Sean slowly reached his hand into the cage. He didn't know exactly how he was supposed to win this challenge, but he was pretty sure it didn't involve killing the opponent—otherwise, it wouldn't be called a challenge at all.
As Sean's hand moved closer, the white snake Kulkan's vigilance rose to its peak. The moment Sean's hand was about halfway into the cage, Kulkan, like an arrow loosed from a bow, lunged and bit the back of Sean's hand, which had just entered her attack range!
Kulkan's speed was incredible. Even though Sean had been prepared, he still couldn't avoid her bite and was bitten hard on the back of his hand.
He sucked in a sharp breath, gritted his teeth, and—rather than pulling away—brought his other hand up and gently but firmly clamped both sides of Kulkan's head. Instantly, the snake coiled around his wrist, and her bite tightened on his hand.
Sean didn't use force but continued to pinch Kulkan's head, holding her steady and suppressing her movements.
Time seemed to slow. Yad's and Martha's faces were clearly etched with worry, and the shopkeeper looked like she was about to step in to stop Sean, afraid that if his hand was seriously injured, she'd be in trouble—even if the family didn't blame her.
Just as the three adults were about to intervene in this tense standoff, a smile suddenly appeared on Sean's face.
[Duel Won!]
[Conditions Met: Victory Against Opponent.]
[System Commencing Random Ability Extraction from Defeated Target: Kulkan (White Snake).]
[Extracting...]
He felt that little, familiar buzz as the system did its thing.
[Extraction Complete!]
[New Ability Acquired: Kulkan's Submission.]
The moment he gained Kulkan's submission, the snake that had been biting him slowly loosened her jaws. She looked at the wound on Sean's hand and gently rubbed his finger with her head, expressing a kind of closeness and even apology.
Sean reached out and gently stroked Kulkan's head, letting her climb from his hand to his shoulder, where she wrapped around his neck like a living necklace and nuzzled his cheek.
Sean had originally thought that winning might give him the ability to speak Parseltongue, but gaining Kulkan's submission was just as good. After all, he'd only wanted a pet. Parseltongue would be nice to have, but it wasn't essential. At worst, he could always find a few more snakes to trigger duels in the future or maybe even find a chance to duel Harry Potter himself and eventually get Parseltongue that way.
"You actually managed to tame her. This is truly astonishing," the shopkeeper said, still in disbelief. She had been ready to separate Sean and Kulkan, never expecting anyone could tame the shop's most notorious troublemaker.
They brought Kulkan to the counter. The shopkeeper treated Sean's wound with potions and a bit of magic. When Sean and his family left the Magical Menagerie, only four tiny marks remained on the back of his hand, and those would disappear soon enough.
Reaching up to touch Kulkan, now draped around his neck, Sean felt completely satisfied as he left Diagon Alley with his parents to go home.
Back home, Sean was sitting at the dining table when his mom, busy in the kitchen, called out, "Sean, have you fed Rob and Kulkan?"
"Yes, Mom. Rob and Kulkan are both asleep. The journey from Diagon Alley to home isn't short—they're tired too."
"All right, let them rest. Let's eat."
When Sean brought Rob and Kulkan home, he'd worried that the owl and the snake might not get along, but the two creatures ignored each other completely. Rob, the big guy, probably looked down on Kulkan, who wasn't even enough to fill the gap between his beak, so he didn't bother with this long, white worm at all.
"Sean, Hogwarts starts on September 1st, and there's only about half a month left. Have you prepared everything you need to bring?"
Taking a bite of the roast beef his mom made, Sean wiped his mouth and replied, "It's all ready, Mom, you don't need to worry. Even if I forget something, I can have Rob bring it to me. He's a great horned owl and can carry very heavy things."
"That's true. Hogwarts has house-elves, so I'm not worried about your daily life, but you must get along well with others. Don't be like you were at your previous school. Hogwarts students all have magic, and you can't guarantee they won't curse you behind your back."
Although Sean's parents couldn't use magic, they weren't Muggles—they were Squibs, raised in the magical world. They had never attended Hogwarts, but they understood the magical world and Hogwarts better than most Muggle parents ever could. The things Muggle parents worried about didn't bother Yad and Martha, but the things Muggles never even thought to worry about were exactly the things that kept them up at night.
After eating most of dinner, Martha brought out dessert—apple pie. Sean hadn't liked it at first, but as he got older, he slowly came to enjoy it, and now it was one of his favourite desserts.
Knock, knock, knock...
While Sean was eating his pie, the living room window was suddenly knocked on.
The three of them looked over and saw a brown owl standing on the windowsill, a palm-sized package clutched in its claws.
"A wizard's owl? Who sent us something?" Yad wondered aloud.
He got up and opened the window. The brown owl immediately hopped in, letting Yad untie the parcel from its claws. Just as Yad was about to find something for the owl to eat and drink, it turned around and flew out the window, not lingering for a moment.
"Well-trained, that one," Sean remarked. He'd already guessed who the sender was, but he didn't say it directly. He let his dad open the package.
Inside was a small box. Yad first took out a letter and a pure white pocket watch. The moment Sean saw the pocket watch, he knew he'd guessed right—this was from Grandfather Gavin.
Yad looked at the letter in his hand, his brows furrowing slightly, and then handed it to Sean. "Sean, this is a package from your grandfather. You should read the letter too."
Ever since Sean's magical power had erupted, Yad felt his son had matured a lot and had a more thoughtful view on things. So Yad was happy to share things with Sean and listen to his opinions.
Sean didn't take the letter but picked up the pure white pocket watch.
"I imagine the letter is Grandfather apologising for what happened in Diagon Alley, right? And this pocket watch is his way of making it up to us?"
Yad was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Yes, you're right."
"Alright, I understand. I know what this pocket watch is, so I'll accept it for now. Dad, Mom, you can relax. I'm just a kid who hasn't even started at Hogwarts yet. Grandfather wouldn't have any schemes against me at this stage. You don't have to worry."
"As long as you know what you're doing," Yad said, nodding.
Sean nodded to his parents and took the pure white pocket watch back to his room.
Putting aside everything else, this pure white pocket watch alone was a rare magical item! For a moment, Sean almost believed his grandfather really did want to make it up to him and his dad.
***********
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