The legendary youth who had caused a sensation throughout the entire wizarding world was currently sitting upon the only dais in the examination hall.
Hearing the commotion, he leisurely closed the textbook in his hands.
He looked up, his cobalt-blue eyes reflecting a sea of stunned faces. He smiled thinly. "Come in quickly. The O.W.L. Defense Against the Dark Arts exam is about to begin."
As the words fell, the crowd huddled at the door felt a massive suction force emanating from the classroom!
It pulled them in all at once, and the heavy doors slammed shut behind them with a resounding bang.
Michael Corner swallowed hard and gave a forced laugh. "Haha, as expected of Professor Norn. He actually managed to invite Ethan here."
He looked around, confused. "Where is Professor Norn, anyway? Is he hiding somewhere and watching us?"
The members of the Enlightenment Society, who were in the know, shot an unutterable look at this simple-minded boy.
...It seemed that Ravenclaw wasn't entirely made up of geniuses.
Ethan leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands atop his knees, looking at the peering students with a beaming smile. He looked like a Big Bad Wolf watching a group of Little Red Riding Hoods poking their heads through the window.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Stop looking for him. I am the examiner for this session and your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—Ann Norn."
With a wave of Ethan's hand, a line of elegant letters manifested in the air:
—Mr. Unknown.
The man who does not exist.
Meeting the students' dazed stares, Ethan curled his lips. With a flick of his wrist, he conjured a mask and lowered his head to fasten it over his face.
"Or... perhaps you're more familiar with me looking like this?"
When Ethan looked up again, the students' eyes widened in unison, and a collective gasp filled the room!
Presented before them was that terrifying, swirling mask! The layers of spirals seemed as if they would suck a person's very soul into the center.
Then, Ethan flipped his wrist again, and a flesh-colored mask appeared. As it fitted seamlessly over his face, the crowd stood frozen.
When those letters appeared before them, they were utterly dumbfounded. They stood there like statues, as if they had just witnessed Headmaster Dumbledore eloping with the first Dark Lord, Voldemort performing a cabaret in fishnets, or Harry Potter transforming into a heavily-made-up madam!
"Galloping Gorgons..." a Ravenclaw muttered, pushing up his glasses in a daze. "Headmaster Dumbledore is hiring child labor."
The crowd: "..."
As expected of the Eagles; they always managed to find the most unique points of interest.
Michael's head was spinning. "Ethan is 'Mr. Lamp'? And he's been the DADA professor for this entire semester?"
"How is Ethan everywhere?!"
They were surrounded by terror! He had even become a professor—was the next step to kick Dumbledore aside and take over as Headmaster himself?!
...Haha, just kidding.
"Alright."
A clear, resonant voice interrupted the students' racing thoughts. Ethan curled his lips into a smirk, raising a hand to pinch two fingers together.
"Let's skip the unimportant details," he said playfully. "Now, it's time to test the results of your training this semester."
Snap.
A snap of his fingers echoed. A massive black hole suddenly expanded in front of Ethan!
"Whoa!"
The students shrieked and scrambled backward to avoid falling into whatever "bloody hell" Ethan had prepared. Accompanied by a swirling ink-colored mist, a gargantuan figure slowly rose from the black hole.
When they saw that familiar, giant skeleton, Harry and the others felt their hearts skip a beat.
This... this couldn't be...
The black hole vanished like a dried-up lake. Under the students' upward-gazing eyes, the terrifying behemoth slowly stood tall.
A massive shadow loomed over them. The creature's surface looked as if it had been bombarded by cannon fire; its bones were exposed and fused with raw, pulsing flesh.
Crr-ack.
A withered, skeletal hand tightened around a hilt, pulling a crimson greatsword—as large as a tree—from the ground. Its head brushed against the enchanted ceiling, and hollow eye sockets looked down upon the crowd, glowing with a flicker of ghostly blue spirit-fire.
"Bloody hell..." Ron stammered, his face flushed red and his voice trembling. "Isn't that the giant Ethan used to deal with Dark Wizards?!"
And this was a battle-damaged version that looked even scarier, wielding Ethan's Flesh and Marrow Sword!
The specs were higher than the ones used against actual Dark Wizards! He really thought highly of them, didn't he?!
Simultaneously, the suits of armor surrounding them, the dragon skeleton hanging high above, and the portraits on the walls all began to move!
"Roar!" "Cackle, cackle!" "Hee hee hee!"
Countless chaotic noises converged into a dizzying torrent of sound!
Amidst the uproar, Ethan leaped down from the dais. With a flick of his wand, the dais transformed into a giant hourglass suspended in mid-air.
He spoke:
"I'm not a demon, after all."
"In five minutes, any student still standing in this classroom will pass this O.W.L. Defense Against the Dark Arts exam!"
"I will grade you based on your individual performance."
"The subject is 'Defense Against the Dark Arts,' so naturally, you must personally confront evil~"
Of course, he was merely playing the villain, enduring the "burden" of the role to help the students better face danger.
Ignoring the students' "I'm supposed to fight a giant? Are you kidding me?" expressions, Ethan grinned with pure delight.
He threw his arms wide and shouted with excitement:
"Then—the exam officially begins!"
As the words left his lips, the giant suddenly expanded its chest! Like a storm cannon, it unleashed a heaven-shaking roar!
[ROOAAARRR—!!!]
In an instant, the four walls vibrated! The students fell like scattered beans, collapsing onto the floor in heaps!
Forget fighting back—simply staying alive was going to be a struggle!
Only the members of the Enlightenment Society were prepared. They quickly dropped into their combat stances, skillfully dodging incoming arrows, thrusting spears, and even flying apples.
"Truly worthy of being soldiers trained by Ethan himself..."
Michael clutched his head and huddled in a corner, feeling the wind from a sword-swipe whistle over his scalp. He wept tears of envy. He'd better worry about surviving this "Fright Night" exam first.
By the time the DADA exam ended and the students emerged from the Hospital Wing, it was already time for the summer holidays.
Following Dumbledore's orders to act as an "owl," Professor Snape, with a dark, brooding face, arrived at the door to Ethan's office.
Just as he was about to push the door open, he saw Gryffindor's "Miss Know-It-All" and several Ravenclaws running out, their faces flushed red and their hands clutching their backsides.
They bumped into him and immediately looked horrified. Hermione reacted even more strongly; she instinctively slammed the open door shut with a loud bang, nearly catching Snape's nose in the wood.
Snape: ?
An ominous feeling immediately rose in his heart. He shoved the students aside and burst into the room!
—What met his eyes was a crude wooden puppet wearing a black wig, a black robe, and a ridiculously exaggerated hooked nose.
Its wrench-like hands held a trident, which it was currently poking repeatedly toward the door. Its wooden mouth clapped open and closed as it shrieked:
[Exam results will be sent by owl! Ask again and I'll throw you into a cauldron!]
Snape: ???
He fell silent. Slowly, he turned his head. The moment those students met his gaze, they jumped and bolted away in a blur.
Only Gryffindor's "Miss Know-It-All" hesitated for a moment, whispering quickly:
"Ethan didn't do it on purpose."
Then, with her ears turning beet-red, she lowered her head and hurried away.
Snape: "..."
The air felt thick with a nauseatingly sweet-and-sour scent. His nose practically twitched with fury. He took a deep breath and muttered to himself:
"I cannot get angry at a madman... I cannot get angry at a madman...!"
Then, he whipped out his wand, intending to blast the stupid thing into splinters!
Just then, as if sensing danger, the puppet stopped moving. A small wooden panel on its chest popped open, revealing a heart-shaped indentation.
Ding-ding, dong-dong~
The melodious music of a music box, like a gentle spring breeze, drifted out.
As if sensing something, Snape stayed his magic. His eyes widened slightly as he stared into the cavity.
There sat a lifelike, exquisitely crafted red-haired girl. She was leaning against a green tree, reading a book. Her hair fluttered as if stirred by the wind, and her feet swung back and forth rhythmically. Her expression was light and peaceful.
—It was a scene that had appeared in his dreams countless, countless times.
He had never told anyone. Yet there it was, presented before him with sudden, startling reality.
Snape's mouth opened slightly. His wand fell to the floor with a clatter. He couldn't help but reach out a trembling hand, wanting to touch the girl reading the book.
"Lily..."
Suddenly, as if confirming something, the puppet that looked like him snapped its head around 180 degrees.
It shrieked at the top of its lungs:
"THE CLOWN IS HERE! THE CLOWN IS HERE!"
Snape: "..."
His features contorted so violently it could have stopped a Hufflepuff's heart!
"REDUCTO!"
His wand flew back into his palm, and the puppet's head exploded into a thousand shards.
—Ethan Vincent! You really should just go die!!!
Though... before he died, he'd better leave that music box behind.
Fortunately, Ethan soon emerged from the inner room, having heard the commotion. Seeing Snape, he didn't look surprised at all. His calm demeanor succeeded in making a fresh vein throb on Snape's forehead.
Ethan looked up and said amiably, "Hi, Professor Snape. How did you know Luna got a '0' in her Defense Against the Dark Arts exam?"
Snape: "..."
As if terrified that Ethan would spout some other world-ending nonsense, Snape skipped his usual biting sarcasm and got straight to the point.
He spoke rapidly: "Dumbledore sent me to give you a message. He wants you to find time to visit the Order of the Phoenix on the night the school term ends. He wants to introduce you to the others and discuss our next strategy."
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