"No, it's not that! Black is lying! They're liars… I'm the innocent one!"
Peter lay trembling in the middle of the aisle, facing everyone's looks of disgust, suspicion, and disdain.
Sirius sneered as he lifted Peter up and tore off his clothes!
"Aaaargh!" the girls shrieked, covering their eyes with their hands and only daring to peer through the tiny gaps between their fingers.
"This is the Dark Mark, proof of the Death Eaters!" Black exclaimed, pointing to the skull mark on Peter's left arm.
The design of the Dark Mark was very strange, as if a serpent had slithered out of the skull's mouth and formed an eight-character inner ring on its arm.
A young wizard in the front row was so frightened that he fell out of his seat, and the other students were speechless with fear.
"Mr. Black was right. This is the Dark Mark! You may not have seen this before, but I'm sure your parents remember it well! That's why I'm so sure Peter was the betrayer!"
Dumbledore then turned to Sirius and said, "Mr Black, please fix Peter's clothes so as not to scare the children…"
Sirius nodded, then roughly pulled Peter's shirt back and spat on it!
As Peter's identity was revealed, Ivan watched the spectacle in silence, marveling at the wonders of time.
He had just come up with a concrete plan for a public opinion offensive against the Ministry in the Headmaster's office.
Now that I'm sitting in the Great Hall, my future self is once again using Dumbledore's identity to achieve all of this…
However, according to the script, that time would soon come, right?
With that in mind, Ivan straightened his clothes and got ready so he wouldn't burst out laughing later…
As expected, after denouncing Peter for a while, Dumbledore suddenly changed his tone and spoke solemnly.
"It is all thanks to one man! He was Hogwarts' finest student and youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin!
He was the one who found out about the rat's strange behaviour and found out the truth of the matter through clues. It can be said that without him, the whole wizarding world would be in the dark and Mr Black would not be able to get away with it!'
Dumbledore did not say names directly, but as far as they knew, only one person fit these criteria.
All eyes were on Ivan, and Dumbledore was shouting.
"Ivan Hals!"
Ivan rose to his feet under the watchful gaze of the crowd, bowed slightly, and then spoke to Dumbledore in a very humble manner.
"Professor Dumbledore, all I did was a little bit of work, fulfilling my duty as an accomplished student!"
Ivan then turned his attention to Peter and continued in a righteous tone.
"Moreover, as a member of the Order of Merlin, I cannot condone the dishonour of a traitor who faked his own death to receive the Order of Merlin and the accolades of the people! Therefore, I must reveal his true face!"
Ivan's words, under the influence of the Resounding Charm, spread throughout the Great Hall and into the ears of every minor wizard, and soon there was thunderous applause.
Malfoy, sitting at Slytherin House, was furious and jealous.
Originally, he had discovered the identity of the Lupin Werewolf and caught Ivan and the others having a secret rendezvous with the Ministry of Magic's fugitive, Black. Now, he should be the one standing up to receive the applause!
But how did it suddenly come to this?
Sirius's reputation was wiped clean, Ivan became a hero, and he was scolded by Snape for passing on the wrong information.
"You are the most humble student I have ever met, Hales!" Dumbledore exclaimed as he applauded. "Given your contribution, I would add three hundred points to Gryffindor!"
Three hundred points?!
The young witches and wizards sitting around the table were all amazed. This was definitely the highest single point scored at Hogwarts!
Ivan's face lit up with joy, as he had just received a system notification that his GPA had increased by three hundred points!
This proved that giving yourself extra points was possible!
The only disappointment for Ivan was that he did not receive the legendary title of Outstanding Cadet. He had bragged about it for nothing…
Ivan, however, quickly readjusted himself and gave Dumbledore a look, indicating that he wanted to keep going…
Dumbledore's face betrayed his frustration.
Yvonne pursed her lips. 'Why are you giving yourself points for pretending? You're the Headmaster, can't you just find a reason?'
Dumbledore turned back to the group and spoke.
"I'd also like to apologise to Mr. Harls here! As I'm sure you all remember, I had to give him a point deduction for something that I didn't realise was a complete misunderstanding, so… one hundred points to Gryffindor!"
As he spoke, Dumbledore gently pointed his Elder Wand at the scoring pool in the Great Hall, and the one representing Gryffindor rose again, to the point of overflowing.
The junior wizards of the three houses were in despair when they saw Gryffindor's points. It seemed that Gryffindor had won the House Cup this year…
Several professors on the stage frowned and looked at Dumbledore, wanting to say something, but then hesitated, wondering if he had added too many points this time…
Ivan was equally grim-faced, as this time the system did not react, meaning it was ineffective…
Ivan looked at the old professor in confusion and asked him what was going on.
Dumbledore shook his head slightly. This was why he had felt so helpless before, knowing that points would not help him this time, and that he would have to deal with the suspicions of the professors later, but still…
After a fruitless exchange, Ivan sat down with a sigh, wondering what the system's reward mechanism was…
Dumbledore ignored him, turning his attention to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, and commending them one by one for their achievements, each of whom received a twenty-point bonus.
After all, strictly speaking, Harry and the others had only gone through the motions and done nothing. If they were to give any more high marks, the junior wizards of the other Houses would probably flip the tables in protest of the injustice…