The great white wizard did not seem to find anything amiss with Ivan's speech, and when he heard that Ivan had "coincidentally" used Iron Thorns and a Transfiguration Charm to reverse the situation within ten seconds, Dumbledore clapped his hands and clapped, his expression and tone of voice clearly impressed.
"What a fight! You're better than I thought you'd be, and I think Severus was right, Hogwart's is one more genius!" Dumbledore exclaimed.
A young wizard, who had only been in school for a few months, was able to remain calm and collected when facing a troll for the first time. He was also able to use what he had on hand to easily defeat the troll. He had not seen such an outstanding young wizard in decades.
Ivan was uncomfortable with Dumbledore's praise, as it meant he was being targeted by the professor, which was not a good thing.
The rest of the conversation became more relaxed, with none of Ivan's expected intrigue, probing, or tit-for-tat suspicions. Other than the initial attempt at Dementory, Dumbledore was as affable as an old, homely neighbour.
This leads Ivan to maliciously wonder if Dumbledore is suffering from dementia.
However, during the course of their conversation, Dumbledore mentioned his mother, Alicia Harls, which piqued her interest.
"Professor, do you know my mother?" Ivan asked, feigning curiosity.
"Yes, your mother was very impressive when she attended school here." Dumbledore winked at Ivan meaningfully. "In every way…"
The fact that Dumbledore's speech was cut off in mid-sentence made Ivan's head hurt, and he wondered if this was due to a lack of information on his own, or if it was simply a matter of instant communication between intelligent people…
However, he really could not understand!
Yvonne managed an awkward but polite smile…
In the end, Ivan only received information that his mother had attended Slytherin House. Ivan did not ask about his father, as he did not have any relevant information in his jumbled memories.
Dumbledore also seemed to be deliberately avoiding this topic, and after a short conversation, he said to Ivan with a smile, "Well, child, you may go back, I believe there will be a surprise waiting for you."
Ivan did not hold out much hope that Dumbledore would be pleasantly surprised, and the news of his return was pleasant enough.
As such, Ivan left the room in a swift and graceful fashion, Dumbledore soothing Fox with one hand and watching him go, lost in thought.
…
"Dessert soufflé!"
In front of the Hogwarts Lounge, Ivan shouted the password, and the Fat Lady, who was in charge of guarding it, nodded and stepped aside to reveal a circular passageway.
Every time Ivan climbed, he couldn't help but complain about the tunnel's designer. Of all the things to design, he had to make it into a pipe.
The Gryffindor Lounge at midnight was pitch-black. The dark brown fireplace on the right, which often burned brightly, had been extinguished at some point, and the magic lamps were not switched on. The silence was unusual.
Ivan's expression did not change as he slowly moved forward, but his right hand was already slipping down to the wand at his waist.
Bang!
As Ivan moved to the middle of the room, a great blaze of fire erupted from the fireplace, followed by a brilliant burst of white light from the surrounding witchlights, the red lion flag representing Gryffindor on the ceiling unfurling in mid-air, and strings of iridescent objects floating down.
The Weasleys, in their strange uniforms, rushed out of the dormitory and threw a large bundle of holiday ribbons made from torn sheets over Ivan's head, shouting behind him.
"Let us welcome back the heroes of Gryffindor!"
Gryffindor's hero? Who? How dare he be so arrogant?
Ivan, who thought it was a late-night celebration of Hallowe'en, was stunned when the Weasleys opened their mouths, but before he could react, dozens of junior witches and wizards poured through the dormitory entrance.
In the front row were Harry and Ron, who worked together to carry Ivan down, and the Weasleys, grinning wickedly as they threw Ivan high into the air…
"Hooray for the return of our Gryffindor hero!" Fred shouts at the top of his voice.
The Gryffindor cubs joined in the cheering.
"Hales the Hero ~"
"Troll killer!"
…
Ivan was tossed around so much that he felt like his bones were about to fall apart. It took a while for the cubs to calm down.
During this time, Yvonne was able to find out what had happened, and when Harry and Ron returned to the dormitory, Ron told her about Yvonne killing the troll and rescuing Hermione.
Wizards who could only spend Hallowe'en in the common room because of the troll incident had never heard such shocking news.
Word spread like wildfire, and Ivan was hailed as a Gryffindor hero. As for the Welcoming Party, it was, of course, organized by the troublemaking Weasley brothers.
After learning what had happened, Ivan was still a little confused. After all, Harry and Ron, who defeated the troll in the original book, did not receive such treatment.
Ivan, however, had forgotten that he was fundamentally different from Harry and Ron, who, despite successfully stunning the troll, had been beaten to a pulp afterwards, and that their victory over the troll had not been honourable, purely by luck.
From the perspective of an onlooker, Ivan was a textbook example of a hero saving a damsel in distress, and his method of killing the troll was even more efficient.
What's more, the troll just happened to fall in front of Ivan, and its death by being pierced through the head was legendary, which was why Ron was so impressed!
Ivan could even see some of the witches in the crowd flirting with him, and some of the more daring ones even approached him to ask about the details of how he killed the troll.
So attentive that Ivan almost forgot he was at Hogwarts…
The unusually energetic Gryffindor lions fussed until the second half of the night, when they returned to their dormitories, as they had classes the next day.
As the main character of the welcoming party, Ivan was exhausted and parched.
"This is quite a surprise…" Ivan muttered, thinking of Dumbledore's final words before he left.
Even so, Ivan couldn't help but smile.