I'm Back!

A cold wind blew through the arched windows of the Ravenclaw Common Room, Common Room it rather chilly at this hour. Unlike the dry, warm ground level of the Hufflepuff common Common Room, the high tower always carried a sense of solitude.

However, Sean, Hermione, and Daisy were having a lively chat.

Under the star-painted dome, the three sat in their usual little corner, near the niche containing the white statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, a spot Hermione said felt more comfortable when studying.

"Sean, thank God, you're really alright!" Hermione and Daisy were huddled together under a blanket, their faces filled with surprise and joy.

"I've been lucky all along. Apart from being a little hungry, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern," Sean replied with a smile, leaning back lazily in his chair.

Daisy sat up straight, freeing herself from the blanket, with one foot already on the ground.

"I'll get you some food. I had a lot of snacks left over from last Halloween—and I even hid some dinner to take back to my dorm," the girl said somewhat shyly.

"No need, food will be delivered later," Sean stopped her, then asked curiously, "Why are you bringing dinner back to the dorm now?"

Hermione tucked the blanket around Daisy and explained, "Harry lent Daisy the Invisibility Cloak, and the two of us would sneak out of the dorms in the middle of the night to go to the library—we were always a bit hungry after staying up so late, and most of the food ended up in my stomach."

Daisy pursed her lips and gave Hermione a grateful look.

In fact, Hermione had a poor appetite lately. She would get hungry if she slept late, so she had no choice but to bring her dinner back as a late-night snack.

The two have been getting closer lately, and during their time together, Daisy, who has a huge appetite, expressed her concerns to Hermione: would eating so much make people think she's not cute enough...?

To her surprise, Hermione thoughtfully considered this and helped her maintain a good image in front of Sean.

Daisy chimed in, "Actually, Hermione has had a really tough time lately..."

Sean looked at Hermione, whose face was flushed with a faint blush.

"Hermione spends all her free time in the library. She's been trying to find information about the castle because she's worried you might have wandered into some strange place, since Hogwarts Castle has all sorts of magical spaces. And every day after class, Hermione takes me to the professor to ask about the situation, but Professor Flitwick always brushes us off... so we came up with other methods. The Fred brothers and Harry often go to various places to look for people, and Hermione takes me to look up information. Even going to the Restricted Section to look for information in the middle of the night was her suggestion." Daisy recounted Hermione's efforts over this period of time in great detail.

"Daisy, stop talking..." Hermione looked a little embarrassed.

Seeing the two of them, Sean was touched, and his smile became even brighter.

"I know that there's no need for formalities between us, but I must say thank you so much for your concern and efforts; it makes me feel a little..."

Hermione glared at him, interrupting him anxiously, "It's good that everyone's alright... Daisy and I have learned quite a bit lately... Anyway, it's good that everyone's alright..."

Daisy nodded her little head quickly beside her.

Sean smiled and nodded, "Yes, everything is fine."

After that sentence, no one spoke again, and the empty Common Room fell into a brief silence.

The group exchanged glances and finally burst out laughing.

Hermione seemed completely relaxed, leaning back in her chair with a comfortable yet weary air. This was the first time she had sat in the Common Room without wanting to open a book at all.

Daisy rested her head on her shoulder, a smile on her face and a hint of sleepiness in her eyes.

The two girls tilted their heads and touched each other. Sean smiled and watched this scene without saying a word, enjoying a kind of indescribable warmth.

Suddenly, the air at the entrance to the Common Room distorted, and after a slight popping sound, House-elves carrying a large plate appeared.

He wore a tea towel printed with Hogwarts emblems, his slender fingers easily holding the plate, and then he bowed exaggeratedly to the group.

"It's an honor to meet you all. I have Mr. Dumbledore's permission to teleport into the Common Room to serve Mr. Wallop. Sean Wallerup dinner!" he shrieked.

"Thank you," Sean stood up and took the plate, then looked at the other person. "Cornish? Hey, good evening, it's nice to see you."

He had been to the kitchen many times before and had met many House-elves who worked for Hogwarts. Cornish was one of them; he was probably the head elf and a very enthusiastic fellow.

Cornish stared wide-eyed; his already bulging eyeballs, far exceeding those of an ordinary wizard, now looked like two light bulbs.

"Mr. Wallop!" he screamed, even sobbing, "My God, you actually remember me!"

"Of course, haven't we known each other for a long time?" Sean replied with a smile.

He reached out his hand, wanting to shake hands with Cornish.

Cornish trembled with excitement and exclaimed incredulously, "You want to shake my hand?!"

"Yes, Cornish." Sean understood the House-elves ' thoughts; they genuinely believed they were inferior to wizards, and this mindset was very difficult to change.

However, Sean never cared about those things; he enjoyed making friends. And deep down, he always held the belief that creatures like Magical Creatures and House-elves were more reliable than humans...

Cornish shook hands with Sean cautiously, then quickly withdrew his hand.

He let out a happy and excited sob, his body trembling.

"I shook hands with Mr. Wallop!" he exclaimed. "Good heavens, my friends will be green with envy!"

"I haven't washed my hands in ten years! Enjoy your meal! And to the two beautiful ladies!" With a helpless expression on Sean's face, Cornish bowed deeply and then disappeared into thin air.

Sean, holding his plate, shrugged at the two bewildered girls. "They're always so... well, so easily startled."

Hermione looked somewhat incredulous. She frowned and muttered, "I've read about House-elves in books, but I never imagined..."

She thought for a long time before finally managing to utter a single word, "They are so humble."

Sean returned to his seat with the food. He glanced at Hermione, who was deep in thought. It seemed that Cornish's appearance had sparked Hermione's empathy, and the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare might be about to be established ahead of schedule.

Well, Hermione's intentions were good, but he didn't agree with her methods. Therefore, Sean decided that if Hermione were to do something similar in the future, he would offer some reasonable advice.

The key point is that House-elves are an enslaved race, but they themselves are not aware of this.

Of course, now is not the time to think about that. Sean pushed the plate toward the two girls.

"Want to grab something to eat?"

The two girls exchanged a glance. Hermione nodded in response to Daisy's longing gaze. With Sean back, a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders, and she, who hadn't had much of an appetite, was now a little hungry.

The House-elves, and as Dumbledore had instructed, the food they brought was plentiful. The three of them ate heartily, and only after the plates were completely empty did they lazily lie down.

During their post-dinner chat, Sean shared some of the things he had experienced over the past few days with the two of them, and Hermione eventually came to a conclusion.

Sean is a troublemaker; he always attracts all sorts of inexplicable things.

Hearing such comments, Sean could only chuckle awkwardly. He was caught in the Prophecy, and his physical constitution was bound to be affected. Moreover, he was a curious person who loved to court death.

While they were laughing and talking, no one noticed that someone was secretly watching them from the passageway leading from the girls' dormitory to the Common Room.

It was Stephanie with silver hair, and she was holding a piece of parchment with a title written in delicate cursive at the top.

A list of Hogwarts' secret rooms and known ways to enter.

The parchment details various unique locations within the castles, with instructions on how to enter. Some locations lack instructions, but their general layout is described.

Even the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was written in.

Stephanie remained expressionless in the shadows, watching Sean and his two companions laugh and talk, then glanced down at the parchment in her hand.

She took out her wand, and without making a sound, a flame flickered at the tip of the wand.

She wanted to bring the flame closer to the parchment, but when one corner of the parchment began to char, she seemed to hesitate.

Finally, Stephanie extinguished the flame at the tip of her wand and silently walked back towards her dormitory.

The next day, Sean, who was still sleeping in bed, suddenly felt a weight. He opened his sleepy eyes and looked over.

I chatted with Hermione and Daisy until very late last night, and I'm still feeling a bit groggy.

"Sean! You're back!" His roommate Terry Boot, excitedly hugged his blanket.

"Hey, Terry, good morning..." Sean greeted him sleepily.

"Terry, I already told you, Sean must be exhausted. You shouldn't bother him," said another roommate Anton Goldstein.

The other roommates also looked at Sean with surprise and delight.

"Good morning, guys... It's so nice to see you all... Hey! I'm not out of bed yet! Don't hug me! Ugh!"

The students' enthusiasm was clearly extraordinary; Sean also received a flurry of cheers and countless hugs in the Ravenclaw Common Room. When he appeared in the Great Hall, Hogwarts, which had been somewhat subdued lately, immediately perked up.

The Weasley twins laughed and put their arms around Sean's shoulders, winking at him and whispering in his ear.

"Sean, have you discovered some secret location?! Remember to take us there next time!"

The Gryffindor trio— Harry, Ron, and Neville— also happily hugged Sean. Percy looked very excited, scolding his brothers for interfering with Sean's breakfast while smiling and shaking hands with Sean firmly.

Cedric's handsome face was full of smiles, giving him a somewhat goofy look.

Sean's popularity was evident at this moment; everyone who knew him came up to hug him, and even those who weren't familiar with him followed suit and came up to shake hands and greet him.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Sean!"

"Welcome back, Wallerup!"

Amidst the warm greetings from others, Sean casually made up an excuse, saying that he had accepted a special mission from Dumbledore and had to leave Hogwarts for a while.

Somehow, the students imagined the mission to be extremely dangerous, and gasps of alarm echoed throughout the Great Hall. By the time breakfast was over, the rumors had taken a completely different form: Sean had fought ten Fire Dragon and even tamed Dementor ...

Rumors are a terrible thing... That's all Sean could think helplessly.

Of course, not everyone welcomed Sean's return. The Little Snakes watched the lively scene in the Great Hall with disdain, pursing their lips unhappily. Several students who had grudges against Sean even let out a cold snort of dissatisfaction.

"Draco, that rascal has some good luck. It's a real shame, since all your enemies had already disappeared." Crabbe said to Malfoy at the dinner table.

Malfoy absentmindedly echoed a few words, his face filled with pride and indifference, as if he didn't take this enemy seriously at all.

However, when no one was watching, Malfoy subtly raised the corners of his mouth.

"Draco, have you thought of something happy?" Goyle finished his eighth sausage and turned around to see Malfoy's expression.

"Idiot, which eye of yours saw me happy!" Malfoy cursed in a flustered manner, a flush returning to his pale face. "Hmph, thank goodness that bastard Wallerup is back, so my plan to get back at him finally came in handy!"

"Oh, I see!" Goyle exclaimed in sudden realization, then lowered his head and began eating his ninth sausage.

Malfoy glared at him with displeasure, then turned his gaze to Sean, who was surrounded by the crowd, and gave a proud snort.

Pshaw, bad people just live for a thousand years...

During the morning's Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall was exceptionally lenient. She was in a good mood, so even the students who had been practicing transforming from beetles into buttons for almost half a semester without getting it right were not severely criticized by her.

After Sean easily transformed the rabbit into a pair of slippers upon returning to the classroom, she generously added twenty points to Ravenclaw.

After finishing his classes in a good mood, Sean received a package. Early in the morning, he first wrote back to his parents to let them know he was alright, and then ordered a lot of groceries.

These are all big meals prepared for Dave, Naja, and Pudding.

He took Hermione and Daisy to the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor.

Daisy, who was visiting for the first time, looked around curiously, while Hermione, on the other hand, readily picked up a book and began to read.

"Sean, look at this," Daisy exclaimed.

Sean walked over and saw a parchment on the table.

The parchment looked somewhat worn, with traces of fire damage in one corner.

A list of Hogwarts' secret rooms and known ways to enter.