Chapter 197

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-February 14th – Night-

-Great Hall – Dinner-

As I ate a delicious plate of meatballs and mashed potatoes and cheese in the Great Hall, which thankfully had its stupid embellishments removed, I heard a flutter of wings, drawing the attention of all the students and teachers.

"Hermes?" I asked in surprise, looking at my owl who had just passed through the open doors of the Great Hall.

Hermes then came close to me, and dumped a bag in front of me.

"What are you doing here? The mail delivery time is only in the morning," I said very confused, and probably everyone else in the Great Hall was feeling the same way too.

Hermes listening to me, looked at me cocking his head to the side.

Knowing that Hermes couldn't answer me, I shrugged and opened the bag, and inside I saw that there were a few dozen letters. Some letters had pink envelopes, others red and some white, but one thing they all had in common was the heart drawings or stickers.

"Love letters?" Terry, who was looking over my shoulder, asked.

"How did you get so many? And why just now?" Anthony asked too, a little jealous in his tone.

"Maybe he only got it now because he's been hiding all day" Lisa, who was in front of me, said, looking at the letters with interest and curiosity.

"If there was the slightest chance that some dwarf in diapers would come looking for you, wouldn't you guys hide too?" I asked.

"You have a point" Lisa said.

Turning my attention to the letters, I felt something strange about them, but then a small smile appeared on my face as I realized what the letters were, and who it was that sent them to me.

'Haha, it's many years before you can catch me in a prank' I thought, looking haughtily at the twins at the Gryffindor table, who when they saw my gaze looked at each other disappointed before shrugging.

'But you know, It's been a while since anyone in the Great Hall was caught in a prank... Of course, not counting Lockhart' I thought. I then shrugged and picked up one of the letters, 'It's not like it's anything dangerous, and that might make others laugh, ending the awkward mood of this valentine's day'

Just as I was about to open one of the letters with a red envelope and blue hearts, someone took the letter out of my hands.

I had felt this person approaching me, but I didn't expect him to be so intrusive.

"Oh, look what we've got here... A very lucky boy, who is capturing the hearts of many girls" Lockhart said with a bright smile on his face, but I could feel the jealousy and envy underneath all that honorable and friendly appearance.

"What can I do? I'm a very attractive and charming man," I said, for no other reason than to annoy Lockhart.

"Yes, that reminds me a lot of my youth when I was still a student at Hogwarts" the peacock... I mean, Lockhart said, smiling at Lisa who grimaced, having already realized his true personality some time ago, "But I'm not here to talk about my amazing youth, as you can find out about it by reading my autobiography that I wrote myself. In fact, I'm here because I'm curious to know who sent these letters to you."

Lockhart then, without my permission, began to open the letter he took from my hands, and I could have complained and bewitched him for the intrusion of privacy, but I let karma sort things out.

'But that doesn't change the fact that he's opening my letter without my permission.' I thought a little annoyed, 'Maybe a few more pranks will solve the problem'

*Poof!*

As soon as Lockhart opened the letter, red ink and rose petals exploded in his face, shocking him and causing everyone in the hall to stare at him in awkward silence.

After a while, Lockhart seemed to realize what had happened, since he let out a high-pitched scream and without even saying goodbye, he ran out of the Great Hall.

After Lockhart left the Great Hall, the students recovered from their shock and started laughing, and even the professors at the staff table weren't hiding their amusement, with Professor Snape showing the closest thing to a smile I've ever seen on his face.

"Puff! It's always Lockhart who falls for these pranks, hahaha"

"He is very stupid, Hahaha"

"Hahaha, that's what he gets for ruining my Valentine's Day"

"But you don't even have a girlfriend. How would he ruin your Valentine's Day?"

"Shut up, you don't have to remind me of that"

"Hahahahaha"

After a while the laughter and comments in the Great Hall subsided a little, and Anthony turned to me, looking curiously at my pile of letters.

"What are you going to do with the remaining letters Ethan?" Anthony asked me.

"Hmm, well... I've run out of prank gifts, so I guess I'll use these letters to prank Lockhart," I replied, and those around me almost felt sorry for Lockhart... Almost.

"And do you really think he'll get caught up in these pranks?" Terry asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you think he won't?" I asked back.

"..."

"..."

"Touché" Terry said.

'Hmm, I think I'd better ask Fawkes to take these letters to my room at home' I thought, 'It's easier to hide and store the letters there than in my suitcase or the Room of Requirement... And it's also more accessible to Fawkes'

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-Nights' House-

[POV - Third Person]

"Lady Sarah, some letters have arrived for Mister Ethan" Linnly said to Sarah, Apparating to the kitchen.

Linnly was a small elf, even by the standards of other elves, and she wore a green dress with a white skirt and white ballet flats, made by herself at the request of Ethan and his parents. She had big green eyes and curved and pointy ears, and because she was young, she was very cheerful and hardworking, and a little shy too.

Since Sarah and Joshua still worked sometimes, and Cele went to preschool, the house was empty most of the day, and that meant that Linnly had nothing to do, which is a bad thing for these hyperactive elves.

So usually in addition to helping Sarah take care of Cele, Linnly also went to Hogwarts to help the other house elves in the castle, as there wasn't much to do in the Nights' house.

But back to the present, as soon as Sarah heard Linnly, she turned to the elf with confusion in her eyes.

"Letters to Ethan? Being delivered here?" she asked.

"Yes, they were left by a big firebird" Linnly said in amazement.

"Oh so it was Fawkes" Sarah said.

Picking up the letters Linnly had handed her, Sarah looked at them strangely as she realized what kind of letters they were.

"I knew my son would be a conqueror of hearts, but I hoped it wouldn't happen until he was a little older," Sarah said, a little pride in her tone.

"Lady Sarah, the wards have signaled that some of these letters contain some kind of potion or enchantment" Linnly said, and the proud smile on Sarah's face faded, replaced by a serious, angry look.

"Did anyone try to bewitch my son or control him with a love potion?!" Sarah said. She then earned a haughty look, "Hmph! This would have worked if our wards didn't cancel harmful spells and potions!"

"Lady Sarah, what are you going to do with these letters?" Linnly asked.

"I intend to throw them away, but first, let's see who are the bitc..." here Sarah stopped, looking to the side to see Cele looking at her mother curiously, "Ahem... who are the 'girls' that are trying to bewitch my son" she continued.

Choosing one of the letters that had a white envelope and yellow heart stickers from the pile of letters Linnly had handed her, Sarah started to open it.

After opening the letter, Sarah expected many things, like some letter from a girl in love, some gift, or even a perverted photo or some women's underwear, but she didn't expect to get a blast of pink smoke in her face.

...

...

...

"A prank... I should have expected it to be a prank..." Sarah said with a sigh, her face and hair totally pink.

'I shouldn't have agreed to let Ethan remove the wards that cancel the prank spell…' she thought.

"Hey honey, I heard a noise coming from here, what happened?" Joshua asked walking into the kitchen, only to see his wife staring into space with a contemplative gaze with a pink face.

Hearing her husband, Sarah turned to Joshua to answer him, only to realize he was holding back laughter.

"Nothing happened darling, just another accidental magic from Cele" Sarah replied with a calm, slightly creepy smile on her face, something Joshua didn't notice.

Sarah then started wiping her face with her apron, "Oh, did you know that Ethan got some love letters? And one of them is even from a teacher... Disgusting, right?" she said.

"What?!" Joshua asked in surprise, he then turned and looked at the pile of letters on the table with a frown.

"I already burned the letter this teacher sent, but that white one with a red ribbon is also hers, I can't even imagine what's written in that letter" Sarah said, hiding a sly smile behind a worried look.

Joshua, listening to his wife, took the letter with a face of disgust and contempt.

'What kind of school is this that hires a teacher who is courting my son, who is a child, romantically?!' Joshua thought angrily, opening the letter, 'Let's see what this pervert wants with my s--!'

*Poof!*

"..."

"..."

"Sometimes I think your fun is watching me suffer... And in that you're more like Ethan than you realize" Joshua said dryly, with purple spots all over his body and his hair the color of magenta.

"Thank you" Sarah said with a cheerful smile, not hiding her amusement as Cele laughed.

End.

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(End AN: The more I read the Harry Potter books, the more I realize how prejudiced, petty, grumpy, and spiteful some people are.

I can understand those who don't like Ron, Hermione or Dumbledore, but people treat them like they're worse than Voldemort himself.

I think people are confused, and they're starting to mix fanfiction with canon.)