The next morning, upon waking, Dylan found a note on the dining table.
-- His parents were back.
"Finally decided to come home, huh?"
Dylan walked over, intending to read the note. He'd assumed it was from his mum and dad, reminding him there was breakfast in the fridge.
But it turned out to be...
-- Son, your mum and I got back too late and didn't have time to make anything. Could you whip up some food for us and put it in the fridge? Then you can go about your own business. We'll grab it ourselves when we wake up.
"...?"
Dylan pursed his lips.
He was speechless!
Luckily, no other wizards were watching, and his own use of magic wouldn't attract anyone's attention – even though he'd signed that so-called "leaving school guarantee."
Therefore, Dylan had already planned to get up and make himself something fresh to eat. He just made his parents' meal while he was at it.
Arriving in the kitchen, he found plenty of ingredients in the fridge. Dylan didn't even need to lift a finger himself. Yesterday, among the ten fully mastered household spells he'd cast, several were food charms.
Using the spells for rapid peeling, meticulous slicing, heating the pot and oil, and quick searing and cooking, Dylan had a rather lavish meal prepared in what felt like mere moments.
-- He didn't use blazing oil to crisp anything.
Because eating something that greasy first thing in the morning wasn't ideal.
Dylan devoured his own portion in a flash. Sitting at the table, he leisurely flipped his hand over, conjuring a bottle of Obsidian Restorative.
-- This was the highest-grade potion he'd researched, boasting the best quality and effects.
Popping the cork, Dylan dripped a few drops into the portions he'd set aside for his parents. Then, he casually picked up a spoon and stirred it a few times to ensure the restorative was thoroughly mixed into the food.
"Getting on in years, still out partying till all hours... they really know how to cause worry," Dylan muttered as he stirred.
Once he figured it was ready, he got up again and grabbed a roll of cling film from the kitchen. He expertly sealed the plates of food tightly. Then, he opened the fridge and placed the wrapped plates inside, even taking a moment to tidy up the fridge so his parents would see the meal he'd prepared at first glance.
Having done all that, Dylan casually used a Scourgify charm to clean the plate he'd used and returned it to the cupboard. Only then did he leave the house.
Dylan was curious to try out Apparition with the Killing Curse. After a moment's thought, he put on his Shadow Ring before leaving. Even the wand's visual effects were set to colorless.
Dylan raised his wand, and an invisible jet of magic shot forth, carrying a concealed deathly whisper, speeding upwards.
Just then, Dylan's mind raced. Suddenly, the magic around him surged violently. Space gave a slight tremor. Dylan vanished from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was already high in the sky, behind the trajectory of the Killing Curse. The wind whipped at his robes, making them snap. The Killing Curse continued to fly into the distance, though it was gradually dissipating.
Before he could even steady himself, gravity took hold. Dylan began to plummet rapidly. However, he didn't panic in the slightest. His gaze was steady as he adjusted his posture mid-fall.
Clutching his wand in his right hand, he put force into his arm and fired another Killing Curse at a 45-degree angle into the distance. The instant the Killing Curse flew away, the magic around Dylan erupted again, creating imperceptible ripples in the air.
Dylan flashed away once more. He'd traversed quite a distance horizontally this time.
"Hmm, could be a surprise move in a duel, but it's a bit silly for just getting around," Dylan mused.
His body continued to fall, the wind howling in his ears, the ground rushing towards him at an alarming speed. But in the next instant, an invisible and transparent wave rippled around Dylan without warning, enveloping him. His downward momentum instantly ceased.
His body, which had been falling rapidly, now hung steadily in mid-air, his hair flying wildly in the wind, the edges of his robes still swaying from inertia.
"But even if I could suddenly close the distance during a duel, so what? Why would a wizard engage in close combat? Unless I somehow get my hands on the Sword of Gryffindor," Dylan muttered, unimpressed.
He directly used a Flying Charm, speeding towards his manor in Herefordshire.
-- Of course, now the manor should be called Hawkwood Manor.
Upon arriving, Dylan took a look around. His manor spanned a good eighty-two acres, roughly three hundred thousand square meters. It was undeniably vast.
"Now this is what I call a manor!"
The entire county of Herefordshire was approximately 538,782 acres. His manor just took up a fraction of that.
Dylan hovered in the air, directly above the center of the manor. He wasn't in a rush to fully inspect the manor's layout. Instead, he waved his wand, intending to use the Fidelius Charm to encompass the entire estate.
-- Mature and skilled wizards can designate themselves as the Secret-Keeper while casting the Fidelius Charm.
If Dylan could successfully cast the spell, he could hide the manor's location and related secrets within his own soul, thus protecting the estate with the Fidelius Charm.
Swish.
The wand moved rapidly in Dylan's hand, and streams of invisible light burst from its tip. Unseen, transparent magic surged forth, imperceptible to anyone else.
Dylan took a deep breath, his lips moving rapidly as he chanted, syllables escaping from between his teeth, the wand dancing in his hand. The calm air rippled, space becoming viscous, as if unseen spiderwebs were pulling and twisting it.
Centered on Dylan, invisible magic spread outwards, gradually outlining a massive and intricate magical array. The threads of the spell ran through it, attempting to envelop the entire manor. Although invisible to the naked eye, a palpable sense of pressure filled the air, the magical fluctuations causing the surrounding flora and fauna to tremble slightly.
As the incantation reached its crucial moment, Dylan frowned slightly. He felt the spell casting wasn't going smoothly. Sure enough, just as the magic was about to cover the entire manor, the invisible magical array suddenly shuddered violently.
Pop.
A faint sound, almost imperceptible, echoed. The magic dissipated quickly.
"Even a nearly fully mastered Fidelius Charm can't cover such a large area?" Dylan muttered, disappointed.
It seemed that turning the entire eighty-two-acre manor into a secret, hidden deep within his soul, wasn't an easy task. Either he'd have to wait until he fully mastered the Fidelius Charm, perhaps then he'd have a chance, or he'd have to see if he could manage it after reaching his magical peak as an adult.
After a moment's thought, Dylan realized that while he couldn't directly shroud the entire manor in a single Fidelius Charm, turning it into one big secret, that didn't mean he couldn't do it in sections.
Dylan flew to the villa area of the manor and pointed his wand. Instantly, magic surged forth, quickly covering the villa and the Quidditch pitch not far away. Dylan, as the Secret-Keeper, turned this area into a secret, burying it within his soul.
As for the other areas, the manor itself connected to hills and plains. This large portion was his territory, and it already had Muggle-Repelling Charms in place. Ordinary Muggles couldn't approach it. And other wizards – if Dylan wasn't planning on doing anything too strange on this part of the land, they wouldn't notice anything even if they passed by. After all, the most likely place to reveal that this was a wizarding manor was now hidden. The other parts could be left alone for now.
-- He certainly didn't need to encompass an entire mountain or plain directly.
"When I have time, I should ask old Dumbledore to teach me some more spells, like Anti-Disapparition Charms."
In fact, Dylan hadn't even learned to Apparate yet. He hadn't found any record of that spell in any books. It seemed he'd probably have to learn it from the professors. However, he'd previously sounded them out. Even though his current strength was already considerable, the professors still had reservations about teaching him to Apparate. After all, the dangers of that spell were such that even adult wizards couldn't always master it. The slightest mistake could lead to splinching, which was a very serious consequence.
Therefore, Professor McGonagall had told him that the Apparition spell – she would definitely teach it. But it had to be taught rhythmically, with foresight. It wasn't that she wouldn't teach it, but rather she would teach it gradually, slowly, methodically, and adjustably, from a high quantity of teaching to a high quality of teaching, promoting development, and combining practical situations with long-term goals. Teaching wasn't something to be done casually, but rather through careful consideration, with planning and steps, for sustainable strategic development.
-- Although she didn't say it exactly like that, that was the general gist.
Dylan couldn't help but marvel at Professor McGonagall's foresight.
Removing the Shadow Ring and breaking the Disillusionment Charm, Dylan walked steadily through the mansion. Although the goblins were responsible for managing the manor, they didn't come to clean it regularly. After all, Gringotts owned so many properties that even sending out their entire staff wouldn't be enough to clean them all daily. So, while the mansion was luxurious, it had accumulated a fair amount of dust. There weren't many stains, though – indeed, as the old goblin had said, they had completely cleaned the entire villa once.
The wand in Dylan's hand moved gently, invisible magic escaping along its path. Dylan used a Scouring Charm to remove the thin layer of dust from the walls. In no time, both the floor tiles and the walls were restored to a bright and clean state, gleaming like mirrors.
With Dylan's steps, magic flowed from him, surging everywhere. The entire villa was thoroughly cleaned from the inside out. The once slightly old and dim house was now brand new, every corner radiating a fresh and bright atmosphere, shining brilliantly in the sunlight.
"It seems there's still a certain gap between the fully mastered spells I've achieved through my own efforts and the truly fully mastered spells rewarded by the system. They're both 'fully mastered,' but the level isn't exactly the same," Dylan mused.
He had long since fully mastered the Cleaning Charm through frequent use. However, even so, the system had still rewarded him with a fully mastered version of the same spell. After receiving the reward, Dylan clearly felt that even though his own mastery was complete, it still fell short of the true full mastery. His understanding of the seemingly ordinary Cleaning Charm had also deepened.
This made Dylan think of another possibility. "Could it be that even 'fully mastered' isn't the true end point?"
In fact, this possibility wasn't entirely out of the question. After all, even a spell that had reached full mastery could still have characteristics added to it, thus granting it new abilities. So, could that still be considered fully mastered? And even if those characteristics were fully mastered, would that be the true full mastery?
Dylan had actually pondered this question before. To truly understand it, the essence wasn't that complicated. Because once a spell reached full mastery, any subsequent changes to it, whether in its effects or the incantation itself – making it different from what it was before – could naturally be considered a different spell altogether. This viewpoint wasn't difficult to grasp.
In other words, even if he had mastered the Cleaning Charm, he could still expand upon it, either by refining the spell and adding new characteristics, or by incorporating his own understanding into the spell, causing it to change – which was the secondary spell-shaping that Professor McGonagall had once taught him. Even a third or fourth time... Then, a spell that had already reached full mastery could even potentially drop to level one in proficiency after becoming a new spell. This was a possibility.
Dylan's mind briefly considered this before he temporarily put the matter aside. He looked at the murals that had originally been on the walls of the manor, left by the previous owner. They were just ordinary paintings, serving only as decoration, with nothing particularly special about them.
Dylan walked down a corridor, looked back, and suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Why don't I also turn my manor into a Hogwarts?"
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Of course – of course! The Hogwarts Dylan was referring to wasn't about turning his manor into a school. It was about turning his manor into a magical manor. Generally speaking, the portraits in Hogwarts were mostly able to move – unlike these ordinary murals. Even more, the portraits in Hogwarts could retain the thoughts and ideas, wisdom and insights of the wizards themselves, allowing them to communicate and interact with people outside the portraits.
Dylan really wanted to create some such portraits. These things were similar to Horcruxes in a way. But the only difference was that portraits didn't require the wizard to split their soul – and certainly didn't require the sacrifice of an innocent soul who had died tragically first. To create these lifelike portraits, a wizard only needed to use magical spells and special techniques to imbue specific memories or personality traits into the image, and allow the image to capture and store this information. In this way, the characters or scenes in the image could possess a certain spirituality and dynamic effect.
The more effort and magic a powerful wizard put into a portrait, the closer the resulting image would be to that wizard's true self. The higher the intelligence of the characters in the portrait would also be. If Dumbledore were to create such portraits, as long as he put his heart into it, the final masterpieces would definitely be like the portraits in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts – they could even use the magic the wizard himself knew!
"I should write letters to the professors, hoping they can create the portraits before school starts – although I'm not in a particular rush to put them in my manor," Dylan thought. Once this idea formed in his mind, he was almost certain that it was something he definitely wanted to do. It was just that he wasn't particularly anxious about when the professors could create them for him.
"I hope Professor Snape doesn't add his pet snake to the portrait when he makes it. He can't even win an argument with me in person," Dylan chuckled softly. "Besides, even the real him can't beat me in a debate, let alone a portrait. If the portrait of Professor Snape gets so angry that he refuses to show his face every day, who will I even talk to?"
Dylan hummed a little tune, casually tidying up the Quidditch pitch along the way. Afterwards, he didn't linger in the mansion but instead flew back into the air.
"This manor, well, there's no need to plant too much here for now. It can serve as a backup station for my pet space," he decided. Once all the plants and animals in the manor matured, he could directly harvest them into his pet space. This way, he could raise them in two places.
Regardless, even though he had spent a full one million Galleons to activate the space's self-circulation, meaning the ecosystem's self-sufficiency that could allow the space to rapidly breed creatures, Dylan still felt it wasn't enough. However, given that the space wasn't yet very large, Dylan wasn't in a hurry to enrich the variety of creatures. He'd let everything come along slowly.
After inspecting his Hawkwood Manor, it was still early, so Dylan went to a nearby safe house. It was a small, dilapidated house in a pure-blood wizarding community. He used the Fidelius Charm on it as well, turning it into a secret and hiding it away. Dylan didn't even bother to tidy up before leaving. He didn't plan to live in this place. Therefore, there was no need to clean it – it was just a safe house for Dylan to escape to or use as a temporary stop in emergencies.
Having dealt with that safe house, Dylan leisurely returned home. It was only around evening time. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkwood hadn't gone out. Instead, they had prepared a table full of food for Dylan.
"Finally remembered they have a son," Dylan quipped.
Dylan ate dinner, chatted with his parents for a while, and even gave them some little trinkets from the wizarding world, like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in flavors like booger, earwax, and vomit.
As Dylan walked to his room and closed the door, he finally heard a series of retching sounds from his parents, who had been laughing sweetly just moments before.
Urgh! Urgh!
The smile didn't disappear; it simply moved to Dylan's face. He gently closed his bedroom door.
"Hope you two enjoy the sweets."
-- Among them were some particularly bizarre confections that the Weasley twins had specially researched and given to Dylan before he left school. Dylan was naturally reluctant to eat them all himself.
-- Wouldn't that be blatant selfishness?
As a thoughtful and kind son, he naturally had to let his parents also try some of the wizarding world's sweets and candies! This was called being happy to share!
"Oh, heavens, could there possibly be a more filial child in all the world than me?"
"Wait, maybe there is – Hermione did treat her parents to Obliviate."
"That's also quite the act of filial piety, perfectly compensating for the fact that her Muggle parents had never experienced a charm before."
Dylan understood Hermione's intentions very well and was happy to give her a mental thumbs-up.
In the following days, Dylan began to deal with the several safe houses he had managed to swindle from the old goblin. Besides placing the Fidelius Charm on all these properties, he also needed to create Portkeys. However, Dylan didn't plan to submit a registration application to the Ministry of Magic's Portkey Office for creating these Portkeys. Although creating Portkeys without authorization was a violation, the Ministry didn't have an effective means of detecting whether anyone had created unauthorized Portkeys. Just like Barty Crouch Jr. turning the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey, the Ministry hadn't detected or pursued it beforehand. Therefore, the only way for unauthorized Portkey creation to be discovered was through someone reporting it, or if something went wrong during the use of the Portkey, such as accidentally transporting Muggles to other locations, or if the use of the Portkey attracted Muggle attention, thereby alerting the Ministry. Then, the Ministry might launch an investigation. But this wasn't a difficult problem for Dylan to solve. With a Fidelius Charm in place, discovering his safe houses in the first place was no easy feat. Not to mention, he would never show his true face while using a Portkey.
"Once I have properties on other continents, and I make Portkeys for all of them, wouldn't that be the same as having a permanent Portkey network?" Dylan mused.
Dylan successfully placed the Fidelius Charm on three of the five properties. However, when he arrived at another property, the most dilapidated one, Dylan was surprised to find that there was already someone inside!
-- Before entering any of his houses, Dylan would always perform a divination first. It wasn't that he was afraid of dying, but simply that being cautious was always a good idea. He had successfully placed charms on the previous few properties. But this time, before entering, he saw in his divination that upon entering the house, he would suddenly bump into someone huddled in a corner. The two would immediately start fighting. The result, of course, was that Dylan successfully controlled the other person with an Imperius Curse and learned the identity of this wandering wizard...
-- Remus Lupin, who was about to become his third-year Defence Against the Dark Arts professor!
Wearing the Shadow Ring, Dylan looked with a complex expression at the house before him, nestled in a remote location. The stone blocks that formed the walls of the house were heavily weathered, and in many places, wild grass grew haphazardly from the cracks, swaying weakly in the wind. The roof tiles were incomplete, and sunlight could even shine directly into the house through the gaps without obstruction. Several windows hung crookedly on their frames, one of which had only half a pane left, looking somewhat like a hollow eye staring out at the desolation, and also staring back at him.
Dylan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided not to disturb Professor Lupin, who, due to his werewolf status, had difficulty finding paid work and was forced to wander around, barely making a living by doing odd jobs. In any case, this guy was going to be his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor in the second half of the year. This meant they would inevitably meet at school. So, should Dylan burst into the house now and either kill him directly or drive him away? Should he erase the other person's memory? Would that affect Dumbledore finding him and recruiting him to become a professor at Hogwarts? These were all very troublesome things. Dylan was a relatively trouble-averse person. Rather than causing so much trouble, it would be better to just leave now, and when the next holiday came and Lupin was already his professor living at Hogwarts, Dylan could then come back and turn this property into a safe house. It wouldn't affect anything.
"Old Dumbledore, oh old Dumbledore, do you know how much sacrifice I'm making so you can find a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor? You should just secretly be happy in your heart!" Dylan retreated silently.
"I wonder if there's a chance to get Professor Lupin to help me with some research."
Just as Dylan was gradually moving away, a head slowly emerged from the window with only half a pane left. His hair was slightly disheveled, and his eyes showed the signs of long-term fatigue. The old robes he wore hung loosely on his frame. It was Remus John Lupin. His brow was slightly furrowed, his gaze carrying a hint of doubt as he stared out of the window, seemingly having sensed something unusual. However, as he looked around, all he saw were wild grasses swaying in the wind and the desolate, silent wilderness. Lupin carefully scanned the area again, and after confirming that he had found nothing, he slowly withdrew.
After leaving the dilapidated safe house, Dylan didn't go directly to the last one. Instead, he returned home and spent a relatively uneventful month with his parents until July 31st. Only then did Dylan head to the final safe house. This property of his was located in a Muggle neighborhood in Surrey, England. The specific location was Number 9, Wisteria Walk, Little Whinging – a place very close to Number 4, Privet Drive.
After simply setting up the safe house and placing the Fidelius Charm on it, Dylan clapped his hands. "I should have asked that old goblin to get me one more property. Then this one could have been designated as the Seven Potters' location."
You see, the number seven was considered the most magical number. Voldemort divided his soul into seven pieces by creating Horcruxes. Even the names "Tom Riddle" and "Lord Voldemort," when counted, had a total of seven syllables. And in the elements of magic, there were many spells composed of seven letters. Even magical potions – like Polyjuice Potion – had seven ingredients. The Obsidian Restorative that Dylan had researched, after much deliberation, also had seven ingredients in its final, most effective formula. So, it had to be said, the number seven definitely held some significance. If Dylan could use this safe house as the seventh location to hide in, perhaps it might even trigger some good luck.
"However, Harry is Voldemort's sixth Horcrux. This is my last safe house, also the sixth location, and it's even near Harry's house. In a way, it wasn't my arrangement, but rather a destined coincidence." How could this not be considered a kind of luck? Dylan clicked his tongue.
"But speaking of which, it's 1993 now. Next year, Nagini will also be turned into a Horcrux by Voldemort, and right now, no one knows where she is." Dylan still wanted to research whether it was possible to reverse Nagini's condition – being affected by a blood curse, gradually turning into an animal form, and losing human memories and consciousness – through some means.
"But Nagini will appear in next year's events, so I'll just wait until next year to think about it."