How exactly did the Ravenclaw diadem increase a person's intelligence?
After testing it for a while, Dawn realized that what it enhanced was not intelligence itself, but the speed of thought.
It accelerated reading speed and comprehension, shortening the time needed to master knowledge.
However, that knowledge still had to be something the wearer was capable of understanding.
If someone attempted to use the Ravenclaw diadem to grasp concepts beyond their intellectual reach, wearing it for any length of time would make no difference.
To give a rather unfortunate example—
Dawn had deliberately purchased a book on theoretical physics from a Muggle bookstore in order to test the artifact.
Even with the diadem on his head, he could not understand a single word.
After experimenting for a while, Dawn removed the crown with satisfaction.
Overall, the artifact left behind by one of the Hogwarts founders was certainly remarkable, but not absurdly unreasonable.
Having finished testing this pleasant surprise, he moved on to the main purpose of his trip to Hogwarts.
Dawn took out his wallet and retrieved the Invisibility Cloak, which had been stuffed inside in a crumpled ball.
After smoothing it out, he draped it over his shoulders.
Perhaps sensing its wearer, the cloak—originally shimmering with a faint silver glow—became transparent in an instant.
Dawn vanished along with it.
He shifted awkwardly.
Unlike the Disillusionment Charm, which he normally used for invisibility, the cloak made him uneasy.
He constantly felt as though some part of him might not be fully covered.
In truth, the cloak was large enough to conceal him completely.
Remembering a claim from The Study of the Resurrection Stone that the cloak could resist curses, Dawn grew curious about how it worked.
He pulled open the collar slightly and peered inside.
And then—
Between the moving folds of the cloak and his body, he saw dense magical mist filling the space.
Dawn raised an eyebrow.
He began forming a theory.
Perhaps the cloak resisted curses because the wearer was wrapped in concentrated natural magic, which repelled other natural magic generated by curses.
He was about to drop the collar and retrieve the Resurrection Stone to test whether the cloak could block other ritual effects as well.
But suddenly something in the corner of his eye froze him.
Outside his body, something vague drifted slowly through the air.
Dawn's eyes sharpened.
He looked closer.
It was an abstract pale pattern resembling a mixture of a sun and moon.
A special pattern.
Dawn's pupils contracted.
At first he thought he had imagined it.
But after examining it carefully several times, he confirmed that the faint symbol truly floated between his body and the cloak, belonging to neither.
His heart began pounding.
This discovery felt almost too fortunate.
Ever since he had understood his own ability, Dawn suspected that special patterns existed outside his body, representing his relationship with the world.
Otherwise, after receiving Anubis's curse, why had the patterns inside his body remained completely unchanged?
But because the concentration of magic in the environment was too weak—even during rituals—the natural magic had never been dense enough to reveal patterns outside the body.
Until now, it had only been speculation.
At the beginning of the school year, Dawn had even planned to modify the Nightmare Lamp at Borgin and Burkes to increase its magical intensity so he could illuminate these hidden patterns.
Unfortunately, his understanding of runes was insufficient at the time. And soon afterward the issue of World Correction had taken all his attention.
The idea had been abandoned.
Yet now, by sheer coincidence, the Invisibility Cloak had revealed them.
Dawn stretched the cloak outward to enlarge the enclosed space. The pale patterns drifted within the magical mist.
His first instinct was to determine what each symbol represented.
But before long he encountered a serious problem. The natural magic illuminating these patterns came from the cloak itself.
It maintained the magic of the cloak rather than simply sustaining physical transformation the way natural magic did when black lines were broken.
Unless Dawn's own magic could overpower this natural magic, he would not be able to directly alter these patterns through transfiguration.
Realizing this, he tried casting every spell he knew on himself.
Yet none of the patterns floating around him changed at all. Without visible changes, he could not infer their meanings by observing the effects of spells.
For the moment, Dawn could only stare at them helplessly.
Since he could not study them further, he reluctantly decided to leave the matter aside and test the cloak's behavior in rituals.
He removed the cloak.
With a soft burst of flame, he disappeared and traveled to Egypt again.
He intended to capture another experimental subject.
Honestly, Dawn was beginning to feel that Egypt was his personal paradise.
Unlike Britain, where Knockturn Alley was the only lawless area for dark wizards, this ancient land had almost no magical regulation outside Cairo.
In an instant, desert tents appeared before him.
Returning to Luxor, Dawn completed the trip in under twenty minutes.
When he returned to the Vatican, he brought with him a bearded man with powerful muscles—more like an athlete than a wizard.
But that did not matter.
Dawn put the Invisibility Cloak back on and removed the Resurrection Stone from his wallet.
He was curious whether the cloak, said to nullify rituals, could prevent the stone from summoning its ghostly apparitions.
Dawn believed the Resurrection Stone also relied on natural magic.
Soon enough, he had his answer.
A thin mist appeared in the air. From it emerged a familiar woman, slowly walking forward.
Dawn frowned slightly.
Perhaps the cloak did not truly block ritual effects.
Had the author of The Study of the Resurrection Stone exaggerated? Or had Dawn misunderstood the cloak's function?
Perhaps it only resisted curses.
Ignoring the apparition, Dawn shaved off more powder from the Philosopher's Stone and forced it into the bearded man's mouth.
Natural magic gathered immediately.
Dawn stepped back and leaned against the wall, gripping the inner lining of the cloak.
He observed his own condition carefully. If the cloak had no effect, dealing with rituals in the future would become far more troublesome.
The clock ticked steadily.
Ten minutes passed. Dawn remained fully conscious.
Relief flashed in his eyes.
He clenched his fist quietly.
Excellent.
It seemed the Resurrection Stone could summon apparitions because the natural magic involved did not act directly upon him.
After a brief moment of satisfaction, Dawn focused entirely on the bearded man's changing patterns.
The parts of the man's patterns related to the soul had undergone dramatic transformations.
Dawn memorized the altered symbols carefully.
Perhaps in the future he could reproduce similar effects through transfiguration without using Resurrection Stone powder.
Then he suddenly frowned.
He picked up the stone again and compared it with the man's patterns.
The transformed symbols resembled some of the runes engraved on the Resurrection Stone.
A thought suddenly appeared in Dawn's mind.
What would happen if a wizard's internal patterns were rewritten into runes?
But before he could explore the idea further, another question distracted him.
When someone consumed Resurrection Stone powder, did the patterns outside their body also change?
Dawn was curious.
However, he could not remove the cloak and place it over the bearded man without risking his own consciousness.
He made a note to test both questions during the remaining Christmas holidays.
Then he looked at the unconscious man again.
The patterns inside his body had stabilized.
After memorizing them, Dawn began considering another decision. Should he enter the realm of the dead through the Resurrection Stone once more?
His expectations had dropped significantly after his last experience.
Yet he had no other way to uncover true history. Only the Resurrection Stone and the Revealing Charm offered any possibility.
With that thought, Dawn made up his mind.
He reached inside the cloak, grasped its collar, and slowly removed it. After all, the powder had already been administered. It would be a waste not to try again.
The silver cloak fell to the floor.
Dawn reappeared in the room.
Soon afterward, his mind began to grow heavy. He adjusted his posture and leaned against the wall.
Sleep quickly claimed him.
Fire.
Dancing flames.
Flames spitting black smoke toward the sky.
When Dawn regained awareness, this was the first scene he saw.
Charcoal and firewood burned fiercely in a large pile. From within the flames, a slender hand stretched outward.
Its flesh had carbonized.
Skin curled and crumbled into ash.
The air smelled of burning flesh and wood. A sickening mixture of charred meat and strange floral scents lingered.
Dawn instinctively frowned.
He did not know what era he had entered. But since this was merely a dream within the mind of the dead, he looked around without restraint.
He stood in an open field.
Bare yellow earth stretched outward.
In the distance stood low houses. Wooden fences surrounded large areas of land, marking a rural settlement.
Turning his gaze, Dawn noticed several people watching him from afar.
Their expressions were fearful. Their movements hesitant. Children peeked through fences before being hurried indoors by their parents.
Were they afraid of him? Dawn raised an eyebrow.
He did not understand the situation. But when he finally noticed what he was wearing, the answer became clear.
He wore a waxed oilcloth robe.
On his face was a dark mask shaped like a pointed bird's beak. Crystal goggles covered his eyes.
Leather gloves protected his hands.
And in his grip was a wooden staff.
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