Chapter 10

Waking up from a deep sleep, I got out of bed, feeling ready for the day. I headed downstairs and asked Tom if there was a shower available. He pointed me toward it, but I decided to hold off on the shower for now—I wanted to start my day with a workout instead.

Back in my room, I began stretching, making sure my muscles were loose. Once that was done, I jumped into my routine: sets of 20 push-ups followed by 20 sit-ups, rotating between the two so each part of my body got enough rest. It was the same pattern I'd been following, inspired by the One Punch Man workout. An hour passed before I finished, my body burning with effort but feeling strong.

Afterward, I went outside for a run. As I jogged through the streets, something started to feel... off. I couldn't tell exactly when it began, but I had the unsettling sensation that something was watching me—following me. My pulse quickened, and instinctively, I picked up my pace, running faster.

That's when I realized, with a sinking feeling, that I had left my wand back in my room at the Leaky Cauldron. Damn it. Relying on it felt like a crutch. I really needed to work on my wandless magic. Wizards didn't have to use wands—some could perform magic without them. So why did everyone depend on wands so much? Sure, they provided focus, but they also made wizards weaker in the long run.

When I practiced Reparo wandlessly yesterday, I noticed that my magic felt much stronger without a wand. Wand magic is more controlled and easier to cast, sure, but what if you could train your wandless magic to be just as smooth and efficient? If I could master wandless magic to that point, wands would be completely useless. Only those with weaker magic should need them.

Lost in those thoughts, the unsettling presence I had felt earlier snapped me back to reality—it was still behind me, keeping pace. I ran even faster, weaving through the streets. Soon, I found myself in a crowded area, with people heading to work and shops beginning to open. The presence seemed to vanish as I entered the busy street, like whatever had been following me had suddenly disappeared.

I stopped for a moment, looking around to see if I could spot anyone suspicious. But there was nothing—no sign of what had been watching me. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was something unnatural. The magic I'd sensed wasn't human. It felt strange, almost demonic. Could it have been an evil wizard? Or something worse?

I didn't know. But I'd need to be more careful. Something was out there, and it had its eyes on me.

I made my way back to the Leaky Cauldron, still a bit on edge from earlier. As I stepped inside, I asked Tom for breakfast. He served up an old British classic—baked beans, hash browns, some tomatoes, and toast. I wasn't a fan of blood pudding, so I asked for sunny-side-up eggs instead. As I sat down to eat, I watched the other guests in the inn slowly wake up. Some were already eating, while others were just coming downstairs, looking groggy.

As I ate, I ran through my plans for the day. First, I needed to work on my Occlumency practice. Strengthening my mind against intrusion was a priority. After that, I'd head over to the Muggle side of the world and buy some new, fashionable clothes—couldn't be walking around in wizard robes all the time. Then, I'd need to visit the goblins at Gringotts to see about getting the Cromwell Manor repaired. That would be my base of operations once it was restored.

I also had to stop by a bookstore to pick up some books on runes. I needed to dive deeper into rune magic. Lastly, I needed to compare the Animagus book I found in the vault with the publicly available versions. If they were truly different, that could open up some interesting possibilities.

After finishing my food, I headed to the showers. I took a cold one, the shock of it waking me up fully and helping clear my head. It felt good, like it was jump-starting my system for the day ahead.

After a good shower, I dried myself off with the towel, feeling refreshed. I threw on my clothes and headed back to my room. Once there, I grabbed the book on Occlumency and settled down to read.

The book was simpler than I expected, though the real challenge was keeping my mind blank. It mentioned that once I got to that point, I would find myself in my mindscape. At first, it would appear messy, a chaotic jumble of thoughts and memories, and my first task would be to organize it. Once that was done, I would need to construct a mind palace. The book went into detail about the different levels of a mind palace:

The first stage involves sorting memories and setting up a basic defense.

The beginner level requires creating a full house or building as a mental stronghold.

Advanced practitioners could create a landscape the size of England.

Masters could eventually recreate a full-sized Earth in their mindscape, but that level would take years to reach.

I sighed. It was going to take a lot of time and patience to get anywhere near those advanced stages, but I had to start somewhere.

Crossing my legs, I began to meditate, trying to keep my mind focused and free of thoughts. Easier said than done. Random thoughts kept drifting in, no matter how hard I tried to push them away. It was frustrating—getting to that "blank mind" state was tougher than I thought.

Hours seemed to pass, but I didn't feel like I was making any real progress. Eventually, I opened my eyes, expecting it to still be mid-morning, only to be shocked. It was dark outside.

I stood up and walked to the window, surprised at how much time had passed. I'd been sitting there since morning, and what felt like only a few hours had turned into the whole day.

Sighing, I realized that although I hadn't reached my mindscape yet, I wasn't tired at all. The meditation had kept me focused, but I knew I still had a long way to go. The book had said the first time finding the mindscape would be the hardest. Once I did, it would become easier. Looks like I'd need to meditate again tomorrow and try to push further.