Flopping down at the Slytherin long table in the Great Hall, Sean let out a breath and immediately began to eat heartily with his knife and fork. After writing for a whole afternoon, he had only managed to complete less than an inch of his paper, a task that consumed brain cells comparable to attending a Potions Club class. Sean was truly starving at this point.
Blaise, sitting opposite Sean, shook his head helplessly and said, "I've finally seen what it's like for someone to be more tired after an exam than before."
"I can't help it. The paper Professor Snape asked me to write… uh…" Sean was choked by the food in his mouth halfway through his sentence. He quickly patted his chest a few times and drank a large gulp of pumpkin juice before finally swallowing the food. Then he let out a breath and continued, "The paper he asked me to write is very important, and the requirements are very high. If I want to finish it quickly, I have to spend a lot of time working on it."
"Speaking of which," Blaise asked, leaning forward with interest, "the paper your Head of House asked you to write, can it really be published in The Golden Cauldron?"
"He didn't say for sure, but there's a possibility."
A look of reverence appeared on Blaise's face, partly for the journal The Golden Cauldron and partly for Sean, his good friend.
Seeing Blaise's expression, Sean grimaced and said with great distaste, "Don't make that face at me, it's a bit disgusting. I'm still eating."
"But it's The Golden Cauldron! The most prestigious journal for potions! A journal my mother subscribes to every month! My good friend can actually publish articles in The Golden Cauldron now!"
Shaking his head with a chuckle, Sean said, "Can you be normal? It's not even certain if it will happen. Maybe what I wrote isn't good, and they won't even accept it. Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself with your exclamations?"
"I just think it's amazing that you and I are both only in our first year, yet you've already started to reach this level."
"I told you, it was just a coincidence."
Chuckling, Blaise said no more, but the smile that Sean found somewhat disgusting remained on his face. It made Sean, who could normally eat a whole roasted chicken, only manage to eat most of one before feeling full.
After eating his somewhat late lunch, Sean originally wanted to go outside for a walk and get some fresh air. However, when he arrived at the small garden outside Hogwarts, he happened to see Snape threatening Harry.
Sean didn't know if his Head of House wanted to use threats to make Harry back down, thereby protecting Harry's safety and preventing him from getting involved in Quirrell's two-faced affair, or if he simply wanted to threaten Harry to satisfy his own wicked pleasure and vent some frustration. Perhaps it was a bit of both.
His Head of House's attitude towards Harry was truly contradictory.
On one hand, he never showed a good face; sarcasm and verbal abuse were commonplace. On the other hand, he was willing to pay any price, even his own life, for Harry's safety.
Thinking of this, Sean couldn't help but sigh. No matter what, his Head of House had been truly good to him. No matter what, he didn't want to see Snape die by Nagini's fangs again. He had suffered his whole life; it would be better for his Head of House to live a long and peaceful life.
Sean watched as Harry and the other two lowered their heads and left the small garden, returning to Hogwarts Castle. He knew that, barring any accidents, tonight would be when they went to pass the challenges to protect the Philosopher's Stone. With a plan in mind, Sean stopped observing Harry and his friends and walked directly towards his Head of House.
"Professor, I've finished more than half of the paper. I should be able to give it to you to check tomorrow or the day after."
"Be careful," Snape said without turning around. "I don't want to see a paper that is fast but full of errors."
"No problem, you can rest assured."
Without much further conversation, Snape left, dragging his billowing robes behind him.
Sean watched Snape leave, then continued to stroll around outside for a couple of rounds to relax before returning to the library, which was now mostly empty, to continue writing his paper.
After dinner, Sean returned to his room, claiming to be tired, and closed the door, pretending to sleep.
After adding some snake food to Kulkan, who was still sleeping, Sean changed into a light outfit and soft-soled sports shoes. He put a pouch containing nine potions on his lower back, then cast the Disillusionment Charm and left the common room, heading towards the room on the fourth floor where Fluffy was kept.
Along the way, Sean didn't encounter anyone.
After dinner, most students would choose to chat and play in the common room, so there were very few people outside. As for ghosts, they weren't wandering the corridors either. The only one he might potentially run into was Peeves, but that poltergeist had a deep-seated fear of the Slytherin ghost, the Bloody Baron, so he rarely bothered Slytherin students. Therefore, Sean wasn't afraid of Peeves.
He walked directly to the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor and saw the door, which was already ajar. Sean could clearly hear the huge, multi-layered panting coming from inside, as well as a very muffled roar. It was clear that the three-headed dog, Fluffy, behind the door was awake at this time.
Fortunately, I came prepared.
Taking out a music box from his pocket, Sean carefully slid the opened music box through the crack in the door. When he heard the heavy panting subside into a faint snoring sound from inside, Sean held his wand, opened the door, looked at the sleeping Fluffy, walked directly to the trapdoor, opened it, and jumped down.
His feet landed on something soft, and Sean knew he had landed on the Devil's Snare. Before the plant could extend its vines to entangle him, light burst from Sean's wand, immediately causing the Devil's Snare to recoil outwards, allowing Sean to fall straight down.
Using the Levitation Charm to slow his descent, Sean used the light from his wand to look at the scattered burnt Devil's Snare vines and several footprints of varying sizes on the ground. He immediately knew that Harry and his friends had already been here.
I rushed as fast as I could, thinking I was early, but did I arrive late? I just hope it's not too late.
Otherwise, it doesn't matter if the plan was for nothing, but losing this great opportunity to fleece Voldemort would be too regrettable.
With this thought, Sean hurried forward.
Seeing the winged key stuck in the door and lock, Sean waved his wand to block the attacks of the other keys, reached out, opened the door, and walked straight in, arriving at a large wizard's chessboard. Sean saw Ron lying on the side. He immediately walked over, checked on him, and confirmed that he was fine before continuing through the passage.
After only a couple of steps, Sean saw Harry and Hermione, who had just passed through the troll's room and were about to enter the potions room!
***********
✨ 300 gems = 1 bonus chapter
✨ 500 gems = another bonus chapter
Get access to advanced chapters at my P@treon.
[email protected]/meowthtl