Chapter 12: Progress

October 30th, 1989, London, 211B Baker Street, 6:45 AM

Harry woke up to the familiar sound coming from the exquisite cello. It had been over a month since that faithful meeting, and the haggard boy had now become slightly chubbier, all thanks to Ethan's reasonable schedule in his attempts to recuperate from prolonged malnutrition.

Therefore, aside from daily study with Ethan and having a balanced and healthy diet, Harry had also begun taking early morning exercises with Ethan. They would either be jogging or strolling around Hyde Park and Baker Street, usually just before dawn.

Harry thought it was so great that one time they watched the sun rise as they walked by the River Thames in identical grey hooded sweaters, matching joggers, and trainers. The red tinge mixed with a soft orange hue of sunlight reflected by the famous river as it slowly dispersed the coldness of early morning. The starry sky faded as the sunlight drew brighter, awakening the calm azureness. It was truly a spectacular view, rarely admired by the busy commuting Londoners.

Ethan had done a far better job of teaching Harry than any teacher the boy had met so far. It was not as arduous or as boring as Harry thought, but considering how scholarly his guardian looked, the boy was determined to do his best. It was even more interesting than the boy had imagined.

Ethan's teaching was concise, on point, and remarkably compressible for a 9-year-old boy. He incorporated many methods for delivering knowledge. Harry was mostly fascinated by his Dad's way of using incorporeal starlight emitted from the tips of his wand to visualise those long, tedious textbooks into colourful, eye-catching animations, yet he still retained 100% of the knowledge coming from those textbooks.

In the mention of the wand Ethan used whilst teaching Harry, this was the other one of his two wands. The 12-inch-long; Flexible; Sycamore wood; and Augurey (Irish phoenix) tail feather core was mainly used in special circumstances such as sophisticated ritual performances, large-scale divinations, and special ward making.

This other wand was 9.8 inches long and flexible; Hazelwood, wands made from these woods were sensitive and often reflected the emotional state of their owners.

The 'ideal' master of such a wand should be someone who could manage their emotions and understand them. For another to take a hazel wand after the owner had lost their temper was bad news. The wand absorbed the negative energy and discharged it unpredictably. However, the loyalty of a hazel wand was nigh uncontestable. It produced outstanding magic with a skilled wizard, and when its owner passed from this world, the wand was so devoted to its master that it often wilted or expelled all magic and refused to perform.

In many cases, the core could be placed into another wand, but if the core is that of a unicorn's tail hair, there is no hope; the wand has died. Wands of hazel were quiet and adaptable to most things, but they boosted Charms and Transfiguration.

The owner of a hazel wand is often skilled in Divination.

Hazel wands can also detect underground water, an ability unique to them. Should the wand emit puffs of smoke of a silvery colour in tear-drop shapes, it indicates that a concealed well or spring lies under the ground.

Finally, this wand had the famous Dragon heartstring as its core.

This was the first wand he had and mainly used, even until now. It was bought at the ever-famous Ollivanders wand shop. Ethan still found it amusing as he recalled the frustration Mr. Garrick Ollivander bore on his profoundly sweating face. He had given Ethan hundreds of wands to try, yet all to no avail. It wasn't until the 247th try that he found out that out of all the wand woods, Hazel had the highest compatibility, which only put more contortion on the poor man's face as his wand woods were rather peculiar.

To the surprise of a known Hazel wand owner was Sybill Trelawney, the proclaimed seer, divination professor at Hogwarts.

The next step for the wand maker was to figure out the size, flexibility, and wand core. This resulted in Ethan receiving his custom-made wand in the evening.

Soon, Harry would continue to bring such peculiar cases to the old wand maker.

Back to Harry's study, the boy would usually immerse himself in reading those relevant books and doing homework given by Ethan after he had taught the corresponding lessons. He would only stop to help Ethan prepare the meals or when Ethan suggested he stop and that he should take intervals reading something more entertaining and light-headed in order to relax his mind, such as those story books Ethan bought him, Harry took an interest in solving ancient rune crossword puzzles on The Quibbler.

Ethan offered to have tea or play chess with Harry, which the boy happily accepted every time, even though Ethan hadn't gone easy on the boy in chess, which planted in Harry's head the goal of winning Ethan in chess someday.

Thanks to Harry's dedication and resolve, as well as Ethan's reasonable teaching method, the boy's academic level had improved rather considerably, which earned a proud smile on Ethan's face. The compatibility of Muggle subjects and Magical subjects also contributed greatly to this, like Ancient Runes and Literature, which, at its core, was the act of gaining wisdom through language, as well as Chemistry and Potion and so on…

One could say Science and Magic were two sides of the coin that made up this world, never one without the other, despite their seemingly contradicting nature. Science was rigorous and rational, whereas Magic was versatile and sentimental…

Up until now, Harry was on par with the first-year Hogwarts students in terms of knowledge alone. To Ethan's surprise, Harry could now produce a somewhat decent essence of Dittany.

In the case of memorising knowledge from all those subjects, Ethan had even taught Harry one of the branches of Mind Magic which had helped the boy greatly improve. It was the Mind Palace, this was different from the memorising technique of Muggles, though they bore some similarities. The Mind Palace of the Mind Magic Domain had much more profound meaning and use.

Harry still had a long way before he could tap into a much more potent side of Mind Palace. For now, the bot still had to perfect the memory-storing part. Following Ethan's clear instructions and the imagination of a nine-year-old boy, Harry's palace consciously took the shape of 221B Baker Street.

In addition to Mind Palace, Ethan also taught Harry Cognition in their free time. This was rather delicate, with many uses, mainly to clear one's mind, calming them down effectively.

"Close your eyes, Harry; now focus on my voice only; relax your breathing; imagine a dark but comfy space; then imagine something isn't real; anything comes to your mind."

"A Blue Moon?"

"Yes, now focus on that image, on its details, the more the merrier, and let its soft blue hue of moonlight envelop the entire dark space."

Soon, the swart of cool gentleness coursing through the boy's vein rendered him relaxed almost instantly, much to his delight. This method helped with his social anxiety a lot.

Weekends were full of outdoor activities for Harry, and so they had chosen Hyde Park for this reason, although the place was much more crowded on weekends. Which did scare the boy pretty much given how frightened he was whenever he spotted a nearby crowd. This was when cognition did its job; the boy managed to stabilise his emotions every time. Ethan still managed to find secular spots in Hyde Park with as few visitors as possible.

Learning Arts and P.E. was never this exciting for the boy, as he saw Ethan for the first time using magic in broad daylight! The man waved his wand in a semi-circular motion, causing the scattered magic threads in the air to move at his will, making them interwoven with each other. In Harry's eyes, he could feel as if a transparent veil cascaded upon them, covering the entire area around them. It had not only prevented muggles from stumbling into this peculiar area or noticing anything, for all they could see were plain trees, grasses, and empty greenery space, but also cleaned the entire space from intangible dirtiness.

Ethan then would conjure all necessities, from all types of sports equipment to even a 50-meter pool.

Therefore, every weekend onwards, Harry had been learning how to swim and properly breathe whilst running. Ethan always set an example first before leading Harry to do so step by step.

Much to Harry's surprise, Ethan excelled at P.E. more than he had imagined. From Harry's point of view, Ethan was an equivalent to that of a grand polyhistor, whether it was muggle subjects, magical subjects, arts, music, or now callisthenics! Harry watched, his eyes widening as Ethan flawlessly moved, free-running, parkour. Later, the man reveals that he did apply a branch of Body Magic whilst practising this, called Precise Body Control as well as Body Enhanced Charm, but still, in no way, did it lessen Harry's reverence towards Ethan.

Though Harry was amazed to find out that Ethan did poorly at soccer or football, the man could be said to possess no skills regarding this sport as he tried to goal from a fair distance only for the ball to shoot upwards. It was the first time the boy saw his guardian struggle with something.

Yet, Ethan's face bore no frustration or desperation; instead, it bloomed with curiosity and determination, as if a researcher had stumbled upon an uncharted area, crazily studying it. Thus, this only made Harry revere Ethan more and more.

Whereas Harry's art was better than that of toddler's doddles, Ethan's landscape art was so much more aesthetically pleasing and dynamic as one could see each piece told a story.

For Charms, as of now, Harry didn't legally possess any wands; all he learned were theories, and watching Ethan's demonstration still tempted the boy very much. The lesson revolved mainly around Lumos, Reparo, Accio, and Finite, with Ethan stressing on Harry to learn to cast Accio wandlessly so as to not have to look for his glasses blindly in any situation.

Still, the man expected it would take months or even years for the boy to comprehend this feat, even with Ethan's meticulous guidance.

They would stay at Hyde Park until the afternoon, and sometimes Harry would fall asleep on the way due to exhaustion as Ethan happily carried the boy home on his back.

They would have History lessons incorporated with lively demonstrations in the evening even whilst having dinner. Ethan taught true history, which meant perspective from both the Muggle and Wizard kinds. Afterwards, Harry would be learning Music, from reading music sheets to playing all types of instruments such as guitar, violin, cello, piano, and flute, one thing at a time.

All were very exhilarating, as the boy got to experience a different aspect of life that was much more invigorating and beautiful.

Then Harry returned to his spacious attic and did some light storybook reading. The boy had already finished The Narnia Chronicle and he had now moved on to Tolkien's work until he drifted into a peaceful sleep. Sometimes, the boy could feel Ethan place a goodnight kiss on his forehead.

Once again, the melodious Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prélude, echoing throughout the house, brought Harry back to the present. He quickly made his bed and put away The Hobbit on his vanilla brown study table, now adorably decorated with vibrant colours coming from those storybooks, notebooks, pen cases, crayons, sketchbooks, and small potted dittany. His toy broom was carefully placed above his head on the walled placeholder.

Having done his morning personal hygiene, Harry bolted downstairs, greeting the familiar, amiable gentlemen sitting by the window's bay and playing the cello.

"Good morning, Uncle Ethan." Harry beamed a smile.

"Good morning, Harry. What would you like for today's breakfast, my boy?" Ethan returned with a gentle smile.

"Anything that you cook, Hehe." The shy boy spoke.

It was at this moment that the door's bell rang. 'Hm? It had already passed the newspaper delivery time. Was Dad expecting some guest?'

Harry quickly said, "I'll go get it." As the boy nimbly marched towards the front door, Ethan shook his head and smiled sympathetically. It was true that he was expecting someone in order to discuss relatively important matters. The gentleman's eyes flashed with sudden sorrow, and he turned to look at the wall calendar, mumbling some inaudible words.

It turned out that it was Uncle Remus who was waiting outside. Harry caught glimpses of the man through the slightly opened door; he was carrying a large stack of papers and a blackish-grey satchel draped over his stylish brownish suit and robe.

"U-uncle Remus! P-please, c-come in."

"Thank you, Harry." The man quickly ventured forth after giving Harry a less awkward ruffling.

"Ah, Remus, you are just in time for breakfast; would you like to join us?" Ethan said it briskly as he prepared the table.

"Absolutely."

The three of them were having a pleasant meal as the two men chatted about the company's operation. Recruiting flyers and notices had been sent out and received positive responses. Remus was first shocked when he asked about the employee criteria, which Ethan simply said: "Anyone with decent academic levels regarding Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Chams, Potions, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts…, transparency background, genuine determination, and motive regardless of gender or species."

With that said, hundreds of applications were sent in one day, coming from goblins, wild wizards, squibs, and even those infected with lycanthropy yet residing within the Temperance fraction who came into contact after hearing about the company's goals and criteria.

This placed a heavy toll on Remus's shoulders as he came to realize how he was easily swayed by Ethan into handling all this paperwork, interviews, and other operations.

Therefore, the man had been meaning to directly come to meet Ethan face-to-face to resolve all these applications as well as discuss the company's future directions.

Harry was once again immersed in self-study once he had done the dishes, leaving the two men talking business over cups of tea.

"So, the company will officially open this November at 12 Diagon Alley. I assumed Sam had planned the subsequent operations."

"Yes, the construction had already begun for 2 weeks; they strictly followed your design, though I must say you had quite a peculiar taste in aesthetics. Reformed Gothic architecture with a navy blue and goldish brown theme!?" Ethan just grinned at his remark.

"Mr. Faramundo had already prepared to launch the first two products, Runic Lamps, which would thrive with the spirit of Christmas, considering how people would react to those color-full and distinguishing-shaped lamps that operated interestingly whilst emitting much brighter light than ever-lasting candles.

"Next would be the Portable Temperature Contraption (PTC), capable of storing heat as well as releasing coolness within a designated area as big as a small family-size house or as small enough to envelop a person.

"I'll say these are going to sell drastically," Remus concluded the report.

"I hope so." Ethan nodded approvingly as he took a sip. "What about the headmaster's side? How's the testing phase been?"

"Oh, yes. It was beyond pleasing; all the professors and even the students praised the Runic Lamps and PTC endlessly. You should have seen their faces; it meant so much for them not to have to deal with light deficiency when the night came. However, it would mean that Mr. Filch would have better tools looking for nighttime troublemakers." Ethan let out a slight chuckle at the mention of Hogwarts's prominent caretaker, the beholder of the school rules, as well as the archnemesis of Peeves the Poltergeist.

"Good for Mr. Argus; not so for those naughty children, I suppose. Also, this would be perfect when Harry started studying there; I do not wish for his eyesight to be further damaged. Gosh, you don't know how much I disdain the lighting efficiency of Hogwarts."

Ethan nudges his glasses slightly.

"I have to resort to Lumos all the time whilst studying at night."

'You mean whilst your fanatic self-study in some shady corner of the library at night?' Remus thought inwardly as he let out a sly smile that only turned awkwardly as he met Ethan's telepathic gaze and the condescending smirk, as if he could already tell what was on Remus's mind just through some simple deduction.

"Ahem! Yes, like you said. With that, we'll fully incorporate them into the school system in no time. Professor Dumbledore even expressed his will for future cooperation."

"Oh, that's brilliance." Both nodded approvingly as they enjoyed the fragrance of oolong tea.

It took the two the whole morning to finish signing all the necessary contracts and papers, sorting out suitable candidates for every position within the company. Ethan promised to be there at the opening ceremony with Sam; he'd be there for the first time face-to-face with their employees, elaborating on some essential matters, even organising specific classes for the employees to handle, as well as contributing new products to the company.

The two had a small conversation before Remus excused himself for not being able to spend lunch with them this time.

"Tomorrow is the 31st of October, Remus. I intended to bring Harry to visit his parent memorial; would you come too?" Ethan began as his tone turned slightly gloomy.

"Sigh, it's already time, innit? Before, it was mainly me who visited James and Lily's grave… Are you sure Harry wouldn't have a breakdown, seeing his crumpled house and… his parent's grave? I'm scared it would trigger some awful memories buried deep inside the boy.

"His mental state had just begun getting better lately."

"Eluding them wouldn't do anything better for Harry, and I think he wanted to see his parents sooner or later. Besides, I truly believe Harry could handle this."

"Let's hope so...

"Well, I'll meet you two tomorrow afternoon, then we will apparate there."

"Righto." Ethan led Remus to the door as they bade farewell.

Now it's time to take Harry to do some shopping; it's Halloween after all!