Eye of Truth

Today was not the time Helga and Jon had arranged in advance, so Jon waited for a while before Helga's consciousness replaced the one in the portrait.

"Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

Helga sounded slightly out of breath. Projecting her consciousness out of the Portrait world was not easy for her. After all, she only had a fragmentary soul left; constantly coming and going was tiring.

"It's not a major matter. Professor Dumbledore isn't here today, so I'm taking this opportunity to bring your portrait away."

Helga glanced at the storage bag Jon was holding. The bag had also been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, so fitting the portrait inside would not be a problem.

"But how are you going to take this bag out?"

The portrait in Ravenclaw's Study was enormous. Even with an Undetectable Extension Charm, an ordinary storage bag was not something that could be folded—the portrait would leave corners sticking out inside it.

"You needn't worry about that. I also prepared a box. With two Extension Charms, I can take the portrait out. But for some time afterward, I'm afraid you won't be able to appear in this portrait."

"That doesn't matter. But have you prepared the things I told you about before?"

Jon nodded. To let Helga's portrait safely "move house," he had been preparing for a long time.

"I had my parents buy some materials for me, ordered some myself, and left another portion with my maternal grandmother. So the materials are more or less all ready. Once we get home, I can begin setting up the Magic array. I've practiced it a few times already, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

"That's good. Without the Magic array that maintains the connection between the portrait and Hogwarts, taking this portrait away would be useless. But I have no idea how long this Magic array will last."

Jon naturally knew that. After all, he had not prepared much material to begin with. However, he had already found another solution. "You don't need to worry about that. I've solved the problem."

Moving Helga's portrait was a major undertaking. After all, Jon also intended to learn some defensive spells during the holidays instead of merely practicing support spells. Helga had agreed to this long ago.

After all, how could someone become a magical scholar by merely knowing how to analyze magical energy?

Spells were also part of magical research. As for improving one's own strength, that was merely a byproduct of research.

Heaven and earth bore witness: he truly had no desire to become a violent wizard. He merely wanted to learn a few self-defense methods against violence.

Who knew when a dark wizard might suddenly appear at his side?

Helga's consciousness gradually withdrew from the portrait, and the beautiful witch with the smiling face returned. The next second, Jon put the portrait into the bag.

After placing the storage bag on Ravenclaw's desk, Jon took out the monocle and held it before his left eye, beginning to observe the wall.

He had repeatedly studied the design drafts Rowena Ravenclaw had left behind. With Helga's translations and his own halting grasp of ancient magical runes, he had more or less confirmed that this monocle was a finished product made by Ravenclaw herself, intended to help her distinguish the flow of magic.

Glasses had not been widely used in that era. Only nobles could use them, and the lens Rowena had made herself was a plain lens.

It was neither a nearsighted lens nor a magnifying glass, merely a simple round, transparent lens.

However, when Jon obtained it, this magical item could no longer activate itself after being left unused for so long.

This gave Jon a terrible headache. It was like finally inheriting a vast fortune, only to be told that he needed to enter a password before receiving it. Irritating beyond belief.

Helga had spent several days studying it without figuring out how to activate it. She could only tell Jon some of Rowena Ravenclaw's habits and have him search for the unlocking method himself.

Of course, she had also told Jon to communicate more with the glasses.

What was there to communicate with a pair of glasses?

Jon's reasoning was simple. Since they were glasses, they ought to be worn.

So whenever no one was around, he would take out the glasses and use them to look at things for a while. He had been caught a few times, and people assumed that Jon had developed nearsightedness at such a young age. In the end, even Fren urged Jon to read less and protect his eyesight.

This actually showed a little progress. At least Jon could now sense the faint Magical fluctuation on the glasses, and that fluctuation was especially apparent in Ravenclaw's Study.

Capturing that fluctuation was difficult. Every time, Jon had to first find something to focus on before he could barely align his own magical fluctuations with those of the lens.

Since it involved his eyes, Jon did not dare use too much magic either. It would be awful if he accidentally turned into Mad-Eye.

After each transmission of magic, the magical fluctuations on the lens became a little stronger. However, it still had not displayed any other special functions—unless seeing things more clearly counted as one.

This was the sort of effort that required slow, meticulous work, with no guarantee of results. Still, Jon felt it was worth it.

A magical item personally made by Ravenclaw had remained useful even after a thousand years. Even Helga herself had said the glasses were a brilliant design. Jon only needed to invest a little time and effort for a chance to gain the right to use and own them. It was an unbelievably profitable deal.

After spending so much time on this lens, Jon estimated that today was about the time to fully activate the magical item.

After all, he had already looked over everything visible in the study. He had even examined all ninety-three floor tiles. He had no desire to inspect the tiny cracks in the study's stone floor a second time.

Perhaps his prayers had truly worked, or perhaps his efforts had finally accumulated into something. Just as Jon's eyes began to ache, the lens before him finally reacted.

Blue and purple lines abruptly appeared in Jon's field of vision, tangling with one another. Then two lines of tiny ancient text emerged before his eyes.

Half of the sentence was in Latin, mixed with a runic word. Jon, whose knowledge of magical runes and medieval grammar was insufficient, pieced it together for quite some time before understanding its meaning.

It was a dedication.

"Exploration of magic has no end. This is the eye that leads to truth. —Rowena Ravenclaw"