A Web Of Magic - Volume 1 Chapter 74 Self Assessment

Magnus returned home tired both mentally and physically. ‘I need a good bath,’ he decided. He filled his bathtub with hot water and added bath salts that he made himself. They were supposed to soothe the body and the mind according to [Identify]. When all was set, he lay down gently in the tub. Only then did he think back to the day’s events.

‘There’s a loophole in the family’s defensive wards against divination. They only throw-off the divination attempts to find our live location. They do nothing against divination that predicts our future location. That much is clear from today. They also have our blood sample that makes it easy for them to track through our blood-curse as an anchor. That compass isn’t a simple object. Such enchanted objects are very rare. So, they are skilled in both Divination and Enchanting or at least have the resources to hire those who are good at them.’

‘They have both muggles, vampires, hags and who knows what working for them. That’s a change from before. Previously, they only chased our family linearly wherever we ran and the chasers were only wizards. Now they are taking a multi-pronged approach and have more people, Beings and more resources at their disposal. Their influence has spread to not only Egypt but also other countries like Belgium and Britain. They are no longer just a family; they are now an organization,’ Magnus tapped his fingers against the edge of the tub as he mused.

‘I was too careless today. I should have taken my potions with me. That would’ve made the fight easy. I never imagined fighting a vampire. I always trained only against wizards and some magical beasts. While they lack traditional magic, the physical capabilities of a vampire are outstanding. It’s one thing to read in a book but to experience it is a whole another matter.’

Magnus used [Identify] to find out the stats of the vampire. The vampire didn’t have enough magic in him to block its usage unlike a.d.u.l.t wizards. The magic stat is only at 40. Thats between a fourth to a fifth year Hogwarts student, not very impressive. The mind stat is at 15 which is somewhat on the higher side for someone not a wizard. Vampires were rumored to have some charming abilities so maybe that’s where it came from.

The real surprise was the body stat which was at 11. For a regular human 5 is the limit. For a wizard who’s very physically active it might range between 5-7. 11 is in the range of supernatural. It’s like a humanoid magical beast. Magnus saw firsthand how much impact a high body stat had. The vampire could shrug off low level spells like they were nothing. The high regeneration, speed, endurance and strength would have made the vampire invincible if not for Magnus’s timely spell. Unless your spell could outright maim or kill the vampire, you shouldn’t bother casting spells directly at them. They’ll either shrug it off due to resistance or simple dodge it with their speed. The only solution that Magnus could think of right now was to use spells on the environment to affect them indirectly and then subdue them.

‘Next time I’ll be well prepared. I also need to gather information about going to Egypt. I have to visit there soon. Maybe during the next vacation. Last time we went through the Ministry port key. I doubt it’s going to work this time. They will not let me go alone as I’m underage. My disguise needs to be registered with the Ministry as a citizen for them to allow me to travel. I should look for the travel agencies to sort that out. I also cannot clash head on with the enemies. I need to be more subtle.’

‘I need to pick up enchanting quickly. There’s plenty of knowledge about that in Merlin’s book. I’ve been taking it slow with the book and Slytherin’s notes but it’s time to dial up the pace. The situation will only get worse if my blood-curse gets activated. I need to find a cure before that happens. Maybe I should look into the Dark Arts. Even if it’s not to use them, the knowledge on their workings might give me an inspiration. The blood-curse is dark magic after all,’ he thought as he absentmindedly washed his body.

‘I also need help. Should I ask for help? But who should I ask? The Weasleys are nice and all but I don’t think they can help me against a large international organization. Should I raise an army? But an army of what? If it leaks out, the ministry might think I’m trying to be the next Dark Lord or that I’m trying to overthrow them. Neither are good endings. Only someone of the caliber of Dumbledore might help. Sure, Dumbledore is nice and all and might protect me around the school, but he can’t possibly protect me all the time. Any such protection might reduce my freedom and I like having freedom. Not to mention, it’ll slow down my revenge. I also don’t think he’ll go against an unknown international organization for my sake. I’m not that valuable yet,’ Magnus thought deeply. While they might praise him for his Young Healer award, he didn’t delude himself into thinking he was important enough in people’s eyes. He’s not Harry Potter. He needs many more achievements to reach that stage. Either that or earn enough money to hire an army of wizards.

‘Why can’t I do those both? Hmm, food for thought. Should I get a house-elf helper? A group of them might also help. But they are very hard to come by outside and there’s demand but no supply. Only those rich pureblood families and places like Hogwarts have them. I heard there are places where they sell them but it’s exclusive to rich purebloods. Others are not allowed. Maybe I should ask the elves at Hogwarts. They might know where to find some.’

‘I can also look for other help like finding familiars or making golems. But there are no records or methods of getting familiars outside of old stories and history books. There are wizards who have tamed dragons and used them as mounts but none of them had a good ending. How nice it would be to have a dragon. Too bad the ministry forbids owning them privately. Wait a minute, dragon breeding and raising them outside of the dragon reserves is prohibited but there’s no rule about owning one,’ but he soon gave up that line of thought. It’s not easy to get a dragon. Even if he found one, how is he going to tame it? There are no concrete books on that. Most of these methods end in a tragedy or require a group of wizards to accomplish anything. Even then it’s not true taming.

‘Maybe I should just make an army of golems or enchanted puppets? Too bad there are no methods available that tell me how to make them. They are supposed to be a specialty in the Middle-east long time ago. Even if I find some books on them, I don’t know if I can bear the cost. It all comes down to money in the end. I should make more deals this summer and sell more. It’s never bad to have too much money. If only I had a philosopher’s stone to make gold. I don’t think Mr. Flamel would let me observe his creation,’ Magnus’s thoughts derailed from their initial tracks. Soon, he started daydreaming all manner of impossible things. By the time he woke up from his daydreams, the water had gone cold. He had been in the bath for over an hour. He didn’t lament over the wasted time. All that daydreaming calmed his mind and gave him new goals to pursue. Soon, he cleaned himself up and got ready for some experimentation. ‘Hot baths are nice,’ he smiled to himself.