Hogwarts and the Holy Grail War

"Professor, how did you help him defeat the resurrected zombies?" Seamus asked Professor Quirrell impatiently.

"I, I, I, I...I..." Professor Quirrell's face flushed instantly, and he mumbled and changed the subject, talking about the weather.

"Ah..." Ethan, who was sitting at the back of the classroom, sighed and said to Harry and Ron beside him, "What should I do? I think I can do it too."

"Need I tell you? I think I can learn better by reading from the textbook than he does." Hermione rarely agreed with them, so she took over the conversation and complained to Quirrell.

After finally getting through the get out of class, Harry and the other freshmen all slipped away, leaving Ethan alone to continue to face the torture of the garlic smell.

"Mr. Ethan, let's start the remedial lessons." Professor Quirrell stammered.

"Ah, okay, professor. What exactly do we need to catch up on?" Ethan gave an awkward yet polite professional smile.

"Okay... okay, let's start with the simplest one - the Levitation Charm. It's simple to cast, and can... make the enemy float temporarily in the air. Many people feel that the subsequent controllability is not strong enough, so they disdain to learn this basic... basic spell, which is their misstep." Professor Quirrell picked up the wand, "I'll show you... demonstrate it first."

"Levioso."

The training dummy in the room suddenly floated up.

"Jane... simple but effective, right."

After a brief training, Ethan had mastered the spell and was able to make the dummy float in the air at will.

"Very...very good, you're making rapid progress, Mr. Ethan." Professor Quirrell exclaimed, looking at his pocket watch from time to time with an uneasy look.

"Professor, if you have something to do, you can leave first. I can practice by myself."

"Okay... okay, Mr. Ethan, I'll take my leave first." Professor Quirrell felt as if he had been pardoned, and walked quickly out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"Who is the teacher anyway?" Ethan sighed and waved his wand at the training dummy.

"Flipendo (Repel the enemy three feet)."

The dummy somersaulted into the air, flying up and down under Ethan's control.

Chapter 14 Ancient Rune

Hogwarts Great Hall.

After a day of classes, most students will choose to complete the homework assigned by their teachers here and wait for dinner to start.

"So that's all he taught you?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Yes, that's right, Miss Hermione Granger. You've asked him three times in half an hour, and he's taught me this."

Ethan answered without even looking up. In front of him were two large books borrowed from the library, and he was currently flipping through the pages while writing and drawing on parchment according to the contents of the books.

"I still find it hard to believe," Hermione murmured to herself. "Why would he only teach you this? Leviosa's Levitation Charm..."

"…The basics of the basics." Ethan continued Hermione's words, "Actually, there is a more useful Levitation Charm in Chapter 7 of The Standard Book of Spells: Elementary. I'm not saying anything bad about you, Hermione, but can you come up with some new words? I'm so tired of hearing you repeat this."

"I'm just curious about how Quirrell managed to get in - to become a professor at Hogwarts?" Hermione began to ponder, holding her chin in her hand.

"He was teaching Muggle Studies before, but this year he changed to Defense Against the Dark Arts for some reason," Fred explained.

"I heard from Percy that he teaches Muggle Studies quite well. After all, his own abilities are almost the same as those of Muggles." George and Fred looked at each other.

Harry, who had been listening to the discussion without expressing his opinion, looked up and said, "I don't think Quirrell is that bad."

"But he really messed up Defense Against the Dark Arts. He might be the worst Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in the history of Hogwarts. Anyone picked up from the street wouldn't be worse than him." said Ron.

Gilderoy Lockhart/Dolores Umbridge: Hello, yes.

"I agree with Harry's opinion," Ethan finally finished writing a paper and began to pack up. "When Quirrell was teaching me spells, I could feel that he was different from when he was in class. He seemed more... serious than usual? This kind of person would never really know nothing about the Dark Arts. Either he is an idiot who is extremely biased and can't teach others, or..."

"Either what?"

"Either he's hiding something, and he's hiding it really well. I'll see you at dinner."

-

Ethan first returned the two reference books he had borrowed from the library, and then went to Professor Figo's office on the third floor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Tower.

Ethan knocked on the wooden door of the office three times: "Professor?"

"Come in." Professor Figo's voice came from behind the door.

Ethan pushed the door open and walked in. Professor Figo was standing behind the desk, staring intently at a blank piece of parchment.

"Professor, what are you doing?"

"Ah, you're here." Professor Figo looked up and saw that it was Ethan, and smiled, "How was your class today? Professor McGonagall told me that you are very talented."

Ethan said bitterly, "Professor, can we not bring this up? I've lost half my life writing this Transfiguration paper."

"Haha, I didn't expect our little Ethan could be stumped. It's rare to see that."

Ethan rolled his eyes and began to change the subject: "Professor, have you read today's Daily Prophet?"

"You mean Gringotts was attacked? I saw it." Professor Figo nodded and muttered to himself, "Strange, Vault 713... they actually did it..."

"professor?"

"Ah, no. Nothing." Professor Figo noticed his slip of the tongue and collected his thoughts. "Do you have any questions?"

"Do you think it was a coincidence? Vault 12 was attacked?"

"I don't think it's a coincidence. Whoever they are, they definitely want what we found in the vault."

"Could it be that the goblins from Gringotts have joined forces with them?" Ethan suddenly thought of the strange goblin guard with the armband and asked, "Do you remember the goblin with the armband I mentioned to you?"

"I don't think so. Although those goblins don't have much affection for wizards, they won't do something that would damage their reputation." Professor Figo stroked his chin and thought, "If they really joined forces, it should be the individual behavior of the goblin."

"Okay," Professor Figo clapped his hands, stopped Ethan's wandering thoughts, and pointed to the parchment on the table, "Look at this."

"This is?"

"There is an inscription inside the key box. After reading it aloud, this parchment appeared out of thin air. To be honest, this design is quite clever."

"But there's nothing on it, right?"

"Yes." Professor Figo sighed, "I checked every corner carefully, but still couldn't see anything. I'm afraid it's something that only you can see. Take a look for yourself."

Ethan picked up the map and looked at it over and over again. In a corner on the back of the map, he found a row of symbols emitting a faint white light.

"Professor, you are right. There is the same glowing symbol as before."

"What is it?"

"I can't understand it. It's not English or Chinese." Ethan frowned.

"Can you write it down?"

"Okay." Ethan took the paper and pen handed to him by Professor Figo, put the parchment back on the desk, and copied the symbols on the parchment onto the paper.

"Here you go, Professor. Can you identify what it is?"

"Aha! These are ancient runes. I should have thought that the inside of the box was engraved in the same language."

"Professor, can you recognize ancient runes?" Ethan seemed to have discovered a new world.

"Ah, didn't I tell you? I teach ancient runes." Professor Figo winked at Ethan.

Professor Figo recited the runes written on the paper. As his words fell, black lines slowly emerged on the parchment, forming a floor plan of a building.

"This is... a map?"

Professor Figo flattened the map and said, "Yes, if I'm not mistaken, it should be a map of Hogwarts, but I don't know where exactly it points to."

"It should be the library, and the restricted section. I've just been there." Ethan pointed to the library area on the map. In his field of vision, there was a circle of white light circling around the restricted section of the library. "But I always feel that it's not that simple. The map is full of traces of ancient magic."

"Well, I guessed that it was a trace that only you could see - double insurance. It seems that the person who hid these things was very cautious."

"Shall we go then?" Ethan asked eagerly.

"It's a good thing to be enthusiastic, and I'm curious about that place too. But considering what we encountered in Gringotts, the road ahead must be extremely dangerous. I think you should study with the professors for a while." Professor Figo frowned.

"But isn't it just a trip to the restricted books section? How dangerous could it be to look for a book?" Ethan was a little confused.

"Having said that, we should still be fully prepared. Maybe it's not just about finding a book, like we did in Gringotts." Professor Figo made up his mind, "If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. I'll go talk to Professor Flitwick and ask him to teach you a few more defensive spells."

"Okay, okay, sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood." Ethan sighed and said goodbye to Professor Figo. "Then professor, I'm leaving first. Remember to find me if you have any new discoveries."

"By the way, Ethan." Professor Figo called out to Ethan.

"Anything else, Professor?"

"Although it's a little late - congratulations on being sorted into Gryffindor. I hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts."

Chapter 15 Don’t come over!

"…As the saying goes, good fortune comes easy, but misfortune is inevitable. When the black wizard saw me breaking through his magic circle, he was furious and became extremely evil. He raised his hand and shook it slightly, then cast an Avada Kedavra curse at me.

"It happened so fast that I saw the situation was not good and rolled to the side, just passing by the green light. I turned around and took another look, but he had disappeared..."

Gryffindor Tower at night.

There was a table next to the four-poster bed in the dormitory, with a wake-up stick on it. Ethan sat behind the table, holding a folding fan in his hand, gesticulating and telling Harry and the others a story. Harry and the other three exclaimed in surprise as the story went on, their eyes fixed on the folding fan in Ethan's hand, and they shook their heads around following the trajectory of the fan.

Three hours ago.

While Ethan was away from the auditorium, the four people who lived in the same dormitory as Ethan exchanged opinions about Ethan's role as a riddle man last night.

After a five-minute meeting, the four of them reached a consensus on interrogating Ethan in the evening, believing that Ethan should be forced to fulfill his promise as soon as possible and must not be allowed to delay until the next time. They quickly established a strategy of Ron playing the good cop and pursuing the enemy, Harry playing the good cop and taking sides, and the remaining two acting as troublemakers... no, peacemakers.

"Do you think this trick will work?" Neville asked doubtfully.

"It must work. My mom uses this trick every time she tricks my dad into buying her a bag." Simo gave a thumbs up, looking confident.

"Isn't it a bad idea to plot against Ethan like this? What if... he doesn't want to talk about it?" Harry felt a little uneasy.

"It's okay. Ethan said he would tell us last night, so it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, can wizard matters be called calculations? That's called tactics." Ron said carelessly.

The surroundings were suddenly filled with a happy atmosphere.

"But..." Harry hesitated.

But this is not the same. The same thing, saying it voluntarily and being forced to say it are different. Even if Ethan said it nonchalantly last night, who knows if he was just forcing a smile?

Harry was thinking about it when he heard Ethan's voice coming from beside him.

"Why? Are you thinking about me?"

Ethan carried three thick reference books, walked to the empty seat next to Harry, threw the tomes on the long table, and sat down.

The three of them exchanged glances quickly, and felt that now was the perfect time to attack.

Ron took the lead in launching the attack: "Ethan, about that... thing last night, you said we can talk about it later, right..."

"Okay, if you want to hear it, I'll tell you tonight."

Ron/Neville/Seamus: ? ?

You fell down before I even made a move?

The clown is actually us.jpg

Harry: ? ?

I helped you to add more scenes, now you have to compensate me for my feelings!

The clown is me.jpg

Ethan looked at the four people with constipated expressions and was very confused.

"What's wrong with you? Do you want to listen or not?"

Hermione, who witnessed the whole thing, shook her head and sighed helplessly.

"Hey, men..."

The four little jokers finished their dinner absentmindedly and followed the main group back to the Gryffindor Tower.

Ethan got a cup of tea from the common room, returned to the dormitory and greeted the four people: "Come on, it's time to listen to a story. Ron, you and Harry help me carry the suitcase here; Neville, give me your quill and ink bottle; Seamus, go find some snacks, such as the Bibi Multi-Flavor Bean Chocolate Frog."

The four of them were confused, but they still followed Ethan's request and went about their business.

Ethan instructed Harry and Ron to put the suitcase away, then cast a Transfiguration spell to transform the suitcase into a long sandalwood table and an armchair. He then took the pen and ink box from Neville and transformed them into a folding fan and a wake-up stick respectively.

Putting the teacup on the wooden table, Ethan sat down on the armchair and tapped the table lightly with the wake-up stick, making a rapid tapping sound.

"Hey, hey, hey, everyone, sit down on the bed. Does everyone have snacks in their hands?"

The four of them sat obediently on the bed, holding snacks in their hands and nodding rapidly.

"Okay, let's officially get started."

Ethan took a sip of tea and slammed the wake-up stick heavily on the wooden table.