While Ivan was thinking, Harry kept talking about what happened next.
Shortly after the Dark Mark rose into the sky, Barty Crouch, the Minister for International Magical Exchange and Co-operation at the Ministry of Magic, and Bagman, the host of the Quidditch World Cup, arrived with a group of people.
What angered Harry the most was that they mistook the Dark Mark for his own, as he had accidentally lost his wand and it had appeared nearby.
Some Aurors who were in charge of maintaining order in the arena also arrested Sirius and tried to accuse him of causing chaos along with the masked Dark Wizards.
"How could they malign us like that? Sirius just wanted to catch a troublemaker and find out what was going on, but the Aurors ignored the escaped black-robed wizard and caught him first!" Harry was shaking with rage.
Ivan's expression turned strange, and it seemed that poor Sirius had nearly been caught in Azkaban again…
However, Sirius's sudden appearance was to blame.
How long has it been since Sirius was cleared of suspicion as a wanted criminal at the former Ministry of Magic?
It so happened that there was a large-scale riot there, suspected of being caused by Death Eaters, and that the arriving Aurors happened to see Sirius nearby, so they were suspicious of him.
"What happened next? Is Sirius all right?" Yvonne asked curiously.
Harry shook his head, and they took their time explaining, before the Aurors examined Sirius's wand to make sure he had not started a fire or cast any spells to torture Muggles.
When Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, vouched for Sirius, Barty Crouch relented and released Sirius…
Yvonne shook her head to herself.
Barty Crouch must have known that the Dark Mark had something to do with his son, Crouch Junior, but still wanted to pin the blame on Harry and Sirius.
It has to be said that this upright and evil-fearing former Head of Department had taken on the appearance he once hated most, in order to protect his children from the last wishes of his beloved wife.
Yvonne was overcome with emotion, but she did not stop talking.
As they talked, the train continued north and the rain became heavier and heavier. The sky was dark and the windows were covered in moisture, so the lamps were lit during the day.
Having been hit by such bad weather as soon as school started, it spoiled the good mood of many young wizards. Ivan looked vaguely out of the window and saw bean-sized drops of rain falling from the sky. From time to time, lightning would strike through the dark clouds with a violent roar.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stopped talking about the bad times and tried to guess what Bill and Charlie were hiding.
They all guessed that something was amiss, and Harry turned to Ivan, who had not been part of the discussion.
"Ivan, what do you think?"
"Why do you want to guess? Go to school and you'll find out. The joy of life is in the unknown!" Ivan yawned and replied casually.
He had known that this year's Triwizard Tournament would be held, but he had not had the right information and could not bring himself to tell Harry and the others.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, and Hermione gave Ivan a suspicious look, thinking that he was hiding something from them.
Whine…
The Hogwarts train let out a long cry, interrupting everyone's thoughts, and the train began to slow down, the castle looming in the distance.
Apparently, they were close!
"Let's go!" Ivan got up, packed his bags, and left the train with Harry and the others.
Ron got out of the car first, shielding the owl's cage from the rain with the hem of his wizarding robe.
"This weather is terrible!" Ron complained.
Ivan stopped Hermione, who was about to get out of the car, and jumped out first. He took out his wand and transformed it into an umbrella.
"Now you can come down!"
"Transfiguration, how could I have forgotten that!" Hermione muttered to herself in frustration. She did not refuse Ivan's offer, getting out of the car and shrinking into his umbrella.
After such a long interval, coupled with Ivan's gentlemanly actions, her anger was somewhat appeased.
"Wait, what about me?" Harry couldn't help but remind Yvonne and Hermione as they seemed to be leaving together.
Ron, still in the rain, was even more confused. If he had known Ivan could change into an umbrella, he would have come down later.
Ivan turned his head and realised that he had forgotten about Harry and Ron, and patted his forehead with his free right hand, trying to enlarge the umbrella so that Harry and Ron could come in together.
However, before Ivan could do anything, Hermione glared at Harry and Ron and said, "Professor McGonagall taught you Transfiguration for three years. Can't you just make your own umbrella?"
With that, Hermione grabbed Ivan's wrist and pulled him away with her.
Harry and Ron were left behind to shiver in the cold wind and torrential rain.
"It's not like we forgot to send Hermione a letter or anything," Ron complained.
"Forget it, we'll do it ourselves!"
Harry shook his head, contributed a coat, and performed Transfiguration with Ron, and after some tinkering, managed to conjure up a misshapen umbrella in several large pieces, which looked like it was held up by twigs.
Neither Harry nor Ron minded it, as long as it kept them out of the rain.
The pair struggled to hold the umbrella over their heads as they ran along the Hogwarts station road to the carriage that had been left at the side of the road.
The carriage rattled as it passed through gates flanked by statues of winged boars and down the wide drive.
Ivan stared through the thin curtain of rain as the quaint castle drew closer, its many lighted windows glowing dimly behind a thick curtain of rain…
About ten minutes later, the carriage came to a halt at the bottom of the stone steps in front of two sets of oak doors. Ivan and the others got out of the carriage in turn and walked towards the entrance of the castle. They could still hear the faint sounds of the people in front of them…