WARNING! The next 4 chapters have been accused of lacking in magic; guilty as charged, I guess. It's in there but not to the degree some seem to expect. I have my own reasons for writing them like I did, but apparently some find it boring, oh well, now you have been warned. If you want to do you own time skip, or chapter skim, well, I can't stop you. Either way I hope people enjoy it, but it is what it is.

Chapter 4

Jedi Don't Dance

The Hogwarts school year had begun like any other. Hagrid's voice booming over the grounds. Excited new students were in awe at their first glimpse of the castle. The awestruck feeling was converted to nervousness as they entered the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony. That nervousness dissipated as they were assigned to their houses. Some still had modest trepidation about being accepted, but overall, the feeling of new friendships was overwhelming.

With all the excitement of a new year there was still a definite something missing. And that something was Harry Potter. Many of the pure blood families, and in turn their children, were expecting Mr. Potter to matriculate into Hogwarts this year. Any that didn't come to school with the knowledge, were most annoyingly informed by one Draco Malfoy. His search for the Potter boy on the Hogwarts Express might have been in vain, but it certainly could not be classified as quiet. His father was sure to hear about this.

All it took was the smallest of sparks for the brushfire that was the Hogwarts rumor mill to light ablaze. A few suggested that Harry was in school under a different name and an assortment of glamours. Another more common belief was that Harry was under the private tutelage of Albus Dumbledore, his magical guardian. One more surprising —yet no less disseminated rumor— was that Harry Potter was just a fictional character from a series of children's books. The story that he had defeated the Dark Lord was just that, a story; a story that hid the true tale behind the Dark Lord's demise. And considering, very few people alive could claim to have ever seen the boy —and those that could weren't discussing the matter— the rumor was beginning to gain traction.

The Headmaster did nothing to quash the rumors, in fact he found the fictional Harry rumor quite interesting. His subconscious couldn't ignore the fact that that particular rumor took a bit of the pressure off himself. The imaginations of the youth never ceased to amaze him. And he was nowhere near ready to deal with the scrutiny of trying to explain how he lost The Boy Who Lived, and the circus that would follow.

He had received a few owls back from schools that had incoming students that resembled Harry. Or more accurately, his perception of what Harry might look like. He had gone to visit those individuals, and they were not long visits. It was readily apparent none of them could possibly be Harry Potter. It was painfully obvious that Harry was not at any of the magical schools. The thought that he might have rejected the opportunity to attend one of them didn't even cross his mind, that just never happened. The pit in his stomach began to swell as he had to acknowledge the possibility that the worst had happened to young Harry.

'Here you are, my young Padawan. Your new lightsaber.' Victor toned superiorly, as he handed Cody the recently completed project.

'Holy cow, how cool is this. And I am not your Padawan.' Cody retorted.

'I made your lightsaber, I am your Master. When you make your own you shall become a true Jedi.' Victor continued his haughty tone.

'Fine, whatever.' Cody conceded. 'You really did this all by yourself?' Still amazed at the intricate details.

'Well, I did the carving, shaping and sanding. Jamal's the artist, so he did the painting and stuff. It came out freaking good, if I do say so myself.' Victor tried to sound humble, but even this piece of work was too good not to admire.

'I thought that this could be a way you could use the Force without drawing too much attention. You said that other wizard used a wand, but if you pull a wand on people they wouldn't take you serious, or people would know you are different. Everyone knows what a lightsaber is, so if you pull this on someone they will just think you have some crazy technology, but won't question where it's power is coming from. I just painted it to look real, then I hollowed out the middle and put some fake crystals and geodes in with some resin. It actually looks kinda cool.' Jamal knew his art was good, yet still found a way to not come off as conceited.

'Kinda cool? This thing is awesome, it looks like it came straight out of the movie. Thanks guys.' Cody said. 'But I won't be using this in public unless there is no other option.'

'That's enough admiring our handiwork. Turn that thing on and see if you can protect yourself from this orange.' Victor demanded.

'What are you going to do with an orange?' Cody asked.

'I'm going to chuck it at you, you slice it in half. May the Force be with you.' Victor responded nonchalantly.

Cody tentatively nodded in agreement and walked to the opposite side of the room. He turned to face his friend, and drew the light out from his newly minted lightsaber handle.

Pssshheeeewww Vvvrrrmmm Vvvrrrmmm

'Bring it.' Cody ordered.

Victor wasted no time in throwing the orange across the room right at the head of his friend. This was going to be easy, Cody just held his lightsaber vertically right in front of himself. The orange was coming straight towards him, he was going to split the citrus fruit right down the middle. It met the light and–

Thud!

Right between the eyes. The orange dropped to the floor. On the other side of the room Victor and Jamal dropped also. They were clutching their stomachs, rolling in laughter. Cody picked up the orange and nailed Victor in the middle of the back.

'Very funny, you idiot. I don't know why I ever go along with your ideas.' Cody said.

'Oh man! So good! It's because you can't come up with your own. You need me.' Victor intoned.

'You were so focused on it, then. . . Bam! Right in your face. That was hilarious.' Jamal laughed.

'Ready to try again?' Victor asked.

'No! You guys think you are sooOOoo funny. How about you just hold out a piece of paper and see if I can just slice off part of it, before you throw more stuff at me. You knew I wouldn't be able to do it right away, that's why you were so intent on throwing that at me. Didn't you?' Cody accused.

'Yeah, maybe, but it was so funny.' Victor admitted.

'He's right man, that was hilarious.' Jamal agreed.

'Fine, you've had your fun, but I'm not falling for it again. Roll up that sheet of paper, and hold it out.' Cody said.

Pssshheeeewww Vvvrrrmmm Vvvrrrmmm

He watched as his lightsaber passed through the paper with no effect. He had forgotten how much effort and focus was required when trying something new. He took a step back, extinguished the saber and took a deep calming breath. With eyes closed, he focused his energy on drawing from his magic, no the Force, he was a Jedi. He pictured his lightsaber gliding through the rolled up piece of paper and the unattached piece fluttering to the ground.

Pssshheeeewww

He opened his eyes to see the light appeared no different than before —the physical properties were unchanged— but there was a distinct change in the sensation within Cody. He was confident, and he brought the beam down and through the paper in one swift controlled motion. Instantly the two inches at the end of the roll began to unravel and float to the ground. To him it felt like slow motion. He was always amazed when he accomplished something new, there was no getting used to doing new magics.

His friends again began whooping and shouting, and Victor was determined to have him slice an orange that was thrown at him. After slicing the paper a few more times, Cody consented to have the orange thrown at him again.

'This time don't throw it straight at me though. Put it off to the side a little.' Cody said, he wasn't going to pay the price again if he couldn't get the cutting aspect of the saber dialed in yet.

'Alright wuss, if that's the only way you'll do it, fine. Here it comes, don't strike out.' Victor taunted.

Cody walked back to the other side of the room and took his stance in the batter's box, he was going to hit this one out of the park, figuratively of course. He didn't bring the saber all the way up to his ear for a full swing —it wouldn't do to accidentally gouge the walls— that would be hard to explain away. Instead, he brought the handle to the middle of his chest, arms slightly bent at the elbows, and turned his head to the left and gave his friend a quick nod— I'm ready.

Pssshheeeewww

Victor didn't delay, the pitch was right on target, that is to say, chest high over the heart of where a home plate would've been had they been at a ball field. Cody rotated his hips ever so slightly and brought the beam of light forward to meet the hurling navel.

Vvvrrrmmm Kkkssshhh

The orange cleanly split, two halves set off, each at a forty-five degree angle. One half harmlessly hit a wall and fell to the ground. The malicious half drilled Cody right between the eyes with an all too familiar— Thud, accompanied by a squirt of orange juice right into his left eye. Instinctually he brought his hands to his face —dropping the lightsaber in the process, which thankfully also extinguished the light— and ran to the sink to rinse the stinging sensation out of his eye. On the other side of the room his friends were in an all too familiar position, doubled over in laughter.

'You can't even blame us this time, that was your idea.' Victor breathed the words out in between bouts of laughter. 'But you can't argue with the results, you have a legit lightsaber.'

'No one would mess with you if they found out you could just lop their arm off.' Jamal observed.

'I imagine that would draw too much attention, so I'll save slicing limbs off for extenuating circumstances.' Cody said.

'We know, it's just hard to not think of the possibilities. So, should we carry on with your training, or are you too tired?' Victor asked.

'No, actually I'm not that tired. I usually would be because that was pretty intense. And I don't like the look you're giving me about continuing my training.' Cody said suspiciously.

'Yeah, Vic, you look a little too excited about whatever you have planned next.' Jamal noted.

'Oh come on, guys. We all know once you get this all figured out we are going to get pranked like crazy, let us have some fun while you are learning.' Victor pleaded.

'Alright, what is this next thing you had in mind?' Cody relented.

'K, well, first, you need to see if you can get your lightsaber to act as more of a shield than a slice and dicer. Then, we blindfold you. We get our Nerf guns and shoot them at you, and you try to block them only using the Force and your lightsaber.' Victor explained.

'I am going to get pelted for a while, aren't I?' Cody conceded.

'Well, if you are anything like Luke, yes. Just be glad we won't be using those laser things to hit you. Nerf bullets are nothing, you'll hardly feel them.' Jamal said.

It didn't take Cody very long before he was able to get his lightsaber to deflect objects. He was happy to have this version, he didn't have to worry about destroying something, or injuring himself, or others, as he did with his cutting saber. He wrapped a bandana over his eyes and took his place across from his friends who were lining up their aim.

'Tell us when you are ready, but we won't shoot right away, and we won't tell you when we do.' Victor called out.

'I'm ready.' Cody was feeling a bit uneasy as this was uncharted territory for him. He could access the Force, but was unsure where he should push it. While he was contemplating how to channel the Force, his friends were scheming.

'I'm going low, you go high. . . Now.' Victor instructed Jamal quietly.

Boom boom boom boom, thud thud thud thud.

All hits, four in the face, and simultaneously four right between the legs. The foam bullets weren't enough to drop Cody to the ground, but they were enough to elicit a loud groan of pain. He quickly removed the bandana to find Jamal chuckling, and Victor boisterously laughing.

'Oh, man. Did you seriously have to go for the nuts? Owww. You know I am going to really get you back for this, and you are only increasing your punishment with how much you are enjoying this.' Cody threatened.

'I'm doing you a favor. Do you think that someday when you are fighting some evil sorcerer he is going to take it easy on you?' Victor tried justifying his actions.

'There are no evil sorcerers out there.' Cody hit back.

'You have no idea, there was no such thing as magic either; and then there was.' Victor said.

Cody didn't have a comeback to that one.

'Ok, but that was a low blow. Pun intended. And Jamal, you are an accomplice, you aren't getting off easy here.' Cody pointed a finger at Jamal to try and make himself look more threatening.

'Hey, I only knew he was going low, not that he was going for the jewels.' Jamal said apologetically.

'Ok, fine, your little raisinettes are off limits, but I had to get you while you are still learning. Pretty soon we won't be able to touch you. Let's get back to target practice.' Victor was done discussing things.

They continued like this for a good forty-five minutes and Cody only blocked a handful of bullets, which meant he got hit hundreds of times. Boy, was he grateful they were just foam bullets.

'I think I'm done with this for today. I was starting to feel something there at the end, but I'm pretty worn down.' Cody said.

'Well, at least we can say you aren't some wizard version Bobby Fischer, or maybe this is just your weakness.' Victor pondered.

'Or maybe this is just a different part of the Force, and he just has to figure it out how to dial it in.' Jamal countered.

'Yeah, I think Jamal is right. It was a totally unique feeling once I started to sense it. I'll have to practice tapping into that feeling more before it comes easy.' Cody said.

It actually ended up taking him the better part of the next few years to become proficient at this skill. The fact that training included getting pelted over and over again didn't encourage him to practice as often as his friends wanted. They loved the training sessions, and got a lot of pleasure from the fact that his progress was slow.

School started and the boys loved the novelty of the environment. At least for the first week. Then it just felt like school again. They all anticipated the first wrestling practice of the year excitedly. That was until Victor's cousin had described the coach as a drill sergeant, and it was apparent he took some joy in scaring Victor and his friends. So, as the first practice approached there was a definite nervous anxiety that hovered over the group.

The description of Coach Williams was accurate. He was a no nonsense man, especially in front of a group; on an individual basis there was another, a very understanding, side to him. He had a shaved head, and rippling muscles, not a bulging movement inhibiting burliness, but a strength that served a functional purpose. His voice was deep and it echoed through a room at his normal level of speech, picture frames on the wall would shake if he actually raised his voice. He paced the room as he watched his team warm up for the first time this season.

'Everyone, take a knee. Welcome to wrestling. I am Coach Williams. This is our first practice of the year, so you're going to get "The Speech." Most of you have heard it before —and it's not gonna change— but even if you have it memorized I expect you to listen. If you are here to have fun, you are in the wrong place. You don't play wrestling. If you want to play with something, there are a whole bunch of other sports that have balls you can play with. This is the only sport that will make your balls get bigger.

'Wrestling is work. If you want to transform yourself from a boy into a man, then you're in the right place. But let this be clear, I am not the one doing the transforming here. You will be doing the transforming yourself; through hard work and dedication. If you don't feel like quitting at some point you haven't worked hard enough. When that point comes, push through it, you will come out stronger. I will give you the tools to be a good wrestler, but it is up to you to become great. Everyone of you has what it takes, you just have to find it.

'Wrestling is the greatest sport in the world, some will say that is just an opinion, but I tell you, it is the correct opinion. Because when you step out onto that mat, it's only you and your opponent. There are no teammates to bail you out. There's no mommy or daddy to come and save you. There comes a time for everyone when it feels like life has abandoned you, that's where only your character can pull you through. You can develop that character here, so when life punches you in the gut you can hit back.

'There are no shortcuts here, you get out what you put in; and if the other guy has outworked you, you're gonna get your ass handed to you, in front of everybody. There is no faking effort -oh, you can pretend to be working hard in here- but it will show up out on the mat, for everyone to see. You will be vulnerable, and you will be exposed. There are few who even have the guts to put themselves out there, and even fewer who have what it takes to excel and to dominate. And even those —even the greats— lose from time to time. But it is how they respond to defeat that separates them, and makes them great. They don't let it define them, they let it motivate them.

'If you have outworked your opponent, you get to destroy him. And I can tell you, there is no greater feeling in the world than walking off the mat after your hand has been raised to the air in victory; after you have physically and mentally dominated an opponent. I say mentally because this sport requires all you have; physically, mentally, and emotionally. You will not survive in here on physical attributes alone, without mental and emotional strength you will get eaten alive. But that personal satisfaction of victory is not the reason wrestling is the best.

'No, the best part about wrestling is that once you have done this, everything else is easy. I'm not talking about going through the motions, I'm talking about real wrestling, truly dedicating yourself to becoming the best you can be, and pouring out every ounce of blood, sweat and tears you have. If you can do that then you'll understand, when I say "Once you have wrestled, everything else is easy," I mean it and it's true.

'Here you will learn to only worry about controlling that which is within your control; forget the rest. Adversity is going to find you, you can't escape it; so stop trying to run from it, learn to face it, head on. You will encounter adversity from myself, from your teammates, from your opponents, from the officials, and most detrimental of all, from the outside. People will try to bring you down, some knowingly, others unknowingly. You must learn how to overcome this adversity, block out those bad influences and continue towards your goals. Be responsible for your actions. Own up to your mistakes and correct what you can.

'There are no tryouts for the wrestling team, anyone who has a desire to work is welcome to be on the team. I only have one rule: Respect. Respect your coaches enough to listen to them, yet respect them enough to confront them if you have an issue. Respect yourselves enough to take care of your bodies. If you need that to be clarified come see me after practice. Respect your minds enough to take care of your studies. I will not have my team become the stereotypical dumb jock club. Respect your teammates enough to hold them accountable when they step out of line. Be respectful in your language. Respect women, in actions and words. Respect the officials, respect your opponents, and respect the sport! Is all of that clear?'

'Yes sir!' If there had been a brick wall and he had asked them to run through it, like a crash of rhinos they would have demolished it.

'We have a number of middle schoolers here with us, and you are welcome to come to our high school practices. Your season doesn't start for another month and a half, but if you meet my standards you can stay. Today you will have a fitness test that you must pass to be able to attend these practices. I will not have under age kids passing out during my practice time. You must run a mile in under 7 minutes, do 50 push ups, 50 sit ups, and 10 pull ups. No practice until you can meet those requirements. I promise you all, if you give your all to this sport you will not recognize the person you become when you are finished. Any questions? No, then let's get to work!'

The summer workout program had done its job, Cody, Jamal and Victor all passed the fitness test. They were the only first timers to do so. There were some other middle schoolers who passed, but they had been on the team last year so they knew what to expect. The three were pretty pleased with themselves, and they were convinced they saw a hint of a smile cross Coach Williams' face when he saw their results.

All three of them wanted to quit more than once over the next few months. Fortunately, never all at the same time, so they all stuck with it. At first the practices were too hard. Then, the matches started, and like most first time wrestlers they got thrown around by more experienced opponents. It took a conversation with one of their older teammates to pull them out of the doldrums.

'Guys, don't get too down on yourselves. Most of the guys you are losing to have at least a year of experience over you, and when you are just starting out that is huge. If you keep working as hard as you all do, pretty soon you'll be competitive with most wrestlers in your weight class. Getting to the next level will take more time, and more work in the off season, but you can get there. Keep at it and it'll be worth it.'

That brightened their spirits. Especially after he had gone on to explain how few matches he had won his first year. They stopped feeling sorry for themselves and began pushing even harder to get better. The results were slow but they came. By the end of the year, they were fairly competitive in most of their matches, and their "two and out" exits from earlier tournaments were behind them.

The rest of the year passed rather uneventfully. They participated in the Spring wrestling program. The older boys had told them this was one of the big differences between the good and great wrestlers. Given how much they learned they hated losing, they knew they wanted to gain every edge they could. The Spring season wasn't as intense as the Fall. There were only a few practices a week. That left a lot more free time. Cody spent a lot of that time practicing with the Force, which had taken a bit of a back seat since school had started.

Now that he actually had free time to devote to his Force training he found his endurance had increased substantially. He was starting to piece together the correlation between physical fitness and Force strength. More reason to keep up with the planned workouts over the summer, he hadn't planned to shirk them but any extra motivation was a good thing.

The end of the school year was reason to celebrate for Cody and his friends. The three mothers sat in the living room, while the boys had migrated to Victor's room.

'Well, I must say, I am pleased with Cody's grades.' Jennifer said.

'Victor's as well, a most pleasant surprise.'

'Jamal's also. I think we have you to thank for that, Elisa.'

'Me? I didn't have anything to do with it.' Elisa said in honest surprise.

'Maybe not directly, but you suggested getting the boys into wrestling. And I'm pretty sure the only reason homework became a priority was to not incur the wrath of their coach.' Dominique explained.

'Yup, you heard the way they talked about their coach that first week. They've never listened to anyone from school before. They barely listen to us.' Jennifer added.

'Well, I can only take so much credit. No one had the slightest clue they would take to it like a duck to water.' Elisa said.

'That they all loved it so much shouldn't haven't been a big surprise as it was.' Dominique said.

'No, they all love the same stuff. I can't even count the number of times I came home to our front room rearranged so they had space to wrestle. I would've thought two practices a day for months would've made them want to get away from it.' Jennifer said.

'Apparently not, I swear that is all they would talk about for months.' Elisa noted.

'Oh, I caught a bit of a funny conversation the other day. Apparently our not so little boys, the ones who have no fear walking out in front of a gymnasium full of people in nothing but a singlet, are scared to death of dancing with a girl.' Dominique couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

'As they should be. It should stay that way until they are at least eighteen.' Jennifer stated.

'Keep dreaming. With Cody's eyes, Jamal's smile and Victor's charisma, we've got a year, two at most before they're sneaking around with girls.' Elisa said.

'I know, I just want to enjoy their innocence a bit longer.' Jennifer conceded.

'Well, regardless of if they are scared to ask a girl to dance or not, I will have no sons of mine embarrassing themselves on the dance floor.' Elisa said determinedly.

'Oh no, Elisa. You've got that predatory look in your eye. What do you have planned?' Jennifer was almost scared to ask.

'Oh, just a little lesson. Jenn, get the music ready. I think you know what would be appropriate. Boys! Will you come in here?' Elisa yelled towards Victor's room.

'What's up?' All three simultaneously said as they entered the living room.

'Word on the street is that you had no idea what to do with yourselves at the end of year school dance.' Elisa teased.

'Umm. How do you know about that?' Victor stammered.

'We have our sources.' Dominique grinned.

'That's not even true, we danced.' Jamal tried defending themselves.

'Oh really? How many times? With a girl?' Elisa inquired.

'Uhh, once.' Jamal replied bashfully.

'And I'm guessing that a teacher had to nearly force you to even do that much.' Elisa continued.

'Umm, yeah, so?' Victor said timidly. None of the boys was comfortable discussing this topic, especially with their mothers.

'And was that more to do with being scared to ask a girl, or not knowing how to dance?' Jennifer chimed in.

'Probably a bit of both.' Cody said.

'Speak for yourself. I'm not scared of asking a girl to dance.' Jamal tried saving face.

'Oh shut up. You've been talking all year about how cute Sierra is, but every time there was a slow song you always found your way to the refreshment table.' Victor jumped in.

'It's ok boys. In fact I would be more worried if you weren't a bit scared. But enough of that talk, that will fix itself. What won't fix itself is knowing what to do once you are on the dance floor. That's what we are here for.' Elisa smiled victoriously.

'Oh, No!' The boys all groaned in unison.

'Don't be so dramatic. You should be grateful you have such cool mothers. We are saving you public shame. Get your partner, we're starting with the easy stuff. By the time we're done with you you'll be so good the girls will be asking you to dance.' Elisa said excitedly.

'I don't know why I am encouraging this.' Jennifer resigned herself to the fact this was happening.

'Enough chatter! Hit the music, Jenn.' Elisa demanded.

'Well that went better than expected. Victor and Jamal, you are naturals. Cody, you on the other hand, are gonna need some work, sweetie. Jenn, he must not have got your rhythm.' Elisa observed.

'Hey, I'm right here.' Cody said, offended.

'No point in sugar coating it, honey, you must've got your dad's moves. He wasn't much of a dancer. But I've got an idea that might help us, this isn't an insurmountable mountain, it'll just take some effort.' Jennifer said, and there was a sorrowful look in her eyes, even as she tried to make the comment feel lighthearted.

'You aren't the first white boy with no rhythm, don't take it too hard.' Dominique added gently.

'Maybe Jedi don't dance.' Jamal smirked.

'Oh, that's good. Might as well give up now.' Victor chimed in.

'You know you guys are going to pay for that, I hope it was worth it.' Cody teased. Jennifer just shook her head, while the other two looked confused. They loved their boys but they didn't always understand their jokes.

Their Summer seemed to fly by. They still had wrestling practices a couple times a week, and there was a tournament nearly every weekend. They tried to get together for dance parties/lessons as often as possible, which amounted to a few times a month. And Cody continued using the Force more to do mundane tasks around his apartment.

For an early birthday present his mother gave him her old guitar and promised to teach him how to play. She explained that learning a musical instrument would help him develop more rhythm. This would only help him with his dancing, which began progressively getting better, albeit slowly.

He found that he really took to playing music. The time by himself just strumming the chords were peaceful moments, even if he was rocking out. After his birthday he began to have random bouts of nervousness because he knew he was due for a visit within the coming week. Nothing had really changed in the last year as far as his opinion of magic was concerned. In fact, he had probably created more reasons to stay than reasons to leave. So in his mind the visit wasn't even really necessary, his resolve to stay was quite firm. But he didn't want to be rude, he would politely hear the man out. He most certainly didn't want to create an enemy.

He had made sure to read the book that Professor Detwiler had given him. He didn't want to seem ungrateful if he asked any questions about it. And he had found it very interesting learning about the way magic was involved in many of the prominent ancient civilizations. All these thoughts came to a head when he heard a knock at the door.

'Hello, Professor Detwiler. Come in.' Cody greeted.

'Hello, Cody. Hello, Mrs. Langdon. It is good to see you again.'

'Likewise, please, have a seat.' Jennifer said.

'So have you had a good year?' Professor Detwiler asked.

'Yeah, I suppose it has been pretty good.' Cody answered.

'Great, great. Have you had any bouts of accidental magic? It is something you typically grow out of but I'd be curious to know if you are still experiencing some.'

'No, I haven't had any incidents of accidental magic. Though I have made an effort to stay away from the situations that have happened to cause them in the past, much to the delight of my mother.' He smiled at his mom, and she smiled in return.

'Yes, yes, I imagine a mother wouldn't want you placed in situations where your magic would have to take over. So I must ask, have you given further consideration to coming to our school?'

'Yes, it has been on my mind, but my views haven't really changed. I have a really hard time envisioning leaving my friends and family, and being happier.'

'I can certainly understand that, and you aren't the first to not pursue a magical education. So I won't beat around the bush to try and convince you, but I'll answer the questions that we had from our previous visit. If you were to want to come to school this coming year, we would make it work. But this will likely be the last opportunity to enroll in our institution. If you miss this next year it will leave you with too much to catch up on, and it wouldn't be fair to the other students to have to find a way to accommodate you. I don't mean to pressure you or sound brash, but that just is the way it is.'

'I understand, and I wouldn't expect any special treatment, so I am grateful for your forthrightness.'

'If you wouldn't mind humoring an old man, would you answer a question for me, given a hypothetical situation?'

'Sure, I can do that.'

'Ok, let us presume, hypothetically of course, that you have chosen to attend Ilvermorny Academy. What questions would you have? Outside of the communication issue we discussed last time. Which unfortunately has seen no new developments as of yet.'

'Well, I guess, one thing I was wondering was during the summer when I'm at home, would I be able to use the magic that I learn, and with my friends?'

'Ah, a very good question indeed. Well, every new wizard or witch receives their wand before starting school. That wand will have what is called a "Trace" put on it to allow the magical government to keep tabs on under age witches and wizards outside of school. You wouldn't be allowed to do magic outside of school until you come of age, with a few very specific exceptions. A wizard or witch comes of age at age seventeen in the magical world, and is free to use his or her magic outside of school at their own discretion. Granted they keep with the laws of secrecy, which you would learn about in school. Does that make sense?'

'So the government tracks the wand to enforce the under age magic rule? And that tracking goes away when you turn seventeen. Couldn't children of magical parents just use their parents' wand to use magic without it getting noticed?'

'Yes, there is a very easy loophole for magical families to exploit.'

'So, if you track magic by wands, how did you find me in the first place? I've never had a wand.'

'Magic is very mysterious, even those of us that study it our entire lives don't understand all of its nuances. Remember me telling you about our admissions book last time? Well, somehow —magic obviously— it is able to identify any prospective student within the school boundaries. There are other schools, and each has its own book that identifies their students accordingly. But it only does it for the incoming students, it doesn't continue to update, or anything.'

'That is very interesting. I would be a bit worried if the government had a way to track everybody using magic.'

'Yes, that information in the wrong hands could be used for very sinister purposes. It is almost as if magic understands that. I try to never underestimate magic's own wisdom. It is why I would really hope you would reconsider coming to school. Magic is a beautiful thing, and you are one of a select few that magic has chosen worthy to have some power with it. To lose that ability would be a true travesty.'

'Lose it? What do you expect to happen to me?' Cody asked with a bit of worry in his voice.

'Admittedly, this is mostly speculation, since we haven't done a lot of following up with those that have chosen to not attend magical school. But from what we understand the magic dwindles until it is almost nonexistent. The individuals continue on with their lives as if magic was never a part of it. So, to them, their life continues as normal. To us, we see people that never got to know the blessings that magic can bestow on one's life.'

'I see how you feel, and again, I appreciate your openness on the topic. But, I'm sorry, I think I still want to stay here, even if it means living my life without a wand and all that comes with it.'

'Well Cody, it has been a pleasure chatting with you. You are a bright young lad, I see a bright future ahead of you. I don't know if our paths will cross in the future, but know you will always have a friend in the magical world.' He said while extending a hand to shake Cody's.

'Thank you Professor Detwiler, it has been very enlightening, if nothing else.' Cody replied while shaking the man's hand.

'Mrs. Langdon, thank you for your hospitality. You have a brilliant son there. I wish you all the best.'

'Thank you, safe travels.' Jennifer responded. And then he was gone.

A/N - Any other Jedi skills Cody needs to learn before introduction into the magical world? Let me know if you have any ideas, I'll respond to reviews or PM. Thanks for reading, hope it's entertaining.