Professor Snape vanished as quickly as he had appeared,
leaving a bewildered Sean clutching all ten Gold Galleons as he muttered to himself beneath the gazes of the spectating portraits:
"Professor Snape, is this..."
"Ha ha ha—Little Green, you don't think that gloomy—oh, brave fellow has gone mad, do you? Ha ha ha..."
Sir Cadogan was as bold as ever.
Then the excitement shifted elsewhere.
Sean silently walked a hundred meters away, and even the surrounding portraits retreated another two frames' worth of distance.
Because Professor Snape's expression upon his return was darker than the storm clouds outside the window.
"Madam Violet, Sir Cadogan will be all right, won't he?"
Sean quietly asked the kindly lady dressed in a white underdress.
"What do you consider all right? Being burned by fire? Being transferred into a painting full of Trolls? Or..."
Madam Violet spoke with a smile, seemingly not finding her own words frightening in the slightest.
"He'll survive, at least. As for any further demands..."
Sean observed three seconds of silence for Sir Cadogan before leaving the corridor.
And until late into the night, Sir Cadogan's miserable howls continued to echo through the corridor.
On his way back to the common room, Sean took out the note, using it to distract himself from the endless staircase:
As I said before—Truth never compromises. A Wizard who can find it will always find it.
When the Improvement Ritual makes a Wizard more perceptive, a talented Wizard will notice those wonderful changes.
Ignorant fools can only wallow forever in traditions rotten to the core, while a true Potions Master will never cease exploring.
Perhaps you are wondering why improved rituals are so rare—
Curiously, Sean turned the page. Even climbing the stairs no longer felt quite so unbearable.
You must remember—spells and potions