A Web Of Magic

Magnus shook his head and watched out for any humans that might be nearby. There weren't any. He walked closer towards the cottage with tense muscles, ready to run at any moment. It was this cottage that brought him this mess and he wasn't taking any chances without gaining some understanding of his situation first. Maybe there would be something in this place that would shed some light on what exactly happened to him. His stomach growled. 'And find some food while I'm at it.'

Only the left part of the cottage was standing. The right part was where the cauldron room was and only the foundation and a part of the wall on the far side remained. The whole building was a combination of stone and wood. He crouched down and picked up two fist-sized rocks on the ground. The solid stone gave him some sense of security even though he knew it wouldn't do much against a dark witch.

He slowly moved towards the cauldron room as he searched for any traces of the witch. What remained of the room was all blackened and filled with soot with the occasional smoke coming out of the burnt portions. Magnus almost missed the witch or what remained of her amidst the soot covered room. In the far-right corner of the room a body lay with a hand outstretched facing the wall. 'That's the witch then? Mental hag cooking up children.' The only reason Magnus didn't throw up was because the body was barely recognizable as a human. Even then, his stomach took some effort to calm down.' It's just a villain. Just like in the video games,' he assured himself. Some of the older boys at school would let him play games with them once in a while. He used his experience of blowing things up in the video games to calm his mind.

Magnus turned his attention away from the gruesome sight. The cauldron caught his interest next. Its contents were burnt away due to the fire and there was just a black residue at the bottom. He did not want to go anywhere near it. There were also some strange scribbles on the remnants of the wall but he didn't understand any of them. The door connecting the burnt room to the rest of the intact cottage was still in place despite looking burnt. After confirming that there was no danger waiting for him outside, he moved towards the cottage door.

Magnus slowly pushed the door and entered the intact remains of the cottage. There was a cozy living room with a fireplace and a pot hanging above it. Another door led inwards to a study of sorts. Except for the area of the cottage connected to the cauldron room, everything else was more or less intact. 'Must be one sturdy cottage to stand after all of that,' he marveled.

There was a shelf on the other side of the fireplace containing some cheese and bread among other pantry items. His hunger rose with a vengeance and he decided to fulfill it. 'Not like anyone would keep poisoned food lying around right?' he decided to take a chance. The cheese wasn't the best he had ever had, neither was the bread the freshest, but it'd do for now. The pot above the fireplace had some water in it. The fireplace had long gone cold without any fire in it.

Magnus decided to check the study next. It was smaller than the living room and was lit by a series of candle filled scones on the walls. There was a bed covered in animal furs that seemed to be unused. Beside the bed was a bookshelf and leaning against the adjacent wall was a table with a chair. Magnus took in all of this with an uninterested look on his face, but his eyes soon lit up.

Lying next to the bed in a discarded pile were undoubtedly, his clothes. Thrilled to be clothed again, he quickly wore his clothes disregarding the sweaty smell they gave. Soon he was dressed in dark blue shirt and brown trousers and his travel boots. The familiar texture and warmth brought him a sense of comfort and courage in his current predicament.

He went to the bookshelf next to see if anything there would rouse his lost memories. There were four books in total among which two were in English and one was in an unknown language. The last one was just full of pictograms and pictures. He always had an interest in learning new languages. Unfortunately, the languages he learned before were Greek and French, none of which seemed useful here. The two English books were "Tales of Beedle the Bard" and "Legends of the Legendary". He recognized the first one as his mum used to read to him as a child. 'Speaking of mum and dad, where are they? I hope they are safe and find me soon.'

While the books looked interesting, he decided to look at them later once he got a stock of his situation. He noticed a sling bag hanging from the side of the bookshelf. He decided to take it as it might come in handy for carrying anything and he couldn't find his backpack anywhere. He checked the bag for its contents. It felt bigger on the inside than on the outside. 'Hmm, I think mum had one of these types of bags. Only, hers looked a lot nicer than the ash grey of this one.'

He did find another book inside the bag. It felt warm to the touch and felt leathery in texture. He pulled out the flesh-colored book from the bag excitedly and looked it over. It was titled in English "Bonds of Flesh." His excitement was short-lived as it wasn't some cool grimoire that he thought it to be. It was just some book on skin-care. 'The games make it seem so exciting. The witch is dead but there's no good loot,' he lamented. Maybe his mum was right, he spent way too much time with those older boys playing games.

He exited the house and looked around for any danger while also trying to forage for some food. The cheese and bread might only last him for two more meals with him rationing. His dad told him that in the wilderness, three things are always important- shelter, water and food. He found the shelter and a source of water. While he would prefer not to stay in the same cottage as the witch, he didn't have any choice now. Why risk moving somewhere else where there might be more danger? This might make his parents find him faster. If he learned anything from watching survival tv shows, it was to always look for more food while you have the energy to spare. His dad would have just used magic if there weren't any muggles nearby, but he didn't have the luxury of doing so.

Gradually he filled his bag with red and purple berries that seemed to grow around the glade closer to the stream. By the time he was done, he was tired and the body aches came back with a vengeance. 'This would be so much easier if I had a wand. Or could use magic!' he lamented. His parents always put off teaching him magic beyond some basic theory. 'You would get your time honey,' they would always say. Not to mention that living among the muggles didn't do him any favors as they had to keep the magic to a minimum owing to the Statute of Secrecy.

He returned to the cottage and had some lunch with cheese and bread. He kept the berries for later, once he decided if they were harmful or not. They kept glowing for some odd reason. It wasn't just the berries. Even some plants and weeds around the cottage were glowing in different colors. He just chalked it up to some magic he didn't know. They did stop glowing once he stopped concentrating on them. He latched the door to the study and soon his body forced him to sleep. By the time he woke up, the sun was setting down. The glade where he was staying was silent as always. 'Probably some charm to keep away the beasts and the critters.' He tried to start a fire in the fireplace using the techniques of an experienced outdoorsman and spectacularly failed. His thoughts went from 'Should have practiced with dad when he taught,' to 'Tv shows are fake!'

He gave up using these methods and decided to try something he never tried before. Something his parents never approved before. He decided to use magic without a wand. He tried to recall what he felt when he killed the snake. 'Magic is about Will, Intent and Imagination.' He imagined a flame burning in the fireplace. His first few attempts didn't do anything. A burst of flame suddenly came from the fireplace and almost blew him back towards the wall. 'Shite!' the fire soon went away like it never existed. Faint scorch marks on the ground were the only traces that it ever happened. 'I forgot this is a wooden cottage. Could have burned the damned thing down. Mum and dad were right, I should be more careful,' Magnus thought. Yet, he didn't give up.

He sat in front of the fireplace and started thinking about what went wrong. He had always been a smart boy for his age, at least he was in the muggle school he attended. After a few minutes of intense brainstorming, he came to a conclusion. He concentrated on the wood in the fireplace once again and looked intensely. Soon a small flame flickered into existence within the fireplace.