DOTM: Chapter 626/627

Chapter 626: Low-key, Pragmatic, Diligent and Studious

Ethan was observing the spells while recalling various details about the Harry Potter world. He remembered many things, though few were useful. What he did remember was that the Harry Potter universe clearly stated that magic could not conjure food out of thin air.

However, magic could make food multiply by injecting magic and transforming it into the same substance as an existing item. This explained the strong magical fluctuations that appeared when the food materialized. Dumbledore had multiplied already prepared food and transferred it to the students' tables.

After the feast, the Slytherin students, led by prefect Gemma Farley, headed to their dormitories.

The location of the Slytherin dormitories was quite unique, hidden behind a stone wall deep within the castle's dungeons. The Slytherin common room was often referred to as the Slytherin Dungeon.

"What an uncomfortable environment."

Ethan turned to look at the person who spoke and saw that it was Illya.

"Where did you go just now?"

"The professor wanted to talk to me privately."

Illya, like Ethan, had been sorted into Slytherin. However, halfway through the Sorting Ceremony, she was called away by a professor, so Ethan had not even noticed when she returned.

"Because of Shiro?"

"Yeah."

No matter how cute and adorable Shiro was, it was still a pet that did not meet school regulations. It was a bear cub, not one of the permitted animals like cats, owls, or toads.

No one had cared earlier because no one knew what pet Illya had brought until after the Sorting Ceremony. Once the ceremony ended, the students' luggage was sent to their respective dormitories, and that was when Shiro was discovered. Since it was not an approved pet, the matter had to be reported.

Snape, the Head of Slytherin, and McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress, both spoke with Illya. In the end, it was unclear whether it was because of Illya's charm or her remarkable talent, but they reluctantly tolerated her bending of the rules and allowed her to keep Shiro.

However, because of Shiro's special nature, it could not stay in the dormitory like other pets. It was arranged to be housed and cared for in a separate area.

After explaining the matter, Gemma finished instructing the new students on how to reach the common room and pass through the stone wall. The first-years could finally look around properly. After all, this would be their home for the next seven years.

"It really is not very comfortable."

The Slytherin common room and dormitories were underground, located beneath the lake. Through the windows, they could see the greenish water of the lake outside. Combined with the rough stone ceilings, the dim green lamps, and skull decorations, the entire place had a cold and eerie atmosphere.

Ethan frowned, tempted to complain about whoever designed this place. But seeing a group of proud young students admiring the "cool" and "mysterious" environment, he realized that if he said anything, he would immediately become the public enemy of Slytherin.

"I hope the dorms aren't this cold and damp."

Although there was a large fireplace in the common room with bright flames, being at the bottom of the lake made it impossible to completely get rid of the damp chill. The warmth only lessened it slightly.

"The password changes every two weeks. New students should remember to check the notice board regularly. If you forget the new password and get locked out, no one will let you in."

After a few more reminders, Gemma dismissed the new students to rest. The next day would mark the beginning of their studies at Hogwarts. Everyone would start learning magic from the basics.

The new students were filled with anticipation. Even Draco Malfoy, who usually looked down on everyone, seemed excited.

No one was as restless as Harry Potter, who could not sleep that night and ended up oversleeping the next day. Most Slytherin students came from wizarding families, and they were already familiar with magic. They were not wide-eyed newcomers.

So, when morning came, everyone got up on time, including Ethan, who did not need to sleep at all.

"You look well-rested. Weren't you too excited about entering a new world to sleep?"

Ethan shook his head.

"I've seen far more new worlds than you can imagine."

Draco did not understand that response. Was Ethan mocking him for being inexperienced?

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Draco Malfoy, a spoiled child who knows nothing."

The sarcasm was clear. Draco's face flushed with anger. He wanted to pull out his staff and teach Ethan a lesson. His two lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle, were already rolling up their sleeves, ready to make a move.

They saw Ethan's calm expression that seemed to say, "Go ahead if you dare," and became even more agitated.

"What are you doing?"

Ethan sighed. The appearance of prefect Gemma meant the matter was over. As a prefect, she would not allow Slytherin students, especially first-years, to fight among themselves. Regardless of who won or lost, the whole House would be embarrassed.

When Gemma arrived, everyone looked disappointed. Some regretted missing the chance to teach the Muggle-born a lesson. Others regretted missing the chance to see Ethan put them in their place.

"What is there to regret? Even if I beat these little brats, it wouldn't be anything to brag about."

"Yeah, yeah, Berserker is the strongest."

"You already know my situation. Stop calling me Berserker."

Illya ignored him, pretending not to hear, and continued walking toward the classroom with Shiro in her arms.

Their first class was with Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress. They did not dare to be late.

Since Slytherin often shared classes with Gryffindor, competition between the two Houses was constant. The snakes and lions were always at odds. In truth, Slytherin had poor relationships with all the other Houses, but none worse than Gryffindor.

However, Hogwarts professors were all fair and professional. While they were proud of their own Houses, none would deliberately discriminate or cover up mistakes. For example, when Harry Potter and Ron Weasley arrived late to their first class, Professor McGonagall scolded them immediately.

Each professor focused on teaching. Ethan also began studying and understanding the magical system of this world from the ground up.

As he had suspected, the magic system here was very different from the one he had practiced before.

The first difference was that this world's magic heavily depended on talent. A wizard's potential was almost entirely determined at birth, with no way to improve it later.

The growth of magical power relied purely on innate talent. Those with poor talent grew slowly and would never achieve much, spending their lives on the fringes of the magical world.

Even spellcasting relied on talent. Many spells did not involve complex techniques. Students were simply told to raise their staff, chant the spell, believe it would work, and it did. This made Ethan uncomfortable. Even though he easily mastered the feeling of spellcasting and could perform spells with his staff, he found the process frustrating.

The spell worked, but how? How did the magical energy move? What was its structure? Did it involve runes or circles, or something else entirely?

He wanted to understand it fully. Because of this, he spent far more time studying simple things than others, which slowed his progress considerably. Yet even so, he learned faster than almost everyone else. Only a few could keep up with him.

Becoming a top student by accident had its perks. Snape, the Head of Slytherin, began to look upon him with approval.

Ethan was low-key, pragmatic, diligent, and never caused trouble. Once he began displaying extraordinary talent, even the proud Slytherin students stopped rejecting him, acknowledging that he was worthy of their House.

Of course, not everyone liked him. Draco Malfoy despised anyone who outshone him. However, after confronting Ethan one evening and later waking up on the cold stone floor without knowing how he got there, he never caused trouble again.

Draco was arrogant and conceited, but not stupid. He had realized that Ethan's strength was far greater than he appeared to be.

That single lesson was enough.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 627: The Unlucky Onlooker

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.)