Potions grade: O, full marks.
Transfiguration grade: O, full marks.
Charms grade: O, Astronomy: O. Except for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which received the second-tier grade of E, all other grades were the highest O. As for why Defense Against the Dark Arts received an E... Sean had no major problems with the exam itself, but Lockhart had secretly given Sean very low marks for his regular coursework. As for the reason...
Tch, consider it the price for obtaining a maxed-out Memory Charm.
Looking at it this way, I'll probably be second place this year. Hermione should be happy.
Sean didn't really care about rankings, so he just felt slightly speechless. Any tiny bit of guilt he might have felt about writing the report letter against Lockhart completely vanished.
"That Lockhart guy actually dared to tamper with your regular grades!"
Compared to Sean, Blaise was even more indignant.
Looking at the angry Blaise, Sean smiled and patted his shoulder: "Why are you more upset than I am? I don't even mind. With studying, actually learning something is what's most important. On that basis, whether scores are high or low doesn't really matter."
Speaking of scores, Blaise's grades this year were pretty decent.
Especially in Astronomy and History of Magic... this year, under his ex-girlfriend's supervision, Blaise had achieved quite good results in these two subjects that required memory and time for memorization. These were also the only two O's in this year's final grades.
This year's holiday would predictably be quite pleasant for Blaise.
After seeing their respective grades, Sean and Blaise left the common room together and headed to the Great Hall for lunch.
But before Sean could reach the Slytherin table, he saw Hermione rushing over with her two useless male companions, coming up to Sean.
"Sean, you're not first."
Hearing this, Sean raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled at Hermione: "Then congratulations, Hermione."
However, upon hearing Sean's congratulations, Hermione not only showed no smile but immediately looked dejected, saying helplessly: "I'm not first either, Sean. I'm in third place."
Hermione said this with a somewhat gritted-teeth tone.
"Not first? Then who's first?"
"A girl from Ravenclaw, I think her name is Catherine Bishop. She was in third place last year."
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. She worked hard enough this year, so she got first place. We fell short, so we'll just work harder next year."
Hearing Sean's words, Hermione gritted her teeth. She still couldn't get over this hurdle.
If she had lost to Sean, Hermione would have been somewhat convinced. After all, she had previously seen Sean's homework and papers with her own eyes, personally witnessed Sean publishing papers in The Golden Cauldron, and considering Sean's previous classroom performance, she would be unconvinced but accepting if Sean beat her.
But what was this Catherine Bishop about?
With Sean being targeted by Lockhart and getting an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and herself being petrified and missing a significant amount of time, this girl had beaten both her and Sean to get first place. How could Hermione accept this?
"Sean, if you hadn't been targeted by Lockhart, and if I hadn't been petrified during that time, first place definitely wouldn't be hers. You and I definitely wouldn't lose to..."
"Hermione! Stop talking!"
Sean suddenly interrupted Hermione's words. After a moment of confusion, Hermione saw a figure approaching her.
It was none other than Catherine Bishop herself!
"Hermione Granger, right? A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. If you encounter problems you can't solve, that's your own responsibility, not mine. I took the exams normally and achieved first place. I did it fair and square, and I can hold my head high and accept the glory of first place. You got third place... what you need to do isn't make excuses for yourself here or talk behind others' backs, but catch up in the rankings next year."
After Catherine finished speaking, Hermione's face turned red. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't get anything out.
Seeing Hermione's state, Sean sighed. How had he gotten dragged into these two women's conflict? What an undeserved disaster.
Since he was friends with Hermione, Sean looked at Catherine and smiled: "Catherine, Hermione didn't mean it that way. She's just a bit competitive, but she doesn't actually look down on others. Please don't take it to heart. But Hermione was indeed speaking carelessly, so..."
Turning to look at Hermione, Sean said: "Hermione, apologize to Catherine."
Hearing Sean's words, Hermione opened her mouth but didn't immediately say anything.
Seeing this scene, Catherine just nodded at Sean and was about to turn and leave. But just as she turned around, Hermione suddenly reached out and grabbed Catherine's sleeve.
Catherine frowned slightly and looked at Hermione, while Hermione took a deep breath and said seriously to Catherine: "Catherine, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean it that way just now. I was just... I was just a bit unconvinced. I just felt I could do better. I just felt that if I hadn't encountered that accident, perhaps I could have done it more perfectly. I didn't mean to belittle you or look down on anyone. Please accept my apology."
Reaching out to grasp Hermione's hand that was holding her sleeve and shaking it gently while a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth: "Nice to meet you, Hermione. I hope we can have a fair competition next year. I won't give up first place to you so easily."
Hearing Catherine's words, Hermione nodded and said seriously: "Same here. Next year's first place will definitely be mine!"
The two released each other's hands. Catherine turned and returned to the Ravenclaw table, while Hermione said goodbye to Sean and returned to the Gryffindor table with Harry and Ron, who had also bid farewell to Sean.
Seeing the two women leave, Sean helplessly exhaled and was about to return to the Slytherin table with Blaise. But just as he sat down, an eagle's cry suddenly rang out. A familiar snow owl flew into Hogwarts' Great Hall and dropped a package above Sean's head.
Catching the package, Sean watched the snow owl flap its wings and leave directly. He already knew what the package in his hands was, and many perceptive people had also guessed what that familiar snow owl had dropped, so they all looked at Sean, expecting him to open the package.
Sean was naturally also very expectant, but just as he was about to open his delivery, his family's Rob also flew into the Great Hall, carrying a letter and landing in front of Sean.