Ian sat in the classroom, reviewing his students' experiment reports. A chill from the end of winter rode the wind outside. An owl flapped in through the window and lightly landed on his desk.
"What a rare visitor." Ian smiled faintly and held out a piece of dried meat. The owl hooted softly, took the food, then extended its talon—there was a letter tied to it.
He opened the envelope and saw the familiar, crooked handwriting:
"Ian, come to my place quickly. Something urgent has come up. —Hagrid."
Ian sighed softly.
So it really is that.
According to the original timeline, this was probably when Hagrid had just received the dragon egg and was eager to show it off to someone.
He quickly gathered his things, draped his robe over his shoulders, and left the classroom.
On the way to the gamekeeper's hut, Ian first ran into Quirrell.
The professor still wore that stammering, flustered air. His steps were hurried, and his expression was uneasy.
As they passed one another, they pretended not to know each other. Neither of them stopped.
The second person he encountered was Slytherin's ghost—the Bloody Baron.
"Ian." The ghost spoke in a deep voice laced with a chill. "What you're doing is wrong."
Ian's steps paused slightly. He looked up at him. "Oh? Which part?"
"Your relationship with Helena." The Baron's voice was as low as iron. "The living and the dead should not be entangled. It is blasphemy, and it is forbidden."
Ian raised his brows slightly, a faint smile on his lips. "Should I take that as a warning—or as Envy?"
The Bloody Baron's face stiffened. He gave a cold snort. "I don't understand what you're talking about. I'm only warning you—end this absurd relationship immediately, or else..."
"Or else what?" Ian asked calmly.
"I can haunt you forever." The Baron's voice was sinister. "Wherever you go, I can appear.
"You can forget about having a moment's peace. In your dreams, while you're awake, even within your soul—you won't escape my shadow. We ghosts... don't need rest."
He thought a threat like that would be enough. After all, hardly any spell could truly harm a ghost.
Even the few dark magics that could work temporarily were exceedingly rare.
Yet Ian merely raised a hand, and a mass of dark-red flame ignited at his fingertip.
The flame made no sound, but the air around them abruptly froze.
"Do you know what this is?" Ian's voice was low and calm. "Demon Flame."
The Bloody Baron's expression changed, and he drifted several yards backward.
"This flame comes from another dimension." Ian's tone was like someone stating a fact. "The reason ghosts can exist in this world is that, at the moment of death, they leave behind a mark of their souls in reality.
"Demon Flame can erase that mark and make you truly 'die'—you won't enter the Underworld or be reincarnated. You'll simply vanish completely."
The Baron's expression twisted instantly. After staring at Ian for a long while, he finally turned and sped away.
The firelight slowly faded between Ian's fingers. He let out a soft sigh.
He had learned this forbidden art from the Key of Solomon. He had stolen that book, along with the Lesser Key of Solomon, from the Vatican. Its contents recorded rituals for summoning and controlling Demons.
Unfortunately, after countless experiments, he had only succeeded in summoning extremely weak Demons.
At first, he thought the problem lay with the magical system. Later, he discovered that the true reason was that the worlds of those Demons and the living world were separated by a "barrier."
Just like the Underworld ruled by Bleach, Demons also had their own dimension.
The problem was that no matter how he tried, he could not truly enter it.
The Demons he summoned were merely shadows. They could not bring stronger entities out with them.
That was when Ian developed a bold hypothesis—
"The world of Harry Potter may once have been far more powerful than it is now.
"But some upheaval in a certain era caused it to be deliberately weakened."
He had no evidence, other than the existence of Bleach and the Demons' dimension.
But when he compared the abilities of ordinary wizards with things like the Philosopher's Stone, Horcruxes, and resurrection rituals, the sense of a broken gap was impossible to ignore.
"The magic of this universe seems to have been sealed."
He murmured softly.
As his thoughts churned, the outline of the gamekeeper's hut appeared before him.
Inside, the firelight burned brightly.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron were gathered around a small dragon, while Hagrid introduced it with an excited look on his face.
"Her name is Norbert!"
"It's Norberta," Ian corrected mildly.
Hagrid froze. "Wha—what do you mean?"
"She's female." Ian smiled and reached out to stroke the little dragon's forehead.
The little dragon quieted beneath his hand and let out a soft purr, like a cat.
"Good heavens, Professor, how did you do that?" Hagrid exclaimed.
"The essence of magic lies in resonance." Ian answered casually. "One day, I'll open a class to teach this."
Hermione seized the opportunity to speak. "Professor, Hagrid can't keep a dragon. We wanted to ask if you could help him think of a solution."
Ian did not answer immediately.
He was staring at the little dragon, his gaze thoughtful.
"Professor?" Hermione called tentatively.
Ian slowly returned to himself and smiled. "I was just thinking—what would happen if someone created a True Dragon?"
"A real... Dragon?" Ron's eyes widened.
"The ones we're raising don't count as dragons?"
Ian shook his head. "Those are Wyverns, not dragons in the true sense.
"In Muggle mythology, a 'True Dragon' is a higher life-form with an independent magical system. They can speak and think, possess enormous bodies and wings spanning a thousand feet, and wield an ancient language—Dragon Chant. Those are the true Dragonkind."
Hagrid's eyes lit up. "That must be the most adorable creature in the world!"
Ron shuddered instead. "Good heavens, that sounds terrifying!"
Hermione pushed up her glasses and asked seriously, "But Professor, that's only a legend. How do you plan to 'create' one?"
Ian smiled without answering. His fingertip traced a pale golden rune through the air.
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