Hogwarts’ Holy Grail War - 302/303 (Patreon)

Chapter 302: You Might Be Taking This a Bit Too Far

When Ethan opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a soft, comfortable bed in the Hospital Wing.

His mind was completely his own, and there wasn't a trace of discomfort left in his body. He had been careful when casting the Imperius Curse on himself earlier. It had only been meant to keep him from passing out from sheer exhaustion, essentially putting his body into autopilot. After a good sleep, he was already back to full strength.

"Ethan? Thank goodness, you're finally awake."

An anxious voice came from beside him. Ethan turned his head and saw his girlfriend sitting next to the bed, her tear-streaked face a complete mess. He lifted the hand she was clutching and gently wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes.

"There, see? I'm perfectly fine. Sorry I made you worry again."

Ethan started to sit up as he spoke, only for a soft hand to press down on his other shoulder. There wasn't much strength behind it, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to resist.

"Don't rush to get up. Rest a little longer."

It was Mirabel. She was sitting on the other side of the bed, looking at Ethan with reproach in her eyes, along with some other emotion he couldn't quite identify.

"That was far too reckless. Who casts the Imperius Curse on themselves just to force themselves to stay conscious? Don't you know the Imperius Curse acts directly on the soul? What would you have done if your soul had been damaged?"

"Oh, come on, sis. Don't worry. I knew what I was doing. Look at me. I'm completely fine, aren't I?"

Ethan shrugged as though it were no big deal. He tried to pull free the other hand Mirabel was supposedly holding, only to notice that her free hand, the one that wasn't resting on his shoulder, was also clearly within his line of sight.

Then who was holding...

Ethan craned his neck and slowly lowered his gaze.

Sitting beside Mirabel was Cassandra, whose eyes were just as red as the others'. Both of her small hands were tightly wrapped around Ethan's left hand.

"???"

Ethan fell silent.

Then he turned back toward Alanna on the other side of the bed, trying to read something useful from her expression.

Yet his actual girlfriend didn't seem the least bit resistant or bothered by the little tsundere so blatantly overstepping her bounds.

Wait, what the hell happened while I was unconscious? Why does it feel like I missed an entire arc?!

There's no way Alanna actually sold me off to that little tsundere, right?

"...Um, could you all let go of me?"

Having finally given up on thinking about it altogether, Ethan asked weakly.

"I'd like to shift into a more comfortable position. I feel like my bones are about to twist out of place."

Cassandra snapped back to her senses and hurriedly released Ethan's hand. Her face instantly turned red again.

While discreetly watching the changes in the expressions of the three girls beside him, Ethan propped himself up against the headboard, closed his eyes, and let out a long breath. Then he looked toward the only adult present.

"So, what's the situation now? Is Harry okay? What about Quirrell and Voldemort?"

Seeing that Ethan's first concern was still everything except his own condition, Mirabel frowned in annoyance. She pulled aside the curtain separating the beds, revealing Harry still fast asleep in the bed next to his.

"Mr. Potter is fine. He's simply still unconscious. Quirrell has been confirmed dead, and the Ministry of Magic has taken his body away. V... You-Know-Who escaped as well. As for the Philosopher's Stone... Professor Dumbledore took it."

"I see. As long as everyone's okay."

Only after hearing that nothing had gone wrong with the things he cared about did Ethan finally relax and ask about himself.

"What time is it? How long was I out?"

"It's Saturday afternoon. You've been unconscious for more than twelve hours," Alanna explained, her voice thick with a stuffy, tearful nasal tone.

"Cassandra and I were waiting outside the Great Hall this morning so you could explain what happened yesterday, but you never showed up. Then we ran into Ron and Hermione, and they said you... that you and Harry had been brought to the Hospital Wing, so we came here right away. Then we heard Madam Pomfrey talking about an Unforgivable Curse, and I thought..."

Her voice gradually broke. Seeing that she was about to start crying again, Ethan quickly took her hand and comforted her softly.

"Hey, hey. I'm fine now, aren't I? Don't cry, okay?"

"Mm."

Alanna sniffled, tightened her grip on his hand, and looked at him pitifully.

"From now on, you absolutely, absolutely cannot do something like that again..."

"I won't. I won't. I won't take risks like that again."

Ethan shook his head firmly.

The real problem was that everything had happened one after another yesterday, leaving him in terrible shape by the end. It was basically like clearing the entire Philosopher's Stone boss dungeon while already at critical health.

If he'd been in his normal condition, Voldemort's final attack probably wouldn't have done much to him at all.

Wait. Now that I think about it, whenever something serious happens, I'm never actually at full strength...

Damn it. The Counter Force of this world is definitely singling me out on purpose!

Cassandra, who had been sitting nearby without getting a chance to say anything to Ethan, watched him being affectionate with Alanna with a conflicted expression, her heart full of resentment she couldn't shake.

She had been worried about him too!

When they'd heard something had happened to him, she had been the first one to react and drag Alanna over here!

So why wouldn't he even say a few words to her? Couldn't he at least acknowledge her existence?

Right beside her, Mirabel was also staring jealously at Ethan holding Alanna's hand, while the feelings in her heart, which had long since passed their best-before date, began rapidly going bad.

Calm down, Mirabel. You have to maintain your composure while you're at school. There's no need to rush things now.

Once little Ethan starts his holiday, he'll be staying at my place. And when that happens, won't everything be up to me...?

"Wait."

Ethan belatedly noticed something strange.

He abruptly threw off the blanket and looked down at the hospital clothes he was wearing, his expression twisting as though he'd suddenly developed a severe case of constipation.

"Who changed my clothes?"

Mirabel guiltily looked away.

Ever since she'd seen Ethan's body that Christmas, the lines of his physique had only grown more and more... enticing over the past six months.

No. Perfect. She meant perfect.

And paired with muscles that were firm in exactly the right places, he felt unbelievably good to touch. If Alanna hadn't arrived with Cassandra at just the right time that morning, Mirabel might have been able to keep touching him all day...

And he had actually been wearing the coat she'd bought him.

How could that not make her happy?!

It was just...

For some reason, the scar on his chest still hadn't faded. Was he simply the kind of person who scarred easily? Or had whatever injured him back then actually been some kind of powerful dark magic Curse?

Still, the Dittany in the greenhouse had ripened over the past couple of days. She could make him some Essence of Dittany. She had no idea whether it would help, but when the time came, she could personally apply it to the scar on his chest.

And maybe while she was at it...

Hehehe...

Just as the atmosphere in the ward was drifting further and further off course, Dumbledore pushed open the doors of the Hospital Wing like a god descending from the heavens, putting an end to the strange mood just in time.

He looked at Ethan, who was surrounded on all sides like the center of everyone's attention, and couldn't help raising an eyebrow. Beneath his white beard, a faintly gossipy smile appeared.

"My, my. It seems our hero has already recovered."

"Professor."

"Professor Dumbledore."

"Albus."

The three women hurriedly stood, respectfully facing the infamous White Demon King burdened with countless crimes...

No, that wasn't right.

The highly respected Headmaster.

"Now, ladies, there's no need to be so formal."

Dumbledore waved for them to relax, then turned his attention to Ethan in the hospital bed.

"However, I do have something I'd like to discuss with Mr. Ethan in private. Would you mind giving us a moment?"

Ethan watched silently as the others left the Hospital Wing.

Dumbledore closed the wooden door behind them, then sat down beside the bed with a cheerful smile.

The two stared at one another.

In the end, Ethan was the first to lose patience.

After all, even with the experience of two lifetimes, no matter how mature he was, there was no way he could compete in schemes and reading people with a hundred-year-old geezer...

Ahem.

An elderly gentleman.

So he cautiously asked, "Professor, you specifically sent everyone else away. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Naturally, I wanted to discuss what you did last night... No, to be precise, early this morning," Dumbledore replied with a smile.

"Seriously?"

Ethan immediately looked alarmed.

"I only used the Imperius Curse on myself. You can't be sent to Azkaban for that too, can you?"

Great. Sirius was about to get himself a new cellmate.

"Of course not," Dumbledore replied, still smiling. "It's about the Philosopher's Stone."

As he spoke, he took out a small cloth pouch and removed the Philosopher's Stone.

It had shattered into several pieces, and every fragment had turned completely transparent, like crystal.

"I'm afraid I went through your pockets without permission. The Philosopher's Stone had already become like this."

"...Professor, something as powerful as the Philosopher's Stone shouldn't lose its effect just because it broke into pieces... right?"

Ethan stared at what had once been the Philosopher's Stone, swallowed, and asked cautiously.

After all, Catalysts used for Summoning Servants had exactly that property. Simply dividing a Catalyst into several pieces wouldn't make it lose its effect. It would just turn one Catalyst into several.

Maybe the Philosopher's Stone worked the same way.

"Unfortunately, the Philosopher's Stone has lost the power it once possessed."

Dumbledore sighed softly.

"Still, Voldemort was unable to make use of it. Under the circumstances, that is at least some consolation."

"Huh? Did I break the Philosopher's Stone?"

Ethan looked as though disaster had struck and asked nervously, "Something that valuable... Mr. Flamel isn't going to make me replace it, is he?"

"No. In fact, Nicolas has already sent me a letter telling me he had decided to destroy the stone anyway."

Dumbledore shook his head gently.

"After all, merely allowing something like this to exist attracts endless trouble. Destroying it may well be the best solution, wouldn't you agree?"

"So Mr. Flamel has decided it's time to rest too, then?"

"Indeed. Nicolas has experienced far too much over the past several centuries. He is tired, and perhaps it is finally time for him to rest."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Still... your view of death is rather different from what I expected, Mr. Ethan."

"After nearly dying several times, it's hard not to become a little more accepting of it."

Ethan sighed with exaggerated world-weariness.

"I thought you might have more trouble letting go," Dumbledore remarked casually. "After all, from what I can see, there are still many marri... many bonds in your life that you would find difficult to abandon, aren't there?"

"That's a separate issue. Accepting death doesn't mean I'm just going to lie down and let it happen."

Ethan pursed his lips.

"Like you said, Professor, there are still plenty of people and things in this world I can't let go of. If some blind idiot tries to use death to separate me from them, I'll use death to separate him from this world first!"

"Ha. In that case, all I can do is pray to Merlin that no such blind idiots ever decide to provoke you."

Faced with Ethan's somewhat extreme declaration, Dumbledore merely smiled.

Then he stood and winked at Ethan.

"Well, now that I've told you everything I needed to, I should be going. We can't leave the ladies waiting too long."

Dumbledore walked briskly to the door and pulled it open, cheerfully greeting Alanna and the others, who were leaning against it trying to eavesdrop.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'll see you at dinner."

After that, despite strong protests from Alanna and the others, Ethan had Madam Pomfrey examine him. Once she confirmed that he had completely recovered, he immediately discharged himself.

After all, judging by the looks on their faces, if he stayed in the Hospital Wing much longer, he had the distinct feeling his chastity might not survive...

His own dormitory was definitely safer.

But when Ethan returned to the common room, he was greeted by a chorus of miserable sighs.

"Yo. What's wrong with all of you?"

Ethan found an empty armchair, sat down, and asked at his leisure.

"Don't even mention it," Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, groaned. "Our match against Ravenclaw is tomorrow, but Harry is still unconscious. Without a Seeker, there's no way we can win."

"Yeah. Gryffindor's House Cup score was already low," Fred added, unusually serious instead of wearing his usual mischievous grin. "We were hoping to take first place in Quidditch and make up some of those points. Now that's gone too."

George chimed in, "At least then we wouldn't have lost quite so badly, right?"

"Don't you two think the main reason we're in this situation is all the trouble you cause in Potions every other day?"

Ethan rolled his eyes at the Weasley twins, those walking point-deduction machines, and gave a dry laugh.

Still, he wasn't worried in the slightest about Gryffindor's low House Cup score.

After everything that had happened, Dumbledore would definitely award Gryffindor enough points at the End-of-Term Feast to make up the difference.

That was a minor problem.

The Quidditch match, though...

"Come on, Wood. Don't you have any reserve players?" Ethan asked.

"We used to."

Wood looked miserable.

"But a bunch of players graduated last year, and the Seeker position was left completely vacant. During tryouts this year, we couldn't find a single qualified Seeker. Not even anyone good enough to serve as a substitute."

"Fortunately, Professor McGonagall recommended Harry to the team. You know how good he is. As long as we have him as Seeker, if someone in any other position has a problem, it's easy enough to put in a reserve."

"And now Harry, your one and only Seeker, is out of action," Ethan said, driving the knife in with perfect precision.

"Exactly..."

Wood looked utterly dejected.

"Given the situation, we don't have any chance of winning unless we can somehow find another player good enough to be a Seeker. The other positions are manageable, but people with the qualities needed to be a Seeker are incredibly rare. And even if we found one, we'd still need time for training and to get them used to the team."

"The match is tomorrow. There's simply no time."

"Exactly. Where are we supposed to find someone who's great on a Broomstick, has incredibly sharp eyesight, and can fit perfectly into a Quidditch team?"

Ethan rested his chin on one hand and sank into thought.

"...Huh?"

Something in Ethan's words seemed to suddenly click.

Everyone in the common room turned toward him at once and began looking him up and down.

Feeling the distinctly suspicious gazes settling on him, Ethan shuddered.

"Wait. Why are you all looking at me like that?"

...

Chapter 303: This Is What Comes Along Once Every Few Thousand Years?

"Oh, you're awake?"

Harry gradually came to his senses, fumbled around for his glasses, and put them on. The first thing he saw clearly was Dumbledore's smiling face right in front of him.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry suddenly snapped fully awake and struggled to sit up. "The Philosopher's Stone! It was Quirrell! He's a follower of Voldemort! We have to stop him..."

"Don't get too excited, Harry, or Madam Pomfrey will throw me out." Dumbledore gently placed a rough hand on Harry's shoulder. "It's all over. The Philosopher's Stone did not fall into Voldemort's hands."

"Then who got the Philosopher's Stone? Oh, and Ethan! He was with me. Is he all right?"

"Calm down, Harry. I think I'll have to answer your questions one at a time..."

After Dumbledore left, Madam Pomfrey finally allowed Ron and Hermione into the ward.

"Harry!"

Hermione practically threw herself onto the bed and wrapped Harry in a crushing hug.

"Ow, ow, ow! Hermione, not so hard..." Harry groaned repeatedly.

"Yeah, you're about to squeeze Harry's bones in half," Ron helpfully added, clearly enjoying himself.

Hermione froze, then hurriedly backed away and stood beside Ron again. She looked at Harry as though she wanted to say something but couldn't quite bring herself to.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Harry gave them an awkward smile. "I was just unconscious for a while longer than usual. Nothing happened to me."

"Maybe nothing happened to you, but the whole school is talking about how you bravely faced You-Know-Who all by yourself and protected the Philosopher's Stone from him," Ron said, still sounding shaken.

"Wait, wait, wait." Harry stared at him strangely. "Why am I the only one? What about Ethan? He was there too, wasn't he?"

"People are always more willing to believe the more dramatic version. Compared to you and Ethan fighting off You-Know-Who together, you desperately facing him alone sounds a lot more legendary."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And even when people ask Ethan whether that's what really happened, he doesn't bother explaining. He just acts like, 'Yep, that's right. Harry did everything. I was just there to pick up the scraps.'"

"...That does sound exactly like something he'd do." Harry gave a dry chuckle.

"Still, quite a few people think the two of you did it together," Ron added. "After all, you both ended up in the Hospital Wing."

Then he solemnly patted Harry on the shoulder.

"Don't lose heart, Harry. One day, you'll step out of Ethan's shadow and accomplish something of your own."

"Speaking of Ethan, where is he?"

Harry glanced around. He was currently the only patient left in the Hospital Wing.

"Well..." Hermione and Ron exchanged a hesitant look.

Tweet!

A sharp, piercing silver whistle cut in through the window.

Harry froze for a moment before immediately realizing what it meant.

"Right! Gryffindor is playing Ravenclaw today! I have to get to the Quidditch Pitch. Gryffindor can't win without me as Seeker!"

"Harry, maybe... you shouldn't go," Ron said cautiously. "Your health is more important, isn't it?"

"Ron! What are you talking about at a time like this?"

Harry stripped off his hospital clothes in no time and changed into his school robes.

"...Ron is right, Harry," Hermione said, choosing her words with extreme care. "This match really has nothing to do with you anymore. You should stay here and recover."

"???"

Harry frowned.

Something was definitely wrong.

"You two... aren't hiding something from me, are you?"

Could it be...

Had these two finally gotten together?

Surely not. They had only just turned twelve. No matter how you looked at it, that was way too early...

No way. His two best friends couldn't get together and leave him as the only single one!

They were only a year older than him!

(Note: Hermione's birthday is September 19, 1979, while Ron's is March 1, 1980. At this point, Harry is the only one of the three who has not yet turned twelve.)

"It's not that..." Hermione sighed. "We just don't know how to tell you."

"Then don't."

Harry decisively climbed out of bed.

"I'll go to the Quidditch Pitch and see for myself."

So the three of them slipped out of the Hospital Wing while Madam Pomfrey wasn't looking. Hermione and Ron supported Harry on either side as they headed toward the Quidditch Pitch, though only because the two of them insisted. Harry was already perfectly capable of walking on his own.

They quickly found their classmates in the Gryffindor section of the stands, along with two Slytherin girls who had somehow blended in as though they belonged there.

"Why are there only two of you? Where's Ethan?"

Harry found an empty seat beside them, deliberately leaving one seat between himself and the girls, then directed the question at Alanna.

Yeah, better not ask Cassandra.

Alanna was obviously much easier to talk to.

"Oh, Harry. Looks like you're all right."

Alanna smiled and handed Harry the Binoculars she had been holding, then took out a monocular and raised it to her eye to continue watching the match.

Harry recognized it immediately.

That monocular belonged to Ethan.

"There. Look over there, Harry. Behind the left goalposts."

Alanna quickly found her target again and pointed it out for him, helpfully adding, "He's the only person on the entire field standing on his Broomstick while flying."

"???"

Completely bewildered, Harry hurriedly raised the Binoculars and found the unmistakable figure near the edge of the pitch.

...

Time rewound to yesterday, inside the Gryffindor common room.

"Seriously, why are you all looking at me like that?"

Ethan shuddered for no apparent reason as he stared at the group of Quidditch players eyeing him with obvious ulterior motives. He suddenly regretted leaving the Hospital Wing so early.

At least back there, the people looking at him with bad intentions had all been girls.

If it was a bunch of grown men instead...

Yeah, maybe he should just surrender his chastity to the girls after all.

"I seem to remember Madam Hooch mentioning that a certain transfer student who enrolled this year put on quite a performance during flying class."

Chaser Angelina Johnson draped an arm over Ethan's shoulder with an amused smile and gave him a wink.

"Right! How did I almost forget about someone like you?"

Wood suddenly saw the light. He slapped Ethan on the opposite shoulder and declared solemnly, "We've reached a unanimous decision. You're going to be our Seeker, Ethan. Consider yourself honored."

"Wait, you're joking, right, Wood?"

Ethan stared at him in disbelief.

"Isn't a Seeker supposed to be small, agile, and fast? Look at the size of me. You seriously think I can be a Seeker?"

"Don't sell yourself short just because your build isn't ideal for a Seeker, Ethan."

Wood patted his shoulder again, looking utterly sincere.

"You should know that Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian national Quidditch team's new Seeker, is a six-foot-tall brute. You're about the same height as him. You'll be fine!"

"...I'm already six feet two."

Ethan silently stood up and straightened to his full height of 188 centimeters.

"...Okay, fair enough. At that height, squeezing through tight spaces while chasing the Golden Snitch really would be inconvenient."

Wood frowned in thought, then suddenly clapped his hands.

"Why don't you play Keeper instead? I can fill in as Seeker."

"You? Seeker?" Angelina stared at him in astonishment. "Oliver, are you sure about that? Don't forget..."

"It's fine, Angelina." Wood waved dismissively. "It's only for one match. I can manage if I put in the effort."

"You as Seeker?"

Ethan leaned dramatically backward and gave Wood, the team's Keeper, a very obvious Are you sure you're up to it? look.

"What's that expression supposed to mean?" Wood snapped indignantly. "I almost became a Seeker back then, you know."

"Why 'almost'?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow and looked at him teasingly.

"Because..." Wood guiltily looked away.

"Allow us to explain."

Fred and George each threw an arm around one of Wood's shoulders and grinned mischievously at Ethan.

"Our captain, Senior Oliver Wood, really did apply for the Seeker position when he first tried out for the Quidditch team," Fred began in an exaggerated storyteller's cadence.

"So why did he ultimately become a Keeper instead?" George chimed in with the same theatrical tone.

"According to highly unreliable sources, during Senior Wood's tryout, the Golden Snitch struck him directly in his little [beep][beep]. From that day onward, Senior Wood developed a deep psychological trauma toward the Golden Snitch and has never dared approach another round flying object of similar size."

"Oho～"

Ethan's gaze instantly sharpened.

"That's enough from you two!" Wood roared. "I crashed into the goalposts while chasing the Golden Snitch and fell off my broom! My little brother wasn't hurt at all!"

"Ahem. It's fine, Senior Wood. No need to worry about such minor details."

Ethan struggled not to laugh while consoling the now bright-red Wood, who was baring his teeth as he chased the two human-shaped, self-propelled rumor factories around the common room.

"But what does any of that have to do with me? I'm not playing Quidditch."

Ethan sat back down in the armchair, completely unmoved.

Wood stopped in his tracks and stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't joke around, Ethan. What boy isn't interested in Quidditch?"

"What, is my not playing Quidditch costing you money?"

Ethan clicked his tongue irritably.

"I'm not doing it. And don't even think about trying to pressure me with team honor or Professor McGonagall. I don't care about any of that."

"Come on, Ethan. That's where you're wrong."

Wood sat down in the armchair opposite him and began persuading him with complete sincerity.

"You really don't understand just how good your natural qualities are."

"How would I not understand myself?"

"Just look at what you've got! Come on, everyone, take a look."

Wood gestured toward the rest of the team, then pointed Ethan out from head to toe.

"These muscles, this build, those sharp senses. Someone like you comes along once every few thousand years!"

"Oh, come on, don't praise me that much."

Ethan wore the expression of someone saying, Please, ma'am, that's too much, though he was clearly enjoying every second of it.

"With your build, you're practically a living, mobile human barrier! You wouldn't even need training to play Keeper. Just stand in front of the goalposts and you're done!"

"Oh, so this is what comes along once every few thousand years?"

The smile immediately disappeared from Ethan's face.

He gave Wood a dry laugh.

"So basically, I'm just a wall."

"That's not what I meant..." Wood said awkwardly, realizing he'd put his foot in his mouth.

"All right, Wood, stop wasting your breath."

Ethan waved him off.

"I'm not doing it. Don't even think about dragging me into this."

"You!"

Wood pointed at him with the expression of a teacher looking at a hopeless student.

"All right, Wood. Let me handle this."

Patty, who had remained silent until now, calmly waved a hand.

She leaned down and whispered something into Ethan's ear.

The lazy, unserious expression vanished from his face immediately.

"Actually, Senior Wood, you do have a point. It doesn't sit right with me to watch Gryffindor get pushed around either. Fine, I'll reluctantly fill in as Seeker."

Ethan raised one index finger with a serious expression.

"But we're clear on one thing. This is the only time!"

No one knew what Patty had said, but Ethan agreeing to join was good news either way. Wood immediately grabbed him and dragged him off to the Quidditch Pitch for some emergency last-minute training, leaving behind a common room full of baffled spectators.

"So what exactly did you say in Ethan's ear?" Chris asked curiously.

"Nothing." Patty shrugged. "I just told him to think about something."

"Think about what?"

"Don't forget that Alanna used to be the Seeker for the Slytherin team. If Ethan also shone on the Quidditch Pitch as a Seeker, wouldn't the two of them look even more like a perfect match... something along those lines."

Patty let out a disdainful laugh, her eyes carrying the exhaustion of someone who had seen far too much.

"After all, idiot couples are the easiest people in the world to figure out."

"...My condolences, Patty."

Claire gave Patty a solemn pat on the shoulder.

"Tony isn't Ethan, after all. You can't force these things."

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

Patty's eyes looked even more world-weary.

...

Back in the present, Ethan stood with both feet planted on the handle of his Nimbus 2000, speeding after the Golden Snitch just ahead.

At that moment, a blue figure came racing in from the other side.

It was Ravenclaw's Seeker, Cho Chang, whose Asian features resembled Ethan's.

(Note: In the original story, Cho Chang first meets Harry during a Quidditch match in 1993, when Harry is in his third year. However, Harry missed the Ravenclaw match during his first year because he was unconscious, while Quidditch was suspended during his second year due to the Chamber of Secrets incident, with no direct description of whether the matches properly resumed afterward. Therefore, it is also possible that Cho Chang joined the Quidditch team much earlier and simply never formally encountered Harry on the pitch.)

The Golden Snitch suddenly changed direction in midair, forcing Cho Chang to fall in behind Ethan as the chase continued.

She showed no intention of backing off. From the look of her, even accidentally knocking Ethan off his broom wouldn't have made her hesitate.

Ethan silently lowered his bent knees a little farther, reducing his wind resistance even more.

At that moment, the Nimbus 2000 fully demonstrated its value, quickly opening a gap between him and Cho Chang, who was only riding a Comet 260.

"Chang, looks like you need a better broom!"

Ethan called over the roaring wind without even looking back.

Then he sprang off the broom, reached out, and snatched the tiny Golden Snitch from the air before landing steadily back on the handle.

"Ethan has caught the Golden Snitch! Gryffindor wins again! Three victories in a row! This year's Quidditch Cup belongs to Gryffindor House!"

Lee Jordan, himself a Gryffindor, roared into his megaphone from the commentator's booth.

A tidal wave of cheers erupted throughout the stands.

Even Professor McGonagall wiped moisture from the corners of her eyes.

Ethan descended quickly to the ground and waved the Golden Snitch toward Alanna in the stands from a distance.

"That was a beautiful jump, Ethan."

Cho Chang landed beside him and casually greeted him in fluent Mandarin.

"If you'd flown in a proper straddling position, I probably would've had even less chance of catching you. Looks like you were right. Maybe I really should get a better broom."

"Your riding position doesn't make that much difference. Your equipment was holding back your skill more than anything else. If you'd been riding the same Nimbus 2000 as me, there's no telling which of us would've won."

Perhaps because he was facing someone with the same kind of features as himself, Ethan instinctively exchanged a couple of polite remarks with Cho Chang.

After giving her a courteous smile, he shifted his attention back toward his girlfriend, who was leading the crowd and charging straight toward him.

"You don't have to be so modest. I really wasn't as good as you."

Cho Chang tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and smiled softly.

"I'm looking forward to our next match."

"There won't be one. I was only a temporary substitute for this match. If our Seeker, Harry, hadn't ended up in the Hospital Wing, I wouldn't even have been playing."

Ethan shrugged indifferently.

"I probably won't be involved in any future matches."

"I see..."

A trace of disappointment flashed through Cho Chang's eyes.

"But Harry's really good too. You must've seen his last two matches. His skill is definitely better than mine, and I'm only a last-minute replacement."

A proud smile spread across Ethan's face as he began enthusiastically praising his own beloved son...

No, wait.

His good friend.

"I saw his earlier matches. He really is an excellent Seeker," Cho Chang said with a smile. "I hope he's truly as good as you say."

Alanna stopped a few feet away from them.

She looked at the two faces that seemed extremely similar in her eyes and puffed out her cheeks in irritation.

She had taken her eyes off this jerk for barely two minutes, and he was already flirting with another girl!

So she strode forward, hooked her arm through Ethan's, and silently staked her claim in front of Cho Chang.