Chapter 262: Ron and the Rumors

"I didn't detect any abnormalities. He seemed just as upset as before." Ron lifted his head and looked across. "He must be up to something!"

Malfoy was walking out of the Great Dining Hall among a group of Slytherin students, and before he left he looked back in disgust at the three of them, malice in his eyes.

"I can sense that there must be something wrong with him." Harry said with certainty, "He rarely comes near us now, he seems afraid."

"Malfoy scared? That's hilarious!" said Ron.

"It's not funny, Ron!" Hermione picked up the note sent by Hagrid and said disapprovingly, "Harry's right. Malfoy is very scared. However, he's not afraid of the three of us, but he is afraid of Ivan."

"Why should he be afraid of Ivan?" asked Ron.

"That's because..." Hermione hesitated, unsure if she should tell the truth. She finally said vaguely, "You know, Malfoy wanted to find trouble a few days ago, and Ivan taught him a good lesson."

"The fact that he was taught a lesson made Malfoy so scared?!" Harry was stunned. "I didn't know he was so shy.",

"There must be something wrong with him, Malfoy won't be scared unless..." Ron looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation before lowering his voice, "I think I know why, have you heard about that rumor?"

"What rumor?" Hermione asked curiously, because she was busy with her studies, she had been very busy lately, she rarely communicated with the others, and she hadn't heard anything about it.

"Ivan is studying dark magic!" Ron's voice was getting lower and lower. "He must have used dark magic on Malfoy to scare him. He must have..."

"Ron, we've talked about this before, and there's no evidence that Ivan is studying the Dark Arts. It sounds obviously ridiculous." Harry quickly said, "Do you really believe those lies?"

"But Malfoy's reaction... and the rumor...," Ron argued.

"That's just a rumor. Ivan's magic has always been powerful. He may have caused misunderstandings from others. He must have used other methods to scare Malfoy." Harry said, "Remember the snake incident last year? At the time, everyone thought I was a Slytherin descendant. Those Hufflepuffs even said I was more evil than Voldemort. They've always been like that. When they have free time, they love to imagine and spread baseless garbage..."

When he heard Harry mention Voldemort, Ron clearly shivered.

"It's not just rumors. I've seen Ivan's notes with my own eyes, and there was a terrible pattern to them. It was of a mad, twisted-looking man whose soul is splitting," Ron said reluctantly.

"Maybe you read it wrong, even if it isn't, a picture can't explain anything," Harry said.

"That's your research note. Besides the pattern, there were a lot of deep words that can't be drawn casually." Ron gasped and said, "Ivan has been secretly studying something, and it must be black magic. I asked Colin, and he got up many times in the middle of the night to see that Ivan was not asleep. He was reading a magic book in his bed."

"None of this proves anything...," Harry said stubbornly.

"That's why we need to investigate for more proof." Ron raised his voice slightly, trying to persuade Harry and make his friends understand the importance of the incident. "Malfoy's reaction is a clue, and we can use it to find out the truth. Believe me, Ivan's recent behavior is really suspicious. He may be curious and studying some magic he can't master. We must stop him. That's for his own good. "

"You want to cooperate with Malfoy in investigating Ivan?" said Harry in astonishment.

"I'm just setting an example. We must determine what Ivan is doing. If he really is studying dark magic, we can tell..." said Ron eagerly.

"In the last two years, Ivan has proven that he has nothing to do with dark wizards. I believe in him. Besides, I want nothing to do with Malfoy." Harry said irritably, "Ron, you must believe in Ivan too, right?"

Seeing Harry staring at him, Ron's eyes dodged a little, then returned to normal, whispering, "Yes, I do believe in him!"

"Well, in that case, don't give it another thought. You can come see us for Quidditch training in a minute, and then you can ride the firebolt." Harry looked relieved and turned to Hermione, who had never spoken. "Hermione, you too, you and Ivan need to relax and get some fresh air, and lately you've been pushing yourselves too hard to keep up with your assignments."

Hermione unconsciously nodded, still thinking about what Ron had just said.

"I'll call Ivan. He must be reading books in the library or sorting through newspaper articles" Harry handed the firebolt to Ron and continued. "After breakfast, you two can go to the Quidditch pitch and wait for us."

When he finished, he turned hurriedly and left, looking a little nervous.

The conversation with Ron just made Harry have an ominous feeling.

He didn't know how the unfounded rumors that "Ivan is studying dark magic" came about. He was very worried because Ron had discussed it with him before. Ron also suggested investigating Ivan, and Harry disagreed.

He tried to persuade Ron to give up the idea, and Harry wondered if he had heard what he said.

Doubting his friends made him feel bad.

As he did with Sirius, Harry believed in Ivan unconditionally. He couldn't imagine how bad things would have been without him for the past two years, facing the Basilisk, Tom Riddle's diary, Peter Pettigrew, and so on.

Even if Ivan, as Ron said, was studying dark magic, Harry believed he had enough motive and wouldn't do anything wrong with it.

Harry once discussed this with Ron, and since then, the latter had never mentioned it again.

But it wasn't long before the rumor began to surface in the castle.

That wasn't a good sign; Harry didn't want anything bad to happen.

Ever since Sirius proved his innocence and became a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at the school, Harry had been very satisfied with his current living situation.

Sirius said that Harry could move in with him during the summer vacations.

Harry could hardly imagine leaving the unscrupulous Dursleys and going to his godfather's house, where they could invite Ivan, Ron and Hermione.

He had never been happier than he was then. He didn't want to have any accidents.