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He looked like he was about to suffocate.
However, the black-robed skeleton screamed for half an hour without stopping, its voice didn’t weaken but grew even more hoarse and desperate. Nobody knew exactly what kind of panic it was having.
Since it obviously had no lungs or similar organs, Ian should have guessed by now that he couldn’t actually strangle the black-robed skeleton. He was purely venting his own frustration and discomfort.
“Why does the contract you made with me prevent me from entering the Twilight Zone…” Ian just wanted to know the answer, but he already had a feeling about what the black-robed skeleton would say.
Sure enough.
The skeleton, dizzy from being shaken around, stood up unsteadily after Ian let go. As always, it raised a finger and pointed to its empty skull.
No words.
It seemed seriously dizzy.
But here, silence was louder than words and Ian understood perfectly what it meant.
“You don’t even have a brain! Why pretend to have a concussion!” Ian was speechless. He raised his wrist and rubbed the fading contract mark hard a few times, it was annoyingly visible.
“Dizzy.”
The black-robed skeleton’s dry heave was uncannily realistic. Ian suspected it was acting for him, and the performance was excellent, but he had no proof to throw at its skull.
“Either you give me an explanation today or do you see that big cauldron over there… Even if magic can’t influence you, I’ll catch a hundred rats and throw you in to boil into soup!” Ian was genuinely tempted to cook the skeleton into a broth. He even pulled out some devil chili peppers he got from the house elves.
Whether it was the rats scaring the skeleton or the thought of being boiled with chili making its skull numb, the black-robed skeleton was so frightened by Ian’s threat that it kept backing away.
Clearly, it hadn’t expected Ian to come up with such a punishment!
It might not be human, but this little guy in front of it was definitely a savage!
To think of such an outrageous way to punish someone, it was stunning. Though the skeleton had no facial muscles, the berserk flickering of its soul flame showed just how panicked it was.
“Hehehehe~”
Seeing the skeleton’s reaction, the Dementor who was forced to play cards by the skeleton had already hidden in the corner, giggling like a baby’s cries echoing through the room.
This was seriously eerie.
“I… smuggling… blacklist… waiting for reset.” Probably unable to bear Ian’s psychological pressure, the black-robed skeleton finally, after holding back for a long time, spoke sparingly. Whether it was really for this reason or just making excuses to calm Ian after previous harsh scoldings, nobody knew.
“Waiting for reset? How long do I have to wait?” Ian hurriedly asked, treating it as a last resort. This was related to one of his major Gold Finger abilities, he couldn’t afford to be careless or slack here.
“A short while.” The skeleton answered honestly, no longer daring to mention its lack of a brain. It clearly knew more than it let on.
“How long is a short while? I want a specific time. Hours? Days?” Ian’s gaze was sharp, but the skeleton seemed not to understand his question.
“A short while is just a short while… The red moon must rise forty-nine times. That’s how long it takes for that bad thing to reset the blacklist on this land.”
The skeleton seemed to be looking for the black Phoenix’s location, but by this time the black Phoenix had already been released. It couldn’t find it inside the Room of Requirement, Ian himself could hardly summon it back. Only Schrödinger knew if the black Phoenix was in the Twilight Zone or bullying the purebred Phoenix Fawkes.
“Forty-nine days?” Ian sighed heavily in resignation.
To be honest, not being able to enter the Twilight Zone really hurt for Ian, not only because he couldn’t deliver the Magic Mirror to Professor Morgan but also because he would lose some chances to learn magic from her.
Although Ian had a binding connection with Ariana through the Patronus Charm, getting Ariana to send messages was extremely troublesome, after all, the flow of time between the human world and the Twilight Zone was highly unpredictable.
Sometimes seven days would pass in the human world while months flew by in the Twilight Zone; other times, only a few minutes passed in the Twilight Zone but several hours had already elapsed in the human world.
There was no fixed, stable ratio of time flow. That’s why Ian rarely used this method of communication, only resorting to it in emergencies.
Like now.
“Expecto Patronum!”
Ian drew his wand and cast the Patronus Charm. Silver threads surged out, weaving before him into the form of a beautiful girl. Just as Albus Dumbledore had judged earlier during the time loop, summoning Ariana properly in the human world was a much heavier burden for Ian.
Given his magic power now, which were slightly beyond human limits, he could only maintain this form for about eight minutes. Afterward, he would feel as exhausted as if he had pulled three all-nighters.
“Ian, did you run into some evil wizard again?” Ariana, projected into the human world, glanced around and fixed her gaze on the skeleton wrapped in a black robe.
The kitchen utensils she held were also projected along with her.
“Not an evil wizard per say, but worse than them, this guy’s a blacklisted resident of the Twilight Zone. He’s now stained my ‘credit record’ there black!”
Ian was speaking in terms that Ariana barely understood.
But the girl was already used to it.
“You mean reputation?” She tried hard to grasp Ian’s meaning, though she was still somewhat confused. After all, Ariana had never encountered such magic in life or after death.
She hadn’t even attended any Muggle school, so Ian’s metaphors were naturally unclear to her.
“More or less, that’s the idea. This guy is like stubborn glue stuck on me, and now the Twilight Zone is temporarily refusing me entry. I want to ask you to help me talk to Professor Morgan, see if she can figure out what’s going on.” Ian handed Ariana a small note.
On it was a copy of the contract Ian had formed with the black-robed skeleton.
“Also ask her to help me analyze it, what exactly is this contract?” Ian felt he needed not only Nicolas Flamel’s advice but also his teacher’s opinion.
“Okay.” Ariana blinked and nodded in agreement.
“Thanks a lot.” Ian slipped a large box of chocolates and candies into her hands. He had tried this before, using the Patronus, he could transfer physical items between the Twilight Zone and reality.
Of course,
Such “delivery” wasn’t without cost; it heavily affected the magic power’s activity inside his body for a short time. Now Ian only dared to use this method to send items without magical effects.
“No problem. I was just going to bring some fruit to Miss Morgan anyway. Now I can share some tasty sweets too.” Ariana was very happy to receive her “payment.”
She waved cheerfully at Ian, then dove into his wand.
Seeing Ariana successfully return to the Twilight Zone with the items, Ian breathed a huge sigh of relief. It seemed the black-robed skeleton’s trouble hadn’t deeply affected him yet.
The fact he could still transfer things clearly showed Ian wasn’t truly on the so-called blacklist. The one nailed to that blacklist was probably only the black-robed skeleton. Ian was only influenced because the Twilight Zone rejected the skeleton, and its “credit” problems affected him by association.
“You really are a sneaky bastard!” Ian had wanted to smack the skeleton’s head but the skeleton cleverly dodged and run far away.
It really ran far.
Under Ian’s stunned gaze, it shoved open the Dementor’s mouth and crawled inside, leaving only its head stuck at the Dementor’s mouth, staring fixedly outside.
More precisely, it was staring straight at Ian.
As if Ian moved closer, It would immediately crawl deeper into the Dementor’s mouth. The Dementor, terrified, tried desperately to close its mouth but couldn’t push the skeleton in.
The Dementor frantically ran around in panic.
“One Border Collie, one Husky,” Ian thought, feeling like he was raising dogs. He sighed and patted his forehead, then returned to the soft big bed.
This bed was indeed very comfortable. The bed frame was crafted from high-quality solid wood, with smooth and elegant lines, both sturdy and radiating a natural aura. The mattress used a multilayer design, with a high-density spring system at the bottom providing perfect support. No matter what sleeping position, one could feel balanced support.
Normally,
In such a bed, Ian could fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. But right now, his mood was rather dreadful, and after getting into bed, he tossed and turned for a long while without falling asleep.
“Let me try again~”
Unwilling to give up, Ian took out a bottle of Draught of Living Death.
He gulped down two swigs.
His eyes rolled back as he collapsed onto the bed. Yet, even though Ian had gone all out, he still couldn’t break into the Twilight Zone by sheer force.
He remained in a dream. But the witch Morgan, who used to whip him, was gone.
Instead, things became even more absurd.
“Master, it’s time to continue our journey after waking up.” Aurora, with a sharp face and covered in fur, carried a stick, looking exactly like a pretty female monkey.
“Goku?”
Ian really couldn’t understand why he kept having such bizarre dreams. This time, even after drinking the Draught of Living Death, it was nearly impossible to prematurely exit this absurd dream.
Ian could only stand up, holding his robe.
“Yeah, Master, if we don’t go begging soon, I’ll starve to death.” Good roommate Michael had now turned into Zhu Bajie (the pig character from Journey to the West), and his Spanish black pig-like appearance somehow looked like a mix of East and West.
“Let me clean up the trash first.”
William, dressed as Sha Wujing, was lecturing on garbage sorting in a deep mountain forest. Ian looked at his White Dragon Horse, good grief, no horse, only a dragon.
It was the pureblood western dragon Professor Morgan kept outside the castle.
“Today, no pilgrimage! Today we fight the White Bone Spirit!” Ian, having practiced dream control techniques professionally, summoned nearby a black-robed skeleton that made his teeth grind in hatred.
“You…cheater!”
Unexpectedly,
The summoned black-robed skeleton first showed a confused expression then it screamed hoarsely.
“Hm?” Ian glanced at the contract on his wrist.
He noticed something peculiar.
“High magic resistance? You’ve got high magic resistance?” Ian’s expression gradually turned grim.
…
Time flew.
Days passed.
Ian never gave up studying the contract on his wrist, trying to find a way to return early to the Twilight Zone. Even using Easter break for research, he still couldn’t uncover this little-known knowledge. Months slipped by.
“You liar! Forty-nine days have long passed!”
Ian had learned to deal with the black-robed skeleton in dreams, so the skeleton was much more obedient now.
“It’s forty-nine times, the waxing and waning of the blood moon.”
The black-robed skeleton timidly retreated, correcting Ian with a wronged tone.
“…”
Ian was speechless, and kicked it, but despite a flying kick, the skeleton nimbly dodged and only got its knee kicked.
“Get down here!”
Ian looked up at the black-robed skeleton who had climbed to the ceiling, hanging upside down like Spider-Man, ignoring gravity. He angrily started throwing rotten eggs.
No matter how Ian pressured the skeleton, it seemed genuinely unaware of how long a time span the forty-nine blood moon cycles represented.
“Gūlū Gūlū Gūlū~”
Ian even shoved the skeleton into a cauldron, but it still couldn’t make sense of the situation. Seeing the skeleton gradually stained from white to chili pepper red, Ian finally believed it truly didn’t know.
This matter was indeed unsolvable.
Even Ian’s pleas to Albus Dumbledore didn’t help.
“Maybe what you need now is patience.”
The Albus Dumbledore Ian found, who appeared from some unknown timeline, smiled kindly and spoke calmly, which gave Ian a bit of reassurance.
“What you say sounds just like a message from another teacher I have in the Twilight Zone.” The little wizard sighed and grew curious why Albus Dumbledore was so certain.
“Have you already experienced such a future?”
Ian’s questioning was met only with a silent smile.
He knew.
This was Albus Dumbledore’ way of avoiding temporal paradoxes, Ian had encountered this headmaster multiple times in recent months but never could figure out from which period this Albus Dumbledore came. If this kept going, Albus Dumbledore might become the spokesperson for time travel.
Responding to Ian’s complaints,
“I am striving to walk that path. My research has indeed shown me that possibility.”
Albus Dumbledore’ answer gave Ian a subtle sense of dread.
Before Ian could ponder further,
“Relax a little. You should give yourself some time to rest as well. The final grand event of the first semester is coming up, I’m sure you don’t want to miss it.”
Albus Dumbledore advised the little wizard again.
Yes.
That black-robed skeleton had seriously screwed over the entire second half of the semester. Now, finals were upon them, and it was almost time for the students to go home and enjoy their break.
“Ah, alright. Thank you, Professor. I’ll go water the plants.” Ian watched as Albus Dumbledore disappeared without a trace after turning a corner.
He then returned to the Room of Requirement.
By now,
After days of torturing and interrogating the black-robed skeleton, he had unlocked a new way to cultivate plants, watering them with cooled broth made from the black-robed skeleton’s stew.
Of course,
No chili could be added.
It was pure bone broth, and although no one knew exactly what had been extracted in the stew, it surprisingly accelerated the growth and development of plants. The chomping cabbage he had grown before was even bigger than a lion.
Its power was formidable.
Professor Pomona Sprout was chased all over the school by the cabbages, but only the Hufflepuff witch’s eyes shone brightly. On a moonless, windy night, she struck a seed cultivation deal with Ian.
No one knew the details or the outcome.
But the Hufflepuff witch gave Ian five-star reviews wherever she went around the school. To be honest, Ian’s refinement of the black-robed skeleton broth wasn’t really to grow chomping cabbage.
“Splash splash~”
He was cultivating seeds brought out from the mysterious tower.
Now,
After several months,
Vibrant green shoots had broken through the soil. Starlight shimmered around the sprouts like tiny stars, making them look mysterious and powerful just by sight alone.
“Tell me, does this count as feeding you some meat?”
Ian was watering the plants with the skeleton’s bathwater. He watched the milky white liquid gradually seep into the soil.
His sudden, whimsical thoughts remained just as unexpected.
“World Tree, World Tree, World Tree~”
It was only a single green sprout, But it already possessed magical qualities like the ancieent language.
It could simulate human voices by vibrating.
It repeated the phrases Ian muttered daily while watering it. Perhaps because the watering broth had become bone broth recently, Ian noticed white, bone-like patterns gradually appearing on the surface of the sprout.
“This art style… please don’t go off the rails again.”
Ian was really worried. His current situation was already dark enough.
(End of chapter)
You can read ahead up to 110 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395