Dorian didn't push Sean for an answer. He was super confident in his offer and thought anyone with a brain would choose him. He was sure Sean would eventually say yes.
Honestly, if things were different, Sean might have actually considered Dorian's offer. If it wasn't for that whole thing with Tarquin, he would have thought about the good and bad parts. But now that he was getting ready to kill Tarquin, Sean had zero interest in getting more involved with Dorian and whoever was backing him.
Sean just didn't have a good feeling about Dorian or the person behind him anymore.
Besides, Sean's plan had always been to build his own life in Britain after he graduated. For the first ten years of this new life, he'd kind of hated being stuck in Britain. He had been carefully planning his future: first, go to a top private school. Then, maybe get into the busy world of finance or tech in London. His big plan was to build an empire using the little bits of future knowledge he still remembered from his old life.
After he left Dorian, Sean went straight back to his room.
But before he could even open the door, he heard Andy's voice right next to him.
"Sean, can we talk?"
Sean looked at Andy and knew right away what this was about. Andy must have seen him talking with Dorian. It didn't really matter if Dorian set this up or if it was just a coincidence. Sean had already decided he wasn't getting involved with Dorian anyway, and he was planning to tell Andy that. Since Andy was already here, Sean figured he might as well be straight with him.
"Come on in," Sean said. "We do need to have a good talk."
Andy followed Sean into the room and sat down quietly in a chair.
Sean took a second to check on Kulkan. The weather had been getting colder, and maybe because snakes hibernate, Kulkan wasn't very active lately. After making sure the snake was okay, Sean turned around, sat on his bed, and looked at Andy.
"Andy, did you see me talking with Dorian just now?" Sean asked, getting right to the point.
Andy looked a little pale. He nodded, and his voice was a bit hoarse when he said, "Yeah, I came back to grab something and saw you."
Sean didn't mess around or play guessing games. He just said, "Andy, I'm not going to work with Dorian. As long as you don't break our deal, we can keep working together until we graduate."
As soon as Sean said that, Andy looked up right away, looking surprised and super relieved. "Sean, really? You'll really keep working with me?"
"Honestly," Sean said, "Dorian's offer is really good, and I get why your last two partners switched over to him. But I really don't like his style or how his people do things, so I'm not working with them. You can relax."
Andy looked happy at first, but then his face changed a little. He had never told Sean about Dorian stealing his last two partners. He'd actually tried to hide it. Now, hearing Sean say it, he felt a little awkward. "You... you know all that?"
"I know some of it, but not everything," Sean said. "Can you tell me the rest?"
Andy looked at Sean, nodded, and said, "Sean, ask whatever you want. I'll tell you everything I know."
"I only have one question," Sean said. "You've been a target of Dorian's group for a while now. I think you know why. Who is Dorian really working for?"
Andy's face changed in a flash. He was quiet for a long moment, then sighed. "Sean, Dorian works for my brother. The person who's targeting me is my brother."
Hearing that his own brother was behind all this, Sean raised his eyebrows. He already had a feeling where this was going. And sure enough, Andy kept talking. "Our family, the Morgans, is kind of a new family. Starting with my grandpa, the head of the family is chosen based on who's best at business. After my grandpa, he picked my dad. Now my dad is choosing who's next. I'm the youngest of five kids, so I wanted to start saving up money here at Hogwarts to get a head start. When my oldest brother found out, he sent his people to target me and mess up my business here. As long as I can't build up enough money, I'll never be able to beat him, and he'll eventually get control of the family business."
"But there's a problem with that," Sean said. "The kids are all different ages and have different starting points. How is that fair?"
Andy didn't look surprised by the question. "Different starting points mean different results when they judge us. That's why my oldest brother is so worried about me. He thinks he has to keep holding me back so he can feel safe."
"Okay, I get it," Sean said. "From now on, here at Hogwarts, I'll give you all my potions to sell. You don't have to worry about me switching partners, as long as you don't betray me."
Hearing Sean's promise, Andy looked so relieved. He leaned back in his chair and said, "I understand. Thank you, Sean."
"There's nothing to thank me for," Sean replied. "You give me a good cut, and I'm making good money. I'm happy with our partnership. The rest is just details."
They chatted for a little while longer before Andy said goodbye and left the room.
After he closed the door, Sean sat down at his desk. He started flipping through his grandfather's notes, going over the steps for the curse again and again.
The next morning, Sean got up early and went for a run with Blaise. After they finished, changed their clothes, and got to the Great Hall, they saw right away that the Gryffindor hourglass was totally empty. The Slytherin one had lost a lot of points too.
Blaise looked surprised, but Sean had a pretty good idea what had happened.
And sure enough, when Sean and Blaise sat down for breakfast, some Slytherin kids started spreading the news about what happened last night. The "Savior" and his two Gryffindor friends had been caught wandering around the school after hours. They each lost fifty points, so that was one hundred and fifty points gone for Gryffindor.
Malfoy lost fifty points too for being out, but compared to what Gryffindor lost, it wasn't so bad for Slytherin. Besides, it was Malfoy. Losing fifty points sucked for him, but no one was going to give him a hard time about it. It just wasn't worth the risk.
So, compared to the Gryffindor kids, everyone just kind of forgot about Malfoy's punishment and left him alone.
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