From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

"By the way, Hagrid, I also have something I want to show you." It was obviously still a long time before the dragon egg hatched, and after satisfying his curiosity, Ivy also wanted to show off a little.

"What is it? Some kind of particularly cute magical creature?" Hagrid sat down in his creaking wooden chair, looking at Ivy with expectant eyes.

Ivy clapped her hands, and a ball of flame suddenly exploded in the cabin.

"Oh!" Hagrid was startled and leaned back, spilling the expensive-looking tea leaves onto his messy beard. Judging from the oil stains, it was clear this wasn't the first time they'd been in this situation.

"What a huge cat!" Hagrid didn't even have time to wipe the tea off his whiskers as he stared at the fiery cat on the table, motionless.

"It's called Howling Flame, and I created it with magic," Ivy proudly introduced. After a period of getting used to it, Howling Flame had become a good helper in his life. At least in winter, it could help him warm his feet in bed, and he didn't have to worry about it setting the sheets on fire. This was very necessary in the dark Slytherin dormitory, since they lived next to the Black Lake.

Seeing Hagrid reach out his thick fingers to tease Howling Flame, Ivy couldn't help but warn, "Be careful, its claws are very sharp... Hey, Howling Flame, that's not fair! You didn't treat me like this before!"

Contrary to what Ivy had expected, Howling Flame did not reach out with its scimitar-like claws to scratch Hagrid, but instead allowed him to stroke its fur.

"It looks like a ball of fire. You say it was created by magic? Like a fire lizard?" Hagrid reached out to hug Howling Flame, but the latter vanished from the table after a flash of fire.

"Pretty much, but much more complicated, requiring the harmonization of elements and such." Ivy looked around and saw Xiaoyan squatting in front of the fire, reaching out a claw to poke at the dragon egg in the middle of the firewood.

"Watch out!" Hagrid saw it too and went over to move the fire cat to the other side. "That's just a baby! Wait until it hatches before you play with it!"

However, Xiaoyan didn't appreciate it and immediately rushed into the roaring fireplace.

“Look! Ivy! She’s incubating eggs!” Hagrid shouted, pointing at the fireplace.

"What? It's been less than half a year since Xiaoyan was born, how could it possibly know how to incubate an egg?" Ivy simply couldn't believe her ears.

He went to the fireplace and saw that, just as Hagrid had said, Howling Flame was holding the dark egg under his soft fur collar in a peasant's pose.

Chapter 86 Grandpa Dragon and Quirrell

"What abilities does it have?" Hagrid asked, staring motionlessly at the equally motionless Howling Flame.

"It can breathe fire, fly, and knows a little magic?" Ivy replied, puzzled. He couldn't believe that Howling Flame could have maternal instincts. It was clearly an elemental creature. Did elemental creatures have social relationships?

As an elemental creature, Howling Flame is not only unafraid of the flames in the fireplace, but can even provide the necessary heat for the dragon egg itself. In this light, it may be an even better "dragon mother" than Hagrid.

“Fantastic! It’s practically another hairy fire dragon, and most importantly, it’s not even on the Ministry of Magic’s list of creatures to be kept!” Hagrid said enviously. “Great! I always thought this fireplace was too rudimentary for a dragon’s nest. Now that it has a mother dragon, I can finally relax and prepare some children’s toys for it. What do you think of a teddy bear, Ivy?”

"A teddy bear?" Ivy was starting to lose track of Haig's thinking. How did he come up with the idea of ​​giving a teddy bear made of flammable fabric and cotton to a baby dragon that could breathe fire?

"Perhaps a pair or two of brand-new wool socks would be a better gift?" Hagrid began to agonize again, but finally he clapped his hands and decided to have both.

“If you gave the wool socks you gave to the little dragon to Dumbledore, maybe he would take pity on you and conjure up a castle for the little dragon in the Forbidden Forest,” Ivy said with undisguised envy. He still couldn’t believe that his magical pet would hatch a dragon egg.

But he quickly calmed down. As the saying goes, a mother's status rises with her son's, and sooner or later he would send the little dragon to the underground of Hogwarts to guard his Chamber of Secrets!

It was because of this mentality that Ivy readily agreed when Hagrid asked him to lend him Howling Flame for a few days, and then Hagrid gave him the title of "Grandpa Dragon".

The world is crazy! Not only can the porcelain cat be a mother to a dragon, but Ivy, the dark wizard, has also become a dragon's grandfather.

Because he was preoccupied with the dragon eggs, Hagrid almost completely neglected his duties as the hunters and also became less attentive to patrolling the Forbidden Forest.

Therefore, Ivy was able to search extensively in the Forbidden Forest for magical creatures that could provide him with experience points.

Some giant spiders vanished into thin air, several giants lost their legs, and Ivy obtained the experience points and magical creature materials he wanted.

During this time, Ivy also discovered that repeatedly defeating the same monster would still grant him some experience points. However, the experience points gained would decrease with each subsequent defeat, but it was still more worthwhile than killing it outright. This was why he spared the lives of those giants.

There are plenty of eight-eyed spiders in the Forbidden Forest, but trolls are a rare breed. Not to mention that Quirrell recently captured two of them, one to guard the Philosopher's Stone and the other to be pasted onto the castle wall.

In this leisurely life, Ivy encountered people and magical creatures he absolutely did not want to see—a unicorn lying on the ground, and Quirrell drinking its blood.

"who!"

Ivy intended to leave silently, but Quirrell alertly raised his head. Perhaps the unicorn's curse had restored some of Voldemort's strength; otherwise, Quirrell's abilities would have prevented him from detecting Ivy.

“Sigh…” Ivy sighed and emerged from the woods.

It was because Quirrell gave Hagrid the Norwegian Ridgeback egg that Hagrid chose to enter the Forbidden Forest at this time to search for the unicorn. Everyone knew that Hagrid couldn't abandon a dangerous magical creature.

“Professor Quirrell.” In the end, Ivy decided to show some respect, after all, he had used Quirrell’s permission to borrow many interesting dark magic books from the restricted section. “I can pretend I didn’t see anything, and of course, I won’t tell anyone.”

The shimmering silver-white blood of the unicorn dripped from Quirrell's mouth, staining his robes and making him look like a vampire who had just crawled out of a coffin, all because of his bloodless, pale face.

Quirrell didn't immediately speak to Ivy. Instead, he stared intently at Ivy with his sunken eyes, preventing him from making any sudden moves. At the same time, Quirrell's lips, stained with silver blood, moved rapidly, as if he were whispering to someone.

Ivy spread his hands, quietly waiting for Quirrell and the Voldemort tattoo on the back of his head to deliver a result.

“Now that you’ve seen it, Mr. Doom,” Quirrell said with an awkward smile and a hoarse voice, “you can no longer stand idly by!”

Ivy didn't answer, but simply watched Quirrell perform calmly.

“I’ve heard rumors from many people.” Quirrell left the unicorn’s carcass and took two steps closer to Ivy. “They say you’re a gifted student. Although you’ve never attended one of my classes, I learned from Mrs. Pince that you borrow a book of dark magic from the restricted section every week, and in alphabetical order no less? What’s the latest one? Blood in Bones?”

Quirrell let out a strange "heh heh" laugh and continued, "I know very well that we are the same kind of people. People who have an insatiable thirst for power, magic, and knowledge!"

Ivy rolled his eyes; he had no desire to associate with someone like Quirrell.

"Serve my master!" Quirrell, seemingly oblivious to the reluctance on his face, issued a fervent appeal, "This is a force that is about to sweep across the magical world, and no one can stop it!"

“You should have heard of his name…” Quirrell looked at Ivy with a mixture of fear and anticipation, then uttered the name in a deep but clear voice, “Lord Dark Lord.”

A cold wind blew by, stirring up a few withered leaves from the forbidden forest.

Ivy decided to say something to ease the awkwardness: "Thank you for the invitation, Professor Quirrell. But I'm sorry, I'm not suited to serve Voldemort."

When the word "Voldemort" was uttered, Ivy clearly saw Quirrell's robed figure tremble.

"How dare you?" Quirrell looked extremely surprised, his sunken eye sockets appeared even deeper, and his bloodshot eyeballs almost seemed to fall to the ground.

"Yes, Master, I will teach him a lesson." Quirrell suddenly calmed down and muttered to himself.

Then he looked at Ivy, raised his hand and cast a spell: "Heart-Piercing Bone-Splitting!"

Ivy frowned and took a step to the side, dodging the red magical light of the Crucifixion.

"Are you serious?" Ivy didn't want to start a war with Voldemort so soon, because he hadn't reached level 11 yet and hadn't learned the 6th-circle spell Soul Cage, so even if he killed Voldemort, he wouldn't be able to imprison his soul for research.

He was even thinking of pairing Little Tom with Old Voldemort to keep each other company!

Chapter 87 A Mission Unfinished, a Death Before Success Was Achieved

"You're agile, aren't you?" Quirrell's expression was manic and unnatural, silver unicorn blood mixed with his saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth, but he made no attempt to wipe it away. "You can't hide forever, Mr. Doom!"

“Pain! Soon, pain will subdue you!” Quirrell raised his wand once more. “Then, the Dark Lord’s grace will be sweet to you! Crucifixion!”

"Protect yourself!" With a wand made of silver linden wood and phoenix feathers in hand, Ivy used a protective charm to defend against the attack. "I won't warn you again, Quirrell."

Ivy pointed her wand to the side, and a huge rock rose into the air, kicking up a cloud of dust, and slammed down on Quirrell with tremendous force.

This was the ancient magic that allowed Ivy to roam freely in the Forbidden Forest over a hundred years ago; it was the second most deadly spell among all his magic spells. More importantly, ancient magic throwing isn't considered dark magic, even though its destructive power far surpasses that of ordinary dark magic.

At first, Quirrell saw Ivy's wand pointing to the empty space to the side and thought that Ivy was being too soft-hearted to do it. But when the boulder suddenly flew towards him, Quirrell didn't have time to cast a spell or dodge.

Finally, the boulder struck him in the waist, causing Quirrell's body to fold in half along the point of impact, resulting in a bizarre, inhuman angle. The blood that flowed from Quirrell was not red, but an unsettling deep purple, even with a hint of matte black. The unicorn blood that he had just swallowed surged from his stomach to his throat, spurting out along with the dark blood.

After just one attack from Ivy, Quirrell was already on the verge of death. The light of life was slowly fading from his eyes. This unfortunate fellow, possessed by Voldemort in the Albanian Black Forest, was about to die in the Forbidden Forest.

The bloodshot in Quirrell's eyes gradually disappeared, taking away his madness and ambition, leaving only the fear of death.

Ivy even saw tears welling up in his eyes, and Quirrell's last words to the world were: "...Please...save me..."

Of the dark wizards Ivy has dealt with, truly tough ones are few and far between. Most seem to have a sudden awakening when facing death, crying, shouting, and begging for their lives. But when you return the pain they inflicted on others, they become afraid. The smiles of enjoyment and the ease of relaxation on their faces vanish, leaving only fear and helplessness.

“Death is always merciful, merciful and fair. Only she can set aside the differences between people and treat everyone equally.” Ivy murmured these words as she watched Quirrell’s life slowly fade away.

“It seems Hogwarts needs a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Perhaps Professor Snape would be willing to take on the role, but let Dumbledore worry about it.” Ivy waved her wand to remove the stones from Quirrell’s body, standing there unsuspectingly considering how to collect Quirrell’s corpse.

A "clicking" sound rang out, and Quirrell's head twisted 180 degrees in a bizarre way, facing Ivy with the back of his head wrapped in a headscarf. His broken limbs also began to writhe, awkwardly propping him up on the ground, making him look like a strange, large spider.

Quirrell's relaxed hand tightened its grip on the wand again, and he raised it crookedly. A deep, hoarse, and malevolent voice rang out: "Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green light shot straight toward Ivy's face.

It's easy to imagine that Voldemort used Quirrell's corpse to cast the Killing Curse, but Ivy had already been on guard against him.

But before he could cast the 3rd Ring Mage spell Counterspell, a burst of fire suddenly exploded in front of him.

Ivy recognized the sound; it was from when she was the Dragon Mother's Howlflame in Hagrid's hut.

Voldemort's Killing Curse struck the suddenly appearing Howling Flame in the blink of an eye, but the usually invincible "Big Melon" failed to work this time.

This is because Howling Flame is not an ordinary magical creature, but an Elemental Garden Statue created by Ivy herself, whose essence is elemental life. Moreover, it is Ivy's mage pet, the kind that can be summoned again even if it dies.

The green killing curse only blasted open its ceramic shell, but completely released the mixed elemental life forms inside, causing Howling Flame to look much larger than before.

The flames swelled with the wind, and Howling Flame transformed into an enormous, gigantic fire cat. Then, the giant fire cat opened its mouth and spat out a spell, and Ivy felt that one of her third-circle spell slots had been used up by it.

The spellcasting power was released through Howling Flame's mouth, and a terrifyingly large fireball shot out, directly hitting Voldemort Quirrell, who resembled a giant, bizarre spider.

"No!" Before Ivy could even utter a word to stop them, a small patch of forest and Quirrell's corpse on the ground were completely blasted to pieces by the fireball spell released by Howling Flame.

When Ivy extinguished the flames in the Forbidden Forest, the enormous howling flame licked Ivy's face with its bristly tongue, as if to claim credit. However, the latter simply looked at the chaotic forest floor and began to think about how to deceive the old bee's eyes.

However, he didn't invest any skill points in bluffing, and honesty was one of his few strengths, so in the end he decided to give up.

Seeing that Ivy remained unmoved, Xiaoyan nudged Ivy with its enormous cat head again, and this time it received a hug that was no longer perfunctory.

Ivy then used a 3rd-circle spell slot to cast Repair, restoring the ceramic shell of Howling Flame that had been shattered by the Killing Curse. Repair was originally just a 0th-circle trick, but the ascending-circle casting effect gave it a stronger spell effect, thus perfectly fulfilling its purpose.

Xiao Yan looked down at his body on the ground, then transformed into a wisp of lively flame and disappeared back inside. Now, the lovable big cat was back.

Quirrell was reduced to ashes by Howling Flame's fireball, and Voldemort also lost his body. Dark shadows seeped from the ashes of the flames, turning into a wisp of black mist that lingered in the clearing.