HP : A Wizard's Dream

Chapter 4: Chapter 4 - A Magical Childhood 1



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"Speaking"

"SPEAKING LOUDLY

"Speaking in a magical language" (Parseltongue or Ancient Runes)

"...*Quotes*..." 

*Sound effects*

'Thoughts'

##### = Scene break 

Time and place where the story is happening 

Enjoy the chapter ! 

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London - 30 Kinnerton Street (1st July 1874)

Arthur had been a baby for exactly a month and he was already fed up with his new lifestyle. Being a baby meant that he couldn't move, couldn't talk to anyone, couldn't do anything basic by himself such as eating or pooping. The last one being the most annoying part as he pooped twice a day, in his diapers, which had to be changed by his parents every time. 

He found it extremely humiliating and annoying, and let's not talk about breastfeeding…in short, the more time passed, the more annoyed he became. This fueled his determination to become independent as soon as possible, which means that he tried to walk and talk as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, a one month old baby can't physically do these two things, so even with all the determination he had, he was still unable to move. Talking, though, seemed to be less difficult for him, he couldn't really talk, but he started making sounds, different from his usual "WHAAAA" that he used as a multipurpose, all in one sound, to demand food, attention, sleep and diaper changes.

'One month. It's only been one month and I still have at least a few months before I can do ANYTHING !'

'This life better be worth it. The Afterlife was a 50 stars hotel compared to this. I could just end this life and stay in the Afterlife forever, it would be much simpler.'

'But I guess I got too attached to my new parents, they would be devastated to see their baby dead, so I will do it the hard way I suppose.'

'But I didn't even learn anything in this one month, only my parents' names : Alice and William. That's it. I don't even know which country I am in or the exact date.'

'I really need some way to entertain myself or I will die of boredom before I even reach the age to walk. One thing is sure, there are no phones or similar devices, I will have to read books. Now, if only I could reach the library of the house…'

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London - 30 Kinnerton Street (13th november 1874)

Baby Arthur could be seen in his mother's arms, sitting in a plush chair near the fireplace, while his father was putting wood in it.

'Now is the perfect moment, I am a bit more than 5 months old, they are both near, it's my time to shine ! Look at this genius son of yours ! Or rather listen to him ! 3, 2, 1 and … '

"Mamaaaaaa !"

"Will ! Arthur just said his first word !"

"It's wonderful Alice, he really is our little miracle, he's already speaking at 5 months old !"

"Say it again, Art !"

"Mamaaa ?"

"Awww, our little genius is so cute ! We need to celebrate that Will, dear !"

'Wait until I start walking mom, you will be surprised. But I won't say no to some cakes… wait until I am old enough to eat cakes, there won't be a single crumb left after I am done with them !'

Turns out there was cake at the table for dinner, a delicious chocolate cake, but not for him. No matter how many times he tried to reach his hand for it, no matter how many times he showed them his puppy eyes, he didn't manage to get his hand on even a single crumb. For someone with a massive sweet tooth like him, being in front of a chocolate cake without being able to eat even one piece, especially after such a long period of abstinence, was nothing short of torture.

'I haven't eaten anything sweet in the Afterlife or in the last 5 months, I AM IN DIRE NEED OF SUGAR ! I want some of this delicious looking cake d*mn it !'

At this moment, his mother was eating her piece of cake, laughing, clearly amused by her son's antics, when her spoon strangely moved in a way that catapulted the piece of cake on it toward Arthur.

Arthur, a bit stunned to see a piece of cake flying toward him, took a second to realise he only had one chance to eat some cake that night. As soon as the cake approached him, he moved toward it to intercept it with his body, not trusting his hands to get the cake in flight because of his baby body's poor movement coordination.

The cake fell on his napkin, and as soon as it did, Arthur took a handful of it and put it to his mouth.

'Oh, finally ! And it's so goooood ! It seems that the gods decided to help me a bit, did mother laugh so hard she unintentionally dropped her piece of cake on me ?'

'Meh, who cares, I got my cake, I can finally sleep in peace now that my sugar addiction has been a bit subdued after all this time !'

'Wait, why are they laughing even louder now when they look at me ?'

"Don't move Art, we absolutely need to take a photo of you ! Will, bring me the Kodak ! Quick !" William immediately ran upstairs to grab the ancestor of the camera that they had bought just before Arthur's birth specifically for situations like these.

'The f*ck ? I know I am cute, but why do they want to take a photo right now of all times !? '

"Arthur !" The baby turned his head, clearly confused and…

*FLASH*

'That's low !'

"Perfect, Arthur, this photo will be remembered for a loooong time !"

"Mamaaaaa !" 

'Just what's wrong ? Tell meeee !'

That night, the Polaris couple could be seen laughing for a long time in front of their bewildered son. Arthur wasn't aware that when he hastily ate his piece of cake, a lot of chocolate had been smeared on his face, and his confused expression made the scene even funnier, prompting his parents to take a photo as future blackmail material… 

(See photo in comments)

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London - 30 Kinnerton Street (31st December 1874)

Today was the last day of the year, the New Year's Eve, one day before Arthur's *deathday* but more importantly, the best moment for him to finally learn the complete date. He had recently heard from his parents that they lived in England, in London to be precise. 

He had already guessed that after hearing their British accent and seeing the perpetual rain outside, but he couldn't be 100% sure since many countries' first language is English, especially English colonies and countries in North America. They could have been British immigrants living in some obscure country as well, so getting the confirmation was pretty nice.

Most importantly, he could have been in any world or universe, simply with people speaking English for whatever reason. For example could have been transmigrated into a film or book made by English people, explaining why everyone speaks English, but said story or film could take place on some obscure and backward planet ready to be threatened by some intergalactic alien force…

So confirming that he was on Earth, in some pretty well known city and country, made it way easier for him to prepare for the future, at least, if he had the date and access to the history of the world. After all, many films and stories take place on Earth but not all of them have the same history. He still needed to make sure that it was the same world both in terms of geography and history if he wanted to leverage his knowledge of the future.

And that's precisely the issue he was going to address today. He had prepared his performance, everything was ready, he just had to wait for the cake to appear…ahem… to wait for the New Year's Eve dinner to start.

He currently was in a very foul mood however, his performance was ready, but he hadn't expected to have to wear a tiny suit for the occasion. There are quite a few things that he absolutely loathes, complete ignorants pretending to know everything better than him and anything too troublesome or boring, among others. But these things he can evade them, at least he will be able to, as soon as he starts walking. Wearing formal clothes though, is something he hates with passion and can't avoid even if he really wants to.

'I am a d*mn 6 months old baby, and no one was invited at home for dinner this year, so why do I need to wear a suit ? I am so young I can't even walk yet ! I will only wear this monstrosity once anyway since i will grow up soon, so why the f*ck did you buy such an expensive suit for me ? I don't even want it !'

The dinner started soon after, as his parents, oblivious to their son's foul mood, had been setting the table and bringing the plates over during his internal rant. They didn't forget the camera either, just in case something like the chocolate cake incident happened again, especially since a cake was waiting in the kitchen until it was time for dessert, and they wouldn't miss an occasion like that, even if they decided to take precautions this time, just in case.

They started with some *foie gras*, then a whole turkey with sauce and potatoes, for dessert they had some fruit salad and finally, the long awaited cake. Not that Arthur would care since he was still too young to eat solid food. At least he pretended not to care…until he inevitably lost his already poor composure at the sight of the cake.

He could only compare his baby food with what was on the table and *sigh* in the most dramatic way possible for a baby. He was looking at the Yule log with clear envy in his eyes, a frozen log made of chocolate and tangerine.

'And people say that the best food in England is foreign food… Wait, now that I think about it, most of these things are what I saw on the tables of families' New Year gatherings in Paris.'

'Did they try a french-themed New Year's Eve dinner ?'

'Trying to make me jealous aren't you ? Well it works, just wait for my incredible performance, you will regret leaving anything on the plate !'

"Mama, dada ! Yook aw meee !" (Mom, dad ! Look at me !)

"Yook !" (Look !)

Arthur started to stand on his two legs just after the dessert, after his parents took his plate and spoon away from the table. He swiftly started climbing on the table to walk on it toward his parents.

Both Alice and William were shocked, they didn't expect their son to start walking during the New Year's Eve, not so well, and certainly not on the table instead of the floor.

Alice instinctively started to move her hand toward the camera to immortalize the moment while calling and complimenting her son to make him look her way, while his father moved near him to catch him in case he fell off the table.

'Wrong move, now it's Checkmate for you !'

Both of his parents were exactly where he wanted them to be, he started to move toward his mother, although not in a very straight line. Of course he could do so in a straight line, he had practiced a lot to walk correctly and not just wobble like a normal child, it even hurt the perfectionist in him not to do so, but his plans demanded it.

The closer he got to his mother, the less graceful his walk became, but he was very close to his goal, he used the last of his force to run toward the cake and jump on it, taking a mouthful in passing !

'I win ! You thought you could hide a cake from me ? Try again !'

Both Alice and William were stunned, their thought process momentarily frozen, now thinking that the previous cake incident either wasn't that much of an accident or that it transformed their son into a sweet addict.

Arthur on the side was extremely pleased that his parents were still frozen, it allowed him to take a few more mouthfuls, more than he anticipated when he planned this performance, his original plan to ask for the date completely forgotten, before his father finally picked him up and his mother started to take photos of their cute son wearing a suit and covered in cake.


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