*****
As always after such a ritual, the next day I felt incredibly good. Mana, prana, psi - all these energies flowed through me, harmoniously intertwining into my body. Thoughts flowed smoothly, unhurriedly, but that didn't make them slow, no, I thought at the same speed. It was just that this process was much easier, or what? Or maybe this is all self-hypnosis as a result of my expectation of short-term consequences after the ritual. Who knows, but I'm sure that I will be raking in the results of my offering, and after accepting it, for a long time. What can I say, I still can't figure out what the troll gave me. I can't fully understand it; I already know some of the advantages.
This morning, due to the absence of Nev in the castle, as well as the very specifics (after a holiday morning), there was no charging. A day off as it is, except that you still have to go to class. And if you remember yesterday's incident, it becomes even more fun. I'm already "anticipating" all these emotions directed at Potter, condemning, angry, cautious glances, and of course the whispers behind his back. Oh, I haven't seen this yet, and I'm already tired of it.
I quickly got up and got dressed and headed to the common living room. You'll need to keep an eye on Luna a little, otherwise you never know.
I didn't have to sit and wait long. After about ten minutes, I noticed that the person I was looking for was coming down to the Palestinian leading into the women's quarters, and not alone. Astoria was with her. Hmm, returned to the castle so quickly? I thought it would happen at least during breakfast, but that's how it turned out.
- Hello! — the youngest Gringras greeted me joyfully (it really was like that). Luna only nodded, and then fell into "prostration" again. - Confess, what did you do with her yesterday? — this piglet asked, smiling like a snake. "Poor Luna feels like she's not at home all day." Doesn't answer questions, doesn't notice people. In a word, this is not the Moon I know. Confess where did you put her???
"And good morning to you, Astoria, Luna," smiling slightly at this "one-man show." — Doesn't answer the question? Doesn't he notice people? - nod. - Well, then everything is fine. As for me, this is an ordinary Moon, as we are used to seeing it. Right? — I asked, looking sideways at the person under discussion.
"Yeah," Luna answered, "distracted" from contemplating something unknown, and then returned to her previous pastime.
- Here you see? - I ask Astoria. - Everything is as usual. No difference.
- It's all a conspiracy! You are trying to hide something from me. Know! Sooner or later, I will find out what happened yesterday! - "resentment", "anger", and then "determination". These emotions took turns replacing each other, imprinted on her face. The truth is, I know that she is actually having fun, and also that she is very intrigued. Well, maybe in the future you will learn at least something.
- Okay, enough empty talk. Let's go for breakfast. "We need to gain strength before the work day," I said to the girls, getting up from my usual place.
Silently agreeing with me, the girls followed me. Hah, this seems like a tradition now.
This conversation was not just like that. During it, as well as after it, right up to the Great Hall, I did not stop monitoring the state of the Moon, in every possible way "exploring" and "feeling" its magical, astral, as well as mental (only a little, without invading personal space) shells. After all, it is very difficult to track small changes in your aura without a special ritual or very deep meditation.
What did I learn? Not exactly a lot, but not a little either. The first and, probably, one of the most important - in the magical shell of the Moon, after very close study, signs of further growth of magical channels appeared. Remember? I remember. By about eleven years of age (some earlier, some later), magical channels grow from the magical shell into the physical one. As soon as they all sprout, their growth practically disappears. Roughly speaking, they stop growing. Therefore, if your magical channel system is not sufficiently developed at the time of its formation, then it will continue to be so.
Having learned this small detail, I realized why magicians become "stronger" after annual rituals. The answer turned out to be banal - their channel system is becoming more durable and expanded. What does this give? The ability to pass more mana through oneself also slightly increases control, as does the possibility of improving it in the future.
You know, as soon as I realized this, I instantly understood why my control was so anomalous compared to my peers. Undoubtedly, the fact that I have been increasing my "control" since childhood also played a role here. However... It turns out that my system of mana channels has a lot to do with this.
However, it appears that you can only improve channels by a "certain" percentage at a time. Where does the rest of the energy go? The second detail noticed in the Moon helped me understand this.
The density of mana, which involuntarily "flows" out of each magician, has increased. Yes, the remainder of the mana that was not used in the development of mana channels goes to other needs. Undoubtedly, part of the mana simply goes to nowhere, but the rest goes to the needs of the body.
From here it becomes clear why in legends some magicians, after such rituals, have magical gifts or something similar. Most likely, they simply found a way in which the mana that appeared during the ritual is used only for one, specific needs. What are these methods? How to recognize them? It's not clear, but they definitely should be.
By the way, now I can understand why, after the first ritual within the "walls" of Hog, I noticed such a qualitative increase in the "characteristics" of the body. It's just that most of the energy went precisely to this, since my mana channels are already very highly developed. At least I have not yet seen a magician who possessed at least a similar system. And this does say something.
*****
My words about the situation around Potter turned out to be prophetic. However, even I could not sufficiently imagine the, dare I say it, ass in which our national hero would end up.
If in the first year they persecuted him and tried in every possible way to make friends with him, now... It's not that they were afraid of him like fire, it seems that in the eyes of most of the students (as it was not difficult to guess, these people were mainly from the lions faculty. Here she is the cohesion of the faculty...) Harry became like a dementor. With his appearance, all conversations stopped, laughter disappeared, and tension mixed with fear began to fly in the air. And you know what, they weren't afraid of Porter. Oh no, everything is much more interesting here. Each of them was afraid of being in Mrs. Noris's place, which is why they avoided Potter. After all, it was necessary to at least make someone guilty, right? Although, if this heir was Potter, then by their actions they, on the contrary, turned him against themselves. And so on, day after day, seven days a week. It's no wonder that Potter became much more aggressive and angry. At certain moments, his eyes could naturally burn with the flame of Avada, a spell that the magicians of Magical England are so afraid of. I think if I were in his place, I would also be angry with everyone. His friendship with new friends does not add joy to the Hero either. And if with Parvati everything was exactly the same, then with Seamus... In Potter's face he says, but behind his back it's completely different. And Harry knows about this, painfully "talking" emotions take possession of him at the moment when he "talks" with his friend.
Argus Filch, a man who on that fateful evening lost the only creature that diluted his loneliness. After killing the cat, the caretaker changed (or became the same as before?). There was no longer that old man, muttering about everything, who got away with a lot, no matter how they treated him. In his place came a gloomy man, angry at the whole world and at one person in particular, who did not give in to a single student. If earlier some students called him just a crazy old man, now, quite reasonably, they call him a "tyrant" behind his back. Great, now we have under our roof the Crazy Old Man, the Heir of Slytherin, the Terror of the Dungeon, and now the Tyrant. Who else should we add to this zoo?
Ginevra Weasley. Who was interesting to watch was her. Fortunately, Inviz helps me. It's a paradox, but the Horcrux senses me in this state. As soon as I approach the small one at a distance closer than three meters, it begins to behave twitchily, and also carefully looks around in search of something. I wonder how he detects me?
Let's go back to the girl. The diary slowly but systematically drinks it away. And this is not a joke, every day I notice how more and more of the girl's mana and prana flows into the diary. She already has bags in her eyes, albeit almost invisible and easily hidden, but they are there. The diary is not going to let go of its victim, clinging to it worse than an acramantula.
Interesting fact. After the attack itself, Ginny walked around all depressed for a couple of days, as if fixated on something. But after three days her apathy disappeared, and she began to scribble something in her diary with renewed vigor. What is this? Worried about your actions? Or could there be something else?
*****
Two days later, I finally got around to working on Potter's blood (I must say that what I found out really impressed me).
Remember the fanfictions in which there was a blood testing ritual? Well, in reality it also exists, but I couldn't create it. And this is not only a matter of lack of skill (although I lack that too. I'm still too weak in runes, and even in rituals...), but also in one "component" of the ritual. Voluntary consent of the person on whom it is carried out. Of course, somewhere there are options without this "component" (I'm one hundred percent sure. It couldn't be otherwise), but I couldn't find them.
So on the evening of the second day I headed to the Room of Help. Of course, I had to "fight off" Luna, who wanted to go with me (and from the sparkle in Astoria's eyes, it became clear who put her up to it. It's a snake, after all), but I was still able to get to the much-desired room.
Having opened the double doors, I found myself in a familiar ritual room, covered with thousands of runes and "figures".
The ritual itself did not require much effort and time. Preparation is one of the easiest steps. Selecting the one that is needed from the total number of drawn figures is a trifle. Next, you need to pour the blood into a specially prepared stone bowl. Apply mana to the magic figure and wait for the result. (Note: to get better at drawing figures and writing runes. I'm sure this will come in handy in the future, and Help Rooms may not be nearby)
What's the ritual? Well, it is used for search purposes. All that it shows is the name, gender, approximate age (It's the mental one. The physical one is very easy to fake).
After a couple of seconds of work (what did you think, a ritual is like a program, the result appears very quickly) and a small flash (Urgently work out the supply of mana in rituals. Leakage is unacceptable) only a few lines of text appeared in the air, glowing with a bluish light. They hung for just a couple of seconds, and then melted away in the wind. However, this time was enough for me.
The text turned out to be banal: "Name: Harriet Potter. Female gender. Age: 16-4????
How curious, don't you think? And how prostrated I was after reading this inscription, you cannot express in words.
Again something strange in this fucking world.
*****
Hello. The next chapter that was supposed to come out yesterday, but I had a very unpleasant conversation, after which I was on fire and ready to destroy everything in the world (I was just justifying my last name inside and out).
Finally, I revealed some information about Potter. How do you like it? I'm sure many people guessed this earlier, but still. Now the Genderswap tag is on ficbook for a reason)
Write your opinion, ideas, conjectures. I read everything. Your suggestions help me a lot, because I can also draw inspiration from them.