Chapter 106  

"No… not like that. I never felt any kind of attraction towards girls."

"Oh, Hahahahahahah-", she laughed loudly which didn't seem elegant at all. She ruffled his hair again but he pushed her hand aside.

"Well, in simple words… you are too young. The attraction and stuff usually begin when a child is around thirteen years old. Some get it early and some late. I am only talking about the wizarding kind and not muggles. I don't know anything about them but I do know that there are a few minor differences."

"Oh… so I'm normal?"

"Yes, but I do have to say that you are shorter than average for your age. Why don't you turn back to your original appearance so I can give you accurate information?"

Alex nodded and tossed a pill into his mouth. A similar process occurred but this time, the clothes simply fell off of him. He was about to cover himself up but stopped himself when he noticed that Helen was actually studying him.

"You are pretty muscular for your age but it feels weird since I've never seen a similar case. Maybe you will have a growth spurt when u hit puberty so let's ignore that for now. Yep, I don't think there is anything wrong with you. If you want me to make it even more thorough, I will have to use magic."

"Use it then. I don't mind.", Alex said as he waited but Helen simply blinked a couple of times before pressing her temples.

"I lost my magical focus…. In Egypt, we use lockets or earrings as a magical focus since most of our magic doesn't involve projectile magic."

"Focus… like wands?"

Helen nodded and Alex sighed before conjuring a set of clothes and wearing it.

"I guess we don't have to do it now and I do not feel like going to Egypt for now."

He walked over to an empty spacious corner and drank the required amount of potion from the three vials before he began working out.

Nyeta was busy breastfeeding her twins so Helen simply decided to look at Alex doing his thing. Hours passed and he still didn't look like he would be stooping anytime soon so she simply decided to take a nap.

Alex's whole Christmas holidays were done and he had never once slacked off which terrified the two Egyptian women.

On the last day when he was about to leave, Helen gave him a thin book.

"I wrote about a few physical routines that the Royal Guards followed regularly. I thought it would help. Also…. If you don't mind, can you tell me why you are working so hard?

Everything you do seems to have a reason behind it but sometimes… I have no clue about them."

Alex thought for a while since he didn't know what to say. The new Helen was quiet and mostly helped him out so he had come to like her a little.

"You can say that I don't have long to live…. I will die immediately unless I do some specific things. Even if I do every single thing I have to, the most I can live for is about six years and a few months. The chances of me being alive after that are almost negligible."

Helen said nothing and simply hugged him tight. His first instinct was to jump away but he was already stuck in her embrace. He was about to try harder but stopped as it didn't feel like she was crushing him.

The embrace was tight but for some reason, he felt a weird feeling. It was something he had never felt before but as he tried to think more about it, Helen released him. 

She had teary eyes but it didn't seem like the dam would burst yet. He simply stared at her before stepping away with a weird, unknown feeling in his chest.

"I… will come back in a few months….", he said, his voice lacking the usual sharpness.

Helen nodded, "Sure. Take care and study well."

"Yea…. I can easily get the top score if I really wanted to…."

***********

Helen had been pushed back to the back of his mind by the time he reached Hogwarts. He checked his schedule before getting ready and making up a flexible timetable for the next few months. 

He only had one responsibility and that was to carry Ravenclaw to victory in their match against Gryffindor which was the last match of the year. They had a match against Slytherins in the third weekend of February but he didn't have to participate in that.

'So I have…. Four months of uninterrupted free time. May's third weekend is the only time when I have to take a break and do fulfill Flitwick's request. As for Neville… I'll just give him a few books and tell him to read and apply them. Yep, perfect.'

He happily slept for that one particular night as that would be his last peaceful night for the next few months.

Classes were the best time for him to sleep while the rest of the time was spent working out. This time he was just getting more and more insane as he had a weird feeling that his efforts weren't sufficient.

He took short naps during classes and that would add up to about three hours of sleep. History of Magic had become his favorite class as he could sleep comfortably without anyone disturbing him.

Potions and Transfiguration had been his worst nightmares as it was almost impossible to sleep during those hours. The rest of the classes were manageable. He had to pay a little extra attention in Muggle Studies and Study of Ancient Runes but both of the subjects were relatively easy.

He had decided to stay away from divination and care of magical creatures as he didn't really care about the kind of profession he wanted to pick for his future.