Family Ritual - II

I woke up after and I could tell it was already night time. I was unconscious for the whole day which was a good sign. My body still retained some of the pain I experienced during the ritual. I looked at the ritual circle and after looking at it, I was over the moon with joy as I could tell that the ritual was successful. From my initial observations, I felt like I was in a whole new body. My blood was cleaned of any defects during the ritual and it showed in my body. My skin was a little fairer. My eyesight had improved and I could clearly see even the grains of dust in the room when I concentrated.

I called Sherry and when she came I could tell that I had obtained mage sight. I could see a small glow of light inside her body which I guessed was her magic core and this confirmed that I had activated mage sight. Now I had to learn how to control it. Keeping it activated all the time would cause various disturbances in highly magical areas.

Sherry was overjoyed on hearing that I had activated my mage sight and would now be a powerful master for her. As my power increases hers increases too. I went to take a shower and clean my body while I told Sherry to clean the room and restore it to its previous condition.

After a shower I looked in the mirror. Overall my body seemed the same but if you looked closely you could see some of my features had changed. My face had changed a little bit and I gained some features that were similar to the photo of my ancestor which I had seen in the Grimoire. My eyes seemed a bit brighter with the mage sight activated but it was visible only when you looked at it up close. I tried to deactivate mage sight by willing it and after a lot of trying it deactivated. The difference in eyes was not noticeable. So I could use the mage sight without attracting any attention.

My magic reserves which had increased just some time back had increased by a large amount yet again. It had increased by more than double the previous reserves. So now I had more than four times my last week's magic reserves. Now I had more than enough magic to cast spells wandlessly. Now I could start practising spells and start my studies in Hogwarts subjects. My plan is to fully master subjects till OWL by the time I started Hogwarts. I had 4 years so it was easily possible.

Physically I felt a bit stronger. My movements were now smoother and I was more flexible. Appearance wise there was not difference and I was thankful for that. The fairer skin was not noticeable. It would have been tough to explain my changes to the matron if there was any and it would have led me to make Sherry confound everyone who have seen my previous appearance, if the changes were drastic. My mind felt sharper and clearer after the ritual. I felt the time needed to master Occlumency had decreased by a considerable amount. It was already quite less due to my stronger soul but now it had decreased more. I felt I could master Occlumency before Hogwarts and that relieved a lot of stress inside me. Before this I was worried about whether I would be able to safeguard my mind from manipulations. Legilimency would need practise on magical people before I master it but with the quicker and sharper mind, even its progress would increase considerably from now on.

My days were going to be more hectic now with High school and Hogwarts studies added to it. My schedule until now was quite free with only reading books, martial arts and primary schooling. But now it was going to be busier. With Occlumency I did not need to spend much time to spend on my school subjects. I already knew them very well and all that was left was to revise and memorise things which Occlumency was good for. This made it much more manageable.

After thinking about all these things, I finally noticed that I was hungry as I did not have anything to eat for the whole day. So I went to the dining table and ate the meal which Sherry had already prepared for me. I thanked Sherry and then went to sleep. I had just woken up after the ritual but still was very tired. The next day I cleaned the room I used for the ritual, took some books and then made sure that everything was alright with my body before going to the orphanage. I informed the matron that I was back and went to my room. Now it was time to begin my studies.

From now all I had to do was study, practice and exercise. There were no other important things left that needed my special attention. All that was needed was for me to study and practise and wait for my Hogwarts letter.