From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 606: Impatient
Sturhavan is never a place that stays the same.

This is, after all, a university that teaches magic, and magic is knowledge that can be mastered by individuals and has the greatest power to change the world.

However, the traces left by students when experimenting with spells usually don't last long on campus.

Arcane golems flit about, and construct gardeners tend to the gardens and lawns. These magical creations are known for their efficiency; usually, a single night is enough to restore the students' traces to their original state, then post a compensation bill on the perpetrator's dormitory door.

However, the Student Affairs Department will retain certain magical effects that can add color to the campus after careful evaluation.

For example, the artificial lake in front of Ivy.

Judging from its appearance, it must be the masterpiece of quantitative analysis students. The artificial lake has a perfectly circular outline, with multiple layers of mirror-like flowing water unfolding in the center, forming a beautiful geometric flower. The staggered height differences allow these magical fountains to draw transparent curtains, reflecting the light transmitted by the golden sun.

This is by no means a naturally formed beautiful scene, but rather a meticulously designed masterpiece.

"Haaah——"

The rude shouts disturbed Ivy's leisurely mood as she enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Accompanying the shouts was an arrogant incantation.

The ripples that spread towards the lake edge rolled back into ice crystals, then shattered into icebergs, forcing the mirror-like fountain in the center of the lake to the brink of destruction.

However, this idea was too arrogant; the freezing spell's acquisition of power did not enable it to achieve its goal. The magical rune base plane that constituted the mirror fountain had merely tilted, shattering its meticulously crafted elegance.

In Ivy's opinion, the current design of the artificial lake and fountain is more pleasing to the eye.

Standing by the lake, panting heavily, the culprit was a giant mage. Judging from her red and blue school uniform, she belonged to the Cui Li Academy.

This giant mage has blue skin, hands and feet that are much longer than human's, pointed ears, and fangs that protrude from his lips.

Colorful watercolors, bristling paintbrushes, and a canvas lay at her feet. On the canvas was an unfinished landscape painting, clearly depicting the artificial lake and the golden sun in front of her.

She cursed a few times in troll slang and spat into the lake. Then she pulled a shiny bottle from a canvas bag hidden under a tree and poured something into her mouth.

The strong smell of alcohol wafted into his nostrils on the breeze, and Ivy felt he could no longer ignore it. After all, he was, after all, the official Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Stresehaven.
"Ahem." As Ivy approached the troll scholar, she cleared her throat, announcing her arrival.

The giant mage clearly hadn't expected anyone else to be there. He hurriedly hid the wine bottle behind his back and turned to glare at Ivy.

"What brings you here?" the troll asked gruffly, while scrutinizing Ivy's attire, trying to discern which academy he came from.

Ivy didn't answer, but turned to look at the lake frozen by the trolls, and the iceberg that had crashed into the mirror fountain and was being constantly eroded and broken by the flowing water, with ice crystals falling off.

The troll mage shook the bracelet on his arm in frustration; the artistically patterned metal ornaments clinked together. "Sorry... I'm not—"

"Are you worried about your final evaluations?" Ivy asked.

As a full-fledged professor at Strelhaven, Ivy knew very well how the five houses conducted final exams, since grades were always a teacher's weapon, no matter the school.

In addition to written and practical tests, the Academy of Elegance also requires students to submit a work of art as part of their final assessment. Whether it's sculpture, painting, or costume, students are required to incorporate their own magical concepts.

With the Battle Tower Tournament reaching its final stage, it meant that the regular exams were over. Apart from a very few students who applied for postponement of their assessments, Ivy couldn't think of any other reason not to go to the Arch Tavern or Splashing Fire Cafe for a wild party.

“I just…” The giant mage tried to defend himself, but gave up after Ivy’s gaze shifted to the watercolor painting at her feet.

"That's right! I'm just a big fool who can't make it to the delayed evaluation!" The giant mage resignedly pulled the bottle out from behind his back and took a big gulp.

The pungent smell of alcohol once again assaulted Avia's senses, which were temporarily human.

"It's not a product provided by the school... Did you make it yourself?" Ivy asked after failing to find the label on the bottle.

“Wrinkled amaranth wine,” the giant mage shook the bottle. “It’s just a little personal touch.”

"Did it help with your final evaluation?" Ivy asked again.

"What! Of course not!" The troll glared at Ivy, then took a retaliatory gulp of wrinkled amaranth wine; the bottle was empty.

"If I've disturbed your enjoyment of the scenery, then I apologize! If there's nothing else, I'm leaving! Anyway, you won't see me again after tomorrow..." The giant mage roughly stuffed the empty bottle back into his canvas bag and began cleaning up the mess on the ground.

Ivy snapped her fingers, and the giant magician's scattered tools instantly flew into the air. The watercolor paints spilled on the lawn put themselves back into their paint boxes, the bristly brushes became smooth and distinct again, and the overturned easels and canvases jumped together, quietly waiting for their owner to tie them up and take them away.

The troll, who had been bending down to clean up the mess, stood up again and glared angrily at Ivy: "Stop showing off your superior skills!"

"As payment for helping me pack, tell me about the professor who's going to expel you." Ivy ignored the troll's sudden anger and instead made his request. He knew very well that complaining about teachers was something that would resonate with students.

The troll's expression froze: "Dean Uvita... she teaches very well... I just had no choice but to fulfill—um... the request."

"Whose request was it? Uvita's? Or yours?" Ivy continued before the troll mage could answer. "Your magic is good, but only good. If you want to destroy someone else's work, you should at least be more unrestrained, instead of creating a bunch of ice crystals scattered everywhere." The iceberg the trolls used to freeze the artificial lake and destroy the mirror fountain had already collapsed halfway, and a large number of ice crystals floated on the surface, reflecting the light of the golden sun that was about to sink below the horizon.

“You don’t understand.” The troll swung its large feet backward.

“Of course I don’t understand. But I can tell you’re just imitating.” Ivy continued to critique the art school’s troll magician. “A clumsy imitation. Orderly, neat magic isn’t your forte.”

The troll took a short breath, as if facing the question for the first time: "The Squillatter family..."

“I don’t have time to listen to your stories.” Ivy interrupted the troll mage’s recollection and began casting a spell on her own. “Especially stories about family traditions, childhood traumas, and personal pursuits. You’re not the only spellcaster in the world who has been crushed by talent.”

The ice crystals on the lake surface began to surge again, and the semi-frozen lake surface quickly froze over, with a series of crisp cracking sounds.

"Control and release, refinement and display are never opposing principles."

One by one, ice crystals submerged in the lake flew out, swirling into a whirlwind, a massive ice storm. The howling wind made the giant mage's face turn pale, but she could still clearly hear Ivy's steady voice.

"You've been living in your own little world for too long. The world is much bigger than you think."

Suddenly, two silver snakes emerged from the ice storm and began to fight each other. The ice blocks they collided with exploded into a sky full of ice mist. Even smaller crystals refracted the last rays of the golden sun, creating thousands of shimmering suns in the sky above the frozen artificial lake.

The mirror fountain, designed with precise calculations, continues to operate stably, but its flawless logical charm can only succumb to the larger and more magnificent mirage.

The brilliant sun that Ivy created not only shone in the secluded corners of Strathaiven, but also shone in the hearts of the giant mages.

Just as she was completely absorbed in the moment, a crisp snap of her fingers brought everything to an end.

Whether it was the ice storm on the artificial lake, the twin ice dragons battling each other, or the vast ice mist refracting a thousand suns, they all vanished in an instant.

The perfect artificial lake and mirrored fountain remain in place, like an unfinished landscape painting. The cold, logical charm is still there, but no one can remain unmoved after witnessing a true work of magical art.

The giant mage knelt on the ground, his jaw agape for a long time: "What was that... how did you..."

“I don’t have time to explain the principles to you, Miss.” Ivy turned and walked to the other side. “If you don’t want to be expelled, you need to submit at least a record to the Dean of the Academy. Hopefully, what I’ve seen today will give you some artistic inspiration.”

"Who are you?" the troll roared. "Why are you helping me?"

Ivy turned to look at her, her cheeks a vibrant purple from excitement and dilated capillaries.

The giant mage shrank his large hands and feet, and tried to appear calm as he introduced himself: "I am Rusa! Rusa Squyhart."

“Nice to meet you, Miss Squillahart. I am Ivy Doom, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.” Ivy nodded. “But don’t get me wrong, I’m not helping you. I’m just venting. Or to put it more bluntly, throwing a tantrum.”

The fire giant's loud laughter reached Ivy's ears from a great distance.

Nasari, the Fire Giant and Dean of the Academy of Splendor, floated across the calm lake, the surging flames beneath his feet causing no ripples.

“If that was just a matter of venting emotions, then ninety percent of the artwork on the Brilliant Trail would be garbage.” The fire giant with the stylish mustache nodded to Ivy. “It’s a pleasure to see you, Professor Doom. As soon as I heard you were back in Strider, I couldn’t help but leave Ogota’s office. I never expected to find you so close to the Academy of the Brilliant.

The fire giant Nathari stood in front of Ivy, stroked his mustache, and said in surprise, "You've changed a bit... You've made new progress again? That's really... Well, when are you going to do us a favor and lead our Dean to create a magic vortex for Cui Li? I think burning all that trash in the Stormwind District would be a good option."

The Stormwind District is the abandoned art warehouse of the Elite Academy. However, since the abandoned art from Elite Academy consists of all sorts of magical creations, that unattended warehouse has always been one of the most dangerous places in Streihaven, after all, the spellcasters' artistic creations are the most diverse.

It is said that the Fire Giant Dean in front of us submitted an earthquake that almost destroyed three campus buildings during his first performance evaluation.

Ivy has quite a few tasks to complete these days, and creating a magic vortex is not something that can be done with a flick of the finger. Even with the incantations left behind by the five founding dragons as a precedent, imitating the Stryhaven magic vortex to create a new magical vortex is still a difficult task.

The coordination of the deans is essential, but the right timing and location are also necessary.

Just as Ivy was about to make an excuse, the impatient fire giant spoke up again: "Of course I know you're a very busy person, with many research topics to study and now your own territory. I dare say we all hate the unchanging Streihaven—so rest assured, I absolutely support your decision—to open a new admissions office to welcome new students from other universes? I like that suggestion!"

Ivy rolled her eyes inwardly. You've said both the truth and the sarcasm, so what am I supposed to say?
“Perhaps research on magic vortexes should also be discussed at the inter-departmental conference. If we can establish a research group that connects all the deans, then perhaps we can equip all five major academies with their own magic vortexes.” The incantation used by the founding dragon to create magic vortexes is actually not complicated, but the person who can lead all the deans and integrate their power is none other than Ivy.

With the five founding dragons now largely detached from worldly affairs, even the current Holy Prophet himself lacks the capacity to lead the ten Deans in unleashing the Strychian incantation. If a research group truly were formed focusing on magic vortices, Ivy would undoubtedly be at its core. His opinions on where to create magic vortices and which ones to create would be paramount considerations.

"Hahaha!" The fire giant let out a laugh as enthusiastic as its flames. "I love this proposal! Are you free tonight, Professor Doom? I have a fine wine I'd like to sample, and I've been looking for the right companion!"

“It’s an honor to have the chance to appreciate Dean Nasari’s collection. I—” Ivy was about to agree when a communication from the Goddess of Death made him change his mind. “I’m so sorry. It seems I have to go back to the lab. There’s been a small problem with my project.”

“Do you need any help?” Nasari asked eagerly. “As far as I know, Dean Valentine would be happy to help.”

“If I need help, I will definitely ask him for it. But for now, I can handle it.” Ivy declined Nasari’s suggestion and hurriedly left the artificial lakeside, leaving the students of the Cui Li Academy to Dean Cui Li.

(End of this chapter)