The afternoon's flying lesson quickly passed amidst Ivan's conflicted feelings. Fortunately, everything went smoothly after the initial chaos, and Ivan was the first student to complete the flying training.
Ivan even gave Malfoy some special attention, carefully reminding him to be cautious while flying and not to fall from the sky again.
From a distance, Madam Hooch took note of Ivan's behavior, and her evaluation of him rose a few more notches.
The young wizards of Gryffindor and Slytherin had never gotten along. In her eyes, it was a rare and commendable thing for Ivan to be able to set aside his prejudices and show such concern for Malfoy.
Malfoy, on the other hand, was furious. He declared that he would perform a high-difficulty flying maneuver to prove his skills, but unfortunately, he was stopped by Madam Hooch before he could finish his sentence.
After all, Malfoy had a precedent for falling. Madam Hooch was still worried that something might happen to him and wouldn't even allow him to get back on a broom for the rest of the lesson.
...
[Ding! Flying lesson has concluded. Overall Class Evaluation: Outstanding
Evaluator: Rolanda Hooch
Reward: 10 Academic Points]
Walking through the corridor, Ivan saw the final class evaluation and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Even with that spoiled brat Malfoy causing trouble, he had still achieved his goal.
In contrast, Ron and Hermione were not in a good mood. They were both worried about Harry, who had been taken away by Professor McGonagall.
Hermione, in particular, was still fuming. The moment class ended, she ran up to Ivan and began to chatter.
"I think we should have told Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch the truth! What if Harry gets expelled?"
Ivan stopped and looked at Hermione.
"He won't be. Professor McGonagall wouldn't expel Harry over something so trivial. Maybe it's because Harry flew so well just now that Professor McGonagall wants him to join the Quidditch team."
"You have to be at least a second-year to join the Quidditch team!" Hermione corrected the error in Ivan's statement.
"There are always exceptions to the rule. Not every young wizard can fly as well as Harry on their first try," Ivan said with a smile.
Hermione thought about it and realized it was a real possibility. Ron's eyes also lit up, and he joined them in discussing the possibility of Harry joining the Quidditch team. If Harry could get in, Ron thought, then maybe he could too...
By the time the trio reached the Great Hall for dinner, Harry was already sitting there. Before they could even get to him, Harry had already come over, eager to tell them about Professor McGonagall making him the new Seeker.
Although Ivan had already given them a heads-up, they were still very surprised, especially Ron, who was incredibly excited.
"Harry, I can't believe you actually joined the Quidditch team! You might be the youngest Seeker in Hogwarts history! I mean, do they need any more players? Like a Beater or a Keeper or something?" Ron looked at Harry expectantly, hoping to hear some good news.
"No, Wood said the team is full," Harry shook his head awkwardly. He didn't understand why Ron was so excited. He had only just heard about Quidditch today and still didn't really know what it was all about.
"By the way, Ivan, what happened in flying class today?" Harry asked, turning to Ivan with a frustrated look.
"Didn't Malfoy take Neville's Remembrall? And then I chased after him? When did it turn into us training with Malfoy?"
When he was taken away by Professor McGonagall, Harry had been terrified, even thinking he was about to be expelled from Hogwarts and sent back to his aunt and uncle's filthy, tiny cupboard. Thankfully, the situation wasn't as bad as he had imagined.
Ivan had no intention of hiding anything and told Harry about how he had used the Full Body-Bind Curse on Malfoy to humiliate him.
"If I had exposed Malfoy, I would have had to serve detention with him. Anyway, he got what he deserved, didn't he?" Ivan said with a shrug.
Ron also chimed in, embellishing the story of how Ivan had tricked Malfoy into being grounded during the flying lesson. Harry's frustration instantly vanished, and he burst out laughing.
Only Hermione was still hung up on the fact that they had broken the school rules. Seeing the others chatting happily, she turned away in a huff and left.
Ivan thought about it but decided not to try and stop her. Hermione's personality needed some adjustment.
Of course, it wasn't that following the rules was bad, but sometimes, trapping oneself completely within those rules without any flexibility was a bit too rigid.
Just like in the original story, Malfoy, who had caused trouble in the flying lesson, received almost no punishment.
While that was partly due to Harry's bad luck and Professor McGonagall not giving him a chance to explain, even if Harry had explained the reason, Professor McGonagall would have likely just deducted points from both of them, which would have been no loss for Malfoy at all.
At least now, Malfoy was thoroughly scared and probably wouldn't dare to cause trouble again for a while.
Unfortunately, the comeback came faster than Ivan had imagined. Before Ivan could even finish his dinner, Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, came looking for trouble.
Perhaps because he had his two cronies with him, Malfoy had regained his usual arrogant demeanor, though his teeth itched with hatred whenever he looked at Ivan.
"Having your last meal, Potter? You'll be saying goodbye to this place tomorrow and going back to your Muggle world, won't you?" Malfoy sneered loudly.
Ivan and Harry made no move, instead looking at Malfoy as if he were an idiot. Ron was thinking how interesting Malfoy's expression would be if he told him Harry was the new Seeker.
The calm attitude of Ivan and the others made Malfoy a little uneasy, but he gritted his teeth and said what he came to say.
"Hals, if you've got the guts, meet me in the trophy room tonight. I challenge you to a duel!"
However, to Malfoy's surprise, Ivan shook his head decisively.
"Not going."
What a joke, Ivan thought. I'm planning to go to the Restricted Section tonight to receive the reward from the system. What time do I have to play dueling games with Malfoy?
Not to mention, from what Ivan remembered, Malfoy had no intention of showing up for this duel anyway. He was just going to tip off Filch to catch them. Only a fool would get involved in something like that.
"Scared, Hals?" Malfoy sneered.
"I have no interest in dueling someone I've already beaten. It's a waste of time," Ivan said, glancing sideways at Malfoy with a look of complete disinterest in a weakling.
"Come back when you've learned some more advanced magic... Otherwise, if you fall again, there'll be no one to save you."