#30 - Section 30
Professor McGonagall certainly didn't want such an event to be remembered in later Hogwarts history books.
Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout also had no objections. After all, if they hadn't arrived in time, the Halloween feast would have been ruined. Deducting some house points was perfectly fine.
Having accepted the punishment, Ethan and the others returned to their respective House tables.
Regarding this prank, although they were all frightened, they also felt it was quite fun, even looking forward to staging another one next Halloween.
After all, the jokes or pranks here are generally quite big. Ethan's was just a scare; it wasn't anything at all. (There are even candies that can burn a hole in your tongue, so you can imagine how extreme it can get.)
Especially in Gryffindor, some who hadn't participated in the prank surrounded George and the others, as if they were the great heroes of Gryffindor.
Only Slytherin was unhappy.
Not only were they made fun of, but their House wasn't even included in the prank. Were they being excluded again?
Are we even part of the same school?
"Ethan, you guys just scared me,"
Cho Chang punched Ethan lightly on the Ravenclaw table, expressing her dissatisfaction. He didn't even give his senior a heads-up.
"I just thought of it on the spur of the moment and had to set it up quickly. There wasn't enough time."
Throughout the entire process, Ethan was the busiest, as he was the one who created the props and special effects.
"Senior, pass me the lamb chop!"
After swallowing the lamb in his mouth, Ethan turned to Penelope and said, "Senior, I asked you to pass it to me, not feed it to me!"
"I thought your hands seemed busy, and you seemed to be enjoying it," Penelope said, looking at Ethan with a hurt expression while holding a half-eaten roasted lamb chop.
"I was wrong, ah!"
Since she had already fed him once, Ethan didn't care anymore and simply opened his mouth, waiting for Penelope to act.
"Eat it yourself!"
After stuffing the roasted lamb chop into Ethan's mouth, Penelope let go.
Teasing him a little was fine, but if she kept feeding him, it wouldn't be appropriate. She was a prefect and needed to set an example.
"Lamb chops, you say!"
"Ethan, eat!"
With a smile, Cho Chang directly placed a plate of roasted lamb chops in front of Ethan.
Bang!
The Great Hall doors were thrown open, and Professor Quirrell rushed in, his purple turban askew on his head, his face full of terror.
This immediately attracted everyone's attention and also got Ethan out of his predicament.
"Troll... Troll in the dungeon... Thought you ought to know."
Quirrell shouted as he ran, eventually tripping on the steps of the staff table.
However, the scene did not become chaotic as Quirrell had expected. Everyone continued eating and drinking, and no one took Quirrell's words to heart.
After all, Quirrell was acting too dramatically. A Defense Against the Dark Arts professor fainting from being scared by a troll? Could he at least try to be more convincing?
Plus, Ethan and the others had just pulled off a big prank, so everyone thought Quirrell was trying to imitate them to get attention.
Helpless, Quirrell could only muster a final burst of energy:
"Troll... Troll in the dungeon, run... run! Dumbledore, there's a troll!"
"Heh heh!"
"Ha..."
The Gryffindors laughed directly. Without comparison, there is no harm.
Quirrell should go back and practice.
Who can you fool like this?
Putting aside whether a troll could even enter Hogwarts, even if it did, with Dumbledore here, he could wipe out an entire troll tribe.
"No, there really is a troll!"
Looking at the scene below, Quirrell said dryly to the crowd, no longer stuttering.
Even now, he didn't know why. He was clearly acting very well!
At this moment, Dumbledore stood up and said to the young wizards below, "Prefects, lead your students back to your dormitories!"
This was also giving Quirrell a way out.
There was no other way. Dumbledore wanted to play this game with Voldemort, so he could only cooperate with Quirrell's performance.
On the way back to the Ravenclaw common room, Cho Chang asked with a strange expression, "Ethan, do you think a troll really got into Hogwarts?"
Quirrell's acting was too fake. Why would Dumbledore believe him and even interrupt the Halloween feast?
"It doesn't matter. Whether there is or isn't, Dumbledore and the others will take care of it."
Due to the changes Ethan had brought, Hermione never interacted with Ron in class, so she naturally wouldn't run to the girls' bathroom to encounter a troll.
If there was nothing to do, Ethan didn't want to go and beat up a troll.
Those things smell awful, and there's no benefit to beating them up.
He might even get points deducted by some bat-like man for not listening to the professor's advice.
Chapter 54: Acromantula
Inside the Headmaster's office, Snape stood in front of Dumbledore with a gloomy expression.
His leg was covered in blood, clearly having been bitten by some dog.
"I think you should know what happened to Quirrell. It's okay if you don't tell me, but why let such a malicious fellow become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!"
Snape was very dissatisfied with this.
He had worked with Quirrell for several years, and although they weren't close, he knew what kind of person Quirrell was. He wasn't this bad.
This year, Quirrell was like a different person and even applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.
Putting aside the fact that he had been eyeing the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for a long time and had applied many times, but Dumbledore had never approved it, why could Quirrell become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?
Aside from that, it wasn't even certain if this Quirrell was the same Quirrell.
Yet Dumbledore dared to let him stay at Hogwarts. He didn't know if he was suffering from senile dementia.
Today, Dumbledore's behavior also made Snape suspect whether Dumbledore was deliberately doing all of this.
Was he doing it on purpose, or was it accidental?
Quirrell came to Hogwarts harboring evil intentions. This year, there are two special things: one is Harry, the savior in the prophecy, and the other is the Philosopher's Stone, which can be used to make the elixir of life.
The goal can only be one of the two, or both.
This is also the main reason for Snape's anger.
“I have my own ideas for making such arrangements.”
Dumbledore looked calm, as if he was talking about something unimportant.
“What ideas?”
Snape felt very annoyed. If he didn't have to protect Harry, he really wanted to hammer Dumbledore's crooked nose even more crooked.
“I can't say it yet!”
Dumbledore knew that his plan would not be approved by most people, especially Snape.
If he knew that Quirrell had Voldemort's remnant soul on him, he would probably cause an uproar and ruin things in a moment of impulsiveness.
“Humph! I checked the room on the fourth floor, and there were signs of it being opened!”
Snape snorted coldly and prepared to leave after speaking.
“Phoenix tears!”
Dumbledore took out a small bottle containing a thin layer of transparent liquid.
The teeth of a Cerberus are poisonous, and similar to a curse, they are difficult to remove, but phoenix tears have a miraculous effect on it.
Snape grabbed the phoenix tears and left without looking back.
He was quite dissatisfied with Dumbledore, who was completely hiding everything from him.
… …
[Prank Expert]
Behind the curtain of laughter lies the conspiracy of pranks, a carefully designed trap, waiting for the prey to stumble, a secretly replaced chair, a sudden strange noise, a seemingly peaceful daily life, but full of unexpected variables
Achievement Goal: Successfully Prank Others (100/100)
Achievement Reward: One Random Dark Magic
On the way to Hagrid's hut, Ethan finally had time to check this achievement reward.
Even though today is Halloween Eve, this detention punishment is still valid.
Shadow Wolf, the name of the dark magic drawn today, the effect is quite good, at least it is more useful than the Sprout Charm. Ethan doesn't really want to use this kind of curse spell. If you can kill directly, why use a curse? Needing a curse only proves that you are not strong enough.
The effect is very strange and not considered a regular magic. It summons a pack of wolves from the shadows to attack, but it has two characteristics.
First, like the Kneazles at the French Ministry of Magic, it can split. The specific effect is to absorb the magical energy of the attack and split into several entities slightly smaller than the original body.
Second, like Peeves, it can switch between reality and illusion, possessing a physical body, but when illusory, it can also pass through walls and float.
The specific number of summons is determined by Ethan's magic power. As long as there is enough magic power, they can be summoned continuously.
Moreover, when materialized, it can also block the Killing Curse.
The Killing Curse, neither the Shield Charm nor the Body-Binding Curse are useful, because it has no physical form and will only pass through and directly hit the person.
Whether you hang a bunch of rats on your body or use a Transfiguration Charm to create a cover for yourself, you must have a physical object.
So, this Shadow Wolf can also materialize at a critical moment and act as Ethan's Killing Curse shield.
Arriving at Hagrid's hut, Fang still ran over to greet him as soon as possible.
“I wish I had your talent. ～.”
Hagrid, standing at the door, looked at this scene with some envy.
The two had patrolled the Forbidden Forest together for almost half a month. No matter how ferocious the magical creatures were, they all behaved quite docilely when they saw Ethan.
Hagrid also went from being surprised at the beginning to being numb, and now he has completely turned into envy.
This can be said to be the ability Hagrid wants most.
“Ethan, be careful tonight. The centaurs told me during the day that a very dangerous guy has come to the Forbidden Forest.”
After putting on his equipment and setting off, Hagrid reminded Ethan with a serious face.
Although the centaurs didn't say it clearly, the dangerous guy who could come to the Forbidden Forest was most likely a poacher. If a young wizard broke into the Forbidden Forest, the centaurs would only say it was a foal.
“Yeah, I know!”
It is estimated that this is most likely Voldemort. He, possessing Quirrell, can't hold on anymore and wants to suck unicorn blood to increase his vitality. He is here to scout the area.
This time, Hagrid took Ethan not to patrol aimlessly as before, but to specifically go to several valuable magical animal habitats, searching for clues around, such as unicorns, thestrals, chimeras, and Erumpents.
“Why are there no traces!”
After a round, Hagrid became a little anxious.
“That's right, I can go find Aragog!”
Suddenly thinking of something, Hagrid quickly led Ethan towards the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
“Aragog is a spider I raised. Don't be afraid later. They won't attack you, or maybe I'm worrying too much. They won't hurt you.”
Originally, Hagrid didn't want people to know that he had raised Acromantulas. When he took Ethan on patrol before, he had never been to the Acromantula's territory.
But now there is no other way, so he can only let Aragog take action.
It has a large number of descendants, which can spread throughout the Forbidden Forest. With its help, no poacher can hide.
Along the way, the frequency of encountering spiders is getting higher and higher. Until they came to the front of a tree root cave, Ethan finally knew what the kingdom of spiders was.
