Chapter 2: Muggle Skills

Albus

One month after the first fall of Voldemort

From the moment that the Ancient One had visited us the night Voldemort was defeated, it had set many things in motion. First over, was the news that Voldemort had been defeated by Harry Potter, an infant who protected his parents. Peter Pettigrew escaped to reaches unknown, with Auror's tracking him as best as they could. Second, was the battle that protected the Longbottom's from a Death Eater assault. When the rumor got out that Voldemort was defeated, his followers became a chaotic force of making randomized and unorganized plays. Some lashed out, some turned themselves in, some came forth and confessed to being under the threat of three unforgivable Curses, and some dropped off the face of the earth. With the Longbottom's safe and Dark Wizards being actively sought out, I had decided to call a meeting with members of the Order of the Phoenix.

I looked around to see the two Potters with their son, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Alice and Frank Longbottom, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Emmeline Vance, Mundungus Fletcher, Rubeus Hagrid, Alastor Moody and two new additions: Arthur and Molly Weasley. These were the last core members of the Order of the Phoenix. The meeting was held in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, an empty house that Sirius Black had donated to the cause shortly after the attack on the Potters. Not even Peter Pettigrew knew of its location thanks to the Fidelius Charm.

"It has been a while since we have had a meeting with all its members present," I spoke, "I feel that we must mourn the fallen that were in our Order, and those who have suffered under the threat of Voldemort. But we have a major victory under our belts my friends. Voldemort has been defeated and his followers are being pursued or prosecuted as we speak."

"So that's it then?" Mundungus asked, "The Order's purpose is finished?"

"I'm afraid not," I spoke, "There is reason to believe that Voldemort will return." Many of the members exchanged nervous looks. "But there is evidence that he may not return for a long time."

"What do you mean Albus?" Emmeline asked.

"I invite you all to see the memories of that fateful night where young Harry defeated Voldemort," I replied, "It will explain everything, and give reasons for new foundations of how we proceed." I ushered many to the Pensieve which would reveal the events of that fateful night. For those who have seen it, they stayed behind as there was no point in visiting the memories. When it was all said and done, all the members of the order returned to their seats.

"Is you-know-who immortal?" Alice Longbottom asked.

"My dear," I replied, "Witches and Wizards cannot be immortal as far as we know. Voldemort has taken measures to obtain a way to avoid death. I don't know how many times he can quote, die, before it is a permanent death. I do not know how he has sustained his lifeforce. Young Harry here is the reason he has been defeated this time around. The boy has displayed a power that is indescribable and unheard of for someone his age. True immortality is unachievable by our kind and that is set in stone. However, we as a community can change. The Ancient One, a brief teacher of mine, holds power we do not possess. Her longevity is something else. She is, for lack of a better term, kind of like a Seer. And I believe she is right. Wizarding-kind will have to change our ways. We may have to begin ushering in a new age where we could be exposed. Wars are coming that we cannot continue to hide forever. Fate simply will not allow us."

"That's absurd!" Mundungus objected, "Not a single sane wizard would want their secrets exposed! Muggles would become too reliant on magic!"

"I must agree with him headmaster," Severus spoke up, "If muggles know of our existence, it would be disastrous to us as a species."

"It is true that there will be hardships," I replied, "I have met some individuals who live with them just because of their abilities and their race. I have traveled far and wide making friends out of unique individuals for many years. I've made friends with Mutants, Mutates, Inhumans, and various alien species with technology that makes muggles look like they are in the dark ages. This planet we are on, is not the only planet with life. Do you remember the tales of the Viking Gods?" There were a few nods. "Odin, Thor, Vigga, Loki? Those people are not just tales. They are still alive and in a different realm. They are known as Asgardians. To Asgardians, we are known as Midgardians, and our race in particular are the Seidhr; the Midgardian Mage. Gods are a race just like us. They are more durable, more powerful, and have longevity on their side, but they can die just like us. The Asgardians are said to watch over their nine realms, including us. But there are many more realms, or planets out there. In hindsight, we are a tiny little gnat compared to what's out there. We are insignificant to everyone else. I highly doubt my friends, that in the end should our existence be revealed, that we'll be under fire for very long."

There was silence. The point was made. The Order looked among themselves. I could sense lingering doubt in a few of them. So I continued. "But to reveal our existence this soon without the consent of the ICW is illegal and we will not do so," I continued, "But our educational practices must change, effectively immediately."

"What do you mean by that?" Molly asked.

"I think it is time that I will allow James take over," I replied, "After all, he and a few of our other members are the ones researching ways to do so. Lilly, Alastor, Remus, Severus, and Sirius have all had a hand in it."

…

James

Dumbledore made a valid point. There were so many races and other planets out there that compared to a bigger picture, we were insignificant. But that didn't mean we couldn't change. "Hello all," I spoke, "First, I want to thank you all for coming and listening to Dumbledore's future plans. I agree with him wholeheartedly. I know we can't reveal our existence to the rest of the world immediately, but we can plant the seeds of our future."

"Wow who knew you could go philosophical on us Prongs?" Padfoot snorted.

"Quiet Sirius," Lilly said nudging him with her elbow, which Harry had took as a cue to go to his Godfather. Sirius took him in his arms.

I smirked at one of my best friends antics. "We've been doing research on muggle activities and military training as well as research on different educational practices internationally, both magical and muggle," I continued, "I'm going to start off with muggle education first, since it is out of the norm." Arthur perked up. He was always fascinated with Muggles. "Has anyone ever taken a chance to look at our biology? How skinny, how fat, or how lethargic witches and wizards are? No offense of course. We have no stamina, and we rely too much on our magical blood and prowess to govern how good of a witch or wizard we are. Our magical capabilities may be good, but our physical capabilities are severely lacking. Moody and I have been watching some training practices of military forces around the world as well as muggle physical education. If there's one thing muggles have us outclassed at, it's making sure our bodies are physically healthy. For the most part anyways."

"Only in the muggle militaries do you see that physical conditioning is a must," Alastor spoke, "The basic use of military is fighting in wars either for political power, rebellion, or freedom. But we all know that. Muggles wage war like a Malfoy extorts. Their military organization is apparent and noteworthy. They have weapons that will be tough to combat with magic. Even muggle schools have sports and athletic programs, particularly in the United States."

"Are you saying we train our kids like they're in some muggle military school?" Molly asked.

"No Molly," Moony said, "But we use their physical fitness programs as a foundation for getting our children in shape. We may have potions and healing remedies that can keep us healthy, but we can also help prevent it with muggle-based preparation."

"But Hogwarts is a school for learning our magic," Molly protested, "Not something like running."

"Magic will still be taught Molly," Lilly interjected, "In fact, we're going to start teaching students different types of magic. Either that, or we open a new school that practices magic beyond Hogwarts Curriculum…"

"Another school!?" A few of the members asked alarmed, "What's wrong with Hogwarts as it is?" And from that was the ingrained subservience to traditionalism that the British Wizarding community couldn't let go of.

"Nothing," Moody spoke with slight distain, "Other than the fact that it's curriculum teaches nothing but basic magic that every wizard knows. The core classes are mandatory and most wizarding careers require proficiency in them. None of these with the exception of Defense against the Dark Arts, are meant for combating dark wizards or creatures. For example, Grindelwald and Voldemort. Both instances we were unprepared for a magical war, with barely any personnel who could combat them or their followers. I say that needs to change."

"But raising our children to be soldiers?" Molly questioned, "That's an Auror isn't it?"

"Not soldiers," Remus spoke up liking the idea, "But able Battlemages if the time comes that they are needed. An Auror's job is to protect magical communities and uphold our laws. A battlemage would be focused on combat."

"We're not turning our children into battlemages," I reiterated, "We're giving the option to become one if the time is right."

"And what of the Order of the Phoenix?" Elphias asked, "Our purpose is nearly complete is it not?"

"I'm afraid not," Albus spoke, "The Ministry is becoming more and more corrupt. Like our society, we need to change or modify the Order's purpose. Voldemort will return. We know that. But we also need to recruit those who will fight dark forces. We need to guide the Ministry to be better."

"It sounds an awful like a coup d'état," Elphias contested.

"Since when has the Ministry been non-corrupt?" Sirius defended Dumbledore, "If we want to make Magical Britain a better place, we need to stamp out corruption. The Malfoys are already clamoring to lick the bottom of the Minister's boots. Lucius Malfoy is one of the biggest supporters of the Dark Arts, old ways, and Voldemort. Plus, he hates muggleborns. That alone makes me want to hex him. We can't throw him in Azkaban because there's no evidence of him supporting Voldemort, even if we've seen him there. We've got enough members in the Order who are in a position to begin influencing change."

With the combined wealth and assets of the Potters, Longbottoms, and Blacks, as well as the weight of our names, our three families alone could do some good. In fact, Padfoot being the closest thing to a muggle rebel Rockstar, was looking into getting in contact with muggleborn families who do not yet know that their child is one of our race. He was going to guide them to our cause, but ultimately make them support new sanctions, or instill the idea of them. The Ministry has become corrupt. They were turning a blind eye to the Darker arts. We needed to remedy that with new supporters. Padfoot could handle it along with Lilly.

"We're getting off the current topic," I spoke up, "Overhauling our education system is priority at the moment. We will continue with our normal years, such as first years, second years, etcetera. But we will also be looking into enacting a "higher education" or university for those who want to study more advanced subjects. If we do so, we can create more careers with better trained wizards. For instance, Molly, Arthur. Isn't your second oldest always talking about becoming a Dragonologist? What better way to learn how than with higher education? Or if one of our children wants to work in the ministry as an Auror? Learning our laws and bylaws for becoming an official Wizengamont? Running a business? Americans have already bypassed us in higher education. The only difference between us, is they have the option. We operate under apprenticeships, while Americans have entire institutes for their career fields. Magical Britain are stuck in traditionalist ways. We can change that. We need to in order to survive future threats."

Everyone remained silent as they looked at each other in contemplation.

"I believe that there is nothing else that anyone can say to convince you all to join our order's new direction," Dumbledore spoke up, "Shall we vote?"

In the end, everyone agreed to the new cause. The Order of the Phoenix had in a sense been reborn with a higher purpose. We'd expand our influence, our members, and funds.

Ten years later

My name is Harry Potter, the boy who lived. A baby boy who defeated Voldemort and protected his parents from being murdered. That made the Potter name famous. That made me famous. And if there's one thing fame got you, it was attention and popularity. I hated it. I wished I could live a normal life, but my name was in the daily prophet more than I cared for. I had books written about me as well as my family. When I made friends, I had to figure out if they were friends with me because of the fame, or for who I was. I could do no wrong in the eyes of the British Wizarding World. I was a Saint. The Golden Child. Blessed by Merlin. I was…..sick of all those bloody titles and praise. I just wanted to be a normal wizard growing up. So I ignored those papers, and stayed humbled. I focused on my own path.

My parents sent me to a Pre-wizarding School, where we became better prepared for Hogwarts. Unlike Hogwarts, Pre-Wizarding Schools weren't boarding schools and there were many out there usually close to Wizarding Homes. Godric's Hollow had one built here. It was only a short walk from the Potter house. I went to that school since I was six, learning the basics of both the wizarding World and the Muggle world, while not actually practicing magic itself. For the muggle portion of the lessons, we learned how to read, write, muggle history, a little bit of muggle science, Physical Education, and how to blend in with muggles. On the wizarding side of the lessons, we'd learn wand movements, touch up on wizarding history, Basic Herbology, Magizoology, and a class dedicated to magical theory. Magical Theory was basically about learning about magic as a whole from a non-practical standpoint. We'd get to see it happen from an instructor, but not actually be able to do it. For Zoology and Magizoology, it was about learning about the different animals in the wizarding world. Herbology was learning about magical plants and fungi. The magical subjects weren't very in depth due to the fact that in Hogwarts and the Magic university, these subjects were more studied. In fact, it seemed that there was a mix of muggle teaching in these subjects. Herbology also doubled as a botany class. I remembered my dad and uncle Sirius working like crazy to make this a reality. I remembered them going through the Wizengamot and Ministry of Magic for several years just to get these schools up and running. It was originally meant for children who stayed in the wizarding world and had little to no contact with the muggle world; but to also to poorer families who couldn't afford private tutors. Eventually, it would be offered to muggleborns. The entire idea was to be the foundations of bringing the two worlds together. Whether that would happen or not, remained to be seen.

I sat in the study room of our house reading a muggle history book involving different wars. I was particularly interested in the World Wars from a muggle standpoint, especially World War II. Of course, there were the open conflicts, but there were also the battles between an entity called HYDRA and the SSR (Strategic Science Reserve). HYDRA used advanced scientific weaponry created from energy from something called a Tesseract. The SSR created a super-soldier they called Captain America. Captain America was key to winning the war on the Muggle front, particularly against Hydra. Captain America saved the world by sacrificing himself. Most of the information was covered up to keep the world naïve to the power of the tesseract and what using its power could potentially create. The Tesseract was lost at sea to the public, but there are sources who say otherwise. I only knew this because the SSR now known as SHIELD, knew of our presence and kept us hidden as long as we abided by rules. The same could be said for Muggle world leaders who were sworn to secrecy, such as the British Prime Minister or the President of the United States of America.

We were better off hidden from the rest of the world for now. I closed the book and put it in the section where all the muggle books were located. I looked over at the countless books. I studied a lot, trying to read ahead on a lot of things. The only problem was, my parents forbade me from trying to read course books in Hogwarts as they wanted me to focus on other pursuits and studies. I knew I was abnormal, even by wizarding standards. I was a celebrity of course, but I also had a thirst for knowledge, ambition for my future, was loyal to a fault, and immediately tried to take on more than I should by leading my friends. Everyone told me I exhibited a lot of traits from all four Hogwarts Houses. I didn't care which house I ended up in truthfully. I just wanted to do the best I could while remaining as humble as I could. It actually made sense. I wouldn't be ahead of any of my classmates at Hogwarts, with the exception of Muggleborns, but I'd be well rounded on many other things that would help me in the future. For an almost-eleven-year-old I found myself thinking about my future a lot and what could've happened if my parents had died all those years ago. I remember asking my mother about it. She said that the headmaster of Hogwarts, known as Dumbledore, would have sent me to live with her sister and her husband, who were muggles. I never asked her again though because the thought seemed to upset her. Unfortunately, they weren't very pleasant people, even among muggle standards. They weren't criminals, drug addicts, or anything like that. They were people who thought themselves to be normal and superior because they felt they embodied normal. Dudley, their son, was spoiled rotten. My parents insisted that we met the Dursley's so that Dudley and I could at least know what each other looked like.

I blew air through my noise, like a weak sarcastic laugh. I remember the first thing that whale said to me. "You dress and look funny."

I wanted to say, "And you're an overweight bloke who could pass for an enormous sea creature." Of course, I didn't say that. I kept it cordial. Nevertheless, I wasn't too fond of him. On my mother's side, we had cousins overseas. One of them owned a muggle company known as Stark Industries. His son was a genius. He had graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and had built robots. I couldn't remember how distant of cousins they were.

I pushed the thoughts of the muggle side of my family out of my head before putting my history book down and getting up to walk into the kitchen where my mother was at. She was cooking breakfast. "Morning mum," I said greeted her with a hug, "Dad still at work?"

"Yes," my mom replied returning my hug, "He's looking into more magical subjects with the board of Governors. He is trying to get meetings with the headmasters of different foreign schools to see if there's a way to update the subjects taught at Hogwarts."

"Didn't dad say that Durmstrang students use staves in addition to wands?" I asked.

"I think so," my mother said, "They are one of five that I believe use them. I believe there are schools in Asia that use them. I've heard of a Wizard school in China that is known for their martial magic. I think Mahoutokoro in Japan does as well."

I stared at her. Maho what? "I'm not even going to try and pronounce that," I said with a deadpan look, "I would absolutely butcher it for sure and I'm pretty sure I'd offend anyone in Japan for trying."

My mom laughed. "Oh," She said, "Before I forget. They closed the Parkour class for the week. Axel has come down with the flu." My mother had enrolled me in a muggle parkour class for after school because I asked her to. I had been doing it for the last two years. My mom and dad got me into muggle physical activity when I was six. I played football(or soccer as American's called it) for a until I was eight. During that time, I was also in an archery class and a survival class. Eventually, I worked my way out of both football and Archery as I could just practice in my free time. I also took survival classes and martial arts lessons from two family friends.

"What about Mr. Phil and Ms. Melinda?" I asked. Those were the names of my two instructors. I never learned where they came from, but my parents knew them from somewhere. My dad and Sirius had saved their boss, whose name was Nick, life or something and became friends with him. I never got the details, but somehow Phil, Melinda, and Mr. Nick all worked together with Nick being over them slightly. It was a small world too, because they all occasionally worked with our distant cousin Howard overseas. I never questioned all that much. There was a story there somewhere, but I didn't feel the need to ask. It was one of those things that didn't really interest me much.

"I called Phil today. He said they'll be by at noon," she replied, "You've got what? Three more sessions with them? Term will start soon."

"Speaking of which," I spoke, "When is my Hogwarts letter coming in!?" I had been waiting all summer for this.

"I'd like to know that too," My mother replied fixing me a plate, "Eggs, bacon, and ham, sausage, and toast."

"Looks good mum," I said sitting down at the table, "May I cook breakfast tomorrow?"

"Of course, dear," She replied smiling. One thing about me was that I wanted to learn how to be self-sufficient. I wanted to learn how to do things for myself for when I'm older. Cooking was one of them. I had cooked food before, learning from my mother and grilling from my father. I still had a long way to go in the culinary arts. I was still only eleven.

Once I finished eating, I decided to help my mom with the dishes the muggle way. I knew there were many household spells, but I was underaged and had no wand. Learning to do things without magic might seem boring to wizard-kind and useless, but my mom and dad thought differently. What would happen if I didn't have my wand? I couldn't use magic to solve all my problems. That's why they got me into all these physical muggle activities and learning how to do stuff on my own. I didn't mind. I rather enjoyed them. There were a few things that I wanted to get into early that was completely magical related. Magical Creatures and Quidditch. Quidditch was about the only thing my parents would let me get into on the magical side. Magical creatures would be a subject in my third year. I learned a little about magical creatures but I wasn't allowed to interact much with them unsupervised.

Quidditch however, was probably my favorite thing. I loved flying. I would play with the Weasleys, who were family friends. Ron Weasley was one of my best friends, but I was pretty good friends with his siblings as well. I called their parents my aunt and uncle while the Weasley kids called my parents aunt and uncle. I had spent a lot of time over at the Weasley's. The Burrow was the name of their home and farm.

I was sitting on a patio near the front gate later that afternoon trying to teach myself how to play an acoustic guitar. The family cat, who was a grey and white tabby cat named Pallet, was laying on the table stretched out. I was learning from a music book. I didn't know if I was making good progress or not, but I could put together a few chords and my fingers were hurting. I guess that was a good sign.

"Took up a new hobby huh?" A strong confident female voice from the street had spoke. An Asian woman with dark hair and dark clothing walked up.

"Hey Ms Melinda!" I said.

"You ready?" She asked, "Phil's waiting on us."

"Sure!" I replied, "let me go tell mum you're here!"

"Go for it," Melinda said.

I put my guitar and music book up in my room and told my mother that my instructor was here. They exchanged pleasantries before I left with Ms. Melinda.

"Have you been minding your parents?" Ms. Melinda asked.

"Of course," I replied, "For the most part."

"You and your friends haven't been up to anything as of late have you?" Melinda asked with a playful accusatory tone, "I heard about the prank you all pulled with the stink bombs." As far as I knew, she and her colleagues didn't know about the Wizarding World. An old muggle codger had been rather rude to a group of us poor little wizards while we were getting breakfast at a muggle diner. It was something we all used to like to do. There was me Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Hannah Abbott, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Susan Bones. We all met up almost every Saturday or every other Saturday just to hang out. One day an old man who had apparently had ten consecutive bad Saturdays, because he was always at the same diner, got fed up with us being a joyful kids. He tried to get us kicked out of the diner many times and was always rude. The twins, Ron, and I decided we had enough and placed dungbombs in his car while he was in the loo. It only took three hours for our parents to find out. We never found out how either. The day we did it, there was only one person who could have said something. A man reading a newspaper, also a regular in the diner, and he just grinned at our antics.

"No," I replied grinning, "Look he deserved it. After ruining our Saturdays during the holiday all the time we had enough. I still don't know how we got caught."

"You've been putting your skills to use huh?" Melinda asked, "You know, we didn't teach you this stuff to pull pranks. Your mom and dad wants you to know how to defend yourself and to survive should something happen."

"I know," I replied with a false pouting face, "But you still won't teach me how to use a sword or bo staffs."

"Next summer," She replied, "After your school starts…..you know, you or your parents never told us where you go to school at. It's a boarding school huh?" I've noticed that she liked to subtly press me for information about Hogwarts. Neither she or Phil didn't know of the magical world, as far as I knew.

"Yeah," I said trying to act casual, "It's just a private school that's hidden. My parents are very paranoid."

"I see," Melinda said as we walked towards a muggle warehouse building. I could tell she didn't like this answer. I was pretty sure they were muggle secret agents or something. But that was just a guess. A cherry-red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette was parked next to a black 1990 Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows. The Jeep Cherokee was Melinda's while the corvette was Phil's. He liked to call it Lola for some reason.

We walked in to see Phil on the phone with someone near some dojo mats and various equipment. "Yes sir," I heard him say, "I'll get right on it after I finish up here." The other person apparently spoke something. "Yeah the kid is here." He looked at me and said, "Nick said Hey and happy early birthday." Phil was an American Man who had a calm demeanor almost always. He had thin brown hair, blue eyes and a business like posture.

"Tell him I said thank you," I replied.

"He said thank you," Phil spoke for him, "Okay Boss. Got to go." He hung up his DynaTAC mobile phone. The phone was revolutionary by muggle standards. Usually, telephones operated under a landline and/or required an operator. Motorolla was an American based company that created these mobile phones. That's why I was sure these two were secret agents. I kept that to myself though. "You ready to get started Harry?"

"Yeah." I replied, "How've you been Mr. Phil?"

"Good," Phil replied, "and it's just Phil. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"As many times as I have to tell him I'm just Melinda," Melinda answered for me. I just shrugged. "Go get changed Harry. We're going to spar."

"Okay." I replied going into a nearby changing room to put on a martial arts uniform. Melinda had been teaching me styles from martial art styles, such as Karate, Taichi, Judo, and Shaolin Wushu. She had told me this was a special regime of Mixed Martial Arts tailored for me.

We sparred for about an hour, Melinda kicking my butt so many times. I never won a single match with her, but she always remained on the defensive. Mostly this was because she could take me down every time if she wanted to.

"You're getting better," Melinda spoke as we sat on, "Have you been practicing?"

"I don't have anyone to practice with," I replied, "But I make due with the training dummies at home." I winced. "That shoulder throw got me good."

"You'll get there," Melinda spoke.

"Yeah you will," Phil replied walking up, "We've got two more sessions before you go off to that private school. After that, we'll see you next summer….maybe. We might be busy."

"It's okay," I said, "What do you got for me today?"

"I figured we could get you into some target practice," Phil said, "You're too young to own or shoot a gun, so we'll try with throwing knives and shuriken. Maybe next summer we can teach you how to fight with swords or daggers."

"They'll be wooden," Melinda put in before grinning, "I can't wait to smack you around either."

"I'm starting to feel like this is a training session for Ninjas or something," I said amused.

"Yes," Phil said with his cool sarcasm, "We are training you to become an assassin. But you learning parkour was completely normal." He said that with a straight face, but it looked like he couldn't hold his expression for long. "Your mother was very adamant about not learning to use firearms until you're older. Your dad…..was confused on what firearms were I think."

"He's weird," I said immediately with deadpanned, "He likes medieval stuff more than modern stuff." My father knew what they were, he just didn't understand the severity of muggle weapons. They weren't like wands. They were usually always deadly.

"Come on over here," He said. There was a table with various rows of different thowing weapons. There were throwing knives, shuriken(or Ninja stars), and some kind of weapon that was made of three connecting strands of rope and balls on the end. Phil saw me staring at them. "They're call bolas. Useful for tripping up whoever gets caught in them."

"I see," I replied picking up one of the throwing knives and staring at it, "So what do I do? Just start throwing it at the target over there?" There was a target made of straw with a bullseye painted on it.

"Well there's a technique to it," Phil said picking up a throwing knife, "You can't just throw it willy nilly. There are various forms of knife throwing. It's kind of like pitching in American Baseball. Ever seen it?"

"No," I replied truthfully.

"Okay then," Phil said, "I guess I can bring a videotape of pitching next time we meet up so you can watch them. I want you to practice overhanded first like this." He tossed the throwing knife up, caught the blade between his hands and threw it at the target. The knife flew through the air and hit the target dead center. My mouth fell open. It was like Phil hadn't even tried. He walked over and pulled it out the target. On the floor was lines made out of tape. "I marked them by five foot intervals starting at ten feet. I keep forgetting we're not in the U.S so I forgot about the metric system."

I started at the ten foot mark and started trying to hit the target with all of the throwing knives. My first five throws, I missed every one of them. I tried another five and one bounced off, but the rest missed. To Phil's credit, he didn't look disappointed. "This is tough," I spoke.

"Try throwing it with your index and middle finger," Phil said, "and your thumb. You're closing your whole fist around it. If you're going to throw it by holding the blade, then it'll catch every time. You'll also cut yourself."

"Okay then," I replied doing as he said. It took two times but one actually landed for a few seconds, before the weight of the hilt caused it to fall out.

"Much better," Phil said, "The best way to learn is to keep practicing. Overhanded is probably the best to begin with, but you can also do underhanded and sidearm. Its useful if you can't throw in a timely manner overhanded or are in a hurry."

"You act like you've done this before," I said half-jokingly.

"You never know when you'll need to throw knives at people," Phil said shrugging. This was coming from a guy who showed me how to gather water, make a fire, build a shelter, and pick a lock. This man taught me all about bushcraft skills and how to hunt.

I laughed. I kept practicing for the remainder of the session. Before the session was up, Phil and Melinda called me over. "Hey Harry," Melinda said as I started putting the throwing knives in a case. "I don't think we're going to make it to your birthday next week. We have to be out of the country on business."

"Oh," I said sort of disappointed, "That's okay. I understand." I had gotten to know Phil, Nick, and Melinda. They often come to Britain from America on various business trips for projects. In between time, they spent time with me and my family, as well as teaching me things. I always found my lessons intriguing, even if some of them were physically demanding.

"Hey chin up kid," Melinda said, "We did get you something though. I know you said you wanted to travel the world." She was correct. I had always wanted to visit places around the world. I wanted to see the world, especially places that were rich in different forms of magic. France, Bulgaria, the United States, China, Japan, Egypt, Australia, Italy, Jamaica, and Brazil were all major locations I wished to learn from. I would also like to travel them and just see the different places and cultures. Other than that, thanks to a family friend Rubeus Hagrid, I wanted to learn how to care for magical creatures and study them. I would totally ride on the back of a dragon if it wouldn't kill me. This wish had sort of went over to studying the different animals. I was happy to find that many animals had magical properties for potions, depending on what was used, such as certain species of snakeskin. I wouldn't find that in a muggle book, but learning about the animal itself was a treat. "I got you an encyclopedia on different animals around the world as well as another for botany. Also I got you some books on martial art techniques and katas. They're very detailed."

There was a collection of books on a table in one of the office rooms of the warehouse. There sat several books on plants, animals, and fungi.

"We got you books because you seem to like reading," Phil said, "And there's not much we can give you that will be acceptable for any school to have. If it's where you'll be spending a lot of your time, then having weapons might not be a good thing to show off."

"I think my dad is trying to get them to learn some form of martial arts," I replied, "He just got physical education implemented." It was subtle. But the look that the two had, was as if they discovered something they hadn't known. I probably said too much. I knew they wanted to know more about the school I went to. My parents and I agreed to keep it tight-lipped. Muggles weren't supposed to know about it. "Plus, certain tools are allowed in the craftsman classes."

"Maybe," Phil replied shrugging, "I did get you these however. I know I've taught you several of these, but I figured you'd like them." He had more books. They all related to his survival lessons. I looked at them and they were titled, SAS Survival Handbook, Bushcraft 101, Advanced Bushcraft, The Bushcraft Guide to Trapping, Gathering, and Cooking in the Wild, Bushcraft First Aid, and Bushcraft Illustrated. "I found these to be interesting. There's a lot more in here than what I taught you. John Wiseman and Dave Canterbury are great survivalists. Their books are interesting. If I come across any more books, I'll be sure to get them to you. You seem to soak up knowledge like a sponge."

"I don't know about that," I replied shrugging, "If I find it interesting, I seem to catch on quicker."

"Are there any more subjects you are interested in?" Melinda asked, "You keep picking up hobbies, and jumping from each one, getting good at it, then going to another. I'm starting to think you have an obsession with knowledge."

I thought about it. Sure I liked to know stuff. And this was the trademark of behavior of a Ravenclaw in Hogwarts, but I just seemed to pick up on things easier and wanted to know how to be self-sufficient. My mind tended to wander on different things. Like at the moment, I was thinking about battle strategy of past wars, or training different animals, or even learning different ways to apply all of my skills in the magical world.

"Well…" I said sheepishly, "Anything to do with battle strategies or animal training for now. Maybe a music book or two for learning more on my guitar I just got."

"What's got you into battle strategies?" Phil asked.

"I dunno," I said honestly, "Not just the world wars. I want to know about ancient military tactics too. Like the Greeks and Romans. I heard something about 300 Spartans holding off an army. Kind of cool in my opinion."

"You are a very strange kid," Melinda said, "What about the animal training. I get learning about them, but what kind of animal training?"

I remembered how magic-folk had various different animals that were used for their labor, such as owls being our messengers. "Dog training," I replied, "Horse training, and Falconry."

"That's specific," Phil replied sighing coolly, "But, I'll see what I can do."

Soon after, they would help me get all of my books back to the house. I could always come to the warehouse and practice all my previous martial arts lessons, throwing, or archery. The warehouse was my father's after all. It was often empty, save for lessons with Phil and Melinda. I had been there many times without them. My life outside of the Magical World seemed rather extreme and having a lack of childhood. Muggles already thought my family was strange, but they also didn't know all the stuff I was getting into, or my interests. I couldn't explain why I enjoyed these things. I just did. But there was one thing I couldn't wait for, and that was to finally go to Hogwarts and start learning magic.

….