Daphne Greengrass was even more fearful of Ian than she was of any professor. Ever since the Marcus incident, whenever she spotted Ian from afar, she would immediately take a long detour. Even if it was raining outside, she'd pretend she needed to sunbathe, just to avoid him at all costs.
In the shared classes of Ravenclaw and Slytherin, she would make herself invisible, and if Ian ever glanced at her, she'd tremble and try to slip under the desk.
Ian didn't consider himself a terribly vengeful person; he was only slightly so, thus he didn't dwell on Daphne too much. He merely amused himself by sometimes scaring Miss Greengrass with a "staring" gaze.
This was just a little episode in daily life. Notably, Ian realized through this matter that Hogwarts not only lacked electricity but also prohibited the use of electric appliances.
It was clearly under the influence of some magic or interference; even if Ian could produce a stable rated current through alchemy, Muggle electronic products still wouldn't work here.
"Only magically altered items are allowed to function..."
Ian couldn't quite understand why this was the case. When he asked the portraits, they only told him one thing: behind every school rule lies a story.
Perhaps something happened at Hogwarts in the past, or maybe the entire Wizarding World faced a similar situation; Ian's limited experience couldn't help him speculate on the answer.
"In any case, magic combined with technology is definitely promising, better than a single skills tree." Ian has always had his own alchemy philosophy in this regard; for example, a spaceship's flight range is limited by fuel, but a magic-powered spaceship could be completely different.
The cost of space fuel is not only high but also bulky, unlike those wizards who only need three buns a day... perhaps with a little kimchi?
Ian glanced at the pickled vegetables on the shelf. At that moment, accompanied by the sound of footsteps approaching the door, Gilderoy Grindelwald, who had been chatting late into the night with Dumbledore, finally returned.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." His manners were always quite variable, and now Gilderoy Grindelwald appeared to be in a good mood, "Our headmaster is just too enthusiastic. I wanted to leave quickly, but he kept me talking about many past events."
No one knew if this was true; Ian couldn't perceive Gilderoy Grindelwald's inner thoughts. He could only judge from Gilderoy Grindelwald's smile that Old Deng and Dumbledore seemed to have had a delightful conversation.
"You'll never guess what I saw. He received a letter from an unknown sender, one he cherished so much, he wouldn't even let me touch it."
Gilderoy Grindelwald chuckled as he walked into the office, "Aurora must have told you about our family's talent. Our stingy headmaster was obviously worried I'd 'see' something from that letter, not realizing that as soon as I stepped in, I saw a scene he would absolutely not want to happen."
"Whatever's in that letter, soon enough, someone is going to steal a photo from it." Gilderoy Grindelwald looked a bit gloating, "If he had let me see the letter, I would have told him, but now... heh, let the stingy man worry about it himself."
Perhaps old folks have a mischievous streak similar to children.
Ian lowered his head.
He didn't dare to speak.
He could trust Dumbledore, but clearly, he couldn't trust Grindelwald, so there were things he could confide to Dumbledore, but definitely wouldn't want Grindelwald to know.
Of course.
If Grindelwald cheated, there was really no help for it. The only way to balance out such a cheater is another cheater; even a small opening could seem insurmountable.
"Could it be a letter from Abeforth?" Ian had become adept at playing dumb, and figured it was better to feign ignorance than nothing at all. Honestly, it was quite tiring, dealing with so many old monsters. After coming to Hogwarts, he found himself with a new ability on his skills panel called 'performance.'
Perhaps because Ian had already told Grindelwald he went to tattle to Dumbledore, Grindelwald didn't seem to connect him to the letter.
At least on the surface.
"He and his brother have long been out of touch. Don't think for a moment that just because I stayed in one place, I'm out of touch with the outside world."
Gilderoy Grindelwald raised an eyebrow, "This involves a certain past... from the look on your face, it's clear you already know the story from back then."
Ian indeed had 'performance' but its level wasn't particularly high.
"Only a little bit."
Ian quickly employed a tactical tea-drinking maneuver. The tea had a clear color, a gentle pale green like the fresh leaves of spring. But drinking it made his tongue feel like it had licked some bitter coptis.
It was truly bitter... Not one to give up easily, Ian tried another sip and confirmed the taste was indeed bitter and strange. He suspected this was Gilderoy Grindelwald playing a prank on Halloween.
"Smack smack~"