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Chapter 1012
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 pulled out her wand and tapped it lightly on the paper.
"Aparecium~"
A faint wave of magic swept over the letter, but nothing happened.
"Do you really not trust me, Hermione?" Ivan wrapped his arms around the witch, speaking with a hint of exasperation.
Hermione huffed, looking a bit jealous. It wasn't that she was being overly cautious or suspicious; it was just that Ivan's relationship with someone over the past few years had been a bit too close for comfort.
Yesterday, she had read an article in the Daily Prophet about Luna.
In recent years, Luna had discovered numerous nearly extinct magical creatures, such as the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, Nargle, and others. She had surpassed Newt Scamander and become the most influential magical creature expert of the century!
But Hermione remembered that these strange magical creatures were all Luna's fantasies. Now they had appeared in the wizarding world, and it was clear something was amiss.
The only person in the entire wizarding world capable of making this happen was her husband, Ivan Hals!
This made her suspect that their relationship was more than just a close friendship, but she couldn't find any evidence.
"Don't be so paranoid, Hermione..." Ivan chuckled, playfully tapping her forehead. "Think about it. If I really had something going on with Luna, wouldn't I use the Magicnet to communicate directly instead of writing letters?"
The Magicnet was the 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, storing information about all wizards.
Through this network, wizards could communicate instantly, regardless of distance, project magical images of each other, send coordinates for Apparition, and even browse information and make purchases. It was incredibly convenient.
Of course, the most important function of the Magicnet was to facilitate the International Confederation of Wizards' management of every wizard.
As the true controller of the Magicnet, Ivan could have private conversations with anyone without anyone noticing.
Hermione paused, realizing he had a point. Although Ivan and Luna often exchanged letters, they never hid it from her.
As for the magical creatures, anyone reading 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 in the newspaper.
"Alright, I guess I was overthinking it and wrongfully accused you!" Hermione's doubts vanished, 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 the back of Hermione's head and kissed her passionately, tangling their lips for a while before finally letting her go.
Hermione panted lightly, glancing at the clock on the wall. Her face changed, and she said urgently, "Oh, it's that late already! Let go, I need to go to work!"
"Relax, stay with me a bit longer. Or take the day off and go tomorrow", Ivan said, flipping her onto the couch and leaning over her, his forehead touching hers. "You're the current President of the International Confederation of Wizards. Who's going to argue with you?"
"That's not how it works", Hermione rolled her eyes. Unlike a certain former President who often skipped work, she believed in setting a good example to inspire her subordinates to work hard.
Hermione managed to push Ivan off and quickly tidied her clothes before Apparating away.
Ivan shook his head, then waved his hand, and the letter that had fallen to the floor floated up into his hand.
"Still the same after all these years..." Ivan carefully read the letter, deciphering Luna's encryption method. He couldn't help but smile as he used the Elder Wand to draw a circle on the paper. The words rearranged themselves, revealing the hidden message.
"Thanks for your suggestion, Ivan, but 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 to teach this year. — Your most loyal friend, Luna Lovegood"
At the bottom of the letter, two little stick figures were drawn holding hands. Recognizing the familiar Q-style artwork, Ivan chuckled softly, reminiscing about the old days. He then wrote a simple reply and sent it back using the same encryption method.
The content of the reply was nothing special. Using this unique encryption method was partly for nostalgia and partly for the fun they shared.
As Ivan had told Hermione, he hadn't been unfaithful or anything like that. His special treatment of Luna was due to a mix of friendship and guilt.
Back when they were students at Hogwarts, Luna had helped him a great deal. Because of him, she had lost the chance to become close friends with Harry and the others.
So Ivan always wanted to do more to make it up to her. Over the years, he had created many interesting magical creatures based on Luna's fantasies, hiding them in certain woods and leaking some information, waiting for her to find them.
After integrating the Thestral 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 be 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 trying to pull his friend back to teach at Hogwarts. He cupped his right hand, and a golden, diamond-shaped crystal appeared before him.
"Zero at your service..."
A cold, robotic voice echoed in Ivan's mind.
The 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 minor issue with it, which frustrated Ivan.
"What kind of existence do you think I am?" Ivan asked tentatively.
The cold, robotic voice sounded again: "You are my creator, the greatest Dark Lord in history, a two-faced politician, a deep-thinking conspirator, and the ruler behind the scenes in both the real world and the Wizarding World..."
"Nonsense!" Ivan couldn't help but interrupt, exasperated. What a load of rubbish?
Given his achievements, calling him the Savior of the Wizarding World wasn't too much, was it?
"This is the most accurate assessment based on your memories and experiences, combined with intelligence gathered from the Wizarding World", Zero's voice echoed in Ivan's mind again. The diamond-shaped crystal expanded into a light screen, replaying his various experiences.
Twenty years ago, killing Dumbledore, capturing the British Ministry of Magic, installing a puppet Minister of Magic, and then framing Voldemort.
Nineteen years ago, secretly using the Imperius Curse to control dozens of politicians, manipulating Muggles at will.
...
Seven years ago, constructing the Magicnet to control the lives of all wizards, closely monitoring their every move...
Ivan stroked his chin, realizing how much he had done over the years to maintain peace in the Wizarding World, even though he had never wanted to do these things.
Perhaps he was what one might call a dark hero.
Bearing all the sins alone, leaving only light and beauty for others...
Just like in many movies and TV shows, people like him were often misunderstood...
Ivan didn't bother to argue. Trying to reason with a magical intelligence was pointless. He had considered remaking the System, but after some thought, he decided against it. It would waste a lot of precious materials, and it might not even meet his expectations.
Ivan shook his head. A few flaws were acceptable; it was functional, and that was enough.
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 web novels in his previous life, he never doubted the origin of such a System. It could guide him through critical moments by issuing quests, helping him make the right choices.
Of course, due to his limited abilities, this System didn't have overly complex functions and couldn't directly exchange items. Creating something out of nothing consumed too much magic and wasn't worth it.
So he had only endowed the System with a vast amount of magical knowledge, a portion of his memories, and three special abilities.
The first ability was detection. As a ninth-level creation, Zero could quickly analyze most items and provide a relatively accurate evaluation based on its knowledge.
The second ability is similar to the Ravenclaw's Diadem, significantly enhancing the speed of thought.
At this point, Ivan imposed some restrictions, as keeping this ability active for 24 hours would consume a significant amount of Magic. Relying solely on Zero to absorb the stray Magic would definitely not be enough.
Moreover, a Wizard can never reach the level of a legendary Wizard by merely reading books; experience and practical training are equally important.
Without sufficient danger and pressure, his strength would never have improved so rapidly.
The third ability involves temporarily experiencing the realm of the Word of Power by merging with Zero.
This power is sufficient to ensure survival in any perilous situation. Ivan named this ability Protection Mode, symbolizing the protection of his past self.
However, the fusion consumes a tremendous amount of Magic stored in the System, so it can only be used in critical moments or to mitigate the risks of fusing bloodlines.
"About time..." Ivan murmured, reaching out to drape the Invisibility Cloak over himself. With a flash, he vanished from the spot.
When he reappeared, Ivan was already inside Hogwarts' Great Hall.
It was the middle of summer, and the Great Hall was empty, which was the perfect opportunity for Ivan. He certainly didn't want to be disturbed while casting.
"Coordinates: September 1, 25 years ago, 7:30 PM." Ivan held Zero in his hand, continuously channeling Magic into it. When he created the System, he added some Sands of Time, allowing Zero to reverse time and return to the past, much like a Time-Turner.
The surroundings began to blur rapidly, everything receding at an incredible speed. The events of the past 25 years in the Great Hall became a series of indistinct shadows.
Ivan heard all sorts of sounds: screams, shouts, and the murmur of conversations. After an unknown duration, everything settled down.
A familiar voice soon echoed.
"Gryffindor!"
Ivan instinctively turned to look at the stage. A blond Warlock was taking off the Sorting Hat, and the voice that had just called out belonged to the past Professor Mcgonagall.
Revisiting this moment from an observer's perspective, Ivan couldn't help but smile. He watched the small boy walk down from the stage, looking utterly bewildered.
He knew that at that time, he hadn't fully recovered from the sudden time travel.
Ivan walked step by step to the blond Warlock's side. As his past self and the Weasley Twins chatted, he silently pressed Zero into his own forehead.
Due to the immense Magic consumption during the time reversal, Zero's core was temporarily in a semi-dormant state. It would take about a year to fully recover and unlock all its functions, which matched the timeline of the System updates in his memories.
Having completed this final loop, Ivan had no intention of lingering. The temporal and spatial correction forces were already eager to push him away.
Zero, on the other hand, was a being that existed between reality and illusion, allowing it to remain in the past.
As Ivan released the protection, his body slowly faded away.
At that moment, Ivan suddenly sensed that someone was watching him. Turning around, he met the silver-blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, who was looking in his direction from the main seat at the teachers' table.
"Truly perceptive!" Ivan chuckled, realizing that Zero must have inadvertently leaked some Magic during the fusion, drawing Dumbledore's attention.
"Goodbye, Headmaster Dumbledore!" Although Dumbledore couldn't see him, Ivan mouthed the words silently, then returned to his original time point under the pressure of the temporal correction forces.
The blond Warlock, noticing the headmaster's gaze, mistook it for being directed at him. He didn't show any nervousness, instead, he smiled coyly and timidly at Dumbledore before shoving a large piece of cake into his mouth and swallowing it in a few bites.
The Warlock's undeniable foodie aura amused Dumbledore, who smiled back and turned his head away. Just now... it must have been an illusion!
The author added a postscript, celebrating the grand finale and announcing plans to write epilogues and side stories to fill in the gaps left in the main narrative, with the afterword to follow their completion. Additionally, the author hinted at the possibility of creating a satisfying side story for Luna fans, which could explore either a double or single pairing in an alternate timeline.
(End of Chapter)
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