Sean didn't care much that Hermione had discovered the secret.
Her loyalty was unquestionable.
If anything, Hermione's discovery helped Sean realise a major flaw.
Apparently, Hermione had once entered the training room carrying a pocket watch.
That was how she noticed the difference in time flow.
From that day onward, Sean established a strict new rule.
Nobody entering the training room was allowed to bring anything besides their wand.
The Slytherins complained endlessly about it, but Sean ignored them completely.
After washing up, Sean lay back on his bed and stared silently at the ceiling.
His thoughts drifted toward Dumbledore.
More specifically—
the difference between the Dumbledore from memory and the Dumbledore in reality.
After thinking for a very long time, Sean finally arrived at one conclusion.
Albus Dumbledore was not a bad man.
But he definitely wasn't a good man either.
He knew about Snape's painful past.
Yet he still forced him to protect Harry Potter.
He understood perfectly well that Harry's eyes constantly reminded Snape of Lily.
Of everything he had lost.
And after Voldemort's return became certain—
Dumbledore became even colder.
Snape had once said something Sean believed deeply now.
In Dumbledore's eyes, Harry Potter was ultimately a pig waiting for slaughter.
A carefully raised sacrifice.
And sadly—
Snape himself was no different.
But was Dumbledore wrong?
Sean honestly couldn't say he was.
Nobody really could.
Everything Dumbledore did stood beneath the banner of righteousness.
His goal was to destroy Voldemort.
For that purpose, he could ignore anyone's emotions.
Anyone's suffering.
Anyone's life.
Even the people who respected him most.
Even the people who loved him.
Sean honestly couldn't think of a better solution than the one Dumbledore chose.
Still—
Sean smiled faintly while rolling over beneath his blanket.
"But in the end…"
"…you still ask countless people to die cleaning up the mistakes of your generation."
"And you never ask what they want."
Sean slowly closed his eyes.
"I'm different from you."
The next morning—
Sean woke before dawn.
After leaving a clone behind to attend classes for him, Sean quietly disappeared from the dormitory.
Inside the training room, he inhaled deeply.
"System."
"Open the second stage."
This time, the system activated instantly without any warning.
Half a month ago, the system repeatedly warned Sean that the second challenge was extremely dangerous.
Now—
nothing.
Which meant only one thing.
The system already judged him qualified.
Sean slowly tightened his grip on the Arthurian sword while staring toward the shaking bushes ahead.
The next second—
a man dressed in fifteenth-century leather clothing burst out from the forest in panic.
"Run!!"
"There's a monster!!"
Before Sean could react, the man stumbled and collapsed unconscious directly beside him.
Then—
ROOOAAARRR!!!
A gigantic griffin burst through the trees violently.
Its massive wings shredded the canopy apart instantly.
Sean's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Herbivicus!"
"Incarcerous!"
"Thorn Growth!"
Three spells exploded out almost simultaneously.
The ground erupted violently.
Countless plants and vines burst upward like monstrous tentacles before wrapping tightly around the griffin's body.
The creature struggled immediately.
"SECTUMSEMPRA!"
Sean released the curse without hesitation.
PSSSHHH—
A massive spray of blood erupted instantly from the griffin's neck.
"It worked!"
Sean's eyes brightened immediately.
Last time—
he died instantly.
This time, he'd finally managed to injure it.
The griffin shrieked furiously in pain.
Its violent struggling intensified immediately.
Several thick vines began snapping apart one after another.
Sean seized the opportunity instantly.
"Crucio!"
The curse struck directly.
The griffin collapsed violently onto the ground, twitching uncontrollably in agony.
Its strength became so overwhelming that every vine restraining it exploded apart.
Meanwhile, Sean's face turned pale instantly.
"This can't continue…"
"These curses consume too much magic."
"If this drags out, I lose."
"SECTUMSEMPRA!"
Another invisible slash tore across the griffin's body.
More blood exploded outward.
But at that exact moment—
the griffin suddenly lifted its head.
Its glowing eyes locked directly onto Sean.
Sean's pupils shrank.
"Damn—"
The next second—
fire and acid swallowed him completely.
AAAAAHHHHH!!
Sean rolled across the ground in absolute agony.
Thankfully, nobody else was inside the training room currently.
Otherwise, seeing him like this would've been horrifying.
It wasn't that Sean lacked pain tolerance.
The issue was—
the sensation continued directly from the instant of death itself.
The griffin's attack wasn't ordinary fire.
It contained terrifying acid.
Flames burned flesh.
Acid melted through skin, muscles, organs, and bone simultaneously.
The pain was utterly unbearable.
Even remembering it made Sean's heart tremble.
Looking toward the glowing text describing the second stage, Sean finally understood one thing clearly.
Most students would never clear this challenge.
Not in their entire lives.
That wasn't exaggeration either.
Many Slytherins still failed the first stage repeatedly even after endless training.
And this monster?
It was several levels beyond that.
After resting several minutes, Sean slowly forced himself upright.
His hands still trembled slightly.
But eventually—
he inhaled deeply once more.
"System…"
"Open the second stage."
The same scene repeated.
The frightened medieval man appeared.
Then fainted.
Then—
the griffin arrived.
"Control first."
Sean immediately unleashed chained restraint spells again.
The griffin became trapped almost instantly.
But this time—
Sean didn't rush to cast Crucio.
Instead, he grabbed the Arthurian sword tightly—
and charged directly toward the griffin.
.....
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