39 Pathways of the Mind

At the start of May, Matthew decided it was time to start training in the second part of his personal Occlumency technique. The part in which he raises the efficiency of his Brain, where he unlocks over 30% of his Brain's potential, and with it strengthens his mental defenses and thought-processing speed.

The second part of the Technique is split into 3 steps, every step consists of applying the same spell on his brain, for around 2 months. After 2 months, he casts the spell again slightly different from the original spell. The spells physically block the inefficient pathways his thoughts would take and forces them into the efficient ones. It's a complex piece of magic, carefully created with the help of Sarah to, yeah rewire his brain.

The disadvantage is that his thoughts and control over his body are greatly reduced during the process. Especially while beginning the training, the application is also mildly painful and will cause a slight migraine for a few days. But thanks to his consumption of the 'Azure Corn Potion' pain is something he already is accustomed to.

As for the limit on his mental functions, with the help of Sarah, he can circumvent the inconvenience partially. But the next 6 months, will be a slight pain in the Ass. Well no pain, no gain. Since his Original Control over his magic is also limited, he should be able to raise his control again and after removing his spell, he would be able to Aquire perfect control over his magic.

Matthew entered the Room of Requirements, so nobody could disturb the application of the Spell. If he were disrupted it could end up fatally for him, if something went wrong. Once again he was inside the room with the simple bed and a lit fire at the wall. The Spell consisted of two parts, a rune formation to keep all disruption outside magical or non-magical, and the actual application of the spell on the caster's brain. Matthew didn't need to use 'Chaos Words' for the runes since the normal version, was already enough.

After carving the formation into the Floor and activating it with his magical energy, Matthew placed himself in the center of the formation in a comfortable position on the floor. He took his dragon Hearthstring wand out, and began to cast while carefully channeling his magic at a constant pace, "efficace meatus mendis, donec perficiar!"

He felt as slowly a pressure was raising onto his brain, his thought speed became slower and slower and slight pain appeared in the front part of his head. But it was nothing he couldn't live with. As the pressure stabilized and he no longer needed to channel his magic, he put his wand away. And raised from the Floor, first, he tried how much his mental faculties were impaired, he still could control his limbs without much trouble but he felt that there was a minimal delay. Next, he tried to calculate inside his head, which was apparently much harder for him than previously. There was also now a small but constant headache, which he had to endure for now.

But he could communicate with Sarah without trouble, and she could assist him and access his database instantly since she already used the perfect Pathways of his mind. He shouldn't abuse Sarah since it would only take longer to acclimate to the spell and the perfect Pathways if Sarah solved everything for him.

Next, he wished for a practice Dummy to use inside the Room of Requirements, so he could familiarize himself with his magic control again. He started with his collection of first-year spells and continued upwards towards the later years. His control was completely messed up, although he managed to cast the spells, they cost at least double the amount if not triple the amount of magical energy. This would be one of the main focus points for the next weeks, of his training in his free time.

After finishing checking out the aftermath of his spell and practicing some magic he returned to the Ravenclaw Common Room for the night.

~ Scene Break ~

The Days passed by, and everyone started to focus on their own studies since the end-of-year exams were coming closer and closer. He stopped helping the first years on Fridays since it became more difficult to find a time where everyone could come together to study since they all had their own different study groups with their friends. He only studied together with his Friends or Cho and sometimes her friend Marietta. Yes, the Marietta who would get a new face styling by Hermoine in her Fifth year, because of her big mouth.

While the older years focused on their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s the whole Castle became increasingly silent, but with a stressed atmosphere. If Matthew didn't participate in Lessons or was studying with his friends or Cho, he spent his time inside the Room of Requirements, practicing different Spells from before the fifth year, and Perfecting his magical Control. The Headache slowly subsided over the weeks, and his thought processes became faster and his control improved. But they would worsen again when he applies the next level of the Spell since this was only the beginner level.

At the end of May, it was finally time for the Exams again, although he was slightly impaired he felt he would get Outstanding in most of his exams, even in theory. Besides History, although he knew all the dates and events, they still needed to interpret the events for their meanings and consequences, this was something you couldn't just memorize and was hard to do if you hadn't much interest in this topic. Although he still got an Exceeding Expectations, when the results came out at the start of June.

After the second-year Students got their results, all of them had a small meeting with their Head of House about their electives next Year.

"Mr. Mason, Welcome. Please sit down." Squeaked Professor Flitwick excitedly as Matthew entered his Office.

"Thank you, Professor." Replied Matthew politely as he sat down on a blue, comfy Chair on the other side of Professor Flitwick's desk.

"So Mr.Mason, all seems in order. You just need to elaborate your choices for formality reason so that everything is right." Began Flitwick while reading a piece of Pergament he took from the top of a pile of different Papers. This was the form Matthew had to fill out previous to this Meeting to choose his electives.

"Well, I choose Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, since they were the most complex topics possible to choose in the third year. So if I had any questions, I could directly visit the Teacher of this Class without trouble. Like you already know, Professor. I have already a wide range of knowledge about these topics, but the personal experiences of the Professors are invaluable to master their classes. The Older Students have told me I could participate in all OWL exams, and later NEWT exams, even if I didn't participate in the Classes before. So I only choose two classes, it didn't seem to be possible from my calculations to pick up all classes, since a day just has a limited amount of hours." Explained Matthew his reasoning.

"Excellent, Mr.Mason. Yes, you can indeed participate in all exams even without participating in the classes, just visit me in your fifth and seventh year to fill out the necessary paperwork. Your choices seem to be the most logical based on your preferences. You don't seem to have the inner eye for divination and would just waste your time, you also don't seem the Magical Creature type of Person, and your knowledge of the Muggle World far exceeds anything taught in Muggle Studies. Perfect. That's all for today, Mr.Mason. Thank you for coming by." Squeaked the small Professor happily as Matthew stood up and left the Office.

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