Chapter 97

Lockhart was not inherently stupid, but his intelligence was constrained by his pride.

It would not surprise Ethan that Lockhart's form actually was a lion, considering the mind's ego, although he doubted Lockhart was anywhere near good enough to master the Animagus spell.

As for the Professor, his smile shook for a moment before he dismissed her claims, "That would be the case for those with a poor mastery of the spell. I am still capable of using some magic, even in my animal form. I used Self-Transfiguration to strengthen my lion form."

Most girls looked at him with stars in their eyes, since in a recent class McGonagall had spoken about Self-Transfiguration and how hard it was to perform.

Tracey was clearly still unconvinced though as she asked, "Really? This is the first time I heard of anyone being capable to do this."

Lockhart cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the subject. He tried to swerve off, "I would entertain you, but I am unfortunately not your Transfiguration Professor. In any case, this deep mastery of the Animagus Spell did indeed allow me to fundamentally change this vampire that attacked me, rendering it capable of only eating lettuce."

This made Ethan smile, before he put on a confused expression, speaking up, "Animagus? Oh, did I misspeak? Performing such a thing should have nothing to do with the Animagus spell. They are creatures falling down under the Living Dead, whose anatomy is dictated by their soul. To effectively alter a vampire's organism, one would have to alter their soul, and not their body itself."

Lockhart's jaw visibly clenched as he realized he had fallen into a trap, and Ethan quickly added, "This is a rather recent discovery by Sir Damocles Belby, who discovered this while working on the Wolfsbane Potion. It would not be surprising if you did not know about it."

Lockhart's response was instantaneous, and to an extent, almost automatic, "Of course I knew about it! I simply did not mention it because Soul Magic is a subject far too advanced for Hogwarts students, especially Second Years, but I do happen to dabble in it."

The man quickly regained his confidence, passing a hand through his hair as he said, "It is also how I could easily tell it was a vampire in disguise. I do understand your experience last years overblew your impression of a vampire's strength, but had I been here, a single glance would have been enough for me to tell that vampire apart."

Harry raised his hand, though he did not wait for Lockhart to signal him to speak to do so, "With all due respects Sir, what you faced was only a newborn vampire. Holderbaum, on the other hand, was an Elder Vampire. Even Headmaster Dumbledore could not tell him apart."

"Of course I would-"

Malfoy, in a rare moment of accordance with Potter, added, interrupting Lockhart, "Professor Quirrell had experience with vampires, and that didn't save him from being turned. I wonder how you would have fared in his stead, had you enrolled a year ago?"

If there was one thing Malfoy was good at, it was riling people up, and Lockhart was no exception as he was now visibly agitated as he tried to reply, "It would not have been the first monster to try to harm the great Gilderoy Lockhart, but like all before it-"

Malfoy added with a glint in his eyes, "Once turned, Grindelwald would have killed you too. Are you scared of Grindelwald, Sir? Afraid he will do the same to you he did poor Quirrell-"

"Enough!"

The class grew deadly quiet at Lockhart's sudden outburst. He was now visibly fuming, and he said, "While I believe that my students should be able to express themselves, I will not tolerate such blatant disrespect! Minus 50 Points to Slytherin, and I want you both out of my class, Malfoy, Grindelwald!"

Malfoy paled at the huge demerit in points, it acting as a grim reminder of what had happened last year.

Ethan, on his part, got up from his seat and strongly slammed his hands on his table, protesting, "Why am I being punished as well? All I did was ask questions regarding your class! How is that being disrespectful?"

Lockhart seemed to have realized his blunder as well, but Ethan did not leave him any chance to mend.

"Or is it as Malfoy said? Are you, the great Gilderoy Lockhart, perhaps afraid of his student?"

Any semblance of rationality was stomped by Lockhart's hurt ego as he pointed at the door, bellowing, "Out!"

At that, Daphne stood up for her friend, quite literally, exclaiming, "You can't just punish Ethan for asking questions! This is preposterous!"

Although a large part of Lockhart's fanbase in the school was made of girls, most of those from pure blooded families did not belong to that group, such as with Daphne.

Lockhart, who looked like he was about to explode, shouted, "Sit down! Anyone who stands up next will make their house lose 20 points!"

Daphne looked at the teacher defiantly, but Ethan squeezed her shoulder, smiling lightly at her, before looking cockily at the Professor. Then, he walked toward the exit, his books magically following behind as Miyuki opened an eye, her nap disturbed.

As she and Lockhart locked eyes, the fury he had been feeling simmered down rapidly as he felt a coldness spread through his being, only for it to disappear as fast as it came, Miyuki returning to her sleep.

Outside the classroom, Ethan was quickly joined by Malfoy, who had regained his cocky smile from earlier. As he stopped next to Ethan some distance away from the room, he scoffed, "When my father hears of this…"

Ethan raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Is that all you amount to in the end? You'll go beg your father to save your hide?"

Malfoy frowned at the reprimand, "I take your side and that's how you thank me? It cost our house 50 points, and all you find to say is mockery?"

Ethan snorted at that, "You take me for a fool? You did not do that for me, you just saw an opportunity to be a cunt and took it. As far as I am concerned, you are the sole responsible for the loss of points."

Malfoy looked livid, but he did not know what to say.

Seeing this, Ethan did not linger and started walking away. Malfoy was curious about what Ethan was doing, and although he wanted to ask, he was too angry to do so, and so he ended up remaining silent as Ethan walked away.

Although their next class would be in the nearby Charms Classroom, the DADA class had barely started, and would last for a couple of hours. A couple of hours he did not intend wasting. Hence, he headed for his room to get a book he had borrowed from the library.

The good news was that he was getting closer to finishing his initial goal that had gotten him back to reading, and once he was done with it, he would be able to go back to the much favoured practical training.

For now though, reading it was.

Two hours later, Ethan was in front of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom as the second year students got out.

Most of the girls were looking at him with unfriendly gazes, while most of the boys looked at him in pity. But while he looked at his approaching friends, a red head appeared in front of him.

Ethan looked down, and locked eyes with one Cassia Potter. She looked up at him, and after a second of silence, said, "I thought Lockhart was a great wizard. But what he did was shitty. You didn't deserve that."

It looked like saying this had taken a lot out of her. She appeared to have been quite the fan of their teacher, as was the case with most girls.

On the side, Malfoy, who had been joined by Crabbe and Goyle, his two goons that followed him everywhere, cooed, "Oh you are going to make me cry, Potter."

Cassia whipped her head around, lashing out instantly, "Shut up Malfoy, you got Ethan punished by being a twat!"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her, but Harry and the rest of their group walked up to him, looking ready to fight.

Cassia looked back at Ethan, and looked a bit embarrassed as she mumbled, "Anyway, I just wanted to say that."

Looking down at the green-eyed girl, Ethan could not help but remember the incident of the last year. Not the manhunt, but the earlier one, with the mirror.

It was a bittersweet memory, one that made him want to simply ignore her as he had been doing. It was all so very tempting.

Still, seeing her get out of her way and put herself in a clearly uncomfortable situation, simply ignoring would make him a dick. So, he smiled faintly and said, "Thank you, Cassia."

Cassia nodded strongly at his words, apparently satisfied as she returned to her friends, and Ethan's to him.