Ch 05

Diagon Alley is a cobblestoned wizarding alley and shopping area located in London, England, behind a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Inside the alley is an assortment of restaurants, shops, and other sights. ... It is very large in area and essentially the centre of wizarding London.

And once you're in, Diagon Alley is bustling with witches and wizards of all ages and from all walks of life. As took my first steps, I saw witches complaining about the price of dragon liver outside the apothecary, and children marvelling over broomsticks in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

And The thing about Diagon Alley is that it gives an insight into a wizarding life that feels realistic, palpable, even gritty.... It's marvellous really.....

My first stop was Flourish and Blotts bookstore as it was said to be the best bookstore in Diagon Alley... it was a dusty treasure trove of literature, it was absolutely perfect for any budding wizard hoping to catch up on their reading...

The shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps on covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all.. It was a marvellous view to see...

But to my disappointment, as searched the whole store I didn't find what I come from... after asking one of the employees ,I knew that it would be a hassle to find the book as it was restricted by the ministry.....

So it was the time for some divination.. it was just a desperate attempt as I already tried to divine the location of any book that has relations to occlumency but to no avail

First, I took a silver pendant that was hung on my neck and recited seven times" are there any books on occlumency in diagonally" and the pendant started spinning clockwise and that means affirmative..... I opened my eyes wide from surprise as the divination worked.... but why it didn't work before..... is it because the change in location hmmmm....

Let try again...

"are there any books on occlumency in Hogwarts" to my guess the pendant remained still...

Well that confirms it... I have to be in close proximity to the place I went to search for the divination to work and if I was at Hogwarts right now and tried the previous divination..... I bet the divination would of worked....

I smiled as I found another rule for the divination to work...

Now , I got affirmative answer I took my very own special Dowsing Rod to use the second form of divination.....

I took the small rod and chanted seven times "the location of a book about occlumency" and to my surprise, I felt a small tug from the small rod it was like someone was pushing me to specific direction.....

So I followed the direction the rod gave me until I found myself outside of the bookstore.....

I gestured to sunny to follow me as I walked through Crowd of wizard and witches until I reached the edge of diagonally...

where I found a junk store named Avery second hand items...

After I entered and greeted the shop keeper, I followed the tag to very shady green box at corner... as I tried to open it, I heard the shop keeper voice, " that a mystery box young lad "

I frowned and turned toward him " and is this 'mystery box' for sale"...

The shop keeper smiled" well of course it for sale, it priced 40 gallon my young lad, but don't complain if you find your money's worth wasted as you can't open it until you pay even I don't know the content of box "

" Well, don't tell me you can't open it" I asked with a puzzled tone to my voice...

He nodded to me " I am under a blood contract that clearly state that is prohibited to open the box "

I gave him an understanding look " is there a lot of these mystery boxes"

He shook his head " I don't know how many are there but there used to be a lot of them in the old days as it was a way of gambling for the wizard, but its popularity declined with time"

I nodded and took 40 gallons from my pocket" here's the money "

"thank you for the purchase" answered the shopkeeper as,he gave the box and its key to me ...

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I walked through the green flames of our fireplace and returned home. My father of course isn't in so I directly took the box and ran to my room ....

I put the box on the table then took out my silver pendant then recited seven times, " is the content of this box harmful to me " and the pendant started rotating clockwise so I sight in delight and took the key as I opened the box ....

Inside I found a paper that state the date of production and what a surprise....this mystery box was produced in 1920 .....

Beside the paper there were three books..

The first was ' the introduction to mind arts '...I smiled as I looked at the book as I finally will start my occlumency training ...

The second book was 'a guide to magic for dummies"

The third was ' the art of potions ' .....

All in all it was a wonderful loot that I got from this mystery box...

And so after having a shower and a hefty lunch I returned to my room and started reading the first book.....

Occlumency is the art of magically defending the mind against external penetration, sealing it against magical intrusion and influence – the defensive counter to Legilimency.

A practitioner of Occlumency is referred to as an Occlumens. It is a specialized branch of magic, not usually taught at Hogwarts

Occlumency is a necessary prerequisite to defeat a Legilimens' lie-detector abilities without suspicious behaviour such as avoiding face-to-face contact and eye contact.

Elementary Occlumency involves clearing the mind of thought and emotion, so that the Legilimens can find no emotional ties to memories that the target wishes to conceal.

Simple resistance to attack requires similar skills to those needed to resist the Imperius Curse.

In its more advanced form, Occlumency allows the user to suppress only feelings and memories that contradict what the user wishes a Legilimens to believe, thus allowing the Occlumens to lie without self-betrayal

From reading just the couple first pages of the book I know that occlumency will take a long time to master as it really hard subject to master ....

the more I interact with the wizarding world the more I curse those stupid fan fiction that made everything looks easy....

So I opened the second book 'a guide to magic for dummies" and it was interesting as it spoke about all the things that have relation to magic.......

and so time passed as days become months and Marcus was busy having the time of his life studying and absorbing everything about the wizarding world....

As the day of his Hogwarts letter neared Marcus finished all of his first year books theoretically that is,.....

That way he is waiting for the day he will get his wand eagerly as he already tried asking his father for wand but he was dismissed harshly.... he even paid a visit to ollivander to buy one but he was disappointed.....

And so while Marcus was reading the occlumency book he noticed a grey looking owl by his window and so he opened his window to find the very thing that waited for desperately for last month ...

A very familiar Hogwarts letter with my house address and my name on it.....

So many of us dreamed of having a letter from Hogwarts as we were kids, even as we grow up to adults that yearning never faded...

And so I opened the latter ...

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear (Marcus yaxley ),

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress

The second page with requirements says:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

UNIFORM First-year students will require: 1.Three sets of plain work robes (black) 2.One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 3.One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) 4.One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings) Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK"