Ivan left the Headmaster's office in the early evening with a scowl on his face.
Behind him, the hideous stone beast sank slowly, making a dull noise.
Glancing back at the closed stone door, Ivan sighed. As he had expected, Dumbledore simply could not accept his beliefs.
Or perhaps it was because he could not accept the fact that he was gathering people in the name of justice, killing people, and abusing dark magic…
Ivan was well aware of the number of crimes he had committed, and he estimated that he would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban if he were brought before the tribunal.
The only reason Dumbledore did not attack the Headmaster's office on the spot was because it was Hogwarts, a place where they would have caused untold destruction.
Not to mention, it was not the Christmas holidays yet, and there were hundreds of students and teachers in the castle. It would not be good if someone was attracted by the magical fluctuations of the battle and accidentally injured themselves.
This was not what Dumbledore wanted to see, nor was it what Ivan wanted.
As such, the duel was delayed until the Christmas holidays, and they had to find a place where they could fight without being disturbed…
"What are you thinking, Dumbledore?" Yvonne asked, walking slowly down the corridors of the castle, thinking back to their conversation in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore had told him all about Grindelwald's plan to take over the world, and in great detail, which was highly unreasonable.
There was no need to go this far just to warn oneself.
Was he not worried that he would one day copy Grindelwald's actions and start another war between Muggles and wizards?
Ivan frowned, then turned his attention to the two glass bottles in his left hand, which Dumbledore had given him before he left the Headmaster's office.
There were wisps of white smoke floating in one of the glass bottles. As a Legilimency Master, Ivan could tell that these were memory threads, most likely related to his father.
The other glass bottle was filled with scarlet blood. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the blood emitted a faint golden glow.
It was phoenix blood!
Ivan couldn't understand why the white wizard would trust him with something like this, but when he thought about what the man had said, he understood.
Dumbledore was an extremely conflicted individual, having witnessed the rise of Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort and not wishing for a third Dark Lord.
On the other hand, as Dumbledore said himself, he was highly talented and was the most likely person to break the wizarding-Muggle divide in centuries.
Killing himself would be the end of any hope of change in the wizarding world…
It was probably because of such conflicting emotions that the other party placed this precious phoenix blood in his hands.
It was also clear that Dumbledore believed himself to be so powerful that Ivan was no match for him at the moment, and that he needed phoenix blood to close the gap and try to make the battle as close as possible, rather than one-sided.
"Quite the confidence …" Ivan muttered grimly.
Since Dumbledore met Nott and used his magic to comb through his memories, it is safe to assume that the white wizard knew of his "easy" defeat of Lord Voldemort.
Despite this threat, Dumbledore still believed that Ivan's strength needed to be improved, a confidence that caused Ivan to feel somewhat uneasy, and he even wondered if he should simply find a place to hide for a while. Perhaps Dumbledore himself would die in ten days or half a month…
Then there would be no need to fight!
… .
Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and Ivan did not waste a single moment after that conversation. He did not sleep at all that night, devoting all his energy to brewing the Bloodline-Fusion Potion, and did not even have time to check the memory threads.
After all, the blood of a magical creature would gradually lose its activity after it was removed, so the brewing of the Bloodline-Fusion Potion had to be completed within three days to ensure the most perfect effect of the blood fusion.
Ivan had already considered the lack of legends regarding Blood Fusion.
After the battle that shook the wizarding world, the escaped Dementors were recaptured by Aurors and placed under heavy guard by elite Regulators.
However, with the Ministry of Magic under Ivan's control, he took advantage of the lull in the potion's sedimentation to go to the Dementors' cell and chase them with Unicorn's Shadow for the rest of the night.
They had no choice but to surrender, partly to save their lives and partly because there was no room for them elsewhere.
The wizards of the British wizarding community lost patience with the Dementors, and many high-ranking officials proposed the extermination of the evil race.
Their only saviour, Lord Voldemort, was now in grave danger, and their previously hostile cooperation had caused a rift between the two sides.
Ivan's olive branch was the last straw.
As Ivan was trying to convince the Dementor, the long-awaited prompt in his head rang.
[Mission: minions of darkness (completed)
Objective: Own an army of Dementors (216/100)
Task Reward: 3 Legendary Points (released)
…]
"Unfortunately, it didn't add any more Legend Points," Ivan said with disappointment as he glanced at the mission board. He had over-completed the mission, but the rewards had not increased.
However, Ivan had done similar tests before, so he quickly accepted the outcome. He had already achieved his goal, and the accumulated Legendary Points in the system column had increased from four to seven, enough for this blood-melting.
Having achieved his goal, Ivan had no intention of burning the bridge after crossing it. In the early hours of the morning, he gave an order to Pierce, who was still resting in bed, to have the prisoners transported.
The Dementors were overjoyed. Ever since they had been captured by the Aurors, they had been locked up in the depths of the earth, unable to get food, and had been starving for days. Now, they could finally eat their fill…
Ivan couldn't help but find the sight of the dementors amusing. These seemingly evil creatures were in some ways too innocent and gullible…
After leaving a few instructions with the caretaker, Ivan did not stay at the Ministry any longer and returned to Hogwarts before dawn to finish the last of the brewing process.
(PS: One chapter today.)