The next morning, the Blackwood family and their guests returned to Leavesden Studios for a very special day.
It was the final day of filming inside the Great Hall. They were shooting the biggest, most emotional scene of the entire movie: the end-of-the-year feast. The House Cup ceremony.
Donovan, his younger siblings Oliver and Lily, and his three friends—Chris, Jake, and Scarlett—were sitting in comfortable chairs behind the director's monitors. They were staying out of the way, watching Donovan's mother orchestrate absolute chaos.
There were hundreds of child extras in the room, all wearing their Hogwarts uniforms. The tables were filled with actual food. At the front of the room stood the legendary actor Richard Harris, dressed in his magnificent robes as Albus Dumbledore.
"This is insane," Jake Gyllenhaal whispered, eating popcorn from a large paper bag. "It really feels like we are inside the book."
"Your mom is a general," Scarlett Johansson said, watching Donovan's mother direct the massive crowd of kids with perfect control. "She is fearless."
Donovan just smiled, leaning back in his chair. He was in a great mood.
Scarlett, however, was looking at Donovan with narrowed eyes. She hadn't stopped thinking about yesterday. "Donovan, I'm still trying to figure out that coin trick you did for the kids yesterday. How did you make the paper bird fly?"
"Sleight of hand, Scar," Donovan lied smoothly, not breaking eye contact with the monitors. "Just an optical illusion."
"Right," Scarlett said sarcastically. She crossed her arms and leaned against the small craft services table next to them.
When she leaned back, her elbow hit a tall, full cup of hot, black coffee.
The cup tipped over the edge of the table. It was falling directly toward Scarlett's lap. The hot liquid was already splashing over the plastic rim.
Scarlett gasped, but she didn't even have time to move.
Donovan didn't look up from the monitors. He didn't jump. He just casually reached his left hand out.
*Smack.*
Donovan caught the paper cup right before it hit Scarlett's jeans. He caught it perfectly upright. The hot coffee violently sloshed inside the cup, spinning in a circle, but miraculously, not a single drop spilled over the edge. It was as if the liquid had hit an invisible wall.
Donovan calmly placed the full cup back on the table, still looking at the movie monitors.
"Careful," Donovan said casually. "That's hot."
Scarlett stared at the cup. Then she stared at Donovan. Her heart was beating fast. "You... you didn't even look."
"Peripheral vision," Donovan shrugged.
Jake, who had seen the whole thing, stopped chewing his popcorn. "Dude, that was falling at like, ninety miles an hour. Are you a ninja?"
"I just have good reflexes, Jake," Donovan smiled.
"Yeah? Let's test those reflexes," Chris Evans joked. He grabbed a piece of popcorn from Jake's bag and threw it directly at the back of Donovan's head.
Without turning around, Donovan lifted his right hand and caught the piece of popcorn between his index finger and his thumb.
Chris's jaw dropped. "Okay, that's just creepy."
"My turn," Donovan smiled.
Donovan took the piece of popcorn. He didn't even aim. He just carelessly tossed it over his shoulder, bouncing it hard against a metal light stand.
*Ping.* The popcorn bounced off the metal stand, flew across the air, hit the back of a wooden chair, bounced *again*, and flew perfectly into Jake Gyllenhaal's open mouth.
Jake choked slightly, swallowing the popcorn in pure shock. He looked around wildly. "Did you guys see that?! It bounced twice!"
Oliver and Lily burst out laughing, clapping their hands at the amazing trick.
"It's just geometry, Jake," Donovan lied with a completely straight face. "I calculated the wind from the air conditioning."
"You are a freak of nature," Chris laughed, trying to bounce a piece of popcorn off the light stand too. His popcorn just hit the floor.
Scarlett wasn't laughing. She was looking at Donovan like he was an alien. She knew nobody had reflexes like that. It wasn't human.
"Quiet on set!" Donovan's mother yelled through her megaphone. "We are rolling! Action!"
Everyone went completely silent.
In the Great Hall, Richard Harris stepped up to the podium as Dumbledore. The scene was the climax of the movie. Dumbledore was announcing that Gryffindor had won the House Cup.
"Assuming that my calculations are correct," Richard Harris boomed with his magnificent voice, "I believe that a change of decoration is in order!"
Dumbledore clapped his hands.
This was the big practical effect. High up in the ceiling of the soundstage, the green and silver banners of Slytherin were supposed to drop, revealing the red and gold banners of Gryffindor hiding underneath them.
*Click. Clack.*
Half of the banners dropped perfectly. But one massive Slytherin banner, right in the middle of the room, got stuck. The mechanical rig had jammed.
"Oh no..." the special effects supervisor whispered in panic from the video village. "Rig number four is jammed! The motor is stuck!"
Donovan's mother saw the stuck banner. Her shoulders slumped. If she yelled cut, they would have to reset the entire room, reset the hundreds of kids, and lose an hour of expensive filming time.
She grabbed her megaphone, ready to stop the scene. "Cu—"
Donovan didn't want his mother to be stressed. He crossed his legs, resting his hands on his knee. He looked up at the jammed banner fifty feet in the air.
He didn't use a wand. He didn't say a spell. He just subtly twitched his index finger.
A microscopic, invisible wave of pure magic shot up to the ceiling.
*SNAP.*
The jammed mechanical rig suddenly un-jammed itself. The green Slytherin banner fell away perfectly, revealing the beautiful red and gold Gryffindor lion underneath it. It happened just in time before the camera panned across the ceiling.
Down on the floor, the child actors threw their wizard hats into the air, cheering loudly as the scene ended perfectly.
"And CUT!" his mother yelled, throwing her arms into the air in pure joy. "That is a wrap on the Great Hall! Perfect take!"
The entire studio erupted into massive applause. Hundreds of extras, camera operators, and crew members cheered and hugged each other.
The special effects supervisor wiped the sweat off his forehead, looking very confused. "I swear that motor was broken. It just... fixed itself."
"Sometimes you just get lucky," Donovan told the man with a friendly smile.
His mother walked over to the video village, absolutely glowing with happiness. She hugged Donovan tightly.
"We did it!" she laughed. "That was the hardest scene in the entire schedule, and we got it in one take!"
"You're a natural director, Mom," Donovan praised her.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint ran over to the video village. They weren't nervous anymore. They looked like normal kids who had just finished the last day of school.
"Did you see us?" Rupert asked eagerly, his Gryffindor tie hanging loose around his neck.
"You guys were amazing," Scarlett smiled, giving them high-fives. "Total professionals."
"Donovan," Daniel said, looking up at the teenager. "Thank you. For what you said yesterday. It really helped us."
"You guys didn't need my help. You just needed to believe in yourselves," Donovan smiled warmly.
"Are you going back to America now?" Emma asked.
Donovan nodded. "Yeah. Duty calls. I have a superhero movie to film."
"Can you do one last trick before you go?" Oliver begged, pulling on Donovan's shirt. "Please? Just one more!"
Donovan chuckled. He looked around the set and saw a large, heavy prop broomstick resting against a chair. It was made of solid wood and metal, meant to look like a Nimbus 2000. It weighed at least fifteen pounds.
Donovan picked up the heavy broomstick. He held out his right hand and pointed his index finger straight up.
Very carefully, he placed the heavy wooden tip of the broomstick perfectly on the tip of his finger.
He let go with his other hand.
The fifteen-pound broomstick balanced perfectly on Donovan's single finger. It didn't wobble. It didn't lean to the side. It stood completely straight up in the air, defying gravity as if it were glued to his skin.
Chris Evans let out a loud laugh. "Okay, now you're just showing off."
"It's all about finding the exact center of gravity," Donovan lied smoothly, casually walking around the room while the heavy broom remained perfectly balanced on his finger. He even spun it slightly.
"Let me try," Jake challenged, stepping forward.
"Sure," Donovan smiled. He carefully transferred the heavy broom to Jake's finger.
The absolute second Donovan let go, the "center of gravity" vanished. The heavy broom immediately crashed to the floor with a loud *BANG*, almost hitting Jake in the foot.
"Whoa!" Jake jumped back. "Dude, that thing is heavy! How were you doing that?!"
"Like I said," Donovan smirked, picking the broom up and leaning it back against the chair. "I just have a good sense of balance."
Scarlett shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. She finally realized that trying to figure out Donovan Blackwood was impossible. He was simply playing the game of life on a completely different level than the rest of humanity.
"Alright, magicians, time to go," Donovan announced, clapping his hands together. He looked at his mother. "We'll see you back in LA when you finish the final scenes, Mom. Great job today."
"Safe flight, kids!" his mother waved, turning back to her crew to celebrate.
Donovan waved goodbye to Daniel, Emma, and Rupert. The kids waved back, looking at him with absolute admiration. He wasn't just a movie star to them; he was the coolest guy they had ever met.
As they walked out of the massive soundstages of Leavesden Studios and back into the rainy London afternoon, Donovan felt ready. The vacation was over. The fun and games were done.
He climbed into the back of the luxury car, looking at Chris, Jake, and Scarlett.
"Next stop, Los Angeles," Donovan said, a sharp, serious glint returning to his dark eyes. "It's time to build a universe."