Tim and rumors

In front of them were a group of children and a pair of parents. The children seemed to be fascinated by the child with longer dark hair reaching to his shoulders; he was a little taller than other children. He was the center of attention and looked to be enjoying himself, or at least until he looked in Rey's direction.

Rey was stunned by why his mother seemed so panicked all of a sudden, so he looked in the direction she was looking. Rey managed to create eye contact with the child that was the center of attention. Rey still didn't understand why his mother was so panicked.

The child's eyes widened as he looked at Rey with horror. He then went to one of the adults and said something to them, pointing in Rey's direction.

Rey then looked at his mother and wanted to ask, but she interrupted him and said, "HIDE!" She said more loudly as she pulled him back and then ran off with him.

Rey's mother couldn't understand what they were doing here; the shops were already closed, so there was no reason for THEM to be here. She felt that this went wrong all of a sudden.

Rey, without understanding why he should hide, just ran with his mother, hoping that someone could explain everything to him.

'Well, there should be no reason for me to hide except if we meet anyone from our village, then it might become a problem,' Rey thought as he hid in a side alley behind one of the boxes containing something solid.

And Rey was correct.

Rey's mother wondered why Tim and his parents would be here all of a sudden. She would have to find some other way to Leaky Cauldron. It wasn't that hard, but it was sure troublesome, especially that Tim seemed to recognize Rey already.

"Rey, the child in the middle with black long hair was Tim, the one who caused all of this to you."

Rey now understood why they were running. If rumors were to start that he was alright and even was in Diagon Alley, it could cause a commotion. Especially for Rey, as that could mean that Tim might try doing something to him again.

Rey and his mother finally found some other route to get to the Leaky Cauldron. It was through an Alley people called Knockturn Alley.

The Knockturn alley was quite narrow, making it hard for the duo to get through. They didn't meet anyone on their way there until an old lady stood right before them, trying to say something. Her mouth was sealed by something, so she couldn't speak properly.

Rey and his mother realized that this didn't seem to be a place for them to be in. Not that they knew how dangerous that place was. They then tried to find some other way but noticed that Tim and the others weren't there anymore.

They swiftly but carefully made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron, where they examined the place as well for any potential people they knew. After making sure everything was alright, they exited the Leaky Cauldron, still with Crow on his shoulder. Rey knew that this encounter spelled trouble for him and his mother.

When the time approached midnight, the already fatigued mother and son let out a sigh of relief. They knew that it didn't go according to the plan, but everything wasn't lost.

Tim's parents didn't manage to see Rey or his mother, which meant that all that could come up from this were accusations and rumors. They should be able to deal with them easily without any big problems for them.

All worn out, they said good night to each other and went to sleep.

Rey lay in his bed as he recalled his encounter with Tim. He was surprised that a child who seemed to be admired by other children did such a thing to him without shame or guilt in public.

He recalled everything about Tim's looks, making sure to carve every detail into his memory, making sure that he will take revenge.

Everything that happened today so far made Rey so exhausted he finally fell asleep after promising to take revenge.

Tim, at this time, was trying profusely to persuade everyone that the person he saw was Rey. His parents were a little confused about all of this since they knew that Rey was in a coma from some accident.

Tim didn't tell anyone that he caused Rey's accident as it would be useless trouble for him, not that he would be punished since he was the treasured magical child.

Well, but the children he was with believed everything he said, and thanks to that, rumors spread throughout the village. They weren't anything extreme; some people just thought that Rey wasn't in any kind of accident and it was a lie made up by his mother.

All of these rumors would be known to Rey's mother once they woke up because while they were sleeping, the rumors spread like a fire.

The next morning, Rey woke up. Still lying on his bed, he looked around his room, a little unbelieving about what happened yesterday.

The crow was sitting silently, already expecting that Rey would wake up soon.

"Ahh, I should also name you since you will be with me now." Rey tried to come up with a simple but cool name that he could name his crow.

"Midnight, you will be Midnight." One of the reasons for this name was the crow's color as well as the time he got her at.

Midnight crowed a little, indicating that she liked her new name.

Rey was trying to get up from his bed; this time he tried using his hands if they could help him at least a little.

The answer was still no; he couldn't get any strength into them or even control them properly. Rey was a little sad about this as he was now more concerned about his future, mostly because he knew what he could achieve. He slowly stood up and looked at his table that was next to the bed, at the wand that he tried holding yesterday when he got into his room.

He couldn't hold it properly, but he could at least feel his connection to his wand when he held it.

He learned yesterday that wizards can use various spells using precise movements of their hands and wands. This was very disheartening information for Rey as it meant that he wouldn't be able to use spells properly.

But Rey couldn't understand why the motions were required, but he believed that he could find a way to use spells in the future even without proper motions.

After all, since he could already use some magical abilities unconsciously before, then that meant that there must be a way to control magic even without a wand.

He was sure that he would learn more about how magic works in Hogwarts and maybe even find a way to control his hands.

All of this was left for Rey to discover when he went to Hogwarts and started learning magic.

Rey's mother was at work right now; her job was to store all the medical herbs that the village currently had. She was well-paid enough to support them as a single mother.

Rey didn't know anything about his father, but maybe he knew before he lost his memory. He didn't mind that much as he believed he could regain his memory after some time.

He slowly stood up from his bed and tried to wave his wand around, hoping it would do something. With his control over his hands, it was more of a try to not let go of his wand rather than using magic.

But even though he didn't try that hard, he still felt a sense of something leaving his body through his hands into the wand.

There wasn't any reaction around him, but he still felt like something changed. He was still trying to hold his wand as much as he could, but his unnatural grip made it really hard for him.

A smile of satisfaction appeared on Rey's face. Although he didn't really see any magic happening, he was still happy that he could at least somehow use his wand.

He was now ready to try more, but he could hear someone knocking on the front door. Rey was now more alert than he was before when he opened the door. He knew that some things have changed now, and some people might try to see if he is really in a coma.

Although he knew that he was still curious about who was knocking. He slowly went to the first floor, careful not to make any noise on the way down. He approached the front door and looked through the peephole to try to see who the person knocking might be.

He closed one eye and looked in with the other eye.

Rey's face made a frown as he recognized the person knocking. It was Tim.

He slowly went away from the door, afraid that Tim knew that he was near the door. As Rey was going up the stairs to get into his room, he heard Tim shouting loudly.

"You can't hide forever, Rey! I know you're in there! Don't think you can escape me!" Tim's voice echoed through the house, and Rey's heart raced with fear and anger.

Rey knew that he had no chance to even do something to Tim. Tim, from what he saw, was quite tall and fit, and Rey was kind of weak compared to him.

Rey decided to stay silent, hoping that Tim would leave after a while, but Tim stayed and continued shouting.

"Don't think that just because you showed some little magical abilities you are on the same level as me! I will make sure your life will be hell at Hogwarts if you don't come out of the house right now." Tim continued shouting angrily.

"I can just accuse you of anything I want, and they will believe me. You are nothing against someone like me. But don't worry; I will wait until Hogwarts and then finally finish what I started. Don't die until then, coward."

It seemed that Tim's supremacy got into his own head as he showed that he thought he was above anyone and anything.

Rey tried to steady his breathing as his heart was almost jumping out of his chest at this moment. His blood was cold as he was stunned by the fear he felt. He slowly realized that Tim would not stop here and might do something in Hogwarts.

Rey knew that he couldn't let Tim's threats go unanswered. He needed to find a way to protect himself and ensure his safety at Hogwarts. Taking a deep breath, Rey decided not to tell his mother about his encounter with Tim. He knew that she had his best interests at heart, but he also knew that she would be too worried when he goes to Hogwarts.

Rey carefully made his way back to his room, and with that statement, Tim seemed to leave. He met his eyes with Midnight as he felt a connection with her, Rey felt a sense of comfort with the bird's presence, as if Midnight understood him in a way his mother couldn't.

Once in his room, Rey closed the door and lay on his bed, talking about some little things with Midnight. Rey felt like Midnight really listened to him and understood what he said.

Time quickly passed, and Rey's mother came home. Rey didn't say anything special, just greeted her. His mother did the same. Rey didn't know that his mother's day wasn't easy as well, since she had to deal with the looks of others as the rumors reached almost everyone.

But both of them didn't want to put other burdens on the other party and kept it for themselves.

Rey found himself really getting comfortable around Midnight as he was slowly patting her wings. He was still talking to her about his ambitions and goals; he could swear that he saw her nod her head sometimes.

She wasn't big, around the size of a parrot, but her black color and her eyes made her seem more mysterious.

Night slowly overtook the Ainsworth village, and darkness enveloped the surroundings.

She looked profoundly at Rey as he seemed to get sleepier with each minute. When Rey finally seemed to fall asleep, she slowly sat next to his hands and also started sleeping.

Rey wasn't completely asleep yet and smiled cutely when he noticed Midnight's movements. He was really glad that he had such an animal friend.