From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Philosopher's Stone.

By combining the Philosopher's Stone with unique potions, one can create a true elixir of immortality. And indeed, someone has created the Philosopher's Stone and lived for hundreds of years.

Simply incredible.

William's most admired ancient emperor was Qin Shi Huang—and that emperor fell on the path of seeking immortality.

So, after reading a lot of arguments about whether immortality is good or bad, William ultimately focused on the author's identity. Was the author as great as Qin Shi Huang?

No, then farewell. I suppose longevity is a good prospect.

Whether he's lonely or not, we'll see after he achieves immortality.

Lost in thought, William circled back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Old Tom's bar was already packed, and there was no food left for him in the kitchen—he could only wait for a late-night snack, just like the other drunks.

"You go out for a stroll and then head straight to the bookstore, only to end up reading nothing but books?"

Old Tom looked at the balloons made of books and started grumbling behind the bar, but William chuckled and ran upstairs in a few quick steps.

After putting the books down and hiding the paper bag in his arms, William locked the door and went downstairs to find a seat at the bar.

I spent the whole afternoon reading, and while I was focused, I didn't feel anything. But now that time has passed, I'm incredibly thirsty.

He ordered two beers, downed half of one in one gulp, and then started drinking slowly.

"William, it's been a few days. What brings you over for a drink today?"

The speaker was a wizard whose name William couldn't remember. He was very outgoing and would often come over for a late-night snack when William was engrossed in reading. William had exchanged a few pointless words with this guy.

"I've been busy these past few days, so I came as soon as I had some free time."

William was spouting nonsense—anyway, the local dialect was too strong, so everyone just listened for fun and nobody took it seriously.

Lies are great for drinking, and no one cares how much you brag. If the other person were to pay a little attention, they would know that he lives upstairs in the tavern, but obviously the other person has no interest in investigating that; he just wants to brag.

"Then I wish you prosperity!"

The other person laughed and downed a mouthful of wine.

William responded with a smile and also took a sip.

"By the way, remember that unicorn you mentioned last time?"

"I remember, I remember," William replied casually, desperately trying to recall what boast he had made.

"Well, didn't you say that this kind of creature only comes close to—"

I think I mentioned it before, but wasn't that just drunken bragging? Wizarding rumors are all a mix of truth and falsehood, how could a Muggle believe them?

"You know unicorn tail hair is very expensive, right?"

"I know, it's ridiculously expensive!"

"Let me tell you, I've discovered a place where unicorns might appear. If your legend is true, we might be able to make a fortune."

This guy's drunk; he's spouting nonsense.

William replied irritably, "I've been busy lately. I'll look into it some more. I'll definitely do it next time, next time."

Unicorn feathers cost seven Galleons each, no bargaining. Using Muggle lore to catch a unicorn? Are you kidding me! (Note 1)

"No way, really, let me investigate, unicorn—hiccup—I really found it!"

"What unicorn?"

A huge shadow suddenly appeared beside William.

It's Hagrid.

He sat down in the chair that had been magically reinforced—and these magical little things didn't make a sound.

Note: The price in Half-Blood Prince is 10 Galleons, but it's normal for strategic resources to increase in price during wartime.

Chapter Thirty-One: Is being a professor really that lucrative?

"It's a unicorn, you know, those magical creatures with a single horn, right?"

The unknown wizard raised his glass towards Hagrid, his words slurred.

“Of course I know—” Hagrid was about to reply when old Tom had already laboriously brought over a large bucket-shaped cup, which was Hagrid’s personal cup.

"You've had a long day, have a good drink."

Old Tom moved the cup to the table while greeting Hagrid with a smile.

“Good to know, hiccup,” the unknown wizard shouted, raising his cup.

"Cheers to the unicorn!"

"cheers!"

The drunkards around him raised their glasses and toasted to the reason they hadn't quite heard. Hagrid was also influenced and raised his glass to take a big gulp.

"So what's wrong with unicorns?"

Hagrid tried to keep his voice down, but it still made William's eardrums vibrate.

“Hey, unicorn, little William told us last time that in the legends of the Muggle world, those Muggles use, hiccup,” the unknown wizard hiccuped again, “to lure unicorns, and then kill them while they’re asleep.”

"That's impossible, just a baseless rumor." Hagrid picked up his glass and took a big gulp.

"I work at Hogwarts, and nobody knows unicorns better than me!"

William smelled a strong odor of alcohol. The amount Hagrid had just drunk couldn't possibly have smelled this strong. Clearly, this was at least the second round at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Come on, Hagrid, everyone knows you work for Hogwarts, but a unicorn, tsk—"

The person speaking next to Hagrid glanced at the clothes that Hagrid didn't look like high-end at all, and couldn't help but shake his head.

Unicorns are practically walking gold; if Hagrid could actually come into contact with unicorns, he wouldn't be so shabby.

"Don't believe me if you don't want to," Hagrid said proudly, ignoring the other person's doubts—even when drunk, he could still keep the secret firmly in his mouth.

Of course, a dragon is a different story.

Even after the group of drunks had mostly drunk their fill, William, one of the few sober ones, didn't hear any Hogwarts gossip from Hagrid.

This made him blame himself after returning to his room—he should have gone back when he encountered that drunkard, instead of wasting so much time listening to those people bragging just because he thought he could hear some Hogwarts gossip.

Especially Hagrid, he should have thought of that long ago. If the gamekeeper had been so willing to reveal things, there would probably have been Hogwarts gossip already, instead of books like "A Secret History of Hogwarts" becoming bestsellers.

A fruitless night.

Having drunk quite a bit of alcohol, William simply gave up reading and experimenting with magic, and went to bed early to make good use of the last bit of time before sleep to plan what he needed to do next.

First, the issue of accommodation.

The Leaky Cauldron is located in a prime location, so the accommodation fees are naturally high. I'm about to go to Hogwarts to submit my chosen textbooks for the new school year, so I might as well take this opportunity to solve my accommodation problem.

If the school provides dormitories, everything will be fine. If not, William will have to find a reasonably priced and safe place to settle down.

Moreover, this room must be connected to the school's Filo network, otherwise transportation will be a major problem—but the school must have a solution.

Secondly, there are issues with the textbook.

After careful consideration for a long time, he decided to use last year's old textbook. After all, among the textbooks used by previous professors, this set was the simplest and most detailed. Even if students occasionally had questions that went beyond the syllabus, William could easily handle them.

Anyway, the wizard self-defense magic course at Hogwarts is a joke, and they can't even cover all the required time each year. William is already working hard to ensure that students complete a full year's course, so he can't be considered to be misleading students.

Third, responsible for grade-level issues.

When Dumbledore last visited, he told him that the school had hired a new professor who was fearless. Considering the issue of lesson preparation, William naturally wouldn't take on the challenge of teaching seven years of courses in two houses each with that new professor. If they were to divide the workload, he hoped to teach some of the younger students himself.

The other party is likely to have a formal education, which is better than him, a hybrid of self-taught and untrained individuals. In the magical world, there are major exams in the fifth and seventh years. If the other party is willing, he hopes that the other party can take over the teaching of all the upper grades.

As for how he will develop his strength and how he will make use of the system, these things are more constrained by the environment. As far as he knows, Hogwarts has the largest library in the entire British wizarding world. Although it is certainly not as good as the pure-blooded books in terms of quality, it will definitely help him improve his strength. However, how to plan it depends on the scale of the library.

The system is even less reliable. Deliberately pursuing it will only affect his plans for improving his strength. Given his current situation where he is likely to draw one-time cards, relying on the system to truly improve himself is not much better than winning the lottery.

As he pondered these important matters, the effects of the alcohol began to take hold, and William simply gave up thinking, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

-

Time flies faster than you think when you're engrossed in doing something.

After William read through all the textbooks chosen by his previous professors and began to study his own selections carefully, he was surprised to find that he had almost used up all the time he thought he had.

Hogwarts even sent an owl to remind him of the deadline for submitting his selected textbooks, so that students could purchase them in advance.

William responded cheerfully that he would visit the vice-chancellor's office the following day and ask another professor if he had time to discuss academic matters between the two of them.

The reply was quite official, but William clearly gleaned a message from Professor McGonagall's response—the other party had been prepared for a long time and was just waiting for him to come and discuss it.

Even Professor McGonagall's letter was sent after the school had become impatient with the arrival of three owls in one day, and that's when they finally used an owl to inquire about William's whereabouts.

"..."

Looking at Professor McGonagall's reply, William fell into deep thought.

Was there some misunderstanding that he previously thought the other party had been tricked into this?

Judging from how enthusiastic they are, they probably can't wait to attend classes at Hogwarts.

Considering the school's approach, William felt that Dumbledore wouldn't hide the injuries of previous professors from the new professor, meaning that the professors were practically eager to come and teach at the school.

what is this?

William even considered writing to inquire whether the professor of this course was paid three times or more than other professors—a salary that was too low would be a disservice to his new colleague's enthusiasm!

Chapter Thirty-Two Hagrid: Four Twos and Two Kings

The next morning, William got up early, tidied himself up, changed into formal attire, and completely shook off the weariness he had developed from staying at home and studying on his own, preparing to visit Hogwarts.

He had inquired carefully in his letter beforehand and learned that most wizards visiting Hogwarts first travel to Hogsmeade Village next to Hogwarts using methods such as Apparition and Floo Powder, and then transfer to Hogwarts. Only students and some professors take the 9¾ train directly to the school.

Since William had never been to Hogsmeade Village before, and he was unwilling to use his newly acquired Apparition skill to travel such a far place, he simply chose Floo Powder.

"Old Tom, are these Floo fans?"

William, holding a small basin by the fireplace, asked Old Tom, who was busy wiping glasses at the bar.

"Of course, we want to go out?"