Sean shook his head calmly.
"I won't order my friends around."
Then he looked directly at Dumbledore.
"I can only pass along your suggestion."
At that moment, Sean completely understood what Dumbledore truly wanted.
The old fox wasn't looking for ordinary students.
He wanted future insiders.
People like Severus Snape.
Wizards capable of infiltrating pure-blood circles and even the Death Eaters without drawing suspicion.
And Slytherin students fit perfectly.
Pure-blood backgrounds.
Influential families.
And most importantly—
they listened to Sean.
Dumbledore clearly wanted to test whether Sean himself could become useful to him.
Sean's answer had also been very clear.
He was not Dumbledore's pawn.
Want Slytherin students?
Fine.
Sean could relay the invitation.
But whether those students accepted or not depended entirely on Dumbledore himself.
Dumbledore remained silent for several moments before finally speaking quietly:
"Perhaps…"
"…it's time for you to begin building your own influence too."
His blue eyes sparkled faintly.
"You're an ambitious person, aren't you?"
Then his tone became strangely meaningful.
"Fighting darkness was never solely my responsibility."
This time, Sean neither rejected nor accepted the implication.
Instead, he immediately began pretending to be confused.
"…Influence?"
He blinked innocently.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Headmaster."
Then he stood up politely.
"Can I leave now?"
Dumbledore looked at him helplessly for several seconds before finally nodding.
Just as Sean reached the office door, however, Dumbledore suddenly spoke again.
"Oh, and Sean."
Sean paused slightly.
"It would be best to avoid using Dark Magic too frequently."
Dumbledore's voice remained gentle.
"But you've already noticed it yourself, haven't you?"
"Magic amplifies negative emotions."
Then his expression grew slightly more serious.
"Don't allow yourself to drown in them."
This time, Sean didn't joke around.
Instead, he nodded seriously.
"I understand, Headmaster."
After leaving the Headmaster's office, Sean fell into deep thought while walking through the corridors.
Of course he understood Dumbledore's meaning perfectly.
The current seventh years would graduate soon.
Dumbledore was reminding Sean to start gathering loyal people while he still could.
But Sean honestly had little interest in that.
Against truly powerful wizards—
numbers meant almost nothing.
Voldemort alone could slaughter groups of ordinary wizards effortlessly.
Only overwhelming personal strength truly mattered.
And Sean believed completely in the system.
By the time Voldemort fully returned several years later, Sean felt certain he would possess enough power to protect everyone important to him.
Thinking about that future now felt pointless.
Sean stretched lazily.
"Forget it."
"Sleep first."
Then he smiled slightly.
"The Quidditch match is the day after tomorrow."
"Maybe I can clear the second stage before then."
Now that he possessed both Sectumsempra and the Heart-Piercing Curse, Sean finally had real confidence regarding the second challenge.
When Sean finally returned near the Slytherin common room entrance—
he froze.
The hallway outside was completely packed with witches.
Dozens of them.
Possibly hundreds.
They crowded together while clutching gifts excitedly.
Flowers.
Chocolate.
Biscuits.
Letters.
Perfume.
Sean barely managed to squeeze through the crowd with help from several older Slytherins.
Otherwise, his small eleven-year-old body genuinely might've been crushed to death.
The moment he entered the common room, Sean stared in shock.
The room was overflowing with gifts.
Mostly chocolates and homemade sweets.
"What happened here?"
Instantly, every Slytherin turned toward Charlie simultaneously.
Malfoy casually grabbed a biscuit while answering proudly:
"It's Charlie."
"Ever since the transformation, girls have completely lost their minds."
Sean sniffed the air lightly.
Then his expression changed immediately.
"If I were you…"
"…I wouldn't eat any of that."
Malfoy froze mid-bite.
Sean pointed calmly toward the mountain of gifts.
"Can't you smell it?"
"The stench of love potion."
The biscuit instantly flew from Malfoy's hand like it electrocuted him.
Sean carefully examined several gift boxes nearby before shaking his head.
"Most of these are dosed already."
"Throw them out later."
Honestly, Sean could never fully understand certain aspects of wizarding culture.
Especially among older students.
Love potions were absurdly common.
If someone liked another person, many simply drugged them directly.
Once consumed, victims would become obsessively infatuated with whoever administered the potion.
And afterward—
young couples often disappeared into empty classrooms to become extremely enthusiastic.
Even ordinary corridors regularly contained older students kissing shamelessly while ignoring professors entirely.
Charlie himself looked traumatised already.
His face was deathly pale.
Clearly, something terrible had happened recently.
As someone mentally far older than everyone present, Sean naturally understood immediately.
He sighed sympathetically before patting Charlie's shoulder.
"You need to learn how to reject people."
"Learn to say no."
Charlie grabbed his own head miserably.
"I can't…"
He looked genuinely distressed.
"I've never dealt with this before."
"And I don't know how to reject girls…"
Sean burst out laughing.
"That's what people call a sweet problem."
Then he pointed casually toward Pansy Parkinson nearby.
"Learn from Pansy."
"She insults people professionally."
Pansy immediately glared at him furiously.
Sean ignored her completely.
Instead, he entered the training room directly.
Once inside, Sean quickly noticed something unusual.
Hermione was here today.
Normally, after clearing the first stage, Hermione only visited occasionally to study.
Most of her free time now was spent with Harry and Ron.
Honestly, Sean thought that was a good thing.
Without Hermione around, Harry and Ron probably wouldn't survive a single week.
The moment Hermione saw Sean, she immediately closed her book.
"Sean."
Sean smiled slightly.
"Perfect timing."
Then he casually tossed Snape's potion notebook toward her.
"I prepared your reward for clearing the challenge."
Hermione caught the book instinctively.
Then looked confused.
"…A potion textbook?"
Her expression became slightly strange.
"Sean…"
"I wouldn't be angry even if you forgot to prepare a gift."
"You don't need to casually throw me random textbooks."
Sean suddenly felt this conversation sounded oddly familiar somehow.
Unfortunately, he couldn't remember where from.
Shaking the thought away, Sean immediately urged:
"Open it first."
Hermione looked suspicious but obeyed anyway.
One minute later—
she stopped moving entirely.
Her eyes locked onto the pages.
Then she kept reading.
And reading.
Without blinking.
Sean smiled faintly.
"Hermione."
"This book stays inside the training room permanently."
"You can read it here only."
"And there's Dark Magic inside too."
Then his expression became serious.
"If you decide to practise anything from it, be careful."
"Especially don't let Harry or Ron discover it."
Hermione nodded rapidly without even lifting her eyes from the pages.
"I need more books."
Then she suddenly froze.
"…Wait."
"What time is it outside?"
The moment those words escaped—
both Hermione and Sean froze simultaneously.
Hermione panicked instantly.
"I—I didn't tell anyone!"
She looked genuinely frightened now.
"Sean, I'll keep your secret!"
"You can trust me!"
Meanwhile, Sean himself felt deeply shocked internally.
Hermione had only entered the training room a handful of times.
Yet she already discovered the abnormal flow of time.
Meanwhile—
the Slytherins who trained here literally every single day remained completely oblivious like a flock of confused geese.
.....
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