The Old Ones of Hogwarts

Chapter 97, Section 96: Severing Fate, the King's Mandate

The fragments of the dress in his hand were still as sparkling as ever, but the words written on them were definitely radiating evil. Ian felt that every word was filled with the wicked humor of a bad witch.

"As expected, you can't afford to offend the old witch—" Ian recalled his previous words and actions, but he couldn't figure out where he had offended Morgan the witch. He now understood why Morgan wanted to change the formula; she probably really wanted to see Ian brew a potion of love potion without him knowing.

What kind of international joke is this?!

He's only eleven years old!

He's so young!

How could he possibly need something like that! No! Even if he gets older, he still won't need it! Just like that insightful young man said, with his outstanding looks and strength far exceeding that of his peers, how could Ian possibly need drugs to help him have a sweet romance!

"I really want to know how precarious it must have been for Morgan's apprentices back then, living next to him, because they could easily be tricked by that stingy guy if they weren't careful."

Ian couldn't help but look at the castle in the distance. He only dared to mutter and complain in his heart, after all, he knew very well that his teacher had always had the habit of spying on others.

The Queen's magic mirror originally belonged to her, and she had even overheard Ian and Ariana's casual conversation.

Heaven knows if the old witch is hiding in the castle and spying on him right now.

Thinking about this...

Ian's eyelids twitched.

"Oh, thank you, ancestors! Thank you, my teacher, Ms. Morgan! She was so kind to me! The wicked passerby clearly doesn't understand the good intentions behind her recipe!"

"No wonder he had no friends to see him off when he left; only a bird was willing to play with him..."

Ian only started performing loudly into thin air after he was sure the young man had gone far away.

He originally wanted to make a Christian prayer gesture, but then suddenly remembered that Christianity had persecuted wizards in the past, so in the end he could only make random gestures with his fingers in front of his chest.

The air was still fragrant.

Birdsong and insect chirping remain active.

No one responded to Ian, but he dared not be careless. He remembered the fate of his beautiful senior sister; the wicked witch's tricks were truly too dirty.

Even Voldemort couldn't have learned to offer a cigarette like that. Ian was absolutely certain that Morgan Woolman hadn't misunderstood; after all, any normal person could tell the difference between a potion of pleasure and a potion of euphoria.

His envisioned magic potion of happiness—the Happy Planet.

However, in reality, the "happy potion" he obtained was a night shift ward.

It's not that there's absolutely no difference between the two, but they're completely unrelated. Ian didn't even dare to imagine what would happen if he brewed a pot of it and served it to Aurora. In fact, when he first got the recipe, he even considered brewing it and selling it openly. Azkaban's assessment was far too mild.

"Wow, there are empty love potion bottles everywhere, and the whole room is full of love potion victims—even Durmstrang probably wouldn't see such an explosive scene!"

Ian was terrified.

After all, if he really did brew a huge pot of it and then repackage and sell it, the image alone is outrageous, and it might even be recorded in Hogwarts' school history. Yes, the kind of record that's considered dark history, the sinful King of Passion at work, that night, the entire castle was in turmoil.

Ian felt he should thank the unknown young man who had just passed by; it was he who saved Hogwarts, and he was definitely no less than Harry Potter's true savior.

"If I'm not mistaken, the last one to fly here should be a phoenix. I didn't expect a phoenix to have the ability to come here... Was it using the brief interval of its rebirth?" Ian wasn't blind or farsighted, so he had reason to suspect that the young man from earlier was also a member of the Dumbledore family.

There is indeed a resemblance in appearance; he could be Albus Dumbledore's son, or he could be Aberforth Dumbledore's child. Ian's guess leans more towards the former. As for the old headmaster living over a hundred years without ever experiencing love, Ian simply doesn't believe he could be so unmoved by worldly desires.

The so-called aunt is probably Ariana. Come to think of it, if we calculate based on her current age, Ariana should be considered an old girl.

"I should have taken a picture of that guy, what a pity." Ian pulled out his borrowed old-fashioned camera, which would be considered an antique even in the early 1990s.

Not to mention it's very heavy.

It is also large in size.

In the upper left corner of the camera, there was a "pot lid" that might be used for exposure. Ian didn't know much about cameras, only that this camera was one of the kind of modified works commonly seen in the wizarding world.

It functions like a Polaroid camera, automatically printing out photos after they're taken. However, to make the photos come alive, you need to apply some special magic potion. The formula is unknown, and it's incredibly expensive, a monopolized product like Potter's shampoo.

of course.

Ian certainly doesn't need to buy such a thing; after all, helping to take photos is all the chivalry he's shown, and Dumbledore, having been the headmaster for so many years, obviously wouldn't lack the money to buy the "Living Like Potion."

If it weren't for the fact that the headmaster's authority was a hard counter to that of students, Ian would have even wanted Dumbledore to pay him off before he released the photos.

"Let Dumbledore spin the wheel and collect the fragments. Only by combining all the fragments can you exchange them for the photo with me—" Ian had the "heart" but not the "courage."

He was just killing time on the way to the town. When he left the jungle, the vibrant forest was gone, replaced by a quiet and somewhat desolate landscape.

The town nestled in a valley, its stone houses scattered in a pleasing, haphazard fashion. Although it hadn't been ravaged by Luo Yue, the deserted environment still gave it a desolate and dilapidated feel. The streets were covered with fallen leaves and dust.

Occasionally, a gust of wind blows by, swirling a few withered leaves, which then dance and spin in the empty street.

As Ian strolled along the cobblestone streets of the town, he could see from a great distance that in the open space in the middle of the town, Pandero was teaching Ariana swordsmanship.

Perhaps because practicing swordsmanship requires concentration, or perhaps because the distance between them was still quite considerable, neither of them noticed Ian running towards them from the open space.

"They're actually serious?"

Ian remembered that the last time they were at Morgan's castle, Pendro had told Ariana to give up magic and learn swordsmanship, but he thought it was just Pendro talking nonsense.

Surprisingly, after returning to the town, Pandro actually began teaching Ariana swordsmanship—in fact,

Ian had initially thought he was unlikely to run into Pandro in the town.

After all, this is someone who really enjoys traveling. Just like the young man who left before, when Ian first met him, the man was also just traveling around.

The sun hangs high in the sky.

In this deserted town, untouched by the passage of time, the gentle sunlight spills into every corner, draping this tranquil place in a golden veil.

The girl practiced intently in the sunlight.

She wore a slightly oversized linen dress, and her hair was simply braided into two braids that fell over her shoulders. The girl, who was originally gentle and delicate, suddenly had a touch of heroism.

Every movement, every swing of the sword, is executed with precision and power. Ariana's sword has rhythm and cadence, clearly demonstrating that her swordsmanship has been honed over a considerable period of time.

"Ariana, the way of the sword lies in faith and focus."

"Swordsmanship is not just a display of strength, but also a tempering of the mind and will. You need to learn to listen to the sound of the sword, to feel its pulse and the rhythm of each swing."

"When you can hold the sword and make it an extension of your body, you have mastered my swordsmanship. It has no special techniques and does not require any specific sword-wielding routines."

"Where the mind goes, the sword comes; this is a state of being. Once you completely shed your weakness and cowardice, you will be invincible in the world."

Pandro, dressed in a simple brown robe with an antique longsword casually hanging at his waist, continued to instruct Ariana on her movements. He didn't forget to boast, "My swordsmanship isn't something just anyone can learn. You've hit the jackpot, Ariana. This is far more promising than being a wizard."

"My swordsmanship can sever fate, while wizards are trapped by it. I don't need to say who is stronger or weaker, do I?" He boasted, but still didn't forget to put down the wizards.

I don't know where this huge resentment came from.

"I don't know what fate is, Pandro. All I know is that this isn't as fun as fishing."

During her break, Ariana wiped her sweat and sighed. It was clear that she had been forced into this situation, but she hadn't chosen to slack off while studying.

"Fate is a mischievous little devil." Pandro saw Ian not far away, who had deliberately taken a long detour, trying to hide and scare people, but whose pointed head was sticking out.

"Your sword needs to be placed at its throat..."

After saying that, Pandro made a shushing gesture, then tiptoed around the post office where Ian was hiding.

He originally wanted to put the sword on Ian's neck to show off.

however.

"This is a greeting from a wizard!"

Unexpectedly, Ian reacted as if he had anticipated this, quickly crouching down and reaching behind him to steal something, employing a pre-planned and deceptive tactic known as "the monkey steals the peach."

"hiss!!!"

Pandro suffered a critical hit, his expression contorted as he gasped for breath, his sword falling to the ground. He slumped to the ground, his face turning a deep reddish-brown.

"Look, Ian has caught a big fish like you." Ariana was clearly a sensible person. She walked up and couldn't bear to look at Pandro, who was rolling on the ground with his legs clamped together.

"He's trying to scam us!"

Pandro's tone was full of resentment.

"Fishing is so much fun."

Ian gave him a bright smile.

"Perhaps this is fate's response, Pandro. It probably didn't want to be severed by you." Ariana's earnest words were the real blow to Pandro's soul.

Pandro wanted to refute.

Ian had already raised his camera to capture his embarrassment.

"What is this?"

The intense flash of light made Pandro lose his composure.

"Is it a camera? It's gotten so small!" Ariana looked at the camera in Ian's hand with curiosity, clearly familiar with something invented hundreds of years ago.

"Yes, Muggle technology will make it even smaller, but I wonder if wizards can keep up with the times." As he spoke, Ian also took a picture of Ariana.

Compared to the candid photos of Pandro looking like a wolf or fox, Ariana's photos were somewhat disappointing, mainly because Ian's photography skills weren't very good to begin with.

Aside from professional photographers, it's difficult for someone who has never had a girlfriend to develop good photography skills.

Let's take a picture together.

Ian saw that Penderlo had caught his breath, reached out and helped him up. He put his arms around one of his friends on each side and pressed the shutter at a shout of "Cheese!"

The photo then froze in time.

In the slowly printed photos, Ian smiled broadly, while Ariana's smile appeared hastily, though she seemed more bewildered and at a loss than Pendro.

Since Pandro may have never seen a camera before, he looked bewildered, much like Neville—a warm and slightly humorous scene of a photograph of the living and the dead.

One of a kind in the world.

"Great, everyone's expressions are perfect!" Ian habitually flicked the printed photo; he felt that everything that needed to be shown was captured in this picture.

"You call this perfect?"

Looking at the photo of himself as a wolf-fox, Pandelo was clearly exasperated.

"Here's an egg for you, don't be angry." Ian took out three Winged Demon eggs and gave one to Pandro. Morgan had obviously only told him not to give Pandro any snacks.

"A winged demon?"

Pandroh has a very sharp eye.

"I want to hatch them here." Ian took the opportunity to stuff all the snacks into Ariana's hands. He gave Pendro an egg, but of course, it wasn't just to appease him. Ian's real intention was to gain a free incubator; those who love adventure often become Masters of Fantastic Beasts.

"No eggs can hatch here, life doesn't belong here." Pandro shook his head, a response that struck Ian like a thunderbolt. His "endless descendants" plan had fallen apart before it even began.

"Didn't golden apples grow here too?" Ian asked, still somewhat unwilling to give up.

Unexpectedly, Pandelo also showed an uncertain expression.

"Yes, the golden apple is indeed a miracle that defies common sense." He looked thoughtfully at the winged demon egg in his hand. "Perhaps we should plant these eggs in the ground?"

What an outrageous statement!

"Eggs are meant to be incubated!"

Ian was speechless.

However, Pandelo was still eager to try.

How will you know if you don't try?

As he spoke, he even ran to the vicinity to find a shovel.

That's why he's called a swordsman; he moves very quickly. If Ian hadn't quickly taken the tool from his hand, the three Winged Demon eggs would probably have ended up buried in the ground.

"How about we incubate them first?"

Ian felt that Pandro's words couldn't be entirely trusted. This guy might have indeed been a legendary figure in the past, but now he was in an unreliable state where many of his memories were blurred.

"Believe me, no life can be born here." As he spoke, Pandro walked to a tree, climbed up in a few quick steps, and took a bird egg.

"I've had this egg for many years. Do you see even the slightest sign that it's going to hatch?" The egg in Pandro's hand, covered in red flame patterns, was clearly something extraordinary.

"Didn't you just take down that bird's nest?" Ariana asked, sitting on a bench, munching on a chocolate-filled cookie, her eyes filled with doubt and a hint of oddness as she looked at Pandro.

"That's because I'm getting the birds here to incubate my eggs. I get other birds to incubate my eggs wherever I go."

"You don't expect me to sit up and incubate it myself, do you?" Pandro handed the egg in his hand to Ian while snatching away the other two Winged Demon eggs from Ian. "You can go to your world and incubate it, but these Winged Demon eggs will have to be left for me to experiment on."

talking.

Pandro picked up a shovel and walked to the base of the tree.

"What kind of egg is this?"

Ian felt the egg in his hand was extremely warm, and he noticed that the patterns that Ariana had "carved" on the back of his hand were now shining brightly again.

Just like when I first came across Fox.

"Phoenix!"

Ian found the answer himself.

"Ariana, he must have stolen your phoenix." Ian turned to Ariana and complained to her face. He remembered that every member of the Dumbledore family had their own phoenix.

"I do not have a phoenix."

Ariana shook her head, and after hearing Ian's guess, she curiously leaned closer, still holding snacks in her hand. "Is this really a phoenix egg?"

She clearly had never seen a phoenix egg before.

"Yes, Phoenix, I've been trying to hatch it for so long, but it hasn't come out yet. Originally, I just wanted to raise a food reserve that could be eaten and regenerated, a reserve that would never run out."

"But it took me far too much of my time and still couldn't be born."

Pandro frantically dug a hole under the big tree.

Ian rolled his eyes. "Dead people don't need to eat."

He felt that Pandro was even more outrageous than Aurora.

"The dead don't need to eat, but that doesn't mean they can't eat," Pandro replied seriously, his digging speed was truly astounding.

In the blink of an eye, a huge pit had been dug.

"Perhaps it's precisely because you want to eat it that it doesn't want to be hatched by you; phoenixes are very intelligent."

Ariana also felt that Pandro's idea was extremely unreasonable.

"Are you really going to plant the Winged Demon's egg in the ground?" Ian watched as Pandro placed the Winged Demon's egg in the large pit and then began to fill it with soil, shovel by shovel.

"No one has ever done what you did before, so common sense doesn't apply to our current situation. Even if we fail, it's just a waste of time."

"The one thing we have plenty of is time." Pandro was clearly doing something incredibly stupid.

Yet he could still deliver lengthy and earnest pronouncements on principles.

And it leaves no room for rebuttal.

"You win."

Ian slapped his forehead. Trading a winged demon's egg for a phoenix egg was definitely a good deal for him. However, he had serious doubts about whether he could bring this phoenix egg, which did not belong to him, back to the mortal world.

Pandro probably saw through Ian's thoughts. "The phoenix is ​​a very magical creature. When it crosses life and death, it will not be rejected by the rules that restrict you."

"However, this phoenix was born in our world after all, and it may be different from the phoenix in your mind, so don't use common sense to look at the hatching of this phoenix."

Pandroh's words contained a great deal of information.

Ian raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Okay, I'll ask any wizards who know about phoenixes. They're the kind of companions wizards crave the most." He figured that Pendro was definitely not as reliable as Dumbledore when it came to hatching phoenixes.

This infuriated Pandelo.

"Have you forgotten who taught you to control magic? I may not be a wizard, but I know a lot about wizards!" Pandro stomped hard on the newly laid soil as if venting his anger.

"Wizards are all frauds!"

His furious words were clearly not directed at Ian.

"Ian, you found my brother?" Ariana, who had been staring at the phoenix egg, suddenly looked up and spoke. Clearly, although she had the mind and age of a ten-year-old, her keen senses allowed her to guess the reason behind Ian's unusual questioning.

"Of course, this is something I promised you."

Ian nodded, his face full of righteous indignation.

"How are they doing?"

A hint of worry flashed across Ariana's eyes.

Looking at the little girl who was slightly taller than him, Ian thought of the young man he had met before.

He asked Ariana with some confusion.

"There was someone who should be your nephew just now. When I met him on the road, he called you 'aunt.' Didn't he tell you anything about the Dumbledore family?"

Ian's words surprised Ariana.

"Indeed, a man came by, saying he was a traveler, and only asked us for a drink of water—"—Pandero felt he had ill intentions, for the soul does not thirst.

obviously.

The information Ian provided greatly surprised Ariana.

"My nephew?"

Her expression was very strange.

"I knew he wasn't a traveler!" Pandro was pleased with his judgment, but he made no mention of the fact that he felt the man had ill intentions.

"I have a feeling he's Albus Dumbledore's child, an unspeakable bastard, and his mother is probably some kind of incredibly evil dark wizard or something." Ian's tone wasn't really certain, but since he only knew Albus and not Aberforth, he would only spread rumors about people he knew.

Snape was probably right; people who spend a lot of time with Gryffindors naturally pick up some of their habits.

"You might not believe it, but your brother is doing really well now. I promised to let him see your situation, and in return, he'll turn your family's coffers into my own."

Ian was clearly daydreaming again.

"Is that really true?" Ariana tilted her head, somewhat suspicious. She had been with Ian since he was a child, and clearly knew Ian's character very well.

"If you write it down, then it will be true!" Ian pulled out a table from the post office next door and slammed the letter and envelope from his bag onto the table.

"Ian, I just died before I grew up, I'm not stupid." Of course, Ariana wouldn't write such words, which left Ian only with a disappointed sigh.

"I only met one of your brothers, Albus Dumbledore—he's now the headmaster of our school, while your other brother is supposedly herding sheep or something."

"The portraits at school told me that."

Ian told everything he knew.

"Brother Aberforth." Ariana's expression froze for a moment, her eyes beginning to clear from a daze, as if she was remembering many things.

"Perhaps I should write two letters."

She looked to Ian for help.

"Luckily, I'm the kind of person who likes to be well-prepared." Ian took out another sheet of paper and envelope. He discovered that Pandro was secretly eating the snacks he had brought for Ariana. Since the witch had confiscated Pandro's share, he could only pretend not to see it and handed the second sheet of paper and envelope to Ariana.

"Actually, I don't know what to write."

Ariana looked somewhat melancholy as she held her pen, unsure of how to begin. Seeing this, Ian, who had already sat down some distance away, immediately moved closer to her.

"You can write that Ian is a good friend, and that even if Ian breaks school rules, Ian should not be punished, and Dumbledore should not be allowed to plot against Ian in any way."

"If you absolutely have to make Ian fight Voldemort, you have to give him a lot, a lot, a lot of benefits," Ian suggested. Of course, he didn't want to work illegally with Harry Potter next year.

What decent person would willingly become free labor?

"Are you a bad kid at school?" Ariana tilted her head curiously, pondered for a moment, and finally picked up her pen, writing down what Ian had said, being a good friend to him.

"How could that be—" Ian Mountain chuckled. "Oh, right, you could also suggest that Dumbledore help me hatch a phoenix, so I'll have time to be a good student who studies diligently."

"Ideally, we could also donate a few hundred million Galleons to help impoverished students at Hogwarts, such as orphans from an orphanage who have no source of income."

7

Ariana only helped Ian write the first half of his unreasonable request.

really.

It concerns the Galleon.

Even a child knows how vigilant one should be. Seeing that Ariana had begun to express her true feelings, Ian consciously walked towards the direction where Pendro was.

"These are Ariana's snacks!"

Ian snatched the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Pendro's hand.

"I just gave you a phoenix egg!" Pandro protested loudly, reaching for something else, but Ian snatched the entire bag of snacks away.

"That was clearly an exchange!"

Ian's rebuttal was also very reasonable and assertive.

"Perhaps you should have gone and captured the dragon you promised to bring to the castle and handed it over to my teacher, Ms. Morgan, sooner rather than later." He subtly implied that Pendro was acting entirely under someone else's orders. At the same time, Ian took the opportunity to deliberately mention his witch identity to observe Pendro's reaction.

However, the boy only paused for a moment, frowned, and his eyes flickered with distress, without any strong reaction or the feeling that he had remembered something.

"I knew it was that witch!"

Pandroh began to sullenly—Ariana spent a very long time writing two letters, seemingly an entire afternoon, pondering what she should write.

Golden sunlight filtered through the sparse clouds. Ian tried to learn some swordsmanship from Pandro, but Pandro immediately challenged him to a sparring match.

The end result was that he was disarmed by Pandro almost every time within five seconds.

"Let's try something else, Wizard Chess, Wizard Chess is a lot of fun!"

Ian felt that Pendro was retaliating against him for taking the snacks, so he decisively chose to use Wizard Chess to regain his face, only to find that Pendro was even more formidable than the chess player from Hogsmeade Village.

This guy is clearly new to this kind of game!

"I'm not playing anymore!"

Three more losses in a row.

Seeing that Ariana had sealed the two letters, Ian quickly seized the opportunity to slip away. His time was indeed running out, a fact he could already sense.

See you next week.

Ian carefully took everything with him, his figure gradually blurring—after he completely disappeared into the hazy illusion, Pandro picked up the longsword on the ground and walked towards the slightly melancholy Ariana.

"Let's continue."

He handed the longsword to Ariana.

However, Ariana, having recalled many things, wiped her eyes, shook her head, and refused, clearly having lost the will to continue practicing swordsmanship.

"I don't think learning swordsmanship is very meaningful."

Ariana was clearly in low spirits and somewhat outspoken.

Pandelbrot wasn't annoyed.

He simply gazed at the girl in front of him, his eyes clear like jewels. Although he still looked like the same boy, his voice seemed to have suddenly become steady and powerful.

"Of course it's meaningful, Ariana. Swordsmanship will come in handy. Only when you become a Valkyrie will you be qualified to embrace the opportunity for reunion."

"The destiny that magic cannot give you, I will give you."

Under the sunlight.

Pandelo's voice was gentle and sincere.

It seemed to be able to dispel the gloom in everyone's heart.

"Your...that sensitive spot, isn't it hurting anymore?" Ariana rubbed her eyes and looked up, her question likely dispelling the bright smile on Pandro's face.

"It still hurts a bit, Ian was too rough."

His expression stiffened.

I have lingering fears.

A faint coolness permeated the air, mixed with the faint sound of the night wind coming from outside the window and the rustling of leaves in the distance. Ian slowly woke up from his sleep and immediately reached into his pocket.

The warm touch overjoyed him.

The phoenix egg from that enchanting dreamscape has truly been brought back!

"My baby~"

Ian couldn't even imagine how cool he would look riding a phoenix across the wizarding world. Holding the egg that glowed red at night, his heart's true love shifted dramatically from "The Secrets of Cutting-Edge Black Magic."

"I'll do some research on my own first, and then I'll go see Dumbledore tomorrow!" Ian was wide awake and pulled out Newt's retired senior's book to start looking up information about phoenixes.

At the desk.

He studied late into the night amidst his roommates' snoring. Outside the window, the stars twinkled like glittering gems scattered on black silk, with occasional shooting stars leaving a brief but brilliant trail.

the next day.

Ian, who hadn't slept all night, didn't find the knowledge he sought. There was nothing about bloodlines or origins, and it was highly likely that the Hogwarts library wouldn't have any relevant records either. After all, according to Newt, an authority on magical creatures and a senior alumnus, the birth of the phoenix was a recognized mystery in the magical creature world.

Even Dumbledore didn't tell him the answer. The older student in the book said that he felt Dumbledore didn't know either, but Ian thought that Newt's relationship with him was just not good enough.

"Newt doesn't have one of those!"

Ian picked up the two letters as he looked out the window at the rising sun. He had included a photograph in each letter, but of course, he would only include the beautiful photo of them together in the letter to Albus Dumbledore—after all, Ian didn't know Aberforth and didn't like goat meat.

As is customary, I woke up my roommate.

As soon as Ian stepped into the hall, before he could even decide on his breakfast from cereal, bread rolls, corn chips, pickled fish, eggs, bacon, and toast with butter and jam, the news that was on the front page of today's wizarding newspaper had already reached his ears from the gossiping young wizards around him.

[Shocking! According to sources, the Ministry of Magic has lost a Dementor, which may now be roaming anywhere. However, our irresponsible Ministry of Magic denies this!]

Several newspapers published the news.

Both upper and lower-grade wizards took this very seriously.

"I bet this isn't the first time! I saw Dementors in front of my house when I was a kid!"

My mom, who doesn't know magic, insists I'm not following science, saying that what I saw could only be aliens!

"That's just how the Ministry of Magic is. Their bureaucracy is far too severe. They make mistakes but don't correct them, they only know how to cover them up. Sooner or later, the entire wizarding world will be ruined by these scumbags!"

"Indeed, although my father is just a minor official, our cellar is still stuffed full of Galleons. He said he would fire Deputy Minister Umbridge if he didn't take them."

"Huh? Is this something you can just tell us casually?! I think instead of focusing on the corruption in the Ministry of Magic, we should probably ask whether the Dementor we saw in Defense Against the Dark Arts class that day was real or not—."

Seeing that William was actually planning to persuade the other young wizards to investigate the truth, Ian quickly stepped forward, frowned, and retorted in a tone that sounded like a reasonable judgment, "If a Dementor really was lost, people would have started dying by now. Have you seen the news about people dying?"

Without waiting for anyone's response.

Ian himself made the decision in a loud and clear voice.

"No! Not a single person died! This proves that it's just malicious slanderers trying to smear our Ministry of Magic, which needs our support now more than ever!"

"Let me guess, I think it's those Death Eaters who haven't given up their evil intentions and want to disrupt our harmonious wizarding society. Many of them even work for places like the Daily Prophet!"

"Do you trust the Death Eaters or the Ministry of Magic?"

"Could the Ministry of Magic be lying? I don't believe it! It's an authoritative official institution. We should choose to trust the Ministry of Magic's announcements and have just a little more faith in our judicial system!"

Ian's positive and inspiring speech, coupled with his reasonable analysis and judgment, and his usual image in the eyes of the young wizards, successfully shifted the topic from the loss of a Dementor to the unscrupulous newspapers—Ian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and joined in the criticism of the unscrupulous newspapers.

People seem hesitant to mention Death Eaters.

Tom's influence is still considerable.

Ian and his two roommates finished breakfast, picked up "A Thousand Magical Herbs and Mushrooms" and "Potions and Elixirs," and were preparing to apologize to Snape today to put the matter of the last class behind them. Before they even reached the second floor with their roommates, they saw Gilderoy Grindelwald, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, standing guard next to more than a dozen boxes.

"It's Professor Lockhart!"

Because of the Dementors, the two roommates were terrified of Grindelwald, who was staring at Gilderoy Lockhart's face. They still suspected that the Dementor they had seen earlier was the one that had gone missing from the Ministry of Magic. In fact, most of the young wizards who had taken that lesson easily connected the missing Dementor with Gilderoy Grindelwald.

but.

Since Ian had stood up to support the Ministry of Magic, the students who had been attending Ian's classes naturally wouldn't object, and deep down they didn't really want to report their school professor.

After all, there are still seven years to go.

Who knows if the junior wizard who reported the professor will face repercussions?

"Hey kid, come help me out."

Gilderoy Grindelwald saw Ian and immediately raised his hand to signal to him. Ian watched as his two roommates practically slipped away from him in a flash.

"Traitor!"

With no other option, Ian had to bite the bullet and walk up to greet the professor alone. Since there were many young wizards coming and going these days, he still addressed the professor as Professor Lockhart.

"You should have learned the Levitation Charm by now, right? Move it to the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. I'll have to wait a while before I can go over there," Gilderoy Grindelwald ordered Ian without any politeness.

Ian regretted not learning Morgan's techniques last night, as he had been too busy studying egg incubation. Otherwise, he could have at least been more assertive in front of the professor.

"My Potions class is about to start, Professor. You wouldn't want your students to be late, would you?" Ian could only resort to some moral blackmail tactics.

Unexpectedly.

Gilderoy Grindelwald merely raised an eyebrow. "I need to grab something more before class, and guess who that's because of? Choosing between being late for Potions or choosing Azkaban shouldn't be hard for you to decide. Hmm,"

Let me think... You probably wouldn't want the Ministry of Magic to know that what they lost is with you, would you?

It is clear.

Gilderoy might care about these issues, but Grindelwald was utterly immoral; he even disregarded his professorial status and threatened Ian. Gilderoy Grindelwald didn't care about the missing Dementors, but he seemed to enjoy using it to blackmail Ian.

"Hiss, don't misunderstand, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just happy to help professors who need help." Ian took this as the price he had to pay for acquiring the Dementors.

Under Gilderoy Grindelwald's amused gaze, he used a shrinking charm to shrink all the boxes, then hurriedly ran towards the basement with the small boxes.

According to his custom-made Marauder's Map, there is a secret passage leading directly to the Forbidden Forest. This information about the passage can only be displayed on his own map.

It's not selfishness.

Ian simply didn't want anyone to die from going on adventures for the remaining seven years, and then have to spend those seven years at Hogwarts with a little ghost following him around resentfully.

"He clearly doesn't need anyone's help!"

Ian threw the box at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest and then disappeared back into the secret passage in the tree. Of course, he didn't believe that Gilderoy Grindelwald was really in such a hurry that someone needed to deliver the box to the Forbidden Forest ahead of time.

Perhaps they just wanted Ian to be late. Bad men's thoughts are sometimes harder to fathom than bad women's. In any case, Ian unsurprisingly became the student who was late for Potions class.

Fortunately, the Potions class door was not closed as before. As soon as Ian approached the door, he heard Snape explaining a potion recipe inside the classroom.

"I'm so sorry for being late, my dear Professor Snape." Ian knew perfectly well that he couldn't sneak in, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and step through the door, launching into his auspicious greetings.

"Prince, you're the first young wizard this year to dare to be late." Snape looked a little bruised and swollen, but that didn't stop him from glaring angrily at Ian.

"Is it your arrogance that you think you can learn to brew potions without attending classes, or have you saved Hogwarts again without our knowledge, just like you always talk nonsense?" The familiar sarcasm was actually not very powerful, and even no one from Slytherin dared to join in the laughter.

"It was my fault! I am so ashamed!" Ian didn't even try to explain. He bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle. In front of all the young wizards, Snape indeed did not choose to continue his temper.

"Go back to your classmates, or Ravenclaw will lose five points because of you." He said coldly, then raised his hand and slammed the classroom door shut.

Ian immediately and discreetly ran to Aurora's side.

"It's all your grandfather's fault!"

He only dared to complain to Aurora about his experience, because if Snape went to Grindelwald because of his lateness, who knows how Grindelwald would deal with the sharp-tongued Snape.

"He said he was going to capture some centaurs. Did he take you with him?" Aurora clearly communicated with her grandfather regularly.

"Hiss~"

Ian clearly underestimated Grindelwald's audacity.

Before he could continue whispering with Aurora, Snape glared at him with obvious displeasure.

He could only shut his mouth and listen attentively to Snape's lecture.

Perhaps it was because Ian was late, or perhaps it was because of the potion with a soul that Ian had in the last class.

Snape was clearly targeting Ian unusually in this lesson. Before Ian even arrived in the classroom, Snape had already covered a considerable amount of material, and he used various points from that material to test Ian's understanding.

Fortunately, it didn't stump Ian.

just.

The old bat did not give up.

"Prince!" After finishing the lesson, Snape didn't immediately have everyone brew potions. Instead, he suddenly let out a cold snort and asked Ian a question.

"What can salamander blood be used for?" This was clearly not part of the curriculum for first-year wizards, but Snape asked it so casually.

"Increase the spiciness of the soup."

Ian blinked.

His answer surprised Aurora, and the other young wizards in the classroom were also taken aback. Of course, some young wizards looked on with bright eyes as if they had learned something new.

"Prince, do you think you're funny? I was asking about its effects in potions!" Snape's gaze swept across the classroom, and everyone fell silent.

"It is the main ingredient of the enhancement potion, which can be used to increase the effects of other potions---actually, it is not much different from what I said."

.

Ian's words left Snape speechless.

"Next question, tell me what kind of potion can be made from daisy roots, fig peels, caterpillars, a drop of leech juice, and a mouse spleen."

Snape immediately moved on to the next question, which was also about material he hadn't yet studied. He was probably testing whether Ian had seriously read the notebook he had given him.

"Shrinking potion, also known as youth potion, can restore a person or animal to its childhood form. Only a few drops are needed to take effect. For example, a frog can turn back into a tadpole."

Ian gave the answer honestly.

Snape nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good, continue. If someone is petrified, what potion would you use to save them?" Snape seemed determined to stump Ian.

"The Mandrake Resurrection Potion can remove petrification."

Ian sighed wearily.

However, Snape clearly had no intention of letting him off the hook.

"If I asked you to find some sneezing grass, where should you look?" This question might not be easy to answer, but it clearly touched on a blind spot in Ian's knowledge.

He didn't study this part of "A Thousand Miraculous Herbs and Mushrooms" in great depth, since he only needed to know where to buy many of the herbs.

"Forbidden Forest?"

Ian spoke uncertainly, "Perhaps in your office, Professor. I think if you need it urgently, I can certainly find some in your office."

What a simple, honest, and straightforward answer.

The Ravenclaw and Slytherin students couldn't help but laugh out loud. However, upon seeing Snape's fierce expression, they immediately lowered their heads and forcibly suppressed their laughter.

"Why haven't you memorized this knowledge yet! Is it because your brains can't hold it?" Snape's angry rebuke immediately caused a series of note-taking sounds to fill the classroom.

"Because of your glib tongue and nonsense, Ravenclaw will only get three points for this. If you don't correct your attitude, Ravenclaw will lose a lot of points!"

Snape turned to Ian and gave him another stern warning. The class continued, and the practical exercise began. Unsurprisingly, Ian's potion was the best in the class.

Aurora's finished product was already far behind. This earned Ravenclaw an extra five points from Snape, and when correcting Ian's minor flaws, he dared not mention the Soul Potion again.

"Let's go see your grandfather, the horse-draughtsman!"

After class.

Ian had planned to take Aurora back into the Forbidden Forest, but Aurora, being a centaur, wasn't very interested. She went to the school infirmary, perhaps due to some unspeakable trauma caused by last night's hotpot. And being alone, Ian wasn't too keen on going to the Forbidden Forest to find Grindelwald.

He chose to go straight to the Room of Requirement after lunch.

"A potion-making classroom that's all my own!"

With a slight magical fluctuation, an ancient and exquisite door slowly opened, revealing a spacious and mysterious potion-making classroom.

Unlike Snape's room, this classroom seemed to have been forgotten by time, ancient and dignified. The walls were covered with portraits of potion masters from all over the world, some solemn and some kind, all seemingly watching Ian silently. In the center of the classroom was a huge stone workbench, but there were no potions to use.

"Ah, I knew it."

Ian glanced at the map. Snape had left Hogwarts after class, so he decided to keep his word and quickly returned to the second-floor classroom, which was now empty.

Carrying a pile of materials back to the House of Requirement, Ian pulled out the fragment of a dress that contained the potion recipe.

"If I'm not mistaken, in Morgan's usual teaching style, there should be other knowledge hidden in this prank-like recipe."

Ian discovered that while the processing of many ingredients in the recipe might not be particularly complicated, it was extremely time-consuming. After pondering for a moment, he had the House of Requirement reveal what it had hidden.

Inside the enormous iron cage, the Dementor, seemingly withdrawn, huddled inside. It sensed its cage being opened, and then a warm hand pulled it out.

Dementors are blind; they only know that they have been released and that there is a living person in front of them. Driven by their hunger, the Dementor tries to seize the young wizard and absorb his pleasure and soul.

Human souls are most active in their emotions, which is a favorite of Dementors. The emotions of young wizards are especially delicious, and the Dementors can't wait to have a good feast.

however.

"You're going to help me grind these things! Just press them down with this thing and roll them back and forth repeatedly!" Ian dragged the huge Dementor directly to the workbench.

"Don't mess it up, or I'll shove you into the Ravenclaw latrine!" His voice was very serious and earnest. In fact, Dementors have never really understood the language of living beings.

Threat?

It's meaningless to the Dementors.

At least until today—that was the case.

Just after Ian finished speaking, the Dementor, which had been starving, seemed to twist itself in mid-air and flew towards the table where the materials were being processed.

"Crunch~ Crunch~ Crunch~"

The Dementor actually began grinding diligently.

It didn't know what was happening to it, but that childish voice kept echoing clearly in its mind, and a power beyond the mortal realm bound it to the command of words.

It is irresistible.

It is difficult to disobey.

Like a king.