Starting with Harry, one student after another took turns sitting on the hippogriffs and soaring into the sky. Sean didn't quite understand why these kids were so excited about it — they could all fly perfectly well on broomsticks. Was riding a hippogriff really that much more thrilling?
Sean wasn't interested in riding a hippogriff himself. He quietly drifted to the back of the line, letting everyone else have their fun. If he didn't have to get on, he wouldn't.
"Come on, bow to it, Malfoy, bow to it!" someone urged.
"What's so hard about it? If Potter can do it, so can I!" Malfoy sneered. "I'm not bowing to this ugly beast. I don't think it even dares to touch me."
He gave the hippogriff in front of him — Buckbeak — a smug slap on the flank. In an instant, Buckbeak lashed out, claws flashing straight for Malfoy.
The sharp talons were only inches from Malfoy's throat when Sean, standing behind, reacted at once. He drew his wand in a single, smooth motion — Petrificus Totalus. A streak of grey light hit Buckbeak, freezing it mid-lunge. Its claws stopped just short of Malfoy's neck.
Malfoy stumbled back, eyes wide, then lost his balance on a stone and landed hard on his backside.
"It — it tried to kill me! I'm telling my father — he'll hear about this!" Malfoy shrieked, voice cracking.
Sean stepped forward and looked down at him, blocking the sun so his face was cast in shadow. He said calmly, "First of all, I just saved you. So you should be saying thank you."
Malfoy glanced up at him, swallowing when he saw Sean's pale grey eyes. He shivered involuntarily. "Thank you… thank you," he muttered.
"Good." Sean's gaze shifted to Buckbeak, now standing frozen and calm. Then he looked back at Malfoy. "Second — everyone saw what happened. This was your fault. You're not hurt, so I expect this to end here. If I find out you're trying to stir up trouble again, I'll challenge you to a pure-blood duel and make sure you spend a week in the hospital wing. Believe me, I will."
Malfoy's mouth opened — ready for one of his usual snide threats — but when he met Sean's eyes again, something about that cold stare reminded him of Snape. His words died in his throat. He swallowed hard, nodded stiffly, and scrambled to his feet without another word.
If anyone else had spoken to Malfoy like that, Crabbe and Goyle would have stepped in to flex their muscles. But when it was Sean, Crabbe went silent and pretended to look up at the sky, and Goyle shifted uncomfortably, one hand hovering over his crotch — remembering all too well a certain painful lesson.
After the incident with Buckbeak, everyone's excitement for the hippogriffs quickly vanished. Even though it was obviously Malfoy's fault, nobody wanted to risk being attacked if something else set one off.
Seeing everyone's enthusiasm fade, Hagrid looked visibly downcast. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were clearly worried too — they knew this might cause problems for Hagrid so early in his first lesson.
When the class ended, the trio hurried over to Sean.
"Sean, thank you so much," Harry said earnestly. "If you hadn't stepped in, if Buckbeak had really hurt Malfoy, it would've turned into a huge mess."
Sean waved it off. "It was nothing — not worth thanking me for."
Then he lowered his voice slightly, speaking to the three of them. "If you really want to help, don't thank me — talk to Hagrid instead. He's different from us. He's strong enough that most magical creatures can't hurt him, so he forgets that what's harmless to him could be dangerous — even deadly — to everyone else.
I know he means well, and it's good for us to learn about these creatures. But I'd strongly suggest he avoid bringing out any magical beasts rated three stars or higher by the Ministry for close contact. Or if he does, he needs to keep them under control at all times — no surprises, no accidents.
If he doesn't, what happened today is just the beginning. Next time, it might be worse — and the Ministry won't care that he didn't mean it. If he wants to keep teaching and not get complaints or worse… he needs to change how he does this."
Sean finished with a small smile. "Anyway — that's all. Good luck talking to him. I'll see you around."
On Thursday morning, Sean had Potions and Ancient Runes.
In Potions class, Snape was in his element — looming over the cauldrons and watching every move. He hovered over Neville's shrinking potion like a hawk, then made Neville test it on his pet toad.
Somehow, Neville's potion worked — the toad shrank neatly into a wriggling tadpole.
Malfoy and the others, who'd been waiting for a disaster, looked genuinely disappointed. Snape restored the toad with an antidote, then turned his cold eyes on Neville and Hermione.
"Longbottom, your potion actually worked — by some miracle. Five points from Gryffindor for making me waste a perfectly good antidote." He shifted his glare to Hermione. "And you, Granger — I told you not to help him. Obviously you ignored me. Another five points from Gryffindor."
Hermione looked ready to explode. Sean, watching from his seat, shook his head. Snape's bias toward Gryffindor really couldn't be chalked up to a misunderstanding — not with stunts like this. If he treated me like that, Sean thought dryly, I'd probably pull my wand on him by now.