The next couple of weeks of summer passed quickly.
Most days, he either visited friends, family dinners, or went sightseeing across magical districts and hidden gems around New York.
No matter where he went, Silver and Copper always followed.
At first, they were simply attendants.
But soon, they became his personal photographers.
Steve gifted them a couple of enchanted professional grade cameras.
Capable of taking high-quality photos with no flash or noise.
Also the size of the camera's were a perfect fix in the hands of his house-elves.
Along with a prototype printer. The printer very advanced for the current time frame.
Thanks to Alexander's friendly advice's throughout the years.
The printer works by placing the enchanted camera in the slot on the printer.
Choose the photos you want and you could stack photos to turn into enchanted photos.
After chosen click print. After a few seconds the photo comes out.
The only issue was for it to operated, it needed a special potion and a certain magical crystal made from the Heart family.
But Steve happily gave Alexander a lot to last for a while and would happily give more if he asked for it.
Alexander was happy for the gifts and of course gave Steve a little tip to push toward the digital technology.
Thanks to Steve he can now print enchanted photos faster.
The first time Alexander tried to take a photograph of Silver and Copper it was chaos.
Both house elves cried so hard the photos came out blurry.
Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose.
"No crying until after the photos are taken."
They saluted tearfully.
"We… will… try… Young Master…"
"No... No... tears... Young Master..."
It took weeks of practice, and they had improved.
They still cried a little, but at least the photos came out clear.
Alexander laughed every time. It was very entertaining.
Silver and Copper had fun taking photos with other house-elves for practice.
Whenever they visited the other house-elves, they would show off their photos and take group photos and share it with the other house-elves.
They were genuinely happy being photographers.
The Chen family also attended several high-society magical balls.
Alexander hated them.
Too formal.
Too stiff.
Too political.
The only saving grace was all his old friends were there too.
If he had to suffer, they suffered with along with him.
Still… there was one problem.
Girls... lots of them.
Even though they all knew Alexander had a girlfriend many still flirted with him.
Some treated it like a challenge.
Alexander found it exhausting.
It only made him miss Cho more.
He saw Ashley a couple of times, it was still awkward.
Every time he tried to say hi or apologize, but she would ignored him.
He could only sighed and give up trying.
Meanwhile, Silver and Copper were thriving.
They moved through ballrooms like professionals.
Each wore a small enchanted pouch.
Inside the pouches contained the printer, and materials to make it work.
Along with stacks of coins.
Families thanked them for their work.
They started paying them.
That's when the funny part began.
Being house elves, they usually enjoyed working for free. It brings them joy and happiness to please their master's or owners. Even though Silver and Copper were free house elves, they still considered the Chen family their new masters.
When the other families started to pay them for the enchanted photos, Silver and Copper would cry every time they were paid.
Many people quickly noticed.
Soon, children started paying them on purpose.
To watch them cry with happiness.
It became a game at one point to the children. To see who can make either Silver and Copper cry loudest or calm them down the fastest.
Alexander laughed every time.
It wasn't cruel or anything, just harmless fun.
After every ball, Silver and Copper returned with piles of coins.
They tried giving the money to the Chen family.
Mr. and Mrs. Chen refused and said.
"You earned it. It's your hard work."
"Buy whatever you want, if you guys need anything just let us know. We will help buy it with your money."
That only made them cry harder.
In the end, they kept the money and decided to share it with Don and Lisa when they returned to Devon.
One quiet morning during breakfast Silver came running in.
"Young Master! There is a boy outside asking for you."
"Do you recognize the boy?" Alexander asked.
"Silver has never seen the boy, Young Master!"
Alexander got up from his seat and went to front door.
A familiar figure stood outside.
Kyle Strongman.
One of Alexander's childhood friends, and self-proclaimed eternal rival.
"Yo Kyle how is it going? I haven't seen you all summer," Alexander said.
"I have been training and lost track of time. Follow me," Kyle said.
Alexander confused but they flew to Kyle's family estate.
When they arrived, Kyle led him straight to the arena inside their estate.
The Strongman family was famous for one thing:
Dueling strength.
They were so famous that centuries ago, they changed their surname to Strongman to reflect it.
Their family made most of their money by winning dueling tournaments and training other wizards and witches.
Along with being hired as bodyguards.
Most of the magical community knew the surname Strongman and what it represents.
Ever since childhood Kyle had challenged Alexander constantly from grades to magic.
Whenever their was anything related to a competition Kyle would challenge Alexander.
Most of the time Kyle would lose, and only win if Alexander gave up.
Alexander never took the rivalry serious.
With his transmigrated soul, adult mindset, and magical talent.
He had always been far ahead of other children.
To him, it was never a competition.
To Kyle, Alexander was someone he had to defeat no matter what.
That was why Kyle declared Alexander as his eternal rival in front of all their family and friends in the past.
Kyle crossed his arms as he stood in the middle of the arena.
"Once I heard you were coming back, I started training seriously."
His eyes burned with determination.
"After dinner tonight… we duel."
Alexander smiled lightly.
"Sure."
Kyle nodded firmly and left to prepare.
Alexander laughed and flew back home to informed his parents.
Mr. Chen frowned slightly.
"I've heard Kyle's been training relentlessly. Be careful. He might be tough now."
Mrs. Chen added softly:
"If it gets dangerous, withdraw."
Alexander laughed confidently.
"Relax. I won't lose."
He went to his room to prepare for the duel later that night.
A long-awaited rivalry was about to reignite.