Seeing the "wretched state" that Harry and Ron were in, Yvonne realised she had said the wrong thing and quickly shut her mouth, pretending to look at the owl cage.
Hermione snorted, snatched the book she had thrown out of Harry's hands, and cast a sideways glance at Ivan, furious that he had unashamedly revealed the events of the previous summer.
When Ivan didn't respond, the witch got even angrier…
Ivan looked exasperated. 'I can't talk, and I can't not talk.'
What a nuisance …
Ivan's head hurt. He had lived for eighteen years in his previous life, but had spent most of the latter years in a hospital bed, and an invalid like him had little experience in humouring people.
He couldn't possibly rely on the cheesy scenes he saw in films and television shows to fool people, could he? He would definitely be beaten to death!
Just as the carriage was about to descend into another long silence, a familiar drawling voice drifted through the open door.
"… Did you know that Dad actually considered sending me to Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts? He knew the headmaster of that school.
Alas, you know what he thought of Dumbledore—the man was too fond of Mudbloods—and Durmstrang didn't allow lowlifes into the school.
My dad also told me that Durmstrang's approach to the Dark Arts is much more reasonable than Hogwarts's. Durmstrang's students are really learning about the Dark Arts, unlike us, who are learning about broken defences…"
Ivan turned his head and looked out of the carriage.
Malfoy, in his Slytherin robes, proudly led his two henchmen through the corridors of the train, his head held high as he ranted about Hogwarts' shortcomings and injustices.
As they passed the carriage, Malfoy deliberately raised his voice and said in a strange voice, "Oh, of course! Hogwarts is probably the best place for some people to go to school!"
His two henchmen, Goyle and Clark, giggled at the right moment and agreed.
"Malfoy!" Ivan scowled. He could tell who Malfoy was taunting, but when he tried to draw his wand, a hand stopped him.
"Do you want points deducted from Gryffindor for attacking them here?" Hermione asked, glaring at Ivan as she tiptoed to the door of the compartment and pulled it gently shut, preventing Malfoy's voice from entering.
However, Malfoy had already fled with Goyle and Krall. He had seen Ivan drawing his wand and did not want to stay and be beaten.
"If he likes Durmstrang so much, then let him go. We'd love to have him transferred!" Hermione returned to her seat and slammed her book down on the table. She looked furious, as if she had poured all of her anger into it.
Harry was reluctant to be the target if Hermione got upset, but after a while, he couldn't help but ask Ivan and Ron.
"What is Durmstrang, and is it also a wizarding school? Why would Malfoy want to go there?"
"Well, I've heard of this place somewhere," Ron said vaguely.
Yvonne explained to Harry, "Durmstrang is one of the three major wizarding schools in Europe. It's located in Northern Europe, but its exact location is very mysterious. I'm told that only the students and staff there know about it."
"Plus, it's famous for openly learning the Dark Arts!" Ivan added.
"You mean they teach the Dark Arts in class?" Harry looked shocked, he could not imagine teaching the Dark Arts openly. "Then Durmstrang is a gathering place for Dark Wizards?"
"That's not entirely true. Just because you're learning dark magic doesn't mean you're a Dark Wizard… well, it depends on how you use it, considering that Aurors were allowed to use Unforgivable Curses in the Battle of the Death Eaters during the Wizarding War!" Ivan corrected Harry.
Powerful wizards and witches tended to know a thing or two about the Dark Arts.
Of course, there is a good reason why Hogwarts forbids wizards and witches from learning the Dark Arts. Many Dark Arts require the caster to concentrate negative emotions, and their destructive power can be quite addictive!
In an effort to change the subject and lighten the mood, Ivan talked a lot about the Three Houses, and in between casually asked about Harry and the others' encounter at the Quidditch pitch.
Harry and Ron made no attempt to hide the truth from Ivan as they recounted their harrowing encounter after watching the Quidditch Cup.
As in pre-temporal times, a riot broke out while they slept in their tents at night.
A large number of masked wizards in black robes and hats appeared out of nowhere, lighting up the tents and magically teasing and torturing nearby Muggles.
Ivan knew the inside story, and knew that Lucius Malfoy was working with the Muggle-hating Death Eaters.
"Sirius said they were definitely Death Eaters and went after them… Ron, Hermione, and I took refuge in the woods, where we met a strange house-elf…"
As he spoke, Harry could still see the fear in his eyes. There were a lot of them, and they did not hold back their magic.
"You're saying Sirius went after them?" Yvonne asked, raising an eyebrow, which he had not expected.
"Right!" Harry nodded, though he had been in the woods and had not seen the whole thing, only the dancing lights of the charms.
Then, someone said a strange incantation, and a huge glowing green object flew into the air, transforming into a gigantic skeleton, from which a serpentine snake emerged.
Both Harry and Ron cringed at the memory of the horror, and Hermione could not be bothered to be angry as she added sternly,
"According to Mr. Bagman, it's a Dark Mark! In the last Wizarding War, Death Eaters caused chaos and killed wizards. After Muggles, they used to fire it from the sky…"
Ivan rubbed his chin in thought as he listened to Hermione and the others.
The Dark Mark was presumably released by Barty Crouch Junior, and it seems that some things were not affected by the flapping of his butterfly wings!