Lockhart the Palladium Warrior

After getting another five hundred Galleons from Lockhart, Ivan became extremely busy over the next few days.

The rest of the time was spent in the Room of Requirement working on a new formula, except for daily lessons and the strange characters given by the Continuing Query System.

A protective ring with an Instantaneous Shield Charm was certainly not enough to satisfy Lockhart's needs.

Fortunately, although time was of the essence, there was an abundance of funds, allowing Ivan to experiment and put his ideas into action without worrying about the cost of the materials.

Within a few days, Ivan's alchemy had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Every once in a while, the proficiency increase notification would ring in Ivan's head.

Another piece of good news is about the Wizard Wheezes Workshop,

A few days earlier, the Gryffindor-Slytherin House War was advertising George and Fred's joke merchandise.

As a result, their stock of Dungbombs, Skiving Snacks, Boom Flags, and Automatic Quills was booming, and George and Fred were so busy they couldn't stop talking to Ivan about expanding their business.

"Hire some help? That would be nice!" said Ivan, after a moment's consideration.

Dungbombs and truant sweets were simple magical trinkets that were not difficult to make.

A junior wizard in his or her senior year could easily produce one if he or she was told how.

Add to that the fact that Hogwarts was full of students who were easy to get rid of, and the school year did not cost much more than a few Galleons at the end of the year.

The trio did not care about the risk of being imitated if the recipe was leaked. As long as they kept their advanced knowledge under wraps, no one would be able to compete with them.

Moreover, it is important for a joke shop to be able to produce a steady stream of innovative new products in order to maintain novelty.

There are few people who can match George and Fred in this regard…

After discussing the matter of expanding the team, Ivan stated that he was in the middle of some research on magical tools and would not be able to help them.

George and Fred were very curious. Ivan didn't reveal much, except that they would know in the first fortnight.

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye,

In the Room of Requirement, Ivan looked at the gloves, cloak, and ring in front of him and breathed a sigh of relief. He had managed to get them done before the appointed time.

[Ding, after some practice, your alchemy proficiency has increased. Current level: 4 (2710/4000)]

Ivan's skin crawled as he looked at the long progress bar for Alchemy. He wondered when he would be able to level up Alchemy to Level 7 and produce the Philosopher's Stone.

However, although alchemy had not been upgraded, the formulae that had been developed were real.

"It just looks too cheap," Ivan muttered to himself, rubbing his chin and looking at the three ordinary magical objects in front of him.

This is really not what a 2000 Galleon should look like.

With this in mind, Ivan continued his transformation.

Such as plating the ring with gold paint and adding a large sapphire in the middle.

Although this would not improve the effects of the item, it would at least seem more valuable, right?

Ivan nodded in satisfaction, then proceeded to alter the cloak to a flashy red-gold colour, adding fancy patterns to the gloves…

With all this done, Ivan takes these to Lockhart.

Upon entering Lockhart's office, Ivan found him scribbling something on a piece of paper with a quill.

Yvonne peered closer and read the title on the parchment.

"A duelling club?"

"Yes, the Duelling Club!" Lockhart said triumphantly, tossing his quill aside and blowing on the ink.

"After much difficulty, I managed to persuade Dumbledore, the old weasel, to give me a platform on which to show off my skills…oh, no, I mean the opportunity to teach you…"

Lockhart promptly changed his mind, then turned to Ivan and said eagerly, with a hint of anticipation in his voice, "Has everything you made for me been done, Hales?"

"Of course." Ivan nodded and tossed a gold ring to Lockhart.

Lockhart put the ring on his finger and looked at the bright red cloak and the beautifully patterned gloves. "Not bad, it suits me!" he said with satisfaction.

"What do they do?" Lockhart asked Ivan.

"The ring, cloak, and gloves were enchanted with the Disarming Charm, the Armor Charm, and the Petrification Charm respectively," Ivan explained, then added.

"All you have to do is inject your magic and it's released, saving you the trouble of chanting."

Lockhart's eyes lit up. If he disguised himself well enough, he would be able to tell everyone that he had advanced non-jinx techniques.

Lockhart tried to point his wand at a porcelain bottle in the distance. There was a flash of greyish-white magical light, and the surface of the bottle froze and turned grey.

This is the effect of the Petrifaction Charm…

Lockhart's heart leapt with excitement as he saw this.

He had not been able to cast a spell freely in recent years.

Every time, for some unknown reason, the effects of the spell would deviate from his expectations, and the Memory Charm he often used would become stronger and stronger.

Lockhart was also baffled by this strange situation. He had even asked some professionals, but they could not give him an accurate answer. He could only guess that it was due to a lack of magical practice.

Lockhart, however, did not believe her. There were plenty of people who had neglected to practise magic, and he was the only one who had ever experienced such a bizarre situation.

It was also impossible for Lockhart to increase the amount of time he spent practising magic.

He was very busy all day long. Not only did he have to write back to his fans, but he also had to constantly collect adventure stories, publish books, and maintain his popularity. Where would he find the time?

These magical tools created by Ivan were the perfect solution to his problem of not being able to cast magic.

"But how come there are only three spells?" Lockhart smacked his lips in disappointment.

He felt that as a Defence Against the Dark Arts Master, he would look down on the Duelling Club if he didn't have to perform dozens of spells.

(PS: Thank you, League Master, for your reward! However, since the Angels did not prepare a copy in advance, we will begin updating tomorrow…)