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

Chapter 572 - 572 - Loyalty Born from True Friendship

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Knowing my friends well, I was certain they would keep bottling up all those conflicting feelings to themselves — whether out of guilt, worry, shame, or simply the fear of saying something "wrong" to me.

And that, inevitably, would only make their distress grow even more... something I definitely didn't want.

Realising that this stalemate wouldn't resolve itself — and that, in the end, only I could break it — I decided to act.

So, stepping forward, I took a deep breath before speaking:

"Guys..." I called, immediately drawing everyone's attention back to me, "I know it's a bit late to say this, but... I'm sorry for disappearing over the past few days."

As soon as the words left my mouth, they all blinked in surprise.

The Ravenclaws in the room clearly hadn't been expecting such a sudden apology.

Ignoring their surprised looks, and before anyone could interrupt me, I continued:

"I know you were probably worried about me... and also curious to know what really happened in the maze and the graveyard. But after that chaotic day, I didn't show up here even once... I ended up avoiding you."

"In truth, after everything that happened during the third task, I just wanted to spend some time alone with my family... that's why I didn't come to see you."

"But now I'm here. And I sincerely want to apologise to you... to all of you."

As I finished, I lowered my head slightly, with an apologetic expression.

My words were mainly directed at my closest friends — Terry, Anthony, Lisa, Padma, Sue, Stephen... and, with certain reservations, Michael.

Even so, I made sure to cast a brief glance at the other housemates around us, making it clear that the apology extended to them as well.

"H-hey, you don't need to apologise for anything!" Anthony said quickly, waving his hands in a panic.

"He's right, Ethan..." Terry frowned, shaking his head. "You don't need to apologise for that. It's not like you have any obligation to explain yourself to us or show up here whenever we want."

"Exactly!" Sue immediately backed him up, crossing her arms. "After everything you went through, the least you deserved was some rest."

"And honestly, if anyone here had the right to disappear for a few days... it was you," Padma added, with a small, understanding smile.

"Besides, we knew you'd show up eventually," Lisa shrugged. "So there was no point in pressuring you."

Hearing my friends say all that — and feeling the sincerity in their emotions — a smile appeared on my lips before I even realised it.

"Thanks, guys... for being so understanding," I said, genuinely touched.

"Don't thank us. That's the least we should do as your friends," Terry replied, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

"Yeah. What kind of friends would we be if we couldn't even do that?" Anthony added quickly.

"True," Stephen nodded. "So, Ethan, don't worry. We understand why you didn't show up these past few days... And honestly, it was probably for the best."

"I agree," Sue said, making a face. "If it was already a huge mess without you here, it would've been even worse with you around."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" I asked, confused.

"What I mean is that the students in this school have absolutely no sense of privacy or common sense," she replied, crossing her arms with an irritated expression.

"Yeah. You should've seen it," Morag, who was standing nearby, immediately agreed. "Every day there was a crowd of students from the other houses blocking the entrance to our Common Room, just waiting to catch a glimpse of the 'Hogwarts champion who survived a deadly disaster'."

"Unfortunately for them, all they managed to do was waste their own time," Mandy finished for her, with a faintly satisfied smile.

"Uh-hm," Padma murmured in agreement. "Only after the third day without any sign of you — and after Professor Flitwick gave them a stern reprimand — did they finally give up."

"Heh, I still say that if Professor Flitwick hadn't shown up and threatened everyone with weeks of detention, they'd still be there now," Michael scoffed. "And even with him forbidding other students from approaching Ravenclaw Tower, they still tried to find you in other ways."

"Oh, oh!" a red-haired second-year girl raised her hand excitedly. "Like that time some Slytherins tried to bribe the Hogwarts ghosts to look for Ethan!"

"Or when the Gryffindors enchanted a bunch of quills with tracking charms to follow them to him," a tall sixth-year boy added.

He then let out a barely contained laugh. "Unfortunately for those lions, the spell failed for some reason... but that day definitely left its mark on them."

"Yeah. I was passing near their Common Room at the time, and I don't think I'll ever forget Professor McGonagall's shouting," another Ravenclaw commented, torn between amusement and fear.

"She gave the Gryffindors a severe dressing-down, demanding to know why hundreds of quills were flying wildly around their Common Room destroying everything... She was absolutely furious."

"Well... seems like I missed some pretty interesting moments," I said, feeling my lips twitch slightly.

"You have no idea," Sue rolled her eyes. "Those persistent students proved they can be very creative when they really want to."

"You were luck, Ethan. You and the others managed to stay hidden very well," Padma continued, bringing us back to the main point. "No one knew which part of Hogwarts you were in."

"At one point, we even thought you'd left the castle," she tilted her head, looking at me with curiosity.

I could clearly feel the curiosity inherent to Ravenclaw coming from her — and from the others as well.

They were dying to know where I had been hiding with my family over the past few days.

But knowing that it was my secret, they chose not to ask.

They knew that if I wanted to tell them... I would.

"Honestly, Ethan," Stephen continued, "your hiding place was so good that even Peeves didn't know where you were. And that says everything."

"Yeah. Thanks to that, none of the nosy students managed to find you or bother you," Michael said, mockingly.

"Your friends are being modest, Ethan," Isabell cut in, smiling knowingly. "Most of the students who tried to find you were actually stopped or chased off by them."

"That's true," Roger confirmed with an amused smile. "You should've seen it. They didn't let anyone — not even us — go bother you."

"Yeah! If anyone even looked like they were going to go looking for you, they acted immediately," Cho Chang joined in, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Hah, they looked like a mother bird protecting her chick," another student laughed.

After hearing all that, I couldn't help but look at my friends, who immediately looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, it seems Anthony isn't the only one who could've been sorted into Hufflepuff," I joked, though the gratitude in my eyes was genuine.

"Hey!" Anthony protested immediately, blushing slightly.

"Well, if it's to help a friend, I don't see anything wrong with that," Lisa shrugged, though her cheeks were slightly flushed as well.

"Hmph" Michael muttered, crossing his arms, "Just this once I'll let you compare me to Anthony"

"Didn't you mean 'to Hufflepuffs'?" Dylan, Ravenclaw's Keeper, raised an eyebrow.

Our dear snobbish friend shook his head. "Oh, no. Being compared to Anthony is far worse," he replied.

"Hey!" the naive blond protested again, feeling unfairly targeted.

Listening to their seemingly calm and indifferent responses, I simply shook my head, amused.

My friends might be able to fool anyone else... but not me.

I could clearly feel their emotions — embarrassment, pride, shyness... and above all, sincerity.

Even so, as a "serious and mature" group, they refused to show it openly.

In their minds, if anyone saw how kind and considerate they were being, that so-called "reputation" they believed they had — which, honestly, only existed in their own heads — would weaken.

'Bunch of tsunderes,' I thought with affectionate exasperation.

But not wanting to embarrass them any further, I chose not to expose them.

Instead, I brought the conversation back to the main topic.

"Well, guys... anyway, I have to thank you for having my back," I said, looking directly at my friends.

"And also, there's no need to worry about me anymore. As you can see, I'm completely fine."

I slightly spread my arms, as if to reinforce my own words.

"Besides, now that I'm here, I'm ready to answer some of your questions... if you still have any, of course."

As soon as I said that, my friends and several of the Ravenclaws exchanged glances. They realised that this was the moment everyone had been waiting for.

Soon after, they turned back to look at me.

But even with their curiosity practically overflowing, they were still somewhat hesitant.

No one dared to be the first to ask a question — not because they were afraid, but because none of them had any idea where to start.

Of course, there were important questions on everyone's minds... but none of them felt like the right one to begin with.

And so, the silence in the Common Room began to stretch.

The atmosphere, which had been lively just moments before, slowly became somewhat awkward... almost uncomfortable.

These Ravens, known for their ability to ask anything in any situation, now found themselves stuck in a rare impasse.

This time, their sharp tongues and brilliant minds weren't helping them at all.

'Well... now even I'm starting to feel a bit awkward,' I thought, pressing my lips into a thin line.

End.

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