Raised with Magic

Chapter Nine: Mantra

Jared,

This is my last letter before I send the pile off to you. More will be coming I assure you! The letters are being sent today, so I woke up early to write. Last night was the best! I can't believe I worried for nothing. Fred and George, the twins I had told you about, are part of the family we visited. Better yet, we get along really well! We spent a lot of the time we had together with them explaining a lot of games from around this area which I know nothing about. They're the greatest and they love pranks. I guess they get it from their two eldest brothers, but the twins take it to a whole new level. It's crazy how much thought goes into a prank when those two think it up!

Yes, I do know that my humor leaves a lot to the imagination. However, we were talking about some pranks they have in mind and the theory part of it is something that I really enjoy. I promise, I am not changing who I am for someone else. This is a honest to goodness true fit as far as I can tell. Please be supportive!

Ginny is the youngest. She's a year younger then me and she's friends with Luna. I didn't really get to talk with her much. She seems nice, but she's not like Luna and I don't think she will understand me very well. I feel bad, because she really seems to want to get to know me. I guess I can understand that, she lives with only older brothers. I just cant stop myself from being selfish here. I want to spend time with the twins, not babysitting and playing with dolls.

Ronald is my age, but he is really immature. He thinks I have cooties, Honestly! I know what cooties are from you, but I forgot to ask how he knew what they are.

The twins are the best, I finally have friends who aren't family! Oh, that sounds mean. I don't want to seem mean. It's just, oh, you know what I mean. Right?

Percy doesn't like me. I'm not surprised, I've meet a lot of people like him. He's pretty smart and it bugs him that I am so much younger then him and yet can keep up. I think that is why the twins and I are pretty good friends. They don't care if I am academically smart or not because to them it isn't important. I think this would have really bugged me if I hadn't already witnessed how smart they are when planning pranks. Is it bad that I can see myself judging them had we met differently. Does that make me a bad person?

I really like Charlie. He's the twin's favorite. After we all ate he brought me outside and taught me a new sport! It was amazing. I think I am still a little more taken with American Football, but I still fell in love with this game. I wish you could have been there. Charlie and Bill are the only ones of the Weasley kids who know why I randomly turned up here. At least as much as their mum knows. I heard them talking when I was on my way to the loo. They know I'm adopted and my parents are gone. I only plan on telling Fred and George the whole story, later.

Bill, the one who knows what happened, is pretty cool. I really didn't like him at first. He started talking to me in the same voice most people do, but when his Mum did the same thing to me he seemed to apologize.

Mrs. Weasley is nice but I'd rather avoid her. Besides, she liked me more before she realized I was friends with her twins. Try understanding that one.

Mr. Weasley is cool. He's friends with Dad and kept asking me about these really normal things from back home. Which was odd in an amusing way.

I want to write more, but Mum is heading out soon and she's the one who will be sending these.

Love,

Hermione.

Mum took the letters from me and I went back into my room. Luna was still sleeping so it was a perfect time to work on my wandless magic. I'd been working on it whenever I was alone, even though Mum and I won't start officially until tomorrow. Sometimes I like working on wandless magic more then reading and sometimes I worry about that.

I had gotten a lot better. I can now levitate things easily. Even if the things were bigger then me. Like the bookcase Dad put in my room for me. I really wanted to master that skill before I would move on to something else. I just hadn't decided what yet. Although, I did find it odd that Leo liked to stick around when I am performing magic. I made to look up more about cats and magic but the house has no books on the matter. So now, I have a pile of books I want to read but none that will answer my question.

"Well, Leo, what shall we do today?" Leo looked back at me, unblinkingly. "Summoning it is." I had read about a Accio spell in one of the books I had found. Magically it is a higher level then I should use. The thing is I don't have a wand and I'm going to mildly focus on the actual spell, but think in the same way I do when levitating. I'm hoping that it will work. The first few times I tried to move the pillow, nothing happened. On my fifth try the pillow only missed crashing into Leo because he dodged without looking in that direction.

My theory partially was right. It helped to think of an actual spell, but only the words and not in any way the wand movements. Every time I thought of the wand movements, nothing, nothing but stillness.

When Luna came in an hour or so later, I stopped practicing to go play in the yard with her. We played with a jump rope and Wizarding Frisbee until dad called us in for lunch. We with dirt smudged, grass stained and entirely happy.

"So, Hermione, Luna tells me you've been teaching her math." I nodded. I was better at teaching how to read, but Luna already knew how, unlike most four year olds. I think she would have been fine in second or third grade by muggle standards. Every time I think about Luna's intelligence I can't help but feel relieved all over again. She really is a blessing. I also feel really grateful for Dad because he is the one that took the role of her educator.

"I'm glad. What grade were you in your last school?" He asked in his welcomingly goofy voice. I like his voice.

"Third." I answered, but I felt bad at the partial lie and decided to continue, "But it was a compromise. My Mother didn't want me to skip anymore grades then that."

"And what grade should you have been in?" He seemed genuinely curious, but I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

"Depends on the subject." Was my avoiding the actual question answer. Dad caught on and didn't pry any more.

The rest of the day was a hiking trip to look for Geropods. We had taken a Port key to South America. To say I was amazed would be a giant understatement. I love nature and being so deep in the jungles was a dream come true. Everything was lush, green and alive!

The concept of going to South America and being home before Mum got back still seems weird. Mum only laughed lightly and told me her Mother used to say the same thing. I like being compared to her own family and was still smiling as she lead me into the sitting room. Getting comfortable on the mismatched furniture was never difficult and I gave Mum all my attention. I could feel myself almost jumping out of my skin in excitement. I've been looking forward to these lessons for longer then I have known Mum, even if I hadn't noticed at the time.

"Alright, so before training we need to have a bit of a depressing talk." Mum warned me, sitting down to my left. Luna had gone to bed early and Dad knew he is supposed to stay away from our lessons. "You know that we love you being here and we view you as our daughter." I held my breath, I didn't want her to give me back. "The thing is the only reason we were allowed to take you in is because I can teach you wandless magic." I breathed.

"I know." She smiled.

"Now, for the depressing part. I wish I didn't have to tell you, but it's something you should be aware of. If anything ever happens to me, Xeno can't keep custody of you." I felt like something inside of me shattered.

"But-" I stopped, the sight of her pleading eyes made me do so. Still, I wished she had never told me. Wished that I could take back the moment and somehow stop her from doing so.

"Hermione, it's probable that it may become dangerous if you can't control your powers. If anything happens to me you will have to go with someone who can teach you."

"Okay." I said when breezing over the fact purposely. Nothing was going to happen to her. Nothing is going to happen to her. Nothing is going to happen to her. Nothing is going to happen to her. It became my mantra. Nothing is going to happen to her.

"Well, onto a happier topic, Wandless Magic. Tell me, how far have you practiced." I blushed, but told her of my progress and discoveries. "I've never heard of anyone taking to wandless magic like that." Before I could question her she was talking into the fireplace setting a time for me to meet with someone. Why can't I ever just be normal.

As I fell asleep that night, I was thinking, Nothing is going to happen to her.