Sean glanced at Professor Lupin, then quietly took the seat beside Professor Snape.
Lupin gave the Potions Master a thoughtful look in return—only to realize Snape was still glaring at him with pure venom.
"As for our third new teacher," Dumbledore continued once the applause died down, "I regret to inform you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures instructor, retired at the end of last term so he could spend more time with his old bones and creaky joints.
However, I am delighted to announce that his position will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on the teaching role in addition to his duties as gamekeeper."
At the long tables, Justin and Hermione exchanged stunned glances before joining the rest of the school in clapping. The Gryffindor table erupted the loudest.
Sean looked to his left. Hagrid's face had gone beet red. The big man kept his eyes fixed on his enormous hands, a huge grin hidden somewhere behind that wild, tangled black beard.
"We should've known!" Ron pounded the table. "Who else would make us buy a book that bites?"
Sean and the others were the last to stop clapping. By then Dumbledore was speaking again, and they could see Hagrid dabbing at his eyes with a napkin.
"Right, one final important announcement," Dumbledore said.
Every student leaned forward, eager for whatever came next.
What could it be?
Three new wizards had joined the staff: Professor Lupin—well, not many people knew him yet… Hagrid the gamekeeper—everyone knew him; he put up the Christmas trees every year… And Mr. Green—Merlin's beard, who didn't know him?
Even the first-years had already heard the name.
More importantly, dear Mr. Green was now the Potions assistant.
With kind-hearted Mr. Green standing beside Professor Snape, maybe Potions class wouldn't be quite so terrifying anymore?
"I'm telling you, Sean's just moved his classroom from the book to the dungeon?" Ron whispered excitedly to Harry.
"At least when we ask questions we won't get 'Is there anything that can penetrate that thick skull of yours?'" Harry did a perfect Snape impression.
"Exactly—" Ron laughed.
"The final announcement concerns our dear Mr. Green once more," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "Rubeus Hagrid informed us that he would need an assistant to help care for the Forbidden Forest and prepare lessons.
When he was feeling a bit overwhelmed, our dear Mr. Green offered a helping hand.
Therefore, the last piece of news is this: please welcome Mr. Green as our new Care of Magical Creatures assistant and assistant gamekeeper—"
Dumbledore winked.
"Brilliant!" Fred and George shouted from the Gryffindor table.
The whole hall burst into applause again.
A few first-years whispered questions, and older students happily explained: "Mr. Green not qualified to be the Care of Magical Creatures assistant? You clearly haven't finished all the Green Notebooks.
You know the person who helped compile Green Notebook: A History of Magical Creatures was none other than Master Newt Scamander himself! He called Mr. Green the most gifted wizard he'd seen in the last fifty years. They even kept up a regular owl correspondence."
The Gryffindor who was explaining suddenly heard giggling beside him.
"The Great Green's Forbidden Forest—" Fred whispered to George.
"Open access to the Forbidden Forest—" George waggled his eyebrows.
"And with that—let the feast begin!" Dumbledore spread his arms wide.
Golden plates and goblets instantly filled with food and drink.
This was Sean's first meal at the staff table. He was so short that only the top half of his head cleared the tabletop.
He heard Professor Snape give a soft snort. The chair beneath him silently grew taller.
Lupin, who had just reached for his wand, looked utterly astonished.
Just like the idea of a student becoming the Potions assistant—Snape making that choice… it was almost unbelievable.
Sean had no idea what was running through Lupin's mind. He only noticed that the staff table gave an excellent view of the entire hall. He could see every student eating.
He watched Harry and the others pile their plates high with everything within reach and dig in like they'd been starving for weeks.
Laughter and the clatter of knives and forks filled the Great Hall.
But Harry, Justin, and the rest were rushing through dinner so they could talk to Hagrid and Sean.
They knew how much becoming a real teacher meant to Hagrid.
He wasn't a fully qualified wizard. He'd been expelled in his third year for a crime he hadn't committed.
It was Sean and the others who had cleared his name last term.
And Sean… well, Sean was just Sean. He never said a word about the incredible things he did.
Finally the last few pumpkin pasties vanished from the golden platters. Dumbledore dismissed everyone to bed, and the group finally had their chance.
"Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squealed when they reached the staff table.
"All thanks to you lot," Hagrid said, wiping his shiny cheeks with a napkin and looking up at them with shining eyes. "Still can't believe it… wonderful man, Dumbledore… Kettleburn said he'd had enough, and Dumbledore came straight to me… it's everything I've ever wanted…"
He buried his face in the napkin again, overcome.
"Sean…" the others turned to him. His chair was so tall he looked like he was perched on a throne.
They watched him tap the chair lightly with his wand. It sank smoothly back down to normal height.
"That's…" Harry and the rest rubbed their eyes.
"Simple transfiguration," Sean said, stepping down.
A common Ravenclaw trick—wandless transfiguration on inanimate objects.
It was basic ancient magic, mostly for changing "dead" things into other "dead" things.
Beginner-level transfiguration, really…
But it still added ten points toward his Master-level Transfiguration proficiency.
The system panel was always pushing him toward deeper magic.
"That's not simple at all," Ron said, jaw dropping. He even forgot to ask when Sean had decided to take a job at Hogwarts.
…
The next morning.
Sean headed to his first Potions class.
Not as a student.
Potions was held in an underground classroom.
It was colder and damper than the main castle. Glass jars lined the walls, filled with floating animal specimens that made first-years shiver.
The new Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were already hunching their shoulders as they walked in.
Professor Snape stood at the front early, thin morning light and faint mist illuminating his face.
His eyes were as black as Hagrid's, but without any of the warmth.
They were cold, empty tunnels.
The new first-years looked even more nervous.
Until they spotted the Ravenclaw upperclassman who couldn't even see over the demonstration table.
"I heard the Potions professor is the scariest teacher at Hogwarts," one Ravenclaw whispered to her friend.
"May Mr. Green protect us," a timid little witch said, eyes fixed on Sean.
Sean looked a bit awkward. Thinking about what he was about to do, he sighed softly.
"Mr. Green sighed!" the timid girl squeaked.
Her friend looked up in horror, face saying we're doomed.
"Begin," Professor Snape told Sean after studying the trembling first-years for a few seconds.
"You are here to learn the precise science and rigorous art of potion-making," Sean said.
The Ravenclaws listened to their upperclassman speak.
His voice was barely louder than a whisper, yet every word carried clearly.
His tone was calm, with just a trace of reluctant resignation—but the students didn't hear it that way.
They were completely awed.
"Since there is no foolish wand-waving here, many of you will not believe this is magic.
I—Professor Snape—do not expect you to truly understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes and the delicate power of liquids that seep through human veins, bewitch the mind, ensnare the senses…
Professor Snape and I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—but only if you are not the usual dunderheads I am accustomed to dealing with."
When Sean finished the short opening speech, the entire class sat in stunned silence.
Even Sean hadn't expected that the very first thing he would inherit from Professor Snape was the Potions opening speech.
It made him wonder—had Snape's opening speech been passed down through generations of Potions Masters?
Was this just how Potions Masters were?
The rest of the class became the most grueling hour the first-years had ever endured. If not for their Ravenclaw upperclassman quietly guiding them from station to station, they were convinced they wouldn't have survived.
Even after they left the dungeon, Sean could still hear their groans.
"Is Professor Snape the scariest teacher you've ever met?" one boy asked his friend.
The other nodded like a bobblehead.
"Is Mr. Green the kindest wizard you've ever met?" the first boy whispered.
"Obviously—" his friend's gloomy face finally brightened.
Unfortunately, they were talking right as Professor Snape walked past.
Sean watched their faces go white.
But Snape merely gave a soft snort and strode away without a word.
When Sean entered the Great Hall for lunch, he immediately spotted Harry glaring at Draco Malfoy.
Malfoy was telling some especially hilarious story to a large group of Slytherins.
As Harry walked by, Malfoy dramatically pretended to faint, sending the whole table into roars of laughter.
"Ignore him," Hermione said, walking behind Harry. "He's not worth it…"
"Hey, Potter!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked from the Slytherin table. "Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Waaaaah!"
Sean stopped watching and pulled out his timetable, taking a seat at the long table.
Out of nowhere, the once-empty bench sprouted the Weasley twins.
"Great Mr. Green, what are you looking at?" George asked, just in time to see Malfoy fake-fainting again.
"That little git," he said calmly. "He wasn't acting so high and mighty last night when the Dementor came onto the train. He practically dove into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"
"Nearly wet himself," Fred added, shooting Malfoy a contemptuous look.
"I wasn't exactly thrilled either," George admitted. "Those Dementors are awful…"
"Feel like your insides are frozen solid, right?"
"But you didn't faint, did you?" Harry sat down and asked Fred quietly, curious.
"Forget about it, Harry," George encouraged him. "Dad had to visit Azkaban once, remember, Fred?
He said he'd never seen a worse place. When he came back he was shaking and could barely stand… Dementors suck all the happiness out of you.
Most of the prisoners there go mad in the end."
While Sean worked on perfecting his Potions notes, the long table slowly filled.
Time was getting tighter and tighter.
He still needed to brew an Expert-level Calming Draught and push Fiendfyre to Master level.
Only then could he earn two new titles within the first week of term.
He'd been looking forward to seeing what they offered for a long time.
Beside him, Hermione was studying her new timetable.
"Oh, wonderful, Sean—look, we're starting several new subjects today," she said happily.
"Hermione," Ron said, peering over her shoulder with a frown before Sean could reply. "They've completely messed up your schedule.
Look—you've got nearly ten classes a day. Where are you supposed to find the time?"
"I'll manage. I already talked it over with Professor McGonagall. Sean did too," Hermione added.
"I don't know about Sean, but look," Ron said doubtfully. "See today's schedule? Nine o'clock, Divination.
Right below it, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And—"
He leaned closer, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Look—right below that, Arithmancy, nine o'clock.
I know you're brilliant, Hermione, but nobody's that brilliant.
How can you be in three classrooms at once?"
"Don't be silly," Hermione said shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classrooms at once."
"Then how—"
"Pass the marmalade," Hermione said.
"But—"
"Please, Ron. Even if my timetable is a little full, what business is it of yours?"
Hermione snapped.
"I told you—I already worked it out with Professor McGonagall. Same as Sean."
"Oh…" Ron looked a little hurt.