Chapter 2: Mana Core

The thought about checking out the Quest Tab in the System was pushed aside as the door opened and a regal blond woman walked in. Narcissa Black as he recalled from the memories that were not his own. She had raised him since his father, Orion Black, perished in the classh with Aurors following the Dark Lord's downfall. As for his mother, her identity remained shrouded in mystery.

Narcissa's eyes settled on him, her mouth curled into an approving smile. „"Congratulation on forming your mana core!", she said, her melodious voice betraying a hint of pride. In the wizarding world, most underwent this pivotal transition at eleven years old, when the body had matured enough, to form the mana core. This was the central part, that granted a wizard the ability to use arcane energy and was necessary to cast spells. The size and quality, decided about how much mana the wizard could wield and how powerful his spells would be. However, with training and dedication, the mana core would grow and become more powerful.

This was one of the points, why the offspring, of even ancient pureblood families, was only taught about the history of magic and the theory of casting spells and other subjects that would be taught in a wizarding school. But that was not entirely because of the mana core, since it starts forming a few years before it's fully matured. So even a ten year old wizard could cast some spells, they would be quite weak and uncontrolled, but it would work out. So why didn't they teach them? Because the new laws around underage magic usage were very strict, even for those from old pureblood lines, overextending developing mana cores always risked permanently stunning their growth potential.

But now Mordred's circumstances differed. His mana core was finally formed. The laws still applied for all underage magic, but still, in an ancient pureblood wizarding family, it was quite common to have the children train magic, after the core is formed. The law was anyway only there for safety reasons. Not that the ministry of magic was able to control the old families.

Narcissa's gazed upon him and said, her melodious tone still not failing to cary a hint of pride, „"It's time to begin nurturing the ancient magic that runs though your veins.".

„"Go now and prepare yourself. Change into something befitting of a scion of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. We shell convene in the drawing room upon the next hour". Her lips curved into the faintest of smiles. „"Your first practical lesson in the teaching of magic awaits"

Narcissa turned and swept from the room, leaving Mordred alone. This was the moment his body's predecessor has been waiting for- and now in a sense, his moment. He was now the heir of this family, that had a long tradition of pureblood wizards, standing above all half-bloods and Mudbloods that were now tolerated in the wizarding world. He felt some sort of unnatural disgust against them. Why? He didn't really know.

He made his way to the bathroom, intent not just on washing up and changing attire, but to gaze upon his own reflection - to truly see himself though his own eyes rather than the borrowed memories inhabiting this body.

As he walked though the long and lavishly decorated floors, he couldn't help but be a bit stunned by how luxurious everything was. The ceiling was quite high, the floors were big and everything was full of ornaments of gold and other expensive materials. The ground was made from black marmot and on the sides of the corridors, armors were standing and portraits of his family ancestors were hanging. On the ceiling every now and then was a chandelier full of candles, ensuring that everything was dimly lit and made up a bit of a sinister atmosphere.