August is a wonderful time. I always liked this time of year. Always, but not now. I am used to a different climate, and here, in England, everything seemed somewhat wrong to me. Either cloudy and foggy, or scorching heat. But a human is such a creature—he gets used to everything. I got used to it gradually too, considering frequent trips to the city with my parents, where they told and showed me absolutely everything—from parks to museums and theaters. It was interesting. It seems my parents were trying to show me as much of the world around as possible before I leave for ten months for a castle amidst the hills and forests of Scotland—if my sister's letters are to be believed, Hogwarts is somewhere there.
Regarding self-study. Since the beginning of August, I wanted to sit down to study the local school curriculum to form my opinion about magic, but decided that books wouldn't run away, but starting training complexes for physical load—it was high time. But for this, I need to decide—what kind of training exactly?
Decided that I should start with the elven semblance of gymnastics and develop speed with plasticity. In parallel, this can be combined with a semblance of strength training—create a sword or training bracelet with magic, and exercise. Elves generally do not have strength exercises like lifting weights and the like. Their development can be called natural and harmonious. The only thing they complicate their lives with during training is a magic bracelet simulating increased load on the body, complex. That is how the bar is bypassed when armor and a sword become too light to consider working with them as a load.
Creating a sword is a matter of a couple of minutes. Only earth and knowledge of a couple of magic seals and circuits are needed. But where to put it later? A problem. A solution doesn't come to mind immediately, which means the idea with the sword needs to be set aside for now. Moreover, looking at me from the mirror is a very cute brunette boy, but puny to the point of pain. Makes you want to shed a stingy tear. And I can't eat my fill yet—in that "vegetative" state I ate exactly enough not to feel hunger, and that is really little. Right now for me, attempts to train with a sword are a sophisticated attempt at suicide.
Having dotted all the "i"s, one afternoon, while my parents left for work, I sneaked into high thickets of bushes, knelt down, leveled the ground at the roots with my palm, and imagined how a round contour of three runic circles one inside the other forms on the surface. I don't have Earth energy, and transforming it from the ground under my feet is equivalent to spoiling the landscape and briefly increasing the magical background. Therefore, I directed neutral energy into the imaginary contour, and as it filled with energy, the contour began to glow dimly grey in the visible spectrum, gradually turning brown. The calculated energy costs exceeded twenty percent, and only after that did the contour activate.
Result—a simple and thin metal bracelet. Thought properly, and destroyed it, creating a wider one. The fact is that the enchantment is quite voluminous, and making it too small is problematic without tools. Here, it would seem, an experienced mage, but dependent on tools like an ordinary person on his technological environment. And to make a tool, another tool is needed, and for that—another. And so many times. Horror!
Thinking about tools, I created a magical contour to fix the transformation of the resulting bracelet and immediately shoved an enchantment contour for emulating physical load into it. Externally, the bracelet did not change at all, remaining just as simple, wide, with a metallic sheen. Without hesitation, putting it on my arm, I felt not a gram of weight, and the bracelet also tightened exactly to the width of the arm. Running a finger along it exactly as in memories, I felt the heaviness, from which I hunched slightly. Moving was hard, like in wet clothes. In a large amount of wet clothes. Hmm. This can be used generally on a permanent basis, only a little weaker. The bracelet will always adapt the force of impact, and I won't feel improvements, but at the same time, after turning it off, I won't need to adapt to these very improvements. And also, the load from the bracelet won't inhibit body growth. Well, it simulates the load comprehensively, and under the constant action of gravity, the body might develop not as it should—that isn't here.
Entering the house and washing off the sweat that appeared from intense concentration in the shower, I went to devastate the refrigerator, and after, until the very evening, sat at books, sometimes interrupting for a semblance of gymnastics, squats, and push-ups. Banal, but useful.
In the evening, parents arrived from work, and at dinner, I shared my impressions of the books I read with them.
In this vein, one day flew after another. Every week I updated the magical contours in my body, read various books, got annoyed by the uselessness of the computer, stubbornly engaged in physical training, tried to eat and drink a lot.
My memory worked perfectly, and I really remembered everything the first time, not only verbatim but also in a sense, with an understanding of what was read and seen. Textbooks on local magic gave me some idea of the school of wizardry in this world. Here, sorcery via will, desire, and fantasy was combined with various runes, mathematical calculations, interpretation of the meanings of numbers in a mystical sense, and so on. For example, Transfiguration. From experience, I can say that one object can be transformed into another through sheer will. However, textbooks speak of the need for knowledge of formulas and precise calculations. This can also be called quite correct, because the mind sets the form for wizardry. Even if I express myself not quite correctly, but by passing energy through the prism of the mind holding the magic formula, at the output we will indeed get the necessary transformation.
Charms—sorcery through gesture, word, will, fantasy. Yes, one can cast spells without all this given the presence of appropriate energy in large quantities and a couple of basic contours and symbols, but here… Everything is somehow strange.
I memorized the meager "instructions" for spells, otherwise you can't say it, according to the curriculum for three years and a little household charms from my sister's notes. While it is difficult to draw conclusions, it is worth looking at wizards in their natural habitat—at Hogwarts.
Hermione never appeared in the house, just wrote with an owl that she would go straight to Hogwarts from some Weasleys, wishes everyone goodness, peace, gum, everything is great with her. That's all. The insolent bird didn't even wait for an answer—handed over the letter and flew away. Oh well.
I improved my physical condition a little over August, which is not surprising. Life energy, youth, a growing healthy organism that becomes even healthier hour by hour, abundant nutrition, and life on schedule—it's a sin not to develop! Of course, I didn't become an athlete—quite a normal thirteen-year-old guy, above average, face became slightly prettier, hair still just as black, and eyes blue. Now at least people don't want to feed me as soon as possible. True, I had to update the wardrobe a little again, but this concerned only ordinary things—the purchased school uniform and robes adjusted to size themselves—I think this is a product of local enchantment or artifacting. It's a pity that constructs and seals aren't used here, and understanding something just by holding a thing in hands—is almost impossible.
On August thirty-first, I was packed and ready for the trip to Hogwarts. All necessary things and purchased supplies, books, stationery, socks-underwear, and other junk—everything successfully fit into the triangle backpack on one strap begged from parents, bought, and personally enchanted by me. Yes, one of the few constructs I know—for creating a travel bag. Had to use it often in travels.
About conditions in terms of parameters… Well, it's hard to judge. The bracelet adapts to my successes and it is just as hard for me to train as the first time, however, I last not for a couple of dozen different movements or a ten-minute warm-up, but for a full-fledged series of movements and almost an hour of exercises somewhat reminiscent of Wushu. Or does Wushu remind of elven training complexes-dances?
Sorcery… Well yes, I memorized, but did not learn spells. The reason for my difficulties is very simple—I direct magic in threads, so to speak. Shards of lives built into my soul so deftly that restoring control was simple, but another problem came—reflex. Practically all magic, all constructs, runes, and so on that I brought with me from these shards required precisely precise and fine control of energies, the ability to direct them strictly and only in the form of threads, preventing dispersion. This plays a cruel joke on me because I unconsciously direct them that way, and local sorcery is based on trails of magic released through a wand. Specifically trails that are like jets of smoke, and I didn't practice that. But, it seems to me, this is just a matter of time and practice. I need to learn to "let go" of magic, and only then feel, realize, and learn to make these trails consciously, without a wand.
In general, nothing is clear in local magic, but it is very interesting.