98 The Guild

Later that evening, I was, for lack of a better term, playing with my mug-ice-maker. I couldn't help but think that a whole new world of magic had opened up to me.

I had a ton of ideas floating through my head, some of which were probably impossible. But, I was looking forward to discovering whether they were feasible or not first hand.

I had to admit that in my parent's silent contest trying to get me to prefer potioneering or charm crafting, Dad had taken a commanding lead. There was just something cool about taking an idea for an enchantment and experimenting to get it to work. While potions were useful, they just weren't as interesting as charm crafting.

"Alex!"

I almost jumped as I heard Mum call my name.

I glanced over at Athena, who was lounging on my bed. "She knows," I whispered.

It was like Mum had a superpower. Anytime I was thinking something I knew she would disapprove of, she would call out for me. She must have somehow sensed my thought that potions weren't as interesting as charms.

Before my mind could run away with panic, Mum called out, "Come on down, Alex. It's dinner time."

I let out a sigh of relief. She doesn't know.

Of course, my relief was short-lived. The second I saw Dad's face at dinner. I knew he was going to spill the beans and brag to Mum. On a side note, I now know who I inherited my smug look from.

"Honey," Dad said, trying to get Mom's attention.

Mum looked over at him and raised an eyebrow at seeing his smug face.

Wary of falling into a trap, she cautiously said, "What is it?"

Annoyingly wagging his dark brown eyebrows, "Guess what our son did?" He said in a sing-songy voice.

Mum's darted towards me, but I looked away before our eyes could meet. Whatever was about to happen. I wanted no part in it.

Unable to gleam any answers from me, she reluctantly turned her gaze back towards Dad, who gave her a playful wink.

"What did he do?" She said through a forced smile.

"Oh, nothing much," Dad remarked while waving his hand casually. "He just created a spell that is going to revolutionize the world of flying."

Not sure if he was kidding, Mum turned to me and asked, "Alex, what's he talking about?"

I don't know why, but my cheeks turned red.

A little embarrassed at Dad's description of my spell, I mumbled, "I sorta made a spell that can increase the speed of any broom by twenty-five percent."

Mum blinked silently in surprise.

She got up and scooped me up in a bear hug. "That's amazing," she gushed. "My baby is so talented."

"Mum," I grumbled while trying to extract myself from her tentacled grasp.

Across the table, Dad smirked at Mum, "I guess we know who Alex takes after. He's got charm-crafting talent running through his veins."

I winced. Why Dad? Why would you say that? That's like waving a bloody cow in front of a dragon. You know the dragon will devour the cow. And I have this awful feeling that I'm the cow in this scenario.

The only indication Mum gave to Dad's was tightening her grip. Ignoring Dad completely, she said, "Alex, How about tomorrow, you spend the day with me down in my brewing room? It will be just like old times. You can tell me all about your spell while we work. I even have a few ideas for a new potion. Well, it's not a new potion, more of a modification."

Mum continued to ramble about how much fun we would have experimenting with new potions. I shot Dad a bitter look and inwardly grumbled, you-son-of-a-beech, this is all your fault.

There is nothing fun or pleasant about experimenting with new potions. It's like playing Russian roulette with chaos magic. You never know what might happen.

It could be anything from liquid fire exhaling out deadly fumes or an acid that erodes through the cauldron and eats a hole open in the basement floor. And those are some of the more pleasant options. Let us not forget the Day of Slime. A day which will forever be held in infamy in the House of Fawley.

I swear, sometimes I still have nightmares about being consumed by a slime monster. Even though Mum quickly vanished the slime and still to this day claims that it wasn't sentient and was just your normal run-of-the-mill slime. I know what I felt, that slime was pure evil. It tried to eat me. One doesn't forget what it's like to be almost eaten by a slime monster. It was almost as bad as the greenhouse incident. No, bad Alex. Don't even think about the greenhouse incident.

Mum couldn't get me to go anywhere near her lab for a month after the Day of Slime, and it was the last time I ever volunteered to help with her…. experiments. That's Rebecca's problem now, or at least it was until Dad started bragging.

What I'm trying to say is don't play around with potions. Stick with the formulas, and you will be fine, and if you don't, well, don't say I didn't warn you.

Thankfully, the next day passed without incident. Of course, it goes without saying that I had my wand nearby, just in case.

Before I knew it, it was the weekend, and it was time for the local Dueling Tournament. I decided to stick with the same group I was in last year. While I hadn't practiced as much as I did last year, I was still on top of my game as I took first in the fourth-year division.

Unlike me, Anna had thrown herself into dueling, and her skills had significantly increased. She dominated the third-year division, and we would both be moving on to the international competition in the spring. Hopefully, things would go better for me than it did the previous year.

With the tournament out of the way, I spent my free time in my secret tower. Anton's library had some impressive tomes on enchantment. When I was younger, these books had made no sense to me. But, now that my foundation in magic was more robust, they were more useful.

The more I studied, the more I realized I had been underestimating Charms. Charms had always come easy to me, and that led me to underestimate them. Now, I understood that I was merely scratching the surface of what a talented charm-crafter could do.

I had always felt that mastering Transfiguration was the mark of a talented wizard. But, I was coming to see that Charms more than held its own against Transfiguration.

The big difference between the two magical disciplines was that Transfiguration was strict and Charms was flexible.

Mastering Transfiguration will allow you to accomplish many amazing things, but you have to follow strict rules. It's a magical discipline that is almost scientific in nature. Charms, on the other hand, allow for a great deal of flexibility. Two people could cast the same charm and come up with varying results.

My mug-ice-maker is a perfect example of the wide-ranging variance in which a charm could be used. My original intent was to produce a mug that constantly kept the contents chilled, but I ended up with a mug that would freeze the contents.

It wasn't that I somehow failed, but rather that I applied the charm in such a way that it did not work as intended. A master charm-crafter like Dad could probably use a simple charm in a dozen different ways, each producing a slightly different effect.

That's why I didn't view my first attempt at enchanting as a failure. It merely opened my eyes to the many different ways to apply a single charm. Looking back, I'm a little embarrassed that I thought I had fully mastered all the charms below the NEWT level when it was now clear to me that I only had a superficial understanding.

The magical discipline of Charms is like a clear pool of water. From the outside, it looks shallow. But, once you dive in, you discover that it's a deep pool of water hiding many mysteries. Never one to back down from a challenge, I was looking forward to wading in and plumbing the depths and learning the mysteries of Charm-Crafting.

I knew right away that this wouldn't be like my other projects. I wasn't going to be able to spend a year doing it before I could claim success. I had a feeling this would be a long term thing I would have to continue to work on. Even Dad says that he learns new things all the time, and a true Charm Crafter is always trying to improve and learn new things.

Having learned a good foundation in magic, I knew where to begin. Similar to other branches of magic, the only way to become genuinely skilled was to practice. They're no shortcuts in magic, no trick to somehow mastering a subject. The only way to advance was to put the work in. Yes, natural talent could help tremendously, but without effort, all the talent in the world amounts to nothing.

The one issue I had been concerned about was materials. But, when I raised my concerns to Dad, he just laughed and told me to transfigure items to enchant. When I pointed out that the items would surely have a ton of magical spillage and wouldn't hold enchantments for long, he countered by explaining that the point was to practice charm crafting, not create lasting magical items.

The rest of my winter holiday went by fairly quickly. Outside of late-night charm crafting practice in my tower, I spent time with my little sisters. They were growing up so fast. It was hard to believe that it would be time for them to start Hogwarts in a few years. The only disappointing thing was Uncle John couldn't make it. He was currently dealing with something somewhere in South Asia.

The day before I was to return to school, Dad pulled me into his office. "I have a meeting set up with our partners at noon, and I want you to come along."

I blinked for a moment. I had noticed since I had shown Dad the Slipstream Charm that he went out of the way to include me more in the family's business. It's not like he never listened to me when I had an idea. Dad had always listened to my ideas, but it was a passive thing. He wouldn't seek me out and ask. He would wait for me to come to him.

Ever since I showed him my spell, it was like I had passed some test or hit a benchmark in his eyes. During the last two weeks, he had sought me out and asked for my thoughts on several issues.

The last time we had gone to meet with his partners, I tagged along like a kid accompanying his father. Now, he was asking me to join him, not necessarily as an equal, but like I could contribute and was worth bringing along.

It was a strange feeling, but one that was welcome. I liked that he was relying on me and giving me more responsibility. It was like he was starting to view me more as a wizard and less like a little kid.

Our talks also included him passing on his wisdom in Charm-Crafting. He tended not to give answers outright. Instead, he gave me hints, wanting me to puzzle things out for myself.

Seeing how Dad was waiting for a reply, I banished my musing and said the only thing I could.

"Sure. I would be happy to come. Who all is going to be there?"

"Well, Barbra Lancaster and Nurlock Sharpclaw will be there." Shifting his eyes away from mine, Dad continued, "As well as a friend of mine, a mentor really, who is interested in meeting you."

I shot Dad a suspicious look. He looked guilty as sin when he mentioned his friend. He was up to something. I could practically smell it.

"Uh-huh," I said suspiciously.

Following Dad outside, he grabbed hold of me and apparated us to the warehouse. Deep within the underground building, Dad led me to a conference room that I could swear wasn't here the last time I visited.

Outside the door were two goblins. Neither of them looked pleased to be here. Their dark eyes stared at us suspiciously.

Before I could ask why two goblins appeared to be standing guard outside a newly formed conference room, the answer popped into my head as soon as I saw one of the occupants in the room. Nurlock, the goblin matriarch, was waiting inside, as well as Barbra Lancaster, the squib CEO of Lancaster Commodities.

The last occupant was wearing deep red robes and made me rack my brain for a minute before I could place him. He was an aging wizard with Mediterranean skin and dark hair that was beginning to fade to grey. But, It was his golden ring that carried the Charm-Crafters Guild symbol on it that jogged my memory.

I had seen him at dinner parties my parents had thrown. He was Geovani Mancinelli, an Italian wizard and more importantly, the Charm-Crafting Guild leader. He was widely considered to be one of the best enchanters in the world.

As my attention left the occupants, I took in the conference room. Other than a short goblin sized door on the other side, the room was fairly mundane, having a long rectangular table with half a dozen chairs on either side. The only reason why the door stood out was that I was pretty sure this conference room was on the far side of the warehouse. There shouldn't be anything on the other side.

It didn't take long for me to realize that the Sharpclaw clan must have built a tunnel. I imagine they use it for delivering the goblin forged gear that goes with the Firebolt.

After a quick introduction, Nurlock impatiently asked, "What was so important that I needed to leave my clan halls?"

Dad looked at me for a second, then turned back and explained to everyone with pride, "My son, Alex. Has invented a new spell that is going to slow things down."

Nurlock hissed, "What spell could be so important? Every delay cost us gold, and our clan didn't get into bed with your family to lose gold."

Dad smirked at Nurlock's protest. He knew that once she understood that the Slipstream Charm would make her clan more gold, she would probably be its biggest fan.

Having understood that Dad wouldn't make this suggestion lightly, Barbra asked, "What does the spell do?" She asked.

Dad turned to me and motioned for me to take over.

Feeling everyone shift their eyes to me, I cleared my throat and said, "Without getting into all the details. My spell can roughly increase the speed of any broom by twenty-five percent."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Geovani twitch in surprise.

Showing her talent with numbers, Barbra blurred out, "That means the Firebolt would have a top speed of 240 KPH."

Dad chimed in, "Or roughly 187 MPH."

As silence took the room, I was a little unnerved by Nurlock staring fondly at me. It made me think that she imagined me as a newly found gold mine. And nothing makes a goblin happier than gold.

Having a good head for business, Barbra merely muttered, "Well, that does change things. How long will it take for you to get it ready for production?"

Dad shrugged, "Probably another week or two. Then we can start making a stockpile. I am still hopeful that we can launch in March. There is a huge conference that every Broom company attends. Journalists from all over the world will be there. It's the perfect place to unveil the Firebolt."

I inwardly smirked. I can think of one reporter who will be busy that weekend.

Nurlock's fond expression faded away as something occurred to her. "Does this mean everything we've made is scrap?" She demanded.

Dad glanced at me for a moment. "Thankfully not. Alex also had the bright idea of creating two lines of the Firebolt. One with his enchantment and one without."

Dad smiled, as if he could already imagine the look on Delvin's face, and gleefully added, "That would make us the only supplier of the top two fastest brooms in the world."

Norluck chortled, "It seems your Rhuul Dhol (Blood Feud) is proceeding as planned. I imagine in the next couple of months, Delvin Whithorn will be tearing his hair out and cursing your name."

Dad gave her an evil grin, "Adding the Slipstream Charm is just the beginning. Alex had another diabolical idea. One that is sure to make Nimbus bleed."

Turning to me, Dad said, "Your idea of leasing out your spell to other broom companies is brilliant. While we soak up all the top end customers of Nimbus, the other companies can drain the bottom. If we time this right, the Nimbus Broom Racing Company will be hemorrhaging money hand over foot."

Motioning for Geovani to step over, he said, "On that end, I've consulted with an old friend who has experience in doing what you've suggested."

Geovani approached me with a bright gleam in his eyes. "Alexander," he gushed. "I can't believe how much you've grown. I know your grandfather would be so proud of you if he could see you today."

"When your father told me that his son created a spell at the age of 14, I knew I just had to meet you. Then your father brought up your idea for leasing the spell out, and I knew it was my duty to help out a promising young Charm-Crafter."

"Having sold a few spells myself, I have a few ideas if you're willing to listen."

After I nodded, Geovani continued. "First, don't lease your spell through your father's company. Considering that you intend to work with many companies, it's a better idea to create your own company, your own brand that is separate from the Firebolt."

"I'm too young," I protested. "There's no way anyone would take me seriously."

Geovani grinned, "That brings me to point number two. If you want any company to trust in your brand, you should join the Charm-Crafting Guild."

I saw a victorious look appear on Dad's face. So that's what he was acting so suspiciously smug about. He and Mum have both agreed not to push me into joining either the Charm-Crafting Guild or The Society of Potioneers. Now he could get someone else to sponsor me into the guild, not breaking their deal.

After a moment of thought, I inwardly smirked and thought of a way to pay him back for using me to bait Mum last week.

Seeing how Geovani was waiting for an answer, I said, "I would love to join, but don't you only recruit students who have taken the OWL exams."

Geovani waved away my concern. "We can make exceptions if we want."

"Fine," I said. "I would love to join the guild."

A pleased look appeared on Geovani's face. "Excellent."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Geocani conjured a stack of paperwork and a feathered quill.

"Do I have to take a test or something?" I joked.

Dad and Geovani looked at each other, then said in unison. "How did you know?"

"What?" I panicked, "I was just kidding about that."

Unable to help himself, Dad started laughing at my facial expression.

As I inwardly swore revenge, Geovani explained, "No, these are your admission forms and a few other agreements you have to sign before you can join the guild."

I shot a look at Dad to see if this was normal. When he gave me the nod, I said. "Where do I sign?"

Once I was done with the paperwork, Geovani pulled out a small box and opened it. Inside the velvet case was a silver ring with the Guild logo neatly etched on it. I tried not to roll my eyes. Wizards sure do love their rings. I was building quite a collection of rings—one for my tower, one for my dueling club, now the guild. I better be careful, or I'll run out of fingers.

Seeing the silver ring made me ask, "Why is it silver? I would have thought it would be bronze, the lowest level in the guild."

Geovani smiled. "There are a few ways to reach the silver tier in the guild," he explained. "Creating a new spell and having a master decide that it is a worthy accomplishment is one of those ways. Considering how much your spell will impact the wizarding world, I say it more than qualifies."

Wanting to make sure I understood, I said, "So, now that I'm in the guild. I'm supposed to set up a company, then hire some enchanters. Then send them out to other Broom companies."

Geovani nodded, "Don't worry about them stealing your spell. We have ironclad contracts that will prevent it from happening. But, let me give you one final piece of advice. When setting up contracts with other companies, try to sign long-term contracts that lock them into your company."

Seeing my look of confusion, Geovani explained, "Your spell is so outstanding that others are going to try and follow in your footsteps. I give it no more than a decade before someone else has made a similar spell. It may not be as good as yours, but you can bet people will be trying."

I frowned for a moment before shrugging. This whole thing wasn't about money for me. Our family had money. For us, this was about revenge. It was the first step in reclaiming everything that belongs to our family and making the Delvin pay for stealing my grandpa's life work.

There were a few more things we had to work out. Because I was going back to school, there was a lot he would have to take care of. He offered to conduct the negotiations with other companies, but I laughed and told him to let Grandma do it. They'll never know what hit them.

The following day, my parents dropped me off at the train station. I made sure to select a cabin that faced the station. When the Hogwarts Express started rolling away, I knew it was time for my revenge. I opened a window and waved to my parents.

"Mum," I called out.

I think Dad sensed something terrible was about to happen because his eyes widened in panic. But, it may have been my Cheshire cat smile that gave it away.

Once I had her attention, I followed through, "I forgot to tell you. Dad introduced me to the head of the Charm Crafting Guild. I'm now a full-fledged member of the guild.

To make sure my revenge was total, I waved my hand, making sure she saw the silver guild ring.

As the train rolled away, I could hear Mum screech her outrage. Ha, take that Dad.