Before class, Sean glanced at his own panel. As expected, Malfoy and the other two hadn't granted him any new abilities—unsurprising, really, since they had been defeated purely through brute force.
Not that Sean had any real interest in their abilities to begin with. At the moment, they were practically useless. Even if they had something, their ability levels would be so low compared to his own that they wouldn't be of any value.
They might have some unique talents, but after the Lockhart fiasco, Sean had learned not to trust his luck. Why waste time?
Worst case, he could always wait until they eventually became Death Eater reserves and grew stronger. Then, when the time was right, he could duel them properly—and extract better, more meaningful abilities.
Still, unlike Malfoy and the others, the idiot from the Slytherin Brotherhood Reserve Organization who had come to provoke him had triggered the panel. The moment that guy tried to poke Sean in the forehead, the system registered it as a duel.
Sean knocked him out effortlessly and gained a third-level [Grin].
Not entirely useless—but definitely nothing to get excited about.
The first class in the afternoon was Charms, followed by Astronomy. This time, Slytherin and Gryffindor shared the Charms class, and the tension between the two houses was palpable from the moment it began.
With the atmosphere so strained, a competitive clash was inevitable. And as always, the form it took was a battle to answer Professor Flitwick's questions.
As the professor began asking questions, students from both sides quickly jumped into the fray. However, as time went on, Hermione from Gryffindor began to dominate, answering nearly all of the questions herself.
As one of Professor Flitwick's most outstanding students, Hermione had successfully joined the Charms Club this year—Dwarf Club.
For Hermione, these in-class questions weren't particularly challenging. The few she didn't answer weren't because she didn't know them, but simply because she had been a little slower raising her hand.
With the Charms class clearly being led by Hermione, the Slytherins grew visibly frustrated. They kept nudging others to step up and compete, but as a result, several students answered incorrectly, unable to meet Professor Flitwick's expectations.
At one point, someone instinctively glanced at Sean, clearly wanting him to step in and beat Hermione to a question. But then, as if remembering what had happened with the Slytherin Brotherhood, the words they were about to say caught in their throat—and silence fell over the Slytherin side.
Sean noticed all of this, of course, but as he had already decided: since they had chosen to follow the Slytherin Brotherhood, they shouldn't expect him to lift a finger on their behalf.
He was himself first, and a Slytherin second. That was all.
There would be no more of last year's desperate scramble for Slytherin House points.
The Charms class ended uneventfully, and there was nothing noteworthy in Astronomy either. Afterward, Sean and Blaise returned to the Great Hall and sat at the far end of the Slytherin table, where Andy and Jason were already waiting for them.
Although Blaise, Andy, and Jason hadn't been directly targeted by the Slytherin Brotherhood like Sean had, they had still been affected—many of their former friends had started to distance themselves.
Fortunately, the three of them had enough connections and ability that no one dared to provoke them openly. As long as they didn't publicly oppose the Slytherin Brotherhood or stir up trouble, most people wouldn't risk offending them.
"Sean, you've been staying in most of the time lately. How's your paper coming along?" Blaise asked, casually cutting into his food.
As Sean's closest friends, they naturally knew what he had been working on.
Hearing Blaise's question, Sean swallowed the piece of steak in his mouth, took a sip of pumpkin juice, and replied, "It's nearly finished—just wrapping up the last part. Once I'm done, I'll hand it over to the dean for inspection."
At the mention of submitting the paper to Snape for review, Sean let out a long and deliberate sigh.
Compared to writing the paper itself, Snape's inspection was the most painful part of the entire process. Every time he reviewed Sean's work, Snape would tear it apart with cutting remarks, as if Sean were completely incompetent, often leaving him questioning his own existence.
The worst part? Snape never pointed out all the problems at once. He would only mention a few flaws each time—just enough to criticize and humiliate—before sending Sean away, only to continue the next time.
It was absolutely maddening.
"Oh, by the way, Blaise, how's your love life going lately? Any new developments?"
Hearing Andy's question, Blaise gave him an irritated glance and replied, "Do you have any humanity left? I just broke up, and you're already bringing that up?"
Those words immediately made Sean and the others exchange surprised looks. Who didn't know Blaise? Half of Hogwarts knew exactly what kind of person he was. Smooth transitions from one relationship to the next were standard for him. But today... today was different.
Reaching out and pinching Blaise's face, Sean looked around and said suspiciously, "You're not Blaise. Who are you, really? Where did you hide the real one? Did I miss the moment you took Polyjuice Potion?"
Waving Sean's hand away, Blaise muttered, clearly sulking, "Stop joking. I'm already in a bad mood."
The three of them looked at each other again.
It really seemed like Blaise's relationship had been different this time. But what happened? Why did they break up?
They were curious, of course—but relationships were personal. It was one thing to tease, another to pry.
After dinner, Sean headed to the library again and managed to finish his paper there.
Looking down at the completed manuscript on the table, Sean let out a long breath. The core content was done, and he had already corrected some of the common mistakes Snape had pointed out last time. Now, all that remained was to see what his Head of House thought.
It was getting late, so Sean packed up his things and returned to the dungeons of Hogwarts, where he handed the paper to Snape.
Snape didn't say a word. He simply looked at him and said, "Handing it in this late and still expecting praise? Be glad I'm not yelling at you."
Then he took the paper and waved his hand, signaling Sean to get out of his office as quickly as possible.
Sean thought he had escaped unscathed—after all, Snape hadn't launched into his usual storm of sarcasm and insults. But starting the very next day, Snape unleashed a relentless, high-intensity, inhumane barrage of venomous critique for twenty straight days, pushing Sean to the brink.
Sean began doubting his life, his intelligence, his hearing...
In short, Snape made Sean question everything about himself. He even started wondering if he was dreaming, if he was real, or if he was some kind of fake person conjured out of thin air.
So when Snape finally said there were no more issues and that Sean could mail the manuscript to the editorial office of The Golden Crucible, Sean nearly burst into tears.
It was official: his life had not been easy.
Other people spent time and energy writing papers. Sean? He felt like he'd given up pieces of his soul. He still had to write two more before graduating from Hogwarts.
At this rate, he wasn't sure he'd survive.