Ivan shook his head, forgetting his earlier discomfort, and turned to the Gryffindor table.
"Hales, come out with me. I have something to ask you! Also, the prefect is in charge of maintaining order while I'm gone!"
Feeling that it was time for the Polyjuice Potion, Ivan led Lockhart out of the Great Hall, unaware that Hermione was staring at them.
The two of them returned to the classroom for their Defence Against the Dark Arts class and waited for the effects of the Polyjuice Potion to wear off before switching back to their identities.
Ivan carefully explained to Lockhart what he had done under the name "Lorhart" and instructed him not to reveal anything.
Lockhart heard Ivan talking about the attack and asked curiously, "What happened to the Hufflepuff girl? Is she alive?"
"Alive! It's just that Madam Pomfrey said the girl had a lot of life force sucked out of her, and I don't know if she'll ever wake up," Ivan said with a sigh.
Based on what had happened to Ginny in the past, it was likely that they would have to destroy the Horcrux to heal the two assailants.
At the same time, Ivan found it strange that Tom was always looking for young girls.
Was it simply because he was easier to fool? Or did Tom Riddle discriminate against the boys at school and was unwilling to suck their life force?
Lockhart was not interested in asking any more questions after learning that no one had died, and immediately complained about Ivan's performance in the Duelling Ground.
He had spent three thousand Galleons expecting to see himself in the limelight, and had almost lost to Snape.
"That's beneath me!" Lockhart protested.
Ivan rolled his eyes, ignoring Lockhart's lack of self-awareness, and warned him to keep his mouth shut when he got back to the Great Hall, lest he get himself into trouble.
They turned a corner and stopped in unison.
The little brown-haired witch in the corridor in front of them stared at them angrily.
"Hermione?" Yvonne was surprised when Hermione, usually so well-behaved, sneaked out of the Great Hall and overheard their conversation.
"Don't worry, it's what I do best… All we need now is a little spell!" Lockhart pulled his wand out of his sleeve, ready to use the Memory Charm on the problem.
Ivan turned and glared at him.
Lockhart had no choice but to put his wand away and step back. He said sheepishly, "Well, you guys have a nice chat. I just remembered that I have something to do… I'll leave you to it."
Ignoring Lockhart's departure, Hermione scolded him angrily, "How could you help Lockhart, a liar, and join forces with him to cheat us!"
The little witch was as angry as a lioness. After listening to Ivan and Lockhart's conversation, she soon understood why Lockhart's strength had been fluctuating for the past few months. It was because of Ivan.
"Hermione!" Ivan interrupted, lowering his voice and speaking very seriously, in case anyone else was wandering around the castle. "It's because we're doing something important…"
Before Hermione could release her anger, Ivan's words silenced her, and she stared at him in astonishment.
"You should know about the attacks these days. I need to use Professor Lockhart's status to investigate suspicious students," Ivan said, naturally ignoring the fact that he had earned a lot of Galleons from Lockhart.
Like this? Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong…
Before Hermione could figure it out, Ivan went on to reveal that the attack was most likely part of another plot by You-Know-Who, who must have bewitched one of the students to carry out his nefarious plan.
"So what are we going to do? Have you and Lockhart figured out who the attacker was?" Hermione asked worriedly, her attention instantly captured.
Seeing that Hermione had dropped the subject of his Polyjuice Potion-transfiguration, Ivan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Something like that. The attacker was probably one of the two girls who didn't show up. Um… Filch, who came to inform us, might be a suspect!"
Yvonne ran through the list of suspects in her head. The vast majority of the students, plus Snape and Lockhart, were in the Great Hall, so there was no chance of an outside attack.
The other staff members at the school were strong and knowledgeable, and Tom was unlikely to charm them…
Hermione nodded at Ivan's analysis, then suddenly remembered something and pursed her lips. "So how did Luna get your bracelet tonight?"
Ivan made no attempt to hide the fact that Luna had recognised him when he entered the Duelling Ground.
"So I let Luna have the bracelet for a while, to shut her up and to cover for me."
"What about me? Now I know as much as she does…" Hermione asked suddenly, her brown eyes fixed on Ivan.
"How about… I'll get Lockhart to sign it for you? Hundreds of copies, even!" said Ivan, scratching his head, vaguely remembering that Hermione was a fan of Lockhart's.
"I don't want to! Don't ever mention that liar to me again!" Hermione seethed, remembering how she had stuck Lockhart's mugshot in her room.
…
They sneaked back into the Great Hall, where Ivan, having lost his status as a professor, stayed at the Gryffindor table, waiting for something to happen.
It was not until late at night that Dumbledore arrived and spoke to Snape in a low voice.
"I think you need to rest here for the night!"
Dumbledore waved his wand, and the long tables flew up and automatically piled up in the corner, leaving hundreds of purple sleeping bags behind.
"Rest well, everyone. Also, I hope that the prefects will guard the entrance, and the Head Boy and Head Girl will be in charge of maintaining order. If you find anything wrong, you can immediately send a ghost to report to me!"
Dumbledore walked out of the Great Hall, and there was a great deal of chatter, as everyone in the Great Hall realised that things were more serious than they had thought, or they would have been able to get back to their dormitories.
Ron tried to analyse if there was a second person who had been attacked that night. As he continued to spread panic, he felt a chill behind him and turned around to find Snape, who had not left…