"You're improving quite rapidly, Axel". Randolph spoke to me as we both were eating dinner. It had been several months at this point since I came here, and the time flew by.
Unlike when I was in the Black Forest, I felt each day meld into one, as there was no looming sense of death being here. In the Black Forest, I counted my days, feeling as though any could be the last.
"Your carving skills are extremely delicate despite your young age; it honestly makes me a little jealous. When I was your age, I could barely carve into wood, let alone make a 'handle' for a broom."
I smiled a bit abashedly at Randolph's words. It had felt like a long time since I was actually praised for something genuinely. The last couple of years was usually "Stupid Subject" this or "Fucking Idiot" that.
"Thank you, Randolph… I've had a good teacher, after all."
Randolph laughed heartily hearing my praise towards him.
Currently, I was able to carve a broom's handle with some adeptness. I wasn't near the level of Randolph by any means, but it had gotten decent enough to a point where Randolph actually gave me praise.
Unfortunately, this was the most I could accomplish currently. The latter parts of broomstick making all required the use of charms and magic, something I was not capable of without my own wand.
I had asked Randolph if I could get a wand, but he told me that it was the same all over Europe; you needed to be 11 years old to get your wand. I was partly hoping that some customs might be slightly skewed depending on the country and its ministry of magic/magical governance, but it seemed the rule was strict.
As we continued to eat, the crackling of the fireplace filled the room with a sense of comfort. I really cherished these moments, considering what had happened to me so far since I arrived in this world. Taking things slow and steadily progressing let me be at ease for now; I knew, though, eventually this comfort would start to disappear.
The Blighthearts were still a concern of mine. The Blackfangs probably dealt them a hefty blow, but there was an extremely high chance of their family being embedded into the wizarding world at all corners. Alongside this, if Jason escaped the Black Forest, he would be seeking me out specifically.
If I was ever to be at peace in this world, allowed to seek my own desires, that family needed to be uprooted in its entirety.
Randolph stared at me as my face became a bit serious, thinking on these points. Putting down his cutlery, he spoke.
"I've been thinking, Axel… Did you want to go to a magic school when you turn 11?"
While I had mentioned a wand to Randolph, I never mentioned school. Seeing him bring it up himself, he may have gathered that I had some reservations still about attending a wizarding school.
"I do… but I still don't know what school I want to go to…"
Randolph looked perplexed. "Surely you would go to Hogwarts, right? I mean, you are an Englishman at the end of the day…"
I shook my head slightly, dismissing the idea. I didn't know what to say to Randolph on this point, so the best I could do was give him a non-answer.
"While that does seem like the logical idea… part of me wants to attend a different school instead. I feel as though at Hogwarts I may be in some danger…"
I left my statement open-ended, and Randolph seemed to piece together his own theory on why I didn't want to go.
I could guess that maybe he thought someone in the Black Forest that was chasing me was related to Hogwarts or something, and while that was incorrect completely, I wouldn't put effort into explaining myself further.
After all, if I explained the main reason why, he'd either view me as crazy, stating I was not from this world and knew what the world's 'story' was.
Randolph stroked his beard for a moment before suggesting, "You could always go to Beauxbatons; I know one of the teachers there and can put in a word for you."
Hearing him suggest Beauxbatons was a surprise, and I was happy to hear him trying to help. I still had one concern, though: the language barrier there.
"Beauxbatons has students from all over Europe, as far as I remember, right? Surely, I'd struggle with the languages."
Randolph's eyes widened, and he suddenly laughed.
"You don't need to worry about that, Axel. Most teachers speak in English during lessons, anyway! English, after all, is the 'universal language' in the muggle world, and that stands true in the magic world as well."
Hearing Randolph make this comment made me realize I was being a bit too cautious on the matter in retrospect. In the books, after all, most of the Beauxbatons students did speak English. The headmistress also did as well. Seems my worries were unfounded…
"Although… I guess you would be a bit worried, considering other students may not be able to speak perfect English."
Randolph pulled out his wand and flicked it towards both his and my plate. They both levitated and headed over to the kitchen area and began to clean themselves.
Resting his hand on his chin, he seemed to be contemplating something. I sat silently, wondering what he was going to say. Eventually, he seemed to come to some sort of resolution in his mind as he spoke up again.
"I'll tell you what… you told me your birthday was soon, right? Near Christmas?"
I'm surprised Randolph remembers that… I only told him my birthday randomly when I was healing in bed the first month of being here. It had been a while since then, yet he kept that knowledge in his brain.
"Yeah… That's right…"
Randolph stood up with a smile and headed upstairs. I headed from the dining room to the living room and sat myself down on a comfy chair, waiting to see what plan he had cooked up. After some noises and clattering, I heard a loud "Aha!" followed by footsteps coming back down the stairs.
Randolph came over to me with a necklace in his hand. Handing the necklace over to me, I grabbed it tepidly and looked at it.
The necklace's chain was gold, and at the end of the chain was a compass. The compass looked incredibly mystical, though from first glance. Staring at the compass, I noticed that the normal cardinal positions of North, East, South, and West weren't present on it. Instead, runes seemed to surround each part of the circle.
Randolph spoke out, breaking me out of my stupor.
"That device is called the Polyglot's Compass. As you can probably guess by the name, it should help calm your worries. I got this necklace from my father when I was young; he gave it to me with the intention of its use being for 'business dealings'. At this point, though, I don't really need it anymore, as I'm not involved with the company in that way now."
Looking at the compass, I smiled. "Thank you, Randolph, this is a great early gift."
"Don't worry about it… I do have something else as well, but I'll give that to you on Christmas instead... Oh, and by the way, that device isn't omnipotent. You can understand most languages being spoken to you, but you won't be able to speak those languages back. Also, magical languages like Gobbledegook don't work at all… they just come out as pure Gobbledegook."
I shook my head.
"This is plenty useful, Randolph. I'll put in some effort whilst at the school if I do need to speak any other languages at any time, so don't worry. This will just make the process easier over time."
Randolph smiled as he saw me appreciating the gift he gave. After a few more moments of discussion, he explained he would send a letter to his connection in the faculty of Beauxbatons to ensure my enrolment September next year.
I'd have 9 more months here to prepare myself. I planned to use all that time to prepare as much as possible.
.
Christmas closed in quickly after that, and I spent my time until then practicing as normal. On my actual birthday, Randolph got me a simple cake and gave me the day off to relax. I took him up on that and relaxed to my fullest on my birthday enjoying the serenity.
After that, I carved brooms in the day, helping Randolph as well, and trained my Obscurus control at night. Hearing that Randolph had something planned for me this Christmas made me want to get him something as well.
The only thing I had, though, was the wood from the Black Forest, still in my room, that he was interested in… however, even though it was Randolph, I couldn't bring myself to give this to him.
Instead, I opted for working on a broom handle specifically for Randolph in secret.
For some of the nights leading up to Christmas, I spent my time in my practice area behind the shed carving away at the broom. I put a ton of effort into this handle, as usually, I'd be able to complete one in a day with Randolph in the workshop. Every cut, every detail, I made as delicately as possible.
On Christmas Eve, the snow was falling softly, coating the surrounding hills and trees with a white blanket. The air was crisp, and my breath was visible as I slowly carved away at the broom handle in front of me. My hands were cold, but I was nearly done.
After a few more careful carves, I let out a long exhale. My visible breath seemed to coat the broom as I looked at it with some pride.
"Finally done…"
There were still some rough areas despite me spending days on the broom handle, but I had poured everything into this.
Maybe it was the connection I felt between Randolph and my father, but for some reason, I viewed him closely enough that I felt like I had to do this. Also, considering that he saved me as well and also allowed me to practice making broom handles, it felt necessary to give him something.
I felt my body shiver as my focus finally strayed away from the broom. The winter wind awoke me from my thoughts, and I stood up quickly, heading slowly into Randolph's home, up the stairs, and quietly into my room to sleep.
I didn't have any wrapping for the broom handle, so I grabbed some newspapers lying around and used them as a way to wrap the handle.
It seemed like a good idea at first until I saw all the moving faces from the newspaper distorted and warped with different facial expressions and poses. Looking at the newspapers wrapped around the broom in the corner of my room, a single sentence escaped my mouth;
"Looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight…"