"Well, it's a fight now. Do you want to go watch?"
Ethan immediately perked up.
Watching drama—now that's human nature.
"Let's not go. What if we get into trouble?" Hermione cautioned.
"What kind of trouble could it be?" Ethan shrugged.
With that, he stepped out of the carriage. What's the point of life if you don't go watch the fun?
Cassandra followed him without a word. Hermione hesitated, but eventually followed too.
"I… I'm not going," Neville mumbled, staying seated. His years of experience had taught him one thing: never go watch a fight—you might become part of the fun.
When they reached the next carriage, they saw five people locked in a tense standoff.
The scream had come from a rather sturdy boy, not exactly the most pleasant to look at.
Currently, a mouse was latched onto his finger, its tiny sharp teeth buried in his flesh. The boy shrieked, frantically waving his hand, trying to fling the rodent off.
Apart from the unfortunate victim, the others turned to face Ethan and the group.
"Who are you? Get out!" a boy with platinum blond hair barked, pale-faced like someone chronically anemic.
He'd come to make friends, yet ended up humiliated. He didn't want anyone to witness his disgrace.
His father was a school board member—so what if he was arrogant?
The moment he saw Cassandra, however, Draco Malfoy's tone changed instantly. "Worley, I wasn't talking to you. I meant the other two."
They had met at several pure-blood banquets before. Disputes between them were inevitable.
When neither of them knew magic, Draco had tried to show off and got beaten down. At the pure-blood gathering this August, he had tried to use the magic he just learned to save face. He only ended up more humiliated.
Although Cassandra's family wasn't part of the Twenty-Eight Sacred Families, it was still an ancient pure-blood line—no worse than his.
His father was on the board. Her father was a senior official in the Ministry.
He couldn't overwhelm her with lineage, nor could he beat her in a fight. Naturally, Draco felt intimidated.
"Draco Malfoy, you really know how to cause trouble wherever you go," Cassandra said, her gaze full of disdain.
Just a show-off dragging two other wastes around—together, they make up a trio of trash.
"I…" Draco choked. Once again, he was making a fool of himself.
"Ethan, you're going to Hogwarts too!" a familiar voice said.
Unlike the red-faced Draco, Harry Potter seemed genuinely happy to see Ethan.
They hadn't been close, but they had been classmates for two years. During that time, Ethan's presence meant Dudley didn't dare to bully Harry in the classroom. In this strange magical world, it was nice to see a familiar face.
"Yes, I'm a first-year this year too. Who's this beside you?"
"This is Ron Weasley. I just met him—he's from a wizarding family," Harry introduced warmly.
"Enough! A mudblood from a Muggle family? Crabbe, teach him a lesson," Draco exploded.
Harry had ignored him. Cassandra had insulted him. And now, even a Muggle-born dared to stand by his side.
Draco snapped.
Harry was a celebrity and the so-called savior of the wizarding world—offending him was risky. Cassandra came from a powerful family. Even Ron, the redhead, was backed by the Weasley clan and Dumbledore.
But Ethan? A mudblood? He had nothing!
Bang!
"Ah!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Everything happened too quickly.
Crabbe stepped forward and took a punch to the jaw, falling instantly. Then Ethan grabbed Crabbe's wand and pointed it at Draco and Goyle.
Laughable—using someone else's wand?
Yet Draco suddenly couldn't laugh. He couldn't move at all.
"You should be glad this is the Hogwarts Express, and you're also a first-year," Ethan whispered in his ear, patting Draco's frozen face.
Then he turned to Harry.
"They were just causing you trouble, right? Now they're yours. Do whatever you want. They won't move."
"You're giving them to me? Awesome!" Harry grinned.
Ron, thrilled, kicked Draco. "What was that spell you used? That was cool!"
Ever since his father's generation, the Weasleys and Malfoys had been enemies. And now Draco had fallen into their hands—what luck!
"That was Petrificus Totalus. It's in the textbook. Didn't you read it?"
Harry and Ron exchanged awkward looks. Textbooks during summer break? Of course not.
They quickly pushed the question aside and began working over the Malfoy trio.
Under Harry's direction, Ron figured out the best places to hit without leaving visible marks—this was wisdom earned through hard lessons!
"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train. It will be sent to the school for you."
The broadcast echoed through the train.
Ethan waved the wand in his hand, lifted the spell on the three, and thoughtfully returned the wand to Crabbe's pocket. After all, the wand had done no wrong.
Freed, the Malfoy trio said nothing and scurried away.
After a few more words with Harry and Ron, Ethan returned to his carriage—they still needed to change into their wizard robes.
On the way back, Hermione kept muttering, "We shouldn't have come… We got into trouble before even reaching Hogwarts."
Cassandra, meanwhile, walked silently behind, eyes fixed on Ethan's back.
She replayed everything that had happened.
It wasn't hard to take down those three wastes, but not at that speed.
She also knew the Full Body-Bind Curse. But to cast it with someone else's wand? So fast, so fluently?
Chapter 11: Retracing the Founder's Path
The train slowed and stopped with a long whistle.
The first-years jostled and pushed toward the doors, stepping onto a dark, narrow platform.
As Ethan stepped off, he shivered. The Scottish Highlands in September were already cold at night.
"Protection Against the Cold!"
He quickly cast a Warming Charm on himself. That felt better.
The Warming Charm, a handy little spell, did just what the name suggested—probably from a third-year textbook.
"Protection Against the Cold!"
Naturally, Ethan didn't forget the others. He cast it on Hermione, Neville, and Cassandra too.
"Th-thank you," Cassandra whispered, then turned and walked away.
Like Draco, she had her own pure-blood circle—more accurately, followers.
Today, she'd opted for a private compartment to avoid them. Ironically, she ended up squeezed into a full one and spent hours listening to chatter.
But surprisingly, it hadn't been that bad.
Now that they were off the train, she had to return to the Slytherin camp—she was their future pride, after all.
"First-years, over here! Mind your step!"
A giant over three meters tall, carrying an oil lamp, approached. Though his face looked kind and honest, many students were still scared stiff.
A half-giant: Hagrid.
Ethan couldn't help but wonder about his parents. Pure-blood giants stood over four meters tall. Normal human men were barely 1.7 meters.
Was it like a little pony pulling a big cart? A toothpick stirring a cauldron?
What a mystery!
The older students went another way while the first-years followed Hagrid.
The path was narrow, steep, and slippery, with only the oil lamp lighting the way through the darkness.
At the end lay a vast black lake. Across it stood a towering castle, its windows twinkling under the stars.
Each boat held no more than four people. Ethan boarded one with Hermione, Neville, and a young witch they didn't recognize.
"Hannah Abbott," she introduced herself. Apparently, she was the famed 'Iron Hat'—frequently placed in all four houses by the Sorting Hat.
As the boat approached the castle, tension rose.
Hermione was sweating. "I hope I get into Gryffindor!"
Thanks to Dumbledore's legacy and countless magical novels, many saw Gryffindor as the greatest house.
Hermione was no exception.
But was she brave enough?
"My gran wants me to be in Gryffindor. Our whole family is," Neville sighed. "But I'm not sure I'm brave enough…"
Honestly, Hufflepuff sounded nice too—but Grandma expected more.
"As for me, I want to go to Hufflepuff," Hannah said easily. Her whole family had been there. She grew up hearing Hufflepuff stories. Besides, her family ran a small tavern. Since the Hufflepuff common room was closest to the kitchens and got along well with the house-elves, it just made sense.
"What about you, Ethan?" Hermione finally asked.
Both of them were from Muggle backgrounds. She wanted to know what someone so talented thought.
"Well, except for Slytherin, which I can't get into due to blood status, I'm fine with the others. They each have something special."
Slytherin usually accepted pure-bloods or some ambitious half-bloods. Muggle-borns? Not likely.
Gryffindor was too noisy for his taste. Not as united as Hufflepuff, nor as focused as Ravenclaw.
Ravenclaw had its own private library—a big plus.
Dumbledore had removed many books from the Hogwarts main library post-Voldemort. Ravenclaw, protective of knowledge, didn't allow that nonsense in their domain.
"That's basically saying nothing," Hermione huffed.
"Ravenclaw suits you best," Ethan added. "Outstanding wisdom is the greatest wealth of humanity—that's their motto."
He wanted to shift the story.
Before becoming friends with Harry and Ron, Hermione had been isolated in Gryffindor.
A group of pranksters, Quidditch fanatics, and chess addicts weren't exactly excited to be around a rule-following, preachy overachiever—especially one who didn't let them copy homework.
It was no wonder she had no friends… at first.