He, Ivan Hals!
How could a young wizard, who was known as a Dragoon and was a savior of werewolves and a recipient of the Order of Merlin, want to be an owl in a cage being teased by a group of young witches…
Naturally, Ivan fought back and used his owl form to engage in a fierce chase with a group of young witches in the Hufflepuff girls' dormitory.
However, it was impossible to admit to this, even in death…
Otherwise, there will be strange rumours around the school tomorrow,
Therefore, Ivan pretended to be calm and shook his head, indicating that he had never seen such a strange owl before.
Professor McGonagall gave Ivan a suspicious look.
She had only been teaching Evangeline Transfiguration for a little over a month when she heard about a strange owl.
When McGonagall heard the news, she immediately guessed it was Ivan.
However, it was only a guess and could not be confirmed.
After all, the most crucial step before the potion took shape was to wait for a big enough storm!
As there had been no storms at Hogwarts in recent months, Ivan could not, in theory, have learned to use the Animagus.
Ivan knew this as well, so he did not panic. After some thought, he spoke again.
"Professor, you don't suspect that my owl, Marka, has gone out, do you? She's been sitting quietly in her room these past few days. She hasn't been out all day. Harry and the others can testify to that."
"Really? I hope so…" McGonagall raised her eyebrows, gathered up her textbooks, and left the classroom.
Ivan was relieved when Professor McGonagall left.
He could not help but be glad that he had pushed the progress of the exploration mission to more than 70% and did not need to use the Animagus form for the time being.
Otherwise, Ivan feared that Professor McGonagall would catch him red-handed if he tried to sneak into the girls' room.
Yvonne shuddered at the memory.
Calming herself, Ivan left the classroom to find Hermione, Harry, and Ron waiting for her.
"Ivan, what did Professor McGonagall say to you? I saw her frowning when she left," Hermione asked curiously.
Ivan didn't want to talk about his dark past, so he casually explained, "Maybe the professor wasn't too happy with my progress?"
Harry and Ron were speechless. They knew how good Ivan's Transfiguration was, and Professor McGonagall was not impressed?
"The professor is too hard on you," Hermione said, unable to contain herself.
"It's okay. It's not exactly strict…" Ivan scratched his head. He had just said it casually and quickly changed the topic.
"Let's get to the Quidditch pitch. It's the last day of practice."
The four of them arrived at the training ground, where George, Angelina, and the others were already waiting. Wood was holding a long package in his hand.
When he saw Ivan, Wood handed him the package.
"What's this? For me?" Yvonne reached for the bag and unwrapped it.
Inside was a brand-new broomstick, made of mahogany with the words Nimbus 2001 engraved on it.
"The Nimbus 2001? Who bought it?" Yvonne asked in surprise.
"Professor McGonagall, of course!" Wood explained with a smile.
"I told Professor McGonagall about Slytherin getting their hands on the seven Nimbus 2001s, and also about you, the team's new flying genius, so Professor McGonagall might have felt the need to increase the Gryffindor team's chances…"
Ivan had a strange expression on his face. He had not expected Wood to be so sneaky as to ask Professor McGonagall to get him a new broom.
Ivan felt a little strange when he thought about how he had just fooled Professor McGonagall and then turned around to look at the broom she had bought.
"Hales, try riding it and get familiar with it while there's still time today," Wood said.
Yvonne nodded and let the matter drop. Professor McGonagall had bought him a broom in an attempt to win the Gryffindor Cup.
…
Early on Saturday morning, Ivan, who had been training late the previous night, was woken up by Harry.
Remembering that they were playing Quidditch today, Ivan hurried to the Great Hall, ate a quick breakfast, and hurried to the Quidditch arena.
Despite the fact that the match did not start until eleven o'clock, the seats of the four houses were already packed with young wizards.
Ivan marvelled at the wizarding appeal of Quidditch, as it seemed that most of the Hogwarts students were there.
Ivan went into the locker room and changed into his team uniform, which was red and gold, while Wood gave the usual pre-match speech.
"This is a Slytherin match. Do not let your guard down just because you defeated them last time. The seven Nimbus 2001s give them a great advantage in speed, and it is likely that they have figured out how to deal with Hales…"
"Then they'll be shocked, because Ivan's not even a hitter this time!" George interrupted with a grin.
A smile also appeared on Wood's face, but he gave a stern warning to his fellow Slytherins to show them that a good broom did not make a good ball!
After reliving the new tactics, it was soon close to eleven o'clock.
As the game was about to begin, Ivan suddenly remembered that Harry had been knocked off his feet by a Bludger.
"George, keep an eye on Harry later so he doesn't get picked on."
"Harry? What's wrong? Why do you say that?" George asked curiously.
"I'm worried about the Slytherins, but just be careful," Ivan said vaguely. He couldn't very well say that a pixie named Dobby was going to attack Harry with a Bludger.
Besides, it was uncertain if it would ever happen.
After all, Hogwarts was very peaceful these days, with no Basilisk or Heir of Slytherin.
This made Ivan feel that he had made the right choice in getting hold of Tom Riddle's diary, otherwise he would be living in fear of a basilisk attack.
"Okay, I'll watch Harry." George nodded casually and patted his chest.
He didn't trust the Slytherins enough to try anything funny in a Quidditch match, but Ivan had said so, and he was going to keep an eye out.
Ivan nodded, having a vague feeling that something was going to happen in this Quidditch game.
The gates to the arena were now open, and Ivan had no choice but to rein in his emotions and fly out on his Nimbus 2001…