Chapter 6: Conversation and Discovery.

AN: This is where I'm going to start with really "Breaking the rules" of Cannon into my own thing entirely, because Cannon didn't do enough things to make the magic system specialized enough, and I seek to fix this.

I'm adding my own stuff. Most of it will start off playing on cliches and tropes, at first, since they're easy platforms to play on, and then expand on them as time goes on. In the end I hope to have something more unique and cool.

And not everything you do which gives you a benefit is without cost, in this world. This chapter has the first open instance of a boon also granting a negative. So yea, it's really good, but it's also really bad. If you think about it, anyways. Next chapter will make it clear as to why it's bad, if you don't see after this chapter.

Anywho… Enjoy!

It was a Tuesday today - so I checked some things to see when I could potentially talk with Daphne. I'd like to fix this, first. I easily found First Year Slytherin's had the period before and after lunch off today. This, I decided, is a good thing. Since I, too, have the period after lunch off, today.

I would be able to talk with Daphne before too long. Ending the issue at hand quickly.

After all, she fears me. It's likely, this fear stems from the unknown - the intentional distance I put between myself and most students - not really interacting with them directly.

This made them curious, and when they didn't get answers, they'd get mad at the thing they can't figure out.

In this case, it's me. Angry or upset children are pretty malicious, so they'll make it hard for me to exist. How? Well, let's look at Daphne again. What's she uncertain of? Something in relation to me. Likely something someone told her which makes me look bad or evil.

How will I resolve it?I'll figure out what was said and then prove it's false. To do that I need to know which rumor I'm dissolving. Then I can go about fixing things.

After all, the only two first years I care about are afraid of me. I just don't think that's an acceptable state for me to be in at this juncture of my 'political life' - from any perspective. Daphne is the easy fix.

Harry will be much harder, but infinitely more valuable, when I can convince him I'm not evil. If he truly believes me good, I'll have no issues from first-year Gryffindor, at least. Maybe more if he actually tries and spreads his influence, or uses it at all.

Back to Daphne, though. How would be the best way to approach this? A Slytherin will respect a better laid plan with many failsafes and backups. Better safe than sorry...

With my hope for fixing this relationship firmly in mind, I made my move at lunch. I saddled up to the Slytherin Table, and tapped Daphne's shoulder, politely. She is rather occupied, zoning out the room and staring at her plate of food in distaste. "I would like to continue discussions now, if you are free?" I ask her. This was how, historically, we agreed to contact each other during our other meetings - it made it look like we were discussing serious Pureblood stuff for our fathers.

No Slytherin would mind that.

"Of course, Heiress Hawethorne." Daphne says, getting up from the table, leaving behind her mostly eaten plate with some glee.

When we were out of range of any eyes and ears, I peeled right into an unused room.

"I've been thinking, recently, about our interactions." I start, locking and securing the room properly "and I'm coming to you as a friend, so please be honest. Is there something wrong? You seem uneasy around me sometimes, and I want to try and help fix whatever it is if I can." I tell her. "No relationship - personal, or working, functions if we're not able to convey any doubts or worries we may have." I add on, seeing her hesitate.

"Well…" She mutters. "I, uh, I've been asked about your notes, a few times. I don't want to break your trust, though, so I tell them they're my Mothers." She tells me. "But I'm more worried about our families and how they'll react. Our fathers are both in… influential positions." She tells me. I nod, we both know that each other's families manage or handle certain precarious things. My father in the ministry and her father in the markets. Both in the Wizengamot. Either way, she continues. "Further, the upper years have been spreading rumors about you doing… rituals… to enhance yourself." She says, and I snort in a very unladylike manner. She stops talking, visibly taken aback.

"If you'd like, I can strip naked so you can confirm the ritual talk is all lies. I just have training in the summer and I don't take breaks, when it comes to bettering myself. The exceptions to this are for Wednesdays and Saturdays, physically and Sunday and Wednesday Magically. I'm always working. Be that with friends, yourself included, or by myself." I tell her, eliciting a silent nod. She knows this. So I continue.

"I study every day I can, and practice what I study. I figure it's good to practice, especially with the Mountain Troll incident, not to mention the Third Floor houses a Fully Grown Cerberus." I tell her. She blanches as I finish, not liking the thought of a class four magical creature so close. She nods again, though, as I finish. It's all good reasons to push as hard as I do.

Her expression hardens a bit, and I can tell she's looking for more confirmation. "How do you pull such long hours, though? It's unnatural." She tells me, and I nod.

"It's a Hawethorne family secret, we call it 'dedication' as the common term, though." I tell her. Some lie, some truth. She nods.

"Oh." She mutters, looking up. "I've been asked by Harry Potter, in potions, about who's notes I'm using. This is specifically important, because he didn't believe me. I gave him the standard tale of my mother, but he obviously didn't believe me." She says, and I blink, surprised.

"I've been writing him letters, to help him adjust to the magical world. He probably knows my handwriting from that. I've told him I'm not a Greengrass, when he guessed if I was one of you a few weeks ago." I admit, repositioning so my posture conveys I consider this a more confidential subject. "He's clearly Muggle-Raised, and by a poor family, at that, so he likely doesn't know his family has power, wealth, or how to use it." I tell her, and she looks as though she's been slapped by a fish, so I continue. "I intentionally don't sign my letters, though. I don't need him knowing who I am. It's not for a future favor, it's more.. Repaying the debt my family owes him." I tell her, and she nods.

"I suppose it's obvious. The Potter Heir Apparent wearing hempen robes, a size too big and clearly not eating well.." She mutters. I nod, an idea coming to my head.

"Say, your family is presently in the Herbalisim and Potion distribution business, among other things, right? Could you get me some nutrition potions?" I ask her. That's one thing we - my current group of friends - couldn't get. Basically no one knew anyone who had stock. Commissioning them was also very notable, since there is no reason you should need to do that, really. People would go prying. Some international communities still used them more regularly, though. Daphne's family was one of the major international trading families in Britain.

"I still have to pay for them." She tells me, I nod, this was expected. They weren't common but also weren't so expensive, usually. The majority of the cost would be the finding then getting them home safely.

"How much, do you think?" I ask, and she shrugs.

"Ten Galleons would be enough for a month's supply, and that'd fix just about anything. I'll consult my father and see if we might need anything else. I will express that helping anonymously with your aid could be of greater benefit down the line for us; since he is almost certain to discover we're helping, with how things are going." She tells me. I want to tell her it won't happen, but it probably will, honestly. He knows it's a British person, probably not a Gryffindor, and that a Greengrass has their notes, but that Greengrass, and indeed all Greengrass's are not the one he's looking for. This means it's either a family friend's notes, or a personal friend of Daphne who is in a higher year.

At least he'd get a good workout on figuring out who is who in the Political world working through all of this stuff. I'd start including political connections in my letters to him, so that he could have context on who is connected to whom.

Well, as best I can. I don't know about the backroom deals, but I do know all about the more public, and past, stuff. It's not hard to put together who's with who and why, when you spent 200 years watching humans and their politics.

Damn Giants shouldn't have thrown a rock at my house. I'd have stayed out of it…

"Any problems he has at school that aren't scholarly which I could advise him on as an Anonymous source?" I ask, and she smiles a little viciously.

"Weasley is strictly anti-Slytherin - well no. I think he's against anything that isn't a Gryffindor." She tells me, I nod. I'd noticed. It didn't seem like such a problem from where I was but I could see how it may be… limiting Harry and his potential.

"Tell him to try and make friends in other houses if he likes, and not to hold back in class. He clearly could be doing better and is stopping himself, for, I think Weasly. Meanwhile, Granger could use the challenge of someone who is clearly her equal in at least practical skills." She continues.

Well, this is both right and wrong. I would lightly suggest he put in more effort. Not insist. Maybe if he grew out of Weasley's ability, Weasley would improve, or stop being his friend, naturally? Either way, she continued at my nod. "I think he's probably better. If he doesn't push her, then the drive she shows might die." She tells me, and I nod again. Good points - one's I'd not seen as a second year outsider, who had no classes with him.

I'd make sure to put this in my letters going forward.

"Anything you need help with?" I ask, and she blinks.

"No? I think I'm fine." She says, and I get the feeling that's a lie.

"Are you sure? If you need help I'd really like to help now - I don't like owing people, you know. And I consider myself in your debt for all the information, not to mention the potions." I tell her, and she seems to fold in on herself.

"Fine. If you insist. I do not have the magical power to cast the magical control spells you've included in your notes. I've tried, but beyond the Water Whip, which is already immensely draining, I don't have the power. It's just not there." She tells me, a bit upset.

Ah, yea, that'd do it.

"Say, what type of job were you looking into, when you grew up?" I ask, and she looks at me oddly.

"I was hoping to become a Healer. I specifically am interested in fixing curses - long term damage or ones based on Bloodlines." She tells me, I nod.

Her family was subject to a bloodline curse, if I remember the quest from my necklace right. She basically has it as her life mission to fix that, and anyone else who may be suffering from the same.

"There is a set for healers, specifically I can point you at. The first charm is the vitals charm, though, because you need to harmonize the spell with the target's magic to make sure the spell gets all the information. This is quite different to the combat set." I tell her. She looks shocked.

"The other set is a generalist set. Diminuendo and Engorgio are level one, there. Trying to make you get the exact same output every time - it's easy to see when you have to grow and shrink things to twenty-five exact sizes." I tell her. She nods again.

"Why didn't you put those spells in the list?" She asks, and I tilt my head at her, thinking about it, before I decide to go with the truth.

"I didn't know about them until the end of the year, and I've only been practicing them for a few months now. I'm Stage four in all but combat Magic, which I am Stage five in. I won't go to Stage Six until I know how to treat severe burns myself." I tell her. "The flame-whip is… volatile, but very powerful." She nods, then takes a seat.

"Well, now I feel I owe you, since you did all this work." She grumps, before brightening a bit. "Well I suppose… All druidic houses have records of this, but it's not likely you'd run across it unless you looked. Most of our houses likely have the books locked away, so I'll offer you the knowledge early! Have you done the primer exercises for enhanced growth rituals? The primers are finding, and immersing yourself in your Magical Core. Pretty simple if you're skilled enough at Occlumency to enter a Mindscape." She asks, and as I've never heard of it, I shake my head.

"It's a really old art that not many families practice anymore." She tells me, I nod. "I think mine might be the last family in Britain who actively uses the growth rituals, and completes the primer exercises. It's really… obvious when someone has completed all the Primer exercises, papa told me. The idea behind the primer is you need to go into your mindscape and try to find where your magic comes from. Each person is different, though Heart or Brain are the most common places where your magic hides, with Stomach taking the third place on the list." She says, pausing to make sure I'm with her. I give her a nod, as I process what she told me.

I'm pretty dumb, I think. This is a vague thing, mentioned in a lot of books. Usually it's referred to as your well of power or sometimes the 'wells' of power. Multiple. The books referencing it are all old - the reference material from the older versions of Hogwarts - A History.

"When you find your magical core, you are to immerse your 'body' as it were in your magic, and clean yourself with it. This is to enhance your connection with magic, and get rid of any blocks you may have had naturally or artificially placed on you." She continues. Well, this would probably be the answer to a lot of questions I have, like "Where is my Shadow magic?" If it's blocked, then…

This would fix that.

Suddenly this primer stuff and the ritual sounded… absolutely vital.

"It normally takes over a month to complete, when you have full access to your mindscape, papa tells me. Supposedly it really helps with everything. To quote my papa- 'My magical control and general awareness of magic went up after completing the primer.' My father also says it's the first step on the least risky path to mage sight." She tells me. I'm shocked. Honestly. This is how the Druidic houses all had Mage-Sight back in the day? Some mind-magic and rituals?

Rituals always have a cost. What is it this time?

"When you finish, I'll trade you instructions on stage two for something I want." She tells me, and I give her a tentative nod, but hold up a hand.

"What's the cost of your rituals? The Limitations?" I ask, and she grins.

"Well, it's always personal. For example, my papa lost all ability to cast a large section of the so-called Dark Arts from our family grimoire. Historical examples have also included lack of ability to produce a Patronus, even to those who could, before, or similar issues. Basically, you sacrifice a small part of your magical ability to enhance the rest of it." She tells me, and I nod, again.

I'd lose the ability to cast any type of torture curse, or, in fact, any of the unforgivables in a heartbeat. I'd never use them, anyways.

"That seems reasonable enough. Is the magical ability sacrificed and it's potency correlated at all to the power of the ritual?" I ask, and she shrugs.

"Not that we've noticed? But the number for completions of the ritual which we have access to isn't very expensive in the notes of the exact things done, so it's likely the more powerful and focused the magic, the more the benefit is." She offers, and I nod.

That is how rituals work.

"Is it a three step or a Seven-Step set?" I ask.

"Three is base. I won't be able to offer more, since every family has a different set after the basic three. One for your Magic, then one for your body, and lastly one for your soul. Really you can do them in any order, though." She tells me. I smile.

"Do the other rituals require a sacrifice? Say the Body ritual? If I sacrificed something powerful or significant?" I ask, and she smiles.

"The ritual would be empowered, yes. Only really… die-hard or needy have done that, though. Usually they only empower the Magical ritual." She tells me.

I grin.

I know what parts of Magic, my body and my soul I don't like. I don't have need for Torture Magic, such as the Cruciartis, or the Killing Curse, or the Imperio. I don't need my ability to become pregnant save for once a year, maybe. I also don't need the darkness in my soul, born from my time as an assassin, and festering in my soul still, casting a darkness on me which, while helpful, was truly only harming me.

I am willing to commit such a self sacrifice.

I wonder what the other set is, in the Hawthorne line?

Quest Received!

"Well, I suppose it's been a pleasure doing business with you. I'll see you on Sunday with the money for the potions. Hopefully, you'll have heard back from your father, by then?" I ask, and she nods.

We exchanged curtseys' and went on our way.

I have another hour before my next class, and figure as a master of my mind and the mindscape I have, I could probably at least figure out where my magic is. Thus I quickly review the quest and Daphne's relationship with me as I walk, Brusquely, to the dorms.

Daphne Greengrass: 6/10. Respect, Trust, Hope.

Much Better. And the quest..

The Core(s) - Part One.

Objective - find you Magical Core(s) and unlock their potential by immersing yourself in them.
?
?

Bonus Objectives -
?

Success - Access to you full power -
Failure - You forever lose access to the full potential.

Well, dang. That's a complex, scary quest. No time like the present to get started. I have nothing to do for a while. It may take a newly-floundering 'fresh to the mindscape' occlumens a month to figure things out, but as a master - well… I should be much faster. I have ideas already on where to look.

It's with this thought I slipped into my room, and closed the door behind me. I soon fell onto my bed, short minutes later I entered a meditative stance, setting an alarm for 45 minutes.

I begin my meditations.

Quickly, I'm waking up in the familiar confines of my Mind. It was the normal forests of Myth Bazal

Mind, Heart and Stomach? Those were where Magic "Was, most often?" I'd check all three. Mind, first, since it was easiest in my mindscape I scanned my mind for natural pools - ones I had not placed - and then was pinged in return. there were a few pools I'd not made. Four, total. One stood out as important from my initial scan.

The Elder Pool was the largest pool in the city. Not massive in how far across it was, but very deep. I would equate it to a small reservoir, but it's depths were a few hundred meters down. This pool was the place Myth Bazal had started.

I walked over to the district, and quickly confirmed this was probably the place. There was a weird blending of my last life and this one here. I could see Hogwarts off in the distance, instead of the heart of the wood, this was the edge. Alongside that, the hundreds of spells I knew were on a shelf which looked to be grown from one of the Elder-Trees. All in scrolls. Then, locked, was my knowledge of magic from my last life. Makes sense. There isn't a Weave, or Astral plane here to draw my magic from. Just the Ley Lines. I look back over towards Hogwarts.

There is a plain between myself and the castle. My second pool is off in that direction. The long fields reach towards the castle. The Fields of Hogwarts.

I look back down at the odd black-pitch covering something in my mind. It's Near the Elder Pool's crystal clear depths. I think this is - or was a smaller pool. Now a covered pool. It hadn't been there before.

So I bent down toI try and pull the cover off - but failed. The thing was sealed on tight. I stood up and frowned at it.

This cover didn't belong. It's not me. I don't know how it's been hidden so long, but it would curse my step no longer.

With this decision made, I put all of the mental force I could into it - this was my mind and this cover didn't belong here. Quickly the cover exploded into a fine black dust, and a deep, black pool was before me. Somehow it looked eager, and inviting.

I decided this isn't the pool I'll start with. Starting with my magic-at-large sounds like the best thing. Try and gain control of the known, first. Even if I have an idea as to what that pool is.

So I hopped into what I think is my magic, first. Mentally, I dismissed my clothes as I went in. I willed the pool to clean me, cleanse me of impurity, and renew me, since that would be faster than doing it manually. I wanted it to prepare me, and empower me for the trials to come.

Hopefully, this worked.

A moment later, I got confirmation, I was in the right place, as a feeling of bliss slammed into me.

In this pool, nothing can hurt me.

So I decided to drift on the pool awhile. I calmly floated, doing lazy rolls in taking in every single seam and jagged edge of the pool's rocks, all the way down to it's deepest parts, lit by the eternal light of the first-settlers. Full of their bountiful treasures.

It was a few minutes into being cleansed by the pool, but the feeling had become less of a "Very good armor" to a very literal "I'm invulnerable in this state" as I stayed. I laze around in the blissful feeling for maybe five minutes (in my mind, anyways.) Before pushing myself out with a mental push.

While I may be going at the speed of thought, that didn't mean I should dawdle.

After I'd thrown myself clear of the Magic pool, I decided I should go to the pool of Darkness. It had been closed - bound. That explained (if I'm right about this pool and everything indicates I am right) my Shadow Magic not showing up, but… why was it bound?

I was going to try and find out.

Before I do that, though, I should rejoin with my lost powers.

I willed it to rejoin with me - cleanse me and itself - and make our bond anew. Stronger. Better.

As opposed to safe from harm - I felt unnoticeable. Infinitely faster, lighter, quieter. The Shadows aiding me and guiding my steps to avoid all harm. I didn't need invulnerability here. The shining of plate on a field is a sure way to attract attention. This invulnerability came from un-noticeability.

I don't need to have Plate if they never see me. I directed the empowerment into the area's it naturally fit. I commanded the mental manifestation to improve me to be the optimum of stealth. I needed to be better in all things it promised if I am to win in the days to come.

With this need, I enforced it. I felt the shadows of the pool sinking into my skin, reinforcing me. Now, for the first time, I felt like I had all of what I should. Like I'd been missing a layer of skin all my life, and I just got it back.

My soul was no longer Raw.

I had to force myself to leave the pool, though. The feeling was starting to ebb. This pool was small and unused to prolonged usage like my magic was. It was tiring from such long exertion. I felt it in my bones.

Something interesting about this, was that when I left a pool of power, the feeling, for the most part, left me too.

Not all of it though. I could feel the slight trace that still held on. It felt notable. My example is that I still feel lighter and 'quieter' than I was before I had gone into the pool. Thinking about it, I noticed how I could feel my mana more clearly now. Before it had been more like feeling how tired I am. Not so exact but reliable when it was close to total depletion.

I willed clothes onto my form as my feet were about to touch the ground.

I think Mana is the energy of the mind - but in many mythos, there was a spiritual power, and a physical power. Chi, Ki, whatever.

Egyptian Mythos had similar thoughts. The five parts of the soul. So did Greek, to a point. Norse certainly did. I think Wizards did not remember this, largely. Myths are always based in reality. It's knowing the reality from the fiction, that matters.

If Myth Bazal was my mind, Hogwarts was my Heart. There was one large body of Water at Hogwarts.

As I skip to the Black Lake, I notice Hogwarts is a flawless replica. This is likely from my uses of the map, and knowing every secret passage quite well, but the dimensions are flawless.

I crest the hill, and look down to see the Black Lake. It's greenish-blue is more green than normal.

I cackle.

Occlumency giving me full access to my mindscape was something which was game-breaking. Well worth those two points.

I willed myself to the Black Lake, and decided to take a good swim, since this pool was much larger than the other pools I'd seen. I willed my clothes gone, but added "I can breathe water" to the commands, so I could fully explore the lake.

I don't know why it's so big, when it's not the largest pool of power, according to my stats, but..? Maybe they're counted differently?

For contrast, I knew the depths of the pools in Myth Bazal. They weren't too crazy, just some gems travelers had thrown in to rest with the bounty of the progenitors. I had seen them there, when I'd looked down. I don't know what I will find in here, so I'm going to do a thorough sweep.

I didn't know what the Mermaid Village looked like, but had read about it in Hogwarts: A History. Does my mindscape recreate that, or will it not be there, as I don't know what it looks like or it's exact locale? Hmm..

I throw myself into the lake, and will this one to clean me of imperfections as well. Clean my body and mind to allow me unfettered access to my powers. As I swim. I feel energized as I do so. I could run for hours - no days like this. I propel myself down, going as hard as I can with my Boundless energy. I hit the floor of the lake and followed the slope of the bed to the bottom.

The floor, at the bottom of the lake seems like a natural place to build things of import, to my mind. It would be easiest to just look up and see your enemies coming. The same reason you put a keep on a Hill, or a castle. The "deepest parts" are also where the Mer-Village is cited to be in the History books, but I guess they could have moved, since issue eight.

When I arrive in the deepest parts of the lake in an uneventful, but quick clip, it is not a village, but some kind of marker? A Monument. That's what I find here. I don't know what it means, though. I don't speak, or read, squiggle. That's the writing on the monument. It looks like someone squiggled, with some direction, on the pillar. Some squiggles look the same, but...

That looks like Celestial runes? I don't speak, read or write Celestial, either. But… Hmm. No, this wasn't Celestial. They're lacking the common rune which is used to mark a separation of ideas. I don't know what the squiggles mean, but the runes are slightly different. Surely this is some form of progenitor Language. Perhaps this is the language of raw magic?

Whatever it is, I decidedly don't like this pillar. Like the lid, if feels wrong. Restrictive. The magic it emitted, the same. Hidden to me until I'd manually found it here.

I don't know what it is, or why it's here, but I've decided I don't like unknown entities in my mind. It could be poisoning me, stealing my knowledge, or otherwise hurting me. Lord knows the last thing with this signature was. It was actively sealing a fourth well of power from my disposal.

It does not look harmful, but neither did the large wooden horse, and look at what happened to Troy?

As before, I focused on the monument, and willed it to get the fuck out of my mindscape and it cracked, only a little, under my will. I Glared at it. I decided to try something probably stupid.

I summoned the force of the strongest spell I could think of for destruction - in this case, the pulverization curse. It was used by miners to break powerful magical stones, which normal things could not break. It turned such unbreakable magic rocks into dust. I knew how it works.

It could not harm a living thing, but it could hurt nonliving material. This big ass monument, it's not alive, just as the magic rocks are not.

I was not strong enough to cast it, though, in reality. It's a spell only the strongest Mages can cast. Usually a group of seven normal miners have to do the hour-long spell to get it to work.

In my mind? No such problem.

I am God, here. I can summon and do what I wish. Including summoning a massive, absurd spell.

The Stone monument shattered, then evaporated from my mind and I gasped, as a flood of memories came back to me.

My? No, her memories, from before I'd taken this body, uncensored, and uncut.

A lazy little girl, who just wanted to make her father proud. Really, daddy's little girl. She had... She had broken into her father's office and read some things she wasn't supposed to. I think it was a roster of the Unspeakables. Who they are, where they live, basic information on their skills. It's all very foggy, still. Raw, too.

These memories hurt.

She'd eaten up that ledger. She'd thought the people were fictive and her father would be so proud she'd gotten past his 'tricksy door'. He'd been proud when she'd gotten the drop on him in the past, or figured out other secrets about the house.

Or learned something about magic no four-year-old had any business understanding.

The ledger, though? Generally, from what I've come to understand, gaining such intimate knowledge on the operatives resulted in the death of the infiltrator.

Dad had looked for - and found - a workaround, from what he'd been mumbling to himself while going about in a panic. He'd not wanted me dead, as his daughter, but there was something else there… her memories are too foggy. I can't determine without more clear images.

Cursed child-memories. This is vital to our survival. Clearly papa isn't the man I thought he was!

His goal wound up coming out to be this - ensuring she never remembered anything to do with the ledger. Sealing her powers so there would be no repeat.

No one could know who the Unspeakables are, except for the agents, and their commanding officers. As second-in-command of the "Magical Anomalies" department, he had a roster in his office, which was secure, no one who wasn't keyed in by blood could read it.

I got around that by being of his direct bloodline.

It also had securities against normal magic, and such things being able to reach it.

Shadow-magic wasn't accounted for in those defenses though.

It took thirty some-odd minutes, but papa eventually left the room for a bit. He'd told her to stay put. Then he came back. He told her to follow him. She had done as told, and soon, her Shadow magic was sealed. It was a short ritual. Something made to completely bind magic. It would have worked and been permanent for normal Magic, but a bit of self application and knowledge had allowed me past that in my mind.

This, I was fine with. The next part is what had left me - and her - so raw. Upset.

Her memories were then wiped.

Rule one of obliviating someone. Don't be in a panic. Rule two. Know exactly what you're trying to remove. Be as exact as you can.

He broke both of these rules. He'd cast an obliviation on her, and was so general that everything was erased. In short, her memories? Gone. In fact, it had been so thorough and powerful, she - the true owner of the body - had been sealed with those memories. Her Soul and Mind were sealed. I'd just let them free, but there was no resistance, here. No added pressure. She - the owner of the body - was hiding somewhere. Probably close by, but out of reach. Either afraid of me (which hurt me a bit, but I understand. She doesn't know me, and the person she loved and trusted most betrayed her.) or she is dormant, still. Wherever she was in her mind when she was sealed, not realizing she is free.

Either way, it was the day after this happened to her that I woke up in her body. If I hadn't taken over her body she would have probably died from the total memory wipe, being a mindless, soulless husk. She would have to be kept on life support, like the victims of a Dementors Kiss.

In other words? A total waste. A non-functional human. In the end, her body may have developed a new personality, but it would be an infant in a 4-year-olds body, if that.

Thankfully my father knew none of that. He wasn't a psychologist, nor was he an expert obliviator. He didn't know what the magic had done. He'd likely just taken it as something that had been ingrained in me to resist the mind wipe.

At least papa didn't know that he was very wrong on that. Very very wrong. I'm not sure if he ever told mama about what he did, either.

I felt the alarm go off in the real world as I pondered the implications. I didn't have the energy to get up and go to class though.

Physically, yes, I could do it.

Emotionally and mentally? I need to rest. I want to find the owner of the body and see if we can strike an accord. If I must leave the body to allow her to live on, I'll do so with glee. It's not truly mine, after all.

Oh, wait.

Glancing up, I see the sky darkening. A sure sign of mental overload.

In short? I'm not going to be able to process for the rest of the day. I need to stop all non-vital functions, now.

So, I kick myself out of my Mindscape and go to sleep. I need to mentally reset.

My dreams - nightmares, really - are all about my father, massive in stature compared to my small form, on the cold days where the ritual sealing my power had been. He was casting spells on me.

I was shaken awake later on - I couldn't be sure what time it is, but I knew I must've been crying in my sleep. My eyes were burning and my legs were cramping, after all.

"Aubrey?" Sarah called to me, and I continued shaking on the bed, unable to really speak. "Should I get help?" She asks, and I let out a high-pitched, pitiful, even to me, whine. "Okay, stay here, I'm getting help!" She said, and I started shaking even harder.

I really just need a hug.

It's I-don't-know-how-long before Sarah comes back with someone. "... here sir." Her voice comes, and I pray to the gods it's Flitwick. "She didn't make it to any classes this evening, either, so I came to check on her after class was let out" she says.

"Hmm." The voice of Professor Snape boomed from the door. Fuck it, second pick then. "Yes, I see. I will need to write out an excuse form for her missing class, she seems unwell to me." He says, a bit snappier, then I feel a light poke at my mind, the first since I came to this world.

"Miss Hawthorne, is this a mental affliction, or is the cause a mental trauma?" I want to say yes, but I only manage another sad whimper. He seems to understand, and the light poke of his mind goes away. "Very good. I won't attempt to move you, for this could react badly with your… clearly volatile magic." What does he mean? "I will have Pomphrey come here to give you aid." He says, and I feel his gaze leave me. "Miss Owens, you are to watch her. Often those afflicted so by a mental trauma wish to be near those they care for, and you seem to be closest to her, from my own observations." He says, then closes the door and, in an audible flutter of the robes, disembarks. I shudder and this one hurts, a bit more, as the cramps in my legs fire again.

"Aubrey? It's going to be okay.." Sarah says, easing me, still shaking into her arms, as she lays down next to me. "You're going to be okay." She whispers into my hair. I manage enough movement to grip her robes as I keep shaking.

We stay like this for almost twenty-minutes, I think, by the time Pomphrey comes in. "Oh dear!" She says, seeing what Snape must have. My bleary eyes wouldn't clear, so I have no idea what's happening. "Miss Hawthorne! You've…" She pauses in disbelief as she processes what must have been diagnostic spells. "...broken a magical binding on yourself, at least, so I'll need to see what the damage is.." And I can feel her magic, caressing mine, getting a feel for what had happened.

"Mental trauma - looks like the block broke an old obliviation on you? But why..?" She trails off, then she lets out what can only be described as an angry huff. "The potential damage! You're lucky to be able to move, let alone function as you do! The size of the block… it must have been from when you were quite young?" She mutters, more to herself than me. "Well, no matter, you need to sleep and rest. No magic, no class and no exercise for a week. You need complete rest. You should stay here, in the tower, for now." She tells me. I nod, shakily into Sarah.

"Now, I'm going to make you take this dreamless sleep potion. It will allow your mind and magic to reconcile the information and power you've just opened up. My spells are saying you have a secondary well of magic inside of you, which is impressive, but your body isn't used to it, and any strain could damage you. Seven full days of rest should be plenty." She tells me, and I give a shaky nod. With a flourish of her wand, the vial of potion she's holding empties.

Next thing I know, I'm sagging to sleep, against Sarah.