It was another beautiful morning as I woke up. And after getting off the bed I went to watch the sunrise as it was a good way to start the morning. And after that, I got back to my daily morning things ( which everyone does in the morning ).
I got in my sportswear and went downstairs and out of the house as I started my morning jog the autumn wind hit my face as the month was going to end in a few days and September will come and will bring with it winter as I thought about this I had already crossed two streets.
After getting the jogging done with some practice of parkour I was now returning as I looked at the stores which were being opened by the shopkeepers the paperboy was out with his bicycle and the rushing of the working people for their work and the running cars on the roads.
It was like every morning rush as I brought some bread for breakfast from the nearest shop and then I turned left and changed sides and was once again jogging on the pavement as I reached home and said," I'm home. Bought bread." And my mother replied, " thank you as always honey. Put it on the kitchen slab and wash up. I will give you your breakfast."
As I put the bread on the slab and went to wash up and changed my sportswear. And then I came downstairs and went to the dining table pulled the chair and sat on it. As I said," a very good morning mother father. " and they also said,". Good morning to you too Alex." (x2).
As I enjoyed my breakfast as I watched both of them also enjoyed it as we did some small talk and then mother asked," so Alex you will be going back to school are you nervous about it or excited."
As I looked back at her and then it dawned on me that I also have to go to school in a few weeks. I replied," oh it just slipped my mind that I too have to go to school, and I hadn't thought about it all this time as I was so engrossed in my day-to-day things like jogging, studying, training, and then going to grandma and grandpa's house and spending time with them and learning new things. But going back to school will make my regular schedule mess up so how do I manage my schedule father."
As I asked my father about it in turn. And he replied," well about your schedule we have to just make some changes as your school will end early and you will have ample time to do your training and then go to your grandpa and grandma's house. So I think you can manage it as your morning jogging will have to be a short one but you can double up on your weekends so it will still make up for the lost time."
As I nodded at him and then after finishing my breakfast. I went to my room for some study but it was about the study of magic as the muggle curriculum for kids my age was too easy for me. And I had ample time to read the books of herbology and potion-making. After several hours I went out of my room after changing into my sportswear and went to the training area and started my training.
After completing my training I went to take a bath and after that got dressed and went to the dining room for lunch and after having a sumptuous lunch we went outside as I and my father got inside the car and my mother waved at us as we went to grandma and grandpa's house as my father said," you are always so energetic when its time to go to your grandma and grandpa's house."
As I replied," yeah cause I love it there with them and enjoy my stay there."
And after some time we reached their house and I saw like always grandpa standing outside of the house. He was tending to his magical plants and some magical herbs which he disguises as normal flower plants and other non-flower plants.
Father parked the car outside the house and then we got out of the car. I went to grandpa and hugged him and he also did the same after that, he said," go inside Alex as she is waiting in her usual place." And I nodded and waved my hand at my father and said," see you in the evening father."
And he also said," yeah Alex, see you in the evening. Be a good boy and don't cause any trouble to them okay." As I said," okay father." And went inside the house through the open door and then I walked towards the study where she always sat and read the books and she was doing that now also. As I entered she looked up from her books and then closed the book and the book flew from her hand and entered the bookshelf behind her.
And I asked," grandma it seems to me that the quantity of the books you are reading has increased significantly." And she replied," yes Alex I have been reading certain books on a topic as I want to have as much knowledge about it as possible."
And I asked again," I understand. Is it the same topic that you are reading about over the years. " and she said," yes it's all for the same topic." As I tried to remember about the pile of books I saw before and tried to remember about it but can't seem to do so and seeing me like this grandma said," oh you will not be able to remember about it even if you tried to use occlumency as the books that I'm reading has been layered in enchantment so that only the reader or certain individuals can have access to it and that to if permitted."
And after hearing about it I nodded in understanding. But then I asked," so do I have the privilege to know about it or can you tell me about it." But I was left downcast as she said," No, I can't tell you not right now or in the foreseeable future. But..." As she said 'But' I was still downcast but then I thought ' but..but.. Ooh, she said BUT..' and I was elated once more as I looked at her more enthusiastically and as she looked at me a slight chuckle escaped her mouth as she said," well, you will know in due time."
Then she resumed her teaching persona as she said," Now that you have shown so much enthusiasm about my work let's see how enthusiastic you are about your occlumency lesson so let's begin. The same as before but today I will slowly increase my legilimency power and frequency of my attacks so let's begin."
But as she was about to start I said," but grandma it pains me so much whenever we practice is there any other way to do this." And after thinking, she said," there are many ways but the quickest is what you are learning as you have not enough time for learning this for 10-20 years and I will not send you to Hogwarts knowing that you can not even protect your mind so let's us start as when we start early we will finish early."
And I was also convinced as I also do not want people to snoop around my mind and I do not even notice it so I also got into it and started my lesson/training and then began another hectic training session as I tried to build the fifth layer of shield and she attacked and it continued for many hours and at the end of it I was once again left exhausted as I lay down on the floor huffing loudly.
As she said," we will leave it at that, and congratulations on building your fifth layer of occlumency shield. Now rest for some time and then I will call you for the next lesson."
And I nodded and got back up and went to my room and then went to wash my face and after that laid on the bed as I said," candy " and with a pop, sound candy came inside the room as she bowed and said," what do you need from me, young guest." And I said," please bring me some refreshments and some cool drinks without alcohol. Yes, it will be all candy." And she once again bowed and said," please wait for some time and I will bring some refreshments and some cool drinks." And after repeating all the orders once again with a pop sound she vanished from there and I once again laid back on the bed.
And after some time she brought the refreshment and my cool drink and I got up from my bed as she set up a table and chair for me to sit and eat. After eating and feeling refreshed I got up and called her again for a clean-up. And I sat at my study table and brought out the book on herbology as I read about the plants and herbs. After some time grandma knocked on the door and came inside the room and said," it's time Alex for your next lesson." And I nodded and closed the book and went out of the room with her and then went towards the room with no doors and entered.
Grandpa was sitting on the chair as he was reading something and when he saw us he closed the book and the book like grandma went out of the room and I think it went towards the study as there are books which go back to their place when someone had read it or the reading is done for the time being.
As grandpa stood up and said," well are you ready for some dueling lesson Alex." And I was once again stumped as I looked back at him and said," umm.... didn't I have one yesterday where you kicked my ass." And I received a smack on my head which hurt a lot as I turned back to look at grandma and she said," language Alex. Kids shouldn't use such words as it might become a habit to say those types of words if I don't correct you early on."
And I nodded and said," sorry grandma." And then grandpa said," here is your wand. Today we will do some traditional dueling, and then I will give you as I see fit try to do your best or you will receive some a.."
But he stopped as grandma glared at him and he swallowed his upcoming words and then coughed twice and showed a stoic expression and said," come Alex let's have a dueling match like a proper gentleman. The first thing we do is a bow to show respect to our opponent. But it doesn't matter in all conditions as if you have a life and death battle you don't have to follow such tradition just as you can blast that git's head, hand, legs whatever works. " I chuckled at that and nodded at his.
Then he said," Now for 'Gentleman's' duel only you should take whatever form you are comfortable with, and then wait for the opponent to do the same and then begin the duel. But remember that the one who strikes first wins but that also has some measures as if you are dueling someone who is above you many levels over then you should never accept the duel and if you have no choice then stand your ground and create an opportunity for you to escape or to prolong it as much as possible until help comes."
" If you understood everything I said then let's begin the duel. " I nodded and took a form just like what was shown in the movie. But then I noticed that grandpa did not take/ make any sort of form as he looked at me with a smile and said," textbook style huh well show me what you got kid." And cast a spell but this time he didn't use any chant and with a slight jerk of the wand he cast the spell. As I dodged that one but I knew that he can curve his spells so I used protego on my back as I fired arrows at him with an arrow shooting spell.
As he was defending the horde of arrows which I repeatedly shot at him as I closed the distance between us and I said," got you now old man." But what I did not expect and once again became my losing point was lack of experience as he smiled at me and I was stuck at the place where I was standing. The floor which was nice and smooth a few moments ago was now entangled in my legs and bound me in the same place.
Grandpa laughed and said," haha you are too green to catch me with my guard down." But I didn't let him approach him as there was still some distance between us and I once again fired a knock-back jinx with the combination of jelly-leg jinx and as he countered them.
I on the other hand freed my bounded feet and backed up to create some distance between us but I was once again proven wrong as he had too much experience in dueling as he had already predicted where I would have stopped and he had already conjured two spikes behind me and right then grandma said," match end winner Richard. " and I was about to ask grandma why she announced grandpa the winner but as I turned one of the spikes grazed my arm and after seeing some blood I understood why I lost and at the same time grandpa came to me with a worried expression as he asked me," I'm sorry Alex I should have made the spikes vanished as soon as Mary called me the winner please show me the wound." As I showed him and he said," epeisky as his wand made a green glow and the graze on my arm visibly healed."
And the duel conclude as I was with grandpa and grandma sat on the chairs of the dining table as grandpa said," you are doing great as of now and your alertness is quite high....no it's very high but all you are lacking is experience and the more I duel with you the more you will grow and get experienced so I will be dueling with four days a week and rest of the day's we will continue our lessons I think you can do it."
But then I suddenly remembered and said," grandpa I have to go to school from coming don't so I will not be able to spend as much time as I am spending with you now so we have to make some changes in our routine."
As he listened and said," well school is also important as you have to still go to a muggle school for some more years and when you turn eleven the letter will surely arrive and then you will be attending the Hogwarts school and I will also make some adjustments in your routine. "
And I nodded as I also understood that I have to go to school and pretend to be a normal child until I turn eleven and also I should make some friends as I will also be in contact with the muggle world. And then we heard the honking of the horn and we got up and went outside of the house through the door and then they greeted each other and then they talked about me and my school and asked about the timetable and holidays. As I would still be coming here on the weekends and father and I sat inside the car and we drove off towards our house.
------------(Timeskip 4 days )------------
It was another beautiful morning as I woke up and went to see the sunrise and after some time I went back to do my daily things and after doing it I changed into sportswear. And went downstairs and out of the house as I thought of running plus jogging for some time as I looked at all the people who were up this early and some paperboy's who were on their bikes as they peddled on the not so lively road as I ran and thought of going a greater distance today as I was happy so why not.
And I ran for some time and I saw that I was leaving my usual returning point behind as I speed up some more and ran for fifteen minutes as I was thinking of returning I saw a signboard for a certain clinic or to be precise a dental clinic as I was quite shocked to read it said," dental clinic well that's the normal part but the names Dr. Jean Granger and Dr. Wendell Granger well jean can be her mother but her father's name was never shown in the movies or specified in the books but if it there's then I have found her house and it was by luck as I thought of running more than my usual distance."
As I looked around the neighborhood and saw some bakery shops and thought of buying some bread as I went there as the board said Kowalski's bakery shop as I entered and the bell behind the door chimed as I heard a man's voice," be there in a minute." And I said," okay." As I watched the whole shop it was quite spacious and they also had many varieties of bread and cakes, pastries, cookies, buns, and many more bakery items.
As I was still looking at the bakery products and taking in some freshly made bread, buns, and cookies wafting aroma I heard a cough behind me as I turned around and saw a young man who was wearing an apron with gloves on both hands and had his head covered as I said," Good morning."
And he replied and asked," A very good morning to you too. So what do you like to buy young sir." And I said," I would like some freshly baked milk bread and buns." And he nodded and put the freshly baked cookies as he packed the bread and bun. And I handed him the money.
After receiving the money I moved away from the counter but then I smelled the wafting aroma from the freshly baked cookies I said," can I have one of those cookies." As he said," oh these are made with the new recipe I learned a few months ago and was going to put them on for as samples and will be selling them from next week onwards."
As he gave me one and it was very good as I said," will sell them to me as I want to take some for my parents." As he heard this his eyes shined and he said," why not kid why not as they are only the first batch, and I will be making some more for the samples and you can take them with you for free as there is no need to pay kid. So how many."
And I said," three packets please if you don't mind." He said," well here you go kid, and don't forget to bring your parents next time." As he waved at me. And I also waved back to him and walked out of the store.
I walked on the pavement as I once again passed the same dental clinic as it was still not open.
So I just walked away from there and reached the crossroad where some people were waiting for the bus and some kids were also there as I walked past all of them my eyes caught the sight of a certain girl who was wearing the same school dress( or something similar kids do go to summer camp or some other type of educational trips. I don't know very much about it as I have never gone to such places myself ) as the others but seemed alienated and was immersed in her book.
I thought about going to her but then I don't know what to say. I looked down in my hand I had three little bags of cookies and I for some reason a grin was on my face as I headed towards her direction.
And after standing in front of her I looked at her but she was so engrossed in her book as she didn't notice me standing a few inches from her.
I was also looking at the cover of the book and thought of reading it out loud to make her get out her books world as I said," 'how to dislocate bones and reduction'( reduction term used for putting the dislocated bone back in its place. source google if I am wrong then comment it so others can know it. ) by Dr. Amy Palmar. Wow that's some weird but new type of book I have seen." as she looked at me after hearing my voice with some shock mixed with a little suspicion but then she suppressed/ held back her other emotions and just gave me a glare.
As I saw this I chuckled but contrary to my chuckle her glare intensified as I said," sorry sorry I should have given you some hint of my presence but I did it though. But anyway I once again apologize about it here you can have this as an apology from me." As I handed her the cookie bag. And At this time the bus came and everybody went ahead to board the bus. As most of the people have already boarded the bus the conductor said," anyone who still isn't in get in the bus come on." Thank you
And then he looked at me and asked," kid what are you standing there for do you want to get on the bus or not." And I shook my head from right to left in a sign of no and said," I'll walk." as I walked away from the bus stand.
But the girl was still standing there and looked at my back and then looked at the cookie bag as the figure of the boy went further away from her sight and then the figure turned a corner. As she also boarded the bus and the man went inside the bus and the door closed as the bus went away.
As I reached home and went inside and said," I'm home." And my mother said," welcome home took you long enough Alex. How much did you jog today?" As I washed up and then sat beside my father and said," oh, I just jogged more than I usually did and then I went to a new bakery store and bought some bread and buns and some free cookies as they were placed for sample testing and were freshly baked. I just bought extra for my grandpa and grandma."
As my mother said," Well they do taste good and it seems it's not from close-by baker shops." I just nodded as I ate my breakfast and then went to take a bath and then got to study for some time. I studied for a few hours and then went to relax in the living room after some relaxation, I went to the training area and trained for some time. After that, I went to take a bath and then dried myself up and then got dressed, and went downstairs to get something to eat. After eating and relaxing once again I and my father went out of the living room as it was time for me to go to grandpa and grandma's home. We got inside the var and my mother waved her hand at us and we also waved at her.
After parking the car in front of the house I and my father got out of the car as I went to meet grandpa and he came outside too.
As I hugged him and he did the same and then I went inside the house through the door and they both chatted. I went towards the study and entered it after knocking and opening the door after I was allowed inside as grandma was now as I saw it was circled by the books as she was reading two at the same time. As she noticed me she said," Alex dear I have to postpone our lesson as I'm working and will only be free in two or three hours but your grandpa would teach you in the meantime."
As I thought of asking her once more about the thing she was researching but then I remembered that she said to me that she will tell me in due time but when will be the 'due time' as I thought about it I then nodded and went outside the study as I closed the door and went towards the room with no doors as I went inside grandpa was already sitting on the chair as he said," now that you have met with your grandma I will be switching places with her. Alex have you read the herbology book that I gave you a few days ago."
As I nodded and said," I didn't get the chance to finish the whole book but I have read about many plants and herbs."
As he nodded and said," so how about a little test. As it will help me in assessing your knowledge and in which ways should I teach you more about herbology. Also if you can answer ten questions that I ask you will get a reward. So how about it. Are you ready?"
And I nodded as I had only one focus to get that reward. And so it began as he asked his first question," So, now Alex, tell me which plant is also known as ROYAL STAFF?
As he started the first question I tried to remember it as I have read it in the book's first few pages and after thinking about it I answered," the other name for Royal Staff is Asphodel."
As he heard this he said," very good Alex. Now for the next question tell me. Where will you find wolfsbane."
After he asked me the next question I once again thought about it as I saw it in the book which was some of the first plants I searched for. For certain reasons. And after recalling it I said," Wolfsbane according to the book can be found anywhere where any type of the poisonous plant is located and it can also be found in some of the muggle nurseries as well."
And he said," good." And then the test went on and on for two hours as I was now answering the passage-type questions and the uses of different types of plants with herbs some of the questions were about the uses of the roots. Some were about the use of the stem. Some about the use of leaves. And some about the use of the flowers.
As the question and answers test was over grandpa said," Well done Alex. You have almost studied the herbology book and I am very proud of you. You have answered most of the questions well. Well, I had mentioned to you to only answer but you went with the whims of this old man so thank you."
As I hurriedly said," it's not like that grandpa as I also had fun in this question and answer test and I would love it if you did some more of such tests. As it will give me more pressure to learn and perform well."
As he laughed and said," well then I will prepare for that in the future when I will take some more tests. Now for the reward how about next week I will give it to you when you come to stay with us."
As I nodded and that was the end of the lessons with grandpa and I was sent to my room to rest as I lay on my bed I started my occlumency and reviewed all the things that were in the test.
A few more hours went by and I was called by grandma as she had finished her work and came to my room and then I went with her to another room because the study was now packed with what grandma was researching and also with all the books.
We went inside the room as it had two chairs and other than that there was nothing. I asked grandma about it," grandma why this room has only two chairs."
And she replied, " oh we have moved some things out as this room was already empty before so it doesn't matter. We will be making a potion lab for you to learn about potions and brewing techniques."
As we sat down on the chairs she said," Now then you have already made a lot of progress and you are now very close to completing your mind defense shield. Now focus."
And we started our lesson it was just like always as I continued to block her with my mind shield and she continued to try and pierce the and I defended and produced more and more shield as it continued till the sunset and I had managed to successfully create two more mind shields and the total count of the shields has come to eight and in a few more days my first mind defense shield will be ready and I will be able to go to next phase of the occlumency.
But all that will be revealed in the next chapters so until then toodles.
------------------( scene end )------------------------
Hello, again readers hope you liked the chapter. A new arc is approaching but it will be/ can be a short/ long one maybe a little tragic or not.
So I will like to thank you again for the support.
Thankyou.