Whoosh!
Brilliant light wrapped around Ethan's entire body.
It felt like returning to a mother's embrace, filling Ethan with an incomparable sense of warmth and comfort.
"Phew..."
Ethan let out a long breath.
Standing beside the bloody, mangled remains of a Dark Wizard, he smiled happily.
"This time, it really was a bumper harvest!"
Just the soul fusion rate alone had increased by a full 0.5%!
One had to realize that during the entire summer break, including his trip to the giants, it hadn't risen this much!
Ethan mused, "Sure enough, the Dark Wizard brothers are the most generous!"
Aside from that...
Ethan looked down at the curved wand in his hand.
Then, he looked at the silvery-white fragment in Luna's hand.
He thought to himself:
Bellatrix's wand. Undoubtedly, this is the key to obtaining the Cup.
As for this Prayer of the Crescent Moon... the power of opening and healing...
That's right! I can use it to upgrade my "Portal" painting!
Ethan's eyes lit up.
Although the Portal was undeniably useful, at this stage, it had significant limitations.
First and foremost was the restriction that it "must be opened within the visual field."
Even with the assistance of the Pupil of the Door, in the outside world where Apparition was unrestricted, the spell felt somewhat redundant—like chicken ribs, tasteless but wasteful to discard.
"Now that I possess higher-level painting skills, it's time to upgrade my old work."
A concept had already formed in Ethan's mind.
Something unrestricted by line of sight, or even location—
The Anywhere Door!
"But before that..."
Ethan turned his head and looked outside the cavern.
The corners of his mouth curled up into a pleasurable arc.
"Let's deal with the little fly buzzing around me first."
After all, now that Bellatrix's wand was in hand, the other party's mission was over.
"How could I possibly let you go and report to others—like the Ministry of Magic, for instance?"
Ethan beckoned to Luna, turned around, and walked toward the exit.
He didn't notice that a streak of rich, silvery-white radiance drilled out of the crescent fragment and into Luna's body.
It made the color of her eyes turn increasingly deep.
At the entrance of the mansion.
Yaxley waited anxiously, watching as Ethan—once again disguised as "Professor Vortex"—did a headcount of the students.
The more Yaxley watched, the more unfathomable he found this man.
...Why on earth would he go out of his way to disguise himself as a professor?
And he taught the students with such dedication, as if he genuinely wanted to help them improve!
Is he trying to seize control of the school? To conquer the world starting from Hogwarts? Damn it! I can't read his mind at all!
Yaxley clenched his fists.
His fingernails dug deep into his flesh, using the pain to force himself to remain calm.
"Are you alright, Mr. Yaxley?" asked Connie, who was accompanying them. "You look... a bit pale."
Yaxley replied stiffly, "...I'm fine. I was just thinking, suddenly, that Ethan Vincent is truly deep and unreadable."
He is both [Mr. Lamp] and the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
It felt like the entire magical world was just Ethan!
Hearing her idol's name, Connie paused, then spoke excitedly:
"Mr. Vincent? Hmm, I think Ethan just wants more people to see his art. He's quite a pure child—"
"Hah!"
Yaxley let out a cold snort, interrupting Connie directly.
He spoke with disdain:
"Promoting art? How could it possibly be that simple!"
"That guy definitely has some unspeakable, terrifying grand plan!"
"It is absolutely not something an ordinary person can comprehend..."
Connie looked at the Ministry senior in surprise as he muttered to himself, sweat beading on his forehead.
She thought confusedly:
Grand plan?
Haha, he makes it sound like Ethan wants to overthrow the magical world.
He is our brightest, most righteous savior~
Meanwhile.
"Alright!"
Ethan clapped his hands, looking with gratification at the filth-covered students.
"I can see that you've all made significant progress! As expected, staying cooped up in school won't do; you need to come out and get some activity every now and then."
Ron wiped the stinking muddy water from his face and said with a deadpan expression, "It would have been better if we could have had a 'normal' extracurricular activity."
Instead of being locked up with Dark Wizards to fight bare-handed like they were raising venomous insects in a jar.
But it had to be said—the results were indeed remarkable.
Word was that even Neville had successfully cast a wandless spell once.
Though, for some reason, Neville wasn't rejoicing. Instead, he hung his head, looking quite wilted.
Using the pre-arranged Portkeys, the group prepared to return.
Seeing that nothing untoward had happened, Yaxley couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Good.
Ethan doesn't seem to have realized that I am the mole for the Death Eaters.
Just then.
A shadow fell over him.
Yaxley felt a heavy weight on his shoulder.
He looked up.
He found himself staring directly into a swirling, featureless vortex face.
Ethan spoke cheerfully, "Brother, walk with me for a bit."
A drop of cold sweat slid down Yaxley's temple.
He felt his legs start to tremble uncontrollably.
"I... I have business back at the Ministry, next time..."
Ethan said with regret, "Haha, do you think that was a question?"
Yaxley: "Huh?"
As the words fell.
Under Yaxley's bewildered gaze, the ground beneath his feet vanished, and a pitch-black door abruptly unfolded!
Yaxley: "Ahhhhhhhh—!"
Accompanying the scream that faded into the distance, Ethan stood by the door, looking down indifferently at the rapidly disappearing figure. He whispered softly:
"Since you're unwilling to keep me company, you can go by yourself."
"I wish you... a fun time~"
Bang!
Yaxley slammed heavily onto the ground, the impact leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
His internal organs felt like they had been shaken out of place.
—That damn brat!
Huh?! How come I remember the intelligence reports never mentioned that portals have to drop you from a height?
Was that on purpose or accidental?!
At the same time, Yaxley felt a bone-deep chill.
Only "Student Ethan" knew the Portal spell. Since he had displayed this magic to him...
That meant...
Ethan knew everything.
"...Damn it! Snape, that traitor!"
Yaxley nearly ground his teeth to dust.
He never imagined that even the Dark Lord's most trusted subordinate, Snape, had defected!
One surprise after another, is it?!
"It doesn't matter. I'm not dead yet. There's still a chance to escape..."
Yaxley drew his wand, looking around vigilantly.
As a veteran Death Eater who had killed countless people, he still had considerable confidence in himself.
"As long as no super-class creatures appear, the advantage is mine!"
Just as he thought this.
Suddenly.
Boom, Boom, Boom!
A series of loud, earthquake-like tremors rang out!
It was as if some colossal behemoth was slowly walking toward him.
Yaxley's eyes widened in horror!
Looking at the leaves showering down and feeling that familiar, suffocating oppression...
A thought popped into his mind.
"No... impossible... how could it be—"
Yaxley's gaze traveled upward.
Seeing those familiar figures, a shrill scream escaped his throat:
"Giants!!!"
In an instant, the tragic memories of being beaten to a pulp in the past flooded back.
Like a battering ram, they easily shattered Yaxley's psychological defenses.
His sanity instantly crumbled into dust!
Under the giant axe that was constantly closing in, Yaxley's eyes turned blood-red. Using every ounce of strength in his body, he roared a curse:
"Ethan Vincent! You absolute bastard—!!!!"
Hogwarts.
"Achoo."
Ethan sneezed.
He turned his head to look toward the Forbidden Forest, where flocks of birds were taking flight in a panic.
Rubbing his nose, he smiled sheepishly.
"Hehe~ Who's praising me?"
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