32

September 19, Hogwarts, Coder's Room, evening, an hour before dinner.

 Time is the most valuable resource. Many people don't realize its importance. It also happens that you become aware of it, but it will be too late. In most cases this is what happens. Before I had time to look back, I was already old and weak. Your hands are shaking, your legs can't hold up, your back hurts, and your once sharp mind is starting to fail. The worst thing of all is the last one.

 Time is sand that quickly slips through your fingers.

 So what happens if you understand the value of time early on? The answer is simple - nothing. Awareness of the value of time in itself does not give anything. In order to receive something, you need to give something in return. So here, if you realize the value of time, then you have already taken half a step in the right direction. But if you sacrifice this time correctly, you will achieve your goal. Yes, it may not be exactly what you need, but the very fact of achieving it is an indicator.

Where am I going with this? It's about my gift as a metamorph, as well as occlumency.

 As soon as I finished reading the books that Miss Pomfrey gave me, I continued reading the literature on metamorphism. While reading books, I came across one interesting phrase: "... only by completely mastering your body and mind can you not only master the gift, but become its embodiment . " This is what gave me some thoughts. Are we talking about Occlumency here? If so, then it's worth delving into this topic.

 No sooner said than done. If there is an opportunity, then why not. I started searching for information on Occlumency. And... I didn't find anything.

 At the time of the founders, there were no such branches of art as Occlumency and Legilimenuia. Why are there branches, there were no such words. There was a general and much more extensive science - the magic of the mind. Having delved deeper into this topic, I decided to find the answer to the question. Why exactly is that so? How did it happen that such an important and powerful science was forgotten? Well, I found the answer. True, he wasn't very good.

 It all started with the status of secrecy. Due to a sharp leap in the development of science among Muggles, they began to live longer, and also reproduce faster and harder. They began to penetrate the magical world with their own rules. The magicians did not want this.

 I remember I read that in the time of Merlin the earth was divided between the magic world and the ordinary one. So that magical creatures cannot harm ordinary people. And dragon attacks on cities were something that happened everywhere at that time. There really were all sorts of dragon slayer heroes. This called into question the very survival of the magicians, because if this continued, ordinary people would sharply reduce their numbers, which would lead to a decrease in those acquired. The magicians could not allow this to happen, so they performed the ritual.

 At first it seemed like the right decision, but over time it had the opposite effect. There are more and more ordinary people, Muggle-bloods and the doomed too. But they didn't want to leave the grievances of the past unpunished, or it just got to their head. So they began to take revenge on the offenders.

 And what could be more pleasant than killing an enemy's family with his own hands, and then watching him suffer? This is exactly the conclusion they came to, so they used the magic of the mind to the right and to the left. In the trailer, this applies not only to mind magic, but also to many others. For example: Magic of Vampirism, Death, Necromancy, Curses, etc.

 There was another reason. Muggle-borns entered the magic world with their own rules and did not want to change to the world of magicians. This, in turn, did not please the magicians who lived in the magic world.

 Therefore, after the adoption of the Status of Secrecy, these schools were abolished. I quote: "So that strengthened minds do not recognize this sin . " It looks a lot like Popov's speech, but oh well. If this is the case, then I will find out more about it in the future.

 In general, the secrecy status was introduced for a number of different reasons. We have already described the first one. The second is the increased influence of the church. The third is the introduction of Muggle rules into the magical world. But this is a topic for another discussion.

 What am I talking about? Reduced Mind Magic is like a sword without a blade. It looks like there's a handle, but what's the point? That's why I decided to delve further into this topic. Mainly by pressing on the part that was concentrating on its own mind. And there's a lot that goes into this. Protection, memory improvements, self-control, indirectly control of mana, etc. True, once I started reading, I stopped.

 There is only one reason. The first level of Mind Magic is a guide to Occlumency up to Master rank, which I already have. All that remained for me was to focus my attention on the "combat" branch of mind magic.

 But I had an idea that I am trying to implement now, sitting on my floor, in my room. Remembering the statement about controlling the body and mind, I had an idea. Why don't I create a completely dynamic copy of my body in my mind? I once read fanfic with this idea. Only there a copy of themselves was made to track their condition. So why not improve this system? Add functionality, expand display "areas".

 In theory, if everything works out, I will have a "virtual", in my case "mental", copy that will completely reflect all the processes, and if we add the magical component of my body and superimpose it on top of each other... however, these are long-term plans, If it succeeds, it will definitely not be this year. And if this is the case, then it's not worth discussing about them now. First you need to try, and only then reason.

*Sigh*

It's time to get started.

 Sitting in the lotus position, I began to quickly plunge into a state of meditation, while I turned on my magical vision, you never know...

 I don't know about other people, but for me meditation goes like this. Inhale slowly, hold your breath for 2 seconds, and then 2 slow exhales for a second each. At the same moment, my brain, under the psychological effect of breathing, enters a state of complete contemplation and absence of emotions.

 How does the normal state differ from meditation? Everything around me slows down slightly, my brain begins to work faster and better compared to its normal state. Emotions, of which there are not so many in normal times, disappear completely. Cold and sound logic is what remains in the end.

 As soon as I plunged into this state, I immediately plunged into the palaces of my mind. This feeling is like falling into a dark void. There is nothing around, only somewhere there, high, high, there is light. I really want to return to him, but there is no need to do this. It is the abyss that is something like the subconscious. And that is where, in part, we find ourselves.

 A moment, and I open my eyes in the cave. Yes, that same cave with crystals. What's interesting is that she didn't change at first glance and at the second glance either. But there is a difference. Since the entire cave is my core, skillfully camouflaged, why not make it smaller, visually it will remain the same. But due to the size, searching for anything will be even more difficult. So I did.

 And now my core is no bigger than a soccer ball, but since everyone who invades gets inside it, they can't even know about it.

 I had many more ideas to protect my mind. And encrypting your memories with a programming language and adding new false memories, but that's not what I'm here for now. We need to act.

 A little effort and the room increases five times. The crystals grew larger and spread out in different directions. There was more and more empty space. And in the center of the room there was quite a lot of empty space. The moment is a pedestal for almost the most important part of this space, if I succeed, I'm ready.

 And now the most difficult thing, I need to start the process, and based on its results, sum up whether my adventure will work out.

 I have two ways to implement an idea: from small to large and from large to small. In the first case, I will first draw each cell, and then "put together" my body like a mosaic.

 In the second case, first the general outline of the body, and only then finalizing the details.

 But these are only the first steps, then you need to introduce a magical system, a system of circulation of prana, as well as mental energy. And when this is over, you will need to synchronize all this with all the shells of the soul... well, or first synchronize with the shells, and then dance from them... however, there is no need to rush, there is no need to rush here...

 Well, I've decided. I will go from the largest to the smallest, and then we will see if it is never too late to stop the experiment.

*Sigh*

 A moment of concentrated state, a message-command to my inner world, and then it all began.

 First the wind rose, but where could it come from? It grew stronger and stronger, all its flows began to swirl over the pedestal. Only a few moments later I realized that it was not the wind, but mana. She hung like a whirlwind in one place, but she did not stay like that for long. A moment and the "wind" seemed to begin to shrink.

 Shiver. The entire cave is shaking, cracks have appeared on its surface. A reddish liquid began to ooze through these cracks. She, being surrounded by mana, still gathered on the pedestal. There was a lot of it, a damn lot of it. It could fill the space several dozen times, but it all gathered at one point.

 But then the trembling stopped. The cracks disappeared, mana and prana, and apparently it was she, froze in place. Just as I was about to give another command, I heard a crash. This sound froze my soul, this sound was incredibly loud and scary.

 Only later, after many days of research, I realized that my memory crystal had cracked. No, these were not cracks that specifically let prana through, these were just cracks. From which a gray-violet light began to emerge. Mental energy, that was it, appeared in this space.

 All three forces, in balance, hovered above the pedestal. There was no more wind and light, there were only three liquids. Gray with a blue tint, red and gray-violet. They hung opposite each other, creating a sort of triangle, a system of balance. But the system faltered.

 Streams "flowed" from each of the balls in the direction of each other. They met halfway along the way. As soon as this happened, a wave passed through my inner world, and with it I felt how my strength, mental, magical and physical, was being depleted. This happened so quickly that after just a couple of seconds I felt drowsiness, followed by incredible fatigue. It was getting scary. What if all my energy completely disappears?

 And my three forces were not inactive; the space between the floating triangles was filled with these streams as my strength was exhausted. Their interweaving created an incredible picture. Each of the colors gave its own new facet to the overall "pattern", and there were several of them, facets.

 But this process also came to an end, as soon as they connected in the center, a flash of light, which contained magical, mental and physical energies, cut me off.

 Losing consciousness and thereby leaving the inner world, I thought only about one thing: "The main thing is to survive, and then we'll see."

*****

 As soon as Calder disappeared, his world froze. The ball that was his inner world began to shrink until it was its previous size. This process lasted about ten seconds and it, the world, became the same and everything became as before. Everything except one detail.

 The central pedestal had not disappeared anywhere; an illusory, not yet entirely clear figure was hovering above it. If you look closely, you can see that it was Calder himself. Exhausted, tired, with sunken eyes. He succeeded, his adventure was crowned with success, although it is not clear exactly how successful?

And at that moment, while the boy lay tiredly, with his face smeared in blood, in his room, three important events happened at Hogwarts.

 The phoenix bird is famous for its sensitivity to magic, and it was at that moment, as a wave of energies that symbolized the creation of something new swept through Hogwarts and its environs, he began to sing. His song was filled with life, joy, happiness and sorrow. Who knows why the phoenix had just such a song? What a pity that at that moment the director was not here, and the portraits of the past were sleeping in their places. What a lucky coincidence, don't you think?

 Somewhere under the castle, in the depths of the passages, the king of snakes raised his head. Its size was amazing; the once large room for it could barely accommodate this "monster." He had never felt such mental energy, and this is precisely what basilisks were sensitive to. Their view was based mainly on mental energy and a little magical. Throwing his head back to the ceiling, which was hidden in the clouds of darkness, he hissed a melody only known to him. And that was exactly it, the melody.

 In the depths of the forbidden forest there grew a tree, its size exceeding the height of any of its fellows. It was at least twenty meters in diameter. Below it was a cave that was surrounded by its roots, like a cocoon. In the center of this place slept a creature that had not been seen by this world for centuries. As soon as this creature felt the wave of prana, it woke up. His eyes, the color of blood, opened. Looking around its place of detention, it let out a roar.

 So strong that if it weren't for the barrier that was installed around his place of "imprisonment", it would have been heard at Hogwarts. But even so, the vibrations from the air he shook reached the outskirts of the forest. Every living thing in the forest felt an incomparable horror. Only the centaurs continued to discuss celestial bodies...

 All this happened at one moment, but how sad that no one noticed it. Only the honey Witch felt something in the back of her mind, but she did not give it any meaning. After all, she has so many unresolved matters.

 But the boy continued to lie on the floor; no one could disturb his sleep. Only his magic, along with prana and mental energy, wrapped him in a kind of cocoon. Nothing surprising, right?