章 104: Chapter 104
Ethan barely dodged the spell as he activated the Third Eye of Destruction, and a couple of sources of magic appeared in his sight. One came from the door, and the other from his adversary.
The first thing he noticed was that they were small. Shorter than him. It had to be a young student, one around his age. Maybe a First Year, or a Third Year at most. Whichever it was, they certainly should not have this level of skill, meaning he was most likely facing the new holder of the cursed diary.
As he whipped his wand at his opponent, he cast a first spell, "Flipendo!"
The red spell instantly reached the small figure, only to be bounced off a shield. That magical shield had been cast so perfectly that Ethan barely even saw it with his Third Eye of Destruction, as it only appeared for a moment, just long enough to redirect Ethan's spell, before immediately following with another spell of his own.
Ethan was forced to throw himself to the ground to dodge it, while Miyuki leapt at the enemy, while releasing her illusory mist.
At the same time, Ethan manipulated the ground under them, making it rumble in an effort to destabilize them. They still managed to stop Miyuki with a spell, sending her flying back towards Ethan.
Ethan was not in much better shape either as the enemy just kept firing one spell after another, so fast that despite having two targets they still outpaced him.
Swerving to the side to dodge Miyuki, Ethan tried to fire a spell, when he felt something pull at his foot. The world swirled around, and before he knew it, Ethan found himself upside down, hanging from his foot, with an invisible rope holding him by the foot.
Obviously, he had been outmatched in the duel. This was bad news, as it meant Riddle had a strong enough influence over his thrall to completely possess them.
Since Charms were not doing it, Ethan switched to his greatest strength before the other side could fire another spell, and expanded his mind outwards, directing it at his enemy in an effort to confuse them. It should work especially well against someone being possessed.
It did not have the intended effect, however, as all it elicited was a high pitched, amused chuckle, "How exciting, Mr. Grindelwald. But such an unfocused attack would hardly ever affect someone prepared."
Ethan suddenly paused as he heard the voice, and even Miyuki stopped struggling, though she did continue releasing her illusory mist.
"Professor Flitwick?"
A strong light appeared in front of Ethan, illuminating the whole cavern but also blinding him for a moment. Rapidly blinking, Ethan cancelled the Third Eye of Destruction, and indeed, standing in front of him was none other than his Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick.
The Charms Master laughed good-heartedly, sending both Ethan and Miyuki back on their feet, and said, "Thank you for warming up these old bones, Mr. Grindelwald, and Miss Miyuki."
Miyuki's name was more or less known, as Ethan had more than once called her by her name in front of others. Very few knew that she could understand English though, and Flitwick was not among them, so he was most likely being more polite than anything.
The mirthful expression on the Professor's face quickly faded away however as he said, "You should not be here, Mr. Grindelwald. I am afraid that I am going to need to escort you out of here."
Ethan gazed at the entwined serpents, and retorted, "What about this? The monster came out of here. I saw the shed. It is a Basilisk, isn't it? We can't just wait outside, we need-"
"Enough, Mr. Grindelwald."
Flitwick cut him off with an uncharacteristic sharp tone, and added, "While I understand your actions and enquiries come from a concern over your fellow students, which is commendable, you would be most helpful in your room, not here. Leave this to the school to handle."
Ethan wanted to say something, but Flitwick shook his head, saying, "Professor Snape will be fetching you. Please head back to the girls bathroom and wait for him."
Ethan still felt frustrated, but he also saw that it was taking something out of Flitwick to be this dry in his words. It almost went against his nature to be this severe in his words.
So, in the end, Ethan ended up nodding silently, and with one final glance towards the entwined snakes, he walked back the way he came.
By the time he reached the girls bathroom, Snape was already there, waiting for him. The moment he stepped out of the pipe, he heard his Head of House scold, "As insufferably arrogant as you can be, I believed you to be smarter than this. How disappointing of you."
Ethan looked at him silently, but Snape was not done. Turning around, his robes flowing behind him as he spoke in his usual reserved voice.
"Do you think yourself smarter than everyone else? Do you believe yourself to be some sort of chosen one? What could have possibly made you think you were more qualified to handle this problem than the staff?"
Ethan pursed his lips, and lowered his head.
"No quippy response this time? What did you think, that because it was your friend who was attacked, you had some inherent right to so blatantly break the rules? Or perhaps that you were better suited to handle the situation than us?"
Clenching his fists in frustration, Ethan decided to answer this time, "I thought you ignored what I said."
Snape slowed down ever so slightly, and looked over his shoulder at Ethan, spitting out spitefully, "You arrogant child. Do you truly believe everyone else to be idiots? Are you truly so insecure that the only way for you to see yourself as the smartest is for others to be this dumb?"
Ethan kept quiet, although his palms were turning white from how hard he was clenching his fists.
Snape scoffed at Ethan's silence, "Do you understand how stupid what you did was? The Heir could have been trying to return to the Chamber, and because of you, they now might know there is a trap. And all that for what? Your overblown ego!"
"I don't have an overblown ego!"
Snape did not look impressed by Ethan's outburst, but he did let him continue.
"Everytime in my life I have not acted, people died!"
"So what? Who's to say they would have died without your meddling!"
Ethan's voice became hoarser and his spirit naturally burst out of his body as he exclaimed, "I say it! I know it!"
Snape stopped in his stems, and Ethan realized his mistake. It was too late now however as Snape raised a curious eyebrow, and commented, "So you did inherit your grandfather's seer talent. And you judged it wise to keep knowledge of the future to yourself, instead of warning us?"
Having cooled down a little, Ethan could see that Snape was leading him on. This time, it was consciously that Ethan revealed, "I did tell you about it. Be it last year or yesterday… and it's not so simple. I don't just know who's doing what at all times. It's not how it works."
Snape seemed to realize that Ethan had regained control over himself, so he stopped provoking him, returning to his usual cold persona as he said, "We will be taking care of the Heir. If you come across any useful information, do not try to act on your own, because you will only make our work harder, and help the Heir. Give it to us instead, preferably to one of the Head of Houses."
The Potion Master seemed to hesitate for a moment, before he added, "If you really must do something, then do your best to stop the Potters and their posse from interfering with the investigations. Knowing them, they'd want to play heroes just as much as you."
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット