Tuesday, September 3rd, 1991, Hogwarts
The rest of Monday passed without incident, and so did Tuesday. Marcus thought Professor Flitwick's magical theory and charms were very interesting, and that instead of a thought process based on the scientific method alone, he would have to incorporate some more creative aspects such as willpower and intent in his work. In Charms, Marcus used the principles taught to him in Magical Theory to cast the Lumos charm on his first try, earning 5 points for Gryffindor along with Professor Flitwick's praise, along with a slight glare from Hermione.
During his free time on Tuesday evening Marcus went on his own for a while to explore the castle and try to find the Room of Requirements, He explored the dungeons level, the ground floor, the first, second, third (except for the corridor), fourth, fifth, and sixth levels without incident.
In the dungeons, Marcus started his journey at Professor Snape's classroom. He tried to find the entrance to the Slytherin common room but was unsure where it was other than that it was hidden behind a wall. He did, however, remember that the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room was behind a series of barrels near the kitchens, which he found. Speaking of the kitchens, Marcus found the painting with the pear and was tempted to tickle it, but he decided not to introduce himself to the house elves yet.
The ground floor had the great hall and not much else of interest to Marcus currently.
The first floor held the library and while Marcus was tempted to go in there, he knew he should get familiar with his surroundings first.
The second floor had the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets inside.
The third floor had most of the used classrooms, along with the forbidden corridor which held Fluffy.
The fourth floor was not much interest to Marcus right now, nor was the sixth. The fifth floor held the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room however, and the Gryffindor common room as well.
Eventually, Marcus reached the seventh floor and started searching around for a painting of a wizard dancing with trolls. He eventually found it and began pacing at the wall opposite it, back and forth, three times.
'I need a room to make plans to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort... I need a room to make plans to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort... I need a room to make plans to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort...'
Suddenly, a door emerged from the wall. It was made of thick oak with iron fastenings. Marcus opened the door and stepped through. The door closed behind him and disappeared.
Looking around the massive room, Marcus could see a variety of things. On one side of the room, as if the room had read his mind, there was physical training equipment and a track to run on. In the middle of the room was a dueling platform with a couple of training dummies, reminiscent of the one Lockheart and Snape dueled on in the Chamber of Secrets.
Ahead of Marcus, he saw a small flight of stairs that led to a series of bookshelves against the back wall. Climbing the stairs, Marcus a long table and some cozy chairs off to the side.
In total, Marcus counted 11 bookshelves and each bookshelf had a metal plate attached to it describing the subjects contained within.
From left to right, they were;
Dark Magic
Rituals
Ancient Runes
Charms
Mind Arts
Transfiguration
Arithmancy
Potions
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Spell Creation
Journals
Marcus, not sure where to start, decided to head into the mind arts section. In this section, he found a volume titled "Occlumency: An Introduction to the Defense of the Mind" by Nemo and "Legilimency: An Introduction to the Offense of the Mind" also written by Nemo. Marcus, remembering his rudimentary studies of Latin and Greek from his past life, remember that Nemo was essentially the term 'anonymous' in Latin. Intrigued, Marcus grabbed these two volumes and made his way to the study table.
Once he was comfortable, Marcus opened the volume for Occlumency and began to read the introductory paragraph,
"Congratulations on taking the first step on learning how to defend your mind from legilimency. Unfortunately, none of the skills learnable in this book will help you stop 'mind-reading'. This is because 'mind-reading' and legilimency are two separate things. Mind-reading implies the concept of reading the mind like a book and being able to 'turn a page'. This is not legilimency. Legilimency, practiced by a legilimens, is the art and discipline of interpreting and bringing out memories and feelings from a person's mind. Occlumency, on the other hand, and practiced by an occlumens, is the art and discipline of redirecting and misguiding of memories and emotions as needed, including and up to masking them completely from detection. Furthermore…"
As Marcus was reading this volume, he brought out a journal and pen he had brought from the orphanage to take notes. Marcus, while taking notes, wished he had something like Hermione's pouch from the 7th book to hide his more sensitive notes and information from prying eyes. Suddenly, a bag appeared on the table in front of Marcus, giving him a slight scare. He then looked around the room and said,
"If you are listening to me and my thoughts... then may I have a book on dark magic and its effects on the user?" Marcus asked, not expecting anything else to happen as the room wasn't like this in the books.
A book with a dark gray cover appeared in front of him.
Marcus, wide-eyed, said "Thank you! Um, would you also happen to have any knowledge of horcruxes and how to destroy them? This is how the Dark Lord secured his immortality."
After a minute of waiting, Marcus figured that the room didn't have anything and went back to reading and taking notes. However, upon gazing up one time, he noticed a new piece of parchment in front of him simply labeled 'horcruxes'.
With a shaky hand, Marcus grabbed the parchment and began to read through it,
"A word of warning: To create a horcrux is one of the most damnable acts a wizard can do. A wizard who creates a horcrux or horcruxes, if one is truly desperate to survive, can only have their soul healed by feeling true Remorse for the wrong they have committed against their fellow Man and Nature. Horcruxes were created by Herpo the Foul, an Ancient Greek Dark Wizard to promote his life span. To create a horcrux, one must commit an act which goes against their very being. Typically, this is jumpstarted by murder which slightly 'cracks' the soul, making the soul easier to split. To split the soul, a wizard must utter the incantation 'κόβω την ψυχή' or 'kóvo tane psychay' which means 'I split the soul'. Wizards who have performed this incantation upon themselves have described it as 'pain worse than the cruciatus curse a hundredfold' and 'a metaphysical boiling'. Next, with the newly split off piece of soul, one has to guide it into the container, or phylactery, of your choice. Once the soul piece is securely inside, a horcrux is born.
Typically, a horcrux is well protected so means to destroy them are far and few, however basilisk venom and fiendfyre have been known to destroy horcruxes in the past. It is also theorized that the killing curse could potentially destroy a horcrux, or at least damage the container severely."
After Marcus finished reading this passage, he transcribed the entry into his journal and proceeded to ask the room to banish the parchment, which it did.
Marcus then, seeing as it was nearing time for him to head back to the dorms, opened the pouch and stuck the journal, along with the books on occlumency and legilimency, along with the dark grey book, inside. He then asked the room for a way to bind the pouch to him so that only he could open it, and the room gave him a piece of parchment saying,
"To bind an unclaimed expandable pouch to your person, one must place their wand on the rim of the pouch and say 'Dico'. The bag will glow briefly, and then it can only be opened by you. Anti-summoning charms and anti-pickpocketing charms are recommended as well, such as 'Accio Clausus' and 'Manere', respectively. To cast these charms..."
Once the appropriate charms were placed on the pouch, Marcus secured it within his robes and left the Room of Requirements with new knowledge within his mind and a resolve to become great through knowledge and training.
He also decided not to go after the Diadem horcrux this year, as Quirrellmort was still within the school and could secretly be checking on his horcrux. This also gave Marcus more time to study and prepare.
Marcus, with these thoughts, asked the room for an exit unseen by anyone near the Gryffindor entrance, and left with new knowledge and gratefulness in his heart for the Room.