Nasty Bronze Door Loops and Damaged Broomsticks

Luna's tone was sad, but she composed herself and entered the Ravenclaw lounge.

The open bronze doors slide shut…

Ivan was stunned for a long time as he watched Luna disappear from his sight. Finally, he smiled wryly. He knew exactly what she was talking about, but was his change of heart that obvious?

Ivan always thought he was good at pretending, and Harry, Ron, and Neville, who were in the same room as him, never noticed anything amiss…

Ivan, who had been standing in front of the door for a long time without moving, caused the eagle-shaped bronze knocker to mistake him for trying to get in.

"May I ask… what is the essence of magic?"

The sound of the bronze knocker interrupted Ivan's thoughts.

Ivan rolled his eyes at the familiar question, pulled his wand out and put it back down. Resisting the urge to remove the knocker, he turned and walked away…

All the way back to the Gryffindor Lounge, Ivan pushed open the door to his dorm room, where everyone except him had returned.

Ron, Neville, and the others gathered around Harry, discussing something.

"Ivan, where have you been? We've been waiting on the pitch for ages for you to come back…" Ron turned around when he heard the commotion outside the door.

"You know, I don't like crowds. They're too friendly," Ivan explained, shaking his head. He then closed the door and entered the room, asking curiously, "What are you all doing here?"

"We were looking at Harry's broom… when he fell out of the sky, it got caught in the wind and hit the Whomping Willow by the lake, and the Willow never liked to have things hit it… so that's what happened to the broom!"

Ron reluctantly moved away from her.

It was only then that Yvonne saw the remains of the broom lying on the table next to Harry's bed.

Harry also looked devastated, as the Nimbus 2000 was a gift from Professor McGonagall to him when he joined the Quidditch team in his first year.

Harry even remembers every time he caught the Golden Snitch on his broomstick, only to find that it was no longer with him!

Crucially, their mortal enemy, the Slytherins, each had a Nimbus 2001, and if he were to ride an old Comet broom, he would be at an absolute disadvantage in speed against Malfoy for the Golden Snitch.

Ivan could only shake his head to show that there was nothing he could do. He did not know how to fix broomsticks.

Given that the Firebolt Sirius sold to Harry should arrive in a day or two, Ivan tried to console Harry before turning his attention to Scabbers.

The large rat was still very much alive and seemed to have no sense of danger, or perhaps it did not remember anything at all, as it lay on the edge of Ron's bed nibbling on a piece of Flavoured Beans.

Ivan nodded with satisfaction, but it was time to get to work on Peter. After all, waiting for Dumbledore to return was not a good idea.

He thought he might be able to have a good chat with Lupin after his Defence Against the Dark Arts class tomorrow…

Try convincing Lupin first.

…

The next morning, during Defence Against the Dark Arts class,

The pale-faced Lupin pointed at a few ugly creatures in cages and explained to them.

"For this lesson, I'll show you how to deal with Red Caps!"

"As you can see, they are rather elf-like in appearance! However, it should be noted that they do not possess the same intelligence as elves, and are quite violent in nature, preferring to lurk in places where blood has been shed.

For example, staying in the dungeons of the castle and waiting in the tunnels of the abandoned battlefield to attack those who pass by…"

Lupin talked to the wizards about how to deal with the Red Caps, occasionally adding one or two interesting legends or short stories to the conversation.

Lupin then opened the cage and took out a Red Cap, allowing each of the young wizards to try to deal with the creature, either by casting a spell to banish them or by stunning the creature with a Stunning Spell.

"In short, the secret to dealing with them is not to be afraid. As long as you can overcome your fear, you will find that the Red Hat is actually easy to deal with!" Lupin reminded them.

Most magical creatures in the wizarding world are of little threat to a prepared wizard, or wizards would not be rulers of the wizarding world…

Although they were all third-year students, the Red Caps were relatively unarmed and did not pose much of a threat, making them suitable targets for practical training.

"Hales, why don't you demonstrate for us this time?" Lupin asked Ivan.

Ivan nodded and moved to the centre.

Lupin shouted for them to stand back, then waved his wand to release the ropes binding the Red Cap.

The hideous goblin-like creature broke free from its bonds and charged at Ivan, who was closest to it.

For Ivan, such a small scene was naturally easy to deal with, and when the Red Cap got closer, Ivan accurately predicted his movements and casually raised his hand.

"Petrify them all!"

The spell's light hit the red-hat and froze it in place. The red-hat's face was still twisted and hideous…

"Great Petrifaction Charm! Five extra points for Gryffindor!" Lupin announced as he came forward, clapping his hands. "See? It's not that hard to deal with if you keep calm!"

The young witches and wizards who had seen how easily Ivan had subdued the Red Caps were now eager to get on with the task.

Considering that there were so many students attending the same class, it would be impossible to finish the class in a one-on-one.

Lupin left Ivan to serve as his teaching assistant for the time being, overseeing the fight between the young Gryffindor wizards and the Red Caps.

Lupin was very confident in Ivan's abilities. The previous evening, he had heard that Ivan had driven off hundreds of Dementors that had broken into the school and saved the entire school.

"Harry, Malfoy, now it's your turn," said Lupin.

The two men stepped forward, Harry looking nervous, his eyes fixed on the petrified red hat, Malfoy looking confident.