After leaving the Slytherin Brotherhood Reserve Organization, Sean felt a sense of relief—like he had just paid off a long-standing debt. As for Oliver and the others talking about expelling him from Slytherin House, Sean simply treated it as a joke. That little group had formed their own self-important circle and were starting to believe their own nonsense.
You want to expel me from Slytherin? Let's see if Snape agrees.As long as he didn't hand in his thesis, the Head of House would never let him go anywhere.
When Sean returned to his room, he saw Blaise, Andy, and Jason already waiting at the door. He didn't say much—just opened the door and let the three of them in. Then, he called for the house-elf and had some tea and snacks prepared for everyone.
"Sean, what happened?" Blaise asked.
Picking up his teacup and taking a sip of black tea, Sean smiled and replied,"It's nothing serious. Since I killed the basilisk, the Slytherin Brotherhood expelled me. They also tried to say I was expelled from Slytherin House, but I just ignored them."
Blaise frowned, visibly annoyed. "Those guys think they can expel you from the House? Who do they think they are—Snape?"
Sean chuckled. "Blaise, Andy, Jason—you don't need to worry about it. Let's not even talk about whether they can speak for Slytherin. Even if they could, they'd still have to go through Professor Dumbledore, our Head of House, and the Bulstrode family. They're in no position to make that kind of decision.
Honestly, I'm not worried. If anything, this is better. Without all those distractions, I can finally focus on my studies and finish my thesis."
Sean wasn't just saying that to comfort them—he meant it. Before, he had no choice but to involve himself personally. But now, with Barrett working behind the scenes, there was no reason for Sean to stay involved in that mess. He had better things to do.
Seeing that Sean genuinely didn't care about the expulsion, Blaise, Andy, and Jason all looked visibly relieved.
The four of them chatted for a while longer before finally wrapping up the night. Blaise and the others said their goodbyes and left.
Sean was happy to finally have some free time, so he sat down at his desk and flipped open a book. At that moment, Kulkan—who had been pretending to be asleep when Blaise and the others were around—opened her eyes, climbed up onto Sean's desk, and fixed her gaze on him.
"Hey," she said, "don't tell me you killed the basilisk and didn't bring anything back for me."
Smiling, Sean reached into his bag and pulled out two magically sealed preservation boxes and three vials of blood. These were standard equipment for any trained potion master—after all, many magical ingredients required careful preservation, so it was normal to carry enchanted containers like these.
When Kulkan saw what he brought out, her eyes lit up. She immediately began bouncing with excitement, urging him,"Hurry up, hurry up! I can smell the fresh scent of that basilisk!"
Sean opened the first box. Even with the preservation magic, the basilisk meat and eyes still gave off a strong, fishy odor. But judging by Kulkan's expression, she was practically drooling. It was clear—humans and snakes had very different senses of taste.
The moment the box opened, Kulkan lunged forward and devoured the basilisk meat in a flash. Then she demanded some of the basilisk blood. Once she drank that, she happily gulped down the two ruined snake eyes.
After the feast, she gave a satisfied snore and muttered, "Don't disturb my sleep," before squirreling away the remaining basilisk blood as a snack. Then, in her usual clumsy way, she crawled up onto Sean's bed, curled up on his pillow, and promptly fell asleep.
Watching her, Sean could only shake his head helplessly. He gathered the remaining blood samples and returned to his book.
His thesis on the Wit-Recovery potion had reached a critical stage. If it hadn't been for the basilisk incident, Sean might have already started writing by now. Still, with a little over three months left in the Hogwarts term, that should be enough time to complete the thesis—and revise it seventeen or eighteen times under the relentless criticism of his beloved, nitpicking Head of House.
Early the next morning, Sean went to the Great Hall for breakfast with Blaise, as usual.
Not long after they sat down, a wave of applause and cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table.
Sean looked up and saw Harry walking in, flanked by Ron and Hermione. The Gryffindors were celebrating their recovery, welcoming them back with bright smiles and loud voices.
"So it looks like our Herbology professor succeeded," Blaise remarked. "She managed to restore the petrified students."
Sean nodded. "Yes, Professor Sprout is indeed very capable. When it comes to Potions, she might not surpass our professor—but in Herbology, she's definitely unmatched."
Just as Sean finished speaking, a voice came from behind him.
"I think Professor Snape may be the best at Potions, yes. But Professor Sprout isn't far behind. And in terms of Herbology, she's a step ahead of Professor Snape."
Sean turned to look at the speaker. It was a girl with dirty-blonde hair, wearing a pair of carrot-shaped earrings. She had a dreamy expression on her face. It was none other than Luna Lovegood—recently restored from her petrified state.
"You're Luna, right? Congratulations on your recovery," Sean said politely.
Luna nodded. "Thank you. I also wanted to thank you, actually."
"Thank me? For what?"
She looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if surprised he had to ask."Of course I want to thank you for killing the basilisk. Not only did you avenge those of us who were petrified, but you also removed a terrible danger from Hogwarts. Isn't that something worth being grateful for?"
Sean stared at her for a second, then gave a small nod."You're the first person to thank me for that. So… thank you."
"You're welcome."After a moment of silence, Luna added, "You're different from other Slytherins. You have a sense of justice."
Sean gave a small smile. "I'm not sure that's a compliment. I still consider myself a Slytherin through and through."
"Sorry," Luna replied softly. "I only meant it as a compliment."
"It's all right," Sean said, picking up his fork again. "If there's nothing else, I'd like to finish my breakfast now. Is that okay?"
Luna nodded and, without another word, turned and wandered off, leaving Sean and Blaise in peace.
Watching Luna walk away, Blaise smiled and said,"Sean, that girl's a bit odd, but I can tell—she has a good foundation. It's just hidden under all those strange clothes. If she dressed properly, she'd definitely be beautiful."
Sean glanced at Blaise, shook his head helplessly, and replied,"Just eat your breakfast. We've got Transfiguration soon, and if you're late, Professor McGonagall won't let you off easily."