11 Spells and shenanigans

Like a kid before a school trip, I had barely gotten any sleep, despite being exhausted....The sheer anticipation of finally studying spells... it was akin to a feverish dream.

Restlessly rustling around the bed, I finally gave up the notion of getting rest tonight. I crept my hand open, and swiftly a book flew and clasped my palms. *Adamous Gray's Basic Spell Repertoire (1926)*. I glanced over the title, the book had a considerably aged history.

Published around 44 years ago, I had no clue who Adamous Gray was. There had been no mention of him in the movies, but then again, the movies simply showed a glimpse of the wizarding world.

Presumably, Adamous Gray was a knowledgeable magician who had documented various spells in his collection. Noticing that it stated "Basic" on the title, there could also be possible continuations of this book that would contain advanced, or even some unique spells.

Setting aside my theories, I opened the book and skimmed over the contents. This particular edition contained 50 spells. It may seem like a small number, but I assure you, each spell had been documented with excruciating detail, and given its own chapter. Wand movements, incantations, effects, inspiration, history and what not.

I was quite curious about all these details, but I wasn't really one for history or inspiration. Studying its incantation and effects was enough for me. The spells had been assorted through an ascending level of difficulty.

The first spell, of course.. also considered the easiest spell by far, was ~Lumos.

"Created in 1772, by Levina Monkstanley, the spell served to light the tip of the wand with a white glow"...

The book stated its origins, but I skimmed over them and carefully scanned the essential parts.

"The light conjured is fairly warm, and risks igniting flammable materials", now this was a cause for concern. I wasn't a fan of getting burned alive, since I planned to cast this without a wand, caution was crucial in my execution.

Shuffling through the other chapters, a lot of these spells were familiar. I had seen them used in the movies, particularly by Professor Flitwick in his charms classrooms.

~Nox

~Alohamora

~ Wingardium Leviosa

~Diffindo

~ Flipendo

~ Campanis Ignis

and many more but I was too impatient to read them out. Feeling the blood rush to my head, I held up my fingers, and did a slow chant.

-Lumos...

As expected, nothing happened. I needed to align my intentions with my thoughts. Imagining a bright flashlight, I held up one finger, and spoke carefully.

-Lumos

This time a small speck of warm light conjured upon my finger, but it soon wisped away. Trying again, I chanted resolutely. I felt the magic flow through my arms and bloom into a bright light. It stayed, shining for about 1 minute, before it dimmed and then disappeared into thin air. Although I wouldn't claim to have mastered the lighting charm, I had made astonishing progress for my age.

Aiming to flash the room with a bright wave, I pointed my finger at the bookshelf.

~LUMOS

The tip of my finger erupted with a white hue, almost blinding me and flushing the room with a warm glow.

Well.. that was idiotic. Trying to conjure a strong flashlight right in front of my eyes.... I hadn't thought this through. But that got me riled up.

"How do people use Lumos if they get blinded too?"

Contemplating for a while, I managed to answer my question. By positioning the tips of their wands above their eye level, ensuring that the light wouldn't directly enter their eyes. Or by pointing the their wands away from them, the light conjured only affected the things ahead.

I was slightly inexperienced, and had messed up by conjuring the light on my finger, and not ahead of it. But this incident contained.... a deeper lesson.

An important distinction had to be made. A frown tightly knit on my forehead.

...."Wizards were not immune to their own magic", obviously, this may seem illogical. How could that be?

Could a wizard burn himself with a fire he had conjured? A number of questions had piled up in my head. But if I recalled correctly, there was always an example of spells backfiring. Not to be taken as fact, but the movies had shown many students affected by their own spells. Whether this was their own incompetence, or just the nature of magic... That I did not know.

But blinding myself using the lighting charm... it was evident that I had to be thoughtful while using spells. In the future, I wanted to use my magic to the best of my capabilities, being affected by my own spell? That was just a fools mistake. Not something I could repeat again.

Integrating my new insights, I casted again.

~Lumos

However, I didn't wait for it disappear. Instead, I wanted to extinguish it myself. A complete control of my magic was what I desired. Power required control, and control required that I master every spell with regards to its counter.

By picturing a sudden influx of darkness in my mind, I chanted.

~Nox

The light on my finger was promptly extinguished. Flipping the pages of the book, I wanted to try out a variety of spells, to see how many of them I could cast with minimal effort, and which ones required training.

"Wingardium Leviosa, the levitation charm"

Intriguing... I had already learned how to levitate and move around the petals with my thoughts. Was this spell the same? To confirm my doubts I tried it out.

~Wingardium Leviosa

I casted it on the petals within the vase. Reaffirming my thoughts, it felt exactly the same as my previous experiments. Unknowingly, I had practiced this spell. If I really scourged my thoughts, there was only one possibility.

Spells, depended on intention, and imagery. Since I had intended to levitate, the petals levitated. The view I had pictured was vivid, and hence inspired my magic. Back then I hadn't used the incantation. Which suggested that spells could be casted wordlessly. A fact I had already known through Dumbledore's and Old Snake's actions in the movies. But to think that unbeknownst to me, I had somewhat artificially done this. Exhilarating.

I casted this spell without prior knowledge. This only made sense, if the incantations themselves did not associate with the spell. Instead, the words associated with an image inside your mind, that would serve to inspire your thoughts and execute your magic according to them.

This would justify why certain wizards could also make their own spells, their own incantations. As long as one had resolute intentions, and vivid imagination. The possibilities were only limited to their magic. Snape had accurately depicted this, by creating a spell whilst he was only a student. "Sectumsempra", that would slash his opponent with an invisible sword, cursing the wound, so it could not be healed by magic.

I was reasonably shocked at this discovery, but that meant, to be a stronger warlock.... I needed to train my memory, to strengthen my mind. A branch of magic came to mind, "Occlumency". But currently I had no teacher. I was a natural legilimens, but that just meant it fired on instinct. I still had no control over that aspect, it was a branch of magic intertwined with the mind. Hence, I couldn't be careless. I needed a teacher.

Every person I had used legilimency on, had surprisingly strong defenses. Sophie had blocked me out of her mind, Dalton's mind itself was an unending maze, and Earl....That old man, he had an iron hard defense. I could almost feel my mind banging against a brick wall when I looked into his eyes. I understood why Dalton had a terrifying defense, he was a very shady wizard, I still didn't know a lot about his work. But he was definitely mingling around in the some sort of underworld.

However, I had no idea why Earl or Sophie were so strong in this regard.... Their personalities were akin to an onion, the more time I spent with them, the more layers I would peel off and discover something baffling.

Getting rid of useless thoughts, I focused my attention towards the book. If my discoveries were universally applicable... then.

Pointing my finger above my head, I closed my eyes and pictured the brightest flashlight I could remember. The stronger the image, the stronger the spell....

I didn't chant any words, simply imagined and vividly recalled the feeling of casting this spell.

A few minutes of concentration later, a slight light sprang up from my finger, illuminating the ceiling.

Damn. Looks like I was right. But, the casting time without any chanting was horrendous compared to the simpler process. I could very well attribute this to my inexperience. However, from now on, my main priority was to master a spell, and then learn to cast it efficiently and wordlessly.

I continually repeated this process with every other spell I could perform. After a few hours of practice, I had managed to successfully master the first 10 spells in the book. Nothing special, they were all considered basic. But I had also managed to cast 5 of them wordlessly.

I could now unlock doors without a single world, conjure a light at my fingers, knockback objects or even cause a small cut in them. This.... does put a smile on my face. (A/N: I couldn't resist the reference).

This wasn't the end, there was always room for improvement. I could sense it. I was currently in my flux period. My magic was volatile and grew extensively every single day. The fact that yesterday I didn't know most of these spells, but today I had mastered them swiftly, was not a coincidence.

I planned to use this to my full advantage for the next few years..

Why? You might be curious to my reasons. Why not just take it slow? Master it thoroughly. Well you see, unlike you, I haven't forgotten where I am. Or rather, when.

This was the 1970s, and to you it may only be a story, so you must have forgotten. Of course, this was just entertainment to you, but I... I had to live through this.

The First Wizarding War.

Voldemort's declaration towards his cause in the British Isles. He would continue to amass a large army of dark creatures and wizards alike. His assault and reign of terror. A war with Dumbledore.

All these events would unfold within this decade. In fact, I am sure the seeds for the wizarding war had already been planted. The war earnestly began in 1971, but throughout the winter of 1970, there were many killings, and rallies that implanted massive fear in the populace. I had known this fact from the first movies. Harry was born in October of 1981, so Voldemort would not die until that day. 11 years of war.

You would be foolish to think that it only included England. Within a few years, Voldemort's influence had spread within the giants and spiders. So it was reasonable to conclude that Vampires were also within his grasp....

Romania was the largest vampire habitat. They've been here for centuries. This was common knowledge. So wouldn't the Dark Lord try to conquer this place soon? Earning support from legions of bloodsuckers in the process.

Dumbledore would block him from spreading his influence, but his Death Eaters would definitely be able to slip through borders and do his bidding. I needed to prepare. I needed strength to survive this ordeal. I knew that Dalton might be able to help me. Perhaps he had already known about the future war.

That's why he had said the situation outside Romania was "unstable" when we first met. He would have made preparations. Dalton wasn't a coward. Which meant, when the time comes... I needed to be strong enough to stand by him.

I had a deep resolve within my eyes. I wasn't going to bend to someone's will. I would carve a path of my own. I wasn't going to run or hide.

I will be ready. For war.