You see, for ages, pure-blood wizarding families pretty much only married other pure-bloods. It was just the way things were done, even if no one said it out loud.
Over hundreds of years, those twenty-eight main pure-blood families married each other so often that they were all connected in some way, like a big, complicated family tree. The Bulstrodes were no different; they married into other pure-blood families too.
Now, this guy, Oliver Fawley, was from the Fawley family – another one of those important twenty-eight. Turns out, his dad was the head of the Fawley family and also Millicent Bulstrode's mom's brother. And Oliver's own mom? She was born a Bulstrode – she was Yad and Borell's older sister.
So, yeah, it's a bit tangled.
Basically, Oliver and Millicent grew up almost like brothers. Oliver always kind of looked out for Millicent, but he also had to lay down the law with him pretty often. Besides his own grandpa and parents, Millicent was probably most scared of Oliver. That's mainly because Oliver's parents totally let him discipline Millicent, and Oliver never hesitated to do it.
Sean, at this moment, had absolutely no clue about how Oliver and Millicent were connected. And even if someone had tried to explain all these complicated family ties to him right then, he wouldn't have been able to deal with it.
Because, right after he'd pretty much wiped the floor with Millicent, his panel showed him the result:
[Duel Won!]
[Conditions Met: Victory Against Magical Opponent.]
[System Commencing Random Ability Extraction from Defeated Target: Millicent Bulstrode.]
[Extracting...]
Sean felt that familiar, tiny buzz of energy as the system worked its magic.
[Extraction Complete!]
[New Ability Acquired: Thorn Curse]
Sean knew that name right away. He'd gotten the Thorn Curse from Millicent again! At the same time, on his character panel, where it previously said Thorn Curse (Basic), it suddenly changed to Thorn Curse (LV1). And just like that, a whole bunch of new info about this minor dark curse, now that he knew it at level 1, just popped into Sean's head. He understood it much better, more like he just knew it.
So, Sean thought, if I get a spell I already have, it can actually level up! That's cool.
Just as Sean was feeling pretty good about this new discovery, someone appeared in front of him, casting a bit of a shadow over his book.
"Hello there," a smooth, confident voice said. "My name is Oliver, Oliver Fawley. You can just call me Oliver. Also, my mother is your father's older sister—which means she's your aunt. So, technically, we're cousins."
Sean looked up. Oliver Fawley was standing right next to his seat.
He was a really good-looking young man, with sharp, almost noble-looking features. He had slightly curly, golden hair that fell nicely across his forehead.
He also had this really strong presence. Even though he was smiling, his eyes – the color of shiny steel – stared at Sean really intensely, like he was trying to figure him out or make him nervous. Anyone less confident might have looked away. Sean just looked right back at him, holding his gaze steady.
After a second, Sean smiled back, a polite little smile. "My name is Sean, Sean Bulstrode. So, do you want me to call you cousin, then?"
Oliver's forehead creased a tiny bit, and he looked a little annoyed that Sean just came right out and said "cousin." He looked at Sean, and his expression got really serious, almost like he was trying to be super honest. "Look, we're related by blood. I've always thought family shouldn't fight. For example," he kind of gestured, "that pure white pocket watch you've got? That was actually meant for Millicent. Maybe there was some kind of mix-up when it was given out, and that's how you got it. But, you know, for family peace and getting along, I think you should hand over the pocket watch so Millicent can have it back."
"Alright, no problem at all!" Sean said, sounding surprisingly cheerful and okay with it. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the fancy, pure white pocket watch, and put it on the little table next to him. Millicent, who'd been hanging around by the compartment door, stared at the watch like he really wanted it. He couldn't stop himself from taking a shaky step forward, his hand automatically reaching out to grab it.
But before his fingers could even touch the cool metal, Sean kept talking, still sounding friendly, "Thing is, this pocket watch was a gift from my grandfather. So, really, I can only give it up if he says it's okay. As long as Grandfather says Millicent can have it, I'll gladly hand it over."
Millicent's hand froze right there in the air. He looked totally surprised and frustrated at the same time – it was actually kind of funny.
He shot a confused look at Oliver. Oliver was now holding Millicent's wrist, stopping him from just snatching the watch. In Millicent's simple way of thinking, Sean was just making things complicated. Why not just grab the watch? They could sort out any problems later. He couldn't imagine his grandfather would actually punish him over something so small.
Oliver saw Millicent looking all doubtful and impatient. He didn't even bother trying to explain things to him. Instead, he turned back to Sean, his voice getting a little firmer. "Sean, this pocket watch is already yours, right? Surely you can decide who you want to give it to?"
"Exactly!" Sean agreed, still cheerful. "And as long as Grandfather says it's okay, I'll give you the pure white pocket watch."
"Sean, you—" Oliver started, clearly losing his patience.
Before Oliver could finish, Sean just smiled and said again, his voice calm and steady, "As long as Grandfather allows it, I'll hand it over right away!"
The look on Oliver Fawley's handsome face finally got dark. Now he got it. Sean wasn't some clueless kid you could easily push around. Maybe it was that stubborn Bulstrode blood, or maybe it was because his dad was a Squib, but this new cousin of his had an attitude that was more 'pure-blood' in its quiet defiance than some of the actual heirs from the oldest families. This kid was going to be tough.
If Sean's father hadn't been a Squib, Oliver thought for a quick second with a bit of regret, he might have actually tried to be friends with this cousin. But sadly, with both of Sean's parents being Squibs, Sean could never really be seen as the true Bulstrode heir. After what happened today, Oliver knew, they could only ever be rivals.
Oliver gave a quick signal to Millicent, then gave Sean a tiny, almost invisible nod. "I understand what you mean," he said, his voice all cool and formal now. "I hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts."
You couldn't miss the threat hidden in those last words.
But Sean wasn't too worried. For one thing, since both his parents were Squibs, it was super unlikely he'd get sorted into Slytherin. Even if his Bulstrode family name gave him a tiny chance, all he had to do was say he really didn't want to be in Slytherin when he was being Sorted. Lots of other kids probably did that.
From what Sean knew about the Sorting Hat, people said it actually listened to what students wanted.
Plus, Oliver was a prefect. He couldn't just openly break Hogwarts rules – especially with the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff prefects already walking around in the corridor. He couldn't really make trouble for Sean right now, even if he wanted to.
Millicent clearly didn't want to let it go, but he wasn't totally stupid. When Oliver turned to leave with the other older students who had gathered around, Millicent reluctantly followed. He did, though, shoot Sean a really angry, hateful look as he left the compartment, like a silent promise that this wasn't over.
Once all that drama was done and the older students had left, the other first-years in the compartment quickly lost interest and went back to their own conversations or books.
The train carriage got comfortably quiet again. Sean stretched out slowly, then picked up his book again and started reading.
Honestly, Sean thought, if that white pocket watch was just some normal, even if expensive, magic thing, I wouldn't have minded giving it up just to have a peaceful start at Hogwarts. But this thing? It's not just some trinket. This is something super powerful – something that could actually save my life if things got really bad. There's no way I'm willingly giving up something like that.
As if to prove his point, the familiar text of his panel glowed faintly in his mind, showing the watch's details:
Item: Pure White Pocket Watch
Type: Magical Item
Effect 1: Fatal Injury Reversal. If the user is fatally injured, the watch can automatically reverse the damage, returning the owner's body to its state before the injury. (Cooldown: Once every seven days).
Effect 2: Time Rewind (Manual). User can press the button on the watch to return their physical state to a pre-set time. (Cooldown: Once per day).
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