47 Home Sweet Home Part 1

Kaiser left the meeting in a sour mood. He hated the fact that he needed to be so cautious about everything, walking on eggs just so that he can ensure his safety. Only the knowledge of what can be achieved through magic kept him from giving up. Those fools had no idea how much potential it held, choosing to waste their time on their perceived illusion of power instead.

He will have to rectify this situation as quickly as possible. He already had Hogwarts' as an unbreachable safe haven, so as long as he didn't leave it, no one could harm him. But the problem is, he still needed the wizarding world for his endeavors, so he had to compromise for now.

Kaiser spent the rest of the day in the practice room, trying to take his mind off everything else, practicing his magic and trying to make advancement in his new theory. He had a good feeling it might work. Though progress seemed exceedingly slow, but he soldered on despite the lack of results.

The tournament began the next day, driving the excitement in the village to new heights. People flocked in thousands to Arena, which was expanded to house all the newcomers. Hotels were already full, and people started camping next to the village instead, creating a field of tents as far as the eye could see. Even the air above it was full of flying brooms, carpets, swords and god knows what else. Kaiser could swear he saw someone riding a giant spoon. Wizards had the weirdest ideas sometimes.

The tournament lasted four days, during which some gained a fortune while others gambled theirs away. Some participants basked in glory, while some returned home incomplete. Kaiser got the opportunity to witness several ingenious ways to use offensive and defensive magic, with the occasional genius displaying masterful non-lethal dark magic. From those who fought with enchanted weapons to those who made weapons out of their limbs, he saw all types of buffs and debuffs magic being used from the occasional skin hardening to the more used speed buffs.

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The trip back to Hogwarts was uneventful. Remus was checking some souvenirs he bought on the way for his colleagues and friends, while Kaiser was fangirling over enchanted weapons, annoying Remus and Karl over which one he should learn to use. Karl was thinking what he would have for dinner.

After portkeying to England, at last, and bidding each other goodbye, Kaiser apparated back to the Chamber Of Secrets.

"Welcome back, Master." a hissing sound greeted him upon his arrival.

"It's been a while, Amaru. How you doin', sweetheart?" Kaiser answered cheekily, earning himself the equivalent of a snake chuckle.

"I'm alright. Preys are plentiful this time of the year." She answered, while Kaiser patted her nose gently.

"Do you still have the bad habit of toying with them?" He asked with a knowing smile.

"Try sleeping for a whole year, we'll see if you don't get bored." She gave a snake-shrug.

"Do have fun. I have to go now. I'll try to bring you some of your favorite beef meat when I'm back." Kaiser made his way through the secret tunnel to the "real chamber of secrets", his quarters.

"Welcome back." As soon as he entered, he was greeted with Daphne's voice. She was sitting on the sofa, speaking to the portraits placed right in the middle of the room, if he guessed correctly. The portraits were of Salazar and Rowena, her tutors.

"I'm wounded, my dear Daphne." Kaiser said dramatically. "I've been away for such a long time, traveling through a sea of fire and a mountain of blades, yet I'm not greeted by any hugs nor shower of kisses…"

"Well, you're in a good mood." Daphne rolled her eyes at his antics, though she did approach him and gave him a hug, which he returned, albeit awkwardly.

"I think we should go no further, Daphne. I fear for my chastity." Daphne burst out laughing at his outrageous words, though the portraits seemed to enjoy the joke too.

"Greetings to you, my lord, my lady." Kaiser gave a bow to the portraits as he usually did.

"No need to be so formal, child. At ease." Rowena looked at her favorite disciple fondly. Salazar and Rowena considered Kaiser the child they never had, and taught him everything they could. Kaiser also saw them as a parental figure. He agreed with most of their teachings and values, so one can say they were highly compatible.

"Your travels were fruitful, I hope?" Salazar inquired.

"Very. It did open my eyes to possibilities I never considered before." Kaiser answered. "I also met with Mr. Krovius there. Not a pleasant meeting."

"I can imagine." Salazar said thoughtfully. "You are bound to clash with them, eventually. What is the Chinese idiom? … ah: 'One mountain cannot contain two tigers'."

"Indeed." Kaiser said grimly, though he didn't consider himself or his organization as a tiger just yet. "At least, we haven't drawn the Asian's interest just yet."

"It's only a matter of time." Rowena said. "While they might act detached, they follow everything closely. In fact, I have no doubt that their information networks are the best in the world, not to mention their divination abilities."

The problem with knowledge was that it needed to be accumulated over a long period of time, something ancient Asian families had in spades. The Asian stalemate has been ongoing for thousands of years, while the rest of the world constantly fought against each other, leading to the destruction of several noble bloodlines. People wondered why, for a culture that held fighting in the highest regards, they were the most peaceful out there.

"Oh yes. I know I just came back, but I would really appreciate your assistance on a little project of mine." Kaiser asked hopefully.

"Ask away, we're all ears." Rowena said.

"Part of the communication device I've been working on includes the ability to read and produce sounds. I've applied spell crafting theories to the best of my ability, and didn't find much problem. Once you consider sound as being a mechanical wave, and focus on creating a vibration, then adapt the frequency, the spell came out naturally. But when trying the same thing for another idea, I haven't found much success." Kaiser explained, while Daphne listened attentively to every word.

"What is this spell you are trying to make?" Rowena asked curiously.

"I am trying to convert heat to kinetic energy." Kaiser explained. "The idea is that while energy is categorized into different types, the main concept remains the same. In fact, it's already a proven fact that energy, no matter the type, can be converted to something else. For example, our body converts chemical energy from the food we digest to mechanical energy to be able to move. I am trying to bypass the process with a magical sequence."

"That's a very interesting idea." Rowena mused loudly. "It does open many possibilities." Even though she was merely a shadow of her past self, she still retained her knowledge, albeit she couldn't develop it further. "Natural spells are always tricky to handle. Dealing with runic based spells are much more straightforward." she remarked.

There were two ways to learn a spell: the first one would be the natural way, to just use intent, imagination and will. The second one was to create the phenomenon from the runic sequence. The latter does not require the caster to focus on anything but the spell's runes, except in the case of dark magic where emotions are also necessary.

"How do you picture heat in your case?" She asked.

"I tried different ways actually. From thinking of something as warm, to imaging the atoms' vibrations, which is what "temperature" truly represents. But I didn't find much success in neither." Kaiser shrugged.

Rowena had a pensive look on her face. She was quite aware that, as a portrait, the most she can do is guide him in the correct direction. She could not give him the solution to his problem.

"Generally speaking, the inability to reproduce a phenomenon can either be due to the wizard's flawed vision or comprehension, the theory behind the spell itself, or simply the fact that what you are trying is beyond human capabilities." She explained. "In order to eliminate all doubts about the process itself, you should try making a Sensory spell first."

"Sensory spell?" Kaiser tilted his head in confusion. "I never heard of that term before."

"Even though you already made one?"

"What do you mean?" Now he was even more confused, which earned a chuckle from both Salazar and Rowena.

"Well, you said earlier that you made a spell to detect sounds, based on the fact that sound is a mechanical wave. That's a Sensory or Perception spell. It is advanced magical theory: Perception Magic. You should look it up, it will help you greatly."

"I concur." Salazar added. "Perception Magic is crucial if you wish to go very far in your studies."

"Thank you for your guidance. I'll begin right away."

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Kaiser doubted he'd be able to finish the Ravenclaw library before finishing his Hogwarts education, let alone when it's combined with Slytherin's. Therefore, he has to choose subjects to focus on: he concentrated on enchanting and theory of magic, along with charms guided by Professor Flitwick. Though, the latter needed more practical application before learning more.

While he did read in his free time, he only read in subjects he had little knowledge in, like rituals, potions and transfiguration. His serious studies focused around what relates to his job. He was only one person; he cannot do everything alone.

Daphne, on the other hand, focused mainly on ritualistic magic, but that itself prompted her to learn other subjects, including Runes, basic Enchanting, Alchemy and potion making, as most rituals required it.

Flitwick was making use of the library to further his knowledge on charms, albeit he did not read about any other subject. Instead, he chose something nobody would've expected: he started learning muggle science. It all started when Kaiser explained to him how he modified the Lumos spell, something no one ever succeeded in before, which was weird according to Kaiser, since there were some books on the wizarding world that talked about diffraction and light related concepts, meaning that light was researched before. His desire to learn more was only amplified when he was taught fly magic, courtesy of Kaiser. It proved that "non magical science" had immense potential waiting to be exploited.

Karl also did the same, though he focused on muggle chemistry and potion making. He was otherwise engaged managing the "empire" they were slowly building.

Right now, Kaiser and Daphne were sitting in the large sofa together, researching Perception magic in a stack of books they brought. The subject seemed very interesting to Daphne, as it would help her determine what kind of curse her family was afflicted with before she designed a ritual to dispose of it.

The reason they were doing it together is because they judged having two brains was better than one, so that they could exchange notes and findings, reducing their learning time exponentially. They also judged, albeit silently, that this would be a good bonding experience for them.

"The world is ruled by laws so profound we mortal can only dream of comprehending, yet it is mother magic's gift to its chosen ones to peer upon the universe's mysteries. It is its way to favor us above the others, by guiding us towards the right way…" Daphne read a paragraph from her book. "It basically says that what we perceive through sensory magic is absolute, holding no degree of error whatsoever. The only error possible would be one that's artificially made by another… "chosen one", as the author likes to call us. But it clearly disagrees with what your book says, correct?"

"Indeed." Kaiser confirmed with a pensive look. "Nothing is absolute. That vision leaves many loopholes, and even worse, it would halt a wizard's progress in magic, something the author clearly didn't account for. Not to mention he is based off a theory that magic is a sentient entity, and while I am not qualified enough to judge, I am inclined to believe otherwise."

"Now that you mention it…" Daphne seemed to remember something important. "I believe muggle science can already disprove it!" she exclaimed.

"Elaborate."

"Well, I remember a conversation we had before." She said, doing her best to remember the details. "You were complaining about the theory that everything is composed of different elements, saying that such vision has already been proved incorrect." she took a moment to catch her breath. "Now, you know for a fact that it's not true because it's been demonstrated that all matter is made of elementary particles… "Atoms", right?"

Kaiser nodded, but he still did not see her point yet.

"What if there was a sensory spell that uses that same concept of elements to perceive the world?" a blue gleam never left Daphne's eyes during her passionate analysis, which earned a silent chuckle from the portraits, something about being a true Ravenclaw.

"Then according to the first theory that sensory spell cannot be wrong, matter would indeed be made out of elements…" he murmured, his brain working beyond its normal capacity, thinking of the implications.

"but we already know it isn't!" Daphne exclaimed even louder. "yet if it still gives results, it would mean it holds some degree of truth. You told me that muggle science can only perceive the material world, remember?"

Kaiser's eyes widened in surprise. He never considered that angle, always dismissing that particular world's view as deprecated and primitive. However, if the book he read is any indication, there is another way to validate theories in the magical world, as their "experiments" are basically spells. If a sensory spell can be made out of a set of principles, then there has to be a degree of truth to them. Meaning that even though modern science rejects that theory, it doesn't mean it is completely false.

"You might be into something there Daphne, though it needs further research." Kaiser nodded. "But I have to say, I didn't know you were such a Ravenclaw. I always believe you to be a Slytherin at heart." he smirked.

"Oh, shut up." Daphne rolled her eyes. "I've always been a Ravenclaw."

"Now, now… don't say that, you might break Lord Slytherin's heart." They both turned to the portrait in question who merely chuckled, shaking his head.