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Chapter 13: “First wand”
🕑 Added 2024-01-02 16:08:12 +0000 UTCJames was now 8 years old. He turned about three days ago. Today would be the day he would finally get his first wand.
Even though it was a used wand, he was very excited. Now he was waiting for his grandfather and father to arrive by the fireplace with the wand. His mother was cooking some sandwiches to eat in the afternoon.
'What's taking them so long?' thought James feeling anxious and not taking his eyes off the fireplace.
James at this time got his parents to give him more books to study. When he turned 6 years old 2 years ago, they gave him 3 books to start his study, however, he finished them in 3 months, plus he read them several times. After seeing the practice through his parents, he felt there was no need to read them anymore.
So through his "charm", he managed to convince his parents to give them more advanced books. Before that he showed his father that he knew absolutely all the material, the theoretical exam he was supposed to take at the age of 8, he took it at the age of 6 and passed it perfectly.
Seeing this both Fleamont and Euphemia could not refuse to give James more advanced books, thanks to this he was able to continue studying enchantments, potions, and healing. The bad thing was that he could only read the theory, and watch his parents either doing the enchantments or potions.
But finally today he would have his first wand and could start performing magic. All the theory of the enchantments he studied he could put into practice today, he even learned the theory of some basic healing spells from his mother's books.
"Take it easy, sweetheart. They'll be here soon" said Euphemia in a loving tone, as she rested a tray with cupcakes on a little mouse table that was in front of the couch.
"Yes, you're right" said James stopping tapping the floor with the sole of his foot.
"Here, eat" said Euphemia taking a cupcake and putting it in James' mouth, who accepted the food obediently. If Emily or Gwen saw how meek James is with his mother they would be very surprised.
Euphemia looked on with a loving smile as her son devoured the cupcake happily.
Since they had James with Fleamont their life was the happiest in the world. Besides, she considered her son to be perfect, he was well-behaved, studied, was very intelligent, had friends (not so many), and was very loving with them.
After eating about 3 cupcakes with his mother, finally, there were movements in the fireplace. The first to arrive was his grandfather. Behind him, his father arrived.
"Grandpa!" said James with a smile going to greet the old man.
"Boy, you're getting bigger every day! And look at that hair, just like every Potter!" said Henry tousling James' jet hair.
James smiled happily, his grandfather was a very important person in his new life, every weekend they went together with his father to watch his favorite quidditch team, so their relationship was very good.
"Did you bring the wand?" asked James trying to hide his excitement.
"Yes, I have it here" replied Henry, as from one of his pockets he revealed a strong brown wand.
"Your grandmother's wand" said Henry as he held the wand in both hands and looked at it wistfully and sadly.
" Grandpa..." whispered James sadly.
"Don't make that face, I'm sure your grandmother would be proud of you using her wand" said Henry quickly changing his expression.
"Its wood is of Spruce, it takes particular skill to work with this type of wood, if you have a cautious or nervous nature it will not be a good companion for you. However, in your case that is not a problem" said Henry starting to tell her the details of the wand.
"Its core is kelpie hair, 24 centimeters. Here" he finished his explanation and passed the wand to James.
James took the wand slowly and examined it carefully, he felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head and brought it down quickly a stream of white sparks exploded from the tip of the wand.
His parents and grandfather were looking at him with big smiles very proud of James, "That's great" said James looking at the wand with excitement.
"It'll do you, for now, when you get your wand the feeling will be even better" said Fleamont.
"Lumos!" exclaimed James with concentration.
Suddenly the tip of his wand lit up, and the light was warm, seeing his success James smiled. This charm was one of the simplest in the book he had read in grade 1, a sort of lantern, but magical.
Achieving it on his first try showed James' talent, still, he didn't think it was a big deal, it was a simple charm and he knew the theory by heart, plus he saw his parents perform it several times, so he could see in action what the wand movement and pronunciation was like.
"Well done, sweetheart!" said Euphemia smiling and clapping her hands in fascination, his father and grandfather also clapped their hands with smiles.
"On your first try and with a wand that isn't yours, my son is a genius" said Fleamont proudly.
"Will it be okay for him to use magic? Isn't there an underage restriction?" asked James.
"Don't worry, you don't have the tracing charm on you and the Ministry trusts parents to watch out for their children if they perform magic, your parents' magic would constantly interfere with the tracing should you have it" replied Henry to which James nodded more calmly.
"Do you want to go practice a bit?" asked his father with a mysterious smile.
"What? Sure, where to?" asked James curiously.
"Follow me" said Fleamont. James and the others followed him. Henry and Euphemia looked at each other with smiles knowing what Fleamont was referring to.
From the living room, they made their way to Fleamont's office. The office was medium-sized and cozy. On the walls were bookshelves filled with books and magical artifacts. The floor was polished wood and covered with a plush carpet.
However, there was something out of place that caught James' attention. In one of the corners, there was a black door, its position did not look good at all, his father walked towards that door.
Fleamont looked at James with a mysterious smile, slowly grabbed the cheekbone of the door, and opened it suspiciously. As the door opened fully, James noticed that there was nothing there, just a brick wall the same color as the other walls in the room.
James looked doubtfully at his father, Fleamont did not return his gaze and walked confidently towards the door. To James' surprise, his father didn't run straight into the wall, on the contrary, he walked right through it and disappeared from the scene.
"What?" muttered James somewhat surprised, although he was getting used to the magical world, he had never seen such a mechanism in his house. His mother pushed him gently so that he walked.
Without thinking twice, he walked towards the wall, just like his father, without bumping into it. He noticed a well-lit corridor, so he started walking. When he crossed it, he found a very large and peculiar room.
The walls are lined with magic mirrors that reflect the image of the magician from all angles. The floor was smooth and made of a material that seemed to be very sturdy. Most peculiar was that the room was equipped with mannequins that James assumed were magical.
"Is this...?" asked James in a fascinated tone.
"It's what you're thinking! A magical training room!" presented his father with excitement and a smile, pleased with his son's reaction. Euphemia and Henry had already arrived, also watching James.
"First, the walls that are magic mirrors allow reflecting the image of the magician from all angles, which allows observing and correcting the execution of spells. Second, the floor is designed to withstand the effects of powerful spells. And third, the magic dummies! They serve to practice marksmanship among other things" explained Fleamont enthusiastically.
"That's great, father! When did they build this?" asked James as he surveyed the entire room unable to contain his excitement.
One of the problems James was thinking about was where to train his magic. He couldn't leave his house, as it would be easy to be seen by muggles or even other wizards, who would see it strange for a boy under 11 to have a wand.
Knowing the bad relationship between the Potters and some pureblood families, it was almost certain that if they saw him they would alert the ministry and put them in trouble.
Training in his house was only possible if he performed harmless enchantments like Lumos, but with other enchantments, he could destroy the house, but now with this training room he would have no problem, it would even make his practice better than ever.
"We started construction from the moment we made our first deal, that is two years ago" replied Fleamont.
"That's amazing, it must have been very expensive" James commented, as he touched one of the mirrors and his reflection was visible.
"Nothing the Potter family can't afford" said Fleamont with a smile.
"Enough of all this talk, let's practice!" he added pulling his wand out of his sleeve.
