Add Fifty Points?!

Sean paused as he stepped out of the office and into the corridor.

The once classically luxurious castle was scarred with smoke and fire everywhere. Large sections had burned away from many of the thick velvet drapes, and Sean even saw several peasant women cowering in the corner of a half-burned painting.

It looked as though the Ashwinder incident had caused quite serious damage.

After skirting a blackened moving staircase with more than half its steps shattered, Sean spotted a huge, shaggy figure ahead.

It was Hagrid. He carried a lantern as he searched every dark corner, the pockets of his moleskin coat bulging.

"Hey, Hagrid. Good to see you." Sean stepped forward to greet him.

"Oh? Oh, hey, Sean!" Hagrid turned around with a pleasantly surprised smile. "How are you? I mean, you must be fine—Professor Dumbledore carried you back himself."

"Of course, I'm fine. What are you doing?" Sean asked, shaking Hagrid's hand.

Holding up his lantern, Hagrid shrugged. "Looking for those bloody Ashwinder eggs. We did a big cleanup last night, but I came back to see if any slipped through the net. Look, I found quite a few."

Sean leaned over to look inside Hagrid's open coat pocket. There were seven or eight Ashwinder eggs inside, all frozen by a Freezing Charm.

"Thanks for your hard work. By the way, could you tell me what happened afterward?" Sean asked.

"Oh, right, you fell asleep afterward." A lingering look of fear crossed Hagrid's face. "Then Professor Dumbledore suddenly appeared in the castle. He summoned a mass of red flames, and all those mad, swollen Ashwinders calmed down. The other professors and I spent the whole night looking for Ashwinder eggs, so they wouldn't set the castle on fire again."

"By the Rampaging Gorgon, I haven't seen Hogwarts this bright since I arrived." He shook his head with a sigh.

Sean nodded thoughtfully. It seemed Dumbledore had calmed the Ashwinders affected by the potion, but the eggs they had already laid must have burned down quite a few places.

"But you!" Hagrid gave his back a hearty slap, and Sean felt as if he had been hit by a locomotive.

Staggering, Sean rubbed his back and said with a wry smile, "Hagrid, I'm still a child."

Hagrid gave an awkward, shaggy smile. "Sorry, sorry, I got a little excited. But you didn't act like a young wizard who'd only just started school!"

He threw up his hands dramatically. "You should've seen Professor Dumbledore's face when he was carrying you! He praised you as a mature, outstanding wizard. Everyone thought you'd lost your life—loads of little girls burst into tears."

"Then Dumbledore said you were just asleep because you were too tired, ha—" Hagrid's long beard trembled. "Everyone was overjoyed!"

Sean's mouth fell slightly open. He had been carried back? Praised in front of everyone? And he had been sleeping like a log the whole time?!

Sean scuffed the floor with his heel, a sudden wave of embarrassment rising within him...

To keep Hagrid from saying anything else embarrassing, Sean quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, how is Professor Kettleburn?"

Hagrid's expression turned solemn. "I heard he'd been controlled by the Imperius Curse for several months straight. The poor old man tried to break free during that time, but he couldn't. Last night, at the very end, someone controlled him into casting several spells. Professor McGonagall had no choice but to knock him out. He's still being treated at St. Mungo's."

Sean narrowed his eyes slightly. Quirrell? No—if Professor Kettleburn had been controlled with the Imperius Curse, there would have been no need to threaten him. Then the person controlling the professor had to be that hidden voice.

However, in Sean's view, that Mysterious Person was most likely not Voldemort. It might have been some Death Eater who had received his "gift."

That dark wizard who pursued immortality would not dare show himself at Hogwarts so openly.

After chatting with Hagrid for a while longer, Sean headed toward Ravenclaw Tower.

Along the way, he encountered quite a few students helping repair the castle. Whenever they saw Sean, they all greeted him warmly, and some even came over to shake his hand.

As he passed a corner, Sean saw his teammates from last night.

Cedric came up and gave him a hug. "Sean, you're all right? That's great!"

"Cedric, even you too..." Sean said helplessly with a smile, patting him on the back.

"Looks like you've met quite a few people already?" Cedric said with a broad grin.

"Yes. Uh, everyone's being a little too enthusiastic."

Cedric slung an arm around his shoulder. "Professor Dumbledore gave you fifty points! Didn't you know?"

"Fifty points?!" Sean's eyes widened.

That finishes this week's task... Couldn't they have moved it to next week?

"Yes, fifty points! You saved Percy Weasley and resolved the Ashwinder incident. Everyone knows about it."

Sean stopped walking, puzzled. "Dumbledore said so?"

"Uh..." Cedric wore an odd smile. "It was Fred and George..."

"I knew it..."

"Once they found out you were fine and had only fallen asleep, the two of them... uh, spread the word? Anyway, I remember them saying they'd wash your underwear for a month once you woke up." Cedric shrugged.

"No need for that..."

Cedric looked around and, after making sure no one was nearby, lowered his voice. "Don't worry. We didn't tell anyone that you could summon a ring of blue fire. Fred and George are still pretty tight-lipped about that sort of thing."

"Thank goodness for that. By the way," Sean said, looking confused, "Dumbledore came, right? How did he deal with it?"

At that, Cedric's eyes lit up.

"Dumbledore just waved his hand, and he confined your blue flames inside the tower where the Hospital Wing ward was."

"Charlotte was frantic. She kept screaming, 'Sean's still in there!' But Dumbledore said you'd be completely fine. Then..." Cedric's expression became strange. "The Hospital Wing was blasted into ruins by a blue fire dragon, and you were asleep on a half-standing wall above the rubble..."

Sean gave an embarrassed smile. So it really had been his spell that blew up the Hospital Wing...

After saying goodbye to Cedric, Sean returned to the tower where the Ravenclaw Common Room was located.

The students seemed to have all gone out to help of their own accord, leaving the Common Room completely empty.

Sean returned to his dormitory and changed into a fresh set of robes before opening the system panel.

He hadn't forgotten the Magical Creature Egg that had saved his life.

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