William and Michael immediately exclaimed that this was exactly the kind of thing Ian would do. The three of them gathered together and started discussing Ian's recently acquired bad habits from who knows where.
"Is it really..."
Senior Sister Penelope was obviously different from the carefree little wizards. After hearing Qiu Zhang's explanation, she touched her lips with her fingertip and started pondering.
"Perhaps it's related to the accidental event in the Forbidden Forest today."
The brilliant Senior Sister Penelope only enjoyed spreading gossip; she didn't actually believe the rumors circulating at school. She only believed in the deductions she had thought up herself.
As of now.
This older student had apparently already connected all the known clues together.
"Let me think... Ian seems to be a descendant of the Ambrosius Clan, considering the circumstances he called despicable..." Senior Sister Penelope started researching some books related to the Merlin Clan.
Less than ten minutes later.
The senior instantly seemed to have found the truth.
"I got it! There must be more than one descendant of the Legendary Clan at school! This year must be some special highlight year! The descendants of King Arthur or the Black Witch Morgan are also at the academy!"
"Love and hatred! Life and death entanglements!"
Senior Sister Penelope wore an expression as if she saw through everything, suddenly understanding, although perhaps this Ravenclaw prefect wasn't quite capable to the extent of receiving praise for brilliance.
In some ways.
A woman who loves reading novels has terrifying imagination and associative ability, wouldn't you say?
...
Outside the corridor window.
The first snow at Hogwarts arrived silently in the night. Snowflakes gently touched the ancient stone walls, slowly spinning in the night sky, intertwining, and eventually landing softly. They covered every inch of land, every leaf, even every pinnacle and windowsill of the castle with the gentlest demeanor.
"I think Hogwarts should issue a rumor law, at least hunger the little wizards spreading rumors for a few days, and hmm, the professors who encourage little wizards to spread rumors should at least have a thousand needles prick their soles."
Ian muttered in the corridor facing the portrait of Ravenclaw for quite a while, yet in the Misty Illusion Realm, Lady Ravenclaw seemed disinterested in "logging in" or giving approval even with a glance.
He was certainly not out to settle accounts with Grindelwald, aware of his own limitations, he merely adjusted the magic potions brewing in the Room of Requirement.
Despite frosted windows and a castle enveloped in chill, Ian was wandering frozen in the hallways solely because his feud with the bronze eagle head hadn't been settled.
The vengeful bronze eagle wouldn't let him in or bother challenging him with questions, it simply pretended to be dead, no matter how long Ian stood in front of it, silent.
Completely eliminating the possibility for Ian to return learned to answer questions.
Truth be told, the door knocker might indeed, as it claimed, be acquiring some trait named "life," else it wouldn't blatantly disregard its preset rules.
Only "living" entities know how to exploit loopholes in rules. With no waiting allowed at the door for anyone returning to the dormitory, all Ian could do was prepare to overnight in the Room of Requirement.
As he happened to pass by the portrait of Ravenclaw and remembered the "cheating" methods left by Ravenclaw, he ended up lamenting to her portrait for five minutes.
"Tell me, that guy, that guy asks students to spread rumors about me; what on earth for?" Despite feeling despondent, Ian's frustration continued to grow.
"That's a method from the Muggles,"
Suddenly.
Behind Ian came Aurora's slightly chilly voice, he turned sharply to see the German girl using Wingardium Leviosa to move some long iron bars.
"What are you doing? Planning to sell them as scrap metal?"
Ian looked at Aurora, somewhat astonished. He recognized those iron bars she controlled, they were dismantled from the Owl Shed and other inconspicuous places.
"My grandfather wants to reopen the underground classroom; he's using me as a laborer." Aurora responded helplessly, evidently reluctant.
"I thought... reopening a classroom shouldn't mean scrapping others?" Ian's gaze fell on the iron lectern from the Spell Classroom.
The German girl took them all away.
"He only asked me to find some iron bars there, didn't give me Golden Galleons to purchase any." Aurora responded honestly and earnestly to Ian's question.
She hesitated for a moment before adding, "I certainly can't use my money, Snape's office is off-limits; I must save my Galleons for buying magic potion materials."
Unexpectedly still a thrifty minor.
"Last time's materials should let you brew a lot of truth serum, shouldn't it? Isn't it enough yet?" Ian's expression was somewhat conflicted, finding Aurora's unresponsive silence rather unsettling.
After quite a while.
"I left IOUs for all those classrooms, in Professor Lockhart's name." Aurora suddenly explained, as if declaring she wasn't a thief committing theft.
"..."
Ian was silent, feeling this kind of handling a bit peculiar, yet finding no fault with it.
"Want to help?"
Aurora continued.
Ian immediately shook his head rapidly like a rattle.