A Promise Is a Promise

On the way back to the Common Room, before Sean could even think about how to run this so-called club, the Weasley twins had already put their arms around his shoulders.

"Dude, this is serious—"

"I bet that even Dumbledore wouldn't be qualified to run his own Magic Club in this castle in Newmontgard."

"Wow, wow, Fred, are you saying that our Magic Little Prince of Hogwarts has become the first?!"

"That's right, George, the Magic Club is not a game."

"As expected, it was only Sean!"

"Yes, Sean Wallerup!"

"Our magic prince!"

"Hogwarts's greatest savior!"

"Newmontgard's Demon-Slayer!"

"Even Merlin would weep for him!"

"Even Filch would be impressed by him!"

"Sean Waller"

Sean covered the mouths of the clownish twins with one hand each. "Guys, I wouldn't dare call myself a magic prince, but I'm going to give you two evil curses right now."

The Weasley brothers looked at each other, feigning fear, and then began to tremble.

"No! We were wrong!"

"By the way, is it the kind of curse that prevents you from opening your mouth and can only be broken by kissing a cow's rear end?"

Sean raised an eyebrow. "Good idea, but I'll change it so that you two have to kiss each other's butts to break the curse."

"Oh, I'm so scared~"

"Why am I so excited?"

"This doesn't suit your title of Magic Little Prince."

"How about changing it to the new generation Dark Lord?"

These two clowns, singing and dancing in unison, drew good-natured laughter from those around them.

Sean chuckled and shook his head; these twins were definitely at the pinnacle of the Wizarding World when it came to gossip and arguing.

However, the two did bring some information, which made Sean realize why the students of Newmontgard were looking at him so strangely.

The Magic Club was different from the Sean remembered. Or rather, the kind of gathering where a group of like-minded people came together to study something was called a conference.

Assembly can be organized by students of any grade for any reason—as long as your assembly is legitimate, the professors will approve it.

The next step is to gather participants and select a meeting time.

Magic Club are much more rigorous. The organizers need to be certified by professors. For example, if you want to start a Transfiguration club, your Transfiguration professor will assess you, and the required level is generally to be excellent, like the OWL exam.

In other words, you must at least have the ability to teach future members.

There aren't many of these Magic Club at Hogwarts; they're usually led and organized by upperclassmen.

In addition, students are generally not allowed to join different Magic Club repeatedly. In other words, once a wizard becomes a core member of a club, he can at most become a regular member of another club. This is a tacitly agreed-upon rule.

In Newmontgard, the twins didn't find out the specifics, but they checked the club bulletin board, which showed that only three clubs were recruiting members, indicating that there weren't many Magic Club in the castle.

The Weasley brothers ' news left Sean somewhat bewildered. If their demands were so high, what could he possibly teach them?

Transfiguration? It's not exactly a closely guarded secret of the Animagus, but demonstrating it would expose his identity; as for Charms, he has his share of underhanded tricks, but his spell repertoire is probably less than most upperclassmen; as for Magical Creatures, he simply has a high affinity for them, but he can't teach them—

Sean recalled the magic he currently possessed and realized that the only type of magic he was qualified to teach others was Dark Arts.

Let's forget about it then...

The next day, the key to the Magic Club classroom, which Grindelwald had approved, was in Sean's hands.

"Nice classroom, Sean." Daisy, who had come with him, was curiously looking around the room.

"Indeed, Mr. Grindelwald is very generous." Sean nodded in agreement.

The classroom was spacious, with free paper, pens, and ink on several long tables, and practice dummies neatly arranged in the far corner.

Sean took a cushion and leaned against the windowsill of the bay window. This place was located on the top of the northernmost tower of Newmontgard Castle. Looking out, he could see the top of a low mountain, and at the foot of the mountain was a dense coniferous forest, where Newmontgard's Magical Creature Sanctuary were located.

"What a wonderful place..." Sean exclaimed, admiring the beautiful scenery outside, then pondered the words Grindelwald had left him when he went to get the keys.

"We can teach Animagus first."

Grindelwald made him teach others the Animagus... Sean frowned, pondering the other's intentions.

Teaching others isn't a big deal, but if the club's founder can't demonstrate it, wouldn't that be very unconvincing...?

And why Animagus...?

"Ugh, old men are so hard to understand. Can't they just explain things to me clearly? Honestly..." Sean complained.

Just then, the classroom door was pushed open, and Hermione walked in carrying several books.

She saw several books that interested her on the library's book list, but they were all checked out. The librarian told her when they would be returned, so Hermione rushed to the library as soon as class ended today to borrow them.

"Did you borrow it?" Sean asked.

Hermione waved the books in her hand with a hint of smugness. "Running over there as soon as class ended was definitely the right thing to do. These books are indeed very popular. Many people who borrowed them later were quite annoyed."

Sean walked over and took a look. The slightly worn old book at the bottom caught his attention.

"When Runes Come Knocking," Sean barely recognized the title with his meager knowledge of Runes.

"Runes, also known as Ancient Runes," Hermione explained from the side.

"Is this an introductory book to Runes? I remember you said that we would be taking Ancient Runes as an elective in the third year."

"I wouldn't call it a beginner's level—" Hermione said uncertainly. "I've only read the introduction. This book mainly talks about the origins of Rune Magic and some ancient legends, but—"

She opened the book, and Sean felt dizzy just looking at the words on it.

"This book seems to be very old, so it's written in Runes. Although it's difficult to read, it will be very helpful for the Ancient Runes I will be learning in the future," Hermione said with great interest.

Sean immediately lost interest. It wasn't that he hadn't tried to learn Ancient Runes, but his usually fairly sharp mind would turn into mush as soon as he encountered these characters, and after a while, his head would ache and he would feel dizzy.

Let's wait until Hermione has fully grasped the basics before learning from her. That way, at least we'll have a good teacher.

Hermione put away the books, found a stool, and sat down by the campfire. "So, Sean, have you decided what the club wants to teach?"

"Oh, not sure yet," Sean shrugged, leaning against the windowsill. "There's not much I can teach, maybe Animagus?"

"This won't do, will it?" As Sean expected, Hermione frowned. "First of all, if you don't demonstrate, you won't be convincing; secondly, if you do demonstrate, it will prove that you are an illegal Animagus —you're not on the Ministry of Magic's list; and finally, as soon as your Animagus form appears, all the secrets of Newmontgard Day will be exposed."

Sean nodded. Hermione had thought of things even more thoroughly than he had— Grindelwald couldn't have missed that, so what did the other party mean...?

"However, it's not like I can't teach her..." Hermione suddenly narrowed her eyes, and the usually quick-tempered fluffy cat now had a cunning look like a little fox.

What idea have you come up with?

"The key is the illegal Animagus status—you can absolutely treat becoming Animagus as the ultimate reward for joining the new club," Hermione said.

"You mean—screening members?"

"That's right," Hermione nodded. "Animagus isn't something you can learn as soon as you join. Teaching it requires the person to be a core member of our club. Before that, Sean, you can teach other things to earn respect and trust."

"Others?"

"You're usually so quick-witted, how come you're so slow now?" Hermione gave him a reproachful look, then continued, "In terms of theoretical knowledge alone, Sean, you can be a tyrant in your second year, but in the grand scheme of things, you're nothing special. But will the people who came here for you be focused on that? No, what they really want to learn is practical skills, and in that respect, Sean, you're already excellent enough."

Hermione started talking, her pace becoming increasingly astonishing, and Daisy listened, nodding along until her eyes felt a little dizzy.

"You already have an outstanding record. You can teach them the thinking process for actual combat, as well as your little tricks. They hate this, but it's also what they want to learn the most."

"Also, don't forget, Mr. Grindelwald just assigned some homework—"

Daisy exclaimed, "A paper on dealing with Fire Dragon!"

"That's right," Hermione nodded. "This is a task that every student in Newmontgard has to face, but the information in the textbooks is insufficient, and seeking help from professors requires a considerable amount of points—"

"Then we can put a line like ' Dragon Speaker personally teaches' on our new club's recruitment notice. This will be the most advantageous competitive advantage for the new club in attracting members. Think about it, Sean. Although the Dragon Speaker is a lie, who knows more about Fire Dragon than you? After all, you yourself are Fire Dragon."

"We recruit members this way, helping them complete their recent tasks. Next, we teach them dueling skills and some unconventional spells, such as the Disillusionment Charm. During this process, we select members; those with the best character and talent become our core members—"

"By then, you'll have accumulated enough prestige to gain trust even without personally demonstrating the Animagus. Besides, Daisy and I should have already reached the final stage by then, and we can vouch for you—"

"At this point, we're bringing out the core reward—the method to become Animagus. As a mentor, it's normal for you to observe others' Transfiguration process to prevent accidents, right? For members of good character, we can naturally build trust with them. But for those of bad character, you've essentially gained leverage over them— Sean, you know this all too well. Wizards who can become Animagus through their own efforts are unlikely to register with the Ministry of Magic."

Hermione rattled off her plan in one breath, Sean went from slightly frowning at the beginning to slightly opening his mouth wide at the end.

This girl has already thought through the most crucial step in the club's membership screening process...

"You're a genius..." Sean couldn't help but exclaim. "How did you come up with so many ideas? You were helping me think of a solution after Mr. Grindelwald announced that news, weren't you?"

Hermione's face flushed slightly, and she lowered her voice a little. "I didn't think about it for long..."

"That's even more genius!" Sean didn't hold back his praise.

Hermione pursed her lips, but her slightly raised eyebrows revealed her current pleasant mood.

"Thank you for the compliment..." she muttered, then straightened her expression. "This is just a general idea. We need to improve the club's system, from the most basic event schedule to the selection process, etc. By the way, Sean, can the Wampus Cat's Legilimency be detected by someone who has mastered Occlumency, just like the wizards?"

"I really didn't know that..." Sean stared in disbelief. "But you've already thought that far ahead..."

"It's important to be prepared, and besides, you are—" Hermione glanced at Daisy, "You and Daisy are my best friends, and I—I don't want you to get hurt in the future because of a mole in the club."

"Hermione ~" Daisy called out sweetly, then wrapped her arms around the girl's waist.

"Alright, let's get busy with the club's rules now, while we have..." Hermione trailed off.

Sean could tell what Hermione wanted to say, but since Hermione didn't say anything, he decided not to press her for an answer.

After discussing the details for a while, Daisy took a draft of the club rules to ask Professor McGonagall for her opinion, leaving only Sean and Hermione in the classroom.

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you..." Hermione suddenly said in a muffled voice.

"I..." Sean hesitated, unsure whether he should tell the other person about the Prophecy.

Hermione shook her head. "Everyone has their own secrets. I won't pry, but—"

The girl's eyes sparkled. "Because you shared your secret with me, I can tell that Mr. Grindelwald values you highly. Whether it's the reputation you've built up or the specially approved Magic Club, he... he wants to help you establish the beginnings of a power base... Good heavens, you're only a second-year student..."

"Although I don't know the purpose of doing this, I believe in you and I understand you. Sean, I believe in your character and I understand your aspirations. Even though you've always appeared calm, you still want to influence the world, right? So, I'm willing to continue helping you because—"

"Because you are my best friend." A warm feeling rose in Sean's heart, and he said with a smile.

"Yes, yes—you are my best friend." Hermione pursed her lips slightly, gave a bright smile, and then lowered her head slightly.

There was a moment of silence in the classroom. Just as Sean was about to speak, Hermione quickly raised her head, her smile unchanged.

"If you ever become the great Sean Wallerup and appear on Chocolate Frog Card, don't forget this line, okay?"

"It's a deal."