Hi Readers,
I changed the release days. I will still release 2 chapters a week, but now they will be on Thursday and Friday, instead of Tuesday and Thursday. I saw better viewer numbers with the new release schedule. I am not sure how accurate the dashboard webnovel provides is, but until I find out anything different, I will be sticking with the new update schedule. Enjoy the chapter and let me know how you are liking the story so far.
Yours sincerely,
NoFearRuler
Months Later…
Francis POV
"Guess what I saw today?" his lovely wife said as they sat on the sofa after dinner.
It had almost become a ritual lately to discuss what their son did while he was away at work. The time after dinner provided them an opportune moment; it was just after they finished dinner, and Henry had already gone up to his room.
Months ago, after Clare had shared the events of that day with him, it became a habit to talk about what Henry had gotten up to each day. Every day, he heard new stories; every day, she would speak about their son's feat of magic. Intentional magic.
At first, he had a hard time believing what he heard, but slowly the astonishment began to wear off. Now, it had almost become a normal occurrence for him to be regaled in Henry's 'Magic Of The Day', as he liked to call it.
"Oh, let's hear it. What did the little Merlin get up to today?" He wouldn't lie and say that he didn't look forward to this time every day since the first time she told him what he was capable of.
"I saw him summon that toy of his and push it back."
"Good lord, did he really?"
"Oh yes, I saw him sitting in his bed and raising his arms. Well, you see, at first, I thought he was just testing the distance of his magic, trying to see if he could still levitate that toy of his from a distance."
He nodded. Indeed, Henry liked to constantly test the boundaries of his magic. She often told him about the different ways Henry tried to do magic each day.
"Imagine my surprise when the toy shakily rose and came towards him, instead of levitating like usual," she continued, her tone slowly coloring with pride. Usually, she spoke softly, but when it came to their son doing magic, her tone changed completely.
He stared at her with rapture as he knew she wasn't done telling her story. After many years of marriage, he knew his wife could be quite theatrical when it came to magic and their son.
He was proven right when she continued telling her tale after observing him for his reaction.
"I thought that was the end of that. I thought, well, that's not too surprising, he must have gotten bored with just levitating his toy, so he wanted to try something new. That's when I saw him squint his cute little eyes and thrust his arms out like he was pushing something," her tone now filled abundantly with pride.
"Lo and behold, the toy really did fly out as if it were being pushed by something. It bounced against the wall and everything."
That took a minute to sink in, and slowly he opened his mouth.
"Are you saying he did some sort of Accio and Depulso, all without knowing anything about the actual spells?" he questioned, wanting to make sure he heard her correctly.
"Yes!" she shouted.
"Well, it was a very rudimentary variant of it, but he was definitely trying to summon his toy to him and push it back. All without a wand, incantation, or even knowing about the spell that already existed for such type of magic," she continued in a slightly calmer tone after that bout of excitement.
Merlin's beard, what does one say to that? The most astonishing thing about it was that Henry was only 5, about to turn 6.
"And he is only 5!" his wife added, highlighting the fact as if reading his mind.
"How does he even know the concept of using magic to call things to him and push them away?" he wondered out loud.
"I think he might be trying to recreate the magic he did the day of his accidental magic. I had previously guessed that that's where he got the idea to levitate things. Only, I didn't realize he would try to recreate everything, even summoning the bowl to him part of his accidental magic that day," she responded immediately. It was apparent she had given this matter some thought.
"What about the banishing part? How would he know to do that? From what you told me of that day, he never did any magic to push the bowl away."
"I am not too certain on it, but he could have seen me push something using magic and tried to replicate it," she said softly.
After hearing her, he lowered his head as he thought to himself.
'That would make sense, he supposed. 'Monkey see, monkey do,' as they say.'
"Or it could be that he thought if he could pull something toward him, why couldn't he push it away from him?" he heard her speak in a low voice, which broke him out of his thoughts.
He looked up at her and saw her eyebrows furrowed as she muttered her thoughts aloud.
"That would be quite astonishing, wouldn't it? That he could even think about magic in such a manner, much less actually do it. We can't say exactly for certain where he got the idea to push things with his magic, unless we ask him directly," she continued speaking.
He didn't need to respond as she continued speaking her thoughts. She had probably thought more about the magic Henry did than him, so he just waited for her to share her thoughts instead.
"No, no, we can't do that. We can't ask him. I won't let his wonder and the way he thinks about magic be influenced by us. He is doing things I can't do, how will I guide him even if we do confront him about all his of his attempts to do magic?" she spoke in an even softer voice, but he heard he nonetheless.
The idea of telling their son that they knew about his attempts at magic and guiding him on the dangers of such attempts at a young age had recently become a topic of many discussions between Clare and him.
She was vehemently opposed to the idea of influencing him or how he saw magic.
In a way, he agreed with her, Henry was a genius. He knew no other 5-year-old could do intentional magic on the same scale as Henry. However, there was also the matter of his safety and the safety of those around him. He had already almost ripped apart the house and brought it down with Clare still inside.
He shuddered to think what would have happened if Clare hadn't been keeping an eye on him. It was only because of her quick intervention and preventive care that they had avoided being exposed that day.
He had often argued that they should confront Henry and ask him to do intentional magic only in his or Clare's presence.
He also spoke to her about talking to Henry and asking him to stop trying to do magic. He was only 5, and he would have plenty of chances to do magic once he got to Hogwarts. He would have a wand by then to channel his magic and knowledgeable professors at Hogwarts to guide him.
The look she had given him had genuinely frightened him enough that he never brought up that topic again. She had looked at him almost as if he were her enemy, and she hated him.
He had known about her reverence for magic; she had made it clear in the beginning of their relationship that magic would always come first for her. Although that might not be the case anymore for her, he hadn't realized that that rule applied to their son as well. He had often had thoughts about the look she had given him that day. He wondered if Henry had said or done anything that might have given her any impression that telling him to stop was a bad idea.
He wanted to ask, but he hadn't known how to broach the subject.
"We should put him in a ballet class," suddenly, he heard her say, which broke him out of his thoughts.
'Wait, what? We were talking about Henry's magical feats. Where did the subject of Henry taking ballet classes come from, while he was lost in his thoughts? '