Chapter 252: Ravenclaw taught him!
Separated. And in the end, he was turned into a gatekeeper?
Dylan blinked, looking at Ravenclaw, his expression a little hard to hold.
"Did... I turn you into this in the end?" Ravenclaw looked up at Everett.
Everett fell silent.
At this moment, the red-eyed statue, Mara, spoke up. "I thought you only imprisoned the wicked here. I never expected you to be so cruel to your own husband!"
Dylan's glare swept over, and Mara's soul trembled. She looked at Dylan, then at Ravenclaw, and suddenly seemed to understand something.
So that's it! That's how it is!
No wonder this little wizard had such a high level of mastery over such a vicious dark art. It turns out Ravenclaw taught him! That's what she thought! How else could a little kid master this level of dark magic?
"You..." At this, Ravenclaw frowned slightly and looked at the red-eyed statue.
The red-eyed statue thought the other party had recognized her voice and scoffed. "Now you regret turning me into this? Back then—"
But Ravenclaw just blinked. "Who are you?"
"I..." The red-eyed statue almost choked. But even if she did, it wouldn't have done anything.
"Phew!" The red-eyed statue glared fiercely at Ravenclaw. "You actually forgot about me?"
Ravenclaw looked at her in confusion. "Am I supposed to remember you?"
The red-eyed statue: ...
"I'm Mara Beckett!!"
Ravenclaw still looked confused. "Who is that?"
Dylan found the name strange. "That sounds like a girl's name?"
The red ruby eyes of the red-eyed statue flashed. "I was a woman before I died!"
"Huh?" Dylan's eyes widened. This red-eyed statue was a woman? He couldn't tell at all! Dylan sized up Mara. "You really can't judge a book by its cover."
Mara: "...What do you mean by that? How did you think I was a man?"
Dylan blinked. "In every way."
The red-eyed statue still wanted to rant, but Dylan narrowed his eyes. "From the looks of it, you seem to have a problem with me?"
The red-eyed statue's tone immediately froze, then her expression instantly changed, showing a fawning smile. "Not at all! I know I must have been too crude, which made you think I was a man. Actually, I don't have a shaft..."
Dylan glanced at the stone statue. "Indeed. Not only do you not have one, but neither does he."
Dylan's gaze flicked to Everett. Everett was still silent, clearly not wanting to answer Ravenclaw's questions.
Dylan slowly spoke, "You don't have to tell me what happened between you." He looked at Ravenclaw. "Headmistress Rowena, why don't you stay here for a while? I'll leave now."
Ravenclaw's expression shifted. She couldn't say whether she wanted Dylan to leave, or if it was fine for him to stay. She had never expected to meet her former husband here. And a husband with whom she had long since lost contact. This husband was no longer even a person but had become a stone statue. She had many questions in her heart. She wondered what her real self had done. Had she met Everett again before she died, and something else had happened?
The red-eyed statue, Mara, watched the two of them. Seeing that Dylan was about to leave, she... she suddenly looked happy again.
Dylan shot her a sideways glance and slightly raised his wand. The threat was obvious. "You two should have a good chat. Say what needs to be said, and make sure everything is clear."
Mara was very smart. As soon as she heard Dylan's words, she understood the hidden meaning. He was telling her to say what should be said and to shut up about what shouldn't? What shouldn't be said? Was it about her being violently hit with a dark spell by Dylan yesterday? It shouldn't be, right? Didn't this guy learn dark magic from Ravenclaw?
Dylan actually didn't care whether Ravenclaw knew he had mastered various kinds of dark magic. One reason was that she was, at the end of the day, a portrait. And the ownership of the portrait was his. In a way, he could even be considered Ravenclaw's master. The second reason was that Dylan didn't believe there were many wizards from Ravenclaw's era who didn't know dark magic. Not everyone was like Dumbledore, who only studied dark magic but adamantly refused to use it. So, what if Ravenclaw knew he could use dark magic? It was just that the dark magic he used was a little stronger, a little more exaggerated, and a little more powerful, that's all.
Dylan gave Coalball a look. At the same time, Norberta also woke up, but only saw the disappearing corner of their master's clothes.
"Aw (Master)!"
...
After leaving the space, Dylan read for a while. It was Christmas. He didn't plan on doing too much and decided to relax. When his parents woke up, it was already noon. He had already cooked a delicious meal. The family of three sat together and enjoyed their lunch.
In the afternoon, Dylan accompanied the couple on a shopping trip. He had to say, Muggle shopping malls were a little different from the shops in the wizarding world. Now, there were already tall buildings, and the various shops inside were incomparable to those in Hogsmeade. The selection was quite comprehensive; they sold everything.
Dylan also bought a lot of small items. Some could be given as gifts, some could be used as materials, and some could be used for research—similar to the research Mr. Weasley dabbled in, which involved applying magic to Muggle items. Wasn't this a combination of technology and magic? Mr. Weasley had a very forward-thinking mind. Dylan didn't want to create some great magical-technological product. It was just a direction for magical research. After all, trying to apply magic to Muggle creations was, in itself, a form of magical application.
The day passed quickly. The family of three bought a lot of things. Their shopping bags were so full they couldn't even carry them all. In the end, the mall manager ran out, claiming that Mr. Hubert was a VIP who had spent hundreds of thousands of pounds at their mall, and personally helped them move their things to the car in the parking lot.
Back home, Dylan looked at the pile of things that almost filled the entire living room, his mouth twitching slightly. The things here were probably bought in three waves. The first wave was the gift boxes the Hawkwoods had prepared initially. The second was the huge pile of stuff they bought again last night. And what they brought back today was the third wave.
Dylan shook his head. He then used magic to cook another meal, which the Hawkwoods praised profusely.
"He's my son, no wonder his cooking is so delicious!" Hubert exclaimed.
"I made this with magic, Dad," Dylan explained.
"But you're the one who used magic to make it, aren't you? Can other wizards make it as delicious as you do?" Hubert retorted.
"...No, they can't. Since it's magic, some people will always learn it better, and some will learn it in a more average way."
"There you have it! You learned magic so quickly and so well, you're truly my son!" Hubert said proudly.
Dylan opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know what to say. Besides Luna, his parents were among the few people who could leave him speechless.
Speaking of Luna... Dylan's thoughts drifted. He wondered how she was doing. Luna's family was not as complicated as Harry's. Although her mother had passed away, before that, her mother had always raised her with a sense of tolerance and freedom. Even now, Luna's father, Lovegood, would always talk to her like a friend. Of course, when the two of them were together, they usually talked about baseless, fantastical topics.
"I hope she'll like my gift when she receives it." Dylan smiled.
The next day, late at night, Dylan went to his safe houses and checked on them one by one. While he was at it, he set up the magical array he had acquired earlier—"Ghostly"—in all of his safe houses except for the ones in the wizarding world. This array was mainly for Muggles. After all, there were ghosts in the magical world, and they were essentially ghosts themselves. So, this array would probably not be able to scare wizards. In fact, it might even be noticed, which could lead to more trouble. That's why Dylan didn't set up the array in those safe houses. "Ghostly" needed to be set up at midnight when the Yin energy was at its peak. So Dylan had stayed with his parents during the day and only came out at night.
"It's only been a few days, and it feels like they want to go out and play by themselves again." Thinking about how affectionate the Hawkwoods were when they were watching TV together today, Dylan sighed. "Tomorrow, I'll go collect some rent from Borgin's and see if Delphini has gotten me any good stuff."
After making up his mind, Dylan sprinkled the last of the powdered bat fangs and chanted a cryptic spell. The lines of the magical array suddenly lit up with an eerie blue light. In an instant, a bone-chilling coldness climbed up his ankles like ten thousand icy needles. The window frame creaked on its own, making a harsh sound like a fingernail scratching glass. The ground also suddenly cracked into a spiderweb of fine lines, and wisps of gray-blue mist seeped out, twisting and entwining in the air like countless transparent threads. Each wisp of mist carried the scent of aged, rotten earth, gradually gathering into a dense ghostly energy that flowed slowly like solidified ink. Wherever it passed, tiny water droplets would appear on the wooden table, condensing into strange blood-like beads that gradually engulfed the entire room. At the same time, the surface of the walls rippled eerily, undulating like swollen skin soaked in sewage, constantly writhing and rising.
The air was filled with a stench of rotting flesh and rust mixed with a faint scent of sandalwood. It made Dylan's stomach churn. For a moment, he thought he was in a place where an ancient tomb and a morgue met. As the magical array fully operated, black mist surged out from the core of the array like a physical substance, gathering in the air to form countless illusory arms. They would reach out as if to grab something, then shrink back into the black mist. From the vortex of condensed ghostly energy, faint wails and piercing screams could be heard, as if countless trapped souls were struggling and wailing within. These sounds were sometimes sharp and harsh, and other times low and suppressed, intertwining into a sinister dirge. The light in the entire space was devoured by the ghostly energy, becoming dim and eerie. Even the light from Dylan's wand seemed pale and powerless, only able to barely illuminate the area half a meter in front of him. It seemed this was the magical array's ability to suppress wizards. In the distance, there was an abyss of darkness, and on the walls, it seemed there were pairs of eyes staring at him from the shadows.
Finally, the magical array took shape. He had basically set up the arrays in all his safe houses. Dylan was ready to try activating the array. At this moment, after the magical array had taken shape, a coldness permeated the room. Dylan saw clearly that this was the ghostly energy that had seeped out from the magical array. This ghostly energy covered the entire room. And subtly, the presence of the entire house had even become a little lower.
The safe house wasn't big. Dylan casually picked up the bronze candlestick on the wooden table. The tip of his wand lightly traced a line in the air. In an instant, the Transfiguration spell's magic seeped out. The metal twisted. After the surface of the candlestick rippled like water, Dylan tossed it. The candlestick was instantly reshaped into a puppet dressed in rough linen clothes. Although its eyes were still a little empty, it was only for an experiment, so it didn't need to be too realistic.
Dylan began to activate the magical array. Immediately, in the core of the array, black mist spewed out. The surrounding ghostly energy gradually condensed. At this moment, the walls even began to seep out a black, asphalt-like liquid, outlining the twisted contours of a human face. The hollow eye sockets flashed with an eerie green light, and the corners of the mouth were pulled into a half-smile. Every time Dylan's gaze swept over them, the ghostly faces would wink strangely.
"Ah!" A piercing shriek rang out. After taking shape, the ghoul, baring its fangs and claws, pounced on the puppet Dylan had transfigured. Its sharp claws went straight for the puppet's neck, piercing right through it. Just as the ghoul wanted to continue, Dylan lightly tapped it with his wand. The fierce ghoul instantly became like a docile sheep. It stopped moving and obediently stood beside Dylan, no longer acting menacingly. Its claws and fangs were even retracted.
"Hmm, it feels a little stronger than the array I set up in the manor before." Dylan nodded in satisfaction. If someone really found his safe house and wanted to break in, they wouldn't be greeted by him, but by a huge surprise. "It's about time to go home." Dylan put away the ghostly energy and let the magical array run on its own. Then he went home. He had other things to do tomorrow.
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