In the early hours of the next morning, Sirius, who had been resting in a corner, was startled awake by a slight noise. He jumped up and instinctively reached for his wand with his right hand.
Sirius then realised where he was and let his guard down.
Ivan was dealing with the remnants of the failed potion last night. Even with his current level of fifth-level Potions, it took him several attempts to brew a potion as difficult as Veritaserum.
'You're up early?' Sirius was surprised, then frowned as a memory struck him. 'Or have you been up all night?'
Yvonne ignored him.
This was no time for Ivan to be resting. Every moment was precious.
He had thought of a way to recreate the scene from that day.
This time, while luring out the snoopers, he also intended to use them as an experiment.
Irritated by Ivan's silence, Sirius spoke again.
"Listen, child, you should go to sleep now and give me your wand. I'll deal with who you have to deal with and what you do. Killing is not for a young wizard of your age, and you're not worth the risk!"
Sirius meant what he said. Although he was anxious to find Peter after escaping Azkaban, it did not mean that he would sit idly by while his comrade's child was in trouble.
In truth, Sirius did not want to see a child of Ivan's age face a dangerous Dark Wizard, and the delay was well worth it…
Yvonne gave him a look of such distrust that it was clear…
You? Save it…
Sirius understood the look in Ivan's eyes, and felt completely underrated. He was a seasoned wizard who had dealt with countless Dark Wizards.
In the Order of the Phoenix, he was considered one of the best fighters, if not the best.
Sirius believed that the main reason he was so easily caught earlier was because he did not have a wand.
Ivan's next words shattered Sirius's confidence.
"How many Dark Wizards do you take out at once? Three? Five? Ten? What if there are dozens of them? What will you do with them?" Ivan asked.
Sirius was left speechless. He had not expected to face so many enemies, and he was already having a hard time fighting three or five Dark Wizards at once.
Any more than that, and he'd prefer to retreat for the moment and go in circles…
"That many enemies?" Sirius exclaimed. There were only a hundred or so Aurors in the Ministry of Magic, and he had thought his opponents were some powerful Dark Wizard.
"You'd better be prepared for that!" Ivan wasn't sure what to expect, but he didn't want Sirius to get careless.
Sirius could tell that Ivan wasn't joking, so instead of trying to persuade him otherwise, he questioned him about his next move.
Ivan had no intention of hiding the truth, so he explained his plan for the bait and handed over the ten wands he had confiscated, allowing Sirius to choose one that suited him.
He got them from the black-robed wizards who attacked the shop,
Notably, for some reason, he did not find Alicia's wand at the scene.
While Sirius was selecting his wand, Ivan drank the Polyjuice Potion, which tasted like stale stew.
A moment later, Ivan's body was elongated and deformed, and when he looked in the mirror, he was exactly the same as the young wizard he had killed with the snake's eye.
Ivan used a Transfiguration Charm to make his clothes fit better, and instructed Dobby and Sirius not to follow too closely in case they were suspected.
Ivan left the temporary shelter with a jug of Polyjuice Potion.
Sirius transformed back into his black dog form and followed after Dobby, who vanished with a snap of his fingers.
…
When Ivan was out of the house, he wandered aimlessly through Knockturn Alley, going as far as he could to avoid crowds and engage in strange behaviour, or stirring up trouble to attract the attention of most people.
It did not matter whether his personality matched his disguise as a black-robed young wizard.
The only difference was whether the other party sent someone to make friendly contact with him or to capture him and interrogate him.
After a long day of wandering, Ivan found that no one had approached him or attacked him.
Ivan frowns, but proceeds to the final location as planned …
In the evening, Ivan entered the Leaky Cauldron wearing a black robe.
It was as noisy as ever, with steam coming from the rising furnace and two goblins arguing over who should pay for the drinks.
A drunk wizard at the back of the room started singing an ugly tune, but the other guests paid him no mind.
Ivan even caught sight of Harry eating his dinner in the corner. He seemed to be in a good mood, perhaps because he had escaped punishment.
At the next table, two wizards were playing cards, and one of them glanced vaguely in Harry's direction.
The other was staring at Ivan, who had just entered the room. When Ivan did not move towards Harry, he turned his attention to the wizard's card in his hand.
Yvonne guessed that they were Aurors tasked with Harry's protection, but it was none of his business.
"A bottle of butterbeer, boss!" Ivan yelled, throwing a couple of Bronze Knuts at him.
"Got it, why are you shouting?" Tom, who was chatting with a gorgeous witch, said unhappily. He accepted the money and placed a bottle of butterbeer on the table.
The others in the pub, attracted by Ivan's loud voice, glanced in his direction.
Ivan made a point of turning his head and gesturing to them, his intention being to attract enough attention.
Yvonne turned around and chugged some butterbeer. When she couldn't find him, she complained to Tom, "It's been rough in Knockturn Alley lately. I don't think it's safe to travel."
Tom's interest was piqued, and he immediately tried to strike up a conversation. "Yes, I heard that two Dark Wizards got into a fight at a Dark Arts shop. The fight went on for a long time, and many bodies were left bleeding."
"Tut-tut-tut… It's said that the Aurors rushing over there were terrified…" Tom lamented.
Ivan frowned, remembering that he had placed the bodies of his attackers in the cubicle and cleaned up all traces of them.
Could it be that an Auror had passed by while he was looking for Dougett?
Ivan couldn't shake the feeling that Tom wasn't saying the same thing he was saying…