After leaving the classroom, Ethan Jones went to the bathroom in the Castle to wash the soot off his face. He patted his cheeks, trying to sober up and think of a way to get rid of Quirrell's entanglement.
Many figures flashed through his mind: "It seems I still have to find Snape. Dumbledore is the last option; I can't go to him unless absolutely necessary."
He was actually somewhat wary of Dumbledore. This always-smiling old man was, after all, one of the greatest wizards of the century who had thwarted Grindelwald's plan to rule the world. Some rumors even called him the White Dark Lord.
He was definitely not the kindly old man he appeared to be. Although Ethan still needed his help, he didn't want to have too much contact with him.
Thinking of Dumbledore, he recalled what happened at the start of the term: "By the way, it's already mid-October. Will the item Dumbledore borrowed arrive in another two months?"
As time passed, his thoughts were changing.
His current attitude was that it would be better to know who his parents were, but if he didn't, so be it. With Sofia and Albert, he was already very content.
This matter had to be put on the back burner. What was urgent now was the Dark Magic material Quirrell had given him.
He held the stack of parchment, caught in a dilemma—neither throwing it away nor keeping it felt right.
After staying in the bathroom for quite a while, he finally decided to keep it for now. He also needed to learn some of the spells to fool Quirrell the next time they were alone.
Having perfectly missed lunch, Ethan Jones went to the kitchen again to scrounge for food and enjoy service fit for a king.
Over the past month or so, he had frequently visited the kitchen for food and had become very familiar with the House-elves. Often, as soon as he arrived, a cup of black tea suited to his taste would be served.
After eating and drinking his fill in the kitchen, Ethan Jones, feeling much better, belched and prepared to leave. He just happened to run into the Weasley twins opening the kitchen door.
"What a coincidence. Thank you very much for showing me the way to the kitchen last time." Seeing the two of them, Ethan Jones smiled and greeted them.
One of the brothers winked and said suggestively, "It's you. How is it? Is eating in the kitchen a completely different experience from the Great Hall?"
"Indeed, it's very different. Toto and the others are too enthusiastic. If my home weren't in a Muggle community, I would want to ask Headmaster Dumbledore to let me adopt him and take him home."
In the distance, Toto, who was watching them, trembled with excitement, feeling a sense of happiness from being recognized.
The two exchanged glances, both feeling the excitement of discovering a big secret: "You grew up in Muggle society? Aren't you a Slytherin?"
Intending to befriend the two, Ethan Jones didn't hide it: "My adoptive parents are Muggles. I still don't know who my biological parents are."
At the same time, he sighed inwardly. It seemed Draco's threats to the little snakes were indeed somewhat effective. It had been so long, and surprisingly, no one had come to trouble him because of this.
However, after thinking about it, he still hoped the two would keep it a secret. For this, he brought up Dumbledore: "Don't tell anyone about this. Dumbledore is helping me investigate my background. It's still a secret for now."
"Okay." "Got it." The light in their eyes disappeared.
They thought they had dug up a big scoop that could shake the school, but it turned out to be a balloon that looked like a melon—it popped at a touch, containing nothing. This made them very discouraged.
"Sorry, Harry, I'm going to beat you to it!" looking at the identical twins, he thought to himself.
"I heard from Hagrid that your Alchemy skills are quite good. Do you plan to open a shop in the future? If you need investment, you can come to me. I can still spare a thousand or two Galleons."
"Hmm? You're that rich?!" Their eyes lit up. Fred was about to say something more, but George pulled him back: "Let's talk about it later. We're starving. Let's eat first."
Ethan Jones pretended not to see this small action: "No problem. You can find me anytime. If you can't find me, you can also reach me through Hermione. We'll find a convenient place to talk in detail then."
"I'll be going now. See you next time."
Running into the twin brothers again was an unexpected pleasant surprise.
The reason Ethan Jones impulsively decided to invest in the two was not only because he felt investing in them was a surefire profitable deal, but also because he wanted them to interact more with Hermione, facilitating the improvement of Hermione's Alchemy skills.
In addition, he also wanted to win over the Weasley family, which had a large population in the wizarding world. Although he didn't intend to use the Weasley family for anything, it didn't hurt to spend a little money to make a strategic move.
Watching the movies before, he just watched for fun and didn't understand how much gold content their little inventions held.
Now that he was in the wizarding world himself, he realized that the seemingly simple candy inventions were actually complex products involving at least Alchemy. Simple spells cast on food couldn't maintain their effects for such a long time.
He pushed open the door and left the kitchen, heading towards the dormitory. He needed to find an inconspicuous place to store the manuscripts he had obtained these two times.
After he left, the twin brothers didn't immediately make their requests to the House-elves who were looking at them eagerly. Instead, they confirmed with each other whether what they had heard was true.
After a while, Fred, whose stomach was growling, asked the House-elves to prepare food, then continued, "Do you think a first year can bring out so many Galleons?"
"Hard to say, but he said he grew up in a Muggle community. Can a Muggle bring out so many Galleons? I think he might be lying to us."
"What if it's true? And Muggles aren't necessarily unable to bring out so many Galleons, right? I remember Gringotts supports the exchange of gems and gold for Galleons. Could he have obtained the Galleons through this kind of exchange?"
George thought for a moment and felt Fred made sense: "Didn't he say we could find Hermione? I know that girl; she's a Gryffindor in the same year as Ron. If we're unsure, can't we just ask her directly?"
"Don't ask directly; it's easy to expose our purpose. We can probe indirectly through Ron. I think three Sickles should be enough, right?" Fred laughed involuntarily thinking of his little brother.
"Three Sickles? I think Ron would agree for just two." George also laughed, teasing Ron.
"Hahahaha!" The two looked at each other and laughed.
Back in the dormitory, Ethan Jones was struggling with where to put these manuscripts.
"Should I put them on the desk, following the principle that the darkest place is under the lamp, or follow the standard practice and put them in the trunk? If only I had a small bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm, I would definitely carry them with me."
After struggling for a long time, he finally decided to just put them on the desk.
As for being seen by a few people? Heh, so what if they saw it? They were all Slytherins. Who didn't know a few Dark Magic spells in their family?
Think about the movies; which of the three in the later stages didn't know a few Dark Magic tricks?
And even if he was really questioned about where these things came from, he could make up a reason to fool them. Besides, with just the three of them, would anyone really ask?
Crabbe and Goyle never cared about these things, and Draco was a person with many thoughts. Would he ask Ethan Jones directly? Impossible.
To show respect, he still did some camouflage: he sandwiched the full forty pages of parchment one by one into the books on the desk.