All music mentioned is from the creator (I wish I could bloody make something like that up). All Hazza P stuff is owned by Rowling, you know the drill. If anyone could let me know how I'm doing or could improve, comments are appreciated. Peace!
V=V=V=V C4
It was the day after the meeting with Shacklebolt, Savage and his parent's discovery of magic, and that Mat was a wizard. The agreement between the 'adults' involved were to tell no one of Mat's ability and that the Ministry would take care of any witnesses who saw Mat perform his accidental magic. Shacklebolt was the one who mainly spoke throughout the conversation. Both Mat and his parents kept trying to engage Shacklebolt, they preferred to speak to Him rather than Savage. Savages voice nearly put them to sleep. He was a pleasant enough bloke though. The conclusion to this meeting was that Mat could not visit the Wizarding World until after the meeting with the representative from Hogwarts. They emphasised that that the shield was completely accidental and that all magic could only be accessed by using a wand. Mat was not fooled by this. The experiments with trying to create his shield confirmed it. He also knew about Runes and Occlumency.
He could prepare for Runes by studying Norse and other Germanic Runes as well as Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Mat observed in the movies that the Runes looked like a mix between Egyptian and Norse Runes, they usually favour the Norse style though. He was convinced that he could hybridize technology and Runes to get them to work together. He got this idea from the many, many fan-fics he read over the years. He also knew how backwards the Wizarding World was in regards to technology and their thinking. Quite frankly it did his head in how daft the Wizarding World was, he decided to prepare for that. He was not under the illusion that everything would be like what they were in the books and movies though. He could also study Latin to get a step up on the spell casting to get a better grasp of the spells. He knew that magic in that world was intent based and he enforced this belief in his mind.
Occlumency he had already had a grasp on. The Village proved this. He knew about Legilimency though. He had to prepare his defences. He could not afford Snape or Dumbledore to know about him, if they were alive at least. The amount of knowledge Mat was absorbing and had access too was quite frankly mind blowing. He knew that if he became a master of Occlumency so his mind could be safe. The meditation books he had could help with this, or at least give him the foundation to build on.
Mat also had to help his family financially. He was going to do this eventually, but not until later when he became more accustomed to this new life. He felt he still had a lot to learn. Now his parents knew about magic, could he convince them to believe him about certain events and help them when the time comes? The American company, Amazon, would become a billion-dollar company eventually. Could he convince his parents to buy stocks in the company? Or other companies for that matter? At least his mum worked in a bank, so she could buy shares easier that way. Other investments should be in tech or internet firms. He remembered AltaVista and Ask Jeeves were massive in the 90's. Google would become huge too. One could not forget social media platforms like Facebook, Myspace and GeoCities. coin would give him a tidy profit as well. Nvidia would become one of the leading computer graphics manufacturing companies in the world, if Mat could get his families foot in door from buying stocks in these companies, they would be loaded and want for nothing in life. Mat was unsure if all the companies would become as big in this universe though. He mentally shrugged. No risk, no reward. He decided to tell them he has premonitions due to his magic. He remembered that the gentlemen who came round yesterday mentioned that people could see the future. He would convince his parents that he could do that.
Mad meditated and delved into his memories of companies. He wrote a list of over 50 companies that would become big and decided to cross reference them with whatever he could find. Later that day he took a trip to the library and for the first time, realised how fucking slow the internet was in the 90's, he completely forgot! He found out that all of the companies on his list were there in this world. How could he convince his parents to trust him with their money? A lightbulb turned on in his head. Football. Mat was not a football fanatic to say the least, but he did love the sport. Because of his ability to recall memories, he looked through his thousands of hours playing Football Manager and looked for the Champion's Cup final, it was tomorrow, conveniently. Borussia Dortmund Vs Juventus. He packed his things away, grabbed some more books (obviously) and left with his mum. Mat decided to bring the subject up at dinner.
"Dad?" Mat asked innocently "You know that conversation we had yesterday with those two men? And that I'm a wizard?"
Mat's dad looked at his son, fork halfway to his mouth with shepherd's pie, "yes, why?" he carried on eating his shepherd's pie.
"Well, I didn't want to say so before, but I've been having these dreams that feel so real. Do you think they would happen? Do you think they could be something to do with my magic? The men said yesterday people can see the future if you remember?" Mat hoped that his dad would listen to him.
"Yeah I do remember, what kind of dreams are you having? Not nightmares I hope?" he said with concern. He looked at his wife fearful.
"No. Not nightmares, nothing like that, just things that might happen, like, I keep seeing the Champions League final scores for tomorrow. I have a feeling in my gut I know the scores. I have other ones too. Like companies that will become big and other random stuff." Mat explained.
"Oh really? And what would the scores for tomorrow be then?" His dad replied, amused.
Mat grinned "3-1 to Dortmund." His dad looked at him in the eyes, studying him. Mat looked confident.
"3-1 to Dortmund? Jim was talking about that today, he said the odds are good for Dortmund to win tomorrow."
Mat nodded "yeah, I saw online today" he lied "but if this is true, what if the other things I dream come true? We could be rich. I don't want to get your hopes up or anything but its worth a shot isn't it?"
His dad looked away, he seemed to study his plate. "I've never been one for gambling. I don't intend to start now." He looked at Mat again "are you certain of this?"
Mat nodded "yes dad, I'm certain."
"Let's see what tomorrow brings shall we?" Mat didn't see the wink his dad gave his wife.
Mat didn't know what to think, he had no idea what his dad would do. Mat went to taekwondo that night, then went to bed. He woke up the morning like it was a normal day, just without school. He devoured contents in the books he had and went to Jiu jitsu class and got in at 8. As he walked through the door he heard the Champions League music blaring through the T.V. Mat smiled to himself, freshened up and sat with his dad. He had never seen him so animated while watching football. He isn't really a football fan, he tolerated it because mat liked it. The shouting at the T.V. and the players, the family celebrated when Dortmund won 3:1. "Mat you legend!" his dad said as he picked Mat up in a bear hug "I placed a bet on that match, £100, it was a 40-1 chance for that score! I won! I won £4000!" He laughed, put Mat down and danced a little jig.
Mat was laughing at his dads' antics. He knew he had secured their loyalty for future investments. Over the summer, similar bets were placed, the next one was the title fight with Mike Tyson Vs Evander Holyfield, he convinced his dad to place the entire 4 grand on Holyfield to win. The odds were 25-1. They made £100,000 that night. Things were good. They started investing in the companies Mat suggested. Mat did not really have much information on other sporting events from that year apart from Ronaldo winning the Ballon d'Or in December. They decided to tone it down a bit though. Winning this much money in a short amount of time would raise eyebrows. They decided to lose a few bets here and there, but maximise profits on the right ones, at least until the stock markets started to make a profit.
Mat did not go out much during the summer holidays. He did go out a few times with friends, but it felt weird. He went to football, boxing, Jiu Jitsu and taekwondo practice religiously though. He could read the body language of his opponents and was progressing through the ranks pretty fast. He had to hold himself back most of the time. He entered a taekwondo tournament, which he won. Mat was desperate for a Muay Thai gym to open in Doncaster. Kickboxing was not something he liked so he refused to join one of them. He practiced his magic though, focussing on the shield. He could make a relatively solid golden one, it easily covered his torso. He still felt tired after holding it for a prolonged period of time, but like a muscle, the more he practiced, the stronger he got.
He tried to get as many books as he possibly could over the holidays. He persuaded his parents to take him to charity and second-hand book shops. They scoured the county and Mat managed to find a decent selection of books on Latin, runes and Egyptian hieroglyphics that was the main goal. He also got a grand selection of magic and sci fi books as well as history and scientific ones. When he started learning Latin, he found easier than he thought he would. A lot of the terms were used in daily life in England, this occurred to him while learning the language. He would have to try and hire a speaker of the dead language to get the pronunciation right.
The material for creating runes was surprisingly easy. Many of the most famous runes in the muggle world were from runestones and graffiti left by Vikings. "Halfdan carved these runes" in the Hagia Sophia is famous in the world of Archaeology. Mat did not know the specifics of rune crafting in the Wizarding World and so did not attempt to combine them with hieroglyphics. The study of hieroglyphics was much more complicated than runes. The same pictogram could have multiple meanings because of the different Ages and Dynasties in Egypt, the writing evolved. If they did use the Egyptian symbols in runes, he would have to figure out which script was used. The glyphs used in the Second Dynasty are drastically different from ones used in the Ptolemaic Era. There were over 3000 years of Egyptian writing, it would be illogical to study it all to only find out they used the script from the New Kingdom. Regardless. Mat decided to study a broad spectrum of many runes and hieroglyph-based languages to get a basis for the Ancient Runes module at Hogwarts. This was his project over the summer, he was determined to be able to read and write in all the Germanic Rune languages he could get his hands on. And a broad-spectrum knowledge on hieroglyphs.
The Village was becoming more solid. The walls appeared sturdier, there was even a moat starting to form at the base. The rooms in The University had items in it for research and were shaped like either a lecture theatre or lab. Mat discovered he could access books from The Library in these rooms that were related to the topic. When he was exploring, he found a room which appeared to be aimed at studying nuclear fission. He noticed posters on the wall which had images of Chernobyl on them. He couldn't help but smile at that. Medicine, biochemistry, engineering, history and all the subjects that Mat had read appeared to be accessible in these rooms. Outside the library the wooden houses appeared to be more detailed. Plant pots and decorations were added for some reason, it made him smile. The Temple now had inscriptions on the stone and paintings on the walls of calming landscapes. The trees were inscribed with mythical creatures, they appear to have grown like that. Well, they might not be mythical anymore, who knows what's out there. The fort was still a motte and bailey, but with like with everything else here, there was more detail. Blank banners were fluttering in the non-existent wind, towers were added to the walls, the gatehouse was a mighty structure with two portcullises and even a murder hole. What impressed Mat the most though was the Tower that was starting to take shape. It was next to the keep of the motte and bailey within the walls of the structure. He realised that it was getting stronger the more he used his magic. He could not access it yet, there was no door. Two new features in his mindscape was the sun and a landscape. The sun was dark purple orb with a pink centre, bursts of power could be visibly seen arching over the horizon. It was beautiful but was obviously wild and untamed. Mat noticed it when he finally achieved the first corporeal shield. It was a small thing then, a little pink dot in the sky which gave the mindscape a sort of warmth.
The landscape around The Village appeared to be a mountain backdrop with a deep forest that connected to a crustal blue lake on one side and The Village on the other. The rest was clean, green grass that connected to the deep forest. It felt peaceful. The books he was studying on Buddhism, Hindu and Taoist meditation techniques were starting to pay off. He spent much of his time here. His head never felt so clear.
The next school year started, and nothing had changed really. Well, he had a new teacher, but because he was in his seminars, he did not really care. He enjoyed the tasks he was given in these classes, they challenged him in a good way. He made sure there were no random outbursts of magic at all while in school. He was drawn to the music room more this year though. Mat had always liked music. While writing essays at university or doing complicated bits of work at his job, he would usually have some hard dance thumping in his ears, never anything under 140bpm. He realised that he didn't listen to music often here. The knowledge intake appeared to take over and he found that he missed listening to it. It was the second week of shool when he found himself moving automatically towards the music room and opened the door to see a woman playing the piano. He recognised the piece as Chopin. He sat there taking it all in and smiling. He could visualise the keys of the music in his mind. It resonated with him. It may only be a poor representation of a piano on a keyboard, but it sounded brilliant to him.
About two minutes later the woman finished the piece off and turned to see mat sat there. She jumped "oh! You made me jump! I didn't hear you come in."
Mat looked around the room, it seemed less alive now there is no music. He shook his head "sorry Miss, I was just enjoying the music, I didn't want to disturb you." Mat smile gingerly.
"It's fine, luv" she replied in a very strong Yorkshire accent "is there summet you wanted?"
"No, not really, I just thought you were really good and so I followed the music" Mat replied.
"Aww that's sweet of you duck, thankyou" she grinned at Mat's words, "have you ever played the piano before?"
"No Miss, I haven't" he had, but when he was 11 years old in his past life, he was terrible at it.
The woman huffed "stop with that Miss business, lad, I'm Julia" she got up and walked towards Mat. She was taller than he thought. She was middle aged, but that only appeared to accentuate her beauty. She had high cheekbones and kind brown eyes and her dirty blonde hair in a tight bun. She was wearing plain black trousers with a blouse which showed off her body quite well. Mat would have instantly wanted to chat her up, but his young body hadn't even reached puberty yet, he was definitely not looking forward to repeating that shit. She held out her hand for him to shake. He did so. "Do you want to try?"
"yes please" he replied quietly. Julia turned around and beckoned him to follow her. She motioned him to sit next to her on a stool and they both went though some basics. This was another thing Mat picked up easily. He could see the pattern. He was tapping his foot to the beat and his fingers tapping the key's he was getting a bit faster and was reading the music.
"Wow! Are you sure you've never done this before?" Julia said with an amazed chuckle. Mat stopped dead and looked at her and blushed.
"No, I haven't, I promise! I just pick some things up easier than everyone else." He looked down at the keyboard and his hands and he thought he could have seen something. Something golden, like the mist that comes off the shield. He felt the music go through him, like it was calling to him.
Mat's expression must have appeared to have been worried because Julia nudged him "it's fine love, don't get upset about it. I thought it was bloody brilliant. Do you think you could do more?"
Mat nodded and turned the page and stared at it, it was a Bach this time, instead of playing that though, he decided to play The River Flows in You. He tested the keys to make sure he was comfortable. It was a dream of Mat's to play that song. He started off slow, playing the first few bars, then started picking up pace, the notes flowing into his mind and his hands working on their own. He was playing it! His favourite piece and he was playing it! He could never do something like this back then. His hands just wouldn't do what his brain wanted. Now he can do it! He continued playing and the 3 minutes and 31 seconds of pure beauty was finished. He looked up at Julia, she was blurry. He wiped his eyes and realised he was crying. He looked back at the keyboard, wiped his eyes again then back at her. His face nearly split in half in a smile.
Julia was also crying "that, that, what was that? It was beautiful." She wiped her eyes with one of those tissues that women seem to always have on them.
Mat looked back up at her "can I borrow that please?" he asked, she nodded and gave it to him. Mat used to always get teary eyed listening to this song, but now he was outright sobbing. Was it the piece of music? His magic? Or the fact he can now play his most favourited piano piece? Possibly all three. After he finished wiping his eyes and pondering why he was crying, he answered. "I don't know, I had it in my head for ages but didn't know how to express it."
"I think you're a prodigy lad, what's your name? You never said." Her hand went to his shoulder.
"I didn't? oh I'm sorry!" Mats eyes bulged "it's Mat."
"Mat, that was incredible. Do you know how to write music?" Mat shook his head "Would you be willing to write the piece down if I thought you how?"
Mat shrugged, "I suppose so."
Julia clapped in joy, "Brilliant! I will make arrangements with your teachers about getting some practice in school. If it's okay with you, could I ask some of the teachers to see you perform it again?"
Mat blushed but smiled "yeah I suppose so, would this be before or after I write it down?"
"How about I get the headmaster to come and listen to it as soon as possible and we can get some more people to listen too? Afterward I will teach you." she said excitedly.
"I don't want to do it in front of loads of people. How about my parents and a few teachers, is that okay?" Mat was starting to feel a bit shy.
"Yes! That will do nicely." She made Mat jump when she said that "oh! I'm so sorry duck, I'm just getting a bit excited, I need to calm down a bit." She took some deep breaths to calm herself. She asked if Mat could stay here for a few minutes so she could run and get the headmaster. Mat agreed and she literally ran off to find him.
Mat was pottering around, playing some of his favourite tunes back in the day, like Chicane: Salt Water and some UK hardcore tunes like Neckbreaker by Scott brown when the door burst open. It made him jump, as Julia, Mr Bunting and his secretary, Mrs Nesbit, a completely unremarkable woman, came in. Mr Bunting immediately found Mat sitting on a stool and laughed "So what else are you good at Matthew?" Mr bunting was always the jovial looking man, clean shaven, in his 50's, greying hair and moustache, always in a suit and tie. The kids at school used to compare him to the fat controller from Thomas the Tank Engine which is unfair but kind of true.
Mat grinned impishly "turns out I'm good with piano as well Sir."
"Ha! You keep on surprising me lad! Let us get seated and show me this piece Julia was raving on about." He glanced at Julia who was blushing and smiling.
"You will be more than surprised too Mr Bunting. Trust me." They all found their seats and Julia motioned Mat to start playing. He turned his back to them, found the keys and started. Again, he started slow, and sped up with the music. He observed his playing more closely this time. There! Its pulses with the beat in time with the music. He could see a golden shimmer, he could visibly see the sound waves pulse from his body. They appeared to reverberate around the room. He kept playing though, and he could feel his emotions come out with the music. He played the full piece like he was born to do it, it seemed to flow from him. He finished and turned to look at his small audience. Julia was the least affected, but she was still crying, she had a massive grin on her face. Mr Bunting was bright red trying to hold it in but failing. Mrs Nesbit was openly wailing into her handkerchief, she sounded like a sealion. All three looked at her as she blew her nose. She looked up and noticed everyone staring at her and hid her face in the kerchief, still crying.
"That was incredible, I don't know what I felt but it was something! Th-tha-that piece of music is exceptional Matthew! Utterly beautiful, Angelic even!" Mr Bunting wiped one eye, stood up and came to a blushing Mat, "it seems you have something else you excel at! Do you want to practice this more?" Mr bunting looked at him eagerly, almost pleading.
Mat grinned and nodded "something else to figure out now" he thought.
