When Ethan returned from the underground depths to Gringotts' main hall, he scared the goblin manager waiting there so badly the creature fell flat on his backside!
The manager looked at Ethan like he was seeing a ghost that should've died; some evil spirit crawled back from hell itself!
"You... you..." The goblin could barely speak coherently, his bulging eyes stretched to their absolute limit! Large beads of sweat seeped from his wrinkled forehead like he was melting.
Ethan looked down at the trembling creature, lips curving as he leaned down and whispered softly in his ear: "I left you a little surprise down below."
After saying this, ignoring the goblin manager's suddenly ashen face, he straightened up and strolled out leisurely with Luna and the unconscious Professor Lupin floating horizontally behind them.
The manager watched Ethan blast the front doors open with a casual bang, his whole body shaking like a leaf. He scrambled frantically onto a cart and sped downward into the depths!
Why did that key thief return completely unharmed? Why was HE the one who came back alive?!
"Impossible!" The manager gritted his yellowed teeth, sweat pouring down his face. "I sent down over a dozen of our best fighters! Could they all have been wiped out by one human brat?"
Finally reaching Vault 12, he was shocked to find the ancient door standing open just a crack. Inside was dead silent.
Gulp. The manager swallowed nervously, slowly pulling the heavy door wider.
What met his eyes was a field of pure gold. Golden sunflowers bloomed brilliantly in the dim vault, endless rows gently swaying like they were dancing to some unheard melody.
As if he'd suddenly stepped from dark, damp underground tunnels into a sunny meadow on a perfect spring day.
The goblin manager held his breath. What's happening here? Where did all my staff go?
His puzzled gaze drifted down to the ground, and instantly his heart stopped cold!
Under those bright yellow sunflowers were goblins! Their faces were grey as ash, bodies motionless as corpses. If not for their chests still barely rising and falling, he would've thought they were all dead!
"Ah... ahh!" The manager stumbled backward, legs giving out as he crashed to the stone floor.
Then, in his terrified, widened eyes, the sunflowers before him grew increasingly bright until that dazzling golden light completely filled his vision.
In his final conscious moment, the goblin manager thought bitterly: If Lord Ragnok, who led our people during the great goblin wars, were still here... how could he let that wizard brat brazenly steal our sacred treasures?
"BOOM!" The explosion echoed through every level of the bank.
Gringotts First Floor Hall
Violent tremors erupted from below! The floors, walls, ceiling—the entire ancient building shook like it was caught in an earthquake!
"What happened?!"
"Gas explosion?!"
"Honey, there aren't any gas explosions in the wizarding world."
Amid the general panic, only Daily Prophet reporter MacArthur was excitedly clicking his camera non-stop.
"Click! Click!" Flash! Flash! "Shocking exclusive! Gringotts attacked again... Aha! This headline's got my name written all over it!"
MacArthur was absolutely thrilled, pointing his camera at the panicking goblins running in circles. "Though last time's Hogwarts attack got suppressed and couldn't be reported properly... this time! I'll definitely grab those front-page headlines!"
He'd deeply realised something important: wherever Ethan Vincent went, explosive news followed like a loyal dog.
"Ethan, you're truly my lucky star! Don't worry, I'll make sure to publicise every single one of your great achievements!" Click! Click! Click! Click !
Luna's House
Mr Lovegood sat peacefully on his favourite sofa, sipping tea and enjoying a rare moment of quiet. Though having Ethan around meant Luna had constant companionship and seemed more lively, the things they played with were... well, decidedly not of this world. It kept Lovegood constantly on edge, always fearing the Ministry might come knocking one day with very pointed questions.
"Comfortable~" Lovegood sighed contentedly, his gaze falling on the newspaper spread across his lap.
"Let's see what boring nonsense today's emergency afternoon Daily Prophet has to say..." His eyes scanned the headlines casually. "Gringotts exploded?!"
Lovegood shot upright, eyes widening as he nearly choked on his tea, reading frantically:
[Shocking! Gringotts Attacked for Second Time, Culprit Actually Is]... A violent explosion occurred in underground vaults at Gringotts; heavy losses were reported; cleanup is still ongoing; the official cause was given as mysterious earth tremors...
[Multiple parties now question whether Gringotts can still be considered safe...]
[Most notably, before the explosion, bank goblins had foolishly challenged a certain demon... Ethan Vincent?!!]
"Pfft!" Lovegood spat tea all over his newspaper!
He coughed frantically, eyes bulging like he'd just watched a squirrel declare war on the entire world! How could this happen?!
Wasn't Ethan supposed to be going to Diagon Alley for perfectly ordinary school shopping today? How did he suddenly end up blowing up the most secure bank in wizarding Britain?!
Is this still considered a normal young wizard's daily life?!
Lovegood speed -Read through the sensationalised report, his eyes catching phrases like "Ethan swept the leg to knock down arrogant goblins, then pounced on them and gave them two solid slaps."
He felt dizzy and completely disoriented. Where's the supervising professor? Right! Wasn't there supposed to be a professor accompanying them?! Didn't he control Ethan at all?!
Just then... Click. The front door opened.
Lovegood watched in horror as the professor who'd gone with them came floating in horizontally, completely unconscious with a bruised and swollen face that looked like he'd been used as a punching bag.
Lovegood stared in stunned silence: "..."
Ethan looked with genuine puzzlement at Luna's father, who had suddenly collapsed back onto the sofa like all his bones had dissolved.
After thinking for a moment, he turned to Luna with his usual bright smile: "We learnt some very useful knowledge today, didn't we, Luna?"
Luna nodded enthusiastically, giving her shell-shocked father a brilliant, innocent smile: "Explosion is art!"
Mr Lovegood's anxious heart finally gave up entirely. Watching the Hogwarts professor being magically floated upstairs like a piece of luggage, he thought with growing despair: Is there no one left in this world who can actually stop Ethan from doing whatever he wants?
"Heave-ho." Ethan carefully placed his next Defence Against the Dark Arts professor into an ornate stone coffin, thoughtfully covering him with the heavy lid.
This was something Ethan had discovered at an underground trading post called "Undead Gathering". The seller claimed it had been passed down through 108 generations, having held various authentic corpses throughout its long history.
Ethan had personally verified its high purity and supernatural properties. Sometimes he'd lie in it at night, quietly listening to the ancient wails and moans for artistic inspiration.
Surely it'll give Professor Lupin a very warm, authentic experience too.
Ethan smiled gently, then turned to examine the bone emanating soft pearly white light: "Now then, time to consider exactly what kind of sacred artwork I should craft from this precious material..."
Yes, since this spine bone was officially called "Sacred Bones", it should definitely lean toward the holy and righteous side!
Ethan felt completely confident about this approach. He was inherently pure and kind-hearted, and all his previous artworks had brought everyone nothing but joy and laughter.
Ethan would dare guarantee that no one in the world understood true sanctity better than he did.
"Mm, since it's meant to be a living creature, let's add more legs for stability... More heads too, showing greater wisdom and intelligence... Oh right, I should combine it with the previous 'Frigid Aura' effect for beautiful freezing capabilities... And that new Aard spell technique... Add it! Add absolutely everything I can think of!"
Ethan muttered with feverish enthusiasm, his eyes gleaming as his head practically buried itself in draft papers. His pencil moved constantly, sketching design after design.
He was completely immersed in his art, lost to the world.
After creating this new masterpiece with the sacred relics, Ethan planned to use the silver key again to travel back to ancient times. Then he could explore whatever treasures were indicated by that mysterious map!
Wonder what amazing surprises the lost ancient magic could bring to my collection...
Scratch, scratch. In the continuous sound of pencil against paper, the sun slowly set outside, and night began shrouding the sky in darkness.
Professor Lupin gradually awakened from unconsciousness, emerging from the black void like a drowning man reaching the surface.
The moment he regained awareness, he hissed in pain, feeling like he'd been run over by an entire herd of angry trolls.
Memories flooded back—being repeatedly thrown around like bread dough by Ethan's magical attacks.
Maybe YOU should be the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Lupin thought ruefully.
Then he remembered something incredible: after that thorough beating, he'd actually recovered his reason and human form from his werewolf state.
Lupin's eyes slowly widened with amazement. How did Ethan do that?! This kind of thing is completely unheard of in the entire wizarding world!
Even Snape's improved Wolfsbane Potion only maintained consciousness during transformation. No known method could truly suppress the wolf nature itself.
Though it had been an accidental transformation, not the more violent full moon variety, it could still be called absolutely miraculous!
Lupin urgently wanted to find Ethan and demand answers. But first, he had to escape from this hellish place he'd woken up in.
Bang. Lupin's hand touched narrow walls on all sides. Square-shaped. Very much like... a coffin.
Who's wicked enough to do this?
Lupin felt deeply uncomfortable here—not just because this was obviously a coffin meant for actual corpses, but because he could faintly hear dense whispers coming from all directions.
Sharp voices and countless numbers mixed together, surrounding him from everywhere. Making his brain feel like knives were stabbing through his skull, his head boiling with pain!
Have I been kidnapped to some kind of cult lair?! This is way too sinister!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Lupin frantically pounded the coffin lid, even trying magical vibrations to break free.
But the lid wouldn't budge an inch, only making his splitting headache worse.
Until he heard footsteps approaching from outside.
"Tap, tap, tap..." The sounds stopped right beside him.
Lupin held his breath, gripping his wand tightly. He was somewhat surprised the cultists hadn't bothered taking his weapon.
Then... Click Click. The lid slowly rotated open, revealing Ethan Vincent's perfectly handsome face looking down at him.
Lupin stared in complete bewilderment: "...???"
In his confusion, he heard Ethan speak in a tone like someone gently explaining things to a person with mental disabilities: "This is a screw-top design. You can't push it outward."
Lupin's features suddenly twisted in emotional pain—not from his physical injuries, but from the horrible realisation that he'd have to stay by Ethan's side monitoring him for who knows how long.
It hurts... so much psychological pain!
Headmaster Dumbledore, I'm demanding mental damage compensation!
Lupin struggled upright, originally planning to ask how Ethan had managed to change him back to human form so effectively.
His gaze shifted, falling on something nearby, and he cried out in genuine shock: "Merlin's beard! What the hell is THAT thing?!"
Has Ethan summoned his demonic kinsmen to join him?!