Letters and Classes

Chapter 28 –

"What do you have for me, Edna?" Edna's human asked as he plucked the letters from Edna's talons, and stroked her magnificent plumage. She barked softly at him, as she preened in his gesture of affection. Snatching the piece of bacon that he offered to her in her talons, she flew onto his shoulders to nibble on his ear, before leaping out and flying back to the owlery where she had a magnificent perch for herself, and to enjoy the offering her human had made to her.

Nathan chuckled as he watched Edna fly back into the owlery. He closed the window of his room and turned to the letters. He could see that one was from his mum, and the other one was from Sirius.

He opened his mum's letter first and used his magic to have it read aloud to him as he got started freshening up and preparing himself for the day.

"Dear Nathan,

I hope you've settled in well with your friends again. I think it was a wonderful idea to bring them to Kamar Taj, but next time please stick around longer to meet your mother. Or, at least visit home during the weekends, I can bake some cookies for all of you. You're sneaking out of Hogwarts to Kamar Taj anyway, you can visit home to get freshened up, and relax before returning to Hogwarts.

I had a meeting with your publisher, he said that he is ready to publish the next installment for Percy Jackson, and he's lowered his cut if you can send an early manuscript by the end of the month. He said the people love it and are ready for more. There have been people that have looked around for N. Frye, and some even reached our town, though I managed to dissuade them by making them realize you were a minor. I have also managed the royalties generated by the book, and I couldn't believe the money the books have generated. The publisher said that some filmmakers were looking to make it into a movie. I think that is something worth looking into.

On the magical side, the book has received a lot of recognition, though Andromeda did say something about people claiming the book was a ploy to glorify the non-magical world, as the protagonist is 'muggle-born' in their eyes. I don't understand how the son of a God, can be a muggle-born to them, but Andromeda said that Ted will handle these rumors.

The muggle-born community, in general, are loving the books as well, it is serving as a way for them to relive the fantasy that they had believed the magical world to be in their childhood. Checking with the goblins at Gringotts, I could see that your account is fattening up there as well.

Congratulations, you're a bonafide millionaire in both worlds. I still can't believe my son, is a millionaire at such a young age.

I love you,

Your mum, Jolene."

Nathan chuckled as he listened to the letter. He smiled knowing that his book was creating something of a storm in the literary community. Though, it was disheartening to know that Muggle-borns around the world had to resort to fantasizing in books again to take their minds off their plight.

The next installment to the series was almost complete, and he could send the manuscript of it to his mum within the week. He did not want to get involved with filmmaking, and other industries so he was going to let his mother handle that as well. If she thought that it was a good idea to make a film out of, then he would let her take care of everything in that department.

Waving his hand in the direction of the letter, he neatly folded it and sent it into a compartment that had other letters from his mum. Turning to the other letter, he reapplied the charm to make it read the letter aloud again, as he turned back to packing all the books that he was going to need for the classes of the day.

"Nathan,

I have received the prototype for the 'MistlePhone', though the name is too long, why not go with 'M-Phone'? You can call me any time during this week, to conduct your test. I think the name 'Mistletoe Inc.' is a good name to brand your product, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The interface that you have come up with to store contact information, images, and books is beautiful. I like the idea of including a map of the magical side of the world, maybe I can have Remus map the locations to generate a good map. The little games, Tetris and Snakes were a good touch. Harry can't get off those games, he says they are more convenient than the little board games that I bought him.

Did you somehow get your hands on a map? I recognize some of the elements you have used, and they are remarkably similar to the interface we used for a map, me and my friends made for Hogwarts when we were kids. And the idea of unlocking the phone with an adjustable passphrase was also something we used.

I will be waiting for that call. Good job on the prototype. If this works, you will need to figure out a way to start producing this in large quantities, because I see this changing the owl industry and the way we communicate in the magical world. I suggest you hire the unemployed muggleborns from around here. I can work with Ted, and prepare a secrecy contract for all employees. A blood contract would be perfect.

Sirius."

Nathan smiled as he was happy with the result, and he looked at his MistlePhone, or M-Phone as Sirius suggested, and pocketed it. He would give him a call after his classes were over with, and he and his friends could conduct a long-distance test. It had worked magnificently inside Hogwarts. It had taken a lot of ingenious mapping of the magical world, and piggybacking on Kamar Taj's globe-spanning ward scheme to make a network for the Phone possible. The ward scheme that Kamar Taj had in place was essential to set up the network and make it possible to use the enchantments on the two-way mirror and make it multidimensional. They had plans of including holographic facial projections in the next iteration of the phone, should this one succeed.

The upside of using Kamar Taj's safety net was that Nathan got first-hand interaction with the ward scheme under the supervision of the Ancient One, and it helped her find a few weaknesses in the ward from smaller mystical threats.

Nathan finally finished preparing for the day, and headed to the great hall for lunch, and start his classes for the day. He could not contain his excitement for finally testing the prototype of the M-Phone, he wished that the day ended quickly so he and his friends could get started with the testing.

oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

"There were a number of factors a wizard had to take into account when carrying out Transfiguration spells. The intended transformation (t) was directly influenced by body weight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c), and a fifth unknown variable (Z), as described by the arithmetic formula written on the board. Our objective today, is to focus on the unknown variable, as that is what holds the key to transfiguring a living subject into a non-living one, or a non-living subject into a near life-like equivalent." Professor McGonagall explained to the class.

Carlisle wasn't much interested in the theory of the subject any longer, having already realized from the books that Nathan had introduced her to that much of the theory here was to give order to the chaos that was magic. She had firmly ingrained Nathan's explanation of magic into her very soul if that was possible. All she needed was visualization, power, intent, and magic. If her imagination was detailed enough, she could do anything.

She glanced at Nathan who was sitting with Jeremy a few seats ahead of her. Meeting the boy had turned her life around in a lot of different ways. Initially, when she joined the magical world, she had been fascinated by the wonders and mysteries that magic offered. She had been enamored with all the possibilities that it opened for her. She wanted to be like her aunt, who was making her way through the state department as a young lawyer and legislator in the non-magical world in America. She was a woman who had set out to change the world.

Carlisle realized that with magic, she could potentially help a lot of people, who needed help and make a name for herself, just like her aunt. But reality came crashing down on her fast, as she started to get acquainted with the political climate of the magical world, trying to follow in the footsteps of her aunt. She realized that the magical government was a sham. People like her, who came from the muggle world, were cast aside and thrown out into a world where they have no opportunities. The society was structured in such a way that, Pureblood elites of the world had absolute control over everything that occurred in wizarding society. And due to the control, that the government had over the usage of magic using the people's wands, muggle-borns like her had no way of returning to non-magical society. Unless they were ready to give up magic altogether, they had no chance of survival. Most did not even complete standard high school education, so they were lost for jobs in the non-magical world.

To get high-paying jobs in the magical world, masteries in the magical fields were essential, and to gain an apprenticeship for those masteries, you need connections. Connections that only a pureblood could provide. Muggle-borns had next to no representation in the magical government, the light faction being nothing more than a sham, and the working of the wizengamot being so slow and corrupt, that an entire assembly of the wizengamot was needed to debate over the thickness of Cauldron Bottoms, and that was still an ongoing issue.

Both she and her best friend Mary-Anne had dreamed of bringing good change to the world, only for it to get shattered. And she had been lucky due to her curiosity about the working of the magical Government. Unlike her peers, she had the motivation and an idol to embody in her aunt. The other muggle-borns around her were not so lucky to realize the trap that the magical world was.

Luckily for her, she met her other best friend, Nathan Frye. He had always seemed so, bizarre to her, even more so than the magical world had been. Like he was always thinking and preparing for something far into the future. His perspective of the world was so unique that it frankly baffled her. He was mischievous and smart.

During the first year, she had been curious about his mysterious disappearances late after classes, and when she found out about his ambition of helping to change the world, she had decided to join him as he seemed to be the only other person with any hopes and dreams like hers. And it had panned out so well, that she did not have the words to explain her gratitude. They had made rough plans to set out and bring about the change that their community so desperately desire. They had acquired aid, and magical training from all the resources Nathan had shared with them. She pledged that she would see this through till the very end. And she would find a way to express her gratitude to the boy that made it all possible.

"-Miss Sharpe! Miss Sharpe!" She was broken out of her thoughts by the loud voice of Professor McGonagall.

"Huh? What happened?" She blurted out before she could stop herself, and the transfiguration professor's face showed her disappointment.

"Miss Sharpe, I did not expect you to be one to get lost in thoughts and fancies. You need to transfigure your turtle into a glass cup. Quickly now! And I expect perfect results, or else I will be taking fifteen points from your house."

Carlisle felt her face heat up from embarrassment, as she focused on the little turtle in front of her. She procured her wand, and under the stern gaze of the transfiguration professor, she chanted 'Vera Verto' while imbuing her intent into the spell, and transfigured the turtle into a perfect glass cup.

She looked at Professor McGonagall who was scrutinizing her work very closely. She finally placed the cup back on her table, nodded to Carlisle, and said "Well done, five points to Ravenclaw. Do make sure you pay attention in class, regardless of whether you have practiced ahead or not."

Carlisle smiled and reiterated that she would surely find a way to pay Nathan back for all the help he had given to her.

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