Chapter 117
That night, Ethan and Fred stayed in the Room of Requirement until just before curfew.
They discussed the Wizard Legends card game at length, covering charms, hero skills, and which figures from Hogwarts history to choose.
Finally, before leaving, Ethan hesitated for a moment but still took out a wild rabbit pendant and demonstrated its transformative abilities. "Dumbledore gave it to me. His work."
Actually, Dumbledore had said these pendants and brooches were only lent to him, but Ethan had pretended not to hear and simply kept them. The old man never asked for them back, either.
"So Dumbledore, as a master of Transfiguration and alchemy, could solve this problem, but it would be best if you two researched the principles yourselves first."
Ethan was too embarrassed to say it outright, but while he had chatted with the old man frequently last semester, getting an audience with the headmaster wasn't actually that easy without his connection to Cyril.
The twins immediately understood what Ethan meant.
The two looked at each other, and Fred asked, "Can you leave it with us for research?"
"Yes, just don't break it," Ethan reminded them, handing the pendant over.
The twins patted their chests as a guarantee. "Don't worry, we absolutely won't destroy it!"
However, looking at the gleam in their eyes, Ethan was somewhat doubtful about the credibility of their guarantee.
During Thursday's second Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Lockhart stopped teaching from *The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection*, their textbook. Instead, he began reading long passages from his own books.
Reading with rising enthusiasm, he looked at the students below, preparing to select a lucky person for some dramatic performance.
Ethan caught the look Lockhart cast his way and thought, *This is bad.* His mind raced, trying to figure out how to avoid his miserable fate.
So, before Lockhart could call his name, Ethan raised his hand.
"Oh? Jones? Do you want to assist with my performance? Then come up." Lockhart was very pleasantly surprised. He had been about to call Ethan's name.
"No, Professor. I have a question I want to ask you. Ever since I read your book, I've wanted to know the answer. I was too embarrassed to ask during the last class, but now, after hearing the story you told in person, I can't help but ask."
"What is the question? Go ahead." Hearing that Ethan's question concerned his book, Lockhart immediately perked up.
"It's like this, Professor. In your book 'Wanderings with Werewolves,' you said that after subduing the werewolf, you cast a very complex Human-Form charm that changed him from a fanged, fur-covered werewolf back into a human. I want to know the specific details of this charm. You see, if we could learn it, we could eliminate the threat of werewolves forever."
Ethan stood up and asked his question.
Lockhart was stunned, looking somewhat flustered. "Well..."
After a moment's thought, he found his words. "Mr. Jones, you must understand that this is a very complex charm, not something a second-year student like you can learn. Moreover, I do not wish to reveal this charm at this time. So I am very sorry, but I cannot share this secret with you for now."
"Alright." Ethan sat down, full of regret.
However, this interruption also ruined Lockhart's desire to perform. He continued reading from his book, no longer looking at Ethan.
After he sat down, Draco quietly gave him a thumbs up.
Ethan shook his head.
Although he had improvised the question to avoid performing, it was one that had genuinely occurred to him after reading Lockhart's book.
He really wanted to know the details of that restoration charm, because it involved very advanced Transfiguration knowledge that he hadn't even seen in Dumbledore's notes.
Although Ethan knew Lockhart was stealing other people's stories, he sincerely hoped that this charm, which had its own merits compared to the Wolfsbane Potion, truly existed and had been passed down.
So after Potions class on Friday, Ethan stayed behind until the end and asked Snape, "Professor, do you know the charm mentioned in Professor Lockhart's book that can return a werewolf to human form?"
Upon hearing the word werewolf, Snape's expression flickered slightly.
He asked with a cold smile, "What? Are you planning to go wrestle with werewolves?"
"Just curious, wondering if our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor made up this story."
Snape had a very poor impression of Lockhart, and not only because he had once again been passed over for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.
"Lockhart was an ambitious but incompetent glory-seeker even when he was a student. Although he had some talent, he always liked to take shortcuts. Judging from his performance in school, I believe the things he writes about in his books are all fabrications."
Snape entered Hogwarts a few years before Lockhart. Even as an underclassman, Lockhart had already displayed the same traits he did now.
By the time Snape returned to the school to teach, Lockhart had already achieved his primary goal: making sure everyone in the school knew him.
His name and photographs frequently appeared in the school newspaper, which he had lobbied the headmaster to establish, and he had some eye-catching "great achievements."
From the look on Snape's face, he did not seem to like people like Lockhart very much.
"All right, I understand." Ethan was somewhat disappointed.
Actually, he had suspected as much. After all, if such a charm truly existed and was so effective, the Ministry would certainly have found Lockhart and demanded he make the charm public to benefit more people troubled by werewolves.
But clearly, the charm had not been made public; otherwise, Ethan would certainly have found it in some books.
So either the charm did not exist at all, or the charm existed but Lockhart did not know it, so he fended off the Ministry with other excuses, leading the Ministry to believe the charm was his fabrication.
But regardless of which situation it was, it meant Ethan was destined never to learn this charm.
"Do not forget tomorrow. Come to my office on time."
"Yes, Professor."
When he returned to the common room from the library that evening, he saw Draco showing off a brand new broom in his hand.
"The latest Nimbus 2001! Released just last month! My father bought seven of them and gave them to our house Quidditch team!"
The broom in his hand was smooth and shiny. A line of gold lettering on it gleamed in the light of the common room lamps.
Several other Quidditch team members also had new brooms in their hands, caressing them lovingly.
Ethan knew Draco had been very unhappy ever since Harry joined the Gryffindor team last year. He'd been working hard since last term, hoping to join the Slytherin team.
This year, thanks to the Malfoy family's "little bit" of financial backing, his wish had finally come true.
Draco caught Ethan looking and pointed at himself proudly. "Slytherin's new Seeker."
Slytherin's previous Seeker had graduated earlier that year, leaving the position vacant.
Plenty of students had been interested in the Seeker position, but after that display of wealth, Captain Flint immediately named Draco the new Seeker.
"Not bad. Play well and try to win the Quidditch Cup this year." Ethan didn't have much interest in Quidditch, so he offered a perfunctory reply and returned to the dormitory.
He left the excited Quidditch players behind, who were still boasting to the little snakes in the common room about their brooms' performance.
"With these latest brooms, we will definitely win the Quidditch Cup this year!"
As the voices behind him faded, Ethan closed the dormitory door, pulled out his textbooks, and began to study.
Ethan had been busy lately. During his free periods, he'd been researching light and shadow charms. Every evening after the library closed, he brought several books back to the dormitory to study.
When curfew arrived, he still had to make his nightly trip to the Room of Requirement for an hour of practice and to discuss Wizard Legends progress with the twins.
With so much on his plate, how could Ethan spare the energy to notice Draco's changing expressions?
The next morning, Ethan sat up in bed yawning, dazed for a moment. After waking up a bit, he drew back his bed curtains.
"You're going to practice today?" Ethan, who had just gotten out of bed in his pajamas, saw Draco adjusting his Slytherin Quidditch uniform in front of the mirror.
"Yes, today's my first team practice." In the mirror, Draco's expression was a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
"Practice more and you'll be fine. It's natural to be nervous the first time, but I remember you fly quite well, so I'm sure there won't be any problem." Ethan yawned again.
"Yes."
"Want to go to breakfast together?" Ethan casually asked while gathering his toiletries.
Draco shook his head at the mirror. "I have to leave first. Flint and the others are waiting for me. They want to explain some tactics and such before training starts."
"Sure." Ethan took his things and left.
When he returned to the dormitory, Draco was already gone, and the broom he'd placed in the most conspicuous spot had been taken away as well.
While eating breakfast, Ethan received a letter from Cyril. "The first batch of fire lizards will be delivered to Hogsmeade tomorrow. Meet at noon at the Three Broomsticks for the handover."
The letter also described the people coming for the handover. Ethan planned to just give it directly to Snape.
After all, he couldn't leave school to visit Hogsmeade.
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2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 188
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 271
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 115
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