Chapter 31

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Christmas arrived quickly, and out of his group of friends, Ethan found out that he was the only one to stay at Hogwarts. His original plans had been to come back home for the holidays, but his father had sent him a letter at the last minute to tell him his mother and himself would be going to Switzerland.

Ethan was pretty sure that it was a pretext to keep him in the school, to socialise, but since his friends were all leaving, that kind of defeated the purpose, but there was no going back.

Still, that wasn't to say Ethan had nothing to do. It had been a month now since he had started working hand in hand with the Professors to catch the thief, although majorly disappointing, they did get some results.

By now, their suspicions mainly centred around Professor Quirrell. He was different than he was in the books, that Ethan was well aware of, and it was quite obvious he didn't have a living dead creature whispering at the back of his mind.

Yet, at the same time, he showed himself to be the most possible candidate. Ethan had seen him approach the third floor, which led to the stone, several times already, and when he had shared his concerns with the professors, he had learned that they too heavily suspected him.

However, Ethan could feel he was missing something.

No matter how much he racked his mind, Ethan could not find what, unfortunately.

So, Ethan decided to take a break from it, and start with enjoying his vacation.

Vacations in Hogwarts were great as the students were free to do whatever they wanted in the castle for the entire day. Even the curfew was pushed back a couple of hours, giving the students a great freedom.

Moreover, because many returned home for the holidays, the usually filled to the brim Great Hall was nearly empty, even in the evening as Ethan went for dinner.

Out of the four tables, the Slytherin table was the most empty, and although Ethan would have preferred having his friends stay over, he didn't refuse some privacy.

Unfortunately, it was bound not to last for long, as in the middle of his meal, Ethan saw someone sit in front of him, and looking up, he spotted none other than Cassia Potter.

Already feeling the exasperation creeping up within, Ethan glanced over her shoulder, and spotted Harry Potter trying to sneakily look over, but miserably failing to do so as he turned around in panic when his eyes connected with Ethan's.

Turning his attention back to Cassia, not hesitating to look her in the eyes, Ethan asked, "What can I do for you?"

Cassia smiled slightly and said, "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. I wanted to apologise for trying to read your mind."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, both surprised and dubious, but since she seemed genuine, Ethan slowly mouthed off, "Apology accepted."

Cassia did not move, however, so he added, "Was there anything else?"

Cassia looked around, and having made sure no one was eavesdropping, she leaned over and whispered, "Meet me after curfew, on the fourth floor. I have something to show you."

And like that, she ran off, not leaving Ethan the possibility to question her or even refuse. Honestly, Ethan was of half a mind to simply ignore her, but in the end, he couldn't help but feel curious. What did she want with him? Maybe it had something to do with the thief, seeing how Harry had been looking over.

Besides, although she had been quite rude during their first meeting, and had been more insufferable than anything since then, it would be quite rude to just leave her hanging, so Ethan decided he would go. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything that was so important to do anyway.

After finishing his dinner, Ethan headed off to his room, where he continued what he had been doing for most of his days since the start of the holidays, that is perfecting his weapon.

Ethan had managed to condense his fire runes well enough so that they could be held on a small knife. It could still be improved, but it was fine as it was, so Ethan was now focusing on containment runes. The idea was to make a knife, but he couldn't just carry around a knife that was always blazing hot, he would hurt himself more than others.

And that night, as the curfew approached, Ethan finally had his first rudimentary success as he managed to create a working weapon.

It wasn't perfect, as he did not manage to enchant the knife with an on and off switch. Instead, it was an ordinary knife that would turn into a blazing hot weapon for a few seconds, until the metal melted away under the heat.

The weapon wasn't the best it could be, but Ethan was confident enough that it would save his life, were he to face some kind of monster. It wouldn't be of much use against fellow wizards because they didn't fight in close quarters in the first place, but against a monster with good magical immunity, the knife should work wonders because the fire wasn't really magical in nature.

That was the neat thing about Runes, it was easily one of the most versatile disciplines, and was exposed to different limits from others, like Charms or Transfiguration.

Of course, Ethan still intended on perfecting the weapon by making further prototypes, but since this was the first one he had managed to make work, he decided to carry it on himself. He doubted he would need it for whatever the Potter girl had planned, but it was more for himself that he brought it along anyway.

Once the curfew was set, Ethan stealthily left his dorm, and carefully navigating through the castle, doing his best to avoid any Professor or Filch, Ethan managed to make his way to the fourth floor without anyone taking notice of him.

As he arrived, Ethan did not see anyone, and sharing a glance with Miyuki, who had come along, she didn't seem to have either, but as he looked back at the stairs to see if he could spot Cassia, he suddenly felt someone strongly grab his shoulder.

Shocked and surprised, Ethan's magic moved by instinct as it gathered in his hands, ready to be unleashed in whatever spell would help him.

But as Ethan was about to blast off whoever it was that had surprised him, he stopped just in time to notice Cassia, standing right behind him. Hurriedly retreating his magic back inside, which had started making his hands glow ever so slightly, Ethan asked, "What was that?!"

Of course, now that he had calmed down, he could take a guess. The Cloak of Invisibility. Something that was passed down in the Potter Family all the way back from the Peverells, one of the Deathly Hallows.

Ethan was pretty sure in his guess as he doubted someone could evade both his and especially Miyuki's senses, but Cassia only said, "You should have seen your face!"

Ethan's face hardened as he looked at the girl. He was somewhat regretting taking back his magic.

Seeing his face, Cassia lightly punched his shoulder, snorting, "Come on, don't get grumpy. I still have something I want to show you. Follow me."

Although a bit reluctantly, Ethan still followed Cassia in her step. Having come this far, he couldn't just go back to his room, although his patience was thinning.

As Cassia took him deeper into the floor, Ethan asked, "Where are we going? This better not be an ambush of some kind."

Cassia chuckled, swiping her red hair to the side as she side eyed him over her shoulder, "Why would I be leading you into an ambush? Besides, why did you come if you feared it was one?"

"Because I'm prepared to deal with it. If it truly is, this is your last chance. I won't hold back." Ethan knew he was maybe being unnecessarily hostile, but Cassia's behaviour was strange.

Even after his threats, her eyes merely turned into crescents as she stopped in front of a door, and whispered, "We're there."

Ethan shared a look with Miyuki, and although she did not react, the message was passed. If there was anything amiss, she had to be ready to react.

As for Ethan, he kept his eyes on Cassia's back. Although he didn't see why she would want to harm him, the possibility of her being under some being's compulsion was very real.

Unaware of the thousand thoughts rapidly going through Ethan's mind, Cassia pushed open the door, revealing an empty classroom that looked like it hadn't been used for years.

But as he entered, Ethan did not see anyone else inside. Instead, he spotted something that didn't have its place inside the room.

It was a magnificent mirror, going as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, and standing on two golden clawed feet. On top was a peculiar inscription: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.