"Malfoy!"
As soon as Harry stepped out of the room, he immediately exclaimed, surprised to see an unexpected person.
Malfoy kicked the ice chunk containing Filch with an arrogant, superior tone, "Oh, isn't this Potter, the one we've been chasing all over? Looks like you decided to stop?"
From the look on his face, it seemed he had completely forgotten that it was also his doing that brought Filch into this mess.
"What are you doing here?" Ron was also startled. He had been thinking that if Malfoy hadn't bailed on the duel, they wouldn't have been running around the castle, being chased by Filch.
"What am I doing here?" Malfoy repeated Ron's question, shaking his head, then exhaling loudly through his nose, "Hmph. If your brain is still working, dual assistant, you should know why I'm here!"
"Thanks, Ivy," Hermione said bashfully, thanking Ivy. "If it weren't for you, we'd probably be in that dog's stomach by now."
She quickly glanced at the frozen Filch and Peeves on the floor, her expression worried. "But what should we do now? If we leave them here, tomorrow the entire castle might start investigating the culprit..."
"Don't worry." Ivy pointed his wand at the ice chunks on the floor and said, "Obliviate."
"I have some research on memory charms. I'll send them back to where they belong and unfreeze them. They'll just think they were a little dazed." Ivy floated the ice chunks into the air. "Of course, someone might catch a cold from this. But you can rest assured, no points will be deducted."
Neville and Hermione both breathed a sigh of relief. Hermione said, "I must say, I'm grateful to you. Otherwise, we'd probably be packing our bags to leave Hogwarts."
Neville, awkward and tongue-tied, couldn't say anything eloquent, but he nodded vigorously, probably meaning "me too."
"Alright." Ron swallowed hard, "Even though we just escaped from the dog's mouth, you probably have other things to do, Harry."
"What?" Harry was horrified. "Here? You must be crazy."
"Big dog?" Malfoy asked. "A dog behind the door?"
"Yes." Harry nodded, still shaken. "A three-headed dog, taking up almost the entire room."
Even though he had lived in the wizarding world his whole life, it was the first time Malfoy had heard of such a strange creature. His curiosity almost seemed to spill out of his eyes as he kept glancing behind Ivy.
"Forget about it, Malfoy," Ron waved his hand. "Your little frame won't be enough to fill its teeth. Besides, it has three heads! You'd be better off thinking about what spells to use in the duel with Harry."
"A duel?" Hermione's voice hit the highest pitch. "You're thinking about dueling?"
"What else?" Harry pulled his wand out of Hermione's hand. She had used his wand to cast an unlocking charm when they broke through the door. "Isn't that why we're here?"
"Of course not!" Hermione looked like she was about to explode. "I'm here to stop you from breaking the school rules!"
"Since this duel doesn't concern you, would you mind stepping aside, Granger?" Although Malfoy was a bit disappointed that he couldn't see the three-headed dog, he quickly returned to his usual condescending tone. "Ivy, could you help us make some space?"
"Ivy! Thank you for saving our lives," Harry and Ron, the two clueless ones, finally remembered to thank their savior. "But... why are you here?"
Ivy waved his wand, and the floor of the corridor immediately rose, forming a slightly elevated platform. A blue-patterned rug appeared on it, making it look like a proper wizard duel arena.
"Ivy is my guest," Malfoy proudly said on one side of the platform. "He's the witness to my victory and the referee of the duel. Of course, to you, Potter, he's the witness to your failure."
"Ivy's alright," Ron whispered to Harry. "At least we don't have to worry about him siding with Malfoy, but I still don't get why he's mixed up with Malfoy... Anyway, the duel is the most important thing now. Remember what I said? About wizard duels?"
Harry understood what Ron meant. Their wizarding abilities were still too weak to use magic as freely as Ivy could. They could barely cast a spark. So, Harry planned to throw his wand down and give Malfoy a good punch.
Although the reason the four Gryffindors were still alive was that Malfoy had brought Ivy here, Harry wouldn't forget that Malfoy had tried to knock him off his broom the day before.
Harry nodded slightly, holding his wand, and moved to the other side of the platform, waiting for Ivy to signal the start.
Hermione, who had witnessed everything, was almost too exasperated to speak. Everything happening before her eyes was pushing her limits.
Dueling in the corridor after curfew almost broke a hundred school rules, not to mention knocking down several suits of armor in the Trophy Room and running all the way here. Ivy had even frozen Filch in an ice block with magic.
But there was no time for Hermione to dwell on it. Once Ivy confirmed that the two little wizards on either side of the platform were ready, he released a small golden firework with his wand.
Harry and Malfoy immediately understood that this was the signal to begin, and they both moved in unison.
"Disarm—"
Since Malfoy had witnessed Ivy's impressive display in the Gryffindor common room on the first day, he had memorized the spell.
However, since he hadn't undergone special training, he figured it was better to pronounce the spell. But just as he uttered the third syllable, he saw a wand fly past his face.
"Nice!" he thought. "I've disarmed Potter! I'm the champion!"
But before Malfoy could daydream about how he would boast about this to everyone, the sharp pain in his nose interrupted his fantasies.
Harry had learned very little magic so far—other than casting the spark charm from Professor Flitwick's class. He couldn't even cast a second spell properly.
So, without hesitation, Harry used his wand as a distraction, throwing it away, and then punched Malfoy square in the nose.