My own Invisibility Cloak, however, can perfectly trick that kind of detection.
It doesn't even leave a hint of a trace on the Marauder's Map, a truly perfect concealment.
After a series of tests just now, I also discovered that this Invisibility Cloak's magic seems to make the wearer themselves invisible, rather than the cloak having the invisibility property.
This means the wearer can still clearly see their own body, so there's no need to worry about stumbling around and bumping into things like you would with Harry's cloak.
Also, even if a hand or foot accidentally slips out from under the cloak, the invisibility effect isn't affected.
This undoubtedly allows the wearer to do more things with greater ease without constantly having to be overly careful and worried about accidentally exposing themselves.
You know, all those legends about the Deathly Hallows are really just fairy tales that people embellished based on a few magical artifacts made by the three brothers.
The actual effects of the Deathly Hallows are far from as mythical as the stories claim.
In fact, you could say they're a bit overrated.
To truly outsmart Death, you'd need something like the cloak I'm wearing...
The self-deprecating smile on my face suddenly froze.
Wait... no... surely not?
The text from that achievement, especially the rhetorical question at the end, flashed through my mind again.
Looking at it now, it seems to hold a completely different, deeper meaning.
I lowered my head, my eyes falling on the pure black cloak draped over me, and gently pinched the fabric.
Did I... did I actually just get one of the legendary Deathly Hallows?
Is this the very cloak that was made from Death's own robe?
Just thinking about that ethereal, yet infinitely majestic being made me stop breathing.
"No, no, no, there shouldn't be gods in this world. And even if there are, they wouldn't notice me."
I steadied myself and raised my wand.
I pointed it at the cloak and quietly cast a Divination spell.
Silvery mist gathered at the tip of my wand before spreading out, forming a series of blurry images.
In the images, the cloak's past was a complete blank before I got my hands on it.
There were no records of it being used by anyone before, nor any images of where it had been kept.
Seeing this, my shoulders finally relaxed, and the knot in my stomach loosened.
I let out a soft sigh of relief.
"Hmph, I knew it. Gods are just myths and legends. Even if one dared to show up in front of me, all they'd get is a face full of an Avada Kedavra from me!"
Despite thinking that, I was still a little bit worried.
So, I waved my wand again.
This time, I focused the divination on the scene where the Deathly Hallows were created.
The mist swirled once more.
This time, the images were much clearer.
It was a simple stone room with an ancient stone alchemy table in the center. Scattered across the table were various strange metal shards and faintly glowing crystal powders.
The three brothers were gathered around the table, each one focused on their work, their wands constantly moving, muttering incantations with serious, solemn expressions.
Soon, three items took shape in their hands—the very three Deathly Hallows from the legend.
Not only that, but on the floor next to the brothers, there was a pile of other finished and unfinished products in all sorts of shapes.
Some looked like twisted metal rings, others like bejeweled wands.
I couldn't tell what any of them were for.
My eyes scanned over the items and stopped on two peculiar cabinets sitting side-by-side.
The cabinets had strange shapes and complex carvings on their surfaces. Were they Vanishing Cabinets?
And not far from them, there was a round mirror with a silvery floral pattern around the edge.
It bore a strong resemblance to a two-way mirror...
No matter what these things were, at least the truth about the Deathly Hallows was now clear.
I let out a long sigh of relief.
See? I knew it!
Even though the magic in this world is weird and full of fun unknowns, it's still within the realm of what can be understood.
Magic is both power and knowledge.
How could it really involve a being as incomprehensible as Death?
My earlier thoughts were just me scaring myself!
It's all the fault of this system and its morbid sense of humor!
It keeps saying I'm a Dark Lord darker than Voldemort, a million times more evil.
Where does it get that from?
Muttering to myself and grumbling about the system, I carefully folded the Invisibility Cloak and put it into my pouch.
Still, for all my grumbling, the quality of things from the system is always impeccable.
Even though I don't really need this Invisibility Cloak right now, you never know when it might come in handy.
And even if it never does, it would make an excellent collectible.
In my past life, I was obsessed with collecting all sorts of items in games. With the long life I have now, I'm thinking I could even set up a special collection room. It would be a joy to look at all these interesting things in my free time.
If it weren't so difficult to get my hands on Gryffindor's Sword, which would leave a glaring hole in the set of the four founders' relics, I might not have given Ravenclaw's Diadem back to Helena so quickly.
After all, for a collector, a complete set is always more valuable.
Then again, both Ravenclaw and Helena are pretty much going to be my "collectibles" in a way, so a diadem is no big deal.
Still, looking at this achievement and the reward that came with it, I'm starting to think the system might just recreate the legendary Deathly Hallows and give them to me as rewards.
This thought really piques my interest.
I wonder how powerful an Elder Wand recreated by the system would be, to live up to the legend of making its owner "unbeatable in a duel."
Would it multiply the user's magic exponentially? Would it automatically block the opponent's spells?
Or would it have some other, even more incredible ability?
And then there's the Resurrection Stone...
Even in the legend, it's considered the most useless of the Hallows.
It can't truly bring people back to life, only summon their ghostly shades, which just brings more sadness.
But I'm curious what the system would do with it.
Would it make the shades more realistic, or give them some simple ability to interact?
Or would it make some other unexpected change?
For example, could it actually bring someone back from the dead?
These are all just guesses, of course.
Maybe the system will replace the Elder Wand with a powerful spell that lets the user instantly master all sorts of advanced incantations.
Or maybe it will swap the Resurrection Stone for some other magic related to souls, like a spell that can soothe restless ghosts or purify soul fragments. Anything is possible.
All in all, these rewards are freebies, so I'm not going to complain.
Whatever it is, I'll happily accept it.
The very next day, the entire Hogwarts school was cast under a gloomy and stressful atmosphere as exams officially began.
The usual sounds of students laughing and messing around were gone, replaced by people hurrying along the corridors and whispering to one another.
Everyone's face was etched with fatigue, and dark circles were the most common accessory.
In the common rooms, tables usually used for chess and chatting were completely covered with books and parchment.
Even the sofas in the corners were packed with students buried in their studies.
Some had even fallen asleep right on their books, their quills still clutched tightly in their hands.
In the classrooms, the professors' teaching pace unconsciously slowed down.
They'd offer a look of understanding as their gaze fell on the weary faces of their students.
The library, especially, was completely full.
Even the most remote corners that were usually ignored were now occupied.
The air was thick with the scent of old paper and ink.
The only sounds were the scratching of quills on parchment and the occasional rustle of a turning page.
This heavy atmosphere had seeped into every corner of the school, making even the sunlight outside the windows seem to lose its warmth and feel a little chilly.
But what made me happy was that as I passed the Gryffindor hourglass, I noticed that the number of jewels hadn't suddenly increased as I'd expected.
It was clear that Dumbledore had held back the five hundred points Professor Flitwick had awarded me.
This made me feel a bit relieved.
Adding so many points during such a tense time as exam week would only stir up resentment among the other houses.
And even if it was just resentment, it would definitely affect the Gryffindor students' focus on their exams.
For those loudmouths in Gryffindor, that would almost be a certainty.
Dumbledore's decision was undoubtedly a wise one.
No matter whether Dumbledore held off on the five hundred points so everyone could focus on their exams, or if he was planning a thrilling, last-minute twist at the end of the term, or if my reward was even bigger than that so he wanted to give it all out at once, at least I now have a whole bunch of time to relax and not worry about a thing.
The first Transfiguration exam was over.
When the bell rang, the classroom filled with a collective sigh of relief.
I set down my wand.
I watched the lifelike little blue bird I'd transfigured from my quill flutter to the window, landing softly on the sill.
It cocked its head and pecked at its wing.
A smile on my face, I calmly gathered my things and walked out of the classroom.
The next moment, the little bird instantly changed back into a blue feather and floated gently down from the window.
In the corridor, most of the students who had just finished their exams looked exhausted.
Some were still discussing the test questions as they walked, their brows furrowing every now and then.
Others were rubbing their temples, their steps wobbly as they headed toward the common room.
A few had simply collapsed onto the benches in the corridor, looking like they'd lost the will to live.
In stark contrast, my mood was completely different.
My steps were light, a relaxed smile on my face, my eyes bright, with no sign of post-exam exhaustion.
The sunlight streaming through the corridor windows seemed to wrap me in a soft, warm glow.
This feeling of ease stood out against the tense atmosphere around me, making me realize how nice it was to have a period of time during exam week where I didn't have to stress about a single thing.
The Transfiguration exam was, as usual, divided into two parts: written and practical.
Since third-year students have different course schedules, with some taking more classes and others fewer, the written and practical portions of this exam were combined.
"Oh, my gosh, I must have stayed up too late last night!"
Hermione, who had just walked out of the classroom, had a worried look on her face, her brows tightly knitted as she nervously wrung the corner of her robe.
"The turtle I transfigured from a teapot, does it look more like a sea turtle? Will I lose points for that?"
She looked around anxiously, as if hoping to find some comfort in other people's reactions.
"I think... you should be fine."
I ran into Hermione right as she came out the back door. Hearing her, I shrugged, my tone light.
"At least the one you made didn't have hands or a lid that opened."
The student next to Hermione wasn't very good at the spell and, when they transfigured their teapot, the lid opened up to reveal the inside of a teapot.
The sight was pretty strange.
Honestly, that bizarre transfiguration was almost as weird as some of my own crazy curses.
After a big lunch, we headed to our Charms exam in the afternoon.
Without getting into the details of the exam itself, I can say that Professor Flitwick was in a great mood from start to finish, with a huge smile plastered on his face the whole time.
During the practical part of the exam, he even walked past me and discreetly slipped me a Honeydukes sweet.
I just gave a dry laugh and took it.
Is this what he calls charming a student?
Clever tactic.
But... is it really appropriate to give someone a candy during an exam?
I glanced around.
Some people had noticed us.
I just shook my head and went back to my test.
The next morning, for the Divination exam, only Neville and I from our dorm were taking it.
Harry and the others had a class conflict, so their exam was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The test wasn't too hard, and we finished quickly.