Chapter 3: Initial Progress (1/2)
Quinn West hummed a jolly tune as he filled color in a picture book. Quinn enjoyed coloring the picture book. He did feel that the pictures were a little too simple for him, but he didn't mind as he remembered something as adult coloring books back in his old world, so of all the children activities Quinn did to play his part of a five-year-old, coloring was a one that he enjoyed doing.
Plus, he wasn't only filling color in the picture book but also practicing magic. Ever since the day he performed the anger-induced accidental magic, he had made some progress with magic and tried to improve it with a renewed vigor. Currently, he was sitting in front of a low table on the porch of his house in a lotus position (Indian style). If you sat beside Quinn, then you would be able to see a small glass bead(marble) moving wobbly in the space between his legs.
Quinn had made some progress with his magic and was able to move light-weight objects with moderate success. Like the small glass bead, he could move it continuously without a problem, but he wasn't able to move it smoothly or more make sudden sharp turns. You could say that while he was able to keep the bead in motion, his control of the bead was lacking.
The only thing he could do with magic was move objects. He couldn't do any traditional magic like transfiguration, charms, jinxes, or anything seen in the original work. Moving objects under a certain weight was exciting enough for Quinn. He would stay up late in the night, moving different objects in differents, trying to gain more control of his magic. Plus, another thing that Quinn considered to be an upside to playing with magic was the sleep at night.
It turned out that the magic core theory was true, magicals had magical cores, and the capacity depended on the amount of magic you used, so the saying, 'Magic is a muscle' was true. The more you used magic, the more magical capacity you would possess.
He had gotten this information from Lia, who was practicing magic at home, and Quinn was allowed to watch, so he 'innocently' asked if she could keep making those butterflies that she was making as transfiguration practice, and she explained about a magic core,
”Let's see, imagine there is a bowl of water inside your body, and the water is the amount of magic you can do. If you use all the water, then you won't be able to do magic.”
Quinn decided to ask another 'innocent' statement, fishing for a reply, ”I want to do a lot of magic and become a great wizard when I grow up!”
Lia giggled at her little brother and pinched his cheeks, ”If you want to become a great wizard, then you will have to use magic every day because that way, you will be able to use more magic.”
She had explained in words that a child could understand, and even though she had over-simplified the topic and left out a lot of important things, Quinn had understood the gist of it.
Now, what did all of this had to with sleep at night. It turned out that using magic caused some kind of fatigue, and because Quinn wanted to increase his magic core capacity, he was making sure that by bedtime, he had emptied his magic core, and that turned into some of the best nights of sleep of his life.
Quinn had also started putting in more work in things other than magic. He started to take the piano more seriously and increased his practice time.
Quinn knew that his math skills were higher for a five-year-old, but were his mental math skills top-notch? No, so while he still pretended to be just a bright five-year-old, but on the inside, he was training his brain to calculate faster.
Quinn realized that if he wanted to get better at French, he would have to immerse himself in the language, so he actively began seeking his grandfather to talk to him in French. Mostly their conversations were just Quinn speaking and George listening. George would correct Quinn if he made mistakes. On the written part of French, he used his weekly correspondence with Lia as practice, and when writing to her, he would write the same content in both English and French.
George also had Quinn start on calligraphy and made him practice his handwriting. It was a blessing that they didn't use uneven parchment paper and quill and used a fountain pen with normal paper. Quinn's motivation for working on calligraphy was because he thought George's handwriting was cool and wanted his to be the same.
But, not all subjects were fun to learn. There were other subjects that Quinn didn't find appealing.
He didn't like family history, so he just rote-memorized everything taught to him. There was no extra effort in family history from Quinn's side. Similarly, he felt stifled during the meals as he had to use the correct table manners at every single meal, and Quinn felt that he wasn't able to completely enjoy his meals.
Formal dancing was neither fun nor boring, but it was embarrassing to make mistakes while dancing with someone, so Quinn just made sure to learn everything carefully and not make mistakes. Quinn found that embarrassment could be a strong motivator for learning. Quinn put as much work in dancing as piano under this alternative motivator.
Quinn also witnessed that how grooming and nurture could change a person over time. He noticed that his way of speaking had changed, and he was using words that he never used before, plus the way he walked and sat also changed. He found that his back which had always found the backrest of a chair or sofa, now remained straight, away from the backrest.
Quinn understood that he was changing for the better, but it was still eerie to realize that he changed without him noticing the change.
(Scene Break - George West P.O.V.)
George West was a learned man. He knew the importance of education and knowledge and held them in high regard. He had expanded his family business by using the knowledge he gained from learning and experiencing.
He had been alive for a long time and knew about the importance of learning from mistakes and accepting failures, but he had learned it the hard way. He had let the death of his wife overwhelm him and made him forget about his son. He had made a mistake that had cost him his relationship with his son. He was fortunate that his son was willing to give him another chance and fix their relationship, but then tragedy struck again and claimed the life of his son and daughter-in-law, taking them away from their children.
When he got the news, it broke him. He and his son had just started to fix the crack in their relationship. Why did this tragedy have to occur to this family? He got this close to do the same as he had done many years ago and throw himself into work to avoid grief, but then he remembered about his grandchildren and made him realize that he couldn't let himself drown in misery and picked himself up for the sake of grandchildren. He wasn't going to make the same mistake as he once did.
He took his grandchildren under his care, and he knew that he was doing the right thing when he saw his granddaughter. When he saw Lia, he saw a young child who was about to lose her childhood by maturing too early. George took both of his children under his care and provided the parental support that they had lost. He made sure that Lia wouldn't have to worry about her baby brother alone and made sure that both of them would have a normal childhood.
He was able to connect with Lia fairly quickly, and even though she ended up developing a slightly mature outlook on life for someone her age, he knew that she would be just fine within a few years.
As she grew, George saw Lia showing interest in the family business, so he began mentoring her in the breaks. He was building a foundation for her, just in the case if her interest turned into something serious. He had to say, Lia had impressed him year after year. She always had top grades, the willingness to learn and apply herself. And, more importantly, she had the qualities of a leader. He would be willing to groom Lia as his successor if she committed herself to the family business.
On the other hand, there was his other grandson, Quinn. He was only a year old, and he didn't understand the meaning of death, and it hadn't affected him as much as his sister.
George was not sure how to describe this child. From what he could see, this child was the same as any other child his age, but since he had started his education, Quinn had proved himself anything but an ordinary child. He picked up things very quickly and would always complete his work without complaining.