Harry Potter: Bloodraven

After a nice, cold shower, Maverick joined the Garling family for dinner, feeling refreshed and ready.

He had to admit—this place was next level. The house was massive, practically screaming "wizard wealth," yet Silvia had somehow managed to whip up dinner herself.

Usually, influential wizarding families had house elves to handle these things but he hadn't seen any signs of them so far — none of them bustling around. It was just Silvia, rolling up her sleeves and going full chef mode.

"Need a day to catch your breath, little Rick?" Edward asked, raising an eyebrow.

Before Maverick could answer, Silvia jumped in, "Of course he does. He's been traveling all day. Let him settle in first."

Maverick smiled, grateful for her care, but he had no plans to play tourist. "I'm good, Aunt Silvy. Slept most of the flight, and I'll be fresh tomorrow." He said kindly, offering her a reassuring smile.

Then he glanced at Edward to make his determination clear. "Uncle, let's get started tomorrow."

"Perfect," Edward replied, nodding approvingly.

"We'll go to Ilvermorny first thing in the morning. I want to introduce you to the principal. It's important to make sure they know you, especially since you'll be taking your OWLs and NEWTs there in June."

Edward laid out the plan, and Maverick listened with total focus, nodding along. "Basically, as far as anyone else knows, you've been my student since you were six. You've been doing magic homeschooling while also attending Muggle schools and then university.

I made sure your name was entered in to the Ilvermorny Book of Acceptance, got it down in their records that you had your magical awakening at six.

I aligned the dates with when your family was in the States, so no one's going to raise an eyebrow."

Edward paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "If anyone asks about your background, the story will be that your family decided to stay under the rader.

Under Article Seven of the Magical and Non-Magical Information Sharing Treaty, Muggle-born witches and wizards can keep their identities secret if they get consent from any of the 83 sacred magical families worldwide or from any of the seven speakers, just like magical noble heirs. And you can use this same reason to explain why your name wasn't sent to the UK Muggle government.

Maverick chuckled. "So, when you 'took me in' at six," he added, fingers making air quotes, "we just kept it low-key? There's no need to tell anyone—Muggles or magical authorities?" His voice held a blend of curiosity and amusement.

"Exactly," Edward said, a sly smirk playing at his lips. "As a speaker, I've got more pull with the International Confederation of Wizards—and even the World Security Council—than any of those noble families. People see my name, and they'll take whatever's on the paperwork as gospel."

"Thank you, teacher," he said showing gratitude. "I won't let you down."

Edward gave him a proud smile, "I know you won't.".

Before things could get too serious, Isabella piped up, bouncing in her seat, "Can I come too? I wanna go!"

Edward gave her a look. "Didn't you just take a week off school?"

"That's because Maverick was coming! If he's going, I want to go, too!" she shrugged.

Edward sighed, explaining with a hint of fatherly patience, "Maverick didn't come here to sightsee, you know. He's only going to school to introduce himself to the principal. After that, he'll be with his tutors at another place, off training or studying, and won't be home most of the day."

"Oh… then I'll just cancel my break and go back. But you'll have to ask the principal to let me use the students Floo Network to come back whenever I want..." Isabella pouted.

"That's not really fair to the other students, Isabella," her mother interrupted. "You can't use your father's connections to come and go from school whenever you want."

"But…" Isabella began, ready to argue her case.

"It's fine," Edward said, holding up a hand to stop her. "She's way ahead academically. Let her use the Floo a few more times—but, no skipping classes, thrice a week tops, and just this term!"

"Yesss!" Isabella beamed, hugging him tightly. "Thanks, Dad!"

Maverick watched the exchange with amusement, thinking that Ilvermorny might have its perks when it came to rules—definitely not as uptight as Hogwarts.

As far as he knew, Hogwarts didn't have any Floo Network set aside just for students, and popping home during week ends? Yeah, that was pretty much unheard of. Once you were at school, you were there until the holidays, like it or not.

Turning back to Maverick, Edward went on, "After the principal meeting, we'll meet with your Potions and Alchemy tutors. You'll have three hours with each tutor daily. You'll also get to meet some of my other students there, and when you're back here, I'll take over with physical exercises, dueling, wizarding laws, politics, and etiquette."

Edward leaned in, eyes serious. "You've chosen to sit the exams in June, so we have four months to get you ready. It's going to be intense. Think you're up for it?"

Maverick's face lit up with excitement. Finally, real training, real dueling. No way was he planning on slacking. "I'm more than ready," he said, his voice steady.

Edward nodded, a spark of pride in his eye. "Good. Show me what you've got."

Dinner went off without a hitch as Maverick regaled them once again his 'epic tale' of how he discovered magic and everything he's done since then. Silvia listened with enthusiasm, but Isabella looked downright flabbergasted.

Honestly, if her dad hadn't backed up Maverick's story, she might've thought he was just making it all up.

After wrapping up dinner, Isabella dragged Maverick off for a tour of the house, even though her mom kept insisting he should kick back and rest after such a busy day.

The place was truly impressive! They strolled through a jaw-dropping library filled to the brim with more books than Maverick could count. Next up was a brewing room that smelled like a potion explosion.

Then there were the chill rooms, decked out with all sorts of non-magical fun, like pool tables and a cinema room that made him wonder if he'd just walked into a movie studio—he had to admit, it was kind of cool.

But the real showstopper was the basement. Calling it a dueling practice room felt like calling a dragon a lizard. This place was practically a stadium, nearly as big as a football field! It had dummies to practice on, target areas to test his aim, and a ton of workout gear that looked like it could turn anyone into a superhero.

After a whirlwind two-hour tour, Maverick finally made his way to his room, waving goodnight to Isabella, ready to crash and catch some sleep before diving into the excitement of the next day.