Dobby hid outside the Dursleys' window, quietly watching Harry do chores. He needed to find a way to stop Harry from returning to Hogwarts when the school year began.
Back at Malfoy Manor, he had overheard a conversation between Lucius, Narcissa, and Voldemort.
The Dark Lord had returned.
And he intended to infiltrate Hogwarts.
When that happened, the school would be dragged into chaos.
Dobby couldn't allow the unprepared hero, Harry, to walk straight into danger. But he couldn't reveal any information either.
So instead, he resorted to strange magical pranks—trying to make Vernon and Petunia misunderstand Harry and lock him away at home.
Meanwhile, Dobby's appearance made Sean uneasy.
"Is Lucius trying to use the diary again… to manipulate someone into opening the Chamber of Secrets?"
Time passed quickly.
Over a month later, Flourish and Blotts was busier than ever.
Early in the morning, staff began arranging the already cramped space. The bestselling author Gilderoy Lockhart would soon be holding a book signing there.
The Leaky Cauldron was lively earlier than usual, too.
But most people weren't there to drink—they were waiting for Lockhart.
The Weasley family—seven of them—plus Harry, took up eight of Tom's chairs.
Thanks to Dobby's antics, Harry had been locked in his room by Uncle Vernon. Fortunately, Fred, George, and Ron had flown over in their enchanted car to rescue him.
Since then, Harry had been staying with the Weasleys.
"Mum's completely obsessed with Lockhart lately," Fred said to Sean.
"We were supposed to come buy school supplies," George added, "but now we have to wait until she finishes at the signing."
Sean glanced at the lively family.
Warm, cheerful, full of life.
Next to Molly sat a little girl with fiery red hair and bright brown eyes.
"Ginny's starting school too… Gryffindor's gaining another strong one," Sean thought.
"Harry, how's your summer been?" Sean asked, stepping over.
He wanted to know if Dobby had said anything.
"Not great," Harry replied honestly.
That was enough.
Sean immediately understood—Dobby had definitely caused him trouble.
Dobby's actions meant one thing: he knew Lucius was planning something dangerous for Hogwarts.
Just then, Molly clapped her hands excitedly.
"Children, we're heading to Flourish and Blotts!"
"Tom, I'm heading out too," Sean said.
"You already bought your books. What are you going there for?" Tom asked.
Before his first year, Hearn had already gotten him secondhand textbooks for years one through three. Last month, Sean spent an entire afternoon gathering books for years four through seven.
Then he haggled with Old Peter for two hours.
Even though he had four thousand Galleons in Gringotts, he still enjoyed bargaining.
"Of course I'm going to meet the famous author—Gilderoy Lockhart," Sean said as he stood up.
The group headed into Diagon Alley.
By the time they reached the bookstore, the line was already stretching outside.
Harry and Ron quickly spotted Hermione in the crowd.
She had become a Lockhart fan too.
"You're here for the signing too?" Ron asked, his expression strange.
"What's wrong with that?" Hermione shot back.
To Ron, Lockhart was just a flashy, greasy fraud. It was bad enough that his mother adored him—now even Hermione?
Sean stood at the entrance, peering inside.
A blond, blue-eyed man sat at a table, flashing a dazzling smile as he signed books for eager fans.
"Not gonna lie… he does have the looks," Sean thought.
Dobby targeting Harry. Lockhart's signing event.
Everything seemed to be following the original trajectory.
But danger still lurked beneath the surface.
Lockhart suddenly noticed a boy in the crowd with a lightning-shaped scar.
Harry Potter.
A golden opportunity.
Greedy for fame, Lockhart immediately pulled Harry over for photos, even suggesting they might make the front page together.
Sean wasn't interested.
Instead, something else caught his attention.
Three figures approaching the bookstore.
The Malfoys.
All three of them.
In the original timeline, only Lucius had come with Draco. Now Narcissa was here too.
She and Draco carried several shopping bags, clearly having bought quite a lot.
Draco looked genuinely happy—he clearly enjoyed this kind of family outing.
Especially the cage in his hands.
Inside was a snow-white ferret.
Draco looked at it with obvious affection.
Lucius was always strict, while Narcissa was gentle and indulgent.
But strangely, while Draco seemed joyful, both parents wore subtle, unusual expressions.
The three stopped at the bookstore entrance, planning to buy Draco's second-year books before heading home.
There, they ran into Sean.
Lucius looked at him coldly.
"Grylls. It seems Draco has received quite a bit of your 'care' at school."
After returning home, Draco had complained extensively about Sean's treatment of him.
But his parents hadn't taken it too seriously.
Draco tended to exaggerate.
Seeing that he was lively and his grades had improved significantly, it was obvious he was doing just fine.
Lucius's real annoyance came from something else—
Sean had "lost" the diary.
Originally, Lucius had planned to use it to manipulate Sean into opening the Chamber of Secrets.
Instead, he gained nothing and lost everything.
"Just doing my part. Kurt asked me to look after him before graduating," Sean replied calmly.
"Is this your new pet, Draco?" Sean asked.
Draco proudly lifted the cage like he was showing off a treasure.
"How is it? My Andrew—handsome, isn't he?"
"That's new… since when do you keep pets?" Sean muttered.
In the original timeline, Draco never brought a pet to Hogwarts.
But now, it looked like he would.
"What do you mean? You can keep a kneazle, but I can't have a ferret?" Draco snapped.
"That's not what I meant. It's a beautiful ferret," Sean said.
Even Draco himself felt something was odd.
His parents had suddenly agreed to let him keep a pet.
Back in first year, they had refused—mainly because Narcissa was allergic to animal fur.
But now, standing beside him, she showed no sign of discomfort.
Since the start of summer, his parents had been unusually kind to him.
Much kinder than before.
He assumed it was because of his excellent exam results.
"Draco, go buy your books," Narcissa said gently.
"Give me the cage," Lucius added.
Lucius took the ferret, while Draco and Narcissa entered the crowded bookstore.
Inside, they briefly crossed paths with the Weasleys. After a short, polite exchange, they went their separate ways again.
Sean, now heading into fourth year, had grown another ten centimeters since last year.
After winning prize money from the inter-school tournament, he had bought two new robes.
Now, at 177 centimeters tall, he had already outgrown his old clothes.
He would need to visit Madam Malkin's again.
"I should've bought larger ones last year… didn't expect to grow this fast," Sean thought frugally.
To Read 60+ ahead advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146