After a feast overflowing with the spirit of Halloween, the students were feeling a mix of lingering dread and heavy exhaustion.
Led by their prefects, they wobbled unsteadily toward their respective dormitories.
"Ravenclaw freshmen, please follow me~"
Luna Lovegood stood on her tiptoes, waving a pale, slender hand. Her voice was ethereal and misty, echoing like the legendary Calling-Snail, leaving the freshmen to follow her in a dazed, hypnotic trance.
Luna glanced at Ethan and offered a small smile. Then, turning toward the grand staircase, she said airily, "Next, we shall pass through the 'Trial Steps.' Only by ascending the stairs with the correct method can one reach the Ravenclaw Common Room."
A freshman raised a hand, asking curiously, "And... what happens if we don't use the correct method?"
Luna simply replied, "Hehe~"
Freshman: "...?"
What does "Hehe" mean?! Senior, please stop trying to scare me!
The freshmen instantly went as silent as mice, their faces pale with terror as they huddled closer to their prefect, trembling with every step.
...So this is the House the Headmaster belongs to? As expected, it comes with 'special treatment.'
On the other side of the hall, Ethan watched Luna's figure vanish around the corner of the stairs. He retracted his gaze and turned, only to be met with Professor Snape's murderous glare.
Ethan blinked. "Thinking about Lily again?"
Snape: "..."
Snape choked mid-breath, a surge of fury getting stuck in his throat, nearly suffocating him on the spot.
"You had better explain to me exactly what is going on here!" Snape growled, punctuating every word as his entire frame shook with rage.
Ethan replied calmly, "That's Headmaster Vincent to you."
Snape's brow twitched. "What?"
"I mean," Ethan said, tilting his chin up to look down slightly at Snape's ashen face, flashing a haughty, delighted smile. "You forgot the 'Headmaster' part. Currently, I am the master of this castle, little Severus."
Snape: "..."
Slam!
Professor Snape stormed off in a fit of pique. As he left, he used the full strength of a man who spent his days stirring heavy cauldrons to slam the Great Hall doors shut behind him.
The sound echoed like a cannon blast.
"Tsk, tsk," Ethan shook his head. "Little Severus's temper hasn't changed a bit. His menopause is lasting a remarkably long time."
Professor Slughorn, who had witnessed the entire exchange, stood in stunned silence. He quietly reached into his mental list of candidates for the Slug Club and struck Ethan's name out. He was genuinely afraid that if he hosted the boy, he might die of a sudden heart attack mid-party.
...Of course, he would still grant Ethan the title of an "Honorary Member." Just in case.
Ethan turned to the side. "By the way, Professor Dumbledore, did you have something you wanted to say to me?"
"Hehehe~ indeed," Dumbledore replied. "Hearing your grand ambitions to renovate Hogwarts reminded me of a certain rumor."
"However," the old wizard added, "it is a rumor without a shred of evidence, much like the legend of Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets once was."
"Ah," Ethan nodded knowingly. "So it's definitely real, then."
Dumbledore paused. "...The legend says that when the Four Founders built this castle, they used ancient magic to leave behind a 'Final Measure.' It is said to trigger only when Hogwarts faces a dire crisis, releasing an unimaginably powerful force."
"The rumors suggest that place is the core of Hogwarts—the very 'Source of Life' for this ancient fortress."
Having reached this point, Dumbledore cleared his throat and smiled broadly. "But then again, it's just hearsay. After all, nothing happened back in your second year when you blew up half of Hogwarts, did it?"
Ethan waved a hand dismissively. "Just a bit of past glory. Let's not dwell on it."
The two men stared at each other for a long moment before simultaneously breaking into a fit of "Hehehe" chuckling.
The sound sent a cold shiver down Professor Slughorn's spine. He didn't stick around to listen, quickly making an excuse and scurrying away like a startled rabbit.
...Two master schemers together. It's too terrifying!
[You have obtained information: The Life Core of Hogwarts]
[It is said that hidden deep within the castle, in a place no magic can detect, lies the 'Final Measure' buried by the Four Founders.]
[However, for reasons unknown, it has remained dormant and vanished from history for a thousand years, never once being activated.]
[If you can find it, perhaps you can help Hogwarts radiate with new vitality.]
[Note: The castle is the birthplace of new strength. If the castle is destroyed in the coming war, the brilliance of the 'Lamp' will suffer a devastating blow!]
"Since the system prompt triggered, it means this Life Core actually exists," Ethan mused after scanning the subtitles.
"Hogwarts is like the fountain of life. If it falls, it's game over. If I want to protect Hogwarts from the Shinigami's assault, I have to utilize everything available."
"A core buried in the depths..."
Ethan looked up, meeting the gaze of the silver-haired old man. "Old Dumbledore, do you have the original blueprints for the construction of Hogwarts?"
If there were blueprints, he might find a clue.
Dumbledore sighed. "...Regrettably, Mr. Vincent, I suspect I am of the same mind as you. However, after a thousand years and countless upheavals, the original blueprints have been lost—or perhaps, they never existed in a physical form at all."
"Regardless, even the earliest maps we can find today contain no information regarding a 'core' or any hidden rooms."
If such a map existed, the school wouldn't have been clueless about the Chamber of Secrets for centuries.
"So it's a dead end... do I really have to blow up Hogwarts again? But blowing up the school on the first day of term seems like moving the plot a bit too fast..."
Just as Ethan's brow furrowed and his mind began churning with ideas that would make Professor Snape cough up blood, a ghostly breeze suddenly brushed past his cheek.
"An assassin?!"
Ethan's eyes lit up instantly!
He snapped his head around, only to catch a glimpse of a ghostly blue hem of a skirt vanishing around a corner. He tilted his head. Instead of chasing after her like a normal person, he simply opened an Anywhere Door. His body fell into the portal and vanished from the spot instantly!
Dumbledore, who had been about to continue the conversation: "..."
"Hehehe~ a child like the wind, truly," Dumbledore chuckled good-naturedly. He didn't seem to mind, simply turning and walking away at a leisurely pace.
He truly wondered what Hogwarts would become under the leadership of such a legendary talent. He only hoped it wouldn't turn into a world-class disaster.
On the other side.
Whoosh!
Ethan leaped out of mid-air, landing in a pocket of icy air. It felt as though he had been wrapped in the chilling mist of a graveyard, the kind of cold that made one's teeth chatter.
A perfect temperature for a long sleep, Ethan thought.
"Ah!"
A sharp gasp rang out. Ethan felt a flash of white before his eyes as the chill retreated.
Looking up, Ethan said in surprise, "Miss Helena?"
Standing before him was the Ravenclaw ghost, the "Grey Lady." She was clutching her chest with both hands, staring at him with a mix of shock and indignation. If one looked closely, her ghostly blue face seemed to have deepened in hue.
"So it was you, Miss Helena," Ethan said with a hint of disappointment. "I thought I'd finally found an assassin. Did you need something from me?"
Ethan was genuinely curious. Although the Grey Lady was the ghost of his own House, she usually stayed far away from the students. She was a solitary figure, often seen gazing into the distance from a lonely window, vanishing the moment she noticed someone approaching.
Only Luna seemed able to talk to her.
Helena took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on Ethan as if she had made a monumental decision.
She spoke slowly. "You are the friend Luna trusts most. You possess a heart unlike any other... perhaps, you will not be tempted by that terrible power."
"Mr. Ethan Vincent, I come to you in my capacity as the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the Four Founders of Hogwarts—"
"Please, help me destroy my mother's relic... Ravenclaw's Diadem!"
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze