"A wizard..."
Dumbledore felt that Ethan was likely telling the truth, but there were clearly many things he wasn't saying. Even among wizards, the differences could be vast.
Lupin, however, didn't think that deeply. He just kept examining Ethan with a questioning gaze, as if trying to see through him.
"So you came to Hogwarts just to have fun?"
"Didn't I say? To learn some new knowledge along the way... so I guess I'm here to study, right?"
Ethan glanced at Dumbledore, silently asking if there was anything else.
He had already helped resolve Lupin's issue. It seemed there was nothing else here requiring his attention.
"Thank you very much for your help."
Dumbledore responded quickly, expressing his gratitude immediately. He didn't mention compensation, and Ethan didn't ask for any. The two maintained a mutual understanding—Ethan enjoyed various privileges at the school. These privileges weren't just limited to accessing restricted books in the library, but also included the assistance of people like those present when needed.
Just like when Ethan asked for a Time-Turner, Snape immediately retrieved one for him. That was essentially the arrangement...
However, just as Ethan was about to leave, he suddenly noticed Fawkes, who had been sitting like a statue. He raised his hand toward the phoenix, and Fawkes obediently plucked out a feather for him.
"Every time I came here, I wanted to take a feather. This time, I finally remembered."
Ethan casually pocketed the phoenix feather, bid farewell to Dumbledore and the others, then left on his own.
As for the sealing spell on the door, to Ethan, it was as good as non-existent.
Watching Ethan leave, Professor McGonagall finally asked the question that had been on her mind.
"What kind of person is this child... Ethan?"
Her first thought was that perhaps Ethan had been secretly arranged by Dumbledore to protect Harry Potter by blending in as a student.
But on second thought, that was impossible. If he were meant to protect Harry, he should have been sorted into Gryffindor.
Harry was in Gryffindor, but Ethan was placed in Slytherin, which had the worst relationship with Gryffindor. If he wanted to protect Harry, it would have made things more difficult.
At the same time, she thought of a few others. There were indeed members of Ethan's group in Gryffindor—Logan and Rin.
According to McGonagall's observations, Rin was just an ordinary child. Although she had excellent magical talent, she definitely didn't possess that kind of terrifying strength.
But Logan, perhaps like Ethan, was hiding his true power. That also explained why Logan rarely interacted with the other students.
Thinking about this, McGonagall felt slightly disappointed that she hadn't noticed the 'abnormality' of these students earlier. Although she now clearly understood the huge power gap between them, in normal circumstances, if the other party deliberately concealed it, it would be difficult to detect. Still, she felt she had not fulfilled her responsibility.
These few happened to be friendly. But what if next time, someone with malicious intent infiltrated the school?
It seemed Hogwarts needed to enhance its student identity verification measures. Making a mental note of this, McGonagall quietly waited for Dumbledore's reply.
Lupin also waited, just as curious about Ethan's background.
"Actually... I'm not entirely sure either."
Dumbledore glanced at Fawkes. Ethan had only needed to look at the phoenix, and Fawkes obediently plucked a feather for him. Judging by the look in its eyes, if Ethan had asked, Fawkes would have stripped itself bare.
This was the first time he had ever seen anything like that. Thinking back to the three-headed dog from before, Dumbledore had a certain suspicion in his mind.
But the suspicion was too outrageous. He couldn't confirm whether it was true.
"Do you remember, among those children, there was a girl sorted into Ravenclaw?"
McGonagall nodded. Hogwarts didn't admit many new students each year. With only so many people, after a few years of teaching, it was difficult not to recognize them all.
"You mean Scáthach?"
"Doesn't that name sound familiar?"
"Is there something unusual about it? It's just..."
Professor McGonagall suddenly fell silent, then looked at Dumbledore in disbelief.
"How is that possible?"
"A young girl from an ordinary family, more proficient in Rune Magic than wizards who have studied for decades? Isn't that enough of a clue?"
Professor McGonagall still stared at Dumbledore as if he were joking, but deep down, she had started to believe him.
"Then Ethan..."
Connecting the name Ethan to ancient legends, the few of them could only think of one possible individual—a sage from the time of King Solomon. Perhaps... it really was that person?
"I saw a book in his hand called 'Merlin's Legacy'. Maybe... he isn't that person?"
That person had lived in the first millennium BC. That was far too distant.
Of course, if Scáthach truly was the legendary Scáthach, then her age would be just as astonishing.
"Maybe it's a collection he gathered throughout his long life?"
Even if Ethan wasn't that sage, the fact that he held a magic book titled 'Merlin's Legacy' proved his background was anything but ordinary.
At the very least, he was a descendant of the legendary wizard Merlin. At most, he was a legendary sage who had lived for thousands of years.
Either identity would cause a major upheaval in the wizarding world. Of course, more likely, countless wizards would treat it as a joke and not believe it at all.
"This... is truly hard to believe."
"Yes, even if we said it out loud, no one would believe we were telling the truth."
Dumbledore believed that even with his own reputation, if he stepped forward and revealed Ethan's identity, no one would recognize it. Instead, they would think he had gone senile.
However...
"Albus."
Professor McGonagall suddenly thought of another matter, one that had troubled Dumbledore for years. And perhaps, for this person, it would be a trivial problem.
Considering he could effortlessly destroy Dementors—creatures that no wizard in the world could kill—and easily cure Lupin, the power this person possessed was beyond imagination.
No matter how strong that dark wizard was, could he be more powerful than these legendary figures?
"I know what you're thinking. If I could, I would have already asked them to deal with that problem."
Voldemort was currently Dumbledore's biggest concern, but his greatest danger wasn't his magical power. His existence had become a symbol of faith for those who were dissatisfied with the current state of the wizarding world and sought to change it.
What truly troubled Dumbledore was not Voldemort himself, but the ideology he represented.
Even during the years of Voldemort's absence, the Death Eaters had never truly disbanded. The pure-blood faction and wizard supremacists in the wizarding world had never quieted down. On the contrary, they continued to eliminate their rivals in secret and gained influence within the Ministry of Magic.
From that perspective, Voldemort's return might actually be a good thing.
If Voldemort didn't return, and the wizarding world maintained the status quo, then no one could say for sure which faction would rise to power. In the worst-case scenario, it could even lead to a major ideological conflict and civil war among wizards.
But if Voldemort returned, many problems would become clear and direct, easier to confront and solve.
"Wait a little longer?"
Dumbledore wasn't sure if this was the right decision. Even after Professor McGonagall and the others had left, he couldn't find an answer. Troubled, he wandered alone through Hogwarts, trying to clear his mind. As he looked at the school where he had spent almost his entire life, his heart gradually calmed.
"Can't sleep?"
"Getting old. The older you get, the less you sleep."
Dumbledore wasn't surprised to see Ethan wandering the school grounds. He knew Ethan often came out at night. In the past two years, he usually went out with Scáthach. Lately, he had started going alone more often.
"Are you... studying the Time-Turner?"
Ethan was fiddling with the Time-Turner in his hand. A faint green magical energy flowed from his palm, as if he were trying to do something to it. Dumbledore couldn't understand any of it. It had to be a field of magic he had never encountered before.
"This thing is pretty interesting."
Ethan had been studying the Time-Turner nonstop since he got it. He now understood how it worked.
If time were like a river, then every person was drifting downstream in a sealed vessel.
The Time-Turner added a reverse propulsion system to your vessel, allowing you to go upstream and return to the past.
However, this device only worked in connection with the time river of this world. In other words, if it left the world of Harry Potter, it would lose its magical function.
Wasn't that a bit useless? But Ethan didn't mind. What he wanted to study was how the Time-Turner connected to the river of time.
As long as he could figure that out, he could go to other worlds and try to use his own time energy to establish a connection with that world's time river.
Even if he couldn't reverse time himself, even if he could only affect objects like apples or books like Doctor Strange, that would still be a gain.
But it wasn't easy to achieve. So far, he had been researching for a long time, but still couldn't connect his magic to this world's river of time.
(To be continued.)