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"Don't rush, the invisibility cloak is with me. I'll get it for you later. Without it, the professors will find you," Harry said immediately.

"Thank you...." Hermione's lips curled up, and her lovely smile returned to her face.

“If I really want to thank you, I actually still have a few assignments to finish…” Ron suddenly interjected.

"No," Hermione said instinctively.

"It's a pity, it seems I should have said so sooner." Ron looked regretful.

Harry chuckled and patted Ron on the shoulder. "Hermione, we won't be going with you. The professor comes in to check on us every half hour. If we're here, we can help cover for you. But you have to promise us that safety comes first."

“No problem, I’ll be careful,” Hermione nodded and said seriously.

After Harry obtained the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione, with Ron and Harry as cover, put it on and disappeared from the common room.

Ron walked out of the lounge at the opportune moment and was spotted by the professor standing at the door.

"What are you doing out here! Go back!" the professor shouted.

"I'm a little hungry." Ron rubbed his stomach. Anyway, everyone at school knew he was a freeloader, so this reason was definitely acceptable.

"Go back and bear with it," the professor said sternly.

"Okay, okay." Ron nodded; the time he had bought should be enough.

As Ron returned, Hermione cautiously made her way out of the common room, clutching her cloak tightly and daring not to walk too fast for fear that the wind would blow it up and expose her.

Once the professor was out of sight, Hermione dared to walk a little faster. It wasn't too far from here to where Ivy was, but Hermione had to hurry. Ivy was meandering as she approached the Forbidden Forest.

Chapter 320 The Gap Between Academic Superstars and Academic Prodigies

Ivy, shielded by an invisibility spell, stood outside the castle in the wind, utterly distraught. What had happened? How did things turn out this way? Robin, Daniel, why haven't you come to find me yet...?

Hogwarts at night is very scary, like a haunted castle in a horror movie. Ivy can sense that some ghost-like things are floating in the sky above Hogwarts, sometimes even blocking the moonlight.

That's why Ivy stayed here. If she went any further out, not to mention whether Hogwarts had any defenses, Ivy figured she wouldn't be able to withstand those ghostly figures and would be exposed.

After moving a while further in the direction with fewer ghostly figures, Ivy suddenly felt something was wrong. It seemed that someone had walked across the lawn around her, and the grass had been trampled and flattened on the ground.

Someone's there! Someone else has activated invisibility spells just like me!

Ivy gripped her wand tightly. She knew it! Such a commotion at the school couldn't have been caused entirely by her; there must have been other factors. It seemed this was the real intruder.

Under the invisibility cloak, Hermione circled the area twice but didn't see anyone. However, the Marauder's Map clearly marked that Ivy was in this place.

"Hello, Ivy, are you there? I'm not here to arrest you, I want to talk to you," Hermione whispered tentatively.

A gentle breeze blew by, but there was no response.

Hermione looked around and finally decided to take a gamble, pulling down the hood of the Invisibility Cloak and extending her hands out of its coverage area.

“We’ve met, we met in the hallway. You see, I wasn’t even holding a wand. I really meant no harm,” Hermione continued, spinning around to show her harmlessness in all directions.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Ivy's voice reached Hermione's ears.

Although Ivy didn't know how Hermione found her, she was certain that Hermione had roughly determined her area, and if Hermione wanted to capture her, she wouldn't have been the only one coming.

“My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger, a third-year Gryffindor student,” Hermione said, facing the direction from which the voice came.

“Ivy, Ivy Warrington, a second-year Ravenclaw student,” Ivy replied.

She remained wary; she didn't trust me at all.

Hermione thought to herself, then raised her hand a little higher. "There's no need to hide it. Malfoy asked around, and there isn't a single student named Ivy at our school. There must be some misunderstanding."

“There is indeed a misunderstanding, and it’s quite complicated, but I’m not lying to you.” Seeing that Hermione truly meant no harm, Ivy waved her hand to dispel the invisibility spell and appeared before Hermione.

Seeing Ivy's face reddened by the wind, Hermione wanted to give her the hat. "Um, it's cold outside, why don't you put this on first?"

"No need. Just get to the point. I don't have time to be a riddle-maker." Ivy shook her head. She wasn't going to take Hermione's hat; who knew if it was enchanted?

“Professor Snape said if he catches you, he’ll take you to Azkaban. There are Dementors all over the outside of the school, you won’t be able to get out. So, I want to take you to see Professor McGonagall. As long as we clear up the misunderstanding, everything will be fine,” Hermione suggested very seriously.

Dementors? Ivy guessed that Hermione was probably referring to the ghost she had sensed, but she didn't want to go with Hermione to see Professor McGonagall. She didn't know any Professor McGonagall, and she'd rather wait for her teacher than give up the choice.

Seeing Ivy remain silent, Hermione grew anxious. Neither of them was in stealth mode, making them easy targets.

“Ivy, how about this, let’s have a duel. If I win, you’ll come with me to see Professor McGonagall. If you win, I’ll lend you this.” Hermione took out the Marauder’s Map.

As Ivy watched the names of people moving across the map, she suddenly seemed to understand something. It turned out that Hermione had found her using this method.

Furthermore, Hermione's vigilance is far too low. Ivy really wants to ask, isn't she afraid that she might actually be a bad guy? She just revealed all her cards. If she really was a bad guy, she could have just defeated Hermione and taken the Marauder's Map.

“There’s only one of these. With it, you can hide longer and be safer!” Hermione continued.

“I accept your suggestion.” Ivy pointed her wand at Hermione. “Pull the wand out. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

Hermione was overjoyed. She thought that if Ivy were a second-year student, she definitely wouldn't be able to beat her, since many spells are only learned in the third year.

Hermione removed the invisibility cloak, folded it neatly, and set it aside. She then drew her wand and confronted Ivy.

"Three..." Ivy began to count down, "Two...one...go!"

"Faint!" Hermione swung her wand forcefully, casting a spell at Ivy.

"Bless all, armor protects!" Ivy stood still, casting two layers of defense on herself. Seeing Hermione's opening move, Ivy felt certain of victory this time. Hermione's spellcasting speed was decent, but her combat experience was simply too poor.

Hermione watched as her spell was deflected by the defense before she realized what was happening and, like Ivy, prepared to cast a protective spell on herself.

"Upside-down bell!" Ivy's spell hit Hermione accurately, and Hermione was then startled and turned upside down, her mouth uttering the words of armor protection interrupted by her own exclamation.

Levitation spell, binding spell!

Ivy showed no mercy, unleashing a series of spells that rendered Hermione immobile.

The final blow, take away your weapon!

Hermione's wand was flung away and stuck in the ground next to her. Ivy opened her hand and used the Summoning Charm to catch Hermione's wand in her hand.

“You probably don’t fight often, you’re too inexperienced.” Ivy said as she walked toward Hermione, then released her spell and put Hermione down from the air.

After being hung upside down for a while, Hermione felt a little uncomfortable, but what bothered her even more was realizing that she had lost, and lost decisively, without any ability to resist.

In front of Ivy, Hermione was like a child who hadn't grown up yet. She was completely dazed throughout the whole thing, and in a moment of distraction, she lost.

“Here, your wand. If there’s a chance in the future, I think we can be friends,” Ivy said, handing the wand to Hermione upside down.

Hermione took the wand. If she were to cast a spell now, Ivy would most likely not be able to dodge it; it was too close. Moreover, when Ivy handed over the wand, the handle had just been placed in Hermione's hand.

However, Hermione would certainly not do that.

Ivy smiled at Hermione, then went to get her loot, the Marauder's Map.

Hermione sighed, looked up, and suddenly saw a dark figure rushing towards Ivy from behind.

Chapter 321 The Most Filthy Creature - Dementors

"Watch out! It's a Dementor!" Hermione shouted.

Dementors feed on hope and dreams, which is why they served as guards of Azkaban. However, the prisoners had long been drained dry by their constant feeding.

Without food, the Dementors began to riot. Taking advantage of Sirius's escape from prison, they were sent to Hogwarts by the Ministry of Magic, ostensibly as guards to prevent Sirius from invading.

But if you put a salted fish under the old cat's pillow, how could it possibly resist taking a bite?

Normally, no crisis occurs because the school teachers are always keeping an eye on these filthy creatures. But now, Ivy's appearance has made all the teachers narrow their search and start patrolling the school, naturally making them more lax in their watch on the Dementors.

Furthermore, Hermione and Ivy were out on school's side when they were spotted by the Dementors. These eyeless creatures have exceptional senses, and the fluctuations of the spell attracted them directly, leading to an attack on Ivy.

At Hermione's prompting, Ivy rolled over without hesitation, tumbling half a circle on the ground, as the Dementors flew overhead.

The stench filled Ivy's nostrils, and at the same time, Ivy felt the surrounding environment become even more oppressive. The negative emotions she had been barely suppressing about being in an unfamiliar environment suddenly erupted, making her head spin. She tried several times but couldn't get up from the ground.

Stimulated by these emotions, Ivy's mental energy began to operate spontaneously, reducing the influence of the Dementors to some extent. Then she turned her head and saw that the Dementors had already pounced on Hermione.

For a Dementor, any living being with a soul is its target; it doesn't care whether the person is Ivy or Hermione, because it doesn't recognize them anyway.

Weather Spell - Lightning Strike!

Ivy struggled to pull out her wand and unleashed a spell without hesitation.

The lightning bolt passed through the Dementor's body without causing it any harm.

Hermione was already struggling under the close influence of the Dementors, and her resistance was gradually weakening. The hood of the Dementor that was pouncing on Hermione was slowly lowering, as if it wanted to directly absorb Hermione's soul.

Damn it! Ivy cursed under her breath, as the knowledge accumulated from countless books she had read popped into her mind.

There are generally two effective methods for dealing with such creatures: those that focus on control and influence, such as necromancy from the School of Spirits and ghost-controlling techniques from the underworld; and those that directly eliminate and suppress them, such as Buddhist teachings and some Taoist practices.

Clearly, Hogwarts' spells don't belong to either of those two categories. And although Ivy knows what to do, she can't do it because she hasn't learned them. Learning spells alone takes up all her time, let alone other areas of power.

Seeing Hermione about to be in trouble, Ivy gritted her teeth, put on her armor and all protection and rushed over.

After getting a little closer to Hermione, he jumped up and hugged her with both hands. The two of them ran away from the Dementors due to inertia.

After coming into contact with the Dementors, all sorts of negative emotions flooded Ivy's mind, making it impossible for her to react normally. She and Hermione fell to the ground and rolled several times, but at least they rolled a little further.

"Run..." Hermione said weakly.

If Ivy delays any longer, not only will she be unable to escape from the Dementors' mouths with Hermione, but the teachers who hear the commotion and rush over will definitely catch her red-handed.

Hermione's faint voice resonated in Ivy's mind like a booming bell. Ivy gritted her teeth, stood up, and stood in front of Hermione.

Sorry, Ravenclaw students don't have the habit of abandoning their friends.

As the Dementors drew ever closer, Ivy forcefully swung her wand with her right hand in a final attempt: Hogwarts Transfiguration Charm!

The spell struck the Dementor precisely, and the next second, the Dementor turned into a lamb and fell to the ground.

The Transfiguration Charm at Hogwarts on Earth was created by Dumbledore by referencing the Transfiguration Charms of wizards and the 108 Transformations of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends in Taoism. It is of a much higher rank than the Transfiguration Charm in this world.

This is why it can work on Dementors. Unfortunately, no matter how proficient Ivy is with the Transfiguration Charm, she is still only a second-year student. In addition, she has already used up a lot of her mental energy in the series of activities just now, and the remaining mental energy must be used to fight against the influence of Dementors.

So the little sheep that the Dementors had turned into on the ground hopped around a couple of times and then seemed to be about to turn back into their original forms.

These actions, though seemingly slow, actually occurred within seconds. The Hogwarts professors sensed something was wrong, but they hadn't yet figured out what it was.

As Ivy swayed and was about to fall, at the last moment, she flicked her wand, and a tremendous sound resounded through the sky.

Now, the teachers should be able to get here...

With her last thought, Ivy collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.

The Dementors returned to normal after the sound was made; Ivy's efforts only bought them less than ten seconds.