From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"I don't know, I haven't heard anything big about the castle—Harry, what do you think?"

"what?"

Harry looked up, bewildered.

"It's not your fault that we can't practice Quidditch. The pitch is occupied by Slytherin, there's nothing we can do about it—it's such a nice day, and Snape gave them a pass!"

Ron was indignant—the Hogwarts school team used their winnings to buy a batch of Nimbus 2000s. Although they weren't the newest models, they were stable and much cheaper. The whole house was hoping for good results, but as soon as the weather cleared up today, Slytherin came to take over the pitch.

Seeing Ron's excitement, Harry felt embarrassed to admit that he wasn't worried about that today, but rather about Professor Lockhart—although the professor had recently changed his teaching style, he still liked to ask him to perform, just like before.

But that feeling was even more terrifying than before.

'Ron clearly thinks Lockhart has gotten better, what am I thinking?'

Chapter 172 Chaos

After nearly a month of rainy season, even the most homebody professor felt the urge to go out for a walk.

So now Singed's office is surrounded by professors from the school; watching the fire-crab-shell crucible is secondary, the main reason is just for the excitement.

"Even though I've seen it many times, I still have to say, this thing is truly magnificent—"

The professor who was closest to the listener tapped on the crab shell, which had now turned into the shape of a pot, and exclaimed in admiration at the recollection that was different from that of metal.

The fire crab shell that William originally sent over has now completely transformed into the shape of a crucible. If it weren't for its special material and the scattered gems on it, no one would believe that this standard crucible was not long ago shaped like a tortoise shell.

"It doesn't look like a simple transformation. Let me give it a try—"

The professor at the front observed for a moment, then began rhythmically tapping the gemstone on it.

"The simplest self-heating function must be there, right? The crucible is made from the shell of a fire crab, so we can't give up this function," the professor said, answering his own question. He quickly found the rhythm in the sound of the gemstones striking each other—"clear water like a spring."

As the water flowed in, the professor at the front of the group easily pressed two gems. "This must be self-heating, right?"

'No, how come you guys seem to know everything?'

William looked around at the professors and realized that they all seemed to be just as clueless about appraisal as he was, which put him at ease—it seemed that the professor he wasn't very familiar with was actually quite skilled at appraising magical artifacts, and that the professors' overall level was exceptionally high.

Since not everyone was at a high level, William was happy to have a professor explain the performance of the new crucible to him. After all, it wasn't a magic wand, so there wasn't much privacy involved.

-

"Professor Singed's alchemical skills are getting better and better!"

On their way back to the office, the professors were generous with their praise, and William, who had received tangible benefits, happily joined in, completely forgetting the gloom he had felt from the recent rain.

There's nothing we can do but say that Singed's skills are just too good.

William, as a professional pharmacist, was quite worldly-wise. His crucible was custom-made and extremely easy to use—but it was nothing compared to the contraption Singed had created.

Constant temperature, stable heating, reduced impurities in finished potions, and a slight improvement in the effects of restorative and healing potions—all effects that potion masters dream of.

Although the properties of the cauldron reduce the effectiveness of brewing some potions with psychoactive effects, such as Ecstasy, Aphrodisiac, and Truth Potion, who cares?

It's a problem that can be solved by changing the crucible; it's no big deal.

William's previous set of crucibles was easy to use, but compared to this, it was rubbish—top-quality materials paired with a high-level alchemist are just that powerful.

'It's a bit of a shame that I didn't add my specialty, Polyjuice Potion, to the potions that require long simmering. Otherwise, this cauldron would be fantastic for brewing Polyjuice Potion.'

'Don't be so greedy, William,' William told himself, holding the cauldron. 'You've already got enough. Don't be so greedy. What more could you want from such a top-quality cauldron?'

A group of people carried the crucible back to the faculty lounge.

"Why don't you try out the new crucible, little William?"

The old professor egged him on—he knew William used to be a professional potion maker, so he wasn't worried about William losing face.

"Of course, how about some euphoria pills?"

William also planned to try out the new potion. He had been feeling even worse without the euphoric potion for a while, and he was almost out of potions, so it would be a good time to replenish his supply.

"Of course, a little bit of euphoria is just right for happy days."

"So everyone, tell me which potion ingredients you hate, and I'll make a special potion."

Since he wanted to show off his skills, William naturally had to pull out some of his best stuff—there are plenty of basic potions on the market, and the Potions Master is famous for his improvements to basic potions.

Just like how Android systems are modified by various companies, basic potion recipes also undergo various improvements. However, how they are modified and what the effects are depends on each company's methods.

Some people modified the taste, some modified the adverse reactions, and some improved the efficacy—there's no special medicine that's a beginner's edition, and it doesn't even deserve a signature.

"I don't like mint."

"I get hiccups when I drink too many euphoria drugs."

...

The professors raised all sorts of requests, which William listened to attentively, then racked his brains to find a suitable way to improve the potion—

"Wait a moment, I'll go back and get the utensils and ingredients, it'll be ready soon."

William gave the group of professors an awkward smile, then quickly went back and forth to retrieve his belongings.

-

'Hmm, with this added, it'll be almost done.'

William easily controlled the heat—the new crucible was easier to break in than he had expected; Singed's skills were impeccable.

"professor!"

An urgent shout came from the office door, and then the door was opened without any knocking.

"What's going on? What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

William didn't recognize the visitor, but the professors in the office who were waiting to see the potion recognized him.

"Something's happened! Mr. Filch has been attacked! The Weasley twins are in the hallway, randomly attacking the younger students!"

"what?"

Everyone in the office was stunned. The Weasley twins were a frequent topic of conversation among the professors. Even those who weren't their professors knew who the red-haired brothers were and what they had done.

William, who was about to add the ingredients to complete the potion, was stunned. The last herb in his hand fell directly into the cauldron, causing the potion to churn rapidly.

'What a joke! Those twins attacked Mr. Filch? And they randomly attacked younger students?'

Just as he was starting to doubt and was about to question them, another person burst into the office.

"Professor, Professor!"

The child who ran over saw the door was open and rushed in without stopping, panting and shouting.

"Professor! Miss Granger from Gryffindor has gone mad! She's attacking her female classmates, and she's already knocked out seven or eight of them!"

This is yet another piece of news that has stunned everyone.

Hermione Granger, as the top student in her second year, is also a much-discussed Muggle, and is often mentioned by the professors. Some professors even secretly bet on how much more advanced Hermione's knowledge is than what they could have learned in advance.

"What are you all standing there for? Go and calm the students down, and notify the principal!"

The old professor was the first to step forward and give the order: "The professor to my left, go deal with the Weasley brothers' matter; the one to my right, go deal with Miss Granger's matter."

"The professor in the middle, stay here and see if there are any more unexpected events—Adams, you go and tell Professor McGonagall what happened, and ask the painting department to hurry!"

The old professor's order was carried out quickly. William didn't even have time to extinguish the cauldron before he grabbed his wand and rushed out—one unexpected event could be a prank or something, but two happening at the same time meant something serious had definitely happened!

What exactly happened to the twins?

'And Miss Granger, she doesn't seem like the type to randomly attack her classmates, does she?'

These thoughts kept popping into William's mind, making his brain, which had been forced to rest for a month due to the weather, start working wildly.

What do they have in common?

"Damn it, the crown!"

William immediately thought of the Hufflepuff tiara—if there was anything unusual the three of them had in common, it was that tiara.

Ginny made a mistake because of that tiara before, and it's not impossible that the Weasleys would repeat the same mistake—even Dumbledore said that he couldn't confirm the specific effects of the dark magic hidden in the tiara!

Thinking of this, William, who was the first to rush out, went straight to the nearest painting in the corridor and said, "Go find Dumbledore and tell him that I, William, believe that Miss Granger and the Weasley twins are influenced by the Crown, so be careful of others!"

"Professor? You?"

The oil painting, which was being loudly addressed by William, seemed a little stunned—she was a noblewoman.

"Go find Dumbledore, go to the headmaster's office, and tell him that there is something wrong with the crown, and that all students and professors who have worn it must be kept under close surveillance!"

William repeated his earlier words, "Sorry, it's urgent, do you understand?"

"Okay, there's a problem with the crown. I'll go find Dumbledore!"

The noblewoman in the oil painting even left her teacup there, rushing towards the next oil painting at a speed that William couldn't comprehend at the moment.

At this moment, the professor ran over—"Professor William, what did you find? Why did you stop?"

"I had a little suspicion, so I asked someone to tell Dumbledore."

William dared not spread this potentially fatal conjecture. If he was right, the school would react quickly, but if he was wrong, the professors behind him would probably be unable to reach a conclusion in a short time, and would only waste time trying to help the injured students.

"Just follow Dumbledore's instructions. Scattering the professors now will make it impossible to find them if something happens later!"

William was well aware of his own prestige—as a newly arrived professor, announcing a conjecture would only spark discussion among the professors; he had no way to assign specific tasks.

"Let's solve the problem first before considering the potential problems, otherwise we won't be able to do anything well—hopefully Percy and the others won't run into any trouble."

With this thought in mind, William hurried to the location mentioned by the student who had brought the message.

-

"He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!"

"Obstacles are numerous!"

William could hear the twins' distinctive voices from a great distance.

"It really is them!"

What are those two doing?

"What's the prefect doing now?"

"Has it been so long, and neither of the two students has been able to solve it?"