Ivan: What? I'm so ambitious that I want to do something big?

"After I destroyed the diary, I set up a trap and put a glove in the diary to give back to Lucius. He threw the damaged diary to Dobby just as I thought he would…" Ivan added.

Alicia and Doggett understood at once.

A house-elf is a wizard's slave, and the only way to gain freedom is to receive clothing from their master.

However, this was considered a disgrace to normal house-elves, as being disowned by their masters meant that they had lost their purpose.

However, the house-elf in front of him was clearly a freak, and Dobby said proudly, "Yes, the great Lord Hales freed Dobby and made him a free house-elf…"

Dobby became more and more agitated, especially when he mentioned Ivan's willingness to hire him for a silver Sickle a week, his bulb-sized eyes filled with tears of gratitude, his nose twitching…

There was a strange look on the faces of Doggart and Alicia as Ivan interrupted the house-elf.

"Dobby! From now on, don't mention hiring without my permission!"

He had gone to great lengths to project the image of caring subordinates in front of the wizards, and Ivan didn't want that ruined!

"Dobby understood that sir must not want people to know how kind he was to a house-elf…" Dobby sobbed.

Ivan was speechless at Dobby's peculiar way of thinking. He shook his head and said nothing more. He turned to Alicia and asked if Dobby could stay at home in the future.

Alicia had no objections. She had been so busy with the wizarding market that she hadn't had much time for housework, and Dobby's presence made up for it.

Doggett frowned, suspicious of Dobby's loyalty. A house-elf who betrayed its master was not very pleasant.

However, when he thought about how Ivan managed to fool so many wizards within an hour, and how he was able to handle a house-elf, he was relieved.

After persuading Alicia to accept Dobby, Ivan asked the couple about what had happened in Knockturn Alley over the past few months, and how they had come to be at odds with the Wizarding Market.

"After you left, Alicia and I decided we needed to sort out Knockturn Alley before you got back, and it was one of the few things we could do for you!" said Doggett, proudly describing the results of the past few months to Ivan.

They managed to gather enough men to get rid of some of the more recalcitrant ones, although they didn't bother with a large number of regular wizards, as they were easy to deal with and would automatically attach themselves to the winning team.

"At first, I wanted to convince the Notte family to join us, and I didn't want to make things difficult for him if he knew what was good for him. However, that old man didn't know what was good for him and threw out the people I sent…" Dougett sneered. He had given the man a chance, but he didn't appreciate it.

"Wait a minute, Dean Dougett…isn't it true that the Norts were trying to get back at us for what we did to the Wizarding Market two years ago?" Yvonne interrupted, confused.

"That's a nice way of putting it…" said Doggett, brightening. Why hadn't he thought of using that as a reason?

It was not too late to remedy the situation, and Doggett immediately stated that he had not thought things through and failed to notice the effects of public opinion.

However, Isiah seemed to notice something amiss, and reminded Ivan that in order to achieve his greater ambition, he could do things without having to think about whether they were righteous or not.

Ivan was lost in their conversation.

What? That I had bigger dreams and wanted to do great things?

Why didn't I know?

"Who did you hear this from?" Ivan asked, suspecting that Alicia might have misunderstood.

"From Burke, of course! If he hadn't told me about your arrangements, I'm afraid I'd still be in the dark…" Alicia sighed with emotion, then glared at Ivan unhappily.

"You should never have told Burke about such a secret plan. It would have been terrible if he had!"

"But all I did was talk to him about alchemy and ask him for advice on how to set up a secret door in a magical prop." Yvonne was completely baffled. Were the two things connected?

"That's why I always said the old boy was clever. He guessed that you were going to use the technique of setting up the secret door on the protective ring you sold to the Aurors, so that you could get rid of the Ministry's greatest force at the right time!" Doggett explained.

Doggett still hated Burke when he mentioned him, as he still remembered the old man blowing up his house.

Ivan was stunned as he tried to recall the conversation he had with Burke.

Maybe…maybe…maybe I said that once?

However, he was only doing so to prevent himself from being tricked by the magical items he sold!

Self-preservation! Nothing to do with the ambitious desire to rule Knockturn Alley!

After all, he and Alicia had broken a lot of wizarding laws, and there was no telling when the Aurors would come after them.

Ivan wished he could use the Time-Turner to go back in time and rip Burke's head off, so that he wouldn't imagine all these weird things and pass them on to Alicia and the others.

No wonder when he was at Hogwarts, the Unified Knockturn Alley missions kept improving every once in a while. Asia had been duped by Burke…

With this in mind, Ivan prepared to explain.

However, before he could speak, Doggett said admiringly, "Issia and I did not expect you to have devised such a meticulous plan!"

"Yes, well, when Burke told me about it, I thought he was mistaken… it's not like a child to come up with such a set-up."

There was indeed a mistake!

Ivan smiled wryly to himself, but when he saw Doggett's impressed look and the smile on Alicia's face, he swallowed his words.

Yvonne couldn't imagine how awkward it would be for her to tell the truth now, to show Alicia and Douggart that they had worked so hard for months only to make a fool of themselves…

All their previous efforts would be for nothing!

All the wizards who had paid a large sum of money to get together were fired up and ready to fight.

If he went out now and told them that it was all a misunderstanding, they would disband on the spot and return to their homes. Who knew how much trouble they would cause!

Not to mention that their feud with the wizarding market had reached an irreconcilable point. Even if they were willing to stop now, the Norts would not let them off the hook!

Therefore, the only way to get rid of the threat in the Wizarding Market was to stick to the original plan.

Crucially, Ivan remembered Trelawney's prophecy,

With Peter Pettigrew having escaped Azkaban, and part of the prophecy now fulfilled, Ivan felt he had to prepare for the worst.

At this time, a group of powerful and loyal subordinates was very important!

Given this, Ivan had no idea how to explain this to Alicia.

Could he simply say that although he was content with his current status and did not have any great ambitions, for some special reason, he still needed to nurture a group of loyal subordinates to guard against the resurrection of the previous Dark Lord?

She might as well not have explained!