From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

'That shouldn't be the case. Even if they were going to expel me, given the professors' attitude towards Azkaban, they would have given me a clear answer. Now they're not even communicating?'

At the same time, a similar scene was unfolding in Dumbledore's office.

"Don't you really want to say something to Professor William?"

Dumbledore wore a happy smile, as if he, as the headmaster, could remain completely uninvolved.

"I really don't know what to say, Albus..."

Professor McGonagall's expression was strange. "Before you've even spoken to any of the board members, we've received letters from more than half of them saying that Professor William is doing a good job and there's no need to consider dismissing him."

“We’re getting even more letters from parents—” Professor McGonagall said with a puzzled look. “There are even letters from recent graduates who are praising Professor William, but they’re not even married yet, and they’ve only just graduated. They’re way from having children of school age… Why are they suddenly interested in school education?”

“And the students are quite perplexing…” she said, shaking her head. “Many fourth-year students have already come to the office asking if Professor William will continue at Hogwarts next year… but any student who pays a little attention to the upperclassmen should know what Professor William has been doing over the past year…”

This is not magic at all…

“Perhaps they’ve already inquired about last year’s results,” Dumbledore said with a relaxed smile. “What I heard from Professor Marchban was that the results for this year’s Wizarding Self-Defense Magic class were shockingly good; apparently, everyone passed.”

"Passed by all?"

Professor McGonagall's jaw dropped. "And what about the grade breakdown? Oh—right, Professor Marchbank won't reveal that much..."

"But, but this is too high..."

Professor McGonagall's expression of astonishment seemed frozen; she paced back and forth in front of Dumbledore's desk, muttering, "This is incredible, yes, incredibly incredible..."

"Even the exams for Black Magic—no, the Self-Defense Magic exams have already been made easier once, it still seems unbelievable..."

Professor McGonagall uttered "incredible" dozens of times before stopping. "It seems Professor Machiban has secretly leaked the news. Of course—Professor Machiban certainly wouldn't want such an excellent professor to have to leave the position that best suits him because of controversy."

"It seems that tomorrow's board meeting will go very smoothly."

Professor McGonagall's expression hardened. "Albus, get these documents signed before the semester ends. Oh, and you have three reports to write. We need to get all of this done before the students leave for the summer."

“Minerva,” Dumbledore said seriously, “I think you should have a serious talk with Professor William. We need to give outstanding talents enough support.”

“Oh, right!” Professor McGonagall exclaimed with a sudden realization. “I almost forgot, I also have an application from Professor William in my office, which is a report on students’ summer magic practice.”

He said that not using magic for such a long time would have a significant impact on the students' learning progress, and the first month back at school was basically spent helping students recover. Therefore, he suggested that the school apply for limited practice time for the students.

"He suggested that at least they could use some simple spells for two hours on Wednesday nights, from 10 p.m. to midnight, so that the students' condition would be much better after enrollment, and that even monitoring them through the trail wouldn't be too troublesome."

“I’ll go get a report,” Professor McGonagall said, looking at Dumbledore. “I think it’s a good suggestion; the transfiguration of those students after they returned to school is just too unpleasant.”

Although Professor McGonagall made it sound easy, it meant the Ministry of Magic's workload would increase significantly—they would have to keep an eye out for any magic discoveries after Wednesday.

Without the help of the school board, this matter would not be easy to pass; there would be too much criticism.

“I’ll give it a try,” Dumbledore nodded. “I’ll bring it up in our conversation tomorrow, but don’t get your hopes up too high, Minerva.”

-

"A meeting's in session..."

William got up very early and put on his best robe.

Although whether or not he could stay at the school couldn't be decided by his clothes, he still wanted to take today's board meeting seriously.

'The only pity is that the Ministry of Magic doesn't have that much authority... otherwise it would feel like an accountant quitting their job to take the business administration exam...'

He styled his hair in front of the mirror, forcing himself to show his brightest smile.

"Just one last hurdle; whether we stay or leave depends on today!"

Although the decision to stay or leave had already been made, it didn't stop William from using this to encourage himself.

"Good morning, William."

Just as William opened the office door, Adams, with his unkempt hair, waved his hand and said, "You're so careless. Couldn't you have gone earlier?"

'Your hair is such a mess... and you're still criticizing me...'

Adams immediately sensed the strong doubt in William's eyes. "Come on, even though it's finals, the greenhouse still needs to be taken care of. I'm not as leisurely as you! I was even thinking of banging on the door if you weren't up yet!"

"how is this possible?"

William smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go!"

"Go where? Go get Singed. He said he was coming yesterday, he should be up by now, right?" Adams rolled his eyes.

-

Should I say something?

Singed arrived with dark circles under his eyes, and the two of them accompanied William to the meeting place, one on each side. But as William walked, he noticed something was amiss…

Perhaps because their hearts were heavier than his, the two of them unconsciously walked to either side of him—in William's memory, being sent to Azkaban was probably like this...

'Pah, pah, pah, what am I thinking?'

William inwardly spits out his anger, trying to shake off the negative associations.

"Then you wait, I—"

William originally wanted to say "I'm going in," but then realized it wasn't right, so he changed his mind and pulled down the flag, saying, "I'm going to eat a chocolate frog!"

"This chocolate fanatic!"

Behind William, the two men laughed and teased each other.

-

“Professor William, you’ve arrived,” Dumbledore smiled gently. “Please sit over there; the board members will be arriving in a little while.”

But that was just a polite remark—because William hadn't even sat down to figure out how to take advantage of the short time to chat when the school board members arrived.

"Dumbledore, you've dragged this out until now for the school board meeting before finals..."

The leader was followed by a house-elf with a bright smile, but he spoke very rudely.

“But it still happened, didn’t it, Lucius?” Dumbledore said without a hint of unease. “What would you like? Pumpkin juice, wine, black tea?”

"We don't need anything, I think we can have a pleasant time together—"

The leader glanced at William and said, "Professor William, you are here to announce the results of this investigation."

“Ah, if you insist on it…” Dumbledore smiled calmly, “then fine, the school’s final conclusion is—Professor William will continue to be employed next academic year.”

"Are you just going to abandon Hogwarts' millennia-old glory like this?" The head of the board of trustees said with a hint of sarcasm, "Just for some scum from Azkaban?"

...

William was at a loss for words because the school board member's words were so incomprehensible.

What merit or ability did he possess to single-handedly destroy Hogwarts' millennia-old glory? To be honest, he couldn't even completely break through the castle's protective magic; he couldn't even do it if Dumbledore ordered him to dismantle the castle…

Over a thousand years, Hogwarts' glory has become more solid than the castle itself; even the castle cannot be destroyed…

Destroying glory... that's no joke, he couldn't do it even if he worked himself to death...

"During this period, the school received a lot of letters from the public. More than 90% of these letters highly praised Professor William, and parents felt that Professor William's presence had greatly improved the school's teaching standards."

"At the same time, we have received letters from several members of the Board of Governors who have praised Professor William in various ways. There are now more than seven members of the Board of Governors... Even if a formal meeting of the Board of Governors is held, Professor William will not leave Hogwarts."

Seven? How is that possible?

"Um, Principal, could you please send a student representative?"

William politely interrupted the conversation, "Just one, I need his help."

“Of course, I know several people who have praised it, and I’d like to see what the students think of their professor.” Another board member nodded approvingly. “Go ahead, Professor William.”

???

The school board member in charge looked surprised but didn't object. William quickly left—he had sensed something was wrong as soon as he saw the house-elf.

Are you targeting me?

"If that school board member had harbored the idea of ​​attacking Dumbledore from the very beginning of the school year, then..."

"Was the guy blocking the door... someone he sent?"

"And there's that time Harry complained to me about, when I was wrongly accused..."

"If so, could it be that one?"

"Theoretically, it's unlikely to be that stupid, but in my past life, there were instances of directly seizing the imperial seal during business wars... What if it happens? It's worth a try, killing two birds with one stone!"

Chapter 239 Summer Vacation Approaching (End of Volume)

The corner of Gryffindor's common room was eerily quiet—the older students had all gone to Hogsmeade to enjoy the last moments, leaving the first and second-year students gripped by fear, no one daring to make a sound.

Hermione Granger, who had taken down half of her classmates, sat in the corner of the common room, her aura of unease emanating from her, making everyone around her afraid to move.

"I think I bombed the exam..."

She complained to her three friends, "There are so many things that haven't been confirmed..."

"There's a serious flaw in my Transfiguration test. Will Professor McGonagall fail me?"

"And the history of magic... I'm sure I'll fail the history of magic!"

Her expression was almost one of collapse, which made the students around her even more silent. Even her deskmate Ginny was a little tempted to wander off—her friendship with Hermione wasn't that strong.

'Those two bastards, they actually went to Hogsmeade ahead of time…'

Under this oppressive atmosphere, more and more students chose to explore other parts of the castle—although the lounge was comfortable, considering the ambiance, everyone decided it was best not to stay inside…

But this only made the lounge feel even more dull.

"Potter, the professor is looking for you!"

The sudden sound from the doorway of the lounge broke the tranquility of the lounge. Ha, who was pretending to read a book on the table, used great willpower to control himself and not jump up immediately.

Which professor?

"Professor William, he's looking for you at the door of the lounge, he looks very anxious."

“Okay, thank you, I’ll be right there,” Harry thanked him sincerely, then looked at his companion with pity, “Why don’t we go together? Maybe the professor has some important documents that need to be copied?”

"Okay, let's go now."

Ron chimed in almost impatiently, "Forget about grades, go see if Professor William needs any help."

Although still concerned about her grades, Hermione chose to go with them, and Ginny didn't object. The four of them headed towards the exit of the lounge.