Chapter 145: Peter Pettigrew

"I'm not afraid of werewolves, nor am I afraid of Greyback!" Ivan whispered. "The reason that guy scared me yesterday was because I was afraid I couldn't protect Hermione."

Ivan's inner fear was not danger for its own sake!

In fact, he feared that when the danger came, he wouldn't be able to protect the people he wanted to protect.

This was his greatest worry.

Yesterday in Hogsmeade, he feared that Hermione would be hurt and bitten by the werewolf.

Since she wasn't here now, he didn't have that worry.

Ivan's calmness perplexed the Boggart. With a pop, his body began to change again, and he wanted to take the form of what Ivan really feared.

Ivan did not act. He watched him with interest and wanted to see what he could become.

A moment later, a tall, thin man emerged, whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat like a snake's, but with slits in the nostrils. All over his body, his cold and chilling temperament was overwhelming.

Ivan was a little surprised that this Boggart turned into Voldemort.

Voldemort's face was cruel and proud; his glowing red eyes looked at Ivan.

The air seemed to thin suddenly and the atmosphere grew heavier. Ivan did not give up.

He did not even blink. He looked back into Voldemort's eyes and was calm and indifferent.

Perhaps it was because he knew that the one he was facing was a Boggart, but he wasn't very afraid.

The two stared at each other for a moment, until Ivan grew bored.

There was no sense in what the Boggart was doing. The one in front of Ivan was not Voldemort, but a weak little monster.

He hoped that every time he encountered the real problem, he could still look him in the eye as boldly as he did now.

"Riddikulus!" Ivan gently waved his wand.

The evil, murderous Voldemort turned into a funny clown, with a ridiculous hat on his head. He had a big clown suit with red and green paint on his face. His two big eyes were black like a panda's. It was a scene everyone would laugh at.

Ivan's lips lifted slightly, revealing a smile.

If only Voldemort knew he had turned him into such a thing....

It was so funny, he didn't know what he was going to do with it. He looked at it for a while and was ready to deal with this Boggart, when suddenly, he had a strange feeling, he felt danger.

He didn't even think about it, and fell to the ground on instinct. Before he knew it, a red light grazed his body as it flew past him, hitting the Boggart in front of him.

With a pop, the Boggart flew backwards and fell heavily to the ground.

His form was lost in midair, and Ivan saw the Voldemort clown, with only half of his body left, and struggling to escape to the old closet compartment as quickly as possible. Due to the excessive force, the whole cabinet was buzzing.

Ivan did not have time to deal with this Boggart. With the help of the tracking potion, he felt the man standing behind him.

He turned around quickly and took a few steps back, his wand close to his chest, and became fully vigilant.

Before him, a hideous middle-aged man was standing in front of Professor Lupin's office door.

The man was very short, not much taller than young Ivan. His thin, pale hair acquired a large bald patch. He looked like an obese man who had lost a lot of weight in a short time.

He had dirty skin, small watery eyes, and a pointed nose, all of which were lingering attributes of his rat-like animagus form.

Almost instantly, Ivan recognized him: it was Peter Pettigrew who attacked him!

He must have taken the opportunity to sneak up on him while he was too focused on the Boggart.

His eyes glanced quickly at the door behind Pettigrew. The door that was initially open was now securely shut.

Ivan couldn't help but hold his wand in his hand, but he didn't understand why Pettigrew would appear here. Arguably, he should be with Ron in the common room upstairs - had he just come here as Ivan for the Marauder's Map?

He tried to look as confused as possible, as if he'd never met Peter.

But on the other hand, Pettigrew's face looked horrified. He didn't think Ivan could escape his curse. It was point blank and yet he was able to avoid it unexpectedly. If this was not a coincidence, then this boy's fighting instincts are absolutely terrifying and far beyond anything he had imagined.

Seeing Ivan staring at him, Peter hastily hid his wand behind his back.

Ivan recognized it, it was Ron's. On the last day of summer, he had shown it to Ivan and Harry in the Leaky Cauldron. He remembered that the wand was made of willow, it was 14 inches long and had a core of unicorn hair.

"Dear boy, are you all right?" said Peter in a panicked, uncomfortably squeaky voice. "It's terrible, I've just seen he who must not be named!"

"It was just a Boggart. Perhaps Lord Voldemort is what my heart fears most." Ivan's wand pointed steadily at Peter and he asked politely, "Who are you? how come I've never seen you in the castle before?"

At the sound of Voldemort's name, Peter flinched, and his face looked even more alarmed.

He looked at Ivan's confused face; it didn't look like the boy knew him. Pettigrew hesitated, holding his wand tucked behind his back, and was thinking whether he should stun the boy who had just taken the Marauder's Map, or take it from him with words.

Remembering how Ivan responded to his last curse, Peter decided to take the safer approach.

He couldn't take any chances. Regardless of Ivan's actual level, the fight should make noise. Being overheard should be very bad for him.

Before catching Sirius Black and getting him killed, he shouldn't expose himself. He should wait patiently and wait for his enemy, just like twelve years ago, when he ended up being chosen as the secret guardian.

Pettigrew looked at Ivan again and nodded with satisfaction. His heart was back in its proper place. He had managed to fool Dumbledore, James, Lily, Lily, Black and Lupin. This was just a kid. No matter how clever he was, he would never see through his disguise.

That's all he needed to do. After all, what everyone thought was that he had been killed by Sirius when he was trying to avenge James and Lily.

He was a hero, but he wasn't dead. And he had come back to save Harry and his young friends from Black's clutches.

"Who are you?" Ivan asked softly.

"Peter Pettigrew, my dear boy!" He had a strange smile on his lips. "Pleased to meet you!"