Compared to his usual impulsive nature, Ethan hesitated slightly this time, contemplating for a while before deciding to go and take a look.
He wasn't worried about missing any of the key plot developments involving the Philosopher's Stone during this brief hesitation, because although the main storyline of the first Harry Potter book seemed simple and fast-paced, the movie actually covered the period from before Harry's enrollment all the way through his entire first year at Hogwarts.
Especially when they finally entered the chamber and discovered that Quirrell was the one coveting the Philosopher's Stone, Harry had already completed his first-year final exams.
So he had enough time to slowly consider how he wanted to approach this.
By now, Ethan was no longer debating whether or not to get involved, but rather how to get involved.
At first, he instinctively considered whether he should join Harry's group and go with them to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone.
But he quickly abandoned that idea. It had been almost a year since they enrolled, and he had never really spoken with Harry. They had no relationship at all, so Harry wouldn't view him as a trustworthy companion and invite him to take part in something so important.
Another issue was that he was currently a Slytherin student, and Harry and Ron were very hostile toward Slytherin. Aside from Slytherin's general bad reputation, Malfoy also played a major role in that.
"It's better to just quietly follow behind."
Ethan didn't notify anyone. Illya had no interest in this kind of thing, and Scáthach would show up when needed, even if she wasn't called.
The only thing that surprised him was that he had a little tail following him.
"Draco Malfoy?"
Ethan couldn't figure out why this kid was tailing him. Was it because he'd been sneaking out of the dorm too often at night and drew Malfoy's attention?
After circling Hogwarts a few times, Ethan didn't bother to turn around or shake off the follower. He simply let him tag along. It wasn't as if Malfoy could do anything to affect him.
He had only been walking around the castle for just over ten minutes when he ran into Scáthach, who had been waiting for him.
"Harry and the others are already approaching the fourth floor. If we go now, we can follow right behind them." Scáthach glanced behind Ethan. The quiet corridor seemed perfectly normal, but she was certain there was a little tail hiding around the corner in the distance. "You're being watched."
"Don't worry about him. Maybe he's just curious since I'm always out of the dorm at night."
They kept their voices low, and even in such a quiet environment, someone that far away wouldn't be able to hear, so there was no concern about Malfoy eavesdropping.
Ethan and Scáthach quickly arrived at the restricted area on the fourth floor. Harry and the others had already gone in, so they didn't need to cast any unlocking spell.
Gently pushing open the door, the massive three-headed dog inside, which had been snarling furiously at the trapdoor in the floor, suddenly froze, then raised its head and looked toward the door… Just a second later, the monstrous creature that had been baring its fangs and drooling all over the place immediately shut its mouths, widened its eyes, and squatted obediently in the corner like a well-trained puppy.
Ethan was sure he wasn't hallucinating, so he suspected this wasn't the same ferocious beast from a moment ago.
"Good doggy!"
Seeing the massive three-headed dog sitting obediently at the far end of the room, Scáthach even walked over and reached out to pet one of its heads. Even though she currently looked like a little girl, short and small with stubby arms, she didn't have to worry about reaching the creature's head. The dog obediently lowered its head toward her.
"Stay here and don't cause any trouble."
She casually pulled out a few pieces of roasted meat from her storage. Scáthach hadn't chosen the newest multifunctional support tool from the Artemis, but instead carried a separate storage item with her personal belongings and food. She tossed the meat into each of the dog's three mouths, then jumped straight into the trapdoor without waiting for Ethan.
Ethan glanced at the obedient three-headed dog, threw over a few snacks of his own, then followed after her without another glance.
The trapdoor wasn't close to the ground, but once they jumped down, they were caught mid-air by Devil's Snare. This vine-like plant acted like a soft cushion that gently caught those falling from above.
But that didn't mean it was placed there just for cushioning. The Devil's Snare was meant as a defensive mechanism. The more someone struggled after being caught, the tighter the vines would constrict. If you continued to struggle, you'd be strangled to death.
Without knowledge of the plant's nature, it would be easy to lose your life. But Ethan and Scáthach were both excellent students who had learned all this in class. Without needing to speak, both relaxed their bodies and were quickly released by the Devil's Snare, landing safely on the ground below.
Even if the plant hadn't released them, it wouldn't have mattered. Devil's Snare was just a plant, and there were plenty of ways to deal with it.
For example, one of those methods came in handy just then.
As they were tidying up their clothes, which had been disheveled by the Devil's Snare, Malfoy's scream suddenly rang out from above.
From the sound of it, it was obvious the kid didn't realize what had caught him. If he couldn't remember what the Devil's Snare was and didn't know how to deal with it, he'd be strangled to death in no time.
"Weird. How did he get past the three-headed dog?"
Ethan didn't think Malfoy could handle Fluffy, which was why he'd let him tail behind. He didn't expect Malfoy to follow them all the way here.
"Should I save him?"
Ethan looked up at the large mass of black vines above. With a casual wave of his hand, a brilliant light shot upward. The Devil's Snare, afraid of light, instantly released Malfoy. The pure-blood young master fell to the floor in front of Ethan.
"Ow!"
Perhaps wizards had sturdier bodies than average. Even after falling from such a height, Malfoy only cried out a couple of times before getting up, rubbing himself, and seeming perfectly fine.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine."
Draco Malfoy moved around and realized he wasn't seriously hurt, then thanked Ethan and Scáthach standing before him.
"How did you get past Fluffy?"
"Fluffy?"
"The three-headed dog."
"Oh, that thing? I thought it was a statue."
"..."
Ethan understood now. It turned out that he and Scáthach had scared the dog into submission. When Scáthach said, "Be good," the creature had really listened. While they hadn't gone far, the dog had obediently stayed put. Even when Malfoy came through, it had pretended not to see him.
Of course, Malfoy would never tell Ethan that he'd been startled at first by the massive creature, but after seeing it didn't move, he just ignored it. Once the noise from below stopped, he had jumped down—only to fall into the Devil's Snare. If Ethan and Scáthach hadn't still been there, he, an important supporting character, might have exited the stage early.
"So what are you doing here?"
After confirming Malfoy was fine, Ethan and Scáthach continued walking down the dark passage. Malfoy glanced up, found no way to go back, and could only grit his teeth and follow along.
"Just wandering around."
"You don't come back to the dorm at night, and you're wandering around places like this?"
"Something like that."
They hadn't walked far when they came to a more open area. In this room, dozens of winged keys were flying around, and several were jammed into a wooden door not far away.
"I'm guessing none of these keys actually open that door."
"Obviously."
The correct key had already been taken by Harry's group. When they grabbed it, the other flying keys had swarmed them. In the end, they managed to unlock the door and slip through just in time.
More importantly, once they closed the door, they had locked it from the inside to stop the keys from following. Unless someone opened it from the other side, it would be impossible to get through normally.
"So we have to find another way?" Malfoy was quick-witted and quickly grasped the situation. "Assuming there is another way..."
"It's not that complicated. It's just locked."
Ethan focused his mind, sent his magic into the wooden door, and flicked his finger. Malfoy heard the lock click open.
"Done."
They stepped through the wooden door and continued forward into the darkness. Malfoy still didn't know what Ethan was doing, but he already understood that Ethan definitely wasn't just out for a walk.
Especially after hearing a flurry of noises ahead, mixed with Harry's voice.
"Harry Potter? What's he doing here?"
As if afraid of being spotted, Malfoy instinctively lowered his voice and crept behind Ethan, tiptoeing forward.
In contrast, Ethan didn't even bother to hide his presence. He walked forward casually. Soon, they saw Ron and Harry playing wizard chess.
The plot differed slightly from his memory. This time, the Gryffindor troublemaker team had an extra member: Rin.
(To be continued.)