In the massive library on the second floor, Ethan put down his homework and picked up *A Study of Modern Wizarding Development*, which he had borrowed, flipping through it carefully.
“The Disillusionment Charm is a spell you only learn in sixth year?
And to learn it, you have to pass your O.W.L.s first?” Ethan sighed softly.
No wonder everyone loved the Restricted Section.
Still, the Disillusionment Charm was such an advanced spell.
Putting aside the difficulty of learning it, with his current Magic, he probably wouldn’t be able to cast it even if he could find it.
“I need to raise my Magic, Intellect, and Spirit—these three rare attributes—as soon as possible.
If I can get them all to 10, maybe I’ll meet the basic requirements for learning the Disillusionment Charm.” Ethan suddenly shook his head.
Wasn’t the whole point of trying so hard to learn the Disillusionment Charm to raise his attributes as quickly as possible?
“It looks like I need to find another way.
I should look for more things of ‘value.’ And for now, I’ll steer clear of those ghosts.
If they complain to the staff, I’ll definitely be in for it…” Headmaster Dumbledore seemed to be highly skilled in a type of mind-reading magic.
In the face of such magic, no lie could hide.
Ethan quickly flipped through the pages.
When his eyes caught a certain line, his gaze sharpened.
“Legilimency…
and the countermeasure is…
Occlumency?” Ethan couldn’t help but rub his temples.
“I can’t let a single blade of grass or leaf in Hogwarts go.
I have to do a sweep of every valuable item.
Finding even a single point in a rare attribute is a win.” “I also need to accumulate free Exchange Experience as quickly as possible to redeem for rare attributes…” Ethan pushed down his frustration, pulled out a thick magic book, and buried his head in reading.
[Exchange Experience: +5] The midday bell rang.
Ethan borrowed the magic book from the librarian, Madam Pince, and left the library alone.
Just as he went downstairs, he suddenly heard a young witch’s angry shout.
He looked over in surprise and saw Hermione, her hair practically standing on end, hopping mad and throwing punches at the air.
Floating in midair, Peeves the Poltergeist was cackling loudly as he threw ink and bits of chalk at Hermione’s head.
The young witch was a complete mess; ink was splattered all over her hair, cheeks, and robes.
In a fit of rage, Hermione drew her wand.
However, Peeves dodged nimbly back and forth.
Besides, Hermione didn’t know any powerful spells yet, and most simple spells had no effect on a poltergeist anyway.
Soon, Hermione’s eyes began to water.
Ethan stared straight at Peeves and shouted at the top of his lungs, “The Bloody Baron is coming!” The overjoyed Peeves was startled out of his wits and scrambled to dive into the wall.
Ethan rushed over and slapped his hand against the wall just before Peeves disappeared.
[Peeves (Poltergeist)] [Exchange Value: 3 (Agility, Magic Resistance, Spirit Resistance)] “Exchange!” [Agility +1] [Magic Resistance +1] [Spirit Resistance +1] Ethan immediately ran over to Hermione and dragged her into a nearby classroom.
Looking at the ink stains all over herself, Hermione could no longer hold it in and began to sob.
Ethan opened his mouth but stopped.
Peeves was a unique entity in the school—neither a ghost nor a human.
Even the school professors couldn’t do anything about him; he existed purely to annoy people.
He took two steps back and pointed his wand at Hermione.
After a brief pause, he murmured, “*Scourgify*.” The stains all over the young witch vanished instantly.
Her eyes went wide.
She stared at her robes in disbelief, then quickly touched her hair and cheeks.
Ethan breathed a small sigh of relief.
It was his first time using the Scouring Charm, so he had been a little nervous.
Hermione wiped her eyes and looked at Ethan with a strange expression, her mouth twitching.
“You already know how to cast *Scourgify*?” “Yeah, but I’m still not very practiced,” Ethan said vaguely, keeping his voice down.
“If you run into Peeves again, just run away.
He wouldn’t dare hound you for too long.” At the mention of Peeves, Hermione’s breathing grew heavy again, and she stamped her foot in anger.
“I didn’t even do anything to him!” “If he were reasonable, he wouldn’t be Peeves,” Ethan continued.
“Percy said Peeves is terrified of the Bloody Baron.
If he won’t leave you alone, just shout the Bloody Baron’s name.” “I did,” Hermione said gloomily.
“But he seemed to know I was bluffing.” Ethan pulled open the classroom door and quickly left with her to head down to the Great Hall for lunch.
The Great Hall was filled with young wizards.
Harry and Ron were there, and as soon as they saw them, they waved eagerly.
“White!
Granger!
Over here!” Ethan White picked up a plate of chicken legs, a goblet of pomegranate juice, and a small helping of steak and sausages.
Walking over, he asked with a concerned look, “Did Professor McGonagall agree?” The two boys’ faces darkened, looking almost despairing.
“Professor McGonagall said she’ll only consider rescinding her decision if we have no new tardy records for at least two weeks.” The three of them sighed in unison, all looking rather downcast.
Hermione rolled her eyes nearby and asked, “Potter, Weasley, can’t you two even manage to show up to class on time?” Ron quickly defended himself, “We were only late because Mr.
Filch stopped us this morning!
If it weren’t for him, we’d have been in the classroom ages ago!” Harry nodded too, saying dejectedly, “Besides, Ethan gets up at six in the morning…
Why on earth would we get up that early?
The Great Hall doesn’t even open until eight.” Ethan was equally listless.
“You can preview the day’s lessons, review what we learned yesterday, and practice spells.
There’s actually a lot you can do.” A bright, intense gaze suddenly locked onto him from the side.
He turned and met Hermione’s eyes.
The little witch, who had been sulking all the way here, now looked exceptionally energized.
“First period is at nine, but you get up at six.
If you spend three hours beforehand practicing Transfiguration, you really would be able to perform it flawlessly in class!
Is that the secret to your success, White?” Hermione muttered to herself, a mixture of sudden realization and deep annoyance as she nodded and shook her head.
She looked at Ron and Harry and insisted, “You two really should get up at six in the morning to study!
As for me, the clever Hermione Granger, I shall wake up to study at five-fifty every day—no, five-thirty!” Hermione was thrilled, entirely putting the unpleasantness with Peeves out of her mind.
Ethan thought about it.
If she could actually stick to it and her grades kept soaring, the professors would focus all their attention on her and Harry, paying even less attention to him.
This seemed like a very good thing for him.
“If you get sleepy, you can drink some strong coffee,” Ethan said, his eyes filled with encouragement.
Ron and Harry stared at her, flabbergasted, with a faint hint of fear in their eyes.
Ron whispered, “Told you.
She’s mental.” Suddenly remembering something, Ethan looked at them and blinked.
“By the way, did you bring your acceptance letters?”