A Peaceful Summer

Oz spent his entire summer in Merlin's hideout brushing up on everything he had learned to this point.

To start with, he practiced magic with his newly fused wand and gained a deeper connection with it. Inside Merlin's hideout there were a bunch of rooms and one of them was a room to practice magic spells in with reinforced walls for any kind of spell. Oz would spend his time in here practicing not only with his new wand but brushing up on his wandless magic. However Oz felt throughout the weeks that there was a definite 'wall' in front of him. He had progressed far too fast, he needed time to acclimate so the best bet for him was to just practice and practice. He wouldn't break through into the next step unless a catalyst was involved, much like how his wands needed a catalyst to fuse. His own catalyst however would come in the form of the Ambrosius ritual which he wouldn't enact until he was sure he had as much as he could get for it.

While he wasn't practicing spells, he would spend his spare time brewing potions and enchanting items. Brushing up on this knowledge and practicing to him was fun as he loved to seek new things. He wanted to create a new product that could be on par with his health specs however at the moment nothing came to mind so he'd mindlessly create miscellaneous items to learn more and more. As for potion brewing he brewed all kinds of potions, even brewing things such as Polyjuice potions in the case in the future that he needs them. Whenever he required materials, Alfreda would transfigure herself and apparate to diagon alley to grab him what he needed. Having her around made practicing all sorts of crafts much easier as it eliminated the travel time Oz would have had to do so to Alfreda, Oz was extremely grateful.

As for little Norberta she was growing rather fast. The room that Merlin had in his hideout that was perfect for dragons seemed to promote growth. Oz even noticed recently that her vocabulary was increasing, she also stopped referring to Oz as 'Papa' and instead as 'Oz'. When Oz first heard her do this a tear slid down his face as he realised Norberta was entering her 'rebellious' phase early.

Having both Norberta and Alfreda with him, Oz never felt lonely. Even though he was accustomed to working alone, it was nice to have people around to talk to. Alfreda was especially interesting to talk to as she had knowledge of ancient England back when the founders were running around. On one night Oz asked her several questions.

"Alfreda... Not to be rude but the common house-elf is usually much shorter and not as... pretty as you are. Is there any reason for this? Are you related to house elfs at all?".

Alfreda put a finger to her chin as she pondered.

"I imagine years of inbreeding caused defects down the line master... Back when the elf kingdom was around it was hidden from the world and there wasn't many of us. As the years went by I imagine the form of 'Elves' started to change slowly. As a matter of fact my father once mentioned that our form in a few thousand years would be completely different to what it is now and seeing those 'house-elfs' I think he was right...".

Oz listened intently to Alfreda's explanation.

"So inbreeding caused you appearances to change... Your not that much shorter than me right now however house elves are basically half my height. It makes me worry where such a lineage will be in a couple more hundred years... Anyway you keep mentioning an elf kingdom, what is that?".

Alfreda clasped her hands together as she gave the ceiling a nostalgic look.

"Eglarest... it was the kingdom of my people centuries ago. I was the 3rd princess of the kingdom~".

Oz wasnt at all surprised by this bombshell. The way Alfreda carried herself it was immediately apparent she held a high prestige in the kingdom she came from.

"Do you mind me asking what happened to that kingdom? Why were you indebted to Merlin?".

Alfreda sighed as she looked at Oz.

"Our kingdom was always concealed from the world... as you know elves have their own magic and our talent with wards is nothing to scoff at. One day however a certain wizard chanced upon our ward and found our kingdom. Unlucky for us this wizard was not friendly... He ushered a bunch of witches and wizards to attack our wards in the hope of overthrowing us and enslaving us. We were only saved as Merlin appeared. He beat back all the witches and wizards and even fixed our wards. When we asked him why he helped he just said "I was passing by...". Us elves pay our debts without fail so we ended up repaying him through me pledging myself to him and his bloodline. He accepted and took me to this hideout where I've served for centuries until this point".

The more Oz heard about Merlin the more confused he was. He couldn't even tell if the guy was good or bad at points.

"You on the other hand master give off a different aura to Merlin... I look forward to seeing your full potential in the years to come that I serve you~".

Oz looked up at Alfreda with one last question plaguing his mind.

"D...Do you know if Merlin died?".

Alfreda frowned hearing Oz's question.

"To be honest master, im not sure... he vanished one day without a trace. Even the top witches and wizards of that age couldn't find him anywhere. People just presumed him dead".

"Don't you resent him for leaving you here for centuries alone?".

Alfreda hearing Oz's rebuttal widened her eyes for a second before shaking her head.

"No... I pledged myself to him and his bloodline. Much like how house-elves in todays world must obey, I must obey. Besides, this place isn't uncomfortable or anything. I've been able to live a good life here peacefully..."

Alfreda showed a slight smile as she looked up at Oz.

"Although master im glad you have showed up here~".

Oz smiled at Alfreda. She had gained his full trust over the summer with how much she'd taught him and helped him. He could also sense that she was truly fully devoted to him with no ulterior motives. Such a person was a breath of fresh air compared to most of the characters in this world.

{Oz! Can we play today? pleaaaaase?}

As the conversation ended with Alfreda and Oz, Norberta called out from her room towards Oz. Oz heaved a sigh as he called back.

{Okay, Okay... you've turned into a handful this summer...}

The one thing this summer Oz still couldn't solve was his dragon-tongues randomness. It activated when talking to dragons and when his will to fight was at a peak but for some reason he still couldn't figure out how to use it when he wanted to...

.

Weeks passed by fast as Oz enjoyed this slow life. He knew that after this summer he would be constantly busy throughout both Hogwarts and the summer after so taking this summer slow helped him feel relaxed and at ease. On a random day near the end of summer, Oz was in the spell training room exercising.

Throughout the summer, Oz had grown taller again and since he kept up with an exercise regime he was also very well built. Alfreda stood to the side with a towel waiting for Oz to finish.

"If you don't mind me asking master... what's the point in training your physical body? Your magic is already incredibly strong and physical strength in the world of magic almost seems redundant doesn't it?".

Oz chuckled as he stopped exercising. He walked over to Alfreda, taking the towel off of her.

"Let me put it this way for your Alfreda. Magic is definitely important however your body is a vessel for that magic. A weak body may hinder your magic growth in the long run. For instance if I wanted to use a powerful spell that sends out a burst of magic, if my body was weak there's a chance that I may take internal injuries or at least feel very fatigued after. Training my body however covers for that weakness, allowing me to be as prepared as possible".

Alfreda listened intently to Oz's explanation and nodded while she listened.

"Merlin's bloodline has allowed me to attain a dragon Animagus form and that form translated to my original body giving me a stronger physique and these purple eyes... however being content with just that would be folly. Any little step extra is a step forward regardless of how small it is. Besides, this has also been a habit of mine since I first came to... since I first learnt about the magical world".

Alfreda tilted her head at Oz's slip of tongue near the end of his explanation however didn't ask about it. Oz clapped his hands together after his long explanation.

"Anyway! I believe there's only a few days left before Hogwarts starts up again for a new year... Ill organise and clean this place out as much as possible before then. Alfreda, I hope you can help me with that"

Alfreda smiled.

"Of course master~".