Restricted section

A person's magic= mana 

Ambient magic= magic 

Magic in an object= magic power

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In the darkest night, the knowledge of the ancients, even if sometimes forbidden, will guide me like a light through the darkness.

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| January 10, 1992 | Hogwarts | 

Classes had resumed since the beginning of this week, and everyone had returned to Hogwarts. Both my brother and I were happy to see our friends again, while others were certainly less so.

Unfortunately, it took Malfoy an entire night for his new look. Even now, people think it was a Gryffindor who did it. That just shows how the rivalry for a cup that brings no benefits, except for the Quidditch club, has made these competitive people toxic.

I believe that the cup, unlike now, which only serves to give priority to a team for the Quidditch pitch, used to allocate more research funds to certain clubs in each house. Between us, that makes much more sense than now. The points only serve as behavior grades from one house to another, which everyone follows for fear of being put in their place by older students who don't want to lose the cup.

Anyway, I'm getting lost in my thoughts about another system that has become useless.

This week, I fine-tuned my camouflage spell based on the Invisibility Cloak. Of course, I understood maybe ten percent of what it is capable of, but then again, it's a great feat to understand even a fraction of a relic made by the entity that is death itself.

I finally succeeded in isolating the sound I produce, masking the odor and heat produced by the target, making the target permeable to light by nullifying its absorption and reflection indices, and ultimately reducing the detectable presence of mana.

There are two problems with this spell that prevent it from being perfect. First, it only reduces the presence of mana but doesn't completely hide it. However, it would take a high level of magic to sense it. And the other problem is that by giving the target the property of not absorbing light, it will not record the refraction of light by objects, making it blind. It doesn't bother me, but it makes my spell imperfect.

Damn, I'm getting lost in my thoughts again. Note to self: create a mental magic spell for parallel thinking.

But before that, let's see what wonder Hogwarts is trying to hide from us in its restricted library.

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In the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping and there were fewer supervisors, I cast my camouflage spell and disappeared into the corridors.

I must admit, the atmosphere of Hogwarts at night paints a scene from a completely different genre than fantasy. With numerous paintings with faces, ghosts circulating like guards, the faint presence of light produced by candles, the pervasive darkness in which Skotádi followed me. And finally, the incessant noise of the moving stairs all plunged Hogwarts more into a horror ambiance than anything else.

I gradually approached the smell of paper and wood; the silence desired by this old witch was truly oppressive. Nothing but columns of books with only air passing through the shelves filled with books. I stopped for a moment, using Skotádi's vision observing from the shadows.

I felt a sense of familiarity through the night, that sense of belonging. I had never walked around at night, and I can tell you I found a new hobby.

With the faint light of the moon, I advanced towards the restricted section; here, dust and cobwebs were most present, but the books themselves were in perfect condition.

I read the book titles to see which one could teach me more about alchemy. It's not like there's going to be a book named <Alchemy for Dummies> here.

<Famous Fire-Eaters> for this book be, here really..

 <Fifteenth-Century Fiends> hmm... if gods exist, then demons should also exist, right? And if demons exist, then hell and the different iterations of the afterlife too?

 A philosophical question that I'll ponder later; I already have enough on my mind. 

<Magick Moste Evile> a book I've already read; it has good explanations on various curses, but the author has self-censored certain parts, like the thing about Horcruxes, which I eventually found but consider the most pathetic practice in magic. Who would want to fragment their soul, depriving themselves of any progress in their mana and relying on others to come back fully alive? Only pathetic assholes with an atrocious fear of death would want that. As some philosophers say, 

'Without death, there can be no life, for it is in the fear of death that we see the joy of life.' 

<Book of stories and remedies on mental health.> Oh, I think I've heard of this book; it's one of those stupid books where the author placed a spell that forces the reader to identify the illness to read the chapter. Some of them could really annoy me with all the screaming they did. So, do not open this book under penalty of being caught. 

<Book of Spell> despite its generic name, is a good book on beginner-intermediate level spells. And again, what's it doing in the restricted section? 

<Book of Potion> on the other hand, I understand. It's an advanced potion book with potions that must be made with great care and time, or else you'll regret your life. 

And finally, here it is, <Book of Alchemy by Nicolas Flamel.> There were five volumes of these books here; I think it's related to their different levels of learning. I took them with me, putting them in my spatial ring; I continued to search for books that I could come back for later. 

___(one hour later)____

 Finally, there are only five books that I might find interesting.

 One of them is a biography of a real jerk from his time called <Herpo the Foul's Book of Life and Terror.> It talks about one of the most infamous Greek wizards of his time.

 And for a Greek in his era, he really had to be a dark asshole. 

And then there are these things. Four books with neither titles nor written text inside. Moreover, their appearance is bizarre; they are brand new, but I think it's impossible for a reason. 

There are four books, all with the same characteristics but different colors. One has a gray background with dark green borders, one has a red background with golden borders, one has a sky-blue background with dark blue borders, and the last one is a black book with yellow borders.

 All are blank books, but they share a common point. They have the colors of the Hogwarts houses. Unless this is a gigantic joke, I don't think these books are ordinary. And I swear to solve their mystery before I leave Hogwarts.

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Returning to the Slytherin common room, with endless questioning about these books, I felt a tug in my mind. 

It was as if I could feel a cord urging me to follow it to a certain destination. 

It was a strange thing to sense, especially in the middle of the night, that something could disturb me despite all my mental defenses. But I believe I know what it means. 

I followed where my senses guided me and ended up in an empty room where there was the only thing that could pass through all my mental barriers. 

In this room, there was Harry, my dear little brother, sitting in this empty room with only one thing with him, a large mirror.