"Fluorescence ~"
As Ivan chanted the incantation, a blinding light penetrated the heavy darkness and shone on the Devil's Snare, and the heat-fearing plants immediately retracted their tendrils.
The bottom was about four metres high, and after a quick assessment, Ivan asked Harry, Ron and Hermione to help him lift Fluffy under a Levitation Charm.
Harry also hung the music box on a chain around Fluffy's neck to prevent it from waking up.
Fluffy was very tall, and even if the four of them used the Levitation Spell at the same time, they would not be able to keep it up.
Fortunately, the music did not stop, and in the end, the group managed to get Fluffy down, and the previously dispersed Devil's Snare was closed again.
"But what about this trapdoor? And Minister Fudge will be suspicious if it's empty," Hermione said worriedly.
"Do you have anything useless on you? I'll disguise this place with a Transfiguration Charm," Ivan said with a resigned sigh. He felt as if he were turning into a professional sweeper, and Dumbledore wasn't paying him any Galleons.
The trio searched through the pockets of their robes and found quite a few small items.
Ron took out a packet of cocoa beans from his pocket, Harry took some gold Galleons and Sickles, and Hermione took a few wooden combs and mirrors.
There were quite a few of them, especially Ron's cocoa beans, which came in the hundreds.
In order to avoid being seen through due to the low level of the Transfiguration Charm, Ivan refused their help and personally cast the spell.
"Well, that's not bad." Ivan looked around and nodded with satisfaction.
"Is this going to be bad?" Harry asked, looking up at the ceiling in sudden fear.
"Whatever, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will find a way to explain it!" Ivan said, his voice thick with resentment. He was not the type of person who would not fight back after being set up.
He was hoping to give Dumbledore more fun…
Ivan was disappointed, as they didn't have anything large on them, and it would be impossible for him to make a splash.
As Ivan cast the spell, he heard Professor McGonagall's loud voice in the distance.
"There's nothing special about the corridors on the fourth floor. The addition of a door just made it easier to separate the rooms."
Now what?
Harry was afraid to speak, so he hinted with his eyes.
Ivan also did not expect the Ministry of Magic to arrive so soon, and he expected Dumbledore to take Fudge around the school in circles to buy them time.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall had the sense to warn them.
"We can jump. It's the Devil's Snare down there. We just have to stop resisting." Hermione lowered her voice, pointed to the trapdoor, and jumped in first.
She had seen that the Devil's Snare's vines had regrown, and with this as a cushion, she did not have to worry about falling to her death.
Harry and Ron gritted their teeth and jumped in, praying that Fluffy was still asleep.
Before Ivan could stop them, the trio had already jumped.
"Actually, I can use the Disillusionment Charm…" Ivan muttered to himself as he cast the Transfiguration Charm on the trapdoor.
Just as the trapdoor was closing and merging with the floor, the wooden door was flung open and Umbridge's hateful voice echoed down the corridor.
"I don't think so. Maybe there's a secret somewhere."
Umbridge entered with a smile on her face, and as soon as she turned her head, the corridor seemed to go haywire, and the ghostly faces hanging from ropes fell from the ceiling.
Umbridge sat down on the floor and let out a high-pitched shriek.
Outside, McGonagall grew nervous, and Dumbledore, thinking that Umbridge had discovered Fluffy, felt that he had miscalculated in leaving Fluffy's transfer to the children.
It was indeed impossible for a few young wizards to move a three-headed dog in such a short period of time.
Once inside, however, Dumbledore realised that things were not as he had imagined. Rows of ghostly faces with different expressions were hanging from the ceiling in the corridor.
McGonagall was momentarily taken aback and gave him a questioning look.
Dumbledore gives a barely perceptible shake of his head, indicating that he, too, is unaware, and it seems that Ivan surprises him differently every time.
"Albus, what the hell is going on?" Fudge asked, looking around the haunted-house-like corridor with a most peculiar expression on his face.
He had to wonder if Dumbledore was up to something dangerous behind his back, and Fudge was beginning to regret coming to the fourth floor.
However, upon closer inspection, Fudge realised that they were not Dark Magic items, but rather ordinary masks.
Dumbledore pondered this for a moment. He had not prepared for Ivan's little tricks, but it was clear that they would not stump him.
Within seconds, Dumbledore was clapping his hands as if he had dementia and often forgot things.
"Ah… I remember now. I had Severus buy them for Hallowe'en. I would have left them here if I hadn't come to see them."
Dumbledore took a mask and put it on, a vampire mask with red paint on the corners of its mouth that looked vaguely like blood.
"It looks good, doesn't it?" Dumbledore said.
Severus?
Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched. Dumbledore's reasoning was so casual, she did not believe he would do such a thing.
Fudge dubiously picked up one of the masks and examined it. It was an intricately-made, malevolent mask made of what appeared to be mahogany.
Umbridge was now on her feet, having lost her mind after being publicly humiliated. Furious, she pulled out her wand and cast an incantation at the ghostly faces surrounding her.
"Appear!"
A ripple of magic spread from the tip of the wand in all directions, and the ghost face hanging in midair shook and made a slight noise…