In the end, Ethan had no choice but to empty his schoolbag so the Earl could crawl inside before carrying the furious owl all the way to Professor Kettleburn.
As Hogwarts' Care of Magical Creatures professor and full-time animal fanatic, Professor Kettleburn reacted exactly as expected after hearing Ethan had accidentally vanished the owl's feathers.
"You did what to this poor creature?!"
His enormous grey beard trembled violently with rage.
Normally, Professor Kettleburn behaved like an eccentric but harmless old man who adored every living thing with unreasonable enthusiasm.
At this moment, however, his expression looked terrifyingly serious.
"What house are you from?"
"I'm from Slytherin," Ethan answered calmly.
He wasn't wearing school robes today anyway, and first-years didn't currently attend Care of Magical Creatures.
"Ten points from Slytherin!"
Professor Kettleburn roared furiously.
"Bad boys! If I ever catch you abusing an owl again—"
[Sin Points +10]
Honestly, inter-house competition often worked through extremely simple and efficient methods.
Meanwhile, Professor Kettleburn carefully lifted the bald Earl into a fluffy fur-lined nest while muttering soothing words.
During the process, the Earl glared murderously at Ethan several times.
Eventually, the professor rummaged through an enormous medicine cabinet before finding a bottle filled with muddy brown liquid.
One drop landed atop the Earl's head.
Immediately, feathers exploded outward like grass after spring rain.
Within seconds, the Earl returned to his original fluffy and glossy appearance.
Ethan had to promise repeatedly that he would never cast random spells on birds again before Professor Kettleburn finally released him.
By the time Ethan sprinted back to the Room of Requirement to retrieve his textbook before rushing toward History of Magic, Professor Binns had already begun weaponising his lecture voice against the first-years.
Ethan bent low and tiptoed toward the back row.
Harry and Ron were already asleep.
Apparently poor students naturally attracted one another.
Hermione remained completely different.
Even while Professor Binns droned like an elderly vacuum cleaner suffering emotional trauma, she still sat upright in the front row taking notes attentively.
As for Ethan—
History of Magic held absolutely zero value to him.
Learning the exact date of goblin rebellions or the reasons behind failed werewolf legislation would not improve his future survival whatsoever.
So Ethan spent the entire lesson secretly reading The Power of Sorrow beneath the desk.
The theories inside proved surprisingly fascinating.
According to the book, emotions formed the true foundation of magical power.
The stronger the emotion, the more unstable and violent the resulting magic became.
Desire.
Hatred.
Fear.
Rage.
Even love.
Every wizard became a performer completely immersed in their emotions while casting spells.
The fewer emotions a person possessed, the weaker and calmer their magic naturally became.
There was only one exception.
Azkaban prisoners.
Dementors consumed nearly all emotional capacity from their victims, leaving only despair behind.
Most former prisoners eventually lost the ability to cast even basic unlocking charms.
Even after returning to normal society, many required years to recover their magical strength.
Some never recovered at all.
Permanent mental damage remained disturbingly common.
"…Seriously?"
Ethan hadn't realised Dementors were this overpowered.
To be fair, he had never intentionally tried eating emotions before.
Compared to the absurd deliciousness of souls, emotions barely attracted attention.
It was like being told to lick icing off a Christmas cake without being allowed to eat the cake itself.
Still—
Curiosity quickly won.
Ethan carefully glanced sideways toward his two sleeping "good brothers."
Surely taking one tiny sip wouldn't hurt?
Harry had spent half of third year being assaulted by Dementors and survived perfectly fine.
After concentrating carefully, Ethan finally noticed them.
Around every soul floated faint liquid-like substances.
Visualised emotions.
And unlike souls, emotions could be extracted effortlessly without even opening his mouth.
The farther away the target, the weaker the effect became, but Ethan estimated his range currently covered nearly the entire History of Magic classroom.
Thankfully, Ethan resisted the urge to drain the whole room immediately.
Doing so felt like an excellent way to summon Dumbledore carrying an enormous phoenix Patronus.
Now—
Harry or Ron?
Ron clearly possessed stronger emotional fluctuations at the moment.
Probably because he was dreaming something nice.
"…Hm."
Ethan gently extracted a tiny thread of emotion from Ron.
Happiness.
Maybe excitement too.
The instant it entered his body, Ethan shuddered violently.
An indescribable pleasure spread through his entire soul.
Meanwhile—
Ron's sleeping face twitched painfully.
His expression gradually shifted into visible distress.
Interesting.
No wonder older Dementors preferred feeding on emotions before souls.
True masters always appreciated appetisers first.
"…Just one more."
Ethan secretly drew another strand from Ron.
After all, Ron was already dreaming anyway.
Emotions leaked from sleeping humans especially easily.
Ron began trembling harder beneath the desk.
"…One final sip."
Sorry, Ron.
I genuinely couldn't resist.
[Sin Points +30]
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Ron exploded awake with a horrified scream halfway through Professor Binns' lecture.
The entire classroom turned simultaneously toward him.
"Mr… Fabre?"
Professor Binns raised his transparent head slowly from the podium.
Unfortunately, his memory remained terrible enough that he still mispronounced Ron's name.
"Is there a problem?"
"N-No, Professor…"
Ron's ears turned bright red as he attempted to physically disappear beneath the desk.
The classroom only remained lively for several seconds before Professor Binns resumed his soul-crushing lecture immediately afterward.
"Ron? What happened?" Harry whispered worriedly.
Ron hugged himself tightly while shivering.
"I had a nightmare…"
Then Harry finally noticed Ethan sitting calmly beside them.
"Ethan? When did you get here? We thought you skipped class."
"I accidentally vanished the Earl's feathers," Ethan explained casually with minor creative editing before adding sympathetically, "What happened to Ron?"
"It was horrible…" Ron muttered weakly. "I dreamed I became Gryffindor prefect and joined the Quidditch team…"
"And then?" Harry asked blankly. "That sounds brilliant."
"At first it was…" Ron shivered again. "Then suddenly everything became terrifying. My prefect badge turned into a giant thorn-covered spider… and my broom became spider legs…"
Ron looked genuinely traumatised.
"And I still feel cold…"
[Ding! Special Ability Unlocked: Emotional Drain (1/10)]
Good brother.
Your sacrifice was meaningful.
Ethan patted Ron comfortingly alongside Harry while desperately suppressing the corners of his mouth.
At Christmas, he decided, he would definitely buy Ron a brand-new wizard chess set as compensation.
....
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