Hogwarts Bloodline Chapter 502: Ivan: As Long as I Have Enough Aces in the Hole, No One Can Defeat Me! - Novel Cool

Chapter 502: Ivan: As Long as I Have Enough Aces in the Hole, No One Can Defeat Me!

Chapter 502: Ivan: As Long as I Have Enough Aces in the Hole, No One Can Defeat Me!

On the other side, Sirius Black, who had transformed back into his Animagus form, kept changing his position, sniffing the air vigorously in the thick fog. Various scents wafted into his nose.

However, due to the recent battle, the air was filled with the acrid smell of a wooden desk being burned, making it difficult to accurately distinguish the different scents.

"Hmm, Lupin and Harry are about ten meters behind, but where is Ivan?" Sirius Black muttered to himself. He followed the lingering scent in the air but found no one here, only guessing that Ivan might have stopped here briefly.

Just as Sirius Black was hesitating, his hair stood on end, and a sense of danger flashed through his mind.

Without any hesitation, Sirius Black instinctively lunged forward, rolling several times.

At the same moment, a Crimson Beam shot out from the thick fog on the side, striking the spot where he had been standing, creating a small crater in the wooden board.

Sirius Black's expression changed, and before he could breathe a sigh of relief, more beams of light flashed from the fog.

Sirius Black broke out in a cold sweat and fled in the opposite direction, constantly changing his position, hoping to use his Animagus' superior agility to shake off Ivan and disappear back into the fog.

To Sirius Black's surprise, no matter how he changed his position, Ivan always found him first.

At first, Sirius Black thought Ivan was using the sound of his movements to locate him, so he transformed back into his human form and cast spells to create some noise as a distraction.

But even this was ineffective; Ivan still found him and fired spells from the fog.

"This is impossible! How does he know my position?" Sirius Black, exhausted from running, couldn't figure it out and was soon hit by a red beam.

His wand flew out of his hand, spinning into the fog, and his body crashed into a pile of debris behind him.

A wooden plaque nearby instantly transformed into a long rope, silently wrapping around Sirius Black and binding him tightly.

At this moment, Ivan emerged from the fog, caught the flying wand, and then looked at the bound Sirius Black with a smile.

"It seems you've lost this time, Sirius Black!"

"Alright! You're right!" Sirius Black tried to break free but found the ropes too tight. Noticing that Ivan was still pointing his wand at him, showing no signs of letting up, he could only nod helplessly.

Once Ivan released his bindings, Sirius Black climbed to his feet, grimacing. He had been enduring the pain during the battle, but now that he was relaxed, the wounds on his arm and chest burned fiercely.

"Wound Healing!" Ivan shook his head, stepped forward, and pressed his wand to Sirius Black's wounds, casting a healing spell.

Green light flickered at the tip of the wand, and the torn wounds on his arm quickly began to heal under the influence of Magic.

"You actually know healing spells?" Sirius Black was quite surprised. He really wanted to ask if there was anything this young witch or wizard didn't know.

"Learning more is never a bad thing, right?" Ivan casually explained, healing a few more wounds before frowning. Some splinters from the battle had embedded themselves in the wounds, preventing them from healing directly.

Ivan had to cast a spell to widen the wounds and remove the sharp pieces of wood and debris.

Sirius Black sucked in his breath in pain, but the sound of approaching footsteps made his expression calm. Only the occasional twitch of his lips revealed that he was enduring the pain.

Ivan looked at Sirius Black's sudden change in demeanor and then saw Lupin and Harry running over, looking worried.

"Sirius Black! Are you okay?" Harry, seeing the injuries on Sirius Black's arm and chest, quickly asked.

"I'm fine, just some minor injuries. Getting hurt in a battle is normal!" Sirius Black waved his hand, trying to act as if it didn't matter, but his face twitched as Ivan extracted a sharp piece of debris from his flesh.

However, he managed to keep his composure and didn't embarrass himself in front of Harry.

"You were far too reckless! Using that level of Magic in a duel, do you even realize the consequences if it went out of control!" Lupin, worried and angry, scolded them.

The intensity of the battle had surprised him; it could be described as a life-and-death struggle. As soon as he realized the fight was over, he had rushed over with Harry.

"Don’t say that, Remus! Of course, we can control our Magic. Everything is fine, isn’t it?" Sirius Black replied, slightly embarrassed.

He had spent over a decade in Azkaban and hadn’t experienced such an exhilarating battle in a long time. He had let himself get carried away a bit.

Moreover, Ivan’s strength far exceeded his expectations, forcing him to use some powerful Magic to increase his chances of winning.

Lupin shook his head helplessly and didn’t bring up the matter again.

"Who won the match?" Harry, curious, asked from the side.

"Sirius Black, did you lose again?" Lupin looked at the disheveled Sirius Black and the neatly dressed, calm Ivan, immediately forming a guess.

"Yeah! As you can see, I lost again!" Sirius Black shrugged helplessly. "By the way, Ivan, how did you determine my position?"

"Just a detection spell!" Ivan explained casually.

In fact, he had used blood magic to transform into a bat and used echolocation to track Sirius Black’s movements. However, Ivan wasn’t about to reveal his blood magic. This battle had been highly rewarding, as he absorbed Sirius Black’s combat techniques and deeply realized the importance of having an Ace in the Hole!

His Serpent’s Eye and Magic Ring had only been used a few times in front of Sirius Black, and Sirius Black had already found ways to counter them and restrict their use.

It was because of his undisclosed blood magic and Boggart transformation that Ivan was able to easily defeat Sirius Black. Sirius Black had made the mistake of using thick fog to obscure his vision, not knowing that Ivan could transform into a bat and use echolocation.

This made Ivan understand that as long as he had enough Aces in the Hole, no one could defeat him!

Seeing that Ivan wasn’t willing to say more, Sirius Black didn’t press the issue and, keeping his promise, agreed to let Ivan participate in the mission to retrieve Regulus’s body.

"What about me?" Harry asked anxiously.

"You need to stay home and wait for our news!" Sirius Black patted Harry on the shoulder and said.

"Everyone else can go, but I have to stay here and wait for you to come back?!" Harry said, unwillingly.

"Harry! This mission is too Dangerous. It’s not something students should be involved in", Lupin tried to persuade him, then looked at Ivan and continued.

"Ivan proved his strength by defeating Sirius Black, so he won’t be a liability. Are you planning to try as well?"

Lupin’s words were meant to discourage Harry, but to his surprise, Harry nodded seriously.

Sirius Black’s face darkened. He had lost to Ivan, but that didn’t mean he was weak. He was determined to show Harry his strength!

Harry tried to recall the dueling techniques he had learned in the Duel Club during his second year and even carefully planned a strategy.

He remembered Professor Flitwick saying in Charms that even the most powerful Wizards would lose their wands if hit by a Disarming Charm. He wasn’t entirely without a chance of winning!

Unfortunately, no amount of planning could make up for the gap in strength and combat experience. After just a few exchanges, Harry’s wand was taken by Sirius Black.

Harry had to give up the idea of going with them, feeling very disheartened.

Ivan, watching Harry’s quick defeat, shook his head. If Harry spent more time practicing, he wouldn’t have been so easily defeated. Harry had a good foundation and a high talent for Defensive Magic. His years as a Quidditch player had also honed his reflexes, which were useful in combat.

After one loss and one win, Sirius Black became more level-headed.

He no longer rushed headlong into the cave to retrieve Regulus’s body. Instead, he discussed specific strategies with Ivan and Lupin and had Kreacher buy some potion ingredients.

By evening, they had prepared the freshly brewed potion and were ready to set out.

Lupin suddenly remembered something and said worriedly, "We have three people now, and with Regulus, that’s four. If something happens in the cave, can Kreacher bring us all out?"

Sirius Black immediately realized this and looked at Kreacher, waiting for its response.

The old House-Elf hesitated for a moment. Although it had managed to escape from that dangerous cave twice, it had clearly felt a significant barrier when performing Apparition, and the Magic it had expended was much greater than usual.

Therefore, to ensure absolute safety, it would probably only be able to take one person at a time, and it would need four trips to move everyone.

With this in mind, Kreacher did not hide anything and told the truth.

After hearing Kreacher's account, Sirius Black and Lupin were somewhat worried. This meant that the risk of the operation had increased significantly.

"Or how about this, we can call another House-Elf, right?" Ivan thought it was not entirely safe and snapped his fingers, calling out.

"Dobby!"

As soon as Ivan spoke, an ugly, large-eyed House-Elf appeared on the empty ground in front of them.

"Dobby is here to serve you, sir! Is there anything you need me to do?" The House-Elf loudly announced, then looked around curiously and greeted Harry happily.

Harry awkwardly nodded in response. On previous occasions, Dobby had not left a good impression on him, especially in his second year when Dobby had caused him a lot of trouble. Harry still remembered those incidents vividly.

"Dobby, here's the deal. I need you to go with us to a place and help Kreacher bring us all out when needed", Ivan briefly explained the situation, planning to provide more details on the way.

Dobby agreed without hesitation. Although it was officially in an employment relationship with Ivan, in reality, it was not much different from being a servant. The only difference was that it received a negligible salary each month.

"Right, Ivan, Dobby is your House-Elf?" Sirius Black looked at Dobby in surprise.

He had forgotten about this during the summer last year, preoccupied with thoughts of Peter. Now, it seemed strange to him.

Typically, only prominent Pureblood Wizard families could own a House-Elf, and the Hals Family was clearly not one of them.

"No, I hired Dobby. It used to belong to the Malfoy Family, but now it is free!" Ivan shook his head and explained.

"That's right, sirs, Dobby is now a free House-Elf! The kind Mr. Hals hired Dobby and is willing to pay a Sickle per week!"

Dobby said proudly, turning to look at Ivan with great emotion, almost tearing up. It continued, choked with emotion.

"And last year, Mr. Hals even gave Dobby a day off. Oh, Mr. Hals is truly a great person!"

Sirius Black, Lupin, and Harry all looked at Ivan with a strange expression, making him feel extremely embarrassed, wishing he could use a Silencing Charm to stop Dobby from speaking.

Dobby's words made Ivan feel like he was being portrayed as a ruthless employer, and Dobby was his loyal slave, who was now expressing deep gratitude.

However, before Ivan could explain, a furious scream suddenly rang out.

"You are a disgrace!"

The old House-Elf Kreacher trembled with rage, glaring at Dobby as if it were looking at a mortal enemy.

"Filthy, lowly traitor! You should be ashamed! A proper House-Elf does not need wages or holidays! No House-Elf would ever betray their master!" Kreacher's words were sharp and harsh, and his voice was very hoarse and unpleasant to hear.

"Dobby does not think so. Dobby is a free House-Elf and needs wages and holidays!" Dobby was not deterred by Kreacher's words and continued speaking confidently.

It had heard similar comments hundreds of times at Hogwarts, and they did not sway its beliefs.

Kreacher was almost driven mad with anger. It was about to continue arguing when Sirius Black interrupted.

"Enough, Kreacher! Ivan is Dobby's master, I mean employer. This is their business!" Sirius Black said firmly.

Kreacher stopped speaking but could still be heard muttering under its breath.

(End of Chapter)

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