The cold wind howled.
It swept between Ethan and the professors, ruffling their hair and robes.
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Professor McGonagall shivered and forced her exhausted, sluggish mind back into gear.
Her gaze passed over Penelope, who looked just as bewildered, then settled on Ethan.
She tried to read something from his innocent, flawless face, but got nowhere.
In the end, she could only ask hoarsely, "What... happened?"
How had a perfectly good selection trial ended up like this?
Ethan, why were you just standing there watching?!
At that,
Ethan's smile deepened.
He didn't answer. He simply reached into the oxhide bag enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm and took out the black obsidian ring.
Perhaps it was just his imagination,
but the ring seemed a little duller than it had been at first.
Even the faint magic that had once lingered around it had almost disappeared.
Ethan kept his precious paintings in his oxhide bag.
Things like Feast of the Ghoul and The Great Undressing Craze.
If the ring had a mind of its own, it must have grown tired of admiring his paintings.
Ethan thought nothing of it.
He showed the ring to Professor McGonagall and said,
"Professor, this is the spoils I brought back from the cave."
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Professor McGonagall's eyes flew wide. She stared at the black obsidian-and-gold ring in disbelief.
She waved her wand, and a glimmer of light appeared on it—the mark they had placed on all the treasures.
But—how was this possible?!
Ethan hadn't even taken a single step. He'd never left the starting point!
How had he gotten the ring?!
It wasn't just Professor McGonagall. The other professors also murmured in astonishment:
"Merlin's beard, my memory isn't failing me, is it? Mr. Vincent never went into the cave!"
"The magic he used