From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

Dumbledore was truly adept at manipulating people's hearts.

But Ivy is better at manipulating magic.

Second-level Bewitching Spell, Mechanized Mind. It allows the caster to eliminate all distractions and think and calculate as clearly as a machine.

With the help of this spell, Ivy could focus all her thoughts on how to obtain the Philosopher's Stone, without thinking about how to use it.

So, Ivy in the mirror held the Philosopher's Stone in her palm, while Ivy outside the mirror opened her hand—the key to immortality, the medium to turn stone into gold, the famous Philosopher's Stone fell into Ivy's palm.

Having ended his mechanized mental focus on magic, Ivy stared at the bright red stone in his hand and felt a sudden surge of hunger.

This is the consequence of not eating dinner properly. Fortunately, there are many house-elves on standby at Hogwarts, and with just a simple text message spell, Ivy can enjoy a delicious late-night snack in her office.

While aimlessly thinking about the menu for a late-night snack, Ivy inexplicably put the Philosopher's Stone to her lips and took a small bite.

"Bang bang."

The bright red magic stone is missing a piece.

A familiar feeling washed over Ivy; the feeling the Philosopher's Stone gave Ivy was no different from the ancient magical power sealed in the underground vaults of Hogwarts more than a hundred years ago.

If a comparison must be made, the ancient magical power in the vault comes from people's emotions, while the magic in the Philosopher's Stone is mixed with something else, which Ivy believes is life force.

The so-called key to immortality is to transfer the life force of others into one's own body through a potion made from a magic stone, thereby deceiving the Grim Reaper's scythe.

Having absorbed only a small portion of the magic stone, Ivy already noticed changes in her body.

He took out the Grimoire of Destruction and checked his attribute panel. The three attributes representing physical qualities—strength, agility, and constitution—had escaped the -2 penalty for being underage and returned to the standard numbers of 8/10/12.

"The Philosopher's Stone can not only extend lifespan, but it can even help my body grow?" Ivy stood in front of the Mirror of Eris again and was surprised to find that her height, which was originally only 1.3 meters, had suddenly increased significantly, and she had entered the category of an adult.

"This is truly a treasure worth studying!" Ivy stared at the magic stone with a missing corner in his hand. It was the first time he had ever seen an item that could directly increase attributes besides a special skill, so he definitely had to study it carefully.

Chapter 94 Meetings among colleagues

On Saturday afternoon, Ivy, disguised as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Victor, went to the faculty lounge on the first floor of the castle.

After passing a pair of gargoyle stone beasts, Ivy pushed open the wooden door to the faculty lounge. It was a long room with wooden panels on the walls and many mismatched black wooden chairs inside.

In addition, there was a fireplace in poor condition and some armchairs, but in the center of the room—which Ivy guessed was where the professors often sat—there was a well-maintained coffee table and several armchairs with upholstery featuring exquisite knitted patterns.

Ivy could recognize that the furniture in the best condition was the result of Transformation, which must have been the work of Vice Principal Professor McGonagall.

“Professor Victor,” Professor McGonagall nodded to him, “welcome to our afternoon tea.”

Also seated were Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Aurora Sinesta, the astronomy professor who was yawning and about to get up.

Ivy heard Professor Sinister say, "Thank you for the butter cookies, Pomona, but it's still too early for me. I don't usually get up this early. Please forgive me, I must go back to the Astronomy Tower for a nap."

“Don’t mention it, Aurora. If you like, feel free to take some more!” Professor Sprout picked up a box of cookies and handed it to her with a smile. She returned a grateful smile and walked past Ivy, nodding at her as they passed each other.

"What's that you're holding, Professor Victor?" It was Professor Flitwick's shrill voice. He pulled up a chair for Ivy. "Please sit down, we're all eager to get to know our new colleague!"

Ivy settled into the incredibly soft armchair and handed a stack of papers to Professor McGonagall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Professor Sprout push some snacks toward him and pour him a cup of tea.

“This is…” Professor McGonagall pushed her glasses, which had slipped down to the tip of her nose, back up and stared intently at the paper Ivy had handed her.

“Teaching syllabus.” Ivy picked up her black tea, took a sip, and said briefly, “The content for grades one through five, and the advanced class content is below.”

“Oh.” Professor McGonagall gave him a surprised look. “I was just about to tell you about this… No need to rush to give it to me. I must say, it’s much better than I expected.”

“Given the nature of the Defense Against the Dark Arts course itself, Hogwarts students haven’t received a systematic education in a long time,” Ivy explained. The syllabus was a knowledge tree diagram he created using the Wizard’s Pen after reading through the lower and upper-level textbooks with two Scholar’s ​​Touches.

“My syllabus is divided into three parts: Dark Magic Creatures, Dark Charms, and Duels. The curriculum is subdivided, and a logical framework for students' self-study is provided.” Seeing the gazes of the three Headmasters, Ivy nodded. “I believe self-study is necessary, especially since being a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts is always one of the most dangerous positions. They should be able to learn independently when there are no professors around, at least enough to pass the Ministry of Magic's exams.”

The word "exam" undoubtedly touched the part of Ivy's soul that had received exam-oriented education and cramming. As the king of kings of exams, Ivy naturally understood which educational methods were easier to face exams.

"Very well-organized!" Professor Flitwick joined Professor McGonagall, standing on tiptoe as he offered his assessment. "It's excellent review material!"

“That’s right,” Ivy admitted. “With proper testing and repeated memorization, I believe passing the Ministry of Magic’s written exam shouldn’t be a problem. As for the practical part…”

Ivy hesitated for a moment, then said in a hopeless tone, "I will try my best to help them improve."

“That’s already fantastic,” Professor McGonagall said reassuringly. “Based on this syllabus alone, you’re probably the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Hogwarts has had in recent years.”

Instead of becoming complacent after receiving recognition, Ivy put forward her own request: "There is another thing. I want to change the teaching method from individual teaching by each college to two colleges as a group, with mixed teaching."

"Mixed instruction?" Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. This meant that other professors' schedules would also have to be adjusted, otherwise it would be difficult to find time for students from two different houses in the same year to attend classes together. "Like Potions?"

“That’s right, I’ll add some competitive elements to them,” Ivy succinctly stated her idea.

"Are you talking about a duel?" Professor Flitwick asked with great interest; he had been a dueling champion in his youth.

"More or less, more likely an encounter?" Ivy nodded in agreement. "I think only wizards would use dark magic on each other. You can't learn how to survive against a dark wizard from dark magic creatures."

“Alright, I agree. Although Dumbledore had told me beforehand that you might have some special ideas and asked me to try my best to accommodate your requests, I didn’t expect you to need it so soon.” Professor McGonagall returned the syllabus to Ivy and agreed to his request. “It’s good that you gave me a day to rearrange the schedule, otherwise your plans would have been delayed by at least a week. By the way, do you need a larger classroom?”

“The current one will do. I’ll try to make it bigger, at least big enough to accommodate the students from the two largest colleges.” Ivy nodded in thanks. “I will distribute this syllabus to each student next Monday, not only as their study guide but also as their review material.”

“Oh! That’s perfect.” Professor McGonagall rose from her armchair. “It seems we won’t have to worry about the students’ Defense Against the Dark Arts certificates this year.”

Excluding astronomy classes, Hogwarts has a total of 40 class periods per week (4 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, 5 days a week). For the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, there is no free time during these 40 class periods; he has to teach 8 classes every day.

By changing the branch school system to a blended learning system, Ivy would immediately have 17 free hours, which would give her enough time for magical research. Otherwise, even possessing a treasure like the Philosopher's Stone would be a waste.

Not to mention he also had to find time to torment Tom Riddle in his diary and cast spells on his map-based secret room.

Chapter 95 Soul Cage

After Ivy swallowed a piece of the Philosopher's Stone, his experience points increased again, now enough to help him level up his Scribe's Wizard to level 11.

The level increase allowed Ivy to freely learn two 6th-level spells, so he added the two spells he had already planned to use to his spell list.

The first one, of course, is the necromancy-based Soul Cage, which Ivy plans to use to capture fragments of Tom Riddle's soul. When the Soul Cage is cast, it imbues the small silver cage used as the casting material with negative energy and creates a barrier that can trap the soul.

When a soul is trapped in a cage, the caster can use the poor soul multiple times over the duration of the spell. The Soul Cage spell itself provides four ways to do this: steal the soul's vitality, question the soul's secrets, borrow the soul's experience, and view the soul's memories.

It can be said that once a tragic soul is truly imprisoned in a cage made of this magic, it can only be squeezed dry of all its value.

The soul in the cage will be freed after being used six times by the spellcaster, provided it hasn't been completely destroyed. Alternatively, the spell's effect will automatically disappear after eight hours, at which point the caged soul will be freed.

However, it's unlikely that any necromancer who has mastered this spell would actually release the soul they imprisoned themselves.

As for the second spell, Disintegrate is undoubtedly the most worthwhile choice among the 6th-ring spells.

Disintegration is a transmutation spell that can inflict massive force field damage on any object hit. If the creature or object hit by the Disintegration ray is not tough enough to withstand the damage, it will be turned into a small clump of fine gray dust by this terrifying ray.

If the target is a living being, it can only be resurrected by the 9th-circle spells Resurrection and Prayer. If the target is an object or part of a magical creation, it cannot be restored by any means.

It's worth mentioning that magical items and props will not be affected, because the disintegration spell's principle is based on the application of alchemy, which is equivalent to degrading the matter itself. Therefore, there is no need to worry that this spell will turn the enemy's magical equipment into dust.

Early Sunday morning, Ivy, whose spell slots had fully recovered, arrived at the map's secret chamber. First, she completed her daily 4th-circle spellcasting, Duncan's Private Chamber. Then, she used her superb craftsmanship to create a perfect stone laboratory table for herself, since the previous wooden laboratory table had been turned into a pile of irreparable waste by Ivy's magical experiments.

When everything was ready, Ivy solemnly placed today's protagonist—Tom Riddle's diary—on the table.

"Prepare for your doom, Tom." Ivy opened her diary and wrote these words.

“Wait! Let’s talk!” Tom’s handwriting was messy and quick, faithfully reflecting his fear. “Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets is not just a legend. It contains countless of his own research notes, and even a basilisk that has lived for a thousand years! I can help you tame it!”

"Come on, Tom." Destroying someone's spirit was always Ivy's favorite thing to do, and the Wizard's Pen fully presented his thoughts in the diary. "Do you really think you're the only one who knows about the secret room? It's a secret that the Gaunt family has kept for generations."

"Hogwarts Castle has undergone several expansions and renovations. In order to prevent students and teachers from being submerged in excrement, the Board of Governors completely overhauled its drainage and sewage system in the 18th century. It was members of the Gaunt family who oversaw the construction of the washrooms and sewage passages at that time. They took that opportunity to rearrange the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and connect it with the Parseltongue ability, which is how the passage you later discovered came about."

“You see, Tom, you’re not the only one who knows the Basilisk and the secret of the Chamber of Secrets, but you’re the only one who foolishly released it and exposed the Chamber to the public.”

“You’re talking nonsense! Slytherin put the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets so that one day they could ‘purify’ those in Hogwarts who were not worthy of learning magic! And I am the one destined to bring about change at Hogwarts!” Tom’s handwriting became impatient and arrogant, and he no longer used honorifics when addressing Ivy.

"You? A half-blood born from a love potion?" Ivy wrote mocking words without any mercy. "Your insistence on the pure-blood ideology stems from your deep-seated inferiority complex. You know this yourself, which is why you act more fanatically in support of this ideology than the average pure-blood wizard."

"But in reality, there is no such thing as a pure-blood ideology. It's just a barrier erected by pure-blood families to distinguish social classes in the magical world. No one becomes noble because of a surname, and the power you're so proud of doesn't come from Slytherin's genes. Everyone who holds the pure-blood ideology as gospel is a real fool. I thought you could be a little smarter, Tom."

"No! That's impossible! You're lying!" Tom was completely furious.

However, Ivy continued, "Not only that, I will soon prove to you that even with Horcruxes, you are far from escaping the shadow of death."

Targeting Tom Riddle's diary, Ivy first cast the 5th-circle spell Drain Energy.

Dark tentacles emerged from Ivy's shadow, gripping the diary placed on the stone platform tightly within. Voldemort's dark magic, used to protect the Horcruxes, began to dissipate under the grasp of the dark tentacles and quickly became nourishment for Ivy.

Tom let out a weak howl and then fell silent.

The silver cage used for the Soul Cage spell was already prepared. As Tom Riddle's soul fragments were peeled from the diary, they were thrown into the Soul Cage by the dark tentacles in Ivy's shadow.

"What did you do to me?" The ethereal figure shrouded in silver mist pounded on the silver cage, letting out a terrified scream. From his handsome face, it was easy to tell that he was Tom Riddle himself.

“Say thank you, Tom.” Ivy picked up the silver cage and placed it in front of her. “I’ve restored your sight and hearing; isn’t that much more comfortable than hiding in a diary?”

"Don't even think about it!" Tom roared, pounding on the cage walls to make as much noise as possible.

Ivy extended a finger, and the cage imprisoning Tom's soul immediately shot out countless bolts of lightning, striking the unfortunate Tom, who fell to his knees, howling in pain.

However, Ivy showed no mercy: "Say, 'Thank you.'"

Chapter 96 The Book of Dominating Demons

"Please!" Tom's soul collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted. He had been tortured by Ivy for eight long hours. "I don't want to die..."

During those eight hours, Ivy tried to draw upon his soul power, but found there was nothing to absorb, perhaps because the soul was too fragmented.

Afterwards, Ivy read Tom's memories as if they were a book. Although this soul only contained his memories from before fifth grade, Ivy also went through every memorable moment in Tom's memories and left vicious comments while reading them.

Of all these, Ivy was most interested in the Parseltongue part. He tried to learn this power by absorbing Tom's experience, but he encountered unimaginable resistance.