The Magical Mind | Altair

[Tigran Razi]

Late June 1973

He was never sure if he was supposed to greet the spirits that seemed to surround him in this shop.  At most he gave them a nod of acknowledgement he could see them as he was more interested in reading the books than being noticed.  He certainly didn’t have the funds to be a customer, and his situation so precarious he wouldn’t even trust himself to check anything out.

This was probably his fourth time wandering in and he was smart enough to stay to the side with a slouch smartly limiting himself to short bits of time that he could pretend to be browsing.  Though, this time he lost track of time carefully reading an untitled book that was describing how divination interacted with the magical mind.

Then his eyes saw as he carefully flipped a page and returned to the top of it that someone was in front of him.  With a gulp he looked up and saw the shopkeeper.  With a smile he said " I must commend you on your collection. "

Hoping a compliment would give him time to think of a good escape plan beyond slipping in and out - his original plan.

[Altair]

There was a change. A whiff. A familiarity.

And he was curious.

"I must commend you on your collection."

"Thanks," Altair said, with mild interest, holding the gaze of the boy. He'd appeared from between the shelves, carefully as not to disturb.

With a slow motion that requested permission, Altair extended his hand to take the book, flipping to the cover to look for an identification.

Interesting.

He put the book carefully back and the pages turned at their own accord, until back on the page that the boy had been reading.

"They recognise you," he said.

He did a slight nod of his head in one direction, to a single pair of starlit eyes glinting in the darkness. At his recognition of its presence, they immediately disappeared.

[Tigran Razi]

"Thanks,”

He was smart enough to understand the body language of the request for the book, and carefully handed the book to the man. 

Whatever curiosity the man had on the book he’d choosen was quickly resolved as it was handed back to him.  He assumed deep familiarity with the collection and only blinked slightly impressed with how it flipped back to the page he’d been reading.

"They recognise you,”

He assumed the spirits.  He didn’t recognize them.  He avoided recognizing spirits on an individual basis especially in Knockturn Alley.

He said “ In general they take notice of those who acknowledge them without fear. “

He did recognize he felt less of them after the man nodded so these were likely not general spirits.  Though he'd also noticed before they felt slightly different from general ghosts as well.

[Altair]

"In general they take notice of those who acknowledge them without fear."

His gaze rested on the youth.

It was not wrong. Absolute Authority was the only way to keep some of them from trying to kill him.

(They still tried though, time and time again.)

Either way, he was able to recognise that he had something of a rarity on his hands.

He was also aware that the other had tried to avoid him. Which was fair enough - even as the contents of Muspell drew them in, Altair was someone with a reputation.

"Why magic of the mind?" he pried.

[Tigran Razi]

"Why magic of the mind?”

Naturally the why came quickly to his mind in his desire to learn occlumency out of a desire to protect his thoughts.  Though that would naturally go unsaid.

Instead he said “Everything magical comes back to it eventually.  Yet, most look outward.”

A statement that in its vagueness said nothing.  Yet at the same time his statement could imply many things and he was curious to see where someone with the collection that surrounded him would take it.

[Altair]

“Everything magical comes back to it eventually. Yet, most look outward.”

A stretched-out silence followed the statement. One that betrayed Altair had to take a moment to think.

There was a strange air of confidence to the boy, one that did not match the avoidant behaviour. And he had made a smart move - concealing his answer like that.

In the concealment was exactly the answer he was after.

"Ravenclaw?" he asked.

Talking in riddles reminded him of the ever-changing passwords to the Tower, forcing them to think again and think over.

The straight face concealed his amusement.

"Marcus," he said, making a snap decision, reaching hand out his hand for a formal greeting - but not too much so.

[Tigran Razi]

His eyes glanced down at the page in the book before him as the man stood silent for a bit.

"Ravenclaw?”

Looking up again he said “ Thankfully yes. “

While he thought it would have been more logical to put himself in Hufflepuff, he was much happier with a common room that served as an auxiliary to the library. 

"Marcus,"

He reached forward and said “Tigran” attempting to shake the man’s hand in the greeting offered.

[Altair]

He was unsurprised to find that he'd hit right on the mark.

Though they appeared clearly different - Tigran did not immediate strike him as having the air of arrogance, or the intensity of the drive,, that Altair had once thought would certainly have landed him in Slytherin.

As their hands wrapped around each other, he tried to decipher, brow furrowed, what kind of case he was dealing with. Whether the apparent passivity - or avoidance - meant that he was dealing with someone in need of being led.

Or whether Tigran was merely making observation.

The reaction from the spirits indicated the latter.

"What about--" he started, taking back his hand after the proper greeting had been settled, and turning to the shelf just accross from them, stroking a finger along the spine of an old leather-bound book with slim, golden letters.

He put it down on the table.

The letters read, simply, LAYERED.

"Bad title," commented Altair. "But with clear language, unlike some of the other philosophical self-gratification I have lying around," he continued, not without humour.

[Tigran Razi]

After the handshake of a greeting he returned to the same posture he’d been in before.  He could tell the man was trying to figure something out from his expression, but tried to keep his expression and mind as blank as possible.  Though the reality was even with all the reading he’d done he was aware he had made very little progress with occulumency.

“Bad title, But with clear language, unlike some of the other philosophical self-gratification I have lying around,"

He said “ I suspect titles are made by editors.  Bad titles sometimes mean one less layer of philosophical self-gratification added to the content of a book. “

Though admittedly bad titles made books that could be interesting hard to find in situations where one had only small spurts of time to read them.  As there was only so much time one could be pretending to look for a book for the purpose of purchasing it when they clearly had zero intention of doing such.

He made note of the title, but he wasn’t presumptuous enough to just take a seat at the table. 

He said “ Though as a title layered might not be the worst I’ve seen as most examinations of mind have authors making analogies to layers. “

[Altair]

"I suspect titles are made by editors. Bad titles sometimes mean one less layer of philosophical self-gratification added to the content of a book."

The ghost of a smirk flitted accross his face - he'd think it was the other way around, that an author this to the point would also be the composer of an uncomplicated title. But he made no effort of clarification, merely allowing himself a slight amusement at their disagreement.

Instead, he nodded at the last comment - here they did agree. Also, a title was better than no title, most of the time.

Then again, titles were not necessary for his system of organisation, anyway.

"It's one of my favourites," he admitted, though left out that it had everything to do with the straighforwardness, and flipped the book open.

The pages were an ashen black, but upon them, drawn in intricate golden lines, was the outline of a maze.

"Layers is one strategy," he explained. "But the more dead ends, the harder it is to arrive from one point to another." He looked at the boy and gave his own temple a double tap with the middle finger.

The book was full of these kinds of graphics.

He left it there, pages open and inviting, as he turned to chase the sound of the bell, announcing the arrival of another customer.

"And don't worry, I'm not a legilimens anymore," he added non-chalantly, disappearing behind a bookshelf.

(He'd just deducted from the nonsensical answer - everything magical comes back to it eventually. Yet, most look outward - coupled with the interest in the mind, that this work might be of interest to the young Ravenclaw.)

Early July 1973

He was back, and he was welcome.

And out of nowhere, Altair had appeared, placing a cup of steaming coffee on a small table where the boy was executing today's work. Considering that Altair had his own cup in his hand, it was obvious that this one was meant for Tigran.

"Have you found what you were looking for?"

[Tigran Razi]

He made a note the book was one of the man’s favorites.  A lot could be judged by which books a person preferred irregardless of subject.

He nodded at the mention of dead ends and said “Also noted by many with analogies that turn towards mazes.”

Then as the man left he heard the comment about legilimens and was rather certain it wasn’t something one stopped being.  Though, he’d accepted whatever damage could be done was probably already done and it was more a question of if the other person would be motivated to use it to his detriment. 

He just hoped for the best, as he took the hint and sat at the table with the book he had to one side and pulled the new book in front of him.


His eyes were currently examining a book that described the formation of memories in the mind with how it interacted with the magical structure of the mind.  It was an interesting mix of theoretical, psychological, and biological sciences to say the least. 

"Have you found what you were looking for?”

He looked up and said “ It is definitely interesting in how it is a scientifically based approach to examining such theoretical concepts.  After all, there is no way one can just examine a brain. “

He happily reached for the cup and took a sip.

[Altair]

Something had happened.

He could feel it, a difference of warmth.

And he remembered back, to all his years of teaching at Hogwarts. To all his years of judging his students unfairly.

To wondering whether there were second chances.

Now, the boy managed to draw him in with a single sentence.

Altair hesitated. Stood still a moment. Then appeared to make up his mind, and found himself settling down on a chair.

"You're interested in the intersection between the magical mind and science?"

Perhaps the answer to the question was obvious, but the occurrence was such a rare one that he found himself in need of its confirmation.

[Tigran Razi]

He didn’t react when Marcus sat down as with the tea cup he’d almost expected it.

“”You're interested in the intersection between the magical mind and science?”

His interest was purely in controlling his own mind and ensuring it remained uncompromised by others either thru reading or influence.  Though science had always interested him as he remembered earlier in his learning about magic how he’d record rates of success and experimented to determine which hand was better for wand welding.  Naturally both would go unsaid - though the fact he could cast most spells with either hand was likely observable in his tendencies.

He said “Yes.  Science, if one has a source of measurement, provides a quantitative perspective which with a subject like the mind can be a key perspective.  Most the books I’ve read on the subject are biased on the authors perspective even when they include references from multiple people. “

Both perspectives are important and of interest to him.

[Altair]

Gods, the vocabulary - what was it with teens these days.

Ravenclaws, he thought, and rolled his eyes.

But his attention was successfully captured, and he found himself entertained. He was, after all, no less of a Ravenclaw himself.

"You think that's possible?" he asked, rethorically. "Objectivity?"

Not because he disagreed, but because he was interested in Tigran's perspective.

[Tigran Razi]

He shrugged slightly as he took a sip from his cup.

“Doubtful. Certainly not in analysis or interpretation.”

Then he put the cup down pausing slightly as he added “Though maybe with magic there is a way to get actual data on how the mind works which could be objective.“

Still he doubted even that.  The book was still interesting as he flipped to the next page.

[Altair]

Tigran's answers made him think. And for a moment he disappeared into conversations that he'd had with someone else, a long time ago - to the way that Fides had picked apart every one of his arguments.

She'd been more of a relativist than him, he supposed. Or relativist in a different way, at least.

“Though maybe with magic there is a way to get actual data on how the mind works which could be objective.“

"That'd be nice," he said, absentmindedly.

Then he just sat watching, for a little bit, drinking from his coffee.

"What year are you in?"

He was guessing Tigran wouldn't be that far from graduation.

"And what do you intend to do when you're done with school?"

[Tigran Razi]

He nodded.

Though as much as he was interested in objective measured data about how the brain worked, he wasn’t sure it would be worth the cost of gathering it on whomever it was gathered from.

His eyes went back to the book he was reading.

"What year are you in?”

He said “ I’ll be going into seventh. “  Or so he assumed as that is what Tim implied, so perhaps the Ministry was going to take on the bill for his education for a year after he clearly should have aged out of the system.

"And what do you intend to do when you're done with school?”

He said “ I have an internship at St. Mungos so I hope to turn that into a job.  If not, I got a part-time job at the Snake Pit as a bartender and jobs like that are pretty easy to get. "

He was leaving off his real back-up plan which was getting a trades job on the docks or railways as if he did that he'd rather not have anyone go looking for him in the muggle world if it came to that.

[Altair]

This time he'd arrived prodding. He'd arrived interested, wanting to unwrap layers.

He didn't know what it was that made Tigran want to answer, especially considering that he'd expertly demonstrated that he could have conversations about nothing - had he wanted to - but he appreciated it.

It made him think about the things that he had liked about being a professor, even though it had been too weighing on him to be able to do many terms in a row.

He felt that he managed to decipher the boy a little more now. He did not come accross as someone priviledged - as elevated by the resources of rich parents. Tigran came accross as someone used to putting down work to getting where he wanted - or needed - to be.

"And how does mind magic factor into this? To St. Mungo's or the Snake Pit?" Altair asked. But he was smiling now, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.

[Tigran Razi]

His eyes paused on the sentence he was reading for a few seconds as he let Marcus’ question rattle around in his head. 

He said “ It doesn’t. “ 

He wondered if it should for the purposes of this discussion - as it certainly wouldn’t in the scheme of things.  He wasn’t like his friend Jasper whose family was supporting him as he tried to open a prank shop - a business idea he couldn’t imagine would even support the shop’s rent let alone his friends own rent.  If he didn’t have a job that paid enough for him to rent a room he’d be homeless again, and he had zero intention of being homeless again.  Even if it should manner, his usual ability to think quick couldn’t come up with anything to pretend it did - and oddly he had zero desire to.

Then he chuckled as he said “ Even if I accidentally found a technique to quell the magical mind while retaining a wizards ability to perform spells I wouldn’t give it to St. Mungos who would likely have many healers celebrating it as a cure-all.  I’m rather confident St. Mungos has categorized more venoms from magical snakes than researched treatments for those impacted by afflictions related to the magical mind due to their uniqueness in case presentation. “ 

The book he was reading now, as well as the books he’d read prior, showed a pattern that he wasn’t even looking for such a hypothetical technique. 

[Altair]

Altair took a sip from his coffee. It swirled darkly in its porcelain container.

And he took a moment to try to unwrap what he'd just heard. Quelling the magical mind while retaining the ability to perform spells was a little unspecific - then again, as were most ideas when at the stage of being ideas.

He wondered what exactly quelling the magical mind entailed.

"People are rather complicated," he agreed.

(That was what he liked about them.)

He stood up then, casting a glance over a bookshelf. At first he'd thought a new customer had arrived, but this was one of his (the spirits). And he better pay attention, because it seemed like something was up over there.

"Is that something you'd like to explore?" he asked.

Still wrapping back layers.

Research was what he was passionate about, after all.