Sean was completely overwhelmed the moment he entered the common room.
Before he even had time to react, he was dragged toward the sofa by an emotional crowd of Slytherins. Several girls hurriedly surrounded him, carefully wiping dirt and blood from his face and hands with handkerchiefs while staring at him with reddened eyes.
Honestly, it should have been a touching moment.
Unfortunately, Sean couldn't appreciate it at all.
He struggled desperately to escape the crowd like a trapped animal before finally managing to pull himself free.
"What exactly are you all doing?"
Charlie looked at him with a pained expression.
"Sean… Professor Snape asked you to go to his office." He swallowed nervously. "You might be in serious trouble."
Sean stared blankly for several seconds.
"That's it?"
His expression became even stranger.
"You lot are acting like I'm about to be executed."
The surrounding Slytherins instantly looked awkward.
Sean shook his head helplessly before casually walking over to the blackboard near the fireplace. Picking up a piece of chalk, he quickly wrote a short sentence across it.
Think before you act.
Then he turned back toward everyone.
"This is today's lesson. Study it yourselves first. It's simple enough." He waved casually while heading toward the exit. "I'll explain it properly when I get back."
The common room fell silent as Sean left beneath countless complicated gazes.
After several moments, someone finally spoke quietly.
"Do you think… he'll come back?"
Another student frowned while staring at the sentence on the board.
"Forget that for now. Doesn't this feel like he's mocking us?"
Several people instantly stiffened.
"Wait… don't tell me Sean already knew what we were saying earlier?"
"No way."
"That can't be possible."
"He wouldn't have any reason to know."
"It's probably just a coincidence…"
Still, the atmosphere gradually became uncomfortable.
One of the older students sighed heavily.
"If we'd actually thought things through earlier, today probably wouldn't have turned out like this."
Another girl bit her lip guiltily.
"Sean already got punished physically because of us," she whispered softly. "If he learns we were blaming him too… that would hurt even more."
"It's all your fault!" someone suddenly snapped at the earlier troublemakers. "Can't you use your brains before screaming at people next time?"
The entire group immediately began arguing again.
Ironically, everyone had completely forgotten that Charlie had tried explaining the truth earlier and nobody bothered listening.
Finally, Charlie stepped forward and raised his voice.
"Enough."
As the former prefect, he still carried some authority among the students.
"Now isn't the time to blame each other." He pointed toward the sentence on the blackboard. "Let's think about what Sean actually meant."
Only then did the common room slowly quiet down.
.....
Meanwhile, Sean had absolutely no idea that the injuries from repeatedly dying in the training room had been mistaken for punishment from the professors.
He simply walked through the corridors normally before arriving outside Snape's office.
Knock knock.
Sean pushed the door open immediately after knocking.
"You are supposed to wait for permission before entering after knocking, Mr Sebastian."
Snape's cold voice echoed through the office like a blade sliding across stone.
"Next time."
Sean answered casually while walking in and sitting down on the sofa as though he owned the place.
Snape slowly raised his head, clearly ready to criticise him further.
Then he finally noticed Sean's current appearance.
The torn robes.
The bruises.
The scratches.
The soot-covered face.
Snape's brows instantly furrowed.
"What happened to you?"
Sean scratched his messy hair awkwardly.
"Training injuries." He shrugged. "Some spell backlash. It'll heal in a couple of days."
Snape stared at him silently for a while before suddenly speaking coldly.
"Mr Sebastian, do you understand how much trouble you caused me today?"
Sean remained quiet.
"You used my reputation and position to protect two students involved in illegal duelling."
Snape narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Since you intended to protect them anyway, why did you force them to apologise?" His tone became more curious than angry. "And why punish them with cleaning duties?"
Sean answered calmly.
"Because they lost."
For the first time that evening, a faint smile appeared near the corner of Snape's mouth.
"So your meaning is…" Snape said slowly, "if they had won, there would've been no punishment?"
Sean nodded naturally.
"Why punish the winners?"
The office fell silent again.
Snape lowered his head and continued writing paperwork without speaking further. Only the scratching of his quill echoed through the room.
Several minutes later, Snape finally finished the document in front of him and looked up again.
"You handled the matter well today," he said calmly. "You did not disgrace Slytherin, and I am satisfied with your decision."
Sean's eyes immediately brightened slightly.
But before he could celebrate—
"However," Snape continued coldly, "you skipped your very first Potions class as a first-year student."
Sean's smile instantly disappeared.
"Therefore, you will copy your classmates' complete notes ten times and submit them tomorrow."
Then Snape added mercilessly:
"No magic."
Sean's expression darkened immediately.
Yesterday he had punished others by forcing them to copy books manually.
Today karma had arrived with terrifying speed.
"Wonderful," Sean muttered internally. "Now I'm the one suffering."
Then another thought appeared in his mind.
"When I get back, I'm checking everyone's homework personally. If anyone dared slack off, they're dead."
"Mr Sebastian." Snape's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "Are you planning to leave, or should I escort you out personally?"
"No need, Professor."
Sean immediately stood up.
"Goodnight."
Then he quickly escaped the office.
.....
The moment Sean returned to the common room, his face still looked extremely unpleasant.
"Everyone," he announced darkly, "hand in yesterday's homework."
The Slytherins exchanged confused looks.
Nobody knew what exactly had happened inside Snape's office, but judging from Sean's expression, asking questions now was clearly suicidal.
So everyone obediently handed over their assignments.
Sean sat down and began checking them one by one.
The further he read, the darker his expression became.
Because every single student had copied the exact same answer.
Every. Single. One.
Sean slowly raised his head.
The common room instantly became silent enough to hear breathing.
Then Sean pointed toward the sentence on the blackboard.
"Does anyone understand what this means now?"
Malfoy immediately jumped to his feet enthusiastically, desperate to recover points in Sean's eyes.
"I understand!" he declared confidently. "It means we should think three times before acting!"
Sean suddenly smiled.
It was an extremely strange smile.
Malfoy instantly felt his scalp go numb.
"Malfoy," Sean said gently, "go back and copy that sentence one hundred times."
Malfoy's face froze completely.
Only then did Sean finally feel slightly better emotionally.
He leaned back lazily before beginning to explain.
"Think before you act doesn't mean endlessly hesitating before doing something," he said calmly. "It means understanding the consequences clearly before making your move."
His eyes swept across the room.
"If you understand the risks and still choose to act, then at least you're prepared to pay the price afterward."
The Slytherins listened unusually seriously.
After making sure everyone finally understood, Sean suddenly revealed a deeply unsettling smile.
"Now then…"
The surrounding students immediately felt chills crawl up their spines.
Sean slowly continued:
"I've recently learned about a very special form of magical training."
He leaned forward slightly.
"A mysterious space where you can fight endlessly without truly dying."
.....
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