Summer's End

The following evening, I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom trying to find the correct mental state for occlumency.

With my eyes shut, I tried to shut out my thoughts, memories, emotions, and anything else that would distract me. I needed to master myself. The books that I read suggested that this is a unique process. No two people would learn occlumency the same way.

Unfortunately, I started getting bored. Letting my thoughts drift away into nothingness was difficult for me. I wasn't used to not doing anything, and I decided that I didn't enjoy it.

Soon, my mind wandered as my memories of my life started surfacing. At one point, I thought I felt something within me change when suddenly I was brought back to the present. A noise from the door behind me slightly creaked as it was slowly opened.

I was a little annoyed at being interrupted, but then I smirked when I realized what was happening. Rebecca or Sasha were trying to sneak up on me. I guessed that it was Rebecca, she had been getting ornery lately.

Slowly, I slid out my wand, not wanting to give away I that I was onto her. Quickly, I turned and saw Rebecca crouched a few feet away, getting ready to pounce on me.

Pointing my wand at her, I chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."

Rebecca yelped as she floated into the air, "Cheater." She accused.

Her black hair dangled as she floated in midair helplessly. She tried to grab my bedpost to stablize herself. Unable to grab hold of it, she put her hands on her hips and demanded, "Put me down."

While I was smirking at Rebecca, my left knee almost gave out as it was tackled from behind. Looking down, I found Sasha attached to my leg. I think that between Sasha and Rebecca, she was the more clever one. She sent her sister in as a distraction so she could try and ambush me.

"Got you," she bragged.

Nodding gravely, I replied, "You did. However, I don't think you thought this through."

I put one hand on her shoulder and with my other, I showed her my wand. Seeing her confusion, I explained, "Now that you 'got me,' I seem to have you as well."

She protested, "But, I won. I got you."

Smirking, I cheekily replied, "You did, but haven't you learned? I cheat."

After a quick chant, Sasha joined her sister in the air. "Now, what should I do with the two of you?" I mused.

Rebecca's blue eyes flashed in adorable anger, and she loudly demanded, "Put us down."

I paused and carefully considering her demand, then replied with a simple, "No."

Taking a softer approach, Sasha pleaded with sad wide eyes. "Please."

I smirked at her and said, "You should stop using your puppy dog eyes so often. I think I'm becoming immune."

As I considered what to do to them, an old birthday memory concerning my uncle surfaced within my mind. With a malevolent grin, I said, "I know just what to do to the two of you."

Pointing my wand at them, I quickly chanted, "Rictusempra."

A silver stream of light burst forth from my wand and hit Rebecca. She started laughing uncontrollably as the tickling charm took effect.

Sasha sensing that she was next looked at me in fear.

I flicked my wand in her direction and sent the same spell at her,

They both hung in midair, laughing as the spell tickled them both. Once I felt that the lesson had been learned, I asked, "Who isn't going to sneak into their brother's room anymore?"

Eager to stop the torment, Sasha pleaded, "Me."

Turning to Rebecca, I looked at my fingernails and said, "Anything you want to say?"

For a moment, I thought she wasn't going to relent. But then, she gasped, "Me too."

Deciding that they learned their lesson, I maneuvered them over my bed and dropped them abruptly. They both made identical squeals as they fell and landed.

Rebecca and Sasha both bounced off the bed and ran from the room, as they exited, Rebecca called out, "We'll get you next time."

***

The next day, my dad pulled me off to the side after breakfast and said, "Do you remember the project I started last year?"

"Of course, how is project firebolt?" I asked.

He grinned and replied, "There is still a lot of work to be done. But, I thought that you might like to come to the shop to take a look at the progress I've made."

Eagerly I replied, "Of course, I can't wait to see what you've been up to."

Overhearing our plans, Mum chimed in, "Perfect. You both can pick up your books and supplies for the coming year."

When we made it to Fawley's Wonderous Enchantments, dad led me to the workshop in the back.

The workshop was the same as I remembered it. Lining the walls were tables full of items that my dad regularly enchanted. In the center was his warding circle, where he experimented with new enchantments.

Ignoring everything else in the room, dad led me to the table on the far wall. It had been cleared except for several different broom designs.

Dad reached down and picked up one of the racing brooms and informed me, "The others are earlier concepts."

Dad handed the broom to me and added, "But this prototype is the one that I have settled on."

As I ran my fingers over the polished ebony wood, I marveled at the design. The broom had a slight curve built into it, making it look sleek and aerodynamic.

"How close is it to being finished?" I asked.

Dad rubbed my head affectionately and replied, "Well, there is still a lot of work to be done before it's ready."

"Like what?" I questioned.

"Well, one of the main issues is that I still need to modify a unique and faster flight charm." Dad explained, "I can't just stick any old flight charm on the firebolt. We need the enchantment to be better and faster than any other broom."

I nodded my understanding and asked, "What spells have you worked out so far?"

Grinning at me, Dad asked, "What do you think is the most important aspect of a racing broom?"

After considering his question for a moment, I replied, "Acceleration."

Wagging his finger at me, Dad replied, "Not a bad guess. That is probably the second or third most important thing."

Gesturing towards the broom in my hand, Dad continued, "The most important thing is stopping quickly."

I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "Stopping? That doesn't seem like it is the most important thing. I think that speed and acceleration are a little more important."

With a wide grin, Dad explained, "Think about this, the quidditch field is only so big, so rarely do players reach their top speed. Now consider how often quidditch players have to change direction. They have to change directions constantly, and the faster you're traveling, the wider and longer turn you have to make. Now, imagine being able to stop almost instantly and then bolting off in a different direction."

Taking the broom from me, Dad fondly said, "What I have created is an unbreakable braking charm that is so effective that it allows for a near-instantaneous stop, allowing the flyer to turn and take off instantly in another direction."

Dad pointed towards the metal on the back-half of the broom, and continued, "The braking charm was so strong that I needed to add goblin ironwork to the broom to stabilize the whole thing so that it wouldn't roll or break when stoping so suddenly."

After considering everything that my dad explained, I understood his position. The ability to stop and change directions would be advantageous in many aspects in quidditch.

Curious, I asked, "Now that you've done that, are you going to work on your flight charm next?"

Dad shook his head and explained, "No, next is the maneuvering charm. I want the enchantment to be so sensitive and precise, that the broom seemingly responds to the flyer's every whim. After I work out that charm, I will move onto the flight charm and all the other enchantments that will be going into the broom."

I sighed in frustration. It was going to take forever for this to be finished, and I couldn't wait till it was finished. The books never said when the firebolt was created, but considering Harry got one in his third year, it should be completed sometime in 1993. It will be interesting to see if the timeline will be altered at all because of me.

Once dad had finished showing me the progress, he took me out to pick up my school supplies for the coming year. Thankfully, it didn't take as long as the previous year.

It seemed that shopping without mum made the whole process a lot smoother. When I mentioned this to dad, he told me never to tell mum, unless I wanted to get hexed.

As the summer continued, I continued to divide my time between meditating, practicing my magic, hanging out with my friends, and spending time with my family.

Time flew by, and soon it was September, it was time to go back to Hogwarts.