The weather during the rainy season is always unpredictable.
Even though Ian had spent half a day in the Misty Illusion Realm, not much time had passed in the human world. But by the time he returned to the Ravenclaw Common Room, a heavy rain had already started outside.
Thunder and lightning intertwined, and the sky wove a net of light and shadow. Every lightning strike tearing through the night felt like an angry giant beast opening its ferocious mouth to roar furiously. Caught in the whirlwind, massive raindrops pounded relentlessly against the ancient windows of Hogwarts, producing a crackling sound.
The rain curtain was like a veil.
It seemed as if streams of water were gathering on the glass, slowly sliding down the ancient panes and leaving winding traces, sketching out a series of flowing pictures. They blurred the world outside, turning the scenery into something hazy and distant—the flames dancing in the fireplace seemed to participate in this nocturnal symphony.
"I hope it continues to rain tomorrow, so I won't have to go to Flying Class." Ian, who had no sleepiness left after returning, was like a student praying for a power outage before a night study session. He moved to the window, which was seeping waves of cold, and stared at the scenery outside where lightning flashed amid the wild wind and rain.
"Clang~ Clang~"
This wasn't a sound coming from outside the window but rather the noise from several dark stones Ian was fiddling with in his hand. After Rowena Ravenclaw stuffed him with a stone from near a volcano, he was worried about the loss during the imitation of the Resurrection Stone, so he stuffed his robe pockets until they bulged.
After all, these things were readily available around the volcano, and even if he brought back several truckloads, it wouldn't affect the local ecosystem. Ian, having not filled his money bag stretched by the Enlargement Charm to the brim, already had some confidence in his alchemy. He was only a few days away from advancing this subject to Level 5.
To tell the truth, alchemy is an exceedingly complex discipline covering many areas, and its advancement rate is indeed much slower than most magic. Ian's current rate of improvement was already considered very swift, and he actually owed it to Hufflepuff's Golden House, which opened itself for Ian to study.
"By anchoring a specific target, I can cleverly use an incomplete Patronus Charm... What Rowena Ravenclaw meant was that before my magic power attempted to condense the Misty Illusion Realm projection, I should first condense a soul from within the Misty Illusion Realm. In this way, I wouldn't need to perform a complete Patronus Charm to bear the entire burden of the Misty Illusion Realm."
Ian stood in front of the window, deep in thought, as he took out a stone from the Misty Illusion Realm and tried to change its shape with his magic wand that had returned to him.
A Pokeball?
He's not going to the Misty Illusion Realm to catch a Pokemon.
Guanyin's Golden Cuff?
He didn't want to catch a monkey to be his Patronus either.
"I remember Pandro still owes Teacher Morgan the soul of a Giant Dragon..." Ian shaped the stone into a golden cuff, which didn't look like it could fit on the horns of a giant beast.
"Although dragons are quite cool, when it comes to the Patronus Charm, the larger the Patronus, the more limited its practicality. I remember Grindelwald even despised Dragon Patronuses."
"Our Defense Against the Dark Arts Class teacher's disdain is clearly not unfounded." Ian stared at the floating black stone in mid-air, using his wand to manipulate the stone before him as it continued to change.
The stone returned to its original state.
This clearly indicated that Ian hadn't yet figured out how to use them.
"I wonder if choosing a person as a Patronus is a feasible plan? If it is, the best choice would certainly be to ask Teacher Morgan to come and support me."
"Moreover, since my Patronus is a specific area within the Misty Illusion Realm itself, this mutated Patronus Charm of mine can obviously anchor multiple souls, not just one."
"With flowers and grass, warblers and swallows, when I was overwhelmed, I saw quite a few creatures within the Misty Illusion Realm. This is obviously the special feature of my Patronus Charm."
"If I anchor multiple souls at the same time, I suppose I could allow multiple souls to enter the human world as Patronuses? Ha, isn't this a loophole way comparable to the original effect of the Resurrection Stone."
"The God of Death that Rowena spoke of would surely be infuriated by me." Ian took out the Resurrection Stone Ring, from which Tom's fragmented soul had already detached.
It was unclear whether Rowena had casually done it or if it was affected after a trip through the Misty Illusion Realm, which "does not allow magic" to exist. The sinister curse Tom had once placed on it was also gone. However, even so, Ian did not dare to wear this ring on his finger.
According to Rowena's repeated reminders, using the Hallow of the God of Death would forcibly bind one to a contract with the God of Death, who, as an embodiment of some kind of rule, didn't sound like a benevolent deity based on the name.
"Who knows if he's petty-minded? Knowing I exploited two worlds' rule loopholes, he might go on a crazy revenge spree." Ian's rare display of caution was extremely evident at this moment.
He probably owed this to some movies he had seen in his previous life.
Where ordinary objects and daily scenes suddenly transformed into lethal weapons, Hogwarts' stairs possibly malfunctioning and collapsing, or simple magic inexplicably triggering a nuclear explosion on the spot, and so on.