Nextgen Kids: The New Era

Sector MG, Part 2: The Wandless Wizard

Starring our favorite hunk from Fairy Tail (or mine), Romeo Conbolt!

Chapter 2: The Wandless Wizard

Three years ago; Hogwarts

The students were asked to hand over their wands and put them on a table. As they stood in line on the Quidditch Field, dressed in white T-shirts and red shorts with sneakers, Madame Hooch paced from one side to the other and examined them. Wendy stood next to Romeo. "Welcome to your first class of physical education. (I speak to the first-years, of course.) Before we begin, who of you here are element benders?"

Wendy, Romeo, and a couple others raised their hands. "I see. Now, can one of you tell me what the difference between a bender and a mage is? The answer is NOT their abilities." Romeo raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Conbolt?"

"Is it that benders use their bodies to control elements, but mages use wands and books?"

"Correct. Now, who can tell me what they have in common? The answer is NOT their use in elements. You, Ms. Marvell?"

"It's that both types possess chi." answered Wendy, her hair in a ponytail.

"Right you are. You see, some wizards are under the impression that, just because we wave wands and utter funny words, we don't have to train our bodies the way benders do. WELL, THEY'RE WRONG. Because using magic exhausts our bodies the same as using chi. Our magic is merely a unique compound of various chis that we summon to our whim. And yet, normal benders have the gall to call our practice unnatural, an insult to nature. But in this day and age, I think there's a very thin line between what is deemed 'normal' and 'not normal.' We wizards must train our bodies to become stronger, get adept with our chi so that we may command the powers we were born with. So, by the end of this term, the strength of your magic should increase TENFOLD!"

Their first task was to race five laps around the field. Madame Hooch also had chi-blocks set up to make things slightly harder for the benders. Without her airbending, Wendy felt a significant decrease in speed. The older students were staying ahead of her, and Romeo was in first place. "Come on, Wendy! I thought you were faster than that!" he yelled back with a wry grin. Wendy fixed a glare on him and poured more power into her legs.

When the students were asked to swing across a series of magically floating bars, followed by climbing poles, Romeo watched as Wendy was able to pass him. "Come on, Romeo, I thought you were stronger than that!" Romeo flushed and hesitated for a moment, feeling his pride shrink a little.

That night, while the other girls were asleep in their dorm, Wendy felt thirsty and got up for a drink. She heard a faint sound outside, like a quick movement of bare feet. Wendy quietly made her way downstairs and saw Romeo jogging down the stairs to the boys' dorm. He turned and made his way back up, and Wendy waited for him to come back down. When he did, he was shocked to see her. "Huh, Wendy?" he stopped, gasping for breath. "Eeek!" He blushed, remembering he was only in purple shorts.

"I heard something downstairs and came to check. What are you doing, Romeo?"

"Just... getting some extra credit for phys-ed."

"Is this because I passed you on the monkey bars?"

"No, not really, it's... Sigh, I might as well tell you. Wendy, you know how wands have to choose the wizards, otherwise they won't work?"

"I know that." Wendy answered, remembering when she was first trying wands.

"The truth is, I could never find a wand that worked for me. Every wand I tried either caught fire or something else. Even rare wands like the Phoenix Feather. The only way magic is able to work for me is if I use my firebending. Training is just about the only thing I do, so I can use better magic without getting too tired. Thankfully, there are other classes that don't use wands."