The two chatted by the lake for a while until Hermione and the others found them.
In the afternoon, there was a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Ivan and Hermione didn't quite understand the excitement of Quidditch, but Neville and Parvati were full of enthusiasm.
Besides, Harry was their friend and a member of their group, so Ivan felt obligated to attend the game.
As the match progressed and Gryffindor team members began getting injured and falling from their brooms, Ivan started to see just how brutal the sport could be.
But he remained silent.
For wizards, such injuries weren't much different from a regular foul in a Muggle football match.
Additionally, Ivan had to admit that Quidditch was indeed a very exhilarating flying sport.
If he had to compare it to something, Quidditch wasn't like football or basketball—it was more akin to racing, an extreme sport that demanded full concentration and fueled a rush of adrenaline.
What a pity, Ivan thought.
Since he knew how to fly using magic, he would never truly experience the thrill and excitement of Quidditch.
"Come on!!"
Hermione, who had previously been indifferent to the game, found herself caught up in the excitement, loudly cheering for Harry as she watched the Quidditch match up close.
After about 20 minutes, Harry spotted the Golden Snitch and began a fierce collision with the Slytherin Seeker in a race to capture it.
Both Harry and the Slytherin Seeker refused to give in, fighting with all their might for the Golden Snitch, the symbol of victory.
"He caught the Golden Snitch!"
Suddenly, the commentator, Lee Jordan, shouted excitedly from the stands, "Harry Potter caught the Golden Snitch and won 150 points!"
"Gryffindor wins!!"
As Madam Hooch blew the whistle to end the match, the Gryffindor section erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Harry Potter!!"
"Potter won! We won!"
Ivan slowly stood up, watching as Harry held the Golden Snitch high in the air. He smiled and clapped, proud of his friend's achievement.
That night, Gryffindor students surrounded Harry, celebrating their victory.
After defeating Slytherin, it wasn't just the students who were ecstatic—even Professor McGonagall joined in, happily sipping a glass of wine.
Professor McGonagall was a Quidditch fan herself, but Slytherin had dominated the Quidditch Cup for six consecutive years, and she dreamed of bringing the championship back to Gryffindor.
In fact, she had been so determined to help the team that she bought Harry a Nimbus 2000.
"Congratulations," Ivan said to Harry after the celebration party. "How does it feel?"
"It's the happiest moment of my life!"
Harry exclaimed, unable to hide his joy. He promised that he would continue to work hard and help Gryffindor win the championship.
"Ivan," Harry began, a bit hesitantly after the excitement had settled, "I... I want to bring Ron to join us. I don't know if that's okay..."
"Have you two reconciled?"
Since Ronald had been placed under the Imperius Curse and spent nearly a week in the school hospital, Ivan hadn't paid much attention to him.
However, during that time, it seemed like Ronald and Harry's friendship had returned to normal.
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "He wants to apologize to you."
"Apologize?" Ivan asked, a bit puzzled. "I don't think we've had any serious conflict, have we?"
"So.. There's no need for an apology," Ivan said plainly.
"As for joining the Mysterious Side, I'm bringing in a newcomer tomorrow, and we can test them both together."
To join the Mysterious Side, one had to pass a test devised by Ivan, the founder.
The test didn't solely focus on magical talent.
In fact, Ivan valued character and one's personal goals more than raw talent.
As a certain famous saying goes—What is your dream?
"Harry?"
After receiving Ivan's approval, Harry returned to the dormitory.
Ronald was sitting there nervously. The moment he saw Harry walk in, he jumped up and anxiously asked, "Did Ivan agree?"
"Let's go together tomorrow night."
Harry, being simple-minded, truly saw Ron as his best friend and was always willing to share things with him.
"Really?!"
Ronald was overjoyed. He had a mix of respect and fear for Ivan, but most of all, it was admiration and envy.
He had started Hogwarts alongside Harry.
In the beginning, their magical skills were at a similar, rather poor level.
However, once Harry began receiving instruction from Ivan, his spellcasting abilities had improved by leaps and bounds.
Every time Ron asked Harry to teach him some of the magic, he found himself unable to grasp what Harry was explaining.
Ron struggled to understand the concepts and the specialized spellcasting techniques that Ivan had tailored specifically for Harry.
Seeing the gap between Harry and himself grow wider and wider, Ron had become anxious.
That was part of why Ron had distanced himself from Harry on Halloween and had ended up falling victim to Voldemort's Imperius Curse.
They had argued, and Ron felt that Harry had begun to look down on him.
"Ivan really is amazing. He can see through us so easily," Harry said with admiration. "But Ron, you need to be ready."
"Ready?"
"To join the Mysterious Side, you'll have to pass Ivan's test."
"T-Test?!"
When Ronald heard the word test, he panicked.
He had thought that, with Harry's close relationship with Ivan, he could simply join without any formalities—just a word from Harry would be enough.
"..."
Harry was surprised by Ronald's reaction. "What's wrong? What's the issue?"
"..."
Ronald hesitated. "I'm just a bit nervous."
"Don't worry, Ron," Harry reassured him, knowing Ivan's character well. Ivan was strict at times, but it was always to push them to improve. "You'll definitely pass!"
Perhaps because of the time he'd spent with Ivan, Harry had come to understand some of Ivan's subtleties and hints.
The so-called test was mostly a formality.
Harry briefly considered whether or not to tell Ronald the truth.
But seeing the anxiety on Ronald's face, Harry hesitated.
He had already noticed some underlying issues with Ron.
Ronald struggled with feelings of inferiority—something that stemmed from being part of the Weasley family.
As the youngest brother, Ronald had almost always used hand-me-downs. He had hardly ever owned anything that was truly his.
But the thing was...
Harry thought to himself, I'm the same!
Before coming to the wizarding world, Harry's life had been far worse than Ronald's.
Not only had Harry lost his parents, but his only relatives treated him with cold indifference and cruelty.
To be honest, Harry couldn't understand why Ronald was jealous.
If Ronald really envied him, Harry would gladly trade places with him. 'If you want, I'll give you this scar,' he thought.
Who, given the choice, would want to be "The Boy Who Lived" with a cursed scar?
"But... didn't I join Ivan's study group a long time ago?"
This was what frustrated Ronald the most. He had been part of the group from the beginning, so why should he have to take a test now just to join again?
"Ron, you..."
Harry didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell his friend, 'This is the test Ivan has set for you!'
But the words didn't come out.
Now, Harry felt a bit uncomfortable himself, like there was something stuck in his chest that he couldn't express.
'That's because you quit first!' he thought.
Harry was beginning to regret agreeing to Ron's request.
_________
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In the beginning, Ivan had treated everyone fairly, never showing any favoritism toward or against Ronald. He taught and guided Ronald just like the others, without reservation.
But Ronald had been lazy and distracted, choosing to leave the group to do his own thing.
Ivan hadn't been angry at Ronald's decision.
After all, it was normal for children to be playful.
So when Harry brought it up, Ivan didn't hesitate to give Ronald a second chance. He figured that Ronald had finally come to his senses.
What more could Ivan ask for if Ronald was willing to recognize his mistakes?
Ivan always believed in tailoring his teaching to each student's needs.
For Hermione, who saw learning as fun, Ivan assigned her plenty of homework to keep her challenged.
Neville was diligent but struggled to grasp things quickly.
So Ivan never gave Neville extra tasks. Instead, he patiently explained the simplest concepts to him over and over again.
Harry, being more practical, didn't do well with theory alone.
For him, Ivan taught step by step, using hands-on practice and combat training to increase his proficiency in spells.
Each student's workload wasn't too heavy.
In addition to learning from Ivan, Harry still had plenty of time to hang out with the other Gryffindor students and participate in Quidditch team training.
Similarly, Ivan had a unique approach for students like Ronald.
"Do you know what Ivan's test will be?" Ronald asked, looking at Harry with hopeful anticipation.
If it had been Hermione, she would have flatly refused to answer and told Ronald it was cheating.
But Harry wasn't as rigid as Hermione.
"It's 'progress,'" Harry said, not elaborating much, but giving Ronald enough of a hint about the purpose of the test.
What is progress?
It's about understanding Ronald's ambition. What does he truly want?
Becoming stronger is fine, or learning more advanced magic.
Even if his goal is something as simple as wanting to beat up Malfoy, that's fine too.
"Do you really want that Weasley to come back?" Hermione asked after overhearing the conversation between Harry and Ivan.
"Do you care that much?"
"I hate him!" Hermione never hid her disdain for Ronald. Every time she saw him, the little witch felt an overwhelming sense of discomfort.
"Don't hold prejudices against anyone," Ivan advised but then added, "Admittedly, Ronald's actions make him worthy of being disliked by you."
"Pffft."
Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "You're even worse than me!"
"And what about the other person?" she asked, her curiosity piqued. If Ivan was bringing in someone new, he would always notify the original members. Hermione was eager to know.
"You know, that senior from Ravenclaw."
"Clearwater?"
Hermione was a bit surprised and hesitated. "But... she's already in fifth year."
A fifth-year senior—would she really accept guidance from a younger student?
"Won't she think we're childish?"
"If it were just you," Ivan replied with a teasing grin, "then yes."
"Hey!"
Hermione playfully swatted Ivan, dissatisfied. She was proud and competitive, and being compared to Penelope didn't sit well with her.
"Alright, alright, senior Clearwater won't look down on you," Ivan reassured her.
"You're still teasing me!" Hermione huffed.
"Hehe."
While joking around with Hermione, Ivan told her about his earlier conversation with Penelope, leaving out any personal details.
"I never thought about things like that," Hermione admitted, lowering her head in thought.
Sooner or later, she too would face the same concerns about employment and the future.
At that point, what should she do?
"Ivan, what do you think I could do in the future?"
"You..."
Ivan smiled and said, "I think you'd make a great Minister of Magic."
"What?"
Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean, the Minister of Magic? In England?"
"Does England have a second Ministry of Magic?"
"Or are you aiming higher, Hermione? Planning to become the head of the world's Ministry of Magic? Let me think... it's called Supreme Mugwump meaning the President of the International Confederation of Wizards, right?"
"How can that be possible!" Hermione exclaimed. She could see that Ivan wasn't joking—at least, he was serious about the idea of her becoming Minister of Magic. "Do you really think I could..."
"Yes, I believe you can do it."
With the knowledge of how things unfolded in the original timeline, Ivan was certain of Hermione's abilities.
In fact, in the original timeline, Hermione did become Minister of Magic, though much of her path to that position was facilitated by her connection to Harry, the savior who defeated Voldemort twice.
Without such monumental achievements, it might have taken Hermione much longer to rise to that position.
"Remember the dream of our team?" Ivan asked.
"Yeah!"
Hermione knew Ivan was ambitious, but she didn't dislike him for it.
Unlike Voldemort, Ivan wasn't a madman who would kill over a disagreement.
He had once shared his perspective with Hermione.
As long as others played fair, Ivan would respect the rules of the game and not flip the table.
Ivan's goal was to become what he called the "White Lord."
What is the White Lord?
Dumbledore once had the chance to embody that ideal.
Unfortunately, the old headmaster had softened with age.
Ivan, as Dumbledore's disciple, had inherited the legacies of both Grindelwald and Dumbledore.
So, it only made sense for him to pick up the dreams the two had shared in their youth, didn't it?
"But all of that is still far off," Ivan said. "For now, the most important thing is for us to work on improving ourselves."
"Ancient wizards like our school founders believed that mastering magic requires four key elements."
"Sufficient resources, like-minded companions, vast magical knowledge, and an environment conducive to practice."
Ivan translated these concepts into simpler terms: "Wealth, companions, knowledge, and land. How many of those do you think we have now?"
"Hmm..."
Hermione thought for a moment. "In terms of magical knowledge, with you here and the endless books at Hogwarts, we're definitely not lacking in that."
"Like-minded partners."
Hermione thought that although their group was small, whether it was Neville, Parvati, Harry, or herself, they could all help Ivan in the future.
Especially Hermione herself—she believed that the "Minister of Magic" role Ivan had mentioned might just be part of his plan for her future.
'If I become the Minister of Magic, I should be able to help you, right?' she thought, silently encouraging herself.
She made a mental note to read more about the Ministry of Magic and the politics of the wizarding world—"to prepare in advance."
"Just two points?"
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "Sufficient resources and an environment suitable for cultivation—I'm not sure how to evaluate those."
"As for the environment, what about the Room of Requirement?"
"Yes!" Hermione's eyes lit up as she smiled. "The Room of Requirement can provide us with any kind of space we need, and it's our secret base—no one will bother us there."
The Room of Requirement was more than suitable.
"As for resources…"
"What we're lacking now is resources, right?"
Hermione knew that Ivan had a strong interest in alchemy, but due to a lack of materials, he hadn't had many opportunities to pursue it.
Dumbledore was wealthy, but Ivan wouldn't trouble him for something like this.
He was mindful of boundaries.
Ivan already owed the old headmaster a great deal. Accepting further help might lead to inheriting not just Dumbledore's guidance, but his family legacy as well.
"This is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about today."
Ivan took Hermione's hand, led her into his dormitory, and stopped in front of a two-meter-high wardrobe against the wall.
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