Christian looked at himself in the mirror. It was near the end of February, and his favorite month, March, was approaching. The book proceeded without a hitch after his mother told him things did not have to be perfect since she would hire an editor. So, he only needed to absorb the information from his research and relay it to the wizarding world in a more digestible way. The process was difficult, but reading books about writing and consulting a few published writers through Aunt Eleanor's connection helped him immensely.
Everything went smoothly: his Old English Lessons( he can now translate long texts relatively easily), Fencing, Capoeira, and magical lessons. The only trouble he was facing was the Science Part of his book. He wanted to include easy-to-recreate scientific experiments in the book to allow wizards to understand science better and see its wonders. However, it was hard to come up with.
However, during today's lesson, his mother noticed small patches of purple in his eyes. They concluded that his eyes not only glowed purple when he used magic but were turning into that color.
'Should I wear contacts?' thought Christian before deciding otherwise. He felt it would be uncomfortable to wear. He thought similarly about glasses, hence why he always ate his carrots and cared for his eyesight.
'Forget it. Let's just add to the list of anomalies that surround me,' concluded Christian before walking downstairs to have breakfast before beginning his schedule. For the next three hours, he read and wrote. Finally, he felt fatigued and closed his eyes for a short session of Visualization.
He felt calm as the world around him disappeared, and he became lost in his mind. Christian could feel his focus returning after spending such a long time working without stopping. After over twenty minutes, he felt refreshed and concentrated to continue his work.
Eleanor walked into the study with snacks and tea.
"I figure you would be hungry by now."
"Oh, thank you. By the way, why are you home?" asked Christian.
"We had the same conversation at breakfast."
"Oh, right, it's your day off." Christian ate his biscuit and sipped his tea. Eleanor looked at all the books around him. "Are you alright?" Christian swallowed his food before responding, "What do you mean?"
"Aren't you feeling a little overwhelmed?' Eleanor knew her nephew was what one would call a child prodigy, but she had to worry about the pressure he was under with this new, insane schedule.
"Overwhelm? On the contrary, I haven't felt so excited and challenged in a long time."
"School was too easy, and although I love learning languages, they were no longer a challenge once I could learn faster through comparison. So, I'm happy with how things are now."
"I guess it's alright since that's how you feel. However, don't hesitate to tell us if the pressure is getting to you."
"Alright. Any idea what you want to do for your birthday?"
"Hmm, I asked Mom if she could give me a tour of the other 11 Main Magical Schools, and she agreed. However, I'm worried that you can't go with us."
"Don't worry about me," said Eleanor with a smile. "As long as we have a party for your birthday first, I'll be satisfied."
"No problem, but nothing too extravagant."
Eleanor closed the door, and Christian continued his work. However, not even an hour later, his mother barged into the study.
"Did you forget something?" asked Christian calmly without raising his head from the book before him.
"Sorry about that." Tiara realized she should have knocked on the door. "But look what I have in my hand."
Christian looked at the vial and showed his confusion, "A potion? What kind?"
"Yes. After over six months, the Potionist finally succeeded," she exclaimed.
"And what are you so excited to use it for?"
"To find that damn Seer," Tiara replied. She did not want to use any extreme measures to find Papa Tounde, so she thought about relying on luck.
"My bad," replied Tiara, but she did not appear to be sorry; she looked longingly at the bottle while also sneering.
"You never told me why you need to find this Seer," asked Christian cooly, making Tiara pause. "You only need to know he owes me answers." Christian looked oddly at her before focusing on the vial. "How does it work?"
"I do, but don't you need it?"
"Only a small amount," uttered Tiara before pouring a small amount into another vial. "It should be able to help accelerate your writing."
Christian held the vial and looked at the golden liquid; it seemed to embody everything beautiful and noble.
"Ok, I'm leaving," said Tiara before swiftly walking out. "Don't wait for me for dinner since it might take some time."
"Be careful," yelled Christian.
He looked at the vial for a moment before swallowing it. A few seconds later, he felt everything would be alright if he allowed things to take their course. Out of nowhere, he felt like entering Jim's memories, and that's what he did. Christian walked through that cluster of memories before stopping at a particularly large one. Something in the back of his mind was telling him this memory was crucial to him, so, despite the hesitation due to the size, Christian decided to experience it.
And he was glad that he did. The memory was of Jim watching a video on a website called YouTube. The title was [How to Build a Mind Palace], and the video was only 20 minutes long. However, Jim was fascinated and watched countless more videos on the subject, one of which was more than 2 hours long.
"The Mind Palace seems like something that would be perfectly combined with Occlumency," muttered Christian, and he immediately tried it. He was shocked to discover that a physical palace was rapidly built in his mind as he followed the steps while using Occlumency.
Christian was momentarily baffled as he stood in this large room inside the palace. He realized he could see the overall palace or enter that singular room. "Instead of a palace, it should be called a mind library," Christian muttered as he looked at the rows of silver-gray books signifying all his 11 years of memory.
"I guess I should try the effect," he muttered. "I remember eating a piece of cake that made a lasting impression, but the memory is vague and eludes me."
As soon as he finished these words, a book floated into his hand, and Christian opened it. He saw a memory of when he was four, when Aunt Eleanor brought him this cake from a work event. The taste was truly sublime.
"Is this the only way I can see this memory?" The book in his hand trembled before releasing a projection, showing the memory on a large screen as wide as the cinema.
"Interesting. So, this place responds to my thoughts. In that case, I should be able to experience memories like I do with Jim," Christian muttered. He focused his mind and stated his intention. The palace disappeared, and Christian found himself in the body of his four-year-old self. He could see everything around him in vivid detail, followed by the creamy taste of the cake and the jolt of happiness that ran down his spine.
The memory ended, and Christian immediately wanted to try another one. "How about my very first memory?"
He saw two giants looking at him, which should have scared Christian. But all he felt was tiredness and the desire to sleep. The memory proceeded as he saw in his mother's mind.
"Did I just develop an eidetic memory?" muttered Christian, who decided to test more before concluding. The result was that he was correct. He can view every moment in his life like a movie; he can pause, move backward and forward, or even skip some scenes. He can even hear background noises that he would never have noticed beforehand.
"Take that, Kevin." The arrogant prick always ensured to tell him he had an eidetic memory, despite always losing to him in grades. Now, he had an even better version. After calming down, Christian pondered the best way to use this new type of magic.
"Jim's memories — I can organize them into a Mind Palace for better viewing." However, he frowned before muttering. "Having someone else's memory might have some unknown influence on me."
He thought momentarily before deciding to build a second Mind Palace for Jim's memories. The issue was how? Christian soon thought of a way: build the second one in another layer of the mind. He immediately put this idea to use, and the process was easier than he had expected.
The white room where the memories were was already a special layer of the mind, and he only had to build the second palace there.
"Let's see what secrets you're hiding," muttered Christian with glee. He had possessed these memories for over six months and wanted to unravel their mystery.
"Christian, lunch is ready."
Eleanor's voice forcefully woke him from his second Mind Palace, and Christian could only smile wryly. He left to eat before quickly returning to his room. He only had a few hours before it was time for Capoeira Lessons.