NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: Chapter 17
Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 9– Making Progress.
Edited: 21/03/2023
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With everything else taken care of, I can begin my study of magic and a whole bunch of magic on my to-do list. First of all, I must learn everything I can about Occlumency and Legilimency from that black book.
I want to be the foremost authority on the mind because it is quite a scary reality to know that every piece of unique shit out there could invade your mind. But, of course, I am now a unique piece of shit too, and I want that capability.
Plus, I need to be exceptionally proficient at all things to do with the mind so that I can go and clean up all of old Gilderoy's messes and wipe any trace of foul play in all of his victim's minds. And I need to do it before Dumbledore eventually goes and visits one of them and discovers the fraudulent behaviour, and starts plotting my downfall.
But that is only some of the magic that I need to learn. If I ever plan on leaving this little hermits lair of mine, then I need to be skilled at all sorts of magic so that I can, at the very least, defend myself from any asshole with a trigger finger out there that will use their wand without the slightest hesitation.
So I will start by going through the Hogwarts textbooks and starting at year one and slowly progressing through the books and up the years until I have finished all of them.
I have memories of going through them as Gilderoy, or at least the versions when he attended Hogwarts, but I can't trust that. They are all coloured by his perceptions and views, which are obviously very narrow-minded and single-focused.
I need to go through it all again with my much more focused brain and re-learn it all, pick up on things that old Gilderoy might have missed or even gain a new view on them. My more modern mindset may give me more insight.
Either way, I need to learn it all myself since I can't trust any of the knowledge I gained from Gilderoy since it is also biased towards him. It's because of his memories of Digby. D. Digworth that I didn't even consider the man a threat.
I found nothing to be worried about when he kept knocking on my door day after day. After all, I just remembered him as a bumbling fool, as my lackey that listened to my every order, and it was because of that I didn't see the knife poised to enter my back.
It is why I let him in even when the man threatened me outside my front door because I thought he was my stupid subordinate who could only make threats. I am not going to make the same mistake again. I have Gilderoy's knowledge, and I can use it, but I am not going to trust it, which is why I have to find everything out for myself, especially magic.
And for that reason, I have made a schedule that I can stick to and progress in everything I need to without burning myself out. So, sticking to this plan, I should learn everything I need to and be out of here as soon as possible.
08:00 - Wake up, go to the bathroom, shower, get dressed, and then have breakfast. Check on Digby, Evanesco and then Vestio.
09:00 - Do some light exercise, nothing too strenuous. Just work out the body.
10:00 - Begin reading through the Hogwarts books, and learn everything possible, even the optional classes, in case there is something to them in this universe.
12:00 - Lunch time, relax and have a break. Check on Digby.
13:00 - Either continue reading or begin practising the spells in the books.
15:00 - Quick break. Check on Digby.
15:30 - Start to read the black book, paying attention to every word. Learning all I can about Occlumency and Legilimency.
17:30 - Dinner time. Check on Digby.
18:00 - Start experimenting and using Legilimency on Digby, aiming to pry his head open and reveal his mind to me.
19:30 - Relax, and take a break.
20:00 - Start exercising, this time more strenuous—sit-ups, pull-ups, press-ups, lifting some weights I transfigured and many other exercises.
21:00 - Check on Digby, go to the bathroom and shower. Go to bed, and train Occlumency. Then, go into the mindscape and start improving it.
00:00 - Go to sleep, getting a total of eight hours for the next day to rinse and repeat.
I have made sure to check on Digby quite a lot throughout the schedule, just to keep making sure that he is secure and not up to anything. I also feed him at these times, well, more like putting the food there for him, and he can decide whether to eat it or not.
He ate it the first time I did it, and I am sure that he is going to continue. But unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have the brain capacity to realise his situation and that he won't ever leave, and eating is just going to prolong his miserable existence even further.
I will also use the vanishing charm whenever needed and a vestio to dress him again. I don't want to end up with that giant mess he was with all the stains and those horrible smells. Also, I am going to be visiting his room multiple times a day, so I at least want it to be hospitable for me.
I also made sure to set aside time for exercise every day, starting with some light work in the morning and then a more strenuous workout later in the day. I realised that I was going to be cooped up in this place for a long time, months, and it is unhealthy to stay in one place.
Still, I am not yet strong enough to risk going out and confronting whoever else Gilderoy pissed off, So I have to keep active inside the house. Still, even so, all this time isolated without company, definitely not going to be conversing with Digby. It is not suitable for the brain, but I have thought about that already.
It is why I dedicated the last three hours of the day before bed, from nine till twelve to building my mindscape. I dedicated it to working on my Occlumency and building up my mindscape. It is really peaceful just to work and let the creative juices flow, creating a world inside my mind, just letting go and not worrying about anything. This will completely refresh my mind and relax it before slipping out of my mind and going to sleep.
I am really thankful for my magical fridge. I don't know how it works or where Gilderoy got it from because even he does not know, he just got really drunk one day, and all he can remember is walking into a shop and buying some odds and ends, including the fridge.
When he woke up, he discovered how magical it was. When you put an item of food in, it will be forever preserved at the same stage, and when you take it out and eat it when you return to the fridge, it will be restocked. If it weren't for this fridge, then I would have to wander out.
Of course, I do not stick by this schedule on Sunday because that is a resupply day. So, after my exercise on Sunday, I will shower and check in on Digby. After that, it is time to go shopping using the floo.
When I first used the floo, I was in the high of the moment, just having come to this universe, and I wanted to see Gilderoy's family for some stupid reason, and I went on my instinct to The Leaky Cauldron. When I came out and stumbled, I quickly took in my surroundings and saw that I was in a very public place, I promptly pulled the hood of my robe on, and I went straight out. Luckily, no one saw me.
Once, I was on Charing Cross Road, I called a taxi and went to Gilderoy's parent's house, and when we pulled up, and the taxi driver asked for payment, I instinctively used the Confundus charm on him. Gilderoy seemed to have a lot of experience with the charm and used it heavily. I did the same thing when going back to the Leaky Cauldron and went straight to the floo with my hood on and used my latent memories to go home.
After that, while I was learning about Occlumency, I had to also go out for food and supplies like toilet paper and other such things. I didn't want to go out with anybody recognising me, so I would go out at night when there was hardly anybody still out and only a few drunks in the Leaky Cauldron.
The first time I went out on this errand, I ventured out into Diagon Alley, following a drunk wizard, and I memorised the password for the brick wall. I only saw a little of the alley since it was dark and there, and there was only a lamp every few meters, but I went to Gringotts.
There was no one around, so I simply talked to a Goblin teller and showed my face. I had previously gathered all the money I could find in Gilderoy's house lying about the place, and I had the goblin exchange it to muggle money. It was around £3000. With that done, I went to a twenty-four-seven supermarket near Charing Cross Road that was pretty empty, bought everything I needed, and then snuck back.
I have done this every week, and no one has recognised me. It has been working smoothly, which is why every Sunday at nine, I will go shopping, and I will return two hours later at eleven and then do my work on my mindscape and go to bed at two in the morning. Then I will wake up at ten, miss my morning workout, quickly have breakfast, shower, check on Digby, and start learning from the Hogwarts books.
With everything done and sorted, I have a schedule to stick to. I can just follow it to the point, and I will be a grand wizard in no time.
Easy Peasy.
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Well, it was not relatively as easy as I was imagining. Today was my first day sticking to the schedule, and it was going well. First, I learnt the wand lighting charm and even experimented a little, moving the light around the room, changing the colour, making it bigger and smaller, and dimmer and brighter. And then, I also learned the softening charm, which is definitely essential. If I ever take a significant fall, softening the ground underneath me would save my life, so I am taking extra measures with this one.
But later in the day, when I read through the black book and my other mind art books and then went to practice Legilimency on Digby, it was not working for some reason. I know that for wandless Legilimency, you need eye contact, but when using the wand, you just need to point and cast the spell, and I had figured that I had learnt enough earlier and done enough research that I at least should get some reaction, but nothing happened, the spell did not affect him.
Well, I suppose this just means that I will have to try harder.
I will get this down, if not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, sometime this week, and if not this week, then sometime this millennium. The point is I will do it. That is not in doubt.