Chapter 11: knowledge
With a soft sound of displaced air, I found myself inside Hogwarts. I could feel the wards scanning me. There was a curious feeling in the probes of the wards, as if they were trying to understand what had happened and how my magic had changed. This was the first time I felt this kind of probe. Usually, wards like this simply registered magical signatures, but this one felt more alive than animated. I guess I don't really know Hogwarts as well as I thought I did.
I sent a pulse of magic that conveyed that something had happened and this was the result. My conversations with the planet had given me insights on how to communicate and convey meaning using energy, and that's exactly what I did. The response was immediate, like a child who had just found a new toy: happiness and joy, with a hint of curiosity. I performed the same gesture and conveyed my purpose for coming, which was to seek all the knowledge that Hogwarts had to offer. The response was a mix of amusement, as if to say, "Duh, what else could you be here for?" along with a hint of mischief, like "I'll do something naughty, and you wouldn't know." It was endearing in a way.
I returned to what I was doing and stood in front of a wall, which opened before I could do anything. It was Hogwarts' doing if the joy I was feeling right now was any indication. Sighing in exasperation, I went inside and found what I was looking for: a simple study room that had a cozy atmosphere. I approached the first book on the shelf to my right, titled "Essence of Magic: A Comprehensive Study of Magical Theory" by Rowena Ravenclaw. The next three books had the same title, but the authors were the other three founders. I took all four books and summoned my grimoire, then infused it with magic so it could start copying the books on the shelf while I read.
Before I began reading Ravenclaw's book, I had to ask Dobby to bring me meals while I stayed there.
I found myself immensely interested. The insights she provided on magic were very helpful, especially regarding its relationship with reality. The book went to great lengths to describe her understanding of how magic interacts with reality and how the reality aspect of wizarding magic can be strengthened. It discussed mental exercises that engage both the logical and illogical sides of this reality aspect. Although she touched on other aspects briefly, she recommended reading the books written by her colleagues, as they were more knowledgeable in those areas. Finishing these books gave me perspective on how much wizards had devolved since then. This raised different questions about how and why that had happened, but I suppressed them for now.
The second book, authored by Helga Hufflepuff, focused on the emotional and desire aspects of magic. The emotional aspect was the dominant topic, and I learned a great deal about how the emotional side of wizardry affects wizards, their environment, and the spells they cast. The interplay between magic and emotions was particularly enlightening.
The books from Gryffindor and Slytherin addressed the topics of wish and desire, respectively, with their explanations of emotions and reality from their unique perspectives. Reading them has been a great pleasure. The insights and information I gained have been immensely rewarding, and I could feel my perspective on magic widening, with everything becoming clearer and more obvious. It felt like I was initially looking at magic through a keyhole, but now I had found a window. True, I always believed that everything is possible with magic, but now I can truly feel it.
As I looked up from the books, I massaged my eyelids. I realized I was hungry; I hadn't eaten since Azkaban. I called for Dobby to bring me something to eat and started looking into my grimoire to see what it had copied. It had only copied the books that existed on the shelf. How could I have been so distracted that I forgot to link it to the room, so it could ask for more books to copy? Ugh. I sent a pulse of magic to request permission from Hogwarts and received it almost instantly, so I began providing my grimoire with magic, and it did the rest.
After I was done eating, I started thinking about what subjects I should begin with while my grimoire was doing its job. The room responded to my thoughts, and books on Runes began appearing on the shelves. The book that caught my attention was a thin black volume titled **"Runes: The Language of Magic"** by Belby Bottonbely. Ignoring the somewhat amusing title, I took the book and started reading. This might be the best introduction to Runic magic in the magical world. It discussed the differences between Runes, their uses, how they came to be, and offered a very enlightening read.
For example, did you know that the Runes used by wizards are unique, in the sense that you can use different Runic languages together to achieve your desired results? Well, Runic languages like **"Elder Futhark,"** for instance, are very old and consist of 24 symbols charged with the emotions and magic of wizards since their creation, embedding their meanings into reality. This is also true for other languages like Norse, Giant, Anglo-Saxon, etc.; their meanings remain constant, and how you use them to achieve your goals is up to you. It truly inspired me.
Searching for the second book about Runes and their meanings, I started with Elder Futhark and continued to devour the knowledge contained in these books. They are going to be immensely helpful.
Ah, magic, what a beautiful thing. The more you know, the more you thirst for knowledge. It's wonderful, yet I find myself more and more disappointed with magical society by the second. How dare they waste their time and potential on nonsense like politics and nobility? I'm really starting to despise them. I've just found a new reason to view this war as a culling game. Then I'm going to remake the entire system from the ground up.
Before I start my plan to reform the magical society, I need to train and consume knowledge like no one else. The knowledge hoarded by the so-called noble lineages and bloodlines is waiting for me to devour. I can feel that this is going to be exciting.
I felt Hogwarts asking me what's gotten me excited? . So, I told her about Runes. The funny thing about trying to talk to her is that it feels like I'm explaining things to a kid who wants to be anywhere but here. Hahaha, how amusing! Instead of continuing to explain Runes, I asked if she had seen symbols like these anywhere. Guess what? She has! And it's all over the castle. Everywhere! But She also told me about a room on the fifth floor where Dumbledore wrote symbols like these all over. This intrigued me, but I better continue my work here before going anywhere related to Dumbledore. Who knows what kind of messed-up stuff that senile old man is involved in?
Anyway, did you know that if you want to perform a proper ritual, you need to be very knowledgeable about Runes before delving into Arithmancy, symbolism, and geometrical studies? The reason is simple: you have to write what you want the rituals to do inside the geometric shape you choose. It doesn't have to be a circle, as it turns out. I haven't delved into rituals yet, but I already sense it's going to be an extensive area of study.
Ugh, I won't be able to study like this, so I'll just do some exercises followed by meditation first, and then I'll return to continue.
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I will publish ch25-26 on pat reon/hunter20 later this evening after I'm done with the editing.
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