Two Choices

"That was very impressive Neville. Could you please repeat your process again?"

So I repeated the simplified respiration technique and when I open my eyes Dumbledore is nodding with appreciation all over his face. Then I ask "Is that enough, Headmaster? Is there some issue?"

"No, no issue at all, quite the opposite. How should I explain what you just did for you? Hmmm, by now you should know we are different from non-wizards because our bodies can produce what we call blue cells. Those blue cells are what makes magic possible. I don't know if you ever studied about Lavoisier, but this non-wizard has a principle about conservation of the masses in nature. He proclaims that 'In nature nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything is transformed' and somehow he is right. We as wizards don't create anything nor we can vanish anything, all we do is a form of transformation. What we call magic is a process where we transform nature through our blue cells."

I nod, it seems very true and it answers a question of mine about the production of blue cells. My body spend blue cells by doing 'magic'. I don't have the same blue cells forever, they are produced and then spent. My 'magic pool' is how much my body can store blue cells....

Dumbledore continues "Our blue cells are able to do an infinite number of things and there are a lot of wise wizards studying its funcionalities more and more. Back to your situation, I don't completely understand what you are doing, but when you do what you just demonstrated, your body speeds up your blue cell production. It's like your body becomes more prone to produce blue cells. And that explains how your magic pool is so much more developed than normal wizards of your age. I suppose you have practiced this respiration method every day ever since you discovered it..."

"Yes, usually two times a day, but at least once a day. "

"Hummm, I will contact a friend of mine who research our body production of blue cells, Babajide Akingbade. Do you know about him?"

"No, never heard of him."

"He is a very powerful wizard although he don't call himself a wizard. He is the current Headmaster of Uagadou, a school of wizarding in Africa. He often comes to England to discuss with me and some others about the research of one of our founders, Salazar Slytherin."

"Salazar Slytherin?"

"Yes, Neville. Salazar Slytherin studied a lot the concentration and production of blue cells in wizards and magical beasts. He was a little extremist in some points of his theories, like the fact pureblooded wizards would be able to have a deeper concentration and production of blue cells, what is proved wrong by now, despite some people saying the opposite."

"Oh, so that is why he don't wanted to have students born from muggles?"

"I don't know. I believe it would be one of his arguments, but not the real reason. His prejudice to muggleborn wizards must have other personal implications. Because of it, his studies in the subject are considered compromised to the majority of wizards. But you can not blame him in everything, modern wizards knows some things he did not know at his time due to the fact it was impossible to analyse certain aspects of his research at his time. As the muggle society evolves technologically, we develop 'magically' and discover new things all the time. For example, in his time, non-pureblood wizards he researched had less contact to magic than pureblood ones. It afects his research by a lot, because as far as we know by now, every time we spend blue cells we ended up procuding more of them to supply our bodies. Another factor Slytherin did not take into account is the period we develop more our production of blue cells."

"What do you mean, Professor?

"Do yoy really thing we start the wizards study at Hogwarts at the age of 11 for no reason? It is proven that the human body has stages of development. There are a lot of theories about this. The majority of wizard world believes in the cycle of 9 theory, where our bodies goes through cycles every 9 years. So when you are 9 years old we consider you are finishing your childhood and beginning your puberty years at 10.

"So Why don't we start studying with 10 years old?

"Well, there are some schools that start their curriculum with students at 10, there are even some that start at 9. But I personally prefer 11. I make a comparison with babies, when you are a newborn you demand all the cares in the world and can't produce anything by yourself. When you have 2 years old, almost 90% of the children are capable of walking and communicating to some degree. We, in Hogwarts, observed a lot of this same factor previously. It was much harder to teach and develop children of 10 years old when we compared to a 11 year child. We had a lot of students repeating the first year of study just because, sometimes, they were unable to produce magic properly, like a newborn usually have issues in walking or comunicate properly in his first year of life. The failure rate drops tremendously with children with more or less 11 years old. Of course, there were exceptions, as there is always in the human development. This varies from person to person but the age we tend to think was a better denominator was 11 years old."

"So, in theory we hava a transformation when we become 18 again. So this is why most students finish their studies by 17, at 18 they are considered ready to produce to society. Pretty much like muggles, I guess."

"In some sort of way, yes. After all, we and the muggles are part of the same specie. We are humans, although our constitution become a little different due to our blue cells, we do not stop being human beings and it is our duty as human beings protect our world and its population. Do you understand that, Neville?"

"For sure professor, even if we may be considered by some as a new race, we are still humans. It, by itself, is enough reason to protect them. At least, for me."

"Very good. Coming back to talk about Babajide, I would like to talk to him due to the fact african wizards don't use a wand. They use hand or corporal signals much like some japaneses still do. So they tend to have a fast growth in magic pool, although their numbers of wizards ends up way smaller than the rest of the wizarding world."

"Hmm,very interesting Professor. I have some theories about wands."

"I'm sure we can discuss that some time later. Now what do you think we should do about you Neville? You developed your power and magic constitution earlier than the rest of the students of your age, but development, by itself, represents a way more larger categorie of things, like mental age, physical body, understanding of the world, and so forth. Besides, beyond Transfiguration, there is a whole lot of subjects in magic. Can you perfom them all well enough to go to more advanced class?"

That is it. I would rather prefer Dumbledore to point his thoughts first. I think Harry needs me to develop properly this year. I don't know if he would be able to overcome Quirrel / Voldemort or to develop properly. Would I be able to help him well if I advanced to the third year? Tsk, what to do? What to do?

" I understand the problem Professor. I think I'm able to handle all the material of the first year and second year curriculum b y now, but I don't know if advancing in school years is the proper solution. After all, everything I know is from the books and my practical experience. For example, I think I would go to the wrong way in Transfiguration if Professor McGonagall did not helped me on Thursday."

"Well, that is a simple think to overcome. You would just have to attend extra classes in the subjects you have difficult or questions, it would just demand a lot from you..."

He talks really slow, like if he is watching every minuscule reaction on my face. I once watched a Tv show called Lie To Me, and the main character from there could understand the person by reading their minuscules changes in their facial muscles. I wonder if Dumbledore can do the same. Maybe that is the reason Harry never saw or noticed Dumbledore perfoming Legilimency in anyone before.

"I really don't know what to do Professor. Can I have some time to think about it?"

At this moment Minerva intervened "What do you need to think Neville? If you are able to pass through the tests in the subjects in the first and second year there is no reason to continue in their class. You would have no reason to remain with first or second year students. It would just harm your development. Futhermore, I believe you have realised already in my class how much can you harm the students of your year too.".

"I agree with Professor Minerva, Neville. I can see you are advanced for your age, you seem mature enough to fit among third year students. There is no reason to delay your studies if your foundation is good in the other subjects as much it is in Transfiguration."

He looks at me and notices my uncertainty. "I have two solutions for your situation. The first option is advance in class after we test you in the current curriculum. I would give you three weeks to prepare to all the curriculum of the first year and if you pass, more three weeks to study all curriculum of the second year. I can't give you any more time because you would have to hurry even more to study the subjects of the third year and I don't think it would be proper... It just if you really pass all the tests in a satisfactory degree."

"And the second option?"

"Well, as I talked to you earlier, there are other school programs. Beauxbatons Academy of Magic starts their curriculum with students of 9 years old, so perharps you could fit more properly there. I have a great friend there that will enjoy to accept you there due to your 'inovations' in the production of blue cells. He is the only greatmaster of alchemy nowadays, Nicolau Flamel. He may understand your situation better than I do. Besides Beauxbatons there is only one more option I can think of. It is Uagadou of the friend I mentioned to you, Babajide Akingbade. He is a person more peculiar, but is someone we can trust."

Uou. Another school hã! That would be amazing. Tsk, but I don't know much about Babajide, the only thing I remember is that he became the new Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, after Dumbledore got dismissed by the Minister of Magic after he proclaimed that Voldemort returned in the fourth book. It's a person I know nothing of. I can't trust him well enough.

"About it professor. I have a question. Do you think it is safe to reveal my concentration technique to others? I researched a little and as you talked about it is something new in the wizarding world..."

"Oh, of course not. I would have suggested it after your decision, but once you questioned first I have to say that it is not safe to reveal it to others. At least for now. First, there are a lot of unanswered questions about your technique. We simply don't have enough data on this. We don't know if this works for every person. We do not even know the reason why such a simple breathing technique can speed up the production of blue cells. Perhaps it is only related to you. I don't know. But if it is only related you, what makes you different? The thing we humans are most afraid of is the unknown, Neville. You must hide your technique until we understand it better. That is the reason I offered only this two friends to help, since they have a deeper knowledge in some areas than me, and I think they are reliable enough."

"I understand, Professor."

"So, what do you think Neville. What would you prefer?