Chapter 6: Letter from Hogwarts
15th Sept 1990
Carter Residence
Hello, again. Thanks to another time skip, courtesy of an extremely lazy author, we have fast forwarded to today, the day after my 11th birthday. Not much has happened in the time we've spent apart, except of course, my book getting published under the pen-name 'Richard Castle'. "The Librarian & the Legend of the Book of the Dead" was an instant bestseller. Not surprising, considering that all the other authors of the 'adventurous wizard' genre take a very short and simple action and embellish it enough to turn it into a book. While my story had so many action sequences, interesting characters, puzzles, twists and turns, that I found it difficult to contain all that in just one book.
Needless to say, reviews were rave. The book was so popular that within 3 months, it had to be translated into French, German and Russian. The next book in the series, "The Librarian & the Raiders of the Lost Ark" was even more popular thanks to an already established audience. I am currently working on the 3rd novel, "The Librarian & the Race for the Golden City". Hopefully it'll be finished by the time I go to school.
My publisher, Mrs. Aurora Greengrass was also very happy to work with me. It turns out that she and my mom were both Ravenclaws in the same year, and so fast friends. I met her a few times, along with her husband, Cyrus Greengrass and her daughters, Daphne and Astoria, while discussing how their Publishing House 'White Knight Publications' would distribute my works.
Even before Hogwarts, Daphne was already trying to inculcate an aloof 'ice princess' persona, probably to keep any pureblood ponces at arms length. After all, objectively speaking she was really pretty. We spoke a few times, and although she tried to hide it, I think she was impressed by how mature and knowledgeable I was for my age.
Astoria (Tori to her friends) on the other hand, was an absolute little menace. I loved her. She quickly became friends with Rachel, and already the two firecrackers were plotting how to unleash havoc in school.
As for the magical side of things, for the last three years, I have diligently practiced for atleast 3 hours every night. It seems fanfiction got something right. Magic is like a muscle. The more you flex it, the easier it gets. Compared to when I had just started, I can go almost triple as long before exhausting my magic.
I have also learnt some new spells from the grimoire -
Creation Magic -
a) Mineral Separation - allows the caster to separate/extract pure elements from alloys and ores.
b) Mineral Fusion - allows the caster to fuse/combine different elements into viable alloys and compounds.
Gravity Magic -
a) Gravity Inversion - allows the caster to reverse the pull of gravity on the target.
b) Gravity Fluctuation - allows the caster to increase/decrease the pull of gravity on the target.
Spatial Magic -
a) Internal Space Expansion - allows the caster to expand/increase the inner dimensions by folding space without interfering with the outer dimensions.
Restoration Magic -
a) Group Healing - allows the caster to restore the bodies of multiple wounded individuals to a very recent state. Only works for living beings.
Spirit Magic -
a) Astral Projection - allows the caster's spirit to temporarily exit their physical body and experience extrasensory perception.
Evolution Magic -
a) Magesight - allows the caster to see magical particles and their interactions.
Elemental Magic -
a) Light Magic - Light Arrows, Light Spear.
b) Darkness Magic - Sensory Deprivation Field (envelopes the target in a field of darkness that prevents light particles and sound waves from reaching the target).
c) Fire Magic - Flame Spear.
d) Water Magic - Ice Spikes
e) Wind Magic - Wind Blade (offensive), Wind Wall (defensive).
f) Lightning Magic - Lightning Bolt.
g) Earth Magic - Stone Spikes.
As you can see, the last few years have been quite productive. Although, if I had to name the biggest find, it would be 'Astral Projection' and 'Magesight'.
I now understand why Dr. Strange used Astral Projection to read books. That is clearly its biggest use. Let me explain. When we normally read a book, we use our sight to intake that information. If we possess the tools to process it, that information turns to knowledge and gets saved into memory. It's a wasteful process because our mind can only supply a fraction of its power. The rest of it is dedicated to make sure our body is running optimally.
Using Astral Projection, we're no longer under such constraints. Understanding accompanies reading almost instantly. This spell alone boosted my reading speed by about 5 times.
On the other hand, Magesight allowed me to gain a deeper understanding regarding the mechanics of magic. I still remember the first time I used that spell. I was struck speechless by the beauty that unfolded before me. Everywhere around me there was magic. It was in the air, in the ground, in the trees, in the sunlight and even in the darkness of the night sky. It was a riot of different colours and attributes.
What was different about magical beings, plants and creatures was that we had the ability to retain magical particles, turning it into our own. Everyone and everything else just seemed to pass through these particles without being able to interact with them. I have not met any squibs yet, but I believe they might retain a minuscule amount of these particles. Not enough to manipulate them, but enough to interact with the magic particles in the surroundings.
The biggest utility of Magesight I have found till now is in potions. When I turned 8, mom started coaching me on the subject. As a healer, she obviously had a potions NEWT and kept her skills sharp practicing from time to time in the small lab in our basement. She taught me how to prepare the commonly used ingredients in various potions and then showed me how to concoct a few simple ones.
With Magesight on, I could see the interactions between magic particles of different plant and animal parts. This allowed me to make additions and alterations to find that sweet spot where the potion would turn out just perfect.
Needless to say, mom was very impressed with my repeated performance, and even called me a potions prodigy. She redoubled her efforts to teach me the subject since then. In the last 3 years, I've already concocted all the potions prescribed upto 3rd year. It may seem like a lot, but it's actually not. In the 1st year, there are 8 potions. In the 2nd year, 6. And in the 3rd year, 9. So, a total of 23 potions in 3 years time. It should give you an idea of how hard Potions NEWT is when you know that there are 22 potions in 6th year alone.
Anyway, yesterday as we're having breakfast, a barn school owl brought me my much anticipated Hogwarts acceptance letter. It flew in through the open window and landed right in front of my plate. I eagerly received the thick envelope made of yellowish parchment from the post owl and gave it a couple of bacon strips, which it began to eat happily. The letter was addressed to -
Mr. B. Carter
1st Floor Bedroom
Carter Residence
Richmond
London
As everyone cheered around me, I broke the purple wax seal bearing the Hogwarts coat of arms with trembling hands. Man, I was so stoked! Can you imagine it, a potterhead recieving "the letter"?! I slowly pulled out the letter and read -
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Carter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Oh man, oh man, oh man! I was going to Hogwarts, YES!
There was another piece of parchment, which I unfolded. It said -
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work clothes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope set
1 brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
There was another round of celebrations, and today, the whole family is on our way to Diagon Alley, to pick up my school supplies, and most importantly, my wand. The fireplace in our living room was connected to the Floo Network, so each of us took a pinch of floo powder, threw it in the fireplace and entered the roaring flames to travel to the, frankly disappointing, entrance to the Alley, The Leaky Cauldron.
One wand tap to the enchanted wall later, we were in Diagon Alley, the biggest wizarding shopping centre in Britain. This was not my first time in the Alley, in fact I've been here quite a few times. Dad brought me here for the first time when I turned 8. We went to Quality Quidditch Supplies, where dad bought me my first racing broom, a Nimbus 1700. After that I came here several times when mom needed to refill her potion ingredients.
Diagon Alley, despite being named so, wasn't just a straight street with stores on either side. It was a shopping centre that had grown over hundreds of years. It grew as wizards and witches added more and more spatially expanded shops and buildings, until its boundaries were firmly set in place by the muggle city that grew around it.
Its many nooks and crannies led to fascinating stores, stores that sold all kinds of magical sweets, junk shops that held a plethora of minor enchanted items, quidditch focused stores that had space inside to test different brooms. There were even stores that sold magical art, paintings that had a 3d effect, which was absolutely gorgeous. The sheer variety and magical nature of it all was amazing.
"Okay, let's get a move on, there's much to do. Thankfully, your father already withdrew some money from the bank yesterday, so we won't have to ride those infernal carts. Thank Merlin for small mercies." said mom, casting a dour look on the snow-white building in the distance.
The rest of us shared an amused look at that. Mom's aversion to Gringotts' carts was well-known to us. Seriously, those things would leave muggle rollercoasters in the dust. Besides mom and dad's joint account vault, I also had a personal vault in Gringotts, containing the royalties for my books, a decent few thousand galleons at the moment.
I had wanted to pay for my educational expenses myself, but my parents put their foot down. So I just went with it. It's not like they couldn't afford it, so why bother. Either way, I have already made arrangements with Gringotts that the mokeskin pouch I had bought, would allow me to remotely withdraw upto 100 galleons from my vault every month.
Weekly Power Status
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