Hogwarts’ Holy Grail War - 288/289 (Patreon)

Chapter 288: The Way of Peeves, A Proper Serial

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at Ethan in disbelief.

“Um, Ethan, maybe I didn’t explain it clearly enough?” Harry thought for a moment and started over. “I just said that Snape...”

“You don’t need to repeat yourself, Harry. I understand exactly what you mean.” Ethan waved a hand. “What I’m saying is that all three of you may be underestimating Dumbledore and the other professors.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. The Philosopher’s Stone is incredibly valuable. Do you really think Dumbledore wouldn’t understand how important it is to protect it? There must be layer after layer of defenses around the Stone. Forget Fluffy for a moment. Do you honestly think Dumbledore didn’t arrange any other safeguards?”

As he spoke, Ethan traced a circle in the air with one finger.

“For all we know, every professor took part, with each of them setting up one or two defenses of their own. Snape alone couldn’t possibly get through that many obstacles.”

“That must be why he’s forcing Quirrell onto his side. With two of them working together, their chances would be much better, wouldn’t they?” Harry replied as if it were obvious.

Ethan thought for a moment, then asked, “All right, Harry. Let me ask you something. How strong do you think I am?”

“Very strong,” Harry answered without hesitation. “You’re the strongest student I’ve ever seen. Even some seventh-years might not be able to beat you.”

Ethan asked again, “Then between me and Professor Dumbledore, who do you think is stronger?”

“Well...” Harry hesitated, looking at Ethan as though he wanted to answer but was afraid to.

“Don’t overthink it. Just give me your answer,” Ethan encouraged patiently.

“...I think Professor Dumbledore is stronger than you,” Harry mumbled, avoiding Ethan’s eyes. “You’re definitely very powerful, but you’re still a student. Compared with Professor Dumbledore, you’re still a little...”

“Exactly. You think Professor Dumbledore is stronger than me too. If I fought him, I’d lose, right?” Ethan snapped his fingers and pointed his thumb at himself again. “Now what if I wasn’t facing Professor Dumbledore alone? What if Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Garlick were there too?”

Harry shook his head. “Then you’d have even less of a chance.”

“So do you think Snape and Quirrell together would have any chance against all four of them?” Ethan asked with a smile.

When Harry shook his head again, Ethan patted him on the shoulder.

“Trust the professors. They’ve almost certainly thought things through far more thoroughly than a bunch of students like us could.”

After finally calming Harry and the others and easing their worries, the four left the empty classroom. On their way to the Great Hall for dinner, they ran into Quirrell.

The moment he saw them, Quirrell let out a shriek and hurriedly backed away several steps like a frightened rat.

“Professor, are you... all right?”

Quirrell’s scream nearly made Harry’s heart stop. Clutching his pounding chest, he stared at the professor in confusion.

“H-hello... The weather... the weather’s quite nice today, isn’t it? I-I have something to do, so I’ll... I’ll be going now...”

Quirrell was trembling all over, and clear tear tracks could be seen at the corners of his eyes. He shakily bid Ethan and the others farewell, then hurried away, practically folding in on himself as he fled.

Ethan sighed and looked away from Quirrell’s retreating figure.

He knew that Quirrell was the one truly after the Philosopher’s Stone, but he had no intention of personally stepping in to stop him.

Just as he had told Harry and the others, Ethan wasn’t worried about the Stone’s safety.

No matter how much the plot changed or how far Quirrell moved his plan forward, Dumbledore’s enchantment on the Mirror of Erised alone was enough to leave Quirrell raging helplessly in front of it.

Only someone like Harry, who sincerely wanted to find the Philosopher’s Stone without intending to use it, could retrieve the Stone from the Mirror of Erised.

Ethan had asked himself honestly whether he could pass that test, and even he wasn’t sure.

Besides, the moment Quirrell tried to harm Harry, the blood curse protecting Harry would reject Mr. No-Nose on the back of Quirrell’s head. In other words, Quirrell’s life had already begun counting down from the moment Voldemort possessed him.

Thinking of that, Ethan gave Quirrell’s retreating back another pitying glance.

Quirrell might be a villain, and his Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons consisted almost entirely of reading from the textbook, so there was basically nothing useful to learn in his classes.

Still, he was at least easy to deal with. Every time Ethan asked for leave, Quirrell approved it without any fuss.

Then again, that might also have been because of Mr. No-Nose on the back of his head. The poor guy was practically being tortured into madness, which probably explained why he was always so timid and nervous.

Poor bastard.

When the time came, Ethan would at least make sure he went out with some dignity.

“Ethan, what are you looking at?” Harry noticed the way Ethan was staring after Quirrell and looked up at him. “You think Quirrell is pitiful too, don’t you? Being threatened by Snape like that?”

“...Yeah. Poor guy.” Ethan sighed and lifted Harry onto his left shoulder. “Come on, let’s get to the Great Hall. Everyone’s probably been waiting ages for you.”

“Ethan, isn’t that a bit unfair?” Ron stared at Harry with naked envy. “I want to...”

“Fine, fine. You too.”

Ethan scooped Ron up and seated him on his right shoulder, then looked at Hermione.

“Hermione, do you want...”

Hermione hurriedly shook her head. “I’ll pass. Carrying that many people must be tiring. I can walk by myself.”

“Now you’re just being polite. I can carry three hundred jin on my shoulders without buckling. Three little kids are nothing.”

Without giving her another chance to refuse, Ethan picked Hermione up and settled her behind his neck.

The girl squirmed awkwardly for a moment before her legs very honestly tightened around Ethan’s neck. From a height she could normally never reach, she began looking curiously in every direction.

“All right! The Ethan Express is departing!”

The four of them charged toward the Great Hall in their bizarre combined form, drawing plenty of stares from passing students along the way.

Ron and Harry thought the whole thing looked incredibly cool.

Hermione, who served as the head of their ridiculous combination, had a very different opinion.

She only prayed they wouldn’t run into anyone she knew. Or worse, Malfoy and his irritating friends.

If anyone saw her looking this ridiculous, she might as well drop out of Hogwarts immediately, go home, and learn dentistry from her parents.

She simply could not afford this level of humiliation.

Seriously.

But the two idiots grinning away on either side of her, along with Ethan underneath her, somehow seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Were all boys’ thought processes this stu... ahem, unusual?

And heaven forbid they ran into Peeves.

If Peeves saw her like this, within three days every student in Hogwarts would be hearing some song he had written about how ridiculous she looked.

Please, just don’t let us run into him.

So naturally, after Ethan carried them charging down the Marble Staircase, they ran straight into Peeves in a first-floor corridor.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Gryffindor’s big dumb brute! Haven’t seen you for a few days, and somehow you’ve gotten even taller. You’ve even started growing people out of your body!”

Peeves floated circles around them, clutching a handful of chalk stubs and cackling wildly.

“Peeves...”

Ethan sighed and impatiently waved him aside.

“All right, move. We have things to do today. I’ll play with you some other time.”

His attempt at being reasonable was answered with an attack.

Peeves hurled the chalk stubs at them with all his strength, putting on an affected tone as he imitated the professors.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like the big brute thinks his words are terribly intimidating! But Peeves certainly doesn’t think so. What the big brute says means nothing at all to Peeves!”

“Protego.”

With an exasperated sigh, Ethan conjured a spherical Shield Charm around all four of them and turned to leave.

Then Peeves called after him, making Ethan stop again.

“What’s wrong, big brute? Weren’t you awfully tough when you were with that four-eyed Slytherin punching bag? Why are you scared now that she’s not around?”

Ethan slowly turned his head.

Under Harry and the others’ increasingly alarmed gazes, his expression became solemn.

“What did you just call her, Peeves?”

Peeves failed to notice the danger completely and continued floating around as he mocked him.

“What’s wrong? Is the big brute feeling sorry for the punching bag? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ohhh, poor little punching bag, getting kicked and punched by everyone. How pitiful! Oh, and that lonely little blonde girl with no friends. Weren’t you so brave when you were showing off in front of those two before? Why not show some backbone now?”

Ethan’s face went dark.

He slowly crouched down and set Harry, Ron, and Hermione on the floor, then placed a Shield Charm on each of them to block the chalk Peeves was still throwing.

“All right. You three go to the Great Hall and eat. I need to teach Peeves a proper lesson about watching his mouth. I’ll join you later.”

With that, Ethan stood and gave Peeves an exceptionally friendly smile.

“Well then, Peeves. Since you asked for it, I’ll play a little game with you. Aren’t you excited?”

Something about Ethan’s smile finally made Peeves realize that things might not be quite right.

Even so, he stubbornly refused to back down.

“Fine! The great Peeves is eager to see what tricks the big brute can come up with. Bring it on!”

“That’s wonderful.”

Ethan kept smiling and snapped his fingers.

“Oppugno.”

Every chalk stub Peeves had thrown rose from the ground and gathered around Ethan.

Then all of them shot toward Peeves at once.

Two flew directly into Peeves’s nostrils.

Peeves shrieked as his own chalk pelted him from every direction. He darted through the air while hurling language at Ethan that was too filthy to repeat.

But the chalk seemed to have grown eyes. It relentlessly pursued Peeves wherever he fled, with an alarming preference for aiming straight at his face.

“Big brute, you’ve gone too far!”

Peeves slapped away the last few chalk stubs and screamed furiously.

“Peeves is angry! Really angry!”

With that, he vanished straight through the corridor wall.

Not long afterward, he returned carrying an armful of empty ampoules, apparently stolen from the Potions classroom.

Cursing under his breath, Peeves began hurling them at Ethan.

This time, Ethan behaved completely differently from before.

Instead of defending himself, he covered his head with his arms and ran away.

Peeves cackled in delight, clearly pleased to see Ethan fleeing in such a sorry state.

He chased Ethan down the corridor until they reached a corner on the second floor.

Ethan disappeared around it at full speed.

Peeves followed at a leisurely pace.

He knew perfectly well that the corridor beyond that corner was a dead end. The only thing at the far end was a door leading into an empty classroom.

Sure enough, just as Peeves turned the corner, he saw the classroom door slam shut in front of him.

Click.

It locked.

“Well, well. Looks like the big brute ran himself straight into a dead end. But I suppose that can’t be helped. That’s what happens when you provoke the greatest Peeves!”

Peeves put on an exaggerated sigh and floated toward the door with a wicked grin.

A lock meant nothing to a semi-ghostly being like him. He could simply seep into the lock mechanism and open it from inside.

Of course, he could have passed straight through the door.

But Peeves thought it would be much funnier if Ethan watched the handle of his supposedly locked door slowly turn.

Peeves opened the door just a crack and squeezed his colorful, translucent body through.

Then he locked it again behind himself.

Ethan, however, looked nothing like the panicked victim Peeves had expected.

The moment Peeves locked the door, Ethan raised his wand and began quietly chanting.

“Protego Totalum. Fianto Duri. Salvio Hexia. Repello Inimicumt...”

One Charm after another burst from the tip of his wand, eventually forming a protective barrier that enveloped the entire classroom.

“All right. Now no one will disturb us.”

Ethan put his wand away.

Then he reached inside his robes and pulled out a wooden sword along with a stack of yellow paper.

Still wearing the same extraordinarily pleasant smile, he slowly walked toward Peeves.

“In China, when we encounter malicious wandering ghosts, we can suppress them directly. For that, we use things like this peachwood sword and these talismans.”

Ethan raised the objects in his hands.

“These can make ghosts disappear completely from the world, leaving absolutely no trace behind.”

“Peeves, I imagine you’ve spent all these years at Hogwarts without ever meeting an opponent who could truly deal with you.”

Ethan continued approaching.

“But don’t worry. Now that I’m here, I’m sure the two of us can have plenty of fun together.”

“I promise you’ll enjoy yourself.”

Naturally, the whole story about destroying ghosts was complete nonsense.

Aside from watching an itinerant old Taoist priest perform rituals at the entrance of his village when he was young and seeing a few Hong Kong zombie films, Ethan knew absolutely nothing about Taoist exorcism.

He was only saying it to frighten Peeves.

And precisely because Peeves had never seen anything like this, the unknown was bound to terrify him.

If you were going to crush someone, you might as well crush their spirit too.

Breaking Peeves’s arrogance would be more valuable than anything else.

Besides, this gave Ethan the perfect chance to settle all their previous scores at once.

Peeves immediately spun around and hurled himself against the transparent barrier, desperately trying to break open a gap and escape.

He slammed into it again and again until his head was covered in bumps, but nothing worked.

At last, he had no choice but to turn around.

Pressing his back tightly against the barrier, Peeves stared in terror as Ethan approached with a sinister grin.

“DON’T COME ANY CLOSER! AAAAAAAAH!”

(The following 1,145 characters of punishment have been omitted.)

A long while later, Ethan emerged from the empty classroom looking thoroughly refreshed, casually tugging his trousers back into place.

...

“Lord Ethan, is there anything else you require this humble servant to do?”

At breakfast the next morning, Peeves floated in front of Ethan at the Gryffindor table, rubbing his hands together with an ingratiating smile.

“Nothing for now. Go entertain yourself. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

Ethan glanced at him and waved him away.

“Yes, Lord Ethan! Whenever you need me, simply shout Peeves’s name three times, and Peeves will come immediately. I absolutely won’t keep you waiting!”

Peeves smiled obsequiously and disappeared through the Great Hall doors.

“Ethan, how did you do that?”

Ron swallowed the roasted chicken leg in his mouth and stared at the doorway Peeves had vanished through in complete disbelief.

“As far as I know, apart from Fred and George, Peeves looks down on every student in Hogwarts. And Filch too. I’ve certainly never seen him grovel like that before. What in the world did you do to him?”

“Hmm...”

Ethan considered the question for a moment.

“I suppose I just had a calm, friendly discussion with Peeves, helped him deeply understand the error of his ways, and convinced him to respect me from the bottom of his heart.”

He gave the explanation with complete nonchalance while casually reaching over to wipe a dab of sauce from the corner of Alanna’s mouth.

...

Chapter 289: Face-to-Face NTR

“Professor, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong.”

Inside the Map Chamber, Ethan and Professor Fig stood before the four empty portrait frames. Easter break had already begun, and three whole months had passed since their last meeting before Christmas, yet Percival and Charles still hadn’t returned to their portraits.

It wasn’t that Ethan had run out of patience. Three months without so much as a sign from either of them was simply too unusual, and he was beginning to worry about what might have happened to the two men in the portraits.

“You said Professor Rookwood needed to inspect the location of the trial, so I can understand him taking a while and not making it back for three months. But Professor Rackham shouldn’t have had anything in particular to do. Why hasn’t he come back either?”

Ethan folded one arm across his chest and rested the other hand against his chin, frowning in thought.

“I’m starting to wonder if they... ran into trouble. Maybe Ranrok or Rookwood discovered them and used some method to trap them inside portraits somewhere else, which is why neither of them has been able to return.”

Ethan turned to Professor Fig for his opinion.

“Professor, should we just make a trip to Red Grave City? There’s at least one portrait of Percival there. Maybe...”

“I’ve considered that too, Ethan.” Professor Fig sighed. “But then I thought about it. Both professors were highly experienced wizards. They would surely have anticipated circumstances like this while they were alive and prepared contingencies of their own. Their continued absence might mean they’re only pretending to be trapped while secretly gathering information. If we charge in without knowing what they’re doing, we could end up ruining everything they’ve worked for.”

“You’re right, Professor. I probably am being a little impatient.”

Ethan smiled and looked away from Professor Fig, though the frown remained on his face.

Professor Fig gave him a kindly smile and lightly patted him on the shoulder.

“For now, let’s be patient a little longer, Ethan. We’ll wait. If they still haven’t appeared by the time the next holiday begins, we’ll find some time to visit Red Grave City ourselves. How does that sound?”

Ethan nodded. “All right.”

“Speaking of holidays...” Professor Fig looked at Ethan with an amused smile. “Now that Easter break is here, the final examinations aren’t far away. From what I’ve seen, I hardly need to worry about your studies, but I’ll ask anyway. How has your revision been going? Have you run into any difficulties?”

“Not too badly.” Ethan scratched behind his ear and answered with remarkable sincerity and modesty. “I can basically learn whatever the professors teach in class. Obviously I’m nowhere near the professors themselves, but passing the exams shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“Merely passing?” Professor Fig gave Ethan a sidelong look. “You have no intention of fighting for first place? Exam rankings may not affect the House Cup, but coming first is still a considerable honor among the students.”

“What’s the point of scoring that high? As long as my grades are good enough to keep me from getting expelled, that’s plenty. Once I’ve passed, every extra point is wasted effort. There’s no need to put that much energy into exams.”

Ethan shrugged indifferently.

His entire philosophy was to take things easy.

“I see. I thought you might care about your ranking.”

Professor Fig let out a theatrical sigh.

“After all, Miss Chenance has been looking forward to these final exams. I assumed you might want to put in some effort alongside her...”

“Alanna? Is there something special about the final exams for her?”

“Hmm? Haven’t I told you?” Professor Fig rested a hand against his chin and regarded Ethan with interest. “Miss Chenance has always ranked near the very top in previous final examinations. She’s either first or second. I imagine she’d be rather pleased if you achieved a similar ranking. After all, if the two of you stood at the same level...”

“I’ve suddenly realized that putting in some effort from time to time is very important.” Ethan’s expression turned completely serious. “Don’t worry, Professor. I’m taking first place in the year this time. It’s about time those Slytherin students experienced a little Gryffindor shock.”

“Heh. That’s a matter for you youngsters. An old man like me has no business interfering.”

Professor Fig was thoroughly satisfied that a few sentences had been enough to pull Ethan out of his carefree attitude, and he stroked the nonexistent beard on his chin.

Young boys really were easy to understand.

What boy would willingly fall behind his own girlfriend?

That should be enough to stir up at least a little competitive spirit in him. Surely the boy wouldn’t just mess around as usual and somehow end up first in the year anyway.

Wait.

If it was Ethan, he might actually manage that...

Why did Professor Fig suddenly feel uneasy?

“By the way, Professor.”

As they headed back from the Map Chamber, Ethan asked another question.

“You just said Alanna is always either first or second. Who’s the other student competing with her for first place?”

“You know her. In fact, you know her extremely well.”

Professor Fig gave Ethan a meaningful look.

“Miss Vole, the young lady who is always with the two of you. Her grades are almost indistinguishable from Miss Chenance’s. As fourth-years, those two are firmly first and second, with a huge gap between them and whoever comes third. If you approach your revision with that casual attitude of yours, there’s no guarantee you’ll actually surpass either of them.”

“I see. That explains it. I think I understand now.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth curling into a peculiar smile.

Two brilliant young ladies who had spent all this time sitting firmly above everyone else.

Looks like this time, both of you are going to end up underneath me.

In terms of grades, of course.

“There is one other thing I’m curious about.”

Professor Fig asked as casually as he could.

“The three of you. You, Miss Chenance, and Miss Vole. You attend classes together, leave classes together, and even sit together at meals. Miss Chenance is understandable. Everyone knows what your relationship is. But Miss Vole... how did she end up joining the two of you? What exactly is your relationship with her?”

“...That’s a long story.”

Ethan immediately put on a solemn expression.

“It was a pitch-black day when you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Rain poured from the heavens, thunder roared, lightning split the sky, and after I finished breakfast...”

“Speak normally!” Professor Fig snapped.

“She’s sick,” Ethan answered succinctly.

“???”

Professor Fig’s eyes instantly sharpened.

Seeing the constipated look on Professor Fig’s face, Ethan struggled to hold back his laughter as he roughly explained Cassandra’s physical condition, while carefully leaving out the little tsundere’s more ambiguous behavior toward him in the Hospital Wing and afterward.

After all, Cassandra still hadn’t openly charged straight at him and confessed.

He might as well preserve some of her dignity.

For all he knew, the little tsundere still thought she was hiding her feelings exceptionally well.

What a joke.

“I see. I think I understand.”

Professor Fig nodded. He could understand why Ethan had chosen not to report Cassandra’s condition to the professors.

Madam Pomfrey’s examinations had failed to detect anything wrong, while Ethan, a student, had somehow discovered an abnormality. If he rashly reported that, explaining how he had discovered it would be extremely difficult and might very well expose Ancient Magic.

Caution was the safer choice.

“However, that wasn’t actually the question I wanted answered.”

Professor Fig looked at Ethan again.

“I’ve always felt there’s something unusual in the way Miss Vole looks at you. Are you certain there’s nothing between the two of you?”

After all, Professor Fig had heard some of the rumors circulating among the students.

Things about Ethan enjoying the company of two beauties at once, for example.

The wizarding world had no specific laws against taking multiple spouses, and Professor Fig personally knew more than a few old men who had married several wives, but those were remnants of an earlier age.

As more and more Muggle-born wizards entered their world, the idea of monogamy had become increasingly ingrained in wizarding society. There might still be no explicit law enforcing it, but more and more witches and wizards simply regarded it as the natural way things ought to be.

Of course, the old pure-blood supremacists who despised any association with Muggles considered monogamy little more than a joke.

But considering the family circumstances of Miss Vole and Miss Chenance...

If Ethan genuinely had ideas along those lines, the road ahead of him would hardly be an easy one.

And setting everything else aside, having something like that happen to one of his own students still felt rather...

“Professor Fig, what are you talking about?!” Ethan hurriedly shook his head. “If I was actually doing something like that, there’s no way I’d hide it from you! Alanna is my only girlfriend right now. Cassandra and I are just friends. There’s absolutely no other relationship between us that I can’t talk about!”

Ethan immediately added one more sentence in his head.

Right.

“For now,” they were only friends.

“I see.”

Professor Fig glanced at Ethan and promptly cast out some bait.

“You may not know this, but there’s actually no rule in the wizarding world requiring monogamy. As long as everyone involved agrees, it wouldn’t necessarily be impossible...”

“Professor, stop testing me. My relationship with Cassandra is completely innocent. There really isn’t anything going on!”

Ethan spoke with absolute righteousness.

Then he silently added the rest.

It was merely “completely innocent” for now.

Professor Fig had wanted to probe a little further, but by then they had climbed from the basement to the first-floor corridor, where several students were already passing by.

Their conversation could easily be overheard, so Professor Fig had no choice but to suppress his curiosity.

Then again, if Ethan really had done something like that, his personality suggested he would probably admit it openly.

Since he denied it so firmly, there was presumably nothing going on between him and Miss Vole.

Or rather, perhaps nothing had happened yet...

“Well then, Professor, I’ll be going.”

When they reached the entrance to the library, Ethan stopped and pointed toward the castle doors.

“I’m meeting someone today, and it’s almost time. If I don’t leave now, I’m going to be late!”

“Go on. Just don’t forget what I told you...”

“I know. Don’t neglect my studies. Don’t worry, Professor. I know what I’m doing!”

Ethan’s voice faded along with his rapidly retreating figure.

Professor Fig sighed wistfully and slowly climbed the stairs toward his office.

Busy.

Everyone was busy.

Being busy was good...

Ethan headed straight for Hagrid’s hut outside the castle and knocked urgently on the crooked wooden door.

The door immediately opened a crack, and half of Alanna appeared through the gap.

“Ethan? Great, you’re finally here! We were starting to think you weren’t going to make it!”

“How is it? Has it hatched yet?” Ethan asked with a smile.

“Not yet, but Hagrid says it looks like it could happen any moment. Come in.”

Alanna opened the door and ushered Ethan inside.

Along with Alanna and Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all inside.

Even Cassandra was sitting at the table.

The fire in the hearth blazed fiercely, crackling and popping, and right in the middle of the flames lay a blackened egg larger than a human head.

A dragon egg.

Not long ago, Hagrid had been drinking at the Hog’s Head when he won a dragon egg in a card game against a certain hooded Quirrell who refused to show his face.

Hagrid had always wanted to raise a dragon, so naturally, he decided to hatch it.

Judging by the timing, today should be the day the little dragon finally emerged from its shell, which was why Ethan had rushed over in such a hurry.

There was no way he wanted to miss watching a dragon hatch.

Originally, Hagrid had intended to keep the whole thing strictly secret.

But this was Hagrid.

Everyone knew how that usually went.

First, Harry, Ron, and Hermione happened to discover the secret while visiting Hagrid to ask about the Philosopher’s Stone.

Then one morning, while Hagrid was watching Ethan and the others during their morning training and chatting casually with Ethan, he accidentally let it slip again.

Afterward, Ethan, being the good boyfriend who strictly followed the ironclad principle of never hiding anything from his girlfriend, naturally told Alanna.

And since Cassandra spent practically all her time glued to the two of them, she heard every word just as naturally.

At this point, it was difficult to say whether Ethan simply couldn’t prevent the little tsundere from overhearing things, or whether he had subconsciously stopped regarding Cassandra as someone he needed to guard against.

Either way, when Cassandra heard that Hagrid was planning to hatch a dragon, she immediately said she wanted to come and watch.

Her parents had taken her to Dragon reserves before, so she had seen plenty of young dragons, but she had never personally witnessed one breaking out of its shell.

Fortunately, Hagrid had no objection to a few extra spectators.

And so, the six of them had arrived at Hagrid’s hut one after another that afternoon.

Since the hut had been built to accommodate Hagrid’s enormous frame, even with so many people packed inside, it didn’t feel particularly crowded.

“Oh, Ethan, you made it! Good. The little fellow should be coming out any moment now.”

Wearing heat-resistant gloves, Hagrid lifted the dragon egg from the fire and carefully placed it on the table.

A deep crack had already appeared across the shell.

Something inside kept moving, accompanied by crisp clicking sounds.

Ethan and the others instinctively leaned closer, holding their breath as they stared intently at the egg.

Suddenly, with a piercing scraping noise, the shell split open.

Covered in egg fluid, the newborn dragon flailed unsteadily across the tabletop, shook the piece of shell stuck to its head loose, then sneezed.

Several sparks burst from its nostrils.

A black body.

Spiked wings.

Orange-red eyes.

And the distinctive ridge running along its back.

“It’s a Norwegian Ridgeback.”

Cassandra’s eyes practically sparkled as she gazed at the tiny dragon with an inexplicably maternal expression.

“For something named after a dragon, this little fellow is far cuter than Draco.”

“Yes, he’s beautiful, isn’t he?” Hagrid’s eyes were filled with affection as well. “Maybe not quite as beautiful as an Antipodean Opaleye or an Atlantis Horned Dragon, but he’s still adorable.”

He leaned closer.

“Hello, little Norbert. Welcome to the world.”

“His name is Norbert?” Harry stared at the little dragon without blinking.

“Of course. He’s got to have a name, hasn’t he? Oh, Merlin bless him. I’m the first person he saw after hatching. He’ll think I’m his Mum!”

Hagrid reached out to stroke little Norbert’s head and neck.

Norbert immediately jerked his head away.

Hagrid, a nearly twelve-foot-tall half-giant, froze in place like a child who had no idea what he had done wrong.

Then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Norbert tottered toward Ethan.

He stretched out his tongue and licked the hand Ethan had resting on the table.

Then his slender neck curled around the back of Ethan’s hand as he repeatedly rubbed himself against it.

The entire room fell silent.

Ethan remained quiet for a few seconds.

Then he slowly raised his head and looked at Hagrid.

“Hagrid, I can explain...”

“No! I don’t want to hear it!!”