From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"And Crouch, hmph..."

Fudge snorted dismissively, then leaned back in his car and began contemplating his pose for tomorrow's Daily Prophet headline—today's speech could be edited up and published as a headline.

'It's a pity it was too rushed, otherwise bringing a photographer would have made a fantastic front-page photo... Now we can only make up for it with work photos or something...'

He thought to himself with a touch of regret.

-

Was the bus late today?

Why is Mom still over there?

"Did the train break down? Does that mean we can fly to Hogwarts in a flying car today, just like Potter did last year?"

"I want to eat something, why isn't the food cart here yet?"

Where are the prefects?

"Please, can I borrow your divination homework for reference?"

The Hogwarts Express was in chaos, and few students were empathetic enough to feel anxious, resulting in an unusually cheerful atmosphere inside the train.

Some students who planned to create miracles on their journey couldn't wait any longer and eagerly sought help from their roommates.

"Fred, George, look what I've got!"

One of the Hufflepuff kids ran over excitedly and shouted to the twins, "Cedric's holiday homework! Let's work together and finish it before we go to school!"

Cedric is widely recognized as the strongest fifth grader this year, and his holiday assignments are considered a high-quality model among his classmates.

If the twins hadn't already shown signs of becoming the ringleaders among the troublemakers at Hogwarts, the Hufflepuff children would never have bothered to share their hard-earned homework.

Unfortunately, so far, only one person has directly complained about the unpleasantness of their vacation – Lee Jordan.

“Oh, Flynn,” Fred said, looking at the boy running towards him, “thank you, but it’s not necessary.”

"Is it unnecessary?"

He looked at the twins with a puzzled expression. Were they under a soul-stealing curse?

"Well, buddy, how should I put it, we've done it."

George patted his kind friend on the shoulder. "It's not that difficult, of course—it just takes a lot of time."

“We’re fifth graders now, Flynn, this is the Year of OWLs.”

Fred said seriously, "After we finish the OWLs, we'll be almost seventeen. We'll be adults then, so we need to make some changes now."

The two were speaking so seriously that Flynn was startled, as were the students who had come to get help with the assignments.

Are you under some kind of curse?

"The mysterious curse within the pyramids?"

The onlookers began to discuss it animatedly, eventually concluding that, 'The Weasley brothers have pulled another prank; they're playing another trick on someone!'

"mischief?"

Fred and George looked at the group of people, exchanged glances, shook their heads, and then opened their trunks, taking out a thick stack of parchment.

"If you don't believe me, just see for yourself!"

The disbelieving crowd naturally gathered together and began to observe.

"It's their handwriting, I recognize it!"

"That's right, the handwriting matches!"

"My God, History of Magic, Transfiguration, Charms, Magical Creatures..."

"All done!"

"It's their handwriting; they actually finished it all!"

"Wait a minute, why are there so many more?"

"A timeline of magical history... or does it come with old notes?"

"Organizing my Transfiguration notes..."

"The systematization of spells..."

……

"besides…"

The group of friends, looking at the familiar words and the completely unfamiliar handwriting, began to feel confused...

"you…"

“What’s wrong with us? We’ve already said we’re much better than that big-headed Percy. When we get serious, these assignments are nothing special.”

As they spoke, they gestured with their fingers to indicate that their efforts were minimal.

They boasted without any shame, after all, these were things they had earned with blood and tears during their holidays.

As the fingers made a small gap, the whistle sounded—the train started moving.

-

“Here you go, Harry. It’s not nice to say this, but you’re not really suited for the other boxes.”

William led Harry directly to the back of the Hogwarts Express, and before boarding, he deliberately took a longer route with Harry to make sure most of the students understood that they were going to the very back of the train.

This is preparing for the worst—if Sirius really does try to come to the train to find Harry, the other students will suffer the least amount of undeserved harm.

'Quite a few strikers have arrived...but unfortunately, there are still no Aurors...'

As Fudge was speaking, William glanced out the window and shook his head.

It's a pleasant surprise that so many strikers could be brought in. The Minister of Magic wouldn't agree to it anyway, and with the prefects' protection, the ordinary students should be fine.

As for commanding the batters, he never even considered it—how could a complete novice like him possibly think about commanding an expert?

'Their plan is how to set up the defenses. We'll inform the prefects to be wary of strangers later… Also, we need to warn them not to go near the last carriage…'

William was calculating in his mind when he pointed his wand at the box door without any hesitation. He pulled Harry slightly to the side and opened the box with his wand.

In an instant, William quickly cast the Iron Man Charm on himself and kicked Harry in the back of the knee.

As Harry painfully half-knelt down, William kicked him to the ground while simultaneously casting a modified Eye Spell on the figure appearing in the box, hoping the spell would take effect and temporarily control the other's vision.

"when!"

A tremendous crash resounded as William's spell struck the Ironclad Charm, producing a dull thud.

The figure inside the house reacted, shouting a sleeping spell and flying directly towards William.

William shifted slightly to the side, applying the Iron Mantle to the fallen Harry as he shouted, "Professor Lupin?"

"it's me!"

The figure inside answered, but the wand in its hand did not loosen its grip, pointing firmly at the door while its body remained tense, ready to roll away to avoid any possible attack.

“It’s me, William. I thought someone was lurking around here,” William called out, but he didn’t lower his wand. “What was our disagreement about teaching at the bar that day?”

"Which is better for deepening spell learning: real-world practice or repeated practice?"

Lupin answered, the tense atmosphere vanishing from him, and his wand relaxed.

William breathed a sigh of relief—although the sleeping spell had convinced him that Sirius wasn't inside, he finally relaxed.

“Professor Lupin, you scared me,” William said casually. “To be honest, when I saw a figure in the box, I almost used a curse…”

"The Eye Curse isn't exactly a very orthodox spell, Professor William."

Lupin responded with a smile, but judging from his expression, he didn't mind William's wariness.

“I’m getting more and more excited about working together,” William said with a smile. “To be honest, I have a lot of ideas, but I don’t really have a system for them. After all, I’ve always studied potions, and the notes left by my previous professors aren’t very comprehensive.”

“I’m looking forward to it too, Professor William.”

Lupin smiled and shook hands with William. "With everyone passing the OWLs exam, I think we'll have a lot to discuss about teaching."

“Now is fine too. I’ve prepared a lot of test papers during the holidays, I can study them later…” William said as he walked towards the door, preparing to get his suitcase and take out the test papers to show Lupin.

Well, since everyone's been cursed, there's no fear of getting into trouble by discussing related topics. Last year, Lockhart talked about adventures, stories, and book signings all the time, so we just couldn't find common ground. As for Adams and the others, William didn't dare to talk much about teaching either, for fear that the curse would spread and drag his friends down with him.

'I almost dropped the box in my haste... Luckily, I entrusted the owl to Percy's care, otherwise just looking after it would have been...'

William was grateful for having given Percy his owl because he was afraid of dragging it in, then suddenly realized something was wrong.

“Professor,” Harry said, forcing a smile through his pain as he looked at William, his pale face showing a strained smile, “you killed him?”

This statement placed too much trust on William, leaving him momentarily at a loss as to how to face the child.

“Sorry, I made a mistake, Harry,” William knelt down, using magic to heal Harry while rummaging through his pocket for potions to force down his throat. “I thought Sirius was lying in ambush, but it turns out Professor Lupin was also on the Hogwarts Express…”

Amid William's apologetic smile, the Hogwarts Express whistle sounded—it was moving.

Chapter 264 The Dementors Arrive

"Is it almost time?"

Inside the Minister of Magic's office, Fudge sat there trying to remain calm, but his frequent glances at his watch completely betrayed him.

"Yes, Minister."

The assistant minister replied, "Although the train departed a little late, it is now about to pass through the area where the Dementors are lurking."

"That's good."

"Minister...it seems Dumbledore still considers the Dementors more dangerous, with the potential for betrayal..."

“How could that be? If Sirius were really that capable, he would have released all the Death Eaters when he escaped from prison,” the minister waved his hand. “Dementors are much better at following orders than those strange Aurors… All we have to do is wait for their good news.”

He pretended to be in control of everything, but the water glass in his hand kept shaking, which eventually made the owner of the glass put it on the table.

While the Minister of Magic was filled with worry, William was leaning back in his chair, trying to relax his mind and calm his thoughts.

'The start of the school year is never a good time...'

William tried to keep himself in good condition—he was fine when he left London, but it suddenly started raining halfway through the train journey, and the rain got heavier and heavier and showed no signs of stopping.

Although he can now summon his guardian spirit, the bad weather, such as rain, still affects him, causing those bad thoughts to surge wildly.