The Wizard who would finally prevail, began to understand that his power needed to be shared. All power is shared, really, and the former wizards had done so without realizing it. To share his power, he needed to spread the word and create a magic spell that would continue casting itself while he slept. While this might evoke the images of building altars, putting disciples under trances, and other classical forms of magical manipulation, this one was more simple. He needed to create a magic spell that when spoken, made people want to cast it again. In other words, he needed the magical story.
He knew that compelling people to tell a story against their will was futile. He knew that they would have to want to tell it, to have a burning desire to tell it. The dark wizard Adolf Hitler had figured that out, and had woven a tale of suffering that people took pleasure in spreading like a disease. He had seen the itch of hate that had swept the land, and he saw the power of the dormant spell which had already been cast on Germany, starting centuries ago. He didn't change anything. He cast a spell that awakened a deep sleeping magic. The others happily re-cast that spell until the entire world was wide awake. It took millions of horrible deaths for the spell to run its course and for the fire to burn up its fuel. A new spell was cast and went to sleep. Bits and pieces of it have awoken since, and many more would need to die before the entire spell was to be fully cast. This saddened the new wizard, but he saw no way to avoid it. Yet.
Enter the sorceress J.K. Rowling. She had learned the craft of storytelling magic. She had packaged the latent power of the human race inside a story about a different world, where the wizards were hidden from society. She told the people what they had wanted to know all along. Magic was there, and it was waiting to be found. People pay attention to flashy things, so they were drawn in by her stories of transfiguration, magical artifacts, and a school where children learn to fly broomsticks. She stirred a spell that re-told itself on the silver screen. The spell is still under way today. Hers was a gentle sort of spell that works in the unseen.
To move ahead with his plan, the new wizard knew that he would need to break some of his own rules. He would need to be flashy and make magic sound glorious. Otherwise, no one would pay attention. He had to make it look flashy and offer an instant payoff of some sort, otherwise people would be lukewarm about it. He had to find the casters. He needed to summon them into his presence. They would most likely sleepwalk to him, not even knowing why they came. He might not even know him when he met them. He might not know the magic words. All he needed to do was pinpoint his intentions, and the spell would weave itself into a story. Then, it would be done and the spell would be cast.
He had several magic tricks that he knew would synergize into a story that would tell the people what they needed to know. They thought that they were looking for a secret of how to make lots of money, how to find the perfect romance, how to have time to do all of the things that they want to do, and generally they just wanted a formula for happiness. There was a sad irony in all of this. He knew that what they thought they wanted wouldn't give them any of the things they were actually after. But he also knew that the symbols of happiness would draw their attention more than happiness itself would. So, in other words, he would have to deceive them. He would have to manipulate, and he would have to lie. They didn't want to hear the Truth, and they would block it from their ears. They would shake their heads in disappointment, and walk away in search of a better answer.
So, he decided to weave a spell for finding the perfect job, and tell the story of it. He saw it clearly. He needed to find himself a job quickly (within hours of intending it). He needed to find a job that perfectly fulfilled on what the typical human would want. He needed to find something so specific, in such a short period of time, that there could be no blaming this on luck or random chance. He needed a formula for teaching anyone else to do the same. He needed the Magic Words to landing the perfect job. Unfortunately, the magic words would not work for anyone who resisted their power. He needed to tell a story so compelling that no one would doubt it. He needed, in other words, to disguise his success as a made-up fictitious account, where it would not be subject to scrutiny. He needed to frame it in an imaginary world that wasn't subject to the constraints of this one. Then, and only then, would he find the incantation that would spread itself like fire.
He set out to work on this immediately.
