Practice, practice, practice. David and Grace's mother had always said that the more practice you do at something, the better you get at it. Well, getting better at magic was always an area of interest to David and Grace, so, practicing was their goal for the day.
The news about Phledgon didn't go over to smoothly with their mother. "Do you have any idea how dangerous those are? A phoenix in the house!" she had yelled. All she ever cared about was how dangerous something was. They would be fine; they had their wands, thought David. They were sitting in the front yard where it was more sunny and warm. Luckily, they could practice magic out there too because the woods practically surrounded their house besides the small break the driveway drilled through.
They had piled books upon books upon books around themselves, almost making an arena. Transfiguration, Defense against the Dark Arts, Charms, and pretty much everything besides Potions and Divination. They would practice those some other time. They wanted to be very well-rounded magically.
"Alright. So I think we should start with some basic spells, just to warm up." said Grace. David nodded and they arranged some targets for themselves. They secretly took some nice, dry wood from the woodpile and stood it up a little way from them. "Incendio!" A crackling flame enveloped their pieces of wood, sending small plumes of hissing smoke into the air.
Then, using the flaming wood, they yelled "Waddiwasi!", and flung them through the air. They were having fun until their mother opened the kitchen-sink window and reminded them how dangerous what they were doing was, as always.
"I'm good, are you?" David asked Grace. "Ya, I'm ready." she said with a smirk pulling at her mouth. They spread apart, standing a few yards from each other with their wands at their sides. Then, they walked towards the other until they were face to face, raised their wands, turned around, and flicked their wands back at their sides while walking back to where they were. When they raised their heads, it was a free for all. You could wait for your opponent to shoot a spell at you, or you could take the offense. It was first Grace who foolishly whipped the Disarming Spell at David. He easily used a Shield Charm to block it, and then yelled "Flipendo!" sending Grace through the air and landing on her back. It knocked the breath out of her, her anger skyrocketing, she stood up nice and slowly, like a cat stalking its prey. "Oh, crap." Said David to himself. Now, it was an all-out brawl. Grace shot spell after spell at David; some he could hear her shout, and others non-verbal. "Aqua Eructo!" David shouted. A huge spray of water jetted from his wand, knocking off all the spells Grace sent at him, and dousing her with water. "Tergeo!" grace said, pointing to her body and siphoning all the water out. Now she was more mad than ever, she couldn't control it, sending a Severing Charm at David, slicing the arm of his shirt and cutting a deep slit into his skin. He was going to block it, but had no time so he tried to run, it would have hit him in the chest if he stood in place. The pain pushed him back and he stumbled over his feet in his cry of pain. He held his blood-gushing arm, clenched his eyes, and tried to suck it up enough to heal it. When he looked at his arm he almost passed out. "David!" Grace yelled in sorrow. She ran over to him speaking so fast she stumbled over each regret. "David, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, David. Sorry. Oh, my gosh, what if mom sees?" she asked herself. She pulled out her wand and whispered " Episkey". David felt a warm numbness spread over his arm, healing the wound. When he looked at it again, it was nothing but a dull scratch which Grace patched up for him. "David, I'm so sorry I-
David intervened, "I know Grace. You need to learn how to control yourself. It wasn't your fault, I know. Just…. Try." He said. Grace was teary-eyed and gave him a quick hug before asking "Are you alright to start again?"
That was the typical Grace: always bouncing back fast, David thought. He nodded and stood up. They laughed in a sort of nervousness, maybe to lighten the mood or something. When they stood apart again, they reviewed the same prequel to their duel by walking face to face, saluting with their wands, and starting. This time David was the first to send a spell. He shot the Full Body-Bind Curse at her, which she blocked with a weak shield, making her feel slightly stiff. She then sent a flock of small, yellow canaries at him. They were easily dodged by redirecting them at a tree using oppugno. David and Grace both laughed guiltily when they watched the birds bust into a cloud of yellow feathers when they hit the tree.
They resumed their duel and kept fighting. Lights of all different colors splashed across the yard, only to be maneuvered out of their opponent's way, or to be hit. They felt at place when they practiced magic, each gaining small skills they hadn't had before the duel. It didn't seem like too long after they started, maybe a few hours, when they heard it.
A loud crack, like lighting slicing through the air, shot the eardrums of Grace and David. They lowered their wands to look at each other, and listened. They heard another sound, more of a pop, and then voices. "Yup, this is the house." said a deep voice with a British accent. "It can't be the phoenix. The Trace detected high levels of magic, especially from the last couple of hours or so, and this whole last week and a half. Either someone's living here, or something's corrupt with the phoenix." Suggested the other being. His voice was lighter, but more masculine than the other. "Well, Minister McGonagallhas been keeping tabs on this house for a little while. She's had reasons to believe the former inheritants of this house might be coming to live in it." said the deep voice. "Well, what's so wrong about them living in it?" asked the other. "What are you mad? If they come live in it, they could disturb the phoenix, or even hurt it by accident. It is the last one in existence." said the deep voice.
So hiding from Voldemort wasn't the only reason their ancestors moved out of the house and stopped the use of magic, they were trying to save the last phoenix. "Grace we have to get mom and run. Now!" David whispered to Grace urgently. They could hear the Ministry of Magic men making their way around the house, talking about things David nor Grace could understand. "Quietus!" Grace said to the door with her wand. When they opened it, the door didn't make a sound. "Expecto Patronum!" Grace whispered just loud enough to make a corporeal patronus. The bird cheerily flew in the air, gathering Grace's words to take to her mother, who was in the kitchen. "Mom, the Ministry of Magic is here. We think they are trying to make us leave the house because of the phoenix. The Trace detected our use of magic outside of a wizarding school. They are going to snap our wands or something. Usually, they expel you from school, but we don't go to a magic school, so, you get the point. Meet us upstairs quietly. Don't pass windows, and don't call for us, we will be in out room, hurry!" Grace recorded. Her message took all but thirty seconds to say, she talked so fast. David and Grace went upstairs in their room where, with a wave of a wand, all of their clothes and belongings packed themselves in the magically expanded suitcases. . They then reduced the weight of the suitcase, and then shrunk it. They did the same with all of their mother's things and placed them into a backpack they magically made larger inside. They got the idea from Hermione's bag in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. By then, their mother was upstairs with a dropped jaw, watching them pack. "Clandesti Aperto!" thought David, conjuring the Study door. Knocking rapped on the front door, and they could hear the door knob rattle. Their mother giggled. "What is so funny?" asked David. "I put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the door." she giggled. David and Grace were ready to ask her a few questions but their mother stopped them "Oh, never mind. There's no time for that now." The three of them climbed through the door just as the Ministry men blasted the door off its hinges. David slammed the Study door shut, where it magically sealed and disappeared on the other end, only to be opened when they did it themselves. Phledgon cooed and chirped in happiness to their arrival. The giant flower Grace made still clung to the ceiling, slightly wilting in need of the water in which Grace provided to it.
"Are you sure you want to run from them, David. I mean, they could send us to a magic school, maybe even Hogwarts!" enthused Grace. "Well, that would be nice, but I think it's a little late for that, don't you think?" David said.
"We need to talk." Said their mother.