The Missing Sean

Despite their constant arguing, the two elderly men quickly reached the door of the second-floor washroom.

Standing in front of the innermost faucet, Grindelwald was still talking leisurely. "I'm quite looking forward to seeing what Slytherin can do— Albus, do you think he'd be surprised if he saw the thing inside Sean?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Triggering that guy repeatedly might cause him to wake up prematurely." Dumbledore's expression was not good.

Grindelwald chuckled, then hissed.

The faucet emitted a dazzling white light, then began to spin rapidly, revealing a huge pipe in front of the two.

Grindelwald nodded in satisfaction. "Parseltongue isn't that hard to learn—you just need to possess a descendant of the Gaunt family and have him teach you slowly, Albus, why don't you give it a try?"

Dumbledore ignored him and jumped straight into the pipe.

Grindelwald pursed his lips and didn't follow.

Soon after, Dumbledore floated up, but Sean was not with him, and his expression made Grindelwald take back his earlier teasing remarks.

"Sean didn't go down." Dumbledore's expression was somewhat grave.

Grindelwald became serious. "Albus, don't tell me there are other strange things hiding in your castle."

Dumbledore ignored him and strode off quickly. "Go back and find Newmontgard. He may have gone to you through the Vanishing Cabinet ... I need to gather the Portraits and ask them what's going on."

However, after a while of commotion inside the castle, Dumbledore's expression became even more somber.

The Portraits artists said they did not see Sean.

Even a few suits of armor were summoned to the office.

Professor McGonagall, who hadn't slept yet, said from the side, "He's a little shorter than me, with slightly curly black hair, wearing Ravenclaw uniform, and has lake-blue eyes. He acts alone."

The armored figures mechanically shook their heads.

"Thank you for your hard work." Dumbledore dismissed the armor and Portraits, his brow furrowed.

"What should we do... Albus?" Professor McGonagall looked at Dumbledore with worry. They both knew how important Sean was. Moreover, they would be just as worried if an ordinary student were to go missing.

"I'll go check out the Forbidden Forest. Minerva, you take Hagrid with you—and the Weasley twins, those two know the castle very well. You two also search every corner."

"I see."

However, after a night of searching, no one found any trace of Sean. By noon, the Ravenclaw students, especially Hermione and Daisy, had noticed something was wrong.

Sean, who was never late and was always very studious, has disappeared, which is extremely unusual.

"Where did Sean go? I haven't seen him at the breakfast table since everyone came back from the playground yesterday." Daisy's plate of fried eggs and sausages remained untouched, and for some reason, she felt uneasy.

Hermione poked at the bacon in front of her with her fork, then shook her head in annoyance. "I don't know... maybe I was called away by some professor to do something very important?"

"Oh...but you can't skip meals," Daisy muttered.

This situation continued for a day, and at the breakfast table the next day, not only Hermione and Daisy, but also the other students discovered that Sean had disappeared.

Aside from Slytherin, Shaun, handsome, well-mannered, and exceptionally talented and wealthy, is very popular in all the houses. Sean gets along well not only with his classmates but also with upperclassmen.

Almost everyone believed that Sean would become increasingly outstanding, and it would be perfectly normal for him to become Prefect or the Head Boy in a few years.

The sudden disappearance of such a person aroused suspicion among everyone.

That evening, Hermione and Daisy approached Professor Flitwick, followed by Harry, Ron, Neville, and the Weasley brothers.

"Professor, are you sure you're not going to tell us where Sean went?" Hermione was being so aggressive in front of the professor for the first time.

Professor Flitwick stammered, stroking his pipe repeatedly, but couldn't say anything.

Hermione was an intelligent person; she didn't need words to understand things from his attitude alone.

Her voice trembled slightly. "Professor... has something happened to Sean?"

"No!" Flitwick first refuted Hermione's statement. He hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed and said, "Sean is missing..."

"Missing?!" The group exchanged glances, all seeing the worry in each other's eyes.

"But, but the monster in the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets has been eliminated, and the professors have said that the ban has been lifted," Hermione said anxiously.

"So, we don't know where Sean went..." Flitwick lowered his head, looking very frustrated.

Daisy's eyes were already slightly red. She clutched the hem of her robe and asked softly, half expectant and half fearful, "He... Sean won't be in trouble, will he?"

"No, no..." Professor Flitwick turned his head away, avoiding Daisy's gaze.

Silence fell over the office.

News of Sean's disappearance spread throughout the castle in a short time, and various discussions arose. Sean's popularity also made the atmosphere in the castle slightly heavy.

Laughter could only be heard in the Slytherin Common Room.

"Ha, if you ask me, this kid must be cursed by the death of the monster in the Chamber of Secrets —just think about how much trouble he's caused the heir!"

"That's right, this is what happens when you go against us Slytherin!"

Sitting in his chair, Malfoy's expression wasn't exactly happy; Crabbe and Goyle's loud celebrations sounded rather jarring to him.

Malfoy had always had conflicting feelings towards Sean. On one hand, the guy had made him look foolish right from the start of the semester and had even opposed him inside the castle. On the other hand, the guy had saved him in the Forbidden Forest without hesitation.

Moreover, even though this guy knew he hated him, he would still greet him with a smile whenever they met in the castle, and he could even remember the smile on the other person's face.

"Hey Draco, you don't seem so annoying today. Smile more. People should be kinder."

You're the annoying one! How could someone like you just die Silencio... Malfoy thought bitterly.

Just then, a faint, sharp sound came from outside, and Malfoy turned around and angrily knocked on the stained glass window.

Can't these ghostly things at the bottom of the Black Lake be a little quieter?