A Web Of Magic

Magnus had lunch at the Weasleys and was dropped back at home by Mrs. Weasley. He stored his school supplies in his room and took a nap. He had plans this evening and he needed to be well rested for it. He woke up an hour later and got ready for the task. He was going to brew his first potion.

He converted one of the guest rooms into a makeshift potion lab. While he wasn't able to procure some of the advanced ingredients, he was able to get some of the basic ones enough to brew the first-year potions. His goal was to eventually brew some healing and restorative potions for his own use and sell any excess. For now, he stuck to the simplest of them all, the "Cure for Boils" potion.

He cleaned his standard pewter cauldron once and set it up for brewing. He followed the process step by step as shown in the book. He read and simulated it enough times in his head that he could recite the whole procedure easily. First went the snake fangs, some stirring, then horned slugs and so on. When it was almost done, he took it off the fire and added porcupine quills. He stirred it clockwise five times and finally waved his wand to finish it. By the end, it was blue in color and have off slight pink smoke. The whole process was done within an hour. 'While it isn't perfect as the amount of smoke is slightly off, it is great for a first attempt. I might make a great potions master after all,' he complimented himself in his head.

He bottled the potion in a crystal vial and cleaned his cauldron to get ready to brew the next potion. It was the "Herbicide Potion". By the time he was done, over four hours went by. His legs and hands were aching from all the standing and stirring, but he looked satisfied at the vials of different colors placed on the table. There were vials of blue, green, orange and teal. There were the "Cure for Boils", "Herbicide Potion", "Wiggenweld Potion", "Forgetfulness Potion", "Pompion Potion" and the "Antidote to Common Poisons". In short, they were the entire first year curriculum of potions. They weren't all perfect, but it was a great achievement for someone who hasn't begun their education proper. He placed the Wiggenweld Potion which is both a healing potion and an antidote to sleeping potions, the Pompion potion and the Antidote to Common Poisons in his sling bag to carry with him at all times. Who knew when he would need them? So, he followed his aunt's advice.

The Herbicide potion he would probably give to Mrs. Weasley. Their front yard could use it based on what he saw. 'I got carried away,' he thought sheepishly as his rumbling stomach reminded him how late it was. His real goal was the healing potion. The rest were practice both for school and for advance potions he planned to brew later on. Potion brewing calmed his mind and brought a sense of clarity and concentration. 'Still it is good to be prepared. My goal isn't to compete with kids my age, but to perform well beyond. To earn fame isn't easy. Especially with no family or old money to rely on unlike some of the other wizards. I do have a goal to meet and things to accomplish,' he reaffirmed himself. He stored away the potions and slowly stroked his wand. He used his wand during the potion making and also tried some charms with it. It was much smoother than when compared to using his aunt's wand. He ate his meal and then retired for the night.

The next morning Magnus woke up refreshed and went about his daily routine. Some walking in the large backyard, taking care of the greenhouse and some light reading. Mrs. Weasley popped in on time and asked him if he would like to go to the Burrow for his meals. Magnus thought that was better than her coming here all the time. She has hard enough time taking care of her family. Why add extra work for her? Besides, he valued his privacy and didn't want her around to watch all the things he planned on doing.

One apparition and he was back at the Burrow. A nice and quick breakfast and the twins dragged him away to "show him the scenery". Ron also wanted to follow them but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't have any of it. Most wizarding children were home schooled by their parents until and if they attend Hogwarts. It was time for lessons for Ron and Ginny. Ron could only grumble at the injustice and go back to his mother.

"So, where are we going?" Magnus asked the twins who were chatting away non-stop.

"We could have played quidditch, but mum doesn't allow us to use the brooms unless Charlie or Bill is around. Bill finished school last year and is off to Egypt for work for Gringotts. Smart guy, Bill. Charlie is off to his friend's house, so no flying today. We were thinking of going swimming. There's a pond nearby. What do you say?" the twins asked.

"Alright, but there is one tiny problem. I don't know how to swim," Magnus revealed.

"Then it's even more fun isn't it? We get to teach you," they started chuckling mischievously.

'Oh I don't like where this is going,' Magnus sighed.

Magnus's fear did come true. The twins' way of teaching is to push him into the pond and hoping that he learns to swim just like animals do. Fred even quoted some nonsense like that's how the fish learn. 'Like hell they do! They don't have a choice. They are born in water,' Magnus thought exasperated. Just when he managed to stay afloat, they started chucking pebbles at him saying that it would build character. 'Alright, if you guys are itching for a lesson, you'll get it,' Magnus decided.

It took him an hour or two, but he eventually managed to swim decently. The twins stopped pelting him and were swimming along with him lazily talking about this and that. The pond was some distance away from a narrow road which ran all the way through Ottery St. Catchpole, the place where the Weasleys live in. The twins introduced the area to him. A hill away were the Lovegoods and five hills away were the Diggorys, according to their dad. Officially, they haven't been there, but unofficially there wasn't a place nearby that the twins haven't explored. They had to be careful because there were also a lot of muggles in Ottery St. Catchpole. Bill took them when they pestered him.

"Now if you want to remain our friend, keep that secret to yourself, will you? Mum will throw a fit if she knows. And don't tell Ron either. He'll rat us out to mum for cake," Fred and George looked at him expectantly.

"Ok, I'll keep your secrets. But it goes both ways. You keep mine and I'll keep yours," Magnus levelled a stare at them.

The twins looked at Magnus deeply as if they were trying to read his mind. Then they looked at each other and nodded their heads. "Alright, mate you got a deal," they shook his hand. The three of them knew their relationship would be much deeper from this day onward. The serious looks on their faces disappeared as they started smiling and then a water fight broke out. Eventually, they had enough and got out of the pond as they dressed themselves.

"Man, I wish we had some butterbeers. Bill and Charlie said they were awesome. They couldn't give us though. Said we were underage," George(?) snorted.

"Well, there's no butterbeer, but I do have some pumpkin juice," Magnus offered. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that the twins didn't notice.

"Go on then. Where is it?" the twins looked at him in expectation.

Magnus went to his sling bag and pulled out two stoppered orange vials. He handed the twins the two vials under their skeptical gaze.

"Aren't these a bit small?" they asked.

"Well can't go around carrying tankards, now can I? These are just to wet the mouth," Magnus shrugged nonchalantly.

They pulled the corks out and gave a sniff to make sure it was as Magnus said. Both the vials gave a sweet pumpkin smell. "Alright, bottoms up," they drank it in one go.

The twins felt a bit funny. The juice was sweet and nice, but they felt bloated for some reason. They only had to look at Magnus's laughing face to know that they had been had. They quickly looked at each other and were shocked.

"George, where's my handsome face?"

"I don't know Fred, where's mine?"

Then they started laughing at each other. Their heads were both replaced by large carved pumpkins. They could still see, smell and hear fine. They looked at Magnus smilingly and said in an impressed tone, "Wicked! You got us mate. How did you do it?"

"Pompion potion…," Magnus explained.

"You can brew potions already? That's amazing. Mum wouldn't let us," they looked disappointed.

'I wonder why,' Magnus snorted in his head. Anyone who spends some time with these guys would know they were troublemakers.

"How long do you reckon it'll last?" they asked curiously.

"Around 20 minutes. You'll return back to normal after that," assured Magnus.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go quickly," he twins started running towards their house. Magnus too followed along wondering what they were doing. "Hey, why the rush?" he asked as they ran.

"How else are we going to scare Ronnykins if we don't reach in time?"