A faint glimmer flickered in the moonlight.
A thread of magic, delicate and nearly invisible, slipped from Ethan Vincent's hand, which had been casually resting at his side. Like a silken strand, it wove itself onto Sean mike back, unnoticed by the boy himself.
Penelope Clearwater, oblivious to the subtle spellwork, didn't bother to exchange further words with Sean. She tugged Ethan closer, raising her wand to cast a Disillusionment Charm over him.
To her surprise, Ethan gently halted her hand.
"No need," he said, flashing a disarming smile. "No need to cast a charm on me, Prefect Clearwater. I appreciate the thought."
"You don't have to worry about me. Go with them."
"But—"
Penelope studied his confident grin and assumed he was simply being stubborn. Exceptional talent often came with towering pride, didn't it? People like Ethan, gifted beyond measure, rarely accepted help, even if it left them at a disadvantage.
Childish, she thought, though not unkindly. He's still just a boy, after all.
With a shake of her head, Penelope tried to persuade him a few more times, but Ethan's resolve didn't waver. She sighed. She'd done all she could. Time was slipping away, and this assessment was critical for her too.
Seeing Ethan's quiet, unshaken demeanor, a pang of sympathy tugged at her heart.
"After the exam, I'll treat you to Honeydukes' sweets," she whispered, leaning down to his level with a comforting tone.
Then, in a bold moment, she pinched his soft, pale cheek. Straightening up, she cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself and hurried to catch up with Sean and the others, who were growing restless.
Ethan rubbed his reddened cheek with a wry expression.
It's been a while since anyone treated me like some innocent kid, he mused. Ever since he'd stopped being… well, ordinary, such moments were rare.
His gaze followed the figures vanishing into the night. "Alright," he murmured, a mischievous glint in his cobalt blue eyes. "Time to get to work."
Time to test the new card.
With a deep breath, Ethan tamped down his excitement and closed his left eye. Darkness swallowed his vision. But within moments, faint clusters of light bloomed in the void, like stars piercing a clouded sky.
At first, the images were hazy, indistinct. But as Ethan channeled his magic, the lights expanded, sharpening into vivid clarity.
Moonlight. The Black Lake. A jagged rock platform jutting from the shore.
And there, crouched upon it, was a massive, hulking shape—layers of stone-like muscle gleaming under the moon's glow. The giant purple toad, its skin shimmering with a metallic violet sheen, guarded the entrance to the cave.
The vision bobbed and swayed, alive with motion.
This wasn't his sight.
It was the perspective of someone—or something—else.
[Name: Eye of the Door]
[Type: Item]
[Grade: Tier 1 · Blue Precious]
[Description: I am watching.]
[Effect: Can connect with one of your eyes, sharing vision; can be controlled as an independent entity within a certain range; can also attach to an external object and move with it]
[Evaluation: Eyes that can stare directly at brilliance must be utterly dark; using this card will automatically cause fear in others, please use with caution]
[This painting is of extraordinary quality and has been automatically added to the gallery]
[Current number of paintings in the gallery: 5]
[Newbie Gift Pack Opening Progress: 5/5]
[Conditions met! Newbie Gift Pack ready to open!]
Meanwhile, on Sean back—hidden beneath a Disillusionment Charm as he skulked in the shadows, casting Hypnotic and Calming Charms alongside his teammates—an eerie sight emerged.
Grumble.
A round, bloodshot eye blinked open.
It looked freshly torn from its socket, veins sprawling across its surface, its pitch-black pupil a void that seemed to pull at the soul.
Yet, tethered to Sean's charm, it flickered into transparency almost instantly, blending into his invisibility.
A Slytherin student trailing behind Sean froze. A chill crawled up his spine, goosebumps prickling his skin.
What… was that?
He blinked, staring harder, but saw nothing. Shaking his head, he dismissed it as a trick of the mind, nerves fraying under the pressure of the assessment. He pressed forward.
Unseen by all, the eyeball swiveled with a wet, gurgling sound, scanning its surroundings with uncanny precision. Far away, Ethan controlled it, the images feeding directly into his closed left eye.
Step by step, the eye ventured deeper into the cave.
The limitation of needing a portal within his line of sight? Gone. The conditions for unlocking the Newbie Gift Pack? Met in one fell swoop.
Still, Ethan wasn't rushing. He'd open the gift pack after this assessment ended in triumph.
Moonlight spilled across the grounds, casting Ethan's solitary figure in a silver glow. To anyone watching, he looked abandoned, almost pitiful, standing alone at the starting point of the competition.
On the stone platform overlooking the Black Lake, Professor McGonagall caught sight of him. Her brow furrowed.
Is Ethan… being ostracized?
She knew this competition would be brutal for him. The others fought as teams—five against twenty. Ethan faced twenty-four alone.
But to see him standing motionless, as if frozen, was unexpected. Had he given up entirely? Was he strategizing, or had he run out of ideas?
Either way, he was falling far behind. Elimination seemed inevitable.
With a quiet sigh, McGonagall turned her attention to the other candidates.
"Freezing the lake's surface with ice magic, then distracting the toad with Transfigured flying fish to glide across—brilliant!" she noted. "Miss Gemma Farley, Slytherin's Prefect, led her team to the cave first. Elegant and efficient."
"Oliver Wood's team from Gryffindor took a creative approach," another professor chimed in. "Transfiguring brooms and enhancing them with a Levitation Charm to soar over the toad—Merlin's beard! Someone's fallen!"
"Sean's team, true to Ravenclaw, used the Disillusionment Charm," McGonagall observed. "Not the fastest, but steady. They all reached the cave without a hitch."
The professors marveled at the students' ingenuity. Even Cedric Diggory, a third-year Hufflepuff, had disguised himself as a toad to slip past the creature—an endearing, if strenuous, effort.
But their attention kept drifting back to Ethan Vincent, still rooted at the starting point.
Half an hour into the assessment, he hadn't moved an inch. Yet there was something… deliberate about him. A quiet intensity, like a hawk surveying its prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The professors exchanged puzzled glances. To succeed, Ethan needed to reach the cave and claim the precious item within. Standing still guaranteed failure.
Finally, their eyes settled on Professor Flitwick, who had championed Ethan's inclusion in the competition.
Flitwick squirmed under their gazes. I'm just an ordinary wizard! How am I supposed to understand Ethan Vincent's mind?
His heart twisted with worry. He hoped this wouldn't scar the boy.
At the starting point, Ethan's lips curled into a sly smile, his half-closed eyes glinting with mischief.
They're there.
The vision in his mind shifted—from the lake's surface to a cavern of jagged stone pillars.
Oh, Sean, you think you're so clever. Rush toward that victory you're so sure of.
And I'll rip it right out of your hands.
What a cooperative, team-building competition this is.
A low, eerie chuckle escaped Ethan's lips, his cobalt blue eyes gleaming with anticipation and wicked delight.
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