What Comes Next

There is no longer any question. Adrian and Andrew are wizards. I suppose I should feel some relief in finally having that question answered. Instead, I find myself wishing they had learned the truth under different circumstances.

The incident at the mall was a terrible way for it to happen. Confusion, fear, magic appearing before either of them understood what was going on. Sara is terrified, and she has every right to be. The boys were scared as well, though Adrian would probably object to me saying that. Andrew simply wanted to know exactly what happened and why.

I can’t blame either of them. Sixteen years of believing yourself to be one thing, only to discover in a matter of moments that there is an entire part of you that no one bothered to mention. I imagine they have a lot of questions for which I will have to provide uncomfortable answers. For now, however, they have agreed to come to the estate and learn and that is enough for now.

But they are here now and seem to be doing well. The Chloe situation is going to be tough, but that will have to be a problem for another day. Today I took the boys onto the training field for their first lesson. I had intended to keep things simple. Very simple, but they had other plans.

Both of them showed more natural ability than I expected. Far more than I expected. Andrew watches everything. He listens carefully, studies everything and seems to turn the instructions over in his head before attempting anything. There is a precision to him already. He wants to understand why something works, not merely how to make it happen.

Adrian is different. He acts. There is an instinct to his magic that I cannot teach. He reaches for it before he fully understands what he is reaching for, and somehow it answers him. That will need discipline. A great deal of discipline if today was any indication.

Yet I would be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed. I was so proud of them. I am so proud of them. There. At least in these pages I can write without Adrian becoming insufferable should he ever hear me say it out loud. They stood on that field today with wands in their hands for the first time, surrounded by a world the scarcely knew existed and they gave it their all. They failed, observed, and tried again. Bianca was tough but they succeeded.Again and again, too quickly. That is the part I cannot seem to put from my mind today. I expected ability. They are my grandsons after all, and their bloodline alone suggested there would be some natural aptitude if their magic ever manifested, but I did not expect this.

There were moments today when I found myself forgetting that it was their first lesson and I would be lying if I said that didn’t concern me. Power is not something to fear simply because it’s power. I have spent too many years around magic to indulge such foolishness. But power without experience is dangerous, and right now Adrian and Andrew possess considerably more of the former than the latter.

They are sixteen year old boys. They will make mistakes. They will get angry, they will be frightened, and they will show off. They will challenge one another. Adrian will almost certainly attempt something I tell him not to. Andrew will probably explain why it was a poor choice while at the same time helping him do it anyways. Under ordinary circumstances those things are all part of growing up. Magic makes the consequences considerably less ordinary. Perhaps I am worrying too much.

I can already hear Genevieve telling me so. But I remember what extraordinary potential looks like in a young wizard. I remember the excitement of watching talent reveal itself and imagining all the remarkable things that might come from it. I also know that talent is not character.

That lesson cost this family dearly once before and I will not allow my memories of their father to determine how I see these boys. Adrian and Andrew are their own people. They deserve the chance to discover who they are without someone else’s mistakes following them. And I intend to give them that chance. Tomorrow is a new day, but tonight, I will permit myself one thing I did not show them today.

Pride. My grandsons are wizards. Remarkable, talented ones, it appears. I only hope I’m prepared for what comes next.