"Dumbledore, you wanted to see me?"
Snape walked into Dumbledore's office, looking at the serious-faced Dumbledore with some confusion. The Basilisk and Horcrux had already been dealt with, so why did Dumbledore still look so troubled? Could there be new problems?
Hogwarts had certainly had too many problems in the past two years. The Board of Governors had already expressed objections, and the Ministry of Magic had also expressed concern about Hogwarts' safety. There had been more incidents than in the past ten years combined.
Sitting across from Dumbledore, Snape looked at him, waiting for him to speak. For Dumbledore to use his Patronus to summon him, it must not be a trivial matter.
Sure enough, after Snape sat down, Dumbledore said to him, "Severus, Minerva just came to me with an application to exempt Mr. Sean Bulstrode from future Transfiguration classes."
Hearing this, Snape immediately frowned. He looked at Dumbledore, his usually impassive eyes showing a hint of gravity. Dumbledore never spoke nonsense about important matters—his seriousness was because of Sean!
Unconsciously, without Snape even realizing it, a trace of wariness and vigilance toward Dumbledore had emerged in the depths of his heart.
"Why? Why would Professor McGonagall make such a decision?"
Looking at Snape, Dumbledore said, "Because Minerva feels that Mr. Sean Bulstrode is sufficiently excellent. In just his second year, he has mastered Transfiguration to the third stage. This kind of talent far exceeds both Minerva's and mine."
"If that's the case, then I don't think Professor McGonagall's decision has any major problems."
Hearing Snape's words, Dumbledore sighed, then said to Snape, "Severus, I know you're very fond of that child, but we must be cautious. Tom's diary Horcrux has proven that his Horcruxes can possess others' bodies to return. Mr. Sean Bulstrode's talent, his relationship with Harry, the many coincidences surrounding him—all of these are enough to warrant our vigilance."
A cold sneer appeared on Snape's face. He looked at Dumbledore with slight mockery and said, "All Slytherins are dark wizards, all Slytherins are Death Eaters. Now is it also a crime for Slytherin students to be too excellent?"
Dumbledore looked at Snape with that same loving and gentle expression. He looked at Snape with some shame and guilt, saying, "Severus, you know that's not what I mean. I have no intention of accusing Sean of anything.
I'm just saying we need to be vigilant about anything that doesn't conform to reason. We must protect the children of Hogwarts, protect the innocent in the wizarding world, and protect Lily's child."
Dumbledore's words still struck Snape's weak spot. He suppressed the sadness in his heart and looked at Dumbledore, saying, "What if Sean is innocent? Moreover, he has saved Potter many times. Things I couldn't do, he helped me accomplish. What if he is innocent?"
"Severus, I'm not asking you to do anything to Sean. I just want you to pay more attention to him. As long as we can confirm he truly isn't Tom's incarnation and prove he's innocent, then I'm willing to personally apologize to him."
Looking at Dumbledore, Snape quietly observed him. After a long while, Snape sighed and said, "Understood. I'll pay more attention. If there's nothing else, I'll leave. I still have work to complete."
Hearing Snape's words, Dumbledore nodded and said, "Alright, thank you for the trouble, Severus."
Nodding, Snape said nothing more and turned to leave the headmaster's office.
After Snape left, a portrait of a former headmaster from the Black family said to Dumbledore, "Dumbledore, why didn't you tell Severus that the child is suspected of killing last year's child?"
"As you said, that's just suspicion, isn't it? We don't have concrete evidence, do we?"
"If you hadn't given up halfway, we could have found the location of the curse ritual long ago. Then we would have had the evidence we needed."
Listening to another portrait's words, Dumbledore smiled and said, "Even if we had found it, what then? The one who believed in the Dark Lord was that dead child. The one who bullied classmates was also that child. The one who attacked and ambushed Sean was him. The one who wanted to kill Sean was also this person. As a result, Sean fought back and killed him. How should the fault here be defined?
Aurors are also allowed to use Unforgivable Curses when capturing dark wizards. Are Aurors also at fault then?
Moreover, I didn't find evidence. At that time, Quirrell and Tom were in the school. I had to guard against them, didn't I?"
Having said this, the portraits fell silent. Dumbledore sat for a while, then lowered his head to continue reading. The headmaster's office returned to quiet once more.
After Transfiguration class, Sean found Professor McGonagall.
"Professor, I wonder what you wanted to see me about?"
Professor McGonagall had already put the anomaly she'd seen in the headmaster's office behind her. She looked at Sean, increasingly regretting why he wasn't a Gryffindor. That way his aesthetic would surely be better, and combined with Transfiguration, he would definitely create many pleasing works.
"Sean, I've already applied for a special permit for you. From now on, you no longer need to attend Transfiguration classes—they would only waste your time.
But there's a prerequisite: you must achieve full marks on every semester's exam. This is the condition for the special permit. Can you accept this?"
Transfiguration exams were more like mathematics—either wrong or right. Even with multiple answers, it was the same. There were no overly subjective scores. As long as one had sufficient ability, full marks were quite normal.
Hearing Professor McGonagall's words, Sean immediately said, "I can accept that. Thank you very much, Professor McGonagall."
"This isn't my achievement—no need to thank me. But you must remember, if you fail to get full marks on even one final exam, you'll never have such an opportunity again in the future."
"I understand. Thank you, Professor."
"Mm, go on then. Now you should also be able to learn quickly in the club. I hope to see something different from you at the next club meeting."
"I will, Professor."
Leaving the Transfiguration classroom, Sean went to the library with Blaise, who had been waiting outside. On the way, Blaise naturally asked about what Professor McGonagall had wanted.
When he got Sean's answer, Blaise had an expression like, 'are you fucking kidding me,' looking exactly like someone who had just seen their best friend win eighteen jackpots of five million—envious, jealous, and wishing he could take Sean's place.