https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-799-This-Kid-is-Freakishly-Strong-Yet-Surprisingly-Cautious-/13454664/
Chapter 800: The Vanishing Fireplace
Chapter 800: The Vanishing Fireplace
The sound of someone pushing the door from outside grew louder. Ivan furrowed his brow, considering whether to let Filch in and hit him with a Memory Charm.
However, this thought quickly vanished from Ivan's mind.
The commotion might attract the attention of others, and dealing with just Filch wouldn't solve the current predicament.
“Dobby... Dobby!” Ivan snapped his fingers and called out softly.
The wrinkled House-Elf appeared on the spot, squeaking, “Master, what does Dobby need to do?”
“Can you Apparate this fireplace away?” Ivan pointed to the nearby fireplace and asked.
Dobby followed Ivan's gesture and, in the candlelight, the golden fireplace almost blinded its eyes.
But after a brief moment of surprise, Dobby quickly regained its composure.
After all, Ivan had often asked it to transport gold items back home before.
Originally, these items were supposed to be pledged to Pureblood Families in exchange for Galleons. While the money was indeed obtained, no one dared to accept the items, so they all ended up piled at home.
Now, the house already had golden tables, chairs, cabinets, and teapots. It seemed there would soon be a Golden Fireplace as well!
Dobby was very pleased. If possible, it would love to turn everything at home into gold.
“Can you do it?” Ivan asked.
“It's too big, Master...” Dobby stretched out its hand to indicate the size of the fireplace, shaking its head in frustration. It didn't have enough magic to take the whole thing at once.
“I'll try to make it smaller... Sectumsempra!” Ivan drew his wand from his waist and waved it, and invisible magical blades quickly sliced the fireplace into dozens of pieces.
The large golden chunks, now under a Levitation Charm, fell to the ground with a series of dull thuds.
Ivan used a Reducing Charm to shrink the large chunks to a quarter of their original size, then looked at Dobby again. “Is this better?”
Dobby nodded and immediately placed its hands on two of the gold chunks, Apparating them away.
After several trips back and forth, the entire disassembled fireplace was moved.
Outside, the sound of Filch banging on the door grew even louder.
Ivan tidied up the area, ignoring Filch. He had cast a spell on the door, so even if Filch kept banging all day, he wouldn't be able to get in...
“What's going on, Filch?” A familiar voice echoed down the corridor.
“Professor Mcgonagall, I caught a mischievous student out after hours, and he's hiding in the Meeting Room! But he put a spell on the door, and I can't get in. Could you help me open it, please?” Filch shouted excitedly.
“Stand back, Alohomora~” Professor Mcgonagall waved her wand, and with a click, the lock opened.
Filch eagerly pushed the door open and hurried inside, his face flushed with excitement.
However, to his surprise, the spacious Meeting Room was empty, with not a soul in sight.
“Come out, you can't run! I've got you!” Filch held up his lantern and shouted, believing the troublesome student must still be in the room, just hiding somewhere.
With that thought, Filch began searching every possible hiding spot, recalling the recent bill that allowed him to hang misbehaving students from the ceiling. He had always enjoyed that feeling and hoped to relive it today.
Unfortunately, after a thorough search, Filch was disappointed. The Meeting Room was completely empty.
“Damn it, he must have been hiding behind the door and used a Disillusionment Charm to escape!”
Filch muttered to himself as he prepared to return to the door, but unexpectedly noticed Professor Mcgonagall staring intently at a wall.
"What is it, Professor Mcgonagall?" Filch asked, puzzled.
"I remember there should have been a... fireplace here, shouldn't there?" Professor Mcgonagall said, her gaze fixed on the neatly arranged stone bricks, sounding very uncertain.
"What?" Filch's mind went blank for a moment, but he quickly realized what she meant. Looking at the empty wall, he couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity.
Could it be that a thief had come into the castle and stolen the fireplace in the middle of the night?
What a lunatic! Why would anyone steal a fireplace?
...
While the two were speculating, Ivan had already returned to the dormitory. After a quick nap before dawn, he joined Harry and the others for breakfast in the Great Hall, acting as if nothing had happened.
As expected, the disappearance of the fireplace in the Meeting Room had already spread, giving rise to all sorts of bizarre rumors.
Harry and Ron initially found it hard to believe that a fireplace could be stolen, but after a quick look at the Meeting Room, they had to admit the rumors might be true.
Hermione, however, approached the matter scientifically. "It wouldn't be easy to remove such a large fireplace from the school, let alone without Filch and Professor Mcgonagall noticing. It must have been someone who used a Powerful Vanishing Spell!"
"That's just weird, using a Vanishing Spell on a fireplace?" Ron remarked.
"Um... maybe they got too nervous and their magic got out of control", Hermione speculated, then turned to Ivan. "What do you think, Ivan?"
"How should I know? It's just a fireplace, not worth much... Who would bother stealing it?" Ivan yawned, shrugging it off.
As the one responsible for moving the fireplace, Ivan had no intention of revealing the truth. Instead, he deftly led Harry and the others down a dead-end path.
Despite the commotion, as long as no clues were found, the matter would likely be forgotten. After all, a fireplace wasn't a particularly valuable item; they could just spend a few Galleons to install a new one...
A few days passed quickly. In addition to his studies, Ivan devoted all his energy to enhancing his strength, even suspending the usual gatherings to avoid being discovered by Umbridge.
He needed to master the full power of the Philosopher's Stone as soon as possible. Only then would he have a chance to escape unscathed from the onslaught of countless wizards.
News from Knockturn Alley continued to pour in, with a constant stream of information, both good and bad, reaching him through Dobby.
The worst news was that the head of the Nott Family had broken free from the Imperius Curse the day before, and his whereabouts were unknown...
"Damn it, they couldn't even keep an Imperius Curse under control! And it had to happen now..." Ivan threw the envelope into the fire, muttering to himself.
Dobby stammered in response. "Master Fenrir said there have been too many people to manage recently, so they neglected to watch Master Notte... And..."
"And over the past year, Notte has been very cooperative, so they let their guard down, right?" Ivan sighed, feeling helpless. He had almost forgotten about this unstable factor, just like they had.
He had spared Notte's life, considering the Nott Family's support would be needed during the campaign for Minister of Magic. He hadn't expected this to happen at such a critical moment.
(End of Chapter)
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