The four of them ate lunch in the Great Hall while discussing Hagrid's afternoon classes on Magical Creatures.
Harry was worried that Hagrid would mess up the class, as he had a hunch when he bought the Monster Book at the bookshop.
They all talked about trying to be positive in Hagrid's class so as not to embarrass him too much…
Harry suddenly remembered something and turned around. "By the way, Ivan, Wood wanted me to let you know that this Friday evening we're having our first Quidditch practice of the year!"
Yvonne paused for a moment, then slowly tore off a large piece of steak and replied casually, "I'm not going to be part of this training. I'm quitting the Quidditch team this year. You can tell Wood that…"
"What? Ivan, you're quitting the Quidditch team?" Harry exclaimed, unable to believe his ears.
Harry's voice attracted the attention of the young wizards at the Gryffindor table, and George, who was nibbling on a chicken leg nearby, couldn't help but come closer.
"Why, Ivan? Gryffindor can't do without you. We're counting on you to win this year's Quidditch Cup!"
Harry and Ron nodded in agreement; they didn't want Ivan to leave the Quidditch team either!
"I have too many classes this year, and I can't spare the time," Ivan said reluctantly.
There was a Time-Turner, but Ivan's previous experiences with it made it clear that it could die from exhaustion.
This was also the reason why he and Hermione worked on a timetable, and given this, Ivan was certainly not going to split his attention on Quidditch.
After all, it is unlikely that the same achievement will be earned a second time, and the achievement points awarded from the Quidditch Cup come far less quickly than usual.
George and the others tried to comfort him, but Ivan was adamant.
"The Gryffindor team is full, so it doesn't really matter if I quit or not. Besides, with Harry as the best Seeker, the Gryffindor team will still win!" Yvonne protested.
"Ivan's got enough on his plate lately, so stop bothering him with Quidditch!" Hermione added, glaring at them.
Harry and the others gave up.
Not long after, Wood arrived with a scowl on his face, trying to talk Ivan into attending the Friday training camp.
Before that, however, Ivan handed Wood his class schedule for the year.
After reading it, the latter was speechless for a long time, almost thinking that he had seen wrongly.
Wood did not believe her until Yvonne said she could check with Professor McGonagall and Hermione took out her timetable.
Ivan was already so busy that he had to take several classes at once, so he was naturally too ashamed to let Ivan play Quidditch. In the end, he patted Ivan's shoulder with pity and left.
Ivan breathed a slow sigh of relief at having dealt with a troublesome problem. He had been worried that Wood would press him to participate in this year's Quidditch competition, which would be troublesome.
After lunch, they grabbed their books and headed out of the castle for their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
Due to the Dementors' interference, the skies over Hogwarts were usually gloomy, but today, on a rare occasion, the weather was good and the clouds were clearing…
Along the way, Harry and Ron complained about the Monster Book in their hands, and even though they had it roped off, they could not be silenced at all times.
Hermione, on the other hand, had already used magical tape to seal the Book's biting mouth, and then wrapped a piece of cloth around it and hugged it to her chest.
"Ivan, why are your books so obedient?" Hermione asked, looking at him in confusion. He was holding the same book in his hand, but was holding it quietly.
"You just have to know how to deal with their weaknesses, and they'll listen to you if you just stroke their spines," Ivan explained to Hermione and the others as they scrambled around.
Perplexed, Hermione did as she was told and ran her fingers down the spine of the book, causing it to shudder violently and immediately stop fussing.
"That's great, it really works!" Ron tried it suspiciously, and then exclaimed in delight. He even opened the book, but it didn't bite him.
"Ivan, how did you find out about this?" Ron asked curiously. He was willing to bet that not even the salespeople at Livery Books knew about this.
This was because when he and Harry announced that they were going to buy two Monster Books, the staff there nearly cried, and it was said that some of them were bitten when they tried to buy them.
"Someone enchanted this book with something like an object-activating spell," Ivan said. "If you can find the weakest point in the book, you can temporarily stop the spell!"
After two blood fusions, Ivan's senses were much sharper than before, and he was a skilled alchemist, so it was easy for him to see how the book was made.
Apparently, the author of this book also had a wicked sense of humour…
"For crying out loud, I don't know what kind of bastard would use this to make a grimoire…" Ron muttered under his breath.
As they chatted, Ivan and the others soon caught sight of Hagrid's Hut, which was unusually busy. There were about forty or fifty people there, and it seemed that such extracurricular classes were quite popular.
However, the Slytherin students were there, and Harry even caught a glimpse of Malfoy, causing his good mood to sour.
Hagrid stood tall and straight at the door of the hut. He was wearing a moleskin coat and seemed to be very excited to be counting heads. When he saw that everyone had arrived, he waved his hand and beckoned the young wizards to move towards the Forbidden Forest.
The young wizards were both worried and hopeful, as Dumbledore stressed the dangers of the Forbidden Forest every school year.
Fang followed them with his tongue hanging out.
Luckily, Hagrid knew better than to take them on a one-day tour of the Forbidden Forest. Instead, they went around the edge of the forest and within minutes, they were outside a small paddock.
"Gather round!" Hagrid's loud voice caused the nearby wizards to pick their ears.
When he saw that everyone had moved closer, Hagrid shouted again.
"Yes, that's it! First you need to open your textbooks—to show me which one of you has subdued these cuties…"
(PS: Because of the plot, some classes have been adjusted so as not to interfere with viewing.)