From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

It's no wonder he lost his composure; underage wizards are strictly prohibited from casting spells outside of school. He had long wanted to try his wand, but unfortunately, his good friend's warning letter was just around the corner. Now that the start of school was approaching, he had countless thoughts he wanted to share with Harry.

“Wait a minute,” Harry looked at Ron, “what’s the date today, Ron?”

"It's almost the end of August, what are you thinking about, Harry?"

Ron looked at Harry with a worried expression.

Harry quickly started calculating the days ahead. Yes, that's right, although he didn't want to accept it, school was indeed about to start.

What did I do during this holiday?

Harry was a little confused.

"Escape...training...catching up on homework..."

"..."

"Harry, what's wrong?"

“It’s nothing, Ron. I just want to lie down for a while and have some peace and quiet.”

-

Good evening, Mr. Weasley.

William is visiting the room that the Weasleys have booked.

Good evening, Professor William.

Mr. Weasley, with his half-red hair, forced a smile and greeted them.

“Let the children leave for a while,” William said calmly. “They don’t feel comfortable talking about grades.”

Before Mr. Weasley could speak, Percy began to stand up on his own, followed by the Weasley brothers.

“Oh, children, I’m sorry, you have to leave for a bit,” Mr. Weasley said with a kind smile, and then Ron and Ginny left as well.

This made William feel much more relaxed—to be honest, he didn't know if it was psychological, but now he felt a bit of a headache whenever he saw red hair.

“Well, Mr. Weasley, I have two main questions for you.”

William tried to use a calm tone, "Harry just told me that he will be leaving with you when school starts tomorrow, is that right?"

Honestly, he didn't really want to interfere with the students' private lives, but if there was a confidant of the Black Demon King lying in wait outside, that would be a different story.

He had just received a letter from Dumbledore today, telling him to keep an eye on Harry and to make sure he knew the details of such an important trip.

"Yes, Professor, the department will send a car tomorrow, and then Harry will leave with us."

Mr. Weasley was clearly not unaware of the situation, and William, as Harry's protector (at least in Mr. Weasley's eyes), naturally had nothing to hide.

"Riding in a Ministry of Magic vehicle? Without using Floo Powder or anything like that?"

William considered for a moment, "Are there any Aurors accompanying us? Is the driver an Auror in disguise?"

"Um... he's just a regular staff member."

"How many strikers were mobilized? Is there any information regarding this?"

"The strikers mobilized two teams to provide protection along the route."

“I’ll come along tomorrow too…” William sighed—he was willing to bet there would definitely be ambushes on the road tomorrow, but using people as bait like this was going too far.

"Even if I can't beat them, I can hold them off for a while..."

Chapter 262 Before Boarding the Train

"what?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Is the professor with us?"

When Mr. Weasley announced to his children that they would be going to King's Cross Station with Professor William the next day, everyone gasped.

The twin brothers were the loudest—they had just finished a nightmarish summer of studying, and now, on the day closest to their wands, the professor had reappeared.

What a joke!

The two had originally planned to treat the day on the train as a professorless day. They even planned to skip the Sorting Ceremony and the Opening Ceremony and have a good night's celebration in the Room of Requirement.

As a result, on the very first day of this auspicious occasion, they had to go to the train station with the professor.

The two looked at each other and sensed each other's helplessness in the face of life.

"So, did the professor travel to Hogwarts by train this year?"

Percy suddenly interjected with a question.

"That's about it, since this year's situation is a bit special."

Mr. Weasley remained calm and made no intention of telling the children what he was worried about.

However, the twins standing nearby were anything but calm—it wasn't just in the morning; they were going to Hogwarts together on the train after all…

Such thoughts surfaced, and even the air seemed to grow melancholic.

-

"pudding?"

William tried calling out the word, but his owl didn't respond.

This was the fifteenth name he had prepared for his owl, but it was still not satisfied.

The owl already recognizes it, and William has even tried using it to buy candy once, but the name still hasn't been decided.

To be precise, it seems it hasn't found a name it likes yet.

"Alright, that's enough for today's naming. We'll discuss it another day," William called to his owl. "Come and eat."

It reacted immediately, spreading its wings slightly and flying from the bar to William's side. After watching William tear open a whole bag of owl food, it rubbed its head against William's hand before burying its head in the food.

'She can eat so much, she almost deserves that name…'

Just as William had this thought in mind, the owl, who had been burying its head in its food, raised its head and cooed to express its dissatisfaction.

"Okay, okay, I won't call you that, I won't call you that—you're just too clever for your wits..."

William shook his head, ruffled the owl's hair again, and then began packing his things.

A new beginning—like last year, he's now leaving the Leaky Cauldron to work at Hogwarts.

“This year is much worse than last year—” William sighed. “There was no news of the Death Eater Number One escaping last year.”

"However, the curse has been endured for a year now, and my strength has improved somewhat, so it's all good in the end."

He smiled and began tidying up his things.

With a wave of the wand, the items that were originally placed in the room—books, clothes, and snacks—flew into the box and became neatly arranged.

'My magic organization has improved, but not by much; the house-elves are just too enthusiastic…'

He thought about it with a slight embarrassment, then put away the thick stack of papers on the table—these were sample papers for the upcoming exam. Once he got back to school, he could copy the papers with a shorthand quill pen and then conduct the exam and assign homework.

"I've done a lot of training plans, but they're still not fully translated—" He shook his head. There were some technical terms that he couldn't find in the reference books and dictionaries he found, especially black magic, which was a real tough nut to crack.

……

"This is the last change of clothes. Hmm, my luggage is all packed. Now I'm just waiting for school to start."

-

The next morning, William woke up earlier than usual.

He took his already packed luggage and owl and began checking out of Old Tom's place.

"Good morning, William," old Tom said with a broad smile. "Going to class?"

“Of course, after all, holiday pay is paid as usual,” William replied with a smile. “Besides, I’ve assigned a whole holiday’s worth of homework, so I need to see how well the students are doing.”

"I don't think they'll like this reason for starting school."

Old Tom cheerfully served breakfast, "But in order to be able to cast spells when school starts, not many people will object."

“That makes sense,” William nodded in agreement. “So, could I have a hot chocolate?”

"Impossible."

Old Tom's attitude was firm: "Don't bring Hannah up. I've heard that you're not teaching third grade this year."

After saying that, the old man smiled and walked away.

"You wait, old Tom, she'll be my student sooner or later, and I'll deduct her participation points! All because of this cup of chocolate!"

"We'll talk about it when you're ready!"

Old Tom left without looking back.

This was supposed to be William's last conversation before leaving the bar—but the Weasleys successfully ruined this simple farewell.

William, carrying his luggage and his owl, watched in astonishment as the Weasleys moved their belongings and other items.

Luggage is the easiest item to move; the challenge lies with the owl and other things.

For example, the Weasley brothers.

William realized for the first time that the two of them were actually quite well-behaved at school, but their destructive power doubled when they were with their families.

He spilled tea on Percy's girlfriend's photo, hid Percy's prefectural badge and the boys' council president badge, stuffed all sorts of magical gadgets into his suitcase (William shut up when Mrs. Weasley complained about where the two boys got so much money to buy them), and pretended to be friends to disrupt the work—and so on, the list goes on.

“Wait a minute,” William looked curiously at another child in the crowd who wasn’t redheaded, “Why are you here, Miss Granger?”

"Hello, Professor."

After a year as a professor, William had established a basic level of authority.

"Because I have to go to school tomorrow, I came to Diagon Alley early to buy textbooks, and then I convinced my parents to let me go to school with them."

The answer is quite organized, but why is the cat you're holding so ugly?

It wasn't that William was prejudiced against cats; it was just that the cat she was holding was so ugly that William momentarily forgot about why a thirteen-year-old could convince his parents.

It was a ginger cat with thick, fluffy fur.

Logically speaking, a cat like this shouldn't be too ugly, but its face looks like it's been punched hard by someone, completely flattened, giving it an ugly and fierce appearance.