Ian Alvin possessed two "gifts."
The first was Perfect Memory, awakened after his transmigration—so long as he focused, he could clearly remember anything, any symbol, even the thickness of the ink on a page.
The second was his inborn magical talent.
By the age of six, he could already manipulate magic with ease. Levitation Spell, Ignition Spell, Apparition—these came as naturally to him as breathing. Spells that took others weeks to practice, he could often replicate after seeing them once.
This command over magic surprised him, but it also frightened him.
Because that year, he realized he had not been born into peace.
The era he had arrived in was the cruelest stage of the First Wizarding War. Voldemort's forces swept across Britain, leaving corpses everywhere, while the Dark Mark hung over the night sky year-round.
And the family he had been born into stood right at the heart of the war.
His father was a member of the Order of the Phoenix—Edgar Alvin, an upright and stubborn Hufflepuff.
His mother was gentle yet strong, a records clerk at the Ministry of Magic. From his parents' conversations, Ian learned that justice did not always prevail in this world.
He remembered that he had only been a child then, yet he often heard explosions outside the window at night.
One day, amid his parents' argument, he first came to understand the word "fate."
"We can leave Britain. Go east, go to Africa—anywhere is fine, as long as we get out of here!"
"Ian, this isn't running away. It's staying alive!"
But his father refused. "I can't abandon my comrades in the Order of the Phoenix. If everyone runs, then who will stand against Voldemort?"
Ian fell silent.
He knew he could not persuade his father, but he could not accept "certain death."
So he began making preparations—
First, he persuaded his parents to use the Fidelius Charm to hide their home.
Unlike the tragic Potters, he did not entrust the secret to a human. Instead, he gave it to their House-elf—Momo.
Because House-elves would not betray them.
Their loyalty was almost religious, and they could ignore most Anti-Apparition Barriers.
This was the strongest line of defense.
Second, he put the knowledge from his past life into their defenses.
During that time, the lights in the basement were almost never extinguished. His parents thought he was drawing magical symbols, but he was actually modifying Muggle weapons.
Gatling guns, concussion mines, simplified flamethrowers...
These metal monsters, enhanced by magic, were enough to show any invading Death Eaters what "the terror of science" meant.
His mother was alarmed at first, but when the first protective ward array merged with mechanical weaponry, she fell silent.
She finally understood that although this child was young, he had long ceased to belong to this era.
With these preparations, they survived the entire war.
Until Voldemort fell.
But fate always loved to mock people.
The end of the war did not mean peace had arrived—in that era of chaos and revenge, new grudges still flowed beneath the surface.
And Ian could not avoid loss either.
That year, he was eleven and had just received his Hogwarts acceptance letter.
He did not take the train to school—he had Momo Apparate him there directly.
He did not want attention. He did not want anyone to know about his gifts.
But during the summer after the end of his second year, he received terrible news:
His parents had been attacked by Dark wizards during an operation. Both had been killed.
And that was the very year Voldemort fell.
Fate had drawn an absurd circle before him.
He kept vigil for his parents quietly for three days, then sorted through their belongings alone.
His tears had long since dried, and his heart was like a stone worn smooth by time.
Afterward, he was adopted by his Aunt Amelia—a strong witch and a magical law enforcement officer.
Under her protection, he returned to Hogwarts, but he no longer hid his brilliance.
He began visiting professors frequently, asking for their understanding of magic.
Whether it was the subtle variations in runic studies or the balance of energy in Potions, he could draw inferences from one example to another.
Before long, he became a genius known throughout the school.
Countless awards followed one after another.
The Ministry of Magic used his fame to cover up the postwar fear, calling him "the next Dumbledore."
Posters, reports, broadcasts—everywhere was filled with tales of him.
And Ian used that fame to make contact with the finest magical scholars in the world.
He corresponded with them, debated them, and exchanged experimental data.
Within only a few years, his name had spread across the globe.
After graduation, he applied to become a professor at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore politely turned him down on the grounds that he was too young.
So he chose to travel.
But this "journey" was not sightseeing. It was another kind of war—
A plundering campaign launched in the name of "knowledge."
Using Polyjuice Potion and Transfiguration, he infiltrated magical academies across various countries, disguising himself as a teacher or scholar and copying their libraries and research notes.
Not only schools—he even infiltrated the magical estates of those ancient families.
Every ancient tome and every fragment of a rune-inscribed page went into his possession.
The Muggle world did not escape either.
He knew that many lost magical texts had been seized by Muggle religious institutions, so he infiltrated the Vatican's secret archives.
Within that dim stone hall of light and shadow, he found genuine ancient magic and saw even more forged texts.
But even false books could inspire him.
From them, he derived new magical theories and even created the Mind Circuit model, laying the foundation for later research.
Of course, theft never went smoothly.
Some ancient families had established bloodline seals that no outsider could open;
Some powerful people possessed wills too strong to be controlled by the Imperius Curse.
To deal with this, Ian came up with another method—
A plant from the Muggle world: Devil's Breath.
It was a poisonous flower from South America that could make people lose their will instantly.
He modified it with potions, multiplying its potency. Thus, even the most stubborn wizards became puppets before him.
During five years in the shadows, he gathered wisdom spanning centuries.
When he appeared again, he had become someone even Dumbledore could not afford to ignore.
He knew full well that he was still inferior in combat experience and magical reserves,
But in knowledge and understanding—he had already reached the pinnacle of the Wizarding World.
Before you continue