"So, did you do it?"
Allen thought it over for a moment before answering. "I have a prototype right here," He pointed at his trunk. "But it's only on parchment, since I couldn't really use magic to test it out."
"Right, of course." Armand nodded in agreement.
"What about your summer?"
"It went…" Allen stopped for a moment. "Surprisingly fast, considering how a certain someone dumped extra homework on me." He let a grin show on his face.
"Ah, c'mon, you would have ended up doing it anyways, wouldn't you?"
A grunt escaped his mouth as he agreed to it.
Narcissa Malfoy couldn't help it but smile at the scene in front of her. Armand used to be a real serious kid before going to Hogwarts, but after he made friends with the two boys he spoke with in the express towards the castle, his attitude began to change to a more lighthearted one.
She hoped for things to stay the same, even for a little longer.
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With a pop, a house elf appeared right in front of them, carrying wooden swords in his arms. "Here are the swords Mr Armand requested."
"Thank you Dobby, you can drop them on the table." He gestured with his hand and with another pop, the elf left the room, bidding them goodbye.
"Wooden swords?" Allen asked, with a raised eyebrow.
Armand shrugged his shoulders. "If it were only up to my father, he would have agreed to try with real swords, but my mother didn't like the idea, so we reached a compromise with wooden swords.
Besides, it's better for you, isn't it? Now you don't have to use your mother's sword as a test subject for the enchantments."
He placed his hand to his chin. "You are right, okay, let's do it." He took out the parchments filled with notes about flying brooms and swords.
Allen took one of the swords and put the others to the side with a wave of his wand.
"First of all, there needs to be a stabilizing charm, so it can change the weight accordingly, then…" He began to cast the spells, one after another onto the wooden sword.
After what felt like an eternity, he was finally done. Armand looked at him expectantly with large eyes. "Time for the test of fire." Exclaimed Allen, hiding Hestia in his sleeve, then put his hand forward, just above the handle of the sword.
"Up!" He cried towards the sword, channeling his magic to his voice and hand.
He felt the sword react, and it shook from left to right for a bit then it stopped.
Allen shouted again, the power of his magic managed to make the sword handle to fly to his hand.
"Ha! Hahahah," A laugh left his mouth as he turned around to see the look on Armand's face. "I did it!"
"Yeah!" He responded equally excitedly. "Now time for the real REAL test, don't you agree?"
They nodded at each other before running towards Armand's garden. "Draco and I usually use it for flying our brooms, though of course I asked for an instructor for him, since his form was all messed up and I didn't want to teach him wrongly just because I took flying lessons from madam Hooch."
"Where is he by the way?" Allen asked, it would be the fist time he gets in close contact with one of the characters who are closer to the main plot in Hogwarts.
"Father went out with him, they'll be back later."
He nodded in response.
When they reached the garden, Allen put down the sword on top of the grass and stood on top of the wooden blade, he closed his eyes and took a big breath, then opened them again just as he realized the air he was holding.
His magic ran through him, making the charms on the sword to activate and float, only a few centimeters over the ground, but it was enough to make them cry out of happiness.
"Okay, okay! Now try to fly forward so you can tests its flying capabilities." Said Armand excitedly.
Allen nodded and began to fly forward. The stabilization charm worked as intended, except for the part where he kept on waving his arms, trying to stabilize himself, even thought the charm prevented that type of situations. 'There must've been something wrong with the way I applied the charm since I shouldn't be losing my balance.'
One lap, two laps, three laps. The more he flew around the garden, the better he managed to get the hang of the sword and he even tried to put his hands behind his back as he did the laps.
He didn't know how he looked to Armand, but right now he felt like one of the main characters from martial arts novels he used to read before.
The grin on his face and the slight blush betrayed him and instead of looking like one of the main characters from a novel, he looked more like an overly excited child.
----------------------
After the two of them did a few laps around the garden, Dobby popped right in front of them, asking for their presence in the main hall, he looked a bit beaten up, whether it was because of a self-inflicting punishment or because the lord of the mansion did it, he didn't know.
He felt his stomach drop as they began to walk back. He knew that he would need to face Lucius Malfoy one day ever since he became friends with Armand, but if he were to be honest, he wanted to be at least more proficient in magic before meeting with someone who his parents obstructed at every opportunity in their quest for blood purity.
Armand also had a paler look on his face, he looked nervous about letting them meet, after all, Allen was also a mugleborn, something his father clearly despised.
As they arrived, Lucius Malfoy was talking with Draco, which made them stop when they saw them.
"Ah, Armand, so… this, must be your friend." He said with a cold tone.
"Yes, father, and he is going to stay with us for a few weeks, before he goes to Mr Bailey's mansion.
You remember that you gave me permission, correct?"
Lucius let out a disgruntled noise in the form of agreement before he took his leave. "It was a… pleasure to meet you, Mr Lionheart," He said his last name with a venomous tone. "But I must take my leave now.
Armand, Draco, I'll see the two of you later." When he finished talking, he walked past them without looking back.
'Well, so much for a first impression… Wait, aren't I in the Malfoy's mansion right now? If I wanted, I could sneak out the diary before Lucius even thinks about using it against Ginny Weasley!'
A plan began to form in his mind, of course, the diary would be under strict supervision and scrutiny, after all, it was something Voldemort left to Lucius to take care of for him.
'First of all, it would be necessary for me to find exactly where it is and what kind of aura it emits so I can create a suitable replacement.' It would be too suspicious if he stole it the same day he arrived at the mansion.
He would need to go back to his vaults to 'see' the specific magic in the rest of the horcruxes and how he could copy it, but for now, there were more pressing matters at hand.
A small, blonde head looked at him expectantly from almost all the way to the ground.
"So, ummm, are you Armand's friend?" The small Draco asked as he looked up towards Allen. "The one who he told me he always fight with for the first spot in grades?"
"Yes, and, well, yes, I guess. I just really like studying about magic, and I guess Armand is the same." He let out a grin show on his face as he answered.
"But, in the last couple of grades, I've been better, so tell your brother to pull his weight, otherwise I might take the number one spot." Allen said jokingly, making Armand chuckle as well.
"We'll see about that next semester." He said with a grin on his face.
"Umm, then, do you know how to use magic better than my brother?" He asked again, making the lighthearted tone of the conversation drop.
"We- Well, there's no need to find that out between friends, is it?" Allen tried to change the topic.
"I agree. Instead, Draco, do you want to see the flying sword Allen made? Maybe he even would let you use it if you ask him nicely enough."
His eye shone with excitement as he turned towards Allen. "Can I ride it, please?"
He looked at Draco with an eyebrow raised and a questioning look on his face. "Sure, but only if Mrs Malfoy agrees to it."
"Let me go ask mother!" He exclaimed as he went running towards her.