"Northumberland," the Count said lazily, "inside an abandoned manor where you can apparently hear screaming souls from miles away."
The bird clicked his beak thoughtfully while remembering it.
"No one's dared live there since. Though for you, it'll probably feel like home."
Then the Count paused proudly.
"Incidentally, 'abandoned manor' and 'returning home' almost rhyme. Which is hilarious."
"You can stop talking now," Ethan sighed while rubbing his forehead.
Sneaking away during Christmas suddenly sounded extremely appealing.
Rose and Edward clearly had no intention of taking him on holiday anyway.
Northumberland wasn't even terribly far from the Scottish Highlands. If necessary, Ethan could probably fly there himself in Dementor form.
At worst, a few unfortunate wizards might glimpse a floating nightmare crossing the sky at midnight.
The day before Halloween, Charms class finally reached a historic milestone.
After weeks of Ethan privately testing increasingly advanced magic inside the Room of Requirement, the rest of his classmates were finally permitted to learn their first actual spell.
"See?" Ethan whispered to Harry while Professor Flitwick prepared the lesson. "Homework is pointless. It's the greatest evil ever invented."
"Agreed," Harry whispered back immediately.
Hermione, meanwhile, still barely acknowledged either of them after the forbidden corridor incident. When Professor Flitwick assigned her beside Ron for practical work, she looked deeply offended by reality itself.
"All right, everyone!" squeaked Professor Flitwick from atop his stack of books. "Remember the precise wrist movement we've practised! Swish and flick!"
He demonstrated enthusiastically.
"And pronunciation matters enormously! Never forget the unfortunate wizard Baruffio, who once said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself lying on the floor with a buffalo standing on his chest."
The class paired into groups of two.
Fortunately, Ethan ended up beside Neville instead of Seamus. At least Neville was unlikely to accidentally detonate the classroom.
That alone counted as progress.
Ethan had already mastered Wingardium Leviosa weeks ago, which unfortunately caused him to underestimate how difficult magic seemed for ordinary first-years.
Neville had repeated the incantation at least a hundred times already.
Nothing happened.
"Please," Neville whispered desperately toward the feather in front of him. "Please just move…"
Honestly, Neville looked ready to accept the buffalo incident if it meant anything magical occurred at all.
"You forgot the wand movement," Ethan reminded him kindly.
Neville froze.
"O-oh…"
He immediately began repeating the wrist movement frantically in midair, trying desperately to coordinate spell and motion together.
[Ding! Goodwill Value +1]
Meanwhile, the table beside them descended rapidly into war.
"You're saying it wrong," Hermione informed Ron bluntly. "It's Wingardium Levi-o-sa. You need to stretch the 'o' properly."
Ron's ears turned scarlet instantly.
"Well, if you're so brilliant," he snapped, "why don't you do it yourself?"
"No one in the classroom is bleeding from the ceiling," Ethan whispered to Neville, "yet somehow somebody's entered a blood-rage state anyway."
Neville blinked nervously.
"What's blood rage? Is that part of the spell?"
Ethan subtly pointed toward Ron, whose face now resembled an overheating tomato.
Hermione rolled up her sleeves sharply.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather immediately rose into the air.
Ron now looked less angry and more moments away from physically exploding.
By the end of the lesson, Ethan had successfully taught Neville the spell while Ron remained one of the few students still struggling.
Anxiety really did destroy magical performance.
Once class ended, Neville packed his things while thanking Ethan repeatedly.
"Seriously," Neville said gratefully, "if you hadn't helped me, Professor Flitwick probably would've kept me after class…"
"You already knew the spell," Ethan reassured him kindly. "You were just nervous."
[Ding! Goodwill Value +5]
Ethan firmly maintained that his kindness had absolutely nothing to do with system rewards.
"By the way," he added while slinging his bag over one shoulder, "don't wait for me after class. Professor Quirrell borrowed me for something again."
Neville nodded immediately.
The moment the other students disappeared toward their next lesson, Ethan quietly slipped away toward the Forbidden Forest.
Today's schedule involved troll transportation.
With the Count guiding him through the northern mountains beyond the forest, Ethan eventually located the troll cave hidden between enormous stone formations.
"I can't believe I brought a Dementor to a troll nest," the Count muttered while perched atop a large black rock. "God must be absolutely insane."
"I don't know about God," Ethan replied carefully, "but you're definitely insane."
Then he stared downward.
The "rock" beneath the Count moved slightly.
"What the hell?!" the Count screeched, launching himself upward instantly.
Ethan took several horrified steps backward.
"You're not entering Gryffindor Tower or the Room of Requirement until you wash your feet."
"How exactly am I supposed to wash owl feet?!" the Count shouted furiously. "Just cast a cleaning charm like a normal person!"
After resolving the bird-related hygiene crisis, Ethan focused on the actual mission.
Troll capture.
Following inspiration from Newt Scamander, Ethan had previously stolen an old peeling suitcase from the Room of Requirement's junk storage area. After enlarging it internally with an Undetectable Extension Charm and reinforcing it with several strengthening spells, the suitcase now functioned as a portable prison.
During the process, Ethan had also discovered Ravenclaw's lost diadem hidden among the rubbish.
Unfortunately, the Horcrux fragment inside only possessed twenty soul strength. Ethan still needed slightly more power before safely eating it.
For now, the diadem remained hidden safely inside his secret base.
Everything progressed smoothly afterward.
Ethan placed the suitcase near the troll cave entrance and transfigured the surrounding ground into polished marble.
The plan was simple.
The moment the troll stepped outside, it would lose footing and slide directly into the suitcase.
Elegant.
Efficient.
Possibly genius.
Once preparations finished, Ethan transformed back into Dementor form and floated silently into the cave itself.
Massive snoring echoed faintly from deep within the darkness.
The smell was unbearable.
Rotting meat.
Wet stone.
Mould.
Something even worse Ethan refused to identify.
After taking only a single step inside, he immediately decided he had experienced enough cave exploration for one lifetime.
"Confringo!"
....
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