It's been more than one month since Arnit went to Diagon Alley for the first time. Right now, when there are still a few minutes before the sun rays will touch the earth, he is inside his room, sitting in lotus position, doing meditation with the help of an artefact gifted to him on his fifth birthday by his father. This artefact – lotus beads – was one of the prized possessions of his father when he was alive. Now this belongs to him. This artefact helps the wearer in easing his way into a meditative state and helps in building occlumency shields. It can also turn into a bracelet which resists Legilimency. Even a master legilimens will find it very hard to enter the mind of the wearer of this artefact. This artefact was created by his great-grandfather, the legendary alchemist Dhruvketu Shukla, who was famous all over the world, just like the alchemist Nicolas Flamel. Although he was more in the eastern part of the world, just like how Nicolas Flamel was more famous in the West. This is all according to his uncle, by the way.
Although Arnit never had any problems going into a meditative state. His mind has always been clearer and faster than any other person he has come across. Although he had this realisation when he was around seven, he never confronted this with his parents. It was only last year when he asked his uncle about this –
FLASHBACK STARTS
It was night time. Vedant was reading a book in his free time alone in his room when he heard a knock. Of course, who could it be if not Arnit, his nephew?
"Come in, Arnit," he called loudly. It has been a year since he started living with his nephew because of that incident. It was only recently when his nephew had started practising magic again. It took some time, but he managed to convince the boy.
"Uncle," Arnit called out softly. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even realise when the boy stood in front of him.
He turned and looked towards the boy. Now that he was looking at his nephew, he realised that the boy was taller and more fit compared to his peers. He looked at his face, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the boy wanted to ask something but was hesitating.
"You don't need to hesitate to ask something from me. I am here to answer your every query. Now tell me, what do you want to ask?" Vedant said in full confidence.
"Well, you know that I have always been smarter than my peers, including the adults. It also feels like my mind works faster than others, but I don't have any problem with that. The problem is I never exercised holistically, but I can tell that even if I have to run ten kms, I won't get tired. I am faster than all of my peers; hell, even some adults. My reflexes are so good that it feels scary sometimes. I feel like there's so much energy inside of me that only after exhausting my whole magical energy do I feel relieved. And the weirder part is, it always feels like something is guiding me, like a particular feeling or, you could say, an instinct that helps me figure things out. That's why I was never able to make a friend while living in the Muggle world. What is happening, Uncle? I want to know. Why am I so different from others? Is it solely because of magic, or is there something else?" After saying all of that, he sighed in relief like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
His uncle just stared at him for a few moments before answering, "You are worrying way too much for nothing. You should feel lucky –
"Uncle, please stop," Arnit interrupted his uncle midway, before continuing, "I don't know why you are not telling me the full truth. But I can tell that you are holding some information back. If you don't want to tell me, then it's all right. I don't want to pressure you into doing something you are unwilling to do."
Vedant closed the book he was reading and put it away so he could give his full attention to the boy. He put his right hand on his hair, smoothing it, and exhaled simultaneously.
He took some moments to gather his thoughts before replying, "Fine, come here, sit beside me. It's going to be a long night." He gestured for Arnit to sit beside him on the sofa. Arnit obeyed his uncle silently.
"Let's start with a history lesson first. Do you know who we consider the forefathers of Indian magicals (witches & wizards)?" asked Vedant.
"Yes, the Saptarishi (seven sages) who were known to live during the early Vedic period around 1500 to 1100 BCE, if I am not wrong." Arnit replied immediately.
He then continued, "and their descendants still live today as royalties. The 7 royal families, descendants of the saptarishi, are considered the top families in all of the Indian subcontinent. There are more than 100 noble families all around the subcontinent, but they are still considered beneath the 7 royal families. Although most of them considered themselves superior because of their 'noble' blood. Basically, a lot of them are blood supremacists. Our family, the Vashishtha, is one of those 7 families."
"Yep! You are absolutely correct." Vedant praised Arnit earnestly, which brought a smile to Arnit's face.
"Now, you don't believe in this bogus blood supremacy, right?" Vedant asked with some concern.
"No, absolutely not!" Arnit exclaimed loudly before continuing, "I don't believe in these misleading theories like blood supremacy and all. It's appalling to think that some people believe themselves to be superior just because of their blood. It's quite similar to the caste system in the Muggle world. I even find the term 'muggle' somewhat derogatory. Must be people like those who coined this term." He ranted, expressing his frustration.
"You are right about all that. I too don't believe in these fraudulent theories." Vedant further strengthened Arnit's beliefs.
"But why do you think that even after 3 millennia, the 7 royal families are constant while other 'noble' families change every decade or so?" Vedant asked suddenly, creating a sombre atmosphere.
Arnit took just a few seconds to gather his thoughts before replying, "because of their accumulated wealth and legacy magic."
The smile on Vedant's face gave away the answer. "But to remind you that their definition of wealth might be different from your understanding of wealth. They have so much money that they don't care about it anymore. Their definition of wealth is the rare artefacts, ingredients and potion recipes that they have accumulated all these years and which they guard jealously. These families have their own personal vaults somewhere around the world, buried underground at one of their personal islands, unseen to the whole magical and muggle world." Vedant explained all that in a few breaths, happy to see an expression of amazement on his nephew's face.
"But what I don't understand is how this is related to my initial question?" Arnit asked his uncle in some confusion.
"Take a guess yourself," Vedant replied cheekily, annoying the hell out of Arnit.
"Hmph, I'll give you your answer in a minute." Arnit humped and started thinking deeply. Meanwhile, Vedant summoned a bottle of water, effortlessly, mind you, without any incantations, like it was a normal occurrence in the house.
"I think I got your answer," replied Arnit after some time.
"Okay then, tell me, what do you think?" Vedant said with some anticipation.
"You first started your explanation with history. So if I am thinking right, it has something to do with the history of the 7 'royal' families, which our family is a part of. Then you lead your explanation towards the 'wealth' of those families, especially clarifying my understanding of 'wealth'. So, if I am guessing right, my condition has something to do with the 'wealth' of our family. My bet is on some kind of secret potion recipe, which I must have consumed in my infancy because my parents will never use obliviate spells on me. And it is not an artefact on my body; otherwise, I would have realised it sooner." Arnit explained all of this in a few breaths, exhaling softly in the end.
He stood in front of his uncle, completely sure and proud of his detailed logical explanation, if the smile on his uncle's face is any positive indication.
"Yep, you are again absolutely correct. I am so proud of you." Vedant said proudly, holding one side of Arnit's shoulders.
"It was 'Potion of the Eternal Warrior' or, as some call it, 'Elixir of the Awakened Mind'. The name doesn't matter, but what it does." Vedant suddenly said in a low voice after some time.
"Never heard of it!" Arnit said swiftly.
"Of course, it would be weird if you had heard of it. It is a special potion of our family invented by our ancestor Sage Vashishta himself. Just like the other six families have their own from their own ancestors," Vedant said something which completely gobsmacked Arnit.
"You are telling me that there is a secret recipe directly from Sage Vashishta. I bet the ingredients must be rare and expensive at the very least. Otherwise there would be a line of talented battle mages in our family. But why were you hesitating in telling me all of this?" Arnit asked tentatively, suppressing his amazement.
"Let me talk for a second. I'll come to the point eventually." Vedant replied, giving a tired sigh.
"So as I was saying, yes, it is a very precious potion, so obviously the ingredients required in making the potion will be precious. I'll just give you the name of a single ingredient, and that would be enough to show the value and rarity of other ingredients," Vedant said slowly, trying to create a mysterious atmosphere.
"And that is," Arnit continued with bated breath.
"Elixir of Amrit or Nectar of Immortality, whatever you want to say," Vedant said in a low voice, keeping an eye on his nephew's expression.
When no reply came from Arnit, he smiled and asked again, "You don't believe me?"
Arnit shook his head sideways.
Vedant thought for a second before asking again, "Do you know about Nicolas Flamel?" for which Arnit again replied by shaking his head sideways.
"He is the creator of the legendary Philosopher's Stone!" Vedant said loudly.
"The same stone which is said to turn any metal into gold, right?"
Vedant simply nodded and continued, "and created the Elixir of Life, which extends his life indefinitely."
"Seriously?" Arnit asked, still not believing completely.
"Of course, you can find his name after a bit of searching in history books, and he is still living to this day with his wife somewhere in France, I guess. He has become obscured for the present generation; that's why you won't be able to find out about him so easily. He and his wife must be around 600 years old if I am not wrong."
Arnit had his mouth open in amazement. 'That means the nectar of immortality is real,' he came to the conclusion on his own.
"Well, you made me deviate from my original topic." Vedant continued, "So as I was saying, yes, the rarity of the ingredients for the potion is on the same level as the elixir of immortality. And not just anyone can brew this potion. It was only because your grandfather is a grand master potioneer who made this potion possible. But the reason I was hesitant in telling you about this is because of another ingredient, which is actually one of the rarest flora found in the magical world. It's called Brahma Kamal (lotus of divine knowledge), which only grows near the newborn babies who are meant to use them. And nobody else can use it. It will be just a normal lotus in another's hand. But the main reason why it's so precious is because it opens the gate into attaining Godhood. The last known location of this Brahma Kamal was in Nepal when a boy named Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as 'the Buddha' was born."
Now Arnit was definitely flabbergasted with all this information. Various emotions were raging inside his heart but he kept his mouth shut, letting his uncle complete his explanation.
"But the problem is that it's a double-edged sword. What I meant to say is that while it will open the path into sagehood for you, there will also be numerous obstacles which will stand in your way. And right now, you are still very young; hell, you haven't even reached your adulthood, and I didn't want to burden you with all this information. But then I thought, to hell with it. I can see that you are already mature enough for all of this."
Vedant stopped for a moment, taking deep breath, he continued, "Here, that's my whole detailed explanation of your initial question. Now it's already late enough for your sleep, and I am also getting tired. So, think about all this in your own room, at your own leisure. Go, go, go…" Vedant ended his explanation while pushing his nephew out of his room. After that he slammed the door in Arnit's face.
FLASHBACK ENDS