Chapter 332: Shopping in Diagon Alley!
Inside the Leaky Cauldron, the golden light began to fade.
Ethan's eyes flicked towards the entrance and, sure enough, he caught sight of Harry and the others peering in. They looked like a pack of curious groundhogs poking their heads out of a burrow, and it made something inside Ethan itch, as though a silver warhammer were eager to get to work.
He checked his watch.
Nearly a quarter to one.
Ethan nodded to himself, pleased. That fit his mental image of Gryffindors perfectly: never moving until the last possible minute.
"My companions have arrived."
Those cobalt-blue eyes lowered, almost tenderly, to the followers still kneeling on the floor. Ethan raised his voice and declared, "I must depart now, and set out upon a new and glorious campaign!"
His tone was deep, decisive, ringing off the walls.
The followers shuddered with excitement, staring up at him with such devotion it looked as if they were ready to march with him on that "glorious campaign", hands half-lifted as though reaching for salvation itself.
Harry and the others: "..."
It was a trip to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies. He was talking like he was about to conquer the world.
Their souls felt tired.
"Come, then!"
Ethan snapped his head around. Eyes bright, he thrust a hand out towards Harry's group, inviting them in a booming voice. "Let us advance together, brothers!"
Under a storm of jealous, envious stares, Harry and the others shuffled through the pub with their heads bowed and their cheeks burning. The humiliation was so intense, Harry had the strangest flashback to his first year, when people had crowded around him just to shake his hand.
No, actually, that had been better than this.
"Bloody hell…" Ron muttered, staring into the middle distance. "Aren't we meant to be shopping in Diagon Alley?"
"Why are they looking at us like we're lambs about to be honourably sacrificed?!"
If you asked Ethan, he would have answered calmly: two-legged lambs were still lambs.
Before leaving, Ethan paused to take in the donation box and the stacks of free provisions. He nodded in approval.
A pub really was the perfect place to build a movement. Easy to find, plenty of foot traffic, and with alcohol in the air, it was effortless to whip a room into a proper frenzy.
Ever since the trial of Peter Pettigrew and the werewolf cure, the Illumination Lamp Society had been gaining traction. At first, Remus Lupin had managed it. Now, with the number of followers growing, Sirius, "unexpectedly at home", had started involving himself as well.
Compared to Lupin's careful judgement, Sirius mostly served a different function.
Suppression.
Like a wolf watching over a flock, making sure the troublemakers got a taste of what an "Azkaban exchange student" felt like, up close and personal.
As for Ethan, their leader, he only had to let a little miracle slip from his brush now and then. That was enough to steady hearts and tighten loyalty.
Back in the present, Ethan addressed them with a final piece of encouragement. "Carry our glory forward."
"When peril comes, you will be sheltered, without fear."
"Ah, bless your mighty power, Lord Vincent!" the followers cried, overwhelmed with gratitude.
Even Tom the barman, watching from behind the counter, felt a twinge of envy.
Yes, Ethan was a bit… odd.
But there was no denying it.
Being under his protection was the safest feeling in the world.
Ethan's mouth lifted faintly. He was not making empty promises.
Fate was bound to drag the wizarding world into war. His plan was to take Hogwarts, already a fortress, and turn it into a true refuge on a massive scale.
The Lamp's light would spread across the world.
And Ethan would allow only his followers to bathe in the darkness he created, not in the mercy of any "Death".
He considered it further. "I also obtained a rare alchemical fortress blueprint from the goblin war in the past. I can put it to use at Hogwarts."
It would be a vast undertaking, and it could not be done by Ethan alone.
"We'll need to plan it properly," he murmured. "Still, the war is a couple of years away. It's not that urgent."
"This term, as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, my priority is raising the students' overall level."
"After all, once fate's been altered, the war will only get harder."
Most of all, there was one habit Ethan could not stand: the way too many witches and wizards became helpless the moment they lost their wands.
"Can't wait for term to start," Ethan said, eyes crinkling with genuine anticipation as he hummed to himself.
"Ethan, hurry up," Harry whispered from the back door, motioning him over.
Ethan pulled himself out of his thoughts. Chin lifted, he walked to them with measured confidence, as though stepping onto a stage.
This time, they really would win.
Every last one of them would step into a new era.
Behind them, the brick wall twisted and rotated back into place, sealing the pub away and blocking those feverish stares.
Harry and the others all released the same long breath, as if they had been holding it for minutes. The sheer lung capacity made Ethan glance sideways in mild admiration.
Diagon Alley stretched out ahead, as bustling as ever. The cobbled street ran forward between rows of shops, windows packed tight with wares. Voices rose over the crowd.
"Two Galleons an ounce for dragon liver? You may as well rob me!"
Ethan strode to the front.
Witches and wizards who noticed him startled, then quickly shifted aside, expressions edged with wary respect as memories of his "achievements" flashed through their minds. The crowd split around him as if the street itself had decided to make way.
Ethan sighed, pleasantly moved. "People here are so kind. So polite. My art really is reaching hearts."
Harry and Ron exchanged a look that hovered somewhere between wanting to speak and deciding it was safer not to.
With Ethan leading, they moved efficiently from shop to shop, buying everything the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor required.
Advanced Magic Primer: Gesture Casting.
From Beginner to Burial: A Complete Guide to Wandless Magic.
Blank scrolls, various spiritual minerals, plant essential oils, and a dozen other odds and ends.
There was a lot.
Ethan never even glanced at the school list.
Hermione watched him with shining admiration. "You've memorised everything you need, like you wrote the list yourself! You must have revised in advance. That's so diligent. I can't fall behind!"
She immediately started staring at the list and muttering it under her breath, memorising it line by line.
Harry thought, slightly dazed, that there really was no need to compete at this level.
He looked at the stack of advanced magic texts and frowned. "How are we supposed to learn this? Honestly… feels like we've got another oddball."
Wandless magic was something only witches and wizards on Dumbledore's level could manage, surely.
They were only in their fifth year. How could they possibly learn it?
Ron grinned. "So what?"
"Our Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons have never been normal. Who cares what sort of random blokes they hire to teach it?"
"They'll be gone in a year anyway."
Harry nodded, then blurted out the forbidden name without thinking. "Ha, yeah. Honestly, we'd be better off if Ethan taught—"