Aiden continued the zoo visit with the others in an altered state, already planning the future a bit and gathering his knowledge about the Harry Potter world.
The miracles possible through magic weren't limited to the domains of his mind, no it was much more than that, magic was almost alive, a pure energy that navigated everywhere in the world and chose its chosen ones to represent it.
What he had naively called Power was nothing other than magic and Aiden had only one desire - to return to the orphanage, for night to fall and for him to be able to experiment with all this, to be able to touch this thing that defied everything he knew from his previous world.
This feeling of novelty completely fascinated Aiden, who for the first time in a very long time had finally found a certain meaning in his life.
I want to explore magic! I want to be the most powerful wizard this world has ever known! he thought strongly.
But a surge of worry suddenly filled his body, Voldemort and his followers...
No matter what the fanfiction he had read on Earth said he was, a bald man without a nose, filled with stupidities because of his soul's fragmentation into 7 Horcruxes. He was nonetheless powerful and Aiden wouldn't rely on the original books to evaluate if this vision was real.
This was his reality now and if Voldemort showed himself in another image and he died like an arrogant imbecile, even God would mock him and the Devil would throw him out of hell from shame.
I'm going to have to review my plans.
The small group finished their visit after the incident with the snake was resolved and they had authorization to circulate freely again.
Poor little snake, you couldn't even escape very far before they put you back behind your glass... I who thought you had managed to escape when I read the first book...
But very quickly the thought disappeared from Aiden's mind, replaced again by worry about Voldemort.
Also need to see where my magic level stands, but my greatest weapon for now is my mind, Voldemort changes everything, innocent or not, my experiments on humans have been delayed too long and I won't let a noseless madman destroy my chance because of some scruples.
- "Well childrens ! I hope you enjoyed the zoo visit and I'd like us all to say thank you to the kind Mister Leblanc, it's thanks to him that we were able to make this superb visit!" Miss Pemberton explained with a big smile that didn't reach her ears while presenting the man standing beside her.
The man was dressed in an entirely white suit ensemble, with a round hat worthy of Columbus and that would make every Louisiana slave owner jealous, a small elegant white and gray mustache grew under his nose, coupled with a well-trimmed small goatee.
He smiled and raised his hand in greeting in response to the children's chorus of thanks.
- "I hope you all appreciated it and it was a pleasure for me to have been able to share the magic of life with you who need it so much! Work hard at school so you can do what you want and make the orphanage rich in turn!!" he encouraged while raising his fist.
Well of course you don't have the wealth my father left me to start with but well I say that more for my image, power to you, we'll probably never meet again but you have to make a good impression... he thought behind his smile that masked his thoughts.
Aiden squinted behind his dark round glasses, a vein swelled slightly on his forehead before retracting, a small predatory smile then slowly drew on his lips.
Good, it seems my first experiment just presented itself, rich too, if I succeed, all my plans are good years in advance.
He drew a golden thread in his consciousness, and sacrificed the image of himself brushing his teeth 3 days ago, precisely the back-and-forth on the third gum. Once the thread was created, he removed his glasses and put them in his pocket.
- "Well children!" Miss Pemberton exclaimed again. "We'll wait a bit, the sky just suddenly clouded over and it looks like a storm is going to break so we'll wait a bit in the hall, no nonsense and let's be good okay?"
The childrens responded in chorus again and began chatting among themselves. Aiden took advantage to move between them without pushing them and quickly reached the front of the line.
He approached the pseudo-Columbus, took his glasses in hand and pretended to fall while bumping into a kid next to him, his name must have been Gaspard something.
- "Ouch!" he exclaimed.
The noise alerted the two adults who turned around, Aiden in his fall took advantage to try to catch himself on Columbus but unsuccessfully and with the other hand sacrificed his glasses by throwing them on the ground. One of the lenses broke on the ground and the man felt a bit sorry and bent down hastily toward Aiden.
- "Little one! Are you okay??" he exclaimed.
Miss Pemberton rushed and took his arm to help him up with Mister Leblanc's help.
What a bunch of stupid kids, first I get the other one's snot and now him wrinkling my suit, I really hate kids and poor people.
Aiden took advantage to grab the man and look him in the eyes, at that precise moment, he sent his golden thread into the man's mind and what he saw terrified him...
Where did the simplicity of animal minds go??? Damn what the hell is this thing??
What welcomed him resembled nothing like the clean and structured tunnels he knew from animal brains. No, here, it was total chaos – an immense dense and opalescent fog that extended in all directions like London fog doped with steroids.
Holy shit, he thought looking at this mental maelstrom. It's like going from a well-organized apartment to an IKEA store on a Saturday afternoon, everything is everywhere and nothing makes sense.
The fog pulsed and undulated around him, intermittently illuminated by flashes of light that burst like lightning in a storm. Each flash revealed fragments of images, sounds, emotions that streamed at hallucinatory speed.
A woman in a red dress laughing... A dark office with stacks of bills... Fear of losing his inheritance... The taste of single malt whisky... The smell of leather from his Rolls Royce...
Aiden controlled his golden thread to plunge deeper into this mental fog, navigating like an explorer in a parallel dimension. Unlike animal minds where everything was simple and linear, here each thought was connected to ten others through complex and twisted links.
It's like a fucking labyrinth designed by Salvador Dali after a bender on absinthe, he told himself while avoiding a lightning bolt of traumatic childhood memories. No wonder humans are so complicated if this is the mess they have in their skulls.
He wandered in this mental chaos for what seemed like hours, even though in the real world, not even a second had elapsed. It was fascinating and terrifying at the same time.
Financial thoughts over here... Repressed fantasies over there... And damn, what the hell is that thing?
Aiden discovered with stupefaction that the human mind was compartmentalized in a way that defied all logic. Entire sections were walled up, hidden behind mental barriers that even he, with all his power, had difficulty piercing.
It's as if each human was naturally endowed with a primitive form of Occlumency, he realized. No wonder Voldemort needed Legilimency to read minds. In animals, everything is open-air, but in humans...
He continued wandering, passing dark zones full of guilt and shame, bright sectors filled with pride and arrogance, secret corners stuffed with unmentionable desires. Mister Leblanc's mind was a true museum of human nature, and not the kind of museum you take kids to.
Damn, this guy has fantasies that would make a pirate blush, thought Aiden while carefully avoiding a particularly sleazy zone. And this obsession with money... It's not greed, it's downright addiction.
The more he progressed, the more intense the emotion echoes became. Leblanc's greed wasn't just a character trait, it was a primordial force that colored every corner of his mind. Every memory, every thought was tinted with this sickly thirst for wealth.
And then, at the heart of this chaotic fog, Aiden found it.
Mister Leblanc's body, well, the mental representation of his deep ego, was lying on a veritable dragon's treasure. Gold coins extended as far as the eye could see, forming a glittering mountain that would have made Smaug himself jealous. Jewels, ingots, banknotes, stocks, property deeds... Everything that could have value was piled around him like an altar dedicated to greed.
Leblanc lay atop this pile of gold, eyes closed, a blissful smile on his lips. He was naked, vulnerable, completely abandoned to his purest pleasure. His hands absentmindedly caressed the gold coins that surrounded him, and small moans of pleasure escaped his lips.
Holy shit, thought Aiden, both fascinated and disgusted. This guy literally gets off on his money. It's even more pathetic than I thought.
Aiden's golden thread stopped before this vision, floating in the mental air like a snake hypnotized by its prey. This was the nerve center of Leblanc's mind, the heart of his personality, the source of all his motivations.
And it was exactly where Aiden had to strike.
Well, my old Leblanc, he thought with a mental smile that had nothing childlike about it. Let's see if your love of money can resist a little... firmware modification.
The golden thread began to glow with more intense light, preparing to plunge into the very heart of human greed. In a few moments, Mister Leblanc would no longer be quite the same man.
And Aiden Mortensen, ten years old, orphan and future master of the mind, had just discovered the most dangerous and exciting playground of his new existence.
Welcome to the big leagues, buddy, he thought watching the golden thread approach his first human victim. Let's hope you survive the experience.
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(PS: A friend suggested I create a P@treon account. If you'd like to see advanced chapters posted on Webnovel, that's where you can find them! I'll also mention all the supporters at the end of each chapter!)
Search : StoryLabo or click the link in my bio