Ethan Jones left the Great Hall, went back to his dormitory to put down everything except his wand, and headed toward Snape's office.
Although he knew he couldn't possibly fight Snape, he would definitely fight back if Snape were to attack him.
"However, would Snape really lay a hand on a student at Hogwarts?" He was skeptical, but carrying a wand was never a bad thing.
When he arrived at Snape's office, he knocked on the door to make sure someone was inside.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they knocked on the door, it opened inwards, and Snape was standing inside.
Seemingly sensing the wariness in his eyes, Snape gave a disdainful smile.
"Come with me, Dumbledore is looking for you."
Before Ethan Jones could even enter, Snape, like a giant bat with a long cloak trailing behind him, passed by without caring whether Ethan Jones could keep up.
"Damn it!" he cursed inwardly, but he had no choice but to move his legs, which were much shorter than Snape's, and try to keep up with Snape's pace.
Snape didn't say a single useful piece of information the whole way, which left Ethan Jones completely uncertain. He tried to speak several times, but each time he was interrupted by Snape before he could even ask a question.
"Don't ask me anymore, I don't know what Dumbledore wants with you!" After stopping Ethan Jones's question once again, Snape suddenly stopped, turned around, and stared at him coldly.
"Oh, could you slow down a bit, Professor? I can't keep up." Ethan Jones said with a fake smile, expressing his dissatisfaction.
Snape glared at him and slowed his pace.
Ethan Jones relaxed a little, finally able to catch his breath; he was exhausted from walking.
At the entrance on the third floor, Snape gave the password: "Lemon Drop."
The Gargoyle at the entrance suddenly came to life, jumped to the side, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing a spiral staircase slowly moving upwards.
"Keep up."
Snape stepped onto the stairs first, followed by Ethan Jones.
The crack in the wall snapped shut again with a loud bang, and the staircase spiraled higher and higher until it reached a gleaming oak door with a brass door knocker shaped like a Griffin.
"A Class XXXX magical creature, a Griffin." Ethan Jones recognized the monster's appearance; it was a type of monster native to Greece.
They came out of the stone steps, and Snape knocked on a door, which opened silently.
Snape led him inside, and the door closed silently again.
Dumbledore wasn't in the Headmaster's office; only the walls were covered with portraits of former Headmasters, staring at the two people who entered.
Ethan Jones looked around at the room's layout and various interesting gadgets.
In this round, spacious room, there are all sorts of strange and wonderful silver objects, spinning incessantly and emitting plumes of smoke.
The Sorting Hat is also here, of course. As an important resource of Hogwarts, it is naturally guarded by the strongest Headmaster.
He turned around and saw a Phoenix standing on a gilded branch behind him.
Ethan Jones stared at the firebird, reaching out to touch the beautiful creature with its long, golden-red plumage.
"Its name is Fawkes, isn't it beautiful?" The sudden voice startled Ethan Jones from his reverie of the Phoenix's beauty.
A smiling Dumbledore stood beside him, watching him, with an impatient Snape behind him.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." Seeing that Dumbledore had appeared and his task was complete, Snape didn't want to know what Dumbledore wanted to do with Ethan Jones, so he immediately prepared to leave.
"No, Severus, you'll probably have to stay a while longer; this matter also involves you."
"Hmm?" Snape raised an eyebrow, wondering what could possibly be related to him. He stood silently to the side, watching Dumbledore's performance.
Ethan Jones withdrew his hand: "Headmaster, what brings you here?"
Dumbledore still had a smile on his face: "No rush, please sit down first, we'll talk slowly."
"Mr. Jones, what would you like to drink? Severus, would you prefer water?"
"Tea, Headmaster," Ethan Jones decided in a second.
"Hmm." Snape nodded.
With a snap, Dumbledore snapped his fingers, and a steaming cup of black tea and a glass of water appeared on the coffee table.
"Wow!" Although Ethan Jones knew this was probably the work of a House-elf, the action of completing all tasks with a snap of the fingers without saying a word was still incredibly cool.
"Isn't it amazing?" Dumbledore winked mischievously.
Ethan Jones nodded vigorously.
He snapped his fingers again, and another cup of black tea appeared on the table. He picked it up, took a small sip, and showed an expression of enjoyment.
"Mr. Jones, do you know why I called you to my office?"
"I don't know." Ethan Jones put down his teacup and shook his head obediently when he saw that they were getting down to business.
"Hehe, the magic you cast in the Black Lake last night caused a lot of suffering to the Merpeople and other creatures in the lake. They came to me last night demanding that I find the culprit and punish them."
"Huh? Is it that serious? I just released a Lumos!" Ethan Jones didn't expect it to be because of this, and he quickly tried to defend himself.
"Relax, relax, of course I believe you. It's just that as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, I have no choice but to deal with the Merpeople's complaint."
"Could you tell me how you unleashed that incredible beam of light last night, which the Merpeople called unprecedented and illuminated the entire ocean floor?"
Seeing that Dumbledore didn't seem to intend to punish him, he finally felt relieved. He wasn't afraid of losing points, but he was worried about being put in detention to do pointless things and waste time.
"Yesterday after my Charms class, I asked Professor Flitwick for some tips on controlling the intensity of my magic, but after practicing several times, it didn't work, so I went out to Black Lake to relax."
Finally, in a fit of rage, it unleashed its Lumos once more, resulting in a beam of light as thick as Hagrid's waist.
"Not bad, not bad, hahahaha!" The wonderful metaphor made Dumbledore's eyes narrow into slits 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 intensity of the spell a little bit, far from reaching the brightness of last night."
"Is that so? What a pity." Dumbledore shook his head regretfully.
Then he turned to Snape: "Severus, do you think we should penalize Mr. Jones for this behavior?"
He left the decision to Snape, the Head of House of Slytherin.
Snape glanced coldly at Ethan Jones: "What does this have to do with him? He just accidentally cast a completely harmless spell, why should he be penalized?"
Dumbledore smiled indifferently: "Since you've decided not to deduct points, then so be it. Severus, you can go back now. I have something to discuss with Mr. Jones."
Snape glanced at Ethan Jones, gave him a look that didn't make sense, and then drifted away.