"That's what you get for following the wrong man!" Ivan sneered.
Peter Pettigrew, fearful of Lord Voldemort's power and influence, was willing to betray his friends and work for him, but he had forgotten that it was not easy to be a Death Eater!
Lord Voldemort was cruel not only to his enemies, but also to his own people, and so-called Death Eaters were seen by Lord Voldemort as lowly slaves who could be abandoned if needed.
"You're right, Pettigrew deserved it…" Pierce quickly agreed, then seemed to remember something and said hesitantly.
"By the way, Sir Harls, the International Confederation of Wizards would like to see you…"
"Me?" Yvonne raised her eyebrows, more or less confused. Why would the International Confederation of Wizards suddenly want to see her?
Could Grindelwald be involved?
Even so, he should have talked to Pierce directly.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he had Pierce report to the International Confederation of Wizards without mentioning anything about himself.
"I suspect they may have found some evidence against you…" explained Pierce carefully.
"Is that so?" Yvonne glanced at Pierce, wondering if the acting Minister was tired of living and was trying to get in her way. How else could he have found out about her, a young wizard who had yet to graduate?
On second thought, however, Ivan dismissed the possibility. Pierce was not stupid enough to get in touch with the Confederation and plot against him, as the Legilimency feedback confirmed.
"Do you know what they figured out?" Ivan asked after a moment.
"They suspect you had something to do with Grindelwald's escape!" Pierce said succinctly.
"What makes these people think that?" Yvonne was suddenly amused. The International Confederation of Wizards was ridiculous. What good would it do him to let Grindelwald go?
"I don't know about that…" said Pierce sheepishly.
In fact, he, like the International Confederation of Wizards, suspected that Ivan was behind Grindelwald's escape.
After all, the Dark Lord had been in prison for over fifty years, and Ivan had only been in touch with him for a few days when Grindelwald suddenly ran away. He would not believe that there was no connection!
Perhaps Ivan had been planning some sort of secret plot to get them released…
What Pierce was thinking could not be hidden from Ivan's Legilimency.
Ivan was speechless, and strangely angry.
Was he really such a person in everyone's hearts?!
Ivan stared at Pierce for a while, but eventually swallowed his questions. He did not want to reveal his status as a Legilimency if he could help it, as no one wanted to be invisible to others.
With this in mind, Ivan let Pierce off the hook and asked him about the International Confederation of Wizards. He had limited knowledge of the so-called international organisation and did not understand why Pierce was in charge of Britain.
Under Ivan's questioning, Pierce did not dare to hide anything and immediately explained everything to Ivan.
The International Confederation of Wizards was born in 1992, when the wizarding government, which was hostile to each other and rarely communicated with each other, was forced to band together to come up with a solution to the great medieval witch-hunting campaign.
Its original purpose was to provide wizards from all over the world with a platform to communicate and work together against Muggle threats, such as the prestigious International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, which was signed during arguments and debates.
"It does seem a bit like the Muggle United Nations…" thought Ivan, rubbing his chin, "and the international situation in the wizarding world is somewhat similar to the Muggle one."
The war that Grindelwald started fifty years ago, equivalent to World War I and World War II, devastated the wizarding world of Europe, enabling the rise of new wizards in North America.
Due to the distance from the European continent, Britain's situation was supposed to be better than that of other countries, but shortly after Grindelwald's defeat, a local Lord Voldemort came to the country, entangling a group of Death Eaters to persecute non-pure-blood fellow wizards in Britain.
If it were a bit more conspiratorial, Ivan would suspect that Lord Voldemort was a spy trained by the Magical Congress of North America…
The International Confederation of Wizards was, of course, faintly dominated by the North American wizarding community.
"Do you need me to rebuff them, Sir Harls?" Pierce suggested, seeing Ivan's dislike of the international wizarding organisation.
"No!" Ivan sneered. "If they want to see me so badly, then so be it!"
England was his territory, and Ivan wanted to see what these people could do…
"Understood," Pierce said, nodding. "I'll send someone to the Wizarding Union to arrange a meeting."
After saying goodbye to Pierce, Ivan returns to the Gryffindor Lounge alone.
After a while, Ivan was surprised to find that the lounge had changed. The walls were decorated with brilliant lights and a scarlet lion flag hung in the air. In the middle of the room was a large banner with the names of every graduate. Was this a graduation party?
"You're the only one left, Ivan!" George and Fred happily dragged Ivan into the lounge, where the Gryffindor wizards surrounded him and bombarded him with questions about Minister Pierce's reward.
"They must have paid you a fortune in Galleons, didn't they? You're the first ever wizard to graduate early at Hogwarts!" Ron exclaimed hopefully.
"That's tacky!" Seamus spat. "I bet the Ministry is putting you in the British Archives!"
Ivan was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the crowd, and could not bring himself to tell the truth. In the end, he gave an excuse that the Ministry of Magic intended to give him a gold medal as a reward, but that it would not be sent until later.
The noise of the graduation party continued throughout the night.
George and Fred went out of their way to prepare a large number of Bonfires and all kinds of bizarre magical toys, which caused quite a mess in the lounge, and even persuaded the elves to bring the wizards' dinner into the lounge…
In this cheerful atmosphere, Ivan put aside his worries about the Wizarding Union and played around with them all night…
Unfortunately, the good mood didn't last long, as the International Confederation of Wizards arrived faster than Ivan expected.
The following evening, Pierce led four strange wizards into Hogwarts.