parents, created some of the most fascinating works of modern technology. Unfortunately, a lot of those new inventions required resources, a lot of them were natural fuels from the earth.”

His dad nodded in as the story continued. “Yup. Then we fought each other, our population decreased, and the wizards swooped on in like a knight saving a princess in a tower. Only the knight watched the princess get abducted first, tortured, THEN he saved her.”

“Mark Avery!” Lux’s mom shouted and hit him on the chest. “No talk of torturing at the table… or ever, actually."

They continued jesting, talking about different stories his great grandparents had passed on through the generations. Being born with just the necessities, Lux never felt like he was missing out on some grand life just beyond his grasp. He had a goal, to get his parent's farm in a higher category so they could get some assistance from the government, and he felt very comfortable in that goal. Hopefully, in a decade or so, they could achieve that, and his parents could finally relax a little bit while he took over more aspects of the farm. Hearing about his great grandparents though, having everything, all the technology and fresh food at their fingertips, only to be snatched away… he couldn’t imagine.

Lux made his way up to his room, taking out his portable hologram to read a new book he began a few nights ago. Lux was an avid reader, ironically, since he hated to read anything related to school. If it interested him, he would apply himself to the task at hand with an unbreakable focus and passion that allowed him to be totally engrossed in it. Reading was one of those things, and hours would pass without him even realizing it.

Around hour two, he heard a tapping on his window. He glanced over his bed, and perched on the window, was an owl. Not uncommon to see owls at night here, he turned his attention back to his book. More tapping.

Lux looked up again, the owl still sitting there. This time, he looked a little longer, and the owl seemed to be looking AT him. He stood up and walked over to the window to get a closer look at the animal. He shined his portable hologram’s light onto the window and saw the owl’s pupils constrict, but it didn’t fly away. It just cocked it’s head like it was wondering how long it would take to let him in.

Lux glanced down and saw a piece of paper tied to the ankle of the owl.

What the hell? He thought to himself.

He opened the window, and the owl hopped lightly in through the window and extended it’s leg like he wanted Lux to take the note.

Umm… seriously, what the hell is going on?

He gently undid the lace that tied the paper to the owl’s leg. “Uh… thanks?” He said to the animal, as it turned around and flew back out the window.

So, did I just have a conversation with an owl? Did mom put something into my food as a prank?

He opened the letter and read the note.

Dear Mr. Lux Avery,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Hogwarts-Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only one of three remaining schools in the entire world. Congratulations on this achievement! You are, of course, confused due to your human upbringing. It is uncommon, but, wizards and witches can be born of human parents, or muggles, as we refer to your kind. We will be sending a representative to arrive tomorrow evening from the day you received this letter. All will be explained then.

We look forward to having you continue your magical education at our school.

Yours Sincerely,

Gembol Blas, Headmaster