ch. 65 Someone 's Birthday

11:20 am, near Angel island, Tiburon, CA, United States

'The heck?!' I turned around and see that I just came out of a small loo.

There's a bit of sway on my footing, which tells me that I'm inside a boat. Not wasting time, I made my way up to the deck.

After adjusting my vision to the bright sun, I confirmed that I'm on a yacht out in open water. There is a chill in the air and a bit of thin clouds in the view.

Looking at the faraway distance, I saw a silhouette of a bridge connecting two land mass and quickly asked Siri...

Me: What bridge it that?

Siri: Golden Gate Bridge

"Did you bring any food with you?"

Turning around , I saw Josh climbing down from the bridge of the yacht.

He's in a white shirt and navy-blue shorts. As he got down and faced me, he ruffled his hair a bit with his left hand. The hook was not there.

He waved at me to sit on the dining area of the salon.

"Com'on, mate. I just want to go home. It has been such a long day..." I complained as I took my seat opposite him.

He snorted, "Oh, please. You were out shopping. Bam*... bam* So, come on now. Cook something. I need to celebrate my birthday today!!"

Surprised by what he said, I asked, "Today is your birthday?"

Josh gave me a weird look and confirmed, " Yeah. Today's my BIRTH day!"

Finally realizing what he meant, I sighed and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

"Meat...beef, clam chowder and some fries. Can I try some of that wine of yours?" He requested.

Reaching in my pouch and taking out a bottle of wine. I handed it to him, and he went to the galley to look for some wine glass.

For the food, I closed my eyes and appeared in my mindscape, and quickly took out two large tomahawk ribeyes from the warehouse and place them on the grill.

Jolly quickly approached me and I asked him to prep the potatoes and the ingredients for a clam chowder.

After plating the food, I was going to exit my mindscape when I remember what Josh said. I quickly search the warehouse and grab a dark chocolate cake.

When I exit my mindscape, Josh was looking at the view in deep thought with a glass of wine in hand.

With a wave of my hand, smoke with a scent of incense appeared on the table. But it quickly disappeared, showing two large grilled tomahawk rib eyes with fries on the side, a casserole of chowder and a dark chocolate cake.

Josh came over, and he smelled the lingering scent of incense, "Your aura has a very calming scent."

That got me pondering, "Calming? Well... it is incense, so I guess 'calming' is a fitting way to describe it. Yours is orange, right? Nana has burning wood smell and Uncle Nick's has minty smell. I never did know Aunt Penny's aura. Do you know?"

"Her's is colorless and also odorless," He said as he ate a piece of French fries.

After, with a knife and fork, he started carving in the stake while asking, "So, How's Hogwarts? You seem to be doing well and seem busy recently?"

I was going to start cutting my stake but stopped and think about what I did for the last 4 months, "I guess... I'm not sure when it started, but I began to see everyone as people rather than just characters from a book…."

".... When I noticed that things started happening and my friends are in real danger... and I mean really endanger them... I made up my mind to get involved."

Josh was nodding while chewing, "gulp*... That's good. For a while there, I thought you won't care and just let things be. It tells me you're still human."

His words got me thinking, 'But I'm a High Human... I will eventually outlive my friend...'

"Don't think too much about the future. It will give you a headache. You'll figure things out eventually." advised Josh.

I threw my worries at the back of my mind and change the topic to something lighter, "How about your sister?"

Josh paused, "Yeah, she's also "appeared" today..."

"Appeared?... What do you mean?" I got curious.

He playfully covered his mouth, "Oops.... That's a secret. I'll tell you in the future."

His reaction tells me a lot about his twin sister, so I just stayed quiet and continued eating.

After I'm done with my stake and finished with a can of chilled Coke, I gaze at the horizon and look at the Golden Gate Bridge.

To the left, there is a nearby island with a building on top. Then I just remembered, "Is that Alcatraz?"

"Yeah... It will be the backdrop of the conflict of the prophecy regarding us twins." confirmed Josh.

I quickly asked, "And you're telling me this.. because?"

"So that you will leave it alone. Just in case you're in the area in the future, and you notice what's happening with that eyes of yours." Josh warned me.

"Eh? But didn't you request me to take part and save your allies?" I asked.

Josh nods while sipping his wine, "Ahh*.. That will be at the end when things are wrapping up. I'm telling you to disregard what you 'notice' during the build up of future events. When the 'villains' are setting their plans in motion."

"Why are you telling me this? My activity is still confined around Europe." His warning puzzles me.

After gulping down his wine, he said, "Because, it's risky if I stay on the same timeline as my 'current' self. I won't be around 'til 2007. So I'm just reminding you in case you're in California in the future."

'Oh, I get it.' I just nodded quietly and finished my meal.

While finishing my Coke, Josh snapped his finger and a card appeared in his hand and he presented it to me.

As I read at what's on it...

-------------------------

Merriman Lyon

Dphil Law

The Faculty of Law, University of Oxford,

St Cross Building,

St Cross Road, Oxford OX1 XXX

-------------------------

"...?... Who is this?"

"A lawyer, but he's just teaching now. He got bored playing archeologists in the 80s and before that, he was a physician....." He just went on and on about the person in the card.

I rolled my eyes and just said, "Can you just tell me directly who this person is? And why do I need a lawyer?"

Josh lean back and said, "He is a friend of your grandmother. Just in case you get yourself in some Wizardry legal trouble, call him. And I mean just you, ok. Don't call this guy if it's for a friend or somebody else."

"As much as possible, don't involve the Flamels in your troubles. They'll eventually need to relocate somewhere to avoid their pursuers."

"Dora can help you, but not a lot of people remember who 'The Witch of Endor' is and frankly, I don't think you want to see how she will remind everybody, right?"

"Fine..." I stuffed the card in my wallet. I want to inquire further, but from Josh's earlier description, the man in the card is also an immortal. 'Better ask Nana.'

Standing up, I'm preparing to leave when Josh said, "One last thing..."

"What?" I already grabbed my suitcase.

"Theodore Nott..." Josh said solemnly, "If possible, get rid of him."

Surprised by the name, I stared at Josh and waited for an explanation.

He said, "He will invent a Time-Turner that allows the user to travel as far back as they wanted in time."

I was silent for a while. Such device is very dangerous, and it does make Nott a threat. But it is something that will happen in the future, the present Nott is still innocent of the crime.

Seeing my dilemma, Josh sighed and said, "Well... Don't worry too much. I'll trust you can figure something to stop Nott from creating such thing in the future."

"Yeah, I just need to stop him, right?" Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly made up my mind to nudge Nott to a different path.

Josh wave me a goodbye using his left arm, but instead of a hand, there is a hook instead.

It's my cue to leave, so I quickly made my way back to the small loo of the yacht and opened the door.

Opening the door, I found myself in the familiar doorway of our my home in Ottery.

I smiled and yelled out, "I'M HOME!"

~end chapter~

Sorry guys, nxt chapter is on Feb 26