"That's why I always told you to study harder!" Hermione said angrily, but she waved her wand to cast an Armor Charm on each of them.
However, that was not taught in the first year textbooks!
Harry grumbled to himself, but didn't dare say it out loud, as he and Ron were the only ones who didn't know the Shield Charm…
"Now, go!" Ivan seized the opportunity to temporarily restrain the nearest Stone Men and took the lead.
These enchanted pieces were not very fast, but there were many of them, and they were scattered all over the place, so that even Ivan, who was careful to avoid them, would have to touch a few.
Fortunately, Ivan's wands were not decorative, and a few just the right number of Obstacles and Splinter Spells could deal with the trouble, temporarily restricting the movements of the stone pieces.
However, Harry's situation was much more exciting, as one of the Stone Golems almost managed to land a blow on him, but the Shield Charm managed to hold him back, allowing him to roll away from the attack.
Hermione was quick-witted enough to stick close to Ivan from the start, and was able to take time off to use an Impediment Curse to shield Ron from the Knight's attacks.
The four of them ran out of the range of the board's magic, and the stone pieces stopped attacking, retracted their weapons, and returned to their original positions to be repaired.
Everyone but Ivan broke out in a cold sweat. The experience of dancing on a knife's edge was too thrilling.
Looking back, Ivan saw that he had arrived at a small platform with a black flame burning on the front seal.
The ground around them was covered in intricate inscriptions, some of which Ivan had read in ancient magickal texts but did not understand.
When Hermione, Ron, and Harry came in from behind, purple flames rose up around them, sealing off the entrance and trapping them.
It seemed the test here had not been spoiled by Quirrell, Ivan thought with relief or dismay.
Hermione turned to look at the objects on the platform. There were seven clear glass bottles with clear, multi-coloured liquids inside, and at the very front was a piece of parchment, which she read out loud.
Danger in sight, safety behind,
There are two of us who can help you.
Drink them, one leads you forward,
The other one sends you back where you came from
* * *
"It's supposed to be logical reasoning! We don't have to use magic to crack it," Hermione said, sounding surprised, and then, as if she had just thought of something, she turned to him and said confidently, "How about we compete to see who can solve it first?"
"Why don't we just forget it?" Ron looked at the long, headache-inducing riddle, his mind muddled, and Harry thought hard.
Hermione did not expect either of them to be able to answer the question.
"Seven bottles, three poisons, two wines. The smallest bottle contains a potion that allows one to pass through the black flames, and the rightmost bottle allows one to return."
Time was of the essence, and Ivan had no interest in playing riddles. After confirming that the parchment was as he had expected, he revealed the riddle.
Hermione couldn't believe it. Ivan had only glanced at the parchment twice, and Hermione had immediately used the information Ivan had given her to reverse-engineer the parchment, and the result was correct.
But this is too soon… Hermione thought gloomily.
"Anyway, Harry and I will go first. You can stay here. You'll be safe with the fire," Ivan said.
"How can you do that? Are you going to leave us behind?" Hermione glared at Ivan.
"There's not enough potion in the bottle for all of us," Ivan said, pointing to the smallest bottle.
"I think I'll go alone. There should only be enough for one person!" Harry said, snatching the potion bottle from them.
"Voldemort killed my parents, and I killed him when I was born. Voldemort would be the first one to kill me if he ever came back to life, so I had to stop him!"
"And I might be able to beat him a second time!" said Harry, touching the lightning scar on his forehead, so he was the only one who could not back down.
"Oh, come on, you don't even know how you defeated Lord Voldemort, do you? I do have an idea, and if it works, we should be safe."
Ivan appreciates his courage, but given the fact that Quirrell's condition may have changed dramatically because of him, Ivan is not comfortable with Harry going in alone, especially when he wants to finish the job…
Harry nodded reluctantly. He might have sounded bold, but he didn't even have a plan. All he wanted was to get into the thick of things.
Now that Ivan had stated his intention of facing the enemy, Harry dismissed the idea.
"But how are you going to get in?" Harry asked, confused.
"I have my ways." Ivan took a bottle of Fireproof from his wizarding robe and drank it.
Ivan had not expected that this bottle of potion, which he had kept in the Room of Requirement, would come in handy.
It can only be said that fate is fickle…
"What did you drink?" Hermione asked.
"It's a fireproof potion, homemade. It should be quite effective and last for a few minutes." Ivan closed his eyes and felt his body. It was cold, but it didn't affect his movements.
"It's obviously more than one person's weight…" Hermione scowled at Ivan.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing left now. I'll be more careful next time." Ivan smiled and turned the bottle upside down. He had drunk all of the fireproofing potion.
He did not want to have to protect Hermione and Ron while fighting against Quirrell or Lord Voldemort, as that would change the strategy from trying to clear the Nightmare Dungeon to trying to clear the real Hell Dungeon!
Hermione took a few steps forward, her lips trembling, her fists clenched, and tried to punch Ivan in the face.
In the end, however, Hermione decided against it and threw her arms around him.
"You have to protect yourself, before I come back!" Hermione clung to Ivan for several long seconds before letting go, her face red with embarrassment.
But she wasn't going to just sit around and wait…
Hermione grabbed the empty glass bottle from Ivan's hand, ran to the platform as fast as she could and gulped down half of the potion on the right, threw the other half to Ron, and drank the rest.
"Come on! Let's go find Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione yelled as she grabbed Ron by the collar and dragged him out of the room.
"But what about those Stone Men out there?" Ron shouted as he was dragged along.
In the distance, Hermione's voice rose in exasperation.
"By breaking them all with magic, of course!"
Hermione then decided to ignore even the Ministry's patrols, and went to drag Professor Dumbledore away.
Ivan and his gang were up against the Dark Lord. What about the Minister for Magic?
To hell with him!