The first rays of dawn painted the sky in shades of soft gold and deep violet, yet Arnit remained still, seated in the lotus position atop his bed. His breathing was steady, his mind calm, the lotus beads wrapped around his wrist glowing faintly as they helped him ease into his meditative state.
The world outside was beginning to stir, but inside this quiet moment, Arnit focused only on the rhythmic ebb and flow of his magic. He could feel it, pulsating gently beneath his skin, flowing in sync with his breath. It was in moments like these that he felt truly connected—to himself, to the world, and to something far greater than either.
This went on for about two hours when a soft knock on the door disrupted the stillness, followed by a familiar voice.
"Still meditating, birthday boy?" Vedant's tone carried its usual amusement, but there was something softer underneath today.
Arnit opened his eyes, blinking away the haze of deep focus. He turned toward the door just as Vedant stepped inside, holding two steaming cups of chai.
"Happy Birthday, kid," his uncle said, walking over and handing him a cup.
Arnit smiled at his uncle's gesture. He took the cup from Vedant's still outstretched arm, fingers warming against the ceramic. "Thanks, Uncle."
Vedant sat beside him on the bed, sipping his tea thoughtfully. "Eleven years old today. Feels like just yesterday you were running around the house, trying to levitate everything in sight."
Arnit smirked, taking a careful sip of his tea. "You say that as if I ever stopped."
Vedant chuckled, shaking his head. "That's true. But still, another year older, another year wiser. Any grand revelations during your meditation session today?"
Arnit considered for a moment before replying, "Nothing new. Just… a feeling. Like I'm standing on the edge of something big. Like things are going to change soon. It is very likely that soon I'll be able to use our lineage magic."
Now, the statement coming from arnit's mouth might sound casual but it was anything but that for Vedant.
Vedant became so stunned by this revelation that it took him some time to be coherent in his speech, "That… would be an occasion for grand celebration, arnit."
Contrary to Vedant's excitement, Arnit was calm, though happy.
Seeing his nephew's level of excitement, he immediately said, "You might not be realising the importance of this achievement. For context, your great-grandfather, Dhruvketu, managed to achieve the equilibrium between soul, mind and body at the age of 25, and he was considered one of the best alchemists to have ever lived. Although I am sure he is still alive somewhere."
"How are you so sure of him being alive?" Arn asked, intrigued.
Vedant deliberated for a moment, gathering his thoughts before replying, "Well… firstly, he never died. He just left one day after the sudden death of one of his wives, your great-grandmother, Ayesha Azmara,-"
"Wait! Wait a second! What do you mean by 'one of his wives'? Did great-grandpa have more than one wife?" Arnit suddenly asked, stopping his uncle midway.
"Your great-grandfather had two wives. Didn't you know about this? My brother never told you?" Vedant asked Arnit seriously.
Arnit shook his head negatively.
Vedant stayed quiet for a second, thinking deeply.
"That means… er, you also don't know why your parents, or you for that matter, never lived in your ancestral home?" Vedant asked softly.
"All I know is that there was some kind of fight between Father and Grandmother, which led to Father leaving his home with my mother. That's all my parents told me when I asked about the reason. That is also why, I think, I never got any birthday gifts from my grandmother or any other family members, besides you and grandfather, of course," said Arnit, uttering the last few words in a sad little voice.
Vedant sighed heavily in regret. Regret in making his nephew sad on his birthday.
"You know what? I always go off on a tangent whenever I talk to you. That's why I'll try to explain the matter in a concise way, so listen carefully." replied Vedant in a firm voice.
"Firstly, yes! There was a fight, verbally, for further clarification. But your grandmother regretted it after your parents died. Now she is ashamed to meet you. Mind you, she might be very orthodox and rigid in nature, but she is not a bad person at heart. It's just that her upbringing was done in a very conservative family. So, be happy; she doesn't hate you."
Arnit listened to his uncle in full concentration, forgetting his earlier sadness.
Vedant continued, "As for the reason for their fight, it is a bit complicated, so to understand that matter, you must know another thing. I'll come to that later. Now, the reason behind your great-grandfather's two wives is because of a family custom. And the custom – the first marriage of the heir of the family must be with a girl whose both parents are magicals. After that, it's his choice to marry as many times as he wants with anyone. But it's only applied to the heir of the family. So, the father of Dhruvketu, who was also a very greedy person, promised the marriage of the future heir to a daughter of another one of the 7 families with a binding magical contract for political reasons. Dhruvketu was just an infant at that time. So he had no choice in that matter." By the end, Vedant's expression was kind of weird.
"What kind of weird custom is that? And how can they arrange the marriage of an infant?" Arnit's replied with some indignation, his face contorting in confusion.
"I know, right! They say it is to make the bloodline stronger. I don't know when this custom started, but I think it was beneficial for those who believe in blood purity; that's why no one ever bothered to change it. And the arranged marriage thing is pretty common in Indian culture. Even in the Muggle world."
Arnit nodded thoughtfully, agreeing with his uncle.
"So, after listening to all that, you must have already guessed the reason behind the fight between your father and grandmother," said Vedant, after letting his nephew digest all that information.
"Yeah," Arnit nodded, continuing afterwards, "it's because Mother was a muggle-born."
Vedant nodded, looking outside the window.
They both sat there peacefully, listening to the chirping of a bird outside, looking lost in their thoughts.
"Oh no!" Vedant exclaimed suddenly, looking towards their cups, now containing lukewarm tea.
Arnit turned towards his uncle, then towards the cups, irritated for breaking a peaceful atmosphere.
"What? You are a wizard, for god's sake. Use the warming charm to make it hot again. Here, let me do it." said Arnit with some irritation.
Arnit simply waved his hand and muttered softly, "Thermolius!" and immediately steam could be seen coming out of the cup.
"Seriously, how can you forget that you are a wizard?" said Arnit in an accusatory tone, looking towards his uncle.
In return, Vedant just gave a sheepish smile to his nephew.
"Oh, come on!" Vedant whined, "Cut me some slack, will you? You know that I spent most of my time in the Muggle world. Teaching mathematics to the students at your age. I was basically living a muggle life before you came. And before you ask anything, I am very happy with my life." Arnit closed his mouth after listening to his uncle's last statement.
"It is only recently that I applied to the British Ministry of Magic so that you can use your magic freely, under my supervision, of course," Vedant added.
"Aah, yes! I have read about this in one of the books I bought from Diagon Alley. It's called trace magic, right? To make sure underage wizards and witches don't use magic in front of the muggles, to uphold the statue of secrecy."
"Yes, you are right about the trace magic, though I don't know when they apply trace on children. It's not a problem for those children who live in a magical society or are surrounded by adult wizards and witches. But the children who live in the Muggle world have to apply to the Ministry to freely use the magic only when they are at a place devoid of any Muggle. Of course, their parents are exceptions." Vedant explained in detail.
"You know about this rule because you yourself are a wizard. But what about the muggle-born witches or wizards? How do they know about this rule and where to apply for it? And what about the orphans?" asked Arnit immediately, finding a loophole in this.
"Every muggle-born is visited by a professor from Hogwarts after the confirmation letter from the student. It's their responsibility to explain everything about the magical world to them. They also help the parents of the muggle-born in getting permission from the ministry. Unfortunately, nothing can be done for orphans. They basically convince the orphanage by giving them a decent reason or directly using the confundus charm on them." Vedant explained patiently.
"But when do they apply the trace on a student's body?" Arnit muttered, mostly to himself.
After that, they continued chatting about some normal topics while sipping their tea from time to time.