▬▬▬ CHAPTER THIRTY TWO ▬▬▬

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

LARVVIE HAS MADE A READING ALETHEIA BOOK SO GO CHECK IT OUT!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Anyways, I was not expecting so much Ethan love last chapter, I honestly thought ya'll would hate him for the oath he tricked Sirius into agreeing to... Like, I tried to write Sirius in a way that you'd sympathize for him, but damn... 😂😂😂

You guys are gonna love this chapter 😃

ALSO, I GOT SO MANY MEMES OMG! I HAD TO MAKE AN EXTRA CHAPTER BECAUSE I REACHED THE TWENTY IMAGE LIMIT SO GO TO THE NEXT PART FOR MORE MEMES ONCE YOU'RE FINISHED READING!

IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF April when Harry and his friends were finally pulled out of Hogwarts and were allowed to return home for the remainder of the year. They met up with Cedric's parents at the Hogwarts Express, where Amos stiffly greeted his son and didn't bother to look at Harry's direction. Neville's grandmother was there as well wearing the most proudest smile she had ever worn, loudly praising Neville for his bravery and heroic actions while being completely oblivious to her grandson's pallid skin and sunken eyes.

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were picked up by several Order members—Tonks and Remus.

"Hey," Tonks smile was oddly nervous as she greeted them.

"How's Sirius' case going?" Harry went straight to the point.

Both adults winced, which wasn't very reassuring.

"There's been... a new development," she said slowly.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Harry," Remus spoke up next. "We'll talk about it once we reach the house, alright? We shouldn't talk about it out here."

The kids shared a worried look, but nodded their heads and kept their mouths shut even throughout the cab ride to 12 Grimmauld Place. But once they stepped out of the vehicle, Harry couldn't hold it in anymore.

"What's going on?" He asked as he grabbed some of the luggage from the trunk.

Remus took a deep inhale before closing it shut. "Um, well..."

"How's the case going?"

"It's going fine," he answered stiffly.

"Then what's going on? Why do you look so nervous for?" He pressed on.

"Did something happen?" Ginny asked warily. "Does it... does it have anything to do with all these people dropping dead recently?"

"No," Tonks reassured, before wincing. "Or well... Never mind. We've got some people staying over. Like my parents, and, um..."

They glanced at each other.

"Don't tell me it's Snape," Ron moaned.

"No," Remus shook his head. "Essie's boyfriend actually."

"What?" Hermione's jaw dropped. "You brought him here?! But—but he's a muggle!"

"Not really," he said.

"What do you mean? Essie said—"

"—We'll explain later, just get inside the house." Remus sighed once more. The kids grabbed their things before following after the ex-Professor into the house, Tonks trailing behind them to make sure nothing was amiss in the neighborhood.

Harry had no idea what was going on anymore. What was Esmerelda's supposedly muggle boyfriend doing in Grimmauld Place? Did she break the Statute of Secrecy and told him about the wizarding world? And what did Remus mean that he wasn't 'really' a muggle? Was he a wizard then?

He knew he'd probably get his answers later, but the curiosity was burning him.

When they walked into the dark manor, Mrs. Weasley was the first person to greet them as usual.

"Welcome back," she flashed them all a wide smile before rushing forward to give each child a hug.

"Mum, what's this about Essie's boyfriend being here?" Ron asked when they pulled away.

Her face fell into nervousness and there was even a bit of terror that could be seen in her eyes. "O-oh, um, well... He's... helping. With the case I mean."

"But isn't he a muggle?" Harry was bewildered. "Hold on, how is he even helping us? He's a kid too, isn't he?"

"It's—"

"—It's difficult to explain, Harry," Remus said patiently. "We'll talk about what's going on to everyone, alright? Just wait until tonight, after dinner. Dumbledore will be coming over as well."

"Dumbledore's coming?" Harry's eyes widened.

Before anyone could reply, Ron exclaimed, "Where's Essie's boyfriend anyways? He's here in the house, right?"

The room seemed to have gone quiet. Tonks swallowed thickly before quietly creeping out of the foyer to the living room, leaving Remus and Mrs. Weasley to try and figure out an answer.

"He's... here." Was all Remus could say.

Ginny gave the pair a weird look. "Well... can we meet him?"

"No," Remus said quickly, like he couldn't hold it in anymore. He gulped audibly before speaking again, "I mean, we're not forbidding you from meeting him, he's just... busy with things."

"With Sirius' trial right?" Hermione asked. "Maybe we can help him?"

"Absolutely not!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly snapped, giving them all firm looks, but the terror in her eyes was still there. "He's down in the—in the cellar with Kreacher. Do not bother him. Don't even go near that area, do you hear me? Leave the boy alone with his... w-work."

Her voice noticeably wavered at the word 'work' which made the kids shoot each other uneasy looks. Mrs. Weasley seemed pretty frightened of Esmerelda's boyfriend, and they had no idea why since Esmerelda always spoke such amazing things about him and how 'sweet' and 'cute' he was. From the description they were given, it didn't seem to make sense as to why Mrs. Weasley—no, everyone else—seemed so disturbed by him.

"You kids should go upstairs and unpack," Remus plastered on a tight smile. "Dinner will be ready in a few hours."

The kids climbed up the stairs, muttering to themselves.

"Wonder why they reacted like that," Ron said. "They seemed seriously afraid of the bloke. He can't be that bad, right?"

Ginny snorted, "Please, Essie once told me that he spent a whole day trying to learn how to do a waterfall braid for her. That doesn't exactly scream 'bad'."

"You know what I just realized...?" Hermione said in a low voice. "Has... has she ever told us what his name was?"

They all fell quiet.

"No, she hasn't," Harry frowned. In fact, sometimes he could recall her trying to change the subject every time the topic of his name would come up. But still... "It's weird, but probably not that big of a deal. Everyone in Hogwarts is nosy, she was probably worried we might accidentally tell someone or there were eavesdroppers around."

Wizards could be cruel towards muggles, sometimes without even realizing it, so he could understand why she was so desperate to keep his name under wraps.

Once he reached his room and began to unpack, his mind began drifting more and more to Esmerelda's mysterious boyfriend. Esmerelda used to gush on and on about the guy and say the sweetest things, so Harry could easily tell that they loved each other.

And then his stomach sank. Was he aware of how she really died? Did he blame him for his death too? Did he hate him?

Suddenly he didn't seem so eager to meet him anymore. Unfortunately for him, they would have to meet each other during dinner... His stomach churned at the thought of it. He didn't think he could bear to see any of Esmerelda's other loved ones. Seeing Sirius' reaction to her death was hard enough, he knew Esmerelda's boyfriend was going to be just as bad.

As he was putting his clothes away into a dresser, he heard a pair of muffled voices right outside the door. Quietly, he crept forward and pressed his ear against it, the voices growing a little more clearer.

"—dude would you please stop hurting yourself?" An exhausted voice said.

Harry's eyes widened. The guy outside spoke with an American accent.

This must be Esmerelda's boyfriend, he realized. He pressed his ear closer to listen.

"My lord," a familiar voice sobbed.

Kreacher...! Harry's nails dug into his palm, a burning rage festering within him. Kreacher had lied to him that fateful day by tricking him into believing that Sirius was out of Grimmauld Place. If he hadn't believed him, then Esmerelda might still be alive today.

"Kreacher is sorry, my lord," the damned house elf wailed. "But Kreacher deserves punishment for what he has done to Lady Esmerelda!"

Loud whacking sounds could be heard, as if Kreacher was punching himself in the face.

"Stop hurting yourself," the other voice ordered curtly. "And no, you don't deserve punishment. That's reserved for somebody else..." He trailed off, his voice going dark with malicious intent.

Me, Harry thought, feeling his heart nearly burst out of his chest from how frantically it was racing. This guy did not sound anything similar to the 'super cute and super sweet boy' Esmerelda used to gush about. No, he sounded angry, furious, and rightfully so.

"Now can you go get me the rest of the law books at the library?" The guy asked him once the punching sounds stopped. "I need to read as many of them as I can get. The way law works here is so dumb. I've never seen a justice system so fucked up before and I've met the gods."

Harry had no idea what he meant by that last part, but Kreacher was already replying.

"Yes, my lord. Kreacher will be back." And with a snap, the elf was gone.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence. Harry was just about to pull away until he heard the boy's footsteps creep closer... and closer... and closer... until they stopped right outside the door.

He froze, only for his body to snap out of it once he registered he temperature of the sun resting at his back. Slowly, he turned around. Over at the other side of the room was the window. The drapes were pulled back, allowing the setting sun to enter the room and for shadows to be formed—

No, he thought, ice running through his veins when he looked down. His shoes had cast a shadow that ran through the gap under the door. He knows! He knows I'm here! He knows I've been listening!

He scrambled away from the door but the damage had already been done. He backed away until he bumped into the bed, cursing the startled yelp that escaped his lips that the boy on the other side most definitely heard.

He stared, his eyes as wide as saucers, at the gap under the door where he could see the dark outline of a pair of shoes. His heart was beating so fast it could almost burst from his chest. What was he waiting for? Why was he still outside? Was he waiting for him to open the door and apologize?

He had no idea how much time passed, but several moments later, the shadowy outline disappeared and he heard the boy walking away until he heard the sound of a door being closed.

It took him what felt like forever to finally calm down. He quickly tried to finish unpacking the rest of his stuff in hopes to distract himself from what just happened.

(It didn't work.)

Once he was done unpacking, he spent the rest of his time sitting at the edge of his bed staring off until he heard the knock on the door.

He nearly shit himself, immediately thinking it was Esmerelda's boyfriend.

"Harry!" That was Ginny's voice. "Mum's got dinner ready! Come on!"

"Coming," he said, stumbling out of the room.

Everybody was already outside waiting for him. Hermione, for some odd reason, looked eager to get downstairs.

"We'll finally get some answers," was what she said when he asked.

"Weird things have been going on around here," Ginny noted, understanding the sentiment. "I went downstairs an hour ago and saw Tonks and her parents and even they looked uncomfortable about something. It's creeping me out."

"Probably got something to do with what they want to tell us after dinner," Ron frowned, shifting on his feet a little. "Maybe it's about what happened to the Death Eaters..."

They all did a collective shudder at that. The Daily Prophet reported the gruesome murders of the Death Eaters who had attacked the Ministry on February 14th; all of them were brutally killed save for Lucius Malfoy who had been knocked out. The Auror who was transported them hadn't been killed thankfully, but was able to describe the murderer as a male who was in his late teens to early twenties, East Asian, tall, and with an eye patch over his left eye. He also went by the name Ethan Orihara, but there was a chance the name was fake.

"Or maybe something's gone wrong with Sirius' case." Hermione added worriedly.

Everyone was looking at Harry for his input, but Harry was hardly paying attention because while Ron was talking, the door to Esmerelda's old room opened and out stepped her boyfriend.

Everyone turned to look... and their faces became a couple shades whiter.

Meanwhile, Harry felt like fainting because this was not how he pictured Esmerelda's boyfriend to look like. He expected someone as sweet and cheery as her, with a bright beaming smile who probably had a thing for flowers or baking.

In reality, Esmerelda's boyfriend was terrifying.

Ron was probably thinking the same thing because a feeble noise could be heard in the back of his throat, and he even started to inch behind the girls as if to shield himself.

Not that Harry could blame him. The sight of Esmerelda's boyfriend made him want to run back into his room and hide under the bed.

With the way Esmerelda described him, Harry had pictured him to be like a of boy-next-door sort of person; with a boyish smile, dimples, a sweet personality, and maybe even a fondness for floral patterned shirts. He probably used his 'please' and 'thank you's too, held the door open for strangers, and even helped the elderly cross the street.

Seeing how he looked right now, Harry's previous image shattered right before his eyes. In reality, Esmerelda's boyfriend looked like the type of guy whose face would be plastered all over 'MOST WANTED' posters and Harry honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was banned in a bunch of other countries.

The guy was around Ron's height, but built more sturdier and wore a glare that could kill. He had sharp features that seemed to only heighten the cruelty he radiated with, and Harry noted with a shiver that he looked far more bloodthirsty than any Death Eater he ever met. The 'adorable smile' that Esmerelda seemed to gush on about was nonexistent since his face seemed to be permanently set to a murderous glare. He even wore an eye patch over his left eye—and although he vaguely remembered Esmerelda talking about him missing an eye, he couldn't recall how that happened. Did he lose it in an accident? A fight? Did he rip it out himself?

Harry, for the life of him, had no idea how Esmerelda could ever call this demon 'cute' or 'sweet'. There was nothing even remotely positive he could say about the guy and it made him wonder just how shitty her eyesight had to have been to call this demon cute or sweet.

This was her type?! He thought in horror. He looks like he belongs in Azkaban!

And then he spotted the familiar ring dangling around the his neck and the fear of the boy's rage came back because if her boyfriend truly hated him for causing Esmerelda's death than Harry might as well call himself a dead man. He may have had a wand, but something told him he wouldn't ever survive a fight against this guy.

(Unfortunately, had he been less scared, he would've noticed the fuzzy dog slippers the boy was wearing.)

Hermione recovered first.

"W-w-who are you?" She managed to utter out.

"Ethan," he said in a monotone voice. "Can you guys move over? You're blocking the way to the stairs and I'm starving."

"Are you—are you Sirius' lawyer?" Ron's voice came out in an embarrassing squeak.

That was when Harry noticed the thick book the boy was holding in his hand. He was pretty sure it had something to do with wizarding law.

The boy—Ethan—looked irritated by the question, or maybe he was just getting really annoyed by the way they were still blocking the hall.

"Yes," he said, clearly irked. "Now can you guys just—"

"—Hold on," Hermione said in a voice that indicated that she had just realized something. "Ethan? We've—we've met haven't we? You and Essie ran into my parents and I at Diagon Alley and... and..."

Ethan just gave her a bored look as she took her time to try and piece it together.

"Oh Merlin," she looked like she could throw up. "You were the one who kidnapped her back in second year!"

There was a tense silence as everyone's eyes widened in surprise. Harry's brain was running a mile a minute trying to recall where he had seen this boy before.

And then he remembered it. Years ago, before they began their second year, he and the Weasleys met Esmerelda and her best friend Ethan back at Diagon Alley... He looked back at the older boy's face, seeing the resemblance between him and the kid he met so longer ago.

Esmerelda... dated her kidnapper? He felt sick just thinking that. He thought back to all the times she would fondly speak of him and felt even more sickened. How could she give him such praises after he had done something so heinous to her? Had he brainwashed her? Abused her to the point that Stockholm Syndrome sunk in?

Ethan, however, didn't seemed too concerned by their realization.

"Y-y-you're the killer too!" Ron looked like he might pass out. "You murdered those Death Eaters!"

Harry froze, realizing that Ron was right. He thought back to the description the Auror gave of the boy who knocked him out and murdered all but one Death Eater—and Ethan fit that description to a tee.

"Do you want a gold sticker?" He said sarcastically. "Now seriously, can you guys move already? Or do I have to throw you all down the stairs 'cause I'm fine with doing that."

They all pressed themselves against the wall and allowed him to pass by. Ethan didn't even bother to give them a 'thanks' before walking away.

Once they were sure he was finally gone, Ginny spoke up, shooting Hermione a panicked look, "You were joking about the kidnapping thing, right?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm a 100% serious. That's the boy who broke into Hogwarts and kidnapped Essie back in our second year. And if Ron's right—which I'm sure he is—then he's the murderer the Daily Prophet's talking about too."

"How the bloody hell did he go from Essie's kidnapper, to her boyfriend, to a Death Eater killer, and now to suddenly being Sirius' lawyer?!" Ron cried out in a small voice.

Nobody had an answer to give him, but they were certain the Order knew more than they let on, so they shuffled down to the dining room where everyone was waiting for them.

A good majority of the Order was there along with the Tonks family. Kingsley was cutting away at a steak after giving Harry a nod of greeting, the Weasley twins were back home wearing polished suits for once, even Professor McGonagall and Snape were at the table, and Harry saw with satisfaction that Ethan was sitting across the latter, glaring into the man's very soul. What made it all the better was that Snape actually looked uneasy by him.

The only people missing were Dumbledore, who would arrive sometime after dinner... and Sirius, who was unable to come for obvious reasons.

It was clear to Harry that a seating arrangement had been made in secret, because the only vacant seats left for the kids were on the other side of the table, far, far away from Ethan, who was surrounded by strong, able wizards like Professor McGonagall, Kingsley, Snape, and Moody.

(Not that Harry minded. He was actually grateful to be seated so far away from him.)

Kreacher walked into the room, carrying a tray full of food.

"My lord," he addressed Ethan with as much reverence as he gave Esmerelda. "Kreacher has prepared you a cheesy chicken schnitzels with silverbeet slaw. And for dessert, a berry pavlova."

"Thank you, Kreacher," Ethan said with more respect than he had ever given anyone in the house.

Harry watched the scene in bewilderment. Why was Kreacher treating Ethan of all people like he was royalty? Sure he was Esmerelda's boyfriend but he was a muggle and Kreacher hated muggles!

In the corner of his eye, he could see a couple other people gawking at them too.

Once Ethan's plates and drink were set on the table, Kreacher gave him a low bow and walked away, but not before giving everyone else a disgusted sneer.

Dinner was... tense and very quiet thanks to Ethan's presence. He couldn't believe they were actually having dinner with a kidnapper and a murderer—who was apparently also Esmerelda's childhood friend and boyfriend. Fred and George, who had no idea what was going on, kept trying to shoot Ginny and the trio questioning looks, which they shook their heads at.

Harry would occasionally glance over at Ethan's direction. He didn't seem to care about how uncomfortable he was making everyone, simply eating his food and drowning his drink. When he was done, he had Kreacher take his plate away before pulling out his wizarding law book—which had been bookmarked with some files—to read while indulging on his dessert.

Everyone was done eating now, and they were just waiting around for Dumbledore. It was getting harder for Harry to keep silent because he just had so many questions running through his mind like what the hell was going on and why the fuck was Esmerelda's kidnapper-turned-boyfriend here?

There was a fwoosh! sound as Dumbledore finally appeared from one of the fireplaces and met up with them in the dining room. Everyone greeted him quietly save for Ethan, who was still enjoying his pavlova.

"Good evening everyone, and good evening to you too, Ethan," he said.

Ethan just grunted in reply before turning to the next page.

"Can we get this started with already?" Moody growled impatiently. "I want to know what happened back at the Ministry and how this boy managed to find Peter Pettigrew before any of us could!"

Harry turned to Ethan in surprise. He found Peter Pettigrew?! That could help do wonders for Sirius' trial!

"We'll get to it, Alastor," Dumbledore said before taking a seat. "Ethan, would you like to explain from the very beginning?"

Ethan shot the older man an annoyed look before giving them the most blandest explanation he ever heard—with his mouth full of pavlova and everything: "The gods are real and your wizarding world was made by Hecate."

There was nothing but silence.

"E-excuse me?" Hermione said, and Harry had no idea if it was because she was shocked or she genuinely couldn't understand him clear enough since the guy's mouth was still full.

Ethan swallowed down his pavlova before taking a few gulps of water. He repeated what he said in a painfully bored voice: "The gods are real. Hecate, the goddess of magic and also Essie's mother, granted mortals the ability to wield magic around a thousand or so years ago and that's how you guys were created. Get it now?"

"That..." Moody began. "Is the biggest pile of—"

"—It is true," Dumbledore said quietly, and it his turn to be gawked at.

"Dumbledore," Mrs. Weasley laughed nervously. "You can't... you can't expect us to believe this..."

"It is true," he repeated more firmly. "And I, along with several members of the Hogwarts staff, Mr. Lupin, and the Tonks family have known it since Esmerelda's second year."

"Since her kidnapping," Ginny said. "Which he committed."

"WHAT?!" Mrs. Weasley blew up.

"She forgave me for it," Ethan shrugged like him being a kidnapper was just a minor offense.

"I think," Remus cut everyone off. "That he should explain things without being cut off. Ethan, you may continue."

"I don't know what else to say," he shrugged. "The gods are real. Either believe it or don't. I don't care. Oh, I'm a son of Nemesis, though."

"That's not—that's just ridiculous!" Hermione spluttered, her initial fear of him fading away for the moment. "The gods died out years ago!"

"I wish," he drawled. "And the gods are immortal, remember? Do you know what that means? It means they never die."

"I know what it means!" She snapped. "But it's just not possible...! Prove it! If you claim to be a demigod then prove it!"

"Hermione..." Ron whispered in warning, looking between her and Ethan as if expecting the boy to get up and start attacking her.

Ethan, however, was more irked than angry.

"Do I look like a show monkey to you? My powers are more subtle than Essie's, as in they have no physical manifestation. But if you want, I can ruin your life if you're so desperate for your evidence. As the son of Nemesis I have the ability to twist your life around, either positively or negatively and unfortunately for you, I'm not in a generous mood." He gave her a cold sneer that could put Voldemort's to shame.

Hermione could no longer speak, her fear coming back.

"Please do not threaten my students," Dumbledore said sternly.

"Then stop wasting my time," Ethan snapped, and it was the first time Harry had ever seen someone treat the Headmaster with such blatant disrespect. Not even Fudge was this rude to him. "You people were the ones who wanted to have this whole meeting in the first place. Unlike you all, I actually got shit to do."

"I highly doubt a child like you has anything worth doing," Snape scoffed.

"Oh shut up, grease-head, what are you even still doing here anyways? Don't you have a picture of Harry's mom to jack off to?" Ethan snapped.

"What." Harry stared.

Everyone's eyes flew open and Snape turned red in the face, humiliated and horror-stricken.

(A couple seats away, Remus was quietly sipping his tea, trying to hide his grin.)

Ethan gave him a sinister smile, "Yeah, Essie told me all about your pathetic obsession. She also told me about how you like to release your anger out by abusing your own students and—"

"—That is enough!" Dumbledore's voice rose. "This is not what we came to discuss, Ethan, I would like to return to the topic at hand."

"The Greek and Roman gods are real. There's probably even more pantheons out there too," Ethan restated bluntly. "There, you happy now? Do you require more proof? Should I show you all my earring that turns into a sword? Maybe my Celestial bronze knife? I would be happy to stab one of you with it."

Mrs. Weasley seemed to pale at the threat.

"There's got to be a way to prove it that doesn't require bodily harm," Ted said tiredly. "I know some of you here still don't believe it."

"I got it," Remus murmured, pulling out his wand. "Ethan, I'm going to shoot a spell at you."

"Uh huh."

"Are you ready?"

Ethan gave him a deadpanning look in response. Remus took that as a green light and shouted, "Reducto!" It struck Ethan who just flinched back as if he had been burned, but other than that, he was still standing in one whole piece.

"Is that enough?" Ethan asked with a glare, rubbing at his chest where he had been hit.

The nonbelievers stared at him with wide eyes. The spell should've been lethal for him, just like how it would be for anyone else. He should've been reduced to hundreds of little pieces, yet here he was, still standing.

"Demigods are pretty resistant to magic," he muttered. "Especially if it's magic cast by a mortal. Hecate's kids are different though, mortal magic doesn't work on them at all."

Harry's mind went back to February 14 against his will. He remembered trying fruitlessly to stop Esmerelda from bleeding out while Sirius was kneeling beside him, muttering healing spells nonstop, but none of them seemed to work...

"Sirius tried to heal her," he murmured softly, and Ethan's head shot to him. Harry's voice began to waver. "I remember it... He just kept casting all these healing spells but none of them would ever work."

Ethan's jaw clenched before he looked away to address the rest of the wizards. "Do you require any more proof?"

Hermione looked like she was biting back her words.

"Thousands of years ago, the goddess Hecate decided to share her magic with the mortals. So she granted some of them the ability to wield it. That is why you all have magic today. It's all thanks to her, so there's no such thing as Purebloods or muggle-borns. Every single single one of you descended from a regular mortal, or 'muggle' as you call them. Muggle-borns got their ability to wield magic from squibs they were descended from, it didn't come out of nowhere. Understand?" Ethan finished explaining.

"You're telling us... we've got all our magic from some goddess?" Mr. Weasley asked weakly.

"I literally just said that," Ethan groaned. "And technically, you guys weren't given any magic. Your ancestors were given the ability to wield it and it was just passed on to you. There's a difference."

"But why doesn't she—why didn't she help us with Voldemort?" Harry demanded. "Or any dark wizard?"

"Why would she?" Ethan gave him a dull look. "Why would an immortal, all-powerful goddess bother with some mortals? Besides, she abandoned the wizarding world a couple hundred years ago when her demigod son, Merlin, was executed by the Olympic Council."

"Merlin is a demigod?" Fred gawked. "I didn't learn about that in the history books!"

"That's because the gods try to keep mortals from learning of their existence. There's this thing called the Mist—which Hecate also has divine control over—that helps divide the mortal world from the godly one. Anyways, Merlin was the first wizard-demigod hybrid. The gods saw him as a threat so they voted to kill him. He never mysteriously disappeared like your textbooks say."

"I knew our education was useless," George muttered to his brother.

"But you said Essie's a demigod too, and she's a witch," Hermione pointed out. "Why wasn't she... er..."

Ethan's glare darkened at her words. "Oh, they tried to have her executed, but more gods voted to have her spared."

"But—but she's just a child, what sort of threat—" Mrs. Weasley stumbled over her words.

"The word 'child' means nothing to us," he said callously. "So don't bother trying to preach to me about any morals. We know what's fucked up and what isn't. We just don't care. Either that, or we can't do anything about it. I'm sure some of you have already figured that out, right?"

He sent Remus a malicious look which he withered at.

"Now, I know you have some questions about what happened at your Ministry," Ethan continued, and Harry could see the way his hands tightly grasped at the edges of the law book. "What happened back there was an attack from Pasiphaë, an immortal sorceress who I think was once the student of Hecate's. She was working together with one of the Gigantes, Clytius most likely."

"But he was killed," Hermione chimed in. "By Hercules, Dionysus, and Hecate."

Ethan waved her off, "Yeah monsters can't really die in our world. You can kill them, but they always come back, either in a few weeks or several centuries and unfortunately, Gaea brought her kids back in order to help raise her and take over the world. But anyways, the reason why none of you were able to use magic is because Clytius is made to be Hecate's arch nemesis; meaning he can absorb all of Hecate's magic."

Harry remembered the hopelessness he felt when he couldn't as much use a lumos back at that death maze.

"There's another Great Prophecy going on that prophecized nine demigods working together—Greek and Roman—to defeat Gaea and the Giants and saving the world. Essie is—was one of those demigods, which was why they targeted her. Their plan was just to capture and torture Sirius in order to lure Esmerelda in a trap, but they found someone else who had a similar idea, and used that instead, knowing the results would be similar," Ethan continued to explain, and Harry sunk in his seat. "Except they fucked up and now she's... dead."

"They wanted to use her," Harry said quietly. "Do you know what for?"

"No," he answered. "Now any other questions?"

"I have one," Moody growled. "Why are you here?"

Ethan merely rose a brow. "I'm here to prove her uncle's innocence, duh."

"Uncle?" Dumbledore echoed.

"Oh," he said blankly. "I forgot you guys didn't know. Sirius is her uncle, not her dad. Her real dad's Regulus Black who she's been in contact with in the Underworld and was told by him to keep it a secret." He looked over at a pale Snape with a malicious smile. "Looks like you've been abusing her for nothing."

Everyone was stunned, save for the trio, Remus, and the Tonks family. Even Dumbledore blinked in surprise.

"Anything else?" He asked tiresomely, taking the last bite of his pavlova.

"How are you doing with Sirius' case?" Harry asked. "How are you even his lawyer?"

"The way your justice system works is dumb," he said bluntly. "I might have to actually use a little more of my powers for once. But other than that, you don't have to worry. Son of Nemesis, remember? I'm never gonna lose a case. As for your other question, I figured I should probably kill Sirius' actual lawyer and call up Essie's half-sister, Lou Ellen, to disguise me with the Mist to have me look like him once the trial date comes up."

Everyone paled at the casual mention of murder. Harry hoped he was kidding, but from how everyone else looked, he realized the guy was actually serious.

"We do not condone murder here, Mr. Nakamura," Dumbledore said curtly, the twinkle in his eyes gone.

"I don't give a shit about what you condone," Ethan returned swiftly, the atmosphere in the room becoming even more oppressive. "That man isn't a true lawyer anyways, not if he's only doing what the Ministry tells him to. I wouldn't be surprised if he's done it before, so he's honestly better off dead."

It was the most fucked up logic Harry had ever heard. Somewhat understandable, but still fucked up.

"Alright," he said shakily. "And—and what else are you going to do? Like, when the trial actually happens?"

"Usually, I would use security footage from the initial incident where Peter killed those mortals, but I doubt you wizards would bother to trust it given how you treat muggles and their inventions." Ethan said. Several people looked like they wanted to disagree, but he gave them a cutting look that silenced them. "I would also bring in several witnesses, but again, you've got your Statute of Secrecy and wizards like to treat muggles like they're a completely different species, so there would be a shit ton of bias against their accounts. I would also try and use DNA evidence from all the blood to prove that Peter's blood wasn't amongst the crime scene other than a minimal amount from when he sliced his finger off, but I doubt wizards understand basic science."

"We understand basic science!" Hermione protested.

Ethan barely spared her a glance before turning to Snape, "What is the mitochondria?"

Snape didn't answer.

"I rest my case," Ethan deadpanned. "Anyways, my best tactic is to use Peter himself. Everyone believes him to be dead, but if they were to see him alive, it would finally put some doubt in their empty heads."

"We can even use a pensieve to show them the truth," Mr. Weasley suggested.

Kingsley shook his head. "I wouldn't risk it, with all the magic acting up nowadays. Speaking of that, Mr. er, Nakamura, would you know what the cause of that is?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "It's probably Hecate. She controls all magic, so the death of yet another one of her kids is probably making her a bit upset. Gods have the tendency to take their anger out on mortals, so that's most likely what's going on."

"And... you can't ask her to stop?" Professor McGonagall asked weakly.

"Are you all suffering from your magic randomly going haywire?" He asked curiously.

"Yes," several people replied.

"Good," he said, and Harry's jaw dropped at the audacity. "Now back to the case. I won't be needing any magic for this. Peter has... agreed to speak the truth."

"As in, he's agreed to take Veritaserum?" Hermione rose a brow.

He shook his head. "Actually, I just read about that. In the last war when a lot of your precious noble Purebloods were rounded up and suspected of being Death Eaters, the Ministry released a new law forbidding the use of Veritaserum during trials, and conveniently, this was just before Lucius Malfoy's trial."

A lot of heavy sighs could be heard throughout the room.

"So instead of that, I managed to... persuade him to be honest once I put him on the stand," Ethan finished.

Harry remembered Mrs. Weasley's words from when he arrived. She had mentioned something about Ethan doing something in the cellar... He quickly lined up the dots.

"You tortured him," he said shakily, his stomach doing flips. "That's what you've been doing in the cellar."

Ethan just snorted in amusement. "I wouldn't really call it torture. All I had to do was threaten to cut off his arm off and he folded in seconds. I guess Voldy never taught his Death Eaters how to withstand torture."

Harry nearly burst out into hysterical laughter because he called Voldemort 'Voldy', but then his face blanched when he registered the last part.

"How did you manage to find him anyways?" Remus asked.

"I waited at the docks over at Foulness Island where they were transporting the Death Eaters. I intercepted the carriage, knocked out the Auror, killed all of the Death Eaters save for Lucius Malfoy, who agreed to tell me where Peter's been hiding out in exchange for his life. Then I knocked him out."

"So it was you!" Ron cried out, pointing at him with wide eyes.

Ethan gave him an annoyed look and the poor kid withered on the spot.

"How'd you manage to kill a bunch of Death Eaters?" George asked curiously. 

"George!" His mother hissed.

"I stabbed them. Slashed them up. Beheaded them. All that fun stuff," Ethan replied casually.

"Oh..."

"Now is there anything else you want to bug me about? Can I go back to studying or...?" He sent everyone a glare.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, and thank you for... answering our questions."

Ethan gave him a scathing glare before grabbing his book and finally leaving the dining room.

"Cheery fellow, isn't he...?" Fred said in a feeble tone.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Ethan had been in annoying situations before like when he had to teach a beginner's swordfighting class back at camp, or when he had tutor Percy fucking Jackson in basic math, but having to sit there and deal with the wizards' skepticism and questions took the goddamn cake.

No wonder Essie never wanted to tell them anything, he inwardly grumbled. It was a miracle he hadn't killed them yet, and he had to remind himself over and over that these were people Esmerelda cared about (save for Snape, duh), so he had to treat them somewhat decently.

(He thought he treated them pretty good, it wasn't any different to how he would treat anyone else anyways.)

It was already pretty late when the questioning finally stopped, so he tried to squeeze a couple more hours of research before going to bed.

He had decided to stay over at Esmerelda's old room, but that might have been a mistake. Everything reminded him of her—from the shades of purple, the puppy and butterfly engravings on the wood, even looking at the photographs of her deceased father made him think of her. It was comforting and painful at the same time, and he had no idea how that was even possible.

Ethan crawled into her bed and slipped under the covers, eager to go to sleep but not so eager to face his dreams of Esmerelda's haunted smile.

Not like he had much of a choice. When his eye fluttered open, he automatically realized that something was off about this particular dream.

It seemed too detailed, more real than an actual normal dream. He could see the fine lines of the broken columns surrounding him, smell the fresh air and nature, and even feel the wind brushing against his skin.

Where am I? He wondered, glancing around. All he could see was a wide area of Greek ruins, and beyond it were a bunch of hillsides that he could see in the distance.

As his senses started to come to him, his ears picked up the sound of soft crying. It felt like someone had stabbed a knife into his heart because he immediately recognized the voice.

"Essie?" His heart nearly stopped. "Essie, is that you? ESSIE?"

He ran forward, nearly tripping on all the rubble littering the ground as his head turned every which way to look for her.

This was real. Esmerelda must have been brought back to life and he was dreaming about where he could find her. That had to be it. This couldn't be a cruel fantasy that he was dreaming of—please, please, please don't just let this be a cruel fantasy...!

But everywhere he looked, he just couldn't find her. And her cries kept growing louder and louder until it he couldn't take it anymore. He covered his ears and screamed until he finally woke up.

He shot up from his bed, Esmerelda's crying still ringing in his ears until it was soon replaced by the vibrations coming from his phone.

He ignored it, staring down at bed and breathing heavily.

It wasn't real, he realized. Just another stupid fantasy of her being alive.

His phone was still buzzing, so he snatched it from his nightstand and nearly snarled into the phone.

"Who is this?!"

"Ethan," came Nico's broken voice and he froze. "Ethan I can't find her, I can't find my mom, I don't know what to—what to—to—"

"—Nico," he said in alarm, quickly straightening up. "Where—"

"—I looked everywhere!" The boy in the other line cried, pain laced in his voice. "I couldn't find her records, I even killed the skeletal guards and tried to break into Elysium but father stopped me and forced me out of the Underworld again!"

Ethan's face fell. "Nico, I... I don't think she'll be coming back."

"No!" He snarled. "That's not true! She wouldn't abandon me like this! She's coming back, I just need to—I need to find her and help her leave! She's probably lost!"

"Nico..." Ethan said softly. "Essie knows her way around the Underworld—"

"—She's coming back." Nico said through gritted teeth.

He hesitated, before nodding in agreement. "Okay. You're right. Essie's probably just lost, but she'll find her way out on her own, alright? Don't go back to the Underworld, your father's only going to get angrier. Just... just come stay here with me. I'm over in Britain now—Grimmauld Place. Has Essie told you about it?"

"She has," Nico mumbled. "But I can't stay with you. I gotta get back to Camp Jupiter. Octavian was already pissed with me asking to leave, if it hadn't been for Reyna stepping in and allowing me..." He trailed off.

Ethan had no idea who either of those people were, but it pissed him off that Nico couldn't even leave when he wanted to and had to ask permission instead.

(He just wanted to take care of the kid gods dammit, because Esmerelda was dead and the only other parent Nico had was Hades who had already kicked him out of the Underworld, like what, twice now? If a custody battle was what the Lord of the Dead wanted then fine by him.)

"Ethan..." Nico said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you in Britain?"

"Does it matter?" His voice came out a little colder than he liked.

Nico stayed silent, worry bubbling his mind amongst the pain. He knew history liked to repeat itself in the cruelest of ways—like when Thalia turned into a tree like Daphne did, or when Clarisse slaughtered the drakon after it killed Silena like what happened with Achilles and Patroclus, or heck, literally every quest Percy had gone on.

He could see it happening now. History was repeating itself once more—Hades had retreated into a cold, cruel shell after his lover had been killed and he took his vengeance out on the closest thing he could blame, the Oracle. The same thing was happening again: Ethan had become callous, cold yet burning with rage all at once now that his lover had been killed, and he was taking his rage out on the closest thing he could blame, though Nico didn't know who.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"...It's Sirius," Ethan mumbled, unable to lie to him.

"Does he really deserve that?"

"Yes," he hissed. "He treated your mother like shit since the war ended! She was always in tears because of him—he would berate her choices, insult her father, insult her, she was so miserable because of him! And he brought her to her death, Nico! He practically handed her off to the enemy on a silver platter! She wasn't even supposed to be killed! They wanted to force her to kill him, but she turned the knife on herself instead! She DIED so HE could live!"

He was breathing heavily by the end of that, and his previous rage coming back to him as tears spilled down the side of his face. He tried to control his breathing, but the pain and hate kept flooding out of him beyond his control. He brought his arm up to cover up his sobs, not wanting Nico to hear him break down even though it was probably too late.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed, clenching his eye shut. "I'm sorry, Nico. I'm sorry..."

He could hear the kid inhale, like he was trying to bite back his own sobs and felt ten times worse about blowing up on him.

"I—" Nico choked out. "It's okay, Ethan..."

"No it's not, I..." He shook his head. "I just..."

"I think we both need to rest," Nico said. "I'll call you another time."

"Yeah, that's fine. Bye..."

The call ended and he dropped his phone on the bed. Things were falling apart faster than ever now that Esmerelda was gone.

Essie, he thought, I don't know where you are, but I hope you're having a better time than the rest of us.

— author's note —

I FEEL LIKE THAT SCENE WITH ETHAN AND THE WIZARDS WAS JUST SO LACKLUSTER??? Like, I know some of you guys were hoping Ethan would mindfuck them with EVERYTHING that demigods go through like the quests, the wars, the mommy daddy issues, etc but I feel like Ethan wouldn't be the type to tell them everything, you know? Just what he feels is necessary, nothing more nothing less.

Also, I find it hilarious that Ethan was such a demon with the wizards but was so 🥺 🥺 🥺 when he was talking to Nico 😂 😂 😂

Essie's description of Ethan:

What Ethan actually is:

Ethan to Snape: Don't you have a picture of Harry's mom to jack off to?

Harry:

Remus:

From Maddie:

From Stink, my beloved memester: 

From actuallyjackie:

Go to the next part for more memes!