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I woke up automatically at exactly seven o'clock. It seemed my internal clock was already firmly set to a routine. I quickly got myself together and summoned Jobo to find out when breakfast would be served.
When he briefly informed me that my aunt expected me in the dining room at eight, I gained an hour to my advantage. I didn't waste time. I loosened my stiff joints and went through an intensive thirty-minute workout – shadowboxing, followed by several sets of push-ups, squats, and crunches. I needed to feel my own body while simultaneously improving my fitness.
After the brief exercise, I cleaned myself up again. Magical hygiene spells were incredibly practical and saved me precious time. A simple flick of my wand and the sweat was instantly gone. When I was ready, I let Jobo lead me to the dining room. A quick Tempus spell confirmed that I had arrived exactly to the second.
Vespera was already waiting for me in the dining room. With a slight smile, she folded her newspaper and looked at me: "Good morning, Patrik. How did you sleep?"
"Excellently. Honestly, I feel as if I've lived here my whole life," I replied, and it wasn't just politeness. It was the truth. I felt the ancestral magic of the castle literally embracing me and accepting me as its own. I felt perfect here.
"I'm glad to hear that. We'll have breakfast and then test your Occlumency. By the way, are you familiar with Legilimency as well? I can feel your shields, but I'm not sure if you even know what Legilimency entails."
I served myself some omelette, sausages, and red beans in sauce with a fresh loaf of bread. A properly hearty breakfast. After taking a bite, I answered: "Yes, I know it. I'd say I have quite a talent for it. I came across a certain book in Knockturn Alley."
Vespera raised an eyebrow in surprise, but immediately asked: "What on earth were you doing in Knockturn Alley?"
"Since I was little, I've had the ability to read people; I could sense when they were lying to me and what they were feeling. I didn't know what it was, and in Diagon Alley, a shopkeeper curtly told me they didn't sell such books because they were banned by the Ministry. So, I went to Knockturn Alley, where I got lucky. Borgin was exceptionally pleasant," I noted with a slightly sarcastic undertone.
Vespera laughed softly. "Borgin and pleasant? A dragon is more likely to start singing opera. That old fox can scent an opportunity from miles away. Be careful around him, Patrik. He has lived a very long time and has a finger in every pie."
I nodded in understanding but continued to focus on breakfast. It was great. Have I mentioned that I love house-elves?
We continued eating without unnecessary words. Vespera watched me with a gentle smile; apparently, my appetite was proof enough for her that I felt comfortable here. As soon as I put down my cutlery, she spoke up: "Are you finished? Was it enough?"
"Yes, thank you. I've never had a better breakfast," I threw an honest compliment into the room.
Suddenly, there was a soft pop, and for a fraction of a second, the air blurred to my right. It was likely Jobo clearing the empty plates.
Vespera stood up and signaled for me to follow her. We returned to the same cozy room with the massive black marble fireplace where we had sat the night before. The flames within it quietly licked the logs, casting long shadows on the walls. We sat in armchairs directly opposite each other.
For a moment, she measured me silently with her gaze, as if trying to gauge my strength before even drawing her wand. Then she spoke seriously: "The moment I break through to your memories, I will stop immediately. You don't have to worry; I will respect your privacy."
I only nodded silently. There was no time for idle talk. I relaxed my body, took a deep breath, and focused on my inner self. It was high time to test the strength of my defenses.
Vespera pointed her wand at me. "Legilimens!" she cried, and a grey beam hit me directly in the chest.
I immediately felt her presence within me. I forced myself to remain calm and watch what she was doing. In my mind, I was the master – while I saw her clearly, as if it were a bright summer day, she was fumbling in perfect nothingness. She found herself in darkness where she couldn't see even a meter ahead. She was surrounded by thick fog, an all-consuming cold, and the roar of a stormy sea. I felt her begin to drown for a moment in my cold waves; it pulled her under the surface, deep into my defenses. After a moment, however, she recovered and surged upward. She levitated over the sea, and her soaked clothes dried in a second.
Suddenly, a small sun appeared in my mind, growing larger every second and scorching the darkness. I immediately crushed it to dust with a thought. At that moment, pure shock was mirrored on Vespera's face. She levitated for a while longer, but then aggressively waved her hand. Flames erupted from her palms. They transformed into bloodthirsty fire monsters that began to devour everything around them. My fog was torn apart, and the sea began to evaporate under that fire. However, it wasn't ordinary steam; her fire was hungry and consumed my defense without residue.
For a moment, the attack caught me off guard, but then I took the initiative. By the force of my will, I began to shrink the fire and forcibly restore both the fog and the sea. If it were Fiendfyre in reality, I might have been helpless... but in my own mind? Here, I set the rules.
Not a trace of the fire remained. And my levitating aunt?
My affinity belonged not only to water but also to lightning. I forced my mind to summon a lightning dragon – Kirin. The inspiration from Sasuke proved to be genius at this moment. In my world, it was "easy peasy." The blue-white dragon descended from the heavens with a deafening roar and shot Vespera straight down into the black water. At that same moment, I felt her consciousness vanish from my mind for good.
"Successfully repelled," I thought contentedly. "Mental combat is truly fun."
I slowly opened my eyes and returned to the reality of the drawing room. Vespera sat opposite me, her face ashen and her eyes still filled with genuine shock. It took several long seconds before her breathing steadied enough for her to speak.
"What was... by Salazar," she exhaled and paused for a moment, as if needing to organize in her head what had just happened. "I wanted to test you, Patrik, not experience a life-or-death struggle! Where did you come by such hellish defenses? I felt like I was in Azkaban – fog, hopelessness, a cold sea I was drowning in... And just when I felt I was making progress and getting to your thoughts, my fire vanished and suddenly a lightning dragon shot me down!" At that memory, she visibly shuddered and gripped the armrests of her chair more tightly.
"What do you mean, life-or-death?" I asked with genuine surprise. "That's my standard defense. You're actually the first person who has tried to cast Legilimency on me."
"Most people build castles, labyrinths, halls of mirrors, and the like," Vespera continued with undisguised pride. "Truth be told, you're the first I've heard of who has an entire elemental ecosystem in his head that actively drowns and eliminates intruders. If I hadn't just experienced it firsthand, I wouldn't have believed it was even possible."
"Why? It's quite logical, isn't it?" I asked with sincere curiosity. "Everyone must have castles."
"People usually choose places where they feel best – something familiar where they are at the helm. But for what you demonstrated, a huge affinity for both Occlumency and elemental magic is required. Not just anyone can do this. Perhaps Dumbledore, Grindelwald, or the Dark Lord. I can't do it... and neither Evan nor my father could," she explained, still appearing slightly shaken.
She slowly exhaled, and her gaze cleared. "Your mind is completely safe. We can move straight to Legilimency. As for your Occlumency, continue exactly with what you're doing. Feel free to ignore any books you find in our library; they might actually degrade your progress."
Vespera leaned back comfortably in her chair, closed her eyes, and relaxed her shoulders. "Now let's switch roles. I want you to attack me. My defense isn't as... exotic as yours, but I've been building it for decades. You'll certainly recognize what I based it on."
"Legilimens!" I shouted and focused my entire mind on a single goal: to break through into her memories.
In an instant, I found myself in front of a castle. If you guessed it was our ancestral seat, you'd be right. However, the gates were sealed tight, and stone gargoyles were waking up on the ramparts with a terrifying screech. Their claws scraped the wall, making a sound that filled me with a foul sense of uncertainty. I simply ignored it.
I immediately sent out a mental battering ram. The impact on the gate shook my entire presence in her head. The gate shrieked but held, and I felt it immediately regenerating with magic.
"Fine then, let's try it differently," I thought and "stepped on the gas."
It was high time because gargoyles began jumping at me from the ramparts. With a sharp wave of my hand, I sent a massive tsunami against the castle. The water hit the ramparts with such force that it swept away the stone monsters like insignificant plush toys. While they were still in the air, I forced the water around them to freeze, lifting them high into the sky in icy prisons. Then I abruptly withdrew my support – the gargoyles shattered against the hard ground into thousands of pieces with a dramatic crash.
I fed the surrounding water with my magic, and its volume grew menacingly. Vespera suddenly materialized on the ramparts and once again conjured Fiendfyre. However, with a part of my mind, I immediately smothered it before it could grow. She tried again and again, but I didn't give her the slightest chance. There was already a massive amount of water, and I was starting to feel the increasing pressure on my own consciousness. The moment of release came. The enormous tsunami rolled over the castle walls and gate with a crushing roar. It literally swept away the entire estate like a blade of grass. The defense was crushed.
I stepped forward with a slow, triumphant pace. But I wasn't naive enough to think this was the end. Water stood everywhere around me, but I didn't control it – I felt it rapidly draining into the underground. Chambers were hidden deep beneath the ruins of the castle, and I assumed that was where Vespera had hidden her library of memories. I sent a part of the current to explore the darkness beneath the ground. It was a labyrinth. I focused on mapping it, searching for a path deeper into her consciousness... but Vespera had no intention of giving up without a fight.
While I focused on exploring her corridors, she managed to conjure Fiendfyre in a corner of my attention. And there was plenty of it. I had made a huge mistake – I had left her unsupervised, and she used that time to gather strength for one massive counterattack. I immediately sent the rest of the water against the flames while I myself ran into the already mapped labyrinth. However, I felt that my water was losing. It was evaporating rapidly, and instead of extinguishing the fire, it was only feeding it with energy. My divided focus was only enough to prevent the fire from growing, but I no longer had the strength to shrink it.
I literally flew through the corridors of her mind. At the end, heavy oak doors carved with the Rosier crest awaited me. I burst through them and stormed inside. My water was definitively gone. I didn't have time to search. I quickly grabbed the first "book" that came to hand. It was only a short, fleeting memory. I saw Vespera in the dark, passionately kissing a person with long hair... That was all I managed to catch.
In the next second, her fire consumed me. I felt the flames burning me to ash, and in that unbearable heat, I suddenly found myself back in the drawing room.
I gasped for breath and shook. Being burned to death, even if only on a mental level, hurt almost unimaginably. Every nerve in my body screamed as if those flames were real.
Vespera was no better off. Although she hadn't experienced the agony of burning, her face was ashen and her hands trembled slightly from the exhaustion of maintaining such a massive counterattack. For a few minutes, we just sat in silence, trying to return to the reality of the room until our breathing calmed.
"You have incredible talent, Patrik," she finally began, her voice sounding muffled. "I really didn't expect you to get as far as my memories... but you made several schoolboy errors. You shouldn't have ignored me. In Legilimency, slower is often better. You crushed my defense with brute force, but that gave me enough time for a counterattack that proved fatal for you." She paused for a moment and then gave a pale grin. "As you can feel for yourself now, a mental duel hurts. I can still feel that drowning and that lightning strike even now."
In her eyes, however, I saw undisguised pride. That look warmed my heart more than any healing spell.
"I'll be afraid of being burned alive until I actually die," I grinned back at her, even though a shiver still ran down my spine.
"We can train your Legilimency every day so you can avoid similar mistakes," Vespera suggested. "Now we'll have lunch, rest for a bit, and then we can move on to spells."
"I appreciate you wanting to help me like this," I said, looking at her with interest. "Do all families do it this way? Do they teach their children like this?" I was curious. I felt great that I was growing thanks to her, but the idea of someone like Crabbe, Goyle, or Draco experiencing equally intense Christmases seemed unlikely to me.
Vespera laughed with amusement. It was a laugh from the heart, as if she really needed it lately. I let her calm down, but after a moment it overcame her again and she burst into another round of laughter. By then, I was looking at her a bit uncertainly, wondering if she was alright.
When she finally controlled herself, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and spoke: "Yes, Patrik, all the old families teach their children. They pass down spells and family secrets. But I'm laughing because while other children your age are perhaps struggling right now to learn a simple Everte Statum, you are literally leapfrogging me in mind magic. The image of Draco Malfoy trying something similar is... simply comical."
She paused for a moment, and her face grew serious. Her smile was replaced by a stern, almost protective expression. "Patrik, honestly – you are exceptionally talented. I had great concerns for your safety, and those persist. The problem is that you are still young. Even with your talent, an experienced group of wizards could put you in the ground before you even have time to draw your wand. We are the last members of the family, and believe me, there are those who would like to see us dead. For example, the Mulciber family... they would profit most from our fall." She came over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. Her grip was firm. "Child lords are the end of their line. I will not allow us to die out. I will teach you everything I know. Every spell, every technique, white and dark magic."
Could I have wished for more? An amazing aunt, a talented witch who sincerely supported me and cared about my success. I felt we were on the same wavelength.
I nodded enthusiastically in agreement, but immediately after, I had to set the record straight: "The Mulcibers are not our enemies, Aunt. I spoke with Alexander Mulciber directly at Hogwarts," I explained calmly.
Vespera almost lost her breath. "What do you mean, Patrik? I told you to avoid them! They are dangerous," she blurted out, shocked.
"Well... I was curious. And of course, I won't leave you in this alone; you are my favorite aunt, after all," I said with my most charming smile. Then I turned serious: "Alexander was very willing to explain the whole situation to me. And Legilimency was more than helpful during that conversation, so I'm sure of my conclusions. The Mulcibers are not a threat."
Vespera fixed a stern gaze on me. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut. "Tell me everything," she commanded in a tone that allowed for no delays. "To the last word."
"Well... as soon as you told me there was a problem with them, I tried to connect with Mulciber. But every time he saw me, he vanished along with Rookwood," I began, watching Vespera press her palms to her temples as if she were getting a headache. She didn't interrupt me, so I continued. "During the Halloween feast, I followed them to an abandoned classroom. Actually, they were waiting for me there, the clever rascals. Originally they didn't know what I was after... I gave Alexander a chance to tell me everything the easy way, but he was a bit reluctant."
Vespera just shook her head silently, but she still gave me space, so I continued cheerfully: "They attacked me, even though I only innocently wanted to talk. I had to defend myself, defeat them, and only then was Alexander willing to talk. It turned out that old Lord Mulciber was a loyal friend of my father's and still remembers him fondly. The problem is his brother Gregor – he is greedy, ambitious, and dangerous. Alexander himself is in danger from him. It turned out that while Gregor is focused on you, old Alexander at least doesn't have to worry about his heir. If Gregor were to have some kind of... accident, the Mulcibers wouldn't take it badly. Quite the opposite."
"A second Evan," she muttered under her breath, but in the sudden silence, it rang out clearly as if she had shouted it. "That is good to know. I've avoided their family for the last few years. The Mulcibers aren't exceptionally powerful magic-wise, but they have many members and influence in the lower levels of the Ministry," she informed me, pacing the room. A silence fell, which she broke after a while with a firm voice: "Leave Gregor to me, though. I'll take care of him."
I just shrugged indifferently. I didn't care. Either she would put him in the ground or I would later. The result was what mattered, not who carried out the sentence.
We went to the dining room, where the table was groaning under mountains of food – from sweet to savory. Steaks, roasted chickens, meatballs, roasted potatoes, rice, and bowls full of fresh vegetables. Again, I felt gratitude for this magical world and the wealth associated with it. Although it wasn't any special holiday, the table was bursting at the seams. We ate in silence, and after a short rest, it was time for spells.
Vespera led me to the lower parts of the castle. We stopped in a dead end with bare walls and no doors. However, I felt magic radiating from the stone. Vespera simply placed her hand against the wall, and the wall disappeared into the ground with a quiet thud.
"Simple private protection. The wall reacts exclusively to our family's magic," she explained briefly.
We entered a spacious, pragmatically furnished room. Ancient runes were carved into the walls. Tables and chairs for sitting stood along the sides, but the center of the room remained completely empty.
"Our training hall. Duels and magic practice have always taken place here," Vespera informed me. "No unauthorized person can get in. The room is protected by absorption and dampening spells. No one from the outside will sense the type of magic we'll be using here. We can even practice Unforgivable Curses here – to the outside, they will feel like ordinary Alohomora. Only extremely powerful elemental spells could possibly damage the room."
"Is there anything specific you'd like to learn?" Vespera asked as she prepared her wand.
"Well, definitely Dark Arts," I said without hesitation. "I had a bit of a problem with Alexander. I basically had to drown him using Aguamenti to get him to start talking. So... some of those torturing curses?"
Vespera stopped mid-motion. She slapped her hand loudly against her forehead and almost angrily cried out: "You didn't say you had to torture him, Patrik!"
"Oh, don't worry, he took it sportingly! He's not angry at all," I put on my most soothing smile, as if we were talking about me eating his lunch at school and not about me almost drowning him in a classroom.
Vespera frowned at me for a moment, a mix of horror and resignation in her eyes. But my innocent expression clearly worked, because she just let out a loud huff and shook her head in resignation. "What do you actually know about Dark Arts?" she asked me next.
"Well, honestly, not much," I admitted. "Only that I have to use negative emotions for the spells to work reliably."
"And do you know anything about its negative effects on a wizard?"
"Basically nothing. It's hard to get hold of such books at Hogwarts. But I assume that if someone constantly uses Dark Arts, feels non-stop hatred, and wants to cause harm, sooner or later it will take a toll on their psyche," I finished my reasoning.
Vespera nodded approvingly. "Yes, exactly. However, the Occlumency you already master sufficiently can help you with this. The shields in your head don't just protect your memories from others, but also your sanity from yourself. But you must be careful. Your Aunt Bellatrix fell deep into madness because of Dark Arts. The Blacks often had trouble with Occlumency; you have a huge advantage over them in that."
She paused for a moment as if searching for the right words. "You must balance magic – dark, white, and neutral. That is the only way to remain truly powerful while maintaining your sanity," Vespera continued, walking slowly through the middle of the room. "Dark magic is immensely tempting because it requires less of your own magical energy than white or neutral magic. Negative emotions act as a catalyst; they give the spell raw, destructive power, making the result much more brutal." She stopped and fixed a warning gaze on me. "If, however, you are unable or unwilling to balance the spells, you must take regular breaks from Dark Arts. You must allow your soul and mind to cleanse themselves. Otherwise, it will consume you before you even realize you've lost yourself. We Rosiers have always been pragmatists, Patrik. We use dark magic as a tool, not as a master."
It made sense, so I nodded. I certainly didn't plan on becoming a slave to my own negative thoughts. The idea of sitting somewhere on a sunny beach, sipping a chilled Gin and Tonic while hatred burned in my mind, seemed highly unattractive to me. I wanted power, but I also wanted to enjoy it in peace and luxury.
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Author's note:
So, what do you think about Legilimency and Occlumency in practice? Did you find the depiction interesting? In many of the stories I've read, I always felt that true mental combat was missing, so I wanted to bring that to life here.
Vespera is incredibly kind and helpful—I think she's won over not just our MC, but hopefully you guys as well! To be honest, I originally planned for this chapter to be shorter so I could move the plot along faster, but once I started writing, it took on a life of its own. I just couldn't bring myself to cut any of it.
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Upcoming Chapters:
22. Precision, Power, and Purification
23. Of Euphoria and Gifts
24. Blood, Ash, and Roses
25. Cousins and Choices
26. The General in Training