Everyone froze in stunned silence.
Until Hermione's excited shriek pierced the air:
"It's Ethan! He foresaw all of this and left us a fallback!"
Is... is that so?
Harry instinctively sensed something amiss and stammered:
"But, but where is Ethan? With something this huge happening, he hasn't shown up...
This doesn't fit Ethan's character at all!
Not to mention, Ethan is often the source of the chaos himself.
In an event this massive, he should be lording it over everyone, pulling all the strings!
Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry and declared with profound certainty:
"Ethan must have gone off to handle something crucial."
"Maybe he's figuring out how to take down that monster up there!"
At those words,
Luna couldn't resist glancing at Hermione, eyeing her with wary suspicion.
Seeing her so utterly convinced,
Luna nodded thoughtfully and murmured:
"No wonder she didn't get sorted into Ravenclaw... The brainwashing runs deep."
Harry, still dazed, pushed up his glasses and stood: "Oh, oh, right... Yeah."
Ethan was the president of their Enlightenment Society, a superman who had bailed him out countless times!
How could he ever doubt Ethan's righteousness?
Clearly, Ethan was just another victim of these dark forces!
Guilt washed over Harry.
He berated himself harshly in his mind.
Anyway,
If Ethan showed up in the end, it would naturally prove
He had nothing to do with this attack.
At that moment,
Luna piped up: "Um—I don't mean to interrupt you all. But the battle isn't over yet, you know?"
Up ahead, the overlooked Dark Wizard's face twisted in rage!
"Ethan, Ethan, Ethan... That damned Ethan again!!!"
Barty swung his wand furiously!
The flames that erupted, however, were effortlessly blocked by that sinister black umbrella.
He had been so close to capturing Harry Potter and offering this glorious gift to the Dark Lord!
But it was ruined—again—by Ethan Vincent!
Barty's mind descended into utter chaos.
Vaguely, he felt as if an invisible hand was manipulating everything.
And they were nothing more than moths flinging themselves desperately into the flames.
Burning themselves out just to make that light shine brighter... Heh, isn't he just a coward too scared to fight his own battles?
Barty glared intently at Harry, sheltered behind the black umbrella.
As the Dark Mark bloomed in the sky, several more Dark Wizard figures emerged from the shadows behind him.
"Once I snag you, I'll go hunt down that brat!"
"Avada Kedavra—!!!"
Green light flared.
Screams and pandemonium instantly engulfed the camp!
But this time,
Even Ron didn't falter.
He clutched the black umbrella tightly, an unprecedented surge of courage flooding through him!
I am a brave Gryffindor!
Let's take him down!
"Petrificus Totalus—!!!"
High in the air,
Ethan gazed down at the fray and nodded approvingly:
"Not bad, Ron can pull it off when he puts in the effort."
How could there be cowards in the Weasley family?
They just needed a little nudge.
"The 'nudger' Ethan remarked contentedly:
"Today was another day of good deeds—I'll give myself a gold star~"
[Meow...]
The enormous skull beside him exhaled with a hollow, echoing rasp.
By the way,
That incomplete black umbrella actually couldn't fully withstand the star-colored assault.
Ethan was simply holding back. [Your performance has deeply impressed everyone!]
[Soul fusion increased by 0.2%]
Ethan: "Only 0.2%? Hmph, that's pathetic."
"Indeed, the higher the fusion, the tougher it gets to boost."
"Timing it out, it's about right. I need to capitalize on this World Cup for a massive haul!"
He planned to leverage his role as the heroic "Ethan Vincent" to vanquish the villainous "Mr. Lamp"!
Reap two helpings of fusion in one go!
Ethan chugged five invigorating potions straight from the vials!
His eyes snapped wide, his heart pounding like a drum.
Blood boiled in his veins, power coursing through his entire body!
Magic surged forth unchecked!
"Hoo," Ethan drew a deep breath.
He closed his eyes, linking to the other card he'd planted in the tent earlier!
As a Ravenclaw,
How could he be so sloppy as to leave a glaring, suspicious gap?
New Painting: "Pinocchio's Puppet" activated!
[Name: Pinocchio's Puppet]
[Grade: Third-tier · White Rare]
[Description: Pinocchio, why is your nose so pointy?]
[Effect: Transforms into the likeness of a designated person, achieving a strikingly lifelike appearance, but unable to wield the person's true power; an excellent tool for deception]
[Evaluation: Not powerful, but low-cost]
Inside the tent,
A soft glow flickered.
A wooden form materialized.
It lay limp on the bed.
Atop its knobby head, a long nose jutted straight up.
Like a discarded, broken little marionette.
But as magic poured in steadily, its form shifted.
Pale skin spread across its dusty face, thick curls of black hair sprouting from its scalp.
Its fingertips bore traces of stubborn paint stains.
A faint aroma of nuts and minerals wafted from its body.
In mere breaths,
Its eyelids twitched, then lifted to reveal cobalt-blue eyes.
"Click."
The counterfeit Ethan sat upright, even his clothes perfectly duplicated.
Utterly lifelike.
No one could detect it—or even fathom—that this was merely a puppet!
"Go... Get ready."
From mid-air,
The real Ethan, eyes shut, manipulated the puppet and issued the order:
"Tonight marks the rise of Mr. Lamp, the night Ethan Vincent shoulders the Savior's burden..." "And more than that, the night to proclaim to the world that chaos has descended!!!"
As for why Ethan went to such extremes to craft dual identities—one good, one evil—
The reason was straightforward.
He hadn't graduated yet.
Naturally, he needed to play the diligent "good student" at Hogwarts.
Wasn't the Triwizard Tournament going to be a blast?
On the flip side,
He couldn't let the dark forces hog the spotlight—ah, no, he couldn't let them rampage unchecked.
So he had to steer the shadows himself as "Mr. Lamp."
"For a better world, I'm such a workaholic."
Ethan sighed.
He shed a mental tear for his own sacrifices.
Then,
His gaze drifted downward.
To the jubilant Dark Wizards on the ground... Light strikes with the greatest impact when it emerges from the deepest abyss.
First,
He had to forge that abyss of despair.
Ethan lifted his hand, his finger aiming lightly at the earth below.
He intoned indifferently:
"Go, my exquisitely beautiful Star Child... Go end them."
[...]
The star-colored entity dipped its head slowly.
It mirrored Ethan's gesture, extending a finger as writhing phantasmagoria cascaded to the ground.
In that instant,
Ethan's silhouette seemed to merge with its own.
Meanwhile,
On the ground,
The Dark Wizards believed they were secure.
It wasn't just latching onto a mighty patron; it was a golden ticket to a new era!
"Woohoo! Great Mr. Lamp, we'll follow you eternally!!!"
"We are your most devoted servants!"
"You-Know-Who is nothing! He's only fit to polish your boots!"
They whooped and hollered, some dropping straight to their knees.
Tears streaming, snot running, they prostrated in ecstasy before the colossal figure eclipsing the night sky.
"Crack!"
Connie lashed her whip desperately, desperate to chastise their heresy!
But her arm refused to budge.
Damn it, move—
Then,
A shadow loomed.
Her body locked rigid, blood freezing in her veins.
She lifted her gaze slowly.
The skull hovered mere inches away.
It blotted out the heavens and her sight.
As if peering curiously at the ants scurrying below.
The blue eye in its fractured cranium fixed on her in lifeless stillness.
"Ah... Ah ah..." Connie's mind blanked.
She managed only a garbled whimper, pupils quaking.
It felt like she was being flayed alive, body and soul rent asunder.
"You're finished, little girl."
A Dark Wizard leered, his face alight with sadistic glee.
Though terror gripped him too, he clung to the conviction that Mr. Lamp was their ally.
Thus, he feared nothing.
"I know you—your family's the 'French Rose.' Shame, that pretty skin of yours is about to melt into sludge! Hahahaha—Gulp!"
The Dark Wizard's cackle cut short.
In Connie's wide-eyed horror,
The phantasmagoria enveloped him.
Like peeling a grape, it stripped away his colors layer by layer, inch by agonizing inch.
Until his skin blanched, his features vanished.
He crumpled to the dirt with a thud.
Tears spilled from Connie's eyes.
"Hmph... Hmph ah..." Her eyes burned red, body shaking uncontrollably.
She had no clue what had just unfolded.
She only suddenly grasped
That she couldn't recall the face of the man who'd been mocking her moments ago.
The phantasmagoria had erased his very existence.
Like an eraser scrubbing pencil from paper.
The Dark Wizards stood petrified, mouths agape.
A single question echoed in their heads:
Aren't... aren't we on the same side?
Why are you turning on us?!
The devouring phantasmagoria provided the answer.
"No, stay back!!!"
"Ah ah ah! No, I don't want to die! Mr. Lamp, Mr. Lamp! Why are you doing this?!!!"
Only as one after another was stripped of color, identity, and being,
Did these Dark Wizards finally comprehend, too late,
That to the exalted "Mr. Lamp,"
They were indistinguishable from vermin.
Their sole worth lay in "death" itself.
"Ha, hahaha..." One Dark Wizard slumped to the ground, pallid blankness creeping over his face.
His last eye locked fanatically on the unattainable figure in the starry void.
He whispered in rapture:
"May my flesh become your pigment... Let this world be the canvas for your wildest masterpieces!!!"
The next instant,
His features dissolved.
In a heartbeat,
Nearly a hundred Dark Wizards bleached to nothing.
Like spent candles, they slumped and melted into the soil.
Pooling into rivulets of blood that streamed into Ethan's grasp.
Feeding the Necronomicon, saturating its parched pages.
"Gurgle."
The following pages unfurled languidly.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the next chapter of the Necronomicon—the Soul Cauldron Ritual]
It's done.
Ethan's lips curled in satisfaction.
--
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