The three of them were afraid of the same thing, or rather, the same person. As the boggart continued to transform, the three constantly changing versions of Sean showed signs of merging. It became an incredibly tall and burly Sean and finally transformed into a troll with disproportionate features but Sean's head!
The troll-Sean approached the three, constantly swinging its fists and roaring at them, leaving Sean speechless.
"Sigh..."
Sighing, Sean stepped forward, positioning himself in front of the constantly retreating trio, and waved his wand at the boggart.
"Riddikulus!"
The boggart immediately transformed into a black sphere, floating in mid-air and spinning continuously.
Just as Sean was about to turn around and return to the back of the line, the boggart that had become a black sphere actually sensed what Sean feared most and transformed into a spirited, meticulously groomed elderly man!
Gavin?!
Seeing what he feared most, Sean's first reaction was surprise.
He was most afraid of Gavin?
How had he not noticed this?
"Riddikulus!"
With Sean's spell, the boggart-Gavin began tap dancing as it retreated into the old wardrobe.
The rest of the lesson went smoothly.
Except for Lupin intentionally or unintentionally preventing Harry from facing the boggart directly, everything else was normal.
After all, what Harry feared could be roughly guessed by Lupin even without thinking. Either Voldemort or Dementors. In any case, they were the type that would completely disrupt and end the class once they appeared, so Lupin didn't plan to let Harry face the boggart in class. Therefore, he planned to give James's son some private tutoring later.
Since the first lesson was such a great success, Defense Against the Dark Arts became a favorite class for most students.
Even Slytherin students had quite high evaluations of Lupin's courses, except for the trio of Malfoy, who had been embarrassed by the boggart.
After the first lesson, two things spread throughout Hogwarts quickly: Neville's feared Snape being turned into a cross-dressing figure, and Malfoy's trio being scared into screaming in class by their feared Sean.
Because of this, Malfoy frequently disparaged and complained about Defense Against the Dark Arts class and Lupin.
In subsequent Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, Lupin introduced students to how to deal with aggressive creatures like Red Caps, Kappa, and others. They appeared one after another in class, causing quite a stir.
Although he wasn't very fond of Lupin, Sean had to admit that Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were very high-level. Having not encountered good teachers before, Sean had questioned the existence of Defense Against the Dark Arts, thinking that Transfiguration and Charms could completely replace it. However, after taking Lupin's classes, Sean understood that Defense Against the Dark Arts focused not on learning spells, but on responding!
Defense Against the Dark Arts would teach young wizards how to deal with various emergencies, as well as methods and spells for handling these emergencies, rather than simply learning spells.
September passed quickly. In early October, the Quidditch season was about to begin, and the Quidditch teams from all houses started their enthusiastic preparations.
Sean sat in the library writing.
Last week, Sean had completed the substitute for the second material. It was a mixture of two low-grade materials processed through special methods that could produce effects slightly weaker than orthodox materials. Although the effects were slightly weaker, it could still complete the potion without significant changes to the results. After discussion between Sean and Snape, they confirmed this plan was feasible, and the substitute for the second material was declared complete.
Additionally, it must be mentioned that with the start of this school year, the Potions Club welcomed a new member, bringing the total back to five. She was a fifth-year Ravenclaw student named Abe Burr, a Black girl. According to an unnamed student's revelation, Abe had already shown considerable potion talent in her third year, but Snape always felt she wasn't good enough or qualified to join the Potions Club.
It was said that when Sean entered the Potions Club as a first-year, Abe had approached Snape, feeling it was unfair.
At that time, Snape had only told Abe to "get out," which completely crushed all of Abe's resistance against Snape. It wasn't until news of Sean's paper being published in The Golden Cauldron came out at the first-year end-of-term feast that Abe finally accepted both Sean and Snape. She worked hard for another year and finally entered the Potions Club in her fifth year.
For someone so persistent in wanting to enter the Potions Club and receive the Slytherin Snake King's venom baptism, Sean held the utmost respect.
Transfiguration Club.
Sean expounded on his understanding of the third stage of Transfiguration. The members present each gained something, and Professor McGonagall also looked as though she was watching her pride and joy student.
Too bad he was a Slytherin.
Really terrible aesthetic sense.
The silver-green color scheme was like a dung pit, while the gold-red color scheme was eternally divine!
Of course, Professor McGonagall didn't really think this way, but it was somewhat along those lines.
After the club ended, Professor McGonagall kept Sean behind as usual.
"Sean, how is your previous thesis coming along?"
Sean had been writing a thesis on the relationship between Transfiguration and Alchemy. The progress had been acceptable before, but recently he had been obsessed with researching material substitutes for Wolfsbane Potion, so his progress had inevitably fallen behind.
He couldn't tell Professor McGonagall the truth, and too clumsy a reason would be seen through, so Sean told Professor McGonagall nine truths and one lie. "Professor, I've recently been stuck on the alchemy aspect. Hogwarts doesn't have related courses, so I can only rely on self-study using some books I brought back from Beauxbatons. This aspect is progressing much more slowly, and my current progress isn't ideal. I might need to research for a while longer."
Hearing this, Professor McGonagall nodded understandingly. "If that's the case, I don't have many ways to help you, but I can try writing to some wizards who are proficient in alchemy to ask for their suggestions. If I can be of help, I'll pass it on to you."
"Thank you, Professor. Sorry for the trouble."
Shaking her head, Professor McGonagall said, "It's no trouble. You're my student, so naturally I should try to help you as much as possible. Besides, it's been many years since we've had a student in Transfiguration who could write a qualified thesis. I hope to see your thesis published in some Transfiguration journals."
Professor McGonagall didn't mention the most famous European Transfiguration journal, Animagus, because she was well aware that this journal was different from others. Unless there were qualified papers, even if it stopped publication, it wouldn't publish unqualified papers. Its review of papers was extremely strict, and Professor McGonagall didn't think Sean's current ability could get published in it.