As he spoke, Ivan suddenly seemed to remember something and added.
"And another thing, Malfoy. You still owe Hermione a 'thank you.' Don't you forget it!"
"Hals! That was a shameless sneak attack!" Malfoy whipped out his wand and pointed it at Ivan, his fair cheeks flushing crimson.
"I, Draco Malfoy, would rather fall from the sky and die, be locked up in Azkaban... than ever thank a Mudblood!"
Crabbe and Goyle also drew their wands, but their only response was the astonished stares of numerous Gryffindors. Only then did the trio remember they were at the Gryffindor table. If they started a fight here, they would only get thrashed...
Hearing the word "Mudblood," Ivan couldn't help but frown. Ron jumped to his feet and shouted.
"Malfoy! We accept your challenge! I'm going to teach you a lesson tonight!"
"Good. I'll be waiting..." Malfoy raised an eyebrow, gave a sinister smile, and turned to leave.
"A duel? What's a duel? Is it two people stabbing each other with swords?" After Malfoy left, a clueless Harry quickly asked.
"Of course not! How could we be as stupid as those Muggles?" Ron said, proudly explaining the rules he knew.
"Well... first, both sides stand opposite each other, then you bow to your opponent. Both sides raise their wands and engage in a glorious duel with magic. If one side dies, their second must take over, and it only ends when one side is completely defeated!"
The more Ron spoke, the more excited he became. Dueling was much more interesting than sitting in a classroom reading boring books every day. Besides, he had been annoyed with Malfoy for a long time.
"Dies?" Harry swallowed hard.
"Ron's exaggerating. That's for a formal wizard's duel. At most, we'll just use spells like the Disarming Charm or the Leg-Locker Curse. Sometimes, fists are more useful," Ivan shook his head, explaining to Harry.
"Ivan, you're going tonight, right?" Ron asked expectantly.
"No. I told you before, I have things to do tonight. I don't have time to deal with Malfoy," Ivan shook his head.
In Ivan's opinion, this kind of foolish, face-to-face dueling where they just shot spells at each other was too stupid. It didn't fit his idea of how a wizard should act at all. He'd rather watch a fencing match; at least that had some aesthetic value.
Given Ron and Harry's restless nature, Ivan still gave them a kind reminder.
"It's not even certain if Malfoy will show up tonight. Maybe he's just trying to trick us into going so he can have Filch come and catch us all..."
"No way, right?"
Ron and Harry looked at each other, thinking Malfoy couldn't possibly be that shameless. This was an honorable wizard's duel!
Seeing their expressions, Ivan knew he couldn't persuade them. After a sigh, he stopped trying and started reading Flying Made Easy at the table.
Anyway, according to his memory, Harry and the others' escapade tonight should be thrilling but safe. In fact, they would even learn more about the Philosopher's Stone.
Even if a real accident happened, Dumbledore would be there to clean up the mess. The Headmaster wouldn't let anything happen to his chosen "Chosen One."
"Ron, are we really going to duel Malfoy tonight? What if it's like Ivan said, and Malfoy doesn't show up?" After dinner, as they walked back to the dormitory, a worried Harry asked Ron.
"Of course we're going! This is a duel! Malfoy has to come. If he shows up and we don't, how embarrassing would that be?" Ron tried his best to encourage Harry, especially since he had been the one to accept.
"But without Ivan, there are only two of us. How can we possibly beat the three of them?" Harry said.
"We can ask Neville to come with us! Then there'll be three of us!" Ron thought for a moment and felt that made sense. Malfoy's two cronies might be a bit stupid, but they were much bigger than them. A fight would be a disadvantage.
"Neville?" Harry opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but after a moment, he swallowed his words.
Why do I suddenly feel even more worried?
Maybe... it's better if just the two of us go...
...
At midnight, in the Gryffindor common room, Ivan put down his copy of Flying Made Easy.
To avoid the embarrassment from the flying lesson, Ivan had borrowed books on flying right after class. After several hours of reading and the practice from one lesson, his flying skill was already approaching Level 2.
By now, the dormitory was empty. Harry and Ron had dragged Neville out secretly over ten minutes ago.
Ivan could only wish them good luck. The three-headed dog was not known for its good temper.
Seeing that it was about time, Ivan climbed out of the cylindrical passageway. He looked back to see the entrance automatically sealing itself.
The Fat Lady, who guarded the entrance, didn't seem to be around, perhaps she was out visiting.
Hogwarts at midnight was more desolate than usual, eerily quiet. The entire corridor was pitch black, with only the dim candlelight every ten meters or so allowing Ivan to barely see the path ahead.
Fortunately, in this wizarding world, ghosts weren't scary. Ivan had even chatted with some of them, so he wasn't flustered at all. He just complained internally about the system's method of giving rewards.
This was too hardcore. He actually had to go to the Restricted Section to get his reward himself...
This isn't very system-like at all!
Ivan walked straight through the long corridor. On his way to the Restricted Section, he encountered the annoying moving staircases again.
At night, these staircases seemed even more mischievous than during the day. Their movements were completely unpredictable. Sometimes, just as Ivan reached one, it would suddenly swing to the other side. He wondered if it was deliberately trying to increase the difficulty for young wizards like him who liked to wander around at night.
Fortunately, Ivan's spell-learning hadn't been for nothing. He used the Levitation Charm to briefly float, using leverage to drift to where he wanted to go. He used the Full Body-Bind Curse to jam the connections between the stairs, stopping them from moving...
With the help of a few not-so-advanced spells, Ivan made his way quite smoothly.
The walls around the moving staircases were covered with numerous portraits. A few old, white-bearded scholars watched with interest as Ivan jumped up and down, and a few other portraits greeted him enthusiastically.
After descending the stairs, Ivan politely responded to each of them before turning from the Great Hall towards the library.
"{Alohomora}!" Ivan used the Unlocking Charm to open the locked library door. For safety, he closed it behind him and then waved his wand, casting the Lumos charm.
"{Lumos}..."
A bright white light flashed from the tip of his wand. After it stabilized, the light was much dimmer, but it was enough for Ivan's purposes.