Chapter 123

“Wizard Sean Green?!”

Professor McGonagall, seeing the figure she had believed impossible to be here, gasped for breath. She glared at Wizard Sean, her whole body trembling with rage.

“Fifty points from Ravenclaw! For your foolish actions!”

Professor McGonagall was clearly furious.

Harry and Ron were stunned—how had Wizard Sean’s appearance instantly shifted the professors’ wrath onto him?

Professor Flitwick outside the door was equally stunned; he paused, wondering if Ravenclaw was about to… lose all its points?

“Wizard Sean Green.”

Professor Flitwick pushed open the door, coughed twice, bringing Professor McGonagall slightly back to her senses, but Professor Snape’s gaze remained icy.

“Could you explain what happened? Children? Miss Granger, I recall you were excused this afternoon.”

His kindness helped the terrified young wizards catch their breath.

“It was me, I came to…”

Hermione, though still dazed, could not let Wizard Sean lose a full one hundred and fifty points!

Think of it—he had worked so hard just to earn one hundred and fifty points.

“It was us, Professor. We met up with Hermione to go to dinner when we encountered a troll, and together we defeated it.”

Jia Jia Siting quickly took over.

He knew Wizard Sean probably couldn’t speak well, and with the professors’ fury so intense, it would be hard to get the source of the anger to explain anything.

He didn’t know whether Hogwarts would reward or punish them for defeating the troll, but the current situation suggested it wouldn’t go well.

So they had to share the burden.

“Oh—you fought a troll at the risk of your lives?!”

Professor Flitwick blinked, urging him to continue.

“Yes, Professor. Neville and I distracted it, Harry and Ron drew its attention, and finally Wizard Sean used the Levitation Charm to defeat it.”

Looking at the thick wooden club and the flat-headed creature, Jia Jia Siting pieced together what had happened and immediately fabricated a version of their actions.

The others stood by, dumbfounded.

Harry was the first to recover:

“That’s right, Professor.”

“Yeah.”

Ron added.

Deduct house points?

Not afraid.

Losing the Green Notes would be catastrophic.

Ron smiled to himself: Mr. Green’s character was undeniable—he’d helped out now, so wouldn’t he get access to the latest version of the Green Notes?

Just thinking about it thrilled him.

“Oh—how brave! Children, I believe I must award you—”

Professor Flitwick spoke, glancing at the two professors beside him.

Professor McGonagall’s anger faded, replaced by concern as she studied them, especially Wizard Sean.

Professor Snape cast Wizard Sean a deathly look—clearly meaning: “You’ll pay for this.”

“First, Mr. Green—due to your exceptional spellwork, I award you one hundred and fifty points!”

Professor Flitwick needed only one glance to know which spells Wizard Sean had used; he was delighted that his star student had so skillfully combined spells in practice.

Look at that Levitation Charm, that Disarming Charm aimed at the club… perfectly accounting for the troll’s high magic resistance, fragile head, and sluggishness!

What brilliant battle wisdom!

Though Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape looked displeased, they said nothing.

Professor Flitwick winked at Wizard Sean—clearly meaning:

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it up later.”

“And for the rest of you—I award twenty points each! For not abandoning your companion, for working together wisely and bravely to defeat the troll!”

At these words, everyone burst into excitement.

“Go enjoy your dinner, children!”

Before the other two professors could speak, Professor Flitwick swiftly ushered the young wizards out with a smile.

Only after the professors had vanished did they begin chattering again.

“Merlin! Wizard Sean, I still can’t believe you defeated the troll alone! The whole thing must’ve been incredible!”

Jia Jia Siting laughed.

“I heard a huge ‘thud’—was that the troll falling?”

Harry asked the question he’d wanted to ask since earlier.

Only when he spoke did he realize something:

The four young wizards before him were inseparable—especially Wizard Sean, Jia Jia Siting, and Hermione—while he himself seemed not to belong to their group.

Wizard Sean had simply, for some reason, helped him and Ron a great deal.

“I suppose so,”

Jia Jia Siting quickly replied,

“Wizard Sean, what spell did you use to knock it down?”

“Transfiguration, Levitation Charm, Disarming Charm…”

Wizard Sean spoke,

“By the way—thank you.”

“I should be the one thanking you…”

Hermione’s voice regained its strength.

“Thank you, Wizard Sean—especially you. And Jia Jia Siting, Neville, Harry, and Ron.”

Harry felt a vague sense of distance vanish the moment Wizard Sean said “thank you.”

Harry was already content with this—but then Ron suddenly blurted out:

“Can I see the latest version of the Green Spellbook?”

Jia Jia Siting burst into laughter, doubled over:

“There’s no ‘latest version’—the Spellbook was refined by Wizard Sean and Hermione. I suspect what you mean is the part Hermione just added herself…”

Ron’s face turned red—but then a sky-blue notebook was placed in his hand. He turned; Hermione was looking up at him:

“Take it… and I only helped a little—Wizard Sean’s spell progress is far ahead of mine.”

…

October ended; November arrived as scheduled.

The season had grown so cold that gloves were now essential; with the Quidditch season approaching, tension crackled between the houses.

After the troll incident, the three in the Hope Hut always held an unspoken trust in Wizard Sean—even Harry and Ron did. Every class ended, Harry boasted about how Wizard Sean had single-handedly defeated the troll.

His distance from Harry and Hermione vanished quickly. This pleased Jia Jia Siting: with Harry and Ron now on their side, Hermione no longer heard gossip.

After all, Harry and Ron had gained points and now carried themselves boldly, unafraid of losing more for a fight.

Especially Ron—he got so angry he’d actually throw Scrabbles out the window.

As for Wizard Sean—he’d been feeling terrible lately.

Since that day, he had not seen Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape.

Today, he had to attend Transfiguration and then go to Potions class.

He had tried approaching them directly, but both professors seemed to be in the Headmaster’s office.

This left him unable to find them.

And on the afternoon after Halloween, in the Headmaster’s office, several figures stood already.

One more chapter coming later