The opera concert had proven to be enlightening; it had opened his eyes to the wonder of human capability.
Music, he decided, was a Muggle's way of magic.
It allowed them to influence a person as magic would and to evoke feelings as if under a spell.
Pavarotti, he found, was actually quite famous in the Muggle world, and was one of the most well-known people in the business, something and someone he had no knowledge of in his other life.
He had actually been quite fortunate to catch one of his shows as the man performed all over the world, from Italy to the US to London.
After that concerto, he had been quite hooked, and so had his mother, as they had gone to an opera every single month after their first one.
He also made an effort to learn the songs and their lyrics that would be played at each concert he attended so he could understand what they were about. It was a mistake he learned from; he wouldn't be unprepared as he was at the first opera he went to.
They had already gone to six operas so far, but the first one was still the most memorable, and all the other ones were lackluster compared to it. Most of the time, it was just him and his mother with Ella that went to the opera, but sometimes they were also joined by his Father.
It was during this time that he discovered that he had a magical connection with his mother, too, not just his sister.
He had been focused on the stage, watching the tenor sing Mamma! From Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. It was about a son foretelling his own death in a duel, and in his drunkenness, he professes his final farewell to his mother before his fatal time.
As he watched, he felt a sudden pang of sadness and the urge to cry. At first, he thought that he just felt sad for the mother and the whole situation of the song and since he felt emotions more vividly in this life than he did in his previous one, likely due to him being a child right now and also likey due to magic, since he mixed emotions and magic in his beginning days of trying to use magic.
Embarrassed by the notion of being seen crying at an opera by his mother, he turned to her to make sure she wasn't looking at him.
It had then clicked in his mind that it was his mother's emotion that he felt briefly as he looked at her and saw tears streaming down the side of her face. He finally had confirmation about something he had been guessing at for months now; that he didn't have a connection just with his sister but also his mother, and that she had felt him poke and prod the connection with his mind magic, and that is why that book had, well..magically.. shown up in front of him.
He should have felt happy to finally discover this, but instead, as he shared in her despair, sadness, and deep hurt, he realized why she felt so strongly about the song.
It was likely because she could relate to the mother, saw herself in her shoes, and was so overwhelmed that she unknowingly projected the emotion through her magic, which he felt due to their connection.
He wondered if she had intentionally used magic to ensure that he never felt her emotions all these years, as he should have at least felt some indication of their connection when he looked inside his mind to find the connection with his sister.
He pretended not to notice and wanted to go back to watching the concert after checking that Ella was still entertained by all the shiny dresses on the stage, from where she sat – in her mother's lap. However, as he was about to turn back, he heard her say.
"Oh, sorry honey, you probably felt that, huh?" After which, the emotions coming from her muted and slowly, he felt their connection fade as well.
This had all but confirmed that she not only had knowledge of their connection but was also quite familiar with it.
After the concert, in the car ride home, he asked her about their connection and what she knew about it.
He found out that she had felt it right after he was born, which would have been nice to know that he was capable of doing magic when he was struggling with the fact that he might be a squib.
He even found out that she called him 'my magic ', which was quite embarrassing.
She proceeded to tell him that, from the age of three, she had known how smart and aware he was, different from other kids. She told him all about his first attempts at using magic and how she felt him through their connection use different emotions to try and invoke magic.
She told him how she tried to keep an eye on him whenever he used magic.
She also told him about how she had gradually learned enough mind magic to occlude her mind from his connection, so his child's mind wouldn't get overwhelmed by her feelings and emotions.
She told him a lot of things, but they could all be summarised by her thinking that all the out-of-place stuff, like how he knew how to read and write before being taught, or how aware he was as a kid, and how he did all the magic she saw, was all because she thought he was gifted by magic.
She thought his intelligence, his drive, his passion, and his knowledge were all because of magic and that he was blessed by it.
He did agree with her in the sense that he was blessed by magic because he could actually do magic, and he thankfully found himself in a magical world, but all of the intelligence he displayed was simply because of his adult mind from another life that he had lived.
Her reasoning was more probable than her thinking that he had lived another life and knew things a child shouldn't know because of that, so he didn't say anything.
He was also curious about the extent of his magical capabilities, what she knew about his practice, and how many of the things he had thought he did in secret were actually secret. He didn't ask about this, however, as even if she knew about it, he wouldn't stop doing them, so the answer didn't really matter.
That conversation had happened around 6 months ago, and since then he had started using magic more openly, wether that was bring something far way like shoes near the door to the sofa so he could put them on while sitting down, or even levitating his cup of milk so he could pinch Ella's cheeks with both of his hand in the morning before going to school.
He had even shown Ella magic, and she had been hooked on it, and nowadays he played with her using magic, either to lift her toys or to lift her up, throw her in the air, and catch her.
He had gotten yelled at for this, but he still did it when his mother wasn't looking, as Ella would just keep her arms up in the air towards him until he did it.
He had even taken to feeding Ella using magic, which had the same effect as cocomelon, as it was a distraction and something to keep her engaged so she could eat without any fuss.
The freedom to use magic was so exhilarating that he felt like time had passed by way quicker than it had before.
Each day felt way too short as he had so much to do: his morning bows, morning magic practice, playing with Ella, learning French with his dad, going to school, attending dance classes, and the newly added piano lessons. He would then come home, play with Ella some more, and do more magic practice.
It had been about six months since he had formed this new routine, and now he was about to turn seven!
Author's Note: That's right, folks, we are all caught up with the story since the flashback began, and now I can finally start writing in the present tense, instead of past tense like I have been doing. Enjoy the extra chapter and have a great day!