I feel ecstatic. After I ordered my wand, we went off to get the other requirements. First, the owl. I enter a store called, Eeylops Owl Emporium. The variety and the sheer number of owls fascinated me. Also, the constant hooting was amusing. I looked at the various owls for a bit and found one that struck my fancy. It was an owl of the Snowy variant. But it had black spots on its body and had amber eyes. To be honest, it looked fucking adorable with its round head and small, pudgy body. Of course, I'm not looking for a fierce-looking owl. This female owl fulfilled both my requirements: It was both good at delivering mail and was adorable to boot. I bought the owl with the cage and feed. I named her Elaine.
Now, with Elaine in hand, I entered Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. I have to say the store lives up to its name. School robes, bathrobes, indoor robes, dress robes, you name it they got it. I get my robes and leave Diagon Alley with my mother and Elaine.
I come again two days later, this time alone. I go to the shop for my finished wand. I take the wand from the clerk and paid the galleons for it. Though she thanked me for my patronage, I still feel cheated over the 'tracer removal' fee. On my way, I pass by Gringotts Bank which was run by goblins.
Goblins?! Those little green guys. Why? Aren't those a greedy bunch? How could you trust the lot with your gold?
I enter the bank, only to take a look and immediately leave. As I kept walking, I had many questions in my head.
How are those goblins? Aren't those just dwarves with pointy ears and noses? For fucks sake, they aren't even green.
I open my wand at home. It's an 11-inch black wand made with Yew and a core made from Thestral Tail Hair. When I gripped it, I felt like it was made for me. As if to agree with my words, the wand emitted a swirling halo of black and white light which dimmed shortly afterward.
Using a wand is so comfortable. The mana output is much freer and the spells I used by hand tripled when I used them by hand. This also reminded me of something else.
This world really favors wands. There should be a 1.5x multiplier, not a 3x multiplier. Well, I don't regret learning Wandless Casting especially since there's a spell specially made to disarm you!
With my new wand, I can also create and cast new and powerful spells and spell potions. As to prove that, I created a domain spell.
Regnum Ignotum
Requirement To Cast: 50 - 150 mu
Diametre Of Domain: 5 - 15 m
Type Of Domain: Soundless/Invisible/Both
Number Of People Inside Domain: 0
This spell creates a domain in which the caster or anyone enters becomes invisible. The domain doesn't leak out any sound from inside. So, it's a perfect domain to hide or have a secret conversation.
I have so many things I can do now with the help of my wand.
Guess, I know what I'm doing in Hogwarts now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's only a month to go until I depart to Hogwarts. I insisted my mother to visit my father at St. Mungo's today. I have plans to give her an early birthday present before I leave.
My mother gets ready and we leave.
We come in front of a building that looks abandoned. I had a lot of questions when I first came here. But now this abandoned building has become familiar to me.
We enter the building. The familiar white halls and reception with people coming in their problems greet me again. I've gotten used to this sight from my repeated visit to my father. My mother talks to the receptionist while I head towards the fourth floor where they treat curses. I enter room 406 to see my father sleeping on a hospital bed with his eyes closed. With him in the room, there was also a couple laying on the bed. They were Frank and Alice Longbottom as I previously learned. They were also hit with the Cruciatus Curse, far worse than my father if I might add. A kid and an old lady frequently visited them. The kid's name was Neville as I heard the old lady call him presumably his grandmother. The kid must be the couple's son. He was here with his grandmother today as well. But that has nothing to do with me.
I look at my father sleeping without emotion on his face. My mother comes in and looks at my father for a bit. After a while, I hear her quietly whisper to herself in a sad tone, "Tom, when are you going to wake up? Look, our son is leaving for Hogwarts."
I don't look at her face. Because I know she has tears blurring her eyes, on the verge of spilling down to her face. She tries with all her heart to hold back her tears. It breaks my heart to see her like this.
Only I know how much she's quietly cried to herself, thinking no one was there. Only I know the countless nights that passed with her crying herself to sleep.
I put a hand on my father's chest.
Don't worry, mother, I won't let you cry anymore.
But before I could do anything, an owl flew in and handed my mother an envelope.
"It's from the Ministry. Stay with your father a bit.", she leaves the room, quietly wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes.
Her sad figure fills me with renewed drive. I put my hand on my father's chest with resolve burning in my hands. I close my eyes, concentrate and send my mana in him.
Please, wake up father. Mother can't go on like this. I can't leave her alone like this.
I see the pieces of lights that represent his fragmented consciousness. I started to gather the pieces as quickly as I could. I feel my mana rapidly draining.
Almost all the pieces have been gathered. Only the piece which is furthest away remains. I quickly start pulling the piece. My mana is down to the last 10%. My father's body is seconds away from getting irreparable damage.
No! Come on! COME ON! I refuse to let things end like this! I refuse to let my mother suffer any longer!
As I feel the time running out, there's only a quarter of the piece left that needs to be attached. I feel my father's body unable to hold out any longer. I hastily attach the piece with the rest as I take out my mana...
In my haste, I attached the piece in a half-assed way.
"Ahh fuck, it's all over. All I hope that his consciousness holds out. It's really the end of the line if father doesn't wake up.", I think as I cover my pale, mana-drained face with my hands, feeling weak all over.
With my hands on my face, I hear rustling from the bed. I let go of my face to only see my father sitting up, looking at me. His face has a curious expression on it.
"F-Father?", I ask, clearly stunned at this turn of events. But my father doesn't speak, looking at me with a puzzled expression.
"Father... it's me, Sol.", I tell him. His eyes go wide and he looks at me with a shocked expression.
"It's been 11 yea-" before I could finish, my father holds me in a tight embrace. I soon feel my shoulder getting wetter. My father is crying without a sound. I let go of all worries and reciprocate.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Gasp!
Suddenly, I hear the door open and hear a gasp. I turn around to see my mother, her eyes red with tears in the corner, covering her gaping mouth with her cupped hands.
"T-Tom!", my mother calls out and runs to his embrace "You're finally awake."
I look at the happy sight of my mother in father's embrace, happily crying her eyes out. I leave through the door to give them some space, a rare smile on my face, full of warmth.
"E-Excuse me?", I hear from behind me.
I fix my expression and look back to only see a kid looking at me nervously. It's Neville. Wonder what he wants?
"What do you want?", I ask.
"U-Um could you cure my parents as w-well?", he requests with a hopeful expression.
"Huh? Why should I do that? More importantly, how do you know if I was the one who did it?"
"I-I saw you, p-putting your hand on your father. I felt magic flowing in your hands.", he replies.
Ho? The kid's sharp.
"Good observation but why should I help your parents?", I ask him again.
He begs with a sad expression, tears blurring his eyes, " Please help them, I don't have much" he rummages his pocket, only to bring out a few two 10 pence coins and a piece of candy. "I can only give you these. Please help them."
Pfft~ haha! This kid is interesting. He doesn't spew bullshit like 'do it for the betterment of wizardkind' or drone on about being 'righteous'. He directly tries to compensate me. Fine, I'll take compensation and help you out.
I smile and take the candy from his hands, "Fine, I'll take this. I'm out of magic right now. Here's my address." I tell him to note down my address and give him instructions, " Come to my house two days later and I'll wake your parents up."
The kid soon smiles happily and runs and hugs me, "Thank you! I'll come two days later."
He returns to his room while I head to the ground floor. I wait for an hour or so and see my mother come up to me, her eyes red and swollen from crying. But she had a smile on her face.
"Sol, your dad is awake now, isn't that great?!", asks my mother happily.
I nod my head, clearly feeling happy looking at her mood.
"Your father will stay here a couple of days, get diagnosed to see if any further complications arise or not.", said my mother.
We then leave St. Mungo's. For the rest of the day, my mother had a happy smile on her face.
Two days later, I am picked up in front of my house by Neville and his grandmother. During this time, my mother and I learned that my father couldn't speak anymore. He is still at St. Mungo's. Everything was fine but he became mute. I knew what the reason was. It was probably due to me half-assing it. But that didn't matter. As long he's awake, healthy, and happy, I couldn't care less.
Neville was visibly excited and almost skipping around as he enters St. Mungo's. His grandmother was silent the entire way. As we enter his parents' room, his grandmother suddenly asks, "Child, are you sure you can do this?"
"If I wasn't then I wouldn't have taken compensation from Neville.", I assure.
"Then do as you please. But don't you dare make it worse.", she warns.
Excuse me, how worse could it get? They already look like they got their brains replaced with that of a plant.
"All that I ask you don't tell anyone about this.", I request.
"Huh? Why not? You'd get famous if you reveal this.", she asked with a slightly surprised expression.
"I don't want people running after me, asking me to do tedious things like this. I'd rather live peacefully and quietly."
The grandmother pauses for a bit, then promises me, "You have my word on the Longbottom name."
Then, I start the process.
I had two bases for my confidence. First, since I could do it on my muggle father, I can surely do it on a wizard couple. Unlike my father's, their bodies can actually hold my mana. Secondly, my father's body also rejects my mana like cats do water. A wizard's body wouldn't have that rejection.
I first put my hand on the mother. I concentrate and send my mana in. I am shocked at how much faster the whole process. It took me 15 minutes to do this and even though the mother's consciousness was far more fragmented, it took me only 5 minutes. It also took me far less mana for the whole process.
All in all, it only took me 10 minutes to wake the couple up. They get up and Neville runs into their arms, crying his eyes out. The grandmother also has tears in her eyes. I look at the scene and quietly leave through the door.
After they're done having their reunion, the grandmother looks around to see me gone. Thinking a bit, she asked Neville, "When the kid said he took compensation from you, what did he take?"
"I offered him my pocket money and candy but he just took the candy from my hand, l-laughed, and said he'd h-help me.", recounted Neville.
His grandmother was surprised but then smiled.
But I had no way of knowing that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's the day when I finally depart for Hogwarts. My mother has a mood that seems to alternate between happy and sad. My father has a face that says that he wanted to spend more time with me.
I've packed all my things and the spell catalog that I would need to train. I've already used Capacious Extremis on my suitcase to enlarge the space inside to fit my mountain of things. My potions are also in an extended satchel. Elaine's also in her cage, looking adorable.
After I'm all ready, we board father's car and head off to King's Cross Station from where I'll board Hogwarts express.
As the car moves towards the station, the steady jerking of the car and the ever-changing scenery outside slowly lull me to sleep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why have you joined the『 』?"
"To pursue knowledge and to discover the secrets of the worlds."
"But what fills you with the drive to do so?"
"I've always felt that our lives had more meaning to them, that what we see on the surface is not the entirety. I'd like to learn more and experience all that the worlds have to offer."
"Then are you willing to give up everything in pursuit of this knowledge?"
"I've already given up everything."
"Then have you given up the wish to lead a peaceful life?"
"I don't understand, master."
"In your pursuit of knowledge, you will ultimately make enemies and you will continue to fight these enemies until you die."
"But why is that? The 『 』doesn't meddle in worldly affairs and solely keeps to themselves."
"Yes, you're right."
"Then wh-"
"In every world you go, you will always find examples of the age-old adages 'Knowledge Is Power' and 'Ignorance Is Bliss'. The same is true for this world as well. Now, tell me why do the kings of the 『 』always have enemies?"
"Isn't that because of their authorities and the interests of others?"
"You're absolutely right. Then where does this authority come from?"
"...Because of the power they wield."
"Precisely. The more power a person wields the more enemies he has. Their enemies will always want to gain that power for themselves or not let the wielder have power."
"Then what does that have to do with pursuing knowledge?"
"You foolish child! Knowledge is also a form of power. Then gaining knowledge is also a form of acquiring power. The more things you know, the more power you wield."
"Then should I stop my pursuit of knowledge just because I'm scared? I refuse."
"I never said that. All I ask you to be careful, it is both those who know too much and know too little that pose a problem."
"Then what should I do, master?"
"If it was before, I would've taught you my master's ideals, to never trust anyone. I've always followed his rule. But in my old age, I've come to learn that it was not good advice."
"Why is that?"
"Because a person who can't trust and can't be trusted is the loneliest existences you can find. You can live by my master's ideal but you can see the result that is me: a lonely recluse with no family and no one to call friends."
"Then wh-"
"So now I'll give you my understanding of trust that I've gained in my old age. You should never trust a stranger especially those who know too much. But you ask me that you could never possibly know who knows too much or who knows nothing. To that I say, get to know them, and only then can you trust them. Make friends, fall in love, create a family. Knowledge isn't everything. You should live in a way in which you can die happily. Remember 『 』, man can live alone but they can't live alone happily. They always need to have someone to rely on. Be happy, make others happy, and when you die, make sure that many people mourn your death. It is regrettable that I learned this after it was too late...
...truly regrettable."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I open my eyes, puzzled at the dream I just had. And even more puzzled, that I didn't follow that advice. No, my life has just begun. This time I'll follow his advice. Whoever that grizzled elder may be.
I see the car come to a halt. I see a huge building. This must be King's Cross Station.
I enter the building with my parents. I take a trolley and load all my luggage and Elaine on it. I come between platforms 9 and 10. My mother tells me to run my trolley through the pillar between the platforms.
I had questions in my head but I push them back and make a run for it. I hit the platform and feel like I just entered a doorway. I come out the pillar and see a black and red steam engine on the tracks with Hogwarts Express written on it. All manner of young wizards and witches running around on the platform labeled platform 9 and 3/4, loading their luggage and saying their goodbyes.
I start moving forward with my parents to search for my car. I find my car and see the Weasley family. We exchange greetings and talk a bit, I found out that the Weasley twins and I are in the same car. The Weasleys congratulate my father on his recovery.
Soon, the time to board the train comes. The Weasley twins talk a bit with their mother. I turn to look at my mother, she gives me a hug and kiss on the forehead, "Learn a lot and stay safe. Don't cause too much trouble and write me a lot of letters."
My father also hugs me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I look at his eyes, understanding all that he has to say. I nod my head, "Don't worry, I'm just leaving for a little while. We'll meet again during vacation. Just stay happy."
I give them a quick hug, say my farewells and board the train. I get in a compartment with the Weasley twins and a boy called Lee Jordan, and we chat for a bit. The train finally starts to move. I poke my head out the window and give my parents a quick goodbye like all the other wizards and witches. When the train leaves the station, I finally bring my head in. I look out the window to see the lush forests and green mountains. As I view the ever-changing scenery, I had only one thought.
This might be interesting.