Chapter 19

I went back to school and worked on my memories. My sister was just taking her first tentative steps into mental magic, so she had to experience my communication with the snake. It was good that she had no phobias or prejudices. So she treated a pet in the form of a huge, poisonous, hissing hose appropriately. Of course, Guzar would hardly be her favorite, but she would not be afraid of him.

The exams were over and the traditional ball was held. As far as I was concerned, the prom in her previous life had been much more fun. England is generally a prim country, and wizards are stuck in the past.... Brrr, in short. No, the kids would love to rock out, but who's going to let them? So, a bottle of wine for four and puritanical entertainment. It's all nice, modest, noble. The professors' liquor stash has been discovered. Snape, that nosy bastard, is no stranger to this.

The report came two weeks after school. We'd just moved into our own house. It's all right, just as I planned, just as it turned out. Everything excellent and beyond expectations. A good result, even excellent, but not outstanding. The letter that followed made me grit my teeth. I read in the folk art, fanfiction called fanfics, that the school of witchcraft and magic is not free. That's what it turned out to be. Education is expensive in the West, so you'd have to wait for the bill. I was disappointed by my knowledge of the original, and once I asked little Johnny the magical McGonagall, who took him around the shops, where the money came from and who paid for my studies, and she said that the sponsors paid for it. At first, I didn't care to find out, and then I forgot.

No, not forgotten, not with my memory, just somehow managed not to think about it. You should have. By the way, a year's training costs two hundred and fifty galleons. So I was offered to repay the debt with interest, about two thousand gold pieces for seven years of study. And if I couldn't make it by the fall, they would find me a job, voluntarily and by force.

But it's clear why the Weasleys, for example, are poor. It's even strange how they managed to teach five children at the same time, it's about a thousand and a half gold a year. That's a lot of money. Of course, their father had a high rank in the Ministry of Magic, but the children just needed to be clothed and fed. Plus something for their hobby, and all sorts of force majeure happens. So two hundred galleons a month is not enough. In the canon they went to Egypt for seven hundred pieces of gold, either for a few weeks or even for a month. And it was a price from the leading publication in the country. If I go the bureaucratic way, I get a hundred, and in the private sector not much more.

In connection with what happened, I paid more attention to the magical economy and read the laws. I didn't want to get into any more trouble. I was surprised to learn that a galleon always costs five pounds because the goblins regulate the amount of precious metals in it. Such a twist of magical financial thinking and a peculiar understanding of the gold standard. Once enlightened, I used a portal-key to enter the magical district and from there, through the public fireplace, to the ministry. I quickly solved the problem of paying my debts. Actually, I had to pay a certain trustee who paid for my education, so I did it personally, although I could have done it through the bank.

Why go to all that trouble? I just wanted to see an aristocrat of the old and noble in person. The Burkes weren't aristocrats, at least not by Muggle standards. Just an old family, distantly related to the Blacks, the Malfoys, and a bunch of lesser families. That's a subjective reason. Objective — now I'm sort of introduced to him, which means I can theoretically talk to him. The conventions of etiquette on the one hand make life easier, on the other hand they make it very difficult.

From the ministry I went to the bank. I have to take care of the little one. I paid for my sister with goblins, I had to buy out the "contract". Thanks to Magic, such a thing did not require tambourine dancing and was solved on the spot. There was no question of savings, one galleon for one galleon, including interest. The whole point of these movements was to find peace of mind.

Of course, to force her to do something like this through debt will not work, thanks to the founders, took care, but here to spoil the life is quite realistic. You can give her some lousy and very lousy jobs to choose from. Trustees would like to put the graduates of the poor in their service, but the magic oath that brings entering the Council, such does not allow such a thing.

When I started going through the officials, I spent a week fighting with bureaucrats. Mostly Muggle bureaucrats. Since I'm of age in the normal world, I decided to get custody of Anna. Magic is magic, but you can't forget the Muggle world. So I bought her some textbooks and let her study. If she doesn't understand — I'll explain, I think I was pretty good at Hogwarts. Obviously, I could not have gotten anywhere without the use of magic.

I had to dispense chants confusion, trust, friendship, and even subjugating charms left and right. I got tired, I got angry, but I got what I wanted. I became the legal guardian. At the same time, I placed the little girl in a regular school and immediately transferred her to home schooling, providing a doctor's certificate under control. Of course, the girl was not too happy to take exams in ordinary subjects, but she did not cause a scandal. Nevertheless, a personal example is decisive. And how I study and what I achieve thanks to it, she can observe every day.

Besides, my sister somehow didn't realize at once that the artifact for memory also works with ordinary books. I had to give her a hint. When she realized it, the extra load didn't seem so scary anymore. She thought she'd have to sit at home all summer, swallowing book dust. What am I, some kind of fiend? Four hours is enough. Heh-heh. Knowledge is power!

The summer was busy, but not too busy. I worked with the HECC, the ritual hall, the stone and the altar, beautified the house and the property, made observations, calculations, rune chains and spells, studied myself and didn't let my sister slack off. I finished the artifacts I had started and started new ones. I organized a gym and finally got in shape. I brewed potions, including new ones for hydroponics.

I got into the classics of the genre — training the skill of battle. I hired a retired Auror to be my teacher. He was no spring chicken, but he had been through the whole war with Grindewald, had been on the front lines, and had been in battle with the Eaters. Of course, three hundred galleons a month for a few hours of daily training was expensive, but it was worth it. I didn't neglect my regular training either, pushing myself to the point of magical exhaustion every two or three days. But even without it, I was on the edge every day. Little by little, I formalized everything related to HECC into a magical analog of dissertations. In general, there was no time to be bored.

Anna got a lot of girlfriends, I had to buy her an owl for correspondence, give her a bunch of portal-keys, and connect the fireplace to the magical transportation system. I made her a two-way mirror, an artifact similar to a cell phone with the ability to transmit video. Enchanted some notebooks with protean enchantments so they could correspond.

Control, simply put. I didn't forget about the girl's protection either, amulets, charms, rune embroideries on clothes, not every heir of the oldest and noblest family can boast such a set. Only in terms of compactness, it turned out badly. Not that I couldn't, for example, cram functions to detect potions or poisons into a ring, I could. Just that making such a powerful and universal artifact would be ten times longer than getting the same thing in the form of a wide bracelet or several separate rings.

So that she wouldn't look like a gypsy, I added concealment and intangibility charms to each piece of jewelry. Thanks to them, the little one carries the artifacts with her all the time, because she can't feel them, and they don't bother her. Of course, without them, everything had a blood bond. In her magical vision, Anna now looked like a ball of lightning.

A small armored beast. The only problem is that the artifacts suck her energy like a starving vampire, and her sister's mana production barely covers her consumption. If it weren't for that, I'd have added more stuff, but it's actually useful for development, she'll get stronger, I've got some ideas. Paranoia, of course, I'm aware of it myself, but I can't help it. Again, it is interesting to create such artifacts. It seems not too difficult and even in time fast, but there are so many opportunities for modification and creativity.

An unexpected problem became the household, and in particular — the usual cooking. Here are a lot of different household charms are there, but with culinary just trouble. It does not work to wave a magic wand and get a ready dish. Even if you have the right ingredients, nothing comes out. Magic can be sliced, cleaned, stirred, even salt and pepper are no problem, but roasting, steaming, boiling and further down the list will have to be done the old-fashioned way. The only difference is that the heat is provided by magic.

When you use magic fire, it's basically a gas stove or oven. I knew how to cook in my previous life, not too varied, but quite edible and even useful. However, there was no time to be stuck in the kitchen. At first, I tried to read the Grimoire and use magic, but it's not the same. How many products were transferred because of the idea that visited my head, just wow. Being distracted from the mortal world because dinner is burning on the stove is not the most pleasant thing. Hiring a cook? That's a trust issue all over again.

Getting married? Ahem, I'm too young. I'd have to spend a lot more time with my spouse than cooking. House elf? Let's just say I can easily attract this magical parasite, and I can even afford two or three. But even without them, there's something to spend my mana reserves on. And with significantly more benefit. It's an ambush. In the end, we spent the whole summer eating in restaurants. After all, their owners do not get a license to operate without taking vows and oaths.

Knock, knock, knock, the wheels of the locomotive taking the children to Hogwarts. I wave goodbye to my little sister. It's a strange feeling. I've been a passenger for seven years, and now I'm looking at the train leaving. She's a third year, she'll be able to visit every weekend. And something tells me she won't be alone, but with a big group of badgers. She's a real clever girl! I'm even more proud of her than of myself. It's unusual to feel that way.

I have grown up, haven't I? I guess so. It's good to have a place for guests. Let them all come, there's plenty of room in the house, I'll just be glad to see them, and I have to work on weekdays, not weekends. It's time to finally sit down and make a clear plan of what needs to be done, a schedule for the week and at least a rough plan for the year. But first you have to solve the problem of the canon. To intervene or not? Somehow, recently still visiting thoughts about changes and possibilities, today are not very perceived. It just seems silly.

I've definitely grown up. More like settled down. For about seven years physical and mental age have been brought to a common denominator. Or maybe the hormones just stopped working, the transitional age had passed, and the echoes had died down. Progress in mental magic and self-control is noticeable.

Stop, I'm not thinking clearly. When I dove into introspection, everything fell into place at once. Sad, of course, but what can you do? I've just lived my second childhood consciously. The Hogwarts Express leaving without me became a visual embodiment of the process, with a farewell horn clearly dividing life into before and after. With a crooked smile, I hummed and activated the portal-key to home. There was no time for reflection, there were too many things to do.