They had separated.
But in the end, he was turned into a gargoyle?
Dylan blinked.
He looked at Ravenclaw.
His expression was a little hard to maintain.
"Did I... turn you into this in the end?"
Ravenclaw looked up at Everett.
Everett fell silent.
At this moment, the red-eyed stone statue spoke, "I thought you only imprisoned evil people here. I never expected you to be so ruthless to your own husband!"
Dylan shot a glare.
The red-eyed stone statue's soul trembled.
He looked at Dylan, then at Ravenclaw, as if he suddenly understood something.
So that's it!
That's how it is!!
No wonder this little wizard had such profound mastery of such wicked Dark Arts.
It turns out Ravenclaw taught him!!
He just knew it!
Where could a mere child learn Dark Arts of this level?
"You..."
At this moment, Ravenclaw frowned slightly, looking at the red-eyed gargoyle.
The red-eyed stone statue thought the other party recognized his voice and scoffed, "Are you regretting turning me into this now? Back then—"
However, Ravenclaw merely blinked her eyelashes: "Who are you?"
"I'm going to..."
The red-eyed stone statue almost couldn't catch his breath.
—But even if he didn't, he wouldn't be in any trouble.
"Hmph!"
The red-eyed stone statue glared fiercely at Ravenclaw: "You actually forgot about me?"
Ravenclaw looked at him confused: "Should I remember you?"
Red-eyed stone statue: ...
"I'm Mara Beckett!!"
Ravenclaw still looked puzzled.
"Who's that?"
Dylan listened to the name, feeling a little strange: "Why does that sound like a girl's name?"
The red-eyed stone statue's ruby eyes flickered: "I was a woman before I died!"
"Huh?"
Dylan: (・_・;)
This red-eyed stone statue was actually a woman before?
He couldn't tell at all!
Dylan scrutinized Mara from head to toe.
"Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover... or a stone by its appearance."
Mara: "...What do you mean 'can't judge'? When did you ever think I was a man?"
Dylan blinked: "From every aspect."
The red-eyed stone statue still wanted to yell.
However, Dylan narrowed his eyes: "From your expression, it seems you have some objections to me?"
The red-eyed stone statue's tone immediately faltered, then his expression changed instantly, revealing a fawning smile: "How could I? I know it must be my vulgarity that made you think I was a man. Actually, I don't have a..."
Dylan glanced at the gargoyle.
"Indeed, not only do you not, neither does he."
Dylan's peripheral vision drifted to Everett.
Everett remained silent, clearly not wanting to answer Ravenclaw's question.
Dylan slowly spoke: "What happens between you two isn't something you absolutely have to tell me."
He looked at Ravenclaw.
"Headmistress Rowena, why don't you stay here? I'll be leaving now."
Ravenclaw's expression shifted.
She couldn't quite tell if she wanted Dylan to leave, or if it didn't matter if he stayed.
She had never expected to meet her former husband here.
And a husband with whom she had long lost contact.
This husband wasn't even human anymore; he had become a stone statue.
Many questions filled her mind.
She wondered what her true self had done.
Could it be that before her death, she had met Everett again?
And then something else happened?
The red-eyed stone statue Mara's eyes darted between the two.
Seeing Dylan about to leave, he... she suddenly revealed a look of delight.
Dylan shot her a sidelong glance.
He subtly raised his wand.
The threat was clear.
"You two have a good chat. Say everything that needs to be said, clearly."
Mara was very shrewd. As soon as she heard Dylan's words, she knew what he meant.
Was he telling her to speak what should be spoken, and keep quiet about what shouldn't?
What shouldn't be spoken?
Could it be about how Dylan had blasted her with Dark Arts yesterday?
Surely not?
Didn't this fellow learn his Dark Arts from Ravenclaw?
Dylan actually didn't care if Ravenclaw knew he had mastered a variety of Dark Arts.
One reason was that, in the end, she was just a portrait.
And the ownership of the portrait belonged to him.
As the owner of the portrait.
In a way, he could even be called Ravenclaw's master.
The second reason was.
Dylan didn't believe that many wizards from Ravenclaw's era wouldn't know Dark Arts.
Not everyone would simply study Dark Arts like Dumbledore, but adamantly refuse to use them.
So, even if Ravenclaw knew he practiced Dark Arts, what of it?
It was just that his Dark Arts were a little stronger, a little more exaggerated, a little more powerful, that's all.
Dylan winked at Coal.
Meanwhile.
Norberta also woke up.
But she only saw her master's disappearing coattails.
"Roar (Master)!"
...
After leaving the space.
Dylan read for a while.
Today was Christmas Day.
He didn't plan to do too much and could relax properly.
By the time his parents woke up.
It was just noon.
He had also prepared lunch.
The family of three sat together, enjoying a delicious lunch.
In the afternoon, Dylan accompanied the couple for a stroll.
It had to be said.
Muggle shopping malls were quite different from wizarding shops.
Tall buildings had already been erected.
Various businesses had moved in.
They were definitely incomparable to the shops in Hogsmeade Village.
The variety was quite complete.
They sold everything.
Dylan also bought many small items.
Some could be given as gifts.
Some could be used as materials.
Some could be used for research.
—Similar to the research Mr. Weasley dabbled in.
Applying magic to Muggle objects.
Isn't this the combination of technology and magic?
Mr. Weasley was quite visionary.
Dylan wasn't trying to create some grand magical-technological product.
It was just that this was indeed a direction for magical research.
After all, attempting to apply magic to Muggle creations was itself a form of magical application.
The entire day passed quickly.
The family of three bought many things.
So many bags, they couldn't even carry them all.
Finally, the mall manager came out.
He declared that Mr. Hubert was a VIP of their mall, having spent hundreds of thousands of pounds, and specially helped them carry their purchases to their car in the parking lot.
Back home.
Dylan looked at the items that practically filled the entire living room, his mouth twitching slightly.
These items should have been bought in three waves.
The first wave, of course, was the gift boxes and such that the Hawkwood couple had initially prepared.
The second wave was the pile of stuff they bought again last night.
What they bought today was the third wave.
Dylan shook his head.
He then used magic to cook another meal.
The Hawkwood couple praised it endlessly.
"As expected of my son, even his cooking is delicious!" Hubert exclaimed.
"This was made with magic, Dad," Dylan explained.
"But you still used magic to make it, didn't you? Can other wizards make it as delicious as you?" Hubert retorted.
"...Well, no, since it's magic, some people learn it better, some learn it ordinarily."
"There you go! You learn magic so quickly and so well, truly my son!" Hubert said proudly.
Dylan opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Aside from Luna, his parents were among the few people who could leave him speechless.
Speaking of Luna...
Dylan's thoughts drifted.
He wondered how she was doing.
Luna's family was quite good, not as complicated as Harry's.
Although her mother had passed away, before that, her mother had always raised her with tolerance and freedom.
Even now.
Luna's father, Xenophilius Lovegood, always spoke to her like a friend, from time to time.
Of course, when the father and daughter were together, they usually discussed fantastical topics that lacked any real basis.
"I hope she likes my gift when she receives it."
Dylan smiled.
The next day.
Late at night.
Dylan went to his various safe houses.
He checked them all.
And also set up the previously acquired magical array—"Eerie Ghostly Aura"—in all the safe houses outside the wizarding world.
This array was mainly for Dylan to use against Muggles.
After all, ghosts still existed in the wizarding world, which were essentially spirits.
Therefore, this array would probably not scare any wizards.
Instead, it might even be noticed as something different, leading to more trouble.
So Dylan did not set up the array in those safe houses.
"Eerie Ghostly Aura" needed to be set up at midnight when the Yin energy was strongest.
So Dylan stayed with his parents during the day.
He only came out at night.
"It's only been a few days, and I feel like they want to go out and play again."
Thinking of how clingy his parents were while watching TV today, Dylan sighed.
"Tomorrow, I might as well go to Borgin's to collect some rent and see if Delphini has gotten me anything good."
Once decided.
Dylan sprinkled the last handful of powdered bat fangs and chanted an obscure incantation.
The lines of the magic array suddenly glowed with an eerie blue light.
In an instant, a biting chill, like ten thousand ice needles, crept up from his ankles.
The window frames rattled without wind, emitting a grating creak like fingernails scratching glass.
The ground suddenly cracked into a spiderweb of fine lines, and wisps of grayish-green mist seeped out, twisting and intertwining in the air like countless transparent threads.
Each wisp of mist carried the scent of aged, decaying earth, gradually coalescing into a dense ghostly aura, flowing slowly like solidified ink.
Wherever it passed, fine beads of water would appear on the wooden table, condensing into eerie blood-like drops, gradually engulfing the entire room layer by layer.
At the same time, the wall surfaces rippled strangely, like the swollen skin of living creatures immersed in sewage, constantly wriggling and undulating.
The air was filled with the stench of decaying flesh and rust, mixed with a faint, elusive scent of sandalwood.
It made Dylan's stomach churn, and for a moment, he thought he was in a place between a thousand-year-old tomb and a morgue.
As the magic array operated at full power, black mist surged from the array's core, rolling like a tangible substance and condensing into countless illusory arms in the air, sometimes reaching out as if to grasp something, then retracting back into the black mist.
From the vortex of condensed ghostly energy, faint whimpers, sobs, and piercing screams could be heard, as if countless trapped souls struggled and wailed within.
These sounds were sometimes sharp and piercing, sometimes low and oppressive, interweaving into a sinister requiem.
All light in the space was swallowed by the ghostly aura, becoming dim and eerie. Even the light from Dylan's wand seemed pale and weak, barely illuminating half a meter in front of him.
This seemed to be the characteristic of the magic array suppressing wizards.
Further away, there was an unfathomable darkness, and on the walls, pairs of eyes seemed to be staring at him from the shadows.
Finally, the magic array took shape.
He had basically set up the arrays in all the safe houses.
Dylan prepared to test the effect of activating the magic array.
At this moment, after the magic array had formed, a chill permeated the room.
Dylan saw clearly.
This was the ghostly aura emanating from the magic array.
This ghostly aura covered the entire room.
Faintly, the entire house's presence even seemed to diminish.
This safe house was not large.
Dylan casually picked up the bronze candlestick from the wooden table.
The tip of his wand lightly traced through the air.
Instantly.
The magic of the Transfiguration Charm diffused.
Metal twisted.
After the surface of the candlestick rippled like water.
Dylan tossed it casually.
The candlestick instantly reshaped into a puppet dressed in coarse linen.
Although its eyes were still a bit vacant.
But it was only for experimentation, so it didn't need to be too realistic.
Dylan began to activate the magic array.
Immediately, from the core of the array.
Streams of black mist spewed forth.
The surrounding ghostly aura gradually condensed.
At this very moment.
The walls even began to seep black, tar-like liquid, outlining twisted human faces.
In their sunken eye sockets, eerie green light flickered, and their mouths stretched into a smile that was not a smile. Every time Dylan's gaze swept over them, these ghostly faces would strangely blink.
"Ah!"
A piercing shriek echoed.
The malevolent ghost, having taken shape, lunged with bared f fangs and claws at the puppet Dylan had transfigured.
Its sharp claws directly slashed across the puppet's neck.
Instantly piercing through it.
As the malevolent ghost was about to continue its actions.
Dylan lightly tapped it with his wand.
The fierce ghost instantly became like a docile lamb.
It stopped moving.
It stood obediently by Dylan's side, no longer acting, even retracting its sharp claws and fangs.
"Hmm, I feel like the power is even stronger than the magic array I previously set up in the manor."
Dylan nodded in satisfaction.
If someone truly found his safe house and tried to break in, they wouldn't be met by him, but by a huge surprise.
"Almost time to go home."
Dylan dispelled the ghostly aura and then let the magic array run on its own.
He then returned home.
He had other things to do tomorrow.
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