This was, of course, easy for Ivan to do, and the tortoise was praised by Professor McGonagall, as even she could not see through it.
"Hales, you're improving so fast. Perhaps I won't be able to teach you this time next year…" Professor McGonagall sighed.
"You flatter me, Professor," Ivan said modestly. "I have much to improve on in Transfiguration!"
In fact, he did.
After hearing the prophecy from Harry, Ivan became more anxious. He was much weaker than the undulating earth demon and needed at least one more level of magic to protect himself…
Otherwise, he would have to find a way to increase his magic reserves and use blood magic as a regular spell…
Neither is easy to do, however…
Ivan left the examination room with a headache.
Harry and Ron also had bitter looks on their faces. Their minds had been so full of Peter yesterday that they hadn't been able to remember much of the contents of the exam.
Even Hermione was troubled by her mistake in the examination, as she felt that she had become as tortoise-like as a tortoise, and wondered if Professor McGonagall would mind.
After lunch, everyone rushed to the examination venue for Charms. Professor Flitwick's test was also very simple. One only needed to be proficient in casting the Pleasure Charm to pass!
However, this simplicity was only relative to Ivan, and was a highly challenging charm for most lesser wizards.
There is always someone who cannot control the strength of the spell.
Harry was so nervous that he went overboard, and Ron, who was partnered with him, burst into hysterical laughter that lasted for over an hour.
There were even some young wizards who secretly tried to fool Professor Flitwick with their fake smiles, but were easily caught by him.
"Hermione, are you ready?" Yvonne asked the witch she was working with.
Hermione nodded, pursing her lips.
Ivan whispered the incantation and waved his wand, sending a blue beam of light at the witch.
The next moment, Hermione felt as if all her worries had been swept away. She looked at Ivan and naturally recalled the times she had spent with him. The corners of her mouth gradually curled up into a smile…
"It's this genuine smile! It's wonderful!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed, applauding.
The other young wizards in the room, waving their wands, turned to see what was happening.
"The real Pleasure Charm triggers the memory of the subject, causing them to feel joy naturally, which was well done by Hales…" Professor Flitwick explained, giving Ivan the highest score on the spot!
Hermione managed to keep the smile on her face and her spirits up until the end of the examination, when she finally left the classroom.
Their relationship seemed to have returned to how it was in the past. In the evening, the little witch even asked him questions when she was revising.
It was just that Ivan was well aware that the effects of the Pleasure Charm wore off slowly and would not last long, disappearing after a good night's sleep.
However, to Ivan's surprise, Hermione's attitude did not change much when they met in the Great Hall the next morning, as if the effects of the Pleasure Charm were still with her.
"That's strange. Can my Pleasure Charm last that long?" Ivan muttered to himself in confusion. Had he somehow improved his magic?
Hermione, who overheard Ivan's whisper, glared at him…
"Ron, Yvonne, Hermione, it looks like we're going to have to hurry up. It's time for the Care of Magical Creatures exam!" Harry, who had been eating a few cakes in the Great Hall, anxiously urged them on.
"Got it. I hope he doesn't get a giant spider to give us exams this time!" Ron grumbled as he swallowed a small piece of steak and burped.
Ivan shook his head in amusement at Ron's complaint.
Without Buckbeak's trial in the original timeline, Hagrid was able to maintain his usual style in recent classes.
Not only did they bring along centaurs, unicorns, and other magical creatures that they knew, but they also intended to sneak into the lake to befriend the merpeople there. In the end, there was almost a misunderstanding and they were chased out by the merpeople with forks. Fortunately, no one was injured…
So Ivan was always worried that Hagrid would use his three-headed dog, Fluffy, as an excuse for the exams…
Luckily, Hagrid was smart enough to let them enter the examination grounds without seeing any scary three-headed dogs or smelly trolls.
They looked very strange, as if they were randomly put together from all kinds of creatures.
If not for Ivan's understanding of Hagrid's penchant for breeding cross-breeds, he would have thought this was the result of some sort of wicked biological experiment.
"What the hell is this? Where did you dig it out of the mud?" Malfoy scoffed.
"No, no, no! These are the cuties I've bred, and I'm sure you'll like them!" Hagrid retorted, shaking his head and speaking as loudly as if he had a megaphone stuck in his throat.
Harry and the others glanced at the strange creatures in the cages and decided they would never like them.
Unfortunately, Hagrid didn't seem to care about their complaints. He happily gave everyone a cage and announced loudly.
"Your subject today is to take care of these cuties and analyse their habits and characteristics in the morning…"
"Why would we want to help you raise a bunch of weird-looking creatures? You're screwed, you idiot. I'm going to tell my dad about this!" Malfoy said with disgust, not wanting to be anywhere near strange creatures of unknown origin.
Ivan rolled his eyes, suspecting that Hagrid was using the exam as an excuse to use them as coolies!
Not knowing if it was revenge or not, Hagrid threw a farting fish to Malfoy as part of the cage assignment.
A few hours later, Malfoy was being tortured to the point of madness…
The morning dragged on, and Ivan, Harry, and the others returned to the Gryffindor Lounge to find Sirius waiting for them.
"Harry, Ivan…" Sirius greeted them when he saw them, then handed them a copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Come and read this newspaper, all of you!"
Yvonne glanced at it curiously, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined her.
The headline read that Peter Pettigrew had been executed, and the following was a tribute to the Ministry's strict enforcement of the law…
"What? Peter Pettigrew's dead? Did the Ministry catch him again?" said Ron happily.
"No way! Professor Dumbledore would have told us!" Ivan exclaimed, shaking his head.
"Also, if you look at the date of Peter's execution, it was on the day of his escape, and the news didn't get out for so long, it's probably fake news. The Ministry is probably trying to cover up Peter's escape so that everyone thinks he's dead…"
Ivan easily guessed the Ministry's routine.
Over the past few months, the Dementors riot and the mistaken imprisonment of a war hero as a Death Eater have been bad news for Fudge. If word got out about Pettigrew's escape, Fudge would lose his job as Minister for Magic!
So hiding the news was Fudge's only option!