"Good, let me see!"
Lockhart eagerly took it over. He didn't notice that even the surrounding upperclassmen had retreated from him with terrified expressions. Don't drag us down with your explosion!
But unlike the expected immediate chaos, Ethan's poster was a completely, utterly black "paper" on both sides. This paper was very soft, with a slippery and cold feeling that made one's skin crawl. It hung limply in Lockhart's hands.
Lockhart almost instinctively wanted to fling this eerie paper away. He only suppressed this impulse under everyone's gaze. What was this?
The other upperclassmen and club leaders cautiously opened their eyes, curiously peering over. No matter how they looked, it was just a piece of soft leather paper, black on both sides and utterly unremarkable.
Strange. This didn't seem like Ethan's style...
Lockhart was stunned, then overjoyed! He waved the black paper around, looking about. With a feigned pitying smile, he shook his head dramatically and said loudly: "Oh my! Ethan, this is all my fault! During the summer, I put you on the front page and let you taste fame. That's why you're now desperately trying to attract attention like this."
Lockhart didn't notice that the surrounding students were moving farther and farther away from him. Some whispered to their companions: "Quick, go get Madam Pomfrey from the hospital wing!"
Ethan's expression remained unchanged. His face showed no anger, no desire to argue. He just watched the boastful Lockhart with cat-like amusement, as if playing with prey.
Prefect Penelope carefully tugged at his sleeve, saying desperately: "Ethan, take it easy." This was only the first day of term! She had just become Ravenclaw's prefect... was Ravenclaw about to become notorious again?!
Ethan gave her a reassuring look. He wasn't planning to do anything. He was just following Professor Lockhart's wishes and letting him personally demonstrate the poster's effects.
"Listen to me, Ethan!" Lockhart tapped the pure black paper. "If you really want to promote your club, you should make it clearer, not like this... hm?"
His voice suddenly stopped. His gaze fixed on the black promotional poster in his hands. A thin crack had somehow appeared on it.
At the same time... "Ugh!"
Lockhart shuddered, his head feeling like it had been stabbed with a needle, making him cry out in pain.
Then... "Crack, crack, crack."
The crack on the black paper grew larger and larger, while Lockhart's head hurt more and more. From needle pricks to hammer blows! As if something was hatching from within!
"Gah!" Lockhart finally couldn't bear it and screamed in agony. He even grabbed his well-maintained golden hair, trying to fight pain with pain!
Here it comes! Everyone tensed up, staring intently at Lockhart as he began to suffer. Prefect Penelope covered her mouth, biting her fingers to suppress her anxiety and fear. It was as if last year's challenge spectacle was appearing before their eyes again.
The black paper slipped from Lockhart's hands and floated to the ground. The cracks on it gradually spread like a spider web across the surface. Then, piece by piece, it peeled away. Revealing the pure white interior.
Artwork: Breaking Out of the Shell
Type: Conceptual Painting
Grade: Second Tier Blue Rare
Description: I added a little influence... Oops! Accidentally added too much!
Effe: Like a hatching egg, life's radiance breaks out from a dark exterior. Can deeply mesmerise people, implant words in their minds, and make them unconsciously repeat them
Evaluation: Legal Imperius Curse... until the Ministry passes relevant laws
Lockhart's cries of pain suddenly stopped. Under everyone's gaze, he raised his dishevelled head, eyes wide open, staring unblinkingly at the soft leather paper that had revealed its white interior.
He opened his mouth and stiffly recited: "Welcome to join the Morning Star Club... Here, you can find like-minded companions to train magic together and explore the truth of knowledge and the boundaries of the world..."
"Welcome to join the Morning Star Club... Here..."
"Welcome to join the Morning Star Club..."
In the dead silence, only Lockhart's voice echoed like a broken record, over and over again. Very hypnotic.
"Ta-da!" Ethan suddenly spoke, breaking the silence and making everyone jump.
Ethan spread his arms like a director who had finally waited for the movie to end before revealing spoilers. His face was full of pure joy.
"How about it? Anyone who sees my club poster will automatically start repeating the club slogan and expand my publicity! Isn't this idea brilliant?"
Ethan looked at Prefect Penelope, his eyes sparkling. Prefect Penelope forced a smile that looked like crying. Maybe she should go find Headmaster Dumbledore and resign right now. Whoever wanted to be prefect could do it.
Ethan continued cheerfully: "Don't worry about quantities... I printed a whole stack."
Saying this, Ethan pulled out a stack of black papers from his coat. "Although they don't have the same effect as the original painting, they're sufficient!"
Upon hearing this, the others felt that what they should worry about now wasn't whether there were enough posters. But whether there were enough young wizards at Hogwarts for Ethan to influence.
Gobstone Club president Wallace Raditz was anxious. Setting aside legality, Ethan's poster was quite powerful! It had immediately attracted (involuntarily) a large batch of students! He wouldn't come over and forcibly take their positions, would he...?
Wallace glanced at the bulletin board, secretly casting a permanent sticking charm on his club's centre position poster, mustering his courage. If Ethan tried to take positions by force, he would definitely struggle for one second.
However, facts proved that Wallace was clearly judging a gentleman's heart with a petty mind. Ethan snapped his fingers, and the now pure white poster automatically flew up and landed in his hands.
Ethan walked toward the bulletin board. When passing Professor Lockhart, who seemed to be stuck in a loop due to insufficient processing power, he even patted his head like he was fixing old electronics, getting the words flowing smoothly again.
Then he naturally posted his poster in a side position.
Seeing this, the club presidents and members looked at each other and all breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Ethan still had principles.
The Gobstone president even felt guilty, thinking he had misjudged the magnanimous Ethan. Only Penelope, who knew Ethan's true nature, closed her eyes, unable to watch.
Naive. Too naive.
After posting it, Ethan turned around and smiled at everyone: "By the way, besides efficiently spreading ideas, this poster has another function."
Everyone stared: "?" There's more?
"I guarantee that even in the corner, students will be able to see it clearly."
At breakfast time, students yawned as they entered the Great Hall in twos and threes. The moment they entered, they couldn't help but squint and exclaim: "So... so bright!"
"Like the eternal sun in the sky, like a beacon guiding the way in darkness! This is too bright!"
"This is... the Morning Star Club? The club founded by that Ethan Vincent?!"
"Wow! It's really so dazzling you can't keep your eyes open!"
Other club leaders stood expressionlessly to the side. No one noticed them. Because Ethan's poster's other ability was to emit fifty thousand watts of blinding radiance! Their posters were all obscured by the light!
What kind of strategy was this?!
Only the large words "Morning Star Club Welcomes You" floated clearly in the radiance, becoming the only promotional text other students could see.
Now they finally understood why Ethan hadn't competed at all. Because he had directly eliminated the other clubs and become first! Principles? Non-existent.
"Hm? This method seems somewhat familiar..." In the overwhelming, blinding light, Ethan was surrounded by a golden glow, his face blurred, his clear voice seeming to come from the distant heavens.
Like someone with flowing hair wearing white robes, he gently and kindly extended his hand to the lost students of the world: "Morning Star Club... want to join?"
Ethan thought for a moment, then added an authoritative endorsement: "Professor Gilderoy Lockhart also highly recommends it!"
Watching the young wizards dazedly accept his posters, Ethan thought to himself: He really looked forward to when these new stars would clear the Sen Castle assessment. He also had to live up to their efforts and create bigger surprises for them beyond just interesting challenges.