Sean was still carrying a deeper question in his heart — did he actually have a second Animagus form?
He was thinking along those lines when daylight had already fully broken.
Before going out, Sean habitually opened his panel:
[Transfiguration – Matter: Journeyman (10 / 3000)]
[Transfiguration – Magic: Novice (50 / 300)]
[Transfiguration – Soul: Novice (280 / 300)]
After this trip into the boundary, he was only a sliver away from the proficiency needed for Soul Transfiguration: Journeyman.
Thinking of that, Sean closed his hand around his wand, and a moment later a black cat slipped out of the Ravenclaw dormitory.
It was a Friday in November.
And once November arrived, the weather had turned bitterly cold. The mountains around the school were a grey blur, dusted with snow and ice; the lake had frozen, cold and hard. Every morning, frost formed in the corridors.
The black cat darted past a window and saw a giant who practically filled the whole corridor.
Hagrid's face was hidden under a balaclava-style woolen hat crusted with snow, and he was wearing a moleskin coat. The younger students were carefully squeezing past the narrow gaps around him.
He seemed to have a special instinct for magical creatures. As the black cat slipped into a portrait to enter a secret passage, Hagrid studied the painting several times, scratching his head in confusion.
Avoiding the crowds all the way to the Great Hall doors, the black cat sprang lightly forward and turned back into a black-robed boy.
[You have practiced Soul Transfiguration once at Apprentice level within the Master tier. Mastery +3]
"Flying carpets… well, carpets are illegal in Britain,"
Hermione was saying to Justin in the Great Hall.
There was a faint worry in her eyes; Justin hadn't been in very good spirits lately.
Of course, he wasn't the only one. Harry had been looking anxious and preoccupied as well these days.
"I heard Mr. Arthur Weasley say there's a man called Ali Bashir who keeps trying to sell carpets, but they stopped him.
Because carpets are listed as 'Muggle artefacts' in the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects,"
Harry said as he dropped his bag on the bench, grinning.
"Oh, Harry, you look—"
Ron stared at him, puzzled.
"I've got huge news! You'll never guess what incredible thing happened to me last night!"
Harry said mysteriously.
"I met that black cat again—"
That sentence made everyone perk up; a ring of heads drifted closer toward Harry.
"If you think about it," Hermione was still mulling over the previous topic,
"brooms are technically Muggle crafts too. This is basically foreign discrimination or anti-dumping. If selling carpets were legal, broom sales would drop."
When Sean reached his seat, Harry had just finished describing his nighttime encounter.
The topic soon shifted back to something that did deserve attention.
"Are we… still having Defense Against the Dark Arts today?"
Ron sounded a bit gleeful.
"There's nothing posted on the notice board,"
Hermione frowned.
"I heard the hospital wing's short of a specific potion… the exact one they need for Lockhart's condition,"
she added.
That made Sean think of the ruined cauldron of potion in the dungeon.
That probably wasn't a coincidence.
Sure enough, that afternoon's Defense Against the Dark Arts class proved Sean right.
A dark shape swept into the classroom.
Professor Snape strode in, head held high. With a flick of his wand, all the windows slammed shut.
"What are you waiting for? Open your textbooks."
he said in that low, icy voice.
"Oh no…"
Ron groaned.
"I bet you anything he smashed Lockhart like that because he's still clinging to the idea of taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Harry didn't look much better; he ducked his head quickly.
Sean silently took out Defensive Magical Theory and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.
"Harry Potter! Wanderings with Werewolves? Hmph— I imagine your eyes are purely decorative. Or are you arrogant enough to think that book can teach you anything?
Gryffindor, minus five points."
Snape said, looming over Harry.
Harry's briefly brightened life dimmed again.
He honestly couldn't tell which was worse in DADA now: seeing Lockhart, or seeing Snape.
For Harry, that lesson was torture. For Sean, however, it was full of useful material. Snape explained a great deal of practical counter-curse work— especially how to counter Dark magic.
For anyone who had watched the dueling club the previous night, this class was like a detailed, targeted theory supplement.
When they filed out of the Defense classroom, everyone was silent.
They walked for quite a while before Sean heard Ron mutter:
"Hermione, why are you still lugging those books around?"
Ron had noticed she always had one of Lockhart's books in hand— sometimes Magical Me, sometimes Voyages with Vampires, and of course Year with the Yeti was a regular too.
"Doesn't it strike you as weird? Even Sean admits the content in them is real, but we all know Lockhart is a fraud."
Hermione had clearly been bothered by this for a long time.
At that moment, two balls of flame drifted around the corner.
Fred and George came striding down the corridor ahead of Harry, chins up, calling out:
"Make way for the Heir of Slytherin! Darkest wizard coming through…"
Hermione looked distinctly displeased.
"That's not something to joke about. And Harry is not the Heir of Slytherin,"
she said coolly.
"All right then, Miss Granger,"
Fred said,
"but our Harry here is very busy."
"Yeah, he has to hurry down to the Chamber of Secrets for tea with his big fanged servant,"
George cackled.
Harry knew at least that they thought the whole "Heir" idea was ridiculous, and that cheered him.
Then he said something that startled everyone:
"Even if I did have a big fanged servant, I wouldn't choose to have tea with it."
Fred stared at him, impressed.
"Good one, Harry."
"You've got the right idea,"
George laughed as they sauntered off.
Sean watched them fool around, then glanced at Hermione— still clutching Lockhart's books, but looking fondly at Harry.
"Professor Sprout's going to put socks and scarves on the mandrakes… If you want answers about Lockhart, Hermione, you might find someone in the greenhouses who can give them to you,"
Sean said after a moment.
He figured Lockhart leaving early would be a good thing— it might even mean they got Professor Lupin sooner.
"You can ask Senior Bruce."