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Chapter 10 - Chapter 10 — Fortress of the Mind

Combat magic shaped the body.Potions sharpened the instincts.But Occlumency — that shaped the soul.

With Sauron lurking somewhere in the distant future… with the One Ring capable of corrupting thoughts and bending wills… mastering my mind was not just a goal — it was survival.

Legilimency and Occlumency became my obsession.

Snape's personal notes became my scripture — neat, strict handwriting explaining the four accepted levels of Occlumency… and one supposedly mythical level beyond.

I read each passage as I paced the Room of Requirement, absorbing the gravity of the art I was attempting to master:

Level 1: Beginner.Thoughts chaotic, shields weak — practically an open book.

Level 2: Apprentice.Capable of emptiness… but only with time and preparation.

Level 3: Skilled.Instantaneous calm. Memory manipulation. A fortress — though not impenetrable.

Level 4: Master.Snape's level. Iron discipline, shields that could deceive even an expert Legilimens.

But Level 5…

Grand Master.A being whose mind was an unbreakable labyrinth — shifting memories, flawless internal control, every drop of magic mastered through thought alone. A level Snape called "myth mixed with fear."

Normal humans? They never reached it.

But I wasn't normal.

I had:

Snape's mastery and talent

Dumbledore's willpower

Voldemort's intelligence

Grindelwald's mind arts affinity

And Merlin's unmatched magical talent boosting everything

Level 5 wasn't just possible.It was necessary.

Training began brutally.

Sitting perfectly still, body relaxed, but mind rigid… wrestling every invasive thought into silence. My brain rebelled — memories surged, panic rose, fears whispered.

I learned something quickly:

The mind will do anything to avoid discipline.

Some nights I screamed.Others, I cried.Often, I collapsed from magical exhaustion.

Meditation advanced into deliberate memory organization — creating mental corridors, vaults, shifting spires of knowledge. Snape's notes recommended a static fortress.

But I chose otherwise.

"A static mind can be mapped," I muttered aloud."So mine will never stop changing."

I designed a mental realm that lived — shifting walls, rotating memories, illusions and deliberate traps. If anyone tried to invade… they would drown in infinite architecture.

Soon I could:

✔ Empty my mind instantly✔ Suppress emotion on command✔ Store knowledge in perfect recall✔ Bend memories, reorganize thoughts like shelves

And then I experimented with Legilimency.

Testing my shields against my own attacks — letting my Legilimens side hunt my Occlumens defenses. The backlash? Agonizing. More than once I collapsed, bleeding from the nose, trembling, but stronger the next day.

I was building walls and weapons simultaneously.

Every hour of pain was an hour gained against Sauron, Saruman, the Nazgûl… and every other mind-twisting horror this world could throw at me.

Weeks passed.

Power coiled beneath my skin — silent, precise, leashed. Thoughts obeyed like soldiers.

I stood before a mirror in the Dormitory of Ravenclaw Tower, watching my reflection:

My gaze was calm.Terrifyingly calm.

For the first time since being reborn…nothing could shake me.

I was no longer a wandering stranger.

I was a mind fortified against gods.

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