Marcus smiled. He took his wand out, to Michael's mother's seeming disgust, and waved it rather absently at a biro on the table as he spoke to Michael. Well, Michael, we teach several subjects, but in your first year you would take only seven subjects. You'd learn the History of Magic, and the magical world; Astronomy, in order to understand the effects the stars have on our world;"
At this point, the biro was hovering two feet above the table, spinning lazily. "Herbology, which is the study of magical plants; Potions, which is how to brew magical drinks, and understand them; Charms, which adds or removes properties to an item- incidentally, I'm using a charm on the pen right now;"
The pen had, by this point, hovered onto a nearby pad and started writing 'Professor Flitwick was not lying about being a wizard' over and over. "Transfiguration, which changes the properties of an item; and finally, Defence against the Dark Arts, which is sort of a magical self-defence class. Very useful."
The pen came back to the table, at which point Marcus allowed it simply to hover. He made one last comment before allowing the silence of the Wurths to break. "This is an opportunity for you, Michael. It really is."
Michael's jaw dropped as the biro rose into the air, and his eyes followed it in awe as he listened intently to Professor Flitwick. When the teacher had finished talking, Michael was the first to speak.
"That's so awesome. Mum, I want to go to Hogwarts, it'll be so much better than Chatham House Grammar School." He turned to his mum, who looked rather shell-shocked and said nothing, still staring at the floating pen in disbelief.
"Don't you think it'll be a really good experience for me, learning new things and stuff? And if I'm really a wizard, I should nurture my talents, right?" Michael argued, half quoting something that she herself had said a couple of weeks ago, although that had been about the clarinet. "Mum?"
He poked her arm, and she seemed to come back to life.
"This is not happening," she groaned, burying her face in her hands.
"Mum, don't you see, this is so cool. I'll get to do magic." He received no other response from his mum, and turned back to Professor Flitwick, pointing at the wand in the small man's hand. "Is that a magic wand or something? Do they give them out at Hogwarts?"
"Well, it certainly is a magic wand, but I'm afraid they aren't just given out. You'd need to go to a wand shop and find the wand that was right for you." Marcus opened his briefcase, fished around in it a bit- the quietly ticking sounds of paperwork leaked out into the room for a second- and pulled out some blank sheets of paper. He arranged them on the table and retrieved a yellow quill from his pocket. "I think we can give you a hand with the shopping list; as with any boarding school, you'll need to bring a lot of items with you. Quill: copy the shopping list thrice over."
The quill dug into the letter, ripping the side of it open, before yanking out the shopping list from the envelope with all the enthusiasm of a small dog with a large bone. it unfolded the letter and began to copy it.
"Mrs. Wurth? I understand that this is all rather strange, and there's a bit of an adjustment period. Would it help if I detailed the sorts of qualifications that Michael can recieve at Hogwarts?"
Marcus smiled at Michael as he said this, winking; it was clear this was really aimed at Michael, rather than his mother.
"I'd also like to reassure you about the pastoral care system, which is always a worry at a large boarding school. The intake is fairly small- maybe 40 students a year- and those students are split into four houses based on their personalities and needs. Which house you are in determines who you board with, and also which sports team you may join. Would you like me to go into a little more detail?"
"The Houses are based on personality?" Michael asked, brow furrowed. "How does that work?"
He didn't really care to ask about the sports teams. He had already been bored out of his mind when he was shown around Chatham House and they had talked about cricket and rugby for at least half an hour.
At this point, the biro was hovering two feet above the table, spinning lazily. "Herbology, which is the study of magical plants; Potions, which is how to brew magical drinks, and understand them; Charms, which adds or removes properties to an item- incidentally, I'm using a charm on the pen right now;"
The pen had, by this point, hovered onto a nearby pad and started writing 'Professor Flitwick was not lying about being a wizard' over and over. "Transfiguration, which changes the properties of an item; and finally, Defence against the Dark Arts, which is sort of a magical self-defence class. Very useful."
The pen came back to the table, at which point Marcus allowed it simply to hover. He made one last comment before allowing the silence of the Wurths to break. "This is an opportunity for you, Michael. It really is."
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"That's so awesome. Mum, I want to go to Hogwarts, it'll be so much better than Chatham House Grammar School." He turned to his mum, who looked rather shell-shocked and said nothing, still staring at the floating pen in disbelief.
"Don't you think it'll be a really good experience for me, learning new things and stuff? And if I'm really a wizard, I should nurture my talents, right?" Michael argued, half quoting something that she herself had said a couple of weeks ago, although that had been about the clarinet. "Mum?"
He poked her arm, and she seemed to come back to life.
"This is not happening," she groaned, burying her face in her hands.
"Mum, don't you see, this is so cool. I'll get to do magic." He received no other response from his mum, and turned back to Professor Flitwick, pointing at the wand in the small man's hand. "Is that a magic wand or something? Do they give them out at Hogwarts?"
Reply
The quill dug into the letter, ripping the side of it open, before yanking out the shopping list from the envelope with all the enthusiasm of a small dog with a large bone. it unfolded the letter and began to copy it.
"Mrs. Wurth? I understand that this is all rather strange, and there's a bit of an adjustment period. Would it help if I detailed the sorts of qualifications that Michael can recieve at Hogwarts?"
Marcus smiled at Michael as he said this, winking; it was clear this was really aimed at Michael, rather than his mother.
"I'd also like to reassure you about the pastoral care system, which is always a worry at a large boarding school. The intake is fairly small- maybe 40 students a year- and those students are split into four houses based on their personalities and needs. Which house you are in determines who you board with, and also which sports team you may join. Would you like me to go into a little more detail?"
Reply
He didn't really care to ask about the sports teams. He had already been bored out of his mind when he was shown around Chatham House and they had talked about cricket and rugby for at least half an hour.
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