After listening to Sean's description, Snape fell silent for a moment.
Many people already knew Sean had been assigned detention, but the exact time he left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom should only have been known by Professor Jovic.
Sean had also mentioned using the Quick Record spell to copy the textbook. Because of that, the other students would have had no way to guess when he finished.
Snape turned a blind eye to this little trick.
He had seen plenty of students who tried to be clever and cut corners. Compared to the current situation, that wasn't important.
"Did Professor Jovic mention where he was going?" Snape asked.
Sean shook his head.
"He only told me to bring the copied notes to his office after I finished."
Snape stood up expressionlessly.
"Come with me."
Sean followed him out.
Is Snape suspecting Jovic? Sean wondered.
But that seemed unlikely. Sean had just had a conflict with Jovic that morning. If Jovic attacked him that same night, it would be far too obvious. Anyone with a brain wouldn't do something so blatant.
They arrived at Jovic's office on the third floor.
The door wasn't locked, but Jovic still wasn't there.
Just as Snape was about to head toward Jovic's private quarters, the man suddenly appeared at the doorway.
He was holding four or five butter-honey cupcakes and stuffing one into his mouth.
When he saw Snape and Sean inside his office, he quickly swallowed.
"Professor Snape," Jovic said awkwardly, "what brings you to my office so late?"
"Professor Jovic," Snape said coldly, staring directly at him, "I would like to know where you were just now."
Jovic walked over to his desk and set down the cupcakes.
He forced an ugly, embarrassed smile.
"I was a little hungry. I went to the kitchen to get some cake."
"Did you see anyone suspicious on your way back?"
"Suspicious?" Jovic looked confused.
"Sean was attacked by a shadow shortly after leaving your classroom," Snape said calmly.
Jovic's eyes widened in surprise.
"How could that be? This is Hogwarts. How could someone attack a student here?"
Sean listened quietly from the side.
What's so strange about that? he thought. Someone's died at Hogwarts before.
"We should keep this quiet for now," Snape said. "We don't want to cause panic among the students."
"Should we inform Professor Dumbledore?" Jovic asked cautiously.
Sean found this strange.
Both of them were professors, yet Jovic seemed unusually respectful—almost deferential—toward Snape.
After thinking about it, Sean understood.
Jovic was probably afraid of Snape.
They had both once been Death Eaters, and Snape had held a very high position among them. Someone like Jovic would have been the kind who followed orders from people like Snape.
"For now, there's no need," Snape replied.
"The attacker used Stupefy, and Sean blocked it with Petrificus charm. The caster is most likely a student. I will handle the matter myself."
Sean agreed with the analysis.
If the attacker's spell could be neutralized by his own, then their magical power couldn't have been very strong.
If the caster had been Jovic, even casting simultaneously wouldn't have allowed Sean to cancel out the spell.
Just like how Dumbledore could knock down a giant with a single Stunning Spell.
A student might need seven or eight attempts to achieve the same effect.
Magic varied greatly depending on the wizard.
After leaving Jovic's office, Sean returned to the Slytherin common room.
Cassius, Chris, and Graham were sitting on a sofa chatting.
"Sean, you're finally back," Cassius said.
"It's almost ten," Sean said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Why aren't you all in bed?"
"We brought some food back from the Great Hall for you," Cassius said, pointing to the table.
There were cakes and fruit waiting there.
Sean felt a small warmth in his chest.
He hadn't expected these kids to care enough to save him food.
Slytherins, he realized, were actually quite loyal to their own people.
They just tended to have a terrible attitude toward everyone else.
"Sean," Chris said seriously, "I think you should avoid provoking Professor Jovic in Defense Against the Dark Arts from now on. He's a former Death Eater, and his temper isn't exactly pleasant."
"Don't worry," Sean replied. "I'm not looking for trouble."
"Oh, right," Chris added. "You're always doing your own thing, so you might not know about some of the student groups at Hogwarts."
"Earlier today, some senior students from the Ouroboros Wizard Society invited you to join. Since you weren't here, I accepted the invitation on your behalf. They'll come back in three days to hear your answer."
Ouroboros Wizard Society?
Sean had never heard that name before.
But that wasn't surprising.
The movies had only shown a small part of Hogwarts. Now that he was living inside the magical world, many unfamiliar things were bound to appear.
Sean sat down and looked at Chris.
"What kind of group is it?"
"The Ouroboros Wizard Society is a Slytherin student organization," Chris explained. "It's said to have existed for over fifty years."
"They only invite pure-blood wizards with exceptional talent. Each year they usually invite only one or two new students."
Pure-blood and talented? Sean thought. That sounds suspiciously like me.
If the group had existed for fifty years, it meant Snape probably hadn't been invited when he was a student.
Despite his extraordinary talent, Snape had been a half-blood wizard.
Slytherin valued pure-blood lineage, but that didn't mean half-bloods didn't exist in the house.
Even the feared Dark Lord Voldemort himself had been a half-blood.
His father had been a Muggle.
Snape's father had also been a Muggle.
Every year, Slytherin still accepted half-blood students.
Because of that, some pure-blood students created the Ouroboros Society, a group that only accepted pure-blood wizards.
They believed that only pure-bloods could truly represent the legacy of Salazar Slytherin.
Sean himself didn't come from a famous pure-blood family like Chris.
But both his parents had been wizards.
Technically speaking, he was still a pure-blood wizard.
"Am I the only Slytherin first-year invited this year?" Sean asked.
Chris looked at him calmly.
"I was invited too."
"Because your surname is Crouch?" Sean said.
The Crouch family had been a prestigious pure-blood family in the wizarding world for centuries.
On top of that, Chris's grandfather held a powerful position in the Ministry of Magic.
Among Hogwarts students, her background was extremely influential.
Chris frowned slightly.
"You shouldn't ignore other people just because you're talented."
Sean understood what she meant.
His comment implied she had only received the invitation because of her family background.
But the truth was, Chris's magical talent also ranked near the top among the new students.
Still—
Sean was simply too outstanding.
To him, everyone else seemed to be standing several levels below.
They were no longer competing on the same stage.
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