"I just think the Killing Curse is terribly inefficient," Ethan explained seriously. "That's why I want to learn the Imperius Curse instead."
Three days had passed since his tea with Dumbledore, and Ethan once again visited Quirrell's office during the weekend for extracurricular Dark Arts tutoring.
The irredeemably evil little Dementor child had returned.
Of course, Ethan had secretly sent part of his soul back afterward to spy on Dumbledore's office conversation. Everything had gone exactly according to plan.
Now, anything he did that violated school rules could conveniently be blamed on Quirrell.
Life became much easier when someone else existed to take responsibility.
Naturally, Ethan still intended to avoid actually hurting students.
"So the Imperius Curse only works on one person at a time?" Ethan asked in disappointment.
Several rabbits sat in front of him under the influence of the Imperius Curse, awkwardly spinning in circles atop Quirrell's desk like tiny dancers at a disastrous ballet performance.
"B-but…" Quirrell wiped sweat from his forehead nervously. "That's how the Unforgivable Curses function. Surely controlling or killing one person with a single spell is already enough…"
"Is there some version where you can chain together loads of people and hit all of them with Avada Kedavra at once?" Ethan wondered thoughtfully. "That sounds much more efficient."
Quirrell stared at him blankly.
If he had not personally witnessed Ethan casually using Unforgivable Curses like basic classroom spells, he would have assumed anyone saying this was completely insane.
But this was Ethan.
At this point, Quirrell genuinely believed the child possessed all the qualities necessary to become a future Dark Lord naturally.
"Well… not currently," Quirrell answered stiffly. "Or at least… I've never heard of such a thing…"
Where did an eleven-year-old even develop this level of negativity toward humanity?
No wonder Voldemort liked him so much.
After the lesson ended, Ethan kindly rescued the rabbits and carried them back to the Room of Requirement to prevent further emotional damage from Quirrell's teaching methods.
"I honestly think you're more dangerous than the Dark wizard," the Count commented coldly.
"The good owl doesn't get roast rabbit," Ethan replied immediately.
He sat comfortably beside the fireplace rotating a rabbit over an open flame while sprinkling it generously with cumin seasoning.
Life truly should involve roasting rabbits inside magical secret rooms.
At Ethan's request, the Room of Requirement had recently developed a fully functional kitchen area complete with a grill, cooking utensils, and even a hidden passage directly leading to the Hogwarts kitchens.
The house-elves had enthusiastically supplied enormous amounts of barbecue seasoning after Ethan complimented their cooking.
The room was becoming more perfect every day.
Honestly, Ethan was beginning to consider secretly living here forever after graduation like some kind of magical termite hiding inside Hogwarts walls.
Eventually, the Count surrendered to the smell of grilled rabbit and reluctantly agreed to cooperate again.
He even promised to guide Ethan toward the troll cave later.
The remainder of the weekend passed peacefully.
Mostly because Ethan spent most of it sneaking through the Forbidden Forest.
Since fresh souls were available, he saw no reason to waste time attending dinner.
Besides, plenty of Hogwarts students skipped meals regularly anyway. Hermione alone had been caught carrying stacks of books and untouched sandwiches often enough to prove that studying apparently ranked above nutrition.
The previous Ashwinder extermination plan had increased Ethan's soul completeness to fifteen percent. This time, he intended to target different creatures deeper within the forest.
By sunset, the Forbidden Forest had already become nearly pitch-black beneath the towering trees. Only pale blue glowing mushrooms and tiny floating insects provided faint illumination between the trunks.
"Krrk—"
A lone Acromantula clicked its claws menacingly.
The spider had originally been hunting for food when something horrifying drifted into the woods.
A ragged black figure floated silently above the ground. Its robes hung like wet fabric rotting in stagnant water while skeletal hands protruded from torn sleeves. The creature's face appeared hollow and indistinct beneath the hood.
The Acromantula froze instantly.
Even from several trees away, instinctive terror screamed through every nerve in its body.
It began retreating while making threatening clicking sounds.
[Soul Strength: 7]
Ethan attacked immediately.
The Dementor-like figure surged through the darkness, tattered robes fluttering violently behind him.
Fortunately, unlike real Dementors, Ethan did not need horrifying mouth-to-mouth contact to consume souls. He merely had to remain within a few feet of his target.
Otherwise, he absolutely refused to touch giant spiders directly.
Only the Count enjoyed eating insects.
The moment Ethan devoured the Acromantula's soul, the increase appeared clearly on his system panel.
15.1%.
Excellent.
That was the nutritional value of one young Acromantula soul.
Once stripped of its soul, the spider's body collapsed lifelessly onto the forest floor.
Still, Ethan was considerate enough not to leave the corpse untouched afterward.
He carefully harvested the venom instead.
A single pint of Acromantula venom sold for over one hundred Galleons. From Ethan's perspective, Hagrid was less a gamekeeper and more a walking illegal business opportunity.
Every dangerous magical creature Hagrid raised somehow became valuable.
After filling a small bottle with venom, Ethan noticed the spider's venom sacs visibly shrivelling.
"A bit disappointing," he muttered. "Not enough supply."
Naturally, one spider was nowhere near sufficient.
Floating deeper into the forest, Ethan soon located more webs stretching between trees and roots. Unlike ordinary web-spinners, Acromantulas behaved more like enormous hunting spiders. Their webs primarily existed to trap prey.
A terrified stag crashed through the undergrowth nearby.
Seconds later, an enormous Acromantula burst from the trees behind it and drove its claws straight into the deer's abdomen. After several violent twitches, the animal collapsed dead.
Then more spiders emerged.
Several adults crawled from the shadows alongside younger Acromantulas roughly the size of large dogs.
[Soul Strength: 7]
[Soul Strength: 8]
[Soul Strength: 6]
…
Due to limited food supplies and territorial conflicts with the centaurs, the Acromantula colony struggled constantly with population growth.
Fortunately for them, Ethan had arrived to solve the problem.
He planned to help reduce overcrowding personally.
That way, the spiders could continue reproducing efficiently without resource shortages. Then Ethan could return later and harvest more venom and souls.
Everyone benefited.
A perfect cycle.
Acromantula eggs only required six to eight weeks to hatch. Ethan already imagined future profits from selling venom alongside Ashwinder eggs.
Potion-makers would be delighted.
Another victory for the economy.
"Slurp—"
Crunch.
"Slurp—"
Crunch.
Beneath the cover of darkness, Ethan quietly devoured spider souls one after another from the outer edges of the colony while the Acromantulas themselves feasted peacefully on the stag corpse.
Honestly, everyone involved seemed fairly satisfied.
If spiders possessed emotions flavorful enough to taste, Ethan suspected the area would currently feel like liquid honey.
Within a short time, Ethan had consumed sixteen adult Acromantulas and three juveniles.
His soul completeness rose smoothly to seventeen percent.
Then something larger arrived.
"Krrrk—"
Dense clicking sounds echoed from every direction as dozens more Acromantulas surrounded Ethan's floating form.
Leading them was an ancient spider with cloudy white eyes.
Aragog.
[Soul Strength: 20]
Several older Acromantulas nearby also possessed soul strengths between seventeen and eighteen.
Ethan stared at them thoughtfully.
Amazing.
Only around thirty more spiders remained necessary.
"Outsider…" Aragog hissed furiously. "Leave this place…"
"Oh."
Ethan casually devoured another nearby spider soul.
17.1%.
Normally, he tried not to be overly cruel toward intelligent magical creatures.
Unfortunately, Ethan genuinely disliked Acromantulas.
Hagrid had protected and raised them for years, yet during the Battle of Hogwarts they immediately sided with Voldemort the moment things became dangerous.
Cowardly fence-sitters deserved no sympathy.
"Kill it!" Aragog roared.
Several larger spiders lunged simultaneously toward Ethan.
Unfortunately for them, Ethan was not limited to hovering a few inches above the ground like ordinary Dementors.
He could fly.
Very fast.
The Acromantulas completely missed as Ethan shot upward through the trees. Venom and webs sprayed after him, but he avoided them effortlessly while diving repeatedly back into the colony to snatch more souls.
One particularly powerful spider with seventeen soul strength disappeared instantly beneath Ethan's attack.
19%.
Excellent.
That was enough for today.
Floating lazily through the forest canopy, Ethan counted the surviving spiders below.
Roughly twenty remained alive.
Enough to prevent the centaurs from exterminating the weakened colony entirely. Given enough time, their numbers would recover naturally anyway.
[Ding! Goodwill Value +33]
See?
A genuinely good deed.
"Thanks for the meal," Ethan called cheerfully while drifting away through the darkness. "Good luck having children. I'll visit again sometime."
Aragog answered him with furious Acromantula curses echoing through the forest behind him.
....
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