I became Voldemort

After dismissing the young witch, Cyrus took his books and returned to the headmaster's office.

Since Ilvermorny didn't have the long history of Hogwarts, it lacked many of its secrets. But now that Cyrus was here, he could certainly leave something behind.

And the first thing he had in mind was a Room of Requirement.

One of the founders of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw, had used her immense magical power to create the Room of Requirement. Now, Cyrus, who had mastered ancient magic, was equally capable of such a feat!

Using his extraordinary magical power, Cyrus created an enormous space that gleamed with gold and silver. Towering spirals stood at each corner, and the ground was as smooth as a mirrored surface.

Of course, to distinguish it from the Room of Requirement, Cyrus followed Slytherin tradition and named it "Cyrus's Secret Chamber."

Conveniently, this chamber could also serve as a meeting place for his club.

In the following months, Cyrus lived in this pattern.

The days seemed to repeat, yet in reality, each one was different. Now, he began studying the magical powers hidden within magical creatures from the perspective of ancient magic.

"The skin of dragons possesses strong magical resistance because of the ancient magic hidden within it. If I can inscribe this kind of magic into my own body, perhaps I could also enhance my magical resistance."

However, this delved into magical modification, and Cyrus had no intention of experimenting on his own body.

He didn't want to wake up one morning and find his skin covered in tiny scales.

Compared to dragons, perhaps the magic of other magical creatures was more valuable for research.

In fact, Cyrus had already studied the Demiguise not long ago and had completely unraveled the creature's invisibility magic. This had raised his Disillusionment Charm to an even higher level.

In terms of invisibility alone, Cyrus believed that his charm was now on par with the powers of the Deathly Hallow!

However, he speculated that Harry's invisibility cloak might serve other purposes as well.

The precognitive ability of the Demiguise was far more complex than its invisibility, and this magic resided in their pupils, making it difficult to study without harming them.

Cyrus wasn't in a hurry—he would eventually encounter an old, dying Demiguise.

These magical studies, while not directly increasing Cyrus's magical power, made the spells he cast significantly stronger.

In addition to researching magical creatures, Cyrus never forgot about Nagini.

The poor snake was typically very quiet. At Ilvermorny, Cyrus gave her plenty of freedom, and she often roamed around the school. At first, the students were terrified of her, but now they barely noticed her presence.

Around Cyrus, Nagini almost never showed a hint of her animalistic nature.

Another of Cyrus's research pursuits involved integrating modern technology with wizarding magic.

Magic and science were never opposites. The magical field around Hogwarts did indeed interfere with some electronic devices, but that was the castle's protective enchantments at work.

Science wasn't limited to mechanical constructs or electronic devices.

It was the study of concrete things and their objective rules, a worldview and a method for understanding the tangible world.

Since magic exists, magic itself is a form of science!

Arthur Weasley's magically modified car was a perfect example of how science and magic could coexist.

Now that Cyrus had completed his resurrection and regained his power, he had ample time to conduct research.

"Haah~ I reely needed a laboratory," Cyrus said as he returned to his secret chamber.

Under his design, the room had been fully transformed into a laboratory, with pristine white tables covered in firearms he had recently collected from the Muggle world.

Cyrus's first attempt was to create a new era of alchemical tools—magical firearms!

After all, wands were merely inconvenient relics!

"The key isn't the gun itself, but rather the magical bullets," Cyrus thought.

The structure of the gun was no longer an issue—no spell could outpace a bullet. Cyrus recalled how, centuries ago, Peeves had stormed into Hogwarts with a machine gun and grenades, leaving the entire staff and student body too frightened to approach him.

If guns were already that dangerous back then, imagine how much more interesting it would be if the bullets were replaced with spells.

And if the Unforgivable Curses could be turned into spell bullets...

Damn! Now that would be even more fascinating!

Hehehe~

What? You want to duel me in spells?

Fine, take this—my green-fire Avada Kedavra Gatling gun!

While Cyrus was deep in his research, on the other side of the world...

In Britain, at the Ministry of Magic.

Cornelius Fudge was overwhelmed.

After the mass breakout of Death Eaters from Azkaban, rumors of the Dark Lord's return were spreading rapidly, and the situation seemed to be spiraling out of control.

Fudge's approval ratings had been steadily declining, causing him immense anxiety.

At this point, many officials were proposing to cancel this year's Quidditch World Cup.

But Fudge firmly disagreed.

"The Quidditch World Cup must be held as scheduled!" Fudge insisted for once, going against the majority opinion.

It wasn't that he was particularly fond of Quidditch—he simply needed to use the event to reassure people that the rumors of the Dark Lord's return were just that, rumors. And there was no need to worry about the escaped prisoners from Azkaban either!

He wanted to make people believe that under his leadership, everything was thriving!

Danger?

That didn't exist at all.

"V—" Fudge's chubby face turned bright red, as though he was about to say Voldemort's name to show how confident and brave he was. But as soon as he uttered the first syllable, his voice failed him. He could only croak out hoarsely, "The Dark Lord's return is nothing but a ridiculous conspiracy. Clearly, someone is deliberately creating panic, gentlemen!"

But just then, someone Fudge didn't particularly want to see walked into the room.

"Very brave, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, striding in with long, confident steps. His tall, imposing figure instantly commanded everyone's attention.

"I agree with your insistence on holding the Quidditch World Cup. Why should such a grand event be canceled?"

Surprisingly, Dumbledore stood on Fudge's side this time.

He didn't emphasize that Voldemort had returned because it no longer mattered. Voldemort had indeed returned, but only for a few short hours a

"By the way, I'd like to ask about the Triwizard Tournament—could we perhaps include Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well? I've received some... enthusiastic requests."

He held two letters in his hand. One bore the insignia of a bald eagle, clearly a letter from the American Magical Congress.

The other letter was sealed with a silver-black crest, resembling a blooming four-leaf clover.

—It came from Ilvermorny.

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12 Advance Chapters—http://Patreon.com/HornyFBI