Professor Gwynn

  They stopped a few steps from a counter, Oscar barely able to see over it. A woman with ginger hair had just served a client, and Bertram took the chance to grab her attention.

  ‘Hello, miss. A room for the boy and food brought in, please. Make it a great dinner – he needs it. He’s had a rough day,’ Bertram said, placing a hand on Oscar’s shoulder.

  ‘Of course, Sir Grand Wizard Bertram,’ she said brightly, showing Oscar a brisk smile. ‘A room and a pleasant meal the boy shall have. Would you like to pay now, or later?’

  Bertram took a big drawstring pouch from the inner side of his cloak and placed it on the counter.

  ‘Could you remind me of the price? It’s been a while.’

  ‘It’ll be thirteen Doburios for one night, including dinner. I’ve cut off room service for the boy and discounted the total,’ she said with a swift left head tilt.

  Bertram pulled out thirteen thick golden coins from the pouch, each minted with the upper body of a sideways-facing dragon, its forked tongue extended broadly across the shining metal.

  ‘First floor, second room to the right!’ she cheered.

  Oscar waved to the pub lady, then they climbed the steps of a dark oak stair. There, Bertram opened the second square door in the hallway, and inside, a room with everything needed for the night welcomed the boy, who stared at a comfortable-looking, cottony bed.

  ‘Tomorrow right before dawn, let’s meet outside the Faulty Wand. And don’t forget to lock the room before sleeping. Have a good night,’ said Bertram with a gentle voice, bowing quickly.

  ‘Thank you for everything, Bertram.’

  Oscar’s eyes drifted to the closed door, feeling grateful for the man’s arrival and his kindness that, along with Cecilia’s, turned a dreadful day into the beginning of something he struggled to grasp but gave him a new flame. He couldn’t explain it – but having Bertram beside him felt comfortable, even familiar.

  That night, Oscar had a dinner the Godwins could only dream of, sweet and delightful in taste. He locked the door and lay down on the bed, as the lights gradually dimmed on their own. A dark blue sky appeared, scattered with shimmering gold and distant stars that flickered beneath the ceiling. Soft lulling sounds weaved all around, gliding into his ears.

  And for once, since a moment Oscar had long forgotten, without the heavy air and weight that he had to deal with in the manor, he slept peacefully.

  *

  Oscar staggered to the door, still half asleep. ‘Who is it?’

  ‘Sorry to disturb you, but Bertram asked me to wake you up in case you overslept. Could you let me in, please?’ said the pub’s lady.

  He unlocked the latch and opened the door, curious. Behind it, the woman stood in the corridor full of energy – even though it was still early morning.

  She was holding folded clothes: a light grey T-shirt and a pair of black trousers.

  ‘These are for you, he said.’

  Oscar almost gasped, and a smile spread on his face.

  ‘Can I leave the ones I have on here?’

  ‘We’ll take care of tossing away these rags, don’t worry. Oh right. There is one more thing.’

  She crouched behind the wall outside and came back up, this time holding a pair of black leather shoes.

  ‘Here, that’s all,’ she said in a friendly voice, handing them down to Oscar.

  Oscar looked at the shoes with relief, his feet still sore from the patched ones he’d had to suffer.

  He looked up to her and nodded.

  ‘I’ll change in a bit.’

  ‘Don’t take too long,’ she warned, placing both hands on her flanks. ‘Bertram leading you here reminded me of that day – way before I’d become a witch – when I was invited to reach Greenwich, just like you. And guess what? I showed up ten hours late.’

  He chuckled and shook his hands.

  ‘I’ll be out in a moment, I promise.’

  ‘Good. Don’t be like that old version of me,’ she said, sighing. ‘Thinking about it is still embarrassing, so let’s not dwell on that. I’d better move – there are clients waiting for me down below. Have a good time!’

  As the pub lady left, he wondered about the meeting. Oscar was eager to see what it would be about and if, perhaps, he’d learn magic from it.

  *

  When Oscar stepped out of the cottage, many grey clouds hovered above Greenwich, almost covering the entire sky. The wind whistled, messing up his hair. And as he looked around, he spotted Bertram approaching him. He smiled, waving his hand.

  ‘Hi, Bertram! I love the new clothes so much. They’re really comfy and warm.’

  ‘Good morning to you, Oscar. I’m glad you like them.’

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  ‘How did you take my measurements?’

  ‘I have a knack for that. So I just guessed,’ Bertram said playfully, narrowing his eyes to shield them from his long strands of hair stirred by the wind.

  ‘Anyway, ready to go to the meeting?’

  Oscar closed his hands into fists and snapped them near his chest. The moment was near, his imagination wandering wildly.

  ‘Yes, ready to go.’

  Crossing the field of low grass and trees that fluttered, Bertram led the way towards a closed gate up ahead. Decorations of steel flowers and blossoms were above its flat top rail, and past the gaps between its iron bars was a wide, red-brown, two-storey house. The basement peeked out with large windows, their bottom halves hidden by the ground. In the same style, those on the front wall overlooked Oscar and Bertram from each floor, but with their full length visible. Bertram opened the gate leaf. They climbed the marble steps and stopped before the entrance, where he knocked.

  The door opened, but at first glance, no one had done it – at the end of the vintage hallway that it revealed, an old lady was smiling with grace.

  ‘Hello, Bertram. Is Oscar with you or is he still sleeping?’

  Oscar stepped out from behind Bertram, moving to his left, and glanced at the old woman. She looked wise and composed, her eyes blue-green and her hair slightly bobbed, short and layered with curls. She wore a black robe that nearly touched the dark mahogany floor.

  ‘As you can see, he is awake and right on time, Professor Gwynn.’

  ‘Ah, there you are,’ she said with restrained excitement.

  As she looked at him, her eyes crinkled. Gwynn walked a few steps closer, lowering her head just enough to see him better.

  ‘You have grown a lot since I last saw you,’ she said, then her voice grew serious. ‘And now, the time has finally come to guide you to our world. If all goes well – as it should – afterwards, in the coming years, Oscar Glover, you shall learn how to use magic and all an adult wizard needs to know.’

  Oscar felt like jumping as joy and happiness stormed his heart. But he resisted the urge, afraid he’d embarrass himself if he did. A question popped into his mind as he thought more about Professor Gwynn’s words.

  ‘How come you know me, nice old lady? I don’t remember you at all.’

  Gwynn closed her eyes. ‘Everything will be clear with time,’ she said, opening them again. ‘Patience, Oscar. There are important things I need to explain concerning what you will have to do. Please, follow me.’

  She returned to where she had stood and entered an open door on the right.

  Oscar started walking, then realized he was alone. He glanced back at Bertram.

  "Go ahead. I’ll wait here," Bertram said with a smile.

  A long table stood at the centre of a dining room with dark green walls, and a painting hung on the farthest side from the entrance. It depicted a large round table with twenty-five seats, softly bathed in a beam of light coming inside from a tall window on its right.

  He looked at the professor, his mouth half-open in curiosity – Gwynn lifted her hand and twirled it upwards. The table shrank in length. Oscar brows widened; it had happened in a blink. Closing her hand in a half-fist, Gwynn raised it above her shoulder. It became the size of a small block base and slid across the room at the speed of a released spring, almost as if the floor were made of ice. The supposed former table stopped right before Gwynn. She snatched it with precision and left it in a corner, dropping it slowly.

  Walking back, she folded her hands in front, her gaze fixed on Oscar.

  ‘Now we have plenty of space,’ she said with a satisfied smile, then moved to the hall's centre, still holding that pose.

  She beckoned. ‘Don’t be shy. Come here.’

  Oscar did as she asked, and as the echo of his steps faded away, their faces were touched by the cloudy lights of that morning.

  ‘Before I explain what you must do as tradition demands, I am obliged to formally say, since you are now here: Congratulations, Oscar Glover. I declare you a Prospect Wizard.’

  Oscar grinned for a moment but then tilted his head. He looked up to the ceiling as he focused, wanting to ask a few things. It was triangular and had several joists crossing the length of the whole room. Oscar had never seen a ceiling of such shape on a first floor – and he was exactly right in thinking of it as strange. Yet the questions he had in mind distracted him enough not to pay that detail much attention, even if it felt odd.

  ‘You have questions, I see,’ she observed.

  ‘Is my face that expressive?’

  ‘Quite so, my dear,’ she said, her gaze steady and her voice stoic but warm.

  ‘Professor Gwynn, why am I the only one here? I thought there would be many others my age starting.’

  ‘It is uncommon for there to be someone like you. A boy who is unaware of the Wizardry World, whom we must invite to attend our school. Such occurrences happen most of the time with Half-Bumbles, and only in much rarer cases with Bumbles. And of course, you are not a Bumble,’ she said calmly, lacing her fingers together.

  Oscar scratched his head, understanding more or less what Gwynn had said.

  ‘If that is the case, Professor, shouldn’t there be other Half-Bumbles here too?’

  ‘Oh, Oscar. You see, there are many Half-Bumbles – a decent portion of the Wizardry World population. But most of them are already aware or live in this world. That is why you are the only one here this year. And so, you shall have to pass the test that comes with it,’ she said. ‘This meeting is not for those of your age who know of our world's existence; they skip to the next step instead.’

  ‘Does that mean I’m a Half-Bumble?’

  Gwynn clapped once. ‘Correct. But only on paper.’

  ‘And how come you know me already, Professor?’ he asked, spreading his arms wide, his eyes wide open.

  A faint smile appeared on her lips, then she spoke.

  ‘The first time I saw you was when I met your father at the Ministry. You were still a baby back then, and none of them that day could stay home. Although he had to work, he brought you along,’ Gwynn began. ‘Another time, they visited us at the school where, if all goes as it should, you will study – the same where they did. And oh dear, you were already three years old. Then a few more times when I’d have to go to the Ministry. As such, even if I can count all the times I told you on less than two hands, I could see you grow from a baby until you were five years old.’

  ‘Really? I wish I could remember all of that. Though, why did it not happen more often?’

  ‘Your house has always been a Bumble one here in London, and, because of that, they would only bring you to Wizardry places when they really had to. It’s a tragedy they’ve been missing for almost six years.’

  Oscar’s voice trembled. ‘So like Bertram, you know them too, Professor.’

  ‘Indeed,’ she said kindly. ‘Brave souls, both of them.’

  After a brief silence, Gwynn lowered her gaze further, filled with fondness.

  ‘Despite your highly questionable adoptive guardians, I see you have grown quite well. Though I must say, you look slightly older than an eleven-year-old boy. I’d say ... twelve,’ she said in a light voice.

  ‘I bet it’s because I had to deal with the Godwins for so long,’ he said, and flushed.

  ‘We wish we could do more, but the way Bumbles’ laws and those of our Ministry interact would cause immense problems, so you had to deal with them.’

  Oscar shook his head vigorously.

  ‘You and Bertram are treating me so well. That’s all that matters now!’

  A proud smile spread across Gwynn’s face; she narrowed her eyes, looking at him from top to bottom.

  ‘If you have no further questions, I will explain what you must do.’

  Oscar confirmed with a determined gesture that he had none.

  And then, she raised both hands, and an electric noise echoed in the air. A glowing map of London appeared slowly, floating between them like a vision.