It was not that my first burst of magic was when I flung my 'father' into the ceiling. My first burst of magic happened when I was younger, and it was completely accidental.
I was three and alone at home. Tobias was passed out on the couch that night and Eileen had gone to buy something from the market. It might have been a Sunday or maybe it was a holiday, I can't remember properly. But that's beside the point. I was hungry and I was not about to wake Tobias up and subject myself to that torture. So I pulled a chair and tried to see if there was anything on the kitchen counter. I was not tall enough to see, so I pushed myself onto the tips of my toes. The leg of the chair cracked and the chair broke. I was able to push myself away before I banged my head on the table, but I was still falling until I wasn't. I was floating. Perhaps my wish to not fall and wake Tobias up by making a noise had triggered my magic. But that was for nought. The chair breaking woke the man up and he found me floating.
Tobias did not like magic.
After that incidence, I went to Eileen to ask about what the fuck happened. Since Tobias hated magic, to me it made sense that it was Eileen who I got this from. I was right, but Eileen was too afraid of Tobias to tell me anything about it, let alone teach me. So I took it upon myself to learn about my magic.
It took a lot of meditating, looking into myself to see if I could 'feel' my magic. It was something I had seen in some movies or cartoons from my previous life, memories of which were still vivid in my head. I missed movies and cartoons. I was reborn in a world of magic, but also a world that was not yet as advanced in technology as the one in my previous life.
Eventually, I was able to 'feel' my magic. When I drew on it, my entire body felt cold and tingly. I released a burst of it from my hand and broke a window by accident.
I was punished for it of course by Tobias.
After that, it was trial and error in places where I would draw Tobias' ire or be seen by the public eye. The latter wasn't that difficult since I was living in the poorer parts of town, where not many people lived. Eventually, I learned to control just how much magic I was willing to release. A palm meant a big burst with little aim while a finger meant a small one with precise aim.
Tobias never found out about this training of mine, but Eileen did. The woman didn't bring it up at the house, but would come to watch when I trained I did not mind her presence since she did not get in my way.
It was during one of my training sessions that she told me about the school she went to. I did not pay It much attention, so I had missed how her mood would change when she talked about anything that did not involve Tobias. Which I suppose was a dick move on my part.
When I finally listened to Eileen speak about Hogwarts and saw the shift in her mood, I coulnd't help but feel bad for her. Kicked out by her family, tortured by her husband and I suppose unloved by her son, her life was anything but easy. It opened my eyes towards how I wasn't as powerless in my last life as I thought I was. But It also made me feel… comfort in knowing that I wasn't alone who was weak. That I had someone else. It was a stupid and unfair thought, but I couldn't help it.
I decided that I would stand up for Eileen.
The whole point of me wanting power was to not be weak anymore. And what good was power if I couldn't use it to protect those around me? I was powerless to protect my wife in my previous life, I wouldn't be powerless to protect Eileen in this life. And perhaps I could involve her in more talks about Hogwarts so her eyes would sparkle more with excitement. It wasn't such a bad sight.
Since it was a Sunday, Tobias would be at home, so practising my magic would have to happen somewhere far from home, further than where I usually practised. I knew just where to go.
There was this park on the borders of Spinner's End where not many people went to these days. The plants had overgrown and animals lived in those overgrown bushes and hedges. The perfect place to practice.
"Should I work on making things float today? I think I could start with that, float and shoot" I muttered to myself. The seasons were changing and leaves falling from trees. There were plenty of things to float.
The key was first to focus on my magic and then channel it to the object I wanted to float, that was what Eileen told me that one time when she came to watch. It worked for me back then, and it did right now. Multiple leaves took to the skies when I let my magic pass through my arm to my raised hands before letting it radiate. It touched the leaves, made me feel like I was touching the leaves, and then lifted them in the air when I willed it to make the leaves float. The leaves gloated a good distance from the ground, but not high enough to be seen from far.
The next step was to let my magic hold them in place while I channelled more of my magic to the tip of my index finger. I did not need to let out strong bursts for this, just small concentrated bursts that would hit my target.
Like a gun, I fired at the leaves, and like bullets, it tore through them. I did not hit all of the leaves, but I hit more than I had the last time. A win in my books.
A branch snapped behind me and I swung around, the leaves falling back on the ground. Two girls stood at the edge of the treeline, wide-eyed and surprised.
One of the girls was thin, blonde-haired with a long neck. She had the look of a horse about her with a long face and large teeth. Her eyes were large and pale blue. The other girl was as thin as the one before, except she had a prettier face. Her hair was thick and dark red, and her eyes were almond-shaped and bright green.
The taller one was clutching the hand of the shorter one, but the shorter one was staring at me in awe.
"You can do that too?!" the one with the red hair asked, clear excitement in her tone.
"What?" I asked dumbly. They might have seen me do my magic, but if possible I would deny it and play it off as them seeing things.
But that idea went out the window when the red-haired girl bit her lip and made one leaf float.
"Lily stop" the taller girl hissed at her.
"Why should she stop? She's a witch" I answered with a deadpan tone. The red-haired one, Lily, looked crestfallen and the taller girl sneered.
"She's no witch! If anyone's a witch it's you with your shabby mismatched clothes" the blonde sneered.
Punching a child will do me no good, I thought to myself with clenched jaws.
"Oh I'm sorry, am I too poor for her Highness?" my tone dripped with rough sarcasm. "Oh, how I apologize for having a drunk good-for-nothing father who'd spend all his money on booze and not take care of me. Please do punish me how you see fit!"
The blonde's face flushed then went red from anger. But I decided that I would not let her speak. I turned to the redhead.
"You're a witch, but it's not a bad thing. My mother's a witch too, and I'm a wizard."
That seemed to cheer the girl up some, but the blonde one was still not pleased.
"Lily we're leaving" She grabbed the girl's hand and yanked hard.
"But Tuny-"
I watched the blonde one pull Lily away, much to her displeasure. What a strange duo.