Sean returned along the passage from the treetop. When he reached the chamber with the magical mannequin, a thought suddenly struck him.
If he walked straight out now…
would he appear inside the fireplace of the Slytherin common room?
If the Slytherin students saw him suddenly emerging from the flames, how would he explain that?
"What should I do…"
After thinking for a moment, Sean made a decision.
"I'll wait another half hour. Once classes start again, there should be fewer people in the common room."
Of course, every year had different class schedules. Even during lessons, there was no guarantee that some students without class wouldn't still be lounging around in the common room.
Meanwhile, the Wizard's Heart in Sean's hand still pulsed with violent power.
Until he mastered the purification spell, he couldn't safely absorb its magic.
"Salazar absorbed some, and Merlin absorbed another tenth of what remained. Even so, the magic left inside this thing is still terrifying."
Sean stared at the glowing sphere in his hand and sighed.
"Those ancient wizards… what kind of monsters were they? Their magic is absurd."
Half an hour soon passed.
Sean adjusted his expression, trying to appear as natural as possible.
Then he pushed open the door with a polite smile.
However—
what greeted him was not the welcoming flames of the fireplace.
Instead, he was met with a group of girls staring at him in shock.
"Good afternoon," Sean said awkwardly, maintaining his polite smile.
"Ahhh!"
Several girls suddenly screamed.
Sean froze.
He hadn't paid attention when stepping out earlier, but now that he looked carefully at his surroundings, he silently cursed Merlin in his heart.
"Shit… I'm doomed."
This door no longer led to the Slytherin fireplace.
Instead, it opened into a girls' bathroom.
When Sean turned around, he realized something even worse—
the door he had just stepped out of was actually a toilet stall.
He had just walked out of a girls' bathroom stall, smiling like an idiot.
"You damned old wizard," Sean groaned internally. "You couldn't at least warn me before leaving?"
Under the furious glares of several girls, Sean covered his face and bolted out of the bathroom.
When he reached the hallway outside, he finally realized—
this was the girls' bathroom on the third floor.
"So the entrance and exit are in different places… one for entering and one for leaving."
"Merlin really did design this place well."
"But how am I supposed to survive at Hogwarts now?"
At that moment, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
"Sean, what are you doing outside the girls' bathroom?"
Sean forced himself to remain calm and turned around.
Without changing his expression, he said,
"If I told you I got lost, would you believe me?"
Chris looked at him with clear disgust.
"Lost? And you just happened to get lost into the girls' bathroom? You really know how to pick your routes."
"Well," Sean sighed dramatically, "I guess nobody will believe me anyway. I accept my fate."
The next day, the story spread across the entire school.
Sean, the little pervert who sneaked into the girls' bathroom.
Slytherin was deducted fifteen points for the incident.
The boys now grinned at him whenever they saw him.
The girls avoided him entirely.
Sean's heroic deed would continue to be told at Hogwarts even two years later.
When Harry Potter eventually met Sean, he instinctively gave him a thumbs-up.
The Weasley twins admired Sean immensely.
They even sincerely invited him to join their trio of pranksters.
Sean firmly refused.
"Say one more word," Sean warned them, "and I'll punch you."
Fred winked mischievously.
"Come on, Smart Guy. Tell us—what did you see in the girls' bathroom?"
George immediately followed up.
"Do you know what nickname the girls gave you?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to know," Sean snapped. "Don't say it."
"They call you—the Traitor of the Boys' Bathroom!"
The twins burst into laughter.
The nickname was cleverly double-meaning.
Even before enrolling, Sean had been called the Son of Betrayal.
Now the girls had twisted that idea further.
Instead of using the boys' bathroom like a normal guy, Sean had chosen the girls' one.
Clearly, he had betrayed the boys' bathroom.
Fred finally changed the subject.
"Smart Guy, the Hogwarts Quidditch tournament starts the day after tomorrow. Who do you think will win the championship?"
Ever since losing four bets to Sean during the opening feast, the twins had begun treating his predictions like prophecies.
Sean leaned lazily against a bench, resting his chin in his hand.
"Slytherin."
The twins assumed he was just supporting his own house.
Fred protested immediately.
"That's not certain! My brother Charlie is the Gryffindor team captain. There's no way he'll lose to Slytherin."
"Alright then," Sean replied casually. "Let's bet ten Sickles."
George leaned closer with a grin.
"We're not betting with you."
"But if you're really confident Slytherin will win… we can introduce you to a place."
Sean narrowed his eyes.
"Wait a minute."
"You two didn't drag me here just to ask for betting advice, did you?"
Sean had failed Flying class, so he had zero interest in Quidditch.
In fact, he hadn't even been paying attention to the upcoming tournament.
The entire school was buzzing with excitement about it.
Sean, however, couldn't care less.
If the twins hadn't mentioned it, he might have forgotten the match was coming.
George quickly shushed him.
"Keep your voice down! Do you want Professor McGonagall to catch us and make us copy textbooks?"
Fred glanced around carefully.
Seeing no one paying attention, he whispered into Sean's ear.
"Professor Jovic is running a betting pool."
"A lot of older students have already joined."
"If you're sure Slytherin will win, we'll bet on them too."
Sean looked at the twins with amusement.
"You two are Gryffindors. Aren't you ashamed betting on Slytherin?"
Fred scratched his head awkwardly.
"I swear my heart is with Gryffindor… but George and I spent all our money on new inventions."
"We don't even have our last Sickle left."
"You know our family—too many kids. We barely get any pocket money."
"What are the odds?" Sean asked.
The twins exchanged excited looks and sat beside him eagerly.
"Here they are," George said.
"Slytherin — 1 to 1.2."
"Gryffindor — 1 to 1.5."
"Hufflepuff — 1 to 2."
"Ravenclaw — 1 to 3."
From the odds alone, it was obvious that Slytherin had the best chance.
They had already won the championship for the past two years.
Jovic had clearly lowered the odds for Slytherin to reduce payouts.
If someone bet ten Sickles on Slytherin and won, they would only get twelve back.
Just two Sickles profit.
And right now, the twins didn't even have one Sickle.
"I'd suggest you give up the idea," Sean said.
"Slytherin has been in peak condition for the past two seasons. Their lineup is stable."
"Unless something unexpected happens, they'll probably win again this year."
"With these odds, even if you bet ten Sickles, you'll only earn two."
"Besides… do you even have ten Sickles?"
The twins scratched their heads.
"We don't," Fred admitted.
"But we can borrow."
"From who?" Sean asked.
"Percy? Charlie?"
"If they find out you're gambling, they'll kill you."
George shuddered.
"Definitely not Charlie! If he finds out we bet on Slytherin, he'll murder us."
Fred lowered his voice.
"We can borrow from Professor Jovic."
"He lends students silver Sickles… even gold Galleons."
Sean's expression changed instantly.
What kind of human being did that?
Running the betting pool and lending money to students?
That was basically student loan sharking.
"Typical Death Eater behavior," Sean thought coldly.
"Once a dog eats shit, it never stops."
"Trying to exploit students with gambling and loans… I should teach him a lesson."
Sean stood up and gestured for the twins to follow.
"Come on."
"Where are we going?" Fred asked.
Sean smiled faintly.
"To the third-floor Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom."
He hadn't stepped into that classroom for two months.
The last time he had been there, Sean had embarrassed Professor Jovic in front of everyone.
This time…
Sean intended to make sure the professor remembered the lesson properly.
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