Looking at Tom Riddle in front of him, Ethan sighed helplessly.
"I just wanted to eat some snake meat, and look at all this trouble."
Tom Riddle stood frozen in front of the basilisk's corpse. Although Dumbledore and Snape had already killed the basilisk, the news hadn't spread yet, and the body hadn't been dealt with. Tom Riddle, who was currently using Ginny Weasley to cause trouble, had no idea that the creature he relied on was already dead.
"Did you do this?"
The Tom Riddle in front of him was a memory, but not just a simple one.
He existed within the diary as a piece of Voldemort's soul that had been split off. In other words, this diary was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, an item capable of enabling his resurrection.
Lucius Malfoy had secretly placed the diary among Ginny's books in Diagon Alley while mocking the Weasleys and Harry Potter. This led to Ginny being gradually controlled by the Tom Riddle within the diary.
As the possession continued, Ginny's life force was slowly drained away. If it went on, she would die and Tom Riddle would return to life.
Ethan was curious. Voldemort had split his soul into many pieces and stored them in different objects. Each fragment had the ability to resurrect. So what would happen if they all successfully resurrected? Voldemort versus Voldemort? Or would they fuse together into one being again?
While he was lost in thought, he completely ignored the nearby Tom Riddle, which infuriated the proud Mr. Riddle. If he had a physical body and could cast spells, he would have immediately cast Avada Kedavra at Ethan.
"I'm asking you a question!"
Without a body, Tom couldn't cast spells. Besides yelling and roaring, he had no other way to draw Ethan's attention. Though he succeeded, it wasn't anything to celebrate.
"What a pathetic sight. Let me put you out of your misery."
"What?"
Tom Riddle's final memory was wondering what Ethan meant by that. After shouting that one word, everything ended.
Even though he had no body, being only a soul fragment and a memory, such intangible forms could still be destroyed. With the right method, they could be erased.
Ethan's Blasting Curse was extremely powerful. He hadn't just learned magic from this world but had integrated its characteristics into his own system. Especially destructive spells with law-like effects, which had been a focus of his research.
Most wizards could only use a Blasting Curse to destroy physical objects.
Ethan's version was different. He could destroy even so-called illusory entities. To him, illusion was still a form of existence. If it existed, it could be destroyed. With enough high-quality magic or divine power as support, destroying a memory and a soul fragment like this was effortless.
As Tom Riddle vanished, the diary in Ginny Weasley's hand, lying on the ground, suddenly caught fire. Seeing it about to burn completely, Ethan reached out and moved it aside, preventing the flames from harming the unconscious girl.
"Tsk."
The diary slowly burned to ashes mid-air. Ethan canceled the spell, letting the ashes scatter, then turned his attention to the basilisk's corpse.
He had planned to skin the basilisk first, break it down, and store it in his space, but before he could begin, Ginny woke up. When she saw the massive corpse beside her, she froze in terror. Ethan was standing next to the snake, and from her point of view, he looked like a villain.
The fact that Ginny didn't scream or faint again already showed she had considerable courage.
In this situation, if Ethan started skinning, deboning, or dismembering—even if it was just a snake—it would leave the young girl mentally scarred.
"Forget it. I'll store it first and handle it later."
With a wave of his hand, he stored the basilisk's body. The magical sight made Ginny's eyes widen. Even though she was a witch, she had rarely seen such powerful magic.
More importantly, the person casting it didn't look much older than her. He might even be a fellow student.
Seeing the Slytherin robes he wore, Ginny remembered that the giant monster seemed to be a snake. Could this be a spell unique to Slytherin?
"Wait, where is this?"
"You finally noticed?"
Ginny had been controlled by Tom Riddle frequently and had carried out many actions unconsciously.
However, she hadn't been entirely unaware. After Ethan gave her a brief explanation, she quickly understood and followed him, preparing to leave the damp, dark underground chamber.
Ethan could tell that Ginny didn't fully trust him. She couldn't exactly doubt him either, so she followed cautiously until they reached the abandoned girls' restroom and returned to the familiar halls of Hogwarts. Only then did Ginny visibly relax.
"Alright, you should know how to get back from here. You don't need me to walk you to Gryffindor's common room, do you?"
"Ah, no, I can go back myself... Thank you!"
As a Weasley, Ginny shared the same prejudice as her brother Ron. She had always believed there were no good people in Slytherin House. A large part of her wariness toward Ethan came from that belief.
Even though she now saw that Ethan wasn't as unpleasant as the others in Slytherin, she still didn't want to linger around him. After thanking him, she left quickly.
"You got rejected."
Scáthach suddenly popped out of nowhere. She wasn't just a master of martial arts and magic, but also incredibly skilled at hiding her presence. If you weren't actively searching, even Ethan would have trouble noticing her.
"You were hiding here...?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to eat snake meat? You went down with Dumbledore and the others earlier, so I figured you didn't get the chance to bring the basilisk out. After checking the area and seeing no one around, I came down to fetch it myself."
"I didn't know you liked eating snake meat."
Ethan waved her off, indicating there was no need. He had already stored the basilisk's corpse.
"I'm more interested in the materials. A special basilisk like that must have lots of useful parts. At the very least, its skin is rare."
Ethan rolled his eyes. So she wasn't here for the meat, but the materials. He suddenly remembered that Scáthach was quite skilled at crafting weapons. For example, the Gáe Bulg used by Cú Chulainn was made by her.
"What do you want the snake skin for?"
"Leather clothes and a leather whip. Do you think it would go better with a skirt or pants?"
Ethan looked at her, speechless. This person, who looked like a cute little girl and smiled so innocently, actually asked that kind of question. Besides, Ethan wasn't into that kind of thing...
"Both sound fine."
As for the specific style, that could be figured out later. There was no rush. Even if the outfit was made, Scáthach wouldn't wear it at her current size. She clearly wouldn't be designing it for her present form.
After eliminating the basilisk and destroying the soul in the diary, Hogwarts slowly returned to its usual, peaceful routine.
Although Harry and Ron were satisfied with how things ended, they still felt something was missing.
Hermione had no complaints. With nothing major happening, she had more time to study. Recently, she started pestering Rin again, asking her to teach her some "unusual" knowledge.
Ethan also continued his quiet studies. Compared to his first year, when troublemakers constantly forced him to show his skills, this year was much more peaceful. No one dared provoke him anymore, especially after Snape started showing him extra attention.
"Have you forgotten that I am the Head of Slytherin?"
For Snape, life hadn't been as comfortable since the incident with the basilisk and their conversation afterward.
Ethan frequently visited Snape's office, openly flipping through his private collection. The knowledge recorded in these books was far superior to what lower-year students had access to. Even Ethan had to take his time to fully understand it.
After discovering this treasure trove, Snape's hard days began.
"It's exactly because you're the Head of Slytherin that I came here."
While flipping through a book on advanced spells, Ethan made gestures in the air. He wasn't even holding a wand, but magical light flickered at his fingertips. Snape's eyelids twitched uncontrollably as he watched.
"Then shouldn't you show some respect to your Head of House?"
"I'll show the proper respect when others are present."
What he meant was, there was no one else here, and since Snape already knew his situation, there was no need to pretend. This blunt attitude left Snape both annoyed and helpless.
He now understood why Dumbledore didn't want to reveal everything to Ethan or confront him. From the magical fluctuations and Ethan's precise spell control, Snape knew exactly how terrifying his strength was.
And judging from Ethan's words and behavior, Snape agreed with Dumbledore's earlier assumption. This guy definitely wasn't just a teenager.
(To be continued.)