Where am I?
Hermione blinked. It was dark, and there was a faint smell of potion in the air.
The sleepy witch almost thought she was still dreaming.
Then, the memory gradually came back, and an ear-splitting scream echoed in the empty classroom.
The next moment, a blinding light illuminated the dim classroom, and Hermione instinctively closed her eyes, pulling the blanket around her and curling up in a corner of the bed.
"Hermione, did you sleep well?"
When Hermione opened her eyes again, she found Ivan sitting in the corner of the room brewing a potion.
"Ivan, why am I here? I mean, how did I end up in the same bed?" Hermione stammered, her face red and her body curled up.
The little witch vaguely remembered that she was supposed to be reading in the classroom…
Ivan put down his work, turned his head, and said, "Don't you remember? You fell asleep at your desk while reading, and I thought you were too tired to wake up."
"What… what about this bed?" Hermione asked, remembering that they were in a classroom.
"I used a Transfiguration Charm, of course, so you could sleep better…" Ivan said with a smile.
"You should have woken me up…" Hermione said sheepishly as she wrapped her arms around the blanket. Even though she was fully clothed, she felt strange being stared at by Ivan in bed.
Ivan shook his head but did not reply, turning back to continue brewing.
Hermione quickly got out of bed as well, but when she pulled up the blanket, she realized that she was holding something in her right hand. She held it up to her face and saw that it was a note.
The young witch looked at Ivan in confusion. She and Ivan were the only ones in the classroom, so it could only have been Ivan.
'But is there anything you can't say to my face?'
Hermione opened the note in confusion and was stunned by its contents.
[Forbidden Section…Thirteenth bookshelf, ninth row…Black Wizard's Secrets]
What was the meaning of this? Go to the thirteenth shelf in the Restricted Section, and get a copy of this book, The Dark Secret?
Hermione glanced over her shoulder at Ivan, but then decided that he could not have given her the note.
Who could that be?
The little witch had a theory as she read the letter, but Ivan's voice interrupted her.
"Hermione, aren't you coming down? I'm leaving…"
"Um… ah…" Hermione quickly crumpled the paper into a ball and stuffed it into the pocket of her wizard's robe, then lifted the blanket and stood up to put on her shoes.
Ivan then waved his wand, and the soft bed twisted and dissolved into a dozen square tables, returning to their original positions.
The chairs, cauldrons, and potion ingredients stacked in the corner also rose into the air and landed neatly on the table. The tinkling sound was like music.
Ivan's fluid casting was an eye-opener for Hermione, who had never known that casting could be so easy and beautiful.
"Alright, let's go!"
Ivan tidied up the classroom, then left, returning to the Gryffindor common room with Hermione before heading off to their respective dormitories.
When she opened the door, she found Harry and Ron in their room, chatting about their recent Quidditch training.
They both turned at the noise, and Ron said, "As it happens, we were talking about you, Ivan!"
"About me what?" Yvonne sounded doubtful.
"I saw Hufflepuff Captain Diggory at the training ground today, and he was very pleased when he heard you were leaving Gryffindor this year," Harry said.
"They wouldn't have stood a chance without me! You're the best Seeker at Hogwarts…" said Ivan, patting Harry on the shoulder. He didn't want Wood to get the idea to put him on the spot again.
"I hope so…" Harry shook his head. He didn't have much confidence, and he had a bad feeling about Hufflepuff's Seeker.
Ivan vaguely recalled that the match would be disturbed by Dementors, but since it was still two weeks away, he skipped the subject and asked about it.
"Right, Harry! Can I borrow your Invisibility Cloak for a few days?"
"What are you going to do with that?" Harry asked curiously.
"I'm going to Hogsmeade to get some potions or something," Ivan said, making up a random excuse.
Without further ado, Harry dug out the strange, flowing, silvery-grey fabric from his suitcase.
"Take it!" Harry warned Ivan as he handed him the Invisibility Cloak. "But you'd better be careful when you go out there! Professor Dumbledore said you couldn't hide it from a Dementor!"
"Come on, you might as well be worried about those Dementors…" Ron complained.
Harry scratched his head, remembering how Ivan had managed to get rid of dozens of Dementors on the train.
"I'll be careful!" Ivan said, putting the cloak away.
…
Around midnight, when everyone was sound asleep in the Gryffindor dormitory, a grey rat opened its eyes and scrambled out of bed.
However, when he reached the dormitory door, Peter had a vague feeling that everything was familiar…
Now, if he turned around, would he find someone watching him?
As the thought crossed Peter's mind, a deep voice spoke behind him.
"Very good. You're quite fast today…"
Peter felt a chill go through him, and before he knew it, he was struck by a spell and went limp.
Ivan deftly grabbed Peter by the tail and led him out of the room.
When Peter found out that he had been caught again, he struggled in terror, and a question popped into his head. Why did I say again?
A few minutes later, Peter was curled up in the corner of the Potions Room in the Room of Requirement.
"Hales, you may not know this, but your father and I were very good comrades. We fought together…"
"That's enough! You say it every time you visit, and I've memorized it. Are you going to tell me about Sirius next?" Ivan interrupted Peter, shaking the potion as he spoke again.
"Come, it's time for your medicine. Are you going to drink it yourself this time, or shall I do it for you?"