Sean read the newspaper article line by line, his nerves tightening.
The attack had taken place at exactly the time he boarded the train back to school—around 11:05 a.m. on September 1st.
Three hooded wizards had burst into the Leaky Cauldron and abducted a foreign guest. Fortunately, no other patrons in the bar were injured.
Seeing that, Sean finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
As long as Old Tom and Hearns were safe, that was enough.
Even though Sean had been reincarnated into this world, he had lived at the Leaky Cauldron for ten years. To him, it had long since become home.
Old Tom might be stingy and Hearns might be poor, but both of them had always shown genuine care for him.
Sean continued reading.
Shortly after the hooded wizards appeared, the Ministry of Magic responded immediately. Three Aurors Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, but by then the attackers had already been gone for three or four minutes.
Half an hour later, Aurors discovered a body in the waters near Tower Bridge in London.
The victim was confirmed to be the abducted Greek wizard.
His identity: Quintus, a Potions professor from the Holy Tribunal.
On the morning of August 24th, he had arrived in London by Muggle airplane. That evening he checked into the Leaky Cauldron, where he stayed until he was killed on September 1st.
"August 24th… that's the day I first saw him in the corridor," Sean recalled.
"And the attack happened on September 1st. That timing definitely wasn't a coincidence."
After the events of last Christmas, Dumbledore had personally applied to the Ministry for Sean's protection while he was outside school. Aurors had secretly guarded the Leaky Cauldron during Sean's time away from Hogwarts.
Yesterday had been the day Sean returned to school.
That morning, the Aurors had withdrawn.
The Greek wizard had stayed safely at the Leaky Cauldron for seven nights without incident. Yet the very day the Aurors left, he was murdered.
For someone like Sean—who knew about the protection arrangement—it was impossible not to suspect something darker.
The Auror protection had been negotiated directly between Dumbledore and the Ministry.
Aside from Hogwarts professors, only certain Ministry officials knew about it.
Sean couldn't help suspecting that the attackers might have had help from someone inside the Ministry.
The timing of the Aurors' withdrawal must have been leaked.
According to the eyewitness report from Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, the attackers wore hoods that revealed only half their faces. Their appearances were unclear, but their accents suggested they came from the same region as the victim.
The more Sean thought about it, the stranger the entire situation seemed.
The victim had even visited Hogwarts on the afternoon of the 24th and met with Dumbledore.
If Sean hadn't personally seen him that day, he might not have thought so deeply about it.
Sean deliberately looked up toward the head table.
Dumbledore was looking at him as well.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Just then, another package landed heavily on the dining table.
Judging from its long shape, it looked like a broomstick.
Sean knew that Professor McGonagall had once gifted Harry a broomstick because she admired his Quidditch talent.
But with Sean's disastrous flying grade, he doubted any professor would admire his flying ability.
"It seems a bit short," Sean murmured.
The package looked about twenty centimeters shorter than a normal broomstick.
"Sean, open it and see what it is," Cassius said beside him.
Sean picked up the package.
It felt heavier than a broomstick.
The sender's address read:
The Leaky Cauldron, Charing Cross Road, London.
But there was no sender name.
Before Sean could open it, a slender hand reached from behind him and took the package.
It was Dumbledore.
"You may be disappointed, Sean," he said gently. "This package is most likely intended for me."
"But Professor, my name is written on it," Sean replied, looking up.
"I know," Dumbledore said calmly. "I merely borrowed your name."
Sean didn't even know how to respond to that explanation.
But he understood one thing.
Whatever was inside the package had to be extremely important—possibly even connected to the recent attack.
Dumbledore turned and began leaving the Great Hall with the package.
Sean quickly followed him.
"Professor, I read the Daily Prophet," Sean said. "That Greek wizard—Quintus—I saw him at Hogwarts before. I also saw him again at the Leaky Cauldron. Who exactly was he?"
Originally, Sean had no intention of involving himself with Quintus.
But now the man was dead—abducted from the Leaky Cauldron—and this mysterious package had appeared the next morning.
With such an obvious mystery placed before him, Sean couldn't simply ignore it.
"He was a Potions professor from the Holy Tribunal," Dumbledore replied casually.
"That's what the newspaper said," Sean pressed. "But why did he come to Hogwarts?"
"At the end of this month you will take your final assessment, correct?" Dumbledore said instead.
"The representatives from the other three schools will also arrive soon. I imagine you will be very busy."
He had completely changed the subject.
Clearly, he had no intention of telling Sean anything.
Sean stopped asking.
He knew he wouldn't get any answers.
Activating the Magic vision, he tried to examine the package for clues.
The object inside radiated a bright white glow.
It was clearly an extremely powerful magical artifact.
But from its shape, Sean couldn't think of any known magical item that matched it.
"A long magical stone?" Sean muttered to himself.
His imagination began running wild.
"The Sword of Gryffindor? An extended Elder Wand?"
He quickly dismissed those ideas himself.
The only clue had already been taken away by Dumbledore to the Headmaster's office.
And Sean certainly wasn't reckless enough to sneak into the Headmaster's office just to satisfy his curiosity.
In the end, he decided to let it go.
After all, he had plenty to deal with this month.
On September 24th—the Monday of the final week of September—Sean had applied to take the year-end assessments early.
If he scored Outstanding in every subject, he would be allowed to skip classes for the rest of the year, just like he had the previous year.
Every afternoon after 3:30, the six members of the team also had to train for an hour and a half.
By the end of the month, the teams from the other three schools would arrive at Hogwarts.
There would inevitably be many activities involving all four teams, and Sean, as a representative, couldn't be absent.
However, this year Sean only kept one regular class in his schedule—Potions.
He also decided to attend Defense Against the Dark Arts regularly.
The reason was simple.
He wanted to observe the new professor, Morrissey.
Before September 24th arrived, Sean still attended classes with the other students every day.
After class, he and the other five team members would head to the woods beside the Black Lake for training.
The professors had already announced the Four-School Friendship Tournament to the entire school.
The moment the students learned that Hogwarts would host such a grand competition, excitement spread throughout the castle.
"Zacharias, I heard you became a prefect," Penelope said.
"They just announced it this morning," Zacharias replied happily.
Percy suddenly chimed in from the side.
"When I reach fifth year, I'll become a prefect too."
At Hogwarts, prefects were usually selected in the fifth year and remained in the position until seventh year.
But that didn't mean new prefects weren't selected each year.
Fifth-year prefects managed their own year while also supervising first-year students.
When those prefects advanced to sixth year, they would oversee the second-years.
A new group of fifth-years would then be selected as prefects to guide the next incoming first-years.
By seventh year, prefects were responsible not only for their own year but also for third and fourth-year students.
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