"We really need to start your bar mitzvah lessons," Tatti told Ari the morning after he came home.
"I don't need to lain," Ari said. "I could just do the haftorah."
"Zaidy will expect you to lain," Tatti said.
"Didn't Zaidy teach you to lain when you were seven?" Mommy asked. "You should have an easy time with it."
"I know how to lain," Ari said. "I could lain from a chumash easily, but I don't want to stand in front of the whole shul with everyone looking at me."
"I looked into Bar Mitzvah teachers," Tatti said. "Most people like Rabbi Gordon."
"I don't care," Ari said.
"Okay," Tatti said, "I'll see when he could start with you."
"I don't really need it," Ari argued again.
"Let's try one lesson and see what he says," Tatti compromised.
Rabbi Gordon greeted Ari cheerfully that night.
"So your mother's father is a baal koreh who taught you when you were seven?" Rabbi Gordon asked.
"It's a three hour drive from Glasgow to Liverpool," Ari explained. "We only visit my grandparents for a few weeks in the summer, Shabbos Chanukah, or a simcha, but my grandfather makes sure all his grandsons know how to read the trop."
"Let's see how you do," Rabbi Gordon challenged.
Ari lained his parsha perfectly from the chumash.
"Now try from the trop," Rabbi Gordon told him.
He lained until sheini without a problem, but then started peeking back at the chumash every two seconds.
"You need to practice," Rabbi Gordon said. "I heard good things about you. I heard you go to a top yeshiva out of Glasgow, although none of your friends remember the name of your yeshiva, and that you were always the best learner."
"Laining is easy," Ari said, "I just never memorized the trop."
"Let's do it now," Rabbi Gordon said.
By the end of the session, Ari was able to do until shlishi perfectly.
"You'll have it perfectly by the end of the summer," Rabbi Gordon said. "You just need to remember to practice."
"It's a good thing your bar mitzvah comes out during the holiday," Tatti said after Rabbi Gordon left.
"It makes sense," Ari told him. "The week after Chanukah is always sometime in December or the beginning of January, so there's always a good chance of being home on my birthday."
"Last year it wasn't," Tatti reminded him.
"That's because Chanukah came out early," Ari said, "besides, this is the year that matters."
Ari soon settled into a routine at home. He practiced his bar mitzvah parsha every day after shacharis, spent some time learning, and went to the park to play ball with his friends. He mastered his parsha quickly, and looked forward to visiting Bubby and Zaidy towards the end of the summer.
Ari was surprised to get letters from his Hogwarts friends. Michael and Terry wrote often, filling him in on every boring aspect of their lives. Dean wrote about football of course. He drew a picture of the West Hams celebrating a win over Liverpool. Ari wrote back that his picture is fiction since it will never happen. Ari reminded his friends not to write during the last few weeks of the summer as he will be visiting his muggle grandparents in Liverpool, and only Dean is familiar with the muggle post.
Ari made sure to pack his Liverpool shirts for the holiday, so nobody will doubt what team he supports. He also packed his rugby shirts and a baseball jersey. He enjoyed playing football with his cousins, and of course Zaidy had to listen to him lain and learn gemara with him. Ari found it difficult not to talk about school, but he knew his muggle relatives couldn't know the truth.
Ari was happy that he got his letter from school before going to Bubby's house. He didn't know how he would explain an owl in the kitchen to his grandmother.
One day towards the end of the summer, Tatti announced that it's time to do back to school shopping.
"Do you want me to come?" Bubby asked.
"You don't want to go anywhere near the two of them when they shop," Mommy warned. "They take hours analyzing every notebook, folder, piece of paper, pen and pencil. They compare prices, buy things from one store and return them when they find it cheaper in another store, and take what could be a simple shopping trip and turn it into an all day nightmare."
"I'm not that bad anymore," Tatti said.
"Yes you are," Mommy and Ari said together.
"How many times do you go to three supermarkets when you could get everything in one?" Mommy challenged.
"Different things are cheaper in different supermarkets," Tatti explained.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Mommy said. "Time is worth more than money."
"If I could save money by spending more time, why is that a problem?" Tatti wanted to know.
"As long as it's not my time you're wasting, go ahead," mommy said.
"I'm telling you, you don't want to go with him," Mommy told Bubby. "I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up all the way in London trying to get the best bargains."
"That's a great idea!" Ari laughed. "Let's go to London!"
"How about we play scrabble while they're gone?" Mommy suggested.
Bubby took out her scrabble set, and Ari and Tatti left quietly. They drove a few blocks to a shopping center and parked the car.
"How will we get there?" Ari asked. "There's no floo from Bubby's house."
"I can apparate you again," Tatti offered.
"Yuck!" Ari said.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Tatti asked him.
"Can we fly?" Ari asked.
"Takes too long," Tatti told him. "You'll get used to apparition over time."
They found an empty alleyway and apprarated to Diagon Alley. Second year shopping was much faster than first year. Ari only needed books and some new quills.
"Mommy said we'll be gone all day," Tatti reminded Ari. "Do you want to go out to eat?"
Ari agreed, so Tatti apparated him to an alley behind a kosher restaurant.
"Where are we?" Ari asked curiously.
"Burger Bar," Tatti said. "They have the best burgers in London."
"How am I supposed to eat with my stomach still in Diagon Alley?" Ari asked.
"Give yourself a few minutes to settle down," Tatti said. "You'll be fine."
Ari and Tatti took their time eating before apparating back to the alley near the car. They drove back to Bubby's house, leaving the bag of books in the car.