The Wizarding Market in Knockturn Alley had only become the largest black market in the wizarding world after several generations of hard work. Now that he had taken all of this away, no one would be able to take it.
Not to mention the fact that he had killed the nephew a few days ago. This hatred was probably irreconcilable…
To Ivan's surprise, Nott seemed to have an inexplicable confidence that he would not dare to kill him.
Nott looked up at Ivan with an arrogant expression and explained.
"I'm pure-blood, unlike the other low-life wizards you've killed! If I die, or go missing for any length of time, the Ministry is bound to investigate. You wouldn't want to be targeted by Aurors, would you?"
Nott's words infuriated the werewolves nearby, and even the bound black-robed Enforcer had a look of displeasure in his eyes, as he was the lowly wizard Nott had spoken of.
Perhaps deciding this wasn't safe enough, Nott added, "There's something you may not know, but I'm very close friends with Pierce, the executive director of the Ministry of Magic! If you kill me, you're in big trouble!"
"Executive Director?" Yvonne raised her eyebrows.
What was it he remembered, Pierce Thicknesse?
He had little memory of such a fringe character in the original time and space, and could only remember him now because the Department of Magic had taken care of his shop's first major sale.
Nott saw Ivan's thoughtful expression, and his face lit up with joy. His greatest fear was that the young wizard in front of him would not know what was good for him and try to kill him.
Now that Ivan was willing to think about it, it proved that he was safe.
Nott's mind raced. As long as he kept his life, he would have a chance to get back what he had lost!
Before he could think any further, Ivan's disappointed voice reached his ears.
"So you're relying on the fact that you're the executive director of the Ministry of Magic, that's it?"
Nott froze at Ivan's words.
Ivan shook his head in disappointment. He had thought Nort was a relative of the Minister for Magic, seeing how arrogant he was.
As for how good his best friend was, no one knew. Perhaps they had only met a few times and had a few drinks together, but it was hard to say if he was just bluffing…
In fact, he often talked and laughed with the Minister for Magic and wrote letters to many high-ranking officials and the Head of the Order of Merlin.
However, Nott's words were not unreasonable. In peacetime, even a dead wizard would take a long time to track down, let alone the head of a pure-blood family.
Being targeted by an Auror would be troublesome…
He happened to be someone who was afraid of trouble!
Even so, Ivan would not give in under the watchful eyes of the crowd, or else the team would be difficult to lead.
Nott, in particular, had just insulted half-bloods and Muggles with his own words, and Ivan would not have let him.
"So you're relying on Pierce Thicknesse? The current Chief Executive of the Ministry of Magic?" Ivan asked again.
"What the hell do you mean? You know Pierce, too?" Nott frowned, unsure what the young wizard was up to.
"You're mistaken. He and I have never met…" Ivan shook his head, then continued.
"However, when I asked Fudge to be my nominee the other day, I overheard him complaining about Pierce's recent incompetence. Not only was he unable to stop the Dementors riot, but his Aurors could not even keep an eye on a condemned prisoner. Fudge was very unhappy with an executive director like him…"
Yvonne gave a half-truth based on what she knew.
Seeing Nort's uncertain expression, Ivan's lips curled into a smile. He knew he was right. Pierce had been in a lot of trouble lately, he thought, so he tried again.
"Your best friend is busy with his own affairs, but he might not care about you, nor would he help a dead person…"
Nott's face darkened, which was why he did not call for help despite being at a disadvantage in the dispute with Alicia.
And it was true that his friendship with Pierce did not reach the level of "best," as he had deliberately said to intimidate Ivan.
More alarming to Nott is the hidden message behind Ivan's words…
"Do you know Minister for Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge?" Nott could not resist asking.
This was the only person who could complain that the Chief Executive did not do his job well and was also called Fudge!
However, Noether could not understand how such a prominent figure would associate with a thirteen or fourteen-year-old young wizard and complain about the Head of Department's job, so he suspected that Ivan was not fooling him!
Ivan, of course, could see the deep distrust in Nott's eyes, and he shook his head and tutted. "I would have thought you would have done a bit of research before dealing with my mother…"
Nott opened his mouth to retort, because it was Alicia who started it, and he was just passively fighting back…
Ivan, however, did not give him a chance to speak.
"It seems that you did not know that I was recently awarded a First-Class Order of Merlin for outstanding service to the wizarding community. My nominees were Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Oswald Fudge…"
Ivan said this casually, but he found it strange. He remembered that it had made the Daily Prophet's headlines, and yet Nott did not know about it. Could it be that Nott did not usually like to read the newspaper?
"That's impossible!" Nott stared at Ivan in disbelief.
He had collected information on Acacia, but it was not up to date, so he only knew that she had a talented child who was awarded the Order of Merlin for developing the Wolf Venom Potion.
This was why he was able to call out Ivan's name at once.
As for recent events, the Norts, too busy dealing with Alicia and the attacks of the werewolves to care much about them.
He also knew that Dumbledore and Fudge had been on bad terms lately, and that it would be impossible to get both of them nominated at once!
When Nott didn't believe him, Ivan shook his head and didn't bother to explain. He couldn't just take out the Order of Merlin and have Nott verify it, then get a copy of the newspaper for Nott to read, could he?
Ivan had no intention of flaunting the Order of Merlin. It was just an empty title. If not for the legend, he would not have gone to all this trouble.
A middle-aged wizard tied up next to him suddenly sighed and said, "He's telling the truth, Nott… I read in the newspaper that he caught Peter Pettigrew, but that's not enough to get a First-Class Order of Merlin. Dumbledore and Fudge must have done a lot…"
After receiving confirmation from his partner, Nott's face turned ashen, which was worse than he thought.
In other words, the Order of Merlin was forcibly given to him by Dumbledore and Minister for Magic Fudge, and Nott could not imagine anyone being treated like this.
Could he actually be a relative of the Minister for Magic? A long-lost bastard? A secret member of the Dumbledore family?
The mere thought of it made Nort break out in a cold sweat. His network of contacts, which he considered his life-preserving charm, most likely did not even care!
It meant that he had lost his last hope, and his life was in this young wizard's hands.
Old Rosier, standing beside Ivan, was equally horrified.
He thought Ivan was a reformer who wanted to overthrow the old system, and had a very difficult road ahead of him, but it seems he may not have been, perhaps with Minister for Magic Fudge and Dumbledore's secret consent…
However, Rosier simply could not understand it. If that was the case, Ivan would be more suited to politics. He should have taken twenty years to become the next Minister for Magic with the support of the two bigwigs before reforming…