CHAPTER 12: THE FINE ART OF PERFORMING MAGIC

 

         The house was as exquisite and beautiful on the inside, as on the outside. They were ushered in and welcomed by Jenny's mother. The best thing about the house was, that it felt very warm and homely. The tiled walls had beautiful sceneries painted all over them. They were awestruck by the marvellous designs and architecture of the house. The upper parts of the walls were lined with brilliant paintings and portraits.

          Jennifer's mother, Mrs. Emma Green, had prepared a delectable and appetizing meal for everyone. After the meal, Lily tried to go back home, but her attempts were in vain, thanks to the combined persuasion of the quartet and Jenny. 

          "But I should probably go back home. When I do have my own place here, why shall I burden you?", Lily argued.

          "Oh yeah! That little rented room that you call a house, right?", Fred said sarcastically.

          "And Lily, do you really think that we consider you as a burden? How mean of you! You have to stay here, now!", Jenny stated sternly.

          And after their combined efforts, she stayed. But fun and excitement was short-lived for the teens, as the late afternoon marked the beginning of their magic tutorial session, for which, they were led to an empty room upstairs, by Robert.

          "If animals could explicitly show their facial expressions, then before being butchered, they would have the same expression on their faces, as you people. Come on! I am not some butcher, and you people are not any sacrificial goats. Trust me. Drop those gloomy expressions from your face and smile", Robert said, rolling his eyes.

          Fred snorted. "Trust you? I can hardly trust you. You are the only one who knows about the way out from here. And you won't even tell us. How can I trust someone who keeps us in the dark?".

          Robert frowned, and said, "Well, there's something called the right time. And everything has it. Everything has a right time. So listen, young man..."

          "YOU listen old man! Don't start with your irritating philosophies now. You may be wise, but you are a weird man, who is keeping us in the dark. Now I don't want to argue anymore. Got it, you wise old fool?!", Fred exclaimed, all in a breath.

          "Wise old fool. Hmm... Wow! That's a great nickname, by the way. Thanks! Now come on! We have to start the training too. The training will only take three or four days to complete, by the way", Robert said, over his shoulder, as he went forward into the room. The others just silently looked at the exchange between Fred and Robert. George shook his head in exasperation and Alice rolled her eyes, while Molly glared at Fred.

           And that was how, their magic tutorial session started. It began with Robert teaching them specific wand movements for specific actions. He then proceeded to lecture them about the value of concentration and determination in performing magic.

           "Always keep a good focus on the wand movements. And the moves of your magic wands might be same for certain actions. But... the thing that you have to prioritise first and foremost, is your concentration and focus. Picture what you want to do, in your mind's eye and then make a move", he explained.

           Molly, being the fast learner that she was, had progressed the most. George was the second one.

           Robert had given them the task of moving a desk across the room. Molly was able to get the table to move a few yards. And this, made her do a little dance, in excitement. George achieved a few inches and even Alice was able to move the table a few centimetres. It was Fred, who had hardly been able to move the table. And this highly frustrated him.

           "Concentration is the key! Focus. Remember what I said? Picture what you want to do, in your mind. And then do it", Robert said, encouraging them.

           He once again showed them the wand movement to move objects. A full circle and then swipe towards the direction of movement.

           Slowly and steadily, everyone was able to move the table. Not fully across the room, but at least, halfway across the room.

           'Why was the task that seemed easy at first, suddenly seeming so difficult?', was the anguished thought going around the youngsters' minds, while they attempted to move other things across the room.

           And at that moment, as if he read their minds, Robert said, "It's not easy. Performing magic is also like an art, in which, you have to put in a lot of effort for learning".

           "Okay! That's it for today! Tomorrow, we'll start early. You know, the saying, early bird catches the worm", Robert announced, and they departed from the room.

           As they came downstairs, they noticed Jenny and Chris come into the house, through the door that opened into the backyard. 

           On inquiring, they were answered by Chris. "We went to fly". 

           The quartet's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "What?! There are even means to fly?", George asked in amazement. 

           "How do you do that? Do you have broomsticks like wizards and witches in stories? Or is it some other way?", Molly asked.

           "We have flierboards", Jenny replied, running off.

           "Where's she off to, now?", Alice asked.

           "To bring our flierboards for showing you. Crazy, that girl", Chris said, laughing.

           And soon Jenny returned, her hands occupied with, what looked like large, flat frisbee discs. 

           "This is a frisbee!", George exclaimed.

           "Yes, but no. I mean to say that, these are our mediums of transport. You stand on it, and you fly. It's like a flying carpet! Only, you have to stand on it", Jenny explained.

           "Won't we fall down?", George asked.

           "No. You won't. Once you put your feet onto the board, they get fastened. Your feet remain stuck to the board, until you finally land", Chris answered.

           "Wow! This sounds so exciting! I want to try it", Alice said, excitedly clapping her hands.

           "Why not? But not today. Sorry. But definitely tomorrow. Today, it's already very late. Mum won't allow us outside. It's almost dark", Jenny smiled apologetically.

           "Yeah. It's okay. We don't mind. We'll go tomorrow", Molly said.

           "Yeah. Of course. Tomorrow will be a fun-filled day", Jenny said, full of enthusiasm.

           They were all unaware of the surprise that awaited them..........

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Notes (A/N): Hi lovely readers 😊... What's up? How was the chapter? Comment and let me know 😇... I want to know all your valuable suggestions, opinions and advices.

So... What's the surprise, do you think?😉... It's really going to be a fun-filled day 😃... 

Sorry. I couldn't attach much pictures today😅...

Love you loads 💙💛...