Chapter 164: Ethan's Dress-up
"Perhaps we can record this scene, what do you say?"
Professor Lupin also suppressed his laughter, looking at the little Wizards below.
If Snape hadn't specifically brought up the Werewolfissue, he wouldn't have done something so excessive, but now there's no reason he can't fight back, right?
Most of the little Wizards below couldn't laugh now; if anyone dared to record this, they would probably be hated by Snape until they died.
They had some self-awareness and wouldn't dare to do such a thing.
"I'll do it! Colin has a camera, I'll go borrow it now, I'll be right back!"
Ron jumped up, raising his hand, but as he landed, he grimaced and clutched his backside.
He absolutely detested Snape.
Snape always picked on him and Harry in class, and last year he even tried to kill him. Now that there was a chance for revenge, he definitely had to go for it.
Not only did he have to do it, but he had to do it well, so that everyone at Hogwarts would know about it.
"I'll give you some time, hurry there and back!"
Lupin looked at this brave soul with great admiration.
Snape wasn't very forgiving, and Lupin could already foresee Ron and Neville being targeted by Snape later.
But it didn't matter, these two were students, at most they would lose some points, be troubled a bit; as a Professor, Snape couldn't do anything more excessive now.
"Yes!"
After responding, Ron strode out, his mouth twitching, but this couldn't hide the joy on his face.
Colin Creevey, Muggle-born, now a second-year Gryffindor, Harry's admirer, whose favorite things to do were following Harry and secretly taking pictures of him.
He often carried a camera, a magically modified camera that could be used inside Hogwarts, and when the photos were soaked in developing solution, the people in them would move.
Ron had seen Colin at lunch and knew they didn't have class that afternoon.
Ron had run out, but the Boggart-transformed Snapewas still there.
Because it had been hit by the Boggart-Banishing Spell, and there was a lot of laughter around, this Snape fell flat on his face with a loud thud, unable to get up even by propping himself up with his hands.
The little Wizards who had just managed to hold back their laughter burst out laughing again. If it was just the ridiculous clothes at first, now this action appearing on Snape's body was simply too incongruous.
But while laughing, everyone also looked at Neville with great admiration.
Neville hadn't even realized what had happened. Looking at Snape in this state, there was no fear left in his heart, and he immediately joined in the laughter with everyone else.
In just a few minutes, Ron strode back, carrying Colin's camera.
He had already asked Colin how to operate the camera.
Without taking Neville's central spot, Ron stood at various angles nearby, snapping away with the camera.
Ron thoroughly enjoyed the admiring, encouraging, and respectful gazes from the surrounding little Wizards. How long had it been since he had experienced such looks?
On the way here, he had already thought about it: when he went back, he would print out more copies, and maybe he could even sell these photos for some money.
There were countless little Wizards at Hogwarts who hated Snape; surely many would be willing to buy a copy for their collection.
"Alright, next, let's continue with our lesson!"
After Ron finished taking pictures, Lupin stepped forward and called out a Gryffindor Witch.
Next, it was a chaotic display, with mummies and female ghosts appearing frequently.
Until Ron stepped up, the Boggart immediately turned into a rat for him, and it was a rat with one paw missing.
At this, the Gryffindors all looked at him in surprise.
Wasn't that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers?
Why would Ron be afraid of Scabbers?
He cherished this rat the most, especially since the start of this school year.
If he was afraid of rats, why would he keep one as a pet?
The Slytherins had already burst into laughter, especially Draco and his two cronies.
Harry's eyes also showed disbelief.
Harry knew whether Ron was afraid of rats or not, and he definitely wasn't.
On the contrary, Harry, who had stayed at the Weasley's for quite some time, knew that Ron was truly afraid of spiders, so what was going on now?
Ron was also stunned on the spot, not knowing why this was happening.
But seeing the rat about to run to his feet, Ron could only raise his wand!
"Riddikulus!"
The cursed rat immediately swelled up, becoming a fat rat, its limbs almost invisible, just rolling on the ground.
"Hermione Granger, you're up!"
Harry, who was about to take Ron's place, immediately stopped. Had he been skipped?
Lupin didn't even look at Harry. He knew that if Harryencountered a Boggart, it would most likely turn into a Dementor. That day on the Hogwarts Express, he had been in the same compartment as Harry and Ron.
Now, encountering a Dementor, Harry would inevitably faint again, and he would be the one to lose face.
Hermione stepped forward nervously; she also didn't know what she was afraid of.
The Boggart turned into a piece of parchment and floated into Hermione's hand. Many people were quite familiar with this item.
Because every summer, an owl would deliver one to the little Wizard's home.
Hermione's hand trembled as she held the parchment, which clearly stated that all her subject achievements were T.
This grade was Troll, which was the lowest grade.
It meant your brain was as small as a Troll's booger, which was the greatest insult to a little Wizard.
"Riddikulus!"
Hermione roared in anger, and then all the grades on the parchment turned into O's, and she finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Ron, why would you be most afraid of Scabbers?"
"What exactly is going on?"
Although Lupin hadn't let him go up, which made Harry a bit unhappy, Ron's situation was the most important right now.
Ron had been acting strangely since the start of this term, and now he was even afraid of Scabbers. What if something else had happened?
"This… I…"
Ron stammered, unable to speak, and he didn't understand why he was afraid of Scabbers, when it should have been spiders.
It was just that on the day they returned to Hogwarts, he felt like Scabbers had done something to him, but he couldn't remember.
And the next day, his whole body was sore and tired, as if he hadn't slept all night, and his butt was still a little sore, making it easier to poop.
He had felt this way every morning for the past few days, but he didn't know what was going on, and now Ron was almost used to it.
Except for his butt still hurting a little, he actually felt pretty good now, and the pain had lessened a lot; it was estimated that the pain would be gone in a while.
He had also thought about what had happened these past few days, but Ron quickly gave up.
After all, Scabbers was just an old rat that was about to die; what could it do to him?
Could it bite his butt?
But if that were the case, he should have woken up at night.
"Ron, if something's wrong, tell me!"
Harry took a deep breath, already prepared for bad news.
"I don't know, really!"
"Harry, believe me."
Ron was also a bit anxious; he only had this one friend he could talk to now.
"Maybe you're afraid Scabbers will die of old age!"
After thinking for a long time, Harry could only come up with this reason.
Since he didn't know himself, it must be that he was overly worried about Scabbers' lifespan and subconsciously unwilling to face it, which was why he feared Scabbers.
"I think so!"
Hearing Harry say that, Ron also breathed a sigh of relief.
The practice above did not pause as the two talked.
Soon it was Ethan Adrien's turn.
To be honest, Ethan Adrien really didn't know what he was afraid of.
It wasn't until he looked at the pie in front of him, covered with dense sardine heads, all of them with their eyes open in death, that a distant memory was reawakened.
It was probably when he was five or six years old, when his parents took him to Cornwall, and dinner was at a farmhouse, where this thing was served.
The waiter also swore that it was absolutely authentic.
Ethan Adrien, not believing in evil, tried it and almost went to verify if he could continue to transmigrate.
"Riddikulus!"
Under the effect of the spell, the Stargazy pie quickly turned into a chicken pizza.
"Ethan Adrien, I didn't expect you to be afraid of this; I think Stargazy pie is pretty good!"
As soon as Ethan Adrien came down, Terry and the others immediately surrounded him.
Ethan Adrien didn't want to say anything about this; there were indeed many people in Great Britain who liked Stargazy pie, but he couldn't get used to it.
When it was almost time for Defense Against the Dark Arts Class to end, it was finally Slytherin's turn.
Cassandra walked up calmly, and then the Boggart's spherical body gradually transformed into a human figure, becoming more and more like Ethan Adrien.
Finally, another Ethan Adrien appeared before everyone.
Everyone looked at Cassandra strangely; just now, Ron, that strange person, was afraid of his pet rat.
You, Cassandra, are afraid of Ethan Adrien, and you're with him every day?
The Ethan Adrien that the Boggart transformed into stood opposite Cassandra, looking cold and impatient.
"I said, you in the future…"
However, before it could finish speaking, Cassandrastruck first, not giving it any chance at all.
"Riddikulus!"
In an instant, the Ethan Adrien opposite Cassandra made a popping sound, put on a white gown, and his face also showed a frightened expression, shrinking back timidly.
Ethan Adrien below was completely dumbfounded by this scene; what was Cassandra doing?
The Ethan Adrien that the Boggart had transformed into earlier seemed to want to say something, and Ethan Adrien could guess it, but you can't just put on women's clothes!
And it was his own; Ethan Adrien had seen Cassandrawear this gown before.
And these little Wizards burst into a roar of laughter; such an Ethan Adrien was truly an unseen, brand-new version.
Cassandra turned around, looked at Ethan Adrien a little embarrassed, and then walked off the stage.
As the bell rang, this Defense Against the Dark Arts Class ended.
The Boggart was also finally finished off by Neville, turning into a cross-dressing Snape that vanished into wisps of smoke amidst laughter.
Most of the little Wizards were satisfied with this Defense Against the Dark Arts Class and truly approved of this Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
[Thanks to Lord Da Yuhushen for the monthly ticket, thank you, Lord!]
Chapter 165: Conjectures on Dementors and Boggarts
After Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, Ethan Adrienreturned to the Ravenclaw dormitory.
He took out his wizard mailbox and began communicating with Dennis, mainly to acquire enough Boggarts.
The number of these somewhat strange Animals was not small, they were just not easy to find.
Even if seen, they were directly expelled; these things had no Potion use whatsoever, nor were they suitable as collectibles, making it truly impossible to think of any use for them.
For useless things, naturally no one would capture them, as there was no profit to be gained.
But Ethan Adrien valued its characteristic: its ability to transform, and to transform into the image in your mind; secondly, this thing should also possess a different kind of Legilimency.
Otherwise, it would be unable to see into the deepest fears of others.
These things seemed useless because they had no lethality, but if these abilities were placed on Dementors, it would be different.
Dementors extract happiness and bring despair; when deeply extracted, they can even suck out your soul.
If Dementors had the ability of a Boggart, their power would definitely reach a higher level.
This was something he thought of during Defense Against the Dark Arts Class.
Originally, for Dementors, Ethan Adrien had no other use for them besides being sparring partners; if he could find a way to combine them with Boggarts, then it would be somewhat interesting.
Moreover, neither of them was a conventional living Animal; they belonged to the spirit body category.
If Ethan Adrien could combine the spirit bodies created by his ancient magic, Helheim, with them, that would be even better.
After the last raid on the Werewolf community, he harvested over a hundred spirit bodies, about half of which were offered to Nibelungen, and the rest were kept in Nibelungen along with the Dementors.
Ethan Adrien couldn't find a suitable use for these spirit bodies either, so he could only wait until there were more of them to use a human wave tactic.
They were useless now, so experimenting with them would not cause him any heartache at all.
[427 Dennis Gall: Received, I will prepare them for you soon.]
Seeing Dennis's reply, Ethan Adrien put down his wizard mailbox.
Once the goods arrived, Ethan Adrien could perform soul experiments on these three things together.
In Ravenclaw's Chamber of Secrets, there were many books related to this, as well as Ravenclaw's own experimental journals, and he hoped they could help him succeed.
He pulled a Dementor out of Nibelungen and found that its spirit was still a bit listless; it seemed it would take a few more days to recover.
Whether for experiments or to assist in practicing the Patronus Charm, they were not ready yet.
Actually, making them recover quickly was very simple.
Just give them enough happy emotions to absorb, but Ethan Adrien couldn't satisfy that.
The spirit bodies created by Ethan Adrien in Nibelungenhad no excess emotions, so the Dementors naturally couldn't absorb them and could only rely on themselves to slowly recover.
...
"Ethan Adrien, I heard you wore women's clothes?"
Ethan Adrien, who had just walked into the Great Hall, ready for dinner, was stopped by Fred and George.
Both of them had a mischievous smile on their faces.
This afternoon, during the first Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, the news of the Boggart transforming into Ethan Adrien and Snape, and Snape cross-dressing, had spread throughout Hogwarts.
The former was an undisputed genius, the strongest of the new generation of Hogwarts Wizards.
The latter was the Dean of Slytherin, who had garnered the hatred of almost all students from the other three houses.
Rumors related to these two spread incredibly fast.
Things like Ron being afraid of his pet rat were no longer mentioned.
"No, be careful or I'll sue you for defamation!"
Ethan Adrien glanced at the Twin; he absolutely could not bear such a reputation.
He didn't know why Cassandra's Boggart-banishing spell made him cross-dress; it would have been better if it had just made him a clown!
"But everyone says you wore women's clothes; I didn't say it, it's just a shame Ron didn't record it for you, otherwise I'd definitely collect a copy."
Fred spread his hands, looking very regretful.
"You still want to collect it?"
Ethan Adrien took two steps back and looked deeply at Fred and George.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm planning to collect it and sell it for money; it might not be worth much now, but if you become the Minister for Magic one day, that photo will be valuable."
Fred naturally understood what Ethan Adrien meant, and immediately became a little exasperated.
"It's a shame your idea won't come true; that Boggart has already exploded into dust."
Even if they changed to another Boggart, it would be useless; if it was something you truly feared, it would be quite difficult to change it subjectively.
And if Ron dared to record it, Ethan Adrien would definitely break all five of his limbs and burn the camera he borrowed.
"That's why I said it's a shame!"
"Do you know what price Ron sold Snape's photo for?"
Fred, speaking later, looked left and right, appearing quite cautious.
"No, Ron even sold Snape's cross-dressing photo? Is he crazy?"
Ethan Adrien's eyes widened instantly; he hadn't even thought of this brilliant money-making scheme.
As long as the price wasn't too outrageous, conservatively estimated, selling two hundred copies would definitely not be a problem.
If he could sell it outside of Hogwarts, doubling that number five times would be absolutely effortless.
Snape was just that annoying at Hogwarts.
"Why would I lie to you? After your Defense Against the Dark Arts Class this afternoon, he secretly sold them in the Gryffindor dormitory; someone even told us."
Fred and George had a full schedule this afternoon, and this matter was told to them by a sixth-year senior after Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, who also showed them Snape's cross-dressing photo.
Looking at the photo of Snape wearing a frilly long dress, a tall hat with a moth-eaten vulture on it, and a large red handbag in his hand, falling to the ground and unable to get up, constantly struggling, with a face full of fear, the two laughed so hard they couldn't stand straight.
They also had no good feelings for Snape, and immediately decided to each get a copy for their collection.
When Snape bothered them in the future, they would just look at this picture more often.
"What was his price, and how many Galleons did he earn this time?"
Ron's act of recording Snape's cross-dressing photo had completely offended him.
But even without this recording, Ron and Harry were already on Snape's blacklist and were often targeted, so their situation wouldn't be much better anyway.
Since it was going to be like this anyway, it was better to make some money off Snape; he really had grown a brain.
"One Galleon per photo, and over thirty copies have already been sold, and that's just within Gryffindor; I estimate more will be bought tonight."
"What a pity, if only we had been in that Defense Against the Dark Arts Class."
"Even if you were, you wouldn't have been able to conjure Snape."
Ethan Adrien mercilessly shattered their illusions.
That's not necessarily true. Aren't there plenty of students at Hogwarts who are afraid of Professor Snape?"
"However, if it were us, the most likely thing we'd turn into would be our mother!"
Fred and George exchanged glances; their mother was what they feared most.
Ever since they were little, they'd often been punished for their pranks, and Percy used to like to tell tales, frequently sending letters home detailing the Twin' antics at school, which meant they never had an easy time for a few days before returning home for holidays.
"At least you two have some self-awareness. By the way, what's going on with Ron's rat? Do you know?"
Ethan still wanted to probe them, as Ron had indeed suffered a lot.
"I don't know. I haven't seen Scabbers for the past few days, but I guess he's not dead yet, otherwise Ron would have been screaming already."
Fred shrugged, saying indifferently.
They weren't Ron; how could they constantly pay attention to a rat?
"Alright!"
It seemed they truly didn't know what had happened to Ron, and probably didn't even know that Ron's Boggarthad transformed into Scabbers today.
As he left, George slipped a photo into Ethan's hand.
"This is something we brought for you, it's quite collectible."
Ethan didn't refuse, glanced at it, and then tucked it directly into his pocket.
After parting ways with the Twin, Ethan went directly to the Ravenclaw table.
However, upon arriving, many people were still discussing the third-year Defense Against the Dark Arts Class that afternoon, and Ethan was the main topic of their discussion.
After finishing dinner in relative silence, Ethan went directly to the Slytherin table, called Cassandra out, and led her to an open space outside Hogwarts Castle.
Holding Cassandra's hand, they walked together on the path outside.
It wasn't uncommon to see couples dating here, and Ethan and Cassandra didn't seem out of place walking there.
If it were a bit later, the small woods nearby would be even livelier.
"What you're worried about won't happen."
Ethan hadn't expected that Cassandra's biggest worry would be this. With her usual proud personality, she was surprisingly insecure.
It completely exceeded Ethan's expectations.
"Mm, I know!"
Cassandra just worried sometimes, especially when she was idle, she tended to overthink things, all because Ethan was so unfaithful.
Even before today, she hadn't realized that this was what she feared most.
"Good that you know. You won't be able to escape in this lifetime."
Saying that, Ethan pressed Cassandra against a tree trunk and leaned his head in for a kiss.
After a full three minutes, Ethan finally lifted his head and wiped the moisture from the corner of Cassandra's mouth.
"I want to know why you thought it was so funny to put me in a dress that day. Do you know how much trouble that caused me?"
After dusting off the back of Cassandra's Wizard robe, Ethan pulled her along and continued to stroll down the path, his tone filled with an indescribable entanglement.
"Heh, pfft!"
Cassandra burst out laughing: "I thought it was very fitting!"
At the time, she was just anxious to stop the Boggart-transformed Ethan from saying anything further, so she cast the spell in a hurried panic, not even realizing what she was thinking.
Chapter 166: Learning Animagus
The next day, all the students in Potion Class were trembling, as Professor Snape was in a low-pressure state from the moment he appeared until class ended.
With the rumors spreading so fiercely, how could he not know?
While adding another mark against Professor Lupin in his mind, he also clashed with Gryffindor again.
After two classes in one day, he deducted over sixty points from Gryffindor, directly draining Gryffindor's hourglass to the bottom.
After class that day, many Gryffindor students were discussing whether this year's house points would be even lower than the year before last.
And by the second week, everyone realized that Professor Snape had actually been exceptionally gentle during Potion Class the previous Friday.
This week, Professor Snape went completely mad, sparing none of the four houses.
Yes, including Slytherin!
It's just that Gryffindor was still the primary target.
The reason, naturally, was that he discovered his photo in a dress was being circulated everywhere, even among students in Slytherin House who were buying it.
As the culprits, Neville and Ron were naturally the focus of Professor Snape's special attention.
In Potion Class, they were directly criticized by Professor Snape as utterly useless, standing for the entire class, and receiving a torrent of abuse for even the slightest mistake.
In this class, even Harry couldn't draw fire away from the two, which allowed Harry to enjoy a rare, relatively comfortable Potion Class.
Moreover, that very day, those two had all of Gryffindor's house points deducted; to be precise, it wasn't even enough to deduct, as they ran out in less than half a class, and afterwards it was purely just getting yelled at.
This time, Professor Snape had no intention of saving Professor McGonagall's face.
His own face was completely lost, so whose face would he save?
At the same time, Professor Lupin, who already had several marks against him, received another one.
It's estimated that until these two graduate, as long as Professor Snape is at Hogwarts for even one day, their lives won't be easy.
However, even while being scolded, Ron showed no expression of dejection.
This time, he had truly made a fortune; he had never owned so many Galleons since he was born. If he had to choose again, Ron would still choose to record Professor Snape in a dress and sell the photo.
Only Neville had a bitter face, looking utterly despondent.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts Class in the second week also went well; third-years were taught how to deal with Ghouls.
It was also a practical class, with Professor Lupinpersonally bringing Ghouls.
Moreover, in his class, he was never stingy with awarding points, adding them to all four houses, though still with a slight bias towards Gryffindor.
This made many young Wizards greatly look forward to his classes.
In just these two short weeks, Professor Lupin completely turned his reputation around.
He quickly became the most popular Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor in recent years.
Meanwhile, Hagrid, who also joined as a Professor this academic year, lagged quite a bit.
Last week's Care of Magical Creatures class was still introducing Hippogriffs to everyone, and there was even a riding activity.
Although it caused quite a few problems at first, his reputation was eventually turned around.
But this week, Care of Magical Creatures went from exciting and stimulating to dull and uninteresting.
Hagrid actually started teaching young Wizards how to care for Flobberworms. Who knows who would like these worms? Anyway, Hagrid's reputation took a nosedive.
Everyone basically lost all anticipation for future Care of Magical Creatures classes.
Caring for a damn worm? They saw these things all the time in Potion Class.
Some Potions require Flobberworms, and they even need to be sliced before being added to the Potion for brewing. If you tell them to kill and slice them, they can do it with ease, but caring for them? They genuinely don't know how, and don't want to learn.
After class, Ethan went to talk to Hagrid again, directly telling him that other Animals were fine, but to stop bringing strange things.
If it really didn't work, he should cancel the hands-on teaching method and just bring the Animals over for an introduction before releasing them. That way, he could bring any other Animals.
The premise was that he had to be confident he could control it and prevent it from going mad.
As for whether Hagrid listened, Ethan didn't know; he could only judge when class started next week.
Aside from Ancient Runes, which made Ethan a bit sleepy, the other classes were basically no different for Ethan than in the previous two academic years.
…
The third week of September, night!
Ethan walked out of Hogwarts Castle and looked up at the sky; today was a full moon.
He placed the Mandrake leaf he had prepared beforehand into his mouth; this was a necessary step for practicing Animagus.
For an entire month, he had to continuously hold a single Mandrake leaf in his mouth.
This one-month period was from one full moon to the next, it had to be this specific time frame; simply from the beginning of the month to the end wouldn't work.
Furthermore, the Mandrake leaf had to remain in the mouth at all times, never to be swallowed or spit out. If this happened, the step would have to be restarted.
After one month, at the time of the full moon, the leaf should be removed from the mouth and placed in a small crystal vial filled with saliva, where it would be immersed and exposed to pure moonlight.
If the sky was overcast that night, the leaf would be ruined, a month's time wasted, and everything would have to start over.
If there was moonlight, a strand of hair and a teaspoon of dew needed to be added to the small crystal vial illuminated by the moonlight.
This dew also had to be collected from a place that had not seen sunlight or human contact for a full seven days.
And after completing this step, a Death's-head Hawkmoth chrysalis should be added.
After completing this step, the rest was up to time; the mixture should be placed in a quiet, dark place and not looked at or disturbed until the next thunderstorm with lightning arrived.
At this point, the Potion part would be complete; the Transfiguration part would follow.
He truly didn't know which brilliant individual invented Animagus.
And under what mental state did they come up with these methods?
Anyway, Ethan found it very uncomfortable to hold the Mandrake leaf in his mouth right now, and he didn't know if he would unconsciously spit it out while sleeping.
This was also why Ethan didn't learn Animagus last academic year, even though his Transfiguration skills were sufficient: the steps were simply too many, and the time span was long.
Ethan also considered his Animagus form, feeling that it would most likely be a five-headed Dragon.
The Expecto Patronum and Animagus forms generally have some correlation.
For example, Professor McGonagall's Animagus form and the Patronus image of her Expecto Patronum are both cats.
James Potter's two forms are both Deer.
And Peter Pettigrew, when he was an experimental subject in Ethan's hands, had already revealed that his Expecto Patronum image was also a rat.
This was all Ethan knew. Rita Skeeter's Animagus form was a beetle, but she couldn't cast the Patronus Charm at all.
The animal form of the Patronus Charm is generally the animal most compatible with oneself.
And this form, as an Animagus, also made sense, coupled with the previous examples, Ethan could basically confirm this idea.
He just didn't know if Dumbledore's Animagus form was a Phoenix. He had been a Transfiguration Professor, so Ethan certainly wouldn't believe it if he said he couldn't perform Animagus.
But this was a question Ethan couldn't easily ask.
Suddenly, Ethan transformed into a shadow and disappeared from his original spot.
He didn't just come out today to see if it was a full moon and if he needed to hold a Mandrake leaf.
It was also to tie up a few Dementors.
Earlier today, Ethan had gone to Hogsmeade to retrieve the Boggart that Dennis had prepared. Time was short, so there were only about thirty of them; he would need to contact them later for more.
He had the Boggarts, and as for the remaining Dementors, Ethan didn't want to use the ones he already had, as those were still needed to help Penelope and the others practice the Patronus Charm.
Plus, the last time they helped him successfully cast a Patronus, these Dementors, even if they didn't have credit, had put in some hard work, so he wouldn't use them for experiments. He would only act on them after achieving results.
Arriving at an intersection, upon seeing a few Dementors, Ethan maintained his shadow stealth state and directly pulled them into Nibelungen.
After going to three consecutive intersections and tying up seventeen Dementors, Ethan prepared to retreat.
As for what the Ministry of Magic would react, Ethan couldn't control that. Anyway, there were no surveillance cameras outside Hogwarts, and Ethan himself had the ability that his magic would not be detected by any means if not witnessed directly. Even if the Ministry of Magic turned the world upside down, they wouldn't find out that Ethan was behind it.
As for suspicion, with no grudges, why would I, Ethan, go looking for trouble with Dementors?
One cannot say that having the ability makes one a suspect; if so, Dumbledore should be suspected first, not Ethan.
"Today should be a full moon, right?"
"Mm, yes!"
Ethan nodded affirmatively, though his speech was a bit strange; he still wasn't quite used to talking with a leaf in his mouth.
"Ethan, you sound really funny right now."
Cho Chang covered her mouth and chuckled.
Anyone who was even a little further away wouldn't have understood what Ethan meant at that moment.
"Ethan, if you don't want to register as an Animagus, you'd better clarify your words before speaking outside, otherwise, it's best not to speak at all."
"The way you are now, others will definitely notice, especially Professor McGonagall."
Penelope offered her suggestion.
Many Animagus are illegal and do not wish for their forms to be discovered; this is a magic that can save one's life at critical moments.
For example, if Sirius and Peter's Animagus forms were revealed, everything would be overturned.
"Hmm!"
Ethan naturally had no intention of revealing it; it seems he'll have to be more aloof from now on.
Chapter 167: Failed Experiment
He arrived at the workbench.
In the past, the Ravenclaw Chamber of Secrets was used only by Ravenclaw, and everything was open.
But now, Ethan had isolated it.
By the way, if a Boggart encounters a Dementor, what will it turn into?
Ethan thought this question was worth experimenting with.
He took out a wooden box about thirty centimeters long from a dragonhide pouch; inside was the Boggart. These creatures prefer dark, narrow places, and this method is best for transport.
Then, he opened a corner of Nibelungen and pulled out a Dementor he had just caught that evening.
The pulled-out Dementor looked at Ethan somewhat blankly, then quickly curled into a ball and retreated towards the corner of the wall.
When the dozen or so unlucky ones went in just now, they had already talked with the forty-plus old brothers inside and knew what fate awaited them.
He didn't expect to be the first one called out.
Ethan glanced at it and casually cast an Spirit Expulsion Curse.
It wasn't about learning the Patronus Charm; they didn't need their cooperation at all. Moreover, when doing the experiment, they would inevitably struggle, so controlling them now was the best option.
The Dementor, curled in a ball in the corner, immediately straightened up and floated to a spot not far in front of Ethan, extending its dry, grotesque hand to the round handle of the box.
Click!
The box opened, and Ethan could clearly see that the Boggart was currently a mass of black mist, constantly swirling inside the box.
The entire process lasted several seconds, which was much longer than the time required for a young Wizard's fear to take shape.
Finally, amidst a series of twists and wiggles, the Boggartcompleted its transformation, becoming Ethan's likeness.
However, the transformed appearance was black, and its features were somewhat blurry.
Seeing this, Ethan fell silent.
If he remembered correctly, this was their first meeting; there had been no prior interaction with this Dementor, and he had only cast an Spirit Expulsion Curse on it. Now, it was most afraid of him?
Also, what was the reason for the Boggart turning out like this?
According to what he saw in class last time, the transformed object is the deepest thought in one's heart. As long as your understanding of it is clear enough, the Boggart's transformation will be indistinguishable from the real thing.
Now there are only two possibilities.
First, the Boggart's ability to peer into the inner thoughts of Animals is insufficient, which is why its imitation is incomplete.
Second, it's the Dementor's problem. It doesn't have a clear perception of Ethan; its mind or spirit is relatively chaotic, or perhaps the Dementor's perspective is different from humans, and in their eyes, Ethan looks like this.
After casually casting a Riddikulus Charm to send this blurry version of himself back into the box, Ethan shooed the Dementor aside.
Then he stood in front of the box and activated Occlumency.
Previously, during Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, Ethan hadn't experimented like this, because if it succeeded, causing the Boggart not to transform into something Ethan feared, Lupin would definitely suspect Ethan of using other methods.
After all, Lupin's strength and knowledge were not bad; a little deduction would lead to a general conclusion.
If Lupin knew, Dumbledore would basically know too.
Learning Occlumency at Hogwarts, who was it meant to guard against?
He opened the box, but the Boggart inside didn't emerge immediately. Ethan looked down.
The thing now had no form.
The entire process lasted over three minutes, but the Boggart still hadn't completed its transformation.
It seems Occlumency is still effective against Boggarts.
However, to deal with a Boggart, the Riddikulus Charm is still the first choice because it's the simplest.
After constructing a false image in his mind using Occlumency, Ethan once again approached the Boggart.
This is a more advanced application of Occlumency, allowing one to construct a false thought while building defenses, thereby misleading those who use Legilimency.
Not many people can do this, but Snape certainly can. As a gold-medal spy, if he couldn't even do this, he definitely wouldn't have gained Lord Voldemort's trust.
This time, after Ethan constructed a false image of fear in his mind, the Boggart quickly responded.
Waist-length golden curly hair, emerald green pupils, delicate features, and a standard Hogwarts Wizard robe—it was Cassandra, exactly as she looked today.
"Riddikulus!"
With a pop, Cassandra's Wizard robe changed into a princess dress, bubble socks, and small leather shoes, and even her hair was styled into twin pigtails.
But it looked awkward no matter how he saw it; normal was better.
As he removed the false fear image constructed in his mind, the Boggart also reverted to its original form.
An Spirit Expulsion Curse was cast, and the hit Boggartwaited nearby.
Ethan pulled a goblin out of a box.
With a gentle touch of his finger, a faint green light flashed, and the goblin, just pulled out, lay down peacefully.
Ethan placed his hand on its head and extracted a transparent soul. Its eyes were still somewhat dazed, clearly indicating that the soul was currently in a chaotic state.
This time, no curse was cast to turn it into a Helheimspirit.
Instead, he used a magic recorded in Ravenclaw's notes, specifically designed to affect souls.
Kill a life, extract its soul, and use it as a blade. The stronger the target soul, the longer this soul blade lasts; conversely, it will collapse as soon as it forms.
Its main purpose is to cut souls, either one's own or another's.
It is an essential spell for soul experiments.
He placed the tool, which glowed with a faint blue light, aside. According to Ravenclaw's records, a soul made from a goblin's soul could last for half an hour.
Under the effect of the Spirit Expulsion Curse, the Dementor, however unwilling, automatically lay down on the workbench.
What was needed now was to extract a pure soul, which could be done with the Spirit Expulsion Curse. This allows for the removal of a soul without harming the life, provided the subject does not resist.
Increasing the magical power of the Spirit Expulsion Curse, the controlled Dementor's body trembled violently. Beneath its shattered form, a transparent vision was pulled out by Ethan, causing a moment of disorientation.
He continued to increase the magic output. Now the Dementor's body was constantly shaking; even with the Spirit Expulsion Curse, he couldn't make it quiet down. This was more like an instinctive physical reaction.
He hadn't expected the Dementor's body and soul to be so tightly connected; it was much stronger than creatures like goblins.
Dementors, Boggarts, and other such Animals, although they are spirit-type, are similar to creatures like Peeves; they are not mere souls, but rather a combination of emotions, magic, souls, and other miscellaneous things.
Just like the spirit bodies created by the ancient magicHelheim, these are aggregates of soul, life, and magic. A pure soul cannot exist long in this world...
Except for Lord Voldemort's remnant soul, because he has Horcruxes as anchors.
As Ethan's magic power continuously increased, the Dementor's body seemed to be torn in half. If Ethan wanted to use a knife, it would certainly be better to do so on a pure soul.
Suddenly, the Dementor's mouth emitted a sound like fingernails scraping glass, extremely harsh and noisy.
Amidst the noise, the Dementor's body stopped trembling, and its entire form transformed into a wisp of black smoke, dissipating on the workbench, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
"Dead?"
Ethan was somewhat incredulous; the pure soul of this creature actually couldn't be extracted.
For other normal creatures, after the soul is extracted, the body remains, and the soul does not perish in a short time.
But for spirit-type creatures to be like this, Ethan truly hadn't expected it, and he had never conducted experiments in this area before.
It seems the connection between the Dementor's soul and the substances that make up its body is deeper than he imagined.
Taking out parchment, Ethan recorded everything from this experiment.
If Dementors don't work, then what about Boggarts?
Would it also, like the Dementor, dissipate body and soul together the moment the soul is forcibly stripped away?
Thinking of this, Ethan's ill-intentioned gaze fixed on the Boggart placed aside.
Following the previous experiment, he applied each step to the Boggart. As expected, the Boggart also turned into black smoke and vanished.
Indeed, these experiments concerning souls are not that easy to conduct.
Just the first step had already stumped him.
But this experiment was still not over. Ethan opened Nibelungen again and released a spirit body created by the ancient magic Helheim.
Anyway, Ethan was not short on test subjects.
Ethan found that the spirit bodies created by Helheim had an even tighter bond between body and soul.
If the connection between Dementors and Boggarts was glue, this was like being welded on.
1.2 After quite a struggle, Ethan finally pulled out the soul.
This time, after the soul appeared, the spirit body's form did not dissipate; it just lay there expressionless, as if dead.
Next, Ethan began to research this soul body, to see how it differed from a normal soul.
He spent almost an hour, during which he also made two more goblin soul tools, and pretty much dissected the soul.
Overall, it was not much different from a normal person's soul, but it was extremely fragile, as if the soul was split into two. One part maintained the stability of the body, and the other part, which Ethan had just pulled out, was likely only a portion of the original soul.
More importantly, after Ethan pulled it out, it couldn't be put back.
About another hour passed, and the Helheim-made spirit body's shell also began to dissipate into blue light points.
Ethan guessed that this might be due to the life force contained within it.
And the birth of Boggarts and Dementors did not involve life, so the soul was their main body. The moment the soul left the body, the body disappeared.
However, for spirit bodies created by Helheim, even if the soul is extracted, the shell is still maintained by life force, but without the soul to harmonize it, the life force cannot last long and will collapse.
Chapter 168: The Impact of Dementor Disappearance
Dumbledore, who received a message from the Ministry of Magic, painfully clutched his forehead in the Principal's office.
Overnight, seventeen Dementors had disappeared, and now he was being summoned for a discussion.
But he truly hadn't done it!
If he had wanted to, let alone seventeen, he could have eliminated all the Dementors outside Hogwarts in one night.
But with the Ministry of Magic's message, he couldn't refuse to go.
After a long sigh, Dumbledore stood up and glanced at Fawkes on the perch.
Amidst a chorus of bird calls, Fawkes swooped down, its talons firmly gripping Dumbledore's shoulders, then a flash of fire appeared.
Dumbledore reappeared, now inside the Ministry of Magic.
Greeting the Wizards coming and going along the way, Dumbledore headed straight for Cornelius Fudge's office.
Bang! Bang!
Hearing the knock, a plump middle-aged woman in a pink dress opened the door from inside and ushered Dumbledore in.
Then the pink toad, with keen perception, retreated and closed the office door.
At this time, she wasn't as arrogant as she would become later.
"Cornelius, the disappearance of these Dementors was not my doing."
Sitting in a chair, Dumbledore looked at the corpulent Fudge opposite him, his expression quite serious and earnest.
Hearing this, Cornelius adjusted the top hat on his head, and his expression became grim: "If it wasn't you, who else could it be?"
"Oh, no, wait, that little brat Ethan Adrien could also make seventeen Dementors disappear without a trace, besides that, tell me, who else could it be?"
"You should know, these Dementors are all Ministry of Magic employees, all members of the Ministry of Magic."
This morning, after receiving a report from the Ministry of Magic personnel responsible for supervising Dementors that seventeen Dementors were missing, Cornelius's first suspect was Dumbledore.
When he first proposed letting Dementors enter Hogwarts to search for Sirius Black, Dumbledore was extremely reluctant.
Now it's very possible that Dumbledore is using his own methods to protest the Ministry of Magic.
Moreover, the Dementors and the Ministry of Magic are not exactly a superior-subordinate relationship, but rather a cooperative one.
The Ministry of Magic provides Dementors with a safe place where they can freely absorb happiness, meaning Azkaban prisoners are at the Dementors' mercy, as long as no lives are lost.
In return, Dementors must ensure that Azkaban prisoners do not escape and must fulfill their duties as jailers.
Sirius's escape this time was due to the Dementors' dereliction of duty, which is why they were allowed to be brought out to capture Sirius; otherwise, it would be quite difficult to command them.
Last time, when Ethan instantly eliminated one-third of the total number brought out, whether they were staying in Azkaban or going to Hogwarts, they all had considerable complaints about the Ministry of Magic, and Cornelius had a hard time appeasing them.
As a result, only half a month has passed, and something has happened again. How is Cornelius supposed to explain this to the Dementors?
If the Dementors were to become discontent and go on strike, leading to a loophole in Azkaban's defenses, allowing those criminals to find an opportunity to escape...
Setting aside the impact these criminals would have on the Wizarding World after escaping, there has never been a large-scale prison break since the Ministry of Magicwas established.
Once such a scandal occurs during his tenure, he, the Minister for Magic, might be recorded in history and gain the title of the worst Minister for Magic ever.
Cornelius absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen.
"Cornelius, you should know that we are not the only ones who can deal with Dementors, and many spells can affect them."
"Adrian likely used the Fiendfyre Curse, but he controlled it well, so it didn't leave any traces on the train. However, some spells targeting the soul would be even more effective against Dementors!"
Dumbledore looked helpless. First, he certainly hadn't done anything to the Dementors, unless he was sleepwalking.
As for whether Ethan was responsible, Dumbledorecouldn't easily determine that either.
The main thing is, these Dementors are not currently inside Hogwarts, so the two sides basically can't even see each other, how could a conflict arise?
If Ethan was unilaterally causing trouble, that also doesn't make sense. After all, the Dementors were the ones who suffered losses last time; Ethan and his group didn't suffer any losses at all.
Dementors wouldn't offer any benefits worth Ethan's attention, so there was really no need to risk offending the Ministry of Magic by attacking Dementors.
But if it wasn't Ethan, who else in Hogwarts could quietly remove seventeen Dementors?
Severus and the others couldn't do it. If it was just expelling them, it would be easy, and they could easily do it even with more numbers.
But quietly dealing with seventeen Dementors without alarming Ministry of Magic personnel or other Dementors, that difficulty is not just a little high.
The silvery-white light of Expecto Patronum can travel very far, which easily attracts the attention of those around, especially in open areas.
So much so that even now, Dumbledore finds it difficult to determine who the real culprit is.
And hearing Dumbledore say this, Cornelius suddenly fell silent.
These words made him think of a possibility: skilled in Dark Arts and related to souls, besides that noseless ugly monster, who else could it be?
Instantly, the panic on Cornelius's face could not be hidden, and he could only comfort himself with words.
"No, that's impossible, everyone knows he's dead, that's impossible!"
"Albus, you're saying it's absolutely not him, right!"
At the end, Cornelius looked at Dumbledore anxiously, hoping he would give him a definitive answer.
Lord Voldemort!
Cornelius really couldn't imagine what he would do if Lord Voldemort made a comeback during his tenure.
Could he deal with him?
Cornelius, who had lived through that era, knew very well that the Ministry of Magic at that time was already suffocating, and if it weren't for the sudden appearance of the Savior, whether there would even be a Ministry of Magic now is debatable.
If he had been in power at that time, he would have been just as helpless.
"He hasn't returned, I can tell you that very seriously."
Dumbledore sighed, answering Cornelius's question very earnestly.
Dumbledore wasn't sure where Lord Voldemort was now, or how many people were gathered around him, but he could be certain that he hadn't resurrected yet; otherwise, there would have been some commotion long ago.
Dumbledore knew Lord Voldemort's personality; the first thing he would do after resurrecting would definitely be to protect Ethan and Harry, and since neither of them had encountered any accidents, this could be judged.
It was just that Dumbledore never expected Cornelius to fall so quickly; the Cornelius who used to be daring and ambitious was truly gone.
The power of the Minister for Magic and the current comfortable environment had made him greedy for power and cowardly.
In just three years, Cornelius seemed to have completely changed, and power truly is a delicious poison.
At the same time, it also made Dumbledore even more certain that he must never touch such power.
Dumbledore knew that as long as he showed even a hint of such an idea, whether it was old friends, or students who had graduated from Hogwarts, or Ministry of Magicofficials and Wizengamot members, those who supported him would definitely make up the vast majority, and he could instantly ascend to the position of Minister for Magic.
But he couldn't do that, and he couldn't even give off any signal in that regard.
"You're right, it can't be him, he hasn't returned!"
"Then it's Sirius Black, it must be him. He was lurking nearby and killed the Dementors."
"He must have learned some vicious Dark Arts when he was at home before, otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to escape from the heavily guarded Azkaban."
Cornelius's voice grew louder and louder, as if by saying such things, he was making them true.
"Perhaps!"
Dumbledore replied with some disappointment.
There was no need to argue anymore; Cornelius had been scared witless by Lord Voldemort, and in this regard, he was even worse than a young Wizard.
If Lord Voldemort truly resurrected, there's no telling what foolish moves Cornelius would make.
"I will arrange a team of Aurors to go to Hogwarts next, you won't refuse, will you!"
"And the Dementors, I will also replace them completely."
"This is all to catch Sirius Black!"
Cornelius, who had already convinced himself, looked up at Dumbledore again.
Originally, there were only two Aurors, who were responsible for supervising and controlling the Dementors, while the Dementors were distributed along the various necessary paths at Hogwarts.
But now it seems that such a small number of personnel is clearly not enough, otherwise, such a thing would not have happened.
As long as Sirius can be caught, all the difficulties he currently faces will be resolved.
"Alright, but it still cannot disturb the students' lives."
After a moment of silence, Dumbledore still compromised.
Clearly, Cornelius had already made up his mind, and if he refused, there would definitely be a conflict.
The disappearance of the Dementors would also be blamed on him.
"Good, I can guarantee you this: the Dementors will absolutely not enter Hogwarts Castle."
Cornelius readily agreed, as he had only said they couldn't enter the Castle.
If young Wizards were accidentally injured outside, it couldn't be blamed on the Ministry of Magic.
As for blaming the Dementors, they are also working to maintain the stability of the Wizarding World; they just aren't intelligent enough and made a mistake. Why would you argue with these Animals?
Dumbledore also understood Cornelius's underlying meaning, but at this moment, he could only nod in agreement.
"Albus, you can leave first. I still need to appease the Dementors and then arrange the Aurors, so I won't have time to see you out."
Chapter 169: Changing the Weather
Time came to October.
This school year's Quidditch rookies have been selected, and training sessions have already begun.
As usual, conflicts between the various houses occur frequently in order to compete for the use of the Quidditch Pitch.
Lupin has also completely established himself at Hogwarts. After more than a month of recuperation, he no longer looks as frail as before; he is much more energetic, and after receiving his first month's salary, he changed into a new Wizard robe, looking completely different from before.
His classes are also quite popular with the young Wizards.
Taking Ethan's third year as an example, they later studied Red Caps, which are ugly little creatures similar to Goblins, lurking in places where blood has been shed, such as the Castle's dungeons or abandoned battlefield trenches. They like to attack lost people with clubs in these places.
After Red Caps, they studied the Winged Serpent, a reptile that lives in water, looking like a scaled monkey with webbed hands, ready to attack anyone wading in their pond.
It can be said that every week's Defense Against the Dark Arts Class is worth looking forward to, with one theoretical class and one practical class, which has already captured the attention of the young Wizards at Hogwarts.
Hagrid, after Ethan's guidance, is doing well now. He brought over the much-abused Chimera as a model to introduce its abilities, habits, living environment, and so on.
Later, he also brought Fire Crabs, which are XXX-rated Animals. Despite the name 'crab,' they actually look more like sea turtles, with their shells adorned with jewels on their backs, making them quite magnificent and valuable.
These are also foreign species that Hagrid put a lot of effort into acquiring. He originally intended to use them for breeding, but now they are being used to teach students.
These two Animals also attracted the attention of the young Wizards at Hogwarts, making Hagrid feel much better.
Only Snape's mood remains quite foul; every time he teaches his Potion Class, it's as if he's about to kill someone.
Even now, Gryffindor's house points have never exceeded thirty points, as Neville and Ron are always the focus of attention in third-year Potion Class, and no amount of points is enough to deduct.
The young Wizards of Gryffindor themselves know that the House Cup is out of their reach this school year.
And Divination Class, most people don't like this class. They originally thought Professor Trelawney was very mysterious, but after Professor McGonagall's explanation, everyone knew she was an old liar.
Only two Gryffindor girls trust her very much: Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.
Both of them are Hermione's roommates. Hermione has complained countless times, but no amount of persuasion works.
And every lunchtime, they like to go to Trelawney's top-floor tower classroom, returning with a profound smile on their faces.
Many of the young Wizards in Gryffindor believe that these two have been enchanted by Trelawney.
Besides that, Hermione also had a big argument with Ron.
The reason was that Hermione brought Crookshanks to the common room to read, and Ron was there at the time. The result was naturally obvious: Crookshanks went after Scabbers again.
This made Ron very angry. Although Scabbers had gained some weight after taking Ethan's tonic, Scabbers's age couldn't be changed. He was so old, how could he withstand a cat's harassment?
This made Ron furiously kick Crookshanks, but Crookshanks, after all, had Kneazle blood, so he wasn't that easy to hit, and in the end, Ron pulled his crotch.
Therefore, the two had an argument. Hermione no longer brings her cat to the common room now; she puts him in a cage whenever she goes out, and only lets Crookshanksout when she's in the dormitory or with Ethan.
At the same time, this month, the school also posted a notice that third-year students would be able to visit Hogsmeade at the end of this month, just before Halloween.
Of course, the prerequisite is to obtain a parent's signature; otherwise, they can only stay at Hogwarts.
This made a considerable number of young Wizards very happy, as most of them had never been to Hogsmeadebut had heard of Hogsmeade, this pure Wizard village.
For someone like Ethan, Hogsmeade had long been thoroughly explored, so there was nothing new or exciting about it.
Besides these, the only thing that particularly caught Ethan's attention was the weather on the full moon day in October.
However, after finishing classes in the morning, Ethan came to the grounds outside Hogwarts and found that the weather was not very good.
Today's clouds were quite thick, a true overcast day.
The Mandrake leaf, when soaking in saliva, must receive pure moonlight; otherwise, the process has to be restarted.
Ethan was truly fed up with holding a leaf in his mouth for a month. He often woke up startled at night, fearing that he would push the leaf out or swallow it.
So Ethan would absolutely not choose to restart this step.
Then he would have to find a way to deal with these dark clouds so that tonight's moon could clearly and brightly illuminate the earth.
Ethan also had a somewhat unreliable method for this, and he wasn't sure if it would work.
Among Animals, Newt Scamander could use a Thunderbird to summon dark clouds, combined with the Winged Serpent's venom, to erase the memories of half of New York City's population.
Newt's Thunderbird could do it, and Ethan had five of them, so there was no reason they couldn't.
As long as these dark clouds finished raining, wouldn't the moon come out at night?
He arrived at the Thunderbird's habitat in the Forbidden Forest.
"Caw!"
From a distance, Ethan heard the Thunderbird's cry.
When he got closer, Ethan realized that three young Thunderbirds were being scolded for something they had done; the large Thunderbird flapped its wings once for every two squawks, and it equally distributed the scolding, not missing a single one.
The Thunderbird mother spotted Ethan approaching and immediately flew down gently in front of him, chirping happily.
After Ethan stuffed some energy cubes into her beak, he flipped himself directly onto her back.
After meeting up with the other four Thunderbirds, Ethan stated his request.
Of course, they wouldn't refuse this, so they immediately carried Ethan into the sky, ascending below the clouds.
There, they continuously flew, circled, and chirped, and the clouds grew darker and darker, with lightning beginning to flash within them.
Ethan also used the Weather Charm at this moment, directly controlling a large expanse of dark clouds.
Torrential rain accompanied by thunder crashed down, and the Thunderbirds carried Ethan, constantly weaving through the lightning and dark clouds.
Ethan found his control over the Weather Charm becoming increasingly proficient, with its level truly skyrocketing at a visible rate.
Moreover, on the back of the Thunderbirds, the lightning seemed to intentionally avoid him; of course, Ethan wasn't afraid of the lightning anyway.
With his talent for lightning affinity, the moment the lightning made contact, Ethan could use his magic to control it, not by molding it in his hands, but by directing it with his wand towards a specific direction.
Once the entire surrounding area was engulfed in heavy rain, Ethan finally had the Thunderbirds take him back.
The rest was no longer Ethan's concern; according to the current trend, the dark clouds would disappear in at most one or two hours.
He just didn't know if, after burying the Mandrake leaves and saliva, the condition of waiting for a thunderstorm with lightning could be assisted by the Thunderbirds. If so, it would be incredibly simple.
He could start in a couple of days when the clouds were thicker.
However, Ethan only thought about it before giving up; it was best to leave this step to nature.
He wasn't sure if there would be any mishaps with an environment altered by magic.
Today's condition was moonlight, so changing the weather now was fine, as the Thunderbirds only affected the clouds, not the moon.
Later that evening, Ethan went alone to the Acromantulanest in the Forbidden Forest.
Due to the heavy rain in the morning, the weather cleared up by the afternoon.
Now, moonlight illuminated the earth, promising another good day tomorrow.
Taking out a crystal vial, Ethan spat saliva into it until it reached two-thirds of the bottle's capacity.
Then, he took out the Mandrake leaves and soaked them in the crystal vial filled with saliva.
He aimed it at the moon, allowing it to fully receive the pure moonlight.
It truly was a Mandrake leaf; after being held for a month, its appearance hadn't changed at all. An ordinary leaf would have long since rotted away.
About ten minutes later, Ethan added a strand of his hair and a teaspoon of dew. This dew was collected by Ethan deep in the Forbidden Forest, absolutely untouched by sunlight or human contact.
Finally, he added a Death's-head Hawkmoth chrysalis and buried the mixed liquid beneath a rock not far from the Acromantula nest.
He instructed the Acromantula not to disturb this area, nor to pass through or feed there.