Progress, finally

A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.

Two chapters today, this is the first one! Keep an eye out!

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It's been a few months since I awakened what I first called Natural Legilimency. When the shock and excitement of the awakening had decreased, I had realised something.

It wasn't as easy as I'd thought, listening to thoughts. For starters, I could only listen ALL the thoughts 25 yards around me, or NONE AT ALL. Thankfully, I could also only hear their current thoughts, what they're most focused on currently.

But even still, 25 yards full of people thinking loudly, or as loud as minds can get, wasn't as majestic as I'd first felt. It was headache inducing, and painful as fuck.

The first time after the incident, that I'd gone to school, I had spent whole 10 minutes wincing and rubbing my head, when I'd made the mistake of turning my Legilimency on. Never again, in such a public place, and not in a school full of children.

Never. Again.

Thankfully, it had one good side effect. Whatever made me able to listen to the current thoughts of everyone also gave me one benefit. My Mind Palace building had sped up tremendously.

1 month after having begun building my mind palace, I had only managed to place the foundation, and a few bricks above the ground level. 4 months after that, my Mind Palace was almost done building, and only the additional changes were left.

Like adding secret doors, a lot of them. And more secret entrances. I'd thankfully remembered everything about the life of Chinmay, which includes a lot of media. Books, comics, manga, anime, movies, TV shows, and best of all, fanfiction.

Why am I calling fanfiction the best? Because it is. While the 'canon' media are good, it's the fanfictions that bring more imagination. I can get more inspiration from fanfictions than I can from the canon media.

As for my second gift, my magic was as helpless as my Legilimency was in the beginning. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get a feel for my Magic like most fanfictions portray it as.

I know what I felt when I threw the Cricket ball at Timmy and John, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't replicate the telekinesis like effect that I'd used that day, at least not at the same degree. Not even now, 4 months after the incident.

I'd tried glaring, pointing my hand at the pebble, putting my two fingers on my forehead, on one side and both, and heck, I even tried pleading with the pebble. Multiple times. But nothing happened for two months, after which I only managed to make it tremble without touching it.

Whoever said that once you get a feel for it, it'll be easy, must be kicked in the balls, along with the ones who think that Magic could be sensed immediately after using it once.

I'd tried meditating, searching within the Mind Palace, and meditating within the Mind Palace. Nope, it didn't happen. There was no sudden flow of energy, no warmth in my heart/tummy/navel. Nothing.

Not even when I consciously Willed the pebbles to tremble in their place, could I feel anything. I even tried the simple spells, like the Lumos charm, Reparo, Alohomora. All of which a first year could cast within a few days at most. But still, nothing. Even the spells failed to form in the beginning.

The one good thing to happen to me, was that Sly finally agreed to live with me! Hurray! I have a pet snake whom I can talk to!

~~Call me a pet one more time, and I'll kill you in your sleep.~~ Sly hisses, as he was sitting on my shoulder, his fangs dangerously close to my neck.

Gulping, I fearfully look at Sly from the corner of my eye, and say, ~~I was just monologuing, Sly. I didn't mean any of it. You're my friend, and I'm the only human you can talk to! You won't kill me.. right?~~

Not moving from my neck, Sly says, ~~I'm considering it, human.~~ Pausing a few seconds, he drops down from my neck, and once again curls up over my shoulder. Preparing to sleep once again, he says, ~~Maybe later. You are the only entertainment I have.~~

Sighing in relief, I think over the enigma that was Sly. I've met a lot of magical snakes, most of them excited to meet a Speaker. But Sly was definitely the smartest, if I leave out Ash, the Ashwinder.

He was also the one who grew the least amongst the snakes. Sly was 6 months old, and he was still just 1.5 feet long, and barely a couple inches wide. Ash was young too, a couple years old at most, but his growth was visible during these months. Sly, not so much.

Getting up, I sit on the chair near my desk, and start with my homework. Annoyingly, school was compulsory for everyone from the ages of 5 to 14. Thankfully, it was free, and we had to pay nothing other than for our stationery.

This was the era of the Great Depression, you know. If it wasn't for the goodwill of the Orphanage owner, we wouldn't have even gotten 3 meals a day. Also thankfully, the school we went to was right next to our Orphanage, so we didn't have to take anything to eat with us, the other kids bring Potatoes. Us orphans would just come back to the Orphanage, have lunch, and then go back to school, to study the annoyingly easy stuff. Except Geography. European Geography wasn't something I was an expert in.

Fortunately, I won't have to suffer this for long. I'll be going to Hogwarts anyway.

---Two Years Later---

London – July, 1928:

Four years, it has been, since I had my rebirth, and two years, since Sly came to stay with me. I've kept him hidden all this time, with no issues to speak of.

My pe- friend, was as pleasant as he used to be, only bigger now. Sly was now about half as big as I was tall. I am 4'4", while Sly is 2' even. But thankfully, there was a surprising ability that helped us hide him.

Invisibility.

Not me. Sly.

Sly could turn himself completely invisible. Not camouflaged, invisible. No one, not even I could see him when he's invisible. Well, not like I have special vision or anything, but my mind is really hard to trick. I think.

Why only he could do it, and not any other snake, I don't know. Not even Ash could replicate it, and he tried it. A lot. So did the other magical snakes, funnily enough. A chance to impress the Speaker wasn't something they were willing to give up. It was probably something about Sly's father. Yup.

When he becomes invisible, there's not even a hint that he's there. Well, there are hints, like the depressions on the bed if he's sleeping there, or if he moves. But other than that, nothing.

He awakened this power a year ago, and he used it extensively, whenever he wants to come with me, outside, or if someone comes unannounced.

Which didn't happen much, thanks to my telepathy. I can always hear their thoughts before they enter my room.

And yes, it is telepathy. Or I'm calling it that, at least. Natural Legilimency is.. definitely not what I have. Legilimency, I realised after rereading the Harry Potter books and fanfics in my mind, includes entering the mind, and browsing through the memories.

My Telepathy only allows me to listen to the current thoughts, not memories. And it's only what they're most focused on, at that moment. Maybe, with enough practice, I could browse memories like Legilimency, but it hasn't happened yet even after a lot of trying.

What I can do, however, has improved by leaps and bounds, if you discount the Legilimency thing. In these four years, I've managed to upgrade my Telepathy, so I can listen to the Thoughts of just the people I want, without getting a headache.

At first, it was just one person at a time, and I had to be looking at them at the time. After which I slowly moved on to one more, then another, and another. Now, I can select the minds whom I want to focus on, while keeping the other minds silent. And I don't even have to stare at them, or focus too much!

I can also speak into the minds of people, like Xavier, and make them forget some stuff. I have to confess that I had a lot of fun while I was bored in school.

I would speak the names of my target, in their mind, causing them to jump in fright almost always, and then leave them alone. One target was only scared once, unless they piss me off, of course, and never when I'm going to be even suspected.

Thankfully, I can 'think' to them using any voice I want, and not just my own. I'd be branded a Witch before I can even say 'It wasn't me.'

Of course, my range hasn't improved much. Passively, I could hear around 10 meters around me. Which means that I don't strain my brain by using my Telepathy in that range. I can also keep it active at all times, while only listening if my mind catches some key words.

For now, the key words are all the different crimes, money, Mason, and Magic. Yeah, it's too broad, I know. I don't always catch criminals, whenever someone thinks a Crime word, but it happens. Okay, it happened twice, in all this time.

What I do then, is use another power I got thanks to my Telepathy. Short term Mind control. I take over the minds of these criminals, and force their bodies to confess their crimes in front of a Police. And then, I get the hell out of their bodies. No need to risk being in the body of a Serial Killer, or God forbid, Rapist, and then awaken the Legilimency part of my Telepathy.

Actively, I can increase my range to about a kilometre, to search for a specific mind, or while searching in a specific direction. And it almost always strains my mind if I do it for too long, or try to go too far. Straining means I get a headache that could stay for as long as the entire week!

But, it is fun, listening to thoughts, even if it's not exactly moral. I don't do it for personal gain, nor do I do it out of any maliciousness. Well, other than the scaring people part. I either use my Telepathy to gain knowledge, or to get a warning about danger to me.

But it's not all fun. There are some amazingly racist minds in London. The richer they are, the more racist they are. And there are the truly disgusting ones, like hardened criminals. Well, it is 1928.

But at least, this was also a time of innovation. There were some amazing minds in London right now, and searching for Physics/Maths related thoughts was a good hobby of mine. One of them, at least. It kept my brain active, and stopped it from becoming stagnant when it comes to education.

Done with homework for the week, I stretch a bit, and shut the curtains tight. After shutting the window close. I then place my hand on the desk, palm up, and just look at it.

It was Saturday night right now, and the time was about 10 PM, which was way past my official bed time. But, it was also the only time that I get enough privacy, and peace, to do this.

Staring at my palm, I think hard on what I want to happen, using my superb control on my mind to Stop all other thoughts. Occlumency, baby.

Keeping an image of a big ball of white light forming above my palm in my mind, I whisper, "Lumos."

A glowing white ball of light forms right above my hand, making me immediately smile. Concentrating again, I will the orb of light to change colours. Blue, green, purple, red, orange, yellow. The orb keeps cycling through those colours, and I keep at it for five minutes, which is my current limit of using magic continuously.

I had cast my first successful Spell a few months after Sly threatened me that day for calling him a pet. Lumos. A spell to create light at the tip of your wand.

When I cast it first, the tip of my middle finger lit up for a few seconds, and then it blinked out of existence. That, I took, for magic giving me the middle finger and then laughing at me.

At first, I was obviously excited, and then tried it again. And again, and again. Slowly, I managed to gain more control on my magic, and I could now do a lot more.

Two years of such practice later, I could create an orb of light independent of my body, change its colours to be any I can think of, and move it around within a short range of 20 meters.

Magic wasn't just staring and saying the spell. You need to have intent, will power, and magical power too. The Wand Motions were necessary for some spells, but since I wasn't using a wand, I didn't even try to do that.

I didn't know much wand movements other than the ones mentioned in the Books. Swish and Flick for the Levitation Charm for one. And so, I didn't try and invent Wand Motions for Lumos, which was supposed to be the easiest spell to cast. Can't mess what you don't try.

Other than Lumos, I could also cast the Alohomora(Unlocking Charm), Wingardium Leviosa(Levitation Charm), the Reparo(Mending Charm), which repairs stuff after Physical damage, within limits, the Accio(Summoning charm) which obviously summons stuff towards you, and its polar opposite, Depulso(Banishing Charm) which throws stuff away from you. Thank God for Occlumency!

The Summoning charm was a surprise to me, as I knew that it was a 4th to 5th year level spell. But, considering that the other spells I could do were also from the Charms category, I concluded that I must be a bloody genius in Charms. Disregarding the initial failures, that is.

What I did just now, was what I do everyday. Even if I know that not all fanfics were correct when it comes to magic, I know one thing, both from fanfic, and my own experience.

Practice makes perfect. The more you use it, the better you get at it.

I did not manage to change colours of my Light Orb by just sitting on my hand. I practiced daily. Everyday, for the last two years, I cast all the spells I knew at the time, until I could feel myself get tired.

At first, it was just Lumos, and I could barely hold it for a few seconds continuously. I could do it again after that, but the time would be decreased.

Slowly, I increased the time to five minutes of the spell, after which I need to rest for 2 minutes in the least. I still couldn't feel my magic within me, so I have no idea why only two minutes rest was enough.

After those 2 minutes of rest, I would practice every other spell I knew for 5 minutes each, and then try new spells.

So, after resting for a couple minutes, I begin with the next spell on my list. The Unlocking Charm. There was a drawer on my desk, which had a lock and key. I had to nick the key from Sister Mary to lock the drawer, before I could practice unlocking it, but it was easy enough to do when everyone was asleep.

Touching the lock with my right palm, I whisper, "Alohomora."

The expected click sound happens, making me giggle internally, and I use the key to lock the drawer again. This time, since I couldn't exactly cast continuously, I lock and unlock the drawer for 10 minutes, which was still not enough to tire me out, but I stop there anyway.

Don't get me wrong, 5 minutes of continuous casting is all I can do. But, Unlocking a drawer takes barely a second, and then a few seconds to lock it back up.

My guess is, that if there is a Magical core, then it fills back up slower than I use my magic. If there isn't a core, then a human body must have a limit over how long it can channel Magic from wherever we get it, varying from Wizard to Wizard.

So, continuous usage, like the Lumos, is something I can only do for 5 minutes before the 'core' starts experiencing strain, and I begin feeling tired. I'm not stupid enough to completely dry out my 'core' if it exists, so I stop as soon as my limit approaches.

After 10 minutes of Alohomora, and two minutes of meditative rest, it's time for the next spell, the Mending Charm. It was simple for this one. I had a twig that I'd picked up from the ground this evening, before dinner. I break it, and then use the Reparo to fix it back up. For 10 more minutes.

I haven't succeeded in casting the Diffindo(Severing Charm) yet, so until then, I have to do it by hand. And there are limits to the Reparo Charm.

I cannot fix if more than 30% of the broken object is missing. Upto that, my magic somehow creates the stuff that's missing. But if more than that is missing, then nothing happens.

I also cannot use it on anything that was at any time, alive. So no using Reparo to fix bones, or heal cuts. There are different spells for that, but they're too far above my level for now.

After 10 minutes of casting the Mending Charm, it's time for the next spells. All together. For that, I use my pillow, and place it near the door, which is about 5 meters away from my desk.

Pointing my palm at it, I do the motion of swish and flick, and whisper, "Wingardium Leviosa." Once the pillow starts floating up, I whisper, "Accio!" and the pillow zooms towards me. Before it can reach me, I whisper, "Depulso!" and it is thrown away from me, back towards the door.

Again and again, I summon the pillow towards me, and then banish it back, while the Levitation Charm keeps it afloat.

As the 7th minute of holding the pillow afloat, and moving it back and forth again and again, as I begin to become tired, I finally feel it. My magic. In my hand. I could feel it. I could feel it!

The pillow drops down on the ground the Charm having been uncast, and the sound of the pillow hitting the floor snaps me out of my shock.

~~SLY! I CAN FEEL MY MAGIC!~~I whisper-shout, too excited to realize that I've probably woke someone up.

Sly, who was watching me from the bed, lifts his head up, and says, ~~Oh? You'll finally stop whining about it every 5th day then, I hope?~~

I pout at him, completely involuntarily I assure you, and say, ~~I don't whine every 5th day!~~

~~Fine. Second day, then. Have you finished with your Magic yet? I need the warmth of your leg to sleep peacefully.~~ Sly says, and stretches on my bed.

I open my mouth to say, that yes, I'm finished for now, but suddenly my mind hears something else.

'What in the blazes is he doing up this late today? Disturbing the sleeps of honest working women, I should spank the little brat until he's red.' Says the ever pleasant voice of Sister Mary, thinking furiously to herself.

Oh crap. My pillow fell on the floor. Sister Mary lives in the room right underneath mine. And she's coming up!

Snapping my head towards Sly, I hiss, ~~Quick! Go invisible and get off the bed! Complain about the cold later, Sly!~~ I add the last part when I see him start hissing in irritation.

Sly does as he says, knowing that I probably heard someone coming up.

Quickly, I lay down on the floor itself, summon the pillow towards me, and take my cover, throwing it haphazardly over myself. Opening my mouth slightly, I shut my eyes close, pushing them slightly deeper to imitate a sleeping person, and pretend to be asleep, on the floor.

Thankfully, my homework was closed up, and the twig was kept away before I began with the three charms together, so when Sister Mary opens the door, and sees me laying on the floor, right beside my messy bed, I practically hear her make her conclusions.

'The little cunt fell down?! Fuck's sake, I wanted to punish the brat. Well, let him sleep on the floor and catch cold, that'll teach him to wake me up in the middle of the night.'

And then, my door closes, and Sister Mary starts going back to her room. Once she's in her room, I make sure no one else is going to come back, and get up.

"Bloody bitch." I whisper, climbing in my bed, and laying down. 'Wonder why she's a Sister, if she's like this. More importantly, who do the other Sisters tolerate her?'

~~The scowling female was scowling a lot today. You should mate with her and get rid of that scowl.~~ Sly says, climbing in the bed with me, and cuddling near my legs.

I scowl at him, and say, ~~Mating is not the solution to everything, Sly, no matter what Horny might tell you. Besides, I'm 9! And she's a Sister. I told you, they practically worship Celibacy.~~

Horny was the Horned Serpent that Ash brings with him sometimes. My naming sense is not that creative, sue me. Horny, like his name, is too focused on mating, as he would say.

~~I'm not even three years old and I've mated! You're just using it as an excuse.~~ Sly says, purposefully flicking his tongue on my sole.

~~I'm a human, and not grown yet, so it's different. No! Don't say anything. Just.. sleep.~~ I say, and shut my eyes, thankful that my hissing isn't that loud. I could hiss in a crowded room, and unless someone the room is entirely silent, no one other than those within an arm's length from me will hear it.

~~As you wish. I still say you should mate with her. Size isn't that much of a difference when mating, you know..~~ Sly says, and finally goes to sleep.

Magic. I can feel my magic now! How fucking cool is that? Too cool, that's how much. This.. does bring a smile to my face.

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A/N: I'm trying to write at least one chapter everyday, no matter for which of the two fics. But sometimes, it's hard. So, I hope you understand if I don't post more than 2-3 chapters per week.

Next chapter, whenever it comes, will include Mason getting his Hogwarts letter.

I have to ask. I'm going to include MCU, but should I bring in mutants, fantastic four, and the rest? If I do, I'll only keep it to the movies, and borrow some storylines from the comics, like I do for the Celestial God. Or should I keep it to MCU/HP?

How was this chapter?

Thank you for your support! Tata!