"Work hard, and one day you'll do just as well!" Yvonne said with a smile, stepping forward to pat Anthony on the shoulder. She then turned back to Hermione and the others. "If you'd worked better together, you might have had a chance to knock me down!"
Hermione and the others rolled their eyes. They didn't believe a word of it. The seven of them together couldn't even force Ivan to move a little. With such a difference in strength, it didn't matter how well they worked together.
Pansy and Hannah glanced at each other. Having experienced Ivan's extraordinary level of magic for themselves, they were beginning to believe in their family's nonsense.
Ernie Macmillan was not at all surprised, as he was well aware that Ivan had gone all out against them.
A real fight would have ended in a second, as they would not have been able to stop Ivan's magic.
Ernie could not forget the memory of the ten-meter-long sword that had cut through the fog. He could not believe that this was a spell that a wizard could use. It was a moving catastrophe!
Ivan had no idea what Ernie Macmillan was imagining in his head, but when there were a lot of people around, his Legilimency was usually kept at the lowest level of perception of malice, and he did not have the leisure of perceiving everyone's thoughts one by one.
After consoling the prefects, Ivan called for the young wizards to regroup and resume their practice.
During the morning's duel with the young wizards, Ivan already had a rough idea of their strength, so he assigned those who were of similar strength to a group.
Firstly, it helps them to spur each other on without either side having the absolute advantage over the other.
Secondly, it would make it easier for him to guide her. After all, having similar strength meant that she only needed to say a few words to turn the situation around.
It was just as Ivan had expected. The students who had been taught felt as if they had suddenly become stronger and had easily defeated their opponents.
The practice did not stop until the evening, when Ivan singled out a few of the fastest-moving students for individual instruction, earning him another wave of gratitude.
As for the young wizards who were fighting the wooden dummies, they were all badly beaten up, as the magical dummies were simply too agile and strong. Even with half of their bodies broken, they were still alive and kicking.
In order not to traumatise the imps, Ivan had to repeatedly weaken the magical dummies to make them easier to deal with.
After a "hard" battle, the young wizards who finally defeated the "strong enemy" were filled with a sense of accomplishment. The depression they felt from being brutally beaten up was swept away, and they even left reluctantly.
As the organiser of the Defence Against the Dark Arts Association, Ivan was naturally among the last to leave.
Before she left, Ivan thought of the annoying bronze knocker and stopped Luna, who had not yet left the house.
"Are you free this evening, Luna?" Yvonne asked bluntly.
"Well… I'll have to take care of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack tonight, and write back to Dad…" Luna murmured, counting down the things she had to do for the evening, then added with a smile, "But we can do them tomorrow!"
"That's good. I'd like to ask you a favor. Meet me on the eighth floor at ten o'clock tonight. It shouldn't take too much of your time," Ivan said cautiously. He didn't want to be overheard, so he didn't reveal too much.
Luna, on the other hand, merely blinked and nodded, showing no interest in asking.
After saying goodbye to Luna, Ivan went to Hogsmeade to buy some magical ingredients, feeling vaguely excited.
Although he had not yet figured out the nature of magic, he thought of another way to get through the gates!
It was a simple question of changing the bronze door!
Ivan suspected that the bronze eagle in the Room of Requirement, similar to the double standard eagle in front of the Ravenclaw Lounge, would give special treatment to Ravenclaw students, or perhaps they were one and the same, or else they would not have asked him the same question!
It was with this in mind that he invited Luna to try the Room of Requirement that evening.
It was best if she succeeded, but it didn't matter if she didn't. Luna was very tight-lipped and would not speak of it to anyone, as she had proven many times before.
… .
At night, Ivan found an excuse to leave the dormitory and arrived on the eighth floor of the castle.
Luna, wearing a strange robe, was waiting for him.
"Looks like I'm a little late," Ivan said apologetically, somewhat embarrassed that he seemed to be the one who was late every time he went out with Luna.
"No, I just got here," Luna said, shaking her head to show that she didn't care. She looked at Ivan expectantly, as if she was very interested in having adventures in the middle of the night.
Ivan didn't want to waste any time. After casting a few spells to make sure no one was watching, he walked up to one of the walls in front of Luna and walked up and down it three times, then pushed open the door that had suddenly appeared on the wall and walked in.
Luna followed Ivan into the dark space, but she was not afraid at all.
"Where are we? Did you find another chamber?"
"It's not a Chamber of Secrets, but it's something like that. This is the Room of Requirement, founded by Lady Ravenclaw…" Ivan replied casually, then raised his wand and said the incantation.
"Lumos-Maxima!"
The faint blue light gradually dispelled the darkness, and the bronze door slowly appeared in front of them.
Luna looked at it and saw that the bronze door was very similar to the one in Ravenclaw's Rest.
"Want to answer the question?" Luna asked curiously.
"Well, go on and give it a try!" said Ivan encouragingly.
As Ivan watched expectantly, Luna took a few steps towards the door, and the bronze eagle slowly opened its beak.
[May I ask… what is the essence of magic?]
Ivan was disappointed to hear the familiar question. It seemed the bronze eagle was impartial and not as easy to deal with as he thought.
Ivan sighed and was about to ask Luna to join him when the little witch spoke.
"Magic is magic. It's magical. It can't be seen, it can't be touched, but it allows us to release magic and perform miracles!"
Ivan was amused by Luna's naivety, but he was shocked when the bronze eagle nodded after a moment of thought…