From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 590 The Snake Monster in the Map Chamber

Harry Voldemort didn't turn Gryffindor's sword into a Horcrux.

Ivy was genuinely surprised when she realized this.

He acquired all the relics of the four founders, but he did not use his dark magic to defile the items belonging to Gryffindor. He did not even spare the locket left by his progenitor Slytherin, so how could he possibly let go of a gleaming silver sword?

Ivy didn't dwell on the issue too much, because he was hesitant about whether to reforge Gryffindor's sword into an ancient weapon.

As a "Sword Saint", if Ivy wants to cast spells with gesture elements in battle, she must keep her other hand empty, or hold a staff.

It is impossible to fight with two swords at the same time.

However, the Gryffindor sword's unique characteristics are also quite remarkable. Its ability to absorb the effects of other magical substances makes it a weapon with growth potential. The only thing Ivy can't be certain of is its upper limit, because the sword's growth potential clearly comes from fairy magic.

Ivy acknowledged that these short, green-skinned races did indeed have unique insights into magic, but how effective could the magic of fairies be against the countless magical creatures and materials in the myriad worlds?
To take a more recent example, Ivy didn't believe that the ancient silver sword forged by fairies could absorb the fragments of the magic network left behind by Karthus's failed ascension to godhood, nor did she believe that a single silver sword could separate a node from the magic network of the goddess of magic.

If its potential isn't high enough, then it's just a useless item for Ivy. While the basilisk's venom is terrifying, immunity to poison is commonplace in many worlds. Therefore, the Gryffindor sword's potential determines Ivy's opinion of it.

Fortunately, as a "legacy warrior," Ivy was able to easily learn about the legacy rituals of the Gryffindor sword and what abilities would be unlocked for it after these rituals.

After a brief examination, Ivy's expression turned strange.

Is Gryffindor a fan of knights?

The sword's three ancient rituals are: the Trial of Courage, the Trial of Honor, and the Trial of Sacrifice. It doesn't seem like a weapon a wizard would use for self-defense; rather, it's like a magical sword a wizard would make for a knight.

The legendary ability contained in the Gryffindor sword is even more absurd. Its ability to absorb the properties of magical substances only works on the living materials of magical creatures. It cannot even absorb the properties of wand wood, let alone other minerals and magical plants.

Besides transforming the sword into a +5 Justice Holy Longsword, its Ancient power also grants a series of feats for melee combat, including the [Sweep] set, the -5, +10 [Powerful Attack] set, and even the [Heavy Armor Proficiency] that cloth armor classes desire most.

In terms of the sheer number of feats alone, the Gryffindor Sword offers a total of 10 feats along its level 20 upgrade path, making it the most magical item Ivy has ever seen, not to mention its special abilities as a magical weapon and the ability to absorb the properties of living magical creatures.

This is a powerful legendary weapon. Completing three legendary trials and leveling it up to 20 will instantly transform a frail cloth-armored class into a professional warrior. Combined with melee spells like Tansen's Magic Conversion, it can completely replace a top-tier warrior.

However, it doesn't match Ivy's fighting style at all. Ivy takes a light and agile approach with high damage output, and he has a variety of wide-range spells to control the field when dealing with groups of targets. He doesn't need to dress up like a can and rush into the crowd to fight.

The Gryffindor sword is a very powerful ancient weapon, but its style is simply not a good match for Ivy.

Putting down his sword, Ivy prepared to go out again.

Ivy had all the admission kits for Cassandra sorted out, but he felt he needed to see for himself what Hogwarts was like in this timeline.

Harry's becoming the headmaster intrigued him, not to mention that this was Harry Potter, who was highly likely to merge with Voldemort.

If they're lucky on this trip, Hogwarts will likely need to get a new headmaster, and Ivy will be able to capture a rare experimental subject.

He promised to cherish this special sample, after all, he and Harry were good friends, and he had to give him some face.

“Uncle Doom…” Cassandra looked at Ivy by the door, “Are you going out again?”

“Let’s go check out your future school.” Ivy squatted down and gently pinched her pert nose. “I’ve already used magic to hide this manor. As long as you stay inside, no one else will find you. When Hogwarts starts, I’ll personally take you to school.”

"..." Little Cassandra nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Who was the dark wizard who killed Mom and Dad that day? Why did he do it?"

“His name is Peter, and he’s one of Voldemort’s henchmen.” Ivy didn’t intend to hide it from her. After all, Voldemort wasn’t some kind of invincible villain, and her parents weren’t gone forever. Ivy just needed some time, some opportunity. “As for why… I’m not quite sure. Maybe it’s because you rejected the Hogwarts acceptance letter? Voldemort has always been a bit of a lunatic. And after he entered Harry Potter’s head, he might have gone even crazier.”

"Really? Voldemort entered Harry Potter's mind?" Cassandra asked, as if she had expected it. "Mom always said something was off about him... There's no such thing as a savior in this world..."

“Now that Voldemort has become the headmaster of Hogwarts and has gotten everything he wanted, why would he send a dark wizard to kill our family?” Little Cassandra couldn’t believe that her parents would die because of a rejection letter. “Just a rejection letter? That’s absurd… I heard from my mother that fewer and fewer new students are coming to Hogwarts in recent years, and many families have moved away from England… Why would Voldemort specifically target us?”

“Don’t blame this murder on your misfortune, Cassandra.” Ivy clenched Cassandra’s hand into a fist. “You must learn to fight, learn to resist. Power may not be able to change the regrets of the past, but it can definitely make the person who made those regrets disappear completely. And in this world, magic is power.”

Seeing the determined look on Cassandra's face, Ivy nodded and got up again to prepare to leave.

But little Cassandra tugged at his robe again: "Thank you, Uncle Doom... How can I ever repay you?"

"Hmph." Ivy hummed twice with pleasure. "Just take this as charity. For now, I'm just a passing righteous messenger."

Perhaps there's a bit of a compensatory mentality involved. Ivy always bullies her sorcerers, so making up for it on another timeline won't damage her authority as the sect leader.

Arrive at Hogsmeade by Apparating, then infiltrate the school to uncover Harry Voldemort's secrets and kill him.

This is Ivy's simple and easy-to-understand plan. As the saying goes, brute force can overcome all laws. In this timeline, Voldemort and Harry Potter fought to a standstill, eventually even merging their souls into one. Then, through external pressure and internal leadership, he united the British wizarding world and achieved his life goal.

While indeed stronger than the one Ivy had faced, the difference was still limited. Voldemort's narrow-mindedness limited his potential.

Even though he was given a younger body and used more advanced magic to escape death, he never achieved true immortality.

Ivy is now thinking about how to kill him in a more creative way.

Hogwarts Castle didn't look much different, which was quite different from the Diagon Alley that Ivy had seen.

He had thought that Harry Voldemort would remodel the school to his liking, but now it seemed that Voldemort, like Harry, might consider the school his first home.

As for Hogwarts Castle, which serves as their "home," it's best to keep it unchanged.

"What?" Professor McGonagall's face showed several more wrinkles, but the authority that made the students tremble with fear did not diminish; on the contrary, it became even more terrifying.

She was walking with Professor Sprout, the Dean of Herbalism, making final preparations for the new school year.

"Neville had his hand chopped off by a dark wizard? And even Gryffindor's sword was lost?" Vice-Headmaster McGonagall could not hide her shock.

"The battle took place outside the Weasley Wizarding Agency. The two brothers gave him first aid, so at least his hand can be saved," Professor Sprout said, recounting the gossip she had heard from other Hufflepuff wizards. Professor McGonagall was not at all surprised that her best friend knew about Chief Longbottom's injuries before she did.

After all, Mrs. Longbottom was her student, and this student was planning to go to St. Mungo's for therapist training and apply to Hogwarts for a job as a school doctor or nurse.

Since the headmaster defied public opinion and included Dark Magic in the curriculum, the frequency of magical accidents at Hogwarts has far exceeded that of before. As a result, the school hospital has had to consider expanding its staff to deal with students who are not careful with their strength.

“Sometimes I really doubt whether the Man of Dark Arts is really dead… I thought a peaceful era had arrived, but the frequency of attacks on ordinary people by dark wizards is getting higher and higher… There are reports of injuries every day, and deaths are not uncommon…” This is why Professor McGonagall, as an upright vice-principal, did not vote against introducing dark magic courses. “Even a battle-hardened wizard like Neville is not immune to injuries, let alone the children… The Man of Dark Arts has clearly been completely defeated, but the number of Death Eaters seems to be increasing!”

“This is after we’ve reinstated large-scale executions!” Professor Sprout also couldn’t hide his worry. “These dark wizards are like devil vines, growing wildly in the shadows, waiting to drag everyone who passes by into the dark and strangle them.”

“Oh! I almost forgot to ask. What about the Sorting Hat? Without it, we wouldn’t even know which house to send a freshman to.” The steps at the entrance of the Great Hall were where the two would go their separate ways, and Professor McGonagall stopped there to ask one last question.

“It’s wonderful. Who would care about a hat that’s barely better than a rag? Only when Neville pulls Gryffindor’s sword out of it will the dark wizards recognize it as the Sorting Hat, which holds the thoughts of the four great wizards.” Professor Sprout patted McGonagall’s arm, signaling her to relax. “Hannah will return the hat under the protection of the Aurors. They’ll definitely make it in time for the Sorting Ceremony.”

Sorting cap.

Ivy, who had overheard the entire conversation from the shadows, felt a slight stirring in her heart. Although the tattered hat was not very appealing, it was still a genuine relic of the four great masters, and according to legend, it even belonged to Gryffindor himself.

If living beings like Harry and Nagini can become Voldemort's Horcruxes, is it possible for a talking hat to do the same?
Ivy secretly increased her focus on the Sorting Hat, and then went down the stairs.

As a fifth-year student living in Hogwarts a hundred years ago, Ivy had several secret hideouts in the castle.

The Room of Requirement on the eighth floor and the map room on the ground floor were his most frequented places. He just didn't know if the "fifth-grade student" in this timeline was like him.

In addition to these two secret rooms, there is Salazar Slytherin's study hidden in the Slytherin common room, the Slytherin Chamber beneath the castle, and the secret arcade behind the clock at the end of a corridor.

These places could all become secret hideouts for "fifth-year students." Regardless of whether he was from Slytherin like Ivy, as long as two Slytherin students of the same year were connected, it would be easy to discover these secret bases hidden in the castle.

One of them is an action-oriented individual dedicated to studying dark magic, while the other is a blind boy trapped in the shadow of his bloodline.

Compared to the weaklings of Hogwarts' Class of '91, these two boys, also from Slytherin, are the real tough guys.

He mastered the three Unforgivable Curses through self-study in fifth grade. If it weren't for the fact that "fifth graders" were active in that era, he would definitely be a potential Dark Lord.

The secret passage leading to the map's hidden chamber was covered in dust, and no one had been there for who knows how many years. But the closer Ivy got to the underground, the more she could hear rustling sounds reaching her ears.

As they went deeper, the jumbled sounds gradually formed complete sentences, and someone was talking in the map-filled secret room, using Parseltongue.

"Where has your master gone..." The voice was old and weak, as if it was just one breath away from catching the train to the afterlife.

“Sorry… I can’t tell you…” another voice, full of youthful energy, said, “Have something to eat, grandpa, or he’ll get angry again… Do you prefer rats or fish from the Black Lake? They feel great as they slide down your throat and into your stomach, I bet you’ll like them…”

"Someone's coming!" The young voice quickly became alert, scales scribbled rapidly on the floor, and then silence fell.

"Tom's got another basilisk?" Ivy looked at the prisoner and his guard in the map-filled chamber with surprise. "Don't worry, I mean no harm. Tom and I are old friends."

Upon hearing the snake language uttered by him, both the basilisk as thick as a forearm and the prisoner chained in the darkness looked over.

(End of this chapter)