Next to him, Ivan was completely absorbed in Dumbledore's story, shocked by Grindelwald's boldness and saddened by their final break.
"Are you telling me this because you want me to give up on trying to change the wizarding world, Professor?" Ivan asked after a long moment of silence.
Being a nuisance, Ivan had no desire to spend his days worrying about how wizards and Muggles should get along, preferring a life of leisure in which he attended classes and studied magic.
However, things didn't go as planned. Lord Voldemort's resurrection disrupted his plans, and Fudge's relentless attacks forced Ivan to take drastic measures — such as attacking the Ministry!
Before he knew it, the entire British wizarding community was under his control, accompanied by mounting pressure.
After all, he was not Fudge, who could sit idly by and leave problems to their successors.
It was for this reason that Ivan changed his mind.
He wanted more than just to defeat Lord Voldemort, and Ivan wanted to do something real to make up for the damage he had done to the wizarding community…
However, it now seemed that changing the status quo of the wizarding world was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated. Even someone as talented as Grindelwald, who had fought for his entire life, had not been able to solve the problem of infighting among wizards. This led Ivan to suspect that he might be facing a dead end.
While Ivan was puzzling over this, Dumbledore's voice rang out.
'I'm afraid you've misunderstood me, Hulse.'
"If anyone could change the wizarding world, I'm sure it would be you," said Dumbledore solemnly, looking at Ivan. "Whether it leads to Heaven or to Hell…"
Ivan looked blank for a moment, then shook his head. "You think too highly of me, Professor…"
"You are probably unaware of your own peculiarity, Hulse, as you are the most gifted wizard I have ever met. Neither Tom, Grindelwald, nor I, in our youth, were ever so powerful," Dumbledore said.
Yvonne smiled sheepishly but did not reply. She knew her place. If the system had not provided her with the means to speed up her studies, Yvonne felt that she would be an excellent fifth year at best.
"Besides, you are far more talented than the rest of us, and I have never seen anyone, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, able to win over a hundred Dark Wizards and rule over the British wizarding community." Dumbledore's eyes were fixed on Ivan through his curved spectacles, and he spoke slowly. "You have done what Voldemort would only dream of…"
The originally harmonious atmosphere on the field suddenly turned cold.
Yvonne was silent for a moment, but she did not deny it.
"You knew? Did Professor Snape tell you?"
Although Ivan had long suspected that Dumbledore might know something about him, he could not help but feel nervous when it came down to it.
Dumbledore shook his head. "I was wandering the wizarding world when I came across a lost wizard, a poor soul who had just broken free from the Imperius Curse and whose memory was in such a mess that he could not remember his own name…"
Nott?!
Ivan immediately guessed who Dumbledore was talking about. He did not expect this fellow, who had been missing for several days, to be so lucky as to bump into Dumbledore.
No, it should be said that he was unlucky.
Even as she was cursing him to herself, Ivan spoke up. "Not exactly a poor Nort. You should have seen the Dark Mark on his arm. He killed a lot of Muggles and wizards!"
"What of the Aurors who died at the Ministry of Magic, and the innocent and injured clerks?" Dumbledore asked, his gaze sharpening.
"Their deaths were in exchange for the lives of seventy-one elite Death Eaters, and do not forget that their escape from Azkaban and their return to the Dark Lord will only result in more destruction!" Ivan countered.
"You could have ended the lives of those Death Eaters in Azkaban… instead of bringing men to break into the Ministry of Magic and kill the current Minister, resulting in the deaths of dozens of innocent Aurors!" Dumbledore was faintly angry, his white hair and beard fluttering slightly with the force of his magic.
"Fudge has caused enough trouble for the wizarding community, and his continued tenure as Minister for Magic will only drag everyone else down with him! I killed him to prevent more people from dying for his stupidity!" Yvonne insisted, not backing down.
Ivan's dragon's might continued to radiate from him, merging with Dumbledore's aura, causing the mahogany table in the centre to tremble and crack…
Ivan stared at the centenarian, anger rising within him as he continued relentlessly. "What about you, Professor Dumbledore? What have you done for the wizarding community since Lord Voldemort's return?"
"I don't believe Professor Snape didn't report to you that Voldemort was planning to break out of prison. You had a chance to kill those Death Eaters, didn't you?"
"And still you didn't do it! Because you thought that killing them might reveal Professor Snape's identity … and that in your opinion this mole planted next to Lord Voldemort was far more important than seventy-one Death Eaters and the damage they could do! Are the wizards who will die at their hands not innocent?"
Ivan's questioning words cut into Dumbledore's mind like the sharpest knife, causing the centenarian to shrivel further.
Dumbledore closed his eyes, visibly moved. "Perhaps you are right, Hulse. You and I are both willing to sacrifice innocent people for the sake of so-called justice in our hearts…"
A few moments later, however, Dumbledore opened his eyes once more, and his haggard figure seemed to straighten as he spoke, his voice like a great bell.
"If you insist on your righteousness, then prove it to me, Hulse…"
"It's time to make a decision!"
Dumbledore's blue eyes shone with a strange light as he stared at Ivan, as if trying to read Ivan's face. "You intended to do this anyway, didn't you? To clear the last obstacle and avenge your father…"