FicWad

Chapter 3 - The Amazon River

I soaked my body in the hot steaming water. I was currently sitting in the tub in the washroom. It was a tiring day as I recalled the conversation I had. I could not believe he actually gave me the "talk". But I supposed he did this to get my mind of things. It worked, that's for sure.

After counting the cash in the bottomless and weightless bag we concluded that we had over a million American dollars. That was strange because it was an Italian bank. But I paid it little attention since I was more focused on thinking what to do.

I love baths. They give much time for thinking and relaxation that you would not normally get in a busy life. Busy life? Well yes, I have a very busy life.

I need to have my education first off all. And since my father is not here much I need to find ways to amuse myself. I do this by going out and trying to find magical folk to learn from. Once, in Swahili, Africa I learned a cool voodoo ritual. It is dark and evil so I have only tried it on dogs. Man I hate those slobbering filthy mutts. I think I should kill all of them.

"Make way for the dark lord Harry Potter, a.k.a Phillip Lombard! He is the slayer of all dogs. Bow down on your knees and gawk and squawk at his mighty greatness!"

I imagined a man would say, introducing me in front of hundreds of thousands of people all bowing down in respect. Hmmm, while I was fantasizing I could add a couple of veelas playing strip poker in the background...

I shook my head, and started to soap my hair. My hair was always messy. It never stayed organized. I hated it because it was going against my life principles. They were to always be organized, clean, and sharp. Maybe I have some kind of brain problem or something but I just can't stand the sight of a messy room or a messy piece of writing. It gets on my nerves, although my father is exactly the opposite. I have seen his writing and let me tell you it is utterly atrocious.

I put a white soft and fluffy towel around me. I did not like to dry off; instead I liked to watch the water droplets run down on my body, forming lakes and rivers. Or so I imagined.

"Phillip, I have something important to tell you. And no it is not about sex. I just said that to take your mind of things." My father said to me, looking haggard as I dressed myself and stepped out of the bathroom.

He went to the living room, a place filled with exquisite sofas and armchairs, and I followed curiously. What did he want? I wondered.

"I know today what you saw was hard, but it is reality. It is a dog kill dog world out there, and only the toughest survive son." I scowled, didn't the guy I was living with for the past fifteen years know already that I hated dogs?

"You saw some people being murdered and you are probably thinking why I did it or was it necessary. Well let me tell you tha-" I cut him off mid sentence as I started a long tirade:

"What are you talking about? You killed the clerk for no reason, I saw you!" I exclaimed. I was outraged. He killed in front of me and he was trying to justify it or something?

"Listen to me and be quiet. I will not tolerate bad mouthing!" My father stated angrily. I forgot. My father was probably the strictest man in the world. His policy about children was that they were to be seen and not heard. So whenever he was talking I had to shut my mouth and listen. Unfair? Oh yes, but then again when was life fair? Life was fantastic, but fair?

"Alright, now as I was saying, you saw some bad things today. And as you said I will justify them to you. Imagine lions. Do they not hunt and kill for their food? Well we do the same thing, we hunt and we kill. For money, which is like our food. So you see, killing is perfectly all right as long as you do it for a good reason. It is the way life works. Animals kill all the time, so do humans. We kill in wars and what not. Aren't wars that are for some petty reason or another infinitely worse than just killing for what you need?"

It sounded like he practiced what he was going to say. He was giving a speech or something! Although my father was a compelling figure and very good at giving speeches now was not the time. I had a long day and I was tired. I just wanted to go to sleep and forget about killing and robbing banks. Money was good and all but I had a sense of principles. At least that is what I think...

"Yes, father. I understand what you are saying. Can I go to sleep please?" I really did not understand whatever the hell he was blabbering about but I just did not have the energy right now.

"Good! I knew you would see it my way. Tomorrow we are going to Brazil so sleep well!" He exclaimed in joy.

When I heard him utter that sentence I froze. Brazil! What the hell? I sighed. I am sure he had some reason or another, but we just finished a big heist. I wanted some peace for once, and to stay in one place for some time at least!

I went up to my room. The house we were living in had five large bedrooms. We did not pay rent as this was a muggle house and my father likes to practice his confundous charms on muggles. Cheap bastard!

Now don't get me wrong, I love that man more than anything but he had his flaws. Lots of flaws.

I sighed again, probably for the hundredth time today as my head hit my pillow. It was comfortable. My last thoughts as I drifted off to sleep were: What does he want in Brazil?

Well, he wanted something. And that something was a grand something, a fantastic something. That I was sure off, because I saw the look on his face when he told me we were going to Brazil was a look a homeless man would make when they find that they just won a million trillion billion dollars. Yup, that look.

I woke up the next morning extremely grouchy. Then I had some coffee. Caffeine: The cure to grouchiness.

We traveled to Brazil by muggle plane. Barty or Mr. Lombard or whatever the hell his name was liked to be "secure". Paranoid little shit!

As you can probably tell my opinion of my father lowered significantly since the murder heist. I tried not to think about that but my thoughts would invariably turn to that if I let it shift away.

The ride to the airport was long and boring. We were carrying a bag each, charmed to be weightless and bottomless. Like always. Inside the bag we had our clothes, money, objects, money, more clothes, did I mention money? Yup, we had a lot of money with us. Now you might wonder if airport security would catch us. Well, I think that is why some hippy invented the impervious charm...

The ride to Brazil was boring. More boring than anything I have ever done. Although watching the hot chicks...err stewardesses was pretty good. I think I had more pretzels on the plan than in my entire life. When the lady bends down to give me the bag of pretzels I get a nice view of her cleavage.

Do you know what sucks? Being a virgin. I wish I could just go to a bar, cast some glamour charms to look 18 and pick up some hot chick. Actually that is not a bad idea. I am definitely going to try that in Brazil.

What was Brazil like anyways? Probably like India or something. Lots of forests and a whole lot of poor people. Maybe a couple of exotic birds, or something. Brazil sounds like fun: exotic location, exotic chicks, beaches, bars, and drugs.

I could try all that. I am sure my dear papa would be busy and all. Dammit! I should have done that before. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a pervert. I am just a hot-blooded teenager. So is it so wrong to think of dirty things like that? Now if you are reading this and you have a broomstick stuck up your ass or something, just do the world a favour. Dung your head in a toilet and....

I am not making much sense am I? As I am writing this on the plane in a thin muggle notebook I notice my father, who is looking out the window. He frowned. Holy shit! Was he looking at the window's reflection and reading this? I better continue this later.

Brazil is nothing like I imagined. The streets have potholes in them and the weather channel keeps on repeating the same thing every minute: Hot and Humid!

I read somewhere that Brazil gets nine feet of water per year. I can believe that. If it is not raining it looks cloudy, and then it rains. It is pretty peaceful here though, especially the mornings. The sunrise is probably the main attraction over here.

As for the whole going to a bar plan... Well I am just about to do that. But first I have to wait till my father is asleep. Then I can sneak out.

We made some plans today. I found out why he was so anxious to get to Brazil. He was anxious, the way he was jittering about in the Brazilian airport looking around and saying hi to strangers.

I kept wondering what was going on. Why was my father acting strangely? What am I missing? I love detective stories, and puzzles. It intrigues me because they are like a big jigsaw puzzle. You have to get the clues and arrange them in a way to see the big picture. Only then can you understand what is going on.

I sighed as I sat up on my bed and looked at the clock on the shelf. 9:20 P.M? Only 2 minutes? Aargh! I sigh a lot as you can imagine, mainly because my life is frustrating. I keep trying to guess what my father does with his time. That is a real puzzle. Whenever I snoop around in his stuff he has wards up. It is not fun being covered in purple jelly and having turkey feathers thrown at you. Not fun at all.

Well now I know why he wanted to go to Brazil. He was going to have his first stonecutters meeting and he was going to let me sit in and watch. Not involve myself, just watch.

Tomorrow we are going to be sailing to the Amazon River to get to Jahadla, a little village where my father is going to be hosting the first stonecutters meeting. I was quite curious as to who the members were going to be. Maybe they were the people he was waving at all the time? Well in tomorrow's meeting they were going to discuss who was going to be the leader and their goals and plans. I know, as my father gave me an overview. Actually he was just talking to himself trying to quell his nervous anxiety. No use stressing! That's one of my mottos. I have a lot of mottos such as:

If you can get away with illegal thingies than do it.

If you get caught lie and deny.

Keeping calm is the best way of lying.

Ya they aren't original or anything. Myeh, I don't care. Those are the rules I live by. And I have done some pretty stupid things, but somehow I have never been caught. I have more mottos and things, I think. I pull out my bag, a brown one, and fish around for a book. I pull out my favorite one: a battered copy of "The Art of War by Sun Tzu" . I turn the pages rapidly and look around. I have read the whole book a few times over now. It really helps in chess when I play against my father. It helps me not be bored as I pretend the little pawns are front line soldiers and the queen is a spy from the enemy and...

I sigh again as I look at the clock. 9:34 P.M.

I am waiting until midnight. By then my father would be asleep. But I am pretty tired. Jet lag and all that stuff. I decide to lie down for a bit. I have lots of time after all...

God I hate my life! It turns out I slept the whole night. I really wanted to try beer too. I wake up and look around, squinting due to the white sunlight coming from the window. I take note of the place my father and I are currently residing. It is a hotel room: Holiday Inn. I didn't know they had that here.

I get dressed quickly and look around for my wand. It is a generic one, because I could not find one yet that would suit me. Generic wands are usually available in China and can be used by anyone. They are illegal, as you can't use Priori Incantum to check what spells you have done. So if you use an unforgivable curse, (those things are illegal in all countries according to some treaty or something) then nobody can trace it to you. Thus it is illegal. But generic wands were my only choice. Although I could use some other wand it would not work as well as a generic wand. Well actually, generic wands suck too. They use up too much magical power and the powerful ritual spells that I found in Ireland from some pureblood's library books don't work.

In Ireland lots of pureblood mansions get pillaged by the muggle borns so it's free for all. Usually they burn the books but I managed to salvage some of the dark ones. Hehe, I smirked as I remembered that.

I never showed it to my father because he is a dark- magic- phobic. But I have a feeling he knows. Sometimes when he looks at me his eyes twinkle and I feel unnaturally open and as if I am being read like a book. Weird, huh?

I walked to the washroom and look in the mirror. My green eyes stand out against my otherwise plain face if it wasn't for a hideous looking scar shaped like a lightning bolt residing over my left eyebrow. My hair is messy as always, pointing in different directions. I try to use a comb to control it a bit but it was no use.

I looked outside the small washroom window. The bright light hits my face as I opened it and deeply breathe in the fresh air, a ritual of mine whenever I come to a different place. Air smells different in different places.

I quickly wash my face and head down to the kitchen where I see my father already eating breakfast. Father is always an early riser.

Father looked at me and stared quickly. He said in a firm voice: "Pack your bags. We are leaving soon to the harbour on the Amazon River. I heard its really good sailing in this time of year. Be sure you are ready."

He nods at me. A man of few words he is. But his words are quite powerful. I don't really know how to describe it. It just compels you to listen, like some sort of aura.

I quickly ate my breakfast and soon before I knew it I was in the harbour.

My father and I were waiting around the small crowd that looked like rich people on vacation. I also saw my father going around and greeting everyone for some reason. There were only twenty people there and my father looked as if he knew them all. I frowned but decided I would figure it out later. Besides, riding the Amazon might be fun!

Soon the boats came, piloted by a few natives. They had long oars that they used to paddle their boats. They came up to us and told us to come into the boats. That was strange! They talked in English.

We started the riding. It would supposedly take us three hours to reach . I took out my wand, and cast a translation spell on myself.

"Translatio Manactra!"

This spell did not use much power, just concentration and will. Basically when you look at a person you will be speaking the language he is most comfortable with. It only worked on humans, not animals. It took me a while to get this but it sure was worth it. A rare spell invented by some smart guy I suppose.

"Hello, what is Jahadla like?" I asked in his native language. That translation spell was a godsend.

The native looked surprised that I knew his language. I smirked, faintly. God, I loved surprising them.

"It is like every other city in Brazil. It is crowded and filled with garbage!" He said vehemently. I looked up at him in surprise. What was wrong with him?

"You do not like it?"

He scowled and answered me: "No. I am only doing this to earn enough money to travel to America. That is where the good life is!"

I raised my eyebrows, confused.

"Why do you want to go to America? What is wrong with your country?"

The native surprisingly smiled at me. I became even more confused.

"In Brazil it is crowded, and jobs are few. But in America I will start a business and make a good life for myself. Look around you, all you see is poverty. You do not know how hard life is. You have money, and you are on vacation. But me, I am poor. All I have is a small hut. So I am trying to earn money and educate myself through public schools. I work as an assistant teacher. When I go to America I will go to college and get a good job. That is my dream!" He said enthusiastically, smiling with a glazed look in his eyes. If I looked closely, which I did, I could see some tears in his eyes. Wow, what an emotional guy!

My father was sitting next to me and he had a strange look on his face. Sympathy?

I looked at him, a question on my lips. But before I could ask he said: "Yes."

Father leaned towards the native and whispered after he cast the translation charm on himself: "Take us to Jahadla and when we get there I will give you enough money to get to America."

The native looked disbelieving at him. He was shocked, stunned, excited...

When examining the scenery to Jahadla, I noticed the birds. The birds were in many colors and of many kinds, but the ones that caught my attention was the parrots. They were in various different colors and chirped and whistled. Wow, astonishing! This place was beautiful. From the green trees and crowded bushes, to the monkeys and snakes. The fish in the river swam with grace, and as the breeze ran through my hair I thought about coming back here after my father was done whatever business he had to.

I was quite curious as to what business he had to do. Little did I know how much it would change my life in ways I never imagined.