The fat walrus strode in through the doors.
"Who's that?"
"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
"I heard Snape's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts now."
"No, anything but that…"
The young wizards began whispering among themselves.
According to Slughorn's usual habits, he should have looked over each student one by one, like a bee inspecting flowers in a garden.
But now, Slughorn simply kept moving his old legs until he stopped in front of the black-haired young wizard.
Then he held out his hand.
"How wonderful. We meet again, child."
Sean hadn't expected Professor Slughorn to skip over Headmaster Dumbledore entirely.
He stood and shook Professor Slughorn's hand.
Dumbledore, seeing this, was not surprised at all. His beard lifted slightly as he chuckled.
Professor Trelawney, on the other hand, let out a low cry of surprise.
"Ah, before everyone begins dinner, I think an introduction is necessary."
Once Professor Slughorn sat down, Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"Professor Lupin has left Hogwarts due to unavoidable circumstances…"
The students exploded into chatter, and whispers filled the Great Hall.
"Therefore, today, we are delighted to welcome a new teacher. Professor Slughorn—"
Slughorn stood. His bald head shone under the candlelight, and his large waistcoated belly cast a great shadow over the table.
"—is a former colleague of mine. He has agreed to resume his old post as Potions professor."
"Potions?"
"Potions?"
The word echoed throughout the Great Hall, and everyone seemed to wonder whether they had misheard.
Sean saw Professor Slughorn wink at him.
"Then who's going to teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts…"
At the long table, Harry murmured blankly.
He had finally grown to love Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"At the same time, Professor Snape,"
Dumbledore raised his voice over the discussion,
"will take over as the teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"No!"
Harry's voice was so loud that many heads turned toward him.
But he didn't care. He simply glared at the staff table in embarrassed anger.
How had the Defense Against the Dark Arts post still ended up with Snape?
What about Professor Lupin? His father's friend?
Where had he gone?
He had been the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they'd ever had!
Harry was far from the only person with that question. Almost the entire Great Hall was whispering.
Dumbledore seemed not to realize how explosive the news he had just announced was. He did not say anything more about the teaching appointments, but waited several seconds until everyone had quieted down fully before continuing.
"That is all I have to say. Let the feast begin!"
He sat down.
Professor Snape sat to Dumbledore's right. When he heard Dumbledore mention his name, he did not stand, only lazily raised one hand to acknowledge the cheers from the Slytherin table.
"When I retired, Severus had only just started teaching at Hogwarts… oh, he was a fine boy, though he did have some emotional troubles."
Professor Slughorn sat beside Sean and chatted with him in a quiet, leisurely voice.
"Oh, by the way, I used to be Head of Slytherin House. Which House are you in, child?"
"Ravenclaw."
Sean chatted casually with Professor Slughorn, but his mind had already flown back to Hope Cottage.
Dumbledore's notes were burning hot in his robes. If he didn't take them out soon and compare them carefully with the books he had borrowed from the Hogwarts library, they were going to burn right through his abdomen.
"Ravenclaw, oh, Ravenclaw. I happen to know several excellent Ravenclaws. Some work at the Ministry, others are editors at the Daily Prophet…"
Professor Slughorn smiled kindly.
Suddenly, a sly light flashed in his eyes, and he said to Sean,
"Dumbledore told me we have an unusually young Potions assistant this year?"
Snape's lazy expression changed abruptly. His cold eyes fixed on the old walrus, but the plump old man seemed completely unaware of it.
"Yes, Professor Slughorn."
Sean nodded.
His eyes had already gone slightly unfocused, and his mind had started recalling the contents of Dumbledore's notes.
"How marvelous."
Professor Slughorn's delight was plain on his face.
"I think… he is not ready."
Suddenly, Snape, who had been sitting with a cold face, spoke.
"Ah, Severus, it's been so long. How have you been?"
The old walrus paid no mind to his cold, clipped tone and greeted him warmly instead.
"…Fine."
Snape sounded as if he had choked.
"That's good. You know, about that matter, I was very sorry. Truly sorry… you were both among my favorite students."
Professor Slughorn's watery eyes looked at Snape, and Snape very unnaturally lowered his head a little.
"My dear child, I must say, your Potions professor, Professor Snape, is a genius when it comes to potion-making. I'm not surprised you haven't picked up the knack of Potions from him."
Professor Slughorn enthusiastically introduced him to Sean.
Snape's expression grew even more unnatural.
"When I taught him, he was just a little thing, yet he had already filled his textbooks with all kinds of improved formulas. He was never the sort to just follow instructions from a book, was he?"
For once, Sean came back to himself and nodded.
He really had learned a great deal of "unorthodox" knowledge from Professor Snape, and the professor had also helped him improve the Will-Guidance Method.
"You see, I knew we would always be co-conspirators."
The old walrus grew even happier, saying proudly,
"Severus, even your choice of assistant is excellent."
Snape seemed unable to speak.
After some time passed, he finally forced a few words out between his teeth.
"His brewing skills are still insufficient… he still needs training…"
"Of course, of course. No castle is built from the top down… I will teach him, just as I taught you."
The old walrus was beaming so widely that his plump body trembled slightly.
"Oh, and as my assistant, I shall have stricter standards for you. But I promise you, you will achieve great things in Potions as well…"
For once, Snape could not refute him.
In the end, he could only give the old walrus a cold look, his face showing a trace of frustration.
The feast passed in that strange atmosphere.
After Professor Slughorn mentioned the Slug Club for the third time, Sean finally saw the first student leave the Great Hall.
He quickly stood as well, politely said goodbye to the professors, and strode toward Hope Cottage.
After Sean left, the Great Hall remained extremely noisy.
That was because several major things had happened recently.
The first was Professor Lupin's sudden resignation. The young wizards were already arguing wildly about the reason behind it.
The second was tomorrow's Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw had a new Seeker, and so did Hufflepuff.
Tomorrow's match would be the first clash between two rising stars.
Inside the room where Mr. Owl's portrait no longer hung, Sean paid no attention to the wizards' excitement. He held his wand, Dumbledore's old notebook spread open beside him, while a faint light burst from the tip of his black wand.
"Elemental Activation."
Sean whispered.
Hope Cottage began to change.
First came the floating candles all around. They turned into flames and drifted unsteadily around the room.
Then the giant pumpkin bookroom stood up—yes, literally stood up. It grew two legs and one arm.
Finally, Sean's bookcase slowly reassembled itself, ultimately forming a huge spherical creature with a mouth full of sharp teeth and eyes burning with fire.
[You practiced Special Transfiguration (Elemental Activation) once at Expert standard. Material Transfiguration proficiency +50, Magical Transfiguration proficiency +50]
[Elemental Activation: Beginner (140/300)]
"As expected, the limits can be made even deeper…"
Sean murmured to himself.
Headmaster Dumbledore had told him to constrain his magic, so that the force of belief became concentrated and magic could accomplish more.
Sean had instinctively thought time and distance were the full extent of that constraint.
But later he thought again: why couldn't number be a constraint too?
Animating every object within ten meters and animating only two or three objects within ten meters were vastly different things.
Naturally, the magical power required would also be vastly different.
Now, judging from his physical condition, Sean estimated that he still had plenty of reserve.
That proved his theory was correct. However…
His face was beginning to pale again.
Constricting the power of belief could save magical power, but the act of constricting itself consumed willpower.
Fortunately, Sean knew the solution.
Constant practice.
Practice brought gains. Could there be anything better than that?
Sean's lips curved slightly. He honestly couldn't imagine anything better.
In the final second before Elemental Activation disappeared, Sean inserted the "wandering flames" and the "pumpkin monster" into the "wooden giant" body.
And so, inside Hope Cottage, a wooden monster with a pumpkin head and a body wreathed in fire stood upright.
Ron, who had just come in, went black before the eyes and toppled stiffly into Harry's arms.
"Ron!"
Harry cried out.
Then he saw the wooden monster too.
His mouth fell open, and he froze.
Bang.
The door closed.
Outside, Hermione glared at the two of them irritably, clearly wondering what nonsense they were up to now.
"Halloween monster!"
Ron suddenly woke up and shouted dramatically.
"Halloween was ages ago, and today isn't April Fool's Day either, Ron!"
Hermione snapped. She was about to open the door, but Ron grabbed her tightly.
"It's real! Pumpkin head, flaming eyes!"
Harry hurriedly added, grabbing Hermione's other hand.
"I—do—not—believe—you."
Hermione remained suspicious.
"Let her go. How else do you stop a donkey… unless you throw a rope around it… ow—"
Ron muttered under his breath, and Hermione twisted his arm hard.
"I'll go in with you."
Justin studied the door warily, then entered the room together with Hermione.
Inside Hope Cottage, everything was quiet. Only Sean was there, holding a book and reading.
"Hmm… looks like Sean already dealt with the Halloween monster."
Justin said very softly, reminding the others not to make too much noise because the young wizard was reading.
"Hah. Awful acting."
Hermione strode to her seat and immediately opened her moon chart.
Only then did two heads slowly poke in from behind her.
"Where's the Halloween monster?"
Ron's head asked cautiously, looking at Harry.
"Sean dealt with it?"
Harry's head guessed, exchanging a look with Ron.
"Good evening."
"Ah!"
"Green!"
The two yelped in panic before realizing it was Sean who had come over.
He was holding an old book—neither of them knew where Sean got so many old books—and his face carried a trace of apology.
"I was practicing Transfiguration just now. It may have frightened you."
Sean explained.
"What?!"
Harry and Ron said in unison.
"That was your Transfiguration?!"
"That counts as Transfiguration?"
Ron's eyes widened.
"Next time, I'll use a hidden room."
Sean said.
After Mr. Owl had revealed the true nature of Hope Cottage, many more rooms had unfolded inside the cottage.
Sean believed Hope Cottage had repurposed unused rooms, much like the Room of Requirement collected objects wizards left behind. Hogwarts Castle had its own magic for dealing with miscellaneous things.
Naturally, the young wizards now all had their own private rooms.
Each had its own character.
Sean's and Hermione's rooms were full of books. Justin's room was half books and half kitchen. Neville's was a botanical garden. Ron's was filled with Weird Wizards Chess sets and Transfiguration teaching tools.
As for Harry's room, Sean had never been there, so he didn't know.
"No, no, no—"
Ron quickly denied it.
"Can you do it again, Sean?"
Sean gave Ron a strange look, then nodded.
Soon, Hope Cottage was filled with startled cries.
And also—
[You practiced Special Transfiguration (Elemental Activation) once at Expert standard. Material Transfiguration proficiency +50, Magical Transfiguration proficiency +50]
[Elemental Activation: Beginner (190/300)]
…
By the end of November, the cold was like frozen iron. Every morning came with a layer of hard frost, and the icy wind cut at hands and cheeks.
The sky and the Great Hall's ceiling had turned a pale blue-gray. The mountains around Hogwarts wore caps of snow, and the temperature in the castle had dropped so much that many students wrapped themselves in thick scarves when resting in the corridors between classes.
In this bitter weather, the second Quidditch match was about to begin.
The Great Hall had emptied early, with everyone rushing out to the grounds.
"Sean, you're really not going?"
Inside Hope Cottage, sturdy stained-glass windows held back the wild wind and snow.
Justin asked, looking disappointed.
"Mhm."
Sean nodded.
All day, he had been immersed in practicing Elemental Activation, unable to pull himself away.
"But…"
Justin looked troubled.
"Senior Bruce asked me to tell you this is his first match…"
"I'm going."
Sean said.