Malfoy Manor.
The Manor had been enchanted for Christmas Eve. Snow swirled in the sky, coating the grounds in silver, and magical ice lanterns glittered everywhere.
But beneath this picturesque scene lay a suffocating atmosphere of repression and arrogance.
Lucius Malfoy stood at the entrance, leaning on his snake-headed cane, his long blond hair billowing in the cold wind. Behind him stood Narcissa and Draco, along with a group of shivering house-elves.
"Father," Draco whispered, "will Ivan really come? At Hogwarts, he's nearly driven Professor Snape insane..."
"Silence, Draco." Lucius huffed, adjusting his expensive fur coat. "Snape is a half-blood coward; he doesn't understand the glory of pure blood. This Master Ivan Potter... he is truly 'of that world'."
His eyes burned with fanaticism and greed.
He had spies at Hogwarts. Ivan crushing the troll on Halloween, crushing the Snitch at Quidditch, and even remodeling the Slytherin statue into his own face—Lucius knew it all.
In Lucius's eyes, this wasn't madness; it was dominance!
This was what a Dark Lord should look like!
Just then, a sharp sonic boom echoed in the sky.
BOOM!
The manor gates weren't knocked upon; they were blasted off their hinges by a massive wave of force!
Amidst the flying wood chips, a small figure hovered in mid-air, standing on a flying sword (or was it a wand?).
Ivan Potter looked down at Lucius from above. His black robes snapped in the gale, and under his feet, he was surfing on the still-drooling Basilisk cub.
"Merry Christmas, Lucius." Ivan's voice wasn't loud, but it struck everyone's heart like a hammer. "I'm here for my 'pilgrimage'. And... to collect some interest."
Lucius didn't get angry. Instead, he trembled with excitement.
He shoved Draco aside and strode forward, and under the dumbstruck gazes of everyone present, dropped to one knee!
"We welcome your arrival, Master Potter!" Lucius shouted, his voice laced with sycophantic zeal. "Malfoy Manor is open to you! Even if you wish to burn it down, it would be our honor!"
Draco: ???
Dad! Where's your backbone?!
Ivan raised an eyebrow, hopped off the Basilisk's back, and landed in front of Lucius.
"Backbone?" Ivan chuckled lightly, using the tip of his wand to lift Lucius's chin. "Lucius, do you want to show backbone to me, or to 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'?"
Lucius froze, looking up into Ivan's emerald eyes that seemed to pierce his soul.
In that instant, he saw a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. He saw Voldemort's shadow, and... something far more ancient and terrifying than Voldemort!
"I... I am loyal only to power." Cold sweat broke out on Lucius's forehead as he quickly corrected himself. "And you represent the future of power."
[System Alert: Lucius Malfoy (Fear, Submission, Fanaticism): Emotion Value +500!]
[Current Total: 9000 Points!]
"Good. You're smarter than I thought."
Ivan sheathed his wand and walked past Lucius into the warm hall as if strolling through his own garden.
"I'm not hungry; no need for a feast." Ivan sat in the high-backed chair reserved for the head of the house, tapping his fingers on the armrest. "Open your collection room. I need to pick a few things for a 'minor surgery' on my pet."
Lucius dared not refuse. He personally led the way, opening the heavy door to the underground vault that required three magical locks.
Inside were piles of Galleons, ancient wands, and specimens of various dark creatures.
Ivan scanned the room and curled his lip in disdain. "Trash. Except for these few pieces of Dragon Liver Stone, the rest aren't even fit for firewood."
Just then, a suppressed sob came from the corner.
A scrawny house-elf with bat-like ears was hugging a rag, trembling.
It was Dobby.
"Oh, is this the 'free' elf?" Ivan was interested. He crooked his finger. "Come here."
Dobby walked out trembling and knelt on the floor with a thud, banging his head against the ground. "Dobby is wrong! Dobby shouldn't be here! Master, please don't punish Dobby!"
"I'm not your master." Ivan squatted down, looking into Dobby's fearful, large eyes. "Do you want to become strong? Dobby. Not 'strong at laundry', but strong enough to dismantle this manor."
Dobby froze, his big eyes filled with confusion. "B-become strong? Can Dobby? Dobby is just a house-elf..."
"House-elves are just magical creatures whose genetic chains were locked by wizard magic." Ivan stood up and looked at Lucius. "Lucius, lend me your wand. Also, bring me that vial of 'Giant's Blood'."
Lucius's heart twitched in pain, but he obediently handed them over.
Ivan took the wand and the precious potion, a mad scientist gleam in his eyes.
"System, activate 'Alchemy · Biological Reconstruction' mode."
[Cost: 2000 Emotion Points.]
[Analyzing Target: House-Elf (Dobby) Genetic Sequence.]
[Injecting Exogenous Materials: Giant's Blood, Dragon Liver Stone Powder, Thunderbird Feather.]
Ivan grabbed Dobby's wrist and poured the potion directly onto him!
"AHHH!!" Dobby screamed.
But the scream lasted only a second.
Because Ivan didn't burn him. Instead, he used "Word Soul" to rewrite the magical circuits inside Dobby's body!
Dobby's shriveled skin began to gleam with a metallic luster. His large ears sharpened into blade-like points, and his skinny limbs began to swell, muscles bulging as if inflated!
The most terrifying change was his eyes.
Those eyes, once filled with servility, now transformed into vertical snake slits—just like Ivan's!
Three minutes later.
The light faded.
Standing there was no longer the cowering elf.
It was a two-meter-tall killing machine covered in a cyan-grey keratinous armor, hands transformed into massive bone blades!
Dobby stared blankly at his hands, feeling the power surging inside him—power enough to tear a troll apart.
"Is... is this Dobby?" His voice was low and raspy, carrying a metallic timbre.
Ivan snapped his fingers. "Try it out. Full power against that wall."
Dobby instinctively swung his bone blade.
Shing!
There was no sound of impact.
The wall, built of sturdy obsidian, was sliced open like tofu. The cut was mirror-smooth!
Lucius's cane clattered to the floor.
His collection room's defenses, which he was so proud of, were one-shotted by a house-elf?!
And... it was his own house-elf?!
"This... this is Dark Magic... this is blasphemy!" Lucius's lips were white, torn between heartache for his wall and terror at the technology.
"This is 'Evolution'." Ivan patted Dobby's rock-hard shoulder. "The current Dobby can punch ten Dementors to death. How about it, Dobby? Do you like this Christmas gift?"
Dobby turned around, his cold snake eyes fixing on Lucius.
The master who once made him tremble with fear now looked as fragile as an ant.
Dobby suddenly dropped to one knee. This time not out of fear, but... worship.
"Dobby... thanks Master for granting power!" Dobby's voice held a trace of fanaticism. "Dobby now feels... doing laundry is a waste of time! Dobby wants to help Master dismantle the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters!"
[System Alert: Dobby (Fanaticized): Emotion Value +300!]
[Lucius (Worldview Collapse + Extreme Jealousy): Emotion Value +400!]
Ivan nodded in satisfaction.
He turned to look at the stunned Lucius.
"Lucius, don't look like that. In exchange, I have a gift for you too."
Ivan pulled out a heavily sealed black diary from his pocket—the wreckage of the Horcrux he had half-exploded earlier.
"Here, take this back." Ivan tossed the diary to Lucius. "The 'Person' inside must be very lonely. You are his loyal servant; you should spend more time 'keeping him company'. Remember, talk to it every night, or... it might crawl out of the paper to find you."
Lucius caught the diary clumsily.
The moment he touched it, a bone-chilling cold shot to his brain!
The diary was hot!
A pale face faintly appeared on the cover, red eyes staring dead at Lucius, seemingly saying: "Why haven't you given me a body yet?!"
Lucius was terrified and almost threw it away, but Ivan's words froze him.
"Hold onto it tight." Ivan's voice drifted over ghostly. "This is the Dark Lord's test of your 'loyalty'. If you lose it... or make him unhappy... I imagine you might end up 'sliced' like that wall."
Lucius broke out in a cold sweat.
He looked at the hot potato in his hand, then at Dobby, the killing machine staring at him like he was a dead man.
In this moment, Lucius Malfoy finally understood.
Inviting a god is easy; sending one away is hard.
This wasn't a guest. This was a bandit! A tyrant! A Demon King more unreasonable than the Dark Lord!
But he could only squeeze out a smile uglier than crying.
"Y... Yes, Master Potter. I will... I will 'worship' it properly."
Ivan smiled slightly and walked out with Dobby.
"Dobby, bring me my tea. By the way, use your new ability—'squeeze' the tea directly into the water. Don't brew it; it's too slow."
"Yes, Master! Dobby promises to squeeze the tea stronger than a potion!" Dobby roared excitedly, waving his bone blades as he charged toward the kitchen.
Watching Ivan leave, Lucius collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.
"Father..." Draco approached cautiously. "What do we do now?"
Lucius looked at the sliced obsidian wall, then at the burning diary in his hand.
After a long time, he gritted his teeth, a look of resolve in his eyes.
"What do we do?" Lucius scrambled up, straightening his messy clothes. "Go get my best wine! And prepare the key to the family vault!"
"Huh?" Draco was dumbfounded. "We're giving him money too?"
"You know nothing!" Lucius slapped his son on the head. "This is investment! This is hedging our risks! Since the Dark Lord is unreliable, we must cling to this thicker thigh! As long as he ensures the Malfoy family survives... so what if I sell my soul to him?!"
Upstairs in the Guest Room.
Ivan lay on the luxurious four-poster bed, listening to the System notifications scroll.
[System Alert: Congratulations Host! Successfully changed the "Survivor of Santa Claus" script to "Descent of the Doomsday Tyrant"! ]
[Reward: Random Legendary Item Fragment x2, Emotion Value Critical Hit x3!]
[Special Note: Voldemort's soul fragment in the diary issued a vicious curse against you, but "Word Soul · Reflect" automatically converted it into a "Mental Massage" for you.]
Ivan rolled over, finding a comfortable position.
"Lucius, that old fox, reacts pretty fast."
"But this is just the beginning."
He looked out the window toward London.
"After Christmas comes the final exams."
"Dumbledore, the 'Philosopher's Stone' or 'Chamber' challenges you prepare better be creative."
"Otherwise, I'll have to remodel Hogwarts into my private fortress."