Bro, You're a Bit Too Alpha

Harry didn't have time to think.

Because his airborne best mate had pulled out a new trick—producing a fat, scruffy rat.

Harry noticed that the moment the rat appeared, Ethan's gaze sharpened.

Like a lake freezing over, those cobalt blue pupils fixed coldly on the fat rodent.

Even though a smile played on his lips, it didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh, how interesting. You have a cute little pet."

Ethan spoke slowly.

He shifted his seat, crossing one leg, half his body hidden in the shadow cast by the window.

It made his whole demeanor turn solemn.

Ron felt inexplicably nervous and stammered:

"Uh, y-yeah. It's called Scabbers. Used to be my brother Percy's. He became a Prefect this year, so Dad got him an owl, and he gave me this unwanted rat..."

"Hmm."

Ethan hummed through his nose, his gaze never leaving the fat rat snoozing away.

"Scabbers."

Or rather, the one who indirectly caused the death of Harry's parents—

Peter Pettigrew.

Ethan rested his chin on his hand, pondering idly.

First off, if he just grabbed the rat and smashed it, that'd definitely leave an unforgettable impression on Ron and Harry.

But then his express train wouldn't be to Hogwarts—it'd be to Azkaban.

Right alongside the wrongly accused Sirius.

After all, at this point, Pettigrew was still hailed as the hero who protected Harry's parents.

And on top of that, while it looked like killing a rat, it was actually killing a person.

He wondered if a wizard killed in Animagus form would revert to human after death.

Just imagine a corpse suddenly appearing on the train...

Come on, this is the wizarding world, not some detective drama.

Killing someone might affect my soul.

Ethan thought.

I'm an upright, kind Young Wizard, not like some noseless freak who'd split his soul into seven evil pieces.

So what to do...

After mulling it over, Ethan had an idea.

On the other side, Ron had already picked up his battered wand, ready to cast a spell on Scabbers.

Just then.

"Whoosh!"

The compartment door slid open.

A girl with a bushy mess of brown hair like a tumbleweed appeared in the doorway.

Beside her stood a round-faced boy with a miserable expression.

That boy had come by before, asking if anyone had seen his toad.

"Have you seen a toad?"

The girl asked straight away, showing two front teeth, her sharp eyes sweeping the compartment.

Her attitude was quite rude.

Harry frowned, about to say they hadn't, when Ethan's intrigued voice rang out:

"Which part?"

"..."

Everyone's expression went blank for a moment.

The poor round-faced boy blinked dumbly.

It took him a second to catch the meaning, and his already flushed face turned pale.

Ethan: "Haha, just kidding."

Harry gave a couple of dry laughs to play along.

Ethan's sense of humor seemed a bit... unusual.

The brown-haired girl raised an eyebrow sharply, about to scold him, when she saw Ron holding up a wand.

So she changed tack and said, "Oh, are you casting a spell? Then let's see what you've got."

"All right, all right, ahem."

Ron blushed, muttered something, and with great solemnity cast a completely useless spell on Scabbers.

The fat rat rolled over, only mildly disturbed from its nap, looking perfectly comfortable.

"Are you sure that was a spell? Doesn't seem like much, does it?"

The brown-haired girl commented arrogantly, about to launch into a lecture on her mastery of the textbooks, when Ethan interrupted her.

No one gets to lecture in front of me.jpg

"Hey, I learned a spell too. Want to see it?"

Ethan said, slowly pulling out his wand.

"Of course, of course!" Harry said quickly.

Right now, he'd give anything to spare his good mate Ron any more embarrassment.

Ron's face was bright red as he muttered under his breath.

He wanted Ethan to pull off a nice spell and shut that annoying girl up.

But he also didn't want to see Ethan actually succeed.

A real dilemma.

But soon, Ron realized he'd been worrying too early.

Ethan pointed his wand at Scabbers, smiled, and spoke with perfect clarity:

"Avada Kedavra."

The words fell.

The entire compartment seemed to hit a pause button, instantly silent.

Harry, Ron, the brown-haired girl, and the round-faced boy all stared at Ethan like stunned fish.

As if he'd suddenly turned into a troll wearing a dress.

"--Squeak!!!"

A shrill, miserable cry burst from Ron's hands.

The fat rat suddenly convulsed, its missing-toe leg kicking wildly, its two bean-sized eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

The terror on its face, as if it had suddenly come face-to-face with its deepest nightmare.

But—

It was just a rat, wasn't it?

Its tiny brain shouldn't have any "terrifying nightmares."

"You, you killed my Scabbers?!" Ron shouted in panic, breaking the silence.

Ethan: (￣︶￣)

"...No, obviously not." The brown-haired girl came to her senses, pursed her lips, and said, "He didn't even cast it successfully. There wasn't even a beam of light."

"Your rat should still be alive."

Though... it was a bit odd.

Hermione frowned.

If there was no effect, why did the rat react so strongly?

Could an ordinary rat understand the curse "Avada Kedavra"?

"That's right, it's just another little joke," Ethan said.

"I'm not some twisted Dark Wizard. How could I possibly cast such a horrible curse?"

"So—"

Ethan tilted his head, looking at the others:

"Why aren't you laughing?"

Everyone: "..."

Dude, you're a bit much.

Ethan smiled gently and innocently.

You'd never guess that seconds ago, he'd casually tossed out one of the three Unforgivable Curses as a joke.

"...That's not funny at all!" Hermione finally snapped, crossing her arms and speaking sharply. "If all you can do is nasty tricks like that, then I think you're nothing special!"

"Even worse than the redhead!"

With that, she glared fearlessly into Ethan's eyes.

The atmosphere in the compartment grew tense.

Neville, who had only been looking for his toad, looked like he wished he'd never set foot on this train car.

Ron was completely focused on his fat rat, muttering, "Bloody hell! It's not gonna crap on my hand, is it?"

Harry looked left and right, wanting to smooth things over but not knowing where to start.

He felt that a good wizard like Ethan would never actually want to hurt someone else's pet.

It was just that Ethan's jokes were too far ahead of their time.

Like inviting Dementors—Harry had read about those creatures in Hogwarts: A History—to sing "Happy Birthday" at a party.

Thrilling, sure.

But unnecessary.

"...Yare yare, they really underestimate me."

Ethan murmured, keeping his smile plastered on his face.

He raised his wand and waved it lazily through the air.

"Accio toad."

At that, Hermione lit up like a switch had been flipped, rattling off, "A Summoning Charm? Didn't you read the textbook properly? The Summoning Charm can only summon inanimate objects—that's not going to work—"

Before she could finish, a loud bang came from not far away, mixed with someone's yelp.

A dark blur shot through the corridor, flying straight toward them.

It curved around the doorframe and landed squarely in Ethan's hand.

—And there it was, a dazed green toad!