After all.
Books say that Albus Dumbledore is the most powerful and reliable, right?
"This place is like a…secret realm? Anyway, I'm afraid this isn't the magic we are familiar with." Dumbledore's words instantly froze the air.
"What do you mean?" Snape's voice unusually carried a hint of urgency.
"Look."
Albus Dumbledore glanced at his Potions class professor and pointed to a patch of trees in the distance, where the patterns on the trunks seemed eerily copy-pasted.
"Some sort of power created this place, but it's not strong enough to better simulate our reality, resulting in such a crude and rough copy of it."
"Whatever this is, it must have only just awakened." Dumbledore didn't directly answer, instead saying something that made Snape feel inexplicably uneasy.
"What is being revived?"
He hurriedly asked.
Hermione's breathing also became rapid.
"Are you saying...this could be some kind of supernatural phenomenon?"
Before attending Hogwarts, this little witch surely enjoyed reading books like "Unsolved Mysteries of the World," so she took the headmaster's words as evidence of a supernatural phenomenon occurring.
Of course.
Wizards are inherently representatives of the supernatural.
"This is what I just mentioned, the puzzle we need to solve." Dumbledore's smile was profound, as he turned slightly, gently caressing the trunk of the tree beside him.
"It's precisely because we don't know that it's interesting, isn't it?"
The old headmaster's tone was neither rushed nor serious, instead, it carried a sense of novelty of discovering the unknown, perhaps he knew things that even Snape and Hermione didn't.
Otherwise.
With a little wizard here.
He certainly wouldn't be this relaxed and natural. It's just unclear why he chose not to tell the two of them, perhaps there's an unspeakable reason.
Of course.
It's also possible that this Albus Dumbledore is merely a false illusion.
Produced from Snape's mind.
That's why it knows about that agreement Snape knows of.
Who says it clearly?
Hermione nodded thoughtfully, but Snape's expression was even more changeable: "This might have something to do with Ian. He went to challenge that creature making the noise."
One must say.
The old uncle still thinking of Ian is truly touching.
Unfortunately, Ian isn't here either.
Making it a useless gesture.
"We don't need to worry about Ian at all." Dumbledore suddenly chuckled, "Your junior isn't a weakling; he has life force and strength far beyond your imagination."
"I believe, even if we were to die here, he would live on well." The headmaster clearly knew more than the two of them, so his words were genuine from the heart.
After all.
In terms of power.
The old headmaster didn't even know if he could contend with the current Ian.
"This..."
Snape's expression changed even more violently; Dumbledore's words startled him, he didn't know if this was because Albus Dumbledore didn't care about Ian's life or death.
Or if he truly had such strong confidence in Ian.
If it's the latter.
That would truly make him uncertain.
"Can we...not die?" Hermione weakly interjected, after all, she's still a child, and the topic of death inherently carries a strong fear for her.
Dumbledore turned to her, his eyes blinking happily: "Of course you can, my dear. Death only comes when you're ready, it's a special right for you little wizards."
There was deep meaning in his words.
But Hermione felt inexplicably puzzled.
Couldn't quite understand.
Snape's lips twitched slightly.
"This isn't the time for a cold joke, Albus."
The Potions class professor also felt like Headmaster Dumbledore was engaging in humorous banter.
"Alright."
Dumbledore pulled out a pocket watch from his robe, its hands ticking backward, each segment marked with a different Forbidden Forest map, and as the cover popped open, countless golden lights shot into the surroundings.
It was as if probing, seeking.
"To solve this puzzle, we need to know its meaning — after all, it specifically trapped the three of us together, it can't just want to hear me tell a bedtime story."
Now that was true cold humor.
Hermione stared with wide eyes.
Snape, with a stern face, twitched at the corner of his eye.
...
Meanwhile, in the depths of the Forbidden Forest, a bizarre chasm suddenly stretched across the land, as if torn open by some powerful force. At the center of the chasm stood a massive Bronze Gate, its door partially open, with chaotic mist flowing out from the crack, sometimes forming twisted human shapes, sometimes scattering like stardust.
It seemed to connect to some indescribable time-space.
Ian stood in front of the valley.
His eyes reflected the chaos surging within the gate.
At his feet lay an Ancient Giant Dragon, already devoid of life; its immense body was like a small mountain, and its dark golden scales were still shining with a metallic luster even after death.
The giant beast beneath his feet once had wings that could cover the sky, but now they drooped like tattered cloth in the cracked rock fissures, its massive body making the current Half-blood Dragons look like mere foals.
Indeed.
This was an Ancient Giant Dragon.
The purest blood of the Giant Dragons.
"Gate of Space-Time?" Ian muttered under his breath, his Magic Wand spinning lightly between his fingers. Beside him, Dragon Blood meandered like a river on the scorched ground, emitting a pungent smell of sulfur and rust.
Clearly.
Such an Ancient Giant Dragon could not exist in the current era, so the Little Witch's suspicion that behind the Bronze Gate lay an ancient time-space was quite reasonable; otherwise, there was no explanation for why a Giant Dragon would emerge from inside.
"It's not that I'm disturbing history, it's that history has come to me, wishing me to accept its gift." Ian bent down, ready to use the Deletrius Spell to collect rare materials from the Giant Dragon—Dragon Crystal Heart, Ancient Dragon Marrow, Immortal Scale. These were all legendary magic potion ingredients. However, just as his Magic Wand began to emit light.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, a deafening roar came from within the Bronze Gate!
Another Dragon's Roar. Utterly furious. The sound wave, almost tangible, hit with force, making the ground's gravel tremble and float, while Ian's robes were lifted by the gust, flapping fiercely.
He jerked his head up.
Countless twisted light and shadows appeared and vanished in the chaos, as if there were thousands of hands clawing at the folds of time-space. Then, amidst the intense surging of chaotic mist, another vast Ancient Giant Dragon flew out!
A grand spectacle, its body imposing and immense.
The Dragon's eyes were like two burning suns, so hot they were nearly impossible to look at directly. It glared down at Ian, orange-red light glowing in the depths of its throat—a sign that Dragon's Breath was about to be unleashed.
"Again?"
Ian raised an eyebrow.
Clearly, he had experienced something similar before.
"Then let me harvest double the materials and win twice." Ian didn't feel fatigued at all; the magic power around him, vast as an abyss, continuously countering the dragon's overwhelming presence.
"Roar!"
The giant dragon opened its massive maw, and blazing white flames erupted like a torrent! But Ian advanced instead of retreating, swiftly drawing a flawless arc with his Magic Wand—he seized control of the dragon's command over fire.
Grindelwald would surely be very pleased here.
What a pity.
No witnesses.
No audience.
The Dragon's Breath, which should have reduced him to ashes, abruptly solidified in mid-air, then curled around Ian like a tamed beast. Next, Ian wielded his Magic Wand to send the flames recoiling back toward the dragon.
Not just this.
In this single magic act, Ian added his renowned skill, the Shadowless Storm—countless invisible blades coalesced in the air, lacking physical substance yet deadlier than the sharpest blades in the world. Amongst the flames, the intense heat distorted the air, and wherever the Shadowless Storm swept by, the dragon's massive body was torn by unseen blades.
The Ancient Giant Dragon's magic resistance was very high.
But.
Who said Ian is a legend?
It let out an anguished roar, struggling furiously, yet unable to break free from the fiery cage. In its desperate struggle, the dragon emitted one last pitiful wail.
"Rumble~"
Its enormous body crashed to the ground, shaking the earth.
"The second one."
Ian was satisfied, lowering his Magic Wand.
But turning his head, he found.
It seemed the first dragon he had slain had already quietly vanished—what's more, before the Little Wizard could react to whether some thief had stolen his harvest.
The enormous body crashed to the ground, shaking the earth.
"Roar——!!!"
Another Dragon's Roar.
Another dragon flying out.
This time.
Ian's attention tilted slightly.
Thus.
He saw—the dragon he had defeated gradually transforming into nothingness. Looking again at the dragon rushing out, Ian, with an incredulous expression, discovered an astonishing truth.
Perhaps.
He had only been battling the same dragon all along?