Chapter 244: Be My Steward, Ravenclaw!
Dylan held Ravenclaw's slightly cool hand, lowering his head in a gentlemanly gesture before gently raising her palm.
"A real world… a real me…"
Ravenclaw looked around, feeling her tangible body, a sense of surprise in her heart. She knew that she was supposed to be just a portrait. Although she had no memory of what happened before she became a portrait, her self-awareness was clear. Yet now, she seemed to have truly left the canvas. Not only could she exist outside the portrait, but the world she was in was both a tangible and an intangible one.
She felt the wind whistling in her ears. Ravenclaw used her magic to steady herself. The two of them stood high in the sky.
Below, the vast world unfolded in stunning symmetry. To the left was an immense forest, its canopy layered and soaked in moonlight, with fireflies flitting among the trees. To the right was the boundless ocean, where waves surged and crashed against one another, a constant roar rising from the depths. With every swell of the waves, Ravenclaw felt a deeper sense of conviction that this was, indeed, a real world.
"This is a place of true wonder. I can feel a very strong life-force here. I assume this world contains many living creatures?"
Dylan nodded. "I have to say, your senses are incredibly sharp."
Ravenclaw closed her eyes for a moment, and her magical aura radiated outward.
"I've also sensed something even more astonishing," she said.
"What is it?"
Ravenclaw paused, then looked at Dylan. "Might I borrow your wand?"
Dylan blinked slightly. "Of course—not." He glanced at Ravenclaw's head. When she left the portrait, the diadem she had been wearing had disappeared.
Dylan thought for a moment, then his hand flipped, and a diadem suddenly appeared in his palm.
"My diadem?" Ravenclaw's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, it's your diadem," Dylan nodded.
Ravenclaw stared at the eagle-shaped diadem, a slight frown on her face. "It has a very sinister aura. Why has my diadem become like this? It can still inspire wisdom, but it also seems to contain another soul…"
"Voldemort, a Dark Lord who nearly dominated the entire wizarding world. He put a piece of his soul into the diadem in pursuit of eternal life."
"Voldemort?" Ravenclaw's frown deepened. "That's not a pleasant name."
Dylan: "..." How can she be so strange in what she chooses to focus on?
"But he's been defeated. Although he's recently been trying to resurrect himself and has caused a huge mess at Hogwarts."
Ravenclaw looked at Dylan again. "But with you there, can this Voldemort truly succeed? Though you are still young, I can feel an incredibly strong magical aura from you, and..."
Ravenclaw looked around.
"You possess an entire tangible world—something even I could not achieve. I would think that even in your era, you must be an exceptionally powerful wizard, wouldn't you?"
Ravenclaw did not underestimate Dylan because of his youth; on the contrary, she gave him high praise.
Dylan smiled. "I suppose that in terms of magical power and the depth of my spells, I am a powerful wizard, but there is still so much knowledge in this world to learn."
Ravenclaw looked at Dylan with approval. "That's right. Knowledge is boundless. I've only glimpsed a small corner of it myself."
A moment later, Ravenclaw looked at Dylan with a puzzled expression. "Although we've just met, I haven't felt any animosity toward you since the beginning. In fact, I've felt a sense of closeness. And our conversation about knowledge makes me curious. How is it that you didn't become a Ravenclaw, my student?"
Dylan's eyelashes fluttered. "Well, maybe the Sorting Hat thought I had more courage?"
"The Sorting Hat?"
At the mention of it, a look of remembrance appeared on Ravenclaw's face. "Is it still working after all these years?"
Dylan looked at Ravenclaw in confusion. "Yes, and it even has a side job, working several jobs at once."
"A side job?" Ravenclaw asked, puzzled.
"Yes, it also swallowed a great sword," Dylan nodded.
Ravenclaw blinked. "Are you saying… the Sorting Hat swallowed the sword that Gryffindor forged?"
"To be precise, it temporarily safeguarded the Sword of Gryffindor."
"I see... Then I suppose it must have felt quite bloated all these years." Ravenclaw said with a smile. "It's a hat with a will of its own, very difficult for anyone to influence. I think Gryffindor must have threatened it; otherwise, it would never have allowed anything foreign inside its belly."
Dylan and Ravenclaw were standing on the staircase made of solidified water. This time, it was Dylan's turn to ask Ravenclaw a question.
"Head of House, I saw that you could use magic before. What is your current strength?"
After all, Dylan had pulled Ravenclaw from a portrait. At its core, she was a non-physical person, but in his world, she seemed to be a soul, similar to a ghost. But that wasn't quite right, as Ravenclaw seemed to think she had a real body. How could a person with a body be a ghost? So Dylan was very curious about Ravenclaw's current state.
If he could figure this out, Dylan had a feeling that he could make a huge breakthrough in spatial, soul, and life magic. Perhaps Ravenclaw's current state even involved a temporal aspect. Just thinking about it made Dylan excited.
"I'm not sure. I still have some memory of a lot of knowledge and spells. If you're asking how much of my strength I've retained, I would say about eighty percent."
Eighty percent?
Dylan was delighted.
Forget eighty percent. Even if she only had fifty percent of her strength, that would still be incredibly powerful!
"Head of House, although I'm not a student of Ravenclaw House, since you have appeared in my world and will probably be staying here for a long time, I can ask you questions, right?"
Dylan's eyes lit up.
Ravenclaw gave a gentle smile. "Of course, there's no problem. After all, you're the one who brought me here. And—you don't have to call me 'Head of House.' Just call me Rowena."
Dylan froze for a moment. "Is that appropriate?"
"Why not? This is your world. Perhaps I was even created by your secret," Ravenclaw smiled serenely, exuding the elegant aura of a beautiful woman.
Dylan's eyes narrowed, and he stroked his chin. It seemed that while Ravenclaw couldn't directly sense his system, she had at least made some guesses about the current situation.
Right!
Now that Ravenclaw had come out of the portrait, could she return to it, or could she leave his world?
Dylan fell into thought.
In fact, even if Ravenclaw could leave his world, Dylan didn't intend to take her out now. After all, if this wasn't the portrait from the Headmaster's Office, it meant there was another Ravenclaw portrait there. What would happen if the two portraits came face to face? Dylan couldn't even imagine it.
By keeping her in his world, a world he completely controlled, Dylan would feel at ease. And if a person who was so magically powerful, knowledgeable, and beautiful could exist in his world, she would not only be a sight for sore eyes but also incredibly useful.
"In that case... Head of House Rowena, might I have the honor of inviting you to be the steward of this world?"
A smile touched Ravenclaw's eyes. "Are you asking me to be your butler?"
Dylan bowed slightly. "That's right. But this home is an entire world—it will also grow wider and wider. I hope that one day, this world can become a true world."
After a moment of thought, Ravenclaw nodded. "I accept. Hmm, I'm so curious, could it be that you've found the legendary World Tree?"
Hearing this, Dylan only smiled without answering. He would let Ravenclaw wonder. Besides, from the looks of it, Ravenclaw might have actually been created by the system, or perhaps the system had brought her over from somewhere. But no matter what, the Ravenclaw portrait was ultimately a system product.
System products are always high-quality. And not only that, they usually come with guarantees. Just as Ravenclaw had told him. From the moment they met, even though she had put on a dignified facade, she had no hostility toward Dylan. This meant that there was either a suppression from the system, or some other reason. In any case, Ravenclaw would not harm him, otherwise they might have started fighting the moment they met.
So, making Ravenclaw the steward of his world was the most perfect decision.
"Later, if I have the chance, I will invite the Heads of the other three Houses to join you. Maybe you can turn my entire world into a school."
Ravenclaw's expression changed slightly. "With Salazar's interference, if you truly let him manage your world as a school, your world might develop in an unpredictable direction."
Dylan was noncommittal about this. The Founders were powerful wizards, but they were now his portraits. And he was the one who had brought them out of the portraits and into his world. In the end, they could only be at his mercy.
Out of respect for the Hogwarts Founders, Dylan was willing to be kind to them. If Salazar was uncooperative, he could just go hang out in the hut with Tom. He wouldn't have to manage the world. He'd just become Dylan's research subject.
"By your expression, you seem quite confident, so I won't say any more." Ravenclaw looked down. "How about you take me for a walk?"
"Of course. It is a bit chilly up here with the wind," Dylan smiled.
He didn't bother with Ravenclaw. She was using her own magic to maintain her position in the air. The two of them slowly descended toward the ground. Ravenclaw took in her surroundings. As they moved, her understanding of this world deepened.
"Not only is it a real world, but even with limited ecosystems, I can feel a balance of life." Ravenclaw's voice was light. "The entire world is like a precisely operating magical clock. Every gear is perfectly placed, maintaining the ecosystem on its own."
Ravenclaw turned her head to look at the ocean. The vortexes in the deep ocean seemed to have the power of a cyclical tide. Although there was no real moon in the sky, moonlight was shining brightly. Ravenclaw didn't know where the moonlight came from, but since there was a tidal force, it meant that the world was probably also governed by the movements of the stars.
"This is truly incredible."
The sea breeze ruffled Ravenclaw's hair. The diadem she now held in her hand, though it shone brightly, was not as brilliant as the light in her eyes. "I once created a small eco-garden. I put so much effort into designing a perfect magical ecosystem, but the result was never what I wanted."
Ravenclaw gazed at the boundary between the ocean and the forest. "Yet here, I can clearly sense a true dynamic equilibrium, a perfect balance of life and nature."
The more she thought about it, the more she realized, and the more an uncontrollable smile grew on her face. It was the natural ecstasy of a scholar who has stumbled upon an unimaginable truth.
"If this world was truly your creation, and you know the magical principles behind it, then I think, Dylan, you will be able to overturn all of wizarding history. Everyone will clamor to be near you."
"At that point, I, a Head of House who helped found Hogwarts, will seem completely insignificant."
"Don't say that, Head of House—even though you were a co-founder and a Head of House at Hogwarts, and I could call you either, I'll stick with this—Head of House Rowena, your wisdom is still what wizards strive for, even today."
"You certainly know how to comfort a person," Ravenclaw laughed happily. "So, now that I am your steward, I think I should properly explore this world first. Is that alright?"
In Ravenclaw's tone, there was a hint of unnoticeable excitement.
A world that exists outside of a world. If it was created, it shouldn't be called magic, but divine power, right?
In other words, could the person who created this world also become a god?
..........
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