Hogwarts and the Holy Grail War

Chapter 35 Do you use this to test cadres?

"what do you mean?"

Ethan raised his head, frowned deeply, and looked at Alanna with a little disbelief.

The bag contained a pile of coins, most of which were copper Knuts, with a dozen or so silver Sickles mixed in. Two or three gold Galleons could be vaguely seen lying at the bottom of the bag.

"Why, not enough?" Alana seemed a little uneasy, standing there with her head down and pursed her lips, "This is all the money I have... If it's not enough, I can find a way to borrow!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ethan interrupted Alana, feeling a headache. "It's not about the amount. What are you giving me money for?"

"It's protection money for you," Alana looked up at Ethan and said seriously, "this way you will help me not be bullied by them."

"Protection money?" Ethan felt something was wrong and his face turned cold. "Who taught you to do this?"

"Neil Rozier said so. He told me before that as long as I paid him protection money regularly, he would protect me from being bullied by others." Alana tilted her head slightly and lowered her eyelids. "But I don't know why he broke his promise after the start of this semester... I gave him the protection money on the first day."

Hearing this, Ethan silently clenched his fist around the purse.

Neil Rozier, you deserve to die!

"You said before that I could come to you if I had any problems." Alana turned to look at Ethan again, with a hopeful look on her face, "So I was thinking, since I can't rely on him, I should be able to come to you for help."

Ethan took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, then handed the purse to Alanna: "I roughly understand the situation, but I can't take this money."

"Is that so..." Alana lowered her head in disappointment, sobbing softly, "Even you can't help me? I'm sorry... just pretend I never said anything."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ethan gently held Alana's shoulders, his tone very gentle, "I will help you, and I don't want your money."

"Huh?" Alana looked up, incredulous. "Why?"

"Why?" Ethan found it a little funny. "I want to help you, isn't that enough?"

"But if you don't want to get paid, why would you help me?" Alana muttered to himself, "No reason?"

"Do I need any more reasons to help you?" Ethan asked.

"Don't you need it?"

“Do you need it?!”

Ethan suddenly raised his voice with a hint of anger on his face, scaring Alana so much that she quickly took two steps back, and the back of her head hit the pillar in the corridor with a bang.

"Oh, sorry. Are you okay?" Ethan realized that he had lost his composure and quickly explained, "That's not what I meant."

"Yeah, I know." Alana rubbed the back of his head, tears welling up in his eyes because of the pain. "You are a good person. That's why I came to you."

+1 for the unexpected good guy card.

"Anyway, I will help you." Ethan stuffed the purse to Alanna again, "and I won't take your money."

"If you don't accept it..." Alanna wiped the tears from her eyes, did not accept the money bag, and asked softly, "What if you regret it?"

"No." Ethan said firmly, "Since I said I would help you, I will definitely help you to the end and will not give up halfway."

And if a person really wants to go back on his word, he will still turn against you on the spot even if you have received the money.

"Everyone would make a verbal promise, right?" Alana looked at Ethan, her eyes reflecting a beautiful light in the moonlight.

"I won't take any money no matter what!" Ethan was helpless and emphasized it again.

Alanna's thoughts couldn't change for a while, so she had to find a way to deal with her first.

"If you don't want money," Alana seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and moved the book in her arms up to cover her chest, her voice as soft as a mosquito, "then you want... my body..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Ethan hurriedly stopped Alana from driving. "Stop it. If you keep talking, you won't be able to pass the trial."

Alanna shut up and stood there quietly, blinking nervously. Her delicate face was red all the way to her ears because of the radical remarks she had just made.

"I'm talking to you..." Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly, frowning and thinking.

Alanna was like a drowning person grabbing a life-saving straw and was unwilling to let go easily. But her method was a bit too extreme. How could she make him believe her?

"Hiss——" Ethan scratched his hair, very distressed.

Percy was right, this little girl was just as stubborn as her sister.

"How about this, let's make a contract." Ethan patted his head and thought of a way, "'Unbreakable Vow', do you know?"

Alanna nodded and whispered, "I saw it in a book."

"Okay, that's easy." Ethan extended his right pinky finger to Alanna, "This is the highest level of oath in our China. Come, follow my steps."

Alanna looked at Ethan's hand, hesitated for a moment, and stretched out her right hand towards Ethan, with her little finger stretched straight.

Ethan smiled slightly, bending his pinky finger slightly and reaching forward to hook Alanna's pinky finger.

"I, Ethan," Ethan said in a serious tone, "I swear on my life that I will do my best to protect Alanna Shanans from being bullied by anyone, and eliminate all those who plot against her. If I breach the contract..."

Ethan looked Alanna in the eye and said, "If you break this contract, you will be struck by lightning and you will never be able to turn over a new leaf."

Alanna opened her mouth slightly, somewhat surprised at the way Ethan swore.

"Now, stick out your thumb." Ethan kept hooking his fingers and stuck out his thumb to remind Alanna.

"Ah? Okay." Alana woke up as if from a dream, stretched out her thumb, and overlapped her finger with Ethan's.

"Okay," Ethan let go of his hand, smiled slightly, and said, "Now the contract is established, is there anything you still don't believe?"

Alana lowered her eyelids and shook her head. "No... I was just wondering, is it really necessary? To do this for me - to take such a serious oath?"

"I still say the same thing: I want to help you. That's all." Ethan once again stuffed the purse into Alanna's hands. "I guess I don't need it now?"

"Yes." Alanna no longer refused, took the money bag, looked at Ethan's face and said seriously, "As expected, you are a good person."

OK, the good guy card +1 again.

"Thank you for the compliment." Ethan rolled his eyes. "It's getting late now. Should I take you home?"

"Okay." Alanna curved her eyebrows slightly, revealing her first smile in front of Ethan.

Ethan was shocked by this sudden smile and stood there in a daze for a long time.

"What's wrong with you?" Alanna looked at the petrified Ethan, tilted her head slightly, and was very curious.

"No, nothing." Ethan came back to his senses and smiled unconsciously, "You look better when you smile."

Alanna's face turned red all the way to her ears.

Chapter 36 Eavesdropping

"Shall I take you back?"

"it is good."

Ethan turned around and walked to the other end of the corridor with Alanna. Behind them, the half-closed frame of the Fat Lady opened slightly, and Chris's head slowly popped out from behind.

"What do you think of their current state?" Chris looked at their departing backs and asked to someone unknown.

"I think there's a chance it might work." Claire's head popped out next to Chris, standing side by side.

"What do you mean?" Chris rubbed his chin and stared at the backs of the two men.

"Oh, isn't it obvious?" Patty's head popped out from under Claire's head. "He said he would risk his life to protect her. How is this different from directly confessing his love? If I were Alanna, I would marry him right then and there!"

"Eh? Does it have anything to do with this sentence?" Chris, who was at the top, had a puzzled look on his face. "Isn't it just an ordinary contract oath? Expressing that Ethan will do his best to protect Alanna, or something like that?"

"It's a big deal! Oh, so brother, when will you be able to have more emotional intelligence?" Claire shook her head and began to mock her good-for-nothing brother. "No wonder Jill always says you're a blockhead. She's not wrong at all."

"Jill? What's wrong with Jill? I don't think I have offended her recently?" The straight man Chris had a face full of question marks and fell into deep thought.

"Look, George. What did I say? Ethan didn't dare to admit it before, but he turned around and hooked up with him." Fred and George's heads suddenly popped out from under the three heads lined up side by side, and Fred grinned with disdain.

"Hey, you know Ethan is always arrogant." George smacked his lips, exchanged glances with Fred, and reached a consensus.

"So do you think Ethan fell in love with Alanna at first sight?" Ron poked his head out from the bottom and asked several people above who looked very experienced.

"I don't think so." Harry's head almost squeezed out from the bottom of the frame, frowning, "After all, Ethan thought Alana was a boy at first."

"Hmm, there is such a thing?" The three prefects at the top who didn't know what happened looked like they had discovered something new. "More details!"

"You're all guessing Ethan's attitude, but isn't anyone trying to guess what Alanna is thinking? What if she's not interested in Ethan?" Harry thought of something and tried to turn his head and look up at the other six people.

"Don't worry, Harry. It must be interesting." Patty had an expression that said "No one understands women better than me" and winked at Harry to reassure him. "Otherwise, why would she stand here from after dinner until now just to wait for Ethan to come back?"

"So you mean these two people are heading in both directions?" Chris asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it's only a matter of time before these two get together. It will definitely become more and more interesting in the future." Claire concluded their relationship.

"Oh~~" Several men cheered together, with an expression of "I learned something" on their faces.

"Ah, speaking of which, Ethan is so nice." Patty's eyes sparkled with longing, "He's so good at flirting. When will my husband be so romantic too?"

"Then don't expect anything. The gap between people is bigger than the gap between people and pigs." Claire mercilessly attacked her brother, "At least Tony is more romantic than my brother, isn't he?"

Chris was caught in the crossfire again: ? ?

Thanks to my sister for the piercing razor blade.

"That's right." Patty sighed, looking resentful.

Chris, who was being criticized by his sister, quickly changed the subject: "By the way, Tony is an Auror, right? Where is he now?"

"Teminig. He sent me an owl letter the day before yesterday, saying that he found a group of dark wizards holding some kind of sacrificial ceremony over there..." Patty tried hard to recall the content of the letter. "I think it was called the Fire Serpent Party."

"Ah," Chris sighed, "I hope the Salamanders are okay."

Claire shook her head: "It's hard to have an intact body."

"Okay, let's go back. They've gone far away." Chris watched the two figures turn the corner and disappear at the end of the corridor, then lowered his head and said to the people below.

Several people nodded, and one by one went through the portrait passage and returned to the Gryffindor common room.

"Okay, okay, they're all gone. Everybody disperse!" Chris, who was the first to climb out of the passage, stopped beside the passage and waved to the hundred or so students who were gathered at the door of the Gryffindor common room.

The students looked like they were still not satisfied, with inexplicable smiles on their faces. They walked up the spiral staircase in an orderly manner and returned to their respective dormitories.

"Fred, put away the speaker. George, remember to bring back the receiver." Claire gave orders to the Weasley twins who served as technicians.

George, who was still outside the passage, took out an ink box-sized block stuck behind the Fat Lady's portrait and shook it to Claire.

Fred quickly put away the speaker next to the fireplace, took the receiver that George threw over, and put it in the same box as the speaker. Judging from their skilled movements, they must have done this kind of work many times before.

On the other side, a marble staircase.

Ethan and Alanna said nothing at this moment, and walked side by side towards the Slytherin common room in the basement.

It’s not that the relationship between the two people suddenly deteriorated. It’s mainly because one was a little shy because he had just been praised, and the other was a little ashamed because he had just praised someone, and neither of them could find an opportunity to break the silence.

But...

Alanna was holding a book in her hands, a smile on her face, and she almost jumped down the marble steps.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Miss Shannans?" Ethan mustered up the courage to break the silence and spoke with interest.

"Yeah, of course." Alana stopped on the steps, turned to look at Ethan, and smiled faintly, "I'm very happy today."

Alanna, who was so smart and romantic, shocked Ethan like a little boy who landed in Hiroshima, and caught him off guard. He stood there in a daze, with thousands of thoughts flashing through his mind.

Why didn't I realize before that Alanna is so cute?!

Ah Xi! Now when I think about how I mistook her for a man at the beginning, I feel so ashamed!

Ah——! (Groundhog's roar.jpg)

Alanna naturally couldn't hear Ethan's colorful inner world. She blinked and looked at Ethan, who was standing there and suddenly started to go crazy and scratch his scalp frantically with his hands. Her little face was full of confusion.

What happened to Ethan today? He was inexplicably dazed every now and then, and made some inexplicable movements. It was the same before, he just complimented me on my good looks and then pretended to be deep and silent. Are all boys' emotions so split?

But it still looks good no matter how I look at it.

So handsome, I like it!

Chapter 37 No comparison, no harm

The frantic Ethan came to his senses and looked at Alanna who was staring at him intently, a little fascinated.

“Ahem, sorry.” Ethan’s face turned red, and he quickly tried to control his emotions. “I lost my composure just now.”

"It's okay," Alana turned her head quickly, not letting Ethan see the smile between her eyebrows, and said softly, "I don't hate you like this."

"Huh?" Ethan was a little confused for a moment.

Something is wrong. There is something wrong with this Alanna.

Could it be that she is interested in me too?

No, no, there is no reason? Is it just because I promised to help her? Did her favorability increase so quickly?