Chapter 6: Jobs, Mischief, and a Spell…

As the shadows along the ground of Diagon Alley grew Marak could just make out the exit back to the Leaky Cauldron. For some reason Marak felt like he'd be leaving something behind as he left the Alley, but with the promise of a new school ahead of him he continued on.

"Hagrid?" Marak asked, Hagrid turned his head towards Marak.

"Yea?" He grunted as he avoided a merchant who was busy trying to sell Hagrid some self-heating cauldrons.

"When does the school start?" Marak asked,

"Oh! Not 'till September first." Hagrid answered with a grin, "You still gotta wait for the school to start now…" Marak just nodded, feeling a little disappointed he'd have to wait. He started to feel very down, he'd have to go back to the Orphanage, get picked on by Joe some more and possibly get in more trouble.

"I guess it's back to the Orphanage…" Marak said, a exasperating tone in his voice. Hagrid looked down on him, his little beetle-eyes twinkling and laughed,

"Oh no, no! I'm goin' ter keep ya here." He said, indicating to the Leaky Cauldron as they came through the archway. Marak's eyes lit up.

"Awesome!" He exclaimed. No more need to see Joe for another whole year!

"I'll have to talk with Raru about it, since he owns the place." Hagrid said, "I might have to up your debt a little. But don' worry about the cost, I know all will be fine." Hagrid said while entering the back door as Marak followed mutely.

Once inside Marak had to again adjust his eyes to see within the shadows of the pub.

"Hagrid! Marak! So you're back." A friendly voice said and from one of the deserted tables came Raru himself, a white, well, previously white washrag.

"Hullo Raru." Hagrid said, then cast a look at the washrag in the man's hand, "I keep on tellin' you to use magic…" Hagrid chided.

"Ah, I don't need to waste magic on something as trivial as that," Raru said, "Anyways the last time I tried a magic to clean the tables I ended up having half my customers cleaned too." Raru added, a slight painful look upon his face as he remembered the incident.

"Wasn't pretty…" He added on with a wince. Hagrid just smiled, then continued on,

"Well, anyways, I wanted to ask you about Marak holding up here until school. We'll have to talk abou' costs and junk but…" Hagrid said, but Raru cut him off,

"Oh, no problem!" Raru said with a wink towards Marak, "I'll be happy to give him a room. I have plenty of rooms." Raru offered,

"Great!" Hagrid said continuing on with a grin, "Ok, about the costs…" Hagrid began, but Raru cut him off again,

"Don't worry about the costs. In fact…" Raru began, "I bet you have been paying for all his supplies, right?" He asked. Hagrid nodded,

"Yea, but that's no problem." Hagrid said, but Raru reached into his pocket and produced a little sack of jingling coins, tossing it into Hagrid's hand,

"Here, take this." He said, "It'll cover all of Marak's supplies. I'll just give him a little job until school starts to earn back his debt to me and his room price." He said. Hagrid looked a little nervous though. Marak was nervous as well, they had already spent what looked to Marak like a lot of Wizard Money; too many Galleons and Sickles to be paid off just this few amount of weeks.

Hagrid nodded, "Raru, you're a great guy. Ok, thanks for the favor!" Hagrid yelled as he shuffled across to the doorway. Hagrid's yell had attracted quite a few dark eyes from under their cloaks all over the room, many of the strangers peered at this giant man.

"Marak, the term starts September first; your ticket is in the envelope and also if you need any help or questions just ask Raru!" He called over his shoulder, leaving out into the dying sunlight outside in the Muggle world. Marak stood there watching the doorway Hagrid had just escaped from for a couple of minutes before a prod in the shoulder from Raru woke him.

"Huh?" Marak asked, looking into the face of Raru. He smiled back,

"You alive?" He asked. Marak nodded looking up at him. Raru smiled then with a flip of his wrist a key zoomed into his outstretched fingers, which he presented to Marak.

"Here," He began giving Marak the key, "Here's your room. It's room 23 up on the second floor." Marak started towards the stairs, but Raru stopped him,

"Go up there and take your stuff with you. I want you to get some sleep, you'll start working tomorrow." Raru ordered. Marak came back and got his school items. Raru must have noticed the depressed look upon his face for he said,

"Don't worry Marak, the work won't be hard, trust me." He said smiling a warm smile which seemed to calm Marak.

"Ok, thanks!" Marak said, walking up the steps. It wasn't long before he found room 23, and with a quick motion he unlocked the door and stumbled inside.

Upon entering Marak was very much surprised. As he looked around he saw that the room was much bigger on the inside than suggested on the outside. When Marak was outside the room, the doors looked so pressed together that the rooms themselves seemed to be broom closets, but after entering they seemed very spacious, even Hagrid would be comfortable here.

So with a smile Marak set his things down and sat on the large bed which was overlooking the window. Brilliant streaks of red and orange light shone through the window making Marak feel very much a peace. It was only yesterday that he was at the Orphanage, looking out a similar window next to his bed, but the only light which passed through that was grey and depressing.

Marak's blue eyes was held facing towards the window, watching the light disappear, and Marak just reflected on everything which had happened. A small head with dusty brown hair popped down from the top of the frame outside the window,

"Hey there!"

Marak toppled over the side of the bed, becoming tangled in his sheets, "Ahh!" He yelped before hitting the floor with a loud THUMP! He got up, rubbing his head where he had hit it, to look back at the head which was looking back at him upside down. He recognized it as the boy he had run into while in Diagon Alley. Apparently Tobias was hanging from the roof upside down, looking into Marak's room.

"We haven't officially met, just really bumped into each other, so I thought I might introduce myself fully to you." Tobias said, extending his hand down into the window, "Here, grab on! I'll take you to the roof!"

"Uhh... how are you managing to hang up there?" Marak asked incredulously as he slowly approached the window. Tobias grinned broadly and with a quick twist of his body he flipped himself right side up, still hanging outside the window, but he was hovering in the air on a broom. Marak found it hard to close his mouth. Tobias sat on his broom right outside the window, now looking a little bored,

"You coming?" He asked, Marak slowly nodded and shuffled towards the window,

"Hold on…" He murmured trying to get onto the broom, his right hand still gripping the windowsill while his left leg wrapped around the broom.

"Ok, up we go!" Tobias yelled, and with a quick motion the broom hurtled up.

"Ah!" Marak yelped, letting go of the window least he lose his arm. Tobias seemed to think this was amusing.

"You ok there?" He asked amidst gales of laughter, Marak didn't answer. It only took a few moments but Tobias landed gracefully on the roof and Marak clambered off the broom. The Leaky Cauldron looked a lot different from way up here, on ground it only appeared to be two stories, but as Marak glanced off the roof he got the feeling it was more like five stories.

Tobias settled himself on the side of the building, letting his legs hang off the edge. Tobias turned his body so that he could get a better view of Marak,

"Well, my full name's Tobias Lapel." He said, "And you wont find a better friend than me." He said with another grin, extended a hand to Marak, who walked over, taking the hand and sitting on the edge of the building as well,

"I'm Marak Barker." He replied, turning his gaze back towards the city which lay beyond the pub. There was a second's silence before Marak looked around and asked, "Are we allowed to be up here?"

"Nah, but Its nice up here. I suppose they don't want people up here because they could get hurt… but it really is a nice place to rest." Tobias responded, "I am borrowing the broom from a nice guy I met who is next door to my room." He said.

"So it is true witches and wizards fly on brooms?" Marak asked, thinking of all the childhood stories of witches on brooms. Tobias looked at him funny,

"Of course, it isn't a secret or anything." He said, "Even muggles have it in their stories." Marak nodded mutely. With a small hop Tobias jumped off the side of the roof, whipping the broom around so that he landed atop it. He angled upwards flying a few feet above the roof of the Cauldron, but with a graceful dive he swooped lower and hovered just out of Marak's reach over the street below. Marak suddenly noticed all the people down below, hustling and bustling.

"Hey, Get back here! They're see you!" He whispered urgently, Tobias chuckled a little.

"No need to worry yourself. The Leaky Cauldron is bewitched to hide all activity in the windows of the pub and the side of the pub. This makes practically all activity done near or above the pub invisible. This illusion covers a little above the roof, so as long as I don't fly too high or too far I'm still invisible to them." Tobias said, "You wouldn't think the Leaky Cauldron would just let muggles see that this isn't just some regular pub."

Marak blushed a little, he still had so much to learn.

"Mr. Lapel… I'd suggest you give Mr. Brewner his broom back. No one's allowed up here."

Tobias was looking past Marak with a surprised look on his face. Marak swiveled around to face those piercing blue eyes and messy black eyes of Raru. The surprised look disappeared from Tobias' face as he glided down to the rooftop and was replaced by a grin,

"How'd you know I was here?" He asked Raru, who grinned right back,

"I know what's happening in…or on my pub." Raru said, "I don't know why Mr. Brewner would let a kid use his broom so close to muggle activity." Raru chided, then placed his gaze on Marak.

"Come on Marak. No one's allowed here, plus I thought I told you to get some sleep."

Marak nodded and followed. As they followed Raru through a hidden trap door on the rooftop Tobias whispered to Marak, "He's sharp…" Marak agreed.

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Life at the Leaky cauldron was very interesting. He started work the next day, and all he had to do was clean cups the muggle way, as he didn't know any magic yet, and occasionally take people's orders. While he was not busy Raru would hang out with him on a stool behind the counter, sharing jokes he had heard from various customers. Some of them were really strange, involving banshees and something called a wargfort, but a good deal of them were good.

Indeed, staying at the Pub and helping out Raru was a lot more fun than the orphanage ever was, or could be, and Raru was starting to grow on Marak. Soon Marak felt that Raru was almost like a brother.

It was a good day for Marak on his first payday. He paid off a third of Hagrid's debt, and he also got a bonus which he used in Diagon Alley and came out with a giant ice cream cone. He also had to retrieve one for Raru who was busy with some new tricky customers. He came back to Marak, stuffing his arms full of cups saying,

"I think they're asking for some butterbeer but they seem to also be saying that they also want goat burdah, which I can only guess is cheese…" He said, bringing it all back to the table, which met his return with a bunch of gibbering in some sort of language Marak couldn't hope to understand.

Meanwhile with his daytime activities he also would hang out with Tobias in the night and sometimes on the evenings. He introduced Marak to Wizard's chess and also to Exploding Snap, which startled Marak badly when it first exploded. Not only did they play games they also snuck around the pub, spying on some of the more suspicious of characters who came in. They also visited Diagon Alley often, checking out the shops, and talking about Quidditch and brooms.

Their greatest adventure had to be when they decided to go into the basement, ignoring Raru's warning, and deciding to explore down there. They ran into a giant rat and tried to curse it away. Tobias managed to hurt its leg, but Marak's only tickled it, and soon they were running back up the steps, chased by the maddened rat, and slamming the door to the basement behind them. Raru just smiled, bordering on laughing at them, but continued to serve drinks to a nearby table.

That adventure prompted Marak and Tobias to ask Raru for help on their curses. After saying, 'I told you so' he finally accepted the job. Tobias was helping Marak scrub out a large tankard big enough to settle Hagrid when Raru started his first lesson with the two. He brought two water balloons to the meeting and put them on the counter. He said to try and break the water balloons with their spell. Tobias and Marak both tried their spells while Raru continued to serve the customers. After a couple of hours, and both of their balloons being quite in tact, Tobias gave up and shoved his wand through it, shattering the balloon and littering the table with water. Raru mended the balloon and gave them some advice on using magic;

"You need to pull the magic from within you. It has to come from your wants, wishes and hopes. It's your ambition, your soul, your being… so you have to feel all that in order to become a great wizard." Tobias said it was all a bunch of bull, but Raru answered back,

"The magic doesn't come from the wand, it comes from you. The wand is just an amplifier, it only amplifies the magic within yourselves, which is why a bunch of powerful wizards don't even need wands to use magic." He explained, "Sure, a lot of spells don't even require a thought to use, but the more advanced spells require all that I just told you, and if you treat the smaller spells with the same respect you will find they work a lot better." He said. Marak didn't really understand what Raru was trying to say, but he tried again, breaking the balloon in his third try. Raru smiled warmly and continued on his business, and Tobias glared daggers at him. It took another two days for Tobias to break the balloon, but meanwhile Marak was using the curse to push over random things, which Raru told him not to get 'spell happy'.

It was well before the summer ended that Marak paid off all his debt to Hagrid, but he continued to work for Raru, and by the end of the summer he had gotten plenty of more wizard money than he had ever expected to have. Raru had spoiled Marak, and he knew it and tried to tell Raru he didn't need any more money from working there than just having his debt paid off, but Raru wouldn't listen and still gave him the money.

By the end of the summer both Marak and Tobias were really getting good at their curses, and they both knew a good stock of average spells as well as some curses and hexes. Despite Marak having gotten the first curse, 'Urio' faster than Tobias quickly found he was lagging behind in Tobias' skills of curses and hexes. Despite that he found that he could perform a spell which Tobias could not.

It was one of their training sessions that Raru suddenly announced that they would practice a new spell which wouldn't be found in the books, but it was very simple. He warned that some people couldn't perform it, so if Marak and Tobias couldn't it was normal. Although he said this Marak could see Raru watching him carefully.

It had all started when Marak had left his wand on the counter and Raru found it and picked it up to return it to him. When Raru gave Marak his wand there was a peculiar look upon his face, and the next meeting they began the new magic.

"This spell I'm about to teach you guys is called 'Rexeus'. It is a special spell, as in it is cast with a different mindset than those spells you've been learning so far." Raru began, "This means that some people who have this mindset will be able to get this technique easily, and those who do not will most likely never be able to learn this technique. You can't learn a mindset, so it is very difficult to perform."

Raru then brandished his wand. He swished his wand sharply, pointing to a can which they had been practicing Urio on and yelled, "Rexeus!". A flash of light issued from the wand, and the spell shot out, hitting the can and throwing it against the wall, flattening it. With no other place to go, the can exploded, sending little shards fluttering through the air. Raru then turned his eyes back on Tobias and Marak.

"Can any of you guys tell me what just happened?" Blue eyes fixed on Marak as Raru asked the question. Marak took this as a sign that he was supposed to answer the question.

"It just looked like you used Urio on the can, except it exploded." Marak answered truthfully, that was what it looked like. Instead of the disappointed look Marak thought he'd get from Raru he could see a smile light the man's face.

"Very good. The only reason it exploded was because of my skill with the spell, but now I want you to use another spell." He said, nodding towards Marak. He shrugged and used the first spell which came to his mind, he'd been practicing this spell a couple of times for when he and Tobias would go into the basement to get revenge on that dumb rat.

"Luminos" Marak said, a bright light appearing on the end of his wand. Raru did another sharp flick with his wand,

"Rexeus" He said. A brilliant light seared from his wand, lighting up the alleyway. Marak's eyes opened wide,

"Wait! That was my spell!" He said, Raru nodded,

"Exactly…" He said, then extinguished the spell with a "Nox" and walked next to Tobias, flicking his wand sharply again,

"Rexeus!" A spell launched from the end to hit a trashcan which was thrown against the wall to soon later fall to the ground, crumpled. Marak looked a little confused,

"But, I used Luminos…" Marak whispered. Raru just turned to Tobias,

"What was the last spell you used?" He asked, Tobias looked up at him,

"It was Urio... The last time I used it was yesterday though…" Tobias began but Raru cut him off,

"Do you see any patterns?"

"Yea, when I used Luminos your spell did it, but when you were standing next to Tobias you did his last spell…" Marak said, understanding.

"Exactly, Rexeus is a spell which copies the last spell that was used of the wand which is closest to you." Raru explained, "The only set back is that if you can not perform the spell on your own you will not be able to perform the spell with this mirror move." He said.

"So if someone used a complex spell which I couldn't do because I'm just a starter, your spell wouldn't be able to do it?" Marak asked. Raru nodded his head, "But what about a spell I could do but I've never heard of or used before?"

"It would work." Raru explained. Marak grinned, excited about the new spell. It opened so many doors!

"It is the simplest of these types of spells, so it will take a while to learn… and you may not be able to learn it at all." He said. Marak wouldn't listen though,

"Teach me it." He said, ready to begin on the spell. Raru nodded and began teaching.

It took more than a week of Raru's teaching, and that included the time Marak spent alone in his room practicing the spell, for Marak to get the feeblest of spells copied. After a week's work only a pinprick of a spell would come out when he copied Tobias' Urio spell when himself using the spell would be able to knock a chair over easily. Tobias couldn't get the skill at all, and after three days of practice gave up. He wasn't known for his patience anyways.

It was the final three days of the summer before going to Hogwarts that he actually got the spell down. Whatever spell he copied was slightly weaker, but not enough to make much of a difference. Marak could tell that Raru was very proud with him, and the night before the leave to the school, Raru called a little party in the room Marak had been sleeping in during the whole summer. Marak looked around him and as he looked at Raru and Tobias he realized this felt like as much of a family as he'd ever had.

"Well… I'm sorry to say it but it looks like our little gang is going to be split up." Raru said as he gulped down some butterbeer. Tobias grinned and took a sip,

"Yea, well when we get back from Hogwarts we'll have to show you some things about spells."

Raru chuckled at this merrily, "You're going to show me a few things huh… Well, I guess I'll be learning from the masters." He winked at saying this.

Raising his glass Tobias grinned, "You bet."

It was a lot of fun, and Tobias and Marak asked a lot of questions about their new school, but Raru didn't answer too many of them, saying that it'd be a surprise and he didn't want to spoil it. He did talk about how he and his old friends would get in a whole lot of trouble. Tobias listened to these storied a little too hard, Marak got the feeling that he was taking notes.

After the party, which lasted into midnight, Raru had to force them into their beds and put a locking charm on their doors so they couldn't sneak out of their rooms into the others to continue the party. Marak felt good about this because he was tired, and he knew Tobias would keep him up at least another couple of hours.

When he went to sleep Marak thought about the new life he was about to live…

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Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: The Leaky Cauldron is not mine, but all the characters in there except for Hagrid are mine.

Hey guys. Sorry it took so long for me to update, but I did tell you guys what was happening on my update on my Fanfic profile (I Have little updates) and the latest one reads: "Update: 6-13-04
I've been terribly sick recently, I had to get a blood test, so I'll be finding out if I'm alright soon enough. Thank you all who gave reviews, I'll take in all your comments and try to get them in the story. I'm just really sick and I'm very tired as well, so I'm going to sleep. I'll update and post the new chapter hopefully soon. Sorry about breaking the promise to have the next chapter by today.
Blackotter"

I hope you read that. I've been sick since last friday (Not the two days ago friday) all the way to this thurday. It's been really bad, luckly I learned that there is nothing wrong with my organs, just strange levels of chemicals. Normal people have a level of 2:1 but I have 3.5:1. Its some funky named chemical, but I should be able to return it to normal. I've stopped being plagued by it too.

Not only that but I also had my last week of school this week, so finals finals finals. I've finally been able to update! Please tell me if there is anything wrong with my writing (Punctuation, ect.) and I'll re-write whatever needs to be changed, honest! I wrote this mainly while I wasn't feeling in top shape.

Please continue to review and show support :), it's what I really need during these times. I'll take everyone's reviews into defenant consideration. Thanks!

Blackotter