The origin of magic?
Wayne didn't know why Grace suddenly asked about this, but he still gave an answer based on his understanding.
"There are roughly two conclusions in the magical world."
"The first is what pure-blood families have always firmly believed - that magic was a privilege bestowed by heaven upon the most outstanding people in ancient times and has been passed down to this day. This aligns with their bloodline theory, but it's not~ impossible."
"While they call it a heavenly gift, it might just be a genetic mutation that's been passed down through recessive genetic inheritance."
"As for the second theory, it's what most scholars speculate..."
Wayne's expression turned strange, "Perhaps ancient humans had... diverse interests, being attracted not only to humans but also to animals, so..."
Well, it sounded quite perverted, and actually was even more perverted.
But thinking about Hagrid's father, and all those infatuated witches who married Vampires, Wayne could actually accept it now.
"Why are you suddenly asking about this? Weren't we talking about Slytherin?"
"If I tell you the reason first, you should understand."
Grace poured herself another glass of wine, organised her thoughts, and began to speak.
"Actually... both theories you mentioned are true. These were the two ways earliest humans obtained magical power."
"Either it was a heavenly gift, or through union with magical creatures."
"But Earth originally had no magical power. What people called a 'heavenly gift' was actually just people accidentally entering ruins and undergoing transformation after eating magical substances from inside."
"If Earth had no magic, then where did these ruins come from?" Wayne frowned. "Don't tell me those people went to other worlds and then came back? That's too far-fetched."
Grace just looked at him without speaking.
"No, is that really what happened?" Wayne's jaw nearly dropped.
"You've got it backwards. The ruins came to Earth, forming subspace dimensions." Grace's tone became distant. "The so-called ancient civilisations, the wars between wizards, Centaurs and various ancient races - these were actually conflicts between natives and survivors from within the ruins."
Wayne blinked, feeling as if he had crossed over into another world. Everything had suddenly become fantastical.
"What, you don't believe me?" Grace glanced at the young man.
"A bit. What you're saying is too mystical." Wayne said honestly. "You know I have a good relationship with Nicolas Flamel. He's only three or four hundred years younger than you, but he's never mentioned any of this."
"Because the ruins had almost disappeared by our time," Grace revealed another secret. "Back when the four of us were adventuring together, we were fortunate enough to enter a spatial fragment and obtain extraordinary encounters, which enabled our future achievements."
"Avalon, where the Lady of the Lake resides, Mount Olympus of the Olympian gods, Asgard and the World Tree from Norse mythology - the transmission of these myths actually corresponds, to varying degrees, to actual ruins and the beings within them."
"Their stories became known to more and more people, eventually evolving into myths."
"Many speculate that these spatial fragments came from a destroyed, powerful world, drifted near Earth, were attracted by the main plane, and became subsidiary planes - what we call ruin subspaces."
"Including the so-called Death and the Three Brothers of Death - they were actually powerful beings within the ruins, and their stories have been passed down to this day."
Wayne was taken aback. "There really was a Death?"
"There once was, but the ruins where they resided were destroyed. Subspaces are inherently extremely unstable. Back then, a great battle occurred in the space where Death existed, with several powerful mages fighting until the space itself shattered, ultimately resulting in mutual destruction."
"Most of the intelligence was obtained from those ruins, with some also coming from written traditions," Grace added. "But as we entered the Common Era, the existence of ruins gradually faded away. Some became separated from Earth, while others self-destructed over time. The upper limits of wizards' power have been continuously declining, and even their numbers have been decreasing."
Wayne understood what she meant.
"You suspect Slytherin found a ruin?"
"Mhm." Grace nodded gently. "He always held the ideal of restoring the magical world's glory and having wizards reclaim their dominant position. His agreement to help establish Hogwarts with us was also driven by his desire to cultivate combat forces for wizards, which is why he was so opposed to admitting Muggle-born wizards."
Having absorbed so much information at once, Wayne had remembered everything but felt somewhat confused.
"Then why would he want to harm you and Hufflepuff?"
"How should I know?" Grace rolled her eyes. "If I hadn't been weakened by poison, I would have stormed over and asked him directly long ago."
"Actually, I'm still not certain whether Slytherin is alive, but recently at the Department of Mysteries, I sensed traces of his magical power on the Veil."
"So it was you who broke into the Department of Mysteries." Wayne didn't show much surprise, as he had already suspected this.
"That Veil was once a transportation anchor point for a ruin."
"Avalon?"
"Correct."
Wayne became interested. "Then I should go take a look."
Grace quickly grabbed his arm. "Didn't I just say? Those spaces have either been destroyed or left Earth. If you enter now, you'll only end up in the chaotic void of space with no way to return. Don't be reckless."
"Fine." Wayne looked quite disappointed after finally finding something that interested him.
With Voldemort and Tom gone, the world had become much more boring.
Grace didn't know whether to laugh or cry, slapping the young man reproachfully. "You just love stirring up trouble."
Wayne waved his hand and sat back down. "Forget it. If Slytherin is still alive, he'll return eventually. Do you remember Trelawney's prophecy?"
Grace nodded. "My judgment is partly based on her prophecy, too, after all, she's a descendant of the great ancient Greek prophet Cassandra."
Speaking of Cassandra, Wayne thought of another Cassandra and suddenly asked, "Should we visit Ilvermorny? Tom stole the snakewood wand from there - we might find some clues."
Grace showed a knowing smile.
'With Slytherin's wand already in your possession, what could you possibly find at Ilvermorny?'
However, Grace didn't refuse.
Previously, she had disappeared to search for Slytherin's traces alone because she feared implicating Wayne.
After all, although Wayne was quite powerful back then, in her eyes, he still wasn't strong enough.
Things were different now. Just from how easily Wayne had found her and the faint aura of higher-level magical suppression emanating from him, Grace knew that the current Wayne had surpassed the Ravenclaw of old, becoming her most steadfast support.
Looking at the charming, smiling young woman before him, young Wayne felt his restlessness stirring again.
Sharpening the axe wouldn't delay the woodcutting. Under Grace's puzzled gaze, he took out a woman's wizard robe and used transfiguration to change it into the style worn by the statue in the Ravenclaw common room.
"Here, try it on," Wayne said with a mischievous grin as he handed it over.
Grace took it with an exasperated expression, putting it on and even pulling up the hood. To make it more authentic, she picked up a heavy book and stared intently at Wayne.
"It's similar, very similar..." Wayne marvelled. "I always felt there was something familiar about that statue back then."
As he spoke, he had already moved closer to her, and another ten rounds of super escalation followed.
He should probably be considered an ancestor-level figure at Hogwarts by now. If Helena wanted to call him father after returning, he wouldn't mind either.
...
Although she had agreed to visit Ilvermorny with Wayne, the two weren't in a hurry to leave Egypt.
Grace hadn't come here purely for tourism - she was searching for ancient ruins to gather more information about them.
In more ancient times, imperial power and divine authority were increasingly inseparable.
And the so-called gods were mostly former wizards. Grace had been wandering between various ancient civilisations following this clue.
This time, she had set her sights on the favourite of the sun god - Ramesses II.
Ramesses II was considered one of ancient Egypt's greatest pharaohs, reigning for sixty-seven years, conducting military campaigns abroad while undertaking massive construction projects at home, earning him the title King of Kings.
After playing around for two days, the two headed to the Abu Simbel temples near Aswan in southern Egypt.
These were temples built by Ramesses II for his queen, where sunlight could only reach the deepest part of the temple on the two days of the spring and autumn equinoxes each year - truly a miraculous sight.
Unfortunately, the current Abu Simbel temples were actually relocated structures. To build the dam, the temples had been moved several hundred feet, with the original site now submerged under a lake.
Wayne gently raised his hand, and the lake waters parted to form a pathway.
"This place has become a tourist attraction. Can we still find useful information here?" Wayne walked ahead, somewhat puzzled.
"The outer tombs and temples are for show, serving as cover. The real treasures would definitely be hidden away."
Grace had put on a pair of black-framed glasses and was holding a notebook and quill, occasionally directing Wayne to change course.
After walking for about half an hour, they finally found a stone slab at the bottom of the lake. She picked it up as if it were a priceless treasure, studied it for a while, then took several other stone slabs from her bag and pieced them together.
Wayne couldn't read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and had no idea what they said.
"Found it," the young woman said happily as she collected all the stone slabs. Before Wayne could process what was happening, she grabbed him and they Apparated directly to a desolate desert.
A triangle of pure gold appeared in her hand, aimed at the sun. Sunlight projected into the triangle's interior, forming a beautiful spot of light.
Grace continuously adjusted the position of the light spot. When one corner of the triangular light spot pointed directly north, the triangle suddenly emitted a crisp sound.
Then the earth began to tremble, and a magnificent pyramid rose from the ground.
"How did you determine it was here?" Wayne asked curiously.
He had sensed a subtle magical power fluctuation as soon as he arrived in this area, but Grace had managed to find the exact location using just a few stone tablets.
'This is pure wisdom indeed.'
"Those tablets were love letters from Ramesses II to Nefertari, repeatedly mentioning their favourite garden. His real tomb was most likely here. As for the mummy in the Valley of the Kings, it's obviously fake without even looking." After saying this, Grace couldn't wait to go in and explore.
"Let me take the lead from here." Wayne quickly located the pyramid's entrance—the thirteenth step on the north side.
Violently shattering the stone door, Wayne pulled her inside as they flew in.
Then came a series of dull explosions and tremors in the earth, along with Grace's screams.
"Wayne! Be gentle! You can't hit that!"
"Not this either! This is a cultural relic, I need to take it back for research!"
"Oh no! The stone sphinx, calm down! Calm down!"
Boom!
Half of the pyramid's peak was directly blown off, with mummies and dried corpses flying out from within, shattering into pieces upon hitting the ground.
Along with several broken statues of animal gods.
Grace followed behind Wayne, who had transformed into a violent maniac, looking utterly defeated.
This guy —why does he always have to charge through everything so recklessly!?