While they were chatting, Ivan and the others arrived at the Whomping Willow's tree and went down the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack.
Before she entered the classroom, she heard a lot of noise. When Ivan pushed the door open, he was shocked to see that there were at least two hundred young wizards attending the class!
Judging by their uniforms, Gryffindor and most of Hufflepuff's young wizards were present, as were some Ravenclaw and Slytherin students.
Yvonne didn't need to think too hard to know that the castle was half-empty, and it was no wonder Ron thought Umbridge could tell when something was wrong.
The noise at the door quickly attracted the attention of the young wizard, and for a moment, more than a hundred pairs of eyes looked over.
The prefects of the various Houses were in charge of maintaining order.
Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Geddes, Padma Peltier, and even the Prefect of Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson.
Together with Hermione and Ron, it can be said that all the Prefects of Hogwarts except Malfoy have arrived!
Being stared at by this large group of people, Ivan felt a headache coming on. He had originally thought that he was here to guide a group of twenty or thirty people…
Ivan looked at Hermione strangely at this thought.
The little witch was also a little confused by the commotion in the Shrieking Shack. She had only invited some trusted friends and discussed it with the prefects.
Although Hannah Abbott and the others had assured her that they would bring along some people who wished to learn Defence, Hermione had not expected so many of them.
"Sir Harls…" Ernie Macmillan, who was in the front row, greeted him respectfully.
Hannah Abbott and Pansy Parkinson joined in, looking at Ivan with a mixture of flattery and awkwardness.
In fact, during the summer holidays, they were ordered by their families to do everything in their power to get closer to Ivan Hals.
Get as close as you can!
At first, Hannah Abbott and the others were naturally reluctant. Who in their right mind would not be the little princess of the family? Besides, they came from good families and would be lucky not to have to be fawned over.
However, when they figured out the reason, they were all dumbfounded. They could not believe that their parents and family had sided with Ivan Hals, their schoolmate!
And this classmate of his, whom he met from time to time, had actually defeated the famous mysterious man…
The news struck Hannah Abbott and Pansy Parkinson as absurd, and they wondered if their parents were suffering from hysteria or had been duped.
Unfortunately, they were under strict orders from their families to do as they were told by Ivan Hals!
Ernie Macmillan knew more than either of them, as his father's use of the Pensieve allowed him to witness the events of the night, and the memory of Ivan Hals slapping the mystic away was burned into his mind.
Thus, when he heard Hermione mention setting up a study group and having Ivan Hals as a professor, Ernie Macmillan took it seriously and went to great lengths to bring in most of Hufflepuff's young wizards.
Ernie Macmillan's respectful attitude towards Yvonne made the young wizards curious.
However, Ivan did not want to reveal his past, so he waved his hand and said, "Just relax and don't be too formal. Just call me by my name at school."
Both Hannah and Pansy were relieved to hear this. They were Hogwarts Prefects, after all, and it was embarrassing to act like they were mere footmen in front of so many people.
Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, remained very respectful. He had seen Ivan's "true face" in his memory, so he was still very reserved and did not dare to be disrespectful.
"What are you doing here, Pansy? I didn't invite you…" Hermione had recovered from her surprise and was glaring at Pansy Parkinson with hostility.
She never informed any of the Slytherin students about the group, nor did she even think of inviting them.
After all, the two academies had deep conflicts and could not trust each other.
"I don't need your invitation, Granger, and you're not in charge of teaching us!" Pansy Parkinson scowled and retorted.
The Slytherin students behind her were visibly upset. Many of them had been forcibly dragged here by Pansy Parkinson, and now that Hermione had told them to leave, they were ready to leave.
Hermione, however, insisted that Pansy and the others were there for a reason, and that they were probably trying to find out why they were there, so that they could tell Umbridge!
The two soon got into an argument in the Shrieking Shack, and the young Slytherin and Gryffindor wizards drew their wands in a vaguely antagonistic fashion.
"I'm sure no one here means any harm, Hermione!" Ivan said sternly, interrupting her argument with Pansy.
"But they—" Hermione began, wanting to respond.
"No buts…" Yvonne cut Hermione off again, then deliberately raised her voice as she continued. "Don't forget, we're facing the threat of You-Know-Who, and we should all stick together. There's no house!"
Ivan's words reminded Hermione of the Sorting Hat's warning at the beginning of term, and she nodded, dropping her hostility towards Pansy Parkinson.
The originally tense atmosphere in the Shrieking Shack softened somewhat at Ivan's words.
Only Ernie Macmillan and the others looked at Yvonne strangely. 'If I'm not mistaken, you've defeated You-Know-Who, haven't you?'
Ivan ignored their doubts and turned to face the hundred or so wizards.
"Welcome to the Defence Against the Dark Arts Association!"
"Due to the lack of time, your prefects may not have mentioned the purpose of this association to you, so I will briefly repeat that my sole purpose in creating this association was to take back the right of spell-casting from the Ministry of Magic!"