The first year at Hogwarts ended with the lively seven-day trial event.
As for the House Cup, it naturally went to Gryffindor without any surprise.
Poor Slytherin House, which had won the House Cup for six consecutive years, finally lost its streak.
It can only be said that there is a kind of causal force in the wizarding world, and that force revolves around the number 7.
Seven is a magical number. Once it is reached, it forms a powerful contract magic, such as Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Why did he create seven Horcruxes?
Why did he believe the number seven to be so magical?
Ivan had thought about these things before.
In fact, there are special types of magic embedded in the fabric of the wizarding world.
They are hidden in the void, waiting for wizards to discover and connect with them.
This type of magic has a general name in the wizarding world—contracts.
Yes, the essence of a contract is to establish a connection with the laws that exist in the void, thereby gaining the binding power of being "unbreakable."
In theory, any force has its limits, but laws, rules, and conceptual magic do not.
It is like attributes in a game: one side may rely on numerical strength, while the other leverages mechanisms.
There is a saying: as long as you show your health bar, I will defeat you, even if you are a god.
The health bar here represents power that can be defeated numerically.
However, most wizards' magic leans toward the latter category—the mechanisms of "damage immunity," "unaffected," "guaranteed hit," and "guaranteed kill."
Against such a mechanism-driven adversary, no matter how strong your numerical power is, you could be completely obliterated.
"Unfortunately, this is the only way."
After Ivan's magical power broke through level 6, these hidden forces, once imperceptible, were no longer as vague as before.
He could now clearly perceive the contracts embedded in nature.
They appeared as text, language, and magical will.
These forces were immensely powerful, but they could not be directly interfered with.
Now, Ivan even had the confidence to sign an Unbreakable Vow with someone without fear of punishment.
"Goodbye, Ivan."
At the exit of King's Cross Station in London, Hermione got into Mr. Granger's car and said goodbye to Ivan.
"Have a happy summer vacation."
Ivan waved goodbye to Hermione, then glanced at Penelope standing beside him. "Are you sure about this, Prefect Penelope?"
"I've already spoken to my mother," Penelope replied.
Penelope, about to enter her sixth year, was 15 years old and had reached the age of adulthood in the wizarding world, which meant she could live independently from her parents.
After discussing it with her mother, Penelope decided to begin transitioning into her future role directly.
Her plan was to go straight to the internship stage and work as Ivan's secretary.
Given her decision, it was logical to start adapting early.
Penelope's mother supported her choice, but with one condition: she wanted Ivan to visit their home during the summer holiday.
She planned to treat Ivan warmly as a way of thanking him for looking after Penelope.
"There are a lot of things to do in the next two months."
Ivan glanced around to ensure no one was watching, then used Apparition to take Penelope back to his manor.
Snap! Crack!
The two appeared at the entrance of the manor. Ivan strode forward, and the iron gate opened automatically.
As they crossed the gate, the scene before them shifted instantly.
It was like stepping into another world. The greenery and courtyards visible from outside the iron gate vanished, replaced by an expansive and extraordinary landscape.
"No matter how many times I see it, I'm still amazed," Penelope said, glancing back at the now-invisible gate. Behind her was a dense forest, and the exit was no longer in sight.
"It took us a long time to transform this variation of the Ultimate Guardian," Ivan explained.
He hadn't truly created a new world; instead, he used the Ultimate Guardian's barrier as the framework of a space-enhanced magical construct. By applying a traceless extension charm, he significantly expanded the area within the barrier.
The sun and the starry sky above?
Those were achieved using other spells. It wasn't particularly difficult to create the illusion of a natural environment.
The real challenge was generating such an enormous space and maintaining it with powerful magic.
This was a feat that 99% of the world's wizards wouldn't even dare to dream of attempting.
Similar to Newt Scamander's enchanted suitcase, Ivan's work was just a far more extravagant extension. What he had created wasn't merely a space—it was a magically reinforced barrier.
"How did you do this?"
"Well, I'm just that good?"
"Can I learn it?"
Penelope was genuinely intrigued by the magic. With her strength significantly improved, her thirst for knowledge had also deepened.
"Well, you're still a long way from mastering the Ultimate Guardian. You know, that spell requires a tremendous amount of magical power!"
Seeing that Penelope looked a little disappointed, Ivan quickly added, "But you can start practicing with simpler spells."
As he spoke, Ivan pulled an ancient magic book out of his pocket and handed it to Penelope.
"What is this?"
Penelope examined the cover of the magic book and realized she couldn't recognize the words on it.
"The writing looks like Chinese?"
At Ravenclaw, Penelope had seen Cho Chang, a witch from the East, writing in this script.
However, most Western wizards knew little about Chinese because it was notoriously difficult to learn.
"It's a magic book from the East, lent to me by Professor Dumbledore," Ivan explained openly. "It records a very ancient form of Oriental magic, called 'Tiān'..."
(P.S. Ugh.. its a fking Chinese fic after all! Can't change every crucial thing, can I? We have Chinese wizards and witches in Hogwarts so chill. Don't wanna hear it.. Shh!!)
"Hùtīe?"
Penelope attempted to pronounce the words but struggled with the unfamiliar language and couldn't understand their meaning.
"To put it simply, you can think of it as the Oriental equivalent of the Traceless Extension Charm," Ivan said. "It's just much more advanced and falls under the category of high-level spatial magic."
Before leaving Hogwarts, Dumbledore gave Ivan all the magic he had exchanged from powerful wizards in various countries when he traveled around the world.
According to Dumbledore, the solid magic from the East has a very long history.
Western magic is widely believed to have originated from the ancient Egyptian "Emerald Tablet," a consensus among European wizards.
However, there are many differing opinions about the origins of magic in ancient China.
"In their legends, ancient wizards passed down 108 extremely powerful spells, which they called the '36 Methods of Tiangang' and the '72 Arts of Disha.'"
Tiangang and Disha were terms Ivan had heard of in his previous life.
In this world, however, they had become the names of ancient spells used by Eastern wizards, renowned for their immense power.
Of course, they were also extraordinarily difficult to learn and master.
Additionally, these spells had not been passed down in their entirety—many had been lost over time. For instance, the "Mediation of Destiny" from the Tiangang methods was completely lost.
"This here... is it pronounced Xuánzàohuà?"
Penelope frowned and asked, "What does that mean?"
"Hmm..."
Ivan paused to consider before explaining, "Senior, you can think of it as creating something from nothing—manifesting something out of thin air."