For the next few days, the wizarding community enjoyed a rare period of calm. The rioting Saints seemed to have vanished into thin air, news of attacks on Muggles dwindled, and Grindelwald was nowhere to be seen.
Ivan, however, did not let his guard down. He knew that this was all calm on the surface. No one knew what Grindelwald was planning.
In light of this, Ivan did not remain idle while ordering Flun and the others to prepare for war. Instead, he continued brewing an extremely complicated potion — Felix Felicis!
From what he could gather, this powerful potion could make the drinker lucky for twelve hours, and could even strengthen their sixth sense to guide them to the best decisions.
In the original timeline, for example, Harry was able to obtain the secret of Voldemort's Horcruxes from Horace Slughorn by following Dumbledore's instructions.
Of course, there was a reason why this potion was not popularized despite its powerful effects. Every ingredient used to brew this potion was extremely precious, and it was extremely difficult to brew. There were many procedures involved, and the slightest mistake could turn this lucky potion into a lethal poison.
By Ivan's estimate, Snape and Slughorn were the only two wizards in the British wizarding community capable of brewing Felix Felicis.
Ivan, who had recently improved his knowledge of potions to nearly Level 8, naturally had the ability to brew Felix Felicis.
It just so happened that Dumbledore's memory contained the recipe for Felix Felicis, so Ivan had been preparing it since then to brew a potion that would decide the outcome of a battle.
However, when Ivan finally got the hang of it, he found out that the brewing process of Felix Felicis was extremely tedious, and it took him several months to brew the potion.
Looking at the golden liquid flowing in the cauldron, Ivan carefully took a reagent and filled it with the potion. Then, he opened the system column and checked.
[Magical Item: Felix Felicis
Quality: High
Description: This is a very magical potion, and drinking it will give you great luck for a while, but remember not to believe in its power, as an ant can never defeat an elephant with it.
Remarks: If you drink too much, you will suffer the consequences…]
"Don't you want to focus on its power?" Ivan muttered to himself, rubbing his chin as he read the system's instructions. It seemed that Felix Felicis was not as powerful as he had expected.
It was also explained that the maximum duration of the potion was twelve hours, and that it could not be drunk repeatedly for several years, otherwise it would become a poison, or the effects would be counterproductive, causing one to become extremely unlucky and do extremely stupid things in response to a sixth sense.
Ivan had always been wary of potions that affected one's luck and judgement.
Ivan preferred to remain as he was, with a clear head, rather than floating good luck or unexplained hints.
However, the subsequent attack on the French Ministry of Magic was far too dangerous, as Grindelwald had been in France for over a year, ever since he disguised himself as Iris. It was hard to guarantee that Grindelwald would not leave something behind, and this caused Grindelwald a certain amount of unease.
In addition, there was another important matter that required the power of the Felix Felicis, and that was to destroy the Horcrux!
Although they now knew that it was in the possession of a witch named Alison, it would not be easy to find her, let alone destroy her in a chaotic battle.
This usually requires some good luck!
Ivan put away the potion with a sigh and kept it in the lining of his battle robe so that he could take it out when he needed it.
Knock, knock, knock~
Yvonne was wondering if she should ask Fran about the progress of the preparations when a slight noise came from the window.
Yvonne turned to see a fat owl outside the misty window, tapping its beak against the glass.
"Makka?! Why are you here?" Ivan instantly recognized the owl and waved his wand to open the window.
After his graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he arranged for Marka to stay at his home. Because of his magical seal, Ivan did not bother to use his owl to deliver messages. He was surprised that Marka was able to fly all the way to his home, despite the fact that she had put on so much weight.
The Malkah, which had just flown in through the window, had no idea that its master was cursing it in his head. It happily flew around Ivan twice, then perched on his shoulder and displayed the letter tied to his foot.
Yvonne unslung the letter and opened it. Hermione's name was on the end of the letter, and the message was brief and to the point.
Concerned that the witch might be in trouble, Ivan quickly collected the letters and used Disapparated to return to his London home.
Mr and Mrs Granger were shocked when Ivan suddenly appeared in front of them.
After some questioning, Yvonne learned from Mr and Mrs Granger that no one had been bothering them lately, and that Hermione had been spending most of her time in the Alchemy Lab since returning from her holidays.
With a little curiosity, Ivan went upstairs and pushed the door open. The spacious alchemy room was very messy, with many alchemy materials and failed magic items on the table.
The little witch he had been longing for was busy in the alchemy room with her magnificent Ravenclaw crown.
Hermione turned quickly at the sound of the door opening, and when she saw Ivan, her face lit up with joy, and she dragged him to a wooden target.
"What?" Yvonne was confused at first, and then, seeing Hermione's happy face, she had an idea, but she wasn't sure.
Hermione took a deep breath, reached for a piece of mithril, and held it in her palm. After closing her eyes for about three seconds, she flicked her wrist and threw it away.
Ivan was keenly aware of the runes carved into the surface of the block, which glowed with a scarlet magical fluorescence. When it hit the target, the block exploded.
"Impressive!" Ivan said admiringly as the smoke cleared and the target blew up.
He could see, of course, that the young witch had injected her anger into the block of mythril, causing it to explode, and the fact that she was skilled at it suggested that Hermione had mastered the basics of emotional magic…