Chapter Eleven: The Aurologist's Problem

Friends, Romans, countrymen,

lend me your ears.

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,

Act III, Scene II

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The Wizard flicked his wand to turn the obstruction into white smoke. He then easily crossed the transfigured surrounding fence and gloriously entered into the almost empty site of a graveyard. He was looking forward to be finally stepping into the perimeter and meet the only person he know so far who can teach him how to manipulate the unique magic that only he can command with pure certainty.

But he is slightly worried.

Of course he had a curious liking for the muggles and their affairs, unlike the despise shown by Lord Voldemort, but still he is also a half-blood just like him. Yet, his magical talents are as powerful as the skill that created the horcruxes in the Second Wizarding War (even considered stronger, more potently utilized by assessment of his natural ability), and he has a special interest in potions like that of the proficiency possessed by Severus Snape, although occasionally he also did well in his Defense Against the Dark Arts, a common standard of quality that is quite expected for Durmstrang Institute students.

Because of this, his professors highly praised his academic performance towards his progression for his perfect OWLs, while his classes for the NEWTs is as impressive as his scores in the testing requirements of the Bulgarian Bureau of the Wizarding Examinations Authority (he was an American international student as an elected Merlin Scholar), which he was able to hurdle without too much effort, and all of the disciplines he was tested on was passed unmatched so far in history with flying colors.

Of all the many lucrative carrers available for him, in view of his sparkling academic records that he was most qualified to apply for, he eventually settled for a meager job as an Aurologist (although occasionally he was being called as an expert witness in Magical Mechanics and Geometrical Computations in Wandlore to give guidance on proposed legislations, after obtaining his meritissimus Diploma on the subject ftom the Secret College). The study of auras is not a popular career choice within his contemporaries and nobody (not even his closest friends) had expected him to take up a less glamorous job in Divination when he could have ended up being a highly accomplished Auror.

He was a very good Divination student, though, a truly excellent seer for a beginner, and he adored this peculiar subject so much, although he limited his active participation in class discussions for fear of being made fun of by his all-male company of classmates. He was able to strongly feel his strong aura surfacing early on in his first year of magical education, and its distinctive effects started showing during his untimely visit to a British friend's house in Godric's Hollow.

Within the parlance of the wizarding world, an aura is a term used to refer to a magical phenomenon of an unclear nature. The aura could surround a person, place, or objects touched by magic and could then be brought to the attention of Aurologists to be analyzed to determine the type of magic in question. It was a rare career option among his contemporaries, such that the pay for these specialists have significantly increased over the years (as if his destiny of accumulating riches was starting to validate his choices in life), especially when the Department of Mysteries have announced that a strange phenomena concerning alterations of prophecies have been confirmed as a valid anomaly, and the repercussions of which are quite severe if not taken seriously.

It was during his investigative work as an Aurologist that he noticed something strange within the domain of his dreams and imagination, although he could clearly differentiate and identify the different elements on his own accord. At first, he thought of the symptoms as side effects of an overly enthusiastic aura just intervening with his conscious mind, and nothing more, such that he decided to concoct for himself a suppressant potion to decrease the activity of his aura, and to help regulate all of his internal magical processes.

However, the symptoms persisted for many more months while he was trying to remain cool about it and simply disregarded the situation, hoping the condition will magically disappear and heal all by itself. But it did not, and more strange phenomena started to happen uncontrollably. For the first time in forever, he felt a certain form of fear from his personal experience of the indistinct propensity of his own aura to be an unknown magical malady.

"You are finally here at last," the witch greeted him after he had reached the lone tombstone at the far end of the graveyard. "Truth be told, I was not expecting you to honor your word. Thank you for coming, and I hope you will not ask early on why I summoned you here."

He nodded in reply.

"I was only here because I needed help," he stated with a sincere tone. "Who are you? Where are you from? And how can you help me?"

The witch grinned widely.

"My name is unimportant at this point, but I will assure you that we can help you with . . . ," she paused for awhile, with her eyes locking with his. ". . . with whatever problems you are having in containing that strange and enormous magic."

Another wizard abruptly emerged from behind her, and has spoken to the newcomer as well. "The Private Enterprise was right from the very beginning. You will be the first one to approach us for some peculiar concern. The Metaphysicians were never wrong at this point. You will come to us advertently and without any of the proposed difficulty. I had been very comfortable with Seers in my entire career, after all."

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