Chapter 9

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Maxi woke up to the feeling of being extremely invigorated. So much so, that it was obvious that there was something wrong. He didn't waste time as he immediately rose from the bed and began casting Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, and Protection from Evil and Good.

Týr, who was sleeping peacefully woke up alarmed as he detected him using his magic. Him being his loyal companion, immediately started looking around the room for any signs of trouble. Or any intruders.

Though that proved to be unnecessary, as the results from the spell provided nothing. He still felt… Energetic, energized, full of energy, life, overcharged. And a multitude of other words to describe this feeling of energy.

He couldn't figure out what it was but he knew it wasn't a magic spell, or caused by magic. It took a few seconds of guessing, but he finally remembered his Essence, and so with no hesitation he opened it and was surprised.

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[ Assimilated Characters: Venti (Genshin Impact) ]

[ Character Template: Empty (Roll for New Character? Y/N?) ]

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Maxi knew that his Venti template was almost fully assimilated, but he didn't expect the effects of doing so would give him this… Wild Energy. To test if he wasn't dreaming, a bow materialized in his hands, and he immediately recognized it, not from his memories of the game as he never played it but from Venti's own memories.

''Elegy for the End?'' He said in a murmur before he thoughtfully frowned as he began thinking how this would affect his plans.

''Well… In the best-case scenario, I get a God-killer-level character. Worst case, I get a random extra from some media I have never heard of.'' He sighed before he pulled the Essence.

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[ Character Template: Empty. (Roll for New Character? Y/N?) ]

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'Yes.' Was Maxi's answer, and surprisingly, or not, a cartoony roulette appeared in front of him.

Curiously, he tried to grab it, but his hand phased through it. He would've spent a few minutes, possibly hours, analyzing the thing but he couldn't as it began spinning by itself.

''Let's see… Minecraft? Starbound, Attack On Titan, My Hero Academia… Dark Souls, huh, I wonder if I can get Solaire?'' Maxi said to himself as he saw countless names from video games, animes, mangas, and movies pass by.

The names ranged from those he recognized or those that he knew about. But he wasn't really confident in getting a powerful character like Venti. Though he prayed he wouldn't get a bad character that is just a baseline human. Or psychos, as those could prove to be difficult to see their memories.

And as if the Wheel heard his thoughts, it suddenly stopped at a certain someone. A character he instantly recognized, and made him look uneasy and worried.

''Dr. Ludwig? Fuck, his knowledge could prove to be useful. Just having Über would be a good safenet, if it works like in the game that is. And if it doesn't, I will at least know how to bargain with Demons.'' Maxi said out loud as he looked at the character he rolled.

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[ Dr. Ludwig (Medic) (Team Fortress 2) ]

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The Medic was an insane medicine man. And one of his favorite characters in his past life. He actually Main'ed Medic but changed later to Demoknight as it was fun to go on rampages. That's not to even mention how fun it was to run around, and do shield tricks. He was, after all, a sadistic man and not a masochist. Playing Medic could be quite painful if you landed with a team of fucking morons, after all.

Though, as fun as it was to play those characters in the game. He wasn't so sure he wanted to poke around the Man's head. He was, even if he isn't 100% sure, actually insane. And sold the souls of his friends or something. His memory of the TF2 comics was sadly a blurry and fragmented mess due to the passage of time. Not even after dredging, and exploring his Mind Bunker helped to clarify if the man was as he remembered him to be.

''Hah, I'll have to leave experimenting this to after the day is over.'' He sighed before shaking his head.

''Though, on the bright side. This doesn't impede or change my plans. Medic's knowledge of medicine and arcane stuff can prove to be what I need for one of my projects.'' He said before shaking his head.

He had a new day to begin. So, without much preamble, he began a shortened version of his schedule. It was roughly 6:00 AM, so he had a few hours to complete his workout, though he would have to cut out the magical part, as he didn't fancy emptying his reserves in a magical school. Granted, if it was anywhere else, he might've entertained the thought, but sadly this was Hogwarts, a place that would be in a lot of trouble and is a magnet of its own.

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After a few hours of working out, and a few casts of Prestidigitation to clean himself, as he didn't fancy walking around sweaty in search of the bathrooms. Maxi finally left his room and began exploring Hogwarts. He finished his workout at roughly 7:02 AM, so that left him with half an hour to explore the castle as he pleased before he had to grab a bite to eat in the great hall.

He wasn't sure why, but as he began exploring the halls he began feeling a sense of nostalgia radiating… almost as if off the castle itself. He was curious about where that feeling was coming from, but it didn't take long before he remembered a small fact about Hogwarts.

The castle itself, was quite sentient, and apparently a woman, as it was called Lady Hogwarts.

''Does the castle recognize me as the Heir of the two founder houses? Hmm, if it does it should allow me to access its Wardstone. Oh, that sounds like fun. Taking over Hogwarts and dumping everyone outside as I dive into the library and the secrets within. I wonder what kind of face that old Boredore would make if that happened?'' He chuckled to himself as he walked through the halls.

Of course, he wouldn't do such a thing. As confident as he is in his own capabilities, he sadly lacked any actual experience in dealing with Wizards and fighting them. Even if he could kill them, he didn't think he could walk out of it unscathed or be sent to Azkaban after killing a lot of them. After all, he could still tire after hours of combat.

Hogwarts was truly massive, and whoever was the interior decorator had done an amazing job in making its insides as beautiful as the outside. Maxi did stop a few times to talk to a few of the paintings, mostly asking about where things were, and things about them, but besides that he didn't bother talking to many of them.

Anyone he found in the halls he would avoid like the plague, or Fey Step to get past them in his exploration. He really didn't fancy talking to any of the students at Hogwarts. Maybe the ones in the 3rd or 4th year he would bother, as they wouldn't be as childish as the first and second years but he really didn't want to talk with children. Ravenclaw was the exception, as most seemed to have a functioning brain and were more mature than their fellow Gryffindors, Slytherins, and Hufflepuffs.

He also avoided any Slytherin, as he wasn't in the mood to deal with the racist and xenophobic students. He lamented internally that one of his House's amounted to a bunch of racist supremacists and xenophobic students, but he could do nothing about it. At least currently, he couldn't.

Maybe after he reveals himself to be the Heir of Slytherin, he would bother trying to ''fix'' his House. That, or he would say, fuck it, and just mind control them, or change their minds.

It was surprisingly easy to change small things in people using magic. Like their taste in clothes, or favorite color. Coupled with his D&D magic, it was child's play to edit people to fit his tastes or his beliefs.

'Though, what's the fun in that? Unless I really want that person, I can just befriend them and show the error of their ways. And if that doesn't work, well, a little mental manipulation doesn't cause any harm, now does it?' He chuckled once again before he stopped as he noticed he seemingly had walked all the way to the seventh floor.

He was surprised he somehow found himself on the seventh floor. But, he decided to push that issue aside, as he focused on the, although unfamiliar, recognizable tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls ballet. He spent a solid second trying to not laugh at how stupid that was, but after confirming it was the tapestry, he decided to go and explore the RoR, or Room of Requirement.

'I need a room inaccessible by anyone that isn't an Heir to Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Le Fay, Pendragon, and Raubvogel to read, and perform rituals.' Maxi thought as he repeated the thought three times while walking back and forth.

And soon enough, on his third time walking back and forth, a door appeared in one of the walls. And after a quick look around, and not seeing anybody, he entered the room. On the inside, he was pleasantly surprised to find a massive bookshelf filled with a lot of books, and besides a single table and chair for him to rest while he read, the room was pretty empty.

There was another door at the end of the room, of which he assumed would house the room for any rituals to be conducted. And as he opened said room's door, he was confused as it was just a big empty room.

''Well, I expect an ingredient room or something along those lines. So, why is this just a big empty room?'' He wondered out loud before he groaned as he realized what this room was meant to be used for.

''I guess it did give me what I asked. I'll need to be more specific if I try this again. But, I guess I could use this room for the rituals I have planned.'' He said before humming at the end.

The giant empty room was empty for one reason, and one reason only. It was meant to be used to draw the ritual lines of the ritual itself. The bookshelf, he assumed was for him to ''refresh'' his memory of any rituals before he began undergoing them.

''Well, I guess I found my little secret room to undergo any rituals.'' Maxi said out loud to himself before he became thoughtful.

He could've used the ritual room in Le Fay Castle to perform a few rituals, but to be completely honest. He didn't want to undergo any ritual when said rituals were designed with humans in mind, instead of a High Eladrin. It also didn't help he was having his soul changing his body, and he didn't fancy undergoing any ritual while he was not fully a High Eladrin. And, as massive as the ritual ingredient room was back in Le Fay Castle, it sadly was mostly empty or had rotting ingredients that were disposed of.

''Can I get a clock, RoR? I need to know the time.'' He said out loud towards the room and surprisingly a grandfather clock appeared from the wall, and upon checking the time, Maxi decided to quickly make his way towards the Great Hall, so he could grab something to eat.

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Quickly walking towards the great hall to eat, Maxi accidentally bumped into someone, and it was only thanks to the fact he had superhuman reflexes, that he didn't trip and fall alongside the person he bumped into.

''Hey, watch out where you are going, mudblood!'' Was the instinctive response of whoever it was, and Maxi could only sigh as he cursed his luck at having to deal with a random Slytherin.

''Ah, excuse me. Didn't see you there.'' He apologized as he began moving away, though he stopped quickly when he realized who he bumped into.

''Oh, you are Draco Malfoy, aren't you?'' Maxi commented before he picked up the dropped wand from the boy.

''What do you think you are doing?'' Draco said impulsively, and with a hint of anger and annoyance, there was also surprise and confusion as he noticed he wasn't a human, though he seemed surprisingly calm and composed even while he picked up the things he apparently had dropped on the ground.

''Hmmph… Hawthorn, 10 inches long. If I didn't know any better I would've assumed you had a Dragon Heart String core. But, it isn't, is it?'' Maxi analyzed the wand, before offering a mischievous smile to the boy, and before he could respond he replied.

''You have a Unicorn Hair core. Very interesting. You, Mr. Malfoy, will have to make difficult choices in the future that will either make you a Hero, or a Traitor. Though, if you ask me personally, I see a lot of good in you even if you are quite rude and misguided. Ah, a small offering, a Le Fay is more than willing to offer shelter for those lost. If you ever find yourself as such, don't hesitate to come to me.'' He said with a smile before Fey Stepping away after throwing the boy's wand towards him.

Inside, Maxi was giggling at the confused and surprised look that Draco made. Outwardly, he just had a small mischievous smile.

'And with that. I have laid and planted my seed. So whenever he goes full Death Eater and joins their little fan club and inevitably fucks up hopefully he'll come to me. I'll need a lot of lackeys, and skilled people for my plans.' Maxi chuckled as he made his way toward the great hall.

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Arriving at the Great Hall, Maxi briefly was surprised at the number of people. There were quite a lot of students, but not as many as he thought there would be. And from what he could gather, most of those were Hufflepuffs, Slytherins, and Ravenclaws.

There were a few Gryffindors spread around, though they were few in number. He was surprised, yet not, as he noticed that most of the students awake at this time were around the 3rd to 4th-year students. That isn't to say that there were only 3rd or 4th years, but the fact that the majority of the students that were awake, and in the great hall were above the 3rd year showed that most would probably sleep in and would only wake up at around 11 through 12 PM to eat lunch.

Maxi was slightly disappointed when he didn't spot any of the golden trio, but to be honest, he wasn't trying that hard beyond looking at the Gryffindor table. Sitting on one of the benches, he briefly frowned remembering he would have to eat the filthy English ''Cuisine'', though thankfully, somehow, instead of having an English Breakfast appear on his table, he was instead given something which made him instantly salivate.

Bratwurst cut into tiny little pieces and mixed with some penne pasta, cheese, corn, and just a little bit of ketchup. For his drink, it was simply orange juice, but that didn't stop him from still salivating.

Quickly grabbing the knife and fork, he didn't waste time eating the entire thing. He did receive a few weirded-out looks from people when they saw what he was eating, but he ignored them in favor of the delicious hodgepodge of food.

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If Maxi would have to be envious of one thing in Hogwarts, it would have to be of the gigantic, and honestly absurd, library that it holds. Though, as of this moment, he is debating on setting everything on fire because none of the books were organized in any way, shape, or form! At all!

There were books about magical vegetables next to rowdy unicorn fanfiction! How did such a book appear in the library, he didn't want to know. All that he cared about were the ritual books. Though he is seriously considering just going back to the RoR, and asking for the books he wants.

'Actually, I should do that. I'm just wasting time at this point trying to find the books I am looking for. I pity the librarian, whoever it be, having to organize this mess.' Maxi thought before sighing and making his way to the seventh floor.

He should've realized he would be wasting his time when he began looking through the books, and noticing they weren't ordered alphabetically, or organized by their content, but he really didn't expect that the library of the esteemed Hogwarts would be so poorly organized.

Arriving on the 7th floor, he glanced around to see if there was anyone nearby, and after not finding any, he quickly walked back and forth and entered the door into the RoR.

Inside, he broke out into a massive grin as he saw a neatly stacked and organized library. He perused a few of them, picked a few that caught his eye, and then made his way towards the ritual section, grabbed the ones he felt would be the most useful and essential, and then sat at one of the tables that were made by the RoR.

His chosen books weren't anything that he hadn't at least glimpsed before, but he was interested if the books inside Hogwart's library would compare to those he found inside Le Fay Castle and Raubvogel Manor.

The books were beginner books, the topics ranging from, Herbology, Magical Metallurgy, a common Bestiary, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and a few books that talked about the Dark Arts alongside Ritual Making, Casting, and Ritual Ingredient books. He started with what he came here to study, that is, Ritual Making, Casting, and the Ingredients used in them.

Rituals were split into three categories.

Personal Rituals.

AoE Rituals.

And Binding Rituals.

Personal Rituals were those that affect either a single person or the caster of the ritual. Curses, Voodoo, and Magical Contracts are a type of Personal ritual.

''Aoe'' Rituals, or their proper term, that Wizards and Witches refer to them as, Land Rituals, are Rituals that affect a large area. These ranged from common rituals that boosted crop growth, to destructive rituals that called storms of lightning to smite entire armies. Alongside protective Rituals that purified areas, protected them, or even repelled a certain type of species.

And Binding Rituals were those that bind things together. These also included some Blood-related rituals, those that checked your blood purity, their descendants, and if you are related to somebody. This was also used in contracts.

What Maxi was after, would be Personal Rituals, and in a way, Binding Rituals. After all, he was looking to ''bind'' various animal organs to improve his body. Though that would be far off in the future, as for now, he is looking after ''simple'' rituals that boost his mind, reflexes, strength, stamina, constitution, and even fertility.

He was also after Rituals that could be inherited by his descendants. Not that he planned on having any children, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he scored a girl and either forgot to pull out or didn't even think about pulling out. So, a few spells to prevent pregnancy, or even a ritual would be something he would be looking into as well. Those that boosted fertility would also be researched, as he had quite a few devious thoughts about using them for growing an army.

''Hmmm… I wonder if I can summon a being, bind it into this plane, and then force it to pump out children for me? Though what would I even pick? I'm not even sure what I could summon…  Eh, I'll think of this later.'' Maxi said out loud before he refocused on his books.

He was also looking for any rituals relating to creating new species. Like, Basilisks, and to see if he could either change the House-Elves to look better, or make them halflings or something. He really hated those ugly things, even if they were tremendously useful. Though if he finally fixed them from being ugly, he would need to push for House-Elves to become a free species… If he also manages to fix their dependency on their masters. Wouldn't do good to set them free, if that caused all of them to starve to death due to them needing their master's leftover Mana.

''Maybe I could use one of those Magic Leeches? Or those animals that can ''eat'' magic from the air? There are a lot of plants and animals that might help me in changing their… Eating habit? Stomach? Something along those lines.'' He said out loud with a pondering tone before sighing.

''Another thing to look at another time.'' He complained before he refocused on the book he was reading.

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