Hearing all that new information had put quite a lot of pressure on my back. I had read many books since I arrived in this world and some were on wizarding society and families. The Houses were classified as Noble and Most Ancient, Noble and Ancient, Ancient, Elder, Minor and Magical. From what my mother told me, her family was even above and beyond the Noble and Most Ancient houses. I had to prepare myself for the storm headed my way.

Or family was only known by the most powerful families, and only the family heads and their heirs at that. We were home schooled and generally didn't go to Hogwarts. I only got to do so because my mother had left the family for the time. I remembered my conversation about this with my mother.

'I know you are well practised at Occlumency and ask you to keep your shields up at all times when you are in the presence of Albus Dumbledore. He is from the Minor house of Dumbledore and does not have knowledge of our family. I would like it to remain that way. No matter how much he may appear otherwise, he is a manipulative old man and would use whatever means he can to make use of us', she said.

I nodded to show I understood and said, 'I can feel that I am close to the next level of Occlumency. According to the books I have read there are two levels and I am on the cusp of moving into the second. The second level supposedly gives access to one's mindscape, complete mental and significant emotional control and the moniker of Master Occlumens. I believe that it is an extremely rare ability and should hold me in good stead even against the likes of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.'

She seemed extremely pleased with that and told me, ' Keep up with your training and reach the next level as soon as possible. It will be an invaluable skill. Even I am not at the level of a master Occlumens.'

I did as she said and practised the next few days. The info she had given me had put paid to most of my plans for the summer. I would still go to the Weasleys for the last two weeks of summer but the rest of the time was focussed on my training.

The training had reached a sort of bottleneck. No matter how much I meditated or cleared my mind, there was no significant difference in my skills and I was no closer to becoming a master Occlumens. I figured there was a trick to it and just meditated for the next few days while thinking of the various steps I could take. It was during one of these sessions that an epiphany struck me. What if I was going about it wrong. What if, instead of emptying my mind, I was supposed to fill it up. One of the results of the next level would be a mindscape but what if it wasn't a result of reaching the next level but the requirement to do so. I immediately set to work and started visualising a blank mindscape. I then constructed, assembled and brought into being all the structures I imagined in the mindscape. By the end of it, there was so much strain that I passed out.

I woke up refreshed and in high spirits. Every one of my senses seemed to be working overtime. I could see, hear, smell, taste and feel so much more. My mind was having a million thoughts every second and I could literally feel as if my consciousness had expanded beyond its normal limits. Turning inwards, I was please to find that I was readily able to use the mind's eye, an ability which Master Occlumens possessed. It allowed one to freely see their own mindscapes and alter it with their will. It is also the reason why it is near impossible to peek into their minds and thoughts and absolutely impossible to do so without their knowledge. It is also said that it is easier to learn Legilimency if you are already and accomplished Occlumens and it seems to be true going by the powerful consciousness I now possessed.

I peered into my mindscape and was very pleased with the way it turned out. I had constructed it in the form of a city with various buildings with a giant wall around it. There was a library with all of my academic knowledge, a theatre with my memories, a military quarter with all my practical spell and duelling knowledge and so on and so forth. The wall was a mighty bastion to keep out all attacks on my mind. The entire city had several alleys and dead ends to confuse the attackers and also various traps, i.e., if they managed to get past the walls first. It was magnificent! I got down to business and further improved my mental defences by setting traps, arranging false memories and other direct attacks. My mind was now completely under my control. This level of Occlumency also gives one the ability of almost complete emotional control so you can prevent your emotions, whether they be anger, sadness or anything else, on the outside. A very useful tool wherever politics is involved.

Another side-effect of my achieving the level of a Master Occlumens, besides the increased proclivity to Legilimency was reaching a higher level with my wandless and non-verbal casting abilities. Non-verbal casting is considered difficult due to the need for impeccable focus while casting the spell and my new state of mind should lend itself admirably to that. Wandless magic merely means the lack of a casting aide while using magic. Albeit with a much weaker effect due to the lack of a magical catalyst, the process of it is much the same of non-verbal casting.

My animagi transformations did not change from this new level of mind but it definitely made it easier to centre myself and thereby activate the transformation with much greater speed and ease than before.

My memory has become near eidetic or rather, I have gained perfect recall. I can remember everything that I have ever experienced through any and every sense. My well-ordered mind lets my logical thinking and cognitive processes much more effective and I am able to draw conclusions and reach results much more easily.

All in all, I have made a major step forward just by gaining mastery in one aspect of my abilities. This is an astounding leap forward in my capabilities and I am reasonably confident in handling any normal adult wizard or witch. But it also lends itself to the thought of what heights I may reach upon gaining mastery in any other aspects. Most students go for mastery in one or maybe two subjects after they have already cleared NEWTs and are seeking apprenticeships. My aim should me mastery in transfiguration, charms, DADA, herbology and potions by the time I am of age. I should also start learning Legilimency. Maybe my mother could help me in practising the skill.

Anyway, time to announce the happy news.

'Mu-uum. I got good news to tell you', I screamed from my room.

'Alright, Alright, you don't need to make me deaf', she said as she entered my room.

I was almost bouncing with joy as I told her, 'I succeeded mum! I am now a Master Occlumens. I have already set up my mindscape. I am also sorry to tell you that I cannot tell you the secret to the final step. I can intuitively feel that doing so would lead to you becoming a pseudo-master and you would not enjoy the full benefits. This is something you need to discover on your own.'

'No problem, kid. I already know you can't. A Master Occlumens I knew already told me so. Nevertheless, this is great news. I can't believe there is a twelve-year-old Master Occlumens in this world, and that he is my son.'

'Thanks mum. Now, I was hoping you could also help me learn Legilimency. My book Secrets of the mind Vol. 1 only covers Occlumency. I know that you are an Occlumens, so maybe you can help me with the training of Legilimency as well.'

'I do happen to know Legilimency but it needs an extremely firm and a developed mind. I have some doubts regarding your ability to learn it, no matter how much of a prodigy you may be.'

'I gave a confident smirk and replied, ' I don't think I will have any problems on that front. One of the side-effects of my upgrade to a Master Occlumens was a great development of my consciousness. I don't know if that is normal or a result of Magic itself interfering to make a safe transition but the result is a massive improvement.'

'Alright then! We will get started on Legilimency from tomorrow. I will also start teaching you Cantatio. It is an old method of improving our magical abilities and finding our strong points in magic. I will teach you further about it tomorrow.'

Damn! Now she is keeping me in suspense till today. It seems like some new method to practice magic Good thing too, I was starting to find it difficult to empty my magic core every day. Though that is an excellent way to increase my magical powers, it gets very difficult to do so after reaching a certain level of power. If this method is more magic-intensive, I may switch over from simply doing magic till I am finished. I am so looking forward to tomorrow!!