From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

"Too hasty, too hasty, Christina!" The Phantom of the Opera appeared triumphantly, his entire body almost entirely milky white, and he floated in the air against all reason.

"Ahhhhhh!" Furong cried out in surprise, "You...you're a ghost!"

"Of course I'm a ghost!" The Phantom of the Opera removed his non-existent hat and saluted the two audience members. "How could the Phantom of the Opera not be a ghost?"

So this is the truth.

He was a ghost who could walk through walls, not some wizard skilled in apparition.

This discovery greatly disappointed Ivy, who had been hoping to find the secrets of the Apparition spell in the Phantom of the Opera's memories. Now, all his hopes were dashed.

The Phantom of the Opera, dressed in a milky-white costume with strange buttons everywhere and a cape fastened to his shoulders, indeed resembled the legendary Phantom of the Opera with his hideous face, judging from the edge of his mask. Ivy could see a crooked scar protruding from beneath the mask.

“Whatever you want to do.” Fu Rong forced herself to remain calm, her voice still trembling with fear, “Please let my sister go. She’s just a child who doesn’t understand anything.”

"What a touching, what a sincere love!" The Phantom of the Opera circled the small boat where Gabrielle lay, clicking his tongue in admiration.

Ivy gently waved her wand, and the iron fence separating Fleur and Gabrielle suddenly broke, turning into a serpentine snake that instantly lifted the small boat carrying Gabrielle and swam towards the gate.

"Ivy!" Fleur cried out in surprise. Seeing the serpent succeed, she quickly retreated, putting distance between herself and the Phantom of the Opera, who was floating in the air, dumbfounded.

"You damned bug! You annoying fly!" By the time the Phantom of the Opera realized what was happening, she immediately unleashed a vicious curse at Ivy. "Can't you just be a good audience member? There's nothing for you to do here!"

The giant serpent placed the small boat carrying Gabrielle next to Ivy and Fleur, then returned to its lifeless iron fence appearance.

Ever since he saw that the Phantom of the Opera was nothing more than a ghost, Ivy lost the desire to continue arguing with him.

In the magical world of Harry Potter, ghosts exist by leaving traces in the world before they die. When wizards die, some of them can choose to stay in the places they have been, but only a very small number of wizards choose to do so.

When wizards lose the courage to continue their journey after death, they return to the mortal realm and remain in the places where they left their mark, until these ghosts are ready to set off again.

Although they retain memories of their previous lives, they have no possibility of changing them and can only wander aimlessly, unable even to cast spells.

Ivy didn't see herself getting anything out of a mark, so she was ready to end the farce immediately.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle!" Fleur had rushed to the small boat carrying Gabrielle and was gently patting her sister's cheek, hoping to wake her from her sleep.

"Hahahaha..." the Phantom of the Opera laughed maniacally, "Your efforts are in vain! I have cursed her; unless she receives a true love's kiss, she will sleep forever!"

Without a second thought, Furong gently kissed Gabrielle's forehead. In her view, love between family members was also true love.

“You’re lying!” Gabrielle was still fast asleep, and Fleur immediately turned her attention to The Phantom of the Opera.

"Hahaha..." The Phantom of the Opera's laughter was shrill and piercing. "That was indeed a kiss of true love, but you kissed the wrong person!"

Hibiscus was taken aback, then turned her gaze to Ivy.

"You shameless little devil!" The Phantom of the Opera, noticing Fleur's gaze, jumped up as if electrocuted. "Do you think I'd let you kiss a villain, a bug, a toad? I'm the one who deserves the kiss of true love!"

Fleur turned her gaze to the Phantom of the Opera's face hidden behind the mask and immediately shrank back. Judging from her reaction, perhaps the Phantom of the Opera, who died and was left unburied, was the real "villain, vermin, and toad."

"Pray to me! Woman!" The Phantom of the Opera vanished abruptly. "Pray to me! Christina! Otherwise I will never appear before you again, and you will lose that lovely little girl forever!"

"Don't do this!" Fleur hugged Gabrielle and stood up slightly. "You're the Phantom of the Opera... but you've already received true love's kiss, haven't you? Do you still remember your Christina?"

“Yes…yes…” The Phantom of the Opera’s voice was filled with longing, “I miss that wet, cold, and resolute kiss so much…If I could have it again, I think I would have the courage to go on…Can you help me, Christina?”

"Stop pretending," Ivy said dismissively. "You're definitely not the Phantom of the Opera, just a pathetic imitator!"

Chapter 154 The Light of Dawn

"I am the Phantom of the Opera, the true master of this opera house!" roared the milky-white ghost. "You are nothing but a thief and a fraud from England. I generously allowed you to watch the performance on my turf, yet you have repeatedly challenged my bottom line. You are courting death!"

"Christina! You don't want your sister to never wake up, do you?" the ghost tempted Fleur. "Leave him! Come to me! I will let you dance in the temple of music forever!"

"Your promises are contradictory. Before, you said you hoped for a true love's kiss to find liberation, and now you're guiding a lost lamb into the eternal temple of music?" Ivy sneered. "You're nothing but a mentally unstable madman, a pathetic ghost. Lift the spell on Gabrielle, and I'll let you leave this place. This is your last chance, ghost."

“Absolutely not! You have no idea what kind of being you are about to offend. I am the Phantom of the Opera, and your fate will be to dance to my songs until your feet break and you die of exhaustion!” The ghost raised his arms, and many milky-white musical instruments appeared in the secret room. Judging from his posture, he seemed to be preparing to conduct a symphony orchestra.

"Tarantella Dance!" Kneeling beside the small boat, with her sister in her arms, Furong launched the first attack. She chanted a dance spell that would make the person hit dance uncontrollably, a spell with a control effect.

However, the silver light emanating from the tip of the Hibiscus Wand merely passed through the ghost's milky-white body, then exploded into a small spark on the wall behind him. Clearly, the Dance Charm was ineffective against a ghost.

"This is a shameful betrayal! Christina!" The ghost seemed completely unprepared for Fleur to launch the first attack. He hovered angrily in mid-air, his eyes gleaming with malice. "Looks like I'll have to teach you some manners. I had even prepared your wedding attire!"

“You disgust me. The Phantom of the Opera!” Fleur shouted. “No wonder Christina didn’t choose you back then. It’s not just your face that’s ugly, but your rotten, festering heart!”

If the real Phantom of the Opera were here, he would be so enraged by that piercing remark that he'd come back to life. Although Ivy didn't believe the ghost before him was truly the Phantom of the Opera, he was clearly furious, even momentarily speechless. This was unusual for a master playwright.

"No matter what you say, it's no use stopping me!" Milky-white instruments were already lined up around the ghost, seemingly ready to strike. "I will play the dirge of hell and toll the evening bell for you! Remember this: it is all because of your ignorance and arrogance that you have fallen to this state!"

Ivy beckoned with her finger, and the beam of moonlight shining through the hole in the wall of the secret room seemed to be woven into threads by an invisible finger. These intertwined threads transformed into a sharp sword that shimmered with silver light.

This is the 2nd Ring Illusion spell, Shadowblade. Its original effect is to transform dark shadows into a sharp sword that inflicts a certain amount of mind damage upon hitting a target. However, under the influence of the Awakened Grimoire, Ivy has fully comprehended the spell's arcane formula. He replaced the shadow magic in the spell with moonlight, which changed the type of damage caused by the blade from mind damage to radiant damage.

Experiments with Tom Riddle's diary have proven that both radiant damage and mind damage are effective against souls. However, considering that Voldemort's true form is not yet dead, while the ghost before him is undoubtedly a mark left by a dead person, Ivy naturally chose radiant damage, which is more effective against undead creatures.

The silver-white sword formed from moonlight was considered a simple weapon with dexterity, lightness, and throwing properties. Ivy magically gained proficiency in it, which meant that Ivy could use it like a well-trained warrior.

The spot illuminated by the moonlight was where the small boat was originally moored, but now the boat has been magically pulled to Ivy's side, and the ghost is caught between the moonlight blade and Ivy.

Ivy raised her arm, and the Moonblade shot out as if it were sensing her movement, passing right through the ghost's body. The Radiant damage was always particularly effective against undead creatures like zombies, skeletons, and ghosts.

The milky-white ghost let out a terrible wail, and the musical instruments that had been floating beside him vanished like smoke.

"This is impossible!" The ghost retreated a great distance in fear. This was the first time it had felt pain since realizing it had become a ghost. "How could your magic possibly hurt me?"

“Nothing is impossible,” Ivy laughed. “It’s just that you’re too ignorant.”

He threw the silvery-white moonlight blade from his hand again, which flew towards the ghost's face.

Seeing this, the ghost trembled in fright and fell to the side. Although he had already made a dodging move, the flying moonlight blade still left a wound on his shoulder.

It was the first time Ivy had ever seen a ghost bleed. Silvery-white blood was slowly flowing from his chest and shoulders. Even though he had suffered a penetrating wound, he didn't spit out blood like a normal human. It was as if his blood was some kind of very viscous substance.

"You forced me to do this!" the ghost shouted.

Ivy silently prepared himself. There would be at least a 6-second interval between the two attacks of the Shadow Blade. Although he couldn't use D&D spells during this time, wizard spells would be temporarily unaffected, and the Ironclad Charm was obviously a very useful protective spell.

Contrary to Ivy's prediction of a counterattack, Ghost, though seemingly aggressive, burrowed deeper underground and escaped.

"Should we give chase?" Furong was stunned. This was the first time she had ever seen an enemy that would run away. Rather, it was the first time she had faced a battle outside of school.

“Of course not,” Ivy replied calmly. “It’s obviously inconvenient to chase after him with the two of you. He’s trying to lure me into making the first move, and then take me down one by one. Your spell won’t work on a ghost, so he’ll definitely turn his attention to you.”

"What if Gabrielle really doesn't wake up?" Fleur asked anxiously.

“I assure you, I have a way to break the magic on her. Even if I can’t, someone else can.” Ivy turned around, still holding the Moonblade in her hand.

"Do you know Dumbledore?" Ivy crouched down beside the small boat where Gabrielle lay. "The headmaster of Hogwarts?"

“I’ve seen it on a picture of Chocolate Frog…it says he’s the greatest white wizard of the 20th century…” Fleur seemed a little confused, but still answered the question.

"Right now he's sitting right above us, enjoying the musical." Dumbledore's name certainly carries weight in the wizarding world; even across the strait, his fame is still celebrated by the French.

“But I guess we don’t need to ask him to come; I can manage on my own.” Ivy brushed aside the stray hairs on Gabrielle’s forehead and peeked through her eyelids.

Her bright blue eyes looked unfocused; she wasn't asleep, but had fainted.

Ivy tapped her forehead with her wand and whispered, "Stop the spell!"

To no avail; Gabrielle showed no sign of waking up.

It seems that the magic used by that ghost was indeed quite sophisticated.

"Dispel the spell!" Ivy used a 3rd-level Protection spell, which could instantly dispel spells of 3rd level or lower. For spells of 3rd level or higher, Ivy would need to make a casting attribute check. As a mage, his casting attribute was Intelligence, which, with the Ravenclaw crown, had now reached 20. This meant that he had about a three-quarters chance of dispelling spells of 5th level or lower, and even for 9th-level spells, Ivy had a 50% chance of successfully dispelling them.

as predicted.

Ivy had just finished casting the spell when she saw Gabrielle's eyelashes flutter, and then she opened her eyes. Fleur's tears immediately streamed down her face as she tightly hugged her sister.

"Sister?" Gabrielle called softly, then yawned as if she couldn't resist the urge to sleep. "You found me? Hmm... then it's my turn to find you!"

Gabrielle stretched and stood up from the small wooden boat, then tried to cover her eyes. Judging from her expression, her memory might still be stuck when she was playing hide-and-seek with her sister.

This child is really carefree. Not only is he not afraid of this dark environment, but he also wanted to continue playing as soon as he woke up.

“Alright, Gabrielle.” Fleur wiped away her tears and smiled again. “It’s too late today, so let’s play hide-and-seek. You’re yawning, so we should go home.”

"I didn't give you permission to leave!" The ghost's eerie voice rang out again. Hibiscus pulled her sister into her arms and looked around warily.

The organ's powerful bass notes suddenly rang out, creating a very oppressive atmosphere in the enclosed underground space.

Ivy once again used the 2nd-level spell Shadowblade to conjure a moonblade, entering a state of combat readiness.

The cello and drums joined the ensemble, but they did not elevate the music; instead, they made it sound even more sinister and terrifying.

Fleur felt goosebumps rise all over her arms and whispered, "Do you know how to Apparate? We can escape first... You said before that Dumbledore was also in the opera house as an audience member. If we can tell him that, the Phantom of the Opera will definitely have no chance of survival."

“I’m sorry, I haven’t learned Apparition yet,” Ivy replied. Although he had more than one way to teleport away from the underground structure, he hadn’t yet gained the valuable experience points, so how could he possibly want to run away?

"Silent!" Ivy's Silver Linden Wand was raised in mid-air, and the eerie music immediately diminished until it was completely inaudible.

Ivy wouldn't wait for the enemy to finish chanting the spell or be ready; he would do everything in his power to hinder their actions. Although the purpose of the ghost's music was unclear, the wisest course of action was to stop it from playing altogether.

Under the effect of the silence spell, the entire secret room was eerily quiet. Although Ivy could see Fleur's mouth opening and closing, she couldn't hear any sound from her.

Yes, Ivy also silenced the friendly voices.

By reading lips, Ivy was reminded once again that his ability to understand French was entirely due to the magical effect of language proficiency. Therefore, he regretfully looked away, continuing to be wary of any potential attack from the ghost.

A milky white shadow emerged from the ground, but it was not the oddly dressed imitator of The Phantom of the Opera.

Instead, it was a warrior dressed in flamboyant armor and wielding a sharp sword. He looked like a general on a stage, chanting something as he attacked Ivy.

Ivy raised the Moonblade in her right hand, exchanged a few blows with the General Ghost briefly, and plunged the Moonblade into the opponent's throat, whereupon the latter vanished like smoke.