Chapter 6: Redecorating
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It had all gone splendidly if I do say so myself. Now however I had work to do.
I left the room and carried my bags up to the guest room, pausing only to remove all of meagre possessions from my cupboard. I took special delight in slamming the door to it, just because I had spent over six years of my life in that cupboard did not mean I was at all frond of it. The guest room was a small room painted white with a grey carpet and was sparsely decorated, with very little beyond a double bed and wardrobe set. I placed all of my purchases at the foot of my bed and opened the window to my left so that, hopefully, my owl could fly in. As an extra enticement I set up the cage on its stand and placed food and water inside. Once that was done I pulled of my clothes and grabbed the book detailing the magical history Britain to read before I went to sleep.
When I awoke it was still dark out and once I found my father's watch I read the time to be a little past five. I snuck out to the bathroom to have a nice long shower, but had to do it very quietly in order to not wake the Dursleys. As I re-entered my room and made a mental note to get a haircut as I could barely see I was startled by a pair of large amber eyes staring at me from the owl cage. I shut the door quietly and approached.
"Hey there girl". The owl simply continued to regard me with her huge eyes. "To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting to see you again". I reached a hand into the cage and hesitantly stroked the bird's feathers. She looked at me as I stroked her and then suddenly nipped my finger. I yelped and pulled my hand back and looked at the bird accusingly. "What was that for?" She hooted softly and flew out of her cage to land gently on my shoulder. She nibbled my ear affectionately and ran her beak through my hair. "Fine", I conceded, "I forgive you". She hooted softly again and after one more quick nip on my ear she flew back to her cage and started preening herself.
I then set about getting ready for the day so started by picking out some of the new clothes to wear. I settled on wearing one of the white long sleeved button up shirts and a pair of the black slacks with my new dragon hide boots. The boots were remarkable. The moment I slipped them on it felt like I had been wearing them for years they were so comfortable. I also put on my Dad's watch and used the enchanted comb to brush my hair into bangs that I then brushed to the side. Coupling that with my good quality clothing I looked wealthy and sophisticated, a far cry from the sickly and scrawny kid I used to look like.
It was about six o'clock by then so I set about writing a note to Marcelo before breakfast. It took a lot longer than I had anticipated however as my handwriting was atrocious and that was not the impression I wanted to give. Luckily though I had bought a book yesterday on how to write well and decided to use this opportunity to use it. It took me over an hour but eventually I had modified my handwriting to a neat and elegant cursive script that was far more fitting for someone of my station. I attached the note to my owl's leg with the red ribbon, and just as I was tying the knot a name occurred to me. The magical history of Britain I had been reading the night before had contained numerous powerful witches and wizards and I had particularly liked the story of one witch that had been called Hedwig. Since I had no better ideas I decided that Hedwig would be an ideal name for my owl.
"Hedwig?" I called to her. "Do you like that name girl?" She seemed to think it over for a moment before pecking my finger softly once and then flying out of the window. "Hedwig it is then". With that matter settled I checked my watch and seeing it to be quarter past seven headed downstairs to the kitchen. I was pretty hungry so made myself a nice omelette and had just served it onto a plate when my relatives filed in. Dudley saw my breakfast and licked his lips hungrily but I ignored him. As far as I was concerned they could make their own breakfast from now on. I continued eating and made my position clear by opening the paper and taking a long drink from my glass of orange juice. Once I had finished it all I took it over to the sink and rolled up my sleeves so I could wash up. Still, my relatives stayed silent. I even washed up everything I had used including the pan and heard nothing from them.
"Good morning". I looked at them all and they averted their gaze, refusing to look me in the eyes. "Okay then. There will be some men coming around today who are going to redecorate my room. I'll make sure they don't bother you and they'll be gone by this evening. Okay?" Another round of silence. "Great". I then turned and left, having trouble hiding the smile that their sullenness had caused. It was the first time that I could remember that both Dudley and Vernon hadn't been talking, and I loved it.
I went back upstairs to my room where I found Hedwig waiting with a reply. I undid it and found a small note from Marcelo saying he would be round with his friend at eleven o'clock. It was only quarter to ten then so I continued reading my magical history of Britain book. I ended up being so engrossed that the time flew by and before I knew it it was quarter to eleven. I packed up all my things so it would be easier to perform the magic and placed it neatly outside my door. I then headed downstairs to wait for Marcelo. At exactly elevem o'clock the doorbell rang and I opened the door to find Marcelo, minus the sawdust, standing next to a tall bald man.
"Oliver, what a nice home you have here. Very charming." I smiled and stepped forward to shake his hand.
"It's not actually mine, but the owner would be delighted to hear you say that". I looked back down the hall to see said owner slam the kitchen door quickly. I turned back to Marcelo. "Shall we?"
"Lead the way". I lead Marcelo upstairs to my room and ushered them in. "So this is the room you want to redone?"
I nodded anxiously. "Yes, will that be okay?"
"I don't see why not. What do you think Mr Bolud?" It took me a moment to realise he was addressing the tall man.
"I can't see a problem". His voice was deep and gravely.
"In that case we shall begin". Marcelo raised his wand and muttered a quiet incantation. "The dimensions are roughly ten feet by seven so we should easily be able to accommodate everything. Shall we start with the expansion?"
"Yes" Mr Bolud replied. He raised his wand and closed his eyes and started muttering. As I watched the walls started to recede from us, and the room grew, the floor following along after it. After about a minute the walls stopped moving and Mr Bolud opened his eyes. He was rather red and was sweating. Marcelo clapped him on the back.
"Well, that's the hard part over. Now the walls. Do you have the design Mr Bolud?"
"Yes". Mr Bolud pulled a piece of rolled up parchment from his pocket and studied it carefully. He then walked away from us to the far side, moving his wand in intricate little flicks as he went. Wherever he flicked his wand a moment later concrete walls started to grow up from the floor. They were perfectly straight, and soon Mr Bolud had disappeared into a room. I looked at Marcelo in disbelief.
"That's remarkable. How does he do it? Is he conjuring it?" Marcelo shook his head.
"No Oliver, what he is doing is encouraging the materials of the house to duplicate and form in the shape he requires. The walls are made from the same concrete found in the foundations of this house, just multiplied and carefully positioned. Magic cannot actually create new matter, simply duplicate and manipulate the matter that is already there".
"Wow".
"Wow indeed Oliver. I know it sounds rather complicated but this is the theoretical part of the magic, and if you can grasp this then the practical part will be so much easier". I nodded at what he was saying.
"Thank you Marcelo".
"Don't worry about it Oliver. Now I believe it is my turn. It seems Mr Bolud is done". I looked up and saw that indeed Mr Bolud was approaching us, and what had just been a large open space had been neatly divided into four rooms. Marcelo approached Mr Bolud and shook his hand. They had a quiet exchange and then Mr Bolud walked past me and left. Evidently his job was done. Marcelo looked back at me. "You can go Oliver. This will take some time".
"If you don't mind Marcelo, I have quite a lot of reading to do".
"Not all, I'll come and get you when I'm done". I left the room and grabbed my book on Wizarding etiquette and settled downstairs in the garden to read. It wasn't a particularly interesting book but it was undeniably useful. It gave me an insight into how rich noble families were supposed to act, how they treated one another and those beneath them. Hell, it even had a whole chapter detailing the correct use of cutlery at meals. But, despite its un-interesting content I made an effort to memorise the information as I knew that it would come in handy in the future. I was about two thirds of the way through when Marcelo tapped me on the shoulder.
"It's done Oliver. Would you like me to show you?" I stood up eagerly and closed my book.
"Definitely. Lead the way". I followed Marcelo back up the stairs but before we went in we stopped at the door. He gestured to the door handle.
"If you would place your hand here the magic will accept you as the owner and lock this door to anyone bar you. It's a very strong piece of magic and when combined with the anti-portkey and anti-apparition wards then you will as safe as possible in there without using the fidelius charm".
"Thank you Marcelo. Do I just place my hand on it?"
"Yes Oliver, it will take a small sample of your blood and then will be locked to you". I placed my hand on the lock and felt a familiar the pricking sensation. The handle grew hot to the touch but then cooled suddenly.
"After you?" Marcelo gestured and we entered the apartment. It looked completely unrecognizable to how it had earlier. "It is shaped roughly into a 'T' shape Oliver, but the bar of the 'T' is a lot wider than the stem. In the top right part of the bar we have the study area. In the left hand side is the bedroom". I walked forward to take a look around. The walls of the stem of the 'T' were all lined with wood panelling and so was the floor. The cfront for opened into the base of the stem of the 'at', and extended all the way down until the point where it was in line with the begining of the bar of the 'T', where a wall with a black fireplace was positioned blocking my view to the outside wall. In the stem of the 'T' was a long glass and wood dining table with six matching chairs, placed in front of the large black fire place. Set a small way into the right hand wall of the stem was the kitchen area, complete with all of the appliances like a fridge and cooker with storage space. On the left had wall of the stem was a large archway which I walked through to enter the training room. The centre of the room was a little lower than the rest but was cushioned with exercise mats. There were a selection of dummies and targets against the wall, and what looked suspiciously like a sword rack. I looked at Marcelo.
"Is that a sword rack?"
"Yes. Pureblood children are often trained in the art of sword fighting as a way to install discipline. I figured that it might be something you would want to continue, but you will need to find a trainer. All of the walls are enchanted with magic absorbing wards so any misfired spells with simply be absorbed and leave no damage". I nodded and followed Marcelo over to the kitchen area. "All of the appliances are enchanted to co-exist with magic so there shouldn't be any problems there. The fridge and all of the cupboards are enchanted with a stasis charm so any foo placed in them will never go of. It's a handy piece of magic that. You will need to buy all of the cooking utensils, things like plates and the like".
"Of course". I walked with Marcelo around the right hand side of the fire place to find a mirror image one on the other side of the wall.
"The fireplace on this side is connected to the floo network, the other one other however is just a normal fireplace". I nodded, I knew how floo worked and added 'buy some floo powder' to my list of things to do. I looked to my right and saw the study. There was a fancy looking wooden desk in the centre with a high backed black leather chair set behind it. The three walls surrounding the desk and chair were all lined with matching wooden bookshelves, except on the outside wall where there was a gap for a window. "The study". Marcelo gestured. "The bookshelves have a capacity of 300 books, one hundred each. They all enchanted to automatically organise the books by topic, then alphabetically and then by author". He then gestured to the left hand side. "The bedroom area". I walked over. There was a large wooden framed double bed with a grey duvet, surrounded by one large wardrobe on each side and a wooden chest of drawers with a mirror placed above it next to the window on the right side. There was a wooden door on the left hand side of the bed.
"The bathroom?" I asked Marcelo.
"Yes. I have installed a toilet, sink and bath/shower. All of them are enchanted to have a permanent water supply, and the entire apartment has lights installed. All you have to do is will them on and off and thay shall respond accordingly". I tried it and suddenly the entire apartment lit up. "Just like that".
"Well Marcelo, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you".
"It was a pleasure Oliver. If you need to plug any electronics in, there are sockets all over the place that have a permanent energy supply so it won't be a problem". We shook hands and Marcelo left, so I started moving all of possessions in. It wasn't much, but I managed to fill one bookshelf and got a kick out of watching the books shuffle themselves around. Once I had put all of my new clothes away as well I collapsed onto the bed, relishing the comfort of an actual bed. I was home.