After morning broke, Ian Alvin Bones organized the textbooks and experimental equipment for the Alchemy class.
He had spent almost the entire summer immersed in research, leaving quite a bit of course preparation unfinished. The textbooks he had written only needed to be printed, so he first handed the samples to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall.
McGonagall handed him a list. "These are the students who have signed up to take Alchemy."
Ian took it and gave it a casual glance. His expression shifted despite himself—the number of applicants far exceeded his expectations.
Muggle-born students in particular made up nearly half the total. It seemed yesterday's lecture on "Magic and Technology" had truly stirred something in them.
"Looks like I'll need to print a few more copies of the textbooks. The materials will have to be doubled as well."
He muttered to himself.
McGonagall glanced sideways at him. "The school will provide the materials. Use them without worry, but don't even think about wasting them."
Ian nodded with a smile. She had always been shrewd and kept an extremely tight rein on the accounts.
If she were given complete control, Hogwarts' finances would probably have been in perfect order long ago.
After leaving the office, Ian walked slowly along the corridor. The long-missed atmosphere of the school left him slightly dazed.
Several years had passed, yet Hogwarts remained unchanged—the ancient stone walls, the warm candlelight, and the faint scent of beeswax lingering in the air.
After making a brief round of the grounds, he headed toward the gamekeeper's grounds and saw his long-missed friend, Rubeus Hagrid.
When the two had first met, it had merely been because Ian needed to borrow materials from the Forbidden Forest.
But Hagrid's honest, kind nature soon allowed Ian to lower his guard. Their relationship quickly grew close.
Ian had once developed a unique spell for him—Voice of Nature.
It allowed the caster to communicate directly with magical creatures, unhindered by language barriers.
To Hagrid, who took delight in taming beasts, it was more precious than a bag of Galleons.
Many years had passed, but their friendship remained unchanged.
The two chatted for most of the day, until night fell. Ian reunited with Snape, and the two Apparated into the familiar shadows of the Forbidden Forest before vanishing without a trace.
The two appeared inside a hidden underground research facility.
It was a structure from the Muggle world, disguised on the outside as an abandoned factory.
Inside, however, everything was spotless and new. Magical circuits were embedded in the walls, and rows of experimental chambers stood behind the glass windows.
Scientists from all over the world were hard at work. Some wore white coats, while others wore robes. Different races and languages intermingled,
but whenever anyone saw Ian appear, they instinctively stopped what they were doing and inclined their heads slightly to him.
This was the research team he had assembled with his own hands.
Every member possessed an exceptional mind—biologists, genetic engineers, and scholars of magic.
At first, they had been rather arrogant toward this young "investor," until they discovered that his understanding of anatomy and molecular structure far surpassed the conventional limits.
In Ian's eyes, science and magic had no inherent superiority over one another. They were simply two paths leading to the Truth.
Sometimes science could unveil the secrets of magic, while sometimes magic could verify the wonders of science.
The inspiration for many spells had come from those cold, unfeeling formulas.
Snape followed him into the main control area.
At the very center, three enormous glass cultivation chambers held three human bodies floating silently in green solution.
Two of them—a man and a woman—had faces so familiar that they made the heart tremble painfully.
They were Ian's parents, Edgar Bones and Joanna Bones.
The third was a clone of Lily Potter.
Ian gazed at them, his expression as still as stone.
These three bodies were not corpses. They had been created by recombining the original genes and constructed through Alchemy as vessels for souls.
An elderly white-haired scientist stepped forward and reported respectfully, "Mr. Bones, the experimental subjects still cannot survive for more than a year."
"At present, we suspect the problem occurs during the gene-collapse stage."
"Gene collapse?" Ian frowned.
"Yes. Every sample develops a cellular self-destruction response within twelve months."
Ian fell into thought, lightly tapping the glass with his fingertip.
The Lily clone inside the solution had her eyes peacefully closed, her face tranquil, as though she were asleep.
"Have you found the cause?" Snape approached, his voice low.
"Not yet," the old scientist replied.
Ian said nothing more.
His gaze shifted between the three bodies, and his expression gradually grew solemn.
These clones were not created solely for resurrection.
What he truly sought was the possibility of reloading a soul—
allowing the soul to leave the flesh, then inhabit a perfectly replicated form once again.
"If the genetic collapse is the result of matter rejecting the soul," Ian murmured, "then perhaps we should try another method."
Snape glanced sideways at him. "What do you mean?"
"The body may not need to be based on bloodlines. Perhaps the core should be frequency.
"The soul exists as a wave, while the magical frequency of a clone differs too greatly from that of the original.
"If the frequencies cannot be synchronized—even a perfect copy will be nothing more than an empty shell."
His gaze turned cold, and he lowered his voice. "We must find a way to synchronize them.
"Whether through Alchemy, runes, or Dark Magic."
The white-haired old man hesitated. "Sir, if the Ministry of Magic were to learn of an experiment like this—"
"The Ministry of Magic?" Ian sneered. "They don't even understand the difference between potions and genes."
The air suddenly turned cold.
His words left every researcher speechless.
Snape suddenly spoke. "Of these bodies, one of them... belongs to her, doesn't it?"
Ian did not answer.
The two stared at each other in silence.
Silence carried more weight than any words.
The lights wavered through the solution, illuminating the side of the cloned Lily's face—
that face was gentle and serene, yet devoid of even the slightest warmth of life.
"Do you truly intend to bring her back to life?" Snape asked in a low voice.
"It's restoration," Ian corrected softly. "She isn't the Lily who has been resurrected. She is a vessel for a soul.
"I merely want to verify where the boundaries of the soul lie."
"What if it fails?"
"Then we continue."
His calm tone sounded more resolute than any oath.
A faint ticking echoed through the air.
Heartbeat and machinery intertwined, like a frigid symphony composed jointly by science and magic.
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