Chapter 7. Echo

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me right now?" Aunt Vannessa clucked in concern when I shot to my feet, preparing to leave.

I already had enough of her. I knew she meant well but she was overwhelming.

"The funeral is just the day after tomorrow, plus I have a couple of things I want to do here, Aunt." I replied in a calm voice.

"Of course," She sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. "How insensitive of me."

I could finally breathe easier after she left. I made sure to see her off to confirm that she was truly gone.

It was another worry off my mind that she also knew that I lost my memories because I didn't have to act carefully around her anymore.

Everything I did was granted a pass now, it was a relief considering that I didn't know how to act like the previous occupant.

It was only the second day and I had already made a pretty awesome decision. I hoped my luck would last long.

I went straight to my desk, pulled out the chair, and sat down. I needed to check my stats.

It was wishful thinking to believe that my stats would improve after just a day of exercise and pretend reading.

=========

[Audric Albeline]

<SP:100>

<Health: 100/100>

+ Physical Stats

[Strength: 15/100]

[Stamina: 10/100]

[Speed: 4/100]

+ Non-Physical Stats

[Magical Power: 40/100]

- Sub-stats

[Charms: 23/100]

[Dark Charms: 50/100]

[Knowledge: 30/100]

- Sub-stats

[Intelligence: 10/100]

[Information: 41/100]

+ Special Skills

[Animagus - -]

<Locked> this feature can be unlocked with 500 SP

[Legilimency - -]

<Locked> this feature can be unlocked with 500 SP

[Bloodline Magic - -]

<Locked> this feature can be unlocked with 2000 SP

=========

I was pleasantly surprised to find slight changes to my stats, even my non-physical stats had improved.

Well, knowledge and information didn't move an inch but I was slightly smarter.

I might have gotten the improvement by choosing to say that I had lost my memories.

From what I knew, the guy that had this body was dumb as a block so even something as little as that was enough to increase his intelligence.

I just had to keep it up and by the time I resumed school, my stats would be enough to help me survive the semester at least.

I blinked and the black pixelated screen disappeared. I tapped impatient fingers against my desk, wishing I had my taped-up phone with me or my laptop.

It was just before the new century but Wizards and Witches weren't familiar with muggle technology either way so I shouldn't hope too much.

Even if I could get myself a phone, I wouldn't be able to use it much because no one else around me would be using them.

Also there was no electricity, keeping my devices charged would be a hassle.

So even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I pulled out my textbook and a notebook as well to take notes. I could be serious when I wanted to be.

I couldn't keep glossing over things, school was very important to me right now. I had to graduate with good scores.

Then I'd become a writer.

If my mom could hear me, she would probably laugh cynically and then disown me.

I transmigrated to a new body in a new world only to follow the same path that I did in my past life. The same path that had not only ended in failure but had also gotten me killed.

Now that I wasn't nodding off in exhaustion, I could actually get some proper reading done. Hours passed this way without my realization, till a knock on my bedroom alerted my attention.

I sat up, stretching out the stiffness in my back and legs. It was already afternoon so there was no doubt that Wilkins was coming to invite me for lunch.

I didn't feel like going all the way to the dining room to eat but I needed to stretch my legs.

Hopefully, my Aunt wouldn't be sitting in the dining room waiting for me again.

I opened the door reluctantly, just as I had predicted, Wilkins was waiting on the other side.

He had his hands crossed respectfully behind his back and was waiting patiently.

I stepped out and waited expectantly.

"Master Audric, sir. Lunch has been served, sir." He bowed deeply.

I waved his words away. "Serve me dinner in my room, make sure to knock." I made sure to say, couldn't be too careful with my Aunt.

I wasn't interested in sitting through another dinner with her.

He jumped to bow servilely. "Of course! Master Audric, sir! Wilkins will do as bidden."

I didn't bother waiting to hold any conversation, closing the door in his face.

I cleared up my table, I had no interest in reading after lunch.

Maybe I could check out the house and then outside the house, I would be leaving soon after all, I might find something useful.

So after I was done with lunch, I didn't bother going back to my room, heading straight outside.

I couldn't check the rest of the house because I came to find out from Wilkins that most of it was locked off.

I checked myself and it was as the House-Elf had said, the keys were apparently taken away by a couple Wizards from the Investigation Department.

Could it have been Malark and his partner? Malark had seemed a little too familiar with the Manor.

All I would find anyway would be personal items of my family and a bunch of stuff I wouldn't be able to understand.

So I went outside the house instead. There was a grand staircase that led to the foyer, a large empty room that had a huge chandelier hanging down the middle of the ceiling.

It separated the rest of the house from the front door. I walked across the marbled ground, pushing open the doors.

I was in a fresh set of a dress shirt and tailored pants, there weren't a lot of options to choose from.

The front of the house was all cleanly cut lawn, I suspected the use of magic. Glorious fountains were on either side of a driveway that I knew very well was never used for cars.

But that wasn't what I was looking for, so I made my way straight to the back of the Manor.

There was a beautifully tended garden waiting for me with a variety of flowers in bloom but that wasn't what caught my attention.

It was a shed built right in the garden, it had high windows and I could hear hooting sounds coming from it.

Owls!

Without thinking, I rushed to the shed.

Messenger owls! 'How did I forget that I was supposed to own one?'

I swung open the door of the shed, it was quite roomy inside which was a bit surprising considering that it housed only two owls.

One was a large pitch-black bird, it stood on one of the stands provided for it and watched me with judgemental black eyes. It was also deathly silent.

The owl that had been hooting was a snowy white owl with black markings on its feathers. It was caged.

It flapped its wings angrily as I opened the door, its gold eyes glaring at me in annoyance as it flapped around in its cage.

'Echo.'

A word was whispered in my head, instantly I knew it was the name of my owl. She had most likely been caged for days so she was very grumpy.

"Hey, Echo." I chuckled nervously.

It was a little odd but it felt like I had known her since she was an owlet.

I clutched my head, feeling disoriented. I had wondered how I would be able to access the knowledge that I had available to me but it seemed like I shouldn't have worried.

I would probably instinctively know things that were important to the past inhabitant of my new body. It would explain why Aunt Vannessa hadn't rung a bell.

This would come in useful but it was also unpredictable so I couldn't trust it.

I quickly unlocked the cage to let Echo out, the bird slapped me around with her wide wings before shooting out one of the open windows.

I ignored the other bird sitting majestically and staring down at me, it ignored me first anyway.

I spat out a couple of Echo's feathers and got more out of my hair, walking into the wide garden.

I could probably get some useful exercise done out here, I needed to grow some muscles for my safety sake.

After I had checked out the garden, I looked up reflexively to find a big shadow swooping down on me.

I didn't flinch, I already knew who it was.

"Have a good flight?" I asked conversationally when she settled delicately on my shoulders.

It was odd, I didn't hate birds but I was never a big fan of them, not to talk of owls but yet here I was buddying up to a scarily big owl.

How close had the dead Audric been with his owl?

I didn't mind it though because although they weren't my original emotions, it was soothing to have someone to care about.

"It's probably for the best that you can't understand what I say." I muttered, gingerly making my way over to an ornate metal bench to sit for a bit.

Echo was unruffled, her gold eyes blinking at me as she creepily turned her entire head around to watch me.

I sat carefully and she hopped off my shoulders to settle peacefully on my legs like this was the usual routine between her and her owner.

So the dead Audric had been a dumb asshole who made bad life choices but was surprisingly sweet to his owl?

I was just relieved that Echo had been fed at least, I was probably the only one that was allowed to release her from her cage.

Echo still harbored residual animosity towards me from leaving her in her cage for days but she was still sitting on my legs so I guess she would forgive me eventually.

"Hey! I'm sorry about that, my family kind of died and I almost died twice, give me a break." I complained when she gave in to her resentment and slapped me across the face with her wings again.

She seemed content this time with my punishment because she settled on my right shoulder again, nestling against the side of my neck and face.

It was a strange sensation but it was also really comforting.

I sighed deeply and closed my eyes. A lot of things had happened today alone but I never imagined that I would spend my afternoon being comforted by an owl.

"I guess even you can't tell the difference."

I was probably the only one that felt any different, to everyone else I was Audric Albeline. The only son of Osmont Albeline and Susanne Albeline, a pureblood Wizard.

That was who I was now, Liam Smith was truly dead.

It was a strange sensation to mourn over my own death. It wasn't something that I wanted to repeat.

///Author's Note///

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