New Family

Time flowed day after day, year after year until one day, on the morning of my 4th birthday, I woke with a startle. I looked around my room and slowly recollected the first four years of my life. I couldn't help but smile at all the fond memories of my new family. Suddenly, the door swung open and in came my mother in all her motherly glory. "It's my baby's birthday!" She exclaimed as she enveloped me in a bone crunching hug. "Mom, I can't breathe." mom immediately let go and gave me a worried look. Seeing how worried she was was, I hugged her and rested my head on her shoulder and murmured "I love you mom." Tears of joy filled her eyes. "I love you too sweetheart. Now dress up and come downstairs." 10 minutes later, I made my way down the stairs and toward the dining room for breakfast. I was greeted by the sight of my mother, father and little sister, Lana, waiting for me at the table for breakfast. Lana was only 1 year old, born 3 days before my birthday on the 6th of May. "The birthday boy finally shows himself" says my dad with mirth in his eyes. "Morning dad." I reply as I pick Lana up. "Jay!" Squeals Lana with joy. She still can't say my name properly but it's the first word she ever spoke which even though was the happiest event of my current life, maybe even both lives, caused a lot of whining on my parents' part. They skulked for days until Lana finally said "mama" and "papa".

After breakfast, my dad brought a long rectangular gift to the table. "Happy birthday son. Now, this gift you can only use with supervision until I deem you good enough to use without risk." As my father said those words and judging from the shape, I knew immediately it was a broomstick. Excited by the idea of flying I ripped the pack open and took out my newly gifted Nimbus broomstick. After admiring it for a few seconds I turned to my father and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you so much dad!" When I let go of dad, I turned to mom and saw that she was looking at me with an expectant gaze. I immediately understood what she wanted. "Thank you too mom" I said as I gave her a hug that lasted longer than the previous one. I must admit that I'm a huge momma's boy. "Of course sweetheart" she said as she kissed me on the forehead.

When we were done with my gift, I turned to my father and asked "dad, can you tell me about our family?" I know that may not seem like what a 4 year old would say on his birthday, but through my 4 years of new life, my family came to see how much of a genius I am. Even when I was in a dormant state until today, I showed amazing intelligence so my family is no longer surprised when I ask such questions. "Very well then, follow me to my study." Once we were seated in my dad's study, he started talking. "Our King family, even though others don't know about it, is the richest, most powerful family in the wizarding world. The other families know that we are one of the most ancient families out there but they do not know how large our power truly is. Be that as it may, every family out there knows not to mess with us. We have 5 members with high positions in the Wizengamot. Your grandparents, your aunt and uncle and myself. Now, our family secret lies in our ancestry: the founder of the King family is Merlin himself." As soon as my dad said that, my eyes bulged and I exclaimed "Merlin?!" Dad gave me a knowing smile and continued, "when Merlin created the King family in secret, he built our family manor. Only members of the King family know where it is located. It is the most heavily warded manor in England, maybe even the world." God really took it seriously when I asked to be born in the most prominent wizarding family in Britain. "All these things are not the reason why our family is so powerful. The reason for our power is the notes and books that Merlin left for the family." As soon as dad said that I immediately questioned "can I read them?!" Dad seemed to be taken by surprise by the question. "Of course son, it is your family right."

As the the hour for lunch approached, the rest of the family arrived. The first ones I saw were my aunt Rose and her husband Maxime Fay. Dad is the youngest of his siblings. My aunt Rose and uncle Marcus are older than my father by 8 years. They are unidentical twins. Coincidentally, aunt Rose had her daughter Mary at the same age dad had me which makes Mary 8 years older than me, making her 12 and currently attending her second year at Beauxbatons so she couldn't make it. The same goes for my other cousins Hadrian and Tom. They are both attending their first and second year at Hogwarts respectively.

My direct family is really quite big: my sister and parents, my aunt and uncle, 4 grandparents and 3 cousins. My mother is half-muggle, her mother, Freya Harris is a British muggle whereas her father, Emilio Arco, is from a prominent Italian wizarding family. All my family is really close and I love them all but, aside from my parents and sister, my favorites are my uncle Marcus and Grandma Freya. As I saw my grandma Freya I ran into her arms. Even I myself am surprised by my behavior but I guess that being reborn into the body of a baby does influence my behavior. I think a lot more like a child than I expected. "Happy birthday dearest" says grandma Freya with a smooth eloquent voice.

As everyone wishes me a happy birthday, I finally see uncle Marcus at the door with a little winged white ball of fur. I give my uncle a curious look as he approaches me. "Happy birthday you little rascal. I got you a little something." Uncle Marcus is the most eccentric of the family, I am still not sure what he does for a living exactly. Once uncle Marcus gets to me, he takes a knee in front of me and tentatively gives me the ball of fur. When I hold the ball of fur and take a good look at it I finally realize what it is. It's the white tiger I asked God for. The little cub looks at me curiously and at that moment I decide it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. "Thank you so much uncle Marcus, this is the coolest gift ever. What is it though?"

"Your welcome kid. It is a legendary white tiger. Few have ever been seen let alone owned. You are the first person ever to have a white tiger as a familiar. It is said they are fiercely loyal and would do anything to protect those they hold dear. What will you call him?" I pause to give it some thought and finally I respond, "Apollo, his name will be Apollo." The little cub meows almost as if in approval and starts purring once I scratch him behind the neck.

I look towards my parents in excitement when my mother reminds me "it is a great responsibility to have a familiar, take good care of him." I give my mother a resolute nod in response. Suddenly I come to remember about Merlin's books and whip my head around to my grandpa Magnus. "Grandpa Magnus, can I start reading the family books left behind by Merlin?" Grandpa Magnus is momentarily speechless until he remembers how much of a genius I have shown myself to be. "Very well you can come over to the family manor tomorrow and I will let you read whatever you like" says grandpa Magnus with a satisfied smile.