Hogwarts and the Holy Grail War

"What's the fuss about?!"

Filch turned around on the other side of the door, holding a broom, and shouted at him impatiently with his hair covered in snow:

"If you have nothing to do, come in quickly! It's already very late, if you dawdle any longer you'll miss dinner tonight!"

"Oh."

Ethan lowered his head and walked quickly through the gate. The iron railing door slammed shut behind him.

This morning, after he sent Cassandra away, he took care of everything for the Shannans sisters at St. Mungo's and gave instructions on all the situations he could think of. He finally felt relieved and returned to Hogwarts, ready to face the storm from the professors.

You can't avoid the fifteenth if you can avoid it. Hurry up and get through this scolding, then you can be a hero again.

As for whether he would be grounded or put in detention by the professors, Ethan said he didn't have to worry about it at all. Unless they followed him seamlessly 24 hours a day, he would always have the opportunity to sneak out of Hogwarts and go to St. Mungo's to hang out with his girlfriend.

After all, it's not like he can't TP instantly, so whether he can get out depends on whether he wants to.

In the hall, the few students who stayed on were sitting around four long tables eating dinner. At the Gryffindor table, the three Weasley brothers and a future son-in-law were gathered together, their heads huddled together, mumbling something.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Ethan naturally sat down next to them and leaned his head over.

"Oh, it's Ethan. Nothing, we're just reading today's Daily Prophet... Ethan?"

Ron responded as usual, but halfway through his words he realized the identity of the person asking him the question and turned around in surprise:

"why you?"

"Why not me?" Ethan raised his eyebrows and asked lazily, "What did the newspaper say? Can we still study what happened this morning?"

"The main thing is that this matter is quite important, look." Harry pulled the newspaper in front of Ethan and pointed at the content of the headline on the front page of the news:

"It's a relief! The Fire Serpent Party, the largest black wizard organization that poached and smuggled magical creatures in this century, has been completely destroyed!"

"According to our newspaper, on December 12, the Auror Office under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement dispatched more than 19 Aurors to carry out a siege operation against the Fire Serpents, a criminal gang of dark wizards entrenched in various parts of the UK. The main forces of both sides engaged in an encounter battle in Red Graveyard. Without disturbing the order of the Muggles, the Aurors have wiped out all the dark wizards."

"As of the time this newspaper was published, this operation has been declared a complete victory. We have eliminated and captured more than 150 dark wizards, destroyed three criminal dens, and cut off a black industry chain of poaching and smuggling magical creatures."

"The Salamanders are a dark wizard organization with a long history. Their main business is poaching and smuggling magical creatures. Many endangered species have been harmed by them. Their business is not limited to the wizarding world, but has even reached the Muggle community."

"Auror spokesman Tony Redgrave said that the destruction of the Fire Serpents is not the end of the case, but only the beginning. The upstream and downstream criminal organizations in its black industry chain are still at large. The people will not be at peace unless the dark wizards are eliminated. The Aurors will resolutely fight against all kinds of evil forces under the leadership of Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and Director of the Department of Law Enforcement Amelia Burns. Any dark wizard will be brought to justice!"

Ron realized it belatedly and slapped his forehead and yelled, "No!"

The remaining few people also noticed something at the same time and turned their eyes to Ethan.

Ethan raised his eyes from the newspaper: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Ethan, tell me the truth." Harry asked seriously, "Is this matter... related to your truancy?"

You sneaked away from Hogwarts on the morning of the 14th, and the professors found you missing on the 19th, and then the Fire Serpents disappeared that day. And the incident was just reported in the newspaper in the morning, and you came back in the evening.

Who would believe you if you said this has nothing to do with you?

You must have accidentally run into this group of dark wizards when you were skipping school to go out and play. The noise you made was so loud that it attracted the Aurors. In addition, the professors who were looking for you also smelled the scent and rushed over, so this group of dark wizards was trapped from both sides and was destroyed.

And with your fighting ability, it is possible that you have killed a few unlucky dark wizards. This guess is completely reasonable.

"No, I skipped school because I couldn't hold back and wanted to go out and have fun. After all, I had never been to England before. So I've been wandering around various tourist attractions, like King Arthur's Tomb and so on. And these few days, I hadn't even finished touring London when my professors pulled me back."

Ethan shrugged and lied casually.

After all, Tony and the others had told him before that they would keep him out of this matter, and he could understand the pros and cons involved.

If I make this matter public, then based on my experience, I will probably be spied on in secret by a group of dark wizards again like before.

After all, he was just a student, but he was already strong enough to fight against a whole gang of dark wizards and still escape unscathed. For this kind of guy who might threaten them in the future, most dark wizards would choose to strangle him in the cradle, rather than letting him grow up and feeding him experience packs.

And there was an even worse possibility, that was, his extraordinary combat power might arouse the fear of those powerful old antiques. An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure. He might be monitored or even imprisoned by the British Ministry of Magic, or even forced to do something they wanted him to do.

Moreover, the above two things will not only target oneself, but may also affect those close to oneself. Alanna and others may be used as hostages or even the targets of anger.

To be honest, what Ethan was afraid of in this kind of thing was not that he could not win. If he was pushed into a corner, the worst that could happen was that he would fight to the death and directly create a Big Ivan and detonate it above Ying. No one in the entire Ying country would be able to escape.

He was afraid that he would lose sight of the big picture and fail to protect everyone around him. Although Ethan probably knew that his ability was better than most wizards in Britain, that was only his ability in frontal combat. If someone took advantage of his unpreparedness to steal his house, he really couldn't guarantee that he would be able to defend himself.

He originally suffered from a slight fear of insufficient firepower, and he had just been ambushed by someone, so he became even more suspicious and always assumed that the upcoming crisis would develop in a worse direction.

He would wonder if he might not be well prepared in some places? If the enemy really had super powers, how would he deal with it? Such thoughts would always appear in his mind, reminding him that he must not ignore the consequences for a moment of bragging.

To put it bluntly, the fundamental reason why Ethan was concerned about all this was that he felt that he did not have enough power, and he was afraid that he did not have the power to take care of all aspects perfectly at the moment.

Having a knife and not using it are two different things. In order to protect everything he cherishes, he needs more strength!

So he should just stay calm for now. Only when he has the strength to break off a fight with the whole of Britain and escape unscathed with his family, will he have the confidence to publicize his achievements.

"Really? We're just going out to play~"

Harry and the others snorted in unison, rolled their eyes in boredom and looked away.

Only ghosts believe you.

"By the way," Ethan began to change the subject, "Did anything interesting happen at school during the few days I was away?"

"Nothing interesting." Fred sighed and asked in a puzzled manner:

"The only thing worth mentioning is that a few days ago, one section of Gryffindor's scoring hourglass suddenly disappeared. Do you have any idea about this, Ethan?"

"If I say this has nothing to do with me, I'm afraid you won't believe me, right?" Ethan felt a little guilty, and tried to pull the twins to the same camp as him to strengthen his confidence in doing this:

"Besides, if you walk by the river often, you will get your feet wet. Fred and George, I'm sure you two can understand me, right?"

"That's true." George nodded. "But it's too outrageous to deduct 50 points just for skipping school. Ethan, did you rob the British Museum while you were out playing?"

"If I really did something like that, you probably wouldn't be able to see me in Hogwarts anymore," Ethan rolled his eyes at George, picked up a roasted chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth. He ate the meat clean, spit out the bone, and said incoherently, "I'll just go to Azkaban and take a seat."

Although I didn't do it myself, the Daiying Museum was indeed robbed... But luckily, I helped Alanna return those relics on the way back, so it shouldn't be a big problem... right?

"Mr. Ethan."

Professor McGonagall stood behind Ethan without knowing when, and her vicissitudes of life voice was calm and powerful:

"I'm glad to see you finally return to Hogwarts. We have decided on your punishment after discussion. Please go to the headmaster's office later. We will be waiting for you there."

Professor McGonagall glanced at the plate in front of Ethan, which had no food stains at all, and said:

"But you don't need to be too anxious. We can still afford to wait for you to finish your dinner slowly."

Ethan swallowed the food in his mouth: "Okay professor, I'll go right away."

Ron looked at Professor McGonagall's back as she left, his face tense. "Why is there still a punishment? Didn't Gryffindor already have fifty points deducted? Professor McGonagall, do you think fifty points isn't enough?"

"That's just because I'm a Gryffindor student. The point deduction is just a collective punishment. There is also a personal punishment for me." Ethan sighed with a melancholy look on his face, stood up and left the long table:

"If I stay tall or shrink, I'll be killed. I'm leaving now, so don't worry."

In front of the gargoyle statue at the end of the corridor, Ethan read out the command to open the door with familiarity:

“Pineapple preserves.”

Dumbledore loves sweets, so he always sets the password to the names of various desserts. As Ethan climbed the spiral staircase, he wondered if he should go back and recommend some Chinese sweets to Dumbledore, such as Tanghulu, Longxusu, and Shaqima. Maybe he could improve his favorability...

Who knows, maybe in the future I will be able to do whatever I want in Hogwarts relying on old man Dumbledore's favor!

Wait, I can’t say that now. Be careful, Grindelwald might hear it and escape from Nurmengard overnight to kill me.

Ethan was lost in thought, and he knocked on the brass knocker at the principal's office three times. The door opened automatically, and the professors standing at the long table focused their eyes on Ethan.

"Come in, Mr. Ethan." Dumbledore nodded to him slightly.

"excuse me."

Ethan walked into the room cautiously, stood in front of the professors somewhat stiffly, lowered his head and pretended to be a good boy who was guilty and admitted his mistake.

"Don't be so reserved. Alastor told us everything earlier today."

Dumbledore looked very relaxed, as if he was not the one who was misbehaved by Ethan at St. Mungo's yesterday:

"So for the sake of confidentiality, you don't have to do the examination in front of everyone like last time."

"Mr. Moody told you everything." Ethan looked sad. "Then I guess the professors also know that he tricked me into going to receive training during the holidays?"

"That's right." Snape nodded, looking very pleased. "Mr. Moody's training is very strict. I believe it will be able to deepen your lack of discipline and the caution required in your actions."

"Thank you Professor Snape for the reminder." Ethan smiled at him. He could now fully understand the hidden meaning in the old arrogant man's words.

Isn't it just a reminder, explicitly or implicitly, to make yourself more careful and not be so reckless in the future?

"Tsk." Snape snorted coldly with a dark face and stopped talking.

"Well, although we are all happy to see Mr. Ethan grow in all aspects after the holidays, before that, you are still just a student and you still have to abide by the school rules and regulations during your stay at school." Dumbledore made a "speaking the truth" gesture and continued:

"As for your punishment for skipping school this time, it is also very simple. After our discussion, we unanimously decided to impose a three-week detention on you as punishment. Professor Snape will be responsible for supervising you during the detention period. Starting from today, you will go to the Potions classroom in the dungeon during the curfew time after dinner every day."

"That's right, Mr. Ethan." Snape glanced at Ethan with a happy look on his face, "I will love you very, very much."

Ethan nodded with a bitter face and agreed: "Yes, I understand."

Snape, the old bat, is bound to hold a grudge. Maybe what I said about him being an old bachelor hasn't made him calm down yet. You should be prepared to be bullied.

"I disagree," said Professor Garrick suddenly.

-

Cassandra is a bit flirty

Chapter 252: There is no need for a reason to believe

"I disagree."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ethan looked at Professor Garrick with gratitude, and tears of emotion could be vaguely seen flashing in his eyes.

It’s not in vain that I call you sister normally. At critical moments, you still care about me, your younger brother.

Without further ado, you will be my real sister from now on!

"Mirabell?" Dumbledore looked at Professor Garrick with some confusion.

Didn’t we discuss it before? Why are you changing your mind now?

A woman's heart is like a needle in the sea.

"I still cannot agree with this treatment, Albus."

Professor Garrick sighed, looked at Ethan with some resentment, and continued:

"Three weeks of confinement is still too little. It may not be enough for Ethan to learn his lesson. Let's double the amount."

Ethan's smile froze on his face immediately, and he performed a Sichuan Opera face-changing on the spot.

I must sever this sibling relationship with you!

"I don't have that much work for him to do." Snape said coldly, "And I'm worried that if he stays with me for too long, he won't be able to control himself and damage my precious medicinal herbs."

"No need to trouble you, Severus. The Chinese kale and mandrake I planted are about to mature, and I need a helper to take care of them. I will also have to take care of the poisonous tentacles and Mibo Mibao later. Ethan's grades in herbology are good enough for this helper."

Professor Garrick added sullenly and without emotion:

"And I think we should give Ethan more things to do so that he can live a more fulfilling life, so that he won't be running around idle and causing trouble. This is good for him, isn't it?"

Dumbledore was stunned by Professor Garrick's remarks, then he immediately cleared his throat and nodded in agreement: "You make a lot of sense, Mirabelle. It's time to make Mr. Ethan's spare time more fulfilling."

"It's settled then, Mr. Ethan. From now on, your detention will be supervised by two professors in turn. Today, you and Professor Garrick will go to the greenhouse to take care of the plants."

"Well, okay, whatever, it's up to you." Ethan agreed with a look of despair on his face, and secretly calculated the time when the confinement would end.

Today is December 12st, and if we push it back six weeks, the end time should be February 21st. Well, Valentine's Day should not affect it...

"Well, if there is no problem with this, you and Professor Garrick can leave first."

"I have another question, Professor." Ethan came back to his senses and asked Dumbledore tentatively:

"Before, you didn't let me leave Hogwarts because the dark wizards of the Salamander Party might threaten my life. But now I have killed them all. Do you think you can allow me to leave Hogwarts on the weekends... Don't worry, I'll just go to Hogsmeade or something..."

Facing Ethan's expectant eyes, Dumbledore's eyes, which seemed to be able to see through everything, swept across his face and just smiled faintly:

"of course can."

"Thank you, Professor!"

"Just be careful not to cause any bad things in Hogsmeade like before, do you understand?"