Alexander did not stay long in the library, he avoided his acquaintances and friends as he searched for all the books on the fundamentals of magic he could find.
Normally Madam Pince would not allow students to get as many books as Alexander did but his selection consisted of books rarely anyone reads. Moreover, unlike other students Alexander took proper care of the books as such the infamous librarian simply watched as the boy stored all the books in his satchel after filling up the paperwork to borrow the books.
After taking all the books, Alexander did not go to any public area; instead he returned to his initial way of life. Before last week’s change, in other words he completely avoided everyone as he holed himself inside his room.
Once again, the benefit of having his own personal room separate from the others proved useful.
His room was the size of a classroom, a partition was made for his bedroom and sleeping area but the rest of the space was nothing more than cold stone walls and a cobblestone floor- at least that was how it looked a month before.
Now though the empty space filled with stone was now transformed into a room with walls made of black obsidian. Black obsidian was not that hard but the black obsidian was nothing more than a core.
In fact the walls were made of layered glass that had the function of being both bulletproof and soundproof.
Moreover, the black obsidian was used to hide the intricate magic circles drawn all over the glass walls. The floor was also covered with the same material, this created a “black room” which was both cold and cool at the same time.
“Fortunately I have knowledge repairing AC’s and other electronics, through that I was able to create the ventilation system for this closed off room”
Alex sighed as he recalled the trouble he had to go through just to create a ventilation system. An interesting fact about the castle was how magic was used to ventilate the underground chambers and dungeons.
This allowed for students to have dorms near the dungeons and underground but this also meant that Alexander’s act of creating his lab was like adding a random box in the whole system.
He did not hinder spells creating a destructive chain reaction suffocating all the slytherin and hufflepuff students. Instead his personal laboratory was isolated as such it became a gas chamber that slowly killed anyone inside.
Of course Alex had no way to control the magic that worked on Hogwarts Castle so he had to work hard to create a ventilation system that allowed him to use the room. Now some may say that he should have just used magic circles to create the environment.
That is a valid reason but Alexander simply wanted a room that fit his taste. Medieval alchemist was the theme of his fake research room which was his smokescreen for the professors while this black room was his true lab.
Of course this room was labeled as a storage area and unless Dumbledore invaded his privacy and entered the room he claims to use for keeping all his personal belongings the old fox would not be able to see the special research subjects Alex was tackling.
“Now then, it’s been a while since I used this but… well I guess the doppelganger still has some uses”
Alexander muttered as he took out a life sized replica of himself from his pouch. When it was pulled out the replica opened it’s eyes and nodded its head before starting to work at the “research area”.
Seeing his doppelganger still function properly Alexander entered the black room and started to conduct his research. The reason he had to use the black room was because his methods involved magic and alchemy that he did not want others to see.
As he entered the room and closed the door, the whole black room turned completely black. Others would say that researching in this room is impossible but Alex needed this total darkness to conduct the ritual.
“Let’s begin-”
Alexander stopped at the center of the room, he released all the books and carefully placed them all around him in a circle. When all the books were spread around him he clasped his hands together.
Blue arcs of electricity flashed all over his body as he slammed his hands on the ground.
When his palms made contact with the floor an amazing scene followed. A large blue magic circle manifested on the floor, with Alex at the center the magic circle started to rotate clockwise.
Then five other magic circles lit up on the five remaining surfaces, the ceiling and the four walls seemed to reflect the magic circle on the floor. But careful observation would make one realize that each magic circle spun in a different direction and the runes and drawing were all different.
“By my name, the sole successor of Abramelin, the last kabbalist, heed my call, the ninth spirit, the twenty second demon, the most learned of the eight dukes, Paimon!, your contractor calls”
Alexander’s words echoed in the dark room as a sigil made of flames and iron manifested in thin air from sparks of blue lightning.
“It has been a while hasn’t it- Alexander?”
What appeared before Alexander was a thin man, he looked to be mere skin and bones, he rode on a pale horse that looked very much like a thestral. Both the horse and the man had weird horn-like protrusions around their heads making it seem as if they were wearing crowns.
The man was dressed in a loose robe that revealed his thin limbs but despite his less than powerful appearance his aura was so great that it almost reached the same level as that of Dumbledore.
“You really did it this time kid! To think you’d invade a warlock's castle! Now then-”
The demonic man smiled revealing his pearly white teeth, contrasting greatly with his almost pauper-like appearance.
“How will we take down this grand foe?”
Alexander glared at the demon as he answered.
“There is no enemy in this castle, I’m currently an apprentice in this-”
The boy was unable to finish his words before the demon started to crackle out loud.
“You?! An apprentice?! Reality may collapse and all dimensions would perish but you of all people would not become something as lowly as an apprentice!”
His words made Alexander scowl as he raised his hand revealing a certain magical sigil.
“Anymore and you will be suffering”
He said nothing more than those six words and the mad demon suddenly paused. But anger could be seen in his eyes as he glared at the boy with a look filled with bloodlust.
“Glaring at me won’t do anything, heck, the best you could do is blame yourself for making such a simple and stupid mistake”
Alexander sneered as he turned towards all the books.
“In any case, I need your ability to imprint all the knowledge in these books in my head”
The demon simply gave the books around a look as he clicked his tongue as he said.
“Tch- simple knowledge, as expected of an idiot such as yourself”
His words were not met with anger, instead Alexander gave him a mocking smile as he shot back at the demon.
“And who’s the demon who could do nothing more than look through the memories of its summoner? Don’t think that I don’t know how your magic works Paimon.”
Alexander snickered as he began to conduct another ritual-
If only I did not fall for your obvious trap that year…
Paimon thought as he began to chant in a weird and sombre language. Immediately magic circles of all shapes, sizes, colors and appearance manifested all over the room.
What followed was a scene that no one would believe a demon is capable of producing.
Magic circles enveloped each book in the room, all the books Alexander borrowed were now covered in dense magic circles and runic circuitry. Then, from these balls of magic a stream of light shot towards Alexanders head.
What followed was a scene that was both horrific and magnificent at the same time. Horrific in that the rays of light moved like feelers that shot towards Alexander's head. Magnificent as the rays of light looked more magical than simple bolts of magic. Shining in different colors, the lines made up of light seemed to be injecting something into Alexander’s head.
This spell was one of my masterpieces, no one aside from me should have been able to use it. Even the other demons would suffer greatly after using it much less a human with a mind that was limited by his physical being… and yet-
Paimon begrudgingly thought, recalling the deal that made him subservient to the boy. It was a bet, something he believed he would win. All he had to do was make Alexander learn all the knowledge in a pile of books.
Initially he used this spell to make the boy suffer in pain before taking his soul. He never thought that Alex could not only endure but take full advantage of this spell to increase his own capabilities.
His belief in his spell led him to make a contract that- well was really bad on his end.
The boy is pretty good at acting though- even the other demons would have been unable to see through his true colors.
The contract was bad but his own hubris coupled with the boys great acting, showing fear and apprehension made him create a contract that made him lose out a LOT if he lost. The great benefits of winning was one of the ways demons seduce humans to follow their instincts and forgo all rational thought.
Alas, he was the one who was entrapped and now the glorious duke of hell was nothing more than a gopher and servant of a 13 year old genius wizard.
Looking at Alexander who was smiling as he digested all the knowledge being crammed into his mind made the demon shudder.
Even I could not take in knowledge at such a rate and yet- the kids looked like he’s enjoying it…
At some point Paimon wanted to believe that Alexander was a masochist who found pleasure in pain. But that was proven time and time again to be false and Alexander’s strength to endure the horrid pain made Paimon get cold sweat as he tried to visualize the kind of damage that would make the boy scream.
The process was quick, in less than 30 mins all the knowledge was successfully imprinted in Alexander’s mind.
After his work was done, Paimon immediately left the place and Alex simply smiled as he went over the various bits and pieces of information he got from the ritual.
“I guess it’s time to start some experiments”
In less than ten minutes Alexander smiled as he stored all the books in his pouch before taking out a variety of tools, tables and test subjects.
