Blaise also held great admiration for Kulkan.
On the way to the Great Hall, Blaise kept asking why Kulkan appeared so agitated. Sean, of course, could not reveal the truth to Blaise—at least not yet. He used the excuse that Kulkan had not been satisfied with his recent diet. The conversation ended with Blaise promising to send Kulkan some fresh meat and eggs.
The Great Hall had been decorated in Christmas style.
White and red decorations hung everywhere, while a large Christmas tree stood in the center of the hall. Smaller trees were scattered around the perimeter, all adorned with candy and ornaments. Charmed fairies fluttered about the Great Hall, continuously scattering luminous snowflakes that fell to the ground, forming a thin layer of snow. Every time someone stepped on it, swirling streams of snow would rise up, creating a truly beautiful sight.
Sean and his three companions seated themselves at the Slytherin table, quietly awaiting the start of dinner.
After sitting for a while, Blaise and Andy left to socialize with other students. Not long after, Blaise suddenly returned and said mysteriously to Sean and Jason, "Did you know? Someone actually gave the Savior a gift for Christmas!"
Sean was stunned by this and said, "Someone gave Harry a gift? Is that not normal?"
"Of course it is not the gift itself!" Blaise exclaimed, barely containing his excitement. "Someone gave the Savior a Firebolt! That is a Firebolt! The Firebolt used in professional Quidditch matches, the Firebolt every Quidditch star covets! I wanted one last Christmas, but my mother would not buy it for me, and yet someone gave it to the Savior for free!"
Very well.
Blaise's anger was clearly due to those last words.
Sean looked at Blaise helplessly. This friend of his, when it came to Quidditch, often became irrational and emotional.
As the remaining students gradually arrived and filled the hall, the banquet officially commenced at last.
The Christmas dinner featured significantly superior fare compared to the usual evening meals, and consequently everyone ate with tremendous enthusiasm and appreciation.
However, they had not been dining for very long when Professor Trelawney made her unexpected arrival at the Great Hall.
Speaking truthfully of Professor Trelawney, just how universally annoying and disagreeable she truly was could be clearly evidenced by the simple fact that Headmaster Dumbledore had not even bothered to prepare a chair for her at the staff table. If that single detail was not sufficient proof, then the observation that the usually steady and serious Professor McGonagall willingly engaged in a pointed exchange of witty barbs with Professor Trelawney demonstrated conclusively just how universally disliked the Divination professor was—not only among the Hogwarts student body, but also among her fellow professors themselves.
Of course, Dumbledore, ever the gracious host, still extended Trelawney the courtesy of a favor and immediately conjured a chair for her use.
However, just as Trelawney was preparing to seat herself, she suddenly released a piercing scream that was so loud and shrill that even Sean and the other students seated at the distant Slytherin table could hear it clearly.
"I dare not sit down in that chair! Headmaster, if I were to sit at this table, there would be precisely thirteen of us present! Thirteen is the most unlucky number in all of magical tradition! If I were to sit down at this moment, the first person to rise from their seat will inevitably be the first one to meet their death!"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, just sit down already! The turkey is growing as cold and hard as stone while we waste time with this nonsense."
Who could have possibly imagined that such a perfectly timed and cutting retort would come directly from the lips of Professor McGonagall?
Professor Trelawney gazed nervously at the long staff table, hesitated for several uncomfortable moments, and finally—with visible reluctance—lowered herself into the chair.
Upon seeing Trelawney finally sitting down, Sean was just about to turn around in his seat to say something to Blaise, but in that precise instant his eyes suddenly filled with a strange layer of white luminous mist. Scenes began to appear before his vision like slides being projected directly into his consciousness.
Severus Snape, who was standing directly in front of Draco Malfoy, slowly raised his wand and pointed it with steady purpose at Albus Dumbledore.
A dazzling burst of sickly green light exploded forth from the tip of the wand held in Snape's hand, moving through the air like the skeletal hand of death itself, reaching out to grasp Dumbledore's heart and soul.
The lifeless body of the dead Dumbledore tumbled backward from the heights of the Astronomy Tower, falling through the darkness until he crashed upon the ground far below, his body crumpling into the dust and debris.
Sean, who had witnessed these disturbing prophetic scenes playing out before him, subconsciously drew in a sharp breath of shock. His abnormal reaction was immediately noticed by Blaise and the other two students sitting in close proximity beside him. However, it was not only Blaise who had observed his strange behavior—Dumbledore and several other professors seated at the staff table had also taken note of his unusual state.
At first, upon seeing Sean's alarming appearance, they had felt quite worried and concerned. After all, such an outstandingly talented student was currently unique and irreplaceable within all of Hogwarts. However, when they subsequently observed that Sean had returned to his normal state within moments, they all felt considerably relieved.
At this particular moment in time, Dumbledore was gazing thoughtfully at Sean's back, his mind working through various possibilities and implications.
If Sean were truly a native inhabitant of this world without any additional knowledge, he would very likely have become extremely nervous or deeply worried after witnessing the prophetic visions he had just experienced. After all, within that terrible vision, Severus Snape had actually murdered Albus Dumbledore—and of course, that prophetic scene was essentially accurate to what would occur in reality.
However, Sean possessed complete memories and knowledge of this world's future events from his previous life, and therefore he understood exactly what circumstances would lead to that scene. Seeing these images now before him, he felt absolutely no fear whatsoever. Instead, a powerful desire welled up within him—a determination to completely change and prevent those events from ever occurring. This motivation was not primarily to save Dumbledore's life, but rather it stemmed from a simple wish to prevent his Head of House from having to kill the old headmaster, a man for whom Snape held such profoundly complex and conflicted feelings.
Sean found that he did not want to witness his Head of House being forced to rejoin the ranks of Voldemort's forces once again.
Regarding his recent unexpected relapse into clairvoyant vision, Sean felt certain that it must have been triggered by some form of magical connection and resonance with Professor Trelawney's prophetic abilities. The triggering event had been Trelawney's near-opening vision at the staff table, which had somehow caused him to witness fragments of one of Trelawney's genuine prophecies once more.
This particular vision had concerned the ancient prophecy about the first person to stand up among thirteen people being destined to die first.
Albus Dumbledore, who had courteously risen from his seat to greet the arriving Professor Trelawney, had thereby become the first among thirteen people to stand—and thus had sealed his fate as the first among them to die.
Trelawney herself had genuinely believed she had not yet sat down at that crucial moment, assuming she would be counted as the fourteenth person present. There were several other individuals seated at the staff table, including Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley who had been invited to join the professors. Peter Pettigrew, in his rat form of Scabbers, was concealed within Ron's pocket at that very moment, making him the actual thirteenth person present. Trelawney therefore believed herself to be the thirteenth person at the table, but her actual status as the fourteenth person had absolutely no bearing on the accuracy of the prophecy itself.
Dumbledore, as one of the true thirteen individuals present, had been the first to rise from his seat to greet the arriving Trelawney—thereby unconsciously foreshadowing and sealing his own eventual death.
Of course, all of these prophetic elements had been completely unconscious predictions made by Professor Trelawney's innate Sight, and even she herself did not genuinely believe that any of them would actually come true in reality.
The Christmas dinner eventually came to its conclusion, but due to the special festive nature of the day, many students chose to remain in the Great Hall to enjoy the dessert course, engage in pleasant conversation, and simply bask in the warm festive atmosphere. Other students, however, returned directly to their respective House common rooms to chat with friends in more intimate settings and rest comfortably.
Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter also rose from their seats to depart from the Great Hall. Professor Trelawney immediately called out to them, asking with great concern which one of them had stood up from their seat first. Her question was promptly met with yet another withering barrage of cutting sarcasm from Professor McGonagall, who clearly had reached the absolute limit of her patience.
Sean, who had been carefully observing this entire interaction, also rose smoothly from his seat. He politely excused himself to his companions with the stated intention of visiting the bathroom, and then departed from the Great Hall. Taking full advantage of the temporarily quiet and largely empty corridors, he drew his wand and cast a precise Disillusionment Charm upon himself. Once rendered effectively invisible, he began to carefully follow behind Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley at a discreet distance.
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