Chapter 5

6th of January of 1931 – Age 6

He made himself comfortable on his bed before he opened the tome on the mind arts. Tomorrow morning, he'd start lessons on the mind arts as befitting an heir of House Sayre. 

In truth, he was ecstatic about it. It was one of his fears to lose control over himself, over his mind and legilimencers was something he was extremely wary of.

He opened the book and began reading the introduction.

There are seven established tiers in Occlumency. The first tier revolves around the clearing of the mind in order to achieve clarity of mind and the second tier is the organisation of the mind. These two tiers while critical for any aspiring occlumencer make it easier for a legilimencer to gain entry and extract information from the mind.

The third tier is what establishes the first line of defence and involves in developing the ability to detect the intrusion of the mind. Detection does not equate having the ability to repel the attack. The ability to detect Legillimency attacks does not necessarily have to be developed through repeated Legillimency attacks and can be established through an individual's own awareness and understanding of their mind. Developing the ability to detect intrusion through the second approach allows for the individual develop a passive skill in which there is less strain on the mind and requires little toll on the mind.

The fourth and fifth tier are extensions of the third tier where the fourth tier is regarding constructing sold defences, the fifth tier is constructing more abstract defences but more potent and effective.

The sixth tier revolves around building the mind with all the previous tiers combining in an efficient and effective manner. This layering and combinatory structuring of the mind is considered the highest where few will master.

The seventh tier is augmentation of the mind. The total mastery of the mind resulting in the individual being capable of an high increase of control of emotions, the ability to increase reflexes, to increase the processing power of the mind and much more. The possibilities for a seventh tier practitioner would be endless in application however it is by far a dangerous endeavour as the damage one could do to their own mind would be irreparable.

Legillimency is also separated in seven tiers. The first tier is a predominant subconscious skill that manifests in most magicals which is the reading of body language, facial expressions and in general application of perceptive analysis. Once you are a practitioner of Legillimency, it enhances this inherent skill.

The second tier is sensing of emotions. Emotions are by far and large much harder to control in comparison to thoughts and memories since they are biologically hard coded in us as we are emotive and social creatures that had depended on the expressions of these emotions in society, whether it had been tribal or community, for survival and cooperation. A second tier occlumencer should be able to limit the leaking of emotions and a second tier legilimencer would have difficulty in picking up on these emotions.

A third tier revolves around active intrusion on the mind. It involves latching onto the mind and at the beginning it involves wand, eye contact and incantation. A truly skilled legilimencer is capable of intruding into the mind without any of the three. The most effective way to gain entry in another's mind is following the emotional signals into the mind that you are intruding on and using it as the gateway.

The fourth and fifth tier mirrors its equivalency in Occlumency where the fourth tier revolves in developing Legillimency attacks that are capable of breaking the solid defences of the mind. It can involve brute force or it can be through finding holes in the defences which can be exploited. The fifth tier involves developing passive Legillimency that is able to exploit weaknesses in other minds without being able to be detected.

The sixth tier involves a deep understanding of the mind and the subsequent application of that knowledge to exploit it in other minds. It involves the manipulations of emotions and thoughts to induce the desired effects. A skilled sixth tier legilimencer would be capable of inducing fear or joy by the manipulations of the mind. Where a calming potion may be used to calm people, sixth tier Legillimency can be used to do calm people.

The seventh tier of Legillimency builds on the sixth tier. There are no known seventh tier legilimencers but the principle of the tier is the ability to transfer knowledge to another, the ability to alter memories to what the legilimencer desires, the ability to remove memories, the ability to practically change the mind of the individual to the legilimencers desire and much more and it can be considered to be a pinnacle of mind magic.

He paused momentarily.

He'd already for years been clearing his mind so it been easy to finish his first tier in Occlumency.

He took special attention to organising his mind as he knew wanted to know his mind as much as he could as it would naturally lead to being capable to detect intrusions in his mind.

While he always could recall very well in his previous life, it had never been an eidetic memory. This was different in his new life. He could accurately recall every aspect of his new life, including smells, tastes, words on random pages in a book, everything.

He had nascent skill in Legillimency, he'd estimate somewhere around tier 2 and tier 3. 

It was promising, to be as good as he was whilst he was so young. Legillimency was a nightmare ability. To be able to alter memories, alter personalities. He shuddered.

The most difficult aspect that he was concerned with was the fact that he might end up being discovered as a reincarnate and he hoped his skills were enough to protect himself. As far as he knew, his tutor wouldn't dig into his mind but he'd been assuaged by the fact that his tutor would be swearing an oath not to reveal what he saw. It didn't soothe him as much as it should. One person knowing was already one too many.

He continued reading until he set the tome aside and soon enough it was morning. The first two days with Dumbard had been mostly evaluating where he stood with regards to the mind arts. 

Today would be the official start of his tutoring and he sat waiting in one of the spare offices on the first floor.

His train of thought was broken when Dumbard walked into the room and sat opposite him. He had a smile on his face. Dumbard was an elderly man, certainly looked older than his grandfather.

He couldn't help but feel some small amount of nervousness. It would be very likely that he would have no secrets from this man and he was worried about it. He knew that he was protected under an oath but this had still felt painful to him.

He would, for the first time since he could remember be totally open to another person and he felt vulnerable and he hated it.

Dumbard must've noticed it because he opened his body in a gesture that indicated peace, comfort and ease.

"Tell me Atticus, what do you believe the mind arts are?" he asked in a gentle voice.

"The mind arts revolve around magic that is related to the mind. Magic that affects the mind and understanding of the mind" Atticus stated.

It was a grossly simplification but it would do for now.

"Yes, give me examples of magic that affects the mind" he coerced gently.

Atticus thought it over and looked at Dumbard "Legillimency, Obliviation, Cheering charms, Confundus, charms that affect the state of mind of the individual?" he half asked, half stated.

Dumbard smiled widely and nodded slightly "Correct, those are the obvious and most thought of magic that affect the mind. An a novice legilimencer would be capable of detecting emotions and an master legilimencer would be capable of affecting emotions and have the opponent feel the emotions that they would want them to feel. There are different fields of Legillimency within the tiers and it is very rare that there master legilimencers in all the fields. Some may branch out to controlling emotions by influencing their minds, other may branch to influencing people's dreams and there others who can implant suggestive elements within the subconscious of people."

Atticus processed all of that while he was listening. He had read such things in his books and it had affected him deeply.

Dumbard halted for a moment and continued "You already know of Occlumency and already have some basis of it which is exceedingly impressive for one your age. Tell me, why you wish to learn Occlumency"

"Yes I have been practicing Occlumency for a little while. I think I was practicing well before I even knew what I was doing. The reason I wish to learn is because I need to really keep my memories and my mind private" He stated.

Dumbard stayed silent for a little while but then nodded slightly "Yes, it can sometimes happen though this is the first instance in which I have seen happen in someone so young. Wanting to protect yourself is natural" he said with an acknowledging tone to it.

Atticus bowed his head slightly.

Dumbard continued "I will predominantly teach you how to protect your mind. I will teach the art of Occlumency. To become proficient in Occlumency requires dedication and years of practice and if you are self taught, it can take decades to reach the level that I am on. I will be able to help you along the journey of protecting your mind."

This peaked Atticus' curiosity. "What level Occlumency and Legillimency are you on?" he inquired.

Dumbard smiled in what seemed like a condescending manner and it had sent chills through his back "I am beyond master level Occlumency and Legillimency. You have read that there are seven tiers of the mind arts. I am on tier 6 on both however I am capable of some elements of tier 7." He stated simply.

Atticus' breath hitched. It was a terrifying prospect that there people like him around that could effectively change you completely and utterly to the point that you were different person.

"I have to ask, why are you teaching me the mind arts?" He asked

"Hmm. I owe your great grandfather a favour. He had helped me almost half a century ago with something and when he had asked, I acquiesced. Not to mention, teaching is something I do enjoy. It is a wonderful thing. Teaching is a form of legacy and I do not have children. So the skills I have built will die with me unless I impart them to someone." Dumbard stated while he kept his eyes focused on me.

Atticus had thought about his own prospects. He wanted to explore magic and do wonderful things with it. He had never thought about teaching but if things went as he thought they might, he would be learning and inventing many new things that might need to be taught. He supposed that he'd have to teach at some point.

He looked back at Dumbard "Would that also include Legillimency?" he asked

He leaned back "That will depend on you. The things I know and am capable of are extremely dangerous. It is not something I can bestow on anyone. As much as I will be teaching you Occlumency, it will also be evaluating whether you can be responsible with this. I will not be able to teach you after Occlumency if I agree as I have a prior engagement I will need to attend to. It will likely be a few years after I have left that I will be able to make time."

Atticus agreed that it was more than fair that he had to earn and be considered decent enough not to be a monster with it.

He shuddered at the thought of violating something to the extent that was possible. It would be far more humane and decent to simply kill them than to do what was possible.

From that point onwards, his lessons began four times a week for the next fourteen months.

He had been subjected to Legillimency probes of various degrees during this period as he would become accustomed to the feeling of a probe and as time went his sensitivity had increased more and more to the point where he was capable of feeling subtle passive Legillimency probes.

Dumbard had helped create his shields. Atticus had torn down his flimsy shield and began to build them with Dumbard's instructions. It had taken him two months to successfully build strong shields capable of noticing even the most subtle mental attack.

He had built five layers that covered his mind that was focused on detection. He had developed the skill of detecting intrusion on a passive level which had impressed Dumbard.

He'd been given a number of books to aid him with his shields and Occlumency training and they had immense value in that they allowed him to cut down the time it took for his improvement.

The following lessons focused on building active defences that prohibit and block legilimencers in the first place. Building a strong enough shield to defend against Legillimency had taken he'd over four months.

He had focused on the principle of atomic structure. The hexagonal lattice was the strongest atomic structure known to man at this time. He was very familiar with carbon fibre and had this in mind when he was building his shield.

He had to build his shield little by little and the process had been tedious but he had persevered and managed to build a strong enough shield to quality him for tier four Occlumency though it would be the lower tiers and he would be required to practice and continue to build on it for years to come.

He had initially failed spectacularly when he hadn't accounted for the low fracture toughness. He had redesigned his shield to eliminate this weakness and had become successful with it. He had built 13 different layers that made of hundreds of thousands of hexagonal lattices and would be continuing to build on it.

It was now time for his lesson where he would be having his mind tested after several mild probes that Dumbard sent to check his progress. 

He was seated across from Dumbard as he waited for him to begin his attack. He felt a probe and he immediately reinforced his mind.

Dumbard had extended his probe in an octopus like attack, spreading his probe in 12 different points, looking at weaknesses in his shield.

Atticus sprang into action and began to push out the probe and squeeze the probe into one so that he could encircle and latch on the magic.

"Not a bad idea Atticus. Let's see how you respond to this" Dumbard said.

Dumbard shifted his probe and merged it into one and began to drill through his shield. It had been a common technique that Dumbard employed and Atticus had steadily improved his layers to resist his probes but he still was not good enough to resist the drilling probe.

Dumbard broke through the first two layers before Atticus managed to shore up his defences. Dumbard then began to push significant power into his drill and broke through the next three layers.

Atticus winced but quickly regained his composure and managed to hold on until Dumbard punched all the way through and began once again sifting through his memories. Dumbard stopped and Atticus gasped taking in as much air as he could.

He breathed out and Atticus slumped in his chair "How did I do sir?" He asked.

"You did very well. I told you before that the first time that I legilimised you that it had been at a skilled legilimencer level. I have been ramping up my attacks as the sessions have been going and you have been improving at an impressive rate. This attack was rated at an intermediate level legilimencer who is several factors better than a skilled legilimencer." Dumbard smiled.

Atticus couldn't help but smile back.

"Your defences are gaining strength in coherence, cohesion and in thickness. When you shored up, it had taken me some effort to break through. If you continue on this path, it won't be long before I will be required to put in considerable effort to break through and once I have left and you continue to improve, I have no doubt it will become difficult for me to get through to your mind." Dumbard stated encouragingly.

That had lifted Atticus' spirits. Above all, he wanted to keep his mind intact. He had refused surgery in his previous life when it could have increased his chances but his mind had always been his own and his greatest weapon, in his past and in this one.

"I have not said anything in these past sessions when I have had access to your memories but I have seen in your memories you meditating with things around you. You have managed to shift me past those memories each time I came close which I let you but I am curious, what is the relevance of those memories?" He asked curiously.

Atticus pondered this on whether he should be truthful.

In all honesty, he did not think it meant much to hide his wandless magic from Dumbard. His family were aware on some level that Atticus was capable of it so sharing it with Dumbard is not problematic.

He decided to give a practical example. He lifted his hand and levitated one of the Occlumency books that on the desk in front of Dumbard.

Dumbard's eyes had widened larger than he had seen before however slight it might have been and he leaned back in his chair.

"In those memories I was practicing my wandless magic. When I was younger, I remembered that I summoned a toy from my sister when she had been teasing me and I had taken offense to it I think"

Atticus laughed "I remembered the feeling when it had happened and I spent a lot of time and dedicated myself in being able to do it on command" Atticus smirked.

Dumbard sat there for a moment while he contemplated what he was seeing. A child who had been beyond his expectations had simply kept on exceeding it even if it had nothing to do with the mind arts.

Dumbard chuckled and shook his head "I am surprised though in hindsight I should have been expecting that your talents extended beyond the mind arts. How long did it take you to succeed?"

Atticus now looked as sheepish as you would see from a child his age "It took me years to get anywhere near what I was trying to do." Atticus now looked reflective "It became easier when I managed to get some amount of control and from there I simply improved and became better wielding my magic" he stated.

Dumbard nodded "It will be the same with the mind arts. You will need to continuously improve and never accept perfection for perfection is an impossible. There will always be more efficient ways, more effective methods that you can use and even I have not achieved what is possible with the mind arts and I am continuously learning" Dumbard smiled a little "Even at my old age"

Atticus smiled back.

"We will continue this for the next few weeks and then we will move onto developing dynamic defences." Dumbard stated.

"What do you mean dynamic defences? I have heard of active defences that is complementary to solid defences but not heard of dynamic defences" Atticus asked curiously.

"Well, dynamic defences require a developed mindscape. You have already sorted your memories but within a mindscape, it allows for memories to be hidden, stored in locations in which your mindscape takes place. Dynamic defences work in tandem with your static defences but instead of repelling Legillimency attacks, they draw the probe in and trap the individual in your mindscape.

Depending on your skill, you can significant damage the opponent who has entered your mindscape. In some instances you may well be capable of following the probe out to the mind of the opponent and attack the opponent with your own probe. This skill is particularly hard and few ever manage to gain proficiency in it." Dumbard stated.

Atticus couldn't help but feel some excitement at this "Excellent, I think I know what kind of mindscape I want" Atticus smiled before looking contemplative

"Do you think you will teach me Legillimency?" Atticus asked with hope in clearly displayed in his eyes.

Dumbard smiled "I have decided I will teach you the basics of Legillimency."

Atticus smiled and thanked Dumbard for choosing to accept teaching him.

Atticus and Dumbard continued this exercise for the next three weeks and as time went, Atticus continued to leap in Occlumency.

The foundations of dynamic defence and mindscape had taken a couple of sessions to sink into Atticus. They had taken a break from lessons for a week, allowing Atticus to research the best kind of mindscape that suited him.

He decided that he'd choose something that would be unfamiliar with magicals but something he was exceedingly familiar with. He had decided build his mindscape based on the Matrix and Inception.

He had taken Sayre Manor as his mindscape. He had been instructed by Dumbard to imagine his home in his mind while Dumbard was present. To imagine the gust of wind that blew frequently and rustled the landscaped gardens, to recall the effects of the wind on the surroundings.

Details were left to Atticus to generate but Dumbard had taken the time to help him fully realise his mindscape.

Atticus had asked whether he could have his mindscape be adjustable; for example the idea of shifting rooms, shifting locations of the manor within an area. Dumbard had said that nothing was impossible but that he needed to focus on the basics before he ran with the idea.

Dumbard had instructed Atticus to spend time now to build his mindscape with as much detail as he could. Atticus had spent for the last three months on this. He spent it walking through Sayre Manor taking in every single detail. The small dent that was present on the wall adjacent to the balcony on the second floor wall in the wing where it seemed no one had visited for years.

The slight discoloration of the marble stone that was clear to see in the hall way of the ground floor. Atticus had spent a lot of time aimlessly walking through the home, taking in everything for his mindscape. He took stock of how the manor looked during different stages of the day. The scenery of the surrounding lands of the Manor; nothing was missed during this time for Atticus.

Before long, it had been time to build the interior of the Manor. The exterior of the manor represented the stability and connection to the memories that would be housed in the manor. The interior would be housing his memories.

That had taken Atticus two months completing the interior. After that point, it had been time to sort his memories and have them deposited within the home.

His memories had manifested themselves as spheres of light rather than books. They had the relevant printed on the surface. Dumbard had stated that it was a subconscious act on how one can view their memories.

Dumbard had stated that there is no correct way on how your memories manifest themselves in your mindscape. The spheres of light had a dull white sheen to them.

Atticus had asked what this meant and he stated that he needed to view every single sphere of light so that it would gain the properties of that particular memory.

Atticus had taken almost two and half months to get through those memories. As he went through them, he had managed to increase the rate he was going at very quickly. The spheres manifested themselves in many different colours.

The happier memories had taken a green sheen to them whereas the more negative had a black tone to them. He had stored the spheres similar to the way prophesies were stored.

After that, efficiency was discussed. The predominant use of efficiency is the recall of information as fast as possible. Within a developed mind with Occlumency this can have significant use.

For someone like Atticus, who wished to explore magic as much as he could, it would be a boon to have great efficiency and effectiveness of recall and vividness of information.

With the mindscape Atticus had been developing, he would need to improve the system he had set up. While it would add significant defences to his mind, it would also result in poor recall.

Dumbard voice broke him out of his thoughts as he reminisced in their final session.

"You have now the tools and the basics set. It will be on you for now to continue to develop your mindscape and improve your skills in Occlumency. Our sessions on Occlumency are now at an end and I will see you not too long in the distance when I teach you Legillimency." Dumbard smiled.

Atticus nodded "I will continue to improve and I will improve my mindscape. Do you have any suggestions that I might find useful in the meantime?" Atticus asked curiously

Dumbard smiled "I have covered what I should have covered with you. The only thing I will reiterate is that you should continue to improve the foundations rather than build something that looks impressive but would break at the first significant challenge. You have a wonderful imagination, it is beneficial in the mind arts but do not lose yourself to ideas that are half formed" he gently informed.

Atticus took the criticism as it was and nodded. He smiled "I will keep that in mind. Thank you for your help. Good luck with your trip and I hope I see you soon enough."

Dumbard thanked him and with that, his sessions regarding the mind arts had ended.

The next few days he fixated on why Dumbard had been unable to view his memories of his past life.

He was exceedingly glad that the information cannot be extracted from his mind but it had left him short. He only had suppositions but he had arrived to a conclusion that it involved his soul.

In this world and most likely in any world where humans existed, the soul seems to exist and that the experiences of the person in life are deeply etched into the soul.

The experiences and subsequent memories are intrinsically linked with the soul however the body and mind from a trinity with the soul. Atticus when he reflected on the differences in experiences, taking into considering the introduction of magic, began to believe that when his soul transferred to his body, it severed the link he had with his previous body and mind and formed a connection with his new body.

His experiences in this life did not factor the experiences of his previous life and so his mind would not have memories of his previous life as they never had been experienced in his current mind and body.

That had made him pause.

Did that mean if you somehow lost your mind and memories whilst you still lived and once you died would you retain the experiences prior to that event or will you continue as you were at the date of your death? Ghosts existed in this world and from what he could understand magic played a significant role in creating them.

They were not souls but they were imprints of magic. The ghosts are as they were when they had died which supported the theory that when you died, you'd die as you were rather than the former notion.

However it was not an approximation that could be validated considering that souls must be different. It was something he would not truly get an answer for, he reckoned.

He sighed and closed the last book he had yet to finish on the mind arts. He had been in a reflective mood. Atticus had grown in leaps and bounds in his magical lessons.

As of this moment, he had reached second year Hogwarts curriculum and had almost finished first year Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.

He hadn't been only studying of course. He had been given etiquette lessons and ballroom dancing.

He had practiced correct posture of sitting, standing, walking and had been shown the accepted table manners. Along with all that, he had been given elocution lessons and appropriate methods of speaking in accordance to different situations.

He had thought he'd hate these kinds of lessons but he knew that it was necessary and had become indifferent to them.

How one presents oneself has a weight of power. The one subject he did dislike with great prejudice was calligraphy. He had terrible handwriting skills and it looks like it passed over into this life. He had gotten a lot of grief for it and he had spent a lot of time improving on it.

He did however enjoy his ballroom dancing as he found that he was pretty good at it. He always had a pretty good sense of rhythm and it showed in his dancing. It had also shown in his musical lessons.

He never learnt an instrument in his previous life but he had always wished to do so and now he had the opportunity. He excelled in his piano lessons and he had later on requested Ms Florence to teach him the harp where he was steadily improving.

He had inklings that he could infuse magic with his instrument but he had nowhere enough skill to be able to do it. Nor did he have the control necessary.

But it was on his list. There were many things he could be doing with his magic and that he had thought up and he realised that he will soon have to order them in terms of importance just to ensure he did not get overwhelmed or worse becomes unable to finish projects or training.

He yawned and checked the time. It was nearing 11PM. He decided to call it day and turned to bed.

-Break-

17th of May 1932 – Age 7

Atticus sighed and focused on what he was going to do today. He had been planning for some time.

Today, Atticus had requested to go to muggle London, which had been seen as an odd request and met with mild scorn. He had explained that in many of the historical books he had read much of the field of Arithmancy was built with the muggle Greek mathematicians and philosophers and he wanted to know what the muggles had been capable of doing since then.

They hadn't liked that notion until he had asked if it weren't better that they knew what the muggles were doing than being blind. After that train of thought they were still reluctant to allow him to go but he had been adamant and eventually they allowed him to go with a couple of members of staff.

He had been careful to not seem like a muggle lover because for all the care the family had for him, they did not want to seem like muggle lovers to the rest of society as it was a death knell for any family.

The stigma would follow them for decades, if not centuries. The Potter's were deemed muggle lovers and blood traitors and it was something that to this day affected them.

He didn't know too much of this era but it had been clear to see that the Great Depression had a deep impact in Britain.

The country hadn't recovered properly from the Great War and it had showed in the populace of London. Luckily, the things Atticus wanted weren't located in the areas that were the hardest hit.

He wanted buy books that covered Physics, Mathematics, Psychology, Philosophy, Biology and Chemistry. Atticus knew that most of the advances were yet to come but in this era had allowed the foundation of many of these principles.

For Physics, the 20s were the beginning of a golden era that spanned half a century and it would give him the necessary foundation he'd need for application of science in magic.

Florence POV

Today was interesting, Kayla mused to herself. She and Dunn had taken the young lord to muggle London as he had requested...no more demanded, she smiled at the memory.

Being his governess has been an experience, an enjoyable one but one that had her more often than not perplexed. From the moment she had seen him when he was an infant, it was clear that he was observant.

Her fascination had only grown in the months and years as he grew up. He was intelligent, far too intelligent for a child and it had been something that the family were all aware of.

She knew that Lord Sayre had discreetly tested him for any kinds of forms of abnormality and it had all come up as normal and thus that chapter had been ended.

From an early age, his interests had been known to everyone; magic in all forms were his obsession and everything else he had been taught served as a mere side thing in comparison.

She remembered fondly when she was reading out popular children stories that were rooted in wizarding lore and his eyes would light up and you'd have his attention.

She laughed a little when she remembered when she had read Hansel and Gretel and she had difficulty keeping his concentration until she made a comment that the story was not completely a story and alluded that it had a basis in truth.

Since he was three and granted access to the general library, you could always find him there during the day reading books after books and occasionally you would have to threaten him to ban him from the library to get him to leave it. It had been interesting to see his progression these years.

She had no doubt that he would become a great. She grimaced when she thought on the current situation of the wizarding world.

It hadn't been too long ago that Grindelwald escaped from custody in Switzerland and had disappeared completely. It had a foreboding element to it and war seemed like it might occur soon. She could only hope that everyone she cared for remained safe.

She became employed by the Sayres when she was 17 while she still was at Hogwarts. She was a half blood born from a poor minor pureblood family and a muggleborn mother.

Her father had died when she was eight and her mother struggled to cope with the load that she was left with. Being a muggleborn was difficult in Wizarding Britain and she and her mother had been brutally reminded of that fact when her mother had been fired from her waitressing job.

She had no choice but to return to the muggle world where she and her mother remained for years. When she was 16, her mother had fallen ill from a magical disease that was curable but she did not have the funds she needed to pay it. She had been insistent on not falling into debt.

Kayla had spent months trying to find a job that could pay enough and would pay an advance so that her mother could be healed.

She had despaired until she had met Lady Marie Sayre, who had heard of her plight and had offered her a job and an advance.

She stated that she had a granddaughter that would need a governess. It had truly been godsend and it had her mother. For that she would remained utterly loyal to the Sayres.

She was taken out of her reverie when she heard footsteps and looked at the door and saw Lord Samuel Sayre enter. She stood up from her seat and curtsied.

"Hello Lord Sayre" she said.

"Hello Ms Florence. How was the trip" he asked curiously

She smiled "It was informative. It had been a while since I had been in muggle London" she grimaced "the muggles are struggling more than I can remember though the area where we shopped seemed to be fine" she said trailing off.

She refocused "After we visited the first bookstore, we ended up getting locations of bookstores all around London that would have what Atticus sought after. We ended up visiting six different bookstores" she laughed and smiled fondly at his antics.

Lord Sayre chuckled "Yes, that sounds like Atticus. The boy is driven when he wants what he wants. I suppose it's a good thing it's books he's after rather than brooms and Quidditch like the majority of the heirs his age"

She smiled "I have no doubt he probably knows more about the brooms than he lets on. I'd half expect him to be an excellent flier the first time he gets on top of a broom"

He laughed "Yes no doubt. So what books did he pick up?"

She stopped to remember and tilted her head "The majority of the books that he picked up were science books. Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and the like. I had asked why he focused so much on those subjects and he simply stated that it would help him understand nature and the laws that the muggles have come up with to define, represent and understand it all. He stated that it would help him with magic as magic changes things to what we want but much of what we change doesn't remain permanent. He said that if he had a better understanding of science, he would improve his abilities in magic. In all honesty, he seemed to already have an idea and the usefulness of it which was a little strange to me" she stated waiting for a response.

The Sayres weren't blood purists like the Blacks, Malfoys or Lestranges but they did have a derisive attitude towards muggles.

He looked thoughtful as he processed it "Hmm. Thank you for the information."

He stated and left the staff room that was in the left wing of the manor.

She sighed and proceeded to continue finishing up her weekly work.

-Break-

26th of June 1932

The last couple of days had been a productive one. He had combed through the first section of some of the introductory muggle books he had bought and it had helped him reaffirm his abilities in the sciences and mathematics.

When it came to Arithmancy, the similarities with mathematics were of course there but the higher elements of mathematics from what he could glimpse in the later stages of Arithmancy were not touched upon at all.

There were many discoveries to be made though he was not that interested in truth. The main thing that he wanted from Arithmancy was the ability to create sound spells, create new rituals or modify rituals to suit his needs.

He had found a number of arithmancy books in the library at the beginning of his studies and it that had given him the necessary information he needed for rituals. 1, 3 and 7 were important numbers in rituals, 13 was more relevant in dark rituals.

He had absconded with a number of books on ritual magic a few years back from the family library section and it had led to him getting caught by one of the portraits in the halls.

They had not informed his parents with what he doing but had directed him to a portrait that had been an expert on ritual magic.

FLASHBACK BEGINS

Atticus sat at his desk in his room with a portrait right in front of him. It had been an empty frame but the portraits in the Manor all had the capabilities to travel along the portraits. It had been a feature that was one of his ancestors had modified and had managed do it for all the portraits Sayre Manor held.

Luckily, the portraits required a switch to be engaged for them to travel to certain frames. The one in Atticus' room had remained off until he had been instructed to activate it. He looked at person that was captured in the portrait and took it in.

The portrait had a background of a cabin overlooking a mountainous region that was partially covered with mists but that had peaks piercing through it. Atticus did not know where exactly a place like that would be, nor did he know why there was a cabin on a desolate mountain but he did not question.

The man himself had similarities to himself. He had sharp aristocratic face with a sharp nose that was proportional to his face and deep blue eyes that were only a few shades from amethyst.

He was not as elderly as the majority of the portraits that adorned Sayre Manor. He looked to be in his 40s though in reality he had no doubt that he most likely was a century or so old. He was named Aurilak Sayre.

"So I've been told by the old bat Jess that you were being careless and looking into rituals on your own" He asked intently.

Atticus stared at him "Yes, I have been looking into rituals. I didn't know it would cause such a fuss among your lot" he shot back defensively.

Aurilak scowled "I won't brook any disrespect boy. We may be mere shades of our past selves but we are still worthy of respect! I expect you to give it. A boy your age, no matter how smart you are or mature should not be independently looking into matters that are as risky as rituals without oversight. Do you not have common sense!" he said angrily.

Atticus scowled back and bit back "If you thought that was disrespect than you don't know what it is. I was only looking into it. I had read about rituals in my arithmancy books and I wanted to find out more about it. I wasn't going to do anything." 'yet' he thought privately.

Aurilak stared back and harrumphed before setting in chair in the portrait "If you think you're not obvious, you're fooling yourself boy. I can see you're a stubborn child from a mile away. You were going to do something stupid. Maybe not now but you would. Listen up boy to what I have to say and maybe you'll survive to start your first year at Hogwarts.

Rituals are an old form of magic which are supremely dangerous. Rituals are a form of magic that is some of the most imprecise kinds of magic there is. The one most similar to rituals are potions and alchemy. All three require reagents and require processes to be followed.

Trial and error are bread and butter for those branches of magic. However unlike potions and alchemy, trial and error for rituals is several orders more dangerous than the other two.

Potions and Alchemy errors can be contained. It can be tested on humans or animals and their outcomes judged and studied. Mistakes and observations that are made can be used to adjust the formulas and unintended consequences can be mitigated. Equipments used in both fields often employ safety techniques that can prevent destructiveness.

Rituals however do not have that external factor of safety. The magic is contained within the wizard or witch.

Any mistakes that are made have a cause upon the individual. Rituals have for millennia been studied and have had methodologies worked out that have been tested and verified as viable way to create new rituals. Ingredients have been tested and catalogued for their effects within rituals and it is something that any self proclaimed expert in rituals should have access to.

Rituals require precision and clear intent of what the ritual is meant to accomplish. Many rituals are sacrificial, often in the form of magical plants or parts of magical creatures or both. Magic in some form is sentient and it exacts a price. The importance of balance cannot be understated.

The kinds of rituals that most people use are enhancement rituals, which you are after, and the sacrificial element of the ritual is the price that is paid for the enhancement. In rituals that sacrificial element pays the price and as a result the penalty for undergoing those rituals won't have a penalty on one's mind, body or soul.

The intent of the caster matters tremendously. Even if there is a sacrificial element for the ritual, intent matters tremendously. Magic may not be intelligent but it is sentient and it does not like certain things. Malicious intent will result in dire consequences for the caster; bear that in mind.

From what I understand, this Manor has been furnished a couple of times since it's been built so I am not aware where this catalogue is. The Sayre family has always been excellent ritual crafters and generations have built on their knowledge.

There should be a ritual room and next to it traditionally held a large room adjacent to the ritual room which consists of ingredients, magical creature or plant or otherwise.

Along with those ingredients there should be a copy of rituals that the Sayre family has catalogued or crafted themselves.

Find that copy and bring it back and I'll educate you on the matters of rituals. You're lucky that old bat managed to contact me. You most likely would have killed yourself in pursuit of power." He condescendingly said.

Atticus struggled to hold back from shooting back at him but he managed.

In truth he was glad he managed to meet this prick as it would help him on what he wanted.

From there, Atticus continued to ask questions after questions.

FLASHBACK ENDS

That had started a two year journey into rituals whenever he had time. Atticus' dislike of Aurilak had decreased but he wasn't fond of the man.

He had an acerbic personality that could easily grate on you if you weren't tough skinned but he had been immensely helpful in his understanding of rituals.

Families who follow the old ways, which a significant percentage of the Wizengamot did follow, had their children under rituals at arithmantically powerful ages.

Ages 7, 11, 14 and 17 were the significant ages in which children underwent rituals.

Age 7 was something that not many families due to the inherent risk to the child.

Age 11 was the second most common and often involved minor boosts in physique and magic whereas 17 was the most acceptable age.

Aurilak had informed Atticus that age 7 was the most powerful age to which conduct rituals on. He had stated that in his time it was something that the Sayre family had often done.

He said that it had ceased to happen when Henry Sayre had returned the Sayre Manor as he had not grown up around his heritage.

Atticus had found the ritual book and it had been a huge tome. It was honestly incredible that the family had access to so many rituals. Not only that, they had a number of ritual set that an individual can undertake.

A significant amount of the more powerful rituals were compiled by an ancestor who in the 1500s had gone to Egypt and had found a number of scrolls that were in the hands of private collectors and had discovered that many of the scrolls were Sayre family scrolls and had been encrypted and required keys.

He had spent over a year trying to find the keys to decrypt the scrolls and had found it when he had revisited the earliest journals that the Sayres had.

The notes in his section had stated that their ancestors had been canny enough to ensure that their work was protected and had taken steps to ensure that the keys were passed down the line.

The scrolls held over four dozen rituals collectively and many of them were incompatible arithmantically. This had spawned the man's fascination and expertise in rituals as he had spent decades on and off searching for rituals across the world.

He had managed to collect over a hundred and twenty rituals. Many were nature magic, those that dealt with fertility, agricultural or focused in repairing the land or cleansing bodies of water.

However among those rituals he had managed to find some truly ingenious rituals that focused on mind magic and body enhancements.

He had combed through every single book within the library and the books in the Gringotts vaults and began painstaking ritual set construction that optimised mind, magic and body.

He had hired numerous experts in arithmancy and rituals, of course he had them on stringent secrecy and Obliviation oaths and contracts, and had it all verified.

Unfortunately, he had been unable to make use of it as he had already by this time undergone 3 sets of 3 and it had not been arithmantically sound to add to it.

From those hundreds of rituals, he had been able to construct formulaic methodology on how to arithmantically balance 7 by 7 ritual sets that would allow the completion of either a set of 1 by 7, a set of 3 by 7 or a set of 7 by 7.

It gave the individual the flexibility of choosing which set of the three to go under and it gave the possibility of conducting the entirety of the ritual set.

Atticus could do 1 set of 7 rituals now and at a later date complete two more sets of 7 rituals once he balances the rituals and then at an even later date complete four more sets of 7 rituals.

Aurilak had stated that most of the members of the family only completed a ritualistic set of 3 by 3 over the course of their lifetimes and that only a few did more numerous sets or rituals.

Atticus had his eyes on completing 7 by 7 though for now he would only 7 rituals. It was by far the most useful, flexible and most powerful number of rituals to go under.

He had familiarised himself with the ritual set and he had been prepping the necessary ingredients for the ritual for some time now. He had everything he needed and knew what he needed to know and now would wait until it was time.

He intended to perform the first set of three on the seventh of the seventh spacing the rituals within 77 minutes. It would maximise his gains from the ritual and it would help increase the stability of the rituals.

He had planned it meticulously with Aurilak. He would perform the first three rituals on the 7th of July, the next three on Hallow's Eve and the last ritual on New Year's Eve.

The spacing binds the rituals very well together and the dates are important dates to magic. Atticus would perform the next lot of rituals at either 11 or 14 and he was leaning towards 14 and the last 7 rituals at either 17 or 21.

He had been broken from his thoughts as Tweenie popped into the room. "Master Atty, you are requested to come to potions lab, Thornwood is here for your studies" Tweenie said respectfully.

"Thank you Tweenie, I will be down soon." Atticus sighed, picking up his notebooks and proceeded to make his way towards to the office. He had gotten to know his tutors well in these years.

Thornwood was a strict man and though Atticus could understand the strictness, had he been an ordinary child, he would have been easily turned off Potions. As it was, he was able to get through it. In truth, he enjoyed potions. It was a transformative branch of magic.

Potions are a combinatory subject in which ingredients that prepped in certain ways will have different effects on the overall quality or viability of the potion. In many ways potions resemble a house of cards as it requires precision, patience and structurally sound building.

He had not been all that interested in Herbology even though he understood the necessity of it for potions.

The only other reason he tried as much as he did in that subject was in case he wanted to build a home away from civilisation. He would need good understanding of herbology to be successful with magical plants.

He entered the room "Hello sir." He greeted his tutor and proceeded to sit down in front of his cauldron.