16

12 November 1990, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, home of the Wilson Family.

The morning sun was rising over the city. Under his pressure, the darkness of the night receded. All the forest inhabitants had not yet woken up and the morning dew had disappeared, but the Wilson family's house was already full of life. It was as if no one had slept.

The mother of the family was busy cooking in the kitchen, the father was reading the news report for the week, and the son of the family was reading a book while sitting in his room. A family idyll, the only thing that stood out from the picture was the slight impatience on the faces of the older generation of the family.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, he broke this picture and created a new one.

Thomas Wilson's POV.

As soon as there was a knock on the door, I realized the moment had come. The moment that my family and I had been waiting for for 8 years was right here on our doorstep. And who knows whether it was fortunate or not.

A representative of the Hogwarts magical school came.

I slowly put the newspaper on the tea table and went to open the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I managed to notice Sarah, nervously clutching a kitchen towel in her hands, looking out of the doorway into the kitchen. Smiling at her in what I thought was a reassuring way, I left the living room. Someone would give me confidence and calm.

Approaching the door, inhaling and exhaling air, trying to calm down, I opened the door.

My first thought is that I was deceived. I didn't see anyone. Just an empty street and that's it. Just the sun, the wind, the street and me. Maybe this joke is kidding?

Hearing a polite cough from below, I lowered my gaze. What I saw amazed me; a very short man stood in front of me. Lilliput? His height did not exceed 140 centimeters. Can his appearance be called cute? His appearance screamed about his kindness. Smiling faces, a slightly large nose on which were half-glasses and eyes that seemed to sparkle with childish mischief. The colorful, old-fashioned clothes were chosen with taste and suited him incredibly well. A slight breeze blew through his gray, slightly curly hair. Such a kind grandfather stump.

Hearing the cough again, I realized that I had been looking at our guest for an inordinately long time. Slightly embarrassed, I hope without blushing, I bowed my head guiltily and asked:

-Good morning, may I know why you came to our house?

The little man, seeming to smile even wider, replied:

-Good morning. My name is Filius Flitwick. I am a teacher at Hogwarts School. This is the Wilson house, am I correct?

- Yes, dear, that's right. My name is Thomas Wilson. I am the owner of this house. Come on in. Now his wife will call Calder, you came to him, right?

-That's right, I came to Mr. Calder. I have the honor to be Calder Wilson's honorary escort. But I arrived not only to him, but also to you.

Having closed the door behind our guest, I told Sarah to call Calder and led the guest into the living room. I hope all be fine…

On behalf of GG...

Sitting in meditation, I, once again, re-read a book on runes. After all, this is the only book that I haven't spent enough time on over the past 8 years. And I have to tell you it's completely in vain. Very in vain.

Even if the runes only work in the GP world, the benefits they provide are simply incredible. The simplest examples are: Artefacts and Rituals. In these two sciences, Runes play one of the key roles. Even sticks are created using runes, but exactly how is not known. A mystery shrouded in darkness.

But not only in these sciences are Runes used. They are also used in regular spells. Yes, yes, as was said, spells can be composed in different ways. The first is to weave a web, as it were. The second is a mini ritual. Well, the third, the most difficult, but also effective, is composing spells based on Runes.

In the first case, magicians weave spells like a web. This is the second most difficult way to cast spells. Not the most popular. As a rule, only masters of enchantment or very powerful wizards use it. When casting spells, magicians act as spiders, weaving their own unique pattern from mana.

In the second, most common case, magicians give every action the meaning of a ritual.

For example, the usual Leviosa. Everything in this spell is part of a ritual. The correct movement is part of a ritual like a dance, the correct pronunciation is the same part, the correct intention is the most important part, just as without the correct intention, not a single ritual, but one spell, will work. If any of this is not correct, the spell will not be created or an explosion will occur, like in the first Harry Potter book.

Only with experience can one renounce both part and all actions and create a spell on bare will. The prerogative of very strong and usually very skilled magicians. Since it is precisely at the moment of becoming a strong and skillful magician that the will develops so much that they can create magic only through it. Yes, it's probably incredible to rewrite the standard world to suit yourself with just the power of thought.

Well, in the third method, Runes act as commands to the world, just as key phrases act in a programming language. The magician seems to be writing a program in which he indicates the goal and method of performing the action. Well, and the price, of course. Where would we be without her?

With the help of them, runes, you can interact much more deeply with the world. After all, the most ancient rune alphabets are the "language" of the world. But it's more convenient for us to speak in a language that we both understand, isn't it? This is true not only for people, but also for the world.

There was a knock on the door and my mother's voice came from behind it:

-Calder, a guest from the Magic World has arrived. Come down.

"Okay, mom," I answered. -I'll come down now.

Having put all the balls that I use to develop control over mana in place, I gathered myself and went down to the bottom.

Entering the living room, I immediately noticed our guest. At the moment he was drinking tea with his father and talking about the weather. English etiquette. Judging by his height and slightly eccentric behavior, which was expressed in a slightly childish reaction to new faces, when my mother and I entered the living room, he turned to us childishly and tilted his head to the side, it was Filius Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw. Homes for smart people and loners.

-Hello young man. Let me introduce myself, my name is Filius Flitwick. "I am your escort to the Magical World," the professor introduced himself.

-Good morning, Mr. Flitwick, my name is Calder Wilson.

-Very good. While we have time, you can ask questions that interest you. "I'm sure you have accumulated quite a few of them," the professor answered and smiled knowingly.

-You're right, there are a lot of them. One of the first questions is, can my parents go shopping with us? Or is it prohibited?

-Unfortunately no. You see, Calder, the fact is that ordinary people simply won't be able to see everything on the shopping street. That's why they don't take ordinary people with them. Of course, you can bring them, but all they will see there is an empty alley. Have I answered your question?

As soon as he answered, Sarah and Tom became sad. Apparently they still didn't want to let me go, or at least see the world where I would end up.

-I understand. Completely. Then the second question. Why do magicians hide if ordinary people don't see magic?

-It's simple. They don't see magic, but they do see magical creatures. For example, dragons and unicorns. People notice all this. They also see the consequences of spells.

Taking out a magic light bulb, he waved it. After that, the chair he was sitting on flew up. The second wave - a light lit up at the tip of the wand. The third swing everything became as before.

-Diagon Alley, the place where we will be shopping, is hidden by a spell that does not allow ordinary people there. Therefore, your parents will not be able to get there.

-Thank you for the detailed answer. There is one more question. The letter included a whole list of necessary things, both clothes and boilers. Will it be possible to pay in regular pounds?

-It is forbidden. For each young magician from an ordinary family, a personal account is opened, into which money for your training is received. Including all things on the list. You can exchange the required amount in a magic bank, and in our world there are also banks, for a magic volute. The magic volute is made up of coins; after rummaging in the pockets of his robe, he pulled out coins of 3 types. -This is the magical volute. Gold, silver and copper.

-If you have a single currency that is different from ours, then you do not obey the queen?

-Why did you get this idea, young man?

-Well, of course, you have your own schools, your own currency, your own places of trade that are not subject to state power. Therefore, you are completely autonomous, am I not right?

-And I see you are quite smart, but I will upset you. There is no conspiracy theory. We report to the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry consists of various departments, if you're interested, you can find out for yourself, and they all report to the Minister of Magic. And he, in turn, obeys Her Majesty. Everything is like ordinary people, don't you think?

-But how can that be, we have different currencies. And this a priori takes you into independent e...

-A state within a state? No, that's not true. All the magicians' money is kept by the goblins, and they report directly to the Queen. It is the Queen and Her subjects who rule both the world of magicians and the world of ordinary people. After all, Her Majesty is a magician herself. Far from being the weakest, please note. Have I answered your question?

-Allow me one more question. What about education? How long does it last? How often can I leave the school grounds?

-

I thought you wouldn't ask anymore. Well, compulsory education means studying for 5 years. After this period, you will pass the OWLs, a sort of final exam. Based on its results, you will be presented with a choice: to study further, with a focus on a certain profession, or to go free.

-What about further education? Don't you have a higher education?

-Why, yes. After graduating and passing the exams, you can go to study at the Guild, but this is a topic for another conversation.

-Thanks I got it. Mr. Flitwick, how soon do we go shopping?

Flitwick smiled slightly and said:

-You can call me Professor Flitwick. After all, I will be your teacher at Hogwarts for at least 5 years. And regarding your question, yes. We can leave right now.

Having said this, he jumped up from his chair and began to say goodbye to his parents. While she was scraping around, I went upstairs, changed clothes and was ready to leave.

Having promised my parents not to get into trouble, the professor and I walked out the door.

-Professor, what do you teach?

-Charms, I teach charms. I'm also the Dean of Ravenclaw.

-Dean of the Faculty?

-Let's talk about this another time. After all, we have the whole day ahead of us.

-Okay, last question for now. How do we get to Diagon Alley? You said that ordinary people don't see it, we don't get enough to eat in a taxi. Because?

-It's just Calder. We apparate, among ordinary people, this method of movement is called teleportation. So we teleport.

-Teleportation? Indeed?

-Yes, exactly, but we'll just apparate. Get used to the magical world, young man. After all, you have to live in it. But I must warn you, the first time will be very unpleasant. So get ready. When you're ready, grab my hand and don't let go. Understood?

- That's right, professor. I understood you.

Nodding, I took a deep breath and took his hand. Nodding back at me, he smiled. And we disappeared. Only cotton was a symbol of our disappearance and our presence here...