London - 30th Kinnerton Street (11:30 AM - 5th June 1885)
Just before noon, a tiny brown owl reached the home of the Polaris family, with a letter from the Ministry of Magic in her beak.
This letter was evidently the answer concerning the problem of Nick's parents, and Alice almost jumped on the owl to snatch the letter, while Arthur brough some food to calm down the poor owl, who was shocked and indignant at being aggressed in such a way.
"The letter is finally here ! Come here Nick !" Alice said while opening the letter before she started to read it out loud once Nick finally reached the living room.
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"Dear Mr and Mrs Polaris,
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We are saddened to hear that such a terrible thing has happened, magic-hating muggles have been a problem for centuries now and we unfortunately cannot do much about it without breaking the statute of secrecy.
The idea you have proposed however, conforms to what is usually done in such situations and has received the approval from Mr. Faris Sparis, the minister for Magic, as well as Hogwarts' Headmaster, Mr. Phineas Nigellus Black and his Deputy Headmistress, Mrs. Mathilda Weasley.
So we are pleased to inform you that the young Nick Lapis' guardianship will be assigned to you, after a short investigation has been conducted concerning your ability to care for the child, humanly and financially speaking.
The guardianship will be officially transferred to you on 12th June if you pass, otherwise the child will be placed in an orphanage and the Headmaster of Hogwarts will become his legal guardian according to the law about underage wizards.
The obliviation team will be sent to the child's muggle parents home on 9th June at 10 AM, to fake the death of their child and make them, as well as anyone else who has been made aware, forget the existence of magic, as you have proposed in your letter. They will also conduct your evaluation concerning the guardianship the same day, in the afternoon around 4 PM.
Yours truly,
Anne Belladonna, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic"
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The matter was going to be solved very soon it seemed, in a few days the Lapis would *witness their child's death* and be obliviated of their memories about the Hogwarts Headmistress' speech and their knowledge of their son being a wizard.
Nick was going to be adopted pretty soon, and the Polaris were confident they would gain his guardianship. In their minds, the evaluation was more of a detail, even a farce to show the ministry cares when it actually intends to give away the guardianship to anyone willing, Nick was a muggleborn after all, not a noble or even a halfblood.
But for the ministry, showing a little bit of support would raise the opinion of the Ministry of Magic in the eyes of the wizarding population, showing they care about everyone while renewing the disgust and hatred of muggles. It would also lower the hate against the muggleborn themselves by replacing it with a bit of pity while directing the rest toward their muggle parents and finally it would further incense the nobles and their disdain for muggles.
All in all, a pretty cheap way to boost their image a bit and help the muggleborns while still making the nobles happy. Arthur even betted, with his father, that *Nick's story and how the ministry saved him from his terrible muggle parents* would be published in the Daily Prophet very soon.
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London - 6th Kinnerton Street (10:00 AM - 9th June 1885)
Nick's parents were getting pretty stressed. Their son had run away more than a week ago, and he still wasn't back. Although they had chosen to play the long game, they hadn't believed their son would avoid them for so long, and it was making them really frustrated and restless.
They both were part of the *truth seekers*, a complotist group, and a pretty extreme one at that, for this reason they feared and loathed the magical nature of their son, and yet, as parents a small part of them was a bit worried and impatient to see him again, which was the reason why they were so restless. They both hated him and missed him at the same time, their whole worldviews were heavily shaken, and they didn't know how to feel about it.
Worse, as humans, their greed knew no bounds so they had started to envy and covet their son's magical abilities. After all, if their son had it…why not them ?
So they were impatient to see how their son could do it, to see if they could do it too. And even if they couldn't, they could still use their son to find a way to give them magic one way or another.
Who wouldn't want to be able to alter reality with a few words ?
Magic can do anything, so how could giving magic to someone else be impossible ?
And why not use their son to spy on the wizarding world while they are at it ?
As they had realized their son was just too important to just leave him be and a small part of them still wished to see him come back home for more selfless reasons, they had chosen to keep the matter about their son a secret from the *truth seekers*, just in case, and they had tried to get him back from the Polaris family several times, without success.
They knew how badly they had reacted toward their own son when they had learned he could use magic, their reaction had been less than optimal, and now he didn't want to come back home. And the worst part was the chilling realisation that they would have been way less hesitant to hurt and kidnap him in order to forcefully interrogate him in their basement if he wasn't their son.
Knowing their fellow *truth seekers* would undoubtedly do exactly that if they got wind of this information, they chose to keep it a secret, both to get the most out of it themselves and to help their son avoid such a grim fate.
So they hadn't told anyone or made any physical copies of the things they had learned during the last few days because of their distressed state of mind…and it would cost them dearly.
The obliviators would soon *kill* the son for whom they had so much hopes and expectations, and they would also lose the best piece of intel their complotist group had ever stumbled upon. They were going lose both their son and their best contribution to the *truth seekers* on the same day, all because they put their beliefs before their very own family.
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*swoosh* *swoosh*
Three wizards apparated on Kinnerton Street, just in front of the house with the number 6, the house of the Lapis family. The one leading the trio had managed the impressive feat of apparating silently, unlike the other two. She was a stern looking blonde woman dressed in Auror robes and was followed by two brown haired men, undoubtedly twins, also wearing Auror robes but looking young enough to be freshly graduated Hogwarts students.
"Alright trainees, you remember what we are here for ? In this house lives a couple of magic-hating muggles. You need to search through their memories to find out what their son looks like and if they have talked about magic to anyone. Then obliviate them of any information they have about magic and fake the death of their son in front of them. You have thirty minutes, and this time you better not forget to cast the muggle-repellent charms before doing anything !"
"Yes boss !"
The twins then started to disillusion themselves to become invisible before casting a dozen of muggle-repellent and notice-me-not charms on the house, to make sure that no muggle would disturb them and anyone looking in the direction of this house would subconsciously ignore it.
They then used the unlocking charm to open the door and cautiously invaded the house, finding the couple in the living room, completely unaware of their intrusion. They used a stunning spell on each of them, which stopped the couple from making any conscious movement, other than breathing.
Their boss was looking at the scene from outside, using special glasses used to see through walls and was inwardly pretty pleased by her subordinates' performance so far.
The twins then started to use the mind arts, more specifically Legilimency, to look at the couple's memories, before obliviating them of any memory related to magic and making them fall asleep with a weak slumbering charm.
The hardest part was to make them witness the death of their son. They had found out what Nick looked like and they both had the skills to transfigurate a copy of him but they did not know how to *kill* him in a way that muggles would find natural.
After some deliberation and because the thirty minutes deadline was getting closer and closer, they chose to do it with a simple *child falling from a tree on the head* and quickly transfigurated the highest branch of one of the trees in the garden into a copy of Nick, before waking up the parents in front of the windows, to make them witness the copy fall from the tree and snap his neck when it reached the ground.
The parents, having forgotten all about their son's magic, were devastated after directly witnessing their *little prodigy and future truth seeker* die. They hurried to the garden to check if their *son* had any chance to be saved while the twin aurors, still disillusioned, exited the house and cancelled all the secrecy charms they had placed earlier, before disapparating out of Kinnerton Street…
*pop* *pop*
*swoosh* *swoosh*
And apparating inside their boss' office in the Ministry of Magic, waiting for her while she was still on Kinnerton Street to cut any loose end they could have missed. She didn't take long before apparating silently in her office, literally in her seat, facing the twins.
"Good work boys, you are getting pretty good at this now ! So, do we have to obliviate anyone else aside from this couple ?"
"No boss, they didn't share the secret of magic with anyone ! They were really strange though, they believed the world is secretly ruled by reptiles ! Haha !" The first twin just couldn't hold it and started to laugh as if he had heard the best joke of his life. The other twin then continued to talk about what they had seen in the couple's mind :
"You should have seen how adamant they were, it's so funny, and the best part is that they started to believe wizards are in fact those reptiles after Mrs. Weasley told them about magic !"
They then started to get a bit more serious after recalling the consequences and the reason why they had to obliviate them in the first place.
"What they did to their son, though…Poor boy was regularly beaten for not being good enough even though he was way above anyone his age, and when they learned he was a wizard…they wanted to use him to get magic themselves ! Foolish muggles !"
"Alright boys, I get it, as long as no one else is aware of magic, then our work here is done.
We can take a break, and afterward, we have to see how their son is being treated. He is now living with a friend whose parents have requested to get his guardianship."
The twins were not really convinced that giving his guardianship to one of his friend's parents was a good idea, even if they had been kind enough to take care of him for some time.
"If they are also muggles, his life won't be any better, they will need to be made aware of magic and he might have to go through the same thing a second time !"
"Don't worry, his friend's parents are both squibs, his friend is also a little wizard, they are apparently pretty close and will both be first years in September, so it's way better for him to stay with them than being dumped in an orphanage. And that's precisely why we are going there next anyways, to check if they are suitable.
Alright, take a break, then get that obliviation report ready before we visit them. We need to be at 30th Kinnerton Street at exactly 04:00 PM, understood ?"
"Yes boss !"
"But if the child is adopted by this family, won't he be discovered by his muggle parents since they live so close to his friend's house ? I mean, his parents live at 6th Kinnerton Street and his friend at 30th on the same street !"
"Don't worry boy, I have taken care of that, I may or may not have used a permanent compulsion charm on them, forcing them to move away and to be disgusted by the idea of having another child. They won't accidentally see their son ever again, and they won't be able to mistreat another one !"
"You are so clever, boss !" "Yeah, you really are the best Auror out there !"
"You know very well that it's not true and that your flattery will get you nowhere, I am not doing the paperwork for you ! Good try though, and who knows, it might work someday if you continue to flatter me like this ! See you later ~"
She then silently disapparated, leaving the two twins grumbling about the unfairness of having to do all the paperwork by themselves.
"She said that to get more compliments but she will never do the paperwork even if we continue, right ?"
"Yep, she's totally fishing for free compliments, bro"
"Merlin's saggy balls ! I hate paperwork ! I thought I could finally have some action after Hogwarts ! Now look at that ! Obliviating muggles is boring and the paperwork is even worse !"
"Well, I heard there is one Auror that constantly sneak attacks his subordinates while saying *constant vigilance*, so I guess it could be worse."
"You know what ? Doing some paperwork doesn't sounds so bad after all, bro"
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London - 30th Kinnerton Street (04:00 PM - 9th June 1885)
The trio of Aurors apparated just in time in front of the Polaris' house, where both Alice and William were waiting for them. The blonde Auror started to introduce herself and her team.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Polaris, I presume ? I am Auror Selene Mirage, and the twins are my subordinates, Jack and Terry Vivolis. You must have received a letter warning you that we would come to check if you are suitable for the guardianship of Nick Lapis."
"Hello Aurors, I am William Polaris, and yes we have indeed been made aware of your arrival, please come inside, my wife, Alice has prepared a tea party for you in the garden. We will be delighted to answer your questions around a cup of tea !"
The Polaris, Nick and the trio of Aurors all sat around a wooden table covered with an umbrella. Alice had prepared some Earl Gray tea for the adults and iced peach tea for the kids, as well as snacks on the side.
The blonde Auror didn't try to beat around the bush and directly started to ask questions while sipping her tea.
"Thank you for the warm welcome and the tea party Mrs. Polaris, I don't want to intrude and stay for too long, so I will start asking questions now if you don't mind. So, first…"
The questioning lasted for around 20 minutes, they asked basic questions to both Nick and the three Polaris, before the Aurors decided to visit the house to make sure Nick wouldn't be living in a cupboard and had access to relatively basic amenities, even if just seeing the house from outside made it more than clear that the Polaris are rich and don't lack anything.
In the end, they were pretty sure that Nick would be more than happy and cared for in this house, and they had spent around thirty-five minutes at the Polaris' before disapparating and apparating back in their office at the Ministry of Magic.
"So…what do you think about this family, boys ?"
"I don't see anything wrong, boss"
"Me neither, boss"
"Alright, boys, did you try to use Legilimency ?"
"I did use it on Nick, from what I have seen, he loves to be there and he already sees Arthur as his brother"
"I only passively sensed their emotions, and everything seemed fine"
"Jack, using Legilimency is illegal unless the target is a muggle ! The parents are Squibs and the children are wizards, you were not supposed to read any of their minds ! The only acceptable use of the mind arts on Wizards and Squibs is passively sensing emotions, and it should be done discreetly !"
"Sorry, boss, I was just worried the kid was treated poorly, this family was just too perfect !"
"I will cover you this time, but you better remember, there will be no next time ! Copy the law book three times as punishment ! And you have to write the report alone ! And Terry, don't help your brother, you hear me ? That's it for today, see you tomorrow boys !" And with that, Selene disapparated from her office.
"You f*cked up bro, good luck with the lines and the paperwork ! Now I can go play Quidditch with the team since I am free thanks to you !"
"I know, good for you, but at least I made sure the kid got a happy ending ! Being an Auror may not always be fun but at least I try to make the world a better place ! Now if only there could be less paperwork…"
"You said it all bro, see ya ! I will mentally support you on my broom !"
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London - 30th Kinnerton Street (08:00 PM - 12th June 1885)
The Polaris finally received the papers finalizing the long process of getting Nick's guardianship in the magical world and the ministry also took care of the muggle side, giving a real identity to Nick as the adopted child of the Polaris.
This whole ordeal had started to give Arthur some ideas, though only one was relevant for him as he still hadn't started Hogwarts yet, one involving owls and red letters, something he would have to innocently ask his parents to buy for him before going to Hogwarts.
From that day onward, Arthur and Nick could finally fully concentrate on their Occlumency and wandless Accio once again as their control over their magic had finally started to become enough for both tasks and their state of mind was back to usual after this ordeal.
Of course, Arthur had noticed that the only individual who had warned them of the Trace was the old wandmaker, convincing him that the Trace was directly on the wand to report any use of magic close to it. So just to be sure, both kids put their wands in a corner of the house and practiced as far away as possible to avoid any detection of their magical training by the Ministry of Magic. And sure enough, they noticed quick progress now that they were finally old enough.
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London - 30th Kinnerton Street (9:00 PM - 31rst August 1885)
Today was the last day before the beginning of the school year, both Arthur and Nick were ready and hyped to board the train and finally see the magical school. The last two months had been full of improvements in terms of magic, though they hadn't dared to practice anything with their wand because of Ollivander's warning and were the only wizards around, unlike how the children from magical families can practice without concern as the Trace considers that the magic comes from the adults of the house.
Concerning the summoning spell, *Accio*, Arthur and Nick had long mastered it since they had been practicing it for the last six years, the first time Arthur had successfully used it was in May, and Nick in June, they had both managed to master it wordlessly in a few weeks after that.
Training with this spell was done by attracting items very close by saying *Accio*, once they had finally managed to make the target move, they had tried to do it from a longer distance. Then once they had managed to attract their target from one side of the garden to the other, they had started doing exactly the same exercises all over again, but without chanting anything.
The summoning spell had become second nature for Arthur with all these years of training and as his first spell, he had even thought about how to use it offensively, though he would have to wait for a few years before experimenting with spellcrafting.
Afterward, Nick had opted to practice another spell wandlessly : the banishing charm *Depulso*, the opposite of the summoning charm, though he wanted to practice the fire making charm *Incendio* first, but Arthur had managed to prevent him from learning such a hazardous spell at home. So far, Nick could successfully use the banishing charm one time out of three wandlessly but couldn't do it wordlessly at all.
As for Arthur, had spent the rest of his time practicing Occlumency, the mind art pertaining to the protection and optimisation of one's mind, it was something Arthur was extremely interested in, as it would help him accumulate knowledge without end, perfectly remember it all and make links between everything he knows, allowing him to start his rise in the wizarding world. The levels of Occlumency are divided as follows : (it's not canon but specific to this fanfiction !)
The first level can be easily mastered by anyone with magic and a bit of patience, even young children can master it without being able to consciously use magic, as Arthur and Nick both did at 8 years old. This level only requires one to be aware of his own mind, which can be done simply with meditation. It improves the thought processes, and helps to concentrate for a longer time, though not by much.
The second level requires one to be able to consciously use magic, which for humans is not possible before the age of 11, plus or minus 6 months depending on the individual. Magic is used to sort all the memories, which allows one to perfectly remember anything that has been sorted that way.
The third level is the creation of a mindscape, a world inside the mind, which can take any form, the bigger the mindscape, the bigger the amount of memories that can be stored and sorted to be perfectly remembered. The fourth level consists in protecting this mindscape from the intrusion of Legilimens and to better resist any and all mind altering spell.
The third and the fourth level can never be really cleared as the mindscape can become infinitely large and its protections must evolve alongside it. As for the next levels, they are not focused on the protection of the mind but on its further optimization.
Arthur easily managed to sort all his memories to clear the second level of Occlumency, he was way faster than Nick despite having to sort his past life memories as well as those from this new life and he had even started the third level of Occlumency. Nick, however, seemed to struggle a lot more with Occlumency, and still hadn't finished sorting half of his memories before the beginning of the school year, he was still stuck on the second level.
Arthur had read and partially understood all the books from the first and second year, as well as a few on the side like the one about the mind arts or the basic knowledge of the wizarding world, and now, thanks to his newly obtained boost from Occlumency, he remembered every single line of single every book he had ever read. Including the ones from his past life, the Harry Potter series and the game Hogwarts Legacy.
He now had a big headstart on the other students, once in Hogwarts he would only need to concentrate on the practical parts of the classes, do his homework which shouldn't be too difficult in the first year and ask all the questions he had accumulated all these years. All the time the other student would waste trying to understand the classes or playing and watching Quidditch could be spent on exploring the castle, studying anything he fancied in the library or practicing spells. The coming school year was going to be easy, and most importantly full of time to do what he wants.
Arthur was grinning from ear to ear thinking about it, but his mood was suddenly soured after he came to the realisation that his new Gryffindorish brother was probably going to find a way to give him all his homework and drag him into his problems, just like Harry and Ron had done with Hermione. Just thinking about it made him feel tired, but he would deal with it later, he would let future Arthur find a solution, the current Arthur was just tired to simply think about it, and it was precisely the little push he needed to finally fall asleep.
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Author's note
And that's the end of the first volume of my novel : New Beginning, with a grand total of 26,6K words.
Next chapter will finally be the start of the second volume: Hogwarts Year 1, and you will get to see ⭐️MAGIC⭐️. And maybe the character arts. If the free version of Canvas allows me, because I don't think I have any "AI art generation" left in my account.
And yes, it's only the second volume out of the fifteen I have planned to write...Once again, don't worry, I will not drop this novel, but it will take time to reach the end, a lot of time.
I have slightly rewritten some chapters, mostly to correct mistakes and a few details. The most important thing is that I have made Nick a bit more childish in chapter 9, you don't need to re-read everything all over again.
Also, as you must have noticed, I have deleted the "Update" chapter, to make sure the 11th chapter for Webnovel is indeed the chapter 11 of this novel, but thank you for your ideas and support ! You can still continue to contribute below if you have good ideas or things that I should change/improve !
Ideas for the Hogwarts Years
Ideas for the Exploration of the World
Changes and Improvements
And a big thank you to the people who give me powerstones !
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