Chapter 18: Back to New Leaf

On the bus ride back to New Leaf I indulged myself in a bunch of my books that I had bought from Flourish and Blotts. Starting off I read into how the trace worked in the wizarding world. Although it's never explicitly explained, people in my previous life who were fans of Harry Potter guessed it was somewhat connected to when a witch or wizard would get their wand. Thankfully for me this sort of information was actually pretty public as I read through an entire book on the matter.

The trace was stored within wands as an embedded charm when produced by wand makers. When a wand is passed to an 11 year old boy or girl, the trace goes from the wand and into the recipient nesting itself within them. If the person buying the wand is over 17, the trace will enter and then decay after detecting the recipient is of age to use magic. As far as I knew from the canon, the trace was a charm that detected underage magic however I never knew how that charm found itself on a wizard or witch considering it needed to be somehow placed onto them. Wands made the most sense in this regard, acting as a way for the ministry to put the trace on young witches and wizards.

After all basically every witch and wizard goes to get their first wand when they are 11 as it's to get a wand that's a perfect fit for them, starting their wizarding journey. I however had managed to dodge this part entirely getting Merlin's wand that was left behind in vault. I imagined the trace within it was long gone even if there was one in the first place. This meant that I was able to use magic undetected before Hogwarts.

I wondered though… this wand was a perfect fit for me due to my bloodline. However, if I were to go to Ollivanders when I'm 11, would I find another wand that works as well? Could I dual-wield two wands if that was the case? It was probably worth giving a shot when the time came, after all at that point I wouldn't be too fussed about the trace as I'd be going to Hogwarts soon after, where the trace wouldn't be an issue when trying to practice magic.

Noting it was possible to use Merlin's wand when I got back to New Leaf, I eased up further as I started to read books about occlumency. I had specifically picked this topic for numerous reasons however it boiled down to two main reasons.

For one, I knew what Dumbledore was like. He was good natured in the bigger picture however he didn't hesitate to pry if need be. I imagined my brain would be searched at the slightest impasse if an issue arose or if Dumbledore even had the slightest suspicion surrounding me. I couldn't fully guess what the man's nature was outside of the canon yet, but I wanted to at least have some protection. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry in the long term.

As for the second reason, it was honestly a sort of magic study designed for me. Occlumency was about fortifying the mind and it required immense magic power alongside memorisation ability. I had both, one supplied via my talent and another by something that came with me from my previous life. It would be easy for me to learn compared to other students and Occlumency even had the effect of buffing my memorisation skills further. It was almost like a cycle in that regard, my memory would help me learn Occlumency and that same Occlumency being learnt would buff my memory.

Unlike the trace book though, there were numerous books about Occlumency and its many different ways of usage alongside its history in the wizarding world. It was an ancient magic after all existing since medieval times. As I read through the material I found myself solely focusing of occlumency that would close my mind perfectly from any outside influence. The way it worked was like building multiple walls around your mind, blocking any intruders. The more blocks the better. It even stated that deep down the occlumency path you could use it to control your own emotions, closing them off completely in a desperate situation. During medieval times this specific function was used mostly during times of bloodshed when the human mind was frail. Most minds weren't accustomed to death, so Occlumency would aid a wizard in blocking their emotions so they wouldn't have a mental breakdown.

That was of course only a temporary fix though. They wouldn't breakdown on the battlefield but when they got home and the emotions loosed up the breakdown would come soon after. This history surrounding Occlumency was in one of the many books I got on the matter and reading it was incredibly interesting. Merlin was probably a master at this also…

I wanted to attempt Occlumency right away however this damn bus was swaying left right and centre. It would be dangerous to start here. It states that for Occlumency you need to have a calm and serene mind in order to build up fortifications. I was barely able to read with all the swaying, let along keeping myself calm enough to build those walls around my mind now.

Looking out the window of the fast moving knight bus I started to see more familiar country side hills and areas. Seeing this, I noted I was probably closing in on Newquay soon. I grabbed one last book from my pouch and started to give it a read. This one being the standard book of spells book.

It was a simple book to read through as it was designed so an 11 year old could understand it. I read through it pretty quickly noting the different spells and such within its pages. I felt giddy reading spells like 'lumos' and how they worked. I was excited to get back to New Leaf, shut myself away, and attempt these spells. First things first though, I needed to sort out Nana's situation. That took priority.

As reached the final pages of the standard book of spells book the bus started to come to a stop. Looking out the window I could see New Leaf up the hill. Now it was around 6pm, the sun was starting to hit the horizon painting a nice sunset. Getting up, I headed down to the exit of the bus. As I came to the bottom I saw Stan waiting for me, he gave a simple nod as he ushered me off the bus.

"Thanks for the ride"

I thanked him as I jumped off the bus and looked up the hill at New Leaf. A gust of wind brushed on my back and as I turned the bus I had just gotten off of had vanished. I gulped as I realised I would probably be reprimanded a bit for disappearing. Unless I was lucky and nobody noticed… I doubted that I would be that lucky though.

Slowly walking up the hill I started to mull over excuses. 'I went to a friend's~' that wouldn't work I had no friends, Nana and Melony were well aware of that fact. Damn, I should have tried to setup some way so this aftermath of disappearing would be lighter…

I soon arrived at the orphanages door, looking up at the sign 'New Leaf' I looked into the window on the right and noted the common room light was on. I sighed as I entered in, ready for a telling on…

.

Walking into New Leaf I walked with calm and slow steps. Looking over to my right towards the seating area I instantly saw Melony and Nana sat down looking through papers, Melony seemed to be looking at the note I had left. Worry was laced in their eyes. I felt guilt well up as I saw this.

What should I even say? Should I just say 'I'm back' or something?

I slowly walked closer to them and eventually they noticed the footsteps. Lifting their heads they saw me approaching them. I froze up a bit before replying.

"I'm back"

I saw a wave of relief overcome both of them as tears appeared in their eyes. They seemed to be extremely worried about where I had gone off to. 3 years ago I disappeared on that trip and now I had been gone overnight somewhere. I really was a bad 'brother' and 'grandson'.

Melony stood up and rushed over to me giving me a hug whilst sobbing. She couldn't get her words out however I could hear her mumbling things like 'Thank god'. Nana seemed to just sit silently looking at me. Her judging gaze was cutting. Looking back at Nana though I noticed she seemingly looked weaker. It had only been a day gone and she was up and about again but that same weakness I saw when she was asleep in bed was still lingering. I felt my resolve steel, I was prepared for any punishment as long as I could make her feel better again.

This was my repayment to these two who welcomed me warmly into this world. I expected to be alone again yet that wasn't the case. They had become a life line for me, two people I seriously cherished.

Melony eventually let go of me and I sat down with them in the seating area. They both looked at me with now anger in their gaze. Questions started to be launched at me, 'where were you!?' 'We were worried sick!?' Melony especially started to make me feel guilty with words like 'First Nana and then you!'

I didn't respond to any of their questions just giving simple answers. Nana and Melony were smart as they were stern. They knew that I had some secret way back when I 'changed', when I started to 'meditate' and when they would come upon the weird occurrences going on in my room at times. The thing is though, it was still all suspicion at the moment and their minds weren't set in stone. If I came clean, the punishment on me may be alleviated, but I would be putting them at risk in the long term.

It was painful, but in the long term I wanted to protect this place that welcomed me. The best way to protect this place though was to eventually leave this place, leave Nana and Melony behind until I was strong enough to protect them from anything…

Anger, cries and relief echoed through the remaining hours of the night and eventually I was sent to my room seemingly grounded for a while. I wasn't to leave the orphanage for a month and I would only be allowed out my room for meals. I was okay with that though, I didn't need to leave anyway. Heading up to my room I turned to Nana and Melony before I went to climb the stairs.

"Nana, Mel, I know you aren't dumb. I know you probably have some ideas or at least know something is up with me. However, you have to trust me on two points. I will never harm you and I'll never harm this place I call home. I'm sorry I made you worry the past day but… it was something I needed to go and do.

If I didn't I would have regretted it for the rest of my life"

Nana and Melony looked blankly at me as I headed up the stairs, finishing my statement off. Maybe one day I'd be able to tell them the truth. For now though, I needed strength. Strength enough that nothing could threaten me in this world. Heading into my room I sat down on my bed and took the pouch off my side. Reaching into the pouch I pulled out the bejewelled box from Merlin's vault. Pulling out Merlin's wand, I held it in my hand with a grin.

"Let's try that…"

Thinking about all I had read on the journey back, I thought about using 'that' simple spell as a tester to see if it was possible. I steeled myself, going through the motions. Raising the English Oak wand to the sky I uttered the phrase…

"Lumos"

The magic within me rushed into the wand and casted the spell, a bright light appeared at the wands tip and compared to the originally wandless stuff I was doing it sapped a minimal amount of magic. Seeing it was possible now, seeing I could cast this simple spell I knew my next steps.

As soon as I helped Nana, It was time to train.