“Ethan, you… you’re okay!”
Penelope arrived with over ten Ravenclaw students, her eyes wide as she took in the scene before her, unsure what to say.
She was so panicked she’d forgotten Ethan’s strength. Now, looking back, she realized she should have been worried about “whether those Slytherins would be beaten to death.”
The last lesson had just ended, and a flustered Ravenclaw third-year girl had run up to her.
As a prefect, Penelope naturally went to ask what was wrong. When she learned that Ethan had been bullied by five older Slytherins, she gathered five-year students and other Ravenclaws she met along the way and rushed here.
Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw girl hadn’t witnessed the end, so she thought Ethan had been badly bullied.
She had just come out of the Hogwarts library with a classmate when she saw the Slytherins bullying a Ravenclaw student. Both third-year girls were afraid to approach and didn’t want to watch. One ran to Professor Flitwick, while the other went to the Ravenclaw common room for help.
The one who went to the Ravenclaw common room had run into Penelope on the way, which is why they were able to arrive so quickly.
“Have you thought about the consequences of doing this?”
After a moment of silence, Penelope whispered to Ethan.
She felt she’d gone too far. A lesson would have been enough, but now all of them were injured. Luckily, they were in the wizarding world and could heal; otherwise, it would have been a big problem.
And Ethan’s wand was broken, which was brutal!
Breaking a wand could be considered a life-or-death feud. Of course, looking at their condition, Penelope could tell they were all terrified to the bone. They wouldn’t dare seek revenge, but the impact was still not good.
More importantly, would Ethan be expelled for using such force?
“There are no consequences. At worst, I’ll be put in detention,”
“These guys aren’t dead. A few bottles of potion will fix them. Isn’t their Head of House a potion master?”
Ethan said nonchalantly.
Expelled?
Ethan was sure that was impossible!
Not only had they started the fight and been the first to use their wands, but which Head of House wouldn’t protect their own? Professor Flitwick wouldn’t stand idly by.
Even Dumbledore wouldn’t expel Ethan. While Ethan wasn’t Harry and wouldn’t get that kind of special, “up-the-butt” treatment, his talent was definitely worth Dumbledore’s attention.
What would happen if Ethan was expelled?
A wizard expelled from school who had a conflict with some pure-bloods and had a ridiculously explosive talent—
This kind of situation, unless they could be eliminated immediately, would have endless consequences.
But judging by Ethan’s current strength, if he left Hogwarts, it wouldn’t be so easy to eliminate him.
He would definitely get involved with Dark Wizards and cause chaos. Whether he would become the next Voldemort was debatable, but the wizarding world wouldn’t be peaceful.
For this reason, unless Dumbledore was brain-dead, he wouldn’t expel Ethan.
It was much safer to keep him at school than let him go out into the world.
“Are you sure you won’t be expelled?”
Penelope was still worried. Hogwarts did have a history of expelling students.
“Sure!”
Ethan nodded confidently.
Seeing this, Penelope didn’t say anything more. Ethan’s situation didn’t need her comfort.
She was just worried about Ethan’s mental state. As someone who frequented the Room of Requirement with Ethan, Penelope knew he was a master of Dark Arts, and most Dark Arts were accompanied by negative emotions. She feared Ethan might be influenced.
Just then, another group arrived. They were a crowd of spectators who had been attracted by the pitiful howls. They came from the library and included students from all four houses.
“Ethan, what happened?”
Cassandra and Hermione were among the crowd. They approached Ethan.
Although they didn’t know the details, seeing Ethan like this, they knew he was the protagonist.
“These guys wanted to steal the recipe for the potion that clears your mind. I wouldn’t give it to them, so they attacked me. I won.”
“If Dumbledore tries to give you a hard time, I’ll talk to my father.”
With that, Cassandra stepped back and returned to the crowd.
Knowing the reason—that these scoundrels had tarnished Slytherin’s honor—she naturally wouldn’t allow Ethan to be targeted. This was the opponent she had chosen for the next seven years. If he were expelled, what would she do?
Her father was the Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, so he had some weight in the British wizarding world. Even Dumbledore couldn’t ignore him.
As for Hermione, she was on the verge of tears. She was a good student who strictly followed all of Hogwarts’ rules. She hadn’t even gone on a night out with Harry and Ron, or rather, they weren’t even that close.
After being beaten by Ethan in the subject she excelled in, Hermione, though she liked being top of the class, no longer liked to preach or be haughty. She even occasionally earned points for Gryffindor.
This led her to make a few friends among the Gryffindor girls. As a result, she hadn’t stuck around Harry and Ron, the representatives of “bad students” (the main point-deducting team), because of a chance encounter on the train.
This meant that the good student Hermione, who hadn’t yet grasped the true meaning of Hogwarts, had already concluded in her mind that Ethan was about to be expelled, no doubt about it!
As the incident spread like wildfire, more and more students came to watch. The twins, Cedric, Cho Chang, Harry—they all heard the commotion and came to ask Ethan what happened, expressing their concern.
Of course, Malfoy, one of the culprits, was also in the crowd, observing the scene.
The five unlucky Slytherins were recruited by them. They had met before the incident and had been waiting for good news nearby. They hadn’t expected this outcome.
Now, seeing all five of them crippled, they were sweating. Ethan was so strong. He had taken down five fourth-year students with one blow. He had been so ruthless.
When they had clashed on the train, they had held back countless times.
They wondered whether they had been exposed, whether Ethan knew they had been involved. If Ethan knew they were the ones who pushed things, he would be in a panic.
Thinking about it, Draco’s legs trembled, and he wished he could slap himself. Why did he bother with him?
“Goyle, Crabbe, let’s go back!”
Draco was so unsteady that he needed to be helped by the two. He wanted to be as far away from Ethan as possible.