Ma Nan and Jiding were two Slytherin students under Tarkoon. Both were third-years. Birds of a feather flocked together; they both deeply believed in blood purity, so they had naturally been drawn to Tarkoon, who shared those beliefs and flaunted them openly. Coupled with their lawless natures, they had joined Tarkoon's ranks one after the other.
They both knew about Sean. They had known of this brazen fellow since the first day of school, and naturally, they had never liked the sight of him. However, considering that Sean was, to some extent, a member of the Bulstrode family, they had not gone looking for trouble with him.
Now that there was a conflict of interest and Tarkoon had given the order, they gladly came to block Sean's path, ready to teach him a lesson.
This time, following Tarkoon's instructions, Ma Nan and Jiding did not wait for Sean outside the Potions Club. Instead, they chose the entrance to the Common Room. It was far from Snape's office, with a Potions Classroom and a Potions storeroom in between. Even if they fought, Snape would not notice.
On his way back from the Potions Club, Sean's face was full of helplessness.
When the club session had ended, Lord Slytherin Snake King had handed Sean another slip of paper. As usual, it was a reading list, this one containing eight books. It looked shorter than the previous lists, but Sean knew very well that each of these eight books was as thick as two books from the earlier lists.
Three of the eight books were also from the Restricted Section. Therefore, along with the list, Snape had given Sean a signed note permitting him to enter the Restricted Section. Sean could not even find an excuse to slack off.
The Snake King's favor