Path to Power: Training

Expect the following conversations to be in Tamil language whenever "speech" is used. The time slots are in Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30).

05:30 A.M. 
Dorm Room, Udagamandalam Academy of Magic (உதகமண்டலம் அகாடமி ஆஃப் மேஜிக்), Tamil Nadu, India
25th May, 1985.

The windows to a spacious room were letting the morning sun in. The windows had a pair of emerald glinting in them, across which sat a boy, with unruly black hair and striking emerald eyes. He was wearing a yellowish brown dhoti with his chest bare. Hadrian was deep in his thoughts when he reflected on the days of last year when Mr. Patel explained who he was and why he was here.

Flashback Scene 1 Begin:

06:30 P.M.
Patel Bhavan (படேல் பவன்), Tamil Nadu, India
1st June, 1984.

"Hadrian, may I come inside?" asked Dhiraj outside of Hadrian's room. Hearing a clear "Enter", Dhiraj entered to find Hadrian in his desk reading a book of cooking. Dhiraj smirked inwardly, 'he is nearly four years of age and he is already interested in cooking of all things.' Dhiraj continued to say, "I have something important to say to you. It is time I told you who you are, who your parents were and why you are here. I think it is the right time for you to know."

Hadrian stopped whatever he was doing, looked up at Dhiraj with wide eyes and took a gulp. Giving a firm nod, he replied, "Okay Māmā Dhiraj, I think I am ready to hear it."

Dhiraj took a deep breath and started:

"You were born to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Your parents were James and Lily Potter. Lily worked in the Department of Mysteries just like me and was an Unspeakable. Her specialities were obscure charms and ritualistic magic. James was an auror of the DMLE. Both were excellent wizard and witch, Head Boy and Head Girl during their seventh year at Hogwarts. James was someone who was called pureblood, someone whose entire generation before him were magicals. Lily was called a muggleborn, she was a witch born to non magical parents. It was the time of war when you were born. There was a dark wizard who held extreme hatred and prejudice towards muggleborns and magicals due to the fact that one simply couldn't do magic and the other was born to people like them. His name was Voldemort. He had followers who belong to old pureblood families who were likewise in their beliefs, prejudice and hatred. They wanted muggleborns eradicated. Then Voldemort targeted your parents for unknown reason. James and Lily went into hiding in their home at Godric's Hollow and used a complex ward called the Fidelius Ward, which you will learn about later. But your parents were betrayed by someone they trusted. Then after fifteen months you were born, Voldemort attacked your family. James and Lily stood up against him even at that time but lost their lives to protect you. But then something impossible happened. Voldemort used a dark curse called the Killing Curse on you, a curse previously believed unblockable and no one who faced this curse lived. But you stopped it and it was Voldemort who was defeated that night. Then I came into your house and found residues of both dark magic and ritualistic magic. It is my belief that Lily used a ritual to stop the Killing Curse. Then I brought you here. Since I took a vow that I will protect you till you are of age to go to Hogwarts. Hence you are here."

Hadrian was silent for a long time. He was going to speak when he felt his shirt was wet. Looking down, he realised he had began crying somewhere in the middle of the explanation. Wiping his eyes and nose by his sleeves, he spoke quietly, "That... that is...uh...I... I don't know what to... what to say. Could you please leave me alone for sometime?"

Dhiraj understood and replied, "Take your time. If you want to say something, come and talk to me when you are ready." Saying this, he walked out of the room leaving Hadrian in his thoughts.

Hadrian's brain was numb. Whatever he expected, it was not this. This was a lot to drop on the shoulders of a four year old kid. 'My parents are dead due to stupid prejudice? Just how much petty and cruel can the world be? They...they died for me...', Hadrian was absorbed in his thoughts, sadness and anger coursing through him. Unnoticed by him, the pages of the book fluttered in a slight breeze, a glass of water was rattling on the desk. The bookshelves and the window panes started to rumble. There was faint smell of ozone in the air. Only when the lights flickered, did Hadrian blink and the effects stopped immediately. He took on deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. Gone was the sadness, the grief, the anger, the emotions hidden by grim determination. 'I'll do my parents proud. I'll become a great wizard they always would have wanted me to be. I will not let their sacrifice be in vain.'

Flashback Scene 1 End.

Sighing to himself, he broke out of his thoughts and got up to prepare for the day. After all it was his first day of stay in Udagamandalam Academy of Magic. An elite school of magic covering quite some acres of land, its structure like a traditional two storeyed courtyard house with lush fields in and around, unlike the turrets and towers of old castles. Built on the Doddabetta Peak, it provides a grandiose scenery of the Nilgiri Hills. With powerful wards to mask its presence and a substantial number of converging ley lines powering them, the school remains perfectly hidden. Also the rhododendron forest surrounding the peak adds to mask the school's presence. 

Hadrian took a shower and changed into his academy uniform. A black shirt, threaded baggy brown trousers and sandals. The shirt had the school emblem on its back and his name in front of chest pocket area. A big lowercased 'u' with a golden halo around it and the school motto below: "Success will chase you if you chase excellence" (நீங்கள் சிறப்பைத் துரத்தினால் வெற்றி உங்களைத் துரத்தும்). He took out his event binder, a black spiral notebook provided by the school and looked at his daily routine:

• 06:30 A.M. Breakfast
• 07:00 A.M. Physical Development and Combat - Guru Arjun Pathik
• 09:00 A.M. Mind Arts - Guru Suresh Sarpanchal
• 10:00 A.M. Transfiguration - Guru Aryan Karthik
• 11:00 A.M. Herbology - Guru Prakash Nayar
• 12 Noon Lunch
• 12:30 P.M. Break
• 01:00 P.M. Potions - Gurvi Adwitya Bharadwaj
• 02:00 P.M. Charms and Enchanting - Guru Harsh Bannerjee
• 03:30 P.M. Runes and Warding - Guru Meyappan Sethupathi
• 05:00 P.M. Break
• 06:00 P.M. Arithmancy - Gurvi Sulekha Nambiar
• 07:00 P.M. Magical and Non-Magical Healing Arts - Gurvi Aadarshini Deshai
• 08:00 P.M. Wizarding and Non-Magical Etiquettes, History and Politics - Balthazar (The only class taken by a Goblin)
• 09:00 P.M. Dinner
• 09:30 P.M. Astronomy - Guru Nithilesh Pathankar

Hadrian has been told about the distinction between UAM and Hogwarts in some classes as there is no distinct 'Defence Against Dark Arts', there is no Divination or Care of Magical Creature class. Also there are higher classes which are provided only when you master these elementary classes. Like advanced enchanting and warding comes when you fully master all of charms and runes, alchemy when you master potions, charms, runes and arithmancy, esoteric magic when you master Mind Arts, parselmagic when you master curses, warding and healing, and elemental magic when you master combat, mind arts, transfiguration and herbology. Also there are completely different subjects which are taught to a select few students and those are sigil magic, dimensional magic and study of magical focii. There is no distinct magic class where magical focii are not used, but the masters teach and encourage use of wandless magic when a magical core and mind is developed well enough. 

Hadrian looked up from his notebook and smiled when he took notice of his wand. He remembered vividly when Guru Abhimanyu Lakshman, the master of magical focii, crafted his wand.

Flashback Scene 2 Begin:

07:00 P.M.
Magical Focii Classroom, Udagamandalam Academy of Magic (உதகமண்டலம் அகாடமி ஆஃப் மேஜிக்), Tamil Nadu, India
31st May, 1985.

Hadrian walked in tow with Unspeakable Dhiraj towards the wandlore classroom to get his wand. Knocking on the door and hearing a calm "Enter", they walked in on Guru Lakshman reading a thick tome with brown covers. He looked at both of them and said, "Who is this with you, Dhiraj?"

"This is Hadrian James Potter, I am sure you know who he is. For safety reasons, I will not divulge why he is here in India. We have come to get a focus made for him, which I will register by the ICW", answered Dhiraj.

Guru Lakshman raised an intricate eyebrow at his name and said "Very well." He stood up and came back in a moment of few minutes and brought alone a number of wood blocks, some boxes and a stash of jar contents. "Please bring out your aura and radiate it outwards. Tell me if you feel any connection to any of these woods."

Hadrian closed his eyes, breathed in deep and pushed out his aura. He washed them over all the woods gradually. Some woods just felt accepting, some gave off slight warmth, some had a light tingle, while others were straight out repulsive.

He could feel his magic resonating with five woods. First one was a dull red wood, second was dull grey, third was yellow-white, fourth was light brown and last was glowing silver. He pointed those four to Guru Lakshman, whose eyes were big as saucers when he saw Hadrian pointing to five wand woods and none of them are common.

"Well Hadrian, it is exceptional for someone to choose five wand woods. While not uncommon, but the woods you have chosen are truly rare. Lets give you an explanation of these woods, shall we? Though I am not supposed to teach wandlore at this age, but I can make an exception. But it is perfectly natural if you do not understand parts or whole of it. Lets get started. First is this dull red wood. Poplar Wand Woods have tended to attach themselves to those who had consistency, strength and power. Also, poplar wand woods like wizards and witches who have a clear moral vision. Might I add that poplar also favours a person whose magic is malleable, highly adaptable and can bend their magic to their wills. While the first two conditions might be easily met, even though the second condition is a bit of a stretch, the last condition is hard to fulfill since there are few wizards and witches whose magical pathways inside them are truly unobstructed. Lets take a look at the second wood. This is a Vine wand wood. They are suited to wizards who push beyond their limits and have a visionary path. Let's come to the third wand wood. I would have told you that this is the rarest wand wood, only if the last wood had not been present. This is Elder Wood. A notoriously powerful wood, this wand wood demands a wizard who are superior to its power and a true master of his own mind. Even then, elder puts up a good fight. Also elder wand wood is generally associated with someone who has an understanding of the concept of death. Next is this light brown wand wood. This is Holly wand wood. A wand wood which is slightly volatile and aggressive, though ironically it favours someone who has a sense of protection. Holly wood prefers someone who has to go through difficulties and spiritual quests. Both Elder and Holly are unyielding woods. And then comes the last one. The rarest wand wood. I sincerely doubt any wandmaker would have access to this wood. How I came into its possession is a secret. This is Yggdrasil Wand Wood. This wand wood is solely dependent on balance. Also yggdrasil wand wood is extremely powerful, stated to be a reservoir of magical energy. You truly are a exceptional wizard if you have these wand woods resonating to you."

Hadrian was wide eyed as he listened to all these. 'Wandlore has that much capability to speak about a person's nature?!'. He nodded dumbly to Guru Laskhman as he looked at the wand woods that were described to him. Poplar, Vine, Elder, Holly and Yggdrasil. Wasn't Yggdrasil refered to as the World Tree? Situated between Life and Death itself? Such a rare wood chose him?' Guru Lakshman then continued to speak, "Now Hadrian we shall choose the cores. Spread out your magical aura again and feel for the cores."

Hadrian shook himself out of his reverie and flexed out his aura once again. He felt a low thrum against some cores, a deep thrum against some more while some gave a cutting contrast to his magic. He opened his eyes to see some boxes and jars slightly rattling. Guru Lakhsman looked at them and spoke out:

"The first box: It has an ice phoenix's tail feather. Extremely rare and this particular ice phoenix lived in the Himalayas when I attained this core. Ice phoenix feathers are suited to both Light and Dark magic, making it a neutral core. The second box: shredded serpent horn . Usually suited to wizards who excel in parselmagic. The third box: threstal hair. Exceptionally difficult core to work with. Like elder wand wood and the magical creatures threstal from which they are attained, they are suited to wizards who have an understanding of the concept of death. The first jar contains tears of a fire phoenix, inherently Light in nature. The second jar contains freely given unicorn blood. Another Light core. Both these two Light cores are suited for healing and light esoteric magic. It seems that among the five cores, the ice phoenix feather is neutral, while shredded serpent horn and threstal hair are dark and fire phoenix tear and unicorn blood are light. A complete balance. Wonderful Hadrian. A truly brilliant experience it would be to craft your wand."

Now Guru Lakshman stood up and brought a chisel and started scraping off the wood blocks. This went on for one hour. Pointing his wand at the elder and vine shavings, he incanted "Aequalia Distribuere" and extracted 49 grams of them. Then pointing his wand at holly and poplar, he again incanted "Aequalia Distribuere" and took out 7 grams of both. Next he measured 14 grams of yggdrasil shavings. 

He explaining to Hadrian, "These exact mixtures are alchemical ratios. The holly and poplar will be closer to Yggdrasil than elder and vine. Due to which, the wand's first nature will be protectiveness and malleability and the second nature would be strong will and visionary. This preference will be balanced by the quantitative amounts of the shavings taken. Now look how I arrange them into crafting a base wood structure for your wand. Next we shall add the cores."

Saying so he pocketed his wand and started waving his hands, Hadrian's eyes widened when he saw pure magic was being drawn on the air. Seeing the look in Hadrian's eyes, Guru Lakshman chuckled and spoke, "Yes, that was my reaction when I first saw sigil magic. Sigil Magic is a special branch of magic when you bend magic into something tangible to create sigils or symbols which have a special work function. Some sigils even invoke power of Gods. In this instance, this sigil is a mixing sigil. It will mix the wood shavings into an optimal mixture. Watch carefully."

He proceeded to create three concentric circles. Two diametrically opposite ends of the outermost circle had two small circles in the circumference. Exactly in a right angle to them, the middle concentric circle had two diametrically opposite circles. Now he connected the two ends of the four smaller circles. While in the centre, was the innermost concentric circle. He then proceeded to add a bit of Yggdrasil in the innermost concentric circle, spread as a very thin sheet. Then he added Holly and Poplar in the two diametrically opposite circles closer to Yggdrasil and then tapered them towards each other along the circumference of the second concentric circle. He proceeded to do the same for Elder and Vine. Then he used the rest of the Yggdrasil to join the lines between the two pairs of diametrically opposite circles.

He then incanted in Sanskrit, "Istatham Sangyojan" (इष्टतम संयोजन)

The shavings gave a low thrum and started to combine. It was a tedious process. After nearly one hour, a 14 inch glossy brown wand base was lying there. The hand held part of the wand had a yellowish brown spiral of 2 inches. Then along the length of the wand, there were three silver kinks. The wand was a slim one. Then he started drawing another sigil which was in the shaped of a spiral dumbell. He kept the ice phoenix feather levitating in the middle at a right angle to the sigil drawing. What he did next boggled Hadrian's eyes. He levitated the wand base in the same place keeping the sigil at a mid length of the wand base. However both the feather and the wand base coexisted in the same place.

Guru Lakhsman followed his eyes and said, "Dimensional Magic. I separated them from the tangible plane of existence, sent them to two different pocket dimensions of empty space I created, then converged the spaces with this plane of existence at the point of contact of the sigil, feather and wand base." Then he placed the solid cores into the circles at the periphery of the dumbell and spread the liquid cores on the edges of dumbell.

Then he casted in Latin, "Coalesco"

Hadrian watched as the cores shredded down and started flowing into the wand. There was a bright light from which he had to shield his eyes from. When the light died out, there was his newly crafted wand lying, giving off a low thrum of power and it had palpable power around it. It also had grown darker in colour after adding the cores. Guru Lakshman said, "Go on. Pick it up."

Hadrian walked nimbly and held it. It was euphoria. A sense of omnipotency, fulfilment enveloped him. Warmth surged through him in spades. His magic sang to his wand's, resonating powerfully. Guru Lakshman said, "This wand will only answer to you. Make good use of it. I advice taking wand-holsters. I have a dragon-hide one still left. I will bring it to you. Dhiraj, I'll prepare a note about the wand properties. Keep that with you and give a copy to Hadrian. It will be useful whenever you are registering your wand."

Hadrian nodded mutely. Soon after, Guru Lakshman returned with the holster. He fixed his wand on the holster. Givings their thanks, both Unspeakable Dhiraj and Hadrian with a big smile on his face, walked out.

Flashback Scene 2 End.

He pocketed his wand and looked at the time. '6:20?! Breakfast starts in ten minutes! Crap!' Thinking these, he hurriedly packed his books, locked his room and sprinted down to the dining hall.