As early as a month ago, Hagrid, the gamekeeper, discovered traces of strangers entering and leaving the Forbidden Forest.
Initially, he thought that some senior students had ventured into the Forbidden Forest. However, a few days later, he discovered that a unicorn had been attacked in the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid then went in and out of the Forbidden Forest frequently, wanting to find out what was going on, but he didn't expect to run into a man in a black robe attacking a unicorn.
Seeing this with his own eyes, Hagrid was overcome with rage and charged at Fang without thinking.
The result was, needless to say,
In a sneak attack, Hagrid might be able to take his opponent by surprise with his innate strength, but in a head-on confrontation, Hagrid's massive body would become a sitting duck.
Hagrid would have died if he hadn't been a half-giant with a unicorn and Fang to hold him back.
"You should have called Albus as soon as you sensed something was wrong! How could you want to face such a dangerous enemy on your own?" McGonagall interrupted.
McGonagall was scared. If Ivan hadn't arrived in time, the consequences would have been terrible…
Hagrid opened his mouth, unsure how to respond. He had been secretly raising Norbert at the time, so he did not dare approach Dumbledore.
"After that, Fang and I got separated, and I managed to lure the black-robed wizard away on my own. I thought that Cecilia had gotten far away, but she stayed close and blocked the Death Curse for me."
Hagrid was very upset at this point. Although he had only met Cecilia a few times, they had fought side by side and she had blocked the Death Curse for him, so Hagrid considered her a friend.
"A unicorn is an intelligent and proud magical creature, and does not take risks lightly. It is clear that you have earned its approval for your courage," Dumbledore said soothingly, turning to Ivan.
"Hales, you did well this time. I must say, your performance never fails to amaze me."
"It's the least I can do. Hagrid is my friend," Ivan said, maintaining Occlumency, not wanting to attract Dumbledore's attention.
Dumbledore nodded and moved on, addressing Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, escort Hagrid and Hulse back to the house, and inform the other professors to restrain the children of each house."
"As for me… I will personally cast a spell to find the murderer in the Forbidden Forest…" A rare hint of anger appeared on Dumbledore's wizened face, and a great amount of magic spread out in all directions as his emotions briefly went out of control. The heavy pressure caused Ivan, who was standing some distance away, to tremble with fear.
Norbert, needless to say, curled up into a ball, without the dignity of a top predator.
This was the first time Ivan had ever seen Dumbledore angry, and he was hoping that Dumbledore would somehow find Quirrell and Voldemort and kill them.
McGonagall turned to Norbert. "Albus, what about the dragon?"
"As long as it's taken care of before the Ministry comes to inspect it," Dumbledore explained, waving his wand to summon countless blue points of light, which he used to magically disperse in all directions.
"What do we do with it? Use a Vanishing Charm?" Professor McGonagall still had no idea what Dumbledore was talking about, but she thought the best way to get a dragon out of Hogwarts in a short time was to use a Vanishing Charm.
absolutely clean … promise nothing will be left,
Dumbledore should be able to do it, right? Professor McGonagall was unsure…
Ivan broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected McGonagall to be so old-fashioned on the outside, but so vicious on the inside…
"Ron's brother, Charlie, is working in Romania on a dragon research project. We've arranged to have Norbert sent away in the next two days."
McGonagall didn't say anything, but she approved of the way Hagrid handled the situation.
"Can you transform a stretcher?" McGonagall asked Ivan.
"Of course," said Ivan, instantly understanding what Professor McGonagall meant. He placed his wand on a long, broken piece of wood and mentally visualised and constructed the rescue stretcher that he had in mind.
At the same time, as magic was infused into the tree, the branches twisted and elongated… slowly transforming into a black metal stretcher with a hardwood board between two metal columns for support.
The odd thing was that the supports and boards were so tightly fitted together, as if they had grown together, that Ivan had thoughtfully placed soft padded cushions on top of them to make Hagrid comfortable.
The first attempt at such a complex transformation was also a challenge for Ivan, who was able to pull it off.
"Very nice… I don't think you'll find a better student at Hogwarts than you." Professor McGonagall looked impressed.
She had intended to step in to correct her mistake and teach on the spot, but it seemed that she did not need to.
The spikes Ivan had transformed into when he killed the troll were enough to surprise her, but not long after, Ivan's transformation ability improved dramatically.
"Professor McGonagall, I feel like my Transfiguration spell has reached a bottleneck, and I haven't been able to level it up in days." Ivan was not impressed, as his Transfiguration spell had reached Level 3 (799/800) a week ago, and he was only one step away from reaching Level 4.
However, no matter how much Ivan practised, the progress bar remained stationary.
"I must warn you, Harls," Professor McGonagall said sternly, her lips pursed.
"The Transfiguration Charm is an extremely profound and dangerous spell, and you should never rush into it. You're already far above your peers, so you should concentrate on the next step."
Throughout his decades of teaching, McGonagall had seen many talented young witches and wizards attempt dangerous transfiguration due to overconfidence.
It goes without saying that the successful individual will be able to break through the boundaries of Transfiguration and transform themselves into an animal in their own Animagus form.
However, the fate of those who failed was appalling… death by magic disorder during transformation was a good thing… the worst of them were half-human, half-animal monsters…
Since this essence-changing transfiguration could not be reversed if it failed, they may have had to continue in this grotesque fashion.