It looks like it's about to suffocate.
However.
The black-robed skeleton screamed for half an hour and still didn't pass out; its voice didn't weaken, but instead grew louder and more frantic—no one knew what the hell was scaring it so much.
Without any organs like lungs, Ian had long known he couldn't strangle the black-robed skeleton. He was purely venting his inner frustration and discomfort.
"Why does the contract we established stop me from entering the Misty Illusion Realm…" Ian just wanted the answer, but he had a premonition about the skeleton's response.
Sure enough.
The black-robed skeleton, slightly dizzy from being shaken, staggered after Ian let go. As usual, it pointed at its empty head.
Didn't speak.
Because it seemed severely dizzy.
But silence here spoke louder than words, and the little wizard understood its meaning perfectly.
"You have no brains! Why pretend to have a concussion!" Ian was speechless; he raised his wrist and rubbed hard a few more times. The contract pattern, which was gradually dimming, really irritated him.
"Dizzy."
The black-robed skeleton mimicked gagging with exquisite realism. Ian suspected this guy was acting, and it was quite the performance, yet he couldn't find evidence to toss at the opponent's skull.
"If you don't give me an explanation today, see that cauldron over there… Even if magic doesn't affect you, I'll catch a hundred mice and toss them with you into the pot!" Ian genuinely felt the urge to cook the black-robed skeleton into soup; he even pulled out the Devil's Pepper that he got from the house-elves.
Whether it was the mice scaring the black-robed skeleton, or the thought of being cooked in spicy soup making its head tingle, it quickly backed away from Ian's threat.
This clearly wasn't what it expected from Ian, who could say such a thing!
It might not be human.
But the little fellow before it was undoubtedly a cunning dog!
To think of such astonishingly brutal punishment—though the black-robed skeleton had no facial muscles, the frantically flickering soul fire showed how panicked it was.
"Hehehe~"
Seeing the skeleton's reaction, the dementor forced to play cards by the skeleton, hid in the corner giggling. The infant-like cries of laughter echoed through the room.
Absolutely spooky.
"I... smuggled... blacklist... need to wait for reset." Under the pressing psychological pressure from Ian, the black-robed skeleton finally spoke up, choosing its words carefully. Whether it was indeed the reason or it was making excuses, was uncertain.
"Wait for reset? How long do we have to wait?"
Ian quickly pursued further. He had no choice but to bank on this, since it concerned his significant Golden Finger ability, so he couldn't help but feel tense.
"A little while."
The black-robed skeleton answered honestly, not daring to mention its brainlessness again; evidently, it knew more than it let on to Ian.
"How long is a little while? I need specific time—hours? Days?" Ian pressed with a menacing look, though the skeleton seemed not to fully grasp his words.
"A little while is just a little while… The red moon needs to rise forty-nine times; that's the time for the reset of that land's blacklist."
The black-robed skeleton seemed to look for the black phoenix, but at this hour, the black phoenix was already out, and it couldn't be found in the Room of Requirement—Ian had trouble summoning it back, and only Schroedinger knew if it was in the Misty Illusion Realm or bullying the pure-blooded phoenix, Fox.
"Forty-nine days?"
Ian sighed heavily.
Honestly speaking.
To Ian, not being able to enter the Misty Illusion Realm was indeed troublesome—not just because he couldn't deliver the Magic Mirror to Teacher Morgan, but also because he'd miss opportunities to learn magic from Teacher Morgan.
Even though Ian had the Patronus Charm connection with Ariana, getting messages through her was incredibly tedious due to the uncertain time flow between the human world and the Misty Illusion Realm.
Sometimes, seven days in the human world might equal months in the Misty Illusion Realm; other times, mere minutes in the realm might mean several hours passed in the human world.
Without a clear, stable time flow ratio, that's why Ian rarely used this message-passing method; only in critical situations would he resort to it.
Like now.
"Summoning God Guardian!"
Ian drew his magic wand and cast the Patronus Charm, and then silver threads surged forth, weaving into the image of a beautiful girl right before him.
Just like Albus Dumbledore had assessed during the time loop, summoning Ariana in the regular human world indeed took a heavier toll on Ian.
With his magic power slightly beyond human limits now, he could only maintain it for about eight minutes. Afterward, he'd be as magically drained as if he'd stayed up for three nights.
"Ian, did you encounter another evil wizard?" Ariana, projected into the human world, glanced around and zeroed in on the skeleton figure wrapped in the black robe.