Grandmother's Warning

Thinking of Manus's interest in and dedication to magic, Aivina thought for a moment and continued her explanation:

"If only magical paints are used, then these portraits can only perform a few simple or pre-designed actions, like the ones on Chocolate Frog cards."

"To make these portraits speak like living people, the artist must not only paint with exceptional care rather than simply using magical imprints, but the wizard in the painting must also spend a long time with the portrait."

Hearing that the wizard portraits on Chocolate Frog cards could not speak, Manus breathed a sigh of relief, privately admitting that he had indeed overlooked the issue of cost.

But he soon became interested in Aivina's method of making portraits act like people.

After all, by his understanding, such magic should have been classified in the wizarding world as Dark magic forbidden from public use.

So he asked directly:

"A long time together?"

"That's right. During that time, the wizard needs to let the portrait learn their every word and action, teaching it their memories. Once enough time has passed—usually at least five years—the portrait will acquire some of the wizard's traits."

As she spoke, Aivina looked toward the portrait that now contained only a cushioned high stool.

"As for Madam Paget's portrait, to be so lively, so much like she were still alive, it must have spent at least twenty years learning Madam Paget's every word and action. It even possesses part of Madam Paget's own wisdom."

"So it relies on long-term training and learning."

Manus understood. Just as he thought... Well, expecting wizards to split their souls one by one and turn them into portraits really was unlikely.

As for the actual process of cultivating a portrait, wasn't that almost identical to the principles behind creating an intelligent core? Definitions, connections, and judgments were used to give the Mage Tower's core judgment abilities like those of a real person.

Although creating an intelligent core already had a complete and convenient magical process, the cost was truly staggering.

The wizarding method of cultivating portraits took longer, but it seemed to cost very little?

He could use it as a reference someday!

"Come on, they're already waiting for us ahead."

When the two arrived outside Grandmother's room, Grandfather and Father were already talking to her beside her bed.

Through the gap between them, Manus saw his grandmother. Unlike his grandfather, whom he had met before, this truly was the first time he had seen her.

The old woman wore pink plaid pajamas and a matching nightcap as she lay on one side of a dark red four-poster bed. Judging from the energy she showed while speaking with Griffin, she seemed fairly healthy.

As his gaze shifted slightly, Manus also noticed a basket on the floor beside her bed. It contained balls of yarn, knitting needles, and a piece of patterned cloth with loose threads, apparently things Grandmother used to pass the time.

At that moment, Manus's gaze suddenly met Grandmother's. The old woman smiled in pleasant surprise.

"So this is Manus? Come here and let Grandmother have a look at you!"

Hmm... Those words sounded so familiar. It felt as if he had just heard something similar.

Manus obediently stepped forward and let Grandmother hug him.

Grandmother's embrace was more bony than it looked. Beneath her loose, fluffy pajamas was actually a frail body. Manus confirmed that Grandmother's health truly did not seem very good.

Beneath the pleasantly mild floral fragrance on her pajamas, there was also a faint, strange scent of life approaching old age and even decay.

Manus was no stranger to that scent. Some younger students planning to specialize in necromancy often carried it, because they deliberately approached elderly people on the verge of death to gather negative energy.

It was not particularly dignified, but it was safe.

In short, that scent meant Grandmother's life had entered its final stage... Perhaps that was normal for an ordinary elderly person, but Grandmother was a witch. That was not normal.

Based on his parents' ages and a wizard's lifespan, Grandmother should not even have lived through two-thirds of her life. She might not even have reached its halfway point.

At that moment, Manus remembered how magic in this world was influenced everywhere by the mind, and then he recalled what Grandfather had said earlier.

Could the mind even affect the increase in lifespan that magic granted a wizard?

"What a good child."

Only after a long embrace did Grandmother release Manus. Her slightly clouded eyes fixed on him.

"That person is becoming more and more insane, and more and more unscrupulous. Your uncle and aunt may die any day now, either at the hands of their enemies or at that person's hands..."

Griffin opened his mouth, intending to stop his mother from telling his son such things, but after thinking it over, he closed it again.

Some things did not cease to exist just because no one spoke of them. Since his wife had already proven that their son's mind had developed more maturely than other children's, it was better for him to know sooner rather than be caught completely unprepared later.

And Manus truly was listening carefully. This was the first time anyone had given him such direct information about the outside situation. Unexpectedly, it came from his grandmother.

However, Grandmother was clearly not telling Manus this for the sake of having an equal conversation with him. Thus, she did not say much about the situation itself, offering more straightforward warnings instead.

For example, she told him to stay outside with his parents from now on, not to think about returning to the old house or visiting his uncle and aunt, and not to agree if anyone asked him to do so.

If his uncle and aunt died—even if Grandfather and Grandmother died—he was not to grieve or panic. He was to leave Britain immediately with his parents and wait until the situation became clear.

Manus could understand all of that easily. What he could not understand was Grandmother's description of another possibility.

If his uncle and aunt succeeded alongside that person, Grandmother told him to leave Britain with his parents all the same and not to think about seeking out his uncle and aunt.

Manus blinked in confusion.

"Why?"

From Grandfather and Grandmother's behavior, he had originally thought their family got along reasonably well.

He knew that "that person," whom Grandmother kept mentioning in her warnings, was another name for Voldemort.

After giving himself a codename, this man, whose niche seemed to correspond to the Mantis King, had even placed a curse on that codename so he could locate anyone who spoke it...

That utterly unnecessary move reminded Manus of a junior student who had once served as his assistant. The boy would buy a desk mat to place on his desk, which was fine enough—it protected the desk.

But the problem was that he would then buy a new desk mat to protect the original desk mat...