Transparent ethereal threads, shimmering with countless fragments of Peter Pettigrew's memories, surged simultaneously from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. They twisted together in the air like ghostly serpents before flowing inexorably into the glowing tip of Sean's raised wand.
Overwhelming sensations of happiness and joy flooded Sean's chest as the transparent energy threads entered his magical core, merging seamlessly with his own accumulated memories of happiness and contentment. His eyes began glowing with faint white luminescence from the absorbed positive emotions.
With a sharp flick upward, Sean severed the magical connection. The transparent threads snapped cleanly, and Peter Pettigrew—utterly drained of all positive emotion—collapsed silently and expressionlessly to the ground, seemingly devoid of any remaining hope or will to live.
At this moment, Sean raised his wand once more. The happiness and joy filling his chest transformed into surging waves of positive magical energy, gathering within his wand and building toward explosive release!
"Expecto Patronum!"
A resonant humming sound emanated from Sean's wand tip.
Brilliant light far more dazzling than Harry's earlier casting erupted from Sean's wand. A seemingly tangible white serpent burst forth from the radiance, streaking with silvery luminescence as it soared into the night sky like a supernatural comet. Wherever the Patronus serpent passed, Dementors scattered in panicked retreat. Those creatures unable to escape quickly enough were struck directly by the white snake, releasing agonized shrieks as they dissolved into dissipating black shadows.
Witnessing Sean's overwhelmingly powerful Patronus manifest, Harry immediately gained renewed confidence. His own stag Patronus solidified further in response. Together with Sean's serpentine guardian, they charged forward in coordinated assault, unleashing devastating waves of silver-white protective energy that finally forced the Dementors into complete retreat, abandoning their attempt to capture Sirius Black entirely!
Confirming that every Dementor had withdrawn from the immediate area, both Sean and Harry dismissed their Patronuses simultaneously.
At this moment, Sirius gradually regained consciousness. He looked up at Harry crouching protectively beside him, then shifted his gaze to Sean standing near the bound Peter Pettigrew. He opened his mouth as though to speak, but no words emerged initially.
"Sirius, don't try to talk yet," Harry urged gently. "You nearly had your soul consumed by a Dementor just now. If Sean hadn't arrived when he did, we'd all be receiving the Dementor's Kiss right now."
Observing Sirius's weakened condition, Sean withdrew several restorative potions from his bag and handed them to Harry without comment.
Though they'd successfully driven away the immediate Dementor threat, there remained no guarantee the creatures wouldn't continue lurking nearby or hiding around Hogwarts' perimeter. The safest method to enter the castle would be transforming Sirius into his black dog Animagus form, then covering him with Harry's Invisibility Cloak for additional security.
Harry carefully administered the potions to Sirius while Sean examined the dozens of system notifications that had accumulated on his panel—all related to the Dementors he'd eliminated!
Sixty-eight notifications total, meaning Sean had successfully defeated sixty-eight Dementors during the confrontation.
These Dementors had varied considerably in individual strength, but they'd all granted Sean the same two abilities: Glacius and Pain Extraction. Fortunately, while the spell types remained identical, their proficiency levels varied significantly. Both Pain Extraction and Glacius had originally been at Level 2. After absorbing the combined magical knowledge from sixty-eight Dementors, Sean had successfully elevated both spells dramatically.
Pain Extraction had reached Level 4.
Glacius had been upgraded to an astonishing Level 5!
Though Level 5 wasn't the absolute maximum possible mastery, in the broader wizarding world, extraordinarily few practitioners could train any single spell to maximum proficiency. Level 5 already represented elite-tier mastery.
Previously, Sean had possessed three spells at Level 5 or maximum: the Smoke Rope Curse (Level 5 maximum, inherited from Voldemort), and Herbivicus (Level 5). Now he'd added another to his arsenal: Glacius at Level 5!
If Harry and Sirius weren't present as witnesses, Sean would probably have tested this newly-enhanced freezing magic immediately.
"Thank you, Harry." Sirius looked up at his godson with visible gratitude, then shifted his gaze to Sean. He hesitated visibly, clearly struggling internally, before finally managing, "And... thank you as well, Sean."
Observing Sirius's profoundly reluctant expression while delivering thanks, Sean raised one eyebrow with cold amusement. "I only provided the restorative potions because of Harry's presence. In other words, I gave the potions to Harry directly. Without him here, I wouldn't have bothered assisting you whatsoever."
"That's perfectly fine—I didn't particularly want to thank you anyway!" Sirius retorted immediately.
"Sirius!" Harry quickly covered his godfather's mouth with one hand, then looked apologetically toward Sean. "I'm sorry, Sean. Sirius didn't mean that the way it sounded. He was just being... thoughtless."
"It's quite alright, Harry. Don't concern yourself about it." Sean glanced dismissively at Sirius before looking up toward Hogwarts' distant lights. "I hold absolutely no personal feelings toward him whatsoever, so nothing he says will affect me in the slightest." He gestured toward the castle. "It's getting rather late. We should return to Hogwarts."
Waving his wand smoothly, Sean levitated Peter Pettigrew's limp form. The bound prisoner floated alongside them as they began their return journey.
Just as they prepared to depart toward Hogwarts Castle with Harry, Sirius Black suddenly spoke up. "Harry, I can't accompany you back to Hogwarts just yet."
"Sirius? Why not?" Harry's expression filled with confused concern. "Peter Pettigrew is right here as proof! He can verify you're innocent. You can finally—"
Seeing Harry's desperate eagerness, Sirius immediately shook his head and gently patted Harry's shoulder with a reassuring smile. "Harry, don't worry—I'm not attempting to flee or avoid justice or anything of that nature. I simply need to find Remus first. Once Remus regains his human form after moonset, I'll return to Hogwarts with him to speak with Dumbledore properly."
"Then I'll come with you to find him!"
"Harry, Remus hasn't consumed Wolfsbane Potion tonight, which means he cannot maintain rational thought in werewolf form. If he accidentally injures you, the consequences would be catastrophic—not only for you personally, but Remus would never forgive himself. I would bear responsibility as well." Sirius's expression turned more serious. "Don't worry about my safety. I have Remus's wand with me. Once he transforms back, we won't need to fear the Dementors anymore."
"But what if—"
"Harry, trust me. I'll be perfectly safe."
Harry hesitated, then finally nodded with visible reluctance. "Alright. Then I'll wait for you at Hogwarts. Promise you'll come back?"
"I promise, Harry. See you soon."
"See you soon, Sirius."
Sirius turned to regard Sean directly, clearly wanting to request that Sean watch over Harry's safety. His mouth opened to speak—but Sean deliberately ignored the unspoken appeal entirely. Sirius opened and closed his mouth several times, visibly struggling, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to actually request assistance from a Slytherin student he barely knew and instinctively distrusted.
Finally, Sirius transformed back into his massive black dog Animagus form and loped away toward the location where Sean had imprisoned Professor Lupin earlier.
Watching Sirius Black disappear into the distant forest shadows, Harry turned to Sean with lingering worry. "Sean, Sirius and Professor Lupin will be alright, won't they?"
"They'll be perfectly fine," Sean assured him. "Sirius, your father James, and..." He glanced briefly at Peter Pettigrew's floating form before continuing, "...and Peter Pettigrew all spent considerable time with Professor Lupin during their Hogwarts years. Sirius knows how to handle transformed werewolves better than almost anyone. You don't need to worry about him."
"My father, and Peter..." Harry also glanced at Pettigrew, then looked back at Sean with obvious curiosity. He hesitated briefly before asking, "Sean, you seem to know quite a lot about what happened back then—about my parents and their friends. Can you... would you be willing to tell me about it? About them?"