Back in the Slytherin dungeons, things went exactly as Ethan expected. No one cared where he had gone during break time.
Many first-years didn't go to bed when they were supposed to, and the prefects rarely interfered. If lack of sleep caused problems in class, the professors would handle it themselves.
Of course, that situation didn't apply to Ethan. He was now a favorite of several professors. Even if he occasionally slacked off, the teachers didn't criticize him. Instead, they expressed concern, asking whether something had happened and if he needed help.
Ethan certainly didn't need help. After reassuring the concerned professors, he returned to his normal routine, and once they saw he was fine, they left him alone.
In the evenings, Scáthach would sometimes show up to drag Ethan along as she wandered through Hogwarts.
Occasionally, Ethan could sense Dumbledore's gaze. But as long as he and Scáthach didn't approach any particularly sensitive areas, the headmaster wouldn't interfere.
This, however, wasn't a good thing for Ethan. Without Dumbledore stepping in to stop them, he had no excuse to escape from Scáthach and go rest. Even though he didn't need sleep, he also didn't want to spend the entire night roaming the castle. He wasn't one of Hogwarts' ghosts.
"You've almost explored every part of Hogwarts. Aren't you bored yet?"
After living there for several months, no matter how mysterious or ever-changing the castle was, Scáthach and Ethan had already figured out the patterns of its moving staircases and explored nearly every corner.
Ethan really didn't see the point in continuing. He knew Hogwarts had many hidden chambers, but he wasn't interested in exploring them.
Scáthach didn't know the story of this world. From her vast experience and sharp intuition, she had already determined that Hogwarts contained many hidden doors and secret passages. Whenever she was bored, she made it her mission to uncover them all.
Ethan, however, had no interest in that.
"Are you bored?"
"Yeah."
"Then how about we find a quiet place and do something fun?"
Scáthach reached out, gently brushed his cheek, then stuck out her tongue and lightly licked her lips.
"..."
Ethan looked at her hand resting against his face and sighed, rubbing his temple. "Did you forget what you look like right now?"
She was currently a little girl. Although cute and beautiful, Ethan couldn't bring himself to do anything inappropriate.
"Huh? So you're not into that?"
Scáthach acted as if she had just realized something, feigning regret dramatically, but her exaggerated expression made it obvious she was just teasing him.
The two of them sat on the rooftop of Hogwarts, letting the cold night wind brush past as they chatted idly. In the distance, they could see Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Rin running toward Hagrid's hut.
"Rin's gotten involved with Harry and the others," Ethan noted.
Hogwarts' medical capabilities were impressive, and Rin's leg had healed quickly. Ethan, however, had been too focused on his studies afterward to pay attention to anyone else's daily life.
Unless someone came to find him, he rarely sought others out. Rin wasn't like those who often updated Ethan on what they were doing, so he truly had no idea what she had been up to lately.
Still, it made sense. She had grown close to Hermione, and since they were both in Gryffindor, it was natural for her to become acquainted with Harry. Hermione, like Harry, had a habit of getting into trouble. After discovering that someone was targeting the Philosopher's Stone, believing it was Snape, she likely couldn't resist getting involved. And once she did, how could she leave her friend behind? So Rin ended up joining the main group.
"It looks like they've found something," Scáthach said, resting her chin in her hand as she watched them from afar. Her sharp eyes clearly saw Hagrid's startled expression when Harry and the others arrived and started talking.
Ethan knew the Philosopher's Stone arc was progressing. Soon, Harry and his friends would try to prevent Snape from stealing the stone, infiltrate the secret chamber, and pass through several magical defenses before finally reaching the room containing the stone.
Only then would Harry discover that the true culprit wasn't Snape, but Professor Quirrell, and the presence of Voldemort hidden behind him.
"Maybe it'll turn into something interesting."
"..."
Ethan didn't believe Voldemort would actually obtain the Philosopher's Stone. Quirrell couldn't get it from the Mirror of Erised, which only revealed the stone to someone who wanted it but not for selfish use.
If Harry hadn't appeared, Quirrell would have either left empty-handed to wait for another chance or been discovered by Dumbledore and the professors, exposing his true identity. Harry's intrusion had only made things worse, giving Voldemort an actual opportunity.
Ethan wasn't sure if that was part of Dumbledore's grand plan. The headmaster had gone to great lengths to train Harry, so maybe this was a stage specifically arranged for him.
They continued watching from the rooftop. Harry and the others didn't stay long in Hagrid's hut. Malfoy had been spying on them and saw Hagrid's illegal dragon. Once discovered, Hagrid panicked, knowing he was in trouble, and hurried them out.
Malfoy, as expected, wasted no time in running to McGonagall to report everything.
Wandering around the school during break hours was against the rules.
So Harry, Ron, Hermione, Rin, and the tattletale Malfoy all received punishment. Each lost fifty house points and had to complete a detention together.
"If Harry hadn't been blessed by Dumbledore's special training and ridiculous luck, he'd just be a walking disaster," Ethan said dryly.
Looking at it another way, the entire Harry Potter story was about Harry repeatedly causing trouble, losing points for Gryffindor, and then, thanks to Dumbledore's creative scoring, winning them back in the end.
Maybe Dumbledore was trying to build Harry's courage, encouraging him to act bravely instead of hesitating in the face of danger, or rather, to make him used to facing Voldemort head-on instead of trembling at the mention of his name.
But this habit of constantly getting into trouble had its drawbacks. From a mischievous boy, Harry would soon grow into a full-fledged, self-righteous teenager.
"Should I try to fix that personality a little?"
The thought came and went quickly. Ethan dismissed it.
He had no connection to Harry. Why should he be responsible for his growth?
"Or maybe Dumbledore's thinking the same thing?" he mused. "After all, Harry's just a weapon to deal with Voldemort. Once Voldemort's gone, Dumbledore probably won't care what happens to him."
That didn't seem impossible.
As he pondered, Scáthach's hand drifted across his arm again, which he ignored until he finally turned to her.
"What are you doing?"
"You don't seem to be growing."
They had already been in the Harry Potter world for more than a year. Children at that age grew quickly, something even ordinary people would notice, let alone a demigod like Scáthach, whose senses were incredibly sharp.
Those who had taken the potion that turned them into children, like her, Logan, and Rin, were now growing normally again. In fact, compared to Rin, Scáthach had noticed that both she and Logan were maturing a bit faster than normal.
Ethan, on the other hand, hadn't changed at all. His height, face, and even hair length were exactly the same. To others, it might have looked like he just kept his hair trimmed neatly, but Scáthach knew better. His hair didn't grow at all.
"Yeah," Ethan sighed. The topic always made him feel gloomy. His body was powerful, but its growth rate was painfully slow. Even though he had absorbed and refined plenty of energy from the Land of Shadows, his appearance hadn't aged a day.
At this rate, he had no idea when he'd return to his original twenty-four-year-old appearance. He no longer even hoped for that much. He would settle for eighteen.
But as time went on with no visible change, his expectations dropped lower and lower. Sixteen would be acceptable. Fourteen would do.
"If nothing changes in two years, what will you do?" Scáthach asked.
"What else? I'll just fix it with magic."
He had thought about that long ago. When the time came, he would either use illusion magic or simply create a physical projection, a shell, for himself. Neither option would be difficult.
"Is Illya arranged like this too?"
(To be continued.)