As the years passed, Kieran could not avoid being seen as smarter than the average child.
Once his vocal cords properly worked he started talking constantly, using harder and harder words, slowly picking up the word choice of his family, especially the curse words, to his mum’s exasperation.
Over the years, he had gained a clear preference to staying in their big garden, being around nature while he meditated.
His dad, noticing how much Kieran liked to stay outside, built a small outside area with a roof, allowing Kieran to be outside even while it rained, which it did, a lot.
Geography wise, Kieran discovered he lived in Hook Heath, in the Town of Woking, Surrey County, Great Britain.
He liked the many trees present in the area and convinced his parents to go on many walks around the area with him, or Aunt Abi when she came by to visit, which was often.
Aunt Abi even had a room entirely to herself; she almost lived with them more than at her own apartment.
Due to how smart Kieran showed himself to be, and because his mum was a stay-at-home mum, he was homeschooled instead of attending nursery school.
He had heard his parents discuss plans regarding primary school, once he turned five, which suited him fine.
He found himself constantly in sync with his growing body through constant meditation, his older mind rarely surfacing.
Instead, he lived fully in the present with his family, free of worries.
Currently, Kieran was sitting in the garden relaxing under the outside area, while his mum, dad and aunt were preparing the garden for a big celebration.
His dad earned himself a huge promotion at his work and was using it as an excuse to gather all the family and friends.
Kieran was looking forward to meeting everyone, including a lot of people he has yet to meet; also, Aunt Abi leaked that they will be serving a lot of cheese bites with various kinds of pesto, which made Kieran excited, he loved a good cheese spread.
It had been a bit over a month since Kieran turned 5 years old, and the celebration regarding his dad’s promotion was set to be on the 29th of March.
In some months, after summer, he would be attending a primary school to begin his schooling journey.
He heard a shout and looked over seeing his dad holding his thumb and glaring at Aunt Abi who was on the grass, laughing at his dad.
Kieran, curiously ran over, “Dad, what did Aunt Abi do?!”
His dad exasperatedly looked down at the laughing Aunt Abi, before sighing and shaking his hand as he explained to his son, “I was holding the nail still so your aunt could hammer it in, but she completely missed!”
Aunt Abi got up, stifling her laugh, and cheerfully talked to Kieran’s dad, “Hector, Hector, Hector, you should know I am horrible at using my hands for precision”, she displayed her hands.
“I wonder how you keep forgetting.”
His dad glared at Aunt Abi.
“You design clothes and work partially as a seamstress, you being bad at precision is bollocks!”
Looking back and forth between the two adults, Kieran paused and asked his dad, “Dad, can I help in any way?”
His dad paused his playful fight with Aunt Abi and seemed to think for a bit before answering his son, “Could you go help your mum with arranging the tables, she can likely use the help.”
Kieran nodded happily and ran over to his mum, who was busy arranging the tables for the celebration, finding her smilingly accepting his help in deciding how to arrange the tables.
The entire family went early to bed, to be ready for the next day with the celebration.
The first guest to arrive was his dad’s mum, she visited as often as she could, but she was limited by the fact that she lived in another country.
It was a great surprise when Kieran discovered he was a quarter Danish, his dad’s late father was British and after he passed, his grandmother moved back to Denmark.
His dad insisted on studying abroad in honour of his own dad, Kieran’s late grandfather, and when Kieran’s dad met his now-wife, his staying in Britain was inevitable.
“Kieran! You have grown so big, come here,” said his grandmother, Agnes Clausen Gray, while opening her arms with Kieran giving the old woman a big hug.
“Hello grandma! Dad is out back, come let me show you!” Kieran smilingly said, as he directed the old woman toward the back garden.
His grandma smilingly letting him lead her, asking if he was excited about starting in school, with Kieran shrugging which made her giggle and ruffled his hair.
After watching his dad welcome Grandma Agnes, Kieran went back to the door to receive guests.
As more and more guests arrive, Kieran followed his manners and introduced himself to everyone that arrived and led them to the back garden where the tent and the tables, alongside the drinks, were located.
As the adults started mingling, Kieran went to practice making paper airplanes, finding it a good method to train his patience and dexterity.
He enjoyed trying to figure out how to make a paper airplane that could fly the furthest.
He went near his main meditation spot, a bit away from all the guests, so he could throw the paper airplane without disturbing anyone.
He threw the newest model and enjoyed seeing it fly high and far as he throws it but frowned as he noticed it landing on the wall, the wall being a bit over 6 feet in height, which was a lot for his 3 feet and 8 inches height.
Kieran looked up and nodded to himself, determined to retrieve the paper airplane without help.
…
As Abigail wandered around the party, doing some minor small talk with some family friends, she smiled at the happy atmosphere.
Seeing Aunt Agnes was a delight, she had gotten older and frailer, but she was still the stubborn old woman that held up her world after her own parents died.
Abigail never once felt unwelcome in the home of Agnes where she lived with Hector.
She tried not to think about that Aunt Agnes’s rough childhood was showing now as she was older.
She sometimes wished Aunt Agnes was a witch, that would allow her to live longer.
She and Hector would be devastated once she passed.
Smiling to herself she shook her head, if Aunt Agnes knew her thoughts she would heavily insist it was fine.
She would hug Abigail and tell her that she was just going on a trip to join her husband, and that they should remember the good times, not the last time.
Laughing along with a joke given by Anton Grode, she reminisced.
That man is always the life of a party.
Walking and mingling with the various family friends she was fully at ease.
Her colourful attire barely raised an eyebrow; everyone was used to her, and it helped that Anton himself also dressed very colourfully for his favourite colleagues celebration, meaning she didn’t stick out either way.
She could of course dress normally, normal for muggles that was, but blimey, one of the biggest reasons she became a designer of clothes was for the freedom.
Not counting the fact that her regular clients always appreciated the colourful design choices.
At the thought of the colourful design choices, she could not help but reminisce back to the first time she had met her dear nephew.
It had been a terrible time for her; she had just before that meeting attended the funeral of one of her dear friends husband.
He had been killed by Death Eaters just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Wizarding War had taken a toll on her psyche; she kept getting more and more depressed.
Then the letter from Hector and Victoria had arrived, her nephew had been born.
She hesitated for a long time at visiting, claiming work kept her endlessly busy.
A lie.
The truth was that she was afraid that her depressive mood would affect the baby, that she would somehow bring the war into her muggle relatives’ life.
A foolish thought, but one that was hard to deny.
But finally, after an entire year of hesitation, she pulled herself up by the bootstraps and visited.
Then, as she remembered that Kieran’s first word was calling her pretty, she felt herself smile and tearing up at the memory.
That simple evening changed everything for her.
After that evening she didn’t allow the war to affect her that deeply, all days where she visited Hector, Victoria and Kieran, became milestones in her life.
Those were the days she worked towards.
Eventually, He Who Must Not Be Named was defeated by a baby even younger than her nephew, and the war was over.
It was hard being the only witch in a big family of muggles, no one to confide in, but that depressing time was over.
Now she could look forward again.
As she wandered around the celebration, she started to wonder.
Where is Kieran?
Last I saw him he was bringing the guests into the garden…So cute!
She stopped up and tapped her lower lip with her finger as she thought.
Well…where would my cute little nephew go if the back garden was completely occupied?
Her eyes lit up and she realized where Kieran might be.
His relaxing spot!
Abigail slowly headed toward the hidden section of the garden, and as she reached Kieran’s relaxing spot, she spotted where Kieran had been.
Her heart leapt to her throat when she saw him standing on the almost 7 feet tall wall, retrieving what looked to be a paper airplane.
She watched Kieran turn to her and wave at her, but as he did, he slipped and fell down.
In a panic Abigail quickly tried to retrieve her wand, but she fumbled with it in her panic, obviously not having it ready when amongst her muggle family.
Gasping in horror, she watched as Kieran was about to fall down onto the rocky floor headfirst.
Then something magical happened.
Instead of crashing headfirst into the rocks, he bounced like a ball several times until he lay on his back on the grass, looking up, looking very baffled and confused.
Abilgail covered her mouth with her hands as she gaped, her cute little nephew just performed accidental magic!
He was a wizard!
…
Kieran was proud of having climbed all the way up on the wall, and just as he was basking in the glory of his achievement, looking down from the height, he felt a bit queasy.
His hands were shaking, he felt his heartbeat speed up.
Why was he scared?
He saw Aunt Abi approaching in the corner of his eye.
He turned around and excitedly waved at her, but as he turned his body to wave properly, he slipped.
He saw the fast-approaching ground and got a small flashback to his first life and how he died.
I am not ready to die!
I finally have a family!
He screamed internally.
His head hit the ground, but he stayed conscious, instead he somehow BOUNCED!
Several times Kieran’s view rolled around as he bounced several times, until he finally landed on the grass, looking up at the sky, dumbfounded at what just occurred.
Hearing the rapid approaching steps, he looked to his left as Aunt Abi ran up to him, seeming to be fighting between amazement and panic, “Kieran, are you okay?! Please tell auntie you are okay!”
Kieran shook his head and responded hesitantly to his aunt, “I…I am fine auntie…what…what happened…?”
He watched as his aunt blinked rapidly at the question, seemingly unsure on how to respond, before she took a deep breath.
“Well…you bounced and seems to be fine…” she said.
Kieran looked baffled up at his hesitant aunt.
“What do you mean BOUNCED? People don’t bounce when they hit stone!” Kieran exclaimed, looking upwards toward his aunt.
Kieran saw his aunt get her typical exasperated facial expression while she was looking down at him.
“Don’t take that tone with me young man! How about we take a deep breath and relax?” she said, before following her own advice and took a visible deep breath.
Kieran took a deep breath and another, trying to calm his agitation.
Then Aunt Abi sat down next to him and seemed to have an internal battle with herself, Kieran saw her nodding to herself as if deciding on something and looked him straight in the eyes.
“You are a wizard, Kieran.”
Gasping, Kieran gaped as he heard that iconic line from his favourite books of his former life.
Kieran felt his entire brain short-circuit, and for a while he had no reaction, just pure bafflement.
Aunt Abi, seeming to misunderstand the reaction, gave him a hug and whispered soothingly, “Hey, hey, it is okay, being a wizard is a good thing, you are still my favourite little nephew.”
Aunt Abi glanced around, seeming to ensure no one is near, and then while holding Kieran, he sees her retrieve a wooden stick.
A Wand!
Listening to his aunt, he heard her silently chant.
“Wingardium Leviosa”, while pointing at Kieran.
Kieran found himself floating a bit off the ground, seeing the true proof in front of him.
Wingardium Leviosa?
That is a spell from Harry Potter.
I am in the world of Harry Potter!
He had somehow reincarnated into his favourite book series.
Before he could panic or lose his mind, he closed his eyes and leaned into the hug of his aunt after he stopped floating, trying to meditate and achieve stabilisation in his mind.
Aunt Abi, seeming to realize what he was doing, knowing about her nephew’s fondness for being silent when processing new things, just kept holding him, appearing to wait for her nephew to gather himself.
As Kieran meditated, as he had done for years, he felt something different.
He found himself able to imagine a mind space, seeing the mind space taking a shape, shaped by this weird white energy within him.
He realized he was experiencing his magic, yet the magic felt different from what he imagined it would feel like, he found himself able to instinctually move the magic throughout his body, moving the magic came naturally to him while he sat in silence meditating.
Following his instincts, he tried to direct the white energy to his fingertips, and he tried writing his name in the air through his finger.
He opened his eyes, seeing his name floating in front of him, in a glowing white energy, while his aunt watched in awe and pride.
As Kieran stared at his glowing name, his eyes started to get heavy.
He leaned into his aunts embrace, feeling himself falling asleep.
“It is pretty…” he whispered, falling asleep.
…
In a small, locked tower, never visited by any Hogwarts student, sat an ancient book that hadn’t been touched by human hands since the four founder placed it here when the castle was completed.
Beside the book, which was bound in peeling black dragonhide, stands a small silver inkpot and from this protrudes a long, faded quill.
These are The Quill of Acceptance and The Book of Admittance, forever waiting for any child to first exhibit signs of magic.
Suddenly, the Quill, which was believed to have been taken from an Augury, floats to the Book and writes the name of the child it detected exhibiting their first sign of magic.
Kieran Gray.