"By the way, I'm going to reopen the Duelling Club and gather the entire school in the Great Hall every Friday afternoon to train them in combat," Ivan added.
This year's classes at Hogwarts included one less strenuous Defence Against the Dark Arts class, so there was plenty of free time for the students. As long as the rest of the classes were adjusted to avoid conflict, it was easy to find an afternoon free on Friday.
"That's a good idea," Professor Flitwick said, nodding in agreement. "There aren't many competent Defence Against the Dark Arts professors these days. They have to learn how to protect themselves in times of danger."
Ivan's interest was piqued by Flitwick's approval of his plan, and he immediately told Flitwick about his plan to motivate his students to learn on their own.
"We could group the students according to house and set them against each other, as Gryffindor and Slytherin have always had problems, and it would be interesting to put them together … ahem, I mean they would certainly try very hard to win.
The winner of each duel earns some credits, and in the end we add a large number of house points to the house with the most points, using the house's honour to motivate them to progress…"
As Ivan talked, Pomona Sprout interrupted him. "Won't this upset the House? What if one of the students keeps losing?"
Ivan shook his head and explained that if you fought a few more battles, you could get a general idea of each student's level of magic.
They could then be matched up against opponents of a similar level, using the professors' guidance to balance out their strength, so that each individual had a chance of beating the other without a one-sided battle…
During his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he tried this method on his own, and it worked very well.
"Also, I think Hogwarts should have a scholarship system that awards honours and scholarships to students who perform exceptionally," Yvonne suggested, revealing all she knew about strategies to improve learning.
"It's a lot of money, Hales, and I'm afraid we'll have to get the school board's approval to set up a scholarship… and will the Ministry agree to let us train students?" Professor McGonagall asked hesitantly, something Fudge had always feared when he was Minister.
"Don't worry, Minister Pearce is a very open-minded man and will agree to our proposal, and as for the school board…" Ivan paused, then continued. "I'm sure they'll understand that these measures are all for the betterment of the students."
There were two main reasons why Fudge forbade Hogwarts to train students in combat: to prevent Dumbledore from organizing students against him, and to facilitate the administration of the Ministry of Magic.
After all, the weaker the civilian wizard's ability to fight, the less trouble the Ministry of Magic would have, so combat-related magical skills such as Obscurus were not taught at Hogwarts, and could only be taught by young wizards.
Ivan, however, apparently had no such inhibitions. Instead, he wanted the wizarding world to flourish, and perhaps even build a truly powerful magical civilization, which was why he explained the nature of magic to Harry Potter and the others during their last lesson.
"It's up to you, Harls, if you can convince the Ministry and the Board." Professor McGonagall didn't hold out much hope, but she didn't try to undermine Ivan's confidence, either, believing that he would understand that reforming the education system would not be easy.
Just as they were chatting, a piercing cry suddenly sounded behind them.
"Oh my God, the six of you sitting together eating is…is a bad omen…"
Ivan and the others were startled by the voice and turned to look at her with hostile expressions, only to see Trelawney staring at them with her hand over her mouth.
"What's the matter? Sybill? It's no big deal, is it? I should warn you that it's common for six people to dine together … and no one suffers from it!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, slightly annoyed.
"No, it's the orientation… You may not have noticed that you're sitting in a position you shouldn't be sitting in," Trelawney said mysteriously. Her face was flushed, and she seemed to be struggling to get something out of her mouth.
"It is foretold that the first person to leave the table will … mmmm …"
Trelawney was about to tell him the result when she found that she could not open her mouth, and was dragged to the seat next to her by Ivan.
"See, it's seven now, and the directions are moot!" Ivan said with a shrug. He didn't want Trelawney to jump to conclusions, as she had an unusually accurate jinx…
Trelawney glared at Ivan in annoyance, as if he had interrupted her prediction.
Flitwick gave Ivan a discreet thumbs-up. He had long since grown tired of Trelawney's nonsense, but he tolerated it because they were colleagues.
… .
The next few days were uneventful, with Ivan gradually familiarising himself with the professor's routine, and going to the library to check out banned books to increase his knowledge of magic.
The only thing that gave Ivan a headache was the fact that the young wizard was a little too enthusiastic. In addition, he said in class that he could ask him any questions at any time. This directly reduced his break time, and many people came to the library every day to answer his questions.
Among these people, less than a third of them seriously asked him questions, while the rest came specifically to find out about his legendary deeds…
Some of the younger witches even tried to get his autograph and marked his classes with special marks, much to Ivan's amusement.
Who would have thought that I would one day enjoy the same treatment as Lockhart…
"I don't know how Lockhart deals with all these crazy fans…" Ivan muttered to himself in exhaustion, having dealt with several witches who had tried to harass him.
If it weren't for the fact that she didn't want to destroy the perfect image she had created, Ivan would have followed Snape's example and chased them all away…