21 December
"Are you sure you'd rather celebrate your birthday at your house, rather than here?"
Sophia nodded her head up and down, staying quiet, without saying anything.
"You know you can talk, right? we used the sticking charm for a reason." Allen said, pointing his finger at his cheek.
She frowned at him but after a minute or two spoke up. "I know. But it's already hard to eat and sleep like this, I don't think I would enjoy my birthday very much if we celebrated it with all of us having a leaf in our mouths."
"That is true." Armand said from his side.
Allen shrugged. "Alright then, do you want your birthday gifts when we are at your house as well?"
Sophia nodded again. "I don't wanna be too surprised and end up swallowing my mandrake leaf by accident."
…
"That's fair, then the gifts can wait.
Then, how about a cake?"
She shook her head again. "Nothing until after we are done!" Sophia exclaimed, raising her arms in the air.
"Alright, alright, no need to get mad!" Allen exclaimed, trying to calm Sophia down.
'Guess I'll have to save my gift then. It's not like it was something special to begin with.'
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Allen woke up in the bed that was designated to him in Sophia's mansion, it was one of the multiple rooms they had for guests. When he opened his eyes, he felt as if he stared straight at a computer monitor, or TV for hours, everything besides his eyes was well rested. They burned a bit and his eyelids had a tint of red around them, up and down, almost like if he stayed up crying, though he didn't.
He rubbed his eyes a few times but it hurt him after a while so he decided to stop altogether.
When he finished taking a shower, he looked at his eyes in the mirror, they were the familiar brown he was used to before going to Hogwarts. Oh wow, haven't seen that in a while.
He focused his magic to activate it but it burned him. "Argh! What the-?!" He quickly reached for his eyes with his hands, rubbing them again.
'I… guess that means I have to rest today as well.' He let out a sigh before walking outside the bathroom.
After he finished changing, he picked up Sophia's gift from his trunk, as well as other stuff he might need, and took out his friend's gifts for Christmas, leaving a small note for the house elf to put the gifts under the tree after they've all gone to sleep today.
Closing the door behind him, he closed his eyes, then opened them up a bit to see at least where he was going.
He walked towards the dining room, where he supposed they were having breakfast. There, only Mr and Mrs Bailey were up, he could tell because they greeted him, and not because he saw their magic.
First time in a couple of months that he hasn't seen anyone's magic, it actually surprised him how weird it felt.
"Good morning, Allen. Did you sleep well?" Asked Mrs Bailey.
Allen hummed in agreement. "Though my eyes feel tired."
Mrs Bailey let out a chuckle after seeing the red tint around his eyes. "Do you need a potion or something, dear?"
"I… don't know if a potion would work."
"Then, how about a healer? We have a family healer that always answers our call, it doesn't matter the time or the day." Said Mr Bailey, joining the conversation.
"That… That would be nice, Sir."
"For now, come and eat breakfast, the girls still aren't up, and your other friends haven't come yet, they might arrive together with the Professor you guys were talking about."
Professor? "Ah! The animagus professor!" Allen exclaimed, then quickly put his hands to his mouth.
Sophia's parents looked at him, then at each other and laughed a bit. "Don't worry, dear, our Sophie told us everything, even before you and your friends started it.
Of course, we gave her the okay to start the process since she convinced us, telling us that one of her friends hired a professor who specialized in this magic, otherwise we wouldn't have let her do it."
"Ah! I see, yeah, it makes sense." 'Why did I thought that no one asked permission from their parents? Isn't that the normal thing to do? Is it because I've been influenced by the books and think something like that is normal?'
"Come eat breakfast, then we can continue or conversation." Finished Mrs Bailey.
Allen obliged, with his eyes half-closed half-open, he sat down in one of the chairs that were a bit away from Mr Bailey.
Half an hour later, Sophia and Elsie woke up, still in their pajamas. "Ah! What are you doing here?!" Sophia shouted.
"Wha-? What do you mean?! You invited me, remember?" Allen asked dumbfounded.
"I know, but! Aah!" She cried as she ran back to her room, grabbing Elsie with her.
After a few minutes they came back, wearing their robes now, instead of their pajamas.
Sophia sat down next to her mum while Elsie sat next to Sophia's dad.
"So… Umm, at what time are Armand and William coming?" Elsie asked.
"Oh, they told me they would be here around 2pm or so." Sophia cleared her throat after drinking a bit of water.
"Apparently they'll bring Professor Chará with them, is that okay, dad?"
"Of course, it's okay, but we'll be there when it's time for your class, alright? Even if your friend's parents hired someone, it doesn't hurt to be careful." Mr Bailey explained after he finished the last piece of his breakfast.
"Now then, finish your breakfast, then you can go and hang around until Healer Robbs comes." Her dad said as he stood up.
"Healer Robbs? What happened?" Sophia's face turned a bit pale.
"Don't worry, pumpkin. Allen here doesn't feel too good, so we are going to ask him to come take a look." Mrs Bailey put her hand on top of Allen's shoulder as she spoke.
"Ah! You still feel bad?"
Allen thought about for a moment. Its not like he feels bad, but rather, it hurts to activate his magic, so he wants someone to check on him, just to be safe. "Kind of, I feel my eyes burning, like if I cried the whole night or something."
Sophia pushed through, forgetting any kind sense of personal space, grabbing his face. And moving it up and down to inspect it. "You are right, it does look like you cried all night."
"I- I didn't!" He said quickly.
"I know you didn't."
He sighed relieved. "It was probably my magic, you know, since it wouldn't obey me and it stayed on my eyes for the whole day."
"Hmm, well, let's leave that for Healer Robbs to figure it out, in the meanwhile, the three of us can do something until he arrives." Sophia grabbed Allen's arm and Elsie did the same, guiding him out of the dining room.
"See you later, mum, dad."
"See you later, uncle, aunt."
"Ah- Wa- Wait" Mr Bailey stuttered but they were already gone.
Mrs Bailey, on the other hand, gave him a pitting look. "Don't worry, dear. They are just kids, and besides, you already put one of the elves to watch over them."
"Ri- Right, I just worry. Sophie never had a friend that understood her, besides Elsie, that is."
She gave him a doubtful look. "You are just worrying because he is a boy."
"I… will refrain myself from any comments." He finished, giving her wife a small kiss on the lips, then taking his leave.
She rolled her eyes in an endearing manner before leaving as well.
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"So, how does it feel to be back home after so long?" Allen asked Sophia, turning to his side, even with his eyes closed.
"Oh, well, it's okay. I did miss my parents, even though Hogwarts it's good."
Allen nodded. "How about you, Elsie?"
"I missed home, and mum and dad." She said, nodding her head.
"What about you, Allen? Did you want to leave Hogwarts?" He could tell the two of them were looking at him intently.
He stayed quiet for a moment. Between Hogwarts and whatever happened at the train station, of course he preferred Hogwarts, but that's not all he should take into consideration, after all, he was with his friends, and they would know if they'll manage to become animagus at an early age.
The pros outweigh the cons. "I think I prefer you."
"Uh?! Wha- What does that mean?!" Allen felt a slap on his shoulder, most likely from Sophia's hand.
"Why?! I just answered your question!" He complained.
"But don't answer like that, dummy!"
"Okay, okay, I prefer being here, with my friends. Is that better?"
"Hmm. You should've done that from the very beginning."
He let out a long sigh, while Elsie chuckled at their interaction.
"Why are you laughing Elsie?" A defeated tone could be heard in Allen's voice.
A joyful tone escaped Elsie's mouth. "Well, I did say that Sophia was like that when we first met."
!!!
"You did, you did indeed." He sighed again. After that, Elsie changed the topic to Herbology, she was interested in knowing what they thought of the current plants they were studying, as well as their methods to handle them.
Sophia answered excitedly, doing a one-eighty on her attitude, apparently they both enjoyed Herbology a deal more than Armand and William, it didn't really look that way to him before, but now he made a mental note for the next time to buy them something related to the class, maybe a harmless plant that doesn't explode, or have boils for that matter.
He'd have to look them up later.
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Their conversation deranged into whether a devil's snare could beat up a frozen vine. When he asked what was so special about a frozen vine, is that it works almost the same as a devil's snare, the difference is that it absorbs the heat of the people or living beings it manages to trap in its vine-like-tentacles, then after it has drained all of the heat, it frees the victim.
Allen wondered what was even the point of plants like this in the world, but apparently, Elsie also had an answer for that.
"The frozen vine is used to treat frostbite, apparently, if you use it in the first two hours, you can save any limb from being cut off.
The way it works is that all the heat that the vine absorbs during its life it's brought forth with the process of the potion." Elsie explained excitedly.
"Uh, that actually makes it useful, well, in cold places at least, not here." Allen answered surprised that a killing plant actually had a use.
"Then, what about the devil's snare?" He asked, curiosity piqued his interest, but the tone in Elsie's voice betrayed him.
"Ah… Well… It can… Be a good trap…?" She asked herself doubtfully.
"It doesn't have any use, does it?" He couldn't see, but he could tell that the two girls were a bit angry now.
"We told you, not every plant needs to have a use!"
"Ye- Yeah, what Sophie said!"
The two exclaimed, holding him tighter from his arms.
It continued like this until Healer Robbs arrived.
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Sophia's parents were walking behind him, and in the front was Healer Robbs, meanwhile, in the middle, Sophia on his left, Elsie on his right. They were still holding him hostage while walking towards the room they use for any examination performed by the healer.
Since Healer Robbs is their personal healer, this room could be said to be his as well. So he didn't let anyone in to keep it in pristine conditions, the cleaner a room is, the better to treat any kind of sickness.
"Young ladies, thank you for accompanying Mr Lionheart until here, but I can take it from here."
They let go of his arms, a bit disappointed but obeyed nonetheless.
Healer Robbs put his hand on top of Allen's shoulder, guiding him to an empty chair inside the room, once inside, he proceeded to ask questions about what happened, how, and why.
"Before I do it. Everything stays in confidentiality, right?" Allen asked.
"That's right, even though you are not my direct patient, you are still a guest of the Baileys, and therefore, the same treatment extends to you.
Now, let's see. Can you open your eyes for me to see?" A gentle tone could be heard from the healer.
Allen sighed internally. If he wanted to be treated, he had to be completely honest, even if it meant letting someone else know exactly about his eyes.
He opened his eyes, still a brown colour. The healer tried to not show it on his face, but he wondered why exactly they called him, since he looked fine.
That's when Allen began to explain what happened yesterday, and also how he uses his eyes. He tried to not tell him a lot, just enough so that he can understand the context of what happened, hoping so that he wouldn't expose every one of his secrets.
After a small explanation the healer showed an understanding look. "So it's something similar to a metamorphmagus, something you are innately born with. Am I correct?"
Allen doubted for a moment before answering. "I… think so, yeah. Honestly, I'm not too sure either. I just know that it happens, and that my mother had the same ability."
This time, curiosity came over the healer, he wanted to find out the uses and how it came to be. "I think I have something about that here, give me a moment."
He nodded while the healer began to rummage his suitcase, probably enchanted with a bottomless spell or space spell, to expand the area of use. After a minute or two, he took out a book in a different language, he couldn't really read the title but Allen assumed that it was something dumb like the previous books he had found in Hogwarts.
"Aha! Here it is. I knew I remembered it from somewhere. Ocular abilities are more likely to appear in the eastern side of the world, meaning that your mother most likely had some ancestry from Asian countries, it probably activated in her, then passed it down to you, and most likely your children will have it as well." Healer Robbs couldn't stop talking after finding out something that piqued his interest.
Allen retracted a bit, surprised by the sudden change in the healer. "Ah, but, my mother didn't really have a… Well, her name was completely British, is what I'm trying to say."
When Allen finished talking, Healer Robbs jumped out of his seat. "That's what ancestry means, boy! Maybe your grandparents, or even great-grandparents, or even more way back in your family line!"
He hesitated a bit before answering. "I… see, but… How can this help me fix them?" Allen pointed at his eyes.
"Knowing where we come from is the first step to understanding, and a way to fix something! For now, you've told me it happened after your eyes activated because of a stressful situation and they wouldn't deactivate, no matter what.
You went to sleep like that and woke up with a kind of ache every time you tried to activate them again, correct?" The healer asked him, doing a few spells around Allen with his wand.
"Yes, that's right." Allen answered truthfully, hoping for this to pass.
Healer Robbs pocketed his wand after a few tests. "From the information I would say that it's something similar to magic overuse. Of course, that's just my preliminary analysis.
I can give you a few eye potions to help with the irritation, and another one to help you stabilize your magic quicker. I don't have them on me right now, but I can floo away and be back in a moment with the corresponding potions."
He finished writing something in a piece of parchment and passed it to him. It was the prescription and how to use the potions. When Healer Robbs was about to leave for the floo, Allen stopped him.
"I… They don't know my eyes are brown instead of green… So… I was hoping for… something? You know, to cover my eyes, please?" He begged the healer since he was getting a bit tired of being led everywhere by Sophia and Elsie.
Healer Robbs looked at him curiously, then a small smile appeared on his face. A smile he didn't like how it looked. "I believe it would be better for you to rest your eyes Mr Lionheart, therefore, I'd say that the best course of action is to keep them closed.
I'll inform your little helpers of course, I'm sure they'll be glad to help you, then, I'll be back!"
"Ah! Wait!" But the healer left through the floo after saying his piece.
Allen covered his mouth with his hand, trying to hide his embarrassment, his face turned to a shade of red even he was aware of. "Goddammit."