AN: So - I'll publicly address the complaints which came up in the last chapter. Primarily around Harry's stats/growth not making sense.

He literally has +2 to every stat per level. +3 or +4 in some cases. On top of that he has a stupidly high growth rate (like Aubrey) and she already knows what will work. She doesn't have to do any guessing in his training like what she did for herself - so it's more efficient. He was already statistically comparable to her, just about a year behind (like he should be). She changed this by making him do more intense workouts, and considering his insane growth rate, which is the same as hers, since they have the same base modifier, well.

Yea. He's not going to make sense in a traditional way, neither will she.

The other issue was with the 'why'. Why would she do this? Well, look at it from her perspective! She needs someone who can push her, and the only person she knows who may be able to do this and gets along with in her age-group is Harry. He's just been slacking because he didn't feel the need to go and get powerful.

He won't say no to a leg-up though.

She's doing this to, in the end, make herself more powerful. She wants to use Harry as a measuring stick, and push herself - and him - further than the other Prodigies. Once he is her equal, they can go and learn their own things, and become different, but for now, they have to be equals (at least statistically) for there to be any hope of them getting a rivalry. Once they're equals, though, and they develop their skill sets, then they'll be good rivals.

She knows all of this and has planned around all of it. All of her plans and actions are intended to reap maximum long-term-benefits. Think long, long term. We all know what Harry comes out like in canon, and what fanon tends to portray him as. I'm just taking that up a notch into my systems, and showing how he did things. I'm not elaborately explaining his day-to-day growth, but you can assume it's not very easy.

Thanks for coming to my ted-talk. If I missed anything, feel free to DM me and I'll explain further for you.

Have a good chapter.

Alright - so the Winter tournament.

It's not like I think I'll fail to get top two here, irrespective of the fact only the top 128 from the World Tournament who still fell within the age bracket for U-17 dueling.

I genuinely think I'm better and more skilled with all kinds of magic than anyone but Fleur, who has more practical experience and more raw skill with the dueling style.

After all - I'm only at my level in theory, I've yet to practice at the level I have theoretically attained, meaning that I'm probably actually a bit stunted. Who knows how long it'll take to fully embody my skill level fully?

"... is Jacqois Morris of France. Rank 127, you shouldn't see much trouble here. Any questions?" Flitiwick finishes, and I shake my head.

"Honestly, I think I'll win or finish second." I tell Flitwick boldly. "The Delacour girl is the only person who's a major threat, by your own assessments. Do you think we can set up some serious sparring time with her? I'd like to get more than a victory out of this - I'd like to improve as much as I can." I respond, and he nods happily in agreement.

"Of course! I'll see about setting you up with some of the Mentors, as well. A few reviews of our duels should be enough to convince them…"

And with that, we go onto what the various mentors duel like, and who he thinks I'll learn the most from. We get through a few, before we get to anyone interesting.

"Alvian Mourne. He's a power and speed based duelist - hit hard and hit fast. It's a basic strategy, but… well. He broke convention and chose not to focus on offence. He's a purely defensive and countering style. The only way people can beat him is by outpacing him or overpowering him. His mastery of counterspells and general magical theory is probably the greatest I've ever seen, aside from our headmaster. He's broken alchemical transmutation arrays and lost-magic in a duel just from seeing them cast. He often admits to not knowing what spells his opponents are casting, and instead he just breaks the magic through his skill and knowledge of how spells work based on casting and look under mage sight." He explains. This is the fifth mentor, and he sounds really interesting.

"Does he have a ranking?" I ask and Flitwick hesitantly nods.

"Seventh, right now. He's not duelled in a while, officially. Getting up there in age."

"Why doesn't he duel?"

"Training, he says. Teaching others and training himself. As I remember it - he won't duel until someone knocks him out of his top-ten position. Or impresses him enough for him to come back." As Flitwick says this he leans back in his chair, snaps his fingers and a pile of papers appears on the desk. "Really, I think he's probably in the top-three globally in dueling, but just doesn't care to show up. What's the point of showing up when you know no-one else will be able to beat you? It's just boring to him." Flitwick comments. I nod quietly.

"I'll look him up when I have some more time, I guess." I murmur. Flitwick smiles.

"See that you do! Now, the next mentor…"

We continued on the thread for another 30 minutes or so, roughly, before Flitwick motioned the meeting to an end, and sent me off to pack.

We leave in the morning, and since I've already taken my end-of-semester tests, I'm free to go under his supervision.

But I'll get interrogated by Sarah for forgetting to tell her about this, sooner.

Oops.

I opened the door to our shared room to find it in the normal-pristine state we tend to keep it in. Sarah is quietly working at the desk - focused on some project or another.

"Hey," I start, moving over to the bed and pulling out my trunk. "I don't really know how to say something like this and have it come out as something good, so, uh, I'll say it I guess? I can't be here for the Holidays this year. I have a big tournament with Flitwick, and I'd honestly forgotten until he reminded me just now. We leave in the morning and probably won't be back for a couple weeks." I tell her, quietly, before glancing up to see her looking over to me.

She does look a little annoyed, a little sad and mostly just tired.

"It's fine." She says with a sigh. I feel immediately worse. "This year's been really busy for you - there's almost no time where we can just hang out anymore…" She trails off. I nod, feeling (and hopefully showing) how I regret the fact. "Maybe this summer we'll have more time?" She asks, a bit hopeful. I nod, firmly.

"I just have my personal therapy and then all of my training… I don't really have time to do things outside of it. I really wish I did though. But… I have a bad feeling. Something is coming and I don't want to be caught flat-footed…" I trail off, and she lets out a sigh, at that.

"I know you feel like something is coming, but you don't know what, or when or how. I honestly don't know why you feel the need to drive yourself into the ground like this? I get you need to feel in control of your life, but… isn't this just a bit much?" She asks in an almost pleading voice.

This isn't the first time the subject has come up - and I don't think it will be the last. Unless?

"How good is your Occlumency?" I ask, for the second time this year. I've not personally checked recently for want of privacy.

"Very good. I don't think my shielding can be improved, or my skill at deflection. Why?" She asks, seemingly suspicious at the change of direction.

"I want to test that, and if you're actually, really good, I'll share with you what's going on. Mind-to-mind." I tell her flatly, and she suddenly seems a bit nervous, but excited.

"Sure, test on!" She chirps, nodding consent. I wordlessly lock eyes and begin my probe.

Her defences are honestly very impressive. I don't find any weaknesses, though with my skill that's not too surprising.

So I slam her defences with a ram of pure magic.

It bounces off. I smile, pleased, and submerge it in an ocean of magical power and try to crush it with pressure.

This failing, I nod.

"You are good enough. Feel free to open up when you want." I tell her, aloud. Instantly the shield strips away, and I open the set of knowledge I want her to have.

Specifically about how many wars I've fought in, with a rough idea of what they looked like. Then the knowledge that a war is coming for us, and I distinctly feel unready for it. Above-average in most manners or not, I don't think I'll live if I'm not better than I am. I make sure this is very clear - all of my uneasiness and general worry about the situation and the issues I've been facing.

I rapidly find myself on the bed getting cuddles. I get a feeling of total acceptance and caring completely smothering me in the peer-to-peer connection we share, right now.

I choose to ignore the system notification. I'll go over all of the stuff from today when I'm not in this situation.

Well, I will when I wake up.

I wouldn't realize I'd fallen asleep crying until the next morning, or that I failed to have a single nightmare, regardless.

The notifications I'd gotten and ignored yesterday were pretty important, turns out.

For reaching an average of 200 in every stat - you've earned this title!

Peak Human.

You're the pinnacle of a 'jack of all trades'. You're just good at everything. You're stronger than most will ever be, faster, tougher, more flexible and with better control… Yea. You're actually pretty well beyond 'average' people - and what they could ever hope to be.

They can detect this. +1 to reputation with people who respect power.

-1 reputation to people who fear or hate people with power over them.

Further, as long as the average remains above 200, you gain stat points in your lowest stat twice as fast as you otherwise would. Right now this is (STR).

For establishing an empathic link - and upgrading it to a telepathic bond - a skill has been changed, and you've been given a title.

Occlumency+Legilimency - Mind Magic.

Your average skill level in the skills has been added to the Mind Magic Skill.

Mind Magic (i) (200)

Title - Mind Mage (Triggered) (Adept)

You are a mind mage. You can detect, very roughly, what people are feeling if you focus on them. You can passively feel the minds of other people near you if you focus or go looking for them as well.

With time you can improve this skill in various ways, up to passively reading the surface thoughts of everyone within a few-hundred-meters while actively tracking them, or actually eating the whole of their mind and taking all their knowledge and skills with it.

It is warned that since you are not a NATURAL mind mage, you should NOT seek to maximize this gift! It will result in permanent damage to the mind and soul, as you are NOT designed to withstand such vast quantities of information at a time. Therefore, even attempting it can and will result in damage, unless something is done to filter or otherwise stop the information overload.

The rest of the notifications are telling me the limits of the human body - since I'm closing in on them. 250 in physical stats (below the age of 18) and 300-350, depending on the person (above 18).

The cap is 1000 for mental stats. Rituals and other things can change these upper-limits, though. The most important knowledge is that actually getting above 300 in a stat is very hard.

Apparently they grow at half-speed for every 100 points past 300. Babbling's 500 int and Wis are VERY impressive, now.

She's what? Thirty? Less? Inspirational, that's what she is. How hard has she worked? I doubt, even with that work-ethic she'll ever break 650. She's actually working, from what I've seen, about a point per month right now. Unless something happens where she gets a lot of points very fast, I doubt much will change.

All of that aside - roll out of bed, clean up and then finish packing. I do it manually so I can be reasonable when I show up to Flitwick's office.

It is only five-am after all.

Despite my slow-packing, I wind up at his office by five-fourty, and before I even knock the door is opened and I'm admitted to Flitwicks room. He's sitting at his desk grading - or that's what it looks like - as I enter.

"Ready?" He asks, not looking up. I hum a positive note, and he nods, pulling a thin chain out of his breast-pocket. "This'll be the portkey. Just need to finish this last bit of pre-break work, then we're free to go." He murmurs, and I nod, taking a seat.

"Where're we going?" I ask, flipping my hair so I can get to properly braiding it again. It'd been awhile since I did this, and it's relaxing to come back to the simple motions.

"This year - as you know - is Italy. We'll be going to Venice. The spring tournament is in San Marino and the World-Cup in the summer is, of course, in Rome." He responds as he flips the paper over to complete the back.

"Well, is there anything I should do while down there? It'll be a bit over a week, and I'm not dueling every day I think. Single elimination, and all that." I murmur, and he nods.

"Yes, in fact. We're going to go see some of the older magic shops in Europe. They're mostly viewed as novelty, but they do have some use. The magic - as it gets older - is harder to do. The reason is it has less and less structure to it. The lack of structure provides less guidance for mana, which requires more control, shaping skill and general ability with magic. The current system is easier and better for learning than the systems of the bygone ages." He tells me before looking up from the paper. "But for a skilled or good enough mage, learning the tricks of the ancients is a must - it's how you get any spell variation or such. They're the base of the trees which make up the schools of magic."

"You mention Mana-Shaping, separately from control. That's interesting - the mentions I find of it are all linked together. Can you explain why you're calling them out as distinct?" I ask the only part of that I'd not understood instantly.

"Mana shaping is the physical shape of the spell. This is not control of mana, though they're linked they're not the same. Making a shape - or shapes - with one expression of mana does require control, but also requires high ability to properly shape the mana. The trick I use is to levitate a dozen quills while lighting and extinguishing a flame on their tips, and shaping a ball of water in the middle of the 12 floating quills into a frog, eel, monkey, elephant and snake, then back to a ball. I do this for 30 minutes every week. There are ones which require more mana-shaping skill, but those come from far-out east. If you're interested, I can see if any of the duelers who come out from the east have any books they'd be willing to share."

"That would be nice. I prefer to have absolute control, and if I can work on that after I get some skill in power-casting, then it'd be very valuable to my time." I agree. He smiles slightly as I mention power-casting.

"And how is the power-casting coming?" He asks as he finishes the paper he's grading. I shrug.

I've been at it for a few weeks and my skill in dueling - and indeed most spellcasting - has almost doubled.

Spells I'd have to chant for now require no chant. Spells which I couldn't cast before I can now do with a chant.

Power-casting does a few things when you train it. You increase the size of the mana-circulatory system in your body and / or the density of the mana in your system. Doing either results in spells becoming easier to cast. If you have extremely fine - near perfect - control like I do, well. You can feel the density and channels changing.

In a few weeks of practice, I've seen a 30% increase in my mana system's size and my density has gone up by a comparable amount. I have no doubt this is due to my many perks which are doubling my learning speed for power-casting, and once I get it to the level it should be at, I'll slow way, way down.

The skill itself is at level 38, right now. Like Wanded Magic, it increases the effectiveness of the spells I cast, but it becomes more and more effective the more mana the spell takes.

"Better than I thought it would. I think I've seen a decent increase in my abilities for focusing on it. I'm still glad I did my control stuff, first, though." I reply evenly as my shoulders come out of the shrug. No need to lie, but still.

If I didn't remind him I was happy with my placement he was sure to tease me about waiting so long.

"Bah. You're ready though?" He asks dismissively. I nod, and finish off my braid.

It's not all the way through, but I can be forgiven for the ends being loose. I'll just tie them off, and… there we go.

Now, hair all sorted, I walk over to Flitwick and accept the chain he's offering.

"The Winter Cup." He intones, and the world becomes a blur.

The Winter Cup looks like it's about to be boring, if I'm being honest.

My first opponent - and second, and third, all the way until the finals will probably be super far below my skill level.

This is not to say they are categorically bad duelists, this is me saying I've accidentally become the best U-17 by having direct access to and the ability to manage the systems which direct how good we are at things at a base level.

So I know what works, probably a bit too well, and inherent abuse of the system is a bit rampant. It's mortal nature to see something is working tangentially and just keep doing it over and over and over to really wring it of use, or if you find something which makes doing it better, you just do it that way.

Rinse, repeat- every time. For everything.

I can see the temptation to actively abuse it, I guess, but I believe the system when it tells me I'll be ruined if I try to do that. So I just won't.

Though I wouldn't mind losing it. I get how it works. Objectives which mark major achievements or goals in life give Quests which give XP which progresses your overall skill and power. That unlocks new objectives for more skill and power. And so on.

Stats are super straightforward.

But I'm off track - the cup is going to be boring, and the only thing I'm looking forward to - well there's three things.

First is shopping in Italy with Alessa and Fleur. Second is dueling Fleur, and last is finding good sparring partners which I can use to increase the variety in my routine and work out a more well rounded and complex style.

So we arrive in Italy in the wee hours of the morning - going through customs and having a day to prep and/or shop sounds good.

Day one was the middle of the pack matches and kind of the warm up and test for the big name duels. Day two was the start of the big names - the top 16 - and then day three is a day off. Day four and day five are more eliminations, then a day off for Christmas, and day seven is quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals the next day. We're given a day off while they prep the arena for the finals, on day 10.

Then Flitwick promised two days extra down here, and returning to Hogwarts on the First of the New Year. Something about needing to meet some old friends while he's here.

So, nothing I need to worry about. I quickly unpack my stuff in my assigned room - a fairly basic hotel room. Not the extravagance I had last time, but still pretty nice. Fancy bath-robe in my room was nice.

But I want to spend some time with Fleur and Alessa, so I quickly (as I can) bid Flitwick farewell and go to hunt them down.

It doesn't take too long. Alessa - who lives in-country - is bouncing around a bleary-eyed Fleur, who looks like she probably just got here. Except she has no luggage, so maybe it's better to say 'just woke up', instead.

Even as tired as she looks, she's still stupidly pretty. Cheating Veela genes, I tell you.

"Ah, I see you're already caught up?" I ask, as I approach. Alessa happily bounces over to give me a hug, which I happily return as Fleur gives me the stink-eye.

"Yes. Where do you two get your energy…? I do not know." Fleur ventures while Alessa squeezes me a little.

"Well, not everyone stayed up until two a.m. making eyes at boys, you know?" Alessa counters, then giggles as Fleur growls.

"And how would you even know that?" She reposts as I pull out of the hug, and Alessa whirls to face her, teasing Fleur with a grin on her face.

"You weren't hiding it so well and people talk - you just have to listen. He's a complete bozo anyways - it doesn't matter what he looks like. He has no resistance to any ladies charms. Not worth it!" Alessa snaps back and I feel immensely entertained watching the verbal sparring back and forth.

How I've missed this. Just… ah.

"Shopping?" I ask, breaking in as Fleur goes for her wand - likely to hex Alessa. After Alessa is rolling on the ground with uncontrollable laughter, Fleur nods and we get ready to go. Alessa, still giggling from the tickling charm, follows after a moment.

Italy has a different way of looking at magic than I've been exposed to. Without Alessa, I'd have been lost.

"There are three districts, most magical communities only have one - the normal magic spells stuff which anyone can learn if given enough time." She explains as we're walking through their magical hub. I nod along. "But that's just the thing - there are some common magical abilities which appear plenty across the world, but have innate things you can't learn, if you try. Not without insane risk. But the idea stands - people with those genes need to know how to control them. Elementalism, mind-magic, and so on - we have books on those things. I'll show you - and if you like I can get you tested." She concludes. I raise an eyebrow.

"The third section?" I ask, curiously. I'm pretty sure I'll know what I get on the 'bloodline' tests.

"Oh, most people from the rest of Europe tend to avoid it. It's an abstraction. Like the Patronus, which are based on Emotion or things which you don't control, really. Like innate alignment to magic. If your bloodline is innately dark-aligned, or you've taken part in some minor ritual of self-empowerment or whatever, then the light-magic books will be unattainable. There's even some books on the basic magic of the clergy, for people who are studying to become priests, though those are really rudimentary. The Vatican restricted a lot of those a while back, when someone got their hands on a spell for divine fire and burned down a big city," she continues, elaborating more than I really thought she would.

That explains what - or why - I was having issues finding anything more about Divine magic. Restricted by the source. Primal magic was less-hard to find for me, though that'd have to be because Gaelin, Rickie, Flitwick and a number of other professors carried books which had all kinds of primal-magic inside of them. From the basics to the absurdly advanced, but they lacked the critical theory I needed to be able to properly use them or figure them out.

Which is why I was excited a few months ago to get my primer on the Primal and Divine magics. That stuff was beyond helpful in getting a handle on the basic stuff, at least.

"I've read a bit about these things, though in France we do not call them as you do. Perhaps seeing these books would help to clarify on some things my own books fall short on?" Fleur asks her. Alessa nods.

"If anything, Italy has the deepest well of magical knowledge. It's just hard to… figure out. You need to have really solid fundamentals to properly understand what you're looking at, a lot of the time." Alessa tells us.

Suddenly it makes sense why Italy doesn't have a magical school, but is the place a lot of the advanced studies will have you go to learn more about professions after you graduate. It's the place which I'd thought was chosen because it has the best libraries in Europe - being the heart of Rome and having a lot of their magical libraries intact. I guess this, additional reasoning is good, too.

They have a wider breadth of magic, too. Not just the old stuff people used which ward-masters, curse-breakers and healers should know about if someone brings it back up in modern-day. They have all this other magic which internationally will be relevant, but not so much in most European countries which have 'modern magic'.

"I'd be interested in seeing all of the districts. I happen to know my bloodline has a few gifts, but not their full extent. The test could be good, too." I chip in. It'll also give me a good look around, to see where I can sell any of the gains I've gotten from my dungeon-delving. Some of the dungeons have useful creatures in them, which when I loot I get potions ingredients. Nothing crazy, but enough to earn me a good pile of money to spend on books…

"Sure! We can do that later, though. First up, we should go through the more modern stuff and see if you can find anything you don't have in your countries, but may be useful!" She responds, quickly showing us to the first of what I'm sure will be many, many shops.

Where I would buy many, many books. Italy has the latest from all of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. I'd be a fool not to grab what I can, when I can.

The magical world is in the past. Never forget that all roads lead to Rome, and therefore, all information, too, goes to Rome.

"Wait, how many books are you buying?" Alessa asks, seeing my steadily growing pile of shrunken tomes.

"I've got 18, today. Arabic magic is really good at detecting traps - better than anything else I've found. Also some really ingenious usage of some plants in potions form them, too. That's before I get into some of the things discussed in the Ethiopian books on War-Magic and enchanting. Also, they have the latest innovations in charms and ways to train for dueling… which I like." I reply. During the day I've come to the conclusion that I am significantly more skilled than Fleur in literal terms of skill.

At least the XP will be good?

"How might you find time to study them? I doubt you have time to read 18 tomes?"

"I can, actually, read really fast. Maybe not by the end of the tournament, but by the end of the holiday break, for sure." I boast lightly.

I'd be absorbing some of these books which were covering more advanced topics while I slowly read through the more advanced ones, before absorbing them to make sure I didn't miss anything.

"Hm?~" Alessa trails, ponderously. "Impressive skill! I wish I could read so fast!" She adds after a second.

"Family magic, probably." Fleur adds. I sigh and shrug.

"Not like I'd be able to tell you if it was." I tell her unhelpfully. No need to out myself.

"Too true. But, your secrets can stay that way - not like we need to know." She says, shrugging. I nod, and we continue on our way.

There's only ever more stores, after all.

"I managed to get you a spar with a few mentors - pending you impress them by walloping their apprentices suitably." Flitwick tells me, and I look over in surprise. Sure, I'd expected maybe one or two - Flitwick is the type to have a pile of favors to call in and using a few for advanced training doesn't seem out of place, but…

"Who, exactly?" I can't really help but to ask. I'm a bit too curious for my own good. But if I know anything it's I should know who I'm to battle.

"Alvain, specifically, was interested. The rest seem to hinge on him - for better or worse." He responds. I blink

Rank Seven? Really? "Why?" I ask. He smiles sharply.

"He wants to see if you're as prodigal as you seem or if you're just another one of those all flash, no substance types." Flitwick explains.

"And if he likes what he sees he'll probably take up a lot of my time?" I say more than ask. I get a nod.

"Temporary apprenticeship- lasting the weeks of the break and the weeks of the summer tourney were mentioned. Should you impress him? After that, he may decide to approach you at your majority to offer a full contract. He's a bit traditional like that." Flitwick continues and I keep nodding.

I know Alvain is nigh 100 years old. Old for a duelist for sure.

"And you don't plan to do the formal contract thing?" I ask more. He literally has been treating this like an apprenticeship.

"No. You don't need to sign papers. We both know there's a verbal agreement- and an unspoken one - around what I teach you. More advanced teachers are happy to pick up where I leave off. I'm a good generalist with solid foundations in every school and a fair bit of bonus knowledge on charms specially, but I'm no true specialist. Your use of the rooms of the school, your personal resources and dedication have seen you to the level of mastery." He verbally praises me while diminishing himself. "But you could be better, and while I understand the how and why, I cannot explain them well enough, as I am only aware of some of the core concepts you want to study in a theoretical way. Liliana is better for certain subsets of charms, and is eager to pick up your training when you're 'done beating up the poor children who don't know any better - not have a choice.'" he says, altering his voice so I know he's repeating her, word for word, but not mocking her.

"And Gaelin can help with Primal Magic and Rickie with the other branches of general magic, where your general knowledge and all fall short? Among other things? I'm sure there's more. Those three while at school, and only one while I'm out? Seems… lopsided? And skewed for sure towards combat experience. I get the war, but what about after? Could I get something constructive to learn? Tearing things apart is fun, but I also want to create…" I trail off - memories of hours with a need coming up.

"And what craft?" He asks a deep resonant question - which starkly contrasts how he normally speaks.

"I thought knowing how to make weapons and armor would be useful. Smiting is mostly dead, so if it's easier I'd take sewing or weaving. I'd prefer to know my way around a forge, though." I respond, giddily.

I 100% know how to sew and weave. It'd be a matter of teaching this body how for me. Smithing, though? I could change the plate armor I'd found to fit me - and keep the enchantments. And work on the other stuff I know about. The hidden caches of items and metals from when this had been a fortress and a school.

There is lots of material to work with in Hogwarts. And that crafting book? Ugh! I wanted it! The room of masters is too tempting…

"Good choice. I'll see what I can do. The smiths I know won't be nice - nor will they go easy on you because you're a girl. They'll probably make you do the harder tasks, even. You're sure, knowing that?" He asks.

Sounds like him. So a goblin smith?

"I'm certain, yea." I confirm with another bob of my head.

I must look like a bobble head.

"I'll get you the basic books, then. Memorize them by summer or you may not live to regret it. Practice if you can - though be careful. Don't do anything dumb." He tells me and I nod a last time, before he breaks out the schedule.

My first spar - then match - then spar.

Then maybe another spar with Alvain if all went well.

We'll see.

I'll be frank - my first spar was nothing to write home about. I wrapped the guy I was fighting up and took him down in the first 10 seconds. Then I did it again, and again, until finally he gave up. It wasn't a gimmick or trick.

Then my first duel? Same thing. I just pulled him down and took him out - I don't even remember his name.

The spar against the student of Alvain? A bit more memorable.

It wasn't because he was anything close to an even matchup, nor was it because I had to work hard in any way, really. It was because he successfully blocked or dispelled my opening salvo of spells. As of yet, no one has been able to do that in my age group. At all.

So it was pretty cool!

But Emma lost in the end due to not being fast, strong, or skillful enough to deny me my win.

Alvain, however, was good enough to stop me. He was just slightly faster, more skilled and had a clearly better grip on how he fights, not to mention how I wanted to fight.

I may have been more technically sound in how I duel - it was hard to tell. He clearly has more literal experience with magic and dueling than I do, and this was abundantly apparent in the duel.

Every trade went something like this -

I cast a spell to probe, he redirects it back at me, and I flick it into a trajectory to hit him with a second spell. He then dispels both, somehow using them to make shields to absorb my follow-up spells. When I commit to the attack, because the shield breaks, he turns the attack back on me, or, in the last instance, he lures me into a trap and I go down.

Literal technical skill with dueling doesn't matter when you're just outclassed, like this. Good to get this experience, now.

"You've got skill, lass." The willowy, 50-some year old tells me as he leans heavily back into his chair. I half expect him to pull out a pipe, but he doesn't.

He looks like your normal Italian Mob-Grandpa. Which is to say: scary, in-charge and very controlled. This is before we get into the finely cultured facial hair, cap, and suit he's wearing. His eyes, though, are warm and caring, which a mob boss wouldn't have, I think.

But I've not met one in this life so I'll hold that thought.

"Thank you, sir." I reply.

"You're too specialized with dealing with power casters and dominators. You're blind to counters and how they work. I can tell you spar with Flitwick and a few others who use domination styles, but that's not enough breadth to get truly skilled. You have a very solid foundation and it'd be a shame to see you waste it by directing all your effort to countering a subset of the craft. I can help with that, partially. I'll see about finding some aides to help widen the experience for you. Dueling is an art. You're painting with two colors, or playing with two strings on your harp. Your play of them is masterful, but you could be better. More." He tells me. I accept this with a long nod and then look off into the wall to my right.

"I know I'm more technically skilled than almost any master, but that same knowledge comes with the price of confidence. I need to master my skills against all types of opponents, but it's hard when people struggle so much against my style as-is. My fundamentals are too solid - I don't have to actually use my specialties at all to beat people, and it's disappointing, really. Any help is appreciated." I reply with a calm, quiet acceptance.

The reason I'm willing to listen to him is he is at least as skilled as I am in Dueling, and he's just better than I am with a wand. Faster, more sure. Better.

"It's good you're willing to admit defeat. I suppose it's good I can teach you, though whether you're as moldable as you present yourself to be is doubtable. You feel like you have certain notions which I will be unable to change. You, for lack of better term, feel like other masters. Like someone who knows what they want and how they'll get it." He opines, seemingly out of the blue. His soft voice was not changing in the slightest.

"Well, I do have a few things I won't change. I want to work illusions into my style. I want to work more elaborate spells into my style. I want to misdirect and underplay myself and my skills, that I be underestimated by those above and below me in skill. I want to maximize all of my advantages on - or off - the battlefield. If I look like a canary, who would expect me to truly be a Dragon?" I ask, and he raises an eyebrow slowly at that question.

"Who indeed?" He chuckles slowly, then continues after a moment. "It'll work once, at best. You'll get one shot to pull the trap, use it wisely. Once used everyone will be forever weary of traps around you forevermore."

"Of course. But I don't think it'll be easy to detect my real level. It's easy for skilled people to see other skilled people. How skilled is a bit harder to determine in my experience. Potentially random question, do you recommend I learn a martial art?" I ask suddenly - I want an honest opinion.

I am shocked when his soft smile turns into a much more cold thing as he raises a silencing barrier.

Now he looks exactly how I imagine a mafia-boss looks.

"Now that we're private, yes. I heartily recommend a martial art. Don't go to just any old school for that, though. Only go to where the grandmasters are. There's one or two in most countries. Go to their school and express your will to learn - they'll see you and know you've already mastered some type of combat or movement, and they'll be happy to teach you. No one reaches our level of control without discipline." He confirms my thoughts.

The true highest level practice not just dueling and gymnastics or some other skill of the like, but also martial arts?

"Any other skills I should know to not die when a war blows through?" I ask. He nods slowly.

"You can dodge fine. You can fight well with your magic. I can tell from the scars on your hands Flitwick has you working on blades, and you're interested in martial arts. I will recommend you look into picking locks and sneaking around. Thieves - though people don't like them - have a control most go green with envy for. Don't steal stuff, but practice on roomates trunks, try to surprise your friends in the halls of your school…" He trails off and I realize I've been missing out.

And this guy is almost certainly some kind of a Mafia boss.

"And? I doubt there's only four methods?" I query, and he shrugs.

"Probably more. I imagine if you played a sport to a high level, something like Football or Discus then you'd see benefit. Outside of that, I'm not sure. I think it depends on what you do and how you do it. We Europeans probably don't have the cultural perspective to understand the other methods. I know for a fact Chinese-War-Mages do something and I don't know what. Their control and power is legendary, and unreplicatable. Even by people who have categorically better blessings, from more powerful beings."

Probably ritual magic to enhance the body and grant control and power over yourself? Maybe a spiritual interaction? I know Asian magic is much more spiritually based than European stuff…

Spirit affecting physicality? I'm sure there's a book on that if it is a thing. I'll look into it.

"Interesting. I'll keep it in mind, see if I can find anything. We both know that I'll be out of range for getting too much better in the not-distant future." I comment, getting a nod.

"See that you do. You're good enough with your body when it comes to dodging and contorting. You'll hit a plateau soon. I certainly did - pushing through it can take a lot of work, but the other end tends to be well worth it. Just… I don't think it's worth the time-cost. Same with Martial arts and the sneaky-stuff. It's useful to have the skills, should I not have my wand, but the chances of that?" He shrugs to show what he thinks of those chances, before continuing. "Even then, I can do most simple charms - unlocking, sound dampening, etc. - all without my wand. So unless I'm in a pitched battle without my wand, I should be able to get it - or another foci - before I get into a fight. Then I'll be stable." He explains, it sounds good and logical. Get the power to escape or evade combat without a wand - and get out of your bindings. Then, once you're free, stealthily get the means to fight back before confronting people.

The only weakness is assassination - which seems implausible. He seems pretty paranoid - like me.

"And if they happen to put a muggle bullet out to get you? Or hire a professional to get rid of you?" I query, curious.

"Can't show all my cards, can I?" He says with a chuckle.

Fair enough.

In the end we would go back and forth - if my duel was in the evening, we'd duel first thing in the morning, and then he'd teach me why I lost and how to counter it, then adopt a different style. I'd be left a few hours before the duel to heal and recuperate.

Without potions the training schedule would be stupidly impossible. Or, I suppose, if I wasn't so much better than literally everyone else here.

But best to go in assuming they'll have a trick to beat me. Best to be sure I can win with cool headedness as opposed to bravado.