Chapter 140: Two Notes
Ethan left the Room of Requirement, fiddling with the note Dumbledore had given him. He walked down the corridor, his footsteps echoing in the silence and disturbing the portraits on the walls.
"You insolent brat, it's past curfew. You have some nerve. Aren't you afraid of detention?" the old woman in one of the portraits snapped.
"Never mind that. I have a note from Dumbledore. I have his permission." Ethan held up the note and waved it.
The old woman, clad in old-fashioned robes, glared at him and fell silent.
Unsurprisingly, Ethan's echoing footsteps drew the attention of Filch, who was patrolling the corridors.
Rapid footsteps approached from the stairwell, and an eager voice called out, "Let's see who's wandering the halls at night again!"
"Jones?!" Filch shouted in surprise as he got a clear look at the late-night wanderer's face.
His expression shifted. Then he looked right through Ethan, turned, and walked away, leaving Ethan surprised.
"Mr. Filch, I have a note from Dumbledore. I just came from the Headmaster's office," Ethan called after the retreating caretaker, surprised by the complete lack of confrontation he'd expected.
"Is that so? Then hurry back." The caretaker let out a sigh of relief, turned around, and pretended to notice Ethan for the first time.
Filch had been wrestling with himself only moments before. Catching students breaking the rules was his duty, but this student had helped him considerably. Conflicted, he chose to pretend he hadn't seen Ethan.
Ethan pulled out the note. He finally had a legitimate excuse to break the rules without neglecting his duties. The thought put him at ease.
"I'll continue my patrol. You watch yourself. It's dark out," Filch cautioned, raising his lantern as he climbed the stairs.
"Right." Ethan shook his head and hurried toward the dungeons.
"Professor? Are you on duty tonight?" Just as he reached the hall, Ethan ran into Snape coming up the stairs.
"Why are you still wandering around so late?" Snape raised an eyebrow.
"The Headmaster was looking for me. I just got back."
"Hmm." Snape didn't question him further. He simply walked away.
"Hey!"
The next day was Saturday. He was supposed to have Potions with Snape, but the professor was absent again.
"Seriously, why has he been missing so much lately? School started three months ago, and he's already missed four classes." Ethan knocked, but when no one answered, he knew today's lesson wasn't happening.
He counted them on his fingers, thinking back. Except for the one during the Quidditch match, the others were unexplained. He would knock, find no one there, and leave after waiting in vain.
With no other options, Ethan reorganized his schedule for the day.
Finally, Ethan decided to go to Hagrid's hut, pick up a few live creatures, and test the Bone-Removing Charm he'd learned from Lockhart.
The Room of Requirement couldn't conjure living things, and a wild bull summoned by a misused Summoning Charm might be crushed the moment it appeared.
So Ethan had hesitated, afraid that without proper protection, he might be killed before he could even test the spell.
Last time, Crabbe had avoided an immediate trip to the Hospital Wing only because a desk had blocked the wild bull when it appeared.
Now that he'd made up his mind, Ethan didn't hesitate. He stepped onto the snow and strolled toward Hagrid's hut.
He knocked on the wooden door. "Hagrid! Can I borrow Fang for a bit? We're going to catch some rabbits in the woods."
"Woof! Woof!" Before Hagrid could open the door, Fang was already leaning against it, scratching at the wood and whining eagerly.
"You going to the Forbidden Forest?" Hagrid opened the door, his hands still dusted with white flour, his floral apron bearing two white handprints.
"Just at the perimeter. I'm letting Fang help me catch rabbits. Don't worry, I won't go deep." Ethan knew what Hagrid was worried about, so he rubbed Fang's head firmly and promised not to go far.
"Come back early," Hagrid said. "I'll stew up some rabbits for you." Ethan's track record gave Hagrid confidence in his ability. Given that Ethan had also single-handedly killed a troll, Hagrid gave only a brief warning before letting him into the Forbidden Forest.
"Alright!" Ethan led Fang toward the Forbidden Forest.
"Fang, flush out some rabbits and chase them my way." After giving the command and patting the dog's head, Ethan took his position. He held his wand ready, waiting to cast a binding spell to capture the wild rabbits alive.
Fang barked eagerly. Familiar with the forest, he soon had a plump gray rabbit racing straight toward Ethan.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Ethan moved with lightning speed. The spell shot from his wand. The rabbit's limbs snapped tight against its sides instantly. Unable to use its legs, the creature's momentum carried it forward a short distance, burying half its body in the snow.
Fang brought the stiffened rabbit back to Ethan's side.
"Good boy. A few more." Ethan patted the dog's head. The boarhound bounded away excitedly again.
In less than half an hour, the boy and his dog had caught five rabbits.
"Let's go back. That should be plenty." Ethan started back to the hut with five rabbits tumbling behind him. Their bodies were rigid, their limbs clamped tight against their sides, and their eyes rolled wildly in their sockets.
"Back?" Hearing the barking, Hagrid opened the door.
"Let me take it. I'll handle the slaughter." As he spoke, Hagrid reached out to grab one.
"I'll do it. It's the perfect chance to test a new spell."
"Fine. Call me when you're done. I'll take care of the rest." Hagrid went back inside. He was baking bread.
Ethan took his spare wand out of his bag. He had bought it over the summer, and it had always been his dedicated wand for Dark Magic.
Ethan wasn't sure if the Bone-Removing Charm was Dark Magic, but because it was so lethal, he thought it better not to use his main wand.
He placed the other four wild rabbits side by side and put the randomly selected one in front of him.
Ethan's wand swept back and forth above the wild rabbit's body.
Finally, his wand pointed at the limbs tucked against its body. *Start with the leg bones. The skull last.*
But the way its legs were pressed tight against its torso made it difficult to aim. Afraid of accidentally vanishing its ribs instead, Ethan cast Incarcerous first to bind it, then followed with the Full Body-Bind Curse.
When the rabbit kept thrashing, Ethan cast Incarcerous again, wrapping it tight as a cocoon until only its right hind leg remained exposed and still kicking.
Ethan grasped the rabbit's leg with one hand to hold it steady.
He recited the incantation quickly from memory, but no white light flashed as it had when Lockhart cast the spell.
Ethan knew the casting had failed. He hadn't felt his magic drain away. The rabbit's leg bones hadn't vanished.
He mentally reviewed Lockhart's pronunciation and wand movements, then tried again. After several adjustments, he finally succeeded.
Ethan touched the rabbit's leg. It hung limp and boneless, just as Harry's arm had, and he nodded in satisfaction.
He released his grip. The leg dangled uselessly, no longer able to kick.
Ethan canceled Incarcerous. With one leg rendered useless, the wild rabbit couldn't escape.
His next target was the skull.
*Still alive?* The wild rabbit looked horrifying with its skull gone, yet it hadn't died right away.
Ethan bound it again, watching closely.
About three minutes later, its struggles ceased. After two more minutes, it lay completely motionless.
Ethan placed his hand on the rabbit's chest and found that its heartbeat had stopped.
*So, if this were a human, death would occur at around this point. In a situation like this, even Skele-Gro couldn't save them, right?*
Ethan considered this, but his hands kept moving.
After removing the *Incarcerous* spell, he tested it on another leg.
It worked on both the living and the dead. Ethan nodded, observing how the left hind leg mirrored the right.
Since he already had a subject on hand, Ethan tried the domestic *Bone-Removing Charm* again.
It consumed less magic than the standard version. The effect on the dead was the same. Ethan touched the left front leg, which was missing its bones, and examined it carefully.
*I had better not give this one to Hagrid for cooking. It looks quite gruesome.* Ethan cast a *Vanishing Spell*, reducing the wretched wild rabbit to nothingness.
He hadn't expected the experiment to go so smoothly. He didn't need the other four, so he used a *Severing Charm* to remove their heads and let them bleed out, then brought them all to Hagrid.
Hagrid hung them on the rack outside the house first. After waiting for the blood to drain completely, he began skinning them and removing the organs one by one.
While Hagrid was busy outside, Ethan stayed inside, snacking on fresh bread. It tasted much more normal than the questionable rock cakes.
The two of them had eaten two wild rabbits for lunch, and Hagrid planned to roast the leftovers for dinner.
"Want some roast rabbit again tonight?" Hagrid asked warmly.
"Let's wait until lunch tomorrow. I plan to take a nap this afternoon, so I'm not sure when I'll wake up." Ethan didn't want to leave the castle in the afternoon, so he politely declined.
"Fair enough. We can have some together tomorrow."
Back at the castle, Ethan didn't go to the dormitory to catch up on sleep as he had said. Instead, he met up with the twins again to discuss the progress of the Transformation Cards intended for display during the Christmas holidays. He wanted to make sure they wouldn't delay the work just because Ron had been attacked.
The next morning, only Ethan and Hermione went to Hagrid's hut.
"Harry hasn't been seen in the common room since he spoke Parseltongue two days ago. I heard he missed yesterday's Quidditch practice."
"His roommates are avoiding him, too. We don't know where he is now. We didn't see him at breakfast this morning."
"No one would be happy about that. Let him be alone for a while. He doesn't seem to want to be disturbed; otherwise, he would have come here."
"I hope he's strong enough to withstand all the rumors and slander," Hagrid said sympathetically. He'd been wronged himself. For fifty years, he'd taken the blame and been barred from using magic.
Practice had only just started when Ethan was called away by Fawkes, who delivered a note from Dumbledore.
------------------------------------------
Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 302
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 211
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 304
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 138
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic