Ivan toyed with the stone for a while, then took out the alchemical armguard he had made earlier and set the stone in the groove in the middle of the armguard.
With a soft click, the indentation closed and the magical patterns on the armguard seemed to come to life, glowing a ghostly blue.
After placing the Alchemical Armguard on his forearm, Ivan tried to move his wand to channel the magic within the stone.
Several invisible magic blades suddenly slashed out, and the strong wind pressure caused cracks to appear on the ground. The hard stone statue in the distance trembled and then collapsed into several pieces…
"It's quite powerful…" Ivan said, nodding in satisfaction as he examined the shattered statue. It was almost the same as when he used his magic to cast spells.
With this stone, he would have thousands of times the magical reserves of an ordinary wizard in future battles, and would no longer have to worry about running out of magical energy.
Ivan's nerves finally relaxed at the thought.
Although there was still a large gap between his current level of strength and the explosive power he could unleash in his protective mode, he was able to hold his own against Voldemort with his Bloodline Magic and his endless supply of magic.
This meant that he finally did not have to pretend to be powerful, or worry about being seen through every day, and could do many things freely.
Ivan, in a good mood, went on to enjoy the legendary touchstone-to-gold experience, using an Alchemy Array to turn a few rocks into heavy gold.
After a series of experiments, Ivan was convinced that this was a true matter-transformation, and would have no problem exchanging the gold for gold in Gringotts.
In contrast, the stone's magical reserves had been reduced by thirty units, causing Ivan to wince.
After all, the stored magic could not be recovered by itself.
New magic could only be poured into the stone by finding another place where the magic was abundant and re-using an Alchemy Array to channel it.
"For the time being, it's unlikely that money will ever be enough to kill an opponent…" Ivan shook his head in disappointment. Turning stone into gold was fascinating, but it would be a waste of precious magic.
After gaining a general understanding of the various uses of the stone, Ivan waved his wand and restored the ruined research room to its original state.
It took a while for Ivan's excitement over the Philosopher's Stone to subside, and he packed his things to leave. It was Monday, and it was already past seven o'clock.
'Luna, are you still here? Didn't you go back to bed?'
As they passed the door, Ivan was surprised to find Luna sitting in the chair next to the study table, reading a few pages of the Alchemy Manuscript. She had obviously been up all night, just like Ivan.
"There are no Harassment Vipers here, so I'm not sleepy at all…" The little witch shook her head and said lightly. Then, she looked at the empty field behind Ivan and asked curiously, "Were you drawing a magic array just now? That was beautiful…"
"Yes, it's beautiful, but it's also very dangerous…" Yvonne said, looking back at the memory of the events that had led to the formation.
There was more magic stored at Hogwarts than he had expected, and if his control of it had been any weaker, it would have been torn to shreds.
"Well, at least it worked." Yvonne laughed again.
"Congratulations!" Luna congratulated Ivan happily. Then, as if remembering something, she picked up a stack of alchemy manuscripts and handed them to Ivan.
"Most of Madam Ravenclaw's manuscripts are so damaged that the writing is blurred and illegible, and that's all that's left…"
It took Ivan a moment to understand that the young witch had not been idle while he was working on the Philosopher's Stone.
"Thank you, Luna…" Ivan said gratefully, taking the alchemy manuscripts from her.
"Friends should help each other, shouldn't they? You helped me find the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and I haven't thanked you for it yet…Why, I forgot to put more water and leaves in its nest before I came out…" Luna muttered to herself in distress.
"Don't worry, Crumple-Horned Snorkacks are very hardy. They won't die if they don't eat or drink for a day or two!" Ivan waved his hand and assured her.
He had done experiments on it…
They chatted as they left the Room of Requirement and headed for the Great Hall.
On the way, Ivan asked about Xenophilius Lovegood's condition, curious if he had done as he was told.
Lord Voldemort did not give up easily on those who insulted him, so Ivan was worried…
"Dad wrote that he moved to Knockturn Alley over a month ago, and made a lot of new friends there. He told me that everyone there was very nice, and he was willing to rent him a room for half the price…" Luna rattled off the letters Xenophilius had written to her over the past two months.
Ivan was somewhat relieved to hear that Xenophilius was safe.
"Are you worried about my dad's safety? Because of You-Know-Who?" Luna suddenly asked Ivan.
"Yes! Your father's comments on The Quibbler might have angered Lord Voldemort. Of course, I was partly to blame…" Ivan said apologetically.
A look of surprise crossed Luna's face.
"Do you remember the riot in Knockturn Alley more than four months ago?" Ivan asked.
"Ah… I know, I know! Dad said it was You-Know-Who who led the Death Eaters to attack Knockturn Alley. Maybe it was a plot by Professor Dumbledore to overthrow Minister Fudge…" Luna said matter-of-factly.
"No, it has nothing to do with Headmaster Dumbledore…well, it should be said that it has nothing to do with him." Yvonne wanted to complain, but decided against it.
It occurred to him that if Dumbledore hadn't misjudged Voldemort's recovery time, he wouldn't have been forced to go head-to-head with the infamous Dark Lord and waste his valuable points.
Ivan was frustrated by this, but he gave her a brief account of what had happened.
"Anyway, I defeated Lord Voldemort and embarrassed him in public, and now he hates me!" Ivan said helplessly, throwing up his hands.