Dual Cultivation

The white whirlpool before him was now as tall as a floor.

Before, it had been only half the size of a door.

The whirlpool had always been growing. That much was normal.

Gavin had guessed that it corresponded to magic, and a young wizard's magic grew steadily over time.

But until now, the change had been slow. When he first saw it, it had been no bigger than a washbasin.

It had taken nearly a year of growth and meditation to reach half the size of a door.

Now it had suddenly shot up to the height of a floor. For a moment, Gavin wondered if his consciousness had shrunk—

If a change in perspective was all he was seeing.

So he checked the black whirlpool. He had been feeding the Obscurus negative emotions regularly.

That had kept it relatively stable.

But when he examined the Obscurus, he was surprised to find that its whirlpool looked smaller.

So—

Had Gavin's consciousness actually grown stronger?

That made sense. The soul grew stronger with age and experience.

He had learned that from Diadem Tom.

He thought of the giant-like form Dumbledore's consciousness had taken. Perhaps that was what the strongest wizard in the world looked like.

What didn't make sense was—

It meant the white whirlpool had grown far more than he had imagined, perhaps even more than his earlier estimate suggested.

"Did I just hit puberty?" Gavin guessed with a frown.

But he quickly ruled it out.

He knew perfectly well that puberty hadn't hit him yet—

His voice hadn't even started cracking.

And he was still shorter than Cordelia.

Going by his previous life, his main growth spurt wouldn't come until he was thirteen or fourteen.

"So something else caused it?"

Gavin considered his recent experiences and listed a