"Harry, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Sean. I'm really sorry I couldn't help you when you were fighting Tom Riddle earlier."
Sean shook his head at Harry's words. He had never blamed Harry—not from the beginning, not at any point. With Harry's current strength, there was no way he could have participated in the battle between Sean and Tom. If anything, his involvement might have disrupted Sean's rhythm.
In his first and second years, Harry hadn't met any good teachers, and as a result, hadn't received proper instruction in Defense Against the Dark Arts—his best subject. Naturally, his strength hadn't developed much. But in his third year—next year—Harry would meet Professor Lupin, a truly qualified Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. By then, his abilities would improve significantly.
"Harry, how are Hermione and Ron?"
Harry's face lit up the moment Sean mentioned Hermione and Ron. He immediately replied, "Professor Sprout has already cultivated the mandrakes and started brewing the potion. They'll recover in just two days."
"What about the diary?"
At the mention of the diary, a mischievous grin appeared on Harry's face. He looked at Sean and said, "I returned the diary to Mr. Malfoy—and I slipped a sock into it to free Dobby, the Malfoys' house-elf. It's a pity you didn't see his face, Sean. It was hilarious."
Sean gave a slight nod as he looked at Harry. It seemed some things hadn't changed—Harry still managed to give Malfoy a lesson, and not a small one. While the loss of a house-elf wasn't a significant blow to the Malfoy family, the real sting came from the insult to their pride.
Sean and Harry chatted for a while, and soon Blaise, Andy, Jason, and the others heard that Sean had woken up and rushed over. When Harry saw Sean's Slytherin friends arriving, he quickly said goodbye and left. Just as Blaise and the others disliked Harry, Harry—as a Gryffindor—wasn't fond of them either. They simply weren't the same kind of people, and there was no need to pretend otherwise.
After Harry left, Sean looked toward Jason first and asked, "Jason, did my grandfather give you any trouble?"
As Sean's follower, Jason was technically responsible for protecting him. But this time, when such a big incident occurred, Jason hadn't been involved at all. Sean was naturally concerned that Gideon might have given Jason a hard time over it.
Jason looked at Sean, a hint of guilt on his face. He shook his head and replied, "Lord Gideon didn't make things difficult for me. He just sent someone to tell me that since I'm your follower, I should follow your orders, and he won't interfere.
But even if Lord Gideon hadn't said anything, I still feel I let you down. I should've been standing in front of you, but I was nowhere to be found. That won't happen again."
Looking at Jason, Sean waved his hand immediately. "That's not necessary. There's really no great danger inside Hogwarts. You—"
Before he could finish, Sean caught the strange expressions on Blaise and Andy's faces. Realizing what he'd just said, he coughed lightly and continued, "Well… these past two years might've been a bit of an exception. But normally, Hogwarts isn't that dangerous. Besides, we're in different years, so it's not always convenient. You don't need to feel guilty or anything. Just follow my lead—that's enough."
Next, Sean turned to Andy and asked about his business.
With full support from both Sean and Blaise, Andy had gradually forced Dorian into a corner. He won over a large number of Hogwarts students capable of brewing potions—simply by paying them. Under normal circumstances, Andy should have been crushed by Dorian's fierce pushback.
But with Sean providing potions and Blaise offering steady financial backing, Andy had the upper hand. If things dragged on, it would be Dorian who couldn't keep up—he'd eventually collapse under mounting financial pressure. If he kept pushing, failure was inevitable.
After hearing the news, Sean congratulated Andy, then turned to look at Blaise. His intuition told him Blaise must've run into trouble.
As expected...
"Sean, I broke up."
Sean looked at him silently for a moment, then asked, "And? Besides the breakup? Nothing else you want to say to me?"
"Isn't that enough? I broke up!"
"Well… I'm sorry," Sean replied flatly. Then he turned to Andy without missing a beat. "Now, where were we with your business?"
"Hey! Sean, that's cold!"
"Andy—your business..."
Before Sean could finish, he, Andy, and Jason all burst into laughter, leaving Blaise standing off to the side, looking thoroughly dejected.
Sean began packing his things.
Until Sean was discharged from the hospital, Dumbledore still hadn't summoned him for questioning. Not that Sean minded—he didn't enjoy speaking to Dumbledore face-to-face anyway. That feeling of being constantly seen through made Sean deeply uncomfortable. Thinking about it, he realized it was probably time to put Occlumency on his priority list.
After bidding farewell to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing, Sean pushed open the door and stepped out—only to find Professor Snape standing at the entrance.
Sean approached, gave a slight bow, and said, "Professor, are you here to pick me up?"
Snape's lips curled into a familiar sneer as he fired back with icy contempt."Sean Bulstrode, if you spent half as much time using that oversized brain of yours on writing papers instead of daydreaming about god-knows-what, you might've finished the three articles you promised for The Golden Crucible!
If it weren't for your unfinished thesis, I wouldn't have bothered coming here at all. Even if you were rotting in the hospital wing for a year, I wouldn't care. Now get back to work—stop wasting time on distractions. Put that giant head to use and write."
Having just been thoroughly roasted, Sean rubbed his head, but quickly caught on to something in Snape's words. He asked cautiously, "Professor, did something happen in Slytherin? …Something aimed at me?"
Snape's cold eyes showed no change in expression as he replied,"Word has gotten out that you killed the Basilisk—spread through other mouths. Be careful when you return. Don't let these petty matters interfere with your thesis. I expect it on my desk before the end of term."