63 Mind Palace

The fourth-year division started ten minutes after the third year finished. I noticed that more people were beginning to trickle inside. I guess some people consider older students dueling more interesting to watch.

Now that I had already secured my victory, I relaxed and had a lot of fun watching the duels. Unfortunately for Lelah, our fourth-year competitor, she lost at the very end to a guy in the Relentless Wanders, but at least she did well enough in her matches to score enough points to be invited to the next stage.

Micheal made it farther than I expected, as much as I can't stand the sight of him, he is not without some talent of his own. Like Lelah, he accumulated enough points to make it to the international competition.

When the fifth-years started dueling, the level of competition visibly rose. Everyone competing had several years of experience dueling, and it showed during their matches. The Silver Spears didn't have anyone in this round because Zack had also chosen to jump ahead.

Similarly to the fifth round, the sixth also showed an increase in the skill level of those competing. Some of those fighting had even begun to comprehend nonverbal spell-casting, although they still had far to go before complete mastery.

Zack thrived during this round. It was clear that he was a cut above the rest of the competitors, even Addison. He handily won the division with only a couple who put up a token resistance. After seeing him duel, I do not doubt that one day he will become an International Dueling Champion if he decides to compete at the professional level.

If students in the sixth round had started dipping their toes in the water with nonverbal spells, then those in the seventh had dove right in. I think what I enjoyed the most out of the last two divisions were the advanced forms of transfiguration. High-level transfiguration spells, like conjuration, added so many more layers to the duels.

The seventh-round winner ended up being from the Hidden Lotus, which annoyed me, but at least Mason and Harper made it through. It was their last year competing, and they would soon need to decide whether or not they were going to go pro or not.

Not every member of the Silver Spears would end up going pro. It was a huge commitment, but if they did, they would each be selected by a retired member who would foster them and take them to the next level.

I hadn't even thought about if I wanted to do something like that, although I enjoy it, I don't know if that is what I want to do with my life. Besides, If my math is right, Voldemort would be returning around the time of my sixth and seventh year, and the next war would soon begin. The main reason why I even joined was to hone my combat ability and build experience dueling.

I decided to put away the heavy thoughts. I still had time to prepare for the future. Although, the little voice in the back of my mind reminded me that Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts was rapidly approaching. In less than a year, both he and the spirit of Voldemort would be at Hogwarts. I would need to watch my steps in the future very carefully.

When the competition was over, I joined my parents. Apparently, Mum had a change of heart during the tournament because when I was reunited with her, she swept me up in a proud, mother-hen hug.

"Did you see my son up there?" Mum bragged to Dad. "I knew he was going to be amazing."

"I know darling, but try and remember that Alex is our son." Not for the first time, Dad reminded Mum.

I hid a grin behind my hand while they good-naturedly squabbled over who was more responsible for my talent. Mum had the bad habit of taking credit for everything, but it seemed like Dad wasn't going down without a fight.

While they bickered, I nudged Sasha, "Not so boring, was it?"

She hugged my waist and looked up at me with shining eyes. "That was amazing. You beat everyone."

When I saw the hero-worship was back in her eyes, I smiled. That was how it was supposed to be. Big brothers should always be amazing in the eyes of little sisters.

Rebecca jumped in, "One day, it will be me up there."

I turned and tapped her on the forehead. "It takes a lot of effort to make it as a dueler," I warned. "Anna and I spent hours practicing to get ready."

"I will," Rebecca vowed.

I smiled when I saw the fire in Rebecca's eyes. Hopefully, she'll stay motivated, Rebecca has the personality of a brawler. I think that if she put in the time, she might make a great dueler one day.

It didn't take us long to get home, and by the time we did, I was thoroughly exhausted. I wasn't the only one, Rebecca and Sasha fell asleep on the couch soon after we arrived home. Dad and Mum levitated them and took them to their rooms.

After dinner, I called it a day as well. While I was lying in bed stroking Athena. I started to mentally go over my schedule of training during the upcoming semester.

I had two events to prepare for, and both of them would require my time and energy. The first was the international competition. I needed to keep up my dueling practice if I wanted to make an impression at the International Competition. I was under no illusions that it would be easy. The competition would field students from all around the world.

The second was far more important to me, mastering occlumency and finishing the Ravenclaw trial. I had already achieved the first layer of success, but if I wanted to master occlumency, I needed to learn how to craft fake memories.

If the first layer of success were any indication, I would need to put in a great deal of effort over the next few months. I was only given a year and a day to complete the trial, and now that the new year is upon us, May didn't seem very far away.

The rest of Christmas break breezed by, and soon it was time to return to Hogwarts. When I got to the Hogwarts Express, I found Cedric waiting for me at the station.

"How was the competition?" Cedric inquired.

I shot him a smug look, "I went undefeated."

Cedric smiled, "I wish I could have gone, but we went to visit some relatives."

Once we found a train compartment, we filed in and waited for the others to join us. Soon, Anna and Alicia arrived walking side by side. As soon as Anna saw me, she demanded, "So, when are you going to share that ten layered chain-spell."

I wagged my finger at her and teased, "Don't you mean my ten-layered chain-casting series?"

Anna huffed and glared at me, "Whatever you want to call it, I want it."

"I need to hear you say the words," I informed her with a Cheshire Cat smile.

Anna's purple eyes blazed at me, "Fine," she said with gritted teeth. "The ten-layered chain series."

I sensed that I had teased her enough, so I promised, "As soon as we get together, I'll show you. It may take some time to master, but if you can master the series before the international competition. I'll bet that not many will be able to stand in your way."

Anna's face tightened with determination, "I will," she vowed.

When Jessica arrived, I feared that we were in for another long trip filled with venomous barbs. But surprisingly, unlike last time, she didn't respond to any of Anna's thinly veiled insults designed to get a rise out of her. I could tell that it threw Anna for a loop, but after a few attempts, she gave up and eyed Jessica suspiciously.

I was just happy that at least one of my friends was attempting to be pleasant. Hopefully, Anna can take some cues from Jessica and follow her example. They don't have to be friends, but not being at each other's throats would be nice.

Over the past two weeks, I often racked my brains on what to do with the information that my dad told me about them. As of right now, I was determined to do nothing to change the status quo. Both of them are my friends, and a relationship with one of them didn't seem worth it if it hurt the other.

Not to mention, I am up to my eyeballs in studying, I only had a few months before the end of the Ravenclaw trial, and if I didn't make it, I would never get the chance again. I wasn't sure what the rewards would be, but I knew that I wanted them. There was so much I needed to learn before the coming storm, I don't have time for distractions.

Of course, some of my hopes were dashed when I briefly saw inside Jessica's bag during the trip. Inside was a thin red book, and on the spine, the title read, A Witch's Guide to Romancing/Trapping Foolish Wizards.

I couldn't help but gulp, that title seemed ominous. I raised my eyes to the ceiling and inwardly cursed the heavens. Of course, that's why Jessica seemed so pleasantly different. She's cheating!

She must have bought a book on the subject, and if I know her at all, it wasn't the only one. How was I supposed to ignore her if she gets advice from experts? It not fair.

Cedric seemed to sense my distress and grinned mockingly at me. I don't know what he thinks is so funny, according to the books, he is going to be beating off girls with a stick. Normally, I would laugh it off, but when there are things like love potions hiding inside of candy out there, one can never be too careful.

When we arrived back at the castle, there was a small feast waiting for us. Having reached enemy territory, I threw up my mental shields. Professor Snape was sure to be skulking about, and I doubt that the holidays hadn't softened him at all.

The only bonus to having such a vindictive, I mean, "helpful teacher," was I was now able to maintain my shield for nearly the entire school day. I wanted to get to the point where I could keep my shields up even in my sleep, but I had yet to find success.

More importantly, I needed to learn how to craft fake memories. From the books I've read, I had some idea of how to get started. The only discouring part were the warnings that most people who found some success in Occlumency never reached the next step.

When I got back to the tower, I felt a sense of urgency well up within me. Inside my room, I brought out the rare books on Occlumency that Dad had secretly given me. Rereading the book didn't help much. They stated that the next step was to construct a mind palace.

The book was vague in detailing how to create a mind palace. Over the centuries, the construct had been given many different names, such as a sea of memories, mind vault, never-ending hallway. But, no matter the difference in names, the purpose was to create a stronghold for your memories.

No two witches or wizards would end up with the same mind palace. Of course, some constructs would be similar, but since every mind is unique, it leads to differences.

As I sat on my bed in the lotus position, I cleared my thoughts. It wasn't challenging to shift into the proper mindset.

As I listened to Athena's constant purring, I seemed to sink deep within my mind. I found myself floating in a vast realm of darkness, in the distance were tiny slivers of light.

In the darkness, I could feel my magic surrounding me, like a warm blanket wanting to protect me from the world. The more I studied my surroundings, the more I wanted to explore this strange world within my mind. Trying to walk towards one of the slivers of light proved futile, there was no ground, no gravity, just nothing. It was like being inside a pool of water, except that there was no water nor the sensation of being wet.

I remembered that the books I read warned that the rules of the real world would hold no sway in the mental world. Here only the mind and imagination held any power. So I decided to change tactics, rather than try to overtake the twinkling light, I willed the light to approach me.

To my surprise, the light moved closer. I had expected a little more resistance. As I got a better look at the light, I noticed that it was more like a gleaming prism.

When it arrived before me, I reached out and grabbed it. As soon as my fingers wrapped around the glowing crystal, everything changed. Gone was the vast empty darkness, replaced with a familiar room. My bedroom to be precise.

Not only that, but I could also see a younger version of myself lying on my bed and impatiently staring at a black egg. I remember this memory, it was the night that Athena hatched.

As the memory progressed, it sort of weirded me out. The whole thing was like a trippy out of body experience. Except, instead of my current body, I was watching the five-year-old version of me.

I couldn't help but smile. I watched the younger version of myself hardly unable to contain his excitement when cracks began to form in the egg. I didn't know it then, but getting Athena was the best present I ever got.

Athena tumbled out of her egg with her soft, glistening black fur with golden tiger stripes. Her wings were made of dark midnight blue feathers with streaks of silver running through them. I had forgotten how adorable her tiny little horn nubs were back then.

I winced when I saw Athena bite my younger self, but being able to watch from a different angle revealed something interesting. A golden flash seemed to connect Athena and my younger self, it happened so fast if you blinked you would have missed it. I'm guessing that was our bond. We joined back then when she chose me, had I not been suitable, Athena would have refused to hatch.

Soon, the memory faded, and I returned to the darkness. I let the glowing prism drift away. Looking around, I realized there were countless bright crystals in this dark world. Each was probably a memory. I couldn't help but wonder if my memories of my previous life are somewhere here as well.

Seeing all the memories out there, I realized I had to build something to contain them. The first thing I needed to do was come up with a plan of what was right for me. What kind of mind palace would suit me?

After some time, I opened my eyes in the real world. I was covered in sweat and had a slight headache. It felt like I had been gone for hours, but looking at the clock showed that only five minutes had passed. Laying back, I called it a night. After all, this was a marathon, not a sprint.

Author's Note

So, I feel like I need to explain what I am doing with Occlumency. As most of you are aware, I am trying to keep this fanfic strictly in line with the HP universe described in the books. The problem I run into with Occlumency is that even though Rowling had Snape "Teach" Harry, she also had Dumbledore acknowledge that Snape never really tried to teach him. So all we are left with is the idea that mediation/keeping your thoughts blank is someone related to a magical discipline. I've always found that a difficult pill to swallow because occlumency is a branch of magic, and keeping your thoughts blank isn't really magic. So I have sort of come up with my own version of what Occlumency is and how it really works. I know other people will have other ideas about Occlumency and Legilimency, and that's ok. This is fan fiction, it's a place were we can explore these wondrous worlds together. But, for the purpose of this fanfic, what I've laid out is how Occlumency works.