Chapter 95: Voldemort Goes Offline
Ethan was not worried about the trio's safety. After everything that had happened, he knew that while Dumbledore might appear idle in public, the old man saw everything and had already made arrangements behind the scenes.
Although the Ministry of Magic had supposedly summoned him away this time, and he had indeed left Hogwarts, he had probably already returned and was lurking in a hidden corner.
Night soon fell.
Ethan arrived at the Room of Requirement early, keeping a close eye on the Marauder's Map as he tracked the movements of both the trio and Quirrell.
Am I making the same mistake as the Shafiq ancestors now? Just because I got a second chance at life, I'm getting cocky? The thought struck him as he studied the map.
It seems I really can't blame the ancestors for being reckless, taking bigger and bigger risks until they were practically courting death. It was life itself that gave them that confidence. He laughed suddenly.
I have to be careful. I can't throw away this precious life so easily.
But curiosity got the better of him, and he planned to follow them anyway.
He was also fascinated by the Philosopher's Stone and the Mirror of Erised hidden in the underground chamber. This might be his only chance to see them.
I'll just follow quietly behind them. There's no danger. After all, I have the Marauder's Map, and I know exactly where Quirrell is.
Thinking it over, he realized his actions this time weren't actually that reckless. After all, he'd taken plenty of precautions.
Before long, curfew began. Apart from Filch, no one else stirred in the entire castle.
Not wanting to miss anything, Ethan monitored both parties throughout the night. Bored, he started providing play-by-play commentary in the Room of Requirement. "Okay, Quirrell's turn to move."
"Quirrell's heading out. He's gone invisible! He slipped right past Filch and Mrs. Norris."
"Quirrell's still on the move. He's reached the third-floor corridor. After a brief pause, he entered the room and faced the first obstacle of this level: Fluffy the three-headed dog."
Ethan's passionate commentary sounded like he was right there, but he was actually just imagining it all.
He watched Quirrell's figure advancing across the map, step by step, his position constantly shifting.
Then, in one of the rooms, Quirrell began moving around frantically. Ethan knew he must have reached the Wizard's Chess level.
"Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration magic is truly impressive, keeping those massive chess pieces active for so long after she stopped controlling them."
The more he studied, the more he appreciated the depth of Transfiguration magic.
Watching the giant Wizard's Chess set, he thought about the ability he wanted to develop:
So, my technique of scattering beans to create soldiers should also be broken down into two steps: first, transform them into human-sized bodies, then animate them.
With that decided, Ethan watched Quirrell's name move past the chamber beyond the Wizard's Chess room.
"Hmm? He's not there yet? Aren't there only three levels?" Ethan asked, slightly surprised.
But Quirrell had stopped in that room.
"It seems he's arrived." Ethan stopped tracking Quirrell's position and turned his attention to the Gryffindor common room. "Let's see where Harry and the others are."
The common room emptied out one by one until only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville remained, sitting in the corner.
"Oh, they're making their move too."
Ethan watched them leave the Gryffindor common room, leaving Neville sitting motionless.
"All right, I should get moving too." Ethan put away the Marauder's Map and stepped out of the Room of Requirement.
Ethan cast the Disillusionment Charm and tracked their movements on the map from the corridor entrance.
Once he saw the trio clear the Devil's Snare, Ethan entered the corridor and came face-to-face with the three-headed dog.
Fluffy, having been lulled by music from two separate groups, was now wide awake.
When Fluffy saw Ethan, the three-headed dog initially growled threateningly, but under his intimidating gaze, the beast submitted.
"Just as I thought, very useful," Ethan said, nodding with satisfaction.
His natural affinity worked well on ordinary creatures and on magical ones from the dragon and snake families, but with other magical creatures, the results varied.
He had tested this. With less aggressive species, such as phoenixes and salamanders, the affinity held.
But with aggressive magical creatures like three-headed dogs, it proved less effective.
Fortunately, intimidation worked just as well. Under its influence, the creature obediently left its post guarding the trapdoor, without needing music to put it to sleep.
Ethan chanted the incantation, cast a flight spell, and floated down through the trapdoor.
Six months of study hadn't granted him true unassisted flight, but he could float a few meters above the ground.
The Devil's Snare still tried to entangle him, but the vines shrank back from the burning black flames, allowing him to pass safely through the first chamber.
Ethan floated a foot above the ground, making no sound, and soon caught up with them. He stood aside, watching Harry and the others retrieve the key.
He stood near the door and slipped through just before the three of them shut it.
"Was something following us just now?" Hermione seemed to have noticed something.
"Don't scare us. There's nothing." Ron looked around nervously but saw nothing.
"Alright, maybe I'm too nervous," Hermione admitted after a careful look.
Ethan let out a sigh of relief; he hadn't realized he was holding his breath.
"Let's hurry. Snape's going to get the Philosopher's Stone," Harry urged.
This time, Ethan didn't dare get too close. He hung back, trailing behind them until they reached the Wizard's Chess level.
He stood in the corner, watching Ron direct Harry and Hermione to take the places of the chess pieces and face off against the white side that Professor McGonagall had set up.
In the end, Ron was knocked out and thrown aside, just like in the movie, while Hermione followed Harry into the next level.
Once the two figures had disappeared down the corridor, Ethan squatted down to check on Ron.
"Just fainted. No big deal. Dumbledore can handle it when he gets here."
After confirming Ron wouldn't die, Ethan passed through the gap that the white chess pieces had opened, stopped at the next door, and pulled out the Marauder's Map to check Harry and Hermione's positions.
"They've already gone to the next level?" Ethan found the room ahead empty, so he carefully opened the door.
The two were in the room ahead. Ethan quietly cracked the door open, slipped inside, and caught a glimpse of Hermione disappearing through the purple flames.
"Another troll?" Ethan stared at the huge troll lying on the ground, gagging at the stench and covering his nose and mouth.
The two were in the room ahead. Ethan quietly cracked the door open, slipped inside, and caught a glimpse of Hermione disappearing through the purple flames.
After watching Hermione leave, Harry drank the last of the potion and stepped through the black flames.
He picked up the parchment that Snape had written on. "Three of these seven bottles contain poison, two hold wine, and the other two are potions for passing through the flames."
Although he could solve this simple logic puzzle, he had a better way to identify what the liquids actually were.
Ethan looked at the remaining six bottles and cast Specialis Revelio on each one.
"Acromantula venom, dragon poison, Lobalug venom, red wine, brandy, and finally, Fire Protection Potion."
Ethan wondered, Presumably, the empty bottle also contains Fire Protection Potion?
The flames didn't matter to Ethan at all, but his purpose wasn't to join the battle. He just wanted to witness how it ended.
He took out the Marauder's Map again. In the room just ahead, alongside the names of Harry Potter and Quirrell, another name had appeared: Dumbledore.
"Old geezer, you got here fast." Ethan shook his head. Now he felt even less anxious.
Watching Quirrell's name flash on the Marauder's Map, Ethan figured the man had probably reached his end.
Covered in a layer of Hellfire, Ethan passed through the black flames and saw Voldemort in his black mist form, nothing but a noseless face floating above a pile of ashes, facing off against the white-bearded Dumbledore.
The moment Ethan passed through the flames, both of them turned to look at him.
"Ethan, my dear student, you're here too," Voldemort laughed arrogantly. "What, you don't recognize your dear professor?"
"Uh, hello, Professor." Ethan recoiled, frozen in place, shouting in his mind, The script isn't written like this!
Dumbledore said nothing. He glanced at Ethan, then continued to stare at Voldemort.
Seeing that neither of them was paying him any mind, Ethan didn't step forward. He simply listened to their conversation.
"Professor, I failed this time because Quirrell was too weak. Every time I tried to take action, he dragged his feet."
"I told him the best time to strike was before exam week. Even if you were at school, you wouldn't have expected me to act then."
"Unfortunately, the fool insisted on driving you away before making his move. He finally chose this moment and fabricated a story about the Ministry of Magic," Voldemort said bitterly.
Ethan felt a bit sorry for Quirrell. Even reduced to ash, he was still being scolded by his master as a useless fool.
Dumbledore looked at him coldly. "Tom, you cannot succeed. You failed eleven years ago, and you will fail again."
"I will find a way to destroy you completely."
"Destroy me? Ha!" Voldemort laughed wildly as the black mist shrank into a tiny black dot.
Ethan watched the flickering soul disappear before his eyes.
Dumbledore stared at the spot where Voldemort had vanished and fell silent for a moment.
Dumbledore pursed his lips. "Don't tell anyone about this."
Ethan nodded solemnly, promising to keep it secret.
"You came with them?"
"Yeah, I followed them." Ethan didn't want to reveal the Marauder's Map, so he kept it to himself.
"Is this the Philosopher's Stone?" Ethan picked up the stone from the ground. It looked completely ordinary.
"Yes." Dumbledore nodded, then extended his hand. "Give me the Philosopher's Stone. I'll take Harry to the hospital."
Ethan didn't want to keep the legendary stone. He looked at it for a moment, then placed it in the old man's hand.
He looked up at the mirror. "Is this the Mirror of Erised?"
Dumbledore picked up Harry and noticed that Ethan seemed to know the mirror's secret too. "What did you see in it?"
Ethan stared into the mirror, transfixed. After a moment, he spoke, his eyes reflecting conflicting emotions. "Nothing. Just my family."
"Really? That's good," Dumbledore said, noncommittally.
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