The Wizengamot Academic Committee received formal advice from Wizengamot member Gideon Bulstrode, urging them to uphold the principles of research independence and academic objectivity. He also emphasized the need to monitor and manage any undue interference in academic matters.
This advice wasn't kept secret within the Wizengamot or the Ministry of Magic—on the contrary, since none of the parties involved made any attempt to hide it, word spread quickly throughout the Ministry.
Around the same time, the key decision-makers within the Slytherin Brotherhood convened for a private meeting. After reviewing the situation, they decided to expel the member who had acted on his own initiative to interfere in academic affairs. He was removed from his post within the Brotherhood and reassigned to Denmark.
In addition, they arranged for an intermediary to deliver a formal apology to the Bulstrode family, acknowledging the reckless interference in Sean Bulstrode's academic work by a member of their organization.
When Gideon Bulstrode received the apology through the intermediary, he didn't say much. He simply nodded, calmly reiterated his position against interference in academic matters, and said nothing more.
The intermediary relayed this back to the Slytherin Brotherhood.
From Gideon's response, the Brotherhood's leadership was able to confirm several important things:
First, contrary to some rumors, Sean Bulstrode had not been cast aside or ignored by Gideon. On the contrary—Gideon was clearly shielding him.
Second, Gideon had a firm stance against interference in academic research.
And finally, while Gideon opposed underhanded obstruction, he had no interest in meddling with typical power struggles. If someone could defeat or suppress Sean fairly and openly, Gideon would not intervene.
Having clarified these points, the Brotherhood's leadership felt reassured. The very foundation of the Slytherin Brotherhood lay in their shared identity with Slytherin House and in their belief in Salazar Slytherin's ideals. Without that common ground, mutual cooperation would be impossible.
If the one who had killed the basilisk had belonged to another House, the Slytherin Brotherhood likely wouldn't have reacted much. But this time, the one who had slain the creature was not only a Slytherin, but a member of the Brotherhood's reserve organization.
To remain silent would have been to undermine the Brotherhood's very reason for existing.
The announcement at Hogwarts that Sean would be expelled from the Slytherin Brotherhood's reserve organization, and possibly even from Slytherin House itself, along with the interference in the publication of his paper in The Golden Crucible, had all been carefully calculated.
These moves were meant to test Gideon Bulstrode's bottom line and to signal a stance to the members of the Brotherhood.
In the end, the only person who actually suffered was the overly zealous and relatively marginal figure who had caused them trouble in the first place. In that sense, they had achieved three goals with one move.
As for Sean, still at Hogwarts, he was naturally unaware of the smaller disturbances unfolding within the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot.
But even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have cared—so long as his paper was published as it should be.
In the days that followed, everything returned to normal.
Normal classes.Normal reviews.Normal preparation.Normal exams.
Compared to last year, Sean felt far more at ease this time around.
Especially in Potions and Transfiguration, Sean walked into the exams practically unprepared—but even without last-minute revision, he was confident of scoring full marks. That gave him extra time to focus on other subjects.
On the other hand, Hermione, having spent a significant amount of time petrified earlier in the year, grew increasingly anxious as the exams approached. Her mood hit a low point during revision, and that gloomy energy seemed to affect Harry and Ron as well. The two boys—who had originally believed that just scraping a pass would be good enough—now found themselves working hard under Hermione's constant pressure and supervision.
With resigned expressions, they followed her around day after day, studying diligently and—somewhat to their surprise—actually making steady progress.
As the exams were about to begin, a small incident suddenly occurred.
Aurors from the Ministry of Magic arrived at Hogwarts and took away Professor Lockhart, who had been preparing to write exam questions based entirely on his own book. The reason for his arrest spread like wildfire throughout the school that very day.
It was said that someone had written an anonymous letter to the Ministry, reporting everything Lockhart had done so far, and included evidence—strong enough for the Ministry's Aurors to successfully apply for the use of Veritaserum. Under the influence of Veritaserum, Lockhart had no chance to lie or escape accountability.
On the very day of the exams, Lockhart was sentenced: his wand was snapped, and he was sent to Azkaban to serve his sentence.
Half of his assets were confiscated by the Ministry, and the other half was distributed among the witches and wizards whose lives and adventures Lockhart had stolen and claimed as his own, as a partial form of restitution.
While Lockhart was wailing in Azkaban, Sean, the whistleblower behind it all, was quietly sitting in a classroom, taking an exam.
This particular test was for Charms—the subject where Sean and Hermione were most fiercely matched. But there were still some differences between them: Sean was the first to hand in his paper, while Hermione was the last. The one thing they had in common was their shared confidence in their performance.
Within a week, both the written and practical portions of the final exams were completed.
The results would be released in a week. After that, there would be the end-of-term feast, and then—finally—it would be time to go home.
At Hogwarts, the first week of June was always exam week. Results were announced during the second week, the end-of-term banquet was held on Saturday evening, and all students would leave Hogwarts and return home on Sunday for a two-and-a-half-month summer holiday.
During this waiting period, Sean had been focusing on his Transfiguration thesis, which explored the relationship between Transfiguration and Alchemy.
Because of this topic, Sean had recently begun to seriously study Alchemy. Earlier in the semester, he had acquired several books on the subject from Beauxbatons, but hadn't had time to properly dive into them. After all, time and energy were limited—and most of his attention had been consumed by regular coursework. Occasionally, he would flip through the books to refresh his mind, but now, he had resumed his research with more intent, setting aside the less relevant texts for the time being.
Snape hadn't said much about this shift in focus. He had his own connections within the editorial team at The Golden Crucible, and through them, he had learned of the controversy surrounding Sean's paper—and its ultimate selection for publication as the front-page feature.
Because of this, Snape had been unusually tolerant of Sean lately.
"Sean! The results are out!"
"Quiet! Quiet! The library must remain quiet!"
Madam Pince's feather duster suddenly flew into the air, chasing after Blaise, who had just shouted far too loudly in the middle of the library.
Seeing this, Blaise immediately turned and bolted, but not before the feather duster caught up to him and gave him two sharp whacks, prompting a pair of startled yelps.
Watching it all unfold, Sean smiled helplessly, packed his things, and left the library. He found Blaise crouched outside, nursing his bruises, and said with a grin,
"Remember next time—not so loud in the library. When it comes to disliking students, Madam Pince is right up there with Filch. She won't go easy on you."