Chapter 230: Astronomy and Prophecy
Originally, Madam Pomfrey was unwilling to let them in to visit the injured under any circumstances, but Headmaster Dumbledore spoke from inside:
"Let the brave children in."
Only then did Madam Pomfrey allow Sean and the others to enter, though she still said with a stern face:
"Ten minutes. One minute more, and I'll throw you all out!"
Sean and the other four quickly entered the ward.
The large bed in the Hospital Wing was covered with pristine white sheets, with a table beside it. Curtains were drawn around the bed for privacy. When Sean and the others stepped behind the curtain, they found that both Harry and Professor Quirrell were still unconscious.
Headmaster Dumbledore was standing nearby, twinkling his eyes at them.
"It seems you haven't arrived at the best time."
So the young wizards quietly shuffled out again.
Only Sean was called back.
"Mr. Green, could you please stay for a moment?"
Sean was already at the back of the group. He turned around, separated from Headmaster Dumbledore only by the curtain.
"Come here, Mr. Green. You may sit down."
Sean walked to Dumbledore's side. Like an elder wanting a heart-to-heart with a child, Dumbledore offered Sean a sherbet lemon.
"A glimmer of hope is enough to give one the courage to resist the darkness... Mr. Green, how did you know that poor Professor Quirrell needed saving?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.
"I didn't know, Headmaster... I wasn't the one making the choice. I simply provided an option within my power," Sean replied.
"A surprising answer. In a place everyone ignored, you saw poor Professor Quirrell's struggle... My boy, that is something many cannot do. I heard you sold the pouch I gave you for holding Galleons?"
Sean was momentarily stunned, then felt a wave of embarrassment. Selling a gift someone gave you never sounded like a pleasant thing to admit.
Seeing Sean's flustered state, Headmaster Dumbledore hummed a cheerful tune and looked up at the ceiling with a smile.
"I suppose I'll have to give you another one. That way, next time you can decide whether to sell mine or Minerva's."
Dumbledore took out a pouch and placed it in Sean's hand. He seemed quite amused to see Sean so out of sorts.
"Go on, my boy. I think there are people waiting for you outside the door," Dumbledore said.
Sean expected to find Justin and the others trying to peek through the crack in the door, only to be ruthlessly blocked by Madam Pomfrey.
But unexpectedly—
"Follow me, Sean Green."
Hearing his full name called, Sean felt a pressure akin to familial authority. He obediently followed Professor McGonagall toward the Transfiguration office.
Justin and the others wanted to say something to help Sean, but after a single glance from Professor McGonagall, they fell silent and behaved themselves.
Stern, just, and imposing—Professor McGonagall always inspired a mix of love and fear in young wizards.
The fire in the Transfiguration office was roaring fiercely as always.
Minerva McGonagall was still shaken...
Upon arriving at the third-floor corridor, she had realized that everything the children said was true.
The Dark Lord was not dead. He had instructed Professor Quirrell to help him steal the Philosopher's Stone and rise again.
Yet as professors, they had failed to notice a single thing, leaving a group of brave children to guard the Forbidden Forest and venture into the third-floor corridor to stop Professor Quirrell.
If anyone understood the dangers involved better than anyone else, it was the young wizard standing before her.
"This was too risky—Sean Green! How dare you guard the Forbidden Forest, break into the third-floor corridor, and face Quirrell alone—do you have any idea what you were doing?!"
Professor McGonagall growled in a low voice, trembling with anger.
Sean remained silent. Professor McGonagall looked at him, feeling as if she were back in the McGonagall family villa.
Marcus had a better eye than she did; he had given this child a Portkey early on, anticipating the choices he would make today.
A large owl flew in through the window, knocking over a silver cat figurine on the desk with a crisp clink as it dropped a letter.
"I learned of some tragedies, Professor. When they happen right in front of me, I cannot remain indifferent... Professor Quirrell... he wrote a recommendation letter for me."
Sean's voice was soft but firm.
Minerva McGonagall was stunned. She watched as Sean took a carefully preserved letter from his bag.
It was like watching a seed blown by the wind firmly take root.
"Next time, tell me," Professor McGonagall said hoarsely after a long silence.
When Sean left the Transfiguration office, the old wizard with the long white beard had somehow entered unnoticed.
He spoke with emotion:
"Then I think we know clearly now. He will always stand on the side of what is good, even if there is much injustice in this world, and even if the side of evil looks easy.
"He possesses the purest goodwill toward this world. I believe, Minerva, that is to your credit.
"In many ways, you always do better than I do."
Outside the Transfiguration office, Justin and the others kept examining Sean, as if it were highly abnormal that he wasn't missing an arm or a leg.
When Sean glanced at them, they pretended not to be looking.
The heavy rain had stopped early this morning. Listening to the hooting of owls, Sean's thoughts drifted away.
Professor Quirrell was still unconscious, preventing Sean from speaking to him. Sean needed an agent... if Professor Quirrell was willing, there was likely no one more suitable than him.
In the days that followed, Hogwarts Castle settled into complete peace. There was no crisis of Voldemort's servants trying to kill Unicorns, nor any panic about the Philosopher's Stone being stolen.
There was only an atmosphere of busyness.
The young wizards who had experienced these events seemed to have changed significantly. They thought:
No matter how difficult the end-of-term assignments and exams are, can they be harder than guarding the Forbidden Forest under the threat of Voldemort, or stopping him from stealing the Philosopher's Stone?
It was only when Sean reviewed the events with Hermione's notes that he realized something—Firenze the Centaur had said Harry would be killed by Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, so he stopped Voldemort there.
Sean naturally thought of Harry's final plan to sacrifice himself, the location of which happened to be in the Forbidden Forest.
The Centaurs' prophecies seemed never to be wrong.
This made the branch of magic known as Astronomy appear even more profound in Sean's eyes.
If Hagrid hadn't been sulking over Harry's unconsciousness these past few days, Sean would have entered the Forbidden Forest long ago. Whether it was the Unicorn Biscuit or the potentially existing Centaur Biscuit, he held a vague sense of anticipation.
On the third day after Harry and Professor Quirrell fell unconscious, Sean and the others finally received the news:
Harry was awake, and so was Professor Quirrell!
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