Olav

Olav Ravndal from Norway.

Olav lives in Oslo, the capital of Norway. He is an ordinary Norwegian boy, living an ordinary life in one of a row of semi-detached houses. Olav is an only child and the cousin of the two sisters I did not present under M,  Marit and Astrid Ravndal. They visit the same school, Marit in the 6th form, and Olav and Astrid in the 5th, but not in the same class.
Olav is often bored at school, he knew how to read before school even began, he is not bad at maths or languages either. Often he is reading books having no bearing whatsoever during lessons. Books his teacher calls penny dreadfuls, mostly their subjects are magicians saving ladies in distress from fire sprouting dragons, defeating the evil sorcerer or saving the day, swooping in on broomsticks in the nick of time. On his way home, Olav often recounts these books for his cousins, adding his own touches, and they play at casting spells and defeating dragons in the small park where they have to part ways going home form school.

One day in early June on his way from school alone, Olav sat down on a bench near the park. The sun was warm, and he was in no hurry to get home. He pulled up the book he was reading, it was thicker, darker than those he normally read, and it had the school librarian's recommendations.
Soon he was transported to another world, and did not see or hear anything, until a shadow fell over the book. A woman sat next to him, almost crowding him, and casting shadows over the book. He remembered seeing her in the Syttende Mai Parade, she was ... pretty ... was the only word Olav found. Young, with thick yellow hair and blue eyes. In her Bunad she had looked like something from a painting.
"What are you reading?" she asked.
As an answer Olav turned the book covers up for her to read.
"Hmm, a book about magic. Do you like magic?" she asked
"Yes I do," Olav answered, "it's fun to pretend to do magic as well. I do so with my cousins, sometimes on our way home from school, but magic is not real, unfortunately."
"Who says so?" The woman asked.
"My dad," Olav answered. "When I was small, he told me that it was as likely that I could cast spells, as I would learn to fly. I found this totally reasonable. After all we walk on the ground, and we can learn how to swim in the water, why not also learn how to fly in the air. I practised for weeks and weeks. When dad found out he laughed and laughed."
The lady sat quiet for a bit. "But magic can be evil, black magic, like in the book about Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill that you're reading."
"I do not think so," Olav said slowly. He was afraid to scare off the woman, or to offend her, but somehow he felt that she was really interested in what he thought, and dared to continue: "An axe can chop wood, and even build houses and boats. But an axe can destroy as well, and kill. That does not make axes evil."
"Tell me a bit about your cousins," the woman raid. "How are you related to them, and do you have any sisters or brothers or other cousins?"
"That's quickly done." Olav answered, relieved at talking about lighter matters that dark magic and the existence of evil. "I am an only child, my mother has no sisters or brothers, and only her mother, my grandmother, is still alive. My father still has both his parents, and a brother. He is the father of Marit and Astrid - those are my cousins. They do not have any other siblings or cousins. Their mother has almost no family, and old uncle, and mother and father, both very old. We all meet every time there is a birthday in the family, because we're all we have."
"Yes that is a small family indeed. I'd like to meet your cousins as well."
"That should be easy," Olav said. "school's out in a few minutes, and then they'll come past here on their way home. Why do you want to meet them?"
"I'd like to wait, and only tell my story once," the woman said. "By the way, my name is Martine."
"That name suits you. I think I saw you in the Syttende Mai Parade," Olav said.
"Really, you did," Martine smiled. "All of Oslo is in that parade, all the children at least, and you remember seeing me."
"I remember your hair," Olav said, but was spared closer explanations as Marit and Astrid came and sat on the bench as well. "Hello Olav," Astrid, the oldest said. "Are you discussing the Parade?"
"You seem to all have noticed me," Martine said with a happy smile. "No, not really, we were discussing magic."
"Magic!" Astrid exclaimed. "But dad always says that magic is just mirrors and strings, in short cheating."
"He is not right," Martine said. "He only says this to keep you from trying. You seem to all remember me from the Syttende Mai Parade because of my hair. Now look at it."
Martine's hair was long, golden and flowing. As the children looked, it slowly changed colour, growing darker and thicker. "This is my true hair colour," Martine said as her hair was very dark, almost back. But I do not like it. People stare, not many people in Oslo have long, black hair like this, so I change it."
Olav noticed the stick in her hand. "Is that your magic wand?" he asked.
"Yes it is, but don't tell anybody." She changed her hair back to the golden yellow colour, and turned to Olav:  "Olav, I'll like to come with you home, and Marit and Astrid, I'd like you to come with us, I have to talk to your father."
Olav and the girls nodded, and they walked together to Olav's home in the row of ordinary, semi detached houses. Olav's father was at home, and Martine asked him if he had time for a small talk.
"What now," Olav's father said, "Did Olav once again but read one of his terrible books during lessons?"
"No, it's a bit more serious," Martine said, her smile disarming poor Frede totally. 
"Do tell," he said
"I'd like Olav to join our summer school in magic and witchcraft during the holidays, and most probably Astrid and Marit as well. There's no reason in trying to keep it hidden from you, as you and your brothers are wizards as well, and I need your support."
Frede sat down hard on a chair. "What did you say?"
"You are a wizard, Frede, and you can do magic. At a later time we would like to teach you as well, but we have decided to begin with the children," Martine explained.
"Are you mad?" Frede asked. He rose and his voice turned shrill and loud.
"No I'm not," Martine said and pulled out her wand. She swished it through the air and flowers began falling, interspersed with small Norwegian flags, and they kept falling, and falling and falling. "You can not explain this by mirrors or some such," Martine said, "furthermore you always kept the old rules."
"I surrender," Frede said, sinking back into the chair. "Don't tell Flora, that's his mother. My brother and I always tried to  squash it out. It seems we did not succeed.  I'll phone Gustav."
"No," Martine said smiling, "magic will out."
Astrid and Marit's father came over, and was more cooperative, But then he had had the time walking there to think.
Olav, Marit and Astrid all promised to be at Martine's flat early in the morning the first day of the Summer holidays.


Olav is fabulous at transformation, and really shines, earning the respect of Heidi when he transforms a branch into a key on the night before the broom race, thus admitting the conspirators to the locked broom shed to prevent a total disaster during the broom-race. Astrid and Marit joined the yellow group, both flying for The Opposition in the broom-race.