On the Quidditch field, rain poured down in torrents.
Harry rode his broomstick through the storm, completely soaked through, trembling uncontrollably. Every breath he exhaled carried visible frost.
Looking down, Harry saw swarms of Dementors—like a dark vortex continuously swallowing everything toward him.
[Ahhh—!]
[Please, please—don't—!]
A woman's anguished screams mixed with wild, cruel laughter echoed again in his mind, making Harry dizzy, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Then he saw a flash of golden light—the Golden Snitch! Glittering among the mass of Dementors like a cheerful little bird dancing through darkness.
Harry immediately perked up with renewed focus. Almost instinctively, he urged his Nimbus 2000 forward like an arrow shot from a bow, flying straight toward the Golden Snitch!
From the stands rose a chorus of terrified screams!
"Is he crazy?!" Ron shouted, his eyes wide with horror. "Oh—Harry must have fainted and fallen! That's at least dozens of meters high!"
Hermione covered her eyes with both hands, barely daring to watch through her fingers.
"No!" Hagrid lifted his enchanted binoculars, roaring loud enough to shake the stands. "Harry found the Golden Snitch! He's deliberately charging toward the Dementors!"
Ron stared in disbelief. "So I'm saying Harry must be absolutely crazy."
Howling wind scraped past Harry's ears like claws. Cold rain slapped chaotically against his face with stinging force. Harry couldn't hear anything anymore beyond the roaring in his head.
As he approached the Dementors, the extreme cold caused ice to form rapidly on his fingers and cheeks. Dementors swarmed closer, their black-cloaked, hole-like, terrifying mouths continuously sucking, draining Harry's will and warmth!
Damn it... can't fall here... Harry's vision spun dangerously, and he desperately reached out his hand, but the Golden Snitch seemed to grow further and further away. In his mind, his mother's final screams nearly split his skull apart.
Captain Wood is graduating this year—this is his last Quidditch match... Gryffindor must win the championship...
Then different memories flooded back. Ethan... those goblins... those screams and exploding flames... the fierce satisfaction of personally killing enemies with spells to protect everyone!
Harry's gaze focused sharply with renewed determination. He suddenly gripped the broomstick handle tightly, righting his tilting form! Pulling out his wand from inside his robes with one hand, he pointed it directly at those arrogant Dementors!
The spell Professor Lupin had taught him burst into his mind with crystal clarity.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Dazzling, blinding silver light erupted from Harry's wand tip! The magic condensed into a magnificent silver-gleaming stag, leaping lightly and swiftly among the Dementors like a guardian clearing the path! Wherever it went, Dementors shrieked and scattered like smoke before flame!
At the teachers' table, every professor stood up simultaneously, utterly astonished by the display.
Dumbledore's half-moon glasses reflected the silver-white stag leaping gracefully among the dark storm clouds—the exact same Patronus as James Potter had cast. His eyes grew somewhat moist with emotion.
"Ah... Look, Severus." Dumbledore turned, smiling with hoarse emotion at Professor Snape. "What a wonderful class you and Remus have taught... This time, surely not like before—so many won't leave us."
Professor Snape's lips twitched several times, his face contorting with conflicting emotions. Then he suddenly swept his black robes dramatically and strode away from the stands with large, rapid steps.
"I've killed goblins! Won an actual battle! I'm a Morning Star Club member led by Ethan!" Harry's hoarse roar pierced through the rain curtain, echoing across the entire field and reaching every student's ears with fierce pride.
"Merlin's beard, is that a complete corporeal Patronus Charm? Harry successfully summoned one?" Michael Corner murmured in awe, staring dumbfounded at the impossible scene.
He whipped around to look at Ethan, who sat calmly leaning back in his seat—completely composed, as if everything was unfolding exactly as expected.
Michael immediately felt deep, reverent respect. Indeed, everything is within Ethan's calculations... as if he already knew Harry could cast the Patronus Charm. Ethan is truly an unfathomably terrifying strategic mind.
Michael became even more determined to firmly stand on Ethan's side and cling to his coattails with both hands. So what if he's morally questionable? He's powerful!
"Tweet!" A sharp whistle cut through the stormy field.
The referee shouted through a magically amplified voice, "Harry Potter caught the Golden Snitch! Gryffindor gains 150 points! Gryffindor wins!"
The announcement reached Harry's ears as if from impossibly far away. He gripped the struggling Golden Snitch tightly with one trembling hand, but his body had also reached its absolute limit. Consciousness gradually blurred, the silver Patronus light fading. Those greedy, angry Dementors slowly converged on him again with renewed hunger.
Until—
BOOM!
Brilliant radiance pierced the heavens like divine judgment! Lightning struck from the sky—Dementors suddenly exploded, torn apart, creating a perfect cylindrical gap through their ranks! A giant golden spear wreathed in crackling lightning embedded itself deep in the muddy earth, as if ready to shatter the entire ground beneath.
The remaining Dementors fled wailing in terror, quickly vanishing without a trace—only tattered black cloth fragments like pitch-black cotton falling slowly with the rain.
The stands fell suddenly, profoundly silent. Students stared at the golden spear standing like Excalibur in the earth, momentarily losing the ability to speak or even breathe.
"Wicked cool," Ron murmured with fiery eyes, staring at the scene with barely contained awe.
Harry looked up through the rain, seeing Ethan standing in the storm on the stands. Holding a paintbrush aloft, golden lightning wreathing his entire body, black hair flying wildly in the wind, robes flapping dramatically—truly like a descended deity of thunder, heroic and impossibly mighty!
Harry instantly felt completely at ease, closing his eyes and letting himself free-fall through the air. Ethan... hasn't seemed so sinister lately. Look at that thunder spear—how bright and righteous it is.
Ethan watched calmly as everyone rushed around Harry's falling form, sending him quickly to the hospital wing for treatment. He thought to himself with satisfaction:
[You observed "Harry Bravely Catches the Snitch" and gained inspiration]
[You obtained inspiration "Evil Swooping for Food"]
Mm, feels a bit odd as a name.
In Ethan's mind appeared the Golden Snitch's form—agile and swift, almost representing victory and glory itself, guiding people to chase it endlessly with single-minded determination...
That's it! Isn't this exactly Felix Felicis's effect!
Ethan snapped his fingers with sudden realization, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "I know! I know how to materialize Felix Felicis's essence on canvas!"
Ethan had a brilliant idea—very righteous, very bright and promising! He couldn't wait to start painting immediately.
Good thing I collected some goblin leader's red dragon blood earlier. Now it'll come in handy as the perfect base. Ethan grinned with satisfaction.
Ethan slipped into his creative trance once more, naturally gravitating toward the Ravenclaw dormitory window overlooking the distant landscape, his favorite spot for painting. His roommates, Michael and Mandy, had wisely retreated to the common room again.
Time flew by like water. Before anyone realized, Christmas approached with its familiar winter chill.
"Did you hear strange bird calls at night?" a sleepy Ravenclaw yawned while carrying heavy textbooks, chatting with companions as they walked.
"Seems like it... probably just owls outside the tower window."
"Mm, maybe. But I heard it as if the sound was right by my ear." The student shivered involuntarily, somehow feeling chilly despite the warming charms.
They didn't think much of it, quickly changing topics. "Look, more Aurors patrolling the corridors again."
"As if Sirius would really hide in empty classrooms. Ridiculous."
"Day before yesterday, Professor McGonagall lost patience and transfigured a desk into a pig, then threw it at an intruding Auror."
"It's been so long without catching Sirius. The Ministry's absolutely useless."
"Speaking of which, what class do we have after lunch?"
"Care of Magical Creatures."
"Oh, I have to say, that friendly giant teaches quite well..."
They chatted casually as they walked away down the corridor. Auror Dawlish, sporting heavy dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, caught fragments of their gossip and clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
Damn it... where is that cursed Black hiding?!
"Better pray I don't catch you, Black..." Dawlish muttered venomously.
Meanwhile, in the Ravenclaw dormitory overlooking the grounds, Ethan finally stopped his paintbrush.
"Mission accomplished!" Ethan set down his brush, his bloodshot eyes gleaming with triumphant joy as he gazed at his completed painting.
[Congratulations! You successfully combined Felix Felicis with painting! Created an extraordinary artwork!]
[Name: "The Shrike's Nest"]