One year at Hogwarts wasn't nearly as effective as two months of training under Ethan. Though Ethan's evaluation of that was, "Your starting point was too low, so your progress just looks impressive."
Those words were a bit hurtful, but they were also undeniably true.
Rin could only console herself with, "Ethan is a god, not a human, so in his eyes, my original magic level was just too low!"
Moreover, both Illya and Leah were geniuses, possibly even more talented than herself. Studying alongside equally outstanding individuals provided excellent motivation and pushed her to tap into her full potential. Her rapid progress during this period was largely due to the motivation she got from the other two, which drove her to train and study even harder.
Not only had she made major strides in magic—Rin had already stepped outside the TYPE-MOON magic system, and what she had learned and mastered could now truly be called magic—but her close-combat abilities had improved significantly as well. Combined with superior reinforcement magic, aside from her height and short limbs putting her at a slight disadvantage in physical fights, her current strength could easily overpower the version of herself from a year ago.
Incidentally, when Scáthach was bored, she taught Rin some basic weapon techniques, mainly spear skills. Ethan had commented on this with, "It's good to learn. You'll need it eventually."
"..."
For some reason, after hearing that, Rin suddenly didn't want to learn spear techniques anymore. But she only kept that thought to herself. How could she be picky when such a powerful and competent teacher was personally instructing her? Rin wasn't that foolish.
After simply packing their things, just like the same time last year, Ethan and the others headed to Diagon Alley to purchase the books and supplies for the new school term. Then, they boarded the Hogwarts Express and returned to school.
It wasn't much different from the previous year, except that Hermione had arranged to meet Rin outside the station. So after the summer break, Hermione rejoined their little group, though in the eyes of some of their peers, their group looked more like a small clique (a bunch of mudbloods).
"Uh, didn't your parents come?"
Hermione looked around and only saw a group of children. Aside from them, there was just one middle-aged woman standing in the distance chatting with Ethan. That must be... Ethan's mother?
"They're off traveling. We've been staying at Aunt Arendelle's place recently."
"Aunt Arendelle?" Hermione glanced in Ethan's direction and nodded to herself. As expected, that must be Ethan's mother.
Still, the fact that all these adults just left their children to go on vacation... these parents were really... hard to describe.
Meanwhile, Rin was quietly observing Hermione's parents. They were an ordinary couple, no different from the countless pedestrians around them.
What made them special was their daughter being a witch, and the fact that they had high-paying jobs—dentists.
The Grangers had a stable income, so they could easily cover Hermione's magical expenses. Ordinary people could go to Gringotts to exchange British pounds for Galleons used in the wizarding world.
While Rin was observing them, Hermione's parents were also looking curiously at this group of children.
They knew that their daughter would one day live in a completely different world. Even though she would always be their child, her future and that of these children would be tied to that hidden world. They might not interact with her much moving forward.
Still, that didn't stop their curiosity. They watched for a while and concluded that these kids didn't look all that different from ordinary children.
"It's about time."
Ethan had walked over without her realizing. Hermione turned and found that Aunt Arendelle was gone.
"Huh? You're going in by yourselves?"
"Yeah."
"I wanted to say hi to Auntie."
Hermione didn't know that Selene disliked interacting with others in her current form. Unless necessary, she didn't even want to be seen. Even though Hermione's intentions were polite, Selene would still avoid contact whenever possible.
If not for the fact that Ethan and the others still looked like children and might draw trouble when moving around alone, Selene wouldn't have even accompanied them to Diagon Alley. After all, worrying about their safety was pointless. It would be more appropriate to worry about those who dared to offend them.
So, she confidently left the group behind and returned home. Unfortunately, she hadn't had a chance to be alone with Ethan these past few days, so she hadn't managed to "get anything done."
Fortunately, she probably didn't have to worry about Ethan's appearance much longer. Maybe next time, he would be a bit older? Would that make it easier to accept?
Selene didn't know that Ethan's divine body had barely grown. He estimated that he could still pass as his current age for another school year. By the third year, when the other students began visibly changing, his unchanged appearance would definitely stand out.
Even now, if you looked closely, you'd notice that Ethan hadn't changed at all.
"I kept feeling something was off before, and now I know what it is."
Hermione, sitting across from him, had been glancing over for a while. She finally realized what felt strange.
"Ethan, you haven't grown at all."
Compared to Logan and Scáthach beside him, who had both clearly grown taller, Ethan looked exactly the same. The difference was very obvious.
Logan could be set aside, as his accelerated development or healing factor might have affected the potion's effects. Scáthach, on the other hand, was a demigoddess. She had been absorbing vast energy in the Land of Shadows and converting it into magic. As her inner magic increased and strengthened, the potion's suppression gradually faded, so she developed faster than expected.
But in Europe and America, kids who grow up fast aren't rare. It's not unusual for a thirteen-year-old to look like an adult, so no one paid much attention to Logan or Scáthach.
Ethan not growing at all when he should have was much more suspicious. He believed that if he stayed this way another year, the Hogwarts professors would start worrying about his health and subject him to various examinations. At that point, his true identity as a non-human might be exposed.
"Maybe I'm just a late bloomer."
"Are you not eating properly? Lacking nutrition?"
"I eat just fine."
The food at Hogwarts was rich and covered all the nutrients needed for kids' growth. There were many options available at every meal.
However, because the food was laid out buffet-style, students would serve themselves. Some picky eaters ignored nutrition and only chose the dishes they liked.
Just then, Ethan felt a very faint fluctuation in the air outside the train carriage. He glanced out the window casually but saw nothing.
"Looks like it's on the other side."
Even though he didn't see anything, he knew who was causing the disturbance—Harry and Ron, flying in the Weasley family's enchanted car.
Those two unfortunates had failed to get through Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, missed the Hogwarts Express, and had to rely on a flying car to get to school.
The root cause of this was Dobby, the house-elf from the Malfoy family. Although Dobby had a kind heart and good morals, he despised his master, Lucius Malfoy.
After learning of Lucius's plans, Dobby tried to help Harry. First, he went to the Dursleys to warn Harry not to return to Hogwarts and even provoked the Dursleys into locking Harry in his room. Harry was only able to escape with help from Ron and his brothers.
Then Dobby used magic to seal the platform entrance, preventing Harry from boarding the train. He believed that as long as Harry didn't return to Hogwarts, he would be safe.
Later, this elf would cause all sorts of problems. Though he had good intentions, he often made things worse. He was lucky Ethan wasn't involved with Harry. Otherwise, based on Ethan's personality, Dobby would've definitely gotten a hard lesson.
Regardless of his intentions, Dobby's actions were just too frustrating. Anyone in Harry's shoes would be driven mad. From a bystander's perspective, though, it was just something funny to watch.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. I thought I heard something."
Logan and Scáthach also sensed the situation with Harry and Ron but didn't show any reaction. They just continued eating snacks and chatting. Scáthach even sliced fruit and fed it to Ethan piece by piece.
She fed him a bit too quickly. Even though Ethan tried to chew as fast as he could, his cheeks still puffed out like a hamster's in no time.
Ethan wasn't paying attention to his own state. He was busy recalling this year's major events: the reopening of the legendary Chamber of Secrets, created by Salazar Slytherin. The chamber contained a massive serpent capable of petrifying or killing people. After it was reopened, the beast roamed the school, causing several casualties, though fortunately (or unfortunately), no one died. They were just petrified.
Among those victims was Hermione, who was sitting right in front of him.
"Hermione."
After finally swallowing the fruit in his mouth, Ethan suddenly asked a question that left Hermione flustered.
"Do you like eating snake meat?"
(To be continued.)