Chapter 214: Time Management
Hagrid's ability to keep a secret was essentially zero.
The group from the Room of Hope had only spent a short while in his hut before they discovered his secret: he had acquired a dragon egg. Consequently, this morning, the members of the Room of Hope were invited to Hagrid's hut to help choose a name for the Norwegian Ridgeback.
However, before they could even set out, an argument broke out.
"Hermione, for heaven's sake! Why don't I see any time for sleep on here?!" Ron stared at his revision schedule, nearly jumping out of his seat.
"Eight hours. Are you blind?" Hermione replied, tilting her chin up.
"Merlin's beard—I don't think I'm at an age where I can survive on so little. Maybe when I'm old, but not now!" Ron was practically begging.
He and Harry simply couldn't find the strength to be firm with Hermione. Inside the Room of Hope, Sean would guide them with precision and gentleness. His green eyes were often deep and detached when he was alone, but they displayed a reassuring patience whenever he addressed their questions.
Yet, no one wanted to constantly bother Sean. Everyone knew he was busy—so busy he was often impossible to find.
As a result, Ron and Harry were usually under Hermione's tutelage. They slowly realized that while she could be annoying, without her, they would be utterly doomed when faced with their piles of homework.
"Ron Weasley! You and Harry are going to hold us all back! Justin is definitely going to get 'Outstanding' in every subject, and let me tell you, Neville won't be far behind! It's only the two of you who haven't made much progress and are always slacking off!"
After her angry outburst, Hermione turned to Sean. "Sean, could you show them your schedule from a while back?"
Sean looked at the fuming Hermione, his hand—which was currently engraving a rune—pausing for a second. "Sure."
The wooden cabinet spat out a notebook with a look of disdain. Hermione had to use a Levitation Charm to catch it before it hit the ceiling.
"Sorry." Sean tapped the cabinet with his wand, and it gave a human-like shudder.
Every time Sean put a book away, he was performing a Transfiguration on his cabinet. Now, it seemed to be evolving in the direction of the Weird Wizard's Chess—essentially, it appeared to be developing a degree of self-awareness. Sometimes, it would even respectfully present a book to Sean before he had even decided what he wanted to read.
Sean surmised this change occurred because he had applied so many Transfigurations that the object had absorbed too much of his own consciousness. It was like a snowman; there was nothing strange about it rolling snowballs or dodging, but if it combined those traits to actually play a snowball fight with a wizard, it became something magical. Sean's cabinet was in a similar state.
"Sometimes I wonder if I am the one slacking off too much..." Hermione murmured as she showed the schedule to Ron and the others.
On the schedule, Sean spent three nights a week in the dungeons brewing potions, two days a week attending Alchemy classes with the senior students, plus a private session. Beyond that, he visited the Forbidden Forest, the Greenhouses, and the Transfiguration office... He even managed to find time for independent alchemy and keeping up with History of Magic and Astronomy.
"Sean... I mean, is he a Superman?" Ron was dumbstruck. "Alright, Hermione, you're right. Looking at this, Harry and I really are lazy... Merlin, I never thought I'd see the day I'd say those words..."
He immediately changed his tune. He was now beginning to doubt if Sean even had time for regular classes.
"In the non-magical world, we call this Time Management," Justin explained with a smile. He only said this because his own workload wasn't much lighter than Sean's. Aside from his rigorous studies, he was responsible for organizing and selling Green's Notes, tracking everyone's progress, and summarizing experiences for the cabinet. He bridged the gaps between everyone in the Room of Hope while naturally taking on the task of investigating Professor Quirrell's motives.
As Ron shamefully began to overhaul his plan, a sentence inexplicably came to Sean's mind: "Rest is for the dead."
His eyes flickered. It had stopped snowing at Hogwarts long ago, but a persistent rain continued to drum against the stone walls of the castle. Sean couldn't stop, nor could he afford too much rest. If he rested and an accident occurred, becoming "the dead" was an easy thing to achieve.
As he walked out of the Room of Hope, the enchanted mirror did not speak. It only left Sean staring at his own calm, deep green eyes, as if gazing into a mirror made of lake water.
"I know. I cannot stop." He seemed to hear something, or perhaps it was just the howling wind.
Hagrid's Hut
Fang was barking loudly. Hagrid saw the red dot labeled "Sean" getting closer on his map. A red exclamation mark lit up as well. Grinning widely, Hagrid marked Sean's position with a yellow question mark to indicate he had received the signal.
As for why it was a yellow question mark? It was because the map was only a semi-finished product. Sean hadn't added more functions yet, so he just used random symbols for now.
This Planning Map was something Sean had left for Hagrid because the giant was always losing track of magical creatures. Half the time, he was in a state of "Where are the Fantastic Beasts?" So, when Sean placed a tracking button on the creatures—Hagrid was so thrilled he nearly picked Sean up. Having narrowly escaped a rib-crushing hug, Sean looked at Hagrid with a look of mild confusion.
Hagrid was thoroughly ashamed now; he constantly forgot he was dealing with a young wizard. For a whole week, Hagrid kept his hands behind his back whenever he saw Sean, expressing his care in a clumsy manner.
Now, ensuring he wouldn't do anything foolish, Hagrid carefully rolled up the map and stepped out of the hut. "Sean—come on in!"
The two of them began controlling the temperature of the fire for the dragon egg. This was the method mentioned in Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit; the correct temperature would help the dragon hatch faster.
Outside, the figures of the other young wizards drew closer.
"Hagrid has always wanted a dragon. He told me that the first time I met him," Harry said expectantly.
"But it's illegal," Ron noted. "The ban on dragon breeding was passed at the Warlock Convention of 1709; everyone knows that. If we keep a dragon in the back garden, the Muggles are bound to notice. Besides, you can't really tame them—it's dangerous. You should see the burns on Charlie from when he was dealing with wild dragons in Romania."
"Wizards actually breed dragons?" Justin frowned slightly, feeling that wizards were a bit too bold.
"Of course. Wizards often have to cast memory charms on Muggles who spot them," Ron said, proud to have some exclusive knowledge.
"I just hope Hagrid hasn't forgotten he lives in a wooden house," Hermione added worriedly.
Chattering away, they entered Hagrid's hut. They immediately saw Sean sitting elegantly on a transfigured chair, holding a book, while roasting the dragon egg over the fire.
"Sean—you can't eat that!" Ron cried out in horror.
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