PinkSnake - Hogwarts’ Holy Grail War - 270/271

Chapter 270: Share Half My Boyfriend With You?

After their conversation with Dumbledore, no one mentioned going back to find the Mirror of Erised again.

Harry and Ron spent practically every waking hour in the common room playing cards. According to Fred's complaints, Harry's luck was so absurd that no one in the Weasley family could stop his winning streak anymore. So during the remaining days of the holiday, Harry extended his claws toward students from the other Houses. As for how successful that would prove, it would probably take some time to find out.

Ethan, meanwhile, continued his usual monotonous routine of TP'ing out during the day to spend time with the girls, then doing hard labor for the professors at night. His body was starting to struggle a little with the schedule, but at least his days were fulfilling.

And just like that, the final day of the holiday arrived.

With the roar of its old-fashioned engine, the steam-belching Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. Most of the students who had gone home for Christmas were returning today, making the station almost as crowded as it was at the beginning of every school year.

Alanna clutched her luggage tightly and barely managed to get off the train with the crowd. Just as the crush of bodies threatened to sweep her off to who knew where, a pair of strong hands caught her in time and smoothly took the bag she was carrying.

"Careful."

Ethan took her hand and guided her effortlessly through the crowd. Watching him push ahead and shield her from the press of people while clearing a path, Alanna immediately felt much more at ease.

As expected, as long as he was beside her, she always felt safe.

Once they boarded a Thestral-drawn carriage, the skeletal, winged horse plodded steadily along the road toward the castle, pulling the two-wheeled carriage behind it.

Ethan turned toward the girl leaning sweetly against him and scolded her with equal parts exasperation and affection.

"I told you I'd ride the train back with you, but you insisted on making me wait at the station. Look what happened. If I hadn't found you in time, who knows where that crowd would've carried you. What if you'd been knocked over? There were so many people at the station. What if there'd been a stampede?"

"I just wanted to know what it feels like to have my boyfriend waiting for me at the station."

Alanna looked pitifully at Ethan and shook his arm, putting on an aggrieved, spoiled expression.

"Besides, I knew you'd show up in time to protect me, didn't I?"

"You... sigh."

Ethan could only let out a helpless, indulgent sigh.

"How long were you waiting for me at the station?" Alanna reached up and poked Ethan's cheek, narrowing her eyes as she watched him struggle between wanting to be angry and being completely unable to do anything about her.

"I got there about the same time as the train. I timed it perfectly." Ethan smiled. "Better to arrive at just the right moment than too early."

"Oh～? Is that so?"

The girl glanced at the faint layer of snow on his robes and the glittering ice crystals caught in his hair, then narrowed her eyes even further.

Fine.

She would pretend to believe him.

Although Ethan knew he really shouldn't be letting his attention wander while he was with his girlfriend, the gentle rocking of the carriage gradually pulled him back into his own thoughts.

Naturally, he was thinking about that little tsundere, Cassandra.

The holiday ended tomorrow, which meant he would once again be attending classes like an ordinary student.

And that also meant he would have to see Cassandra every single day.

Maybe saying this made him sound narcissistic, but judging by Cassandra's unusual behavior at St. Mungo's, there was little doubt that her feelings for him went beyond ordinary friendship.

It hadn't been confirmed. It was still only Ethan's own guess.

But he was almost certain.

Ever since returning to Hogwarts from St. Mungo's, Ethan had spent part of every morning and evening throughout the rest of the Christmas holiday wondering how he should deal with her from now on.

And after more than a week, he still hadn't reached any conclusion.

Pretending nothing had happened and continuing to treat her as an ordinary friend was obviously impossible.

Cassandra's nearly uncontrolled outburst at St. Mungo's had essentially torn away the last thin layer of pretense between them.

Neither of them could keep acting as though nothing had changed.

Which meant Ethan eventually had to give her a clear response.

But what exactly did he feel about her?

Did he really see her as nothing more than an ordinary friend, like he kept claiming?

Or had he already developed desires toward her that went beyond friendship?

...The answer was probably obvious.

If he truly saw Cassandra as nothing more than a friend, then he could have skipped straight to figuring out how to reject her gently.

Why would making a decision be this difficult?

The Mirror of Erised hadn't lied at all.

He really was a greedy scumbag.

Having Alanna wasn't enough for him. He was already starting to look toward someone else while still holding onto the girl beside him.

Just as he'd told Mordred before, the time had finally come for Ethan to seriously question his own heart.

Naturally, Alanna noticed how preoccupied he looked.

She gently pinched his cheek and asked with concern,

"What's wrong, Ethan? Something bothering you again?"

"No. It's nothing."

Ethan pulled himself from his thoughts and shook his head lightly.

"Just thinking about pointless things."

Forget it.

For now, he'd take things one step at a time.

Liking someone was one thing.

But wanting to keep everyone without giving anyone up?

How could there possibly be something that convenient in this world?

If he got too greedy, he'd already be lucky if Alanna didn't stab him in the waist and cut his head off.

For the moment, perhaps the best option really was to maintain the status quo for a while and see how Cassandra reacted if Ethan did nothing.

Maybe he really was just flattering himself.

Perhaps Cassandra genuinely had no romantic feelings for him.

Maybe her outburst at St. Mungo's had simply been the result of her awkward personality making her express herself badly.

Maybe, deep down, she only thought of Ethan as a truly close friend...

Ethan tried to comfort himself with those thoughts.

But even he knew the chances of that were practically nonexistent.

The Thestral-drawn carriage stopped in front of the castle.

Ethan opened the door and jumped down first, then turned and helped Alanna out.

With her luggage in one hand and his fingers intertwined with Alanna's in the other, Ethan slowly walked with her down the Marble Staircase toward the Slytherin common room.

Then, on the stretch of stairs closest to the Slytherin dungeons, they ran into Cassandra.

The moment Cassandra saw them, she visibly froze.

A flicker of panic passed through her eyes, but she quickly recovered her usual calm expression and asked in the steadiest voice she could manage,

"You're both back?"

"...Yeah. I came back on Christmas. Alanna only got here today."

Ethan nodded and answered her exactly as he normally would.

No matter what else was going on, they were still friends on the surface. It would be strange to deliberately distance himself or pretend he hadn't seen her.

At the very least, they still had to exchange basic greetings.

Cassandra's gaze slowly dropped to their tightly intertwined hands.

She pursed her lips, then reminded them with an expression of disdain,

"You two should at least watch yourselves a little. Everyone else is looking."

"Why should we?"

In that instant, Ethan made up his mind about something.

Still holding Alanna's hand, he looked openly at Cassandra.

"It's not like we're having some secret relationship we need to hide. Why should we care if anyone sees us?"

"And as long as we're not doing anything indecent in public, whatever we do has nothing to do with anyone else, does it?"

At the very least, he had to make his relationship with Alanna completely clear to Cassandra.

And regardless of whether the person in front of him was Cassandra or some other girl, openly acknowledging Alanna's status as his girlfriend was important.

Besides, maybe this would cause Cassandra's feelings to die out on their own.

...Surely that little tsundere wouldn't simply give up on all restraint and demand to join them, turning the relationship into one involving all three of them?

No matter what, she couldn't possibly do something that ridiculous...

Right?

Cassandra was exceptional.

There was definitely no shortage of men pursuing her.

She could casually pick someone more suitable for her than Ethan.

Why would she stubbornly cling to him and refuse to let go?

And with that proud personality of hers, how could she ever lower herself enough to share the same man with another woman?

Even if that woman was her best friend.

Surely...

Surely she wouldn't.

"That's right! Whatever you two do has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

As though Ethan had stepped directly on a landmine, Cassandra suddenly bristled.

She gave a cold laugh through gritted teeth, then hurried past the two of them.

"Cassandra!"

Alanna pulled her hand free from Ethan's and quickly took several steps after her best friend, wanting to catch her and explain.

She had more or less understood what Ethan was trying to do.

But that had been far too much.

Who deliberately provoked a girl who clearly had feelings for him like that?

Wasn't he afraid Cassandra might lose control and blast him with a Reducto?!

Unfortunately, at that exact moment, the staircase began moving to another location.

Alanna couldn't reach the platform where Cassandra stood in time and could only watch helplessly as her best friend slowly moved farther away.

Cassandra turned back from the platform.

From above, she looked down at the two people she was closest to at school as the distance between them grew larger and larger.

Her eyes were filled with complicated emotions.

What had just happened to her?

Ethan hadn't said anything wrong.

He and Alanna were openly and properly dating.

No matter how affectionate they were with each other, Cassandra had no right to object.

So why did seeing them together make her heart suddenly tighten?

And why had Ethan's words made her so inexplicably furious?

Her thoughts were a complete mess...

After remaining silent for a moment, Cassandra bit her lip.

Almost as though she were afraid they might notice her confusion and strange behavior, she turned away and headed toward the Great Hall without looking back.

The nameless anger inside her continued to rise.

Anyway, it was all Ethan's fault!

Who told him to keep appearing right in front of her?

He was so annoying that even looking at him irritated her!

And he'd completely ignored her well-intentioned reminder.

That was why she'd suddenly gotten angry for no reason!

Yes.

That had to be it!

"Ethan..."

Alanna returned to Ethan's side looking dejected and stared at him resentfully.

"You went too far just now. You shouldn't have treated Cassandra like that."

"Then how do you want me to treat her?"

Ethan's eyes remained fixed on Cassandra's retreating figure, and on the pair of gloves on her hands that he recognized all too well.

Guilt slowly appeared in his expression.

"Should I shove you away and tell her there's nothing between us so she doesn't misunderstand?"

"If something needs to be cut off, dragging it out only makes the mess worse. Maybe ending it early is the best thing for everyone..."

Ethan tried hard to convince himself.

When they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room, Ethan handed Alanna her luggage.

"I'll leave you here. Go get settled. It'll be time for dinner soon."

Alanna accepted the bag.

Then she suddenly rose onto her toes and lightly kissed Ethan on the lips before wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering beside his ear.

"All right. I know you're struggling with what to do about Cassandra."

"But don't worry too much. I'll talk to her for you too."

"As for you, just relax and keep treating her however you normally would. Don't deliberately distance yourself from her like you did today, okay?"

Ethan was willing to openly acknowledge his relationship with Alanna in front of other people instead of keeping things vague so that he could conveniently flirt with other girls.

That alone was enough to show Alanna what his attitude was.

So as Ethan's supportive girlfriend, naturally she had to help him take care of things on the home front as well.

She could handle calming Cassandra down.

There was no need to let Ethan worry himself sick over it and interfere with his studies.

Seeing how conflicted he'd looked today actually made Alanna feel sorry for him.

Cassandra...

What am I supposed to do with you, my best friend?

At the moment, Alanna still wasn't particularly willing to share half of her boyfriend with Cassandra.

But she didn't want to watch her best friend get hurt and miserable because of this either.

How exactly Ethan and Cassandra's relationship should be handled had somehow become a problem that both members of the young couple were now worrying about together.

...

At dinnertime, Ethan sat down at the Gryffindor table.

The Great Hall had returned to its usual noisy bustle. All the students were gathered there, eagerly sharing stories about what they'd done during the holiday.

"So you still haven't found any clues about Nicolas Flamel?"

Hermione lowered her head over the table and asked Harry and Ron on either side of her in the quietest voice possible.

"I did what you suggested and found a way into the Restricted Section, but there was nothing useful there. And..."

Harry hesitated for quite a while before finally telling Hermione about discovering the Mirror of Erised as well.

"You wandered around the school at night two nights in a row?! What if Filch had caught you?"

Hermione whispered in alarm.

"It's fine. Ethan was with us, so nothing would've happened."

Ron confidently pointed his thumb toward Ethan.

For some reason, Ethan suddenly felt a terrible sense of foreboding wrap around him.

A chill crept down his back, as though some disaster might materialize out of nowhere at any moment.

"You can't keep relying on Ethan for everything!"

Hermione sighed in frustration.

"What are you going to do when he isn't around? Are the two of you suddenly incapable of doing anything by yourselves?"

Then she remembered something else.

"How much of your homework have you finished? We have Transfiguration first thing tomorrow morning, and Professor McGonagall is definitely going to check it. I'll look through yours tonight and see if you've made any mistakes."

"...Homework?"

Harry and Ron simultaneously sucked in a breath, their faces filled with horror.

Hermione stared at them speechlessly.

"Don't tell me you two spent the entire holiday having so much fun that you forgot."

"The three-foot essay on the Switching Spell. And every line of writing has to be no more than one inch high."

"Ethan～"

The two boys immediately locked their pleading gazes onto Ethan, blinking pitifully in an attempt to look as cute as possible.

As long as Ethan helped guide them, finishing the essay in a single night wouldn't be a problem at all.

When it came to this sort of thing, Ethan was much more useful than Hermione!

Ethan gave a dry chuckle.

"Not happening. I still have to go down to the dungeons tonight and do hard labor brewing potions."

"I don't have time to help you."

...

Chapter 271: At This Rate, Gryffindor Is Doomed

After classes resumed, Ethan's life settled back into a peaceful routine.

During the first half of the school year, he had somehow managed to thoroughly master coursework that normally took other students four years to complete. In the supplementary course completion exams after Christmas break, every professor awarded him the highest grade of "O," recognizing the effort he'd put in.

(For examinations whose grading systems were never specified in the original books, this story uses the OWLs and NEWTs grading scale. From highest to lowest: Outstanding (O), Exceeds Expectations (E), Acceptable (A), Poor (P), Dreadful (D), and Troll (T), for a total of six grades. This will not be explained again later.)

Although Ethan had spent most of History of Magic catching up on sleep, its exam was actually the easiest one for him.

He didn't have to mutter mysteriously over tea leaves and crystal balls like he did in Divination. He didn't have to stand atop the Astronomy Tower in the middle of the night, shivering in the cold wind while peering through a telescope and drawing star charts. Nor did he have to accurately chant and write out a sixty-four-character ritual inscription like he did for Ancient Runes.

All he had to do was put pen to parchment and write down the correct historical facts.

Even Arithmancy, which likewise only required paper and pen, forced Ethan to spend at least some mental effort calculating numerical charts and interpreting the futures they represented.

And because History of Magic consisted entirely of theory with no practical component, there was no opportunity for accidents like the one that had occurred during his Charms exam.

For the Charms exam, Professor Flitwick had instructed Ethan to cast specific Charms on various objects and demonstrate their proper effects.

The final task was to use the Summoning Charm to pull the lectern from the opposite side of the classroom into a designated area in front of him.

But...

Ethan still had no idea what had happened.

His Summoning Charm had been just a little too... powerful.

Not only had the lectern come flying toward him, Professor Flitwick, who had been standing behind it, had been dragged along as well.

Normally, the Summoning Charm couldn't affect humans, so Ethan hadn't bothered controlling its effective range with absolute precision. He had only kept it within a rough area.

Professor Flitwick just happened to be standing inside that area.

And so...

Looking back on it now, there was only one possible and reasonable explanation.

Professor Flitwick was simply too small.

Yes.

That had to be it!

(Author's Rant: According to the original canon, the Summoning Charm can only summon inanimate objects, certain plants, and very small animals, such as mice, birds, and caterpillars. A living creature as large as a human shouldn't be summonable at all unless what you're summoning is a corpse.

However, in Hogwarts Legacy, the protagonist can casually use the Summoning Charm to yank Dark Wizards and rebellious goblins straight toward themselves.

Either mastering Ancient Magic means the protagonist is using Summoning Charm: Enhanced Power, HD Remastered, Pro Max Edition...

Or, in the protagonist's mind, those enemies are already corpses, which is why the Summoning Charm works.

Protagonist: "How strange. The corpse is talking～ Oh, look, it can even move!")

But Professor Flitwick truly was a veteran... ahem, an experienced professor.

While flying through the air, he immediately cast a counter-spell along with a cushioning spell to slow himself down, allowing him to land safely.

Afterward, standing on the lectern, he even patted Ethan on the shoulder and reassured him that the incident had been his own oversight as a professor and had nothing to do with Ethan.

In fact, Ethan being able to pull him with a Summoning Charm demonstrated just how proficient he was with Charms, so if anything, it counted in Ethan's favor.

Professor Flitwick told him not to take the accident to heart and simply forget it ever happened.

To be fair, everything Professor Flitwick said made perfect sense, and Ethan had originally intended to do exactly that.

If only he hadn't happened to see the red underwear beneath Professor Flitwick's robes while the professor was airborne...

In any case, although that period had been brutally packed and Ethan had suffered through it, he'd finally made it to the other side.

Now that he'd passed all his exams, the rest of the school year would be much more relaxed.

More importantly, he'd have plenty of free time to spend with a certain adorable Slytherin girl.

These days, Ethan's daily schedule went something like this:

Wake up, wash up, morning exercise, cuddle before breakfast, eat breakfast, cuddle after breakfast, cuddle a little during class, cuddle while walking between classes, cuddle during lunch break, repeat the same routine all afternoon, cuddle for a while after dinner, go to detention, wash up, and sleep.

They were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, after all.

Naturally, they took every possible opportunity to stick together.

If Ethan's detention happened to take place in Snape's dungeon, things were even better.

The route back to the Gryffindor common room conveniently passed near the entrance to the Slytherin common room, meaning Ethan could stop there and cuddle with Alanna for a little longer.

Technically, Hogwarts curfew only prohibited students from wandering around the castle.

They were free to remain in their common rooms.

And if Alanna stood right at the entrance to the Slytherin common room, then technically speaking, she hadn't really left it.

Of course, whenever the two of them were busy being affectionate there, Snape had an unobstructed view from inside his office.

His expression during those moments was usually... less than pleasant.

"I say, Ethan, Gryffindor's House points are looking seriously grim. Any idea what's going on?"

One morning at breakfast, Harry stared at the Gryffindor hourglass inside the Great Hall's alcove.

The number of rubies inside was barely half that of the other Houses, especially Slytherin.

Unable to contain himself, Harry finally asked Ethan the question that had been weighing on his soul.

"Why is that?" Ethan rested his chin on one hand, his face dark as he stared at the pitiful handful of rubies in Gryffindor's hourglass. "I've been trying to figure it out too."

Harry's concern was entirely justified.

Ever since classes had resumed, Gryffindor's House points had been dropping as though someone had cursed them.

Professor McGonagall's expression had been particularly frightening lately as well. Her face had practically grown as dark as Lee Jordan's.

"I don't know what got into Professor Snape lately, but he keeps finding excuses to dock points from Gryffindor," Harry said gloomily. "In our very first Potions class after the holiday, Neville lost five points because the Mallowsweet leaves he sliced weren't even enough."

"In Snape's words, one end was thinner than the other by exactly 0.01 inches."

Neville added, "During that same lesson, Ron lost another five points because Snape said his technique for grinding mistletoe berries was incorrect. He was supposed to grind clockwise three times, then once counterclockwise."

"But Snape said Ron had only gone clockwise two and nine-tenths times, then counterclockwise one and one-tenth times."

Ron looked furious.

"And still in that same class, Hermione got criticized because Snape said the path she was stirring the potion in wasn't perfectly circular. Apparently, it was an ellipse."

"Then her spoon touched the inside of the cauldron, and he said the sound irritated his eyes."

"Five more points from Gryffindor."

"That's the old bat for you. If he wasn't looking for faults, he wouldn't be Snape."

Ethan sighed.

"What else? There has to be more. That hourglass looks like we've lost at least another fifty points."

"Of course there is!" Seamus said indignantly. "Last week's Potions lesson. I was nearly finished brewing my potion when I noticed class was almost over, so I turned the flame up just a little."

"Then Snape called it dangerous behavior and took ten points from Gryffindor!"

"But it was dangerous."

Hermione had somehow appeared beside them without anyone noticing.

She delivered the comment with perfect clarity.

"Don't forget that your cauldron exploded literally seconds after Snape said that. Both your eyebrows were burned off, and they still haven't grown back."

"But I still successfully brewed the Forgetfulness Potion! And it worked really well!" Seamus "No Eyebrows" Finnigan insisted stubbornly.

"But your cauldron exploded."

"But the Forgetfulness Potion was successfully brewed!"

"Did your cauldron explode or not?"

"Was my Forgetfulness Potion effective or not?!"

"All right, all right, both of you stop arguing."

Ethan helplessly separated them.

He was just about to gently remind Seamus about a few basic laboratory safety principles when Fred and George swaggered over wearing identical mischievous grins.

"Hey, what are you lot talking about?"

Fred slung an arm around Ron's neck.

"Come on, little brother. Don't keep everything bottled up. Tell your big brothers what's wrong so we can have a good laugh."

George glanced toward the House hourglasses.

"Ah. Gryffindor's points aren't looking very promising."

"Looks like we'll have to put in extra effort during Quidditch."

Seeing the smug looks on the twins' faces, Ethan suddenly felt a bad premonition.

"Tell me something. You two haven't caused any trouble lately, have you?"

"Snape's obviously been a little unstable recently. Whatever you do, don't put yourselves directly in his line of fire."

"How could we possibly cause trouble?" Fred replied with complete seriousness. "We've always known where the line is. Otherwise, we'd have been expelled years ago."

"We may occasionally stick a toe over it," George added smoothly, "but nothing serious."

"It's just that Snape keeps picking on us, so we've lost a tiny number of points."

"'A tiny number'?"

Ethan immediately sensed danger.

"May I ask what glorious feat you two heroes performed?"

"Yesterday's Potions lesson," Fred said casually. "Snape had us brew a Swelling Solution."

"George and I thought merely making the skin swell was a little boring, so we improved the recipe."

"We added some ingredients from a Scab Potion," George proudly added. "The results were excellent."

"The only problem," Fred continued with a disappointed expression, "was that nobody was willing to sacrifice themselves for art and test our masterpiece."

"So we couldn't properly demonstrate its effects to the class."

"But that wasn't going to stop us," George said.

"We quietly dropped one of Filibuster's Fireworks into the cauldron. Then, while Snape wasn't looking, we switched our cauldron with Higgs's beside us."

"The explosion sprayed Weasley Enhanced Swelling Solution everywhere."

"The Slytherins ended up covered in boils and swelling."

"Even Snape got two pimples on the end of his nose."

"So he took twenty points from us."

Fred shrugged.

"If you ask me, he was clearly jealous of our talent."

"Don't you two think you deserved to lose those points?!"

Ethan's face went completely dark, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

"You modified a potion in class, deliberately caused an explosion, attacked your classmates, and humiliated the professor!"

"If I were Snape, the only reason I wouldn't have eaten you two alive on the spot would be because my stomach wasn't feeling well!"

So that explained it.

No wonder Snape had been so neurotic during detention the previous night.

He'd forced Ethan to brew five consecutive batches of Concentration Potion while constantly nitpicking and making sarcastic remarks.

Apparently, Snape had embarrassed himself during the day and had taken it out on Ethan afterward.

"Ethan, what are you talking about?"

A familiar, clear voice sounded nearby.

Alanna walked over with the book Ethan had given her held against her chest. She freed one arm and naturally linked it through his, as though she'd done it a thousand times.

"There."

Ethan pointed toward the House hourglasses with a miserable expression.

"Just look at the points and you'll understand."

"Gryffindor really isn't living up to its name. There's barely any gold in the points at all."

"At this rate, Gryffindor's honor is going to be destroyed by our generation."

"Given the pathetic way you behave in class, it wouldn't surprise me if every last point were deducted."

A cold voice came from behind them.

At some point, Snape had appeared directly behind the group.

His face showed absolutely no emotion.

"G-Good morning, Professor Snape."

Although Harry was instinctively nervous around the unpredictable professor, he still remembered Ethan's previous advice and greeted Snape politely.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter."

Snape's gaze lingered approvingly on Harry's face for a moment.

The corner of his mouth rose by the tiniest amount.

Then the faint smile vanished.

He glanced at Alanna and spoke coolly.

"Just a personal suggestion, Miss Chenance."

"You would be wise to spend less time associating with them."

"Becoming too involved with Gryffindors who are either arrogant, conceited, or constantly desperate for attention will only drag you down."

"Do not forget that you are one of Slytherin's finest students."

"For the sake of your own future, you ought to understand the importance of appropriate distance."

Alanna said nothing.

Instead, she silently moved even closer to Ethan, placing half her body in front of him.

The stubborn look on her face wordlessly announced her choice to Snape.

Snape's already sallow and unhealthy complexion became several shades paler.

The muscles in his face twitched unnaturally.

His eyes briefly flicked toward Ethan and Alanna's linked arms before he strode straight past them toward his seat at the staff table.

Harry watched Snape's bat-like robes billow behind him as he swept away.

A moment later, realization finally dawned on his face.

"I think I know why Professor Snape has been acting so unstable lately."

"I think I do too," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Same here," Ron agreed.

Meanwhile, a certain culprit named Ethan remained completely oblivious.

He looked at them in confusion.

"Huh? Why?"

"Why indeed? We've been trying to figure that out too."

The others exchanged glances.

Then, in perfect unison, they repeated Ethan's own words back at him before immediately scattering away from the House hourglasses.

And he was still asking why?

It was obviously because those two idiot lovebirds kept flaunting their relationship right in front of Snape.

They were practically stabbing the lifelong bachelor directly in the heart every day.

And since Alanna belonged to his own House, Snape couldn't exactly take his irritation out on her.

So Gryffindor became the punching bag instead.

"...What's wrong with all of them?"

Ethan's mouth twitched.

He allowed Alanna to pull him toward the Slytherin table and sat down beside her.

These days, the two of them barely paid attention to House seating anymore.

They simply chose whichever table they felt like sitting at that day, Gryffindor or Slytherin, and ate together.

After all, there was no school rule forbidding it.

Even Snape couldn't invent a legitimate excuse to deduct points over that.

As for what the students thought...

The Gryffindors had already started looking at Alanna the way people looked at a beloved sister-in-law.

Whenever she sat at the Gryffindor table, the students around her couldn't help wearing warm, knowing smiles.

As for the Slytherins, the intimidation Ethan had left behind after the Hogsmeade incident still lingered strongly enough that none of them had any objections.

Or rather, none of them dared to have any.

Except for one person...