Chapter 31: The Black Lake Mermaid's Complaint
Ethan left the Great Hall, returned to his dormitory to drop off everything but his wand, and headed toward Snape's office.
He knew he couldn't possibly take Snape in a fight, but he'd definitely defend himself if the professor attacked him.
"Then again, would Snape really lay a hand on a Hogwarts student?" He doubted it, but carrying a wand was never a bad idea.
When he reached Snape's office, he knocked to announce his presence.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he knocked, the door swung open, and Snape was standing there.
Snape seemed to sense the wariness in his eyes and smirked.
"Come with me. Dumbledore is looking for you."
Before Ethan could step inside, Snape swept past him like a giant bat, cloak trailing, without a glance to see if he could keep up.
"Damn it," he thought, but he had no choice except to hurry after Snape and try to match his pace.
Snape didn't offer a single useful word the entire way, leaving Ethan completely in the dark. He tried to speak several times, but Snape cut him off before he could get a word out.
"Don't ask me anything else. I don't know what Dumbledore wants with you." Snape stopped abruptly, turned, and fixed him with a cold stare.
"Oh, could you slow down a bit, Professor? I can't keep up," Ethan said, forcing a smile to mask his irritation.
Snape glared at him and slowed his pace.
Ethan relaxed slightly, finally able to catch his breath.
On the third-floor landing, Snape gave the password: "Lemon Drop."
The gargoyle sprang aside, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing a spiral staircase that began to rotate upward.
"Keep up."
Snape stepped onto the stairs first, followed by Ethan.
The wall snapped shut behind them with a loud bang, and the staircase carried them upward until they reached a gleaming oak door with a brass knocker shaped like a griffin.
"A Class XXXX magical creature, a griffin." Ethan recognized the depiction; griffins were native to Greece.
They stepped off the staircase, and Snape knocked on the oak door. It swung open silently.
Snape led him inside, and the door clicked shut behind them.
Dumbledore wasn't in the office; only the portraits of former headmasters lined the walls, watching the two of them.
Ethan looked around the room, taking in its layout and the various interesting gadgets scattered about.
This round, spacious room held all sorts of strange and wonderful silver objects, spinning continuously and emitting wisps of smoke.
The Sorting Hat was here, too, of course. As an important artifact of Hogwarts, it was certainly guarded by the most powerful Headmaster.
He turned around and saw a phoenix perched on a gilded rod behind him.
Ethan reached out to touch the beautiful creature, its long, golden-red plumage gleaming.
"Its name is Fawkes. Isn't it beautiful?" the voice startled Ethan from his reverie.
A smiling Dumbledore stood beside him, watching with amusement, while an impatient Snape hovered behind him.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." Seeing that Dumbledore had arrived and his task was complete, Snape didn't particularly care what Dumbledore wanted with Ethan, and prepared to leave.
No, Severus. You'll probably have to stay a bit longer. This matter involves you as well.
"Hmm?" Snape raised an eyebrow, wondering what could possibly concern him. He stood silently to the side, watching Dumbledore's performance.
Ethan withdrew his hand. "Headmaster, what do you want with me?"
Dumbledore's smile remained. "No rush. Please, sit down first. We can take our time."
"Tea, Headmaster," Ethan replied without hesitation.
"Hmm." Snape nodded.
With a snap of his fingers, Dumbledore conjured a steaming cup of black tea and a glass of water on the coffee table.
"Wow!" Although Ethan knew this was probably the work of a house-elf, the feat of accomplishing so much with a mere snap of the fingers, without a spoken word, was still incredibly impressive.
"Isn't it amazing?" Dumbledore winked mischievously.
Ethan nodded vigorously.
Dumbledore snapped his fingers again, and another cup of black tea appeared on the table. He picked it up, took a small sip, and smiled contentedly.
"Mr. Jones, do you know why I called you to my office?"
"I don't know." Ethan put down his teacup and shook his head when he saw they were getting down to business.
"Heh, the magic you cast in the Black Lake last night caused considerable distress among the Merpeople and other lake creatures. They came to me last night demanding I find the culprit and punish them."
"Huh? Is it that serious? I just cast a Lumos!" Ethan hadn't expected that this was the reason, and quickly tried to defend himself.
"Relax, relax, of course I believe you. It's just that, as Headmaster of Hogwarts, I have no choice but to address the Merpeople's complaint."
Dumbledore asked with great interest, "Could you tell me how you unleashed that incredible beam of light last night, which the Merpeople called unprecedented and which illuminated the entire lake bed?"
Realizing Dumbledore didn't intend to punish him, Ethan finally relaxed. He wasn't afraid of losing points, but he worried about detention and the pointless, time-wasting tasks that came with it.
"Yesterday, after Charms class, I asked Professor Flitwick for tips on controlling the intensity of my magic, but after several attempts, it didn't work, so I went to the Black Lake to relax."
Finally, in a fit of frustration, he unleashed another Lumos, producing a beam of light as thick as Hagrid's waist.
"Not bad, not bad, hahaha!" The wonderful metaphor made Dumbledore's eyes crinkle with laughter.
"As thick as Hagrid's waist, hahaha, I'll tell Hagrid this joke when I see him someday."
Dumbledore asked with great interest, "Can you still emit such a thick beam of light now?"
He shook his head. "No, I tried many times after returning to my dorm, but I could only control the spell's intensity slightly, far from the brightness of last night."
"Is that so? What a pity." Dumbledore shook his head regretfully.
He turned to Snape. "Severus, do you think we should penalize Ethan for this behavior?"
He left the decision to Snape, Head of Slytherin House.
Snape glanced coldly at Ethan. "What does this have to do with him? He simply cast a completely harmless spell by accident. Why should he be penalized?"
Dumbledore smiled mildly. "Since you've decided not to deduct points, so be it. Severus, you may go. I have something to discuss with Mr. Jones."
Snape looked at Ethan, his expression unreadable, and swept away.
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