Abigail was standing in Kieran’s bedroom, watching the young wizard sleep, exhausted after his first use of conscious magic.
The party would still last many hours, but her focus was now on the responsibility in front of her.
She took a deep breath as she prepared for what was necessary.
Hector and Victoria were muggles.
They knew nothing about the wizarding world, the Wizarding War, magic, none of it.
That would have to change now that their son had awoken his magic; especially because their son was talented.
Not nurturing that talent would be a crime.
My parents always told me I was talented, I could perform my first spell the same day I got my wand, I could direct my magic instantly.
But… Kieran did it without a wand the moment he awakened his magic.
Recalling Hector and Victoria mentioning they planned to put Kieran in primary school, normal muggle schooling, she shook her head.
It will not be hard for me to convince them he is talented; he always has been.
The hard part will be convincing them to homeschool him and allow him to practice his magic until he can enter a wizarding school.
Her nephew’s magical talent should be nurtured, and he needed a safe environment for it.
That would require his parents knowing about the wizarding world, and she did not consider herself qualified enough to introduce Hector and Victoria to a whole new world.
Wait, shouldn’t Craig be back from his trip to Romania?
The instant she remembered Craig, she knew he would be the ideal person to help her with this.
He worked in the Ministry of Magic, specifically the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee, where he dealt with creating alibis and providing alternative non-magical explanations for magical accidents to pass along to the muggles.
Her friend, Craig, would be the ideal person to help introduce a muggle family to the wizarding world.
She knew Craig was very good at translating between the two worlds.
She would just need to be present, as the bridge between what Craig was going to say, and her muggle family.
Her aunt Agnes could be brought in later.
Right now, the important part was Hector and Victoria.
She looked again at the sleeping Kieran and took another deep breath, before going downstairs to inform her dear cousin she would be gone for a bit, and that Kieran fell asleep and was sleeping in his room.
…
*WOOSH*
Craig blinked as his dear friend stepped out of the fireplace, arriving at his humble house.
He looked Abigail up and down, before casually waving his wand, mentally casting scourgify, cleaning her robes.
“Sorry about that, haven’t had time to clean the fireplace since coming home, tea?” he asked, as he led his friend into the living room.
Craig noticed Abigail being unusually tense, which was very unlike her.
His friend was the type to be negative in private and cheerful amongst others.
Having her tense now, meant she wasn’t kidding when she mentioned she had a very urgent matter.
He just hoped he could be of assistance to his dear friend.
Seeing her nod at the tea offer, he waved his wand and had his favourite brand of liquorice tea prepared for both of them, finding immense enjoyment at seeing her eyebrow slightly twitch when she noticed the type of tea he was serving.
I know you hate liquorice Abigail, but you should have known this would happen after you pressured me into eating snails at our last gathering.
When Abigail sat down, Craig adjusted his sleeves and sat down too, taking a deep sip of his favourite tea brand.
“You mentioned you had an urgent issue Abi, so I will skip the pleasantries. What brings you around this Saturday evening?”
He watched Abigail take a brief sip of the liquorice tea, grimacing at the taste before she replied.
“My nephew awakened his magic, and as you know, Hector and Victoria are muggles with no knowledge of the wizarding world. I need your help in navigating this and introducing them to magic, preferably tomorrow.”
Craig paused for several seconds as he absorbed the information, before taking a long sip and smiling at the wonderful taste.
He returned to the issue at hand.
“I can assist, certainly.
It is the least I can do as a friend.
Additionally, Abigail,” he looked straight into her eyes, “your presence will be necessary.
This information is going to change the way they view the world, and having a familiar presence like you present, is going to make a difference.” He saw Abigail taking a deep breath to calm herself, which made him nod approvingly.
She had gotten really good at using breathing exercises to calm down ever since she became an aunt.
“Furthermore, if Hector and Victoria are half as good parents as you have claimed over the years, I suspect they will respond reasonably. Love for one’s child, and wanting the best for the child, tends to overcome denial surprisingly quickly.” Craig paused and took a deep breath.
“Initial denial is not uncommon, however. But loving parents tend to adapt quickly once the child demonstrates magic firsthand. Given that young Kieran is only 5 years old, we will have to introduce the wizarding world in steps, both for the child’s and the parents’ sake.” Craig paused, remembering a muggle family he once helped introduce to magic.
“Regarding the more abstract topics, I would advise postponing the subject of dragons until at least the second hour,” he said, remembering his colleague mentioning dragons within the first ten minutes and the ensuing panic.
Seeing his dear friend biting her lips and looking anxious, Craig quickly realized that his friend was struggling with the decision on what to do.
Seeing her out of her element, he decided to help her along.
Sipping on his liquorice tea, he frowned and waved his wand, heating the tea up again, finally taking another deep appreciative sip, and addressed Abigail.
“I can arrive early morning, if that fits you and your family’s schedule?”
He watched Abigail losing some tension in her shoulders when he agreed to help and removed the overall decisions from her.
Craig raised his eyebrow as he watched Abigail down her entire cup of liquorice tea.
He knew she would finish the cup eventually; her mother was very strict about table manners as a guest.
Her taking it as he would a shot of alcohol surprised him.
Suppressing a smile, he watched as Abigail returned to her cheerful self with the bright eyes; returning to the Abigail he knew.
“Thank you so much Craig, let us say 9 am. I will ensure both Hector and Victoria are awake and ready for a guest. Is it okay Kieran participates in the talk? I know he is only 5 years old, but he is smart for his age, and it is his future we are discussing,” she said cheerfully, with a smile and a glint of pride at the mention of her smart nephew.
Hearing her question, he nodded and smoothly replied, “Oh! Yes indeed. In fact, I would have highly recommended little Kieran participates, he is the new wizard after all. 9 am it is, I will be there, I will be arriving as a normal muggle would.”
…
The next morning, Kieran was sitting at the kitchen table, silent and reflecting.
Yesterday’s reveal was just too huge for him to process instantly.
He recalled the day when he was a one year old, and his dad came home covered in glitter the day after Halloween.
If Kieran reincarnated into the world of Harry Potter, those glitter people were wizards and witches celebrating Voldemort being defeated by the Boy Who Lived, and the war ending.
In hindsight, it made sense, he just never considered it, because why would he?
Discovering his quirky and fun aunt was a witch also rocked his world.
Yes, there were signs, her fashion sense being one of them, but it was only obvious in hindsight.
He just always assumed she liked explosive colours in her fashion.
It was pretty after all.
This was forcing him to change the way he saw this world; he had something akin to the knowledge of a seer; he knew the future.
He knew about the magical equivalent of a nuke called Voldemort, he knew of horcruxes, he knew so much, but so what?
His parents knew nothing, they were muggles.
He loved them and wanted them to be safe, but it was not like he could tell them to go into hiding, because they loved him too, they would want him to hide with them!
Maybe the solution is simple, if nothing changes, then Voldemort will eventually be defeated by Harry Potter.
I can live my life, learn about the wonders of magic, grow with my family, and let the Golden Trio deal with Voldemort.
Maybe I should just, stay the course?
He could embrace this new life with his family, focus on the wonder, focus on his dreams, and let the Golden Trio deal with the happy ending.
That sounds doable.
Jumping, he was startled to awareness when his mum placed a plate with eggs in front of him, he had been lost in thought while his parents made breakfast.
As he dug in, Aunt Abi…the witch…entered the kitchen looking like she barely slept.
Aunt Abi groaned as she sat down at the table and spoke hesitantly to dad and mum.
“Okay, so… a friend of mine is visiting in two hours. You can see it as a family meeting that I personally request. The topic is Kieran and his future; I want everyone present.”
His mum blinked in surprise, while his dad folded his arms and stared inquisitively at Aunt Abi, “Of course we will participate in a meeting discussing Kieran’s future, but what brought this on?” his mum carefully replied.
Kieran saw Aunt Abi briefly glance at him, getting eye contact.
She replied to his mum, “Let us just say that something happened that made me believe that Kieran entering a normal primary school, is potentially not the best option available to him.” Kieran blinked in surprise.
Wow did not know Aunt Abi can sound so formal!
His dad guffawed and leaned in toward Aunt Abi, speaking cheerfully to her, “HA!
That is the most diplomatic non-answer I have ever heard you say, and this friend of yours that is visiting, I assume he is from the government or something?” his dad said jokingly, but when Aunt Abi avoided his eyes he did a double take and continued, “wait…the friend is actually from the government?
Okay…I will withhold judgment until I meet your friend and we discover what this is about.”
Feeling the tension in the Gray family kitchen, Kieran wondered how he could ease it, but then the doorbell rang, relieving him and caused him to get up immediately, “I will open it!”
As Kieran opened the door, he looked up, seeing the very professional looking guy with slicked-back black hair, a sharp purple and black suit, and a black monocle covering his right eye eye, Kieran couldn’t help but blurt the first thing that came to mind.
“You look wicked!”
He saw the man choke a laugh and look down at the 5-year-old wizard.
“Thank you for the compliment young man, may I come in? I am a friend of your aunt; my name is Craig Owens,” Mr.
Craig Owens said with a faint smile.
Nodding he let Craig walk in, while he ran into the kitchen, exclaiming, “Aunt Abi, your friend Craig is here, did you design his clothes? I want clothes like that too!”
Kieran saw Aunt Abi facepalm and she got up to greet Mr.
Craig who politely introduced himself to the family, as a friend of Aunt Abi and someone that worked for a government.
As they all sat inside the living room, mum commented on part of Craigs introduction.
“Don’t you mean you work for the government, rather than a government?”
Kieran noticed Craig silently nod towards Abigail, and suddenly he realized part of what Mr.
Craig is.
Blimey, Mr.
Craig is from the Ministry of Magic!
…
Seeing Craigs nod, Abigail took a deep breath and took over.
She took out her wand, showing it to the family.
“This is my wand; it is made using unicorn hair and rowan wood; I got it when I was 11-years-old. Hector, do you remember that I went to that boarding school until I became 17?” She saw Hector hesitate, likely feeling something was off, but he replied, nonetheless.
“Yes, your mum mentioned it to my mum, it was an exclusive boarding school for gifted students. I don’t recall you mentioning it often at the family gatherings, so I just assumed it wasn’t a fun time for you and didn’t want to bring it up to force you to relive it.”
Abigail bit her lip at her considerate cousin, before pointing at one of the empty chairs with her wand and said, “Wingardium Leviosa”.
She saw Kieran look fascinated at the spell, just as yesterday, while she saw Hector and Victoria rub their eyes at seeing their chair float in the air, before they quickly intensely focused on Abigail.
“Abigail, what is happening? What is that? Are you pulling a prank on us? Because this is not the right moment for a prank!” Victoria exclaimed.
Confronted directly, Abigail hesitated, remembering that Craig said that it was important that the first magic they see was from a family member, but she was afraid.
What if they considered her a freak?
While hesitating, out of the corner of her eye she saw Kieran look worried at her, before turning to face his parents.
“Mum, dad, yesterday I climbed on top of the garden wall, and I fell down, face first. If I had hit the ground, I would have been very hurt, but I bounced, like a ball!” Abigail saw her nephew hesitate just like she did, but he continued, where she hesitated.
“I have magic! Aunt Abi is a witch, and I am a wizard!” Kieran said loudly, speaking fast and hurried as if highly stressed.
Abigail saw the faces of Kieran’s parents change the more he said, the horror when hearing he fell down the wall, the relief he wasn’t hurt, the confusion that he bounced like a ball, and the bafflement at him saying he was a wizard, considering their son had never lied to them before.
Suddenly everyone jumped as Craig cleared his throat and addressed the room.
“My name is Craig Owens, I am a friend of Abigail, and I work for the Ministry of Magic, a hidden society of wizards and witches that live alongside what the two of you would call, normal people, and what we call muggles. Muggles meaning non-magical people.”
Abigail realized that the conversation had hit the point of no return, and now her friend was in his element.
Craig took out his own wand, and nonverbally transfigured the chair into a pillow, while continuing.
“Children with magical ancestors, can in their young years awaken magic within them. Usually during a moment of great distress or strong emotion.” She saw Craig glance toward Kieran and then look into the eyes of Hector and Victoria.
“Falling off a wall and fearing the pain said fall would cause, is a very strong trigger point to awaken one’s magic, which seems to have happened to Kieran.” She looked as Craig turned his entire body toward Kieran, likely to signal full attention.
“Kieran, your aunt mentioned you could write with magic, how about you write something for your parents?” Craig gestured to Kieran, while Hector and Victoria turned to their son, clearly nervous about what was happening.
Abigail saw herself in Kieran, this little 5-year-old boy was hesitating, just like she had done, likely fearing the rejection of his own parents.
He had always been an observant child.
If Hector and Victoria at any moment today showed even the slightest amount of fear or rejection, he would see it, and she would have created a situation that would traumatize her dear nephew for life.
I can’t stop this now, too much has been revealed, I have to trust Craig.
I have to trust that Hector and Victoria’s love will overcome any negative scenario.
She watched as Kieran closed his eyes and carefully, using a finger started creating flowing glittering white letters in the air, and as she realized what Kieran is writing, she felt herself starting to tear up.
There, in front of Hector and Victoria hung a floating sentence of glittering white energy, the words clear.
I love you.
Holding her breath, she focused on Victoria, Hector and Kieran.
She could tell based on Kieran’s body language, the way his shoulders were slumped, the way he was withdrawn, that he was afraid of their rejection.
She wanted nothing more than to rush over and hug and comfort him, but Hector and Victoria had to take the first step.
She watched the moment Hector and Victoria noticed their son was afraid of their rejection, and as she prayed, they didn’t even hesitate.
They had been confronted with magic, an entire new world, but their entire focus was Kieran being afraid.
They left the couch and walked over to Kieran, ignoring the magical wonder in the air, both hugging him tightly.
Victoria was rubbing his back while whispering to him, while Hector comfortingly hugged his son.
“We believe you, son. Never be afraid of expressing who you are to us. If you and Abi say you are magical, then you are magical, and we will take steps to ensure that we understand the people you are,” Hector said slowly, ensuring his son understands.
Abigail froze slightly, wanting to approach, but again, hesitating.
As she looked up, she got eye contact with Hector, they had an unspoken conversation, and she walked over and joined the family hug.
Behind her she noticed Craig silently breathe a sigh of relief.
The hard part was over.
The next step was introducing the wizarding world.