Yvonne had originally thought that it was most likely the work of a newspaper editor who made it up on the basis of gossip.
However, it soon occurred to Ivan that it seemed to have been more than a decade since Doggett's expulsion from St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Yvonne shook her head in frustration at the thought of Dagget's usual erratic behaviour. Perhaps the old boy had been caught taking bribes…
Ivan grumbled to himself as he put the paper down and looked at the house-elf standing nearby.
"What about the stuff I asked you to sell, Dobby?" Ivan asked.
"Most of them have been sold. Forty-five hundred Galleons, sir!" said Dobby.
Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared, returning with a bag the size of his head.
Dobby put it down on the table and opened it. It was glittering with gold Galleons…
"I'll leave it with you for now. When we get back, you can come with me to Gringotts to store it." Ivan nodded, becoming more and more pleased with Dobby.
No wonder some old, wealthy wizarding families were fond of having a house-elf.
Ivan had been worried that Dobby would be out of order and make a mess of things, but it turned out that he worried too much, and Dobby was quite good at small things.
Due to the nature of house-elves, Dobby worked hard, was not greedy for money, and was loyal enough to be a perfect butler.
"Sir, we still have ten bottles of Acromantula venom, a dozen fangs, and a few other ingredients in stock."
Dobby reported to Ivan the remaining stock in the Room of Requirement, then went on to say that he had found a suitable buyer for the items at a high price, and that the deal was set for three days from now.
"In three days?" Yvonne considered.
It happened to be the day he went home, and Dobby would not be able to go back with him.
It was just as well. Yvonne thought she could give Alicia a heads-up about Dobby and prepare her for what was to come.
"Then come back to me in Knockturn Alley when you've finished selling," Yvonne said.
"Yes, sir!" Dobby nodded and disappeared with the bag full of Galleons.
"In that case, it won't be long before we have twenty thousand Galleons!" Ivan muttered to himself, rubbing his chin.
Over the course of the school year, he earned a lot of Galleons from Lockhart!
Combined with the proceeds from the sale of the magical ingredients and the profits from the Wizarding Shop for a year, it should be enough.
"Beware of stragglers…" Ivan glanced at the mission list and saw the words below.
Knockturn Alley was not safe, after all. If he could not get rid of all the trouble this time, it would be best to move to another place!
…
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Just before leaving school, the exam results were finally announced.
For Ivan, the exam results were no longer in doubt.
With the exception of the cancelled Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, which did not do well this year, all the other classes got top marks.
A straight-A student's scoring is always so boring… and steady!
However, it was a different story for other young wizards.
George and Fred were unable to sleep on the night of the announcement, fearing that one of their subjects would be lower than E.
In that case, Mrs Weasley would absolutely go ballistic and end their research into mischievous magical objects.
When they looked at the results, their legs went weak. Fortunately, they passed all their exams. Unable to contain their excitement, the brothers hugged each other in public.
In the afternoon, they all rode the Hogwarts train out of the station.
Along the way, Hermione chattered on about her summer plans, while Ron played with his mouse…
Ivan looked out of the window and saw Hogwarts Castle disappearing into the distance.
At this time of the school year, he was terrified and prepared to go to war with Alicia.
Now he was looking forward to it…
Yvonne smiled, wondering how surprised Alicia would be to learn that she had made so much Galleon and had even abducted a house-elf.
Ivan did, however, remember some unpleasant things, such as promising to come home for Christmas the previous summer.
Unfortunately, due to the loss of his diary, he was so desperate to find it that he did not go back, but instead ordered Maca to send an explanatory letter, which he did not receive.
[Ding! School year over. Would you like to proceed with the school year summary?]
The system's prompt sounded in Ivan's head, and he snapped out of it.
Start clearing …
[As of today, your performance in this school year is as follows:
Evaluation: Perfect
Reward: 200 GPA
…
Final exam results: Transfiguration (Outstanding), Herbology (Outstanding) … History of Magic (Outstanding)
Reward: 600 GPA
…
Honor: Quidditch Champion (100 GPA), Gryffindor House Cup (100 GPA).
Overall Reward: 1000 GPA]
Ivan scanned the various points awarded for the year's summary.
There was one less Defence Against the Dark Arts class this year, so the exam results were fifty points less than the school year.
However, the perfect class rating and the Quidditch champion made up for the difference, raising the total prize to one thousand points!
"What a shame. It would have been nice to have been rewarded with Legendary Points," Ivan exclaimed, pushing his luck. He was so close to merging with his next bloodline.
Whine…
As Ivan ruminated, the Hogwarts train slowed to a halt at the station with a long cry…
Ivan gathered his things and joined Harry and the others as they stepped off the train and queued up to cross the wall that connected the train to the outside world.
Hermione spotted Mr. Granger waiting for her at the station from a distance, and waved happily.
"Ivan, Harry and Ron, don't forget to write to me over the summer!"
"Of course, I promise!" Yvonne laughed.
The little witch hurried over and Mr Granger nodded at them.
Shortly afterwards, Mr and Mrs Weasley picked up Ron and George, and Arthur kindly invited Ivan to visit the Burrow sometime!
This suggestion was politely declined by Ivan…
After waiting for a long time and watching Harry being led away by a violent Vernon, Ivan looked around for Alicia, but she was nowhere to be found.
Although he knew the way back, Acia would normally have come to meet him.
Was she held up by something?