Chapter-22: Mind Magic

Ronan didnt know what to feel about the mirror. After that night, he never went near it. He thought about what the mirror represented, and what it tried to show them. But he couldnt get an answer no matter how much he pressured his brain. He wanted to know who were those kids and what they had to do with him. He had thought they might be related to his past life, so he was desperate for some answers.

And then just two days before the term was about to start again, he bumped into Harry and Ron. They greeted each other, and then he just asked Harry about the mirror.

"Hey Harry, do you remember the night that we met? What do you think that mirror was?" he asked, Harry then looked around a little bit. They were in the middle of a silent corridor.

"That mirror was called Mirror of Erised. It had the power to show our heart's deepest desires." Harry said, "Professor Dumbledore caught me visiting the mirror one night. And he told me."

"Your heart's deepest desires?" Ronan asked in disbelief. "Really? Because from what I saw… it cannot be."

"What did you see?" Ron asked.

"I.." He didnt want to divulge that information, "I dont want to say. But that cannot be my deepest desire. I want something else. That was not it."

"I dont what to say, mate," Harry said, "That is what Professor Dumbledore told me."

He didnt pry on the subject any further, so he changed the topic altogether, "Speaking of the night, what were you doing in the middle of the night? Were you trying to sneak into the restricted section?"

"You are one to say." Ron defended Harry, "You were there as well. Also, we were there because you are not willing to tell us who Nicolas Flamel is."

Ronan was confused, "Wait wait wait.." He just couldnt believe it, "You are telling me that you sneaked into the Library that night because you wanted to search about Nicolas Flamel?"

"Yeah, we really want to know," Harry said.

"Mate, you cannot find Flamel there,"

Ron then became irritated, "Oh Merlin's beard, just tell us. Who is Nicolar Flamel?"

He sighed, "Alright. Nicolas Flamel is a very very famous Alchemist. He is good friend of Dumbledore, remember the chocolate frog of Professor that you have Harry?" He nodded, "Yeah, check it out. There you will be able to find Flamel. The reason why you guys weren't able to find the man in all the books that you checked so far, is that those books were all about recent great wizards. Flamel is like 600 years old."

"Woah," Ron and Harry looked at each other excitedly.

"As for what is under the trap door, find that yourself. The information that I have given you would be enough for you to find everything else." With that, Ronan said bye and went to his common room.

***

The holidays were over soon. People came back and soon Slytherin's common room was crowded with people again. Ronan was happy to see Daphne, Pancy, and Blaise. One of the main reasons that he was happy to see them was because of the mirror. That cursed thing had enchanted him in some way because he could not think about the kids that were with him in it. Were they his kids? Or were they his siblings? He doesn't know, but he wants to know no matter what.

As his friends gathered and talked about their Christmas, he thanked them all for all the sweets that they had sent them that Christmas. The truth was, he was not expecting anything, but became very happy when got a fat book called The Tales of Beedle the Bard, from Hermione and sweets from all of his friends. He tried to talk more to them, trying to distract his mind from the haunting memories of the mirror, but it proved useless.

Soon everyone reverted back to their normal life, attending classes, doing homework, and making fun of every other house of Hogwarts. The quidditch came upon them once again, the first match that was coming was between Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. People in Slytherin were anxious because of the match, they knew that if Gryffindor won then they would overtake them in the race to the House Cup.

"Potter won the first match by a fluke," Malfoy announced, "I am sure that he would do very badly in the upcoming match."

Although Ronan had no idea who would win the match, he didnt care about it. What he cared about was the vision that he saw in the mirror, since the day he had seen it, he couldnt stop thinking about it. Somehow he had become obsessed with the few seconds worth of vision that he had seen in the mirror and cant stop thinking about it.

He visited the classroom in which the mirror was kept and was sure enough as Harry had mentioned, the mirror had been moved from the place. The suspense of the kids was killing him, eating him alive. He even started having nightmares about it. This made him realize that he needed to do something about it, or he might go insane. To get his affairs in order, he slowed down his second-year course study and started researching mind magic.

If his theory about those kids related to his first life is indeed true, and the mirror was able to project it on its surface means that his past life memories are in his brain somewhere. This research would also help him to find out more about his personal abilities, whose research came to a halt when he started his second-year course. And from what he read so far, there was one subject that had gotten his interest and attention. And it is called Occlumency.

He had learned that it is a very weird subject, from what little information that he had gathered so far. There is hardly any information about it in the books, and it is considered a very hard magic to practice and master in the magical world. But while digging for some information about the subject, he did come across some interesting facts.

According to the book, Merlin, Morgana, Harpo the Foul, and Grindelwald were known to be natural born Occlumens. And as natural-born Occlumens, they had the ability to move things with their mind. Exactly like him. It didnt take him long to connect the dots to realize that he was an Occlumen. This also meant that by practicing the magic, he could not only enhance his telekinesis but also his ability to retain and absorb knowledge.

The next challenge that he faced was to find a guide from which he could start practicing Occlumency. But he could not find any guide in the Library…

So he turned to the Room, only it could provide with him things that he needed. He wished for a room where he could study and practice Occlumency. A room manifested itself before him, it was a quaint room with various soothing candles lit around it. It looked more like a Yoga room than a practicing room to him. But the main thing was, the room didnt have any books related to Occlumency.

Dejected he turned towards the person that could help him in the situation. He went and asked Madame Pince about the subject, her reaction gave him some clarity,

"Occlumency is a very hard and difficult thing to practice. It can only be practiced by students who are studying Defense against the Dark Arts on a rather deeper level, not a first year like you." She said, "Go on then.. Off you go."

It was easy to interpret from her reaction that there was indeed a book about Occlumency in the Library, and it was probably in the restricted section. And he needed a professor's approval to get a book out of the section. The next challenge that he faced was to decide which Professor should he turn to in order to get that approval.

Because of his good grades, he could have gone to any professor at Hogwarts to get that approval. But after a lot of thinking, he went to the person with whom he wanted to create a good relationship. And that was Professor Snape.

Snape plays a very vital role in Harry Potter, from what he remembers he plays as a double agent for Dumbledore. And he helps Harry in any way that he can. Ronan doesn't remember the reason why Snape hates Harry to his core, but it didnt matter to him. He just wanted to build a relationship with him. It could come in handy in the future…

Ronan got to Snape's office. It was in dimly lit parts of the dungeons, as Snape's office is also the place where all the potion materials are stored, the only time anyone comes here is when Snape order someone to bring a specific material from his stock. And that is very rare.

He knocked on the double-hinged door, only to hear a small voice "Come in," from inside.

As he pushed open the door he was greeted with the shadowy wall, lined with shelves of large glass filled with slimy and revolting things, such as bits of animals and plants. These bits floated in potions of varying colors, giving a very eerie feeling.

"Johanson?" Snape said. He was sitting on his desk and going through some parchments, probably the essay they wrote about Strengthening Potion. "What do you want?"

He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "Professor, I need to get access to a book in the Library. And I want your approval for it?"

Snape didnt look intrigued, he went back to checking the papers, "And what book would that be?"

"Guide of Occlumency by Robert Young" Snape stopped and looked up.

"You want to learn Occlumency?" He nodded, "And why want to do that?"

"Professor, I think I might be a natural born Occlumen." With a raised eyebrow he asked, "What makes you say that?"

"I can do this?" With his telekinesis, he made all the parchment of Snape's table float in the air. "I can do this without any wand." Then put everything back on the table, without even batting an eye.

"Johanson," Snape said slowly, "Do you think that you will be able to manage to find your way through the complex studies of Occlumency?"

"Yes sir. I believe I will."

Snape then took a piece of parchment and scribbled something on it and then gave it to him, "Take this. This will get you access to the book that you require."

A smile bloomed on his face "Thanks professor. I will not let you down."

Snape then waved his hand, "Go on now.. I have work to do." He nodded and then exited his office after closing the door behind him.