From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"I am the great Lockhart, the man who will become a legend."

'A normal reply?' William paused, then pretended to be nonchalant and continued, 'Who ordered you to do all this?'

"Who can give me orders? Lockhart doesn't need anyone's orders!"

'Is the dose still insufficient? Or has Lockhart specifically trained himself to develop resistance to the truth serum? Or perhaps, he trained himself to answer questions posed by truth serum users?'

It's unclear, but William doesn't want to add any more medicine unless absolutely necessary.

So William changed his question.

"Who told you the location of the secret chamber? Where did you get your information about this basilisk?"

“From Dumbledore.”

Lockhart's voice was perfectly calm, but William felt as if a thunderclap had suddenly sounded in his ears.

He involuntarily took two steps back, and if it weren't for the warmth emanating from his wand, he would have almost thought he was dreaming.

If William was like this, the two students listening in were even more terrified by the sudden news. For a moment, the sound of them swallowing their saliva in fear echoed throughout the secret room.

'If it really is Dumbledore, then I'll have to make both students and me lose our memories... I'll have to stage a scene and hope to fool him...'

William began to desperately think of a way to pretend he didn't know anything, but he still managed to calm himself down.

"It might be a countermeasure, don't panic, don't panic." William simply took ten drops of the truth serum directly from the bottle and shoved it into Lockhart's mouth.

"What orders did Dumbledore give you?"

William asked cautiously, deciding that if he got an accurate answer again, he would immediately begin to fake the scene of Lockhart taking him down.

No, never.

This answer finally calmed William's heartbeat. He turned to comfort the two students while encouraging himself, "See? Even double the dose didn't work. That's the protection of the Master of Adventure!"

After he finished speaking, before the two students could react, William immediately followed up with another question.

"Why were Harry arrested?"

"To sell books, and also to find a scapegoat." Lockhart's voice was devoid of emotion. "Harry Potter is the best choice. Once the Chamber of Secrets incident is over, everyone will be crazy about this story."

"You opened the secret room?"

"Yes, in order to find a big enough news story at Hogwarts."

……

Time passed quickly as they exchanged questions and answers, and William's expression grew increasingly strange.

He was just telling two students how terrifying the Great Adventurer was, but now Lockhart the Werewolf has self-destructed. The so-called Great Adventurer doesn't exist; he's just a wizard who's good at using memory magic, traveling around stealing other people's adventure stories to create this persona.

'Could it be that the truth serum hasn't worked yet?'

With this in mind, William asked the same question again.

"Why do you say that Dumbledore told you the location of the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Those are Dumbledore's books."

"Dumbledore's books?"

"Yes, he was abandoned by Dumbledore because of his insults and sharp tongue."

...

After another series of conversations, the matter was finally clarified.

William couldn't help but cover his face—this fool, after picking up a book, he believed everything, even the book that claimed to be Dumbledore!

'I was so wary of this guy who seemed like he could swindle money just by saying "I'm Qin Shi Huang, send me money"...yet countless people at Hogwarts have been scammed by him...'

Recalling how he had been wary of non-existent traps along the way, William felt a sense of frustration, like punching thin air.

'But the book that tricked him for so long was also cursed with a forgetting spell...' William was both amused and exasperated. 'Anything with a mind can't withstand a forgetting spell without resistance, right?'

"The diary flew in!"

William waved his wand and began to summon the culprit behind everything.

But there was no response.

"That's strange. Lockhart said he brought his diary." William paused, then burst into elation—a counter-spell to a Summoning Charm isn't something that can be easily set, and that diary…

"Waaah!"

Harry, whose tongue was pinned down to prevent him from biting himself, suddenly started waving his arms. William looked in the direction of his arms and found the diary that had fallen near the basilisk.

Wearing two layers of dragon-skin gloves, and with the help of a wooden stick and the bandages he summoned, William successfully bound the diary securely with bandages.

“Let’s go back and treat Harry. I knew there was an exit, and I found it as soon as I asked—but they’re really clever, it’s a one-way exit, no wonder they couldn’t find it.”

William took the lead, walking ahead and knocking Lockhart unconscious before taking him along.

'Sixteen drops of truth serum? I can't handle that. Let's see if Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore have any ideas…'

Chapter 219 I Have a Friend

"who?"

As William and his men emerged from the secret chamber's exit, they were immediately stopped by several wands pointed at them from afar.

"I, William, am here with the missing Harry Potter."

William gave a French military salute to indicate that he was harmless—he really hadn't expected that the shortcut in the secret room would actually connect to the entrance, but it was well hidden.

'It wasn't designed all at once; it was definitely modified later, and it's not a single architectural style.'

However, now is not the time to study architectural styles; proving one's identity is more important.

However, the interrogation William had imagined did not take place—no private questions were asked, and no special potions or spells were used to test for the transformations caused by the compound decoction.

The professors guarding the entrance immediately lowered their guard when they saw him and asked curiously, "Professor William, you came out with Harry, where are Dumbledore and the others?"

"Dumbledore?"

"Yes, Dumbledore is back. He forcibly broke the protective magic at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, but because he wasn't prepared enough, the entrance couldn't be closed."

'I thought it was so smart to turn on automatically…'

However, the matter of the secret chamber is not so urgent. He needs to deal with the truth serum issue as soon as possible. A dosage of more than five times the normal amount is beyond common sense.

"What about Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape?"

"The deans are guarding the student lounge because they're unsure if the secret room has another exit—good heavens!" The professor, who had quickly answered William's question, suddenly exclaimed, "What happened to Potter's leg? It's not black magic, is it?"

“No, it’s just a regular cutting spell,” William then remembered that although Harry’s leg had been treated well, it looked serious to outsiders. “He’ll be fine after drinking the potion for a few days, but the process won’t be very comfortable.”

"Thank goodness then." The professor who had asked the question breathed a sigh of relief. "Why is Professor Lockhart here too? Was he harmed by the dark magic inside after discovering the Chamber of Secrets?"

“It’s much more serious than that, but let’s talk about it when we have some free time. I need to get Harry treated.”

Based on the other person's description, William couldn't bear to shatter the fantasies of a potential Lockhart fan in person, so he made up the best excuse and prepared to slip away.

However, Professor Lockhart had no intention of cooperating—the effects of sixteen drops of truth serum were too strong, causing William to hesitate to knock the man unconscious. He didn't want the basilisk to die at his hands, and then it would be troublesome to file a report.

"Of course I discovered it; Dumbledore guided me..."

How dare you say such things!

Before William could finish his sentence, he quickly used a bandage to seal Lockhart's mouth. "I'm sorry, he's badly injured and needs treatment."

"Then hurry up and go, Professor William."

The professor in charge of the questioning had no intention of continuing. "We'll stay here and keep watch to prevent the basilisk from escaping."

Although he really wanted to tell them that the Basilisk was dead, he couldn't bear to shatter the professors' illusions about the great adventurer and then leave without offering any explanation—there simply wasn't time to explain to him. Harry was doing alright, but Lockhart was about to lose control.

-

“It’s good to see you back, Professor William.”

These were the first words Professor McGonagall spoke to William: "Have you found Potter? We've found the Weasleys and Granger locked in the secret passage, and we've also found the Weasley brothers who were trapped by Peeves all day! Good heavens, Potter!"

The professor looked surprised, but his expression quickly softened. "It's good that you're alive. Thank you, Professor William."

“Potter, the school will provide you with a wooden leg similar to Professor Kettleburn's, it won't be much different… Sorry, it was an oversight on the school's part…”

William noticed that Professor McGonagall's expression had softened for the first time. "The Gryffindor team will reserve an individual trophy for you, in memory of your outstanding performances in competitions over the years..."

Harry's expression grew increasingly strange. The pain in his leg, which had been throbbing intermittently, seemed to suddenly disappear. The image of Professor Kettleburn flashed through his mind, and even though he had been enduring the pain since his leg was amputated, his expression suddenly crumbled...

“Um, Professor…” William, seeing the situation was getting out of hand, quickly stepped in to explain, “Potter’s leg can still be healed. I’ll take him to the hospital with Percy in a bit. The problem now is with Professor Lockhart. I gave him a little too much truth serum when I got the information…”

"Then hurry!" Professor McGonagall said urgently. "Potter's wound is still bleeding!"

"But there's just too much truth serum!"

“It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter how many or how few, Severus can handle all of this, he’s the best potions master I’ve ever met!” Professor McGonagall’s tone left no room for argument. “Professor William, trust Severus, he can handle Lockhart.”

When Professor McGonagall mentioned the name, it was as if she were talking about some kind of non-recyclable waste; she looked at Lockhart with obvious disdain.

That's true—no principal could possibly have the slightest bit of goodwill towards someone who tries to blow up their school.

“Then I’ll take Harry to the hospital first,” William said, relieved to receive the assurance. After all, he knew this kind of excision surgery was feasible but had never actually performed it before, and he was quite concerned about Harry’s situation.

With the person handed over to Professor McGonagall alive, his worries about Lockhart disappeared. It would be really hard to explain if so many drugs killed someone at once, and the school's financial reports were already troublesome enough.

“Harry, don’t worry, it’s super easy to make your leg grow back,” William even joked. “Even if it grows crooked, it’s easy to fix. Just cut it again and let it grow back. As long as it wasn’t injured by dark magic or special materials, it’s not a serious injury.”

Harry, who couldn't speak, rolled his eyes—although he should be grateful for being saved at a critical moment, he couldn't possibly be grateful for having a leg cut off so suddenly.

-

“A month,” Madam Pomfrey assessed Harry’s injury. “It’ll be easy for it to heal, but it will be difficult to manage once it adapts.”

“Although all the bone can be removed and healed overnight, there are too many factors to control if it is completely removed,” Mrs. Pomfrey shook her head. “We can only barely make up an unusable leg for now and fill in the details little by little.”

“But Professor William, your first aid method is really good,” she said happily as she discussed medical knowledge with William. “If the leg hadn’t been amputated, there would have been no cure for him when he arrived. There’s no antidote for the basilisk’s venom.”

……

“By the way, Mrs. Pomfrey, I have a friend,” William said, somewhat embarrassed to say his name, “who accidentally used too much of his truth serum in a control group. What are some good treatment options for this?”

Chapter 220 The Professor Who Gave Up Treatment