"A magic not passed down..." Ian looked at the pattern on the back of his hand, recalling the bronze eagle head mentioning that Slytherin was researching some kind of power in the Chamber of Secrets.
It seems now.
"What he was researching was time travel, and he actually managed to create something!" Ian found it hard to imagine that a mere mark left a thousand years ago could reverse time, something that truly overturned wizards' understanding and mastery of temporal powers.
Could Teacher Morgan achieve this?
Ian thought it would be quite difficult.
"Perhaps I haven't traveled through time, maybe I'm just sleeping in bed..."
The occurrence of such events was completely beyond Ian's expectations, and he really preferred to believe that everything happening now was just a ridiculous dream.
"Snap~"
Ian slapped the picture frame fan.
"Does it hurt?"
He asked Silly Barnabas, whose face was bewildered and who quickly retreated in fright.
"Are you stupid!"
Silly Barnabas, just about to say that a painting doesn't feel pain, suddenly saw Ian starting to grab the portrait paint and hurriedly covered his face with shock.
"It hurts! It hurts a lot!"
Silly Barnabas's dramatic performance was spot on, possibly because he had often been beaten up by giants and knew how to portray pain. At this moment, Silly Barnabas would rather wake up the sleeping giant than let his portrait gain some unspeakable additions, considering all portraits had heard about Ian's "Zombie Dog."
"Then I guess I'm not dreaming..." Ian actually pinched the back of his own hand secretly, but he still adhered to a method of eliminating possibilities through varied verification.
Dreaming was definitely not an option.
Ian still somewhat refused to accept the absurd reality.
"Is it possible I carry the blood of a Prophet?"
Ian's thoughts of escaping reality were indeed a bit too strong; he knew Prophets could see and sense the future, and the times he had experienced over the past weeks could have been his first attempt at prophecy.
Just like the God of Death arriving... No, no, no God of Death arriving, just like some mystical Prophets in biographies, always capable of "early experiencing" events meant to happen in the future.
"It sounds plausible enough, but predicting things in detail weeks ahead, even our Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts probably doesn't have that strength, right?"
Ian looked at his personal panel; the skills he'd grown in recent weeks were still there, though who could say that one within a prophetic illusion realm couldn't refine their memory?
"I might have even traveled to a parallel universe!" The little wizard, of course, knew that these were just his desires and fantasies, largely influenced by Salazar Slytherin's magic. He sighed, pulling out his magic wand to verify whether Slytherin's Time Magic could reset a whole universe.
It wasn't a difficult task.
It only required a freshly learned magic.
"Patronus Charm!"
Ian directly cast the [Patronus Charm], and countless silver lights poured out from his wand, finally slowly coalescing into the image of a teenage girl.
"Fortunately, the Misty Illusion Realm doesn't seem to be affected."
Ian breathed a sigh of relief. Ariana appearing smoothly signified that the ring he placed on her finger still existed, indicating the time within the Misty Illusion Realm had not been reset.
Thus.
Not only did Ian see the limitations of Slytherin's magic, but he might also endure seven days and then seek help from his teacher within the Misty Illusion Realm.
"I just don't know if I'll keep looping on the same day or between now and Christmas." Ian hoped that what he faced would be the latter.
While Ian wondered about ways to respond in his heart.
"You actually have a human-shaped Patronus!" Silly Barnabas, watching Ian's eerie behavior in the frame, made a voice filled with disbelief upon seeing the gathered light image.
"Oh! My goodness! Your human-shaped Patronus may become as famous in history as the invincible Andros!" Silly Barnabas's exclamation was not baseless, as in wizard history, it was unheard of for a Patronus to be another person.
"My Patronus is much stronger than Andros's Giant Patronus." Despite being somewhat anxious, Ian still retorted to the painting on the wall.
Time loops, despite causing unease, didn't push Ian into despair or fear. As long as everyone didn't turn into zombies, Ian felt there would always be a way to set things right. After all, as a founder of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin wouldn't have left a Time Magic just to trap a little wizard like him, right?
Even if Salazar Slytherin were a wicked Old Deng and wanted to kill someone, there were countless ways, and Ian could easily list over three hundred curses.
Why trap someone in a time loop?
"Chosen, that eagle said it was chosen... Maybe the time loop is some kind of test? But what problem do I need to solve within this test to gain recognition and break the loop?" Ian furrowed his brows in thought, as Ariana, embodying his Patronus, illuminated the surroundings.