A Fill of Black

I stood up from my bed and took a huge yawn before trying to summon a glass of water for myself and then picking it up physically after giving up.

I grinned as I remembered yesterday.

"What the heck do you mean that I have to take a child in for a few weeks, Albus?!" The man shouted and then looked at me shortly before saying softly, "No offence, kid, but I really like to be alone."

I shrugged and said, "I like to be alone as well."

The man smirked before saying, "Alright, maybe you aren't that bad."

Dumbledore opened his mouth but the other man said, "Oh, shut up. I don't want to hear you blabber all over me, guilt me and then convince me to take in a child."

Dumbledore started saying, "Alphard, my boy, please listen to me . . . ."

I still don't know how Dumbledore could have pulled so many words out of his mind like that but I was impressed by the old man. Even I was convinced to stay here, and the man wasn't even talking to me!

I stretched myself and got out of bed, it was really hard to adjust yourself to such soft surfaces when you have been sleeping on the ground for a long time.

I yawned, tried to find the toilet, and then entered the mentioned room to complete my morning ritual. Afterwards, I sat in the living room, contemplating what I should do.

In the forest, Harry and I could chat whenever we got bored but here I was stuck, this was a tiny place with nothing exciting to look at, I will die waiting for something to distract me.

I groaned and someone chuckled.

Alphard Black said amusedly, "Looks like someone's awake."

I nodded at him and said, "Morning, Alphard."

The older man greeted me back and sat down in front of me in a wooden chair. He said, "Now listen, kid, you are staying here with me due to the sheer manipulation of Albus Dumbledore and because of that, you need to follow some rules, okay?"

"Yeah, I figured", I said.

"Good", said Alphard, "You are much more agreeable than any other kid I know. So, first of all, you are going to Hogwarts in a month and you will prepare hard for it, understood?"

I nodded, it was something I would be happy to do.

Alphard continued, "Second of all, you will remain quiet in the afternoon and evening because I will be working, I do not need any distractions while I complete my highly delicate work. Is that understood?"

I responded, "Alright, I will be silent, but what do you work as anyway?"

Alphard remained silent and thoughtful, likely contemplating if he should tell me or not before sighing and answering, "I am an inventor and a researcher. I study magic, try to find its uses, and what it is, and invent stuff with my knowledge. There is this new device in the market which helps people find if their family members are safe or not, I have its patent."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, did you make a device that can track the increasing heartbeat of the member so that it can know when the said member feels fear or did you make a device that can feel unknown disturbances in the surroundings of the member?"

Alphard smiled and said, "Neither, it is not that simple. If I did that, then I would think they will face danger every time they're excited or surprised, or whenever some random person passes by them. I used a highly complicated system, which you will understand in your seventh year at Hogwarts, after working with Charms, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy with a good understanding of defensive magic."

I nodded, though I swore that I would recreate it to surprise him, and then asked, "What about the third rule?"

Alphard said, "The third rule is that you learn to be subtle, I will not have a person living in my house that is mannerless and has no idea of how to find plots against them, the world is a dangerous place and you must be prepared for it."

I nodded, this was going to be a hard one. In my previous life, I was always labelled naive, innocent and oblivious, and even though I wasn't naive or innocent, I knew that I can miss many things that can harm me.

I told Alphard, "I wouldn't know if a person is planning to kill me even if they sang about it in front of me. Please tell me you can teach me to be subtle."

Alphard said, "I will try to teach you, though to be fair, if a person is singing about your death, they are more likely to be pranking you than killing you if they are sane."

I nodded as seriously as I can with a smile on my face, Alphard caught it and then shook his head in amusement.

He said, "You know, I have a nephew who would love you for your sarcastic remarks or hate you for your comebacks. Anyway, let's get you some food, can't have you starve to death unless you are away from me, after all. I mean, I can let you starve but I would hate to follow my sister's path."

My head snapped back to him and asked, "Does your sister starve the children in her house?"

Alphard gave a small chuckle and says, "She tried to do that but father stopped her. Say what you will about that wretched being but he loves children a lot."

I remarked sarcastically, "Your family sounds really nice."

Alphard gave me a creepy grin to me and then stood up. As he started walking away, he said, "My family is the most functional of all dysfunctional families. Anyway, there is a small library room beside mine, you can read up there if you want but be careful, some books will try to kill you."

As he stepped out of my line of sight, I wondered if he was joking about the killer books or not. I decided to be on the side of caution and decided to be careful in case a book tried to kill me.
_

I entered the small library room.

It wasn't much, though considering we were living in a small apartment, it was really big. The bookcases were filled to the brim with various types of books and seemingly put in such a way that only someone who lived here could find their book on the first try.

I tried to find an interesting read but found that no matter what, everything here was outside the grasp of my understanding.

I suddenly noticed a small book and pulled it out. I read the title, "Transfiguration for Youngsters by P.L. Bones. Interesting."

I finally found a magic book I could understand!

It was amazing to read the book and before I knew it, I knew the basic history of how the art of transfiguration came to be, how most people seemed to think it was simultaneously easy and hard, and how it required a sense of discipline to perform it. The book also had the names of known practitioners of the art in recent times.

It had Dumbledore in it! I didn't know that the old man had ginger hair in his youth (considering that I've only met him once, well . . .).

It also had a Hogwarts Professor, Minerva . . . er . . . something like McDonald? McGerald? McG - something, Minerva McG. The pages also included Gellert Grindelwald, Percival Graves, Aberforth Dumbledore (maybe he is Dumbledore's relative), Tom Riddle and P.L. Bones himself.

The author's full name is, apparently, Percival Lancelot Bones, talk about an Arthurian name.

I closed the book with joy, ready to learn more about Transfiguration from Hogwarts right here and now when I noticed that the book was stuck to my hands. I tried to pull it apart but that only seemed to hurt me.

I decided to go to Alphard to get the book out but decided against it after I noticed that I had closed the door firmly and now, could not open it. Slowly but surely, my panic levels were rising though I held my calm, something I learned early on in my previous life.

I tried to separate my hands again before seemingly giving up for a second and then trying again. Damn it, couldn't fool magic.

I thought to shout to Alphard to help me but I suddenly felt a sense of shyness as I thought of how I will explain the incident to the man. I must do this myself.

I said slowly to the book, "Look, my guy, or girl, I don't really care, just get off my hands."

The book fell at once and I just stood there. Good thing, I didn't call Alphard.

I left the book right on the floor, I was not eager to touch it again.
_

As soon as I saw Alphard again, his eyes lit up and he told me, "You're going to be out of my hair soon."

I blurted out suddenly, "What do you mean?"

Was he throwing me out or has Dumbledore found someone else to take me? Have the Potters gone back on their words and decided to keep me?

I took in a silent deep breath and tried to form a question in my brain when Alphard seemingly came to know what happened and answered my worries, "Dumbledore's coming to take you to the Ministry this afternoon for whatever work you two have. Meet me again next summer, kid, let's see how good you are at magic then."

Then he left me alone with no words.

Is he purposefully being like this or is he always like this?

I let out a loud sigh this time and went back to the library, reading is never bad for the brain. Maybe I could a book on Charms this time, maybe even Arithmancy (what? It sounds cool).

I entered the small library and started another small round of searching for an understandable book. I knew I was nervous about what Dumbledore had in store for me, but it's not like I could deny him, I always wanted to know the history of my blood in my last life and now, I am getting my wish.

Time to get started, I guess.