Rebirth In A Magical World

When we returned home, dad and I were exhausted, it felt like we had just been through a shopping war, and we lost. The only one of us who didn't look tired was my mother; she had a smug grin on her face as if everything had gone according to her master plan.

Floating behind my dad was my truck; inside was everything that I would need for the year. Looking up at the stairs and corners, we would have to haul the trunk up, once again made me grateful that I was in a family of wizards, if we had to drag the trunk by hand, it would have taken forever. As it were, dad just followed me to my room with the trunk easily following behind him.

After he dropped my trunk in the corner of my room, I eagerly opened my trunk, looking for my spellbooks for the year. Looking inside, I discovered the trunks' expansion charm; it was a little strange to look inside the trunk and see around the inside dimensions around three times the outside dimensions. Finding my books off towards the side, I grabbed the first one and turned it over to find — Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk.

The second I opened the book, my mother's voice rang out, "Alex dinner time."

Reluctantly I set the book down, knowing if I didn't head down now, my mother would lose her temper. Dinner seemed to drag on forever; time itself seemed to be mocking my d.e.s.i.r.e to practice spells with my wand for the first time. Deciding that attempting my first spell in the house was too risky, I decided to wait till night when everyone was asleep.

To pass the time, after dinner, dad and I played a few games of wizard chess. After his third loss in a row, dad threw his hands up and declared, "Your cheating somehow." Off to the side, mom and the twins laughed at dad's expression.

Thinking smugly to myself, sorry dad, but your no match for someone who has played computer chess masters before. And although wizard chess did have a few other factors to consider, like your pieces motivations, it was mainly similar to regular chess. In my previous life, one of my main pastimes at the hospital was playing chess online.

I think the final straw for my dad was when Sasha stood up and went and hugged him to comfort his loss. At first, my dad seemed to draw strength from her support and almost issued another challenge. Then she patted him on the back and sweetly said, "It's ok daddy, even though you stink at chess. I still love you."

Hearing Sasha's words, my dad's face wilted, while my mom fell off her seat, laughing uncontrollably. After catching her breath, she crowed, "This is karma, all those time beating me and gloating when we used to play, now it's your turn to lose all the time."

As the night wore on, I couldn't help but watch the clock, impatient for my chance to head to the tower. An hour after everyone had gone to sleep, I slowly my window open, wincing at the squeaks it made. After making sure the noise didn't disturb anyone, I grabbed my book and broom and took off into the night sky.

Luckily my tower master ring had some type of homing spell linked to the tower. If I concentrated, I could feel a tugging sensation in my mind, pointing the way to the tower. Upon arriving, I headed to the top of the tower where a broken branch hid a ledge with a door as soon as I landed the door melted away, leaving a gaping black hole in the tower. Once I crossed the threshold, torches on the wall began to light, and when I made it to the main floor where I found Anton sleeping in his portrait.

"Anton," I called out, want to seek his instruction before I started casting spells.

Upon hearing my voice, Anton's eyes snapped open, and he began howling, "Intruder, How dare you wake me from my slumber, prepare to meet thy doom. Your fate shall be horrible, and all will tremble in awe of my power, and the whole world shall fear my wrath… Oh, it just you, Alex."

Rolling my eye's at his antics and pulling out my new wand, I waved it threatening in his direction and joked. "You know, now that I have my wand, you might want to be a little more respectful."

He scoffed at me and said, "Bah, the great wizard Anton, fears no one."

Studying my fingernail, I innocently replied, "You know, the other day I was at my grandmother's house, and I found another painting of one of our ancestors. Her name was Elizabeth Fawley."

Upon hearing the name, Anton shuddered, and whispered, "You wouldn't dare."

Knowing that I had found a weakness, a Cheshire grin emerged on my face, "Well, I suppose I don't have to mention I found her husband's painting. I wouldn't want to see my brave mentor who fears no one, to suddenly become fearful. Especially since I will need his instruction."

Muttering to himself about how kids these days have no respect for their elders. Anton gave a small bow and asked, "How can I help you at this late hour."

Pulling out my spell-book, I eagerly responded, "It's time for me to cast my first spells. I want your advice before I do."

Nodding thoughtfully, he responded, "Before you start casting, it would be better to work on learning the different wand movements beforehand."

Tilting my head in confusion, I asked, "How many wand movements are?"

There are dozens of different movements. Such as swishes, flicks, twirls, spins, pokes, and even compound movements that combine multiple movements. If you learn how to move your wand correctly, there is less chance of your spell going out of control. I believe I had a book on wand movements in the library on the lower level."

After retrieving the book, from the library and looking over the movements, I began practicing the swish and flick movement, in anticipation of casting the levitation spell that Ron used to take down the troll in the first book. After practicing the wand movements for some time, I opened the standard book of spells book, to look up how to cast it. After memorizing the spell incantation Wingardium Leviosa and learning I needed to swish and flick my wand while saying the spell. I drew my wand and pointed it towards a wine glass that was on the desk and chanted "Wingardium Leviso" while preforming a swish and flick wand movement and concentrating on making the goblet float.

To mine and Anton's surprise, I achieved success on my first try. Having a wand made all the difference in the world when casting magic. The amount of mental effort compared to using a wand or trying to use wandless magic was night and day.

Shooting a smug grin at Anton, I could see from his expression that he was impressed that I achieved success on my first try. After a few minutes of watching the glass float around, the spell began to wear off, and it floated back down to the table. Eager to try another spell, I began to flip through my book for another to try out, when Anton interrupted, "What do you think you are doing?"

Raising an eyebrow at his question, I said, "Looking for another spell to try out, that one was too easy."

Rolling his eyes at my answer, So you cast a spell once, and you think you have learned everything there is to the spell. Let me tell you there are many different ways to use that spell. You had it float in the air; true mastery involves being able to command it completely in the air.

Hearing his response, I continued to practice the levitation charm. After thirty minutes of casting the levitation charm over and over, I realized that I was quickly becoming exhausted, and it was becoming more difficult to cast the spell. Finally, I went to cast the charm one more time, and it failed. Turning to Anton in confusion, I asked, "Why am I so tired? I feel like I can barely think, what is wrong with me?"

Rolling his eyes at my questions, he said, "What did you think you could cast spells indefinitely with no consequence. You will have to build up a mental endurance, to be honest, you did amazing for your first time, I expected you to run out of steam fifteen minutes ago."

To clarify, I said, "So it's not because I ran out of magic."

Shaking his head, Anton clarified, "Wizard don't ever run out of magic, but rather, there is a mental limitation that wizards have; it is because of the mental component that spells require. When wizard cast spells, they can become exhausted by the mental effort needed to perform the spell correctly; if they can't concentrate, they may not be able to perform the spell correctly."

Nodding my understanding, I asked, "Is there any way to improve my endurance."

Shrugging he responded, Sure all you have to do is cast spells over and over, as you get older you will also be able to last longer and longer. The mental component is like a muscle, you more you use it the stronger it gets."

After confirming with Anton that wizards can build their mental endurance, I decided that I would cast spells at the end of every day until I was too exhausted to continue. The next night I returned to the tower with more of my spell books, Pulling out my transfiguration book, I asked for my first lesson in transfiguration.

Shaking his head, Anton refused, "No, stay away from transformation magic, until a teacher teaches you, it is the most demanding subjects, and too much has the potential to go wrong. Perhaps next year when you have some experience with transfiguration we can move forward, but until then I would recommend just practicing, charms, jinxes and hexes. There is no rush to be in a hurry; you will have seven years at Hogwarts to learn more difficult magic."

Seeing how serious Anton was on the subject, I decided to follow his advice. As summer continued, I split my time at my dad's workshop and at the tower, where I practiced charms, hexes, and jinxes determined to impress my teacher at Hogwarts. By the end of the summer, I could tell Anton was half annoyed, half impressed on how easily I picked everything up. He said, "With how quickly you pick magic up, I wouldn't be surprised if you are sorted into Ravenclaw."

Having never heard him speak on the houses, I asked, "What house were you in?"

Puffing his c.h.e.s.t up, "I was in the noble house of Hufflepuff,"

Snorting in laughter, I said, "I don't know, you seem like more like a Slytherin to me. I mean you did build this dark tower in a forest, which has a lot of traps built into it. Seems kinda like what a dark lord from Slytherin would do."

Snorting in derision, he replied, "Hmpf. Shows just how little you know about the houses, Hufflepuff is the house dedicated to hard work. What could be harder than building a tower like this all by yourself? Besides, just because a few wizards from Sythernin go bad doesn't make them all evil. Plus, there has been plenty of dark wizards who have shown up in some of the other houses. Although even I will admit, more of them seem to come from the Slytherin house."

Not knowing what to think, the books seem to imply that all the dark wizards came from Slytherin house. But there is the possibility that the Harry Potter books were told from a narrow point of view. It does make sense, though if Sytherins were truly the only breeding ground for evil wizards, why would they be allowed to remain? The idea if you are sorted into a particular house either make you a hero or a villain is a childish idea.

Over the next few days, the idea of what house I would end up in consumed my thoughts. I was curious about it would say about my character. If I remember correctly, Slytherin took those who were of the purest blood, and of great cunning. But I also remember that there have been plenty of talented half-bloods who ended up in that house as well. For Gryffindor house, I believe they sought the bravest wizards along with those who are chivalrous. Those in Ravenclaw were supposed to be the most intelligent wizards. And while Hufflepuff, didn't have any mandatory criteria, her house was supposed to be hardworking and the most dedicated to teamwork.

A few days before I was supposed to leave for school, we had a large family dinner with my grandmother along with my aunt and uncle. My cousin couldn't join us because he had already left for school.

Wanting to get some advice about the Hogwarts houses, from my family, I asked, "Does our family have a particular house we normally get sorted into."

Hearing my question, Dad shook his head, "Not really, while some families seemed to stick to a particular house, our has been all over the place. I was a Ravenclaw student." He bragged.

Considering what my father did for a living, I wasn't too surprised. Eager to hear what house my uncle was in, I turned to him with an expectant look. A smug grin appeared on his face, and he pronounced "Slytherin."

Not too surprised at the house he was in, I sent a look towards my grandmother, she said, "Well, I was a Hufflepuff, and your grandfather was a Gryffindor."

Hearing that my family came from all the different houses, I asked curiously, "What house is the best."

All three exchanged looks towards one another and responded at the same time.

"Hufflepuff," grandmother exclaimed.

"Ravenclaw," dad declared.

"Slytherin," Uncle John replied.

With an annoyed look on my face, I responded, "That's less than helpful."

Seeing my expression, dad comforted me, "It doesn't matter what house you get suited into, the house the hat sorts you into, is the house in which you are most suited for, we couldn't care less what house you are sorted into."

Seeing that I was nodding to indicate that I understood, he reached over and hugged me and whispered into my ear. "That being said, Ravenclaw is the best house."

Deciding to interject my mother said, "I don't know why Hogwarts sorts people into different houses, it only seems to divide your school."

Before anyone could express their opinion, I responded. "It's rather clever; having different houses has multiple benefits. The first is it gives people motivation to try harder, when people have a sense of belong to a group, they naturally want that group to succeed. Having opposing houses ensures that you strive your hardest to do better than the other houses. The next benefit is that of behavior control. How else do you expect a few teachers control the behavior of almost a thousand wizards and witches? They achieve all of this through the house cup competition, on the one hand, they reward students for being the best and having achievements, and on the other hand, if they misbehave, they punish the house that they belong to, which encourages students to follow the rules. If they choose not to and continue to cost the house points, they often have to deal with fellow students disapproval from their own house. It is an effective social control formula."

The rest of my family looked flabbergasted at my in-depth review of the house system. My uncle weakly offered, "I was just going to say it was a longstanding tradition."

Dad proudly raised his nose and bragged, "Defiantly a Ravenclaw."

The following two days went by in a flash, and the next thing I knew it was the first of September and I would be heading off to Hogwarts.