18 Third Year Part 1

A thirteen year old student was in a circular room, dodging spells being sent at him. Crimson, short hair hangs over a round, cold face. Glinting red eyes, watching each projectile coming straight at him, at difficult angles, before his 1m65 body reacts, taking the closest path to escape.

He was a well-built, despite his young face, no doubt thanks to all the hours he spent training his body. Beads of sweat could be seen dripping from his small nose.

"Very good, Mr. Lunar. I see you haven't slacked off during the summer." a diminutive professor said with a chuckle. He stood at 1m06, with a thin frame, that would suggest he was defenseless. Alas, those who believed so were in for a rude awakening. Filius Flitwick, a well respected dueling champion, and the most liked Hogwarts teacher among its students, for his easy going and cheerful attitude, not to mention his teaching skills.

"Thank you professor." Kaiser gave a small bow. "I have a question, professor, if you don't mind me asking."

"Of course, of course. Ask away." Flitwick chuckled at his favorite student.

"I was wondering if there were any tips to master wandless magic." Kaiser said. "I'd like to be able to perform basic spells wandlessly, if possible."

Flitwick eyed him with surprise, which was a feeling he was getting used to when Kaiser is involved. "Do you know what's the most difficult part when it comes to wandless magic, Mr. Lunar?" When Kaiser shook his head, he continued: "Moving your magic. A wand acts as a focus for our magical energy. When you hold it in your hands, a small stream of magical energy already connects to your magical core, which makes it easier for a wizard to draw more, by holding onto that feeling." He lectured.

'That's new.' Kaiser looked pensive at the information he didn't have before.

"The most difficult part when performing wandless magic is getting a reaction out of your magical energy, as we hardly have any control over it. That is why it is rumored only powerful wizards succeed in the art." Flitwick continued.

"Isn't there anyway to have better control, without relying on our wands, professor?" Kaiser asked hopefully.

"I have encountered one during my travels." Flitwick chuckled at the gleam in Kaiser's eyes. "Meditation techniques originated from Asia. There is this technique where a person tries to feel his magic through meditation, while a master in the art draws out their magical energy. Unfortunately, those techniques are heavily guarded." Kaiser was downcast at his words, but Flitwick's next words somehow cheered him up. "But there is a conclusion we can draw from there, Mr. Lunar. Meditation! I myself have been practicing for years, and I must admit, while the results are not instantaneous, they are clearly noticeable in the long term. But it requires dedication and a lot of patience and perseverance."

"I understand, professor. Thank you. That was illuminating." Kaiser thanked the professor, before making his way to the Ravenclaw showers. He had another appointment with professor McGonagall, for his new transfiguration practice. He asked her he would like to learn to change shapes and basic properties, but was afraid of messing up with such dangerous magic, and she agreed to help him practice when she had free time.

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Kaiser was practicing his spells to get used to his new wand. He had just picked it up earlier that day from Ollivander, and discovered that he lacked the control he had before over his magic. When he picked up the wand from Ollivander, he performed a simple Lumos spell to test it, yet he nearly blinded them.

The results of a whole year of casting spells relentlessly was showing. He could now claim to be one of the most magically powerful students his age, or even a year or two ahead. But he needed to have better controls over his spells. What's the point in overpowering a Killing Curse, when the bare minimum was enough to get the job done? A complete waste of energy.

He also had a new type of meditation added to his schedule. Unlike its predecessor, it had very clear instructions with a clear objective in mind: 'Clear your thoughts and Feel your magic.'. He had no idea what those people that made meditation techniques smoked, but he didn't want to find out. It had to be some very strong stuff.

Two new transfiguration spells he needed to master as soon as possible, to be able to change an object's shape, transparency and color. Why, do you ask? It had to do with his latest communication project, which he would uncertain what to call. He wanted to copy Apple's naming style, and replace the 'I' with a 'w' for Wizards, like wPhone, wMessage, wPad… He admitted to himself that he didn't have the best naming abilities.

Unfortunately, he didn't know any spells to save sounds, to make a voice messaging device, and the same goes for videos. Therefore, he had to think of other ways to do so. And a very clever application of transfiguration was his magical solution. Though the idea came from the No-Maj world.

(A/N: Transparency and Color, any ideas what it might be :D?)

A week later, Karl contacted him to inform him that he found the perfect candidates to help him, to organize a meeting with them later, and begin their operation.

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Kazuma Yokuto was Japanese first-generation wizard, formerly working as a curse breaker for Gringotts. With a sick mother waiting for him at home, he had to work the best he could to pay for her expansive medication. And being a curse breaker paid well, as long as you had good contracts. He took high risk high reward jobs all the time, and nearly lost his life several times.

He watched a few of his friends die in front of his eyes, some times in the most cruel ways. People of old liked to protect their properties, and ten times out of ten, they placed the most nasty curses on their beloved possessions. And the curse breakers had to deal with what was left of them. Kazuma didn't have a choice. It was either he risk his life to give his dear mother more time with him, or watch her die helplessly. He chose the former, alas at a great price. Not a day passed on the job when he didn't nearly have a heart attack.

For Kazuma, the offer he got from Karl Greengrass was a heaven sent gift. Not only did not hurt his interests, but offered great remuneration for his trouble. And all he had to do, was sit at some lab and make watches, following a runes scheme made by another. Not only that, he'd even get a percentage of the business. He didn't think twice before accepting the job.

Hakim Daref, a Arabic enchanter, whose brother pissed off a very powerful organization by stealing one of their prized Artifacts. Hakim was targeted by them, regardless of his innocence, just because he shared the same blood as his traitorous brother, who didn't even bother giving him a heads up.

Now, he found himself running around Europe, living each day in fear, with no backing. He was also running very low on money. Soon, he'd have to resort to theft just to survive. When Karl offered him protection and a job with more benefits than he could dream of, he agreed immediately.

Betty Shaw, an American 'half-blood' enchantress, working for the Comet company. A higher up took notice to her beauty, and wanted to have some fun with her. Unfortunately, she didn't share the sentiment, but he was persistent.

Until one day, he decided that the gentle approach wasn't going to cut it, and she ended up injuring him with a cutting curse that missed his throat by a few inches. She had been on the run since then for attempted murder, even though it was legitimate self-defense.

Her statue as a 'half-blood', along with her assailant's as a rich 'pure-blood' didn't help her case, as there was no place for the truth in a world that still believed in absurd notions such as Blood Purity. Karl Greengrass ensured her freedom, as long as she agreed to work on the team, which she did.

Luan Reid, an African immigrant who lived in England, was a self trained and hard working enchanter. He came from a poor family, to whom he sent any money he could. He took any jobs available, and learned enchanting in his free time as it was his passion. He took several jobs as an assistant enchanter. Karl had him take tests to prove his skills, and prove his skills he did. He didn't think for long before accepting the job either.

Kaiser met them just outside the Fidelius protected facility, and had them swore the Unbreakable Vow, before letting them in the secret. He insisted he became the secret keeper, since it was his life they were protecting, and Karl agreed with him.

He introduced them to their workstations, before he called their attention: "Before we begin, let me get the ugly talk out of the way. While in this facility, I expect all of you to be on your best behavior, and to follow the agreed upon protocol. Anything that happens outside of this place, stays outside, but I suggest you keep a good relationship with each other, considering how much time you'll be spending together. That room" He pointed at a door. "Is my private quarters. Do not try to enter it, unless you wish to die a most painful death. And don't worry, you can't accidentally enter it. The door is very hard to break into, with an alert ward on the outside, and the room is heavily warded. You have been warned." Kaiser was eyeing them one by one, while they were tensing at his speech. They did not expect those words from a thirteen years old, and certainly not with such a cold face it sent shivers down their spines.

"Next is: Occlumency. You" He pointed at Betty. "Your Occlumency shield are ridiculous. How are you expected to protect my secrets if you can't even protect your mind from a thirteen year old boy?" She looked down in shame at his words. He was sending Legilimency probes whilst speaking. "You will train your Occlumency to a decent level. The work we'll be doing later on will require it anyway. Now, let us begin."

The watch's blueprints were drawn on a huge sheet of paper, pinned to a board. Kaiser proceeded to explain each the watch's inner working from a runic point of view. The watch's logic itself wasn't that hard to achieve. The trickiest part was the display method: the modified Lumos spell. They all took their own notes, which they were allowed to take outside the facility according to the agreement, so it was safe. Either way, they probably wouldn't be leaving the facility for the first week as they got used to their new job.

He oversaw their etching process, giving pointer and correcting when necessary. He even learned a thing or two himself from them. They gave him the appropriate respect, and he reciprocated. If having a thirteen year old boy as a boss was a difficult pill to swallow, his skills, along with their generous salary solved the problem.

Kaiser was exhausted after everything they covered, and retreated to his quarters. He had a large bed, along with a study in there. And an antique cabinet, which was naturally no ordinary cabinet. He tasked Karl with acquiring it from Borgin and Burkes after he informed him of his possessing the brother-cabinet.

He entered the vanishing cabinet, and went back to his spacial trunk, and closing the vanishing cabinet's access. He was very satisfied with what they've accomplished so far to ensure his security. He proceeded to finish his spell rotation, before going to sleep. He had a busy week ahead of him.