Chapter 69: After the Exam, Before the Results

Sean stood in Snape's office, quiet and still.

Snape sat in his chair, looking through Sean's paper one last time.

After revising the essay seven times in two days, Sean felt a bit numb from the process. Now, he just hoped it would pass this time; he didn't want to write another paper anytime soon.

"Alright," Snape said finally, his voice a low drawl. "Take the paper back and copy it again onto better parchment. Attach a cover letter, and then have an owl deliver both the paper and the letter to this address. If the paper is accepted, the Wizengamot will send you a certificate of acceptance, a Galleon, and a sample copy of The Golden Cauldron. If it is not accepted, you will receive a receipt and the original copy of your paper."

"There's a bonus for accepted submissions?"

Glancing at Sean, Snape was somewhat exasperated by what the boy chose to focus on. If it weren't for the fact that Sean had been driven almost mad by the recent revisions, Snape would surely have spat some venom at him. "As long as your paper is published in The Golden Cauldron, the editorial department will give you a corresponding royalty based on the paper's importance. In the future, if someone cites your paper, they will also pay you a certain amount of money. However, don't get your hopes up too much; this amount of money is not large. It does not compare to the income you make from selling potions at Hogwarts."

Hearing this, Sean chuckled twice, offering no further explanation. He had never expected that selling potions at Hogwarts could be hidden from these professors. As long as he guaranteed the quality of his potions and didn't cause anyone any problems from drinking them, no professor would come looking for trouble.

"Alright, mail the paper to this address. Looking at the time, the submission deadline for the latest issue of The Golden Cauldron should be approaching. If you are fast enough, you should still be able to make it into the latest issue. Whether it works or not, you will see the result soon."

"Okay, I'll go mail the paper now."

"Hmph."

Seeing Snape's words becoming fewer and fewer, Sean knew it was time for him to leave.

After a year of getting along, the two of them had developed a bit of a tacit understanding.

Walking to the Owlery in the West Tower, Sean found a sturdy-looking owl, handed it his paper, stated the address, and then let it fly high into the sky with the parchment.

As time passed, the young wizards who had been in a carefree state after finishing their exams gradually fell into a state of both anticipation and fear. They looked forward to the holidays approaching quickly yet feared the unknown results of their final grades.

This was particularly evident not in the academic underachievers but rather in Hermione, one of the top students of her year.

With dark circles under her eyes, Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, her face filled with anxiety.

"What if I fail the Transfiguration exam? I remember I wrote down the wrong answer for one question… I must have failed. Professor McGonagall will definitely be very disappointed in me…"

"And my potions. Snape has always disliked Gryffindor. What if he deliberately fails me? It's over, I must have failed Potions…"

Harry and Ron sat beside Hermione, looking utterly resigned.

They had told Hermione many times that she would surely pass her exams. However, even with Harry and Ron's repeated assurances, Hermione would only calm down for three to five minutes before falling back into endless self-doubt, making Harry and Ron, who were originally confident they would pass, now doubt themselves.

Just as Harry didn't know how to comfort Hermione, he suddenly saw Sean entering the Great Hall from outside. Without hesitation, Harry immediately got up and walked quickly towards Sean. Harry hadn't had a proper talk with Sean since the day he was knocked unconscious by Voldemort's magic.

Furthermore, Sean had been writing papers and keeping to himself lately, and Harry couldn't go to the Slytherin common room to find him, which meant Harry hadn't had a chance to talk to Sean for many days.

"Sean, wait."

Sean had stopped when he saw Harry walking towards him. Now, hearing Harry's words, he immediately walked over to meet him.

"Harry, is there something you need?"

Harry led Sean to a quiet corner of the Great Hall and whispered, "Sean, if you hadn't saved me before, I might have been killed by… Voldemort and Quirrell."

Although Dumbledore had said that Harry was protected by his mother's love and Voldemort could not harm him, Harry still felt that if Sean hadn't shown up to help him, he might have been killed by Voldemort.

"Harry, actually, even without me, Voldemort likely wouldn't have been able to harm you. And I think the little tricks Quirrell was pulling at Hogwarts couldn't possibly have escaped the Headmaster's eyes. So I've always thought the Headmaster actually knew about Quirrell's little tricks; he just wanted to know Quirrell's purpose and the person behind him. Even without me, the Headmaster wouldn't have let Quirrell, or even Voldemort, harm you."

"You mean… Dumbledore has been protecting me?" Harry's face was full of disbelief.

"At least, that's what I feel."

Watching Harry return to the Gryffindor table, Sean also returned to the Slytherin long table, sat opposite Blaise, picked up his knife and fork, and started eating.

While eating, Sean suddenly saw Jensen sitting not far away, and Jensen was looking at him at this moment. In the past, when Jensen saw Sean, he would deliberately turn his head away or shift his gaze, acting as if Sean didn't exist. This time, Jensen didn't continue doing so. Instead, he nodded slightly at Sean, greeting him.

Looking at Jensen, Sean also recalled the letter he had received earlier. His grandfather had told him that starting from the end of this semester, Jensen would become his attendant for six years. It seemed to be true now.

This is also troublesome. I wonder if I can refuse. But based on my understanding of my grandfather, it's highly likely I can't refuse. Forget it, I'll take it one step at a time.

Finishing his food quickly, Sean returned to the common room with Blaise.

Recently, both Sean and Blaise had been exhausted. Sean was tired from writing the paper to be sent to The Golden Cauldron, while Blaise was mainly tired from dating. Blaise's mood hadn't been very good in the past two days; he and his third-year girlfriend had been arguing over small things, and Blaise had become increasingly impatient with dealing with it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have returned to the common room with Sean today.

As soon as the two of them entered the common room, they immediately saw a large crowd gathered around the notice board. Walking over to take a look, they found that the two new prefects for next year had been selected. Sean didn't continue reading to see who they were; he wasn't very interested in that. However, before Sean could leave, Samuel and Irina came over to him together.

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