The clock on the wall was motionless. Ten-year-old Jaidon watched - waited. He sat in his mother's wicker rocking chair, rocking back in forth in a slow, monotonous fashion. His legs were barely long enough for his feet to touch the floor. He gripped either side of the chair by its arms. His palms were clammy, his hands pale. He grew increasingly impatient, staring at the faces on the clock. His father's face stood out the most.

He knew his dad would be home at any second. He always came home from work at the same time, unless there was something that kept him late (which was really rare).

His mother had told him to sit tight in the rocking chair and wait for his dad to get home. Of course, she'd said it in a rather angry tone. Apparently, "borrowing" your big sister's wand to jinx the garden gnomes was a bad idea. He'd just never known his mum could get so mad. She'd begun to take on some of her mother's less appealing traits. Thankfully, his dad was always cool and levelheaded about stuff like that. Dad just seemed to know.

Leila, Jaidon's older sister, came prancing into the room. She wore a hostile look on her face. She was almost the spitting image of her mother when she was angry. She had the same long, red hair and freckles. Same pale white skin. Same button nose and thin lips that curled when she was holding back from yelling at Jaidon. The only resemblance she shared with her father were her almond-shaped eyes and the glasses that covered them. However, her eyes, unlike her father's, were hazel.

Jaidon was the one that looked like his father- the dark messy mop of hair, the slightly hooked nose, the glasses, and the clear skin. The only difference was the scar. Jaidon always thought his dad rather handsome, if only it weren't for the ugly lightning-shaped scar he had on his forehead. Although Jaidon didn't know what the scar was from, he knew his father liked to keep it covered up with his messy black hair.

Leila stood in front of Jaidon, her arms folded across her chest.

"So, been up to no good today, Jaidon?" she asked him tauntingly. "Y'know, Mum is furious about those garden gnomes. She's been out there trying to break those jinxes you put on the poor things."

"How could you pity them?!" Jaidon exclaimed. "Those gnomes are so annoying! The always chase Ferret, they dig up the flowers instead of the weeds, and they pee on everything! How could you, in your right mind, feel any sympathy towards them?"

"Ugh, you're so stupid," Leila replied. She put her hands on her hips, in her Mum-like manner, and continued, "Plus the fact that you broke about ten Ministry laws doesn't help. This is going to help ruin your record - and you haven't even started school yet! Oh, you'll be just like Uncle Fred and Uncle George, I swear."

"Wow, Leila, you sound more like Mother every day."

"Hmmph!" She turned and stomped out of the room, offended by what he'd said. He couldn't help but grin in satisfaction. He loved making her stark mad.

Finally, the clock on the wall changed. The "Dad" hand moved from work to home.

Harry apparated home from work. Jaidon wished he could apparate and disapparate. He'd apparate somewhere far from Leila. Very, very far from Leila.

Harry Potter was always glad to come home to a welcoming household, something he had not experienced much when he was younger. Harry set his cloak and wand down on the kitchen table, and went over to Jaidon to say hello.

When Jaidon didn't say "hello" back, Harry knew something was up.

"What's wrong, Jai?" he asked, expressing only true care for his only son.

Jaidon's gaze shifted from the wall to the floor. He started cracking his knuckles, which happened to be his worst bad habit.

"Come on, you can tell me."

Jaidon still didn't really know what to say. Instead, he shoved the letter of warning from the Ministry into his father's hands. Harry took one look at it and immediately knew what it was. He'd received a couple of them in his days of youthful folly as well.

"What happened?" Harry asked quietly. "Don't tell me you levitated Maeve's favorite stuffed bear again."

Jaidon nodded. This obviously was not his first offense. However, it was likely more serious, since muggles might have been watching.

"Well..." Jaidon finally spoke, only in a barely audible voice.

"Well?"

"It's like this..." Jaidon paused. He looked to his father, who nodded his head, motioning for him to continue. He drew in a deep breath and continued. "You see, I was bored, right? And there really was nothing to do! Really! And then, then..."

Oh, bloody hell, he thought. Just spit it out. He won't yell like Mum. He's different.

However, before he could speak again, Ginny Potter had entered the room, holding Maeve (Jaidon's younger sister, who was also a bit of a troublemaker). Ginny put Maeve down, who immediately rushed into her father's arms. She gave him a kiss on the cheek then ran off at high speed, scaring the house elves as she burst through the kitchen. Ginny wanted to scream at her to slow down, but the child never listened.

"Well, Harry, I see you've read the warning your son received this afternoon from the Ministry of Magic," she said with lips pressed together.

"Yes, I have. I recognized it, knew what it was when I saw it. Didn't have to read its contents," Harry replied. "You surely remember I got a few myself when I was a kid."

"Oh, how could I forget? Fred and George had thrice as many a piece!"

"Anyway, Jaidon here was about to tell me the story, weren't you?" he said, eyeing Jaidon. Jaidon nodded.

"Right," Jai said. "Mum and Maeve were out in the front yard trying to pull the Burning Bush out of the ground. It'd caught the neighbor's cat on fire when it tried to piss on it. Anyway, Leila wouldn't go have a quick Quidditch match with me, so I went out back and was just tossing the Quaffle about, and then I saw three of the garden gnomes trying to eat Mum's Delirium Daffodils. I knew I'd get blamed for it somehow, like I usually do, so I decided to try and stop them."

"And did you?" Harry inquired.

"Of course I did! I found Leila's wand in the cupboard. Then I went back outside and did the "Densaugeo" thingy, and bam! They sprouted these humongous teeth, so then they started eating more of the plants, and I did the "Mobilarbus" on them to levitate them away."

"And you actually successfully completed two spells that you shouldn't even know until after a couple years at school! That's amazing!"

Ginny didn't think it was so amazing though. She gave a slight growl and said, "It's also amazing he hasn't gotten a letter from McGonnagall saying he cannot attend Hogwarts!"

"Oh, Ginny, you know McGonnagall! She would never ban a student just for a few minor charges."

"So...you don't hate me, Dad?" Jaidon asked solemnly.

Harry could've almost laughed, but that laughter he suppressed. "Of course I don't hate you! I don't see how I could ever hate you, not even if you landed yourself in Azkaban."

"Mum hates me."

Ginny sighed. "I do not hate you, Jaidon. I simply do not like the fact that you're doing magic - and you're only ten! You've had no schooling, no lessons - except from what your father has showed you - and, oh! I'm really starting to become my mother..."

She looked a bit disgusted with herself. She shook her clenched fists and flounced out of the room in a fit. Harry and Jaidon exchanged a look of surprise.

"Well," Harry said, "If that's all there is...just, um, try not to do any more magic outside of school. Alright? And especially don't go blowing up any relatives..."

"What?"

"Never mind. So, have you heard from your cousins yet? I think your uncles are planning on going into Diagon Alley for school shopping tomorrow. Your mother is planning on us meeting them there. I know it will be rather...strange...all twenty-seven of us, I mean. Twenty-nine if Ron and Soleil are there."

"How come Uncle Ron is never around?" Jaidon asked quietly. He knew his father and uncle had had a row a while back, and really they had not talked much since. He didn't know what they'd argued over, only that it was something important.

Harry sighed. "Your uncle and I are both busy. He's the head of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. And, of course, being an Auror is really time consuming."

Jaidon decided it was unwise to inquire further about the matter. Instead, he asked something else.

"Hey Dad, do you think...perhaps..."

"Yes, Jaidon?"

"That...that I can, um, get a broomstick? Seeing as I've never had a proper one. Just for home. I won't have it at school, since we're not supposed to. But the Comet Six Thousands we have just aren't that good anymore, and I really hope to make the Gryffindor Quidditch team next year..."

Harry smiled. "As long as you don't let your mother know. She's stab me with it if she knew you had one. And I hear the new Whirlwind Triple Blast is excellent. Not too expensive, either. We'll check it out Thursday. Now, I have to go write a report about today's raid. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll go do that."

Jaidon stood up and followed his father out of the room, then watched him walk up the steps to the second floor. Jaidon thought, in that moment, there wasn't a greater wizard on the planet. A greater person, at that.