Any other wizard might have been moved by Hannah's invitation.
But Sean ultimately shook his head.
This left Hannah very disappointed.
"You don't believe the Lucky Black Cat exists? But you've already dreamed of it!" Hannah asked in confusion.
"Well, luck may exist occasionally, but I'm sorry, Miss Abbott, I believe in myself more," Sean said softly.
"But... good luck, you know, everyone hopes for good luck to arrive. Don't you want to touch the Lucky Black Cat's ears?" Hannah stammered a little.
"Perhaps."
Sean thought for a moment. Can a cat touch its own ears?
It was a puzzling question.
"Alright, sorry to disturb you, Mr. Green."
Hannah walked away dejectedly with the invitation.
"Hannah," a voice drifted over just as Hannah was about to walk out the door. "I don't know if good luck exists, but the feeling of waiting for good luck might be a genuine gift in itself."
"You're right."
Hannah hurriedly turned her head, but the hospital wing door had already closed.
Through the crack in the door, she could only see the wizard on the bed hook his finger, and several books flew over to him.
She rubbed her eyes, and the crack in the door was sealed tight.
Mr. Green is the most outstanding wizard in the last century...
Her opinion, and that of the entire Hogwarts student body, was confirmed once again.
...
The hands of time turned downward, reaching the warm and pleasant mark of evening.
The sun slowly sank over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and Sean walked across the grass draped in the glow of the sunset.
Beside him, Hermione held a crystal phial, and Justin gripped his wand tightly, ready for action.
"It's a very interesting place. The house-elves of Hogwarts call it the 'Come and Go Room,' or the 'Room of Requirement,'" Sean explained slowly, with Hermione and Justin listening intently.
They needed to act in this quiet place where no one would pay attention.
Otherwise, if they were discovered and interrupted halfway, Hogwarts might really consider expelling them.
Of course, Sean would have to be excluded.
No professor would vote in favor of expelling Sean.
"Why?" Hermione and Justin asked curiously.
"Because this room can only be entered when a person truly needs it.
It appears and disappears, but when it does appear, it is always furnished to meet the seeker's needs.
When a house-elf is terribly drunk, they might find antidotes for Butterbeer there, along with a bed sized for an elf to sleep in.
Mr. Filch has also found spare cleaning supplies there when his own tools ran short..."
Sean recounted what he knew.
"It sounds a lot like the Hope Hut," Justin said thoughtfully.
"Yes, they are quite similar," Sean affirmed.
"That's another very marvelous room." Justin was a little excited.
"How many people know about it?" Hermione asked with a frown.
"Very few. People usually discover it only when they need it, but they can never find it again afterward because they don't know it's always there, waiting to be needed," Sean said.
"Sounds wonderful. Where do we find it?" Justin's heart beat faster.
"On the eighth floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls," Sean shared.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Justin took the lead, then quickly doubled back. "Which tower is it, Sean?"
Hermione was momentarily speechless.
Evening, pleasant nightfall.
They quickly crossed the corridors and arrived at the place Sean described: in front of a huge tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach trolls ballet, opposite a stretch of blank wall.
"We're here," Justin whispered. A troll on the tapestry paused from clubbing the ballet teacher and turned to watch them. "Sean said to walk past this stretch of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need."
They did as instructed, walking to the window at one end of the blank wall, turning around, walking to the man-sized vase at the other end, and turning back again.
Sean stood aside holding Ravenclaw's old book, while Justin squinted in concentration and Hermione muttered under her breath.
We need a place with no escape... Justin and Hermione thought. Give us a place where sound won't carry... where we won't be discovered...
"Sean!"
As they turned for the third time, Hermione suddenly spoke.
A very smooth door appeared on the wall.
Justin was the first to grab the brass handle, pull open the door, and they walked together into a spacious room—lit by torches, much like the dungeon classrooms.
But apart from the torches, it was empty.
Sean walked toward the wall, where he saw a precise array of runes.
"It's a soundproofing magical barrier," he said.
"Just some trivial magic from a pile of junk," Mr. Owl popped out of Sean's Book of Wizards, puffing out his chest.
"Mr. Raven," Sean reminded him. Bai also popped out.
"Clever little wizard, she's asleep. But I tell you again, you'd better set her free soon. One owl is enough for a wizard... choose the smartest one." Raven was very confident.
"Mr. Raven," Sean whispered again.
"Impatient little wizard, I said, Bai... Lady Bai, why are you awake—"
Raven flapped his wings and fled. Bai let out a cooing screech and chased after him.
Two owls flapped their wings in a game of chase.
"Such a familiar voice." Justin scratched his head as he watched the owls fly out through the crack in the door.
Raven, or Mr. Owl, had his suit taken by Will for cleaning, and coupled with the dim light, Justin didn't recognize him immediately.
Hermione, on the other hand, scrutinized Mr. Owl's retreating figure carefully, then shook her head vigorously to shake off the absurd thought in her mind.
"Close the door. Lockhart is in the Defense Against the Dark Arts office right now, and I'll be back in half an hour," Hermione instructed.
"Okay." Justin gripped his wand tightly.
After the owl interlude, a tense atmosphere naturally filled the air.
Justin couldn't help but tremble slightly, and Hermione took a deep breath.
What they were about to do carried immense risk, and they had no means of communicating with each other. If anything unexpected happened, it would test their ability to improvise.
Before Hermione left, the evening wind blew past, making the torches flicker.
"Wait, take this."
At that moment, Sean spoke, breaking the tension.
"What is this?" Hermione asked curiously, holding the smooth mirror.
"A variation of the Two-Way Mirror, functioning like a telephone. I call it the Magic Hand Mirror," Sean said to the two holding the smooth mirrors.
"Sean, you mean?" Hermione's eyes lit up.
"Really? That's incredible!" Justin gasped.
"Really." Sean smiled slightly and nodded.