Savage: The Night Wizard - (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 571 - 571 - A Moment Among the Ravens

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My friends, excited to finally be able to talk to me, didn't stop talking for even a second from the moment they surrounded me. They had decided to take advantage of this opportunity to catch up on everything that had happened over the past few days.

The commotion caused by their enthusiasm and constant chatter was far from small — and it inevitably drew the attention of the other Ravenclaws in the Common Room.

Drawn by the sound of our voices and laughter, several students turned in our direction, curiosity and confusion written plainly across their faces.

Their gazes swept quickly over the group... until they settled on the one at the centre of it all.

That is, me.

No less surprised than my friends had been moments earlier, they quickly got to their feet and began moving towards me, visibly animated.

Now, looking at the growing number of ravens gathering around me, I merely shook my head as a ironic smile appeared on my lips.

'Sigh. Looks like this is going to be a tiring afternoon,' I thought, somewhat amused.

It was then that the Common Room passage opened once again, drawing my attention.

A few Ravenclaws who had spent the afternoon enjoying themselves on the castle grounds stepped through it — and among them was the Quidditch team players.

Since I had not moved very far from the entrance before being surrounded by my friends, the students who had just come in practically walked straight into our group.

Noticing that the passage was being blocked by a crowd of people, they blinked in confusion. But, in the very next instant, their eyes found mine — and the reason for all the commotion became obvious at once.

"Ethan Night, our brilliant and glorious Silver Star!" Roger proclaimed excitedly in a loud voice, causing the other students to notice their arrival as well.

Without even asking for permission, he began making his way through the students in front of him, pushing them aside one by one as he tried to reach me, with the rest of the team right behind him.

Despite his sturdy build, he moved with surprising agility, managing to reach me in just a few seconds.

The moment he got to my side, he slung an arm around my shoulder with ease and familiarity.

"Finally you've decided to grace us with your presence, my mad friend!" he said, grinning from ear to ear.

Then, without even giving me a chance to reply, he turned us around so that we were facing all the Ravenclaws in the Common Room.

"Here he is, everyone... Ravenclaw's most brilliant student — now the winner of the Triwizard Tournament and the Dark Wizards' nightmare!"

"The newest celebrity of Hogwarts and the wizarding world... Ethan Night!"

He gestured dramatically towards me, presenting me as though I were some sort of rare artefact on display.

Seeing that, I could not help rolling my eyes, amused and slightly exasperated.

Even so, however exaggerated his excitement might have seemed, I couldn't say Roger was entirely wrong.

For all intents and purposes, thanks to the Triwizard Tournament and its tasks, I really had become something of a celebrity.

In truth, I had already gained a certain reputation within the school — especially in Ravenclaw — even before this whole tournament thing.

Thanks to all the impressive, wild, crazy, or simply unbelievable things I had done at Hogwarts in previous years, my fame — and, to some people, my infamy — had already spread to every corner of the castle.

However, after everything that had happened during the tournament — particularly in the final task — my deeds were no longer confined to Hogwarts' corridors.

My name had now spread throughout the entire British wizarding community... and even beyond it.

"Okay, Roger, we get it... you know the great Ethan Night," Isabell, one of Ravenclaw's Chasers, said with a roll of her eyes.

"Now can you let the poor boy go? You're parading him around as if he were your new toy."

"Yeah, let him breathe a bit," Christi, our fiercest Beater, gave what she considered to be a "light" punch to Roger's arm — which was enough to make him let go of me.

"And besides, why are you so excited?" she continued, looking at him with disdain. "The way you're acting, it almost seems as if his achievements were actually yours."

Rubbing his injured arm with a pained expression, Roger turned towards the two girls, looking aggrieved

"Look, I'm just trying to show some support for a housemate and a member of my team," he tried to justify himself.

"Oh, sure. Of course you were..." Isabell scoffed, not even trying to hide her scepticism.

Feeling that his reputation and dignity was being unfairly attacked by the two girls, Roger frowned at them, adopting a deeply offended expression.

"Tsk, I don't know why you two are picking on me so much today..." he muttered. Then, with an almost accusing glint in his eyes, he fired back: "Besides, aren't you two the ones who spend almost the entire day talking and gossiping about Ethan and the Triwizard Tournament final?"

Faced with that sudden accusation, Christi and Isabell froze for a moment.

Clearly, neither of them had expected Roger — always so calm, friendly, and seemingly oblivious — to suddenly pull out such a precise counterattack, turning their own chatter against them.

Coming from him, it was definitely a low blow... or a masterstroke, depending on who was judging.

When they realised that the eyes of practically every Ravenclaw in the room were now on them, the two girls from the Quidditch team hurried to defend themselves.

"H-hey, that's n-not true..."

"Y-yeah... we don't spend a-all day talking about that..."

Unfortunately for both of them, their nervousness — combined with the fact that they had been completely caught off guard — meant that all they could manage was a stammered, utterly unconvincing denial.

And, honestly, that only made things worse for them.

After all, everyone knew that starting to stammer in the middle of an argument was practically the same as holding up a big sign that read 'he's right'.

"Okay, everyone, don't argue in the presence of the great Ethan Night," I said in a playful tone, interrupting the argument before either side could embarrass themselves even further.

My interruption served as a genuine lifeline for the two girls, who were visibly relieved to have the perfect excuse to change the subject.

"Hmph. I'll let you off this time... but only because Ethan asked," Christi declared, crossing her arms and making a slight pout.

"Yeah. Only because he asked," Isabell muttered right after, crossing her arms as well.

However, the dangerously calm look the two of them threw at Roger made it perfectly clear that they had absolutely no intention of letting the matter go.

Seeing that, Roger finally remembered that he was dealing with the two fiercest and most intimidating girls he knew. And he realised too late that he had provoked the wrong people.

But, at this point, all he could do was lament his misfortune... and pray that they would have mercy on his future self.

'Sigh... It would have been better if I'd fallen off my broom in the middle of one of today's Quidditch matches.'

'At least then my death would have been quick and almost painless...' the poor captain thought, resigned.

Having no idea of the internal suffering my teammate was going through, I turned back to look at my housemates — especially my friends, who were still staring at me with no less anxiety than before.

At first, that struck me as a little odd, but all it took was a closer look for me to understand everything.

From the emotions coming from my friends, I could easily tell that they were happy, relieved, worried, and even a little nervous.

More than that, I could clearly feel that all of those emotions were directed at me.

And to anyone else, their intense emotions might have seemed exaggerated — or even a little strange — especially considering they were simply talking to a friend they had not seen for less than two days.

However, I knew these boys and girls well enough to immediately understand where such complex emotions were coming from.

They were happy and relieved to see that I was alright.

They were worried that I might be shaken by the kidnapping or by the murders I had witnessed... and caused.

And they were nervous because they wanted to talk about what had happened during the third task, but did not know how to bring the subject up without seeming intrusive — or worse, making me uncomfortable.

Of course, someone could say that I was merely assuming what they were thinking, and that it was impossible to reach such specific conclusions just by feeling their emotions.

But after so many years of using my empathic abilities, and with such refined control over my passive Legilimency, understanding what was going on in someone's mind had become easy for me.

I was fully confident that no one in the world could read others better than I could.

If I said I was the second best at it, no one would dare claim to be the first.

That was why I could say with absolute certainty that my friends were worried about me — and, I had to admit, that made me a little happy.

'Heh... I'm proud of many things I've done since entering the wizarding world, but I think one of my best decisions was becoming friends with this eccentric group,' I thought, smiling affectionately.

End.

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