~The year 1985~ Aegeus is now 8 years old~
As usual, Aegeus wasn't paying attention to whatever the teacher was saying.
Instead, he was giving himself a practical lesson in magic control under the cover of his wooden desk. With his left hand hidden beneath the lid, he focused his intent. A tiny droplet of water— no larger than a bead— condensed directly out of the thin air above his palm.
Controlling a massive wave was easy, suppressing his output down to a pinpoint was where the real challenge lay.
He concentrated, his eyes fixed blankly on the chalkboard while his mind was locked onto the tiny orb. Shape it, he thought.
Slowly, the droplet stretched into a needle, then flattened into a tiny square, and finally began to orbit his pointer finger like a miniature moon. He could feel his magic pulsing in steady, controlled beats, tweaking the density bit by bit.
Initially, his teachers had taken offense at his detached attitude, even calling his parents in for a formal chat. That hadn't been a pleasant week. But it didn't take long for Aegeus to prove he already understood the curriculum better than they did. Since then, they had largely left him to his own devices.
His eighth birthday was a big milestone for Aegeus and apparently for Hermione as well, because Aegeus was pretty sure his sister had not been able to do magic until now...
It was no secret that Aegeus possessed strange abilities— how could it be, when he'd made no effort to hide it?
He glanced across the living room at Hermione, curled up on the couch, glaring at a pen and trying to make it float with no luck.
~Flashback 3 months~
At eight years old, school for Aegeus was of no concern. But for his five-year-old sister, Hermione, it was serious business. Even at five, Hermione was fiercely determined to do everything perfectly. That week, she had spent hours meticulously working on her very first Infant School assignment.
But her teacher, Miss Stacy— a woman notorious across the entire primary wing for her sharp tongue and lack of patience— had scribbled a heavy red mark straight across the middle of Hermione's page for a tiny mistake, telling her it wasn't good enough.
When Hermione came home that afternoon, she was heartbroken, quietly sobbing over her ruined paper at the kitchen table.
The next morning during school drop-off, Aegeus stood by the gates holding his sister's hand. When Miss Stacy walked past, Aegeus felt a sudden spike of energy in the air.
He expected his own magic to flare in anger on his sister's behalf, but no, it came from his sister. He watched in shock as Miss Stacy's sharp gray hair slowly turned a brilliant, luminous purple right in front of the entire courtyard.
~Flashback end~
Since that day, Hermione had tried every trick imaginable to trigger her magic again, without success. Aegeus tried to guide her, but whatever instinct drove his own magic refused to work for hers.
[Name] Aegeus Granger
[Age] 8 years old
[Strength] 12
[Intelligence] 18
[Magic] 13
[Defense] 11
[Control] D+
Mathematics: Level 7 (35%) (Bachelor)
Physics: Level 6 (3%) (Bachelor's Entry)
Chemistry: Level 6 (30%) (Bachelor's Entry)
Biology: Level 6 (5%) (Bachelor's Entry)
Geology: Level 6 (50%) (Bachelor's Entry)
Geography: Level 6 (15%) (Bachelor's Entry)
Astronomy: Level 6 (50%) (Bachelor's Entry)
Linguistics: Level 1 (99%) (English (Bachelor's Entry))
Aegeus found out that his magic had gotten a lot more powerful. He had even developed a passive sensitivity to the environment— the very sensation that allowed him to detect Hermione's burst months ago.
Speaking of his sister..
"Why won't you move?" Hermione muttered, her scowl deepening at the pen.
"It's not going to move if you just stare a hole into it," Aegeus said, leaning against the doorway. Hermione snapped her head toward him, her cheeks flushed red. "It did move! I felt it wiggling!"
"Hermione, the wind blew through the window."
"It was not the wind!" She huffed, tossing the pen onto the coffee table and crossing her arms tight against her chest. "You make it look so easy. It's so unfair."
Aegeus softened a little. He wanted to tell her that his magic felt like breathing, while hers seemed to react like a trapped pressure cooker— only exploding when her emotions boiled over.
But he knew explaining that to a five-year-old having a tantrum would only make her angrier. "Keep practicing," he offered quietly before turning toward the stairs. "Just... don't set the couch on fire." If only he had taken his own advice...
~~~
Later that afternoon, Aegeus sat on his bed, a sphere of water hovering quietly above his palm. Conjuring a ball of water wasn't new for Aegeus— He'd been able to do that for a long time. What was new was that he didn't stop at a ball anymore. He let it stretch, lose its shape, reform into something else.
Half an hour later, Aegeus was joyously laughing while playing with water-shaped birds, cats, dolphins, orbiting his outstretched hand.
"Achoo!"
A sudden sneeze broke his concentration. The water splashed down, soaking his shirt instantly.
Now was the coldest time of the year. He didn't think it was healthy to stay wet, so he decided to try fire next. Only god knows for sure why Aegeus thought starting a fire was easier than using magic to dry himself.
And if starting a magic fire wasn't stupid enough, right after Aegeus made his fire, he soon grew bored and decided to animate his fire a little like what he had done with the water.
Unlike the docile liquid, the flame flickered wildly, refusing to hold a form. Unaccustomed to failure, Aegeus felt his frustration spike. Aegeus, who at that time didn't know that animated fire and negative emotions were a very bad combination, could never have predicted what was going to happen next.
The flame didn't just animate— it began siphoning magic directly from him at an alarming speed, swelling in size by the second.
The heat hit his face like an open oven door. What started as a match-sized flicker roared into a snapping, orange beast. Panic seized him. He tried to sever his magic, but the flame clung to him like a leech, growing wilder by the second.
"Oh, sh—"
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TO BE CONTINUED
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