Magic Array

"Merry Christmas, Aunt May."

When Jon entered the house, the first person he saw was his aunt, May Yang, sitting on the sofa reading today's The Daily Prophet.

"Merry Christmas, Jon." May Yang closed the newspaper, looked up at Jon, and smiled. "Did you like the gift Aunt May gave you?"

"Of course, of course."

Jon nodded. Aunt May had given him a somewhat antique Alchemy tool necklace. Its design was quite beautiful, but Jon had yet to figure out exactly what it could be used for.

"That necklace is very beautiful."

May Yang nodded in satisfaction. "It was a prize I won in a competition in France years ago. They say it was made by the Alchemy Master Nicol Flamel, though it does not serve much purpose for me anymore."

The witch gave him another playful wink. "You can explore its function yourself."

Jon nodded again. He had not thought much of the necklace before, but after hearing Aunt May say that, he decided to study it when he got back.

A work by Nicol Flamel—the legendary alchemist wizard who had lived for more than six hundred years. His attainments in alchemy were absolutely godlike, and Jon was very interested.

"Aunt May, where is Grandmother? I haven't wished her a merry Christmas yet."

May Yang raised a hand and pointed upstairs. "She's reading in the study. Just go on up."

Jon bent slightly, then headed upstairs.

The reason he had come to see his maternal grandmother at this time was because there was no way to hide this matter.

Before the holiday, he had asked his maternal grandmother to help buy some materials needed for the Magic array, so there had never been any way to conceal it.

Even if his maternal grandmother did not ask, he still had to explain some things. After all, she was family, so he did not need to worry about secrets leaking out. She could also help cover for him afterward.

"Grandmother, may I come in?"

Jon knocked on the study door, and it opened from within.

"Little Jon, what is it?"

Carolina Yang sat behind the desk reading with glasses on. The Old Lady was in her sixties, at the age when she had the least to do. Madam Carolina was brimming with energy at the moment, looking even more spirited than Jon.

Jon first wished her a merry Christmas, then sat on the other side of the desk and explained why he had come.

Naturally, he only said that he wanted to practice a Magic array, so his maternal grandmother would need to bear with any major Magical fluctuations over the coming days. Madam Carolina's gaze seemed rather amused, making Jon instinctively think his lie had been exposed, and he grew a little nervous.

But no matter what, he made it through safely in the end.

Whether his maternal grandmother was indulging her own family or had some other reason, Jon did not care. As long as he had no worries on this side, he could go all out.

At Jon's request, Love moved to Yasha Manor with Lin. Since they did not know whether the Magic array might cause unusual Magical fluctuations, and Lin was still pregnant, it would not be good if she were affected.

After settling these trivial matters, Jon finally began dealing with the portrait in earnest.

In fact, this so-called Magic array was different from the Magic arrays of the Wizarding World, because this "Magic array" was not really an array.

Magic arrays in the Wizarding World leaned more toward alchemy. As the magic in the world gradually diminished, the practice of using objects that already possessed magic to create new magical items gradually spread. But in Helga's era, alchemy had only been a relatively obscure branch of magic.

At first, Jon had thought alchemy was early chemistry, but later discovered that chemistry and alchemy were still vastly different. After hearing Helga's newer explanation, he felt that alchemy had actually had it rather hard.

Neither Muggles nor the Wizarding World had welcomed it.

If the magical world had not begun to decline, alchemy would not have become a legendary discipline.

Though the discipline itself was also worth studying.

Back to Helga's "Magic array."

Like Magical portraits, this "Magic array" was also an ancient Linking magic that had basically been lost. Its purpose was to connect two spaces.

Any magic involving concepts such as space and time was beyond someone of Jon's level to set up. But Helga had once been able to use the special magic in portraits to construct the Portrait world, so she naturally had her own unique methods.

The Magic array as Jon understood it was one of Helga's unique magics.

At its core, it followed the way wizards cast magic, transferring the completion of this large-scale spell from Inside the body to outside the body. As long as the materials were complete and there was enough magic to sustain it, the spell could be completed to its fullest extent.

But principles were always easier said than done. Jon had even tried to create such a "Magic array" himself through imitation, but obviously, he had failed.

Casting magic Inside the body was an instinct for wizards, but moving that magical process outside was much more difficult.

If your skill was insufficient, you could not force it.

Cobbling things together would not yield good results, especially with matters of the mysterious side. One careless mistake could trigger a massive chain reaction, so it had to be handled with caution.

For now, he should just obediently be a tool user.

Standing on a stool, Jon used a special adhesive material to apply gold powder to the wall.

This gold powder was a type of Magical paint, and it was basically monopolized by families that inherited the craft of Magical portraits. It could only be bought in a few shops.

Jon had only managed to buy it from a shop in Knockturn Alley with the help of his maternal grandmother.

Using Magical paint to draw the outline of the Magic array on the wall, Jon followed Helga's instructions and attached all the materials along the array's outline. Then magic was infused into the Magical paint—this step was completed by the House-elf Kaledi.

After all, Jon's control over his magic was not precise enough, and he could not guarantee that he would not damage those materials.

"Is that all?"

After carefully examining the Magic array and checking whether he had missed anything, Jon asked Kaledi this.

"Yes, Master. According to your description, there are no steps missing now."

Kaledi spoke to Jon with great respect.

But Jon knew that today's respect was not because he was Kaledi's master, but because he was a descendant of Hufflepuff. Ever since he had handed the portrait to Kaledi that morning, the House-elf had been exceptionally excited.

He had underestimated Helga's influence among House-elves.

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