[1985 Pt. 2]

[12 Kennington, London.]

Nathan returned to the manor, his breath slightly labored from his daily run along Kennington Road. In his previous life, running was a distant dream, always overshadowed by career-focused pursuits. But now, as a child once again, he reveled in the freedom to nurture both his magical abilities and physical health. While magical potions could keep a body in pristine condition, not even alchemical elixirs could turn him into a skilled runner like a troll incapable of throwing a punch despite its massive strength. Running for a long period of time required the runner to have the ability to regulate both the pace and the breathing as he ran.

In the world of magic, a wand was a wizard's most prized possession. Even with their exceptional powers, wizards relied on their wands to channel and focus their magic. Though wandless magic existed, it was notoriously unreliable. The thought of attempting it in combat would be considered reckless and foolish.

Now, in the privacy of his room, Nathan sought to continue his magical training. His attention was drawn to a simple quill resting on the floorboard, a seemingly inconsequential object that had unexpectedly revealed his untapped potential. The previous day, he had inadvertently summoned the quill through magic. Today, he aimed to repeat the feat with conscious effort and control.

Yet, as he tried to move the quill, it refused to budge. He tried every method he could think of, from coaxing it gently to expressing frustration. Nothing seemed to work.

Feeling perplexed and a little defeated, Nathan turned to the shelf beside his bed and pulled out a book titled 'Wandless: Truths and Myths' by Darius Luffy. Flipping to page seven, he began reading.

"Wandless magic is not a proof of power but a proof of skill," the book explained. "It involves the controlled yet unfocused use of one's magic, often brought about due to high emotional control or a conscious effort to use magic without a wand. Unlike wand magic, where one can simply will a spell into existence through the wand's focused intent, wandless magic requires the wizard to focus their intent themselves and then send out their magic to perform the spell."

Realization dawned upon Nathan. He had been attempting to will the quill to move, as he had seen in the movie's depictions of magic. But wandless magic was not about waving a stick and waiting for the spell to manifest; it was about focusing one's intent and directing their magic without the aid of a wand.

Closing his eyes, Nathan took a deep breath and centred himself. He felt the rhythm of his own body—the air filling his lungs, the movement of his arms, and the energy coursing through him. He sought something different, a sensation unique to his magical being. However, after five minutes of searching, this initial approach seemed fruitless.

He needed to find the magic within himself first. The question was where to look for it, Nathan was not sure, he had been expecting to look for it in his abdomen at first but that seemed like a burned fuse that he was trying to light.

Nathan nodded before snatching a roll of parchment from the table along with a pencil.

"Let's see what I know about magic." The answer to the statement was- frighteningly little. Nathan knew quite a few spell incantations but knew none of the wand movements. He knew insane lore about the world around him but at a fundamental level, his knowledge was faulty at best and hazardous at worst.

Even then, he started listing the things he knew out loud, a habit he had taken up as public administrator as Jason, "I know that magic is in its base form is a force of nature with its own laws and rules that are used by wizards to manipulate natural phenomenon to create unnatural effects."

"I know that magic isn't well understood, but what does it mean to say when it says to feel my magic? Damn wizarding books really need more precise instructions." He had looked everywhere for magic in his body, he hadn't found it anywhere.

'Perhaps I am looking at this wrong,' Nathan was supposedly looking for anything out of place from when he was Jason though did not have the same looks or body structure, he had hoped that there would be something different about him from when he had been non-magical.

It was after two minutes of contemplative silence that Nathan suddenly chuckled in realisation before he started laughing uncontrollably.

"If this works, I will feel like an idiot," he said, extending his arm towards the quill once more. But instead of attempting to manipulate the object physically, he took a different approach. Nathan focused intently on the quill, studying it with unwavering attention. As he held the quill within his focus, he slowly closed his eyes, maintaining the mental image of the quill, he imagined the quill moving towards his palm.

The effect was immediate as he felt a warmth spread through his extended arm. The warmth made him feel safe as if he was invulnerable as long as it was there for him. An elation rose within him as he recognized the warmth. He snapped his eyes open as the warmth suddenly disappeared as if a candle that had been snuffed out.

He couldn't help but laugh again, a mix of joy and disbelief evident in his expression. The quill had moved halfway towards his outstretched palm, responding to his mental command.

"Yer a wizard, Jason!" he declared, playfully invoking the iconic line he once yearned to hear as a child, awaiting his Hogwarts letter with dreams of embarking on a magical adventure like Harry Potter.

It took some time for the vertigo of joy, nostalgia and fulfilment to withdraw before Nathan wrote a single line on the roll of parchment.

"Magic is not physically or spiritually quantifiable substance, rather it is a phenomenon closer in nature to things like Force, Energy or Entropy. Magic is an event that is very close to having no cause other than the will of the one using it."- And he understood now why the wizard had been so vague, Nathan simply could not find the words to describe what he had felt.

It immediately became apparent to Nathan how important a wand could be if it shouldered the burden of having to imagine all that just for a failed attempt.

Magic wasn't going to be easy- That was something Nathan was sure of already. The question was- How could he bridge the gap between himself and Voldemort? Was it even possible?

A few people would ponder about trying to hunt the man's shade but, Nathan wasn't delusional enough to believe that Dumbledore wouldn't have thought about it since the man did know about Tom's whereabouts being in Albania, so Voldemort was probably very difficult to kill at the moment. Not even accounting for the destruction of the Horcruxes, one of which lay in the protection of the Goblins.

Voldemort was probably unkillable right now except if Nathan could breed a basilisk and have it bite the man. Or use Fiendfyre on the man.

Both those things were more likely to kill Nathan rather than Tom Riddle.

Maybe he could tell Dumbledore about the Horcruxes and help the man destroy them? But then not only would he be required to explain the source of his knowledge but he wasn't sure of where the man stood about warping a timeline off its course. Sure the man had made use of the time turner but a time turner made a closed time loop, Nathan was suggesting an act that would change history.

Then there was the point of Harry Potter, horcrux-host. If Nathan wanted the boy to live, he needed Tom Riddle to revive himself using the boy's blood.

'Since I don't think I can get away with killing Potter and saying he was a Horcrux which would make me the enemy of both Voldemort and Wizarding Britain. I can't do anything other than wait for Tom to hit the boy with an AK to the face so that I or Dumbles can finish the psychopath.'

It was not the best plan but Nathan was sure that he could adjust course according to the situation.

And according to his plan, he needed to master occlumency, runes and arithmancy as fast as possible in the next four years.