From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

"I was a Muggle before I became a student at Hogwarts. And Muggle society back then was far less safe and peaceful than it is now."

"In my opinion, Muggles are no different from wizards except that they don't swing a stick and release sparks. They are even more creative than wizards. Muggle society a hundred years ago was nothing like it is now. Many people couldn't even afford to fill their stomachs, and disease and hunger threatened many lives. But now, cities have expanded, transportation is convenient, and lights are everywhere. It's much better than it was a hundred years ago!"

"On the contrary, the British magical community is not much different from what it was a hundred years ago. At least I haven't encountered any resistance to integrating."

Dumbledore nodded. He was over a hundred years old himself and had seen and heard far more than Ivy, since he hadn't spent over a hundred years sealed in crystal due to a magical accident.

"But I heard that you had some conflicts with your classmates?" Dumbledore continued to ask. Thanks to Madam Pomfrey's miraculous healing, most of the Slytherin students who had been hospitalized were discharged the next day, and even the worst cases were fully recovered by the third day.

“Oh! That’s exactly what I wanted to say.” Ivy popped another candy into her mouth. “When did Slytherin become so conservative? Pure-blood theory? It’s really going backwards. When I was in school, there wasn’t such severe discrimination based on bloodline. And I was holding back; it was a proper duel.”

Ivy had long sensed that Dumbledore was peering into his thoughts through eye contact, but this had no effect on the master of dark magic; he was certain that he hadn't revealed any flaws.

In fact, Ivy's mindset completely changed long before she discovered her cheat code, the Grimoire of Destruction.

When he first broke free from the crystal, he was determined never to leave Hogwarts, which is why he showed weakness in his battle with Dumbledore.

When he later discovered that his name was written in the admission book, his mindset changed for the first time, and he began to be less cautious.

After thoroughly examining the Grimoire of Destruction at the Leaky Cauldron and discovering his character panel, Ivy decided to let loose and do whatever he wanted.

He is a top-notch master of dark magic, and he has already shown goodwill to Dumbledore. As long as Ivy doesn't keep jumping around in Dumbledore's minefield, Dumbledore will likely still prioritize eliminating Voldemort.

Chapter 30 Hard Candy and Tea

“Even a proper duel is against school rules in a school,” Dumbledore said, adjusting his glasses and smiling. “However, Severus has already given you the appropriate punishment, so I won’t say anything more.”

“Now, Mr. Doom,” Dumbledore said, pulling out the goblin silver wand he had confiscated from Ivy before the start of the school year and handing it to him. “It’s time to return it to its rightful owner. I hope you will always remember that Hogwarts is your home.”

This made Ivy frown. He had thought the meeting would be full of verbal exchanges and various tests, but he didn't expect Dumbledore to only ask a few trivial questions and remain noncommittal about his answers, and now he was actually showing his true feelings.

Ivy was so confused by Dumbledore's series of actions that her hand, which was reaching for the wand, froze in mid-air for a moment.

Seemingly sensing Ivy's question, Dumbledore placed the wand in Ivy's hand and then explained, "In any case, you are the hero who saved Hogwarts. Without your efforts, we would probably be studying in a pile of ruins right now!"

Ivy smiled with a relaxed expression and said, "You're right, Professor Dumbledore. Hogwarts will always be my home."

Who wouldn't love this amazing school? The students and teachers are all so talented and have such lovely voices. Ivy absolutely loves Hogwarts!

“That’s all I called you here for. I remember you don’t have classes this afternoon? Then you can enjoy your weekend.” Dumbledore pushed the plate of lemon-filled hard candies forward. “I’d love to see you take some to share with your friends, Mr. Doom.”

Then, under Dumbledore's surprised and distressed gaze, Ivy grabbed a large handful, leaving only a handful of pitiful candies on the plate.

“You told me to take this,” Ivy said matter-of-factly.

“Oh…please go ahead,” Dumbledore muttered, a pitiful look on his face. “You know, my visitors are usually not this…unrestrained.”

The thought of the old man haggling with the convenience store clerk over the value of a bag of candy and gold coins, and ultimately having to resort to magic, made Ivy feel a little sorry for him.

But he would never give up what he had already obtained.

So he reached out and summoned the Grimoire of Destruction, pulled a ten-pound note from its pages, and placed it on the table.

"Don't use Galleons next time. This banknote is enough to buy a lot of lemon-filled hard candies." Ivy stuffed the candies into her pocket and cast a spell to ensure they wouldn't melt from her body heat and stick together.

“Thank you, Mr. Doom.” Dumbledore picked up the banknote from the table and examined it carefully under the light.

€€€€€€€€

Leaving the principal's office, Ivy walked alone to the path outside the castle, where vegetable gardens lined both sides and led to the Forbidden Forest.

On the edge of the Forbidden Forest lies the cottage of Rupert Hagrid, the Hogwarts key keeper and game field keeper.

Harry had invited Ivy to have tea before, and hopefully it's not too late to accept the invitation now.

"Hagrid!" Ivy heard Harry shout. "The day of the Gringotts intrusion happened to be my birthday. It's very possible we were there when it happened!"

"Looks like it's not too late." So Ivy raised her hand and knocked on the door.

“Hey! Someone’s here. I’ll open the door.” Hagrid’s voice sounded relieved; he didn’t want to talk to Harry about what had happened at Gringotts.

“Hello, Mr. Hagrid.” Ivy took a step back to avoid putting too much pressure on her neck from looking up too much. “We met before in Professor Dumbledore’s office. Harry invited me here this time.”

“Oh. How are you?” Hagrid’s tone sounded wary and distant, which Ivy thought was probably due to the Slytherin robes he was wearing.

"Harry! Your friend is here." Hagrid called back into the house, then moved aside to make way for Ivy.

"Ivy!" Harry and Ron exclaimed in surprise. "We thought you weren't coming. What does Dumbledore want with you?"

Ivy sat on the dusty cushion, looking around at the furnishings of the cabin. Apart from an exaggeratedly large wooden bed that was proportionate to Hagrid's size, everything in the cabin exuded a strong primitive charm.

"Dumbledore has returned my wand to me." Ivy took out the wand made of goblin silver and placed it on the table.

"You have two wands?" Ron stared intently at the patterns on the wands, examining them closely. "This one is even made of metal!"

“Fairy Silver, it’s made of the same material as Gryffindor’s sword,” Ivy explained.

As he spoke, Hagrid took a cup from the cupboard, poured some tea into it using a brass teapot, and placed it in front of Ivy.

"Thank you, Mr. Hagrid."

"Hmm..." Hagrid mumbled something, but Ivy couldn't hear him clearly, even though he spoke loudly.

"Could it be used to cast ancient magic?" Harry asked with great interest, his attention shifting from Gringotts.

Ivy nodded: "That's right, it was specially made for ancient magic and has extremely strong magic-guiding properties. It's no weaker than any other wand in the world. However, I rarely use it."

"Cool!" Ron exclaimed. "Tell us about your adventure! The adventure of an ancient magic wizard from over a hundred years ago!"

“I’ve never heard of any ancient magic.” This time everyone heard clearly, and Harry and Ron both looked up at Hagrid.

“Ivy’s magic is amazing! He can make us all float with ancient magic, without chanting spells or waving wands.” Harry then began to recount the stories he had heard on the train.

"Your carriage was attacked by a fire-breathing dragon?" Hagrid looked at Ivy with suspicion. "What kind of fire-breathing dragon?"

“I think it was the Black Dragon of the Hebrides Islands.” Ivy was lost in thought. “That thing bit off half of the carriage in one bite, but it probably wasn’t voluntary. I remember it had a huge goblin silver collar around its neck. Besides Professor Figo, there was also a friend of the professor riding in the carriage with me. That friend died on the spot. I later learned that what was pulling the carriage through the air was actually a Thestral.”

“Oh, only those who witness death can see Thestrals. This must be very sudden for you.” Hagrid’s wariness and suspicion completely disappeared. He even pulled a dirty handkerchief from his pocket and began wiping away his tears. “Being enslaved by goblins must be awful, those poor little creatures.”

Chapter 31 Events from Over a Hundred Years Ago

Ivy thought Hagrid would sympathize with the middle-aged wizard who had ridden in the carriage with him but died in the dragon's mouth, but to her surprise, Hagrid's first concern was for the enslaved dragon.

So he decided to change the focus when telling his legendary story.

"When we fell out of the carriage, the key that Professor Figo brought was gleaming with ancient magic. It was a door key that could also open a vault in Gringotts."

"What is a Portkey?" Harry interrupted Ivy's explanation.

“A magical item that allows you to travel quickly between two places, but it’s usually a one-time use item.” Ivy explained briefly, then continued, “In Gringotts’ vault, I witnessed ancient magic for the first time, and also understood for the first time who my enemy was—the rebellious fairy Lanlock.”

"He was accompanied by many goblin minions, each dressed in magical gear made of goblin silver. Fortunately, Gringotts vault contained golems left behind by the ancient guardians of magic, and with their help, Professor Figo and I made it back to Hogwarts unharmed."

"Things will be much simpler after the sorting process. You'll finish your studies while saving the world. Just like all the destined saviors," Ivy shrugged and joked.

“All the saviors?” Ron asked. “You’re making it sound so simple, it makes me want to try it myself!”

“Hahaha.” Ivy chuckled, then continued meaningfully, “Besides saving the world and attending classes, my favorite thing to do is rescue magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest.”

"Saving magical creatures?" Hagrid repeated, his eyes wide. "From those poachers? I drive so many poachers out of the Forbidden Forest every year!"

“That’s right, poachers. Because the laws at the time were not perfect, and the British wizarding community was busy dealing with rebellious goblins, they couldn’t spare the manpower to crack down on poachers. This led to them even forming a rather influential organization—the infamous Ash Serpent Party.” Ivy saw Hagrid clench his fists and a look of indignation on his face, and couldn’t help but smile inwardly.

"The Fire Serpent Party is almost ruthless. They capture magical creatures in cages and collect their fur and horns, not to mention the special body parts that contain considerable magical power."

"Greedy scum, villains! They all deserve to go to hell!" Hagrid seemed to be thinking of the tragic fate of the captured magical creatures, cursing with spittle flying. "Tell me, Ivy, you must have saved those poor little creatures, right?"

“Of course.” Ivy nodded. “With the help of a classmate, we tracked down the Fire Serpent Gang in the Forbidden Forest and rescued the abused Hippogriff, the adorable Moonfox, the endangered Golden Flying Man, and the Fire Dragon.”

"A fire dragon!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "How did you do that? That's a flying monster that breathes fire!"

“This is all thanks to the Fire Serpents,” Ivy began her recollection. “Back then, the Fire Serpents colluded with the fairies, controlling many magical creatures with powerful magical abilities through goblin silver, and set up a huge tent somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. Criminals from all over the world would use portkeys to come here, wearing masks to trade various dark magic items and smuggling magical creatures that were not allowed by law. They even ran a magical creature arena, where magical creatures wearing goblin silver collars would fight each other in exchange for cheers and tickets.”

Hagrid was almost stunned. This simple and kind-hearted big man had never imagined that humans could be so evil.

The people in the cabin held their breath and listened quietly to Ivy's account. Even Big Tooth, who looked fierce but was actually kind-hearted, stopped panting and stared intently at Ivy.

“When we infiltrated the Fire Serpent Party’s tent, a duel was taking place in the center of the arena between a Welsh green dragon and a Hungarian hornet dragon,” Ivy continued. “They didn’t look too good for each other; they were covered in wounds, their wings were tattered, and there were many old, gruesome scars on their bodies. They must have been in that tent for a long time.”

“Even though they were covered in wounds, the two dragons looked incredibly ferocious. The sounds of flames and biting were deafening, and mixed with the cheers of the wizards watching their performance, the whole scene was terrifying.” Ivy lowered her voice. The fire in the fireplace flickered due to insufficient fuel, and the firelight and shadows danced on everyone’s faces, making the atmosphere in the cabin even more eerie.

"Those fire dragons were all controlled by the Fairy Silver Collars, and the collars were shimmering with ominous magic. I know very well what kind of ancient magic it was—distorted by Lanlock!"

“I used the Disillusionment Charm to sneak into the tent and saw many dragon eggs inside. Immediately, I understood what the Fire Serpent Gang was up to. They were trying to drive the angry mother dragons crazy by stealing the dragon eggs, then ambushing and subduing them, turning them into their money-making tools.”

"And deep inside the tent, I found a purple dragon egg, the egg of a black dragon from the Hebdiri Islands, and the owner of the dragon egg was also imprisoned there. It seems that because she had just been captured, the Fire Serpent Party members had not yet had time to put a collar on her, but simply bound her in the center of the area with cast iron and chains."

"A brilliant idea suddenly popped into my head! I'm going to unleash them and use these furious behemoths to deal with the Fire Serpent Party!"

Ivy heard the people in the room secretly cheering. Hagrid was so nervous that he kept drinking tea, but he didn't even notice that he had spilled all the tea on his beard because his beetle-like black eyes were fixed on Ivy!

"The dragon's scales are very hard and have good resistance to magic, with only its eyes and nose being weaknesses. Fortunately, I don't need to fight the dragon; I just need to set it free. So I used magic to unlock the device binding the black dragon of the Hebdiri Islands and burned a large hole in the tent before she could get angry."

"And so, amidst the roar of the fire dragon and the screams of the Fire Serpent Party members, the entire tent was reduced to ashes, and all the magical creatures imprisoned inside escaped! The black dragon from the Hebdiri Islands was especially terrifying; I witnessed her devour a Fire Serpent Party member and burn all the wizards who besieged her to a crisp! But seeing them soar into the sky and regain their freedom, I felt it was all worth it."

Hearing that all the dragons had been rescued, everyone in the house breathed a sigh of relief. Hagrid even burst into tears, "Hoo-hoo... (vigorous sniffling) I knew you were a good boy! Ivy! Thank you... thank you for saving them..."

Chapter 32 Before Flight Lessons

Even after Harry climbed into his comfortable bed in his Gryffindor dormitory, the bizarre stories he had heard in Hagrid's hut kept flashing through his mind.

A fire dragon that is over thirty feet long and spews flames capable of melting steel.