The End of Fifth Year

"The thing vanished on its own?"

Stephanie's bold guess made Sean frown.

After thinking for a moment, he still looked at Hermione. "You said just now that you weren't even sure whether you were the one who took it. Why do you say that?"

Hermione's face was a little pale. "I don't know... It's like I have this feeling... I don't know how to describe it to you, but I just have this strange feeling that I took something important from you..."

"But!" She grew anxious again. "I checked myself. There isn't anything extra around me... So I'm really confused right now."

The ring's disappearance had reached a strange deadlock. Even Sean himself could no longer make sense of the situation.

In the end, after discussing it for a while, they took Hermione to the Hospital Wing. After a thorough examination, they found that Hermione had not been struck by any spell, nor had she been contaminated by anything strange.

This only made the top student's mood sink further.

Afterward, Hermione and the others went to her dormitory to search it again, while Sean turned his own ring inside out.

Yet the other ring belonging to Sean Wallop remained nowhere to be found.

Sean lay alone inside the Ring Space, absentmindedly rubbing the Aero-Wing Bird's round head as he frowned in thought.

Hermione's condition reminded him of Stephanie's situation before—Stephanie had been Lust's host and had worked for Grindelwald all that time. As for Grindelwald, Sean had come up with a fitting summary for him: a pragmatic warlord.

So, when his relationship with Stephanie had been poor, Grindelwald had even tampered with her memories, hoping Sean would absorb Lust's immense power.

Back then, Stephanie's state had been somewhat similar to Hermione's current condition. She had constantly been influenced by suggestions,