Dumbledore hadn't anticipated this twist, but he quickly recovered, his expression unchanged.
"Mr. Seamus Finnigan, I believe I've already explained this adequately. As for why you saw what you saw..."
Dumbledore paused, then chuckled. "Perhaps you could ask Mr. Halse how he managed it."
With that, all eyes turned to Evan, including a few curious professors.
Evan was flabbergasted, not expecting the benevolent-looking headmaster to throw him under the bus at such a moment. He shot a questioning glance at Dumbledore, who winked at him, suggesting he find his own explanation.
Evan felt frustrated, suspecting Dumbledore was getting back at him for burning the Forbidden Forest...
Faced with the inquisitive stares, Evan shrugged and said,
"Do you really believe that a first-year student tamed a dragon, rode on its back, and flew around in the sky while it breathed fire? That's absurd..."
"We believe!" George and Fred Weasley said in unison, looking at each other.
In any other case, they might have had doubts, but Evan indeed had such potential!
Evan rolled his eyes helplessly. How was he supposed to answer that?
Fortunately, most students agreed with Evan's explanation.
Indeed, a dragon is one of the top magical creatures!
Adult dragons are usually much larger than a house and are known for their volatile and ferocious nature. Even professional dragon trainers may not dare to ride on a dragon, as it's often seen as an offense.
Of course, they didn't know that Norbert was only a little over a month old, or they might have thought differently.
Due to Seamus blowing the cover about Norbert, Evan had to hastily finish a few pieces of cake, end the feast quickly, and bid farewell to many delicious foods.
Harry and Ron, who had the same experience and were privy to the truth, were also fed up with the incessant questioning.
It wasn't until they returned to the dormitory and closed the door that they finally got some peace, although they accidentally locked Neville out in the process.
"Evan, what should we do now? Seamus saw Norbert firsthand, Hagrid won't be sent to Azkaban, will he?" Harry asked anxiously.
Ron nodded, agreeing. Not only that, but the number of students who heard Norbert's roar wasn't small, and it was impossible to hide.
"Don't worry too much. We just need to send Norbert away before the Ministry of Magic comes to inspect. As long as there's no decisive evidence, I believe Professor Dumbledore should be able to handle it." Evan reassured.
"I'll write another letter to Charlie. He should be on his way. I'll ask him to hurry up and come by tomorrow!" Ron immediately took action, fetching an envelope from the drawer and started writing.
"Remember not to make it too explicit in the letter. Don't even mention the word 'dragon' to avoid interception on the way." Evan reminded.
"Alright... I got it." Ron felt it was overly cautious, but he still obediently made the modifications.
Once the letter was sent, Harry and Ron both breathed a sigh of relief.
Evan was never too worried. As the most influential person in the magical world today, the Ministry of Magic wouldn't be able to make waves in Hogwarts based on a few rumors and a student's testimony.
After discussing their plans secretly in the dormitory, they remembered that Neville, their dorm mate, was still locked out. When Harry opened the door, the Gryffindor students who had been blocked outside had already left, leaving only Neville.
Poor Neville looked like a deflated balloon, a few buttons on his wizarding robe had been pulled off during the previous crowd. He obviously knew nothing.
Feeling sorry, Evan apologized and used a repairing spell to fix Neville's buttons.
With so many events happened in a day, Harry and Ron couldn't hang on anymore and fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed.
Evan, however, got up in the middle of the night after resting on the bed for a while. For him, there was still the most important thing left undone.
Before leaving, Evan remembered that the castle was on alert, so he tried the magic he had learned but seldom used - the Disillusionment Charm.
"Disillusionment Charm~" Evan recited the spell, waved his wand, and tapped his forehead.
He felt something enveloping his entire body, a cool sensation as if he was immersed in water. It somewhat resembled egg white, or maybe a bit more viscous, but did not affect his breathing and walking at all.
This was completely different from being under the Invisibility Cloak, without the sense of isolation and security, but without the restriction of the cloak, it was more convenient.
Evan stood in front of the bed, looking into the small mirror hanging on the right side. The mirror accurately reflected the bed, as if seeing through his body.
Navigating Hogwarts at night was second nature to Evan, especially with the Marauder's Map. Filch and the patrolling professors' routes were all avoided by Evan.
By the way, Evan also carefully searched for it, and Quirrell's name did not appear in the castle.
Maybe he no longer dared to come back?
Evan speculated.
"I need a place to brew potions..." Evan stood on the carpet in front of the Room of Requirement, walked back and forth three times, then pushed open the appeared door and entered the hidden potion storage room.
Compared to the first time he entered, it was now completely different. Almost one third of the empty bottles around were filled with liquids of different colors...
Ageing potion... Skele-Gro... Elixir to Induce Euphoria... Fire Protection Potion...
These potions were all brewed by Evan using the potion ingredients he stole from Snape. It was a waste to just leave them there, so he might as well use them to brush up his Potions skill.
In the cauldron in the middle, there was a blood fusion potion that he had prepared for an entire term!
After a long time of precipitation, the cauldron was no longer chaotic like before, but as clear and transparent as common water.
If Evan hadn't witnessed this change day by day, he might have thought his potion had been secretly replaced.
Evan, somewhat excited, took out two test tubes from his wizard robe pocket, which contained the blood of magical creatures...