Ethan blasted apart one corner of the troll cave entrance.
Not enough to collapse the tunnel.
Just enough to create an enormous explosion.
The sound echoed through the mountains like another giant creature had arrived to demolish the troll's home.
And although trolls were unbelievably stupid…
They were not deaf.
A furious roar thundered from deep inside the cave.
The troll clearly interpreted the explosion as a direct challenge to its authority and immediately charged toward the entrance swinging its massive club wildly.
Then it stepped onto the polished marble.
Its enormous feet slipped instantly.
With an outraged howl, the troll slid directly into the enchanted suitcase.
Snap.
The lid slammed shut automatically.
"Done," Ethan announced happily while clapping his hands.
Fortunately, he had reinforced the suitcase heavily beforehand. Otherwise the troll would probably have smashed straight through the sides already.
By the time Ethan and the freshly-cleaned Count returned toward Hogwarts, the afternoon was nearly over.
Technically, Ethan had already missed most of his classes.
Naturally, this meant he should probably reward himself with another trip to the Forbidden Forest.
After all, the Acromantula colony should have produced fresh spiderlings by now.
Once the young existed…
It was only fair to harvest the older generation too.
"You've already been given a proper way to die," Ethan muttered kindly.
Deep inside the forest, Aragog immediately recognised the familiar horrifying presence.
"YOU AGAIN!"
The giant spider's furious clicking echoed through the trees like grinding teeth.
The forest floor around the colony was now littered with enormous Acromantula corpses.
If souls possessed physical weight, Ethan probably would have been too full to float by now.
"Mosag and I just rebuilt our population!" Aragog roared furiously.
"Which is wonderful," Ethan replied sincerely.
He pointed toward the newly hatched spiderlings crawling around behind Aragog.
"See? Your tribe's recovering beautifully. The ecosystem remains balanced. I'm helping you."
"Fuck you!" Aragog screamed.
The old spider desperately wanted to threaten Ethan.
Unfortunately, he possessed absolutely nothing capable of threatening whatever Ethan actually was.
After all, ordinary Dementors never wandered through the Forbidden Forest casually eating giant spiders.
Dumbledore would never permit such creatures near Hogwarts.
Except Ethan.
"See you next time!" Ethan called cheerfully.
His soul completeness had finally reached twenty percent.
A bottleneck.
Interesting.
As darkness settled over the forest, Ethan spiralled upward through the trees and drifted back toward Hogwarts under the evening sky.
Recently, the centaurs had stopped trying to chase him away entirely.
Several times Ethan had floated directly past centaur patrols without issue. One even watched silently while Ethan entered Acromantula territory before calmly turning away.
Apparently the centaurs had quietly accepted him as the forest's unofficial spider-control system.
By the time Ethan reached the forest edge, Hogwarts Castle glowed brilliantly against the night.
"Hehehe…"
Ethan rubbed his hands together excitedly while shaking the suitcase containing the troll.
He selected an abandoned underground classroom and released the creature.
The troll staggered out, dizzy and furious.
Then it spotted Ethan.
Immediately, the tiny troll brain reached its only logical conclusion.
Kill the nearby living thing.
The troll roared and charged.
Ethan instantly sprinted from the room, slammed the door shut, and cast a locking charm.
Honestly, this entire disaster was Dumbledore's fault.
If the old man had simply allowed Ethan to read the uncensored alchemy books, none of this would have happened.
Sometimes schools needed a little destruction.
Character-building experience.
Besides, Quirrell would ultimately take responsibility for everything anyway.
Ethan was technically the victim here.
[Ding! Sin Points +200]
[Note: Your growing evil has caused you to abandon morality and endanger your school.]
"These notifications are unbelievably biased," Ethan muttered unhappily.
If goodwill points could buy soul fragments too, perhaps he would consider behaving heroically more often.
Clearly the system simply didn't want users achieving happy endings.
And honestly, Ethan believed his actions remained completely reasonable.
Everything he did was ultimately for protection.
If he failed to become stronger, how would he defeat Voldemort someday?
How would he protect Rose and Edward?
Could goodwill points accomplish that?
Exactly.
"Ethan?!"
Quirrell suddenly appeared from the adjacent corridor carrying an almost identical suitcase.
Both froze simultaneously.
Then Ethan slowly looked at Quirrell's suitcase.
Quirrell slowly looked at Ethan's empty hands.
"…Why are you here?" Quirrell asked weakly, temporarily forgetting to stutter entirely.
"Bringing in the troll?" Ethan answered confidently. "Wasn't that our plan?"
"I thought you meant I should bring the troll," Quirrell replied blankly.
Before either could continue, both underground classroom doors exploded apart simultaneously.
Apparently they had each released separate trolls.
"Run," Quirrell said immediately.
The two sprinted through the corridor together while distant troll roars echoed behind them.
Fortunately, trolls moved incredibly slowly inside complicated castle hallways.
"You go eat first," Quirrell instructed while jogging toward the Great Hall. "I'll alert the professors. Once they leave, we head for the fourth-floor corridor."
Then he lowered his voice urgently.
"The Dark Lord's becoming impatient. Don't expose yourself."
"Relax," Ethan promised confidently. "I never expose myself."
They separated near the Great Hall entrance.
Ethan slipped inside through a side door carrying his schoolbag, successfully disguising himself as an innocent student returning late from independent study.
"Ethan!" Ron called immediately from the Gryffindor table. "Where've you been all afternoon?"
"I asked Professor Quirrell some questions," Ethan replied smoothly while sitting down beside them. "I already knew today's Herbology material anyway. No point wasting time repeating things."
He shoved the schoolbag beneath the bench and pretended to eat casually.
At the staff table, Ethan distinctly felt two separate gazes lingering on him.
One definitely belonged to Dumbledore.
The second was probably Snape.
Snape already distrusted Quirrell constantly, and Ethan's growing closeness with Quirrell undoubtedly attracted suspicion too.
Still, favoured children feared nothing.
Then the Great Hall doors burst open dramatically.
"TROLL!"
Quirrell stumbled inside looking genuinely terrified.
His turban hung crookedly around his head while panic covered his face.
The entire hall fell silent instantly.
Quirrell staggered toward Dumbledore's chair, gasping dramatically.
"T-two trolls," he panted. "In the dungeons. Thought you ought to know."
Ethan stared at him in admiration.
What incredible acting.
....
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