Ian had previously inclined toward it being an issue of craftsmanship, but if Rowena Ravenclaw hadn't drunk counterfeit wine, then it would be reasonable for Voldemort's remnant soul not to damage the Resurrection Stone.
After all, it's a creation of the gods.
"I haven't studied the embodiment of Death's rules much, but I do have some understanding of this place." Rowena Ravenclaw did not wait for Ian to speak, immediately following up with a question for Ian.
"Little one, do you know what this place used to be?"
Faced with this inquiry from the founder of Hogwarts, Ian glanced at a similarly puzzled Helena, then surveyed the surrounding landscapes reminiscent of the Doomsday Volcano Orodruin from The Lord of the Rings.
"Death's domain?"
He ventured a guess.
"Nobody would want to live in such a place, would they?" Rowena Ravenclaw gave Ian, who nodded, a deep look, her eyes carrying a hint of something profound.
"This was once Death's territory, the very edge of the Misty Illusion Realm. One step forward is the beginning of another journey... It later became proof of someone's triumph over death."
"In the past, there weren't any volcanoes here, only lava and earth... This place once had a group of ancient inhabitants who built the mountains you see to serve those who defeated Death. No one knows how many years this situation lasted." Rowena Ravenclaw's words made Ian's eyes widen.
"Wow! Who's such a badass!?"
He felt this place was very similar to the Doomsday Volcano from The Lord of the Rings. It couldn't be that the mysterious presence occupying this place had also read such a modern work?
"You shouldn't ask me such questions." Rowena Ravenclaw walked to a small hill, gazing at the tallest volcano, her thoughts unclear.
"My mother never knows, she would say things like this when she didn't understand something." Helena didn't know if she was smoothing things over for Rowena Ravenclaw or trying to provoke Ian to challenge Rowena.
Ian looked at Helena.
Then at Rowena Ravenclaw in the distance, "So, has time ultimately erased the prosperity that once existed here, and taken away certain presences that once occupied this place?"
He couldn't conceive of this place still being inhabited by some "unknown species".
"Perhaps the prosperity that once existed here was meant for a purpose already achieved." Rowena Ravenclaw's words were somewhat cryptic. She turned to look at Ian behind her. "And time cannot take away the original inhabitants here; they were removed by a Dark Wizard's ritual."
With these words.
Images of bad professor Grindelwald's speeches immediately flashed across Ian's mind.
"Dementors?!"
He subconsciously linked Grindelwald's rhetoric with Rowena Ravenclaw's current words. Around the fifteenth century, a Dark Wizard's experiment on an island made Dementors appear before the world. Grindelwald also said that according to his research, Dementors are a species that should not exist in the world.
This coincided with what Rowena Ravenclaw said, and her slow nod seemed to affirm Ian's exclamation.
"It seems you've learned this information from others; you're quite the remarkable scholar."
Not only that.
Rowena Ravenclaw's next words were also astonishing, "We can no longer know for what purpose Death made that deal with the three brothers years ago, but one thing we can be sure of is that you can obtain the basic material for crafting the Invisibility Cloak from the Dementors."
"Taken from a life that cannot be affected by death, it is naturally different from the Invisibility Cloak made from the Invisibility Beast, and it can indeed help one evade death to some extent." Rowena Ravenclaw provided a new interpretation of the Three Sacred Artifacts, clear, direct, and overturning much of what is commonly known.
"You've taught me an incredible lesson today." Ian struggled to digest the information he had acquired. When he raised the Resurrection Stone Ring in his hand again, his gaze had changed.
"According to what you said, the Resurrection Stone should also truly possess the power to overturn life and death?" Ian thought that since it's a creation of the gods, even if done casually, it should at least do more than cast an ephemeral projection, especially since the Invisibility Cloak, as Rowena Ravenclaw mentioned, can indeed dodge death.
"I just told you that Salazar was deeply involved in this research. Most of what I know comes from Salazar's research and..." Rowena Ravenclaw looked again at the little wizard not far away, "from certain fellows who have caused me considerable annoyance with their boastful prattling."
Her voice carried a hint of nostalgia.
"I also dislike people nagging in my presence; I only enjoy nagging others." Ian chimed in with Rowena Ravenclaw's words.
His focus remained on the Resurrection Stone Ring. The inscriptions on it differed greatly from the Alchemy he was familiar with. They even seemed like random doodles.
"Did the Slytherin ancestor ever use it?" Ian weighed the Pendant Box in his other hand, noting, of course, how Rowena Ravenclaw always glanced at this item when mentioning the use of the Resurrection Stone.