"Of course, it was an oversight on my part!" Dumbledore laughed, and, not intending to make things difficult for Karkaroff, he ordered the surrounding students to line up and return to the castle.
Realizing that she was no longer useful as a tool, Ivan returned to the Hogwarts line and followed the group to the Great Hall.
Ron seemed to be on steroids as he talked non-stop about Krum's achievements.
"Ivan, I just saw you talking to Krum. How are you feeling?"
"Well, how should I put it? He's quite polite…" Ivan replied perfunctorily, raising his eyebrows.
During their exchange, Krum was rendered speechless but did not fly into a rage, indicating that he was well-mannered, at least without the bad habits that came with being spoiled.
"Really? You think so?" Ron was pleasantly surprised, as if he'd found a common topic of conversation. "It's rare to find someone as approachable as Krum. If only I could talk to him, he might give me an autographed picture…"
Hermione couldn't stand it any longer and tried to argue. "You're wrong, Ron! There are plenty of people who are approachable and famous, and you have two of them, and you're friends with them!"
Hermione was naturally referring to Ivan and Harry.
One of them was the youngest ever to receive a First-Class Order of Merlin, and the other was the saviour of the British wizarding community, far above the Quidditch star!
"That's…that's different!" Ron's face turned red, and he stammered for a long time, but he could not say what was different, so he forced himself to boast. "I bet every wizard in the world knows Krum! He's so famous…"
Yvonne could not be bothered with Ron; it would be foolish to try to reason with a fanatic, and he would not lower himself to be compared to Krum.
However, Ivan soon discovered that there were many young wizards who were as fanatical as Ron, such as Lee Jordan, who had been a Quidditch commentator for many years.
Some of the younger witches were also looking at Krum with glowing eyes, as if they wanted to stick to him.
This scene made Ivan wonder why, despite being a celebrity himself, he had never met an admirer at school.
Was it because they were too close to each other that she couldn't imagine becoming a god? Or did she lack that sense of mystery…
Ivan, of course, thought it was a good thing to be free of the unwanted baggage.
Just as he was thinking this, a system notification sounded in his mind.
[Ding! New mission generated!]
Ivan had a bad feeling about this familiar voice.
He quickly opened the mission panel and saw that there was indeed one more mission that he had yet to complete.
[Mission: Fanatic Crowd
Objective: Have at least one hundred henchmen at Hogwarts
Task Progress: 4/100
Task Reward: Legendary Points*2
Task description: After gaining initial control of Knockturn Alley, you turned your attention to this thousand-year-old castle, where a dull academic life could not satisfy your growing ambition.
… .
Note: You clearly realise that controlling a hundred young wizards is equivalent to controlling a hundred wizard families!]
Yvonne read through it, trying to calm herself. Once she had a rough idea of the mission, she closed the system panel.
He wanted to pretend he had never seen the mission, but he could not resist the urge to complain.
Am I that evil?
Yvonne thought about all the missions she had triggered over the years, and eventually came to the conclusion that the system must have malfunctioned and misread her.
In addition, Ivan was somewhat curious about the progress of the mission as to why he had never noticed the presence of the four henchmen.
Who could it be?
Ivan turned his head in time to see Ron, who could only be one of Krum's henchmen.
Ivan then turned to look at Harry and Hermione, who, on reflection, seemed unlikely, as they were friends and did not fit the description of a fanatic.
Could it be Colin the Photo Boy and Seamus the Bard? Where are the other two?
With that in mind, Ivan entered the Great Hall and took a seat at the Gryffindor table.
Ron sat on the side facing the door, deliberately leaving an empty seat beside him.
This was because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang alumni had gathered at the door and seemed to be trying to decide where to sit. They glanced over, at Ivan and Hermione, but Ron stubbornly insisted that Krum was looking at him.
However, it turned out that Ron was just being whimsical, and after some discussion with the others, Krum headed for Slytherin's table.
Malfoy and his two henchmen were delighted and welcomed Krum, who did not decline their offer and sat down beside them to talk.
Ron was furious, believing Malfoy must have tricked Krum into changing his mind.
"I bet it won't be long before Crum sees Malfoy for what he is, and he's trying to get information out of him!" Ron said acidly, before turning to Harry to discuss where the new students would live.
"If we don't have enough beds, we can add one to Krum's room, Harry … I'll even give him my bed, or we can share it! I mean … if Krum doesn't mind …"
Ron spoke with unusual excitement, but he did not notice that Harry was quietly shifting position next to him, leaning towards Ivan — Harry suspected that there was something wrong with Ron's sexual orientation.
In this noisy atmosphere, all the young wizards sat down at the long tables of their Houses.
The Beauxbatons students also made the early decision to stay with the Ravenclaw wizards.
When they saw Dumbledore walking past with Karkaroff and Maxim, they rose to their feet and saluted, and did not sit down again until Maxim had sat down at the head table.
When everyone was seated, Dumbledore strode to the front of the stage and stood looking around.
Under the pressure of the unspeakable, the noisy Great Hall quickly fell silent.