[ Chapter VI (6): "ASKING PERMISSION" ]
[ "You're a wizard?" ] Mr. Anthony Mullein, the grandfather of Jo and owner of a small bodega in the crime ridden city of Gotham asked. In confusion mixed with clear disbelief, baffled what the hell this 20s something man is saying.
Matthias who could see the look being given to him, then pulled out his wand from his wizard robe's pocket. Sleek, black, and looking more like a souvenir toy than the wand depicted in history. [ "I AM a Wizard, yes." ]
[ "..." ]
[ "..." ]
[ "..." ] Ahh shit, am I doing all of this introduction thing wrong? He thought to himself, while staring in the eyes of the shopkeeper in front of him. Someone who he only met yesterday, meeting for the second time.
But he has no choice at the moment, the System tasked him for the day to accept a Student. And the only one available at the moment is the child, granddaughter of this man, the future Green Lantern member. So that's where he started.
He either does this or not eat that delicious steak again for the rest of his life, which is like torture to him. Matthias needs money, he needs the System Coins as currency to get more steak; that is the reason why he is revealing his gift.
After what felt like the eternity of staring at one another, the shopkeeper, Mr. Mullein then spoke up, worried traced in his voice, [ "What...?" ] He continued, pointing at the rows of medicines, [ "Do you need aspirin, kid? There, free of charge, it's my gift to you." ]
To someone who had lived for more than 65 years, how can a man like Anthony believe that something as weird, unique, and dangerous like wizards exist— subsequently wands and magic. Something written only as fictional stories, that his granddaughter loves reading about.
So, no, he who lived his whole life believing in science cannot simply accept the fact that magic exists, or that this weird acting newly moved in stranger is actually a wizard in disguise due to him wearing a robe-thing, or by having a so-and-so called "wand".
[ "You don't believe me." ]
[ "Absolutely." ] Anthony replied with a grin.
[ "Want me to prove it to you?" ] Which made Matthias want to wipe it off of his face.
[ "Then be my guest, kid." ] Anthony continued, tone challenging. [ "I'll bet my Mama's secret recipe, you know, she makes one mean of a tortilla." ]
Anthony watched clearly as the weird robed wearing man turned around with his "wand" in hand, smirking? That caught him off guard, apparently aside from criminals littering the streets, mentally deranged people are too.
Thankfully this one is non-harmful and only wants to show his "magic", or whatever the hell that means. So Anthony only watches as this stranger pointed the "wand" in his hand at a row of shelves, at plastic wrapped biscuits— Chocos to be precise; before then twisting.
[ "Hmm?" ] That single action made Anthony furrow his brows slightly, because in doing so, the Chocos moved slightly with a tinge hint of blue glow, in curiosity he leaned forward on the counter.
[ "Did they... mov-?" ] But before he could even finish speaking, the plastic of Chocos flew into Matthias' hands, which the latter then placed on the counter, right in front of Anthony's bulging eyes.
[ "Do you believe me now, old man." ] Matthias in seeing the grin from the old shopkeep disappear, now replaced with disbelief— the good kind, could now give his own little smug smirk in return. [ "And oh- about the recipe, keep it. Between you and me, I don't really know how to cook." ]
[ "..." ] Anthony didn't respond immediately, instead went and touched the bag of Chocos, inspecting it and being mesmerized by it. Not due to the Chocos itself, but due to how it got there by the counter— [ "Magic!" ]
[ "Yeah, magic." ]
[ "How'd you do that?" ]
[ "Magic." ]
[ "Can I learn how to do that?" ]
[ "No, sorry." ] He wasn't lying, apparently magic is either gifted or learnt by selective few. The former is done to him by the System, the latter is how wizards and witches come to be in the original Wizarding World.
Seeing the renewed energy of Mr. Mullein disappeared, Matthias then noticed that this is the best time to bring up the topic of his granddaughter having the capability of being a witch. So he did. [ "But others can, like uhh- your granddaughter for example, what's her name again?" ]
[ "Jo can?!" ]
[ "Yeah, Jo, that little child yesterday? Yup, she can do what you could call magic. The same thing I did." ] To strengthen his point, he then accio'd another bag of Chocos— he was attracted to the Chocos specially because it's a food that doesn't exist in his universe, it is a fictional food created for a fictional universe— so that's that.
Apparently from what he could remember, Martian Manhunter, one of the core Justice League Members and a Martian are very fond of these exact chocolate cream-filled cookies. His favorite actually. So he wanted to investigate and find out exactly why? What's so special about these.
Matthias opened the bag and ate one of the cookies inside, his mouth being instantly greeted with a flavorful delight, unexpected, but welcomed. [ "This is actually delicious." ] Now he understands why a Martian could be so fond of simple cookies that much, they are simply delicious. Really.
[ "I'm going to be straight with you, are you saying my granddaughter is a wizard?" ] Anthony after having been given the time to think asked again, he deliberately ignored the part where this Wizard is eating stolen Chocos.
[ "A witch." ] Matthias clarified before then bitting into another cream-filled biscuit. While then continuing his explanation, [ "But yeah, she is. A very qualified one at that, and if you give me the chance I'll teach how she could properly wield her magic-" ]
About to add on other explanations, like that she could possibly be turned into an obscurial due to suppressed magical capabilities, or miss out on the chance to learn magic as a whole. He was stopped, when suddenly the enthusiastic Mr. Mullein leaped forward and grabbed both of his hands. [ "I accept!" ] Shaking it up and down.
[ "Oh that's great... Wow." ] It was that easy. Matthias minutes ago was even contemplating begging just to have this man's granddaughter as a student. But thankfully that doesn't seem to be needed.
[ "Mr. Mullein about the lessons payment." ]
[ "No, no, no payment. Don't worry, I will give you my savings, take whatever the hell you want from the shop, and if that's not enough then I'll give you my bodega which was given to me by my mother— bless her soul." ]
[ "..." ] He was about to say that they wouldn't need to pay a single dime for the teaching lessons, but here we are. Mr. Mullein was so moved that he was ready to give everything up just for her granddaughter's education in magic.
At first he thought of cutting Mr. Mullein off, telling him everything would be free. But the more and more he spoke, the more and more Matthias' subconscious became curious, and that, finally, he realized how much this man wanted her granddaughter to wield her magic. Commendable.
But Matthias has no need for money, a place, the thought of getting anything from the shop did interest him though— but in comparison to Hogwart's steak, it was nothing. So clarifying everything, he explained. [ "So uhm, talking about the payments. Mr. Mullein, the lessons would be free of charge, no need to worry about anything." ]
Wouldn't want to be an ass, and besides, Matthias is actually benefiting more from this deal compared to the whole of Mullein Family. He is after all in the possession of a lovely System called the Hogwarts Teaching System, and yes, it's literally out of this world.
[ "Oh... oh, thank God." ] Mr. Mullein felt relieved, to the point that his legs naturally gave out; thanks to the wooden chair behind him, he didn't fall to the ground. Matthias on the other hand continued eating the cookies, primarily because he loves it, and before he could know it— he ate it all.
In the meantime he then explained to Mr. Mullein the pros and cons of being a wizard or a witch. Those are mainly positive, he discussed how long each lesson would take, they agreed on three to four hours each day from 4:00PM.
The reason for this is that apparently Jo has class, and that she'll be home in the afternoon. Give time for her to rest, and boom, wizardry lessons about Charms and Transfiguration is next— albeit less so Transfiguration because he hadn't studied it that much.
At the moment she is out of the house/bodega because she is at school, it is Monday and the first day of class for the week, so Matthias and Anthony couldn't ask her what's her opinion about being signed up for wizardry lessons.
They could always cancel it if she disagreed, which Matthias hopes wouldn't be the case, if so then he wouldn't be able to complete the System's mission for the day. Meaning no coins, no coins means no steak, no steak is hell for Matthias who had just experienced heaven.
In the midst of them talking, the school bus for Hilltop Elementary— the school Sojourner is studying, stopped on the street outside, and out comes the witch in mention which looks drained of her spirits. [ "Grandpa I'm hom-" ]
[ "Huh?" ] She opened the door for their bodega and was greeted by the sight of a man holding a stick, pointing the said stick at her grandfather's counter causing it to levitate off of the ground. Like magic. Which caused her to widen her eyes in realization, [ "Magic!" ]
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[ FUN FACT: An Obscurial are young wizards or witches who had developed a dark parasitical magical force, known as an Obscurus, as a result of their magic having been suppressed through psychological or physical abuse. According to Albus Dumbledore, this could be fixed by replacing their alienated emotions with a sense of belongingness. This little simple fact explains why Hogwarts or other wizardry schools need to exist, to combat the growing Obscurus inside young witches and wizards. ]
[ 10/02/2025 ]
[ 10/03/2025 ]