Carol stood stiffly, his expression tense.
He preferred to believe that his earlier defeat had been due to carelessness. Now that he was fully prepared, he was certain he wouldn't lose again.
The two exchanged a formal dueling salute before turning sharply and walking to opposite ends of the platform.
Carol gripped his wand tightly, his emotions tangled and uneasy.
Sean, on the other hand, appeared relaxed and confident.
"Sean's definitely going to win," Cassius said with complete certainty.
Chris nodded in agreement.
They trusted Sean without reservation.
"Begin," Professor Morisse called from the side.
Sean's spell seemed to launch the moment the command was given.
Another Disarming Charm shot forward.
Carol's wand flew out of his hand for the second time.
He stood frozen on the dueling platform, his face dark with embarrassment, his hands hanging awkwardly at his sides.
Below the stage, students began whispering to one another.
To Carol's ears, their murmurs sounded like mocking laughter.
Even though he had lost face, and desperately wanted to flee the scene, dueling had its own etiquette.
Carol had no choice but to walk back to the center of the platform and exchange a closing salute with Sean.
"You won," he said reluctantly. "But don't get cocky. A duel is only one person. In the competition, you'll see what Castelobruxo is really capable of."
Carol was unwilling to accept defeat. Since he couldn't beat Sean, he could only try to save face with words.
Sean naturally understood what he meant.
Castelobruxo's real strength lay in their twin-core wands and two-person combination magic. Individual duels weren't their specialty.
"Is that so?" Sean replied with a smile. "I'm looking forward to it."
As it happened, Sean himself was currently practicing a similar concept.
The Flying Charm required casting with both hands simultaneously.
That difficulty was far greater than coordinating with another person.
After Carol stepped down, he stood alone at the side, silent and withdrawn.
Sean, meanwhile, descended from the platform like a victorious hero, surrounded by the Slytherin students.
"The level of mastery you have with the Disarming Charm…" Chris said. "I'm not even sure sixth- or seventh-years could surpass you."
"Sean, that was incredible," Cassius exclaimed, grabbing Sean's shoulders excitedly. "You were like lightning!"
Even the Gryffindors, who hadn't seen Sean cast spells in a while, were stunned by his strength.
Angelina fully acknowledged his superiority.
The other Gryffindors could only sigh.
With Sean in Slytherin, their year had no hope of beating them.
Afterward, several more pairs of students stepped up to duel.
Inspired by Sean's impressive demonstration, everyone suddenly seemed far more enthusiastic.
When class ended, Fred walked over to Sean.
"We've got to tell Cedric about this," he said. "Too bad he missed it."
"Exactly," George added. "He was pretty upset about this morning too."
"You two are ridiculous. Cedric's actually quite happy right now."
A voice suddenly drifted over beside them.
Roger Davies had apparently overheard the conversation while passing by.
There was a distinct bitterness in his tone.
"Blimey, you scared me," Fred said dramatically. "Thought you were someone else."
"Where's your exchange partner?" George asked, glancing around.
Roger looked completely miserable.
"Don't even mention that guy. I wanted a cute girl."
"Your cute girl just arrived," Sean said suddenly.
At that moment, Cedric and Joanna were walking up the stairs together.
They were chatting and laughing, clearly getting along well.
Unlike Roger and Angelina with their awkward partnerships.
Sean had been curious about the Winchester brothers from Ilvermorny.
Directly asking them would obviously be suspicious.
But Joanna was the perfect entry point.
"Hey, Cedric," George said with a grin. "Guess what happened in class. Sean gave that Carol guy a proper lesson."
"It was just a normal duel," Sean corrected him. "Don't exaggerate."
Cedric's eyes lit up.
So much for Roger's claim that he didn't care.
In truth, Cedric had been feeling quite frustrated about the morning.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
The Weasley twins eagerly prepared to reenact the duel scene—
But Sean cut them off.
"If you want details, it's better to hear it from the person involved."
Joanna noticed the Hogwarts boys beginning their animated conversation and tactfully excused herself.
Classes were over for the day, and the exchange students needed to regroup with their teams.
The training grounds by the Black Lake were shared by the three visiting schools on a rotating schedule.
Today was Uagadou's turn.
Which meant Roger had finally escaped from his intimidating Uagadou partner.
Once Roger and the Weasley twins had also left, Sean pulled Cedric aside.
"I need a favor."
"What are we stealing this time?"
"Hearts—wait, no. Not stealing," Sean corrected quickly. "I just want you to help me ask Joanna about something."
"You're interested in her too?" Cedric raised an eyebrow.
"What? No!" Sean protested immediately. "I'm not Roger."
"Then what do you want to ask?"
"Ilvermorny has those Winchester brothers, right? I want to know more about them. Their family background, for example."
Cedric frowned.
"Asking about other competitors might be difficult. The professors told us not to reveal information about our own team either. I'm sure their professors gave them the same instructions."
Sean leaned closer and said seriously,
"This is intelligence warfare. Use your charm and get her talking. You don't need much—just find out about the Winchester brothers. I believe in you."
"Why them?" Cedric asked. "Shouldn't you be asking about Joanna? She's in your year."
"Joanna?" Sean waved the idea away. "There's no need. Don't you trust me? Just help me out. I really need information about those two brothers."
Sean nudged Cedric with his elbow.
Cedric thought about it for a moment.
Sean probably didn't need information about second-year competitors.
It was hard to imagine anyone from the other schools' second years beating him.
Carol had already proven that.
"Alright," Cedric agreed.
"Perfect. I'll wait for your news," Sean said cheerfully.
He didn't even need to do anything himself.
Cedric's charm alone would likely get some answers.
The next evening in the Great Hall, Cedric called Sean over.
"I found out something."
"Impressive," Sean said eagerly. "So what's their background?"
"The Winchester brothers come from a wizarding family," Cedric replied. "Their father is a Charms professor at Ilvermorny."
"That's it?"
"That's it. If I asked any more, Joanna would start getting suspicious."
"Fair enough," Sean said, patting Cedric on the shoulder. "Thanks."
Since their father was a Charms professor at Ilvermorny, the brothers probably weren't connected to the world Sean remembered.
So they were likely just people with the same names.
October passed quickly.
During that time, Hogwarts remained peaceful.
Perhaps because of the exchange students, the school's academic atmosphere had grown even more intense than usual.
But on the night of October 31st—the eve of the first match—something happened.
Someone broke into the Forbidden Forest and fought with the centaurs.
Firenze immediately rushed to Hagrid's hut to report it.
"Tell Dumbledore," he said urgently. "Someone is coming for that thing."
Hagrid's expression turned grim.
Mick's eyes burned with anger.
That very night, after hearing the news, Dumbledore sent Hagrid, Snape, and McGonagall to search the southern edge of the forest alongside the centaurs.
They guarded the area through the night.
But despite hours of searching, they found no trace of the intruder.
Either the person had already escaped…
Or they had come from inside Hogwarts Castle—
and had already returned there.
Sean didn't learn about the incident until the morning of the first competition.
Hagrid, who was famously terrible at keeping secrets, had accidentally let it slip.
"Damn it," Sean muttered to himself.
"I knew things wouldn't stay peaceful for long."
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