Malfoy was surprised when Ivan didn't stick him in the face, but when he opened his eyes, he was horrified to see Ivan holding him aloft.
Originally, Malfoy had been so arrogant that he had threatened to kill her.
As Ivan gained speed and dived to the ground, Malfoy broke down and clung desperately to Ivan's leg, afraid that he would knock him to the ground.
"Aaaah!" Malfoy's scream echoed through the sky.
It didn't work out the way Malfoy thought it would; Ivan just flew him along for a while, then landed smoothly…
Malfoy was still in a state of shock after landing, and there were still tears in his eyes as he muttered, "I'm going to tell my dad…"
Ivan was speechless, and his joy at his victory vanished. He was just a snotty little kid crying his heart out, and there seemed to be no joy in winning.
Marcus was embarrassed by Malfoy's outburst and looked at Ivan with mixed feelings.
He did not expect Ivan to be able to counter-attack one by one, despite being cornered by seven Slytherin players. Ivan's flying skills were not inferior to that of regular players.
Marcus was even more shocked by Ivan's uncanny ability to hit the ball. If he couldn't limit Ivan's play during the next official match, he might as well not play at all…
Marcus's head hurt at the thought, but he had no choice but to drag Malfoy, who had just come to his senses, to the injured players who had been injured in the crash.
After Marcus left, Wood spoke to Ivan excitedly.
"That was a really good game you played. I'm definitely going to suggest to Professor McGonagall that you join the team. With you around, we're definitely going to win this year!"
"But the team's full, isn't it?" Yvonne asked, considering her GPA for the end-of-term settlement.
He remembered that Fred liked to play, and he felt bad about taking his place.
"That's all right, you can have my spot, as long as it helps us win this year's Quidditch championship." Fred waved his hand, indicating that he was willing to give up his spot, and even smiled widely, much to Ivan's confusion.
With that agreed upon, Wood came up with a strategy and, while there was still time, directed the group to practise it.
The core of this tactic was to use Ivan's uncanny ability to hit the opposing team's Seeker with a Bludger, and then the outcome of the match would be decided by them…
The training required Ivan to knock Harry off his feet with a Quaffle while George, Angelina, and the others pursued him…
"What?" Harry gaped at Wood. Why was he being beaten?
"You're the best Seeker in all of Hogwarts! If Ivan could knock you down, he could certainly knock out the other team's Seekers!" Wood exclaimed as he patted Harry on the shoulder.
"It will also help you train your dodging skills so that you won't be targeted by Beaters from other teams…"
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but when he saw the look in Wood's eyes that said, "All for victory," he mounted his broom in frustration.
During the rest of the training session, Harry suffered and was beaten up by Ivan.
Ivan tried to hold back, but Wood was shouting at the top of his lungs, and his voice, amplified by the Resounding Charm, could be heard throughout the stadium…
"Hales, hurry up. Fly faster and hit that way!"
"Push! Have you not eaten today?"
"Aim and hit him, Potter won't last long!"
…
Hearing Wood shouting at the top of his lungs, Ivan wondered if Harry had offended him in some way during his usual training.
But then he shook his head, as Wood was probably desperate to win the Quidditch championship.
During the school year, Gryffindor won two matches in a row, with Harry joining them.
Unfortunately, due to the threat of Chino at the end of term, Dumbledore suspended all large-scale school activities, including the Quidditch final!
With his addition, Wood was determined to win!
"Fight, don't hold back!" Harry shouted at Ivan, having realised this.
Yvonne nodded and used all her strength to speed away from Angelina's group, knocking the Bludger away and sending it hurtling through the air towards Harry.
However, due to Harry's prodigious ability to fly, and George's constant protection as a Beater, even Ivan had trouble hitting him.
During the course of the afternoon, Harry was shot down several times.
It was only thanks to Wood keeping watch and readying himself to use the Levitation Charm that Harry was not sent to the hospital wing.
Ivan did not enjoy being a member of the Quidditch team for long, as he soon realised the trouble of being a member.
Because of his daily Quidditch training, he had a lot of spare time.
More crucially, Ivan knew in his heart that he was nowhere near as good at flying as Wood and the others thought he was.
The reason why he was able to stand his ground against a group of Slytherins on a Nimbus 2001 was largely due to his enhanced mental acuity and control over his body.
However, Wood treated him like a true genius at Quidditch, much to Ivan's frustration, and he was forced to waste many of his GPA points on training.
Fortunately, Ivan's flying skills improved by leaps and bounds after two weeks of intensive training and several times his usual learning speed.
Under normal circumstances, he would not have been able to fly as well as the gifted Harry, but he would have been able to hold out against George and the others for a long time.
On the principle of not wasting GPA, Ivan used the experience card less and less.
This resulted in Ivan's condition being extremely unstable over the course of a dozen days of training, with his level going up and down,
Wood was baffled. Others got better at flying the more they trained, but Ivan got worse and worse at flying…and only got back to normal when he was in danger.
Wood couldn't help but ask. Ivan insisted that it must be because he had been training too often, so he wanted to give Wood a few more days off.
"Fine, then we'll suspend training for a few days!" Ivan insisted, and Wood relented.
More crucially, the days of training had made Harry a sitting target, and he desperately needed a break.
"Whew, a break at last," Harry grumbled, relieved to be out of practice. "Can't Captain Wood have another target? It's always me…"
"Who asked you to be the best player on the Gryffindor team? George and the others can't hide from my Bludgers," Yvonne said teasingly.
"Come on, I'm not as good at flying as you are." Harry rolled his eyes. He had seen Ivan perform such a difficult maneuver as gliding on the ground with his own eyes the other day, and he didn't really want to try it now.
Ivan smiled but didn't say anything. Under normal circumstances, he would never have reached this level.
In any case, Ivan had little interest in Quidditch, and was only interested in seeing how much it would do to the prize collection at the end of term.
Secondly, he wanted to see if he could gain Legendary Points by doing so…
Harry chatted with Ivan about his flying skills, and after returning to the dormitory, he decided to visit Hagrid on his day off.
Ivan, however, declined the offer. There was a good reason why he was so eager to ask Wood for a holiday. He predicted that tomorrow would be the night of the next full moon.
It also meant that he no longer had to keep the damn leaf in his mouth, and Ivan had been suffering so much over the past month that he had nearly swallowed it…
At the same time, Ivan wondered what his own Animagus would be…