Emergency Situation

"Oh my god, oh my god— Wallerup, are you alright? Where is Miss Granger?!" Sean had just arrived in the center of the lake on his Grindylow when he ran into Professor McGonagall, who had come to his rescue.

She rode a Shooting Star, holding it high, with three silver-rimmed kittens perched on her shoulders.

Sean waved upwards, showing off his ring. "I'm fine, Professor. Hermione's fine too, you know that."

Professor McGonagall and Professor Scamander had known each other for a long time, so Sean had no intention of hiding the existence of the ring from her.

Professor McGonagall spotted Sean's ring immediately; clearly, she already knew.

"That's good—" she breathed a sigh of relief, then became stern. "Mr. Wallop! You were too impulsive! Besides, I know you're good at dealing with Magical Creatures, but that's no excuse for misusing teaching materials!"

The Hippogriff, as the subject of study, naturally became the teaching material.

"Of course, Professor, I'm sorry," Sean said apologetically.

"Thank goodness you're all alright..." Professor McGonagall said, glancing towards the border as she steered her Flying Broomstick closer to Sean. "Did you encounter Dementor?"

Sean nodded. "We met."

"Good heavens—" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, "How did you manage to rescue Miss Granger? No, I mean, didn't those ugly things stick to you?"

Sean waved his wand, which shimmered with silver light.

"I was very lucky, Professor, I only encountered one Dementor." He decided to underreport the number.

Otherwise, it would be too unreasonable for a third-year student who hasn't mastered the Patronus Charm to be able to deal with more than a dozen Dementor.

Professor McGonagall finally relaxed, and by then, the two of them could see the shore.

Hagrid had obviously taken the other students back to the castle first, leaving the shore deserted.

Under Professor McGonagall's slightly strange gaze Grindylow rushed onto the shore, and even thoughtfully turned sideways so that Sean could safely slide off its back.

"Thanks, buddy." Sean patted the Grindylow's head affectionately. "Go back now. Just stay at the bottom of the lake for now. I'll come see you again when I have time."

The Grindylow let out a hiss, nudged Sean, and then turned and dived into the lake.

Professor McGonagall, who was standing to the side, got off the broom, her face showing a look of unspoken words.

In the end, she decided to give up discussing the topic of Magical Creatures with Sean.

Clearly, this child has gone much further down the path of Magical Creatures than most wizards.

She moved closer to Sean and said quite seriously, "Mr. Wallop, I must say that instructing an animal from the Care of Magical Creatures to carry a student into the air—and this happened without the teacher's permission—is a serious violation of school rules!"

Sean wanted to speak, but seeing Professor McGonagall's serious expression, he involuntarily deflated.

Professor McGonagall used a spell to dry his robes, which were soaked from the lake, while continuing her lecture, "Furthermore, confronting Dementor without authorization is extremely reckless, although I understand your anxiety. However, if there were two, three, or even more Dementor, your rudimentary Patronus Charm alone wouldn't be enough to save you and Miss Granger. Because of these two violations, Ravenclaw House lost twenty points."

"Yes, Professor." Sean obediently accepted the scolding.

"However," Professor McGonagall's tone shifted, her expression softening, and her eyes gleaming with pride, "Your courage and loyalty are admirable. Knowing how terrifying Dementor are, you still did not hesitate to rescue your friend. Hogwarts ' glory is built by students like you. Moreover, for a third-year student to be able to barely cast the Patronus Charm is already quite remarkable."

"Ravenclaw gets 40 points."

Sean scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly; the process was completely different from what Professor McGonagall had described...

"Thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome, Mr. Wallop," Professor McGonagall said, taking out two chocolates. "I imagine you're feeling chilly and in a bad mood right now. Here, have some; it'll do you good."

To be honest, because of your spell just now, I feel all warm all over...

Sean thanked him and accepted the chocolate.

Professor McGonagall looked at his ring. "Let Miss Granger out; she probably needs to too."

"Um, Professor, Hermione's alright..." Sean paused, his hand still tearing at the chocolate wrapper, and said awkwardly.

Hermione's definitely fine, the real question is, what if she accidentally lets something slip...?

"Hmm?" Professor McGonagall's eyes showed suspicion.

Since it concerns the safety of the students, she certainly wouldn't feel at ease until she saw that Hermione herself was indeed unharmed.

"Mr. Wallop?" she emphasized.

"Okay, I'll call her out right now..." Sean sighed helplessly.

Hermione, we're best friends, we're totally on the same wavelength.

The ring's opening gradually widened, and just as it expanded to the size of a basketball, Sean immediately stuck his head inside.

He deliberately shouted loudly, "Hermione, it's alright, Professor McGonagall is right here, come out."

Inside the ring, Hermione, who was panting heavily, immediately ran over. She looked up and saw Sean winking at her, and then Professor McGonagall poked her head in as well.

"Miss Granger, are you alright?"

"Oh, oh—Professor, I'm fine," Hermione replied, while subtly waving her hand in the other direction.

Whew, thank goodness Hermione is smart enough... Sean breathed a sigh of relief.

Once Hermione climbed out of the ring, she immediately gave Sean a once-over.

Are you alright, Sean?

"Professor McGonagall's spell and the chocolate were great, of course I'm fine." Sean spread his arms to indicate that he was perfectly alright.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, and then Professor McGonagall kindly handed her a piece of chocolate.

"Don't be afraid, Miss Granger, here, eat this."

"Um, okay, Professor, thank you." Hermione glanced furtively at Sean, then pressed her still rapidly heaving chest and took the chocolate.

Once Professor McGonagall confirmed that the two were indeed safe and sound, she quickly brought them back to the castle.

"You two go to the Great Hall. I'll go check on things. There's a student assembly coming up later, so don't be late," Professor McGonagall told the two at the castle entrance before hurrying off.

As soon as Professor McGonagall walked away, Hermione grabbed Sean's hand and ran to the empty space behind the gate.

In the corner, the girl raised her eyebrows and said in a soft but extremely sharp voice, "Sean!"

"Uh, you saw it?" Sean chuckled awkwardly.

Hermione clutched her chest, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Are you crazy?! That's Basilisk, isn't it? Basilisk!"

In the heat of the moment, Sean had no time to hesitate and simply put Hermione into the ring, without telling the Basilisk to hide it beforehand. Clearly, Hermione saw the Basilisk that Sean had been hiding in the ring.

Sean chuckled, trying to change the subject. "Let me check if you're hurt..."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Hermione glared at him.

"Okay—" Sean licked his lips, then looked serious. "Actually, it was a really huge cobra—is my explanation convincing?"

"Sean!"

"Okay, okay..." Sean looked around. The place was empty; the students had all gathered in the Great Hall.

"Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin, do you remember?" he whispered.

Hermione nodded, then her eyes widened. "You said that when you disappeared last time, you were trapped in a secret location within the castle. Actually, that's another Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin?!"

"Obviously, that's the case—please, Hermione, don't look at me like that. I didn't mean to hide it; I just didn't want you to worry." Sean did a jumping jack at the girl with raised eyebrows. "See, I'm perfectly fine."

"That... that Basilisk?"

"That guy is different from other Basilisk. His IQ is probably five Goyle higher than Crabbe's. You know, opening a private Magical Creatures store is one of my dreams." Sean shrugged.

"So you lured a Basilisk back?! And put glasses on it?! No—" Hermione looked at him suspiciously again, "You need to make eye contact with Magical Creatures to..."

"Hiss hiss hiss..."

The hissing sound coming from Sean's mouth made Hermione's mouth drop open, "Parseltongue?! Sean, you're a Slytherin descendant?!"

Sean licked his lips. "Obviously not. My family tree is quite reliable. Parseltongue is essentially a kind of language magic; it can be learned."

Hermione seemed stunned by the series of messages, and it took her quite a while to calm down.

Finally, she glared at Sean and asked, "What was that Parseltongue all about?"

"You are very beautiful, but aren't you a little too studious?"

"This is Parseltongue! By the way, can I learn it?"

"I think it's possible. You want to learn? I'll teach you."

"Real?!"

When Sean and Hermione entered the Great Hall, the students who had been gathered there all turned their attention to them.

The fact that Dementor had suddenly appeared to guard the school was already a big deal, but no one had encountered them yet, so the students didn't really feel it—only those students who had heard their parents talk about Dementor were had already spread the news.

News of Hermione Granger's possible encounter with Dementor spread quickly, and of course, the most shocking thing was that third-year students witnessed the real monsters firsthand.

Sean Wallerup summoned a gigantic Grindylow from the Black Lake.

This caused a huge change in how others looked at Sean.

Of course, there were also the carefree types. Fred and George started clapping enthusiastically as soon as Sean came in, and even whistled at him from time to time.

Sean was already used to the various looks he received. He walked calmly toward the Ravenclaw table, where Daisy was already waving to them.

"Oh my god, I heard from Harry, are you two alright? No, Professor McGonagall wasn't with you, so you must be alright. Oh my god, I was so scared! I've heard Dad and Sirius talk about Dementor so many times, and I've been worried about what I would do if I encountered one—are you really alright? I have some hot Pumpkin Juice, would you like a sip? Or should we go and get Madam Pomfrey to give you a thorough check-up?"

Daisy looked extremely anxious. Although Sean and Hermione were both safe and sound, she still blurted out a barrage of questions.

"When did you catch Hermione's infection? Don't worry, we're all fine," Sean said with a smile.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and took Daisy's arm. "We're all alright... Sean rescued me from the Dementor..."

Daisy immediately relaxed, as if Hermione's words held any weight.

And her previous cold war with Sean also disappeared all at once.

Sean was happy with this, so he simply stopped talking about it and only mentioned some other situations.

However, Daisy and her group, who had been staying in the castle, were unaware of the other situation. They only received a notification during their class, and then the teacher led the school to the Great Hall.

Sean was slightly puzzled after hearing this. Even if the matter was urgent, with Dumbledore there, the Dementor could not possibly enter the castle, and a normal class should not be interrupted.

Unless something more serious happens.

As Sean was pondering this, Sean Dumbledore he hadn't seen for a long time, appeared at the other end of the Great Hall.

Although he was still wearing a magnificent maroon robe, he looked much more tired than before, only his eyes behind his glasses remained full of wisdom and determination.

"Quiet, children." Dumbledore stepped forward and gestured for everyone to be quiet.

The noisy Great Hall quickly quieted down.

"I apologize for interrupting your class, but I have to announce an urgent notice."

He scanned the Great Hall, his gaze never pausing.

"As many of you may already know, yes, a large-scale prison break has occurred in Azkaban. I learned from the Minister for Magic that the situation is very serious, so a large number of Dementor have been urgently dispatched."

"As the only School of Magic in England, Dementor will be stationed around the clock at the border of Hogwarts to prevent escaped Dark Wizard from causing trouble until the matter is resolved."

Dumbledore's tone grew increasingly serious. "I must remind everyone here that Dementor have no feelings. They cannot distinguish between criminals and innocents, so do not try to provoke or challenge them, and do not give them any reason to harm you. Dementor do not know what it means to beg for mercy; they only want to suck away all your happiness and hope—I think some of you have already experienced this."

Hermione's face paled slightly as she recalled the despair she felt when she was surrounded by a dozen Dementor Little White Flower. Beside her, Daisy noticed something was wrong and tightly grasped her hand.

Hermione smiled to indicate that she was alright, then whispered, "Professor Dumbledore seems very angry about the Dementor ' presence."

Sean nodded, then said in a low voice, "I'm afraid it's more than that."

Sure enough, once the students' discussion quieted down a bit, Dumbledore spoke again, "Another piece of news: several extremely serious attacks on Muggle have suddenly broken out in the Wizarding World, and the situation is currently dire."