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~ I'm planning to increase the number of advanced chapters to +18 this weekend!
~ I've edited some of the previous chapters to remove anything you might consider "cringe" or "unnecessary." I'll continue reviewing them from time to time!
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Wrapped up in Notice-Me-Not and Muggle-Repelling Charms, Algie glided through the Muggle crowd like a shark until he was standing behind the oblivious Neville. He placed his wand just behind the boy's head. "OBLIVIATE," he whispered. "Your grandmother has stepped away for a while but she said to wait for your Uncle Algie to come for you." Neville's head wavered back and forth for a few seconds. Then, Algie tapped him on the shoulder, and the boy jerked in surprise and then looked up at his great-uncle and regent.
"Un...uncle Algie! I ... didn't see you there," the boy said timidly. Algie smiled. If nothing else, all the Memory Charms were wrecking the boy's confidence.
"Quite alright, my boy. But we need to move along now. We're in a bit of a hurry."
"But Gran..."
"She knows where we're going and will catch us up. Now don't dawdle!"
With that, the boy stood up and took Algie's hand. The older wizard led the boy away quickly before his grandmother could return. A few minutes later, they were walking down Blackpool Pier taking in the sights. At the end of the pier, Algie put up some stronger Muggle-Repelling Charms to keep anyone from interfering.
"Now, Neville, I've brought you here for a very important reason. Can you guess what it is?"
The boy shook his head no.
"Well, today is your seventh birthday, and that's a very important magical number. You see, it's very unusual and very troubling that you haven't shown any magic yet. Your Gran is afraid that you might be a squib, and as your regent, that's something I have to be concerned about. Do you know what a squib is, Neville?"
The boy nodded sadly. "It's a wizarding child with no magic. Does ... does Gran really think I'm a squib?"
"Yes, Neville, she's told me so many times. But if you're very brave, we can prove her wrong. Can you be brave for me? Just like your mum and dad were?"
The boy nodded again, this time urgently. "I'll do whatever you say if it will show I have magic, Uncle Algie."
"Good, good. Now, one last question, Neville. Can you swim?"
The boy barely had time shake his head no before Algie snatched him up and threw him off the pier. Neville hit the water with a loud splash and immediately cried out, but with the charms Algie had set up, no one could hear him.
"It's all right, Neville, don't panic. Just relax and let the magic happen." Algie smiled at the drowning boy. That was, of course, the worst possible advice to give to a drowning wizarding child, as accidental magic was most likely to occur while the child was in a state of panic. Of course, it was unlikely the boy could even hear Algie over the pounding surf washing over him, filling his mouth and nose with sea water. Neville's head went under water once, twice, thrice ... and then suddenly, his whole body rose out of the water, lifted on a swirling water spout. Neville coughed out some sea water and then looked around in amazement.
"I'm doing it, Uncle Algie! I'm doing magic!" he cried out joyfully.
"Naturally," muttered Algie. Then, he gave a casual flick of his wand and whispered the word "LACERO," and a Cutting Curse sliced clean through the bottom of the water spout, disrupting it. Neville yelled in a panic as he plunged back into the churning waters of the Irish Sea. He bobbed back up after a few seconds, coughing up sea water once more.
"Uncle Algie! Help!"
"It's alright, lad. You're doing fine!" He wasn't, of course. The boy was clearly on the verge of drowning. Then, to Algie's consternation, the boy started rising up out of the water again! Algie prepared another Cutting Curse, when he was distracted by a woman's voice screaming Neville's name. He turned around and saw Augusta running as fast as she could towards the end of the pier her wand already out. The wizard cursed her timing. He could destroy the second waterspout, but there was no way the boy would drown before Gussie arrived to save him. He turned back to Neville and instead hit him with a Memory Charm just strong enough to erase the last few minutes. Then, he loudly exclaimed "ACCIO NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM!" The dazed child shot up out of the collapsing water spout into his arms, where he rested for barely a second before a furious Augusta tore Neville away from him.
"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" she screamed at Algie.
"Calm yourself, Gussie, I had the situation perfectly under control," said Algie smoothly.
"Under control?! You were trying to drown him!"
"I was placing the boy in an admittedly threatening situation but under controlled circumstances in the hopes that he would call upon his magic to save himself. Several of my friends growing up first revealed their magic from being thrown into the deep end, as it were. It's as good a way to learn to swim as any, I think. Sadly, it's been seven years and not even the threat of drowning has made his magic manifest. I know you're the boy's guardian and you care for him a great deal, as do I. But I am the Regent Longbottom. I have responsibilities to the entire family that trump my feelings for one little boy who is tragically disabled."
"I don't want you anywhere near Neville ever again, Algie," Augusta said coldly.
"I don't think that's your decision to make, Gussie. Not unless you wish to challenge my regency before the Wizengamot, and I don't think they're likely to take the side of a seven-year-old with no magic." He took a step towards her as she hugged the shivering boy. "You forget who you're speaking to, Gussie. And you forget by whose grace you're allowed to remain at Longbottom Manor."
"Sometimes, Regent, I don't think you're that concerned about the family at all. Sometimes, I think you're still just holding a childish grudge over Archie's old teddy bear."
Algie's eyes flashed dangerously. Then, he smiled. "If you disapprove of my methods of getting the boy to show his magic, then come up with your own. After all," he continued mercilessly while staring right into Neville's eyes, "you think he's a squib as much as I do. Now, I suggest you take the boy home for some dry clothes. He'll catch his death out here like this." Algie smiled once more and then apparated away.
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