23: The semester has yet to begin, but the heavy reading has already started.

Things from the Veil of Shadows can actually be brought out!

Ian felt as if he had stumbled upon another incredible secret.

Come to think of it, it made sense. Since he could bring candy, chocolate, and other such items into the Veil of Shadows, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that he could bring things back out from it.

"A truly fantastical world indeed," Ian murmured, sighing in wonder as he gazed at the scrap of dress in his hand.

No wonder they called it a world of idealism. There were so many mysteries here yet to be discovered. If Ian hadn't been lucky enough to possess such a talent, who knew how many years it would have taken for the living in the real world to touch upon anything related to the Veil of Shadows.

The living are barred. Only the dead may enter.

Ian reckoned that even if he were to share his discoveries with other wizards or scholars who studied the Veil of Shadows, they would likely lack the ability to verify these findings. For most wizards, everything within the Veil was an adventure accessible only after death.

Precisely because of this, even the world's greatest wizards knew very little about the Veil of Shadows. It was a realm where only ghosts could tread, yet Ian had managed to bring back a piece of clothing from one of those spirits—a feat that forced him to re-evaluate his entire perspective on the place.

"It isn't just a simple afterlife, then..."

Logically, a ghost was merely a form of energy. Yet, the scrap of dress in his hand felt undeniably real to the touch. The line between illusion and reality was clearly blurring, and Ian could only rely on his own recollections to speculate. Perhaps such a gift to the "real world" wasn't something easily accomplished?

He had noticed that Professor Mara had specifically torn a piece from her own gown. Given her abilities, she could have easily conjured something that looked like parchment out of thin air using anything around her. However, she had chosen to tear her own beautiful, elegant dress... Did this imply that only by such means could Ian bring something from the Veil of Shadows back into the real world?

"Very likely!"

Ian looked at his other hand. Before his figure had faded from the Veil of Shadows, he had clearly been holding the wand Professor Mara had transformed from a metal picture frame. Yet, that wand had not been brought out with him. It was just like the experiments he had conducted with flowers and plants from the Veil when he first gained this talent. Originally, he had assumed that since the items belonged to the world of the dead, it was normal that he couldn't bring them back; he had always assumed the Veil was a world composed purely of "energy."

But now, that assumption had been challenged. The scrap of fabric in his hand, which still seemed to hold a lingering warmth, forced Ian to reconsider. Even if bringing items out of the Veil required meeting certain conditions or rules, it ultimately proved that the boundary between life and death was not impenetrable. If the clothing of the dead could cross this divide, did it mean... the dead themselves could return to the world of the living?

"Hiss... now that is a bold thought!"

The more Ian pondered it, the more his heart raced. It was a topic fraught with taboo. But if there were truly a way to bring the dead back to the mortal realm—setting aside ethics, morality, and all that other nonsense—it would undoubtedly be an achievement worthy of the history books! His portrait might even find its way onto a Famous Wizard card from a Chocolate Frog!

"Fame and fortune are secondary, but if I could find Lily Potter’s soul and bring her back to this world, wouldn't Harry Potter give me all the Galleons in his vault?"

"And with Lily Potter cheering him on, why bother watching the traditional 'Harry Potter leveling up to fight monsters' routine? We could skip straight to Snape having a breakdown and furiously bashing Voldemort's head in!"

Such thoughts were perhaps just the wild, childish whims of Ian’s imagination. But then again, who could really say for sure? This world operated on the rule that love was the most powerful magic of all... and wasn't the obsessive, extreme devotion of a hopeless romantic also a form of love?

"It's worth a shot! It's worth a shot!" The more Ian thought about it, the more he felt this was a direction worth investing his energy into.

Perhaps, next time he entered the Veil of Shadows, he could ask Professor Mara—who clearly possessed a wealth of profound knowledge—about this. While the witch in the castle didn't seem like a "good" person, she was, after all, truly teaching him the knowledge of magic. Regardless of her motives, Ian had become her apprentice. Whether this teacher-student relationship would prove to be good or bad in the future, no one could say. But for now, having a teacher to clear up his confusion and pass on her craft was certainly no bad thing for Ian.

"I wonder if the mirror Professor Mara wants is the one in the school." Ian hadn't forgotten the request the witch had made when they first met. Even though she had accepted him as an apprentice without him bringing her the mirror, he could tell she was still very much concerned about it.

To take, one must also give. That was Ian’s philosophy on life. No one owed him anything, and no one was obligated to give him anything for free. Even the bag of coins Snape had left behind and the Galleons spent on books and supplies, Ian felt were merely things borrowed from Snape; he didn't like the feeling of taking advantage of others, nor would he enjoy it.

"Maybe if I find that magic mirror and take it to Professor Mara, she'll be so pleased that she'll teach me the other two Unforgivable Curses as well."

He had already learned the Killing Curse, and he was already booked for Azkaban, so Ian felt that not completing the set would be a bit of a waste. It was just like playing *Genshin Impact*; you always wanted to complete the entire collection of character cards. The reason Chocolate Frogs sold so well was the same as the collectible card marketing Ian remembered from his past life—it exploited the same obsessive-compulsive urge.

"This homework assignment shouldn't be anything Dark, should it?" Having sorted out his speculations about the Veil, Ian finally turned his attention back to the scrap of dress.

The moonlight outside the window was bright, yet it couldn't illuminate the dim characters on the fabric.

"Lumos!"

Ian pulled out his elder wand. As he successfully cast the spell to illuminate the room, he also gained three points of proficiency in the [Lighting Charm].

"Learning new magic!"

Excited, Ian brought the light source closer to the scrap. The next moment, he was dumbfounded. The characters etched onto the fabric by some unknown means were crooked, twisted, and strange, forming a text he couldn't understand in the slightest.

"Ancient Runes?"

Ian felt something wasn't quite right. He felt as if he had seen an introduction to this kind of script somewhere before.

"Textbooks!"

A thought struck him. He sprang from his bed in a single motion, rushed to where he kept his various books and miscellaneous items, and pulled one of his textbooks from the pile.

*Magical Theory*, by Adalbert Waffling.

Flipping through the pages from memory, Ian quickly stopped at the introduction to the origins of magic. In the section on ancient runes, he found what he was looking for.

The same crooked, twisted, and strange characters.

"These are Ancient Runes!"

Looking at the textbook—which, being a first-year volume, only gave a vague introduction to the subject—Ian finally understood what the witch meant by "homework." It wasn't just about learning magic; it also involved learning the Ancient Runes used to record this new spell.

Yes. The magic recorded in the runes was perhaps secondary. These twisted, winding runes were the real homework!