Many years later, whenever Hagrid visited the deepest parts of the Forbidden Forest to check on the unicorn herd, he would always remember that strange afternoon.
The afternoon when Ethan brought a black unicorn addicted to Butterbeer into his cabin.
But Ethan himself didn't care much anymore.
An alcoholic mother.
A gambling father.
A brother in prison.
And a broken version of himself.
At some point, the entire world had simply become dark and twisted.
After enough time, you got used to rot.
So Ethan let it rot.
After releasing Ali back into the forest, Ethan returned alone to Hogwarts Castle.
Since he had completely missed dinner, he decided to deliver the unicorn blood directly to Quirrell first before sneaking into the kitchens afterward for food.
That way he wouldn't need to leave the castle again tonight.
When Ethan reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor on the third floor, he immediately noticed Quirrell's office door standing open.
Voices echoed from inside.
Snape.
Ethan quietly looked through the doorway.
Snape had Quirrell cornered against his desk. One hand tightly gripped Quirrell's collar while the other remained hidden beneath his robes, likely clutching a wand.
Quirrell looked exactly like some unfortunate office worker being bullied by upper management.
"S-Severus…" Quirrell stammered weakly.
"What exactly are you planning with that student, Ethan Norton?" Snape asked coldly. "Dumbledore is already suspicious of you. Have you figured out how to get past Hagrid's beast yet?"
"I—I—well…" Quirrell rubbed his hands together nervously, unable to meet Snape's eyes.
"I warned you once already, Quirrell." Snape stepped closer. "Regarding the Dark Lord—"
"Who?"
Snape's head snapped toward the doorway instantly.
"Evening, professors," Ethan greeted calmly as though nothing unusual was happening. "Having a pleasant chat?"
Snape immediately released Quirrell and strode toward Ethan like an enormous black bat.
"How long have you been listening outside the door?" he asked dangerously. "If I recall correctly, you did not attend dinner tonight, Mr. Norton."
"That's because I was helping Hagrid look after unicorns," Ethan replied honestly.
Then he deliberately winked at Snape.
Snape would absolutely report this to Dumbledore later.
And being accepted by unicorns counted as extremely powerful evidence supporting Ethan's supposed "innocent and kind nature."
"Unicorns generally avoid young male wizards," Snape said slowly. "Surely you understand what it means to harm one."
"Don't make ridiculous assumptions," Ethan replied immediately. "I get along with them perfectly."
To prove it, he pulled out the small pink flower gifted to him by the unicorn foal, along with a tiny bundle of golden fur the young unicorn had shed.
Probably due to eating one of Hagrid's homemade sweets.
Snape stared at the items in complete silence.
His expression revealed absolutely nothing.
Ethan couldn't even sense any clear emotions from him. Snape buried everything too deeply within himself.
Still, the evidence was undeniable.
Even Snape couldn't accuse Ethan of harming unicorns after seeing this.
Unless he wanted Dumbledore to start wondering why unicorn foals willingly cuddled up to "dangerous dark creatures."
Eventually, Snape turned away without another word.
His robes billowed dramatically behind him as he headed down the corridor.
Then, after only a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape announced without turning around.
Ethan blinked.
"For what?"
"Students are forbidden from entering the Forbidden Forest."
"I entered to help Hagrid care for the unicorns!"
"Hagrid is not a professor."
Snape delivered the deduction with absolute confidence.
Honestly, Ethan strongly suspected Snape had prepared entire lists of possible point deductions specifically for Harry Potter years in advance.
The man could probably deduct points from students simply for breathing incorrectly.
"You'd better add those points back later," Ethan called after him.
Snape ignored him completely and disappeared around the corner.
After he left, Ethan placed the vial of unicorn blood onto Quirrell's desk.
Quirrell stared at it in complete disbelief.
"How did you actually…?"
The silver blood slowly swirled inside the glass tube like liquid moonlight.
How exactly had Ethan obtained it?
Had unicorns willingly allowed an eleven-year-old child to collect their blood?
Or—
Had Ethan somehow slaughtered a unicorn in the middle of the Forbidden Forest while surrounded by centaurs and escaped unharmed afterward?
The more Quirrell thought about it, the more impossible the entire situation became.
At Ethan's insistence, Quirrell eventually restored the ten points Snape deducted.
Then he added another twenty on top.
Official reason:
Helping a professor obtain rare classroom materials.
Satisfied with the outcome, Ethan finally headed downstairs toward the first-floor kitchens.
If he remembered correctly, the corridor near the Hufflepuff common room contained a painting of a fruit bowl.
And sure enough, the brightly lit corridor featured exactly that.
One particularly vivid green pear sat near the center of the painting.
Ethan reached forward and tickled it.
The pear immediately burst into giggles before transforming into a green door handle.
Honestly, Hogwarts house-elves treated students extremely well.
As long as someone knew how to reach the kitchens, no student in Hogwarts truly needed to go hungry.
"You really don't need to be this terrified of me," Ethan said helplessly the moment he entered.
Unfortunately, the reaction around him resembled mice spotting a cat.
House-elves scattered in every direction in complete panic.
Several shrieked loudly before Disapparating away with sharp cracks.
Others huddled together in corners trembling violently.
"I only came here for food—"
The moment the words left his mouth, Ethan realised he had phrased that horribly.
Apparently the sentence carried an entirely different meaning to house-elves.
"The Dementor came to eat the house-elves!"
The kitchen exploded into chaos.
A rapid series of cracks echoed through the room as nearly every remaining elf vanished instantly in terror.
Honestly, magical creatures were far too timid.
Ethan found the entire race deeply disappointing.
Still, not all of them fled.
One small house-elf remained standing near the corner.
It puffed out its tiny chest bravely while squeezing its eyes shut, looking exactly like a warrior preparing for glorious death.
As though remaining here meant Ethan would devour its soul immediately.
"Tink fears nothing…" the trembling elf whispered desperately to itself. "Tink is loyal… Tink will protect the Hogwarts kitchens…"
Even while talking, its legs shook violently.
It swallowed repeatedly as Ethan slowly approached.
Finally, the little elf nervously cracked one eye open.
And saw the dark, terrifying creature standing directly in front of it.
The monster opened its mouth.
"Tink's fried chicken and chips order?" Ethan asked politely.
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