Farewell

His father, besides being a potion maker, was a skilled duelist. In his years as a student at Hogwarts he was teased for his strange name, so he got into duels all the time, achieving great skill.

So having his father as his personal instructor was very good news, as James wanted to be skilled in martial magic because in the future he must face Voldemort and wants to focus on defensive and offensive magic.

"Let's start with the basics, a levitation charm," said Fleamont.

It was time for James to put into practice all the theories he studied during these two years.

With a light and gentle wave of his wand Fleamont conjured a table and 10 feathers, "Remind me, what was the levitation charm all about?" he asked, testing James.

James approached the table and replied, "It allows a wizard to make objects fly for a set amount of time just by waving the wand. You can also move objects and it doesn't work on humans."

"Correct, the levitated object depends on the skill of the caster and the weight of the object. The heavier the object, the more skill you should have. Despite being a basic charm, from 1st year at Hogwarts, it is very useful in duels. I have used it many times. You can lift obstacles and send them towards your opponent," explained Fleamont.

"You already know the theory and have seen the wand movement when your mother and I showed it to you. Now it's your turn, make the feather levitate," added Fleamont.

"Wingardium Leviosa," said James in concentration, as he made a slight movement with his new wand. He had the wand movement memorized long ago in his mind, so it wasn't a difficult thing to do.

The feather was charmed and began to levitate higher and higher, as James controlled it with his wand. Reaching almost to the ceiling of the training room which was very high, James began to control it so that the feather began to slowly lower until it was resting in its original position.

"A perfect control," said Henry, clapping his hands with a smile. His grandson was a genius, this was a charm learned by 1st year students at Hogwarts, and James managed it at the age of 8 and on his first attempt.

Euphemia also applauded with a proud smile on her face, "Well done, now do it with two feathers at once," said Fleamont.

Time passed, and James managed the same day to use "Wingardium Leviosa" and levitate all 10 feathers at once, "Tomorrow we will continue with this charm on heavier objects. Now let's move on to the next charm," said Fleamont, who knew that his son did not want to practice the same charm all day long.

The next few days, James spent a lot of time in the training room using his new wand and practicing with his father. All the books he read and the theory he learned, he began to put into practice.

With his parents, they decided that once he learned all the spells and mastered the practical, he would move on to the next more advanced book on charms.

Also, now that he possessed a wand, he began the practical part of healing with his mother. And his father also let him create beginner's potions on his own, while he supervised him.

One of the charms that fascinated James the most was 'Incendio' an enchantment that conjures a stream of flames that can be used to set things on fire. Although it sounds dangerous, it was included in the Grade 1 book by Miranda Goshawk.

The amount of fire conjured depends on the skill and mastery of the mage. In James' case, he could barely set fire to the fireplace, some candles, etc. He wasn't very powerful yet, but the more he practiced, the more fire he could cast.

Another advantage of the training room is the immunity to fire, so there is no danger of starting a fire in the entire room.

So, the time flew by for James, practicing in the training room, then reading more advanced books, hanging out with Emily and Gwen in the square, and spending time with his family.

When he was 9 years old, Gwen and Emily told him that they were moving out of Godric's Hollow. It was news that saddened James to his surprise. He didn't expect it to make him sad, but he already considered Gwen and Emily his first two friends because of all the time they spent together.

They would be moving to Wiltshire a county in the southwest of England. It is home to the Malfoy Family and the Nott Family, two pureblood families that belong to the hallowed twenty-eight. In the Nott family is Gwen's best friend, and her parents apparently got along very well with Mr. and Mrs. Shafiq.

Today was the day they would leave. The 3 young children were in the square, at their last meeting. James as usual was lying on the grass watching the cloudy sky.

Emily was reading chocolate frog stickers of James as usual. By this time, she had read all of them but she kept reading them, remembering information she forgot or didn't pay attention to.

Gwen was sitting close to James, as she pulled the petals off a flower, her gaze was fixed on the flower, and unlike the other days, she wasn't talking.

"Do you have everything ready for the move yet?" asked James.

"Yes... my parents must be saying goodbye to the other pureblood wizards," replied Gwen without taking her eyes off the flower.

James thought it was funny that she would specify that they were pureblood wizards, making it clear that they would not be saying goodbye to half-blood or muggle-born wizards. Although at this time James wanted to shake that supremacist thinking out of him, he accomplished little if anything.

His parents didn't fall into the pureblood group either, as they were considered blood traitors and didn't get along with Emily and Gwen's parents, who had extremist thoughts. So they were still at home living normal lives, without going to say goodbye to them.

"I guess we'll see you at Hogwarts," James commented.

"What? But that's a long way off, two years," said Emily in a sad tone. Unlike her sister James was her only friend. Gwen nodded agreeing with what her little sister was saying.

It was two years until James and Emily would be starting Hogwarts. On Gwen's side, she would be starting next year as she was a year older than both of them.

"You must visit us," Gwen said in a tone that sounded like a command.

"I can't. It's too far," said James.

"You're just lazy as usual." snorted Gwen, annoyed.

"Then why aren't you guys coming to visit?" asked James.

"They won't allow it because they didn't get along with my parents," he added, answering his own question.

Gwen hearing this frowned, but said nothing, as he was right. James would not force his parents to take him to the new Shafiq mansion to treat his parents coldly.

Although he visited the Shafiq mansion around this time (for Gwen's birthday) he always went alone, since it was so close. And Mr. and Mrs. Shafiq wouldn't start insulting or belittling a child friend of their daughter, but if his parents it might be different.

Besides that Gwen and Emily's parents would let James go to their house why save Gwen, and it would be very rude of them to ban him.

In a moment a very neat owl came and perched on the branch of the tree that shaded Levi, "It's mother's owl...we should go." said Gwen as she looked at Emily.

The 3 children stood up from the grass and looked at each other. James didn't know what to do in this situation. He could notice the sad faces of Emily and Gwen, most likely he was also making a similar expression.

Being loving and caring to his family (especially his parents and grandfather) was much easier than doing it with friends.

'What do I do...?' thought James a little nervously. He very rarely felt nervous. How Edward Rothschild could act friendly in front of strangers and gain their trust, but he never had a goodbye from people he really cared about, so he didn't know what to do.

"Well... we'll send each other letters through the owls," James said, scratching his unruly black hair.

"Yes... But you don't have an owl," said Gwen.

"I'll buy one, for now, I'll use my parents," said James quickly.

"Here," said Emily in a low tone, approaching James and passing him several cards.

"You can keep it, as a parting gift," said James, closing Emily's hand to keep the cards.

"Thanks..." said Emily and out of nowhere she hugged James tightly.

Both James and Gwen were surprised by Emily's sudden action, who was always calm and didn't show so many emotions.

"I'll miss you! I'll message you with Gwen's owl!" said Emily hugging James and with tears in her eyes.

"I will too... we'll send each other letters," said James nervously, also hugging Emily.

"Bye," said Emily, letting go of James and returning to her usual self.

Then Gwen and James stood looking at each other, 'Should I hug her too? Is that what friends do...?' thought James, debating how to proceed.

"Remember to answer the letters," Gwen said after a few seconds that seemed like forever to James. She turned and started walking next to Emily.

James nodded, though Gwen was no longer looking at him. He stood watching as the backs of his first two friends walked further and further away, 'Not a nice feeling...' thought James, turning around and heading home.

For the first time, he felt strong emotions triggered by people other than his family.