Nicolas Flamel's teaching style differed fundamentally from Mr. Antonius's approach.
If Antonius's methodology emphasized gradual, systematic progression through foundational principles, then Nicolas Flamel's style was inspirational and creative. He possessed a remarkable ability to maximize Sean's capacity for lateral thinking and knowledge application, encouraging connections between disparate concepts that might otherwise seem unrelated. It wasn't a matter of one approach being superior to the other—rather, each emphasized different strengths and served complementary purposes.
After their first lesson concluded, Nicolas Flamel couldn't restrain his evident satisfaction. "No wonder Antonius continually praises you in his letters. Your learning capacity is truly exceptional. Teaching a student of your caliber is probably every instructor's dream. The progression is remarkably smooth."
"Thank you for the generous compliment, Professor Nicolas."
Since the legendary alchemist had begun formally instructing him, it seemed inappropriate to continue using his first name so casually. Therefore, Sean addressed Nicolas Flamel with the proper title of "Professor," and Nicolas tacitly accepted this designation. Through this simple exchange, Sean had established a genuine mentor-student relationship with the greatest living alchemist of the age.
"Very well. If you have no further questions, you may attend to your other studies. Lisa will remain here with me—everything will be perfectly fine."
"Understood. Goodbye, Professor Nicolas."
"Until this evening, Sean."
The two parted cordially, and Sean gathered his materials before departing the classroom.
As he made his way back toward the Slytherin common room, he happened to glimpse Professor Lupin hurrying out of Hogwarts Castle with unusual haste, his robes billowing behind him.
Sean spared the scene only a brief glance before continuing toward his destination. However, as he passed Snape's office corridor, Sean's eyes suddenly filled with swirling white mist. Images flashed rapidly before his vision like fragmented memories.
A haggard, disheveled middle-aged man—Sean didn't recognize him, yet inexplicably felt profound anger and hatred directed toward this stranger.
Professor Lupin, his face marked with fresh scars and old wounds.
Harry and Hermione, expressions bewildered and frightened.
Ron, desperately clutching a frantically struggling rat, his hands scratched bloody and raw.
Then the perspective shifted abruptly—Harry and Hermione casting spells directly at him.
The scene changed again, revealing Professor Lupin transforming into a werewolf, while Peter Pettigrew fled in his rat Animagus form.
The final image froze on a dozen werewolves surrounding the transformed Lupin, their predatory gazes fixed menacingly on him and Harry's group cowering behind.
The white prophetic mist dissipated from Sean's eyes.
Finding his hand pressed flat against Snape's office door, Sean immediately understood what had just occurred. He knocked firmly, though as he'd already suspected, Snape's office stood empty.
With a frustrated sigh, Sean quickly searched the office, locating several vials of freshly brewed Wolfsbane Potion carefully bottled and labeled. Pocketing these, he turned and departed Hogwarts Castle, heading directly toward the Whomping Willow.
If this confrontation involved only Sirius Black and Lupin—neither of whom Sean had particular investment in—he would have naturally allowed them to discover the truth themselves without interference. However, the vision he'd just experienced had shown events from Snape's perspective, meaning his Head of House would be attacked by a substantial pack of werewolves.
Having witnessed this impending danger, Sean absolutely could not allow his mentor to face such a threat alone.
Moreover, the two werewolves he'd killed previously had yielded only disappointingly weak, low-level spell extractions from his system panel—a result that had greatly displeased him. Perhaps it was because those werewolves hadn't been transformed during the confrontation, resulting in diminished magical capabilities for the panel to extract. Or perhaps Sean had simply been extraordinarily unlucky in the random selection.
This time, Sean intended to determine whether his panel would provide more satisfying rewards if he dealt with a dozen transformed werewolves simultaneously.
With that mercenary thought firmly in mind, Sean departed Snape's office, closing the door quietly behind him. He headed directly for Hogwarts' main entrance, and as he emerged from the dungeons into the broader castle, he cast a Disillusionment Charm to move silently and invisibly toward the Whomping Willow.
When Sean arrived at the violent tree's location, he immediately observed clear signs of struggle and forcible dragging, along with numerous overlapping footprints in the disturbed earth.
Following the tracks, he entered the concealed passage beneath the Whomping Willow's roots. Familiar with the route from his previous excursion with Blaise and the others, he navigated efficiently toward the Shrieking Shack. Hearing muffled voices emanating from within the structure, Sean proceeded cautiously toward the second floor.
However, he'd only climbed partway up the creaking staircase when a wand pressed firmly against his back.
"Who are you?" a cold voice demanded.
Hearing the achingly familiar voice, Sean released a breath of profound relief. "Professor, it's me."
"Sean?"
Snape yanked away what Sean now recognized as Harry's Invisibility Cloak, revealing his student as Sean simultaneously dropped his Disillusionment Charm. Snape stared at him with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. "What precisely are you doing here?"
"I saw you departing Hogwarts Castle earlier, so I—"
"Nonsense," Snape interrupted sharply. "I left the castle at noon. Did you also depart at midday?"
"I..." Sean began weakly.
Without waiting for Sean's fumbling explanation, Snape continued with characteristic decisiveness. "I don't particularly care whether you followed Potter and his friends here or harbored some other purpose entirely. Now that I've discovered you, you will not wander about independently. You will remain directly at my side. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor."
Observing Sean's unusually quick compliance, Snape's frown deepened. He was decidedly unaccustomed to such immediate obedience from his normally independent student. However, he refrained from further comment, simply pulling Harry's Invisibility Cloak over both himself and Sean before ascending silently toward the second floor to observe whatever drama was unfolding there.
Enveloped beneath the Cloak of Invisibility, Sean finally understood why his Head of House had managed to approach so silently without triggering any magical detection. Snape had somehow acquired Harry's legendary Invisibility Cloak—one of the three Deathly Hallows—and with this artifact concealing his presence, naturally Sean's usual awareness hadn't detected his approach.
The sequence of events became clear: Sirius Black had forcibly dragged Ron and Peter Pettigrew through the Whomping Willow's passage. Harry and Hermione, desperately rushing to rescue Ron, had been temporarily blocked by the tree's violent thrashing and carelessly abandoned the Invisibility Cloak outside, allowing Snape to retrieve it and follow undetected.
The two emerged onto the second floor of the Shrieking Shack. Sirius Black and Professor Lupin were explaining the events of twelve years ago to Harry, who appeared caught between disbelief, despair, and building rage. Hermione looked frightened but thoughtful, while Ron clutched his injured hand protectively.
Watching the increasingly emotional confrontation, Snape's grip on his wand tightened perceptibly. He clearly couldn't wait much longer before intervening.
At that precise moment, Sean suddenly grasped Snape's wrist firmly. Under his professor's startled gaze, Sean whispered urgently, "Wait just a little longer, Professor. I don't believe what they're saying is necessarily false."
The Invisibility Cloak's magic concealed their quiet conversation, and they stood far enough from the main group that discovery seemed unlikely.
Snape looked at Sean intently, then shifted his dark gaze back to Lupin and Sirius Black. Forcibly suppressing the hatred burning in his chest, he continued observing the unfolding confrontation in tense silence.