As Ivan was speaking, he suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke again.
"Also, Malfoy, you still owe Hermione a thank you, don't forget it!"
"Hals! That was a despicable sneak attack on me!"
Draco Malfoy drew out his wand and pointed it at Ivan, his fair cheeks flushed red.
"Even if I, Malfoy, fell from the sky and died, or was imprisoned in Azkaban... I would never thank a Mudblood!"
Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, the two followers, also drew their wands, but they were met with the surprised looks of many Gryffindors. This reminded the three of them that this was the Gryffindor table, and if they fought here, they would only be beaten...
Hearing the word "Mudblood," Ivan couldn't help but frown, and Ron Weasley jumped up and shouted.
"Malfoy! We accept your challenge! I will definitely teach you a lesson tonight!"
"Okay, then I'll wait tonight..."
Draco Malfoy raised his eyebrows, smiled sinisterly, and turned away.
"Duel, what is a duel? Two people stabbing each other with swords?"
Harry Potter asked hurriedly after Draco Malfoy left, confused.
"Of course not. How could we be as stupid as those Muggles?"
Ron Weasley proudly stated the rules he knew.
"Well... first both parties need to stand opposite each other, then bow to each other, raise their wands and use magic to fight an honorable duel. If one party dies, the assistant must take over. The duel will not end until both parties fall down!"
Ron Weasley became more and more excited as he spoke. Dueling was more interesting than reading boring books in the classroom every day. Besides, he had been annoyed with Draco Malfoy for a long time.
"Dead?"
Harry Potter swallowed.
"Ron, you're exaggerating. That was a formal wizard duel. At best, we used some magic like the Disarming Charm and the Leg-Locker Curse. Sometimes they are not as effective as fists."
Ivan shook his head and explained to Harry Potter.
"Ivan, you're going there tonight, right?"
Ron Weasley asked expectantly.
"No, I said before, I have something else to do in the evening and I don't have time to care about Draco Malfoy." Ivan shook his head.
In Ivan's opinion, this silly magic duel of waving wands and shooting at each other face to face was too stupid. It didn't fit with his idea of how a wizard should behave. It would be more interesting to watch a fencing performance, which at least had a certain degree of entertainment value.
Considering Ron Weasley and Harry Potter's restless nature, Ivan kindly reminded them.
"It's still unclear whether Draco Malfoy will come tonight. Maybe he just wants to trick us over there and then let Argus Filch come and catch us all..."
"Impossible?"
Ron Weasley and Harry Potter looked at each other, thinking that Draco Malfoy should not be so shameless. This was an honorary wizard duel!
Seeing the expressions on Harry Potter's and Ron Weasley's faces, Ivan knew that he could not persuade them. After sighing, Ivan stopped persuading them and flipped through the book "Quidditch Through the Ages" on the table.
Anyway, according to his memory, Harry Potter's and others' actions tonight should be safe and sound, and they may even be able to learn more about the Philosopher's Stone.
Even if something unexpected happened, Albus Dumbledore would be responsible for cleaning up the mess. The Headmaster wouldn't let his chosen savior encounter any accident.
"Ron, are we really going to duel with Draco Malfoy tonight? What if Draco Malfoy doesn't come at all, just like Ivan said?"
After finishing their meal, Harry Potter said to Ron Weasley worriedly as they returned to the dormitory together.
"Of course we have to go. This is a duel! There's no way Draco Malfoy won't come. How embarrassed would we be if he arrived and found out we didn't go?"
Ron Weasley tried his best to cheer Harry Potter up. After all, he had just agreed to it.
"But without Ivan, there are only two of us. How can we possibly defeat the three men on Draco Malfoy's side!"
said Harry Potter.
"We can ask Neville Longbottom to join us, so that we have three people!"
Ron Weasley thought about it and felt that it made sense. Although Draco Malfoy's two followers were a little stupid, they were much stronger than them, and they would be at a disadvantage in a fight.
"Neville Longbottom?"
Harry Potter opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but after a while he swallowed his words back.
Why did he suddenly feel more worried?
Otherwise, let's go alone...
At midnight, in the Gryffindor common room, Ivan put down the book "Quidditch Through the Ages" in his hand.
In order to avoid the embarrassment in the previous flying class, Ivan borrowed books related to flying skills after class. After a few hours of reading and a flying lesson, his flying skills were almost at the level of level two.
The dormitory was already empty at this time. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had sneaked out with Neville Longbottom more than ten minutes ago.
Ivan could only wish them good luck, as the three-headed dog didn't have a good temper.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Ivan crawled out of the cylindrical passage. Looking back, he found that the intersection of the passage had been automatically closed.
The Fat Lady who was in charge of guarding the passage didn't seem to be there, perhaps she was visiting someone else.
Hogwarts at midnight was a little more deserted than usual, so quiet that it was a little scary. The entire corridor was pitch black, and only the dim candlelight that lit up every ten meters or so allowed Ivan to barely see the road ahead.
Fortunately, in this wizarding world, ghosts are not scary. Ivan has even chatted with some of them, so he isn't panicked at all. He just complains in his mind about the way the system gives rewards.
This is too hardcore. He actually has to go to the Restricted Section to get the reward himself...
This is not systematic at all!
I wonder if the secret mission in the library will be triggered today.
Ivan walked straight through the long corridor and encountered the annoying spiral staircase on the way to the Restricted Section.
At night, these stairs seemed to be more strange than during the day. There was no regular pattern in their changes. Sometimes, when Ivan reached the front, the stairs suddenly turned to the other side. He didn't know if it was intentional to increase the difficulty for young wizards like Ivan who liked to wander around in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, Ivan's spells weren't learned in vain. He could use the Levitation Charm to temporarily float himself in the air and rely on the force to float to where he wanted to go. He could use the Body-Bind Curse to block the connection between the stairs and make them unable to move...
With the help of a few not-so-sophisticated spells, Ivan was able to get through smoothly.
There were a large number of portraits hanging around the spiral staircase. Several old scholars with white beards watched Ivan jumping up and down with great interest, and several portraits greeted Ivan enthusiastically.
After Ivan went downstairs, he responded politely one by one, then turned from the auditorium and headed towards the library.
"Alohomora!"
Ivan used the Unlocking Charm to open the tightly closed door of the library. For safety reasons, he closed it again, and then waved his wand and cast the Lumos Charm.
"Lumos!"
A bright white light flashed from the tip of the wand, and when it stabilized, the light was much dimmer, but it was enough for Ivan.