Sitting on the bed in a room I rented at the Leaky Cauldron—Grimoire placed on my lap—I was reading the new things my grimoire copied while I toured Diagon Alley…
Of course, I knew my Grimoire could copy knowledge; I created it, and what it does is not really complicated. It just sends a pulse of magic to scan, copy, paste, and then it starts to compile and analyze said knowledge…
What I still don't know, though, is how strong it could become? How much magic can I store inside it? How much would it evolve? But I guess that's for future me to discover, huh? Right now, I just need to deepen my magic knowledge and spell repertoire…
~Hoot~ ~Hoot~
My reading time was disturbed when I heard the sound of Hedwig hooting—signaling her return. I raised my head and looked at her coming through the window, gliding through the air, and with graceful ease, she perched herself on my shoulder.
I quickly used a summoning charm on the bacon leftover on the table and handed it to her, making her shake her feathers a little, clearly pleased by my offering…
She looked a little different now; she looked slimmer, more magical. Her eyes now had a glowing greenish hue, and her white feathers looked even whiter, as if they emit light.
If you're wondering how these changes occurred, the answer is simple: in a moment of impulse, I sent a little bit of natural energy through our bond connection to see what would happen.
I didn't know if it would be harmful or not, but my instinct told me it would be fine, so I did it… and that was the result…
You see, after I got the idea of messing with the ministry more, I hurriedly wrote a letter to Amelia Bones and sent it with Hedwig. Only after she flew with the letter did I start to actually think and study what natural energy did to her…
After a short while of studying and experimenting, I started to understand that giving in to my impulse could have gone horribly wrong…
You see, infusing natural energy into magical creatures is not recommended, and doing so is highly dangerous for any magical creature because, unlike wizards, they are strongly attuned to nature and generally embody the essence of their magic.
I found that out thanks to the heroic sacrifice of 3 gnomes and 2 snakes that I won't bother to explain how I got my hands on, so quickly ~**cough**~ stole them ~**cough**~
Anyway, it turned out I was lucky that Hedwig already had an affinity for nature, and my connection with her helped smooth out the sudden natural energy infusion, which in turn helped her magic gain a minor aspect of nature. Still, her changes clearly aren't complete yet, because when she left, she only had the green glow around her eyes…
Now, don't get the wrong idea about magic just because you heard the word aspects.
You see, magic is simply magic. It's a facet of creation, but that's all the insight I have into its true nature so far.
Aspects, on the other hand, define the type of magic a magical being can use, whether human, animal, or even alien. If they are magical in some way, their magic must contain some kind of aspect.
For a magical being whose magic has a neutral aspect—the most common type—they can gain aspects for anything if they're willing to pay the price—which can be anything…
Affinity—like talent—greatly assists in acquiring a magical aspect, and that's what happened with my dear Hedwig.
Wizard magic, for example, has some remarkable aspects, but that also limits a wizard's ability to gain more aspects, regardless of the affinity a wizard may possess, and let's not forget that wizard magic is very talent-centric…
Still, that isn't really a problem because wizards and witches can easily bypass the need for aspects when casting spells—they just slap them on the spell if need be at the cost of emotions or more magical energy…
My case, though, turned out to be special…
I rolled my eyes when I realized this: my magic isn't strictly wizard magic—thanks to my null energy and my new core—which means I can gain any aspect I desire, as long as I'm willing to work for it, but at the cost of high proficiency.
In gaming terms, I can't gain a new aspect unless I have at least 75% proficiency in using the previous one…
Still, that isn't really a problem as this situation presents me with both pros and cons.
The pros? If I live long enough, I could very well collect most aspects and discover the true nature of magic while exploring different kinds of magic.
The cons? I must possess deep knowledge and at least 75% control of any magical aspect before I can assimilate a new one and start with it from the bottom again.
Ugh, this is giving me a headache. I'll focus on mastering my wizard magical aspects and try to raise my control to 100% first.
If I can't even manage that, despite my advantages, then I'm a true failure as an archmage.
Now then, let's return to the most interesting thing I discovered: my sage skill.
Being a sage is fascinating. I found out that being a natural-born sage meant that I was the son of nature; I will always subconsciously purify natural energy around me…
Doing so consciously is a little bit harder, but also much more rewarding.
What rewards, you may ask? Well, for example, I will always be protected by nature.
This means no one can use my blood to track, curse, or do anything harmful to me. If you want to curse me, you have to do it in front of me and not behind my back.
If you want to know how that feels, it's like what I imagined sitting in my mother's embrace when I was a kid felt like—warm and protective.
It feels great!
Anyway, that was all I could find out about my sagehood for the time being, and now I need to start planning for what's coming, which starts by studying magic to the best of my ability so that I can free myself from the debt I owe to fate and magic.
Being in their debt feels stifling, so, let's get started.
First things first: I need to get to Hogwarts to begin studying, training, and copying all the knowledge available there.
I have already copied every book containing basic magical knowledge from bookstores here, and my grimoire is doing its analysis on them now. That also means my grimoire is constantly feeding on my mental and magical energy, which in my opinion is a good way to train both.
Anyway, now, let's start by calling Dobby first…
"Dobby, come here; I need you," I called out, and a wave of magic escaped me while doing so…
Aha!! So that's what happens when you call a house-elf, but why??…
A moment later, a house-elf appeared, stopping me from going into my head with theories by clinging to my leg, saying,
"Harry Potter, sir, is okay! Dobby tried, sir! Dobby did everything he could to get Harry Potter, sir, out of Azkaban, but Dumbledore used his right as Hogwarts Master to order Dobby not to.
Dobby even quit his job and ran away from 'Hogwarts' to find a different way, but Dobby couldn't, sir!!"
"Please forgive Dobby, Harry Potter, sir; Dobby has been punishing himself for days now,"
I looked at the house-elf in front of me with different emotions; he didn't look good. He was injured all over his body and looked like he would keel over any second now…
Still, from his rambling, I learned a few things, like the fact that he was preparing to break me out of Azkaban like a ninja—his words, not mine—but the headmaster found out and forbade him from doing so, which made him quit his job and try to find another way…
"Okay, okay, Dobby, enough! Stop crying; I understand…
Thank you for trying, Dobby; that's more than I can say about anyone else. You're a friend, Dobby, so don't worry about it and stop punishing yourself," I told him while stressing the last part… he really is loyal, huh…
"Now then, Dobby, first thing first, how would you like to work for me?" I asked the now attentive house-elf, which made him squeal in delight…
This was followed by negotiating the price of his work with me upping the price and him lowering it; it was such a funny sight that made me feel peaceful,if only for a moment…
"Ok, now that we have finished our negotiations, and with you being my employee, I have a mission that requires your ninja expertise." I spoke while trying very hard to hold back from laughing; my humorous tone went over his head, though.
"I need you to get me into Hogwarts, but first, you have to make sure that Dumbledore isn't there. Then you can take me to the seventh floor; I need access to a room there."
"Yes, sir!! Harry Potter, sir!!" The house-elf saluted and then continued excitedly, "Dobby knows sir! Dobby knows the room, Sir Harry Potter! Dobby can do this!"
"Well then, special agent ninja Dobby, I'll leave this to you." I gave him a salute in return, which he copied with a grin on his wrinkled, excited face before he popped away.
Now, all I have to do is meditate here while waiting for Dobby to come back.
The Room of Requirement is going to be a very nice place to stay in for a while. Now, is it truly magical, as the stories said? I don't know—not even Tom Riddle knew; he only found the Room of Hidden Things in his last semester at Hogwarts—still, it wouldn't hurt to find out.
Anyhow, let's start meditating~
Meditation for a sage—as I found out—is a very sacred and intimate process.
I had to first use my own natural energy to slowly scrub away, purify and eliminate the corruption, curses, and everything in between that has been clinging to the planet and by extension the planet.
You see, the planet itself produces and absorbs energy simultaneously. Said planet is riddled with so much corruption and so many problems that are now my problems…
Really, what kind of child leaves his sick mother to fend for herself…
So while trying to tally how many problems the planet had, it wasn't strange when I found out that the planet's core is being siphoned by—what the planet called—an egg of a celestial. And yes, I can somehow talk to the planet—get over it.
Now, I still don't know what a celestial actually is, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough because even the half stories I have about this multiverse only said that celestials are very powerful beings…
Still, when I first saw what the egg was doing, my immediate thought was to make the planet devour it, but it refused as soon as I relayed the thought…
This brings me to my current predicament: what can I do to siphon this egg's energy and use it in a way that heals the planet and makes it stronger in the process? A small mistake here could lead to disastrous consequences, so I'll have to look into this more thoroughly before devising a solution…
Problems just pop up out of nowhere, and now I need to make a new plan. Because if I succeed, I could potentially hold the key to evolving everything on the planet, and that's never a good thing—especially with humans.
No, I have to find a different method or refine the current idea in a more subtle way.
Ugh, I'll just think about this later.
First, I need to heal the planet and clean at least 40% of the corruption as soon as possible to give the planet a fighting chance…
After that, it will get harder, and I'll have to go all over the planet to heal what's left.
The first 40% is manageable because the planet itself is helping me by guiding the corruption toward me so I can purge and purify it, but after that, it's going to require more localized treatment—if you will.
I woke up from my meditation to the sound of Apparition: Dobby has arrived.
"Harry Potter, sir, Dumbledore is not in Hogwarts, sir. I can take you to the room now, sir," he said while saluting. I really want to know where he learns these things.
"Understood, Agent Dobby. Let's get going," I replied, trying very hard not to laugh at his character—I mean, if he's having fun and I am having fun, what's the problem.
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