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Chapter 1012: Epilogue — The Beginning and the End!
Chapter 1012: Epilogue — The Beginning and the End!
Hermione turned the letter over and over, as if trying to find something different about it. She even drew her wand and tapped it lightly on the paper.
"Aparecium~"
A faint ripple of magic swept over the letter, but nothing happened.
"Do you really not trust me, Hermione?" Ivan pulled the witch into his arms, speaking with a helpless tone.
Hermione huffed, a hint of jealousy in her voice. It wasn't that she was being cautious or suspicious; it was just that Ivan's relationship with someone had been suspiciously close for the past decade.
Yesterday, she had even seen a report about Luna in the Daily Prophet.
In recent years, Luna had discovered numerous nearly extinct magical creatures, such as the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and the Nargle. She had surpassed Newt Scamander, becoming the most influential magical creature expert of the century!
But Hermione remembered that these bizarre creatures were all Luna's fantasies. Now they were real in the Wizarding World, and it was hard not to suspect something was amiss.
The only person in the entire Wizarding World capable of doing this was her husband, Ivan Hals!
This led her to suspect that their relationship was more than just friendship, but she couldn't find any evidence ...
"Don't be so paranoid, Hermione", Ivan chuckled, lightly tapping Hermione's forehead. "Think about it. If I really had something with Luna, why would I write letters? Wouldn't it be easier to use the Magicnet?"
The Magicnet was a magical communication network based on the Magic Mark, one of Ivan's research achievements over the past nineteen years. It functioned like a personal terminal in a sci-fi world, containing all the information of every wizard.
Through this magical network, wizards could communicate instantly, regardless of distance, project each other's magical images, send coordinates for Apparition, or even browse and purchase items online. It was incredibly convenient.
Of course, the Magicnet's most important role was to facilitate the International Confederation of Wizards' management of every wizard.
As the true controller of the Magicnet, if Ivan wanted to have a private conversation with someone, no one would be able to detect it.
Hermione was taken aback, realizing he had a point. Although Ivan and Luna often exchanged letters, they never hid it from her.
As for the creation of these magical creatures, anyone who read the newspapers would know what was going on.
If Ivan just wanted to make Luna happy, he could have done it secretly without publicizing it.
"Alright, I guess I overthought it and wronged you!" Hermione's doubts dissipated, and she gave Ivan a light kiss on the cheek as an apology.
But Ivan wasn't about to let it go that easily. He grabbed Hermione's head and kissed her deeply, their lips entwined for a while before he finally released her.
Hermione caught her breath, glanced at the clock on the wall, and her face changed. "Oh, it's that late! Let go, I have to go to work!"
"What's the rush? Stay with me a bit longer. Or take the day off and go tomorrow", Ivan said playfully, pinning her to the sofa. "You are the current President of the International Confederation of Wizards. Who's going to complain?"
"That's not possible", Hermione rolled her eyes. Unlike a certain former president who often skipped work, she believed in leading by example to motivate her subordinates to work hard.
With effort, Hermione pushed Ivan off her, quickly tidied her clothes, and then Apparated away.
Ivan shook his head, then waved his hand, and the letter on the floor floated up to his hand.
"So many years, and still the same..." Ivan carefully read the letter, deciphering Luna's encryption method. He couldn't help but laugh as he used the Elder Wand to draw a circle on the paper. The words rearranged themselves, revealing the hidden content.
"Thank you for your suggestion, Ivan. However, I think my current work is good. Mikaela has been injured again and needs my personal care. I'm sorry, but I can't come to Hogwarts this year to teach. — Your most loyal friend, Luna Lovegood"
At the bottom of the letter, two little figures holding hands were drawn. Seeing the familiar Q-version style, Ivan smiled lightly, reminiscing about the past. He then wrote a brief reply and sent it back using the same encryption method.
The content of the reply was nothing special. Using this special encryption method was partly for nostalgia and partly for the unique pleasure it brought to the two of them.
As Ivan had told Hermione, he hadn’t cheated or anything. The special treatment he gave Luna was half due to friendship and half due to guilt.
Back when they were students at Hogwarts, Luna had helped him a great deal. Because of him, Luna lost the opportunity to become close friends with Harry and the others.
So Ivan always wanted to compensate her more. Over the years, he had created many interesting magical creatures based on Luna’s fantasies, hiding them in certain woods and giving her hints so she could go searching for them.
After fusing with the Nightmare Bloodline and mastering the power to transcend life and death, he even used the Resurrection Stone to bring Luna’s mother back to life.
Inviting her to become a professor of magical creatures at Hogwarts was also a way to make her life easier. Researching magical creatures was a tiring job, and there was always the risk of danger.
But it seemed Luna really enjoyed her current work.
Thinking about this, Ivan decided against the idea of bringing his friend back to teach at Hogwarts. He clenched his right hand, and a golden, diamond-shaped crystal appeared before him.
“Zero at your service...”
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in Ivan’s mind.
This diamond-shaped crystal was the legendary System, which he had spent seven years creating, using an entire Philosopher’s Stone as its core. It possessed legendary magical intelligence and was the pinnacle of alchemy!
However, there seemed to be a slight issue with it, which troubled Ivan greatly.
“What do you think I am?” Ivan asked tentatively.
The cold, mechanical voice sounded again: “You are my creator, the greatest Dark Lord in history, a two-faced politician, a deep-thinking conspirator, and the unseen ruler of the Wizarding World and the Muggle world...”
“Nonsense!” Ivan couldn’t help but interrupt, feeling exasperated. What kind of ridiculous evaluation was this?
Given his accomplishments, calling him the Savior of the Wizarding World wasn’t too much, right?
“This is the most accurate evaluation based on your memories, experiences, and information gathered from the Wizarding World.”
Zero’s voice rang in Ivan’s mind again, and the diamond-shaped crystal expanded into a light screen, replaying his various experiences.
Twenty years ago, he had killed Dumbledore, seized control of the British Ministry of Magic, and installed a puppet Minister of Magic, then framed Voldemort for the deed.
Nineteen years ago, he secretly used the Imperius Curse to control dozens of politicians, manipulating Muggles at will.
...
Seven years ago, he had constructed the Magicnet to control the life and death of all wizards, closely monitoring their every move...
Ivan stroked his chin, realizing that over the years, he had done so many things for the peace of the Wizarding World, things he didn’t want to do.
Perhaps he was what was known as a dark hero.
Bearing all the sins alone, leaving only light and beauty for others...
As many movies and TV shows depicted, people like him were often misunderstood.
Ivan didn’t bother to argue. Trying to reason with a magical intelligence was a waste of time. He had considered remaking the System, but after careful thought, he decided against it. It would waste a lot of precious materials and might not even meet his expectations.
Ivan shook his head. A few flaws were acceptable; it still worked.
It was quite amusing, really. When he wanted to provide some help to his past self, he realized that creating a System was the most convenient method.
For someone who enjoyed reading webnovels in his previous life, the idea of a System seemed natural, and it could guide him to make the right choices at critical moments through quests.
Of course, due to his limited abilities, this System didn’t have overly complex functions or the ability to directly exchange items. Creating something out of nothing consumed too much magic, which wasn’t worth it.
So he only endowed the System with a vast amount of magical knowledge, a portion of his memories, and three special abilities.
The first ability is Detection. As a Level Nine creation, Zero can quickly analyze most objects and provide a relatively accurate assessment based on its knowledge.
The second ability significantly boosts the user's thinking speed, much like Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Ivan placed some restrictions on this, as keeping it active for 24 hours would consume a significant amount of Magic. Relying solely on Zero absorbing stray Magic would not be enough.
Moreover, a Wizard can never reach the level of a legendary Wizard by merely reading books. Experience and trials are equally important.
Without sufficient danger and pressure, his strength would never improve so rapidly.
The third ability allows the user to briefly experience the realm of the Word of Power through a fusion with Zero.
This power is sufficient to ensure survival in any perilous situation. Ivan named it Protection Mode, symbolizing the protection of his past self.
However, the fusion consumes a large amount of Magic stored in the System, so it can only be used in critical moments or to eliminate the risks of fusing bloodlines.
"About time", Ivan muttered, reaching out to drape the Invisibility Cloak over himself. In a flash, he vanished from his spot.
When he reappeared, he was already inside Hogwarts' Great Hall.
It was summer, and the Great Hall was empty, which was perfect for Ivan. He didn't want to be disturbed while casting.
"Coordinates: September 1st, 25 years ago, 7:30 PM." Ivan held Zero loosely, channeling a steady stream of Magic into it. He had added some Sands of Time when creating the System, allowing Zero to reverse time and travel to the past, just like a Time-Turner.
The surroundings quickly faded, and everything around him rushed backward. The past 25 years of the Great Hall's history became a series of indistinct shadows.
Ivan heard various sounds—screams, shouts, and noisy conversations. After an unknown duration, everything grew quiet.
A familiar voice then rang out.
"Gryffindor!"
Ivan instinctively turned to look at the stage. A blond Wizard was taking off the Sorting Hat, and the voice had come from Professor Mcgonagall of the past.
Watching this scene from an observer's perspective, Ivan couldn't help but smile. He watched as a bewildered young boy walked down from the stage.
He knew that at that moment, his past self had not yet recovered from the sudden time travel.
Ivan walked step by step to the blond boy, and as his past self and the Weasley Twins chatted, he silently pressed Zero into the boy's forehead.
Due to the massive Magic consumption during the time reversal, Zero's core was in a semi-dormant state. It would take about a year to absorb enough Magic to fully recover and unlock all its functions, which aligned with the timeline of the System updates in his memories.
With this final loop completed, Ivan had no intention of lingering. The Temporal Correction Force was already eager to push him away.
Unlike him, Zero was a being that existed between reality and illusion, so it could remain in the past.
Releasing his protective barrier, Ivan's body slowly faded and disappeared.
Just then, Ivan sensed someone watching him. Turning around, he met the gaze of a pair of silver-blue eyes.
Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was seated at the teachers' table, looking in his direction.
"Truly perceptive!" Ivan chuckled, realizing that Zero must have inadvertently leaked some Magic during the fusion, drawing Dumbledore's attention.
"Goodbye, Headmaster Dumbledore!" Though Dumbledore couldn't see him, Ivan mouthed the words silently and, under the pressure of the Temporal Correction Force, returned to his original time point.
The blond boy, noticing the headmaster's gaze, looked up. Mistakenly thinking Dumbledore was looking at him, he flashed a coy and innocent smile before stuffing a large piece of cake into his mouth and swallowing it in a few bites.
The boy's enthusiastic eating demeanor amused Dumbledore, who smiled back and turned his head away. Just now... it must have been an illusion!
(PS: The grand finale, cheers! There will be a few epilogue chapters and side stories to fill in the gaps left in the main text. I'll write the final words after the side stories. For all the Luna fans, I'll consider writing a truly satisfying side story, whether it's a double or single pairing, as an alternate timeline.)
(End of Chapter)
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