"I think I heard you making friends everywhere, Mr. Malfoy."
In the ensuing silence, Ethan said calmly.
He flashed a smile and extended his wicked hand toward Malfoy, who was trembling like a leaf.
"How about we become friends?"
"Ah... ah..."
Malfoy's eyes widened until they looked ready to pop out of their sockets.
Staring at that hand, he seemed to see the gates of hell opening before him. The horrible memory came flooding back.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone present,
Malfoy, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream and fled, scrambling away on his hands and knees!
Goyle and Crabbe: ???
Hey, man! Why'd you run off without us?!
Their master had fled. The two bodyguards froze for a moment, then hurried after him.
"Clatter!"
Hearing the commotion, the doors of the neighboring compartments swung open one after another, and curious faces peered out.
They didn't know what had happened, but the sight of the blond boy fleeing in such a sorry state was etched deeply into their minds.
"I—I'm telling Professor Snape! Just you wait—you'll be expelled!!!"
The completely unthreatening shout came from the end of the corridor.
In full view, Malfoy stumbled and fell flat on his backside as he passed between the train carriages.
He nearly got crushed by his two lackeys.
He'd made a complete spectacle of himself.
"What a shame."
Ethan withdrew his hand regretfully and said,
"I wanted to be friends with him. Why'd he run off?"
Ethan turned around and faced everyone with his handsome, innocent smile.
"Am I scary?"
"..."
His appearance wasn't scary.
It was his personality that was way too human!
Harry and Ron stood frozen in place, with only one thought in their minds:
That was freaking awesome.
He'd barely shown his face, yet he'd been like a human Killing Curse, scaring Malfoy into calling for his daddy.
Ron started daydreaming again.
He imagined himself making a heroic entrance, beating little Malfoy to his knees for bullying his best friend, then dragging him home...
Harry, meanwhile, wondered with a troubled expression:
Was Ethan a good person or a bad one?
If he was bad, he'd punished Malfoy for bullying others.
But if he was good... he hadn't even spared his own friends.
Just look at Neville's pale face. He'd nearly strangled the toad to death.
In short, he hadn't spared either side.
[ Ding! ] [ Your performance has left a deep impression on others. Soul Fusion Degree increased! ] [ 27% → 28%! ]
Oh, nice. It had gone up again!
Ethan looked at the words that had appeared before him, his eyes lighting up as his lips curled into a pleased smile.
Sure enough, he'd have to make more "friends" with Mr. Malfoy from now on.
As his Soul Fusion Degree increased, a warm current of magic surged through Ethan's body.
It was like being plugged in; even his nerves tingled and crackled.
Ethan suddenly raised his hand, pointed his wand at the mess on the floor, and murmured:
"Reparo."
As the words left his lips, a hazy white light shone from the tip of Ethan's wand.
The flipped and crumpled carpet smoothed out, and the glass shattered by the "toad cannonball" spun through the air, flying back into place.
The button Ron had popped off in the scuffle shot back onto his shirt and sewed itself on.
The toad croaked and hopped back into Neville's pocket.
It was as if an invisible healing hand had passed over everything, restoring it all to its original state.
Finally, Ethan pointed his wand at Harry's glasses.
As Harry watched in alarm, his glasses, which had been cracked, gave a sharp snap and magically repaired themselves.
"Wow..." Harry stared for two seconds, then quickly said, "Th-thank you, Ethan."
"It's nothing. I should've thought of that sooner."
Ethan smiled.
Just then, a young man in blue-trimmed robes came over, looking impressed.
"I'm Robert Hilliard, a Ravenclaw Prefect."
"I was going to reprimand you for fooling around on the train. But your spellwork was excellent. Very few first-years have ever managed anything like that."
"You're Ethan Vincent, right? I've read the articles about you. Ravenclaw welcomes outstanding students like you."
Robert smiled at Ethan.
Students who had poked their heads into the corridor also gazed at Ethan in amazement.
Some even cheekily whistled a few times.
What had started as an ordinary journey had turned into Ethan's personal show.
Watching the scene, Hermione bit her lower lip in frustration.
Was this the difference in talent?
She'd practiced Reparo at home, too, but at most she could repair small objects.
Glasses, teacups, things like that.
The funny thing was, she'd been so pleased with herself back then, thinking she'd done really well!
Hermione wanted to ask Ethan for advice.
But on second thought, she figured she'd be better off asking a Living World teacher at school instead of that Netherworld guy.
"...You'd better be careful." Hermione raised her head and frowned. "That boy named Malfoy said he'd tell the professors and get you expelled from Hogwarts."
Ethan said, "I might as well say I'm Qin Shi Huang."
Hermione: "..."
She glared at Ethan.
Like a headmistress dealing with a disobedient student, she left him with a "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Then she turned on her heel, her fluffy broom-like hair slapping Ron in the face, and strode off with quick, clicking steps.
Clutching his stinging face, Ron stared wide-eyed and said in disbelief:
"Who does she think she is? Does she think she's so great? Hmph, she can't even compare to Ethan casting one spell."
"Yeah."
Harry replied distractedly, looking at Ethan with the same worry.
"Ethan, I think... she has a point."
"That Malfoy boy said he'd report you. It sounds like one of the professors is close to his family, and I'm worried... you'll be punished."
At the thought of being expelled from Hogwarts and having to return to his aunt and uncle's house,
Harry felt like he couldn't breathe.
Ethan must feel the same way.
"Close to his family, huh..."
Ethan murmured, picturing Snape's aquiline face, all out of sorts.
Well... he wanted to see whether Malfoy's relationship with Snape was stronger, or whether the keyword "Lily" mattered more to Snape.
Ethan smiled.
Then he suddenly turned to Harry and said meaningfully:
"You have beautiful green eyes."
Harry: ???
Under Ethan's steady gaze, his cobalt-blue eyes fixed intently on Harry, Harry felt a sudden chill run down his spine.
He couldn't help backing away several steps until his back pressed firmly against the compartment door.
Ethan said, "If a professor gives you trouble in the future, just stare at him with those eyes."
"Trust me, it'll work."
Before Harry could make sense of what Ethan meant, the train's announcement sounded:
[ Attention, students. We'll be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train. We'll have it sent to the school for you. ]
Without them noticing, the scenery outside the window had grown dark.
"All right, don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Ethan smiled and waved his wand to retrieve his luggage.
"Come on, get changed."
Seeing how calm and relaxed Ethan looked, as if he didn't take the threat of expulsion seriously at all,
Harry and Ron could only exchange a glance, keep their worries to themselves, and hurry to change into their uniforms.
Hopefully, Ethan would be all right.
But even if he didn't get expelled,
no matter how capable Ethan was, he couldn't escape punishment from a professor, could he?
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