https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-576-Mad-Eye-Moody-Are-You-Suspecting-Me-/13449259/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-578-Mad-Eye-Moody-s-Defense-Against-the-Dark-Arts/13449261/
Chapter 577: Crouch is Much Better Than a Guinea Pig!
Chapter 577: Crouch is Much Better Than a Guinea Pig!
After Dinner, Ivan returned to the Gryffindor Common Room with Harry and Ron, while Hermione went to the Library to read up on the history of House-Elves, feeling it was necessary to learn more about them.
"Ivan, want to play Wizard Chess?" Ron, back in the Common Room, enthusiastically pulled out a new set of Wizard Chess, ready for a match.
"No, you and Harry play. He could use a bit of a mood boost!" Ivan declined Ron's invitation, passing the responsibility to Harry. He then avoided their gaze, opened the Letter from Asia, and quickly scanned through it.
[The letter you had Dobby bring me has been received. The modifications you suggested have been passed on to Gryson. He seems to have grasped your meaning and promised me that there won't be any mistakes this time. We didn't consider the new Pureblood Wizards before, but this time we'll take more opinions into account...]
Reading the content, Ivan was thoroughly confused. He couldn't figure out what his suggestions had made Gryson understand, or how they related to the Pureblood Wizards.
His original intention was simply to have Gryson remove some content from the New Era Manifesto, without mentioning anything else.
"Can't you just give me a break?" Ivan muttered, rubbing his forehead in frustration before finishing the rest of the letter.
The latter half of the Letter was different, filled with various trivial matters. To Ivan's surprise, it also mentioned that Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang would be jointly hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year.
The information provided was very detailed, even listing the five Judges and speculating that one of the tasks might involve dragons—due to reliable intelligence indicating that the Ministry of Magic was planning to bring in several relatively tame dragons from the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.
Asia also regretfully noted that the tournament was only open to wizards aged seventeen and above, or else she was certain that, besides Ivan, there would be no other suitable Champion from Hogwarts.
"Strange, how did they find out about the Triwizard Tournament?"
Ivan raised an eyebrow, puzzled, but then it dawned on him that it must be from Dawgert's sources!
When they were discussing ways to counter the Ministry of Magic, Dawgert had volunteered, saying that some of his friends were in high positions within the Ministry and could provide first-hand intelligence, ensuring they had an information advantage.
It seemed Dawgert's network was indeed useful, managing to uncover the specific details of the tournament.
After reading the letter, Ivan carefully folded it and burned the envelope to ashes, ensuring no one else could see it. Then, he went to the Dormitory, took out a pen and paper, and began drafting a reply.
After forgetting to reply to Hermione, Ivan had reflected deeply and realized that he tended to overlook such tasks when busy. It was best not to delay.
"Maca, send this to my mother!" Once the letter was ready, Ivan opened the owl cage, tied it to Maca's leg, and instructed her.
As a rather independent Owl, Maca did not like staying in the public Owlery, where she would get into fights with other Owls.
Moreover, Maca was very smart and didn't make unnecessary noise, so Ivan usually kept her in the Dormitory.
"Coop, coop~" Maca lazily nodded in response to the command.
It had been locked in the cage for several months without a single mail delivery task. Every day, it lived a leisurely life of eating and sleeping, to the point where it almost forgot it could fly.
"You've gotten too fat, Maca!" Ivan watched as Maca flapped its wings, almost failing to take off, and he was slightly worried that the owl might run out of energy and fall from the sky halfway.
However, Dobby was likely at home doing chores like cooking and washing dishes, too far away to sense his summons. Therefore, Ivan had no choice but to use this primitive method of sending a letter.
Besides, this fat owl needed some exercise...
As he watched Maca's figure disappear into the distance, Ivan reached into his pocket and pulled out the damaged Crescent Pendant.
Ivan stroked the prominent crack on the pendant, recalling Nicolas Flamel's words.
He was well aware of the Alchemical Master's intentions in asking him to return to Hogwarts for classes.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the others were his friends. If they were in danger, he would naturally feel the urge to protect them. By infusing this protective emotion into the pendant, he should be able to repair it.
Ivan had previously tried using the Imagination Technique to achieve this, such as imagining a moment of extreme peril to evoke the necessary emotion, but unfortunately, it didn't work!
"Infuse pure and intense emotion," Ivan muttered to himself, but he had no idea how to do it, so he decided to set it aside for now.
He had a lot to do this semester, and repairing the Crescent Pendant was just one of them!
In addition, he needed to earn enough Legendary Points to complete his next Bloodline Fusion, to prepare for the crisis when the Dark Lord returned.
He also couldn't neglect practicing Legilimency; he didn't want to relive the experiences of the summer.
Only by mastering Legilimency and gaining the ability to read minds through eye contact could he confidently control those Imagination Monsters with complex thoughts.
After organizing his thoughts, Ivan realized that he was in for a busy semester.
...
For the next few days, Ivan temporarily abandoned his plan to investigate Mad-Eye Moody and focused entirely on his studies and research, while also ordering Dobby to buy some white mice for Legilimency practice.
In fact, Ivan's original "guinea pigs" were supposed to be Barty Crouch Jr., which would have been perfect for both gathering intelligence and practicing magic!
After all, Barty Crouch Jr. was a wizard, far more useful than actual white mice!
However, since Barty Crouch Jr. hadn't disguised himself as Mad-Eye Moody and infiltrated Hogwarts, Ivan had to reluctantly abandon this plan.
Hogwarts was also much calmer than he had expected, with nothing unusual happening. The ominous premonitions seemed to have vanished, and even Harry had become more relaxed, having forgotten about that strange dream.
"Great, we have Professor Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon!"
On Thursday morning, Ron exclaimed excitedly as he checked the schedule. After speaking with Mad-Eye Moody in the Great Hall a few days ago, he had been eagerly anticipating this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Especially after George and Fred had whispered to him that Mad-Eye Moody's classes would be very "exciting"!
(End of Chapter)
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