Sean walked into the Great Hall and spotted Cassius and Cress sitting at the Slytherin table eating lunch.
He rubbed his stomach and sat down beside them.
"Were you actually patrolling this morning?" Cassius Warrington asked. "I didn't see you anywhere."
Sean smirked.
"Why were you looking for me? Hoping I wouldn't catch you sleeping in class?"
Cassius immediately waved his hands.
"No, no, absolutely not. Please don't interfere with my naps."
"Oh, right," Sean said casually. "Did you two see the notice for the Dueling Club on the bulletin board outside?"
"Yeah, I saw it." Cassius cut into his pork chop. "Doesn't interest me."
"You're only interested in Quidditch," Cress said with a roll of her eyes.
Then she added,
"I'm thinking of signing up. Watching upperclassmen duel sounds pretty entertaining."
The registration requirements for the Dueling Club were incredibly lax.
Any student from second to seventh year could participate.
And the venue would be the Great Hall itself.
"Do you know who's organizing it?" Sean asked.
Cress thought for a moment.
"I heard Filius Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was younger. Maybe it's him?"
Sean leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered his voice.
"Reliable sources say it's Lockhart."
Cress's expression immediately soured.
"Ugh. Then I don't want to go anymore."
The moment she heard Gilderoy Lockhart was involved, all her interest vanished.
If Professor Flitwick had been running it, the club might actually have been impressive.
Sean laughed.
"Come on. We've got nothing else tonight. Think of it as entertainment."
"You're going too?" Cress asked.
"I'll probably take a look."
"…Fine. Then I'll go too."
Cassius muttered from beside them,
"Women are so fickle."
"Eat your pork chop!"
Cress hurled a red apple at him.
Fortunately, Cassius caught it with quick reflexes.
Sean frowned slightly.
In the original timeline, Lockhart's Dueling Club did not begin until the week before Christmas.
Now it had started more than a month early.
And considering Sean already suspected Lockhart was one of Haierbo's people, any unusual action from him deserved attention.
After lunch, Sean returned Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which Cress had been holding for him.
Then he headed to Professor Pomona Sprout's office.
Standing at the doorway, he knocked lightly.
"Professor, I'd like to ask you something."
Professor Sprout was sorting quiz papers from that morning's lesson.
Seeing Sean at the door, she immediately set the papers aside and smiled warmly.
"Of course. What would you like to know?"
Sean had not attended Herbology for more than three years.
Sprout was genuinely delighted he had come to consult her.
"What can you tell me about Two-Life Flowers and Snakehead Fruit?"
Sprout blinked.
Clearly, this gifted student asked questions on an entirely different level from ordinary pupils.
She walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a thick volume bound in worn parchment.
The title read:
Ancient Magical Herbs and Mythological Legends.
"This book isn't in the library," she said proudly. "It's part of my personal collection."
She carefully flipped through the pages and stopped about one-third of the way through.
"According to legend, the Two-Life Flower grows on the mysterious island of Kanamiya," Sprout explained.
"But no one has ever truly located the island."
Then she began telling the old story associated with the flower.
Long ago, during an age of endless war, the princess of a declining kingdom fell in love with the prince of an enemy nation.
Her furious father locked her away in a hidden chamber, cutting her off from the world.
Five years later, the prince's army conquered the kingdom.
At last reunited with the woman he loved, the prince embraced her tightly—
Only for his people to demand the execution of the conquered princess.
In that desperate moment, the prince chose love over his kingdom.
Branded a traitor, he fled with the princess.
Eventually, cornered by pursuers with nowhere left to run, the lovers leapt hand in hand into the sea.
A giant wave swallowed them whole.
When the prince awoke, he found himself on an island that resembled paradise itself.
Peaceful.
Beautiful.
Dreamlike.
Kanamiya Island.
But the princess lay nearby.
Dead.
Overcome with grief, the prince remained beside her grave for seven days and seven nights without food or water.
Before dying, he left behind one final declaration:
"Though we cannot live together, let us perish together. Even this is a blessing from the gods. Love shall endure forever."
One year later, strange flowers bloomed across Kanamiya Island—
Twin blossoms growing from a single stem.
"So those flowers became the Two-Life Flowers?" Sean asked.
"That's how the story goes," Sprout replied.
Then she looked at him curiously.
"Where did you hear about them?"
Sean answered without hesitation.
"I overheard customers discussing them at the Leaky Cauldron."
He smoothly continued the lie.
"They were arguing about where the flowers actually grow."
Sprout nodded thoughtfully.
"A Bulgarian potion master once claimed he saw Two-Life Flowers in the hands of an Egyptian herb merchant."
"What do they look like?"
"Supposedly, a single stem bearing one black flower and one white flower side by side."
She shrugged.
"Though I've never seen one myself. Their existence remains uncertain."
She flipped farther through the book and stopped again around the middle.
"As for Snakehead Fruit, it grows on Eugingo Island in Uganda, within Lake Victoria."
"Unfortunately, it's extremely rare. The Ugandan Ministry of Magic controls nearly the entire supply."
Sean silently calculated.
One ingredient might be in Egypt.
The other was in Uganda.
Both in Africa.
That was very far away.
Even an entire Christmas holiday might not be enough time.
Perhaps it would be easier to ask around Knockturn Alley first.
"Thank you, Professor."
"You're very welcome."
At eight o'clock that evening, the Dueling Club officially began in the Great Hall.
The four long house tables had vanished.
In their place stood a glittering golden stage surrounded by thousands of floating candles.
The enchanted ceiling above shimmered deep purple, making the entire hall feel enclosed beneath a magical twilight sky.
Students everywhere clutched their wands excitedly.
Sean and Cress arrived right on time.
The hall was already packed.
Sean glanced around.
At least eighty or ninety students had shown up—nearly one-fifth of the entire school.
Naturally, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were there too.
Anything exciting inevitably attracted them.
"This is brilliant," Hermione Granger said excitedly.
"What are you talking about?" Harry Potter asked blankly.
Hermione pointed across the room.
"Look who's here. Sean Greer."
"His duels are definitely worth watching."
Ron eagerly jumped in.
"You know about the Four-School Friendship Tournament, right? The one held before we enrolled?"
"My brothers Charlie and Percy both participated."
"Charlie said Sean could already fight him evenly during practice sessions."
Hermione did the math instantly.
"Charlie was in seventh year back then… and Sean was only in second year."
She stared in disbelief.
"And his performance in the Valley of Shadows was even crazier," Ron added.
Harry looked toward Sean with a mixture of admiration and curiosity.
Even though Sean was from Slytherin, Harry had always viewed him favorably.
At that moment, a flamboyantly dressed figure stepped onto the stage.
Harry's face immediately twisted as though he had swallowed something rotten.
"Lockhart."
Walking beside him was an extremely unwilling-looking Severus Snape.
Lockhart had apparently dragged Snape onto the stage to act as his demonstration opponent.
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