#47 - Section 47

Even if Ethan didn't feel bad, they would!

"Your potion skills are also good. I asked you to help brew them, at the same price as Michael. Who can you blame for not agreeing?"

It wasn't as if Ethan hadn't thought of this.

Ethan knew that around the end of the school year, the Brain-Boosting Draught would sell better than usual. This was obvious, just like how mineral water and drinks are very popular in the summer.

Therefore, Ethan had specially saved up more than three hundred bottles of the Brain-Boosting Draught. Adding the daily production, it should have been enough, but he didn't expect it to be used up in less than a week.

After all, he used to sell only seven hundred bottles in more than a month, but now, supplying them openly for a week exceeds this amount.

He really underestimated the wealthy people of Hogwarts. Five Galleons a bottle is not cheap!

Moreover, the duration is pitifully short, only a mere twenty minutes.

As a result, many regular customers come for a bottle every day, and some even have more than one.

When it was booming a few days ago, Ethan also thought about adding a few people to brew them. The first people he thought of were the twins. Their skills in all aspects were not bad, and teaching them once would definitely be no problem, but they refused.

Because they wanted to develop new products. Previously, they were limited by funding, so there was not much progress in this area. Now that they have sufficient funds, they simply cannot stop, so naturally they are unwilling to do the monotonous and tedious work.

The rest were either unsuitable, or Ethan didn't trust them.

"Ethan, I can help you, provided that the potion is not too complicated."

Hermione, who had heard the whole process, offered her suggestion.

She believes that her potion skills are definitely excellent among her peers, and she should be able to help Ethan.

"Then Hermione, can you accept night trips?"

Ethan didn't avoid anyone when he said this. What's so rare about night trips?

How many Gryffindor lions haven't gone on night trips?

If Hermione wants to help, Ethan will definitely not refuse. Her potion talent is also quite excellent. She was able to learn and successfully brew Polyjuice Potion in her second year.

However, the Brain-Boosting Draught definitely cannot be brewed in the Gryffindor dormitory. Not to mention the problem of leaking the recipe, just killing frogs and taking brains in the girls' dormitory, Ethan suspects that Hermione's roommates will not be able to sleep at night because of this, and then throw Hermione, cauldron, and frogs out together.

The dormitory is not an option, so it can only be outside. No matter where it is, it has to be a night trip, because there are still classes during the day, and the time is not continuous. Except for those potions that take a long time to brew and can be operated intermittently, people cannot leave during the short-term potion brewing process.

"If it's a night trip, I can!"

Hermione said seriously after a moment of silence.

She really doesn't want to violate the rules of Hogwarts, fearing that she will be caught, lose points, and be embarrassed. (The first step has not been taken, and it will be natural after getting used to it.)

However, in the Gryffindor environment, night trips are too common. Not to mention the energetic little boys, even her roommates Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil have gone on night trips.

Perhaps she can also try the characteristics of Gryffindor, definitely not to help Ethan, and then put Cassandra down, to break her own rules.

"Okay, I'll wait for you outside the Gryffindor common room at ten o'clock tonight."

Alas, it's really a sin to drag another pure little witch into the water.

"Harry, quick, Ethan just gave Fred and George the Brain-Boosting Draught, let's go buy it."

Ron, who had just come out of the classroom, shouted excitedly to Harry.

During the potion class just now, the two made several mistakes in a row, and were trained like grandsons again, and also lost points. Now they are no different from eggplants beaten by frost.

If there are no accidents, it will be extremely difficult for the two to get a score of A (pass) or above in this year's potion class.

Who told the two of them not to study hard for almost a year, and even the homework had to be copied from others. Other courses are better than Potions, but there are also limits.

Especially Ron, his talent is not as good as Harry's, and he plays even harder. The two are half a catty in the written test, but Ron is far behind in the practical operation.

When class ended just now, Ron suggested getting some Brain-Boosting Draught to improve his grades.

Ron didn't care much before, but now that the exam is approaching, the atmosphere around him has changed, and it has also motivated Ron. He can't help but think of how angry Molly would be when she gets his report card.

At home, Bill, who had already graduated, was the most outstanding one, the male student council president, who got twelve O's in the exam. Charlie's grades were also good, and he became the Quidditch captain.

The three older brothers who are still studying, prefect Percy, not to mention, George and Fred's grades are not bad, both in theory and practice, they are the best in the third grade, but they like to prank, and then receive a lot of complaints.

In such a pile of report cards, only his is out of place. Just thinking about this makes Ron feel chills down his spine.

And Harry, because he has improved his relationship with his aunt's family, also wants to go home decently. Holding a pile of just passing and failing grades is really embarrassing to the Muggle world.

Therefore, he also quite agrees with Ron's idea.

"Fred, can I have two bottles of Brain-Boosting Draught?"

Hearing Ron's reminder, Harry immediately trotted to Fred.

He knows how popular the Brain-Boosting Draught has been during this time. Yesterday, Neville wanted to buy a bottle to try, saying that he wanted to improve his brain, maybe he would be smarter, but it was sold out and he didn't buy it.

The potion that was originally only circulating in the upper grades, because of Ethan's unilateral brawl incident, made the whole school know about it. It can be said that this also gave Ethan an advertisement.

"Ron, this is yours!"

After paying the Galleons and getting two bottles of Brain-Boosting Draught, Harry directly gave one bottle to Ron, showing a considerable generosity.

Anyway, in the Gringotts vault, the Galleons are piled up into a small mountain, and he can't spend them all, he simply can't spend them all.

Unfortunately, Harry doesn't know that there are two more inheritances waiting for him to receive later, and that's when he really can't spend them all.

"Thank you!"

Ron took it a little embarrassedly. Although he had the idea of letting Harry pay, he was still a little embarrassed at this time.

The main reason is that he is too poor. He rented Scabbers to Ethan as an experimental subject and earned four Galleons. He gave his two brothers as medicine men, one Galleon at a time, and earned five in total.

This money is really not easy to earn. Scabbers is okay, the discomfort is not on himself. Being a medicine man causes a blood collapse that can't be stopped at all, and he has to go to the school hospital.

In total, he only has nine Galleons, which is just enough to buy two bottles even if he adds up what he has saved over the years. He also wants to buy a wand this summer. The wand core in his hand is exposed, and it is not very handy.

Chapter 72: I Was Here First

"Ethan, I have something I need to talk to you about."

After buying the Brain-Boosting Draught, Harry pulled Ethan to a corner where no one was around.

"What's the matter?"

"It's about Hagrid. Yesterday, Malfoy followed me and saw Hagrid's dragon. I'm worried that he will report it. I don't know if you have any way to deal with it."

Harry's face looked a little unpleasant. If he had been a bit more careful at the time, Draco wouldn't have been able to follow him into the Forbidden Forest.

But what's done is done, and Harry just wanted to salvage the situation as much as possible.

If he went to talk to Malfoy himself, he definitely wouldn't agree. But Ethan was different. He'd even heard someone say that Draco had taken the initiative to apologize to Ethan last time.

If Ethan went to talk to him, it might be possible.

It was just that this was clearly his own problem, yet he had to ask someone else to solve it. Harry still felt a little embarrassed.

But if he didn't do this, Hagrid might be caught and sent to Azkaban, as private ownership of dragons was not allowed.

Although Ron had given Hagrid an idea to hand the dragon over to his brother, who worked in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, so that there would be no problem as long as Draco didn't find the dragon when he reported it.

But Hagrid wasn't willing, fearing that it would be bullied by other dragons wherever it went, since the baby dragon was still a bit weak.

"Wait, Hagrid's dragon is being raised in the Forbidden Forest? Malfoy followed you in there?"

Ethan was a little confused. Was Draco really brave enough to run into the Forbidden Forest?

In the original story, Draco was scared to death when he heard that he had to help patrol the Forbidden Forest.

At Ethan's reminder, Hagrid's dragon wasn't in his hut at all, but was being raised in the Forbidden Forest.

One was to avoid being discovered, and the other was to adapt to life in the Forbidden Forest in advance.

For this reason, Hagrid had specifically found an abandoned hut in the Forbidden Forest to raise the dragon, and he spent most of his time in the Forbidden Forest every day.

Harry didn't even know that Hagrid was raising a dragon until Ethan told him, in order to make him aware that someone might be trying to trick Hagrid using the dragon.

"Well, Ron and I went to see the dragon in the Forbidden Forest yesterday evening, and Malfoy followed us. We didn't notice until we got to the dragon in the Forbidden Forest, and then he was discovered by Fang."

Harry didn't know what was wrong with Draco, that he had to keep staring at him.

It had been like this since they first met. He was self-righteous, liked to pick on him, and now he had even evolved into a stalker.

Harry couldn't help but shudder at the thought of whether Draco had some special fetish.

"Leave this to me. I'll talk to him."

Ethan nodded in agreement. His own dragon, which hadn't hatched yet, would also be raised in the Forbidden Forest in the future. Having two dragons would be good company.

"There's one more thing, I don't know if you know about it, Ethan!"

"Hagrid's dragon was deliberately given to him by someone, in order to get information about the three-headed dog on the fourth-floor corridor. It might be to plot something hidden inside."

"Didn't I ask you about Nicolas Flamel last time?"

"The thing hidden inside is related to him. It's likely the Sorcerer's Stone, but I don't know who's after it."

This was also what Harry and Ron had deduced from what Hagrid had said yesterday.

They were still clear about how precious a dragon was. No one would gamble it away, and he really couldn't imagine how big the bet would have to be.

Moreover, he suspiciously inquired about the three-headed dog. The three-headed dog was now guarding the thing that Hagrid had taken out of Gringotts. Harry had known this before.

He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but yesterday, when he linked everything together, it became clear that someone was after the Sorcerer's Stone, and this person was likely at Hogwarts.

Before Christmas, Harry suspected that Snape was not a good person and must have ulterior motives at Hogwarts. He thought that Snape might have been the one who attacked Gringotts, but now, after thinking about it all night, Harry couldn't find a target to suspect.

Ron still suspected Snape, because he hated Snape.

Ron didn't want Harry to tell anyone, but his brain couldn't compare to Ethan's. If it hadn't been for Ethan's reminder about who Nicolas Flamel was last time, the two of them might still be clueless.

"Who do you think is the most suspicious person in the school?"

"Professor Snape?"

Harry said cautiously, mainly because Ron was convinced it was him.

"You can think about Professor Quirrell, and the things related to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You can ask the older students about these things. Putting aside everything else, why would Professor Quirrell, who was injured so badly recently, still want to come back to Hogwarts to teach?"

After speaking, Ethan patted Harry on the shoulder and left.

It was enough to plant a seed for this kind of thing, and then let him think and suspect on his own.

… …

After dinner, Ethan blocked Draco, who was about to return to the Slytherin common room.

Looking at the bully in front of him who was lowering his head and afraid to look at him, Ethan always had the feeling that he was bullying an elementary school student.

"I hope you don't tell anyone about Hagrid raising a dragon."

"Okay, I won't tell anyone."

Draco nodded without hesitation. He was really afraid of Ethan and didn't dare to provoke him.

He had originally planned to drive Harry, Ron, and that half-giant away, and he had already thought about how to do it.

He would report this to his head of house at that time and let him deal with it. He was the one who most wanted Gryffindor to suffer.

Unfortunately, the plan was shattered before it even started.

"If you don't provoke me in the future, I won't cause you trouble either, so there's no need to be so afraid of me."

Ethan was really speechless at the sight of Draco, who was like a little uke in front of him.

He had just acquired the temperament of a sunny and warm big boy during Christmas, and he was even more popular at school. Even though a few little wizards were afraid of him after he said the three Unforgivable Curses last time, they all returned to normal after two days.

Only in front of Draco did he seem like a bully who liked to bully his classmates, even though it was clearly him who caused the trouble in the first place.

"I understand."

"My father would like to invite you to our house for the summer."

This was the task that Lucius had given him. After he sent the letter back last time, he said that he had obtained Ethan's forgiveness. At that time, Lucius said in his reply that he would invite Ethan.

It was just that Draco hadn't found a suitable opportunity to say it, or was a little afraid to say it to Ethan.

"I'll contact you then. I'm not sure if I'll have time during the summer."

Dumbledore had promised to introduce Nicolas Flamel to him this vacation. He didn't know when he would go or how long he would stay, so naturally, it was impossible to agree to anything.

As for the Malfoy family having bad intentions, Ethan wasn't afraid of that either. To put it bluntly, if they had any ideas, he could completely burn them and their manor to the ground with a fire.

In the wizarding world, the power of individuals is infinitely magnified. There is no such thing as ants biting an elephant to death. People like Grindelwald, Dumbledore, and Voldemort can all single-handedly challenge a country's Ministry of Magic, and they can leave directly when they want to retreat. No one can stop them, provided they don't stupidly get ambushed.

It's just that Draco was a little confused. Did Ethan agree or not?