Hogwarts' White Lord

"In eight months, Luna will enter Hogwarts."

"Before that, we need to prepare her path for growth~"

Luna's training direction is quite clear: she needs to continuously develop her soul attributes so she can access power from the dream dimension.

Ivan has limited time, and only a handful of wizards in the world possess Luna's unique talent.

Such talent shouldn't be wasted; it must be developed well!

After getting up and washing up, Ivan headed to the first-floor lobby and found that Penelope had already prepared breakfast.

Bacon, eggs, toast, and a glass of milk.

Yummy~

After breakfast, they both packed up their gifts.

Ivan had made a seamless extension bag for Penelope, which contained many of the Muggle items he'd modified over the past couple of weeks.

The Extension Charm and modification of Muggle items both violate Ministry of Magic laws.

But neither of them was concerned about that.

Ivan is strong enough, and Penelope has grown used to bending the rules.

Once it's done, what's there to worry about?

Penelope has never been one to fret over minor things.

After spending this time together, Ivan had a clearer understanding of Penelope.

She seemed cold on the outside but was warm-hearted. Outwardly reserved, she took special care of Ivan, her junior by four years, with the calm demeanor of an older sister.

"Let's go."

Ivan held out his hand, and she took it quickly.

Snap!

In the next moment, with a crisp sound, they disappeared from the manor.

"Ivan!"

"Senior Penelope!"

At the station entrance, the two heard the excited shout of a little witch as soon as they arrived.

"Hermione!"

Penelope greeted Hermione quietly, while Ivan went forward to speak with Mr. Granger.

As usual, Mr. Granger asked Ivan to look after Hermione, much to her exasperation.

There was no helping it; the concerned father drove off, secretly feeling that perhaps he'd been too protective? Nope!

As soon as her father left, Hermione ran to Ivan and excitedly began recounting her recent trip to Denmark.

Known as the land of fairy tales, Denmark is one of Europe's popular travel destinations.

Denmark is steeped in legends about magic and witches.

However, as a real witch, Hermione saw these stories from a different perspective. Looking through the lens of actual magic, she found that the portrayal of witches in Muggle stories was full of misconceptions.

"They think witches are ugly old women," Hermione said, frowning. "And in almost every story, they're the villains."

"It's all prejudice!"

Hermione went on, "Witches don't have warts, and they don't go around poisoning princesses with apples."

"What about you?" she asked, turning to Ivan and Penelope. "How did you spend Christmas?"

"Ivan showed me the world of Muggles," Penelope replied. "It was really exciting."

Hermione was about to keep chatting with Penelope, but unfortunately, as the Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope had duties to attend to.

On the trains going to and from Hogwarts, the prefects have their own carriages and tasks, including patrolling the train and helping younger students in need.

"Ivan!" called Parvati and Padma as they pushed their suitcases across Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Seeing them, Hermione quickly took out her magic materials to help carry their luggage.

"How was your Christmas vacation?" Parvati asked Hermione.

"Very good," Hermione replied. "I went to Denmark. How about you?"

"We went back to India," Parvati said, but her tone shifted, and she began to complain, "Believe me, it was definitely not a pleasant experience."

"Yeah, it was pretty terrible," Padma chimed in.

The sisters' parents were wizards from India, where the customs were quite different from those in England, with some social expectations that felt restrictive, especially towards women.

"The elders at home are so strict, and they have something to say about everything," Parvati went on. "It's like, if they don't point out every little fault, they think we'll be embarrassed when we go outside."

Padma was more reserved about it, adapting to the expectations with a quieter demeanor. But Parvati wasn't one to tolerate such restrictions quietly.

Learning magic with Ivan had broadened her outlook, and she knew just how powerful a skilled wizard could be.

In Parvati's opinion, the dark wizards back in her hometown weren't even comparable to what Ivan could do.

…

In the carriage, the four of them settled into their seats as they had on the way home. Ivan, a bit embarrassed, asked, "You didn't actually say that, did you? That would be a bit… extreme."

"How could I say that!" Parvati quickly covered her mouth, laughing. "I just thought about it."

"That's a relief…" Ivan said, genuinely concerned.

He didn't mind, but provoking others unnecessarily seemed foolish to him.

Luckily, Parvati and Padma weren't the type to show off recklessly like Ronald sometimes did.

They had simply compared their powerful Dark wizards with Ivan in their minds and concluded that Ivan was... well, impressive!

"By the way, what's magic like in India?" Ivan asked, genuinely curious.

Since coming into this world, he had encountered magic from various countries, each with its own distinct cultural style.

For example, Ivan knew that African wizards traditionally didn't use wands. Instead, they cast spells with their fingers and intricate gestures.

Moreover, African wizards had the unique ability to transform into multiple animals, unlike the Animagus transformation, which was limited to one animal form.

Ivan had once asked Dumbledore how African wizards managed this incredible feat.

Dumbledore explained that Africa was home to the greatest variety of magical creatures in the world.

The wizards there have lived alongside magical creatures since ancient times, which has given them a unique physicality different from that of wizards in other regions.

In Ivan's words, it's as though ancient magic still lingers in their very blood.

What they call "multiple animal transformations" resembles a kind of communal blood magic, unique to them. Wizards from other regions could never replicate their methods.

"Indian magic…" Parvati considered thoughtfully before saying, "Most of it is similar to the magic taught by Hogwarts professors. The main difference would be 'Dharma' and 'Maya.'"

"What's that?" Hermione asked, unfamiliar with these terms.

Parvati smiled, saying, "It's my translation; they're not actually called that."

She explained that India has no official magic school. There are eleven established magic schools worldwide, but only Mahoutokoro, located on Minami Iwo Jima in Japan, is in Asia.

"Without a magic school, magic in India is passed down differently than it is here," Parvati continued. "Mostly, it's a master-apprentice system, with one teacher guiding a group of students."

This model explained why terms like "Dharma" and "Maya" weren't widely known.

"They don't write magic down in books?" Hermione's eyes widened, the notion almost shocking to her.

"No, they don't," Parvati replied, dashing Hermione's expectations.

"Wouldn't it be easy to lose knowledge that way?" Ivan asked, voicing his concern.

Parvati replied, "They'd rather lose it than share their research with outsiders."

In India, magic is typically passed down through a master-student relationship, creating an organizational structure similar to a sect. This leads to a lot of division and conflict among wizards there.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that the Indian Ministry of Magic is probably the most challenging to manage of all the Ministries," she added.

"Also, in India, they don't use the term 'wizard'; they're known as 'ascetics.'"

Ivan nodded in understanding.

"Every country has its own unique terms, like in the East, where wizards are often called 'immortals.'"

"Yes!" Parvati agreed. "Eastern wizards aren't called wizards, priests, or anything similar; they're known as 'immortals.' Even though it's a bit embarrassing to use the term nowadays, it has historical roots."

In ancient times, those who mastered magic in the East were called 'immortals,' revered for their abilities to transform objects, control elements, withstand fire and water, or perform feats like summoning spirits—all seen as immortal powers.

After all, like the muggles here were writing books about Witches because they or their grandparents had heard about them, the immortal novels in the East didn't come from just the imagination.

So for ordinary people, those who wielded such magic were essentially living legends.

And truthfully, they weren't far off.

If someone as powerful as Ivan had lived in ancient times, he might very well have been revered as a god. After all, even Hagrid could tame a three-headed dog, right?

"Dharma and Maya are unique magical systems in India," Parvati explained. "Dharma is divided into blessings and curses, somewhat like the white magic and dark magic we have here."

Parvati herself hadn't learned either type, as her grandfather was very traditional and refused to teach these family magics to his granddaughters.

Yup, this is the early 90s...

"And what about Maya?" Hermione asked.

"It's a bit like our Transfiguration," Parvati replied.

But Padma shook her head, disagreeing. "Not exactly. Maya is different—it's more like an illusion, something that only appears real."

"What do you mean?" Ivan asked, intrigued by the differences in their perspectives.

After listening to them both, Ivan finally understood what Maya was.

Simply put, it's an advanced illusion that manipulates perception, casting a veil over what others see and hear based on the caster's intent.

"Maya is a form of sleight of hand," Padma explained, "because it only makes something look a certain way without actually changing it."

For instance, if a spellcaster used Maya to make wine appear like water, it would simply look and taste clear and flavorless, but the wine itself wouldn't actually turn into water.

By contrast, Transfiguration would transform the wine into real water, changing its nature entirely.

In essence, the wine remains wine, but people are deceived through sight, sound, taste, and smell, mistaking it for water.

"Hm…" Ivan listened to the sisters' debate and began to ponder.

"Using water to mask the characteristics of wine, creating the illusion that it's not wine but water."

Ivan could quickly identify a drawback of this method. If someone drinks the wine disguised as water, they'd still get drunk—it's still wine underneath the illusion.

But could Transfiguration avoid this flaw?

Professor McGonagall had once explained that when someone's perception changes, the effect of Transfiguration can sometimes wear off. But the Indian magic called Maya seemed different; it was designed to reinforce a perception, deepening the illusion's authenticity.

"Transfiguration and Maya," Ivan mused, "are like different ways of achieving the same result, just viewed from different angles."

With this in mind, Ivan asked, "Then what can Maya achieve if practiced to the highest level?"

"Well…" Parvati hesitated, thinking. "Basic Maya can deceive the five senses, but more advanced Maya can deceive the essence of perception itself."

This, she explained, was something her mother had heard from a renowned Indian wizard—a perspective held in high regard among India's magical community.

"Deceiving the essence of the senses?"

Ivan began to grasp the concept.

'The essence of taste, for instance, is the reaction of cells on the tongue when they're stimulated.'

Basic Maya influences only the surface level of perception—simple judgments. But truly advanced Maya could alter perception at the cellular level, deceiving the fundamental responses of living organisms.

For example, consider how plants naturally grow toward sunlight. If Maya could create an illusion of sunlight convincing enough to make plants respond as they would to real sunlight, this would represent the high-level Maya that Parvati described.

"And the most powerful Maya exists only in legend."

Parvati believed that Maya could rival Transfiguration in complexity because of this legend.

"If, one day, Maya could deceive everything, then distinguishing between real and false would become irrelevant."

In other words, while advanced Maya could make plants believe they're growing toward the sun, they wouldn't truly undergo photosynthesis. But with top-level Maya, plants would hallucinate that they were receiving sunlight, thus starting the process of oxygen production and nutrient transport.

Then, could one still say the sunlight generated by Maya was fake?

It would appear real.

Animals would say, "I believe it's sunlight."

Plants would say, "So do we."

Even chlorophyll might be fooled by the illusion, sparking its function as if under true sunlight.

And if we take this idea further—when atoms and molecules complete their cycles and interactions as a result of Maya's influence—can we truly say there's any meaningful difference between the real and the illusory?

___________

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