The next day, after breakfast, Ivan took his suitcase and said goodbye to Alicia, who was still reluctant to part with him, and went alone to the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley.
As an important meeting point between the British wizarding world and the real world, it was unusually noisy at all times.
When Ivan pushed the door open, he heard several wizards sitting nearby, discussing the recent chaos in Knockturn Alley.
One of them angrily drank wine and complained that he couldn't sleep well recently.
Yvonne frowned, but she didn't look angry, merely wary.
It seemed that the explosion and flames of the battle a few days ago had caused more damage than he had expected, attracting a lot of attention, which was not a good sign.
Ivan was relieved to find that there were only a few people in the Leaky Cauldron who cared about the Dark Wizard's fight in Knockturn Alley.
Apparently, this world-wide event attracted more attention than the deaths of several Dark Wizards in Knockturn Alley.
A drunken wizard slammed his hand on the table and stood up triumphantly when Ivan entered the pub.
"Ha! My bet is on the Irish team. They've won four games in a row and they're going to win again! I've bet five hundred Galleons on them. I'm sure we'll make a killing!"
"Who says? Krum of Bulgaria is the best Seeker in the world. He will catch the Golden Snitch! Ireland will lose!"
The opposing team also joined in the jeering and jeering of the Irish team. The wizard was so angry that his face turned red, and the two groups almost started fighting…
Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, watched this scene with a smile. Not only did he not try to stop them, but he even added fuel to the fire by asking if they wanted to have a drinking competition.
Ivan shook his head at the noise. He had lived in the wizarding world for many years, but he couldn't understand why wizards were so passionate about a game in the sky.
This was good. There would be fewer people interested in Knockturn Alley.
As he was dragging his suitcase to find a place to sit and wait, Ivan passed the noisy reception desk and entered the pub, only to find Dumbledore waiting for him.
After not seeing him for some time, Dumbledore was his usual self, dressed in a grey wizard's robe, his long beard hanging to his chest and stained with wine.
The injury to his right hand did not seem to trouble his life much, and he switched to drinking with his left hand, chatting happily with two elderly wizards, which was nothing like Ivan had expected.
If it were anyone else, they would never have thought that the strongest white wizard in the wizarding world would not have long to live.
"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore, but it seems I'm a little late!" Ivan called out as he strode over.
Dumbledore put down his glass and turned his head. When he saw Ivan, he smiled and looked at the magical clock on the wall.
"You're not too late, Hales! I was a little early! And it is customary for me to pay a personal visit to your mother to explain the situation!"
"But I think you're different from the average young wizard. You can handle these things on your own, so please allow me to slack off for once…"
"After all, your mother, Alicia, may have had a few things against me…" Dumbledore said teasingly, without much amusement.
Ivan rolled his eyes, thinking there was more to this than "some" opinions.
At the same time, Dumbledore's words piqued Ivan's curiosity, and after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Professor, do you have a problem with my mother?"
"Well… contradiction? You could say that. You know, it's always hard to tell right from wrong in this world…"
Dumbledore spoke vaguely, as if he did not want to talk about it, and changed the subject before Ivan could ask more.
"Now that you're here, we'd better get going! If all goes well, you'll probably be there for a while!"
"Of course, if you get bored, you don't have to be there all summer. You might even make it to this year's Quidditch World Cup!"
"Sirius wrote to me the other day about a lot of things, including the World Cup, and he said he'd paid good money to reserve the best first-class tickets, and he wanted to invite you all!"
As he spoke, Dumbledore took a ticket from the sleeve of his wizarding robe and handed it to Ivan.
Ivan did not expect Sirius to be so jumpy after clearing his name that he decided to go to the Quidditch Cup.
Of course, it is also possible that the Regulus incident caused Sirius to be in a foul mood recently and wanted to relax.
As for the ticket, Ivan thought about it for a moment and decided not to accept it. He shook his head and said, "Professor… the truth is, I'm not interested in the Quidditch World Cup. I'd rather read a few more books if I had the time… If you have time to write back, please thank him for his kindness!"