"Professor, I think Bella's attempts on my life will continue."
"Considering that possibility," Dumbledore replied, "the Ministry of Magic has increased its efforts to hunt down the Death Eaters still hiding in the shadows. When you leave Hogwarts during holidays, Aurors will also be stationed at the Leaky Cauldron to protect you."
"Auror protection too? That's quite the treatment," Sean thought to himself.
The Christmas holiday quickly came to an end, and students gradually returned to Hogwarts.
In the Slytherin common room, Sean found himself surrounded by Cassius, Chris, and Graham, who bombarded him with questions about the attack.
"My grandfather said Jovic was sent to Azkaban right after the interrogation," Chris said.
"Sean, how exactly did you escape the Forbidden Forest?" Cassius leaned forward eagerly.
"I've already told you eight times," Sean said helplessly. "Jovic accidentally wandered into an Acromantula territory. I took the chance and ran."
Cassius had already asked the same question eight times, without the slightest sign of boredom.
"You're really lucky the spiders didn't bite you," Cassius said.
"If they had, I wouldn't be sitting here," Sean replied dryly.
Chris asked worriedly, "What if you run into Death Eaters sent by Bella outside of school?"
"The Leaky Cauldron has Auror protection," Sean said. "As for other places, I'll just go out less. The Death Eaters aren't bold enough to openly appear right now."
Before Voldemort's return, most Death Eaters lived quietly and secretly.
The wizarding world was still under the Ministry's control, so safety was relatively stable—for now.
At dinner, Sean was surrounded again—this time by the Weasley twins and Cedric.
They asked the same questions again.
Sean could only repeat his explanation like a machine.
"I'm just glad you're alright," Cedric said sincerely.
"Of course I'm alright," Sean replied confidently. "If something happened to me, who would protect you—and these two?"
He glanced at the twins.
Fred rolled his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous. Why would we need your protection?"
"Exactly," George added. "As long as I protect Fred, that's enough."
"What do you mean you protect me?" Fred protested. "I'm the one protecting you!"
The twins instantly started bickering again.
Sean shook his head and slipped away, heading back to the Slytherin common room.
As soon as he entered, he saw Kurt sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.
"Sean," Kurt called out.
Sean groaned inwardly. Surely Kurt wouldn't ask the same questions again.
But Kurt's next words surprised him.
"My uncle, Lucius Malfoy, has heard about what happened at school. He's quite interested in you. Perhaps you don't know—he's one of Hogwarts' board governors."
"What does Kurt mean by that? Lucius wants to recruit me?" Sean thought.
Lucius surely knew Jovic had been sent by Bella.
Bella was Lucius's sister-in-law.
Logically, Lucius shouldn't oppose Bella.
But Sean quickly reconsidered.
Lucius had never truly been loyal to Voldemort. Everything he did was for self-preservation.
Yes, Lucius was cowardly in front of Voldemort—but who wasn't?
Now the Death Eaters were either hiding in the shadows or locked away in Azkaban.
Lucius, however, still possessed power and influence.
Naturally, he wanted to expand his network.
Sean was clearly a talented rising star—and a famous one at that.
"The Boy Who Lived" was not a title just anyone could carry.
If Sean joined the Ministry after graduation, his talent would likely propel him upward quickly.
Someone like that was exactly the kind of investment Lucius would never overlook.
"Lucius would like to invite you to Malfoy Manor this summer," Kurt said.
"As expected—an obvious attempt to win me over."
Sean smiled politely.
"Malfoy Manor? It would be an honor to visit the home of a Hogwarts governor."
Compared to Harry, Sean actually preferred meeting Draco, the future Slytherin junior.
It would also give him the chance to establish some senior authority early.
After all, spoiled noble kids had an incredible talent for causing trouble.
Better to handle that in advance.
"Good," Kurt nodded with satisfaction.
Then he added,
"At this week's Ouroboros gathering, I'll personally teach you. After this incident, you must have realized how important power is."
Kurt's words were correct.
Though his expression seemed slightly… suspicious.
The Ouroboros group didn't actually possess many advanced Dark spells.
From Jovic, Sean had already learned Shadow of Bone, a spell far more destructive than anything the Ouroboros had taught in the past three months.
In fact, during his three months with Ouroboros, Sean had only encountered three Dark spells:
Ghoul's KissWitch's EyeDraconic Serrations
Ghoul's Kiss had been taught by Blanco to Sean and Chris.
The other two spells Sean had secretly learned by observing other groups.
Chris had just begun practicing Ghoul's Kiss, while Sean had already mastered all three spells completely.
Aside from teaching Dark magic, the Ouroboros group often discussed academic topics.
If one ignored the Dark magic aspect, it was essentially just a study group for top students.
But Sean had little interest in those discussions.
He preferred immersing himself in his own research.
Before the Christmas holiday ended, Sean finally mastered Sectumsempra.
This spell—one he had secretly copied from the very beginning of the school year—had taken over three months to fully understand.
And that was only from studying Snape's handwritten notes.
During that time, Sean had also spent considerable effort learning Occlumency and other spells.
If he had been able to watch Snape cast the spell in person, he could have understood the magical framework much faster.
Although the professors kept silent about Jovic's attempt to murder Sean, many students had parents working at the Ministry.
Naturally, the news spread back to Hogwarts.
Students began looking at Sean with admiration.
Even some Slytherins who had previously rejected him started changing their attitude.
After all—
a first-year student who escaped from the Forbidden Forest after being attacked by a former Death Eater professor?
That proved both strength and incredible luck.
Sean was not just a bookworm.
He was a student capable of bringing honor to Slytherin.
As for the nickname "Son of Betrayal", most of the students had only heard it through rumors from their elders.
Instead of clinging to those rumors, many of them chose to accept Sean as a true Slytherin.
After all, Slytherin traditions valued:
AmbitionCunningHonorPragmatismSelf-preservationVictory above all
Changing their stance to align with strength and opportunity fit perfectly with Slytherin values.
After Christmas, Sean clearly noticed something different.
The older Slytherin students began greeting him far more frequently.
People often said Slytherins were all villains.
Now Sean realized that was simply prejudice.
Slytherins weren't evil—they were simply more ambitious than other students.
And if ambition itself made someone evil, Hogwarts would never allow such a house to exist.
Of course, Slytherin did produce more extreme personalities.
And those individuals were the ones who had truly tarnished the house's reputation.
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