Chapter 511: Unmarked

"Give us a break, Hermione!" said Ron, swallowing the food in his mouth. "You won't get sick leave and pay if you starve yourself to death."

Hermione didn't speak, and looked angrily at everyone. She refused to eat another bite anyway.

She looked pale and frustrated, and it was definitely because of their slave labor.

Harry looked to Ivan for help, hoping he could persuade Hermione. Most of the time, he was the only one who could convince her.

However, Ivan didn't know what to do either. He and Hermione had discussed this issue many times and he knew he had no chance of persuading her.

Seeing Hermione looking at him like that, he felt he couldn't eat anymore.

"Well, I won't eat either!" Ivan sighed and said, "You need someone with you.... "

"You're right to do that, Ivan. The food was obtained through shameless slave labor. We must resist it..." Seeing Ivan pause, Hermione nodded with satisfaction and turned to look at Harry and Ron.

The two did not do as Ivan did, and could only try not to look at Hermione.

Harry and Ron lowered their heads to demolish the food in front of them, the awkwardness clearly showing on their faces.

The rain was still pounding heavily against the tall, dark panes of glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy roof flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first plate vanished and were replaced, instantly, by deserts.

"You can't sit like that!" said Harry, hesitantly picking up a piece of cake.

"Ivan, Hermione, look at this cake," said Ron, deliberately directing his scent towards them. "Spotted dick, chocolate cake and..."

But Hermione gave him such a strict Professor McGonagall-like look that he gave up.

Finally, the puddings had been demolished as well, and the last crumbs had vanished from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean.

At that moment, Dumbledore stood up again, ready to speak.

The buzz of chatter that filled the room ceased almost immediately, so that only the howling of the wind and the pouring rain could be heard.

Hermione also turned and looked at Dumbledore, as if taking the lead in mistreating the house elves.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling at everyone. "Now that we are all satisfied with our food and drink, I must once again ask for your attention, while I give a few warnings."

"Firstly, Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of forbidden items inside the castle has been expanded this year to include screaming yo-yos, dangling frisbees, and the ever-banging boomerangs. The full list comprises some 437 items, I believe, and can be seen in Mr. Filch's office, if anyone wants to check it out."

Ivan noticed that there were a lot of Fred and George joke products on it.

However, because there was no time, the two were only in small-scale test sales, and could not move into mass production.

Because of this, most of the new products had not yet been discovered by Filch.

"And, as always, I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest on the other side of the grounds is off limits to students, as is Hogsmeade village to everyone under third year." Dumbledore continued, looking at Ivan.

Whether it was the Forbidden Forest or Hogsmeade, Ivan was a frequent visitor there.

Last term, Ivan, who was still a second year, secretly stayed with Hermione in Hogsmeade on Christmas Day. Unfortunately he encountered the most dangerous werewolf, Fenrir Greyback, and had a fight with him.

Ivan had left an indelible mark on him, and this guy must hate his guts now.

Not to mention the Forbidden Forest, he went into there, late at night, to the centaur colony, and fell under Voldemort's curse....

Because of this, Sirius had to resign and take most of the responsibility in this matter.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be held this year. This is due to an event that will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, taking up a lot of teacher time and energy...but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. It gives me great pleasure to announce that this year at Hogwarts..."

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall burst open.

A man stood in the doorway, leaning on a long staff, wrapped in a black traveling cloak.

All heads in the Great Hall turned toward the stranger. Lightning flashed across the ceiling and everyone gasped.

The lightning illuminated the man's face, and it was very frightening.

It looked as if it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces were supposed to look like, and was not very skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin looked scarred. His mouth looked like a diagonal cut, and a large chunk of his nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him so terrifying.

One of his eyes was small, dark and bright. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid electric blue.

The blue eye moved endlessly, unblinking, and rolled up, down, and from side to side, independently of the normal eye...and then rolled up, pointing to the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

The young witches and wizards covered their mouths with their hands and looked fearfully at the man who had just entered.

Their impression completely matched the image of the most horrible villain in everyone's mind, as a dangerous dark wizard.

"Who is he?" Hermione whispered.

"Mad-Eye Moody!" Ivan replied, "Alastor Moody, once the best Auror..."

"Oh God, it's Mad-Eye, but why is he .... "

"Because he's our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. This year should be very interesting. " Ivan stared at the fake Moody walking by to see the difference between him and the real Mad-Eye.

But this fake had obviously studied Moody's style and habits especially, and no difference could be seen from the outside.

Ivan was already prepared, however, and pulled out the Marauder's Map he had borrowed from Harry earlier.

The Marauder's Map was a magical map made by his father, Sirius, Professor Lupin and Pettigrew. It could show all the secret passages and people that appeared at Hogwarts. This map helped them a lot when they ventured into the castle. Especially last term, it played an unimaginable role in the rescue of Sirius.

Ivan spread the marauder's map on his lap, blocking the others' view.

He gently tapped the map with his wand while no one was looking.

In the next second, the ink-painted Hogwarts castle appeared at the top, and there were dense names.

Now, everyone was focused on the Great Hall, the names were all overlapping, and it seemed very hard to read.

Ivan squinted and his fingers moved slowly toward the teachers' table.

The fake Moody was shaking Dumbledore's hand, and Ivan saw Dumbledore's name, but in front of him....

Ivan blinked. He thought he would see Barty Crouch Jr.'s name, but he only saw a tiny black dot.

The name of the guy in front of Dumbledore wasn't marked!