Trips

Atreus had a face of absolute focus as he stared at his target. His new staff, or err wand, was tightly grasped in his hand. He did the flicks that he had already practiced a few times and pointed at this target.

"Colovaria!"

Atreus felt his magic freely flow into his wand before a streak of light flew out of it, right into the red-coloured leather chair, which changed into a much more pleasing to the eye green one.

Satisfaction filled him as he finally cast the Colour Change Charm that had alluded him for the past month. Now Atreus just had to do it at least a dozen more times until he understands how his magic works so he could do it without a wand. Or he could continue using his wand/staff and keep his wandless magic as a surprise.

"That was very good. Your wand movements need some work, but for your first time, it was good," Perenelle praised him, and Atreus nodded to her with a smile.

"Well then, I'm sure you are interested in playing with your new toy, but would you like to take a trip to Diagon Alley with me? I promised to give him some materials for the broken wands, and we could also have him look at yours. We can then show you around a bit more if you want to," Nicolas offered.

"I would like that," Atreus agreed. He had enjoyed their previous trip. Seeing so many people and new things was a novel experience for him, and he may have been craving for some ice cream. After all, it was very delicious.

After taking Perenelle's hand, the three of them appeared in front of the Leaky Caldron, the pub they used to enter Diagon Alley. As they walked towards the back of the buildings, Nicolas stopped by the barman and asked for a newspaper.

"Ah, this is a surprise," Nicolas said and read the title, "Escape From Azkaban!"

"What's Azkaban?" Atreus questioned.

"It's a prison built in the middle of the sea. Wizards and witches that have broken the law get sent there," Perenelle explained.

"And how do they keep them there? Can't they use magic to escape?"

"Azkaban is built with magically resistant materials. It's not impossible to destroy it, but wizards and witches have their wands confiscated before being sent there," Nicolas answered.

"And since most wizards need a focus to use their magic, they can't muster up enough power to break out without one," Atreus mused.

"Exactly. The place is also guarded by Dark creatures called Dementors," Perenelle said and explained what Dementors are.

"So kind of like Revenants and Nightmares mixed into one," Atreus nodded before asking, "what about teleporting? Or is that not a common skill among wizards?"

"Apparition is something every witch or wizard learns at some point. However, there are wards in place that prevent them from apparating out of Azkaban," Perenelle explained.

"I see," Atreus nodded and asked, "Then how do you think he escaped?"

"If I had to guess, he was an Animagus, who turned into an animal and slipped through the jail bars," Perenelle speculated, "I just wonder how he passed the sea. I don't believe the prisoners get fed well enough there, so he surely didn't have the strength to swim out."

"Couldn't he just fly away?" Atreus asked.

"Where would he get a broom or carpet to do that? They don't keep items like that in prison," Nicolas answered.

"With magic?" Atreus said, and both Flamels looked at him, so he explained, "Levitate, push, and pull."

"Hmm, that might work. You would have to keep the Levitation Charm active on you at all times and then use the Knockback and Pull Charms to maneuver in the air. Only those who are proficient with wandless magic and have good control will be able to use it," Perenelle mused as they reached Ollivanders.

They entered inside and saw Ollivander helping a woman and her daughter. The older woman had long brown hair that reached past her shoulder blades and wore a green dress with a black coat over it. Her daughter had shoulder-length brown hair and wore a similar outfit, but her dress was more frilly.

The family of two paid them no mind, but the second Ollivander saw them, Atreus noticed one of his eyes start twitching uncontrollably. However, he didn't stop what he was doing and handed the girl a wand.

"Ten inches made out of English oak. Very springy and with a unicorn hair core. Give it a few flicks."

The girl accepted the wand and flicked it. A streak of red light shot out of it and, the beam curved in the air, aiming straight at Atreus. He could've probably dodged it, but instead, he raised his arm and slapped it away with the back of his hand.

Silence filled the room as everyone looked at him in surprise. Ollivander was the one to break the stillness.

"Wonderful! I'd say that's a perfect match for young Astoria," he praised the little girl and turned to her mother. "Would there be anything else, Mrs. Greengrass?"

"That would be all," Mrs. Greengrass handed him seven Galleons before turning towards Atreus.

"Apologies," she said and stared at Atreus as if she was trying to see through him. Mrs. Greengrass placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, which acted as a command. Astoria did a curtsy and said, "I apologize."

"It's okay, no harm done," Atreus waved them off.

Mrs. Greengrass narrowed her eyes at him before she tapped her daughter's shoulder. "Let's go, Astoria. Your father and sister are waiting for us at Flourish and Blotts."

"Did I do something wrong?" Atreus asked after they left.

"One of them pureblood families?" Nicolas asked, walking over to Ollivander, who nodded to confirm.

"Pureblood basically think themselves as nobles," Perenelle explained while Nicolas and Ollivander began their own talk.

"They have a certain social etiquette, a way of handling themselves in public, and you didn't follow it. Waving your hand like that was probably interpreted as you dismissing them and thinking they were lower than you."

"You also didn't ask for their name with a line like: 'To whom do I owe the pleasure?' Nor did you introduce yourself and your family."

"That's so complicated," Atreus complained.

"It is," Perenelle shrugged her shoulders, "Now why don't you tell me what you did earlier."

"Well, the description of one of the charms I read about was: 'Like most other charms, it can be countered by a spell of equivalent power.' I didn't sense too much magic power in the red beam, so..."

"You focused your magic on your hand like we do when we cut up our food and slapped the beam away. Very impressive," Perenelle praised him with her signature smile.

At that moment, Nicolas and Ollivander walked over as the door to the store locked itself, and curtains covered the windows.

"You can show him the wand," Nicolas said, and Atreus took it out for Ollivander to see.

"Thirteen inches. Straight and stiff, yet also elegant and gentle. Interesting, interesting. I don't recognize the wood, and you also said it has three cores, one of them being the hair of a squirrel that you brought over for me," Ollivander said while standing a distance away from Atreus.

"What about magic?" He then asked.

"Effortless," Atreus just pointed the wand at a nearby feather without a word. Levitating objects was something he was already good at without using a focus. However, with it, magic was just so easy, so simple.

"Incredible! Nicolas also said that it's sentient and very picky, but there is something more to it, right?" Ollivander asked in excitement.

"Do it," Nicolas said with a smirk, and Atreus nodded. He didn't have to do anything special other than just thinking about wanting a staff. The wand obeyed him with joy and increased in size until it turned into one.

Ollivander just stared with wide eyes. He blinked once, twice. He adjusted his glasses a few times and finally exclaimed, "Incredible!"

"What about magic?" Ollivander asked, and Atreus repeated what he did the last time. It was a bit different, but just as easy.

Ollivander kept marveling at the staff, looking it up and down, when he asked, "Can you change into something else besides a wand and a staff?"

"I can try," Atreus said and attempted to change it. He wished for an axe, sword, dagger, shield, but nothing happened. Only when he thought of a spear did the staff change. It increased in size a bit, and one of its edges turned sharp.

"So it has a limitation on its shape, but what of its size? How small can you make it?"

Atreus attempted just that, and the spear started decreasing in size until it was smaller than a needle. It was so tiny, he thought he could probably hide in his ear or something like that.

Already knowing what Ollivander was about to ask, he pointed it at the feather and lifted it up. The only hard part was that it was hard holding in its current size, but magic flowed through it just as efficiently.

"Marvelous! Simply marvelous!" Ollivander was jumping in joy. "And how big can it go?"

Atreus just had to think of it, and the needle grew to the size of a wand, then a staff, a spear. However, it didn't stop there. It continued to grow in size until it was like a pillar that reached the roof of the store.

Ollivander just stayed there, speechlessly staring at it with dreamy eyes. He took a gulp and turned to Nicolas, "Don't tell my wife, but I think I'm in love."

---

Soon enough, they left Ollivanders, and Atreus had a specific place he wanted to visit first. The ice cream store. They sat down at a table in front of it and enjoyed the sugary sweetness.

"There are a lot more people today," Atreus idly commented, "Kids too."

"School should be starting soon, so they are here to purchase their school supplies," Perenelle said.

"School?" Atreus questioned, and she explained to him about the Wizarding Schools.

"That's amazing!"

"It is," Perenelle nodded, "Are you interested in going to one? We can pull a few strings and get you into one. The headmaster of Hogwarts and the headmistress of Beauxbaton both owes us quite a bit of favours. They won't say no if we asked."

"I don't know. Right now, I'd rather stay with you," Atreus replied. He really liked the Flamels and was enjoying his stay with them. He didn't want to leave them at the moment. Maybe in the future, he could ask to go to one of the Wizarding Schools as the prospect of meeting people his age intrigued him.

Perenelle smiled brightly at his response. She wouldn't have refused if Atreus had asked, but she also wanted to spend more time with him.

"So, is there anywhere you want to go now?" Nicolas asked after they finished with their ice creams.

"Yes, I want to go see the non-magical world," Atreus said without hesitation.

"Really?" Nicolas asked in surprise.

"Yes! I mean, Diagon Alley is cool and magical, but it's also grim and gloomy. Plus, I want to see how non-magical people live."

"That's it! Tomorrow, we are going to Place Cachée! I promise you will like it way more," Nicolas said as he stood up. Atreus was okay with that since he liked exploring and seeing new things.

They then left Diagon Alley, and the Flamels showed him around the non-magical world. They were very knowledgeable about it as they tended to take a decade or two long vacations there. Nicolas was also very interested in the non-magical studies such as Physics and Chemistry. He went on and on about how useful they are and how quickly they've progressed over the years.

When the sun started going down, they returned back to the house. Atreus planned on continuing his story, but there was something on his mind that he just had to ask Perenelle.

"Yesterday, you... knew about me, about my name. How?"

In response, Perenelle raised her hand a summoned a book in before placing it in front of him.

"Norse Mythology," Atreus read out loud in shock.

"It's a collection of tales about the Norse gods, but the content doesn't really match your story."

Atreus looked at her in worry. Did Perenelle think he was lying? How was he supposed to prove that he wasn't? Thinking about it, he came up with an idea.

"It's not that I don't believe you," Perenelle said as he was about to reach towards his bag, "those are just tales, which no one can prove if they are truly correct or not."

"I see," Atreus nodded.

"You also said your father was an Olympian from a distant land called Greece, right?" Perenelle asked, and he nodded to confirm. She then summoned another book and placed it in front of him.

"Greek Mythology," Atreus was in a world of shock. He didn't know what to think at that point.

"I looked it over, but only found just a couple mentions of Kratos. According to the book, he was the son of Pallas and Styx and is the divine personification of strength."

"Those... aren't his parents," Atreus said. He had seen Zeus, Kratos' father, when they had traveled to Helheim. He released a deep breath that he wasn't aware he was even holding and continued, "However, being the divine personification of strength seems accurate. Father is the strongest man I've ever seen!"

"That's a bold statement," Nicolas said with a smirk.

"It's the truth! The giant-slayer and strongest of the Aesir came knocking on our door after Baldur's death. Thor wanted revenge and to finish off the last of the giants. Father told him to leave, but he refused. They ended up fighting, and father matched him blow for blow, overpowered him even, and sent him running away like a scurrying rat with his tail between his legs."

There was no such thing mentioned in the Norse Mythology, but as Perenelle said, they were just tales. The Flamels trusted Atreus' words due to how certain and confident he was when speaking them.

"I believe you."

Three simple words, yet they meant so much to Atreus. Especially so because they were from Perenelle. He really liked the gentle woman, who always smiled at him kindly.

"So, should we continued from where we left off yesterday?" Perenelle asked, and Atreus agreed with a nod. The three Flamels sat comfortably in the living room as he continued retailing his story.

---

"What do you think?" Nicolas asked with a proud smile on his face.

"I like it way more than Diagon Alley. It's more colourful, vibrant, and also sunnier," Atreus replied.

They had just entered Place Cachée after walking through a bronze statue. A yellow brick path paved the way with all kinds of colourful shops on it, the sun shined brightly, and the people wore much more vibrant and pleasing to the eye clothes. It was much better than Diagon Alley, he was sure of that.

"I told you so!" Nicolas said with a laugh.

They were strolling through the various store, purchasing whatever caught their eye. They just left a sweets shop when they encountered a family of four that was being escorted by twelve guards.

The man was plump with a little, pointed black beard. He was a head shorter than the blonde woman who was holding onto his arm. She was an enchanting woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, and there was an... ethereal beauty to her. That was the only way Atreus could describe it.

The two daughters, one who was older by at least several years, seemed to have inherited their mother's genes. The older one was tall, with an air of grace to her. She was beautiful with enchanting blue eyes and silvery blonde hair that reached up to her waist. The younger one looked cute for her age, but she was going to grow to be as beautiful as her mother and sister.

The father stopped and walked over to them, looking at Perenelle in confusion, "Excuse me, Madame, but do we know each other?"

"No, I don't believe so," Perenelle replied with a shake of her head.

Meanwhile, Atreus stared at the older girl in confusion. His head was slightly tilted to the side, and his eyes were narrowed. He felt the girl's magic around him, and it was... tickling him? Atreus wasn't sure how to describe it and was confused by what she was doing.

The girl looked at him and noticed his perplexed look. Her blue eyes widened a bit in surprise, but at what, Atreus didn't know.

"I apologize for disturbing you then," the man said, and the three Flamels walked away without another word.

"What is wrong, darling?" The man asked his eldest daughter when he noticed she had stopped and was staring back.

"He wasn't affected," she replied simply.

"The family seemed important," Atreus mussed after they were a distance away.

"They were," Nicolas pointed at a nearby newspaper stand. On it, there was a picture of the man they just saw with the title: Gabriel Delacour, The New Minister Of Magic.

"So, didn't you insult them by not following the proper social etiquette?" Atreus asked her.

"I did," Perenelle confirmed with a smirk, "but I don't really care about it."

---

The days passed one by one. Ever since Atreus accepted the surname Flamel, Perenelle started spending more and more time with him. In the mornings, they would have their walk through the greenhouses before making food together. She would then spend time teaching and helping him with his magic.

Atreus also got closer to Nicolas and shared a few of the ingredients in his bag with the man. In return, Nicolas taught him about potions and all the non-magical studies he deemed essential, such as Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

And Atreus, well, he taught THEM about Ancient Runes. Runes were, at the end of the day, a type of language, a magical one, but a language nonetheless, and there was no one better than him when it came to languages.