"That's gain!"
At a school nearby the house of the Blacks, a ten-year old boy defeated a girl of the same age in a card game. The victor was Shaun Engiabo. He defeated his cousin, who was known as Emily Black.
The energetic Shaun was rather tall for his age - you'd guess him to be a thirteen-year old, at least. His brown hair was swept by the wind, it looked as though he was a Super Saiyan from an anime called Dragon Ball Z. His brown eyes hid his calmness and his intelligence. On his left arm was a mark similar to the Japanese symbol for ice, as though it was a tattoo. It wasn't - it was a scar.
The smart Emily was not as normal as a ten-year old girl would be. She had blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and knew things only a 15-year old would learn at school. She also used the Internet to further her knowledge. Despite her intelligence being that high, however, she didn't want to go to the eighth grade until she was 15 - which would be when Shaun would be in the same grade. One could say that she has a rivalry with her cousin.
"Honestly, Shaun, can't you go easy on me?"
"Honestly, no," Shaun replied.
"And why not?" Emily asked.
"It's the one thing that stops me from being bullied by Mr. Crush over there," Shaun said, looking at a larger student.
"What?" Emily said, looking at her wristwatch. "Damn, bell rings in ten."
"I'm doomed," Shaun said, standing up.
"You forgot to do your homework?" Emily asked in shock.
"HEY, EN-GUY-BO!" the large student bellowed. "Oh, and that mass murderer Sirius' daughter too!"
"Hi, your highness," Shaun said bluntly.
"Eric?" Emily said softly.
Eric Johnson was a bully - Shaun called him "Mr. Crush" at times. He was sixteen years old, and bullied everybody, including teachers. If nobody did what he told them to do, then he'd beat them up. His father works for the police, and Shaun was braver than anyone else, to stand up to Eric.
"You beating duelists, En-guy-bo?" Eric asked.
"H-he just defeated me," Emily replied, shivering.
"Good," Eric bellowed. "You still will feel this, though." He pulled his fist back, and quickly punched forwards, but Shaun leapt backwards.
"Not this time!" Shaun shouted.
"Then I'll just harm Sirius Black's stupid little girl," he said in a threatening voice.
"Sectum-" Emily began, and Eric began cringing in fear.
"SOMEONE HELP ME!" he cried, holding his arms over his head. Emily ran to Shaun.
"You read too much Harry Potter," Emily said, then she muttered, "You're an idiotic jerk."
"WHY, YOU..."
Before anyone could react, Eric went for Shaun, but ended up hitting thin air. Shaun looked around. He was on top of a classroom's roof. "Oh, no," he muttered. "Not again."
Emily sighed. "Again? Another detention, for sure."
Shaun always carried a pen in his pocket. He took it out, pointed it at Eric, then shouted, "Obliviate!" Eric ran in terror. "Idiot thinks that everything in Harry Potter is real, but it isn't..." He leapt off the roof.
"SHAUN THOMAS BENJAMIN ENGIABO!"
Shaun turned around. His aunt, as well as the English Teacher, was standing there. He knew he was going to get a detention. "Yes, ma'am?" Shaun asked carefully, in fear of invoking his aunt's full wrath. When she shouted his full name, he knew he was in massive trouble.
"You are really brave, Shaun, but really! Climbing buildings like that? You should know better than to do that!" She took a deep breath. "Two detentions and a year's worth of punishment! No television, no computer, no video games, no board games, nothing!"
"Ma'am, Eric told him to beat students in card games, otherwise Shaun would be beat up," Emily said.
"Emily, one detention and you are punished for a month," Maddie said. "You didn't try to stop your cousin from climbing a roof."
"But I didn't! I was about to get punched in the face and possible through my skull, and the next thing I knew, I was on top of the roof with no idea how I got there!" Shaun said angrily.
"Five detentions, Shaun!" Maddie said angrily. "As I'm your guardian, it's impossible to talk to myself about your behavior, but I can give you detentions. And you'll get expelled if you get one more detention, you hear me?"
"Yes, aunt-- er, ma'am..." Shaun said meekly, as tears trickled down his cheeks. Nobody ever believed him whenever weird things happen. Nobody ever will.
"If magic really existed, then you'd probably be a wizard of some sort, and defeat a monster at the young age of 10," Emily said. Did she hear his thoughts? That's not possible...


Precisely one week later, Shaun woke up at midnight to a loud knocking sound. He slipped out of bed, took his plastic sword in hand, and slowly (and silently) went to the front door, but then he noticed his aunt was there. She held a frying pan in her hand. He quickly hid behind a pillar. Aunt Maddie opened the door, hiding behind it.
"What are you, you fiend?" Shaun whispered to himself.
"That's weird," the figure said, "I guess I must have knocked it open and broken the lock."
He took a single step inside, and then his aunt struck. However, to both Shaun's and his aunt's amazement, the frying pan broke into pieces! Shaun then leapt forwad, holding his plastic sword against the neck of the intruder. "Who are you, fiend?" Shaun asked angrily and bravely.
"Fiend?" The person took a small stick and muttered, "Illuminaten." The stick lit up and aunt Maddie looked shocked.
"Prepare to fall, sorcerer!" Shaun shouted angrily.
"You're Shaun Thomas Benjamin Engiabo," a girl standing behind the man said, "aren't you? As if!"
"Uh, yeah," Shaun replied in shock. "How do you know my full name? And who sent you, Eric Johnson?"
"Her name is Kimberley Sarah Dawn Tyron, or Kimberley, for short," the man said as Kimberley stepped inside.
"Nice to meet you, I suppose," she said, bowing to Shaun as though he was a king. Shaun noticed her right arm was bandaged up to the elbow.
"Nice to meet you too, but can I-" Shaun was rudely interrupted.
"I am Abraham Bones. I have come to take you to Frogwings."
Shaun heard movement from the staircase, so he turned to look. Emily was coming downstairs, stifling a yawn. "What's going on?" she asked.
"They're kidnapping Shaun!" Maddie shouted suddenly. Emily threw a small rock that she carried with her at the man.
"Shieldex," he muttered, and the rock hit an invisible barrier around him. It flew off to the opposite direction.
Shaun sighed. Then he started to laugh hysterically. "What's so funny?" his aunt asked.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY FULL NAME!?" Shaun shouted angrily, startling everybody in the house.
"You didn't tell him? Abraham asked Maddie, who shook her head. "You're a wizard, Shaun."
"No, I'm not!" he shouted.
"That is what I told 'Professor' Bones here," Kimberley said, "but..."
"No wonder you can climb roofs without ladders," Emily said happily. "You are a wizard. It makes sense! But then again, wouldn't that make you, and the professor, and that girl, monsters?"
"Oh, so my life is some sort of spin-off to the Harry Potter books, is that it?" Shaun continued angrily. "I'm not going ANYWHERE, you hear me? I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"
"Well, regardless," Abraham continued, "if you refuse to go, or send him, I will just modify your memories." He pointed the stick at Shaun. "Memorate."
In an instant, he was knocked backwards, his stick falling to the ground. Shaun had been thinking "Shieldex" at the moment.
"Oh my," Kimberley said slowly. "You just made a professor lose his own memories."
Shaun hit the monster with his plastic sword. It turned into a green-skinned humanoid. "He's a monster," Shaun said in shock. Kimberley gasped as she picked up the stick. "He's not dead, though, as my sword's made of plastic."
"It must be an actual goblin," Emily said in shock.
The goblin stood up. "So, that's how you want to play it, eh?" he said, grinning evilly. His eyes were glowing red. "Well, then, DIE! Tot estik!" Nothing happened.
"What did you say?" Emily asked.
"Tot estik!" Nothing happened. "TOT ESTIK!" the goblin shouted.
"I believe I've got this wand," Kimberley said. Pointing it to the goblin, she shouted, "Tot estik."
A green light hit the goblin. It fell to the ground, full of blood. She checked it for a pulse. "And?" Emily asked.
"As dead as a doorbell," she replied.
Shaun stared at the goblin. How could this thing actually exist? Mythical creatures do not exist! And neither does magic! Everything... Everything that has happened must have been an elaborately detailed dream... That's all it could be, right? Shaun pinched himself. It hurt. It was no dream. Everything was real.
The front door slammed shut when Shaun came to his senses. "What-"
He turned around, and he quickly looked back at the goblin. His aunt and his cousin both wore gas masks and Shaun began coughing. He barely noticed that Kimberley was coughing as well. "Sorry," his aunt said.
Then, nothing. Everything was gone. He felt too tired to move. All went blank. His mind, however, didn't. It was, on the contrary, even more active than before.


"Good thing that wasn't toxic."
Shaun could hear, but he couldn't see. Why was he hearing weird sounds? Beep... beep... beep... If he was in a hospital... what was going on?
"But I don't understand," he heard his aunt Maddie say. "How could the attacker do such a thing if I didn't detect him?"
"Could be secret agents," an unfamiliar, feminine voice replied. "You never know. Luckily you two had gas masks, otherwise you'd both end up like they did."
"Unconsciousness for ten days?" Shaun heard Emily ask.
"Levitamo floatiskey," he hard the unfamiliar girl mutter. "Yes, you two'd be sleeping for ten days straight."
Shaun quickly sat up. "You're a goblin!" he shouted angrily. Four people were staring at him.
The room was full of a green-coloured mist, as though it was a toxic gas. The four ladies looking at him wore gas masks, but he and Kimberley didn't have any. The sound he heard was annoying. Beep... beep... beep... Shaun pulled his left arm away, and the beeping stopped.
"Actually," one of the girls said, "I'm a human witch, and you're awake days earlier than expected."
"Yeah," the other one said, "the Sleeping Gas Spell usually puts the victims to sleep for ten days... and I see the girl's waking up too."
Kimberley stirred as she slowly sat up. Her hands were gloved, instead of her right hand being bandaged.
"Hey," the girl closest to Kimberley said, "how are you feeling?"
"Weak, but okay," Kimberley answered.
"Professor Pan will be picking you to up in five days," the other girl said, "which means you two are both students of Frogwings."
"But--"
Shaun was rudely interrupted by his own aunt. "Shaun Thomas Benjamin Engiabo and Kimberley Sarah Dawn Tyron, in the same school... isn't that lovely?"
Shaun shook his head, thinking 'Levitamo floatiskey'. A glass bowl was levitated to him. He then threw it to the girl nearest to him.
"Teleki glass bowl," she muttered, moving the glass bowl to the table it was on. "Nice try, although how you levitated it, I have no idea," she said.
"Shaun," Maddie began, "that symbol... It's--"
"Japanese for ice," Shaun interrupted. "But I can't have gotten it from Voldemort." Kimberley and Emily both giggled.
"Quite true," Emily said, "as he isn't real. But you are."
"What Emily said is true," Maddie continued. "You got that symbol from somebody named Tom Slasher. Kim has the Japanese symbol for fire on her right hand, which is why it was bandaged the whole time."
"Who's Kim?" Kimberley asked.
"You are," Maddie said. "Saying 'Kimberley' all the time isn't as good. Anyway, the fire symbol was given to her by Tia Slasher, Tom's wife."
"Were our parents spellcasters?" Shaun asked.
"Yes," Maddie said. "I'm one as well."
"So, they weren't fighters?" Shaun asked.
"No."
"So I cannot be a wizard and a fighter simul--"
"I think you can," the girl near Kimberley interrupted.
"So why don't I have a sword yet?" Shaun asked. "Or is that too expensive?" Kimberley giggled at this, while Emily merely facepalmed.
"Gret vagura," the girl next to Shaun said. "Ehñi sor tiko tennor ehñu éhnner Faravlergen lezu zunder vorrichen zunar foutellen."
"Is that so?" Shaun asked. He didn't know how, but he understood the mysterious speech. It translated to 'good question. He won't survive his first Frogwings lesson without worrying about mistakes'.
"Huh?" Kimberley looked confused. "Shaun, what are you...?"
"Ehñi urago tiko lir ir libehal!" the girl next to Kimberley said, talking over her. Shaun translated it as 'he must not fall in love'.
"Ran ehñi duka izen... line té ranèttu seln ehn sunilan ehñi iste tiko estìnummar er seln mitali!" the other girl said. Shaun translated that as 'if he does, then... it had better be one who he is not destined to be with'.
"What on Earth are you talking about?" Shaun asked angrily.
"Ryu sarmik tôténestiek ehña!" the girl who was next to Shaun said. Shaun translated the sentence as 'let's just kill him'. Only after five seconds did he realize that.
"SHIELDEX!" Shaun shouted, leaping up quickly and getting off the bed. All the girls in the room and Aunt Maddie were confused.
"Dom ral tiko vreshtanden," the girl next to Kimberley said slowly. "Dom sarmik ral tiko vreshtanden." So they didn't understand, apparently.
"Sektné ral dom, the other girl said. "Ehñe orok tiko karest iner sorce... Tiko zunder oe rivand..." Shaun understood the last part as 'he can't cast any spell... not without a wand'.
"Terru... ehñe iste ehn setru telle!" the girl next to Kimberley said in shock. Shaun translated that as 'unless he's one of them'.
"One of who?" Shaun asked.
"Damn line," the other girl said. "Lekuis ler ehñe vreshtanden istokri! Reni liainkia, ehñe orok tiko seratik ler istokri!" Shaun translated it as 'damn it. Looks like he understands us! But luckily, he can't speak like us'.
"Et amun?" Shaun asked. Everybody gasped in shock. He had said 'oh really' in the mysterious language.
"ET DARMUN!" the girl next to Kimberley shouted in shock. "EHÑE OROK SERATIK LINA!"
"That was Draconian..." Kimberley muttered. Then she snapped her fingers. "Of course! Retu istex Drakuunèon!" she exclaimed.
"Prezaru Drakuunèon, tii," the girl next to Shaun said in surprise.
"Present Draconian?" Shaun asked. The girls just shrugged.
"Thomas - your father - could speak Draconian," Maddie said. "If you can too, then you're a half-blood wizard. See, your mother - my sister - was 100% human, while your father was Inhuman."
"I'm part human?" Shaun asked.
"Yes. It must come as a shock to you," Maddie said slowly.
"Not really," Shaun said slowly, his calmness slowly being overcome by rage. "How did Mom and Dad really die?"
"Tom and Tia Slasher used the Poison Gas Spell, and don't hit yourself in the face," she added, as Shaun responded with a facepalm. "Both of your parents were poisoned and died quickly, yet you two didn't die."
"Both our parents?!" Kimberley asked in shock.
"Yes, both your parents died at the same time," Maddie said. "And both Shaun's and Kimberley's parents were one member human, one member Inhuman. That makes you both half-human, half-Inhuman. Knowing Shaun's mother and Kimberley's father, they were probably holding a meeting to plan your futures by making you two get married when you turn eighteen."
"Nie hom nie," the girl next to Shaun said.
"Beslis nie hom nie," the girl next to Kimberley replied. "Ons is gedoem. Gedoem!"
"You know we speak Afrikaans, right?" Emily asked.
"I don't," Kimberley replied.
"That was just an assumption, though, wasn't it?" Shaun asked.
"Yes," Maddie answered. "Nonetheless, it matters not, for they're both dead."
"So how did we survive?" Kimberley asked.
"You two are somehow immune to the effects of poison gas," Maddie answered, ignoring Shaun's facepalming this time, "and it's a long story. All I'll tell you is this: if you were to be trapped inside a gas chamber full of poisonous gas, you'd both have five days to live if you can't get out, no matter how toxic it is. Even nerve gas won't kill you in less than an hour."
"No, but that's impossible!" Kimberley exclaimed.
"It's true," Maddie said. "But now, you two are up way past your curfew."
"What time is it?" Shaun asked.
"It's time to sleep, cousin," Emily said.
"Now, what was the Sleeping Gas Spell's chant again...?" Maddie asked.
"Slaapenzenkensempra," Emily replied.
"Thanks, Emily. SLAAPENZENKENSEMPRA!" Maddie shouted.
Quickly, Shaun felt weak. He fell asleep faster than he could stop himself. He was furious now. Why did his aunt lie to him about his parents? She said his parents died because of terrorists! But it doesn't matter anymore...