Mind Tests
"Hmm, there still seems to be a few minutes before the hour window is up. It's time to put in the dummy enchantment. We will see if you can make the effect permanent even after it's completed." I said while casting a weak enchantment of being able to cast a very weak lumos that would be barely noticeable unless you were in a pitch-black room. And the hour elapses.
"Okay, Nagini, use the stone; the enchantment should fall off in less than 10 seconds," I said.
She places the stone on top of the ring, and the ring slightly shimmers and then becomes natural.
"Mom, please cast the lumos spell by simply saying lumos," I said.
She casts the spell. The ring glows slightly brighter than it should have and is still operational.
"Well, I guess that answers our question; it is a shame we will have to destroy it after all the tests are done," said Nagini.
They proceed with the following tests. First, they attempt to give Ann a calming draught, but it seemingly does not affect her, or at least nothing truly noticeable except a slightly less tense but ready-to-pounce Ann. I informed them of the potion I gave her and told them not to tell my mother, Martha.
"Hmmm, it seems that chemically induced effects are more effective than purely magically induced ones," said Nagini.
"I agree. I can barely notice anything. It's like comparing someone who is pissed off and someone who's nearly just as mad but is slightly less likely to take your head off. But is fully ready to try." Said Aurelius.
"A rather morbid thought, but I concur," said Ann disappointedly.
"So it was a bust, huh? Let's try the next thing," said Martha.
"Okay, I'm going to give you this potion. Please ingest it slowly," giving her the potion without informing her so she doesn't have a placebo effect.
"Hmm, what's that supposed to do? I don't feel anything. Is this just a false potion to see if it's all in my head?" asked a confused Martha.
"Well, it appears that the potion had little to no effect as far as I can tell. What do you think, Mom?" I asked.
"No, I can't tell any difference. She seems slightly chatty, but that really only occurs when she's curious, so what was supposed to happen with that potion?" she asked.
"It's a dreamless sleep potion," I told them.
"Huh, really? Is it a weak one? After all, the previous potion seemed to have a minor, if only slight, effect," asked Ann
"Yeah, it might differ depending on the person's biology or chemistry; however, it is a standard-level potion, perhaps a little stronger even. Mom, have you had insomnia lately?" I asked.
"No, I've been on a fairly consistent sleep schedule and haven't had any issues falling asleep." She said.
"Huh, then I have no clue. That essentially shoots out my hypothesis. You have any ideas, Nagini?" I asked my totem guardian.
"Hmm, it might be based on people's physical needs. For example, your mother was rather stressed by the idea that she'd be the test subject. It was barely identifiable, but she did relax slightly, not enough that it would matter, but the calming draught did have a small effect. However, she says she doesn't have any issues with sleep and has no signs of tiredness, so it could be that it wasn't necessary to fall asleep. Perhaps the magic blocks out something unnecessary?" she said, unsure.
"That's as good a guess as any for now; let's continue the tests," I said.
"Okay, Nagini, you're up. Can you do it? And mom, are you fully okay with testing this out?" I asked in worry.
"It's all right, dear. I have mentally prepared myself to fight against the imperius curse should it be necessary. Let's do this." My mother said with resolve in her eyes.
"Imperio," says our Asian guardian, using the forbidden curse. "Now clap your hands."
We can see my mother slightly tensing her shoulders but almost immediately returning to normal.
"Is the imperius still going?" I asked to ensure its effectiveness.
"Yes, it seems that the ring bearer merely gets a slight taste, but the effects are completely removed quickly and have no effect afterward." She said, happy that it was working.
"Okay, now let's try a confundus. Eat sweets more frequently. You deserve it," I thought while casting the spell to plant the suggestion. "Any thoughts, cravings or impulsive thoughts?" I asked.
"No, it's weird. I quite literally hear your voice in my head, and I ignore it since it isn't something I would do or think," she said.
"Huh, let's try another one that aligns more with your natural thoughts," I said.
"We should have Aurelius exercise more. He's a growing boy and far too skinny for his own good," I thought while placing the suggestion into her mind. "Anything?"
"Again, it's like I hear your voice, and it is quite literally a suggestion that I agree with or not. It may align with what I think or believe, but it is more annoying than it is gentle steering of my thoughts and actions," she said.
"Hmm, I was hoping it would be more like blocking out the suggestion entirely rather than having the voice placed into your head; however, this might be better; it helps us identify who's messing with us. Can you at least easily identify who's voice?" said Aurelius.
"Yes, it's like if you were speaking to me verbally," she said.
"Okay, the only few tests left are anti-love potion, anti-obliviate, and attempting to remove the ring from the bearer forcibly," said Nagini.
"Unfortunately, I did not brew a love potion, and I'm missing half the ingredients. So, we can only test that later. Still, if it's anything like the previous tests for mind-altering potions, the effects would likely only be a weaker aphrodisiac than chocolate and strawberries at most." I informed everyone.
"I concur. It seems rather unnecessary to test for that. So let's continue with the obliviate spell." Said Ann.
"Okay, let's test it, Mom. I will tell you a word, and you will memorize it. We can consider it a success if you remember it with near or complete clarity. Based on all of our tests, the enchantments act less like a shield that deals with everything and something more akin to an immune system that shields against everything with a spread out but thinner shield, but then quickly learns what the thing is and will quickly adapt to it, so I wouldn't be surprised that you forget the word or perhaps a whole minute, but nothing extreme," I said letting out my thoughts.
"I think that is indeed an apt description, and I think that's an acceptable effect. Let's do it." Said Martha.
"Okay, here is your word, apple. Now let's wait a few seconds….. Now obliviate." I cast a weak obliviate on my mother that should only remove the last four seconds. "Okay, Mom, what is the word?"
"Hmm, when did we get home, Aurelius? Weren't we just at the castle?" asked my mother.
"Wait, what? What the bloody hell, Aurelius? Why did you erase half a day from her mind?" said an incredulous Ann.
"I didn't mean to. I could have sworn that the spell should've only erased maybe 2 minutes tops!!!" I said in a panic.
"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry, the air had just become too serious and boring that it needed some lightening; anyway, the word is apple." Said my mother in jest.
"Damn it, Mother, you nearly gave me a heart attack; I was worried Mother was about to attack me for obliviating half a day from your mind," I said, upset that she had played a prank on me that nearly got me mauled.
"Hehe, you have to admit it was at least a little bit funny. Besides, everyone has seemed to relax a little," she said with a smile, noticing that everyone else's shoulders relaxed.
"Okay, all the tests are finished, and it's time to destroy the ring," I said.
"Why? It seems fully functional, so what's the issue?" asked Martha.
"The issue is that it wasn't keyed to you during the elapsed time, so we will simply have to do all the tests again with a new ring," I said, sighing, realizing I had made the mistake of not just using the already tested ring.
"It's rather a shame, but it was meant to ensure that we were doing it correctly," she said, trying to placate me, noticing that I was a little upset about having to destroy the first real work that took us quite a bit of time, effort, and capital.
"Oh right," I said while grabbing the ring to pull off my mother's finger, but it didn't budge. "Well, that's the final test. Let's return and finish making all of the rings and testing them all out."
We get apparated back to the Galegold dorm rooms to finish our project.
They finish the day going through all the tests again, confident that all the enchantments were correct. They all now had a mind ring with all the same enchantments as the test ring, except now the rings were keyed to them.
"We mustn't give ourselves any reason to need anything that could potentially lead to manipulation, so make sure that you take care of all your needs and desires reasonably since that appears to be the only real issue with these rings. We've already exposed ourselves to every single test again except love potion and legilimency, but I'm confident that those are unnecessary," I said to everyone.
They all nod, "Let's continue tomorrow to start the next project of the ring of defense." I said after we finished eating our supper.
"All right, Aurelius and Nagini, just don't run yourselves ragged. You'll need to test the mirrors using various forms of magic," said a worried Ann.
"It's fine, madam. The mirrors themselves will be easy since they're easily made and aren't particularly difficult; the only challenging part will be altering the speed and reducing the mind's processing ability by such a specific amount. Everything else is child's play." Said Nagini with confidence.
"Well, I'll leave it to the experts, I suppose," said Ann.
"Let's head to bed, dear; I'll help you relax; oh, and Aurelius, can we have the suit back?" said Martha.
"Oh yeah, sure," I said while giving them the massaging suit.
"Good night, dear and Nagini," my mothers said as they left us.
"Good night to you as well, Aurelius; see you in the morning," said my totem guardian.
"Good night to you as well," I said, watching her walk away.
'Huh, it looks like my body is reacting more to the opposite sex, considering I was watching her leave with more attention than normal,' I thought while heading to bed.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone