Ivan and the others' silence did not help much. Instead, more students tried to crowd in.
The crowd was getting too much for the professors, and Snape took out his wand and placed it against his throat to cast a Voice-Sound Charm on himself.
"Silence! Everyone back to their seats!"
Snape's deep voice, amplified by the Voice-Sound Spell, echoed like thunder in the Great Hall.
For a moment, the noisy hall went silent, as if someone had pressed the pause button. The young wizards who had been surrounding Ivan ran back to their original positions as fast as they could.
Ivan even saw a Slytherin student being pushed to the ground and trampled on, but managed to get up quickly, tears streaming down his face.
Satisfied with this, Snape turned to look at Harry.
"Potter, if you're going to make up lies to get some attention, get the hell out of here!"
Harry, shaking with anger, thought that if he had been capable of the Killing Curse Hermione had spoken of, he would have thrown it in Snape's face, who had not said a word since entering the room!
Hermione and Ron were momentarily indignant, as they had been at a disadvantage so many times before, and chose not to stand up and shout back.
Ivan had long since become accustomed to Snape's sharp tongue and was even surprised that there were no routine points deducted.
When she had calmed down enough to think about it, Yvonne could hear the subtle warning in Snape's voice, and wondered why he would use such a nasty tone to remind them not to reveal anything.
He should have known that a brute like Harry would not understand and would be of no use…
In any case, under Snape's pressure, he was able to take a break from the occasional whispered conversation.
At the same time, Ivan noticed the worried looks on the professors' faces, except for Snape, who quietly sat back down and looked at a corner of the teachers' table.
Ivan followed Snape's gaze.
The teachers' table, which represented Quirrell's seat, was empty, and Ivan estimated that Quirrell would never return after this serious injury.
Quirrell's absence made him the prime suspect in the attack on Hagrid, and unless Voldemort was out of his mind, he would not have allowed Quirrell to commit such a heinous crime.
To Ivan's surprise, there was a translucent phoenix standing on the statue of a giant eagle!
"Is there a blue phoenix?" Harry asked in a low voice, having noticed this.
He thought it was beautiful, even more so than the phoenix he had seen in the Headmaster's office, and the sight of it calmed Harry's nerves.
"That's Professor Dumbledore's Patronus!" said Ivan.
Having read the book, Ivan was well aware that Dumbledore's Patronus was different from the others in that it could be used as a medium to transmit messages, and the fact that the Patronus was there meant that Dumbledore's eyes were on it.
It was then that Ivan understood why the other professors had gathered their students in the Great Hall before Professor McGonagall's return.
Apparently, this is due to the Patronus…
"The Patronus, what is it?" Harry felt as though he had returned to the day when he had first started at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and knew little of anything.
"It's a Patronus summoned by the High-Level Patronus Charm, the Call of God, which holds happy memories of the caster, and is generally used against Dementors…" said Ivan.
Harry opened his mouth to ask what a Dementor was, but Yvonne, who had been expecting this, began to explain in a soft voice before he could say anything, thus distracting the others.
"Dementors are dangerous creatures, somewhat like the Muggle version of Death, with a cold, rotten body and a habit of sucking pleasure…"
Ivan's words attracted the attention of the young wizards around him. After all, the Call of the Gods was a high-level charm that even the older wizards might not be able to master.
Not to mention Dementors, which many people had never even heard of, so they stopped thinking about dragons and listened curiously to Ivan's stories.
Within a few minutes of Ivan's announcement, Professor McGonagall came out of a door in the hall. She looked more relaxed than before, but her brows were still furrowed. Several professors gathered around her to ask about the situation.
Because of the distance, Ivan could not hear what they were saying. While he was guessing, the blue phoenix on the statue of the giant eagle gradually became transparent and then disappeared as a speck of light.
At the same time, the closed doors of the exhibition hall opened again, and Dumbledore appeared before the crowd, looking different from his usual genial good humour, with a heavy expression on his face, which caused the whispers of the young wizards to die down as he passed the desks of the Heads of Houses.
On the stage, Dumbledore's eyes lingered on the empty seat representing Quirrell for a moment, then he cleared his throat and spoke.
"I have summoned you here at this hour because there is an important announcement…"
Dumbledore's eyes scanned the room, and when he saw that the young wizards were all staring at him, and that no one was missing a beat, he spoke again.
"The school's gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, was attacked by an unknown party while he was patrolling the Forbidden Forest today, although his life was not in danger… we have yet to find any trace of the attacker."
"From this day on, the school is under martial law. No one is allowed to leave the castle without permission. I will have any professors who are free to patrol the castle regularly until the holidays or until the murderer is caught!" Dumbledore's tone was very serious, and everyone could tell that he was not joking.
Ivan looked disappointed, as he had not expected Dumbledore to be unable to find any trace of Quirrell.
There was a murmur of discussion from the young wizards, and Dumbledore had to use louder words.
"On top of all the other buzzkill stuff, I need to give a few extra points here…"