Chapter 13: Into the Mindscape

Matriarch Sze Lyn and Wanyang had disappeared from the living room with the baby soon after the Clan returned to the manor. Zeren's face had grown increasingly red and had excused himself to the bathroom. Sue put on a solid poker face but was definitely laughing hysterically within. Simon wondered if Zeren had learned enough spells in his past three years in the Academy to remove a frog from within his body. And if he had the guts to ask his grandmother for help when surrounded by all these relatives at a major family event.

"Where did Wanyang and grandma go?" Simon asked Jane and Dirk in a hushed tone.

"Something you would learn once you master occlumency," Jane replied nonchalantly.

Simon frowned, "I brought the book with me! I have definitely been working on clearing my mind!"

"And would you be comfortable for me to look into your memories right now?" Jane queried her son.

"…...No."

"That is what I thought," said Jane, ruffling Simon's hair, "We are a great clan and have many traditions of our own. Once we are certain nobody can fish this information out of you, you will have your chance to know."

"Can I at least ask…if this tradition applied to me and Sue too?"

"Always the boy with questions," Dirk smiled, standing closer to his wife and son, "I guess there is no harm in saying this…Yes. Every child of this family goes through this. And only the matriarch and the child's parent(s) related to the Clan by blood and skilled in Occlumency may partake."

"And that is all the information we can share now," Jane continued, "Look they have returned."

"Wanyang looks happy," Dirk noted quietly, "Guess it went well."

"Or at least it was normal," Jane replied in an even more hushed tone, "Any magical parent would die for normal…"

As Simon tried to read between the lines of what Dirk and Jane were saying, he noticed Sue sneaking back into the living room during the commotion with the matriarch, the baby and Wanyang's return. Jane and Dirk definitely noticed too but kept their mouths shut. Simon shot his sister a questioning glance and she merely smirked.

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Simon was determined to properly clear his mind tonight. He knew he needed more than a clear mind to be considered a master in occlumency but he needed to start getting serious. He wanted to learn about his Clan's powerful magical secrets. It would certainly aid him at Hogwarts. Lord Lian's sharing throughout the years and also Master Lian's teachings in the summer had certainly given Simon more than a leg up when it came to his magical education. Once he had a wand, he was sure he could breeze through the first few years of Hogwarts easily. But knowing what he knew of the wizarding world and the dark times to come, he needed to know more – anything about more complex and powerful magic to hopefully end things earlier and protect those he cared about. He could not let Cedric and Fred suffer their original fates. And he never knew what happened to the Lis and Phoebe in the books. Hopefully, he could also make Harry's life a little less stressful. The boy really had a cursed life. And Simon knew a thing or two about a life of fighting a battle you did not choose.

Snape was probably naturally talented in occlumency so he never taught Harry well. Just clearing your mind and focusing on your breathing was not enough. According to books and conversations with Jane, Dirk, Lord Lian, and Master Lian, one also needed to follow the flow of magic within their body and pinpoint the strongest pressure point of magic within their body. The point differs for every wizard. While Simon had a decent grasp of the flow of magic within his body after years of magical martial arts training, he found it very had to make out which point of his body was necessarily his strongest pressure point of magic. Magic moves like waves within the body. The tide rises and the tide falls. And there were many tides. It often felt like when one point rises, another falls. It was hard to tell which point was on average constantly the strongest.

*"Ribbit Ribbit!"*

Simon almost jumped out of his bed as he felt something crawling on his elbow. He flinched, as an image he had long buried in his mind started to replay. The lump on his elbow. The lump on his elbow.

Suddenly, Simon felt something slap him in the face. He blinked at the sight of Raze flapping his wings right in front of him.

*"Are you okay? I felt nothing from you."*

*"What do you mean nothing?!"*

*"You know, like how usually we can just communicate in your mind? Just now I felt nothing from you! I thought you died or something!"* Raze explained with his usual dramatic tone, *"I nearly thought this frog poisoned you!"*

Simon then noticed the frog perched on his elbow croaking loudly.

*"You sure you felt no mental connection to me, at all?"* Simon queried his familiar.

*"You know I never lie."*

*"What about the 'gnome incident'?"*

*"I thought you were over it already! That was ages ago!"*

*"Okay, fine. Take this frog off me and I am going to try this again for a bit. Let me know afterwards if you also felt no mental connection."*

Raze seemed to roll his eyes as he opened his beak to carry the frog away. Simon took a deep breath and focused on the point where his past life's struggles began. As Simon focused on that one point near his elbow, he felt like he was both in his bedroom but not in his bedroom. It was like he was in the Yang ancestral manor but also in his former hospital bed.

A little boy with the unfamiliar face Simon now wore sat by his bedside reading a copy of a Spiderman comicbook. He looked up.

*"Hi. I have been looking forward to seeing you."*