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Yeah! Here's the new chapter!
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Just as Nick had promised me, he spent the rest of the vacation helping me when he wasn't busy with his part of the plan to exonerate Sirius.
We didn't do much other than supplement my research with information and data that Nick had from some of his old research. However, this small advance was still more than I achieved in 4 months on my own, so I was not discouraged.
Between spending time with my family, researching the meaning of my dreams with Grandma Penny, trying to create the magic nullifying spell with Nick, and monitoring and organizing the Sirius case, I had little time to really rest, not that it bothered me.
Usually I would already spend my vacation busy with my projects, only this time it went much smoother and better as all my projects were showing progress, some more than others.
But with all these projects, studies and research, the holidays quickly came to an end, and now it was time for me to go back to Hogwarts for the second term of my third year.
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Hogwarts Express – January 7th, Friday morning
After saying goodbye to my parents and Cele who were the only ones to accompany me to the platform, I boarded the big red steam train that was at the station.
Only my parents and Cele came because they were the only ones not busy, and even if the others could come, they knew it wouldn't be wise.
Sirius couldn't come for an obvious reason, and Penny and Nick knew that the chances of them being recognized by someone from one of the wizarding families was high, and that could bring unwanted attention to me.
Obviously they could use a little Transfiguration to change their appearances, but they decided this was supposed to be a moment between my family and me, and that their presence wasn't necessary, even though my parents and I felt otherwise.
But that aside, after boarding the train I went to the compartment of one of the last carriage, knowing that my friends would easily find me there.
And it wasn't long before one of them appeared, opening the compartment door to look inside.
"Hi Ethan, did you have a good Christmas?" Stephen asked me, being the one who arrived.
"Yes, the best and most exciting one I've ever had" I said with an amused smile.
"I don't know whether to be worried or curious" Stephen said, taking the seat across from me, "If a simple Christmas made Ethan 'Trollslayer' Night say it was the most exciting he's ever had, then I can assume you've done something phenomenally stupid and dangerous"
"Maybe" I huffed, and Stephen stopped, eyeing me warily.
"Yeah, I don't want to know," he said, leaning back in his seat.
"Oh, so you're here" Anthony, who had just arrived at the compartment door, said.
He then turned, looking down the corridor, and yelled, "Hey, I found them!" and then entered the share.
He then sat up, taking off his coat, and turned to Stephen.
"Oh thanks for the crystal ball Stephen, now I can practice my divination at home" Anthony said, and I looked at Stephen with a strange look, who just shrugged.
"What? This was the perfect gift for him," he said, and I snorted.
"The perfect gift for who?" Terry asked, arriving at the share, with Michael behind him scowling as usual.
"Oh, they're talking about the gift Stephen gave me" Anthony replied.
"Ugh, the crystal ball" Terry moaned.
"How do you know the gift is a crystal ball?" I asked, and Terry rolled his eyes
"Because this insufferable badger wouldn't stop talking about this damn gift at the Christmas ball our families were invited to," he said, and Anthony had the decency to look embarrassed.
"Wait, weren't you kidding when you said you were going to get him a crystal ball?" Michael asked Stephen with a surprised look.
"Why are you so surprised? It's just a crystal ball" Stephen defended himself.
"What's just a crystal ball?" Lisa, who arrived along with the other girls, asked.
"It's just that Stephen gave one of them as a gift to Anthony" Terry replied.
"Did you get him a crystal ball for Christmas?" Sue asked Stephen, sitting down next to me.
"Ugh... What's the matter with the crystal balls?!" he asked in exasperation.
And those of us in the compartment looked at each other before turning to him and shrugging.
"""""""Nothing""""""" we said, and Stephen groaned again, slumping in his seat in defeat.
Deciding to ignore Stephen who was mumbling something about 'dumb friends and trauma with gifts', we all sat down in the compartment augmented by expansion spells.
With everyone settled in we then started talking about how our vacation was, also talking about the gifts we got.
"Oh, and thanks for the scarf Ethan" Terry said, showing the scarf he was wearing, "I don't know what enchantments it has, but it's softer, more comfortable, and much warmer than the imported clothes my mother purchase"
"Hmm, really?" I asked, and he nodded, "Maybe I should start selling enchanted clothes then, I'll probably even use some fashion ideas from the Muggle world for these clothes... No offense intended, but wizarding world clothes are horrible"
And listening to this, those who were born into the wizarding world just shrugged, having already seen what Muggle clothes looked like on our visit to my home town's shopping center over the holidays.
Terry then started to open his mouth to say something else, but then we heard someone knock on the door, and feeling this person's magic I smiled.
"Oh, it's Luna" Anthony said, and Padma looked at him strangely.
"How do you know? You haven't even opened the door yet" she asked.
"Well, Ethan has that silly smile that only comes when she's around, and he usually always knows when and who's around." He shrugged, and then everyone turned to me.
And listening to him I immediately froze, my smile fading.
'I don't smile silly whenever Luna is around' I mentally denied, but then an uncertain look appeared on my face, 'Right?' I asked myself.
Ignoring the silence that was in the compartiment Anthony opened the door, revealing Luna, who was looking at us with a smile while wearing a strange glasses made of several leaves and shiny pebbles.
And now with the confirmation that it was indeed Luna who was at the door, everyone turned to look at me strangely, or in the case of the girls and Terry, with knowing looks.
'Fuck' was what I thought, with a frown, trying to sink into my seat.
And while that was happening, Luna looked at all of us confused.
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Hogwarts – The next day
Coming back to the castle was awkward, and unfortunately not in a good way this time.
The holidays had made me so used to people's positive emotions thanks to the cheerful and festive mood of Christmas, that I felt a great weight fall on me the moment I stepped into the castle because of the dementors and the horrible feelings they brought.
But I decided to put those bad feelings aside as I knew it would only last until the end of the school year, and if all went well with the plan to exonerate Sirius, then the Dementors would be gone much sooner than expected.
But back to the present time, I was walking towards the Great Hall for breakfast, but halfway through I heard someone call my name, causing me to stop and turn around.
"Hi Ethan" Susan said after catching up with me, being the one who had called me.
"Hi Susan" I said, smiling at her, "Need me for something?" I asked, continuing to walk with her following me.
"Hmph, can't I just want to talk to a friend of mine?" she asked with a huff, crossing her arms and glaring at me.
And hearing that I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as I could feel her curiosity.
Realizing that I didn't believe her Susan pouted, "Okay" she said, "I wanted to talk to you to find out what you talked about with my aunt"
"Oh, a friend of mine wanted to talk to her about some matters involving the ministry" I lied, "I don't really know what they talked about but it must have just been some boring politics and bureaucracy matter" I shrugged.
"Are you sure?" Susan asked me uncertainly, with a frown on her face, "My aunt arrived very stressed and tired that day, and when I asked her what happened she just dismissed me saying it was a private matter"
"Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I think if it was that important my friend would have told me about it...I guess" I said, with a fake doubtful look on my face.
"But then what made my aunt so worried and stressed?" Susan asked, with a worried look.
"I don't know, but like I told you, it's probably because of some political matter, and as you may know, politics is always stressful and boring," I said, with a genuinely disgusted face.
"...I hope you're right," she said, and I could sense that she was still worried and a little disappointed.
Realizing that Susan had dropped the subject I mentally sighed in relief, but to try and cheer her up I decided to change the subject.
"So, how was your vacation? Did you like the gift I sent you for Christmas?" I asked, a smile on my face.
Realizing what I was trying to do Susan smiled appreciatively at me.
"I loved the present you gave me," she said, running her hand over the silver bracelet she was wearing.
The bracelet was simple but beautiful, made of silver and black gold, with a few crystal pendants.
The pendants were made by Susan herself, as in addition to the bracelet I had sent her a craft kit so that she herself could choose what her pendants would look like.
And looking from where I was standing, I could see two heart shaped pendants with two names carved in the center, Eileen and Robert, and I knew those were the names of her deceased parents.
In addition to these two pendants, there were also others, probably for important people and moments in her life, and seeing this I couldn't help but smile at her.
"I'm glad to hear that, as it means that my gift for always choosing the best presents is still as sharp as ever," I said, brushing the dirt off my fingernails nonchalantly, but with a slight smug look.
"Idiot" Susan said, giving me a playful shove.
"Blasphemy" I gasped in mock horror placing my hand dramatically on my chest.
Susan and I then looked at each other before bursting out laughing, happy that the mood had lightened.
End.
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(End AN: I watched Arcane, Wednesday, Loki, 1899, The Last of Us, Hawkeye, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
I really enjoyed these series, but my favorite was Arcane, followed closely by Falcon and the Winter Soldier.)