102: Christmas Holiday

As Christmas approached, professors from various subjects began assigning a lot of homework.

Ivan and Hermione, both academic prodigies, didn't worry about it at all. In fact, Hermione even felt that the homework was too little and didn't offer enough challenge.

Perhaps because of Penelope, a high-achieving senior, Hermione and Parvati had started studying with her more often.

Harry continued guiding Ronald, the new addition, and occasionally Neville joined as well. However, the three of them often fumbled through and ended up losing points.

Professor Snape's contributions to their struggles certainly played a part.

Time flew by, and one snowy morning in mid-December, Hogwarts awoke to find everything covered in several feet of snow, with the lake frozen solid under a layer of ice.

Everyone was eagerly looking forward to the holiday.

In the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy decorating for Christmas. Holly and mistletoe garlands hung along the walls, and twelve towering Christmas trees stood all around, some decorated with glistening icicles, while others were lit with hundreds of flickering candles.

Ivan and Hermione bid farewell to Harry, and the others, then followed the rest of the students to the station.

He and Hermione sat across from each other on the train, each holding their pets, Yuumi and Crookshanks, in their laps.

"When we go back, does that mean we can't use magic anymore?" Hermione asked. "I read in Hogwarts, A History that only adult wizards are allowed to cast spells freely, and that underage wizards are monitored by the Trace."

"How do they monitor it?"

"With a magic trace?" Ivan replied.

The idea puzzled Hermione, but she wasn't too concerned about the monitoring itself. She had long accepted that underage wizards weren't allowed to perform magic outside of school.

"The Trace is a type of contract magic," Ivan explained. "Remember that list Professor McGonagall had us sign a week ago if we planned to go home?"

"That's the Trace?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"To be precise, it's a kind of agreement."

Ivan continued, "I expected this agreement to be signed during the summer holiday, but they had us do it at Christmas too."

Hermione didn't seem frustrated by the restriction; instead, she looked intrigued by the spell itself.

"Have you figured out anything about it?" she asked, quicker than Ivan anticipated. She cast a soundproof charm around their compartment to ensure no one overheard.

"I have a few ideas, but not much."

Under Dumbledore's careful guidance, Ivan had already mastered most aspects of white magic and transformation spells.

Ivan also had unique insights into alchemy and potions. However, the one area he hadn't truly explored was contract magic.

Dumbledore was cautious about allowing Ivan to study contract magic.

In the wizarding world, contracts held a strong binding power; an Unbreakable Vow, for example, had a lethal effect comparable to the Killing Curse.

"Are you running into any problems with it?" Hermione asked, hoping for a clue she could research further.

"Better not look for information on this topic," Ivan said, interrupting her thoughts.

He warned her that it was too risky, not because of the magic itself but due to the Ministry of Magic's restrictions.

"It seems you'll need to be patient this Christmas, Hermione."

Two weeks without spellcasting wasn't an issue for Hermione.

After all, there were plenty of books to read that didn't require a wand. Two weeks of studying would make her equally happy.

"Incredible," Hermione remarked. "The Trace can actually give you trouble."

"I'm not omnipotent." Ivan smiled, shaking his head, his eyes glinting silver. "The Trace is, at its core, an interactive monitoring spell. It's quick to respond, but it lacks precision."

"It isn't accurate?"

"In short, while the Trace can detect if a young wizard casts a spell, it can't pinpoint who exactly cast it," Ivan explained. "That's why students from wizarding families don't have to worry about the Trace if they have adults around."

"I can see a golden thread wrapped around us," Ivan said, raising his hand.

In his sight, the golden, translucent energy thread looked like a bracelet on his wrist. Hermione, along with almost every young wizard heading home, carried this same trace.

"Interesting magic," Ivan remarked, shaking his hand, his face calm and collected. "The challenge isn't breaking the Trace but doing it quietly."

The Trace wasn't on the wand itself but rather on the wizard, so even if you used another person's wand, the Trace would still detect it.

"But here's something odd," Ivan noted. "You can't shake off the Trace by changing wands. But, it seems the Trace can't detect wandless magic."

This baffled Ivan most, as it didn't align with the idea that the Trace was bound to the wizard.

No, perhaps it wasn't entirely impossible to detect wandless magic.

If someone near the young wizard casts a spell, whether it's wandless or not, the Trace will detect it. This was how Dobby managed to get Harry in trouble back in second year in the original story.

"It doesn't seem to make much difference for you, Ivan?"

"Not really," Ivan replied. "But you'd need to hide your wand first."

The wand itself has a range of trace detection. Within that range, even casting a spell wandlessly will still trigger the Trace. So, you'd need to keep the wand far enough away before casting without it.

"Can we sit here?"

Parvati and her sister Padma stood outside the compartment. Ivan and Hermione picked up their cats from the seats beside them and placed them on their laps.

"So?~ What are you talking about?" Parvati asked casually as she sat down.

Padma seemed a bit more reserved. She took a seat next to Ivan, sitting carefully and occasionally glancing at him. But each time she'd quickly look away, worried he might notice.

This repeated several times, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"Talking about the Trace."

Ivan didn't elaborate, just gave a brief mention.

"Oh," said Parvati. "It really feels limiting, doesn't it? Learning magic but not being allowed to use it feels pointless. Isn't that right, Padma?"

"Huh?" Padma was caught off guard when her sister called her name. "What?"

Her cheeks flushed a little, and she did her best to look forward, avoiding any eye contact with Ivan.

Parvati raised an eyebrow, playfully tapping her sister's leg before turning to Ivan. "She gets shy around our first-year genius wizard."

At this, Padma blushed deeper and started playfully pushing at her sister, embarrassed and a little annoyed.

Before long, Hermione, affected by the playful atmosphere, joined in the poking, and the three girls began laughing and teasing each other.

When the train arrived, Ivan and Hermione said their goodbyes at the station.

Mr. Granger had come to pick up his daughter and kindly offered Ivan a place to stay at their home.

"I should stop by the orphanage first," Ivan replied, explaining that he needed to check in to let them know he was safe, which was important to him.

"Alright then," Mr. Granger said. "You're welcome to visit us anytime."

"I will," Ivan replied with a smile, nodding as he watched Mr. Granger and Hermione head off.

"Meow~~"

Yuumi purred contentedly in Ivan's arms. After four months, she'd grown nearly as large as an ordinary house cat.

"Let's head home," Ivan said, leaving the station and idly twirling his delicate sycamore wand.

He had changed into regular Muggle clothes, so no one around him paid attention to the small wooden stick in his hand.

"I'll be apart from you for a bit," he murmured to the wand.

The sycamore wand warmed in his hand, as if responding to his words. The Phoenix magic within him merged with his blood, but the wand itself still held a sense of loyalty and its own quiet will.

Sensing its reluctance, Ivan gently reassured it, "Sorry."

He was reluctant too, but he had no choice.

The traceless extension charm on the bag couldn't prevent the trace from tracking spells cast nearby. So, to cast spells safely without alerting the Aurors, Ivan needed to keep his wand away from himself.

However, storing a wand securely while keeping it at a distance posed its own problem.

Fortunately, he had already solved that.

"Secret Wardrobe!"

Yes, the secret space could indeed block the trace. Ivan recalled that whenever he entered the secret space, the golden thread wrapped around his wrist would start to dissipate.

He realized he should have figured this out earlier.

The secret space clearly didn't belong to the "wizarding world," nor was it like "Hogwarts," where spells could be cast without tracking.

...

It was essentially the same as the Muggle world in the eyes of the wizarding world.

"But I can cast spells in there, and the Ministry of Magic didn't notice anything~"

It seemed the secret space could isolate itself from contract magic.

"Still, it's not entirely certain," he thought.

Ivan was tempted to try an experiment, like having two people make an unbreakable vow, then bringing one into the secret space to see if breaking the vow there would bypass the contract's effects.

If the secret space truly had the power to sever contracts, breaking an unbreakable vow inside it might have no consequences, right?

But if..

Ivan sighed and put the troubling thought out of his mind. He didn't want to become the kind of scientist obsessed with dangerous experiments.

Power was tempting, but human emotions were valuable too.

"You have to keep a balance," he reminded himself.

Returning to the grandiose manor—the orphanage where he had grown up, he took out the gifts he'd brought and some treats for the children.

Additionally, Ivan noted that magical items like his traceless extension bag couldn't be detected by the trace.

"What a rudimentary piece of contract magic," he thought with a smirk, pushing open the door and soon finding himself warmly welcomed by the children.

It was a peaceful night.

The next morning, Ivan formally said goodbye to the director, caretaker, and the children.

As far as they knew, he had met a generous benefactor who had adopted him.

In reality, that "benefactor" was Ivan himself in disguise.

All the documents were crafted by Ivan, entirely legal and aboveboard, with no loopholes for anyone to find.

"Adopting yourself… I bet no one's ever done that before," Ivan mused, settling into the taxi and directing the driver to the manor he'd purchased.

The entire estate sprawled over a vast area, with a villa covering more than 400 square meters, surrounded by nearly 1,600 square meters of grass and woodland.

Snow-white stone walls encircled the property, and an elegant, old-fashioned iron gate stood as the sole entrance to the villa.

A group of financial experts in sharp suits waited by the gate for their employer—Ivan himself.

"Go all in on short positions, just as I instructed," Ivan commanded.

Using his Metamorph ability, Ivan had disguised himself as a young man in his twenties, with short silver hair, a tall and poised demeanor, a handsome face, and an air of refined elegance.

It wasn't just appearance that made him compelling; his employees couldn't refuse his orders.

Ivan was no longer the person he had been before.

His powerful magic allowed him to handle even modern weapons with ease. Even with the Ministry of Magic's watchful eye, Ivan felt confident—he was hardly intimidated by a handful of passive bureaucrats.

With his resolve and skill, Ivan felt that, if necessary, he could likely take on the entire Ministry single-handedly.

Of course, that was assuming Dumbledore didn't intervene.

Ivan felt a mixture of fear and gratitude toward Dumbledore.

Truthfully, if he could avoid it, Ivan didn't want to become an enemy of the old headmaster.

Thankfully, Dumbledore understood people's hearts well and wasn't as stern or quick-tempered as he sometimes appeared in the later parts of the series.

Ivan saw Dumbledore as a genuinely kind old man—so kind that it could almost be off-putting.

It was clear that the headmaster truly cared for talented students like him, hoping to guide Ivan along the right path. Sometimes, it's hard to repay a favor, Ivan thought, reflecting on Dumbledore's teachings, McGonagall's care, the trust of other professors, and the friendship of Hermione and Harry. He wasn't the solitary, silent person he once was.

"Go on," he said, dismissing the workers.

As a wizard, he didn't have much in common with ordinary people; they just needed to work for him and help manage his finances.

"Meow~~" Yuumi leapt from behind the sofa onto Ivan's shoulder, then settled back down beside him.

The little cat seemed a bit overwhelmed by the size of the manor. It was understandable—such a large estate, and yet it was just Ivan living here, making it feel rather empty.

"Come on, let's explore. This is our home now."

Ivan placed Yuumi on the floor and strolled around the hall with her, examining the rooms. "Oh, and we should send an owl with an invitation to Senior Penelope," he reminded himself, smiling.

He hoped she'd like it here.

Senior Penelope had agreed to be his assistant (or rather, his "secretary") for the next two weeks, diving into the Muggle world with him and gaining some firsthand knowledge.

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