A Thread of Clues

Sean was genuinely taken aback. After all, Snape had given him so much, and given what the other person had said, the implication was likely:

I've prepared everything for you. Be more meticulous in your work from now on, treat yourself more quickly, and be more decisive in drugging the enemy—that way, he won't be in deep danger, and Daisy won't have to worry about him or even risk her life to save him.

That should be... what it means, right?

Clearly, Snape was very dissatisfied with Sean's slow reaction. He snorted coldly, his face darkening. "Mr. Wallop, your Potions grades are so—pathetic. When conducting Potions research that is too difficult for you, I suggest you find a student with better Potions grades..."

Ugh... you should have said so earlier...

Sean immediately understood.

You could have just said the Felix Felicis was for Daisy... why did you have to beat around the bush like this...

Sean is currently suffering from paranoia about being monitored by Snape, and his own guilty conscience is making his mind less sharp...

"Oh—Professor, I understand," Sean nodded quickly, "I'll find some of my best Potions classmates to work on it with."

Before he could finish speaking, Snape's chin arched dangerously. "Class...?"

Is something wrong with my classmate...? Hmm...

Sean was on the verge of tears. Had Snape mistaken his classmate for Hermione...?

He had no choice but to quickly change his tune, even making his words clear. "I will go find Daisy... Daisy and study it together."

Snape gave a satisfied snort, his tone completely indifferent. "You don't need to report to me whoever you want to research."

Sean: "..."

Are you kidding me?!

The arrogant old bat left Sean with a lot of complaints stuck in his throat, unable to utter them. His strong urge to complain even overshadowed his survival instincts.

"I'm definitely going to find Daisy to work on this with," Sean shrugged. "After all, she's the class's undisputed Potions prodigy, Professor, you know that?"

"Say it, don't waste my time." Snape appeared indifferent, but straightened his posture slightly.

Sean secretly gave a mischievous smile, "Everyone says that for a professor with such high standards and strict requirements as you to value Miss Potter Daisy Potter so much... means that she is indeed very outstanding. Everyone even calls her the Potion Princess."

However, the old bat's composure and shamelessness exceeded Sean's expectations.

"She gets my praise and points because she does a good enough job—" Snape said casually, glancing mockingly at Sean. "For mediocre people, ' Potion Princess ' is a barren phrase, but that's all you can do."

"Because mediocre people can never reach the world of geniuses."

Sean: "..."

That old bat's words are so annoying...

Moreover, to be honest, Daisy and Harry both clearly inherited a lot of Potions talent from their mother Lily, but Harry's talent is obviously better.

Daisy excels more than Harry in Magical Creatures and Charms, but Harry is stronger than his sister in Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and practical combat.

Of course, this does not take into account the situation of the Dragon Patronus.

Sean would bet the box of limited-edition rainbow Dungbomb that Fred and George had in their pockets that if Slughorn had continued as Potions professor, Harry would have been his class darling— Harry earned the title of "Potion Prince" from Slughorn in his first year.

However, in Snape's class, Harry would lose two points for moving his wand first with his left hand, two points for talking back, and two points for showing dissatisfaction...

If Sean chuckles to himself, he'll also lose two points...

But if it were Daisy, Snape didn't add five points for her because her right foot stepped into the Potions Classroom first, then that would be considered the old bat being rather restrained...

It's hopeless, hopeless.

Sean dejectedly accepted the Felix Felicis, and then, under Snape's "surveillance camera" watchful eye, quickly left.

On his way to the classroom, Sean wiped the sweat from his forehead—he hadn't sweated this much even during his terrifying battle against Dawson and the Silent Mouth.

Snape was absolutely terrifying.

However, it must be said that whenever Daisy is involved, no matter how dissatisfied Snape is with Sean, his actions are always extraordinary.

The Potions pack given to Sean contained Potions on the top row that could be used in various situations, some even life-saving—the most potent Healing Potion, Potions to break free from hypnotic stimulation, Underwater Breathing Potion, a potion to resist poisons...

All kinds of Potions were available, and all of them were of the highest quality. Clearly, Snape had been preparing for this for a long time. Sean had asked Lupin to inquire about it, Snape's private potions sold for three to five times the price of other Potion Master on the Potions market.

And in the row of poisons below, Snape had clearly prepared for various scenarios, whether liquid, solid, or gaseous, irritating, odorless, colorless, or tasteless and colorless...

These poisons could easily wipe out the entire Hogwarts.

Snape even provided the antidote for each poison, along with a detailed description of the poison—he had already written down the methods of poisoning in his notebook and given them to Sean.

Of course, don't get me wrong, it wasn't that Snape was being considerate of Sean; it was purely out of Daisy's sake.

As for the last bottle of Felix Felicis given to Daisy, Sean, who had tasted it once before, immediately recognized it as the highest quality. In fact, because the quantity was relatively small, the quality of this bottle of Felix Felicis might even be better than the Felix Felicis Lily carefully brewed for Sean before.

All I can say is that Snape brought out his best in every aspect.

For Daisy... Sean was just a side thing.

If Daisy hadn't unleashed such a powerful Patronus for Sean, Snape would have been considered to have upheld his moral principles by not poisoning Sean.

After taking stock of what he had gained from Snape, Sean whistled lightly. There was only one Potions in the afternoon, and he could still go wherever he originally wanted to go.

Hogwarts Library.

The identity of the remaining infiltrator is still unknown. Sean plans to go to the library to find some information about the Black Rhombus Crystal. This might help him better understand the Returners and perhaps even uncover some useful information about the infiltrator.

"Wallerup —don't let me find out you're doing anything bad again, understand?"

Madam Pince spoke sternly to Sean, the feather duster floating beside her nodding defiantly up and down.

"Of course, madam."

Sean was also a little intimidated by Madam Pince. He often came to the library to look for some taboo materials, and eight out of ten times he was chased out by Madam Pince with a feather duster.

Fortunately, Sean now has the status of a teaching assistant, which allows him to freely browse the Restricted Section —as long as he doesn't eat in the library, make loud noises, mess up the books, etc.

Even as a teaching assistant, Madam Pince was utterly unceremonious; the only person who could elicit a kind smile from her Lockhart everyone else looked down upon...

Sean remained silent and spent a considerable amount of time searching the Restricted Section, but unfortunately, he still couldn't find any information that could be linked to the Black Rhombus Crystal.

Disappointed, Sean closed the book "Detailed Explanation of Ancient Parasitic Magical Creatures" and shook his head regretfully.

Even the Restricted Section at Hogwarts doesn't have everything, so it seems I'll have to start from another angle.

When they returned to the library entrance, Madam Pince was waving a feather duster and scolding a student for a long time before finally letting her out.

"Oh, hey! Sean!" the other person greeted him with delight as he came out.

"Good afternoon, Padma. Is your sister feeling any better?" Sean smiled kindly.

Padma Patil nodded gratefully. "I don't even know how to thank you enough, thanks to you... Madam Pomfrey said that if Parvati's condition had lasted just one more minute, she might have suffered permanent damage. Now she just needs to rest and get some treatment, and she'll be fine."

"That's wonderful news. I hope to see her back in the classroom soon," Sean offered his sincere congratulations.

Padma nodded, then glanced at Sean before quickly looking away, and said, as if trying to make conversation, "Yeah, I really hope she comes back soon... She has so much to do, oh my god, although I'm worried about her, I can't help but want to complain about her now that I know she'll be alright."

Sean chuckled and shrugged, "Twins always seem to have this love-hate relationship."

"Yes, there are many things I need to do for her, such as returning books. I was just scolded by Madam Pince, even though I wasn't the one who borrowed the books..." Padma, sounding slightly aggrieved.

"Don't worry about it, it's a necessary process. In fact, I just got a scolding myself," Sean smiled, then asked, "By the way, what books did Parvati borrow?"

"Oh, it's a book called ' The Complete Guide to Ancient Love Magic '," Padma replied.

It seems to have nothing to do with this matter... Sean felt a little disappointed.

Padma continued, "Actually, I also had to return the book for Lavender, which resulted in double the scolding."

Lavender is also recovering in the hospital. These two girls probably don't want to touch Divination anymore...

"Madam Pince doesn't seem too angry," Sean casually remarked.

"Because it was only one day past the deadline, if it had been a week, Madam Pince would have definitely given me a few slaps with her feather duster," Padma said with a wry smile.

"Yes, Madam Pince is very sensitive to time, especially when it comes to books..." Sean paused halfway through his sentence, then narrowed his eyes.

"Sean, what's wrong?" Padma asked curiously.

Sean raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I just remembered, I have a book I took out to read that I haven't returned. I have to hurry back, or Madam Pince won't let me into the library next time—see you next time, Padma, bye-bye."

"Uh... Madam Pince isn't the one who organizes books automatically, right... Uh, okay, bye-bye." Padma waved her hand with a hint of regret.

After saying hello, Sean quickly turned back towards the library.

Padma's earlier mention of timing reminded him that, coincidentally, the timing was also very similar.

"Mr. Wallop, you just left." Madam Pince pushed up her glasses.

"I'm sorry, madam, but this is about an incident at the school," Sean said.

Madam Pince was quite sensible in this regard; she stood up and said, "Oh, is that so... Is there anything I can help you with? Aside from damaging the books."

"Of course not, madam. May I see the student borrowing list for the past month?"

"Oh, okay."

Madam Pince waved her wand, and a large stack of parchment landed neatly in front of Sean.

Sean immediately started flipping through the pages.

A moment later, he stopped at a point from two weeks ago.

The parchment records that Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown both borrowed books on the same day, but they did not come together.

Based on previous circumstances, the time when these two people borrowed the books was exactly the day they were taken into custody.

In other words, both Parvati and Lavender were controlled by the Imperius Curse before and after borrowing the books, and then began the private act of "extracting" Professor Trelawney's true Prophecy.

Of course, borrowing books is not a unique commonality and cannot be considered evidence, but Sean saw someone else.

Isabel Petty, the Gryffindor sixth-year student who was under the influence of the Imperius Curse, went to Professor McGonagall's office in an attempt to find the Black Rhombus Crystal that had been used as bait.

Isabel Petty was taken into custody that day, but she had not yet recovered, so Sean and the professors could not obtain more information. Moreover, even if she woke up, her memories would most likely have been extracted, and they would not be able to get anything out of her.

But this borrowing seems quite coincidental.

Sean and the professors have been searching for the exact location where the girls who were controlled by the Imperius Curse were affected. After all, there are many murals and statues inside Hogwarts Castle, and Professor McGonagall, as the Vice Principal, has the authority to monitor them.

It now seems that Sean may have stumbled upon the location where several girls were being held captive.

Hogwarts Library.

Sean looked up at Madam Pince, who seemed as usual. Dave didn't sense anything amiss about her, nor did he find any signs that she was under the control of the Imperius Curse.

Everything is normal.

The possibility that Madam Pince is the mole is extremely small, and Professor McGonagall has already conducted another rigorous screening of the faculty and staff, and has not found any possibility of Dark Wizard.

"Madam," Sean said, pointing to Isabelle Petty's name, "Was there anyone else in the library when this young lady came to borrow books that day?"

Madam Pince recalled, "There was no one else."

"Are you sure? Has no one else come in since the library opened that day?"

No, I'm sure.

Today is my older sister's 30th birthday. After dropping her off, I was rushing back when a car suddenly darted out from the side road, scaring me half to death.

At 9:30 pm, on a small road with a speed limit of 60 km/h, an old-fashioned car traveling at least 70 km/h suddenly appeared out of nowhere... without even turning on its lights!

Thanks to my newly replaced brake pads...

If I dream tonight, it'll definitely be a nightmare about old people's cars, damn it...