Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
"Hoo!"
The dark red steam train let out a low, urging whistle.
Ethan, carrying a suitcase refilled with snacks, clothes, and carving tools, tipped his hat to Luna.
"See you this summer, Luna. I really need to get on the train now."
Ethan glanced at Luna's hand clutching his sleeve, refusing to let go.
"Otherwise, I'll have to ride Cerberus all the way to school—hmm, that would be quite impressive."
"Then, with a Disillusionment Charm to make my head invisible, I could have an exciting Hogwarts Express chase."
Of course, he'd also be half-dead from exhaustion.
Between agonizingly showing off and comfortably lounging in his seat, eating snacks and enjoying the view, Ethan chose the latter.
Luna pursed her lips, a hint of melancholy flashing in her eyes.
But very quickly, she smiled again and said cheerfully:
"Alright then, I'll just read at home and wait for you."
"That book you gave me is absolutely fascinating! I think I could spend an entire day curled up with it in a lounge chair."
Luna was referring to the birthday gift Ethan had given her.
A thick fairy tale book.
Recommended by Professor Flitwick, it had been unearthed from a hidden antique book collection store.
This book was as thick as an Oxford dictionary and as heavy as a brick.
For Ethan and Luna, they could only hold it while reading.
The most magical thing was that the characters within existed independently.
Even if someone died in the story, if you flipped back a page, they would come alive again.
Chirping and complaining about why they were written to die.
It was very interesting.
And what Luna gave Ethan was a portrait of him that she had drawn herself.
Although the drawing skill was childish, depicting Ethan like a humanoid creature that had just crawled out of hell.
But if one looked closely, they would find that the painting was composed of thousands upon thousands of the letters "Ethan Vincent."
The frame was tied with a delicate gold chain, made of countless repetitions of the word "friend" written in gold ink.
Ethan felt this piece of art was priceless, worth more than mountains of gold and silver.
This was the power of friendship!
On a side note.
His other friends at Hogwarts also gave him gifts.
Harry gave him a set of self-cleaning paintbrushes.
Ron gave him a large bag of dark chocolate—he remembered Ethan didn't like overly sweet things.
And included a note that read:
"Thank you for winning the challenge! I got a new wand! Willow, 14 inches, unicorn tail hair! It works a hundred times better than the old one!"
Hermione, on the other hand, gave him a book titled The Origins of Classical Art Development, which certainly suited her personality.
In fact, most of the gifts Ethan received were art-related books.
It was as if everyone applied the equation "Ravenclaw + painting = art books."
Ethan specifically gave Harry a special gift—a painting of Lily.
However, he added a measure to prevent addiction.
If someone stared at the painting for more than thirty minutes, the gentle Lily in the painting would suddenly turn into a devil and reach out to slap the viewer.
It took several days for Harry to write back to him.
He expressed his love for the painting in shaky handwriting.
And regretfully stated that while he was admiring the painting in the Great Hall, Snape unfortunately saw it.
The inherently evil Snape immediately confiscated the painting, deducting ten points from Gryffindor for "collecting contraband."
Only the next day, for some unknown reason, half of Snape's face was swollen.
Ethan: It's none of Ethan's business. Ethan knows nothing.
"Hoo!"
The train engine let out a puff of steam, and the doors were about to close.
"Bye-bye, Luna. I'll write to you."
Ethan chuckled, raising his hand to tease Carrot, his now very aloof owl.
"Bye-bye, Ethan—!"
Luna jumped vigorously on the platform, waving her slender arms.
"Hoo hoo!"
The owl on her shoulder also flapped its wings.
Ethan leaned his head out the window, waving goodbye as well.
He didn't pull back until the train turned a corner and was no longer visible, his face numb from smiling.
So this is what it feels like to be seen off.
"It feels really good to see others off," Ethan murmured.
Beside him, a passing student screamed and fell on his bottom.
Life after returning to school was simple and fulfilling.
Ethan planned to prepare all the "components" for the mural before taking them to the trapdoor to assemble them at once.
After all, he couldn't run back and forth every day.
That would be both conspicuous and troublesome.
He might one day be grabbed by the collar by old Dumbledore and questioned about what marvelous little surprise this pure and innocent painter was up to now.
In the plan.
The mural's components included: carved models of the ancient city of Saen, animated armor summons (common monsters), and a final big BOSS.
Ethan had considered whether to let Cerberus take on this honor.
But he always felt something was missing.
"The final big BOSS must be able to guard the entire ancient city and make Quirrell smile happily at first glance…", Ethan mused, still undecided.
Ever since the school year began.
Quirrell, upon seeing him, would start trembling incessantly like Pavlov's dog.
Please, he didn't have a switch on his hand.
To appease the poor Professor Quirrell, Ethan would always give him a brilliant smile.
Then, he would pleasantly watch him tremble even more violently in terror.
"Animated Armor"
"Type: Painting"
"Grade: First-tier · White Rare"
"Description: This way is blocked."
"Effect: A common summon. Can consume magic to summon multiple armors at once; can hold different weapons; can be set to act independently or controlled by magic."
"Evaluation: An old friend ahead."
"Perfect."
Ethan looked at the card in his hand with satisfaction.
It depicted an armored knight holding a long sword, emanating a righteous and awe-inspiring aura.
At a glance, it perfectly matched his mural's ancient city, like the rising sun.
He just didn't know why, after Ethan finished the painting, all the armors ran away from him.
Some even failed to dodge in time, crashing into a wall and falling apart on the spot.
They must have been moved by his painstaking academic spirit, Ethan thought, embarrassed.
After the Quidditch match.
One afternoon, a letter was delivered to Ethan's hand.
Was it Luna?
Apparently not.
The letter—or rather, a note—hastily written in elegant handwriting, read:
"Could you please come to Hagrid's hut immediately? Hermione Granger."
Hagrid's hut?
What happened?
When Ethan quickly went there directly via the portal, he immediately knew what had happened.
All the curtains were tightly drawn, and a suffocating heat swept out from the main door.
He saw a black creature the size of an arm, wagging its tail on Hagrid's table, sweeping all the empty brandy bottles onto the floor.
A baby Norwegian Ridgeback.
Professor Quirrell's "hush money" to Hagrid.
Ethan was pulled into the door by Hagrid the moment he opened it, like a rag doll.
The latter seemed not to have expected him to arrive so quickly, nervously peering out through the window crack.
Ethan straightened his wrinkled collar.
Under the anxious gazes of Harry and his two friends, he gently said to Hagrid:
"I'm going to tell Dumbledore."
Hagrid:!!!
"No, no! Please don't, I'm sorry, I was too hasty just now, a bit rough—"
The bulky Hagrid awkwardly fiddled with his fingers.
Ethan chuckled: "I'm kidding."
The few of them looked at the smile on Ethan's face, which had remained unchanged, unable to tell which part was true.
Harry was the first to speak, changing the subject, "Um, Ethan, we called you over because we wanted your opinion—you've seen what a mess it is here now."
Ethan looked at the baby black dragon's cooing appearance, frowned in disgust, and said mercilessly:
"So ugly."
?!
Hagrid was aghast, as if he had just learned that someone in the world would actually eat bunnies.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, showed expressions of relief.
Finally, someone said it.
Harry: "Sorry, we didn't mean to hide it from you. We didn't want to get you involved in trouble."
"But now there's really no other way. Hagrid doesn't want to let it go, but his wooden hut will eventually be burned to charcoal—and keeping this thing—keeping dragons is illegal."
Ron: "We wanted to send it to my brother, but we also wanted your opinion—Hermione said so."
The last sentence was mumbled by Ron.
Hermione, standing nearby, blushed, pretending to be roasted by fire, constantly fanning herself.
Ethan stared at the ugly creature, raising his eyebrows.
Although he really wanted to paint a dragon, a baby dragon felt like there wasn't much to paint…
Just then, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck!
That's right! Dragon!
Ethan's eyes widened, feeling the excitement surge within him!
He knew what to use as the final BOSS for the mural's ancient city!
It was a dragon!!
Dragons themselves are enormous, their sharp claws and fangs, soaring wings and fiery breath naturally bring immense pressure to people!
Moreover, if Quirrell saw that the final BOSS was actually a familiar Norwegian Ridgeback.
He would surely faint with happiness!
However, this baby black dragon wouldn't do.
It wasn't majestic enough.
Harry spoke: "So—Ethan, what do you think?"
Ethan looked up, meeting the curious and expectant gazes around him, and smiled slightly:
"Of course, we cannot raise this baby dragon ourselves."
"No!" Hagrid cried out in distress.
Harry and Ron breathed a sigh of relief.
That's great, Ethan thought the same.
Hermione, however, raised an eyebrow, staring at Ethan, feeling something was amiss.
Ethan: "So, we need to find a mother dragon to raise it."
Just right, a ferocious adult mother dragon would perfectly serve as the BOSS for his mural.
Upon hearing this.
—Poof! Cough, cough, cough!!!
Violent coughing immediately filled the hut!
Harry and Ron, gasping for breath, looked at Ethan as if he were insane.
Even Hagrid was dumbfounded.
Only Hermione curled her lips, thinking with reverence:
Indeed, Ethan is unique.
He can propose methods that completely deviate from normal thinking patterns, from another humanoid perspective!
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