Chapter 20: The Rejected Duel
The afternoon's flying lessons passed quickly, with Ivan being the first to complete them.
Ivan gave Malfoy special attention, telling him to be careful when flying and not to fall out of the sky again.
From a distance, Mrs Hodge observed Ivan's performance and her opinion of him improved.
Gryffindor had always been at odds with Slytherin's young wizards and witches, and she considered Ivan's ability to set aside her prejudices about Malfoy a rarity.
Malfoy, on the other hand, was furious and threatened to demonstrate a difficult flying move to prove his skill, but was stopped by Mrs Hodge.
Malfoy, after all, had a history of falling, and Mrs Hodge was still worried that something would happen to him, so much so that she forbade Malfoy from flying off his broom again.
…
[Ding, the flying lesson has ended. Evaluation: Excellent]
Reviewer: Rolanda Hodge
Reward: 10 GPA]
Ivan strolled down the corridor and was relieved to see the final assessment. Even with Malfoy causing trouble, he had achieved his goal.
Ron and Hermione, on the other hand, were not in a good mood, as they were worried about Harry being taken away by Professor McGonagall.
Hermione, in particular, was not appeased until now. As soon as class was over, she could not help but run to Ivan and babble.
"I think we should have told Professor McGonagall and Mrs Hodge the truth! What if Harry got expelled?"
Ivan stopped and looked at Hermione.
"No, Professor McGonagall wouldn't go so far as to fire Harry over such a trivial matter. Perhaps she was planning to let Harry join the Quidditch team because he had a good flight."
"You have to be at least in your second year to join the Quidditch team!" Hermione corrected Ivan.
"There are exceptions to every rule, and not every young wizard can fly as well as Harry in his first year," Ivan said with a smile.
Hermione considered this possibility, and Ron's eyes lit up as he discussed the possibility of Harry joining the Quidditch team.
By the time the trio arrived at the Great Hall to enjoy their dinner, Harry was already there. Before they even got there, he was already there, eagerly telling them about how Professor McGonagall had asked him to be her Seeker.
Despite Ivan's warning, the pair were still surprised, especially Ron, who was very excited.
"Harry, I can't believe you're actually on the Quidditch team. You're probably the youngest Seeker ever at Hogwarts! I mean, are they short-staffed? Beaters or goalkeepers or something?" Ron looked at Harry expectantly, hoping to hear some good news.
"No, I heard from Wood that we've got enough people." Harry shook his head in embarrassment, wondering why Ron was so excited about the Quidditch match, which he hadn't heard about until today.
"By the way, Ivan, what was all that about today's flying lesson?" Harry asked, turning to Ivan in dismay.
"Wasn't it Malfoy who took Neville's crystal ball? And then I went after him? Since when did we train with Malfoy?"
When Harry was taken away by Professor McGonagall, he was so frightened that he thought he was going to be expelled from Hogwarts and sent back to his uncle's tiny cupboard.
Ivan made no attempt to hide the fact that he had embarrassed Malfoy by attacking him with a Petrifaction Charm.
"If we expose Malfoy, I'll end up in detention with him. He's had enough, hasn't he?" Ivan said, throwing up his hands.
Ron also embellished the story of Malfoy's restricted flying by Ivan in the Flying lesson, and Harry's gloom was swept away as he burst out laughing.
Hermione was the only one who was bothered by the fact that they had broken the school rules. Seeing that Ivan and the others were chatting happily, she turned around angrily and left.
Yvonne thought for a moment but decided not to try to persuade her to stay. Hermione was about to change.
Of course, it was not that the rules were bad. It was just that sometimes, it seemed too inflexible to allow oneself to fall completely into these rules.
As in the book, Malfoy, who caused trouble during a flying lesson, gets away with it.
This was, of course, Harry's bad luck, as Professor McGonagall did not give him a chance to explain, but even if Harry did explain, Professor McGonagall would most likely deduct their credits, and Malfoy would lose nothing.
Malfoy, at least for now, was scared out of his wits and was confident that he would not be stirring up trouble for a while.
Unfortunately, the slap in the face came sooner than Ivan expected, and before Ivan had finished eating, Malfoy arrived with Crabbe and Goyle.
Malfoy returned to his arrogant self, perhaps due to the presence of his two henchmen, except for the fact that he hated Ivan with a passion.
"Eating your last meal, Potter? You're going back to your Muggle world tomorrow, aren't you?" Malfoy taunted loudly.
Ivan and Harry did not move, but instead looked at Malfoy as if he were an idiot. Ron was thinking that Malfoy would be very amused if he told him that Harry was the Seeker.
The indifference of Ivan and the others made Malfoy somewhat uneasy, but he gritted his teeth and said what he had to say.
"Hales, if you have the guts, come to the trophy room tonight. I'll duel you!"
However, to Malfoy's surprise, Ivan shook his head firmly.
"I'm not going!"
You've got to be kidding me. I'm supposed to be in the Restricted Section tonight to receive the system's rewards. I don't have time for a duelling game with Malfoy.
Not to mention, Ivan's remaining impression was that Malfoy was planning to stand Filch up so that he could arrest him.
"Are you scared, Hales?" Malfoy scoffed.
"I'm not interested in duelling a loser. It's a waste of time," Ivan said, looking askance at Malfoy as if he had no interest in a weakling.
"Come back when you've learned more advanced magic… or no one will save you if you fall again."