"Dumbledore won't let you succeed."
Voldemort had never imagined those words would come out of his own mouth.
But right now, all he cared about was the Philosopher's Stone. Ethan might possess some horrifying natural evil that made him sound more dangerous than most Dark wizards, but Voldemort still believed Dumbledore would never allow a truly uncontrollable monster to remain at Hogwarts.
As long as he obtained the Stone, everything would change. A body could be rebuilt. Power could be restored. His return would only be a matter of time.
Until then, subtlety mattered.
If Dumbledore discovered him before that happened, the entire plan would collapse instantly.
"Actually…" Voldemort hissed slowly, "my request is very simple. I require a stone. It is hidden somewhere within the forbidden corridor on the fourth floor of Hogwarts…"
"Ooooh," Ethan responded thoughtfully, making an impressed little sound. "So how are you planning to steal it?"
Voldemort reluctantly explained a portion of the problem. Quirrell, as his current host, could not freely investigate the corridor without drawing attention. Professors at Hogwarts were constantly visible. They attended classes, meals, meetings, patrols, and lesson preparation. If Quirrell disappeared too often, suspicion would arise immediately.
Ethan considered this seriously for several seconds.
"Then let a monster into the school," he suggested brightly. "Maybe a dragon. If a dragon rampages around the castle, loads of students will probably die. Dumbledore would definitely be distracted."
Voldemort stared at him.
"You are… excessively extreme."
He rejected the proposal immediately. Forget whether he could even acquire an adult dragon—getting one into Hogwarts in the first place was nearly impossible. Most dragons were larger than the castle gates themselves.
More importantly, if students actually died in large numbers, Dumbledore would become truly dangerous. Voldemort knew better than anyone what an enraged Albus Dumbledore was capable of.
Before the conversation could continue further, the castle bells rang loudly through Hogwarts.
Quirrell visibly twitched.
Unlike Ethan, who treated afternoons as optional recreational time, Quirrell still had actual teaching responsibilities.
"A weekend afternoon," Voldemort said slowly, "return here then…"
With a hurried flick of his wand, Quirrell wrapped the purple turban back around his head. His expression immediately collapsed into its usual nervous, twitching appearance.
"Yes, Mr. Norton," Quirrell stammered weakly. "I h-hope you won't mention this matter… to anyone."
As Ethan turned toward the door, Quirrell quietly cast another spell.
If Quirrell ever believed his identity had been exposed, the Killing Curse hidden within that spell would activate instantly.
Ethan nodded obediently.
Wow. Terrifying.
It was the Killing Curse.
He was definitely terrified.
Absolutely.
"I'm helping a Dark wizard blow up Hogwarts on Halloween," Ethan announced later that evening. "Do you know where I can find a dragon?"
Inside the Room of Requirement, the Count nearly fell off his perch.
"What?"
The bird's pupils shrank violently.
Dark wizards.
Blowing up schools.
Dragons.
None of these sounded like topics an eleven-year-old should casually discuss before dinner.
"Wait—what Dark wizard?" the Count screeched. "When did you meet a Dark wizard?!"
The Count had only recently been entrusted by Dumbledore with the glorious responsibility of "guiding Ethan properly." Somehow, the assignment had already become a complete disaster before it had even properly started.
It truly was hopeless.
Ethan did not need corruption from outside influences. He generated chaos naturally.
"Helping the Dark wizard is secondary," Ethan explained honestly. "The important part is that I've never seen a real dragon before."
Then he added regretfully, "Unfortunately, he said my idea was too extreme."
"You are too extreme," the Count snapped immediately.
At least now he realized Ethan had probably been joking about destroying Hogwarts. Probably.
The part about meeting a Dark wizard, however, sounded entirely genuine.
"There are no wild dragons around here," the Count grumbled. "Not in the entire Scottish Highlands."
"Ah…"
Ethan sighed in disappointment.
So much for seeing a flying fire-breathing monster up close.
Maybe he could ask Rose and Edward to take him to Romania during Christmas holidays. He had heard the largest dragon reserve in the world was located there.
"How exactly did you meet a Dark wizard anyway?" the Count asked suspiciously. "You've been inside the castle this whole time."
"There's one inside the castle," Ethan replied casually. "You know Voldemort, right?"
The Count froze completely.
Then Ethan cheerfully explained the entire situation involving Quirrell and the noseless face hidden beneath the turban.
The Count listened in horrified silence.
"…And you're not telling Dumbledore?" he asked finally.
"The old white-bearded guy?" Ethan shook his head immediately. "No chance. Voldemort put a curse on me. If I tell anyone, I get hit with Avada Kedavra."
The Count stared at him with complete disbelief.
If Ethan hadn't casually tested a Killing Curse on himself two days earlier, the story might have sounded more convincing.
"You just want to have fun," the Count said flatly.
"But having a dragon in school would be really cool."
"There are no dragons in the Highlands!" the Count roared helplessly. "Find something else to play with. I'm moving to London before this place explodes."
Ethan suddenly remembered something.
"What about a troll?"
That was Quirrell's signature move during Halloween, after all.
If Ethan helped release the troll, he could probably earn a huge amount of sin points. Then, once the troll nearly hurt someone, he could swoop in heroically, devour its soul, and earn goodwill points too.
Perfect balance.
"At least that's less horrifying than a dragon…"
The Count reluctantly admitted it after a long pause.
"There should be one somewhere in the mountains nearby. I saw signs of a troll cave while hunting field mice."
Thank Merlin Ethan had abandoned the dragon idea.
A mountain troll was at least manageable. Any competent professor in Hogwarts could subdue one without much trouble.
Honestly, the Count felt he deserved a medal at this point. He was just a bird, yet somehow he had become emotionally responsible for the safety of an entire magical school.
It was all Dumbledore's fault.
The old man kept acting as though Ethan could still be guided onto the right path.
Over the next few days, Ethan enjoyed what could only be described as a perfect and highly unproductive weekend.
He did not visit the library.
He did not spend time studying.
He did not sneak into the Forbidden Forest to eat souls while centaurs chased after him in outrage.
Instead, he relaxed.
Sometimes he simply lay beside the common room fireplace until sunset, half-asleep while other students talked around him. Other times, he followed Fred and George around the castle rediscovering the pure excitement of causing completely unnecessary trouble.
Saturday morning alone had been astonishingly productive.
Together, Ethan and the Weasley twins successfully completed no fewer than five major acts of misconduct. Their accomplishments included shaving Mrs. Norris completely bald, pelting the entrance of the Slytherin common room with enormous Dungbombs, and distributing suspiciously normal-looking burp candies throughout the castle.
Because Fred and George already had terrible reputations, most students instinctively distrusted anything they handed over.
Ethan, however, still possessed the innocent appearance of a harmless first-year.
No one suspected him.
By the end of the morning, Ethan had earned nearly one hundred sin points through harmless chaos alone.
Back in the orphanage, Ethan had lived by the principle that no evil deed was too small to commit if it seemed entertaining enough. Even then, he usually earned several dozen sin points per day.
Now, after arriving at Hogwarts, his total had finally grown large enough to purchase soul fragments from the system store.
[Current Goodwill Value: 1207]
[Current Sin Value: 1077]
Still, Ethan had plans involving the Forbidden Forest next week, so he was in no rush to spend points immediately.
Besides soul fragments, the system shop contained plenty of fascinating items.
[Basic Dementor Disguise]
[A magical necklace capable of transforming the wearer into the appearance of a Dementor. Perfect for floating around and collecting extra Halloween sweets. (Warning: does not create an actual Dementor.)]
[Price: 500 Sin Points]
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