After sending Shirou and Artoria to that world together, Ethan stopped paying attention to them.
Since the flow of time was synchronized, they could take their time and train at their own pace.
Before departing, Shirou and Artoria had already familiarized themselves with the equipment aboard Artemis, including storage items, armor, and a variety of weapons, especially how to call for Luna in critical situations.
If anything unexpected happened, Luna could teleport them back to the ship. After all, this was just training for Shirou to improve his strength, not a real battlefield where he was expected to die.
"I wonder if Shirou can understand the principles behind those sets of armor and replicate them..."
Shirou could project shields and armor, but compared to weapons, they didn't last as long and consumed significantly more magic energy.
But now Shirou had embarked on a completely different path. The Projection magic he was learning and mastering was already very different from what Emiya used. It could even be said that Shirou's Projection magic was closer to the chaos magic Tony had taught the Scarlet Witch, although the types of items he could "create" were still limited.
"After all that, is it time to go back to school?"
"Would it really matter if we didn't?" Rin looked around. Of everyone here, she was perhaps the only one who was seriously attending Hogwarts to study. Illya and Leah might also be diligently learning.
As for the others like Scáthach, Logan, and Ethan, they were basically there to play and relax. Even if they did study, it was just on the side. "Even if you originally came here to learn this world's magical knowledge, you've probably learned most of it already."
Ordinary students couldn't perceive the understanding between Dumbledore, Snape, and Ethan, but those close to him knew it well. After all, they could easily get more advanced knowledge from Ethan than what upperclassmen had access to.
"There's still one more thing I need to research. After that, there really won't be much left to do."
While chatting, the group returned to the world of Harry Potter.
"A Time-Turner?"
Ethan had mentioned this item before, but no one really knew what it was. Judging by the name, they could only guess that it was related to time.
Besides training Shirou, Ethan had also been researching the power of time. He often experimented with some pile of monster flesh and blood from who-knows-which world. Watching him conduct those experiments was rather unsettling, like a mad scientist performing dark rituals.
"Yes, a Time-Turner."
In fact, he could have obtained one last semester through Snape's connections, since the Time-Turner wasn't a one-of-a-kind artifact in this world. There had been a whole stockpile of them, though they were later destroyed.
It could be said that if that entire batch of Time-Turners hadn't been destroyed, then no matter what happened afterward, those events could have been reversed using this overpowered tool. In that case, the Harry Potter series might as well have been renamed The Flash.
Back then, Ethan still had a lot of magical knowledge to learn, so the Time-Turner wasn't urgent. He could afford to wait.
Besides, he knew that even without asking for one, Hermione had likely already received this cheat item from Professor McGonagall and signed up for every elective course, clearly determined to be top of the class.
"How did you solve the issue of your physical appearance?"
"I just used some illusion magic."
Ethan's body hadn't completely stopped growing. After absorbing some energy from the Land of Shadows, being able to draw energy from the magic dimension normally, and even discovering that magic stones could be eaten like snacks to fully replenish his body, his physical development had progressed somewhat.
Compared to ordinary people, though, the rate was still incredibly slow. If he looked like a ten-year-old when he first transformed into a divine body, he now looked around eleven, almost twelve.
Fortunately, Ethan's height was considered tall among his peers, so blending in with thirteen or fourteen-year-olds wasn't too conspicuous.
After returning to the Harry Potter world, they quickly unpacked, got their new school schedules, and went to Diagon Alley to buy their books and supplies. Everything went smoothly.
The Harry Potter world remained peaceful in the years before the main plot began. Although Voldemort's loyal followers were secretly scheming, most of the events revolved around children and didn't threaten the world at large.
So as long as they avoided Harry, this was a peaceful magical world where they could attend a school that taught real magic.
Even if they got involved with Harry and became part of the plot, most of the troubles were minor and easily dealt with.
However, starting in the later years, things became messier. The scope of the plots surrounding Harry kept expanding, and more people were dragged in.
The identities of those involved became increasingly diverse, especially due to the chaos within the Ministry of Magic. Clear issues were made unnecessarily complicated by the incompetence of supposed allies.
Originally, this had nothing to do with Ethan. According to his plan, he would learn everything he needed in two years. At worst, he could just copy all the material into his Book of Inheritance and study it later.
But the Ministry of Magic's foolishness left Ethan speechless. Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban. To pursue him, and considering his ties to Harry, the Ministry used the excuse of protecting Hogwarts students to deploy a large number of Dementors around the school.
As the train approached the Dementors' perimeter, Ethan and his group immediately sensed their aura.
"What a disgusting presence."
Dementors were ghost-like magical creatures. Ethan immediately recognized them as pure energy entities filled with negative energy. Being made of energy, they were almost impossible to destroy. In this world, the usual way to repel them was the Expecto Patronum charm.
"I really wonder how the Ministry of Magic would explain it if the Dementors actually killed a few students."
Deploying a bunch of uncontrollable magical creatures around the school, even to catch Sirius, was just unbelievably stupid.
Just as Ethan was mulling over this absurdity, the train suddenly stopped.
If he remembered right, this was the part of the plot where Harry is attacked by a Dementor, and Professor Lupin, resting in the same compartment, steps in and saves him. That's why Harry later asked him to teach the Patronus Charm.
"A few of them got into the train."
Originally, this had nothing to do with Ethan and the others. They could've just stayed quietly in their compartment. But after looking around, he realized that Rin and Leah weren't there.
"Where did those two go?"
"Seems like they went to find Hermione?"
Unlike the others pretending to be kids, Leah and Rin were closer to Hermione's actual age, so it was easier for them to bond with her.
"..."
Ethan rubbed his temples. Something that initially had nothing to do with him now clearly did.
He stood up, opened the compartment door, and stepped into the corridor.
There wasn't a soul in sight. He quickly located the two and also sensed that a Dementor was heading toward their compartment.
"Great. Looks like this can't be avoided."
Ethan moved quickly, pulling out his wand along the way. Using a wand would make things look more normal.
At least, that was what he thought. When Ethan arrived at the compartment where Harry and the others were, a Dementor was just about to lunge at Leah, who happened to be shielding Harry. Ethan raised his wand and cast the specific spell used to deal with Dementors: Expecto Patronum.
A brilliant white light burst from his wand, flooding the entire compartment with radiance. The warmth contained in the light completely dispelled the bone-chilling cold brought by the Dementor.
But that wasn't all. After the light engulfed the Dementor, it didn't merely repel it. The glow condensed into a massive dragon of white light. It let out a roar, grasped the Dementor in its claws, and opened its jaws wide.
A soul-piercing shriek escaped from the Dementor, but it couldn't escape. Ethan's Patronus held it tightly.
"Eat it."
As if giving a pet a command, Ethan's wand pulsed with even brighter light. The Dementor was brutally torn apart and devoured by the dragon of white light.
At that moment, Lupin, who had already awakened in Harry's compartment, was about to intervene. But upon seeing this scene, he stood frozen in place, wand raised, eyes wide in disbelief.
Everything he knew about Dementors had just been shredded and consumed before his eyes.
Harry and Ron were completely confused about what had just happened. Only Hermione, the studious one, seemed to grasp something. She glanced at Ethan, who had cast the spell.
"Is this guy really from an ordinary family like me... and just a lower-year student in the same class?"
(To be continued.)