There was no need to wait for Edward to come home.
More accurately, Edward probably didn't even know the law existed.
Ethan had already found the relevant section while flipping through his newly purchased A History of Magic. According to the book, after the International Statute of Secrecy was established in 1692, owls became one of the magical creatures placed under strict regulation due to how widespread and uncontrollable owl communication had become.
That was when the Owl Purchase Contract appeared.
Every owl sold legally in magical Britain had to be bound by a contract spell ensuring it could not escape, disappear, betray its owner, or leak sensitive information under normal circumstances.
Ethan's experiment proved extremely successful.
All he needed to do was think about forbidding Earl from speaking, and the owl instantly lost the ability to mention Ethan's identity as a Dementor hybrid.
"Congratulations," Ethan announced brightly. "You're allowed to live and work as my messenger."
Perhaps Earl never intended to expose him anyway, but Ethan preferred caution. This arrangement solved everything neatly. He got to keep a talking owl while guaranteeing his secret remained protected.
In the following weeks, Ethan repeatedly asked Earl why exactly he could talk.
Unfortunately, the owl's answer never changed.
According to Earl, he once lived in a decaying lighthouse beside an old man named John.
"There's an old man called John on every street," Earl added helpfully.
In the story, Old John carved wooden sculptures endlessly while Earl carried them into the forest and dropped them there one by one.
"My original plan was to build a giant nest," Earl explained proudly one night while moonlight spilled across his wings. "But every time I dropped a carving in the woods, some lost traveller would find it instead. Lost people always find the lighthouse eventually."
The whole story sounded absurdly fairy-tale-like.
A lonely lighthouse hidden near the forest.
A silent old sculptor.
A talking owl.
Ethan stared at him expressionlessly.
"Do I honestly look like the kind of idiot who believes bedtime stories?"
Earl clicked his beak.
"I mean… talking birds are already pretty fairy-tale-like. The atmosphere fits."
The owl casually smeared vole blood across Ethan's windowsill while speaking.
"If you don't want to explain, forget it," Ethan replied while lazily waving his wand. "There are plenty of things in the magical world that can talk."
"Scourgify."
The windowsill instantly became spotless.
"My midnight snack!" Earl screamed in horror.
[Ding! Sin Value +1]
Watching the devastated owl fly back outside to search for another rodent, Ethan climbed into bed feeling extremely satisfied.
More than a month remained before Hogwarts started, and during that time Ethan thoroughly memorised nearly every spell inside The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One.
Most beginner spells were fairly basic.
Levitation charms.
Minor fire spells.
Cutting charms.
Cleaning magic.
Repair charms.
None of them proved particularly difficult.
The strange part was how scientific the magical theory looked compared to how absurdly idealistic spellcasting itself actually felt.
Each spell came with detailed magical diagrams and complex magical flow models attached to the pages, yet normal students clearly ignored them completely.
No eleven-year-old child willingly studied three-dimensional magical equations.
Neither did Ethan.
"Imagine travelling all the way to Hogwarts expecting magical wonder," Ethan muttered one afternoon, "only for the student beside you to ask whether you understood today's polynomial fitting lecture."
He lowered his voice dramatically.
"'Suppose your initial magical output is x and your stepped magical release becomes y, therefore y equals a plus bx plus cx squared—'"
Ethan shuddered.
"That would emotionally destroy any fantasy lover."
Obviously, this was absolutely not an excuse to avoid studying the theory seriously.
In practice, spellcasting remained incredibly simple.
Wave the wand correctly.
Say the incantation.
Visualise the result.
Done.
The hardest part was simply memorising movements and pronunciations.
Eventually, skilled wizards could probably abandon verbal casting altogether. Perhaps advanced spellcasters no longer needed gestures either.
Maybe one day Ethan wouldn't even need a wand.
Unfortunately, Edward and Rose both insisted young wizards should avoid studying advanced magic alone before Hogwarts. Without supervision, children could accidentally create disasters with surprisingly ordinary spells.
Even adult wizards made embarrassing mistakes.
Baruffio famously mispronounced one syllable and somehow ended up flattened beneath a buffalo.
Because of that, Ethan openly practised only beginner spells during the daytime.
At night, however…
At night he secretly studied the Compendium of Positive Spells purchased from the Goodwill Shop for two hundred and fifty points.
The first three chapters were manageable, but once the book reached advanced spells like the Bubble-Head Charm and various preservation charms, Ethan hit a wall completely.
His magical power simply wasn't strong enough yet.
Still, the enchanted illustrations inside the textbook remained fascinating. Every spell came with animated demonstrations showing wizards repeatedly casting the magic or suffering from its effects.
That alone made the book worthwhile.
Meanwhile, Ethan originally planned to surprise Harry by revealing they would both attend Hogwarts together.
Unfortunately, Harry never visited again after returning from the hut on the rock.
Even when they briefly crossed paths once, Harry only muttered an awkward greeting before fleeing immediately.
For a while, Ethan almost suspected Harry somehow knew he was a Dementor.
Eventually, summer vanished in the blink of an eye.
On the morning Hogwarts term began, Rose dragged Ethan out of bed at dawn.
"My baby's first day of school," she said tearfully while fussing endlessly with his clothes and hair. "Mum has to make sure you look absolutely adorable."
"People usually say that while dressing daughters," Ethan pointed out helplessly.
Still, he made no effort to escape while Rose attempted to attach a pink bow tie to his collar.
"It clashes with your hair," she sighed sadly before tossing it aside.
"He'll change into school robes once he arrives anyway," Edward wisely commented from the doorway.
Rose only needed to glance at him once.
Edward immediately retreated downstairs to make breakfast.
The entire journey to King's Cross became an endurance trial for Ethan. Rose kept dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief every few minutes because her child was leaving for at least an entire term.
"Hogwarts will take care of him," Edward comforted gently while driving. "We survived school perfectly well ourselves."
The atmosphere honestly resembled a wedding more than a school trip.
After arriving at King's Cross, Ethan followed Edward and Rose straight through the barrier between platforms nine and ten.
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters unfolded before him beneath clouds of steam.
The scarlet Hogwarts Express waited proudly beside the crowded platform while children shouted excitedly and nervous parents desperately repeated last-minute instructions.
"When you get to school," Rose immediately began, "follow the rules, avoid dangerous places, don't argue with professors, study hard, eat properly, drink enough water, write once a week using Earl, and absolutely do not get sorted into Slytherin or I swear I'll—"
"Rose," Edward interrupted hurriedly, "you're going to scare him off the train entirely."
Then he crouched down beside Ethan.
"Just enjoy yourself," he said warmly. "Don't pressure yourself too much. Hogwarts classes are honestly easier than Smeltings."
"I know," Ethan replied while quietly loosening his suffocating collar. "I can dress myself, use the toilet alone, and feed myself properly. I'll survive."
Then he immediately escaped onto the train before Rose could continue.
Outside the carriage window, Rose leaned against Edward while watching the train anxiously.
"Edward," she whispered softly, "do you remember when we first met on this train?"
Edward visibly froze.
"I remember getting bullied by older students."
"They were pathetic," Rose replied fondly.
"You beat me up immediately after chasing them away," Edward reminded her.
"That's because you cried," Rose said bluntly. "I hated crybabies."
Then she leaned over and kissed him lightly.
"But you were different."
Edward's face turned bright red instantly.
"You know," Rose murmured quietly, "raising a Dementor together somehow makes you look braver than you really are."
"Ethan will be fine," Edward insisted nervously. "He's a good boy. Hogwarts has Dumbledore."
He hesitated briefly.
"And when we bought his supplies… he told me I was a good father."
Rose smiled faintly.
"Evil Dementors probably can't understand love anyway."
Meanwhile, Harry Potter was desperately trying to convince Vernon Dursley to wait another minute.
"I don't have time for your nonsense," Vernon snapped beside the car. "Dudley already has enough problems because of that pig tail. You've got two minutes."
Harry immediately sprinted toward the Norton house and hammered on the front door.
Ever since his birthday, Harry had wanted desperately to tell Ethan everything.
Owls.
Letters.
Hagrid.
Magic.
Every incredible thing that had exploded into his life overnight.
Unfortunately, Hagrid specifically warned him not to reveal magic to Muggles.
Not even close friends.
Harry became so terrified of accidentally exposing the wizarding world that he started avoiding Ethan entirely.
More importantly, Harry feared the pain of telling his best friend he was secretly a wizard while Ethan remained ordinary.
"Ethan," Harry whispered while waiting outside the door, "I'm leaving for another school… but we'll still stay friends, right?"
He had practised the goodbye speech repeatedly beforehand.
Nobody answered.
"Honestly, boy," Vernon shouted mockingly from the car, "did you really think that Norton kid would wait around for someone like you? Nobody wants to spend time with freaks."
Harry ignored him completely.
Still, after climbing into the car, he took one final look toward Ethan's bedroom window.
Somehow, even Hogwarts couldn't fully overcome the feeling that he was leaving something important behind.
At the very same moment, Ethan sat comfortably inside an empty compartment near the rear of the Hogwarts Express.
He shoved his luggage beside the seat before immediately slamming the door shut and struggling to loosen the painfully tight formal outfit Rose forced him to wear.
"Good Lord," he muttered while unbuttoning his collar aggressively. "Maternal love is physically suffocating."
More importantly, why exactly did a creature labelled as a Dementor still need oxygen in the first place?
"You look like a werewolf during mating season," Earl commented while staring from his cage. "Frankly, it's disturbing."
"And you look like a deranged alchemist spying on children," Ethan replied instantly.
After finally changing into his school robes, Ethan decided he would secretly cast a mild Stretching Charm on the formal outfit later before it strangled him to death permanently.
Before leaving home, Rose had also stuffed a heavy pouch of pocket money into his hands. Apparently the Hogwarts Express sold magical snacks, and most children preferred enchanted sweets over sensible packed lunches.
Ethan fully intended to save every coin.
After all, someone extremely wealthy would soon walk into this compartment voluntarily.
"Excuse me, can I sit—Ethan?!"
Harry suddenly froze in the doorway after pulling the compartment open.
"Move aside, please," another student complained from the corridor behind him. "Some of us need the toilet."
"Oh—sorry!" Harry hurriedly dragged his trunk inside while apologising repeatedly.
Hedwig immediately protested loudly from atop the luggage.
The moment the snowy owl appeared, Earl's eyes locked onto her permanently.
"Don't even think about it," Ethan warned quietly. "I don't even have a love interest yet. You're not allowed romantic development before me."
Earl looked at him with complete contempt.
The expression clearly said:
And what exactly are you planning to do if I flirt with other birds at night?
"Ethan!" Harry blurted excitedly. "I thought—I mean—I thought you—"
"Wow," Ethan said with perfect seriousness. "What a coincidence. You're attending Hogwarts too?"
Harry stared at him blankly.
"…Your reaction's a little slow," he finally muttered. "I've been standing here for thirty seconds."
"I'm not very good at emotional reunions," Ethan admitted with a sigh. "Honestly, after you vanished for a month, I was planning to surprise you by revealing everything about the magical world."
"But Hagrid told me not to tell any Muggles about magic!" Harry said anxiously. "You weren't a wizard yet, so I couldn't—"
"Who's Hagrid?" Ethan interrupted immediately.
Once Harry started talking, however, he completely forgot his nervousness.
Within minutes, he enthusiastically launched into the full story of his birthday adventure.
Eleven-year-old children truly were easy to manipulate.
Ethan barely needed to say anything at all.
Listening required far less effort than speaking.
Especially while waiting for the snack trolley to arrive.
....
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