After the initial period of adjustment, life at the academy gradually settled into a routine. Although Ethan hadn't made many friends in Slytherin and spent most of his time with Illya, the Slytherin students no longer acted arrogant or gave him dirty looks when they saw him. Some even exchanged a few words with him.
"It seems you're doing well over there."
After casually chatting with a few Slytherin classmates, Ethan carried his books and found a seat. The Great Hall at Hogwarts, which served as a banquet hall, was open during normal times for students to read, do homework, chat, or play games.
Unlike most of the younger students, who usually entertained themselves with whatever they found interesting, Ethan often went to the library to borrow books, then brought them here to read in peace.
Only Rin and Hermione, the top student from the original story, shared similar habits. As Ethan sat down with his books, Rin and Hermione, also holding books, happened to be looking for seats. When they saw Ethan, they sat down across from him without hesitation.
"It's alright. I came here to study anyway, so it doesn't matter where I am."
Rin nodded. She had shamelessly attached herself to this group to study this amazing magic.
After some time adjusting, she had realized that the magic system in this world was completely different from what she had learned before. The difficulty of learning it was hard to put into words. For talented wizards, mastering numerous spells was like child's play.
But for someone like Rin, who had already formed certain habits, and for less talented wizards, this method of learning was incredibly frustrating.
Compared to Ethan, who deliberately slowed down his learning to explore the deeper mechanics, Rin genuinely couldn't keep up. Fortunately, her abilities weren't bad. Aside from being a bit clumsy in practical spellcasting, her theoretical knowledge was better than most students'. Only Hermione surpassed her. Hermione's mastery of the textbooks was practically cheating. Normal students simply couldn't compete.
"Where's Illya?"
"She went to feed Shiro."
Besides completing her daily lessons, Illya either followed Ethan around or went to feed and play with Whitey.
"How's it going in Gryffindor?"
"Pretty good."
Compared to Ethan and Illya, who barely made any friends in Slytherin—where pure-blood wizards initially looked down on Ethan for coming from a Muggle family, and Ethan himself couldn't be bothered with a bunch of children—Rin had a much easier time in Gryffindor. The little lions were naturally outgoing and friendly. Even Harry, who was relatively reserved, had quickly become familiar with all his classmates.
So it wasn't hard for Rin to fit in. At the very least, she had Hermione, a fellow top student and bookworm, as a friend. Plus, Logan was also in Gryffindor and looked out for her when needed.
"It's just that using magic still feels awkward."
Rin pulled out her staff, took out a feather, placed it on the table, then pointed at it and softly chanted a spell. The feather floated into the air, moving erratically in sync with her hand.
Rin's movements were subtle and her chanting quiet, but the spell worked all the same. The pure white feather floated and swayed in response to her guidance.
Ethan glanced over and immediately saw what was wrong. Even with Hermione nearby, that didn't stop him from pointing out the issue. Without speaking, he used a mental link to communicate directly with Rin. Even Hermione, sitting right next to them, wouldn't be able to hear.
"Don't try to control it too much. The magic in this world flows differently from what you're used to. You have to go with the flow of the magic, not try to bend it to your will."
Rin froze for a moment. Her hand stopped moving, and the feather lost control, falling back onto the table.
Hermione didn't look surprised.
"Rin, you're too tense. I told you to relax."
Hermione, who liked playing teacher, had noticed Rin's struggles and given her advice several times, though it hadn't helped much.
Rin hadn't understood what Hermione meant by "tense" until now. After hearing Ethan's explanation, she realized her urge to control magic was likely what Hermione had been talking about all along.
"Is that what it was?"
"Exactly. Relax. Don't be nervous. Magic is fun..."
Hermione had no idea that Ethan was speaking to Rin telepathically and just continued talking beside her. Then she glanced over at Ethan's book.
"Huh? Isn't this way above our level?"
"I'm just flipping through it. I'll have to learn it eventually anyway, so think of it as a preview."
Of course, Ethan wasn't just casually previewing. If he weren't restricted by the first-year limitations, he would've copied the entire library and studied everything on his own.
Even with those restrictions, by becoming one of Snape's top students, he was allowed to borrow some more advanced books. That's how he had already learned spells first-years normally couldn't access. The most typical example was Expelliarmus.
He had also learned spells for cleaning and organizing, which were similar to magic he had already mastered. But that didn't mean these spells were useless.
Magic in the Harry Potter world was based on rules and concepts. If he could merge it completely with his original magic system, what kind of result would it produce?
"Maybe by then, all my thoughts could manifest into reality?"
It didn't seem impossible.
As Ethan pondered the future, Hermione squinted at him from across the table. Her gaze occasionally shifted toward the book he was reading.
Ethan didn't know exactly what she was thinking, but based on her suspicious looks, he figured she was probably mumbling or grumbling to herself about him.
The next few days passed quietly. Because Ethan had never interacted with Harry, he had no idea how far the main plot had progressed.
It wasn't until the Halloween feast, when he saw the floating pumpkin lanterns and the tables piled with cakes and candy, that he realized the Philosopher's Stone arc was about to begin.
Today, Professor Quirrell would make his move. This timid, stuttering Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had already submitted to Voldemort. He would create a diversion and attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
During this chaos, Hermione was supposed to be hiding in the girls' bathroom, upset over something Ron said, and she would end up encountering the troll Quirrell released.
That was how it went in the original story, but now, Hermione and Rin were chatting happily at the Gryffindor table.
Would the story change because of this?
If Hermione didn't hide in the bathroom, then Harry and Ron would have no reason to go looking for her. They wouldn't run into the troll, and they wouldn't have their friendship-defining battle.
But Ethan still underestimated Harry's ability to attract trouble. He didn't leave the group just to save Hermione. He had always suspected Snape of something and believed the troll's appearance wasn't a coincidence.
So Harry and Ron quietly slipped away, ignoring the professors' orders to return to the dorms.
Their departure didn't go unnoticed. Hermione, curious and brave, spotted them sneaking off and dragged Rin along to follow them.
Because students were still filtering out of the Great Hall, the scene was chaotic. Other than Ethan, no one noticed the group of troublemakers leaving.
"Should we go take a look too?"
Ethan hesitated. He hadn't planned on getting involved. But when he looked up, he saw Scáthach quietly slip out from the Ravenclaw group, give him a wink, and then disappear in the same direction.
Ethan watched as this growing band of troublemakers ran off. He quietly mourned for the troll for three seconds, then turned around and left with Illya to rejoin the Slytherin group. He had no interest in watching a bunch of kids fight a troll.
As for whether Harry would get hurt? He didn't care. In fact, a good scare might teach him a lesson. Besides, Dumbledore was probably watching in secret the whole time, and Harry's chances of actually being in danger were practically zero.
Plus, Harry had real talent and incredible luck. The troll probably couldn't do much damage other than give him some practical combat experience.
If anyone was at risk, it was probably Rin. Maybe he should follow them?
"Scáthach is with them. She'll be fine."
The next day, Ethan saw Rin lying on a hospital bed in the infirmary, looking dejected. One of her legs was wrapped tightly in bandages.
Ethan was baffled.
"How did you, of all people, get hurt when there was a whole crowd watching?"
The question made Rin's expression twitch. After a long pause, she finally muttered a single word.
"Bad luck."
(To be continued.)
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