Hagrid's ability to keep a secret was basically zero.
The Hope Cottage crew had only been in his hut for a few minutes before they figured out he had a dragon egg.
So that morning, they all got invited over to name the Norwegian Ridgeback.
They hadn't even left the cottage before the arguing started.
"Hermione, Merlin's beard, where's my sleep time?!"
Ron nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw his revision schedule.
"Eight hours. Are you blind?"
Hermione tilted her chin up.
"Eight hours? I'm not some old man! I'll sleep that much when I'm ancient."
Ron was practically begging.
He and Harry could never stand up to Hermione. In the cottage, Sean was the one who gave calm, precise guidance.
His green eyes looked deep and emotionless when he was alone, but when they asked questions, they softened into something patient and reassuring.
But nobody wanted to bug Sean all the time. Everyone knew he was busy, like, always missing.
So Ron and Harry usually got stuck with Hermione's lectures. Slowly, they realized she was still kind of annoying, but without her, they'd be totally screwed on homework.
"Ron Weasley! You and Harry are gonna drag the rest of us down!
Justin's getting Outstandings in everything, and Neville's not far behind!
You two barely improve and always slack off!"
Hermione stormed over to Sean.
"Sean, can they see your schedule from a while back?"
Sean paused mid-rune-etching, stunned for two seconds.
"…Sure."
The wooden cabinet spat out a notebook with attitude. Hermione caught it with a Levitation Charm.
"Sorry."
Sean tapped the cabinet with his wand. It gave a little shudder, like it was offended.
Every time he put a book away, he'd transfigure the cabinet a little. Now it was starting to act like weird wizard chess, developing its own personality.
Sometimes it would even hand him a book when he was thinking, like it knew.
Sean figured all the transfigurations had layered too much of his own magic inside it, giving it a kind of consciousness.
Like a snowman that only rolls or throws snowballs? Normal.
But one that dodges, teams up, and strategizes in a snowball fight? That's weird.
His cabinet was basically there.
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm just lazy…"
Hermione flipped open the schedule for Ron and Harry.
Three nights a week, Sean brewed potions in the dungeons. Two nights, he took advanced alchemy with older students, plus one solo session.
He still hit the Forbidden Forest, greenhouses, Transfiguration office…
And somehow found time for alchemy projects, History of Magic, and Astronomy.
"Sean… is he superhuman?"
Ron gawked.
"Okay, Hermione, you're right. Harry and I are slacking… Merlin, I can't believe I just said that…"
He immediately rewrote his schedule.
He was starting to wonder if Sean even attended regular classes.
"In the Muggle world, we call this time management," Justin said with a grin.
He wasn't far behind Sean in workload.
On top of studying, he organized and sold Green Notes, tracked everyone's progress, logged problems, and summarized tips into the cabinet.
He was the cottage's unofficial coordinator, and naturally took point on spying on Quirrell.
While Ron shamefully rewrote his plan, Sean's mind flashed to a phrase:
"Sleep is for the dead."
His eyes flickered.
Snow had stopped falling weeks ago, but the rain still drummed against the castle walls.
Sean couldn't slow down. Couldn't rest. If he did, when danger came, death wasn't hard to find.
As he left the cottage, the enchanted mirror stayed silent. He just stared into his own calm, deep green eyes, like looking into a lake made of glass.
"I know. I can't stop."
He thought he heard something, or maybe it was just the wind.
---
Hagrid's Hut
Fang was barking his head off, so Hagrid saw the red dot labeled Sean getting closer on the map.
A red exclamation mark popped up.
He grinned wide and marked a yellow question mark over Sean's spot to say message received.
Why yellow? It was a half-finished prototype. Sean hadn't added more functions yet, just slapped a symbol on it.
He'd given Hagrid the planning map because Hagrid was always losing track of magical creatures, stuck in a constant state of "Where's the creature?!"
When Sean put a button on a creature, Hagrid nearly crushed him in a hug. Sean barely escaped and gave Hagrid a mildly confused look.
For a week after, Hagrid kept his hands behind his back whenever Sean was around, trying (awkwardly) to show he cared.
Now, Hagrid carefully rolled up the map and stepped outside.
"Sean, get in here!"
They started regulating the fire under the dragon egg, following Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit. Proper heat would help it hatch faster.
---
Outside
A gaggle of little wizards was closing in.
"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon. He told me the first time we met," Harry said, excited.
"But it's illegal," Ron countered.
"In 1709, the Wizarding Council passed the ban on dragon breeding. Everyone knows that.
If we kept one in the backyard, Muggles would notice, and you can't tame them. It's dangerous.
You should see the burns on Charlie from wrangling wild ones in Romania."
"Wizards actually keep dragons?" Justin frowned. Wizards were way too brave.
"Of course. And they Obliviate any Muggle who sees one," Ron said smugly, proud of his insider knowledge.
"Let's hope Hagrid remembers he lives in a wooden house," Hermione muttered.
Still bickering, they stepped inside.
There was Sean, elegantly perched on a transfigured chair, reading a book and roasting the dragon egg over the fire.
"SEAN, YOU CAN'T EAT THAT!"
Ron yelped.