C86 Back to the Flamels... Again

Summer was amazing for Charlus. He had a few shocks. The first one was that Sirius got a girlfriend. The second one was that Sirius' girlfriend was Camille.

Charlus was blown away by the simple fact that Sirius had made Camille, the person who despised his parenting skills, take him as a boyfriend. It was only a trial thing, and they would see if it worked out while they spent time with their kids too.

All the children were okay with it. Charlus was especially happy as he expected that it would make Sirius more responsible.

Charlus would have hung out with Harry's friends like last time but decided not to. The age gap was more prominent now that Charlus was 13 and they were 10. He was a few inches taller than them and while he would still play board games with them, his ego didn't let him bully them with his size while playing football.

Since he didn't want to play with his brother's friends, Charlus had a lot of free time in his hands. Too much in fact. So he decided to work out. He had seen an ad having a supermodel pose and saw those abs. He wanted those.

Over the summer, he worked out so much each day that you could smell his sweat when you entered his room. It paid off in the end. While he didn't have a body like the supermodel he saw, there was a vague six-pack forming. As long as he continued his schedule for a year, he would achieve his desired results.

Sirius made the brothers spend a lot of time with the Rowes. Charlus guessed that it was so that he would spend more time with Camille. Since the adults were busy on their own, the kids could only do whatever they wanted by themselves.

When they were at the Rowes' place, they would just sit on the Telly for hours till Sirius came back to take Charlus and Harry back to the Manor. When they were at the Black Manor though, they would have to play board games.

As usual, Charlus sucked. But in a way, it was very beneficial to him. He was using this as a form of training for his occlumency. A few years ago, he would just give an excuse and leave the game. But after becoming good at controlling his emotions, Charlus sat through every game even though he was losing badly.

Summer was coming to a close quickly, and the time for Charlus to depart came near.

_______

"Why do you have to leave so early? Why can't you stay for a few more days?" Harry asked Charlus. In the end, as an older brother, Charlus had a huge impact on Harry.

Charlus simply smiled at Harry.

"You will understand. Just wait one more year. You will be going to Hogwarts then!"

Harry frowned.

"Yes, but you won't be there."

Charlus smiled mysteriously.

"Trust me, I will always be there. I have to go now."

Charlus left quickly to the Flamel Manor. Harry thought about Charlus' words for a few seconds but left them as a consolation.

______

Flamel Manor | 2nd September 1990

Charlus popped into the Flamel Manor. After coming there for 2 years, Charlus became used to it. He quickly went to his room and dropped his luggage. Then he went to the dining table as the time approached lunch and waited for his teacher.

Nicholas Flamel came along with his wife a few minutes after Charlus had arrived at the dinner table.

"Good afternoon teacher!" Charlus greeted brightly.

Nicholas Flamel smiled weakly, as did Perenelle.

The meal went on quietly as it normally did. After the meal, Charlus waited for his teacher to finish teaching and explain what they would do for the rest of their 3 months.

Nicholas Flamel finished eating quickly and put down his cutlery. He wiped his mouth and started speaking.

"Clearly, you are very eager about your schedule."

Charlus nodded.

"Well, I think we can finish your 7th-year portions with priority. It should be done in half a month if you concentrate. Another half a month for practical. With that, you will be all set for your NEWTs. I will hand you a form when you are leaving which you can use to write your OWLs early.

Next year, you can write your NEWTs. That aside, you will have full focus on your Phoenix form. That will be your only focus. No occlumency or duelling. You have to finish that before you go back. If you can't, you shouldn't go back to your Manor and stay back to finish."