Ivan waved his wand to stop the commotion caused by the fireworks, then turned to George and the others and spoke rather helplessly.
"George, Fred, even if you wanted to celebrate for me, you didn't have to make such a joke, did you?"
"No, we need to talk to you about something important, so that's the only way to go…" Fred shook his head.
George added, "It's more accurate to say that little Ronnie wants to talk to you!"
Ivan turned his head in surprise, but before he could ask, Ron said urgently, "Ivan, Sirius… Sirius just took Harry!"
At this news, Ivan immediately realised that something was amiss, and his brow furrowed. 'What did he take Harry for? And why…'
"Sirius said that Professor Dumbledore ordered him to take Harry to the village for protection…" Ron replied, panting.
"That's impossible!" interrupted Ivan. "Professor Dumbledore told Harry to stay at school and take care of himself, and Sirius would have let me know if he changed his mind."
"Yes! I also thought Sirius was acting strange today. He didn't seem worried when Harry met the Blast-Ended Skrewts in the maze, and he didn't even congratulate Harry at the end of the game, which would have made him very happy!"
Ron blurted out all of Sirius's suspicions, then hesitated before adding, "I think he might have been Imperiused!"
"How long have they been gone?" Hermione was anxious. "Ivan, you have the Marauder's Map, don't you? Look where they are."
Ivan was well aware of the urgency of the situation, and immediately ignored the small matter of the password. He took an old piece of parchment from his pocket and placed his wand on it.
"I solemnly swear I did no good!"
Fine lines of ink ran down the top of the wand, outlining the castle.
Yvonne scanned the map quickly, filtering the names, then stopped at the entrance hall.
According to the Marauder's Map, Harry is now out of the Entrance Hall, although Ivan finds it strange that Sirius's name is not in sight.
He was surprised when, a second later, Harry's name disappeared from the map.
"He's taken Harry?" Ron felt a chill run down his spine.
"But how did Sirius do it? With a Portkey?" Hermione suggested.
"It's not the Portkey! If he could have just taken Harry, he would have done it by this morning. Why wait until now?" Ivan dismissed Hermione's theory that the whole of Hogwarts Castle was protected by protective enchantments, with the exception of the competition grounds.
Ivan therefore believed that Sirius and Harry must still be inside the castle, and that the disappearance of their names was most likely due to some means of temporarily blocking the detection of the Marauder's Map, as Dumbledore had done.
Hermione soon came to the same conclusion, murmuring to herself, "If it's not the Portkey, then they're trying to get to Hogsmeade via the secret passage under the Whomping Willow, and Disapparate Harry to Lord Voldemort…"
Yvonne nodded, which was likely, although she wasn't 100% sure, as there was more than one secret passage leading to Hogsmeade.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go find Harry, we might be able to stop them now!" Ron said hurriedly.
"No, Ron, I alone will be enough to find Harry! I can do the Animagus, I can fly, I have a good view, and as long as they're at Hogwarts I'm sure I can find them…" Ivan's expression was grim.
Hermione and Ron looked like they were about to say something, but decided against it and simply asked, "What about us? What should we do now?"
"You'll have to go to Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick. They're in the office right now, and they'll know how to get in touch with Professor Dumbledore. All you have to do is inform him as soon as possible!" Ivan said grimly.
Hermione and Ron nodded in unison, and Ivan didn't say anything more and immediately used the Boggart Transformation.
However, at this moment, an explosion sounded from the maze, and then there was suddenly chaos ahead. Many young wizards ran over in fear, and there were cries and screams everywhere.
"Run, the creatures are coming out of the maze!"
"It's a Blast-Ended Skrewt…"
"Mom … Mom, where are you?"
… .
Ivan instinctively looked over and saw an irregular gap in the hedge on the side of the maze, through which several Blast-Ended Skrewts were shooting flames.
The nearby Aurors did not expect this sudden attack and retaliated in panic. Spells struck the Blast-Ended Skrewts' shells, but to no avail.
A few moments later, several giant spiders followed and broke through the Aurors' defences.
"Trash!" Ivan cursed. Five Aurors couldn't even take care of a few rioting magical creatures and had to let them out…
Ivan was caught between a rock and a hard place; if he tried to help, it would surely delay the search for Harry, but if he left it alone, what would happen to the students here?
'With these Aurors?'
Ivan's heart grew colder as he thought about this. He understood that this was all part of Voldemort's plan to keep him occupied…
As he hesitated, one of the spiders charged at him, its thick forelimbs aimed at a stunned junior wizard. Ivan had no time to think. He pulled out his wand and tried to save Ivan.
However, someone was faster than him. A scarlet beam of light hit the hideous spider and sent it flying.
"Mom? Aren't you going home?" Yvonne asked, looking up ahead in surprise as Alicia pushed her way through the chaos.
"I was going to go back, but there's been a mess…" Alicia said, turning to look at the maze. "Don't you have something urgent to do? We'll take care of it here… Go!"
She had not heard Ivan's earlier conversations with Hermione and Ron, but she could see the anxiety on Ivan's face.
Meanwhile, Mrs Weasley and Bill have worked together to get rid of a Blast-Ended Skrewt and get the young Hogwarts wizards to safety.
After the five Aurors regained their senses, they quickly cast spells to repair the gap in the maze, ensuring that no more monsters would escape!
Seeing this, Ivan was somewhat relieved. After telling Alicia to be careful, he immediately transformed into a huge eagle and flew into the sky…
"Anima Gus Transfiguration? Amazing! Not many people his age can do that," Mrs Weasley exclaimed.
"You don't say? He's my son…" said Alicia proudly.
… .
"Damn it, where are they? They haven't left, have they?" Ivan asked as he flew over Hogwarts, his hawk-like eyes scanning the grounds below.
He seems to be a little late…
Ivan could not help but feel impatient. He had no idea where Voldemort was and had never been to Riddle House, so he could not stop the ceremony even if he wanted to.
"Let's go to Hogsmeade first. What if they haven't left yet?" Yvonne decided to try her luck with the Whomping Willow outside the castle.
As Ivan flew closer, a large black dog suddenly emerged from the secret passage under the Whomping Willow…
'Sirius!' Ivan exclaimed, recognising him at once.
Wondering why Harry wasn't with him, and why Sirius was in his Animagus form, Ivan had no time to think, and quickly ran after him…
(PS: One chapter today)