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Chapter 480: That Man Isn't as Important as You Think!
Chapter 480: That Man Isn't as Important as You Think! (Combined 4000 Words)
"That's too high of you, Severus! I just have some leads!" Dumbledore shook his head slowly and said.
Based on his guess, Tom had created a total of six Horcruxes.
Now, the Diary, the Crown, and the Ring have been destroyed, and he had found the exact location of the fourth one.
The only ones left to deal with were the human Horcrux, Harry, and another Horcrux that hasn't been found yet.
Of course, this was on the premise that his guess was correct, and Voldemort had only created six Horcruxes.
Listening to Dumbledore, Snape frowned. He had thought that Dumbledore had a well-thought-out plan and that's why he allowed Peter Pettigrew to escape. But he didn't expect this outcome.
Snape was very dissatisfied, feeling that Dumbledore was taking too much of a risk. If there was no certainty, they should have let the Dark Lord continue to fall!
Dumbledore saw through some of Snape's thoughts. He sighed and said slowly, "If you knew more, Severus, you would realize that Voldemort isn't as important as you think."
"But if he can return, the wizarding world will be plunged into chaos. You tell me this isn't important?" Snape looked at Dumbledore with doubt, suspecting that the hundred-year-old man had been injured by the Horcruxes and had lost his mind.
"In a certain sense, yes!" Dumbledore said firmly, looking at him.
Before Snape could object, Dumbledore looked at his charred right hand and continued, "You told me that the potion can suppress this injury for about a year. What if the suppression fails after a year? Will the accumulated corrosive force immediately erupt and kill me?"
Snape hesitated before speaking, "Not exactly. The corrosive force will gradually erode your entire body, and only then will you truly die."
"But your body won't last long. The erosion will take about half a year, and the process will be very painful. You might find suicide more merciful", Snape warned.
"Is that so? That's quite terrible." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, mumbling to himself. He felt that a year and a half was too short, perhaps not enough time.
So he was unsure whether he should use other means to buy more time.
Darkness approaches, shadows cover the sky, the servants of the Dark Lord will break free, and the wizarding world will face great changes
Dumbledore thought about Trelawney's prophecy, considering whether it was worth it.
Snape remained silent, waiting for Dumbledore to come up with a reasonable plan.
After thinking for a while, Dumbledore seemed to remember something, his gaze turned to a letter on the table, and he suddenly became cheerful. He said, "Ah, I almost forgot. There's something I haven't told Hals yet. The Order of Merlin has replied, and they have agreed to the Order of Merlin application! Soon, Hals will be the youngest ever recipient of the First-Class Order of Merlin."
Snape's face darkened completely, and he angrily swept out of the room. He shouldn't have held any expectations.
In the wide corridor outside the headmaster's office, Harry and the others were discussing the escape of Peter Pettigrew and the content of Trelawney's prophecy.
"According to the prophecy, Peter must have gone to the Dark Lord. He might help the Dark Lord return", Hermione analyzed.
"But that's just your guess. The prophecy doesn't mention that, and Professor Trelawney is always crazy. Who knows if she's just talking nonsense?" Ron argued, hoping for the best.
He thought the return of the Dark Lord was impossible. Professor Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic would never allow it.
But Harry didn't agree. Since Trelawney had successfully predicted Peter Pettigrew's escape, he was more inclined to believe the prophecy was real. This led to a heated argument with Ron.
Ivan, who was deep in thought, was interrupted by their endless debate and couldn't help but remind them, "Worrying about this now won't help. Peter Pettigrew has escaped, and finding him is the Ministry of Magic's job. We can't interfere. You should focus on the upcoming exams instead!"
Ivan thought that worrying about Voldemort's return was pointless for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. As third-year students, they could do nothing and would be better off not causing trouble!
Thanks to Ivan's reminder, Harry and Ron remembered the exams starting in two days. Their faces changed, and they immediately picked up their books and started studying diligently.
However, Ivan could see from their wandering eyes and the pages that hadn't turned in a while that Harry and Ron were still worried about the safety of the wizarding world and couldn't focus on their studies.
The two days passed quickly, and the exam week that had many young witches and wizards on edge finally arrived.
In the first Transfiguration exam, Professor Mcgonagall handed out many parchments, asking them to write down seven principles of Transfiguration and to turn a teapot into a Turtle.
This was easy for Ivan. The Turtle he transfigured earned Professor Mcgonagall's praise because she couldn't detect any flaws.
"Hals, your progress is truly remarkable. Perhaps next year, I won't be able to teach you anymore", Professor Mcgonagall said with a sigh.
"Professor, you're too kind. I still have a lot to improve in Transfiguration", Ivan said humbly.
In fact, he truly believed that.
After hearing the content of the prophecy from Harry, Ivan felt a sense of urgency. His current strength was far inferior to Voldemort. He needed to improve to at least the seventh level to protect himself.
Otherwise, he needed to find a way to increase his magical reserves and use blood magic as regular magic.
But achieving either of these goals wouldn't be easy.
Ivan left the exam room with a headache.
Harry and Ron also had miserable faces. They had been preoccupied with Peter's escape yesterday and hadn't memorized much. During the exam, they could only guess, unsure if they were right.
Even Hermione was worried about her mistakes during the exam, as she felt her Turtle looked more like a sea Turtle and wasn't sure if Professor Mcgonagall would mind.
After lunch, everyone hurried to the exam venue for the Charms test. The exam given by Professor Flitwick was very simple—just being able to cast the Cheering Charm proficiently was enough to pass!
However, this simplicity was only relative to Ivan. For most of the young witches and wizards, this was a very challenging spell.
Some of them couldn't control the strength of the spell.
Due to his nervousness, Harry overdid it, causing his partner, Ron, to burst into hysterical laughter that lasted for over an hour, leaving Ron with a stiff face from laughing so hard.
Some young witches and wizards even secretly discussed faking a smile during the exam, hoping to get away with it, but they were easily caught by Professor Flitwick, receiving the lowest marks.
"Hermione, are you ready?" Ivan asked, looking at the young witch who was his partner.
Hermione nodded with a tight smile.
Ivan whispered the incantation and waved his wand, sending a blue beam of light onto the young witch.
In the next moment, Hermione felt her troubles seem to vanish. She looked at Ivan, naturally recalling moments they had spent together, and her lips gradually curved into a gentle smile.
"That's the genuine smile from the heart! Very well done!" Professor Flitwick, who was watching, clapped his hands and exclaimed loudly.
The other young witches and wizards in the classroom, who were waving their wands, turned to see what was happening.
"A true Cheering Charm evokes the memories of the person it is cast on, making them feel happy naturally. Hals did a great job with this", Professor Flitwick explained, giving Ivan the highest score on the spot!
Even after the exam results were out and they left the classroom, Hermione maintained her smile, feeling much more cheerful and not as irritable as she had been in the past few days, ignoring him less.
Their relationship seemed to have returned to how it was before. In the evening, while reviewing their lessons, the young witch even freely asked him for help with her questions.
However, Ivan knew that the effects of the Cheering Charm would gradually wear off and wouldn't last long, disappearing after a good night's sleep.
But to Ivan's surprise, the next morning in the Great Hall, Hermione's attitude hadn't changed much, as if the effects of the Cheering Charm were still lingering.
"That's strange, can my Cheering Charm last this long?" Ivan was very puzzled, muttering to himself. Had his magical abilities improved without him noticing?
Hermione, who overheard Ivan's low whisper, glared at him.
"Ron, Ivan, Hermione, we need to hurry, the Care of Magical Creatures exam is next!" In the Great Hall, Harry, anxious, hastily ate a few pastries, checked the time, and urged them.
"Got it, I really hope he doesn't bring a giant spider for the exam this time!" Ron swallowed a small piece of steak, burped, and complained.
Ivan, hearing Ron's complaint, shook his head with a smile.
Without the trial of Buckbeak from the original timeline, Hagrid had maintained his usual style in recent classes.
He not only introduced them to magical creatures like Centaurs and Unicorns but even planned to have them dive into the lake to make friends with the Mermaids, almost causing a misunderstanding and getting chased out by the Mermaids with their tridents. Luckily, no one was hurt.
So Ivan was always worried that Hagrid might bring out his giant creature, Fluffy, for the exam to give them a real-world experience.
Fortunately, Hagrid had some sense. When they arrived at the exam venue, they didn't see the terrifying three-headed dog or a stinky troll. Instead, there was a group of strange creatures in cages, looking like they were randomly assembled from various animals, both aquatic and terrestrial.
If it weren't for Ivan knowing that Hagrid enjoyed breeding hybrid creatures, he might have thought these were the results of some evil biological fusion experiment.
"What are these things? Did you dig them up from some mud?" Malfoy sneered.
"No, no, no! These are my little darlings that I've carefully bred. I believe you'll love them!" Hagrid shook his head, contradicting him, his voice booming like he had a megaphone in his throat.
Harry and the others glanced at the bizarre creatures in the cages, feeling they would never like such things.
Unfortunately, Hagrid ignored their complaints and happily handed out a cage to each of them, saying in a loud voice:
"Your exam task today is to care for these little darlings for the morning and analyze their habits and characteristics."
"Why do we have to help you take care of a bunch of strange creatures? You're finished, Hagrid, I'll tell my father about this!" Malfoy said with disgust, not wanting to go near the unknown strange creatures at all.
Ivan rolled his eyes, suspecting that Hagrid was using the exam as an excuse to make them work for him!
As if in retribution, Hagrid assigned a fish that released foul odors to Malfoy to study.
After a few hours, Malfoy was nearly driven mad.
They spent the entire morning in this way, and the exhausted Ivan, Harry, and the others grumbled as they returned to the Gryffindor Common Room. To their surprise, Sirius Black was waiting for them.
"Harry, Ivan", Sirius Black called out when he saw them, then handed over a copy of the Daily Prophet, saying with anger and helplessness:
"Take a look at this newspaper!"
Ivan curiously took it and glanced at it, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione also leaned in.
The glaring headline read that Peter Pettigrew had been executed, and the content below praised the Ministry of Magic for its strict law enforcement.
"What? Peter Pettigrew is dead? Did the Ministry of Magic catch him again?" Ron said, very excited.
"Absolutely not! If that were the case, Professor Dumbledore would have told us already!" Ivan shook his head, dispelling his fantasy.
"Also, look at the time of Peter's execution—it was on the day he escaped. And the news was only reported now, which likely means it's fake. The Ministry of Magic is probably trying to cover up the fact that Peter escaped to make everyone think he's dead."
Ivan easily guessed the Ministry of Magic's strategy.
The past few months have seen Dementors rebelling, wrongly imprisoning war heroes as Death Eaters, and other negative news, which has left Fudge in a difficult position. If the news of Peter Pettigrew's escape were to be reported, Fudge would lose his position as Minister of Magic!
So, hiding this news was Fudge's only choice!
Chapter end
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