A Rosier Legacy (HP AU M-SI)

I spent the entire rest of the day completely absorbed in Vespera's book. The manual must have been of inestimable value because it contained an insane amount of detailed and advanced information. While Borgin's book explained Legilimency and Occlumency only in their absolute basics, which I had been building on until now, this one went into such depth that it was as if, after learning how to change a tire, I had suddenly been handed the complete blueprints to build an entire car. Fortunately, it didn't cost us a single cent—it had been written by one of my direct ancestors and had been part of our family library for generations.

While Styrax slept motionlessly beside me, I had the perfect opportunity to think. If this was the book Vespera used to practice Legilimency, her trick with the taxi driver couldn't have been just some primitive mental command like "you've been paid, shut up and go."

The human mind is too complex. What Vespera had actually done was far more sophisticated: she must have rapidly searched his mind for a specific memory of a moment when he himself had refused to speak, and firmly anchored it in the present. Likewise, she had to find the emotion connected to the feeling and memory of having already been paid, and bind it to our current situation. Simply put, she made his own mind trick itself.

According to the text, however, it was nowhere near as simple as it seemed at first glance. First, you have to accurately gauge the feelings associated with the specific case. Then, using your own emotions, you establish contact with theirs, and in a fraction of a second, you sift through memories—even if only superficially—to find the exact right fragment to anchor.

I thought about it. When does a person have absolutely no desire to talk? Usually when they are in a miserable mood, hit rock bottom emotionally, or are experiencing deep sorrow. So, this technique clearly required working with the darkest, most negative emotions. Inducing the feeling of having been paid was a bit easier—there, it was enough to awaken the familiar feeling of a job well done, which the man had experienced thousands of times before when other customers paid him.

My aunt was certainly no angel, but frankly, I didn't mind in the slightest. After all, my other aunt would probably have tortured that Muggle for hours and gladly killed him in the end, so compared to her, Vespera was practically a saint.

Although the book described incredibly difficult and complex techniques, I was sure I wouldn't have the slightest problem mastering them. But what fascinated me most about the whole thing was the theoretical possibility of anchoring absolute loyalty in people. If I could apply this on a mass scale...

"Young master, you have letters from your friends," Jobo's squeaky voice snapped me out of my deep thoughts.

"Thank you, Jobo. Put them on the table."

"And Mistress Vespera wishes to let you know that dinner is served in half an hour," the house-elf continued immediately, as soon as he placed the envelopes on the solid wood table with a quiet rustle. "Mistress particularly emphasizes that your presence is mandatory this time. Not like at lunch," he added with a soft, understanding smile.

I just nodded in agreement. Jobo vanished with a quiet crack, and I, definitively pulled from my thoughts, moved from the bed and sat at the desk.

The first envelope I opened was from Agnes.

Hi Patrik,

Just like last time, I'm still enjoying the Alps, skiing, and snowboarding. Although, to be honest, I enjoy skiing more, even though you were right in what you said—snowboarding looks much "cooler."

But I've made a practically historic discovery here... They have incredibly amazing crepes!You probably think I've completely lost my mind and that my sleeves are covered in syrup, but maple syrup isn't really used much here. They put all sorts of jams in the crepes, and even something called Nutella! And a mountain of amazing whipped cream on top…

Father did tell me I should watch my figure, but I'll easily burn it off with you at Hogwarts anyway. ;)

But so I don't just write about crepes—Dad also taught me some new spells, so prepare yourself for a hard defeat in September.

How are you? Has anything changed since your last letter, or are you still training like crazy with your aunt? By the way, I'm really glad you've finally mastered the Aegis spell. It took you a really long time, which isn't like you at all!

With love, the best and most wonderful Agnes.

"Agnes definitely didn't realize how innuendo-heavy that sounded about burning it off at Hogwarts," I reassured myself aloud with an amused smirk, immediately pulling out a clean piece of parchment to reply.

Hi Agnes,

I'm glad you're enjoying your crepes, but I highly hope you're stuffing yourself with some normal protein, too. I'd hate for you to look like a crepe in September.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you to actually beat me with those new spells from your dad, though I sincerely and highly doubt it.

Quite a lot has changed with me, but... I'd rather tell you all about it in person. Yes, I finally have Aegis down perfectly, but that's far from everything I've learned over the holidays. ;)

Patrik Rosier

I neatly folded the letter, slipped it into a new envelope, sealed it with hot wax bearing the Rosier family crest, and set it on the edge of the table.

The next envelope was from Draco. True to his nature, he wrote to me just as often as Agnes did.

Dear cousin,

As I promised you, I certainly haven't neglected my training. Though it took Father a little while to notice me running regularly in the gardens around our manor, it wasn't long before he started prying. I admitted to him that you had started teaching me boxing.I honestly expected him to be furious, since it's a purely Muggle sport, but he only scoffed in disgust.

Naturally, I received a lecture on what a filthy and inferior way of fighting it is, accompanied by a heap of other insults... But to get to the point: because of this, Father has started teaching me fencing. He had originally planned it for my thirteenth birthday, but he declared that if I am mature enough for a "filthy sport," I can handle noble fencing as well.

I must admit, I quite enjoy it. It even seemed like Father was actually proud of me for the first time in a while. My balance was excellent thanks to boxing, though the stance is completely different compared to what you taught me.

However, for a wizard's mobility in a duel, it might be slightly better after all, although dodging sideways still feels a bit clumsy to me.

I know you don't have much free time, but I hope you'll come see me this summer. Theo and Tobias are coming to visit in August.

Of course, I haven't neglected magic either—Father was thrilled with my progress, so I'm preparing some surprises for you in September. ;)I'm glad you finally mastered Aegis; it troubled you for quite a while. What other plans do you have for July?

Draco Malfoy

I shook my head in amusement and immediately wrote him a brief reply.

Draco,

I'm glad you're working hard. I really am.

Fencing definitely sounds cool—personally, I've never trained in it, but I'd definitely be interested in learning something new. You can show me some of the basics as soon as we're back at Hogwarts.

I'm really curious about those magical surprises of yours... Did you and Agnes happen to conspire together? Because she is also going on and on about how she's going to beat me in September.

My plans for July? Training, training, and more training. And then, if there's any time left, a little more training.

Patrik Rosier

I neatly folded the letter, slipped it into an envelope, sealed it with the family wax, and tossed it onto the pile with the letter for Agnes.

The next envelope was from Theodore. Fortunately, the last one. Writing traditional letters was unbelievably annoying compared to Facebook messages—thankfully, we only exchanged them once in a while.

Hi Patrik,

In August, Tobias and I are going to Draco's, so I strongly hope we'll all meet there! It would be quite a shame if just the two of us had to endure his annoying peacocks.

Grandfather is genuinely thrilled with my progress, which I have you to thank for. That's also why I'm preparing a surprise for you... actually, just like everyone else. Yes, you heard right, we have conspired against you. In September, victory will be ours!

I know very well how annoying these letters are to you, so don't you dare disappoint me in August. Tobias is with me at the moment, so take this message as being from both of us—even though he is currently stuffing his face with cake (once again).

Theodore Nott and Tobias Yaxley

With an amused smirk on my face, I immediately pulled out another piece of parchment and wrote a reply.

Hi guys,

Tobias with a cake in his hand definitely doesn't surprise me at all. I'm marking August in my calendar.

I'm genuinely looking forward to your joint surprise, but I have to disappoint you—victory will definitely not be yours.

Best regards. ;)

Patrik Rosier

I was done. I neatly sealed the reply and tossed it onto the stack with the other two letters.

"I'll send them out later so they don't reply too quickly," I planned in my head with a quiet smirk.

Then I got up from the desk and headed to the dining room. Replying had taken me a solid twenty minutes—such a fucking waste of time... I was missing Facebook and instant messaging.

Vespera was already waiting for me with a soft smile on her face. I could tell immediately how much she enjoyed my company and these family moments of ours together. Because of that, I couldn't hold her mandatory presence at the table against her in the slightest.

"Hi," I greeted her as soon as I sat down in my seat.

She nodded in greeting with a smile. "Book finished?"

The massive table was, as always, groaning under piles of food of every kind imaginable. Vespera already had some creamy risotto on her plate, but she politely waited for me to serve myself and start eating too.

"Yeah, it was a great read, and honestly—the information is priceless," I replied with a smile, starting to serve myself.

Once again, I went with a tried-and-true classic: a juicy beef steak with roasted potatoes and green beans. It was a wonderful, nutritious, protein-packed meal that I could probably eat non-stop. Actually, even in my past life, I had no problem rotating the exact same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a whole week, whereas an average person got sick of shoving the same thing down their throat after two days. My girlfriend used to tease me about it constantly—especially when, in the morning, instead of a classic breakfast, I would reheat yesterday's steak from the fridge without batting an eye.

"When you're older and stronger, you can add some of your own manuals and advanced techniques to our family library," my aunt smiled at me. "For example, those rituals you've already successfully completed. It's priceless knowledge, and future Rosiers will definitely be grateful to you for it."

I swallowed a bite of the perfectly cooked, juicy meat and replied, "Of course, that's exactly what I plan to do. Though, right now, my knowledge is still quite limited. And as for children... they will hopefully come in a very long time."

"Well, with how many female friends you have around you and the immense interest the other pure-blood families are showing in you... it might happen much sooner than you think," Vespera smirked at me. It was clear that if she had been sitting a bit closer, she would have happily pinched my cheek for talking like that.

"I know how to pull out..." I began automatically, starting an inappropriate, sarcastic reply, but I caught myself just in time. Instead, I shut up immediately and stuffed another bite of steak into my mouth to save the situation.

Vespera watched me in amusement while elegantly eating her risotto.

"How about a little duel after dinner?" I threw down the gauntlet as soon as I swallowed.

"Do you want to lose again?" she smirked back provocatively.

"You've been teasing me long enough for me to stop holding back," I smirked wildly. "I'm going all out from the first second... You can yield whenever you want, Aunt."

"Finish up quickly then, young Dark Lord," she smiled in amusement. "We'll see if that confidence of yours lasts until the end."

I could tell right away that she still didn't take me entirely seriously. But honestly—it would be complete folly to try and match her in experience or the sheer number of spells she knew. I treated this as rigorous training. Technique was extremely important, sure, but I couldn't compete with her in that right now. She was older and had several times more won duels to her name. I could gather plenty of experience in standard spell-trading at Hogwarts with opponents of my own level. She had an immediate answer for every attempt of mine so far, and though I was improving every day and closing the gap, a massive chasm still loomed between us, one that only time could bridge.

But if I jumped in at full throttle now and pushed the limits of my body and magic, it would do wonders for my overall progress.

We didn't speak another word for the rest of dinner. Both of us continued eating in absolute silence.

"We can go," I announced as soon as I stuffed the last piece of steak down.

Vespera nodded with a smile full of tense anticipation, took her final sip of red wine, and together we headed down to our underground training room.

We stood facing each other on the dueling line, just as we always did. The cold air in the room was practically buzzing with static energy.

"Ready?" she asked, her wand already drawn and in hand.

The moment I gripped mine tightly and nodded with determination, she fired without warning: "Expelliarmus!"

I dodged the red beam of light without much trouble with a lightning-fast step to the side, but in that same split second, another wild barrage of offensive spells was already flying toward me from her wand.

"Aguamenti!" I shouted instantly in counter-movement, aggressively and continuously forcing my magical power into the stream of water.

My massive column of water instantly and ruthlessly swept all incoming spells out of the air. Even though some of her curses exploded on contact with the water, spraying a portion of it into the air, I didn't let myself get distracted. I immediately pulled the shattered water back with my mind into a single compact, rotating mass, suspending it in the air between us.

I didn't stop pumping massive quantities of magic into the spell. The water multiplied at a lightning pace, accumulating and surging in the space between us. Vespera attacked relentlessly. She tried to cleave the mass, as she usually did, but her favorite Tensio Nulla simply didn't work on such a gigantic quantity—not even when combined with her Confringo, which by this point was already far too weak.

I watched closely, waiting for her next move. Instead of offensive curses, she quickly attempted transfiguration. She sent a conjured pack of wolves at me, which, with terrifying howls, tried to sprint straight toward me beneath the levitating water. I instantly brought down a section of the watery mass directly onto them. My brutal water pressure crushed them to dust in a second, causing her Verto to helplessly collapse back into its original form.

Vespera immediately tried to use Tensio Nulla again to gain some breathing room, but even the split-off portion of the water was grander than anything she had fought before. And I still didn't stop forcing more and more water into the space. Her curses and spells of all possible colors splashed loudly and hissed against my water barrier. Yet she didn't give up. Instead of destructive magic, she tried the Avis spell. But she was no Dumbledore; hundreds of birds didn't pour from the tip of her wand, only smaller flocks, every single one of which I neutralized in mid-air barely a few meters away from her.

I still had an immense reserve of magic within me, and I kept driving it forward without pause. She wanted me to stop holding back, so I gladly obliged with a smile. I had grown stronger since our first duel together. There was now such an extreme quantity of water between us that I could completely stop tracking what she was actually doing. A colossal, towering wall rose between us, which I slowly began to push in her direction by sheer force of will.

Through the thick mass, I heard her further desperate attempts to cast, while the water pressed closer and closer to her. Centimeter by centimeter.

'She wanted to see my true power? Then I'll show it to her,' I thought with a predatory smirk.

She didn't give up. Spells I had never heard before in my life flew from her wand, pounding futilely against the water wall. The only spell that had even a remote hint of success was Tensio Nulla, but she simply didn't have enough power within her to tear through such a massive wave.

"Verto!" she shrieked in pure desperation as my water wall neared the very end of the room.

Through the filter of the rippling water, she looked truly terrified. She was breathing heavily, sweat trickling down her forehead. And her attempt at transfiguration? She turned a simple cloth napkin into a massive stone wall, but it couldn't even slow my surging water down. It was a panic-induced spell. She must have known very well it wouldn't help—I could easily bypass it, since water gets absolutely everywhere... But she had wanted to see power, after all. With a terrifying crash, my torrent of water crushed the stone into tiny fragments, leaving nothing but a soaked napkin on the ground instead of solid rock. And the water relentlessly pressed on.

"I yield!" Vespera screamed, pinned against the very wall of the training room.

In that split second, I froze the thick wall of water and immediately drew it back. The problem was, it was a fucking massive amount of water. While a tired and totally wrecked Vespera collapsed to her knees, I began siphoning the entire deluge away with my wand. By the time I had cleared it all, my aunt had managed to somewhat pull herself together, though she was still deathly pale and drenched in sweat. The raw, primal fear of drowning still mirrored in her eyes.

When I quietly walked over to her, she spoke through heavy breaths, "I was poking the snake barefoot, and this is exactly how it turned out," she smiled nervously at me, wiping sweat from her brow. "Your water affinity is absolutely insane. This shouldn't even be possible... I've never in my life heard of anything like it. And the worst part is, you still look like you could easily keep going."

After a brief pause, as she caught her breath, she quietly added, "I'm honestly jealous of you."

"Have you never tried an element?" I asked curiously, watching her pant.

"Of course I have..." she scoffed tiredly. "Every single one. I even tried to actively improve in them, but it simply isn't worth it for me magically. I have absolutely zero affinity for any element, which is why Dark Magic is much more efficient for me. If I tried to fight with fire in a duel, for instance, I wouldn't last a second. My magical core simply wouldn't survive the strain."

"But even without elemental magic, you are a powerful and incredibly experienced witch," I answered with absolute sincerity.

I wasn't lying. When I held back in our previous duels and didn't use elemental magic on a grand scale, she had always almost effortlessly crushed me. With the sheer number and complexity of the spells she commanded, she still stood far above me.

"Hard training and thousands of fought duels," she replied proudly with a soft smile, the color slowly returning to her pale cheeks. "But your affinity is insane nonetheless. You conjured such an enormous quantity of water, yet it looked like it cost you almost no energy, like you were getting it entirely for free," she noted, shaking her head in disbelief. "Anyway, I am immensely proud of you. Family pride and honor!" she smirked, placing a hand on my shoulder with a sigh.

I was genuinely glad she took this heavy defeat in stride. With her hand on my shoulder, I took a final step toward her and wrapped her in a tight hug.

My aunt immediately and gratefully returned the embrace. I felt her literally melt into my arms under the weight of the released stress. Though I had scared her half to death just moments ago, I knew very well that hugs were her ultimate weakness.

It just ran in the family.

Legilimency and memory anchoring are pretty OP, but we'll see in time how it works on wizards and not just Muggles.

Which letter caught your attention the most? Agnes and her crepes, Draco with fencing, or Theo and Tobias?

And finally, our MC showed the true power of elemental magic. Life just isn't fair, and some people are simply blessed with abnormal genetics and affinities. Tensio Nulla is a direct counter to a mass of water—an OP spell, though its effectiveness ultimately depends on the caster's raw magical power.

I'm still building up our combat-focused magical world, and things are slowly starting to pick up. Honestly, I can't wait for what's to come, but I can't rush the plot, otherwise things wouldn't make much sense down the road.

The shadows are shifting, and the story goes much deeper... If you can't wait for the next update, Advanced Chapters are already waiting for you.

Enter the Restricted Section here: you-know-what/PatrikWriter

Upcoming Chapters – Already Written(16):

78. Of False Heroes and Tethered Minds

79. The Casual Intruder

80. The Silent Partner

81. The Black Inheritance

82. The Frequency of Intent

83. Of Blood and Thorns

84. Thorns, Wards, and Sly Foxes

85. As Peaceful and Civilized as Always

86. The Twin in the Shadows

87. Their Addiction, Our Profit

88. Fake Smiles and Sharp Instincts

89. The Path to Invincibility

90. AD: Piña Coladas and Rainbow Thongs

91. Blood Traitors

92. Before the Storm

93. Arania Exumai

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