between nature and magic

I raised my head from my grimoire when I heard Hedwig's hooting, signaling that she had returned. I was sitting on the bed in a room I rented at the Leaky Cauldron, studying my magic—especially after discovering that my grimoire could copy any book in the vicinity. With a flick of my wand, I opened the window for Hedwig to come through. Her eyes were now a greenish hue, and her white feathers looked even whiter, as if they emit light.

If you're wondering how these changes occurred, the answer is simple: I had been studying the bond link between us and, in a moment of impulse, sent a little bit of natural energy through it. Doing this is highly dangerous for any magical creature because, unlike wizards, they are strongly attuned to nature and generally embody the essence of their magic. I was lucky that Hedwig had some affinity for nature, which helped her magic gain a minor aspect of nature.

Now, don't get the wrong idea about magic. You see, magic is simply magic. It's a facet of creation, and that's all the insight I have into its true nature. Aspects define the type of magic a magical being can use, whether human, animal, or even alien. If they are magical in some way, their magic must contain an aspect. For a magical being whose magic has a neutral aspect, the most common type, they can gain aspects for anything—if they're willing to pay the price. Affinity, as it turns out, greatly assists in acquiring a magical aspect. That's what happened with Hedwig.

Wizard magic has some remarkable aspects, but it also limits a wizard's ability to gain more aspects, regardless of the affinity a wizard may possess. Though wizards can bypass the need for aspects when casting spells, my case turned out to be special. I rolled my eyes when I realized this: my magic isn't strictly wizard magic. More precisely, my magic can gain any aspect I desire, as long as I'm willing to work for it. The cost? High proficiency. In gaming terms, I can't use a new aspect unless I have 75% proficiency in the previous one.

This situation presents both pros and cons. The pros? If I live long enough, I could discover the true nature of magic and potentially harness it, exploring different kinds of magic, etc. The cons? I must possess deep knowledge and at least 75% control of a magical aspect before I can assimilate a new one and start from the bottom again. Ugh, this is giving me a headache. I'll focus on mastering my wizard magical aspect and try to raise my control to 100% first. If I can't manage even that, despite my advantages, then I'm a failure as an archmage.

Now, let's return to the most interesting thing I discovered: my sage skill. Being a sage is fascinating. I found that I will always subconsciously purify natural energy. Doing so consciously is harder, but it's much more rewarding. What rewards, you may ask? Well, I will always be protected by nature. This means no one can use my blood to track, curse, or do anything harmful to me. If you want to curse me, you have to do it in front of me and not behind my back. If you want to know how that feels, it's like what I imagined sitting in my mother's embrace when I was akid felt like—warm and protective. It feels great.

Now I need to implement my plan and study magic to the best of my ability so that I can free myself from the debt I owe to fate and magic. Being in their debt feels stifling. So, let's get started. First things first: I need to get to Hogwarts to begin studying, training, and copying all the knowledge available there. I have already copied every book containing basic magical knowledge from bookstores here, and my grimoire is doing its job correctly. I've also learned that the grimoire feeds on my mental and magical energy, which is a good way to train both.

Now, let's start by calling Dobby.

"Dobby, come here; I need you," I said. A moment later, a house-elf was clinging to my leg, saying, "Harry Potter, sir, is okay! Dobby tried all he could to get you out of Azkaban, but Dumbledore used his right as Hogwarts Master to order me not to."

"Please forgive Dobby, Harry Potter, sir; Dobby has been punishing himself for days now," he continued to ramble. I learned that he was preparing to break me out of Azkaban like a ninja—his words, not mine—but the headmaster found out and forbade him from doing so.

"Okay, okay, Dobby, enough! I understand. Thank you for trying; that's more than I can say about anyone else. You're a friend, Dobby, so don't worry and stop punishing yourself," I said. I then added, "Now, Dobby, I have a mission for you that requires your ninja expertise." I spoke in a humor-filled tone that he didn't quite grasp. "I need you to get me into Hogwarts, but first, you have to make sure that Dumbledore isn't there. Then you can take me to the seventh floor; I need access to a room there."

"Dobby knows the room, Sir Harry Potter! Dobby can do this!" The house-elf sounded excited.

"Well then, Dobby, I'll leave this to you." I gave him a salute, which he copied with a grin on his wrinkled, excited face before he popped away.

Now all I have to do is meditate here while waiting for Dobby to come back. The Room of Requirement is the name of the room my grimoire pointed me toward. I must have had the information about it removed from my memories into the book. Now, is it truly magical, as the grimoire said? I don't know, but it couldn't hurt to find out.

Meditation for a sage, as I found out, is a very emotional, sacred and intimate process. I had to use my own natural energy to slowly purify the corruption, curses, and everything in between that has been clinging to the Earth. You see, the planet itself produces and absorbs energy simultaneously. So it wasn't strange when I found out that the planet's core is being siphoned by —what the planet told me was an egg of a celestial. And yes, I can somehow talk to the planet—get over it. Now, I still don't know what a celestial is, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. I'll have to ask my grimoire if there's any information about them stored there, but that's for later.

When I first found out about this, my immediate thought was to make the planet devour it, but it refused as soon as it understood what I was thinking. That brings me to my current predicament: What can I do to siphon this egg's energy and use it in a way that heals the planet and makes it stronger in the process? A small mistake here could lead to disastrous consequences, so I'll have to look into it in the near future. Problems just pop up out of nowhere, and now I need to revise my plan. If I succeed, I could potentially hold the key to evolving everything on the planet, and that's never a good thing—especially with humans. No, I have to find a different method or refine the current idea in a more subtle way.

Ugh, I'll just think about this later. First, I need to heal the planet and clean at least 40% of the corruption. After that, it will get harder, and I'll have to go all over the planet to heal what's left. The first 40% is manageable because the planet itself is helping me by guiding the corruption toward me so I can purge and purify it, but after that, it's going to require more localized treatment, if you will.

I woke up from my meditation to the sound of apparition: Dobby has arrived.

"Harry Potter, sir, Dumbledore is not in Hogwarts, sir. I can take you to the room now, sir," he says while saluting. I really want to know where he learned these antics.

"Understood, Agent Dobby. Let's get going," I replied without breaking character. I mean, you have to have fun whenever possible.

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+10 chapters on pat reon/ hunter20