It's on the Express my return to Hogwarts starts, as it always does. My friends and I were in our normal spot near the front of the train when I met up with all four of my friends. Daphne left pretty quickly after we set out, after having double checked I was doing okay. She claimed her sister was likely to get into trouble - and I believe her, having seen her sister trying all manner of pranks and jokes when I was over.

So I was retelling the non-sensitive bits of my summer to Adrian and Cedric, Sarah having already heard all about it. I also passed on there was a rumor of something odd happening this year, and that if they heard anything to let me know.

Their summers were equally boring-sounding in reports. Cedric did have one change to his status, to go with Charms Prodigy - he now has Arithmancy Prodigy. Adrian doesn't have a prodigy perk for any branch of magic, though. Neither does Alicia or Angelina, last I'd checked. I guess they just aren't specializing enough for them to get the bonuses. Sarah, meanwhile, is actually a higher level than all but myself and Cedric.

Sarah is level 18, Cedric is level 22 and I'm level 30, of course. Everyone else is still below level 15. The average level at the end of 4th year is 15. I imagine everyone here will be 18-20 at the end of the year. Cedric is on-track to be level 30.

Sarah had much larger growth last year than the year before. She could wind up looking anywhere from 25-30, depending on how hard she goes, this year. My goal is to be level 40 at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Harry could well end up being level 45 to 50 if he does another stupid thing like he did last year. Gaining over 20 levels in one year… Such a pace is beyond 'out of this world.' I thought my 10 levels per year was astronomical. His pace is absurd. Topping that off, his titular bonuses mean I'll never catch him, physically. Even with my perks, I'll only mentally outpace him if we stay on a 1 for 1 ratio for levels. This means I'll have more mana. Probably. That has its own complications. I'll cross the bridge when I get to it.

The train ride though - largely boring. I had plenty of time to check up on my brother before we left the train for the school, so I hunted down his train-compartment. Once I was sure he was decent, I pulled him from the train to the platform, and helped him find the teacher showing the way to the school.

My eyes locked on him almost instantly. The man was unmistakable - massive - not quite Hagrid's size, but Large. At least six-five. He has dark-blonde, nearly brown, hair. He's very muscu\lar - his arms are easily the size of my legs. He's also barrel chested. He couldn't be older than his mid-30s.

This is Gaelin - the NEWT level Transfiguration teacher - someone I've never seen before, actually, but know from description - has a title I can see, but that's all, other than his name. It's odd to see.

Gaelin Regan.

The Primordial Man. (i)

?

?

?

Me, being me, enlarge the title to see what it's about.

Those who bear this title are chosen by a primordial spirit - one of those who created the local multiverse. They are always gifted in the extreme, making even 'geniuses at primordial magics' seem like novices, due to their raw affinity for it.

+500 Primordial Affinity.

+Primordial Genius Perk

+Elemetal Genius Perk.

Doubles mana capacity.

That seems utterly overpowered. Why haven't I heard of him doing some crazy stuff before? He's clearly good - at least level 55 - probably higher - and he has some insane affinities, a massive mana pool, genius perks… Sure. He's an Eastern European, who was brought here with a number of other teachers in a sort of a trade in faculty between the top European schools some ten or so years ago but seriously! We'd traded our second-best teachers in every subject between each major school. If he's the second best transfiguration teacher from Drumstrang, I don't want to know who's the best...

As I mull this over, I realize he's staring right back at me, a big goofy grin on his face, like he's found something he didn't expect and he's really happy about it.

I'm asking Flitwick about him, later. For now, I pointed my brother at him, then met his eyes, flicking to my brother, then gave him a nod.

His grinning visage, still too-large, nodded back. So I turn and walk off to find my friends. It's not hard to find them - Adrian is a bit taller than average, and not many people are just standing still at a corner of the platform. "All done." I mutter, and he nods. We walk, together, back to the rest of the group.

Quickly, I'm clambering up into the carriage with my friends in it, and we get going to the castle. I knew only three things about Gaelin before this day.

He's considered one of the best in the world at transfiguration, who decided to go into teaching for whatever reason. The number of absurdly skilled people teaching is higher (if you split every group by skill) than anywhere else in the world. Twelve of our forty-some teachers could go get a job with Gringotts as any number of things.

Gaelin's also an extremely good teacher. Most would say that because he never assigns homework unless you skip. Other Ravenclaw's note that it's because he's so fast and skilled at teaching, that he has no point in assigning homework.

Lastly, his wife, Rickie, teaches Alchemy when there's an interest, and when there isn't an interest, she teaches other advanced - small - classes, which are entirely optional and aren't official classes.

If one were to ask me how I felt after seeing him? Well, now I'm sure of something - I'm not the only one with third-party blessings acting upon me. It should have been assumed, but I didn't think there were a lot of us. Maybe I was wrong?

My Multiversal blessing is this system I have access to, and my memories. His (I think) results in him having an utterly ridiculous mana and connection to primal magics. I wonder how many others have boons like this..?

It is as I'm sitting in the great hall, minding my own business as the kids are sorted - my own brother going to Slytherin - I hear a distant crash and I see Dumbledore's head whip off towards the western wall - in the direction of the crash. He whispers a few things and the teachers get up, and he stands.

"Students, it would see a large metal object of some serious weight has entered the grounds. Due to the potential threat this could pose - we're going to lock the great hall down until we can figure out exactly what's going on." And with that he waves his wand and audibly every door and window in the great hall closes.

Not ten minutes later, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are being dragged inside. There is no talk of what happened, but whispers break out.

"Was it some kind of prank?" One Ravenclaw guesses.

"Oh, no, they weren't on the train. I heard from the Granger girl - she was looking for them. Couldn't find them. Nowhere on the train." Another responds.

So, how had they gotten to school? Presumably the large metal object which had set off the wards. Probably the siege ward - to detect cannonballs and other large metal objects hitting the school in times of war.

Large metal transportation? We're looking at a car, motorbike or other vehicle. I know, from passing comments in Harry's letters over summer he was at the Weasleys, and that they had a car, some kind of Ford. So, they stole the car. Okay.

How did it get here, though? This place is only reachable by the train, really. It'd take a few days by car to get here. Did they drive the tracks? If so, how did they hit the school? Not easy peeling things from train tracks. I'm missing something. I'm sure. I nudge Sarah, then shake my head, trying - and I'm successful I think - in sending a 'no need to gossip' message.

She nods and we go back to our meal. It'll all come out sooner or later. I prefer it to come from the source, though.

Some hours later - after dinner, announcements, a headache from the school song and getting Flitwicks attention - I'm in his office. I've just finished recounting to him what I did over the summer - almost completely unedited.

"Really, though, after arriving today, I saw professor Reagan. What can you tell me about him? He has a… presence." I tell him, and he smiles.

"Gaelin, along with his wife Rickie and a number of other staff came over in the inter-school trade eight years ago! It's all a test to make sure we're staying equal in power and skill. ICW and all that. The professors we got in that trade are all exceptional people!" He says cheerily, before he pulls a paper out of his stack on the desk, writing while talking.

"Gaelin, his wife and Rickie Vantor - the one who teaches NEWT Charms - they're the strongest of the teachers to come over. Gaelin grew up in a civil war, and as such his skill and knowledge of combat-transfiguration is second only to Dumbledore, I think. His normal Transfiguration skill is also well beyond anyone but Minerva or, again, Dumbledore. The man is something of a legend in eastern Europe and the near-east. When he was just 22 he ended the civil war in his home country, and retired from the army to teach. His academy having been destroyed, he chose to teach in Durmstrang. He taught there for four years and then was transferred here. Outside of that, it's all personal, and you'd need to seek him out yourself. I can say, his aura is a result of his bloodline." He tells me, and I nod. Of course he'd say it's a bloodline, and not a divine boon. If it was a bloodline based boon, then that's fair.

Something tells me it isn't though. He has a title, not a perk.

"Huh." I say, focusing in. "I'll have to ask him for some tips, then. I have issues with battle-transfiguration. Say, do you know if his wife has an Alchemy class this year, and if not, if I could join in her advanced classes?" I ask. Flitwick smiles the predatory smile he uses when he's about to kick my ass in a duel.

"She has no Alchemy this year or next, she's confirmed. She will be teaching warding basics this year, and then applied combat magic next year. Anyone is welcome to show up, though usually no more than a handful ever do." He tells me, and my eyes go wide.

"Wait, those rumors of her being selective?" I ask, and he laughs.

"She circulates those to make sure the meek and undeserving don't come looking for her secrets. She only teaches those who have the ability to stand up to her, but also know when to gracefully concede they are outmatched. She isn't the wife of the Great Monolith for no reason." He says and I blink.

That's obvious bait. A title.

"Interesting. And Liliana? You don't teach NEWT charms? That's a surprise…" I mutter. He nods.

"Liliana isn't as knowledgeable as I am, but she's younger, prettier, faster, and more skilled than I am with what she does know. She's all-in-all the better teacher for the subject at that level. She can manipulate magic in a way I just don't understand. I'm not afraid to admit if she applied herself to combat - she'd be better than I ever was in dueling. She seems much more interested in supportive magic though. Wards, complex spell chains which achieve extremely niche but useful things… she's better than me at that stuff. I'm better at… everything else charms related, though." He says. I nod. I'll really need to look them up, sometime. Go chat and see if they're willing to offer me little tasks to improve myself.

"Thanks!" I chirp. "Did you have any questions for me?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"No, no. I have your schedule, if you'd like it?" He asks, holding out another paper from his stack, I nod, and take it.

As I do the world stops.

You have selected 3 electives -

Care of Magical Creatures

Arithmancy

Study of Ancient Runes.

These will leave you with many career opportunities, but which are you looking to achieve?

Following this is a long list of job names which I can get with these electives. I select the one I want -

Curse-Breaker Selected - Are you certain this is the job you're aiming for? Once selected you can never re-select.

I confirm the choice. Yes I want that. It encompasses every field I want to be good in. Defense. Warding, breaking wards, charms, transfiguration, ritual, healing… the list goes on.

You've selected one of the 7 most difficult jobs in the world!

To get the goal, you must achieve the following in the next 10 years -

EE or O in the NEWT level of the following subjects -

Magical Control

Occlumency

Magical Theory

…

The list has a ton of items on it. Only one surprise was on the list- something I've not come across yet. It was optional, but still, a surprise.

Ley-Magical Theory.

I have no idea what that is… I'll look it up later.

With that selected and acknowledging I knew what I was getting into, it produced a quest -

Career Quest -

Qualifications.

Objectives -

Get your Qualifications for becoming a Curse Breaker within 10 years.

Bonus Objectives -

Finish the Academy in 1 year.

Achieve a Mastery in any of the subjects required.

Failure -

You don't get your Dream Job.

Potential Death.

Oh, wonderful! Well, the job is a bit dangerous… As I finished reading that, the world unpaused and Flitwick smiles, softer than normal.

"If you need any help with getting ready for your dream job, let me know. Very few Hogwarts Graduates have made it into the Academy for Curse-Breaking after graduation. In fact, I can only think of three who've gone from Hogwarts to the Academy instantly. It was in spite of the odds. The academy is the most demanding to get into, though by all means it's the easiest to pass once you're in. At least, according to the graduation record - 98% in the last 100 years. The other academies are all in the 80's or lower." He tells me. I blink.

I hadn't realized. I knew it was hard getting in, but not that hard…

"Thanks for the offer. I'm certainly taking you up on it when I master everything I think I can myself, or if I slow down at all. I'll need to make the most of every minute of every day." I tell him, he nods.

"Good luck, Miss Hawthorne." He says, offering me a hand, which I shake firmly, then get up to leave.

"Thank you. I may just need that luck." I tell him, then get on up to my room, which Sarah and I agreed we'd just share permanently. It just works out best this way.

Back in my room, I looked over my class schedule. Aside from Charms, I don't have the head of any department teaching me this year. Indeed - every class is like this. I pass my schedule to Sarah, who's schedule should be the same, seeing as we literally picked the same classes.

"I'm excited for a change in teaching style. A lot of them were getting stale - I've pretty well figured out all their tips, by now. The little tricks." Sarah mutters, looking over the list. "Well, the ones they'll teach publicly." She says. I nod.

"Type 1" Days are early starts - all weekdays are, now.

Arithmancy, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Astronomy We start class at 8am and end at 5pm.

"Type 2" Days are similar length -

Runes, Charms, Transfiguration, DADA, and History. We start at 9am, though, and finish at 4:30, then have Astronomy in the 10pm-11:30 block.

Flitwick had helpfully annotated that Advanced 7th year classes take place at 6pm on "Type 1" days, on the top floor of the electives wing.

"Really, I hope that we can keep up having enough time to practice in private. I'm sure there are going to be piles of work to do, and there is a notable increase in actual casting which is done this year." I say, she nods.

"I suppose it could be worse, though. Some classes - like divination - are a lot more theory, especially if you don't have the gift. I know it's geared towards those who don't have it, so they can determine basic facts using magic and determine true prophecy if they see one, but… kinda useless? And a lot of work." She says. I nod, again.

"Yea, it could be worse. I agree, there." I mutter, then speak up. "That aside, I think we'll be okay, as long as we use the homework-spells. There's more than a few different iterations of 'auto-complete my homework' spells, which are beyond useful. We just need to figure out which one works best for us." I say and she giggles.

"I think that's cheating!" She says grabbing a pillow. I raise an eyebrow.

"Only cheating if we're caught. I know for a fact a lot of OWL+ students have discovered or made their own version of the spell." I reply, grabbing my own pillow in case she decides to incite Armageddon in our room.

If she does, I'll make sure she regrets it.

"Oh, and what if we're caught?" She asks, shaking the pillow, threateningly.

"Then we show them the arithmetic work and prove we actually understand and have to put thought into answering the work, and if we don't know the question isn't answered? It's not cheating, really. It's just a much faster way of filling out worksheets." I tell her, brandishing my own pillow.

If she wants to go down, I'll take her down.

"I'm sure they'd understand." She says with a biting bit of sarcasm. I giggle.

"You'd be surprised. Also, if you aren't spending five hours a week doing homework, you're spending five hours a week doing advanced studies and growing yourself. They'll not look down on that." I say, and that's the straw which breaks the camel's back.

Sarah takes a swing - and we both wind up down within minutes.

"Yea, I just don't want the others getting jealous." She mutters. I sigh.

"Then we show them how to make their own. It seems like it's different for every person in some way. We'll explain everyone needs to make their own, since every person works different and the spell is super specific." I elaborate. "Fifty hours of work now will save a thousand hours of work later. Probably more." I finished my thought. She nods.

"Do you think it could work for paperwork, too? Like banking forms and stuff?" She asks. I blink.

Of course it could. Why is paperwork such a hassle in the ministry, then?

"Should work, yea." I mutter, before picking myself up off the floor and trudging over to the dresser, pulling off my clothes as I go.

"Bedtime?" She asks. I hum a response as I pull out my night-shirt and toss it on, before throwing myself into bed.

"Come." I mutter, patting the bed, she sighs.

"You know I'm not as quick as you are to just strip. Just give me a minute." She sighs, going and carefully picking out her outfit, then changing pretty quickly. It's a nice, dark blue, two piece set. A dark blue, how Ravenclaw.

My first classes were very mundane. Nothing of note happened. A course overview, some light homework to help get you back into the swing - or pick up the subject. All of my first classes were easy, in short.

So I was going to the seminar. I found the room pretty easily. Rickie Vantor, the wife of Gaelin, though, didn't look how one might think the wife of such a figure might.

Where he is dark - dark hair, eyes and clothes, she is bright. Almost white-blonde. Eyes which are oddly blue, almost cyan. She is also small - five-foot four. Flawless well maintained skin, where he is rugged.

Looking more closely I see that's wrong - she has scars, but they somehow add to her appeal. You can clearly see, at the edge of her top (a normal, muggle affair. Rather fashionable, actually) is a scar, from some kind of blade. Her ears are also slightly misshapen, from what I assume is combat. She wears her hair swept back over her left ear, and her right side is allowed to drape in front of her face.

Basically? I would say, out of 100 possible points, she is somewhere in the nineties, by the standards of modern beauty.

I don't miss that while I examine her, she does the same to me. I skim her bio.

Rickie Vantor

Archmage

?

?

?

Just like her husband. Never seen someone with the 'Archmage' title, before… I'll read that later.

"Odd. I've never had anyone come to a seminar before they were in OWL year. I've heard plenty of good things though, miss Hawthorne. I expect much." She addresses me, while the other two students present (both 6th year Slytherin students) blink in shock.

"Of course, ma'm." I say, taking a seat. "I find my peers learn material a bit slower than I, and Flitwick suggested I try this out, after he worked with me for a time. I hope to learn much here." I say - it's all truthful, after all.

"Very good. We'll be going over the basics of laying wards until I get tired of that. Then we'll be going over whatever I please. I tend to bounce around if no one is taking Alchemy. If you have any subjects of interest -" she pauses to address the now five people in the room, aside from herself - "Bring them to me. I may decide that they're worth going over, and won't bore me dreadfully." She finishes, then a clock in the corner dings and she snaps, and the door closes and audibly locks.

"The first thing you ought to know about warding is that it's not too different from using a normal defensive spell. You have to have the intent. Instead of wand, though, you use runes. If you put those runes on magically conductive materials, then you'll get the best results. The best materials come from Alchemy, of course, but you'd have to take that course to learn more, sadly all but one of you have already lost that chance." She begins the lecture, and I begin writing my notes.

She doesn't slow down much the entire hour she lectures. It's clearly a well prepared speech, one she's given before. "... that is all you need to know about the basics of warding. If you want to learn more about what I lectured on, I recommend Maximilan Potter's guide to the Warding arts. He describes it rather well for a beginners first look into it. From there, should you have time for another book, look up 'Ley Magic for the Uninitiated". It's the best book for teaching how to detect wards and, indeed, ley lines on which they sit. If you have questions about my lecture, you may stay. Otherwise, dismissed!" she finishes, waving her hand, and with a bang the door opens and most of the students scurry out.

I and one Hufflepuff stay behind. I let them go first, as they're a NEWT student, and they have less time. It's a clarification on the exact positioning and magnitude of wards. They quickly get confirmation on their hypothesis and quickly leave.

"And you, Miss Hawthorne?" She asks, turning to me as the Hufflepuff gets going. I smile.

"Well, I was curious. If wards are about intent, and you use runes instead of wands, then is there an equivalent to wandless casting? Wordless, wandless casting? It's an interesting distinction you'd made." I say, and she tilts her head.

"Most people don't ask questions like that until they've taken a few courses in proper ward creation or destruction. The magical theory for both parts is complex, but in short, yes. You can. It's just they latch to your magic instead of the magic of the world. The wards are temporarily made. Most Aurors learn anti-apparition and portkey wards, for example. They don't carry a rune-block. They use their wand as a crutch to raise the ward. Skilled enough practitioners have managed it wandless, though." She explains swiftly, then smiles a bit scarily at me. I gulp, and then ask my next question.

"This isn't directly related to the subject lectured on, but it is tangentially related. How would you break a ward on each order of magnitude? Do you have any books I could look up on? I'm looking to become a curse-breaker, after all, and having some references would be good." I go for it, and her smile turns absolutely monstrous.

"We'll cover that in three weeks, but yes, read those first two books I told you about, then read Myron Mathuana's 'notes' on Ward Deconstruction. She's probably the best at taking things like that apart, at least which I know of with any work I can share. Her books are good at explaining the concepts, at least. When I say 'notes' - I mean a 3-part series with over 500 pages each. Do be careful with them, since they're rare. I made and donated a copy to the school from my library, since it's probably the only good foundation in modern times for such a profession, outside of apprenticeship." She lectures, and I write down what she says.

"Wonderful. Now, I think I have some books to read, and some training to do. After all, one does not grow strong from staying idle." I say, popping up off the desk I'd been sitting on, and walking to the door.

"Oh, Miss Hawthorne?" She says, as I'm about to get the door (which I didn't realize had closed) I half turn, to show I'm listening.

"I don't know the exact magical technique you used to scry me, but be careful with whom you scry in such a way. Not everyone is as… accepting as me and my husband on such things. In the school I can say Liliana at least would probably scramble your brain if you tried. Not literally, but the information you get back would likely result in a migraine, since she can, and does, scramble all attempts to divine anything about her, automatically. Also. Don't share what you find out about us with that ability. I doubt you've got much, but I prefer to get to know people the old fashioned way." She says, her predatory smile dropping to a much more… comfortable smile. I suddenly feel a massive presence in front of me.

She's awakened? How does she hide it? Quickly as it appears it vanishes, though. I blink in shock. Her comfortable smile seems downright pleased.

She knows she's hooked me utterly.

"Now, run along. I have dinner to eat and a husband to help. The students are never ready for him, and it's always such a disappointment," she sighs, and I numbly walk out of the room.

No wonder her husband had been looking at me so oddly. They could detect my observations of them. A type of scrying, huh? I suppose it is. Though, like she said, I didn't get much out of her. Wouldn't doubt he's awakened, too.

How are they hiding it?

Even though I've found I can see most of the details for any non-head of house or NEWT level teacher. I suppose it makes sense... There is a certain level of mastery needed to teach basics, the Pre-Owl stuff, and another entirely to teach the advanced stuff - Post OWL level magic.

And the heads of houses and departments are obviously the best of their peers at any given subject…

Anyways - that title I could see?

Archmage -

You've mastered magic in more ways than most could dream. You know more about magic, and how to work with it or around it. You're recognized as a master in at least five fields, and likely have mastered many more. A real Arch-Mage.

+50% Learning all new magic.

+25% Magic effectiveness.

Unlocks additional prodigy-tier perks.

So… really good at magic? Without the 'prodigy' perk. And she's only in her 30's. How the hell does that even happen? Also - I see the verbiage there recognized Master. Which means probably somewhere in the 90's to 100's in terms of skill level.

This is something to research down the line, maybe.

If I'm lucky we'll get close enough that she'll just tell me about herself. That'd be preferable. After all if she knows how to detect and block my checks and generally what's going on, mechanically, then I don't know if I can trust the information supplied…

Interestingly, at the end of the first week, after I'd finished refining all the stuff we learned that week, and asked for a direction to become the best curse breaker in the world, the room took a few seconds to generate the room for me. While it did that I felt something - likely the magic of the school itself - look at me.

The room was unique, when I opened the door.

The tapestries were a rich blue and shiny bronze - Ravenclaw colors. There were three bookshelves with seven shelves on it. There were thirteen books on each shelf. Each shelf had a label - a different subject. Furthest left was a book I knew - usually something which is at, or just beyond, my level in the skill on offer. The last of the thirteen books had very scary titles. IE the one for Charms. "Haradin's Theorems of Magical Inconsistencies and How to Exploit Them; Grandmaster's Thesis." Observe told me a little else about the book, just that the author was the arguably best grandmaster of charms to ever enter the school. His theorems and the concepts in the book are the groundwork for every advanced charm you can think of. If you're going to make a spell which can compete with the likes of a Patronus, then you need to know this stuff.

The twenty-one subjects represented were the ones dealing with magic. The six missing subjects from the room I was told I had to master were ones I was already a "master" in. Social skills, Magical Theory, etc.

I decided to start with Charms. I'm going to get the average to level 60 and then move on to DADA, then Transfiguration, then Potions.

Also, I suppose I should dedicate Friday Evenings to helping Madame Pomphrey in the infirmary, too. Having an unofficial apprenticeship in Healing to grind my skills against will surely help. This may hurt my overall progression into curse-breaking, but knowing how to heal magical burns, clean wounds, and other general medical things will likely save my life at some point.

And the Original Aubrey - who's name I use now - was probably the best healer I ever knew. It's a good way to pay back an old friend for being such a good soul to me. Healing is a section in the room, anyways.

"Which books of these are relevant to becoming a Ward-Master?" I ask, and a number of the books - basically all of them - glow faintly. All of the first few books from every discipline, at least.

So I guess I'll bring Sarah here, so we can work together on this stuff. Maybe Cedric and Adrian, too. It will be good to have a… solid group to train with. Four is a good number because it's two pairs, yet not unwieldy.

I suppose the easiest way to show them the room is to give them a private concert, which has become more and more common with my friends as time goes on. I'd go wrangle a few and play some pieces I'm working on.

Adrian had clearly done research on violin music after a few of these, and has since begun actually critiquing me, and giving genuinely helpful advice. I think he may be using an outside assistant for it, maybe sharing memories of them with a family member or something. He still is rather clueless about some of the more specific things on violin music only a real player would know, and it's kinda telling.

Aside from those three… I can't think of any others who I trust to really keep the secret. No offence to our Gryffindor friends, but they can't keep things secret between themselves. Most of the Gryffindor house knew about our study group, and we'd had a number of people looking to join this year.

I may just start a study-club, where advanced volunteers can offer help with a subject for prizes. I'm thinking something like pocket money or useless junk I don't want from Dungeons, which they may want to use. I've run into duplicates of some books which I'm sure aren't in the Library in some dungeons when they repopulate. I clean them out because it's a good way to test myself in live combat.

Even if the dungeons don't offer XP anymore. And haven't for over a year. I suppose I could probably do a top-level skim of the forest to test it for a dungeon or two, but it would require stealth and speed so I don't get caught.

Thoughts for another time, though. For now, I'll focus on my magic. I'll get those to be 'good'.

In my brain I have 3 'levels of competence' right now. They are beginner, intermediate and advanced. I want to be 'advanced' in as many things as I can be which my job of choice requires. Working up to that will likely take time. 'Advanced' is level 80+ in the skill in question. I think such a level would be where I can actually handle pretty much any material, not really anything, but the vast majority of all. If you can't handle it and you've hit that level, then it's probably something you need to be a specialist to handle - which I plan to reach the level of, anyways.

But that is not the goal this year. Not at all. Now is about being able to survive general-life-situations. I need to be abnormal in my ability to survive. That's the first job of a Curse-Breaker, after all.

AN: To head off questions - the skills she must master are as follows -

DADA, Ward Breaking, Magical Theory, Ancient Studies, Healing, Dueling, Occlumency, At least 3 Languages, Investigation, Survival, Acrobatics and Athletics

The list of all recommended skills is as follows. There are duplicates on the mandated list and the recommended list. I didn't list everything I could think of. Alchemy, Advanced Arithmetic Studies, Technomancy, etc. There are a LOT of things I didn't list, I only put down what I thought was best. -

Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Herbology, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Apparition, Ancient Studies, Rituals, Ley Magic, Magical Theory, Warding, Ward Breaking, Magic-Detection, Occlumency, Enchanting, Healing, Dueling, Legilimency, Mage Sight, Dark Arts, Primal Arts, Divine Magical Theory, Neutral Arts, Chaos Magical Theory, Perception, Insight, Acrobatics, Any 3 Languages, Mathematics, Muggle History, Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, Lie-Detection, Etiquette, Investigation,

She has most of them. She does not have Ley Magic, Dark Arts, Primal Arts, etc. as those are pretty rare and she hasn't looked into them yet. Maybe year 5.