However.
Ian wasn't in a hurry to study the content; after all, he could learn this stuff anytime. He just kept flipping pages, trying to get the specific information he wanted.
Finally, near the end of the book—just when he was about to curse the heavens for playing a nasty prank on him—Ian found the answer he'd been looking for.
[Only when my life was about to end did I finally muster the courage to write this book for her.]
[She taught me so much, even before I betrayed her, she'd already pointed out the course of my life. I couldn't bear to take this knowledge to the grave.]
[Maybe I no longer deserve to call myself her apprentice, but please forgive me this last selfish act—dedicating this book to my teacher, Witch Morgan Le Fay.]
[On the path you paved, your despicable apprentice can only walk this far… May we meet in the Soul Land, may the Raven of Soul Land carry me to your side.]
The last few pages.
Another long stretch of the author's monologue.
Confession was the main theme of the monologue.
But in these words, Ian finally found the truth.
"Morgan Le Fay!"
Ian was utterly shocked. He'd already been prepared for Teacher Mara to be a bad witch, but he obviously hadn't expected that his teacher could be this bad.
Wizards, too, have levels.
Maybe Albus Dumbledore was already written into history, but clearly this headmaster had not yet become a real legend. Morgan Le Fay, though, had long been a Legendary Level Black Witch submerged in the annals of history!
After spending quite some time in the Magic World, there's no way Ian didn't know the story of that epic era. He'd honestly never thought he'd be able to interact with someone from legend!
"Damn, Mara…my Enlightenment Teacher Lady Morgan can really fight Lady Ravenclaw!?" Ian thought of his wild speculation back when he was on Rowena Ravenclaw's little island. At first, he'd thought his first teacher was just some ancient witch lost to history.
Who could have imagined it would turn out like this?
Ian didn't think he was being disrespectful to Hogwarts' founder.
He just thought that if those two actually met, Lady Rowena Ravenclaw's chances of victory might not be as high as he'd guessed.
"I just got it like that! Just effortlessly hugging some big thigh!" Ian almost couldn't wait to enter the Misty Illusion Realm again, to send Dumbledore his regards and expose his teacher's disguise.
The look on his teacher's face would definitely be priceless!
"Ugh, still a few days left on cooldown. Is there any way to shorten it?" Ian had never felt time pass so slowly.
Maybe it was because, ever since school started, all kinds of things just kept happening?
...
The afternoon class was Herbalism.
Nothing unexpected happened.
In fact.
For three consecutive days,
Ian's study life hadn't been interrupted by anything new, except for Defense Against the Dark Arts still being vacant—there wasn't even a substitute teacher—everything else was very calm. Rumor had it that Snape had strongly requested to fill in, but Dumbledore rejected him for being too evil and only knowing Dark Arts, not Defense Magic.
This was a Gryffindor rumor—never all that reliable, especially when it came to the Head of Slytherin House, the professor Gryffindor students hated most.
"I love this vibe!"
Another morning arrived.
The Dementors and Ministry of Magic people had withdrawn; the results of the investigation weren't revealed to anyone, only Professor McGonagall gave the little wizards a vague reassurance at dinner that there was nothing to worry about.
Most of the little wizards took it at face value.
But for Ian and some of the older students, from Professor McGonagall's forced smile, it wasn't hard to tell that the killer who'd murdered the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher probably still hadn't been caught. If they were lucky, maybe they'd found a suspect; if unlucky, they probably hadn't found even one.
The so-called "no need to worry."
Was just to prevent panic and chaos.
"None of my business!"
After breakfast,
The morning's class was Snape's Magic Potion Class.
Ravenclaw was still partnered with the little wizards from Slytherin.
After Michael failed to team up with Little Black Sister, he was forced to become William's buddy again—Aurora, who hadn't been seen for a while, had already taken a seat in the Ravenclaw section.
When Ian arrived in the classroom, Aurora nodded at him, used the Cloning Spell to split her "limited edition" textbook, and signaled for Ian to sit in the empty chair next to her.
"I've got a notebook from the Half-Blood Prince. Next time, I'll make a copy for you. The Half-Blood Prince is awesome, way better than the Master of Magic Potions from your grandfather's Saint lineup."
Ian flipped through Aurora's copied textbook and compared it with his own notebook, which he'd forgotten to bring. It wasn't that Snape completely surpassed the Master of Magic Potions from the Saint lineup in every area.
At least when it comes to clear and straightforward explanations, Aurora's textbook notes were easier to follow, while Snape's specialty lay in modifying different potion formulas.
Maybe it was because Snape hadn't had so much money in his earlier years, but for many potions that would cost a lot of Galleons to make, Snape always found substitute ingredients among cheaper materials.