From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

Enraged, Snape chose to fire Ivy rather than deduct points.

From this perspective, the seven consecutive Slytherin Cup victories also hold great significance for him as the headmaster.

They've found another handle to use against someone.

So Ivy strolled happily through the castle, humming a tune as she returned to the Slytherin common room.

But before he could even utter the command, the door to the common room opened automatically.

Standing before him were Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Malfoy,” Ivy said in a cheerful tone. “Still up so late? Oh, I remember now. A duel awaits you.”

“Ah, oh. That’s right.” Malfoy was completely taken aback by Ivy’s tone, but it only strengthened his resolve.

Malfoy had actually planned to tell Filch about the students' nighttime stroll through the prize room, and in fact, he did just that.

However, given Cassandra's haughty tone, Malfoy remained uneasy. This girl had been opposing him ever since they entered Slytherin, showing absolutely no regard for Slytherin unity.

But what truly convinced Malfoy to keep the appointment was not Cassandra's sarcasm.

Instead, it was Ivy standing in front of her.

The duel after the opening banquet was absolutely awesome.

Malfoy always thought so. Then why couldn't it be me standing in the middle of the field, receiving the awe-inspiring gazes of everyone?

Ivy is a first-year wizard, and so am I.

There's no reason why I can't do what he can do.

Although he had never said this to anyone, he had indeed thought it that way.

So, in a moment of impulsiveness, he called upon Goyle and Crabbe, who were snoring loudly, and they slipped out of the Slytherin common room.

Chapter 36 Midnight Run

"Alright, if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep." Ivy knew what was going to happen today: a chase to the end of the fourth-floor corridor, where he would see the three-headed dog, Louie, sitting on the trapdoor, and then Nicolas Flamel and his Philosopher's Stone would be introduced.

Ivy wasn't interested in the eternal life that the stone could offer; he could live to 97, and it was far from time to think about what would happen after his death. Although turning stones into gold was indeed an interesting ability, Ivy, who possessed magic, didn't really have much desire for money.

Therefore, Ivy had neither the motive nor the standing to get involved in this matter.

Ivy is a free spirit who does things entirely based on his whims. Right now, his interest lies entirely in the spells provided by the Grimoire of Destruction.

Especially since he was almost at level three, he had been eyeing the spell called Mayouf's Strong Acid Arrow for a long time. By the way, he also thought the Scorching Ray was pretty good.

His recent research topic is how to cast D&D spells using wizarding magic, but at least for now, he has no clue.

"Oh! Okay..." Malfoy and his companions made way for Ivy.

Just as Ivy was about to enter the common room, Malfoy suddenly called out to him, "Ivy!"

"What?" Ivy turned to look at Malfoy.

“Could…could you witness this duel?” Malfoy shrugged awkwardly, as if his back was itchy. “I mean…as a witness or referee or something…of course, if it disturbs your rest, then forget it…I’m sure I can handle Potter.”

“I just think it wouldn’t be good if nobody believed me,” Malfoy said, his words becoming increasingly fluent. “You see, Miss Worley and I have never gotten along. I bet she’s really keen to become a prefect or something someday. So, if you could come and witness this…”

“Of course. But what would you give in return?” Ivy was starting to get interested, because he remembered that Malfoy hadn’t actually shown up for the appointment, and Ivy didn’t think he had sneaked out to betray him, since this could have been done during the day, and there were plenty of excuses to use.

“Anything is fine,” Malfoy replied immediately.

“I think the word ‘anything’ is still too heavy for you.” Ivy shook her finger. “Let me think… a spellbook? How about that? A spellbook that Hogwarts has never collected, whether it’s dark magic or anything else. As long as it’s not in Hogwarts’ library.”

“Of course! The Malfoy family has collections you can’t even imagine!” Malfoy nodded, excitedly making a deal with Ivy.

Then, the four of them spiraled up the dungeon stairs toward the place they had agreed upon for dinner that evening.

Along the way, Malfoy excitedly whispered a lot of things, most of which were about how he would mock Harry after his defeat; a small part was about deliberately flattering Ivy. It was clear that the eldest son of the Malfoy family had not learned much about how to please others.

Soon, they approached the prize display room on the fourth floor.

But the moment they stepped off the stairs, a huge and noisy sound came from the prize display room, interspersed with Filch's roar and the screams of the young wizards.

Ivy noticed that Malfoy's face turned pale instantly—this was all his doing.

Not only did Filch, whom they brought along, fail to capture Harry Potter and his gang on the spot, but he also ruined tonight's duel. More importantly, he lost an opportunity to befriend Ivy!

"What should we do?" Malfoy asked, sweat streaming down his face.

"Do you wish to end tonight's duel, Mr. Malfoy?" Ivy asked.

"What? Of course not!" Malfoy jumped up as if he'd been pricked by a needle, but he quickly deflated. "But if it causes Slytherin to lose points..."

“It’s very simple,” Ivy said, holding up two fingers. “Two spellbooks, or similar magical items.”

"Deal!" Malfoy whispered.

“Now,” Ivy snapped her fingers, and a thin, magical veil immediately enveloped the four of them—a Disillusionment Charm—“let’s follow them.”

The fleeing wizards were incredibly fast, practically running for their lives. So, unsurprisingly, they caused quite a commotion. They even attracted the attention of Peeves, who appeared out of nowhere.

“What a bunch of troublemakers,” Malfoy scoffed through the Disillusionment Charm, to which Crabbe and Goyle responded with deep, gruff laughter.

“They’ve gone in,” Ivy said.

"Go in? Where?" Malfoy looked up; only Filch and Peeves remained in the corridor.

“The innermost room on the fourth floor,” Ivy said slowly. “Remember? Dumbledore said when he started school that it was the room where people would ‘meet with accidents and suffer a painful death.’”

Malfoy's face turned even paler than before, and then turned bluish-black.

“Perhaps…” Malfoy’s throat felt dry and itchy, “Should we go back to bed and forget about this?”

“Obviously I’m not the only one who knows you were supposed to duel in the prize room,” Ivy pointed out maliciously.

Malfoy froze instantly, his eyes bulging outwards unnaturally, as if someone were choking him.

"Save them..." His voice sounded like he was drowning, "Ivy...please help...save them..."

“Three books…no, no, five books…or ten books…anything will do, save them!” Malfoy grabbed Ivy’s robe, his knuckles turning white from gripping it so tightly.

Ivy smiled slightly, pointed her finger in the air, and two flashing red lights struck Filch and Peeves, who were still arguing at the end of the corridor, freezing them instantly into two icy lumps.

Ivy pushed open the door and saw four little wizards staring dumbfounded at the six eyes of the big dog in the center of the room.

“It was a fulfilling and strange day, wasn’t it?” Ivy leaned closer and whispered in their ears.

In such a tense moment, even the slightest disturbance can trigger an overreaction.

"Ah ...

"Silently." Ivy managed to save her hearing before it failed completely.

"Extend quickly!" The chain that had bound the three-headed dog to the trapdoor stretched out rapidly, like a living snake, binding the giant dog, which was like a mountain of flesh, tightly.

“Cerberus is incredibly strong; it probably won’t be long before it breaks free. Before that happens, let’s leave quickly.” Avi led the four terrified little wizards out of the room.

Chapter 37 Weapon to Eliminate You (Physical)

"Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed as soon as he stepped out of the room, because he saw someone he never expected.

Malfoy kicked the ice block that had Filch frozen in place and said in an arrogant and superior tone, "Oh. Isn't this Potter, the one we've been chasing all the way? Looks like you've finally decided to stop?"

Judging from his expression, he seems to have completely forgotten that Filch was also someone he brought along.

"Why are you here?" Ron was also taken aback. He had just been thinking that it was all Malfoy's fault for breaking their promise, otherwise they wouldn't have been chased by Filch for so long in the castle.

"Why am I here?" Malfoy shook his head and repeated Ron's question, then let out a heavy sigh. "Hmph. If you're still thinking straight, Duel Assistant, you should know why I'm here!"

“Thank you, Ivy.” Unlike the boys, Hermione was thanking Ivy shyly. “If it weren’t for you, we’d be in that dog’s stomach right now.”

As she spoke, Hermione glanced quickly at Filch and Peeves on the ground, a conflicted look on her face: "But what should we do now? If we leave them here, the whole castle might start searching for the murderer tomorrow..."

“Don’t worry.” Ivy pointed her wand at the ice mound on the ground and said, “Forget everything.”

“I also have some knowledge of memory magic. I’ll send them back to where they belong and remove the freezing effect from them. They’ll just think they were momentarily disoriented.” Ivy then used magic to make the ice lumps on the ground float up. “Of course, some people might catch a cold because of this. But don’t worry, no one will lose points for it.”

Neville and Hermione both looked relieved, with the latter saying, "I have to say, thank you so much. Otherwise, we'd probably be packing our bags and getting ready to leave Hogwarts already."

Neville was tongue-tied and couldn't say anything nice, so all he could do was nod vigorously, which was probably equivalent to "Me too."

“Alright.” Ron swallowed hard. “Although we just escaped from the jaws of a dog, you may have other things to do now, Harry.”

“What?” Harry exclaimed in shock. “Here? You must be crazy.”

"A big dog?" Malfoy asked. "Is there a dog locked behind the door?"

“Yes.” Harry nodded, still shaken. “A big dog with three heads, which almost filled the whole room.”

Even though he had always lived in a magical world, this was the first time Malfoy had ever heard of such a strange creature. His curiosity almost popped out of his eyes, and he kept looking behind Ivy.

"Forget about it, Malfoy." Ron waved his hand. "You're too small to even fill its teeth, and besides, it has three heads! You'd better think about what magic you're going to use for your duel with Harry."

"A duel?" Hermione's voice rose to its highest octave. "You actually think about a duel?"

“What else?” Harry took his wand from Hermione’s hand; Hermione had used it to cast a unlocking charm when they broke through that door. “Isn’t this what we came here for?”

"Of course not!" Hermione looked furious. "I was trying to stop you from breaking the school rules!"

"Since this duel has nothing to do with you, then please step aside, Granger." Although Malfoy was a little disappointed that he couldn't see Cerberus in person, he quickly regained his previous haughty attitude. "Ivy, could you make some room for us?"

"Ivy! Thank you for saving our lives." Harry and Ron, those two clueless kids, only just remembered to thank their savior. "But... why are you here?"