From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Ron spoke gently to his pet.

After Hagrid was woken up last time, it took William and the others a long time to calm him down, and all the professors, led by Professor McGonagall, fully approved of Hagrid's teaching style in the first class.

Logically speaking, someone with Professor McGonagall's personality would never say such a thing before a professor has received definite results (such as students' OWLs exam scores). However, listening to the class debriefing, and knowing that Hagrid had dealt with the former school board member's child, she felt guilty and unusually praised Hagrid in advance.

"Blemishes?"

Ron tried to grab it and put it in his pocket as usual, but failed for the first time.

The pet ran out of its den and dodged his fingers.

"Ron!"

Harry shouted and tried to help, but Scabbers, upon realizing that his opponent was him, simply turned around and ran towards Ron. He then leaped over Ron's smiling, outstretched hand and ran straight under the bed.

"Spots!"

Ron looked on incredulously.

"My God, Ron, it looks even more energetic than the henchman who bit Malfoy back then..."

Harry remarked, "It doesn't look that old at all."

“It doesn’t seem to want to leave…” Ron hesitated for a moment, but still didn’t choose to grab it—it was too old, and if it were to engage in any more strenuous activity, Hagrid would probably be able to determine its death date without even needing to look at it.

"Then forget it, let's go find Hagrid alone."

"Aren't you afraid the professor will arrest you?"

"Didn't the first-years say so?" Harry grinned mischievously. "The professor has put a bunch of first-years in detention. Now is a good time to go to Hagrid's place, otherwise they'll check again at dinner."

After a holiday of training, he had figured out how to use some obvious loopholes in his schedule to do what he wanted. Although this was not the key point of learning, it was not something that a twelve-year-old should be expected to do.

-

"Hagrid."

Harry gently knocked on Hagrid's hut and waited for him to open the door.

The large Invisibility Cloak inherited from his father could fit both him and Ron; if Hermione hadn't had classes, Harry thought he could have brought another one along.

"I am coming."

Hagrid's familiar voice came through the door, and then he opened it. He looked around, as if he had just remembered something, and said, "Harry, is that you?"

"it's me."

Harry unbuttoned his clothes, revealing himself and Ron.

"Are you crazy? What time is it? You sneaked out of the castle at night!"

Hagrid looked very angry.

"I'm sorry, we should have come yesterday, but..."

Harry looked at Hagrid with unusual sincerity, "We really didn't expect that you deliberately used that method of teaching."

“That’s great, isn’t it?” Hagrid wasn’t angry at all; instead, he smiled and said to Harry, “Professor McGonagall said so, my class is great!”

"Yes, that's great."

"Of course, the subsequent courses were also great."

Hagrid said proudly, "I've already taught the fourth graders, and the feedback has been excellent. William also brought over some of his stuff last night, which was very helpful."

"Something?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, then couldn't help but ask, "Hagrid, that's not an exam paper, is it?"

“No, it’s some biological classifications that he thinks are suitable,” Hagrid shook his head. “He did suggest that I create some test papers, but I still don’t quite understand how to do them.”

Thank goodness.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, seeing the relief in each other.

“But maybe he’s right,” Hagrid thought, scratching his head, but held back, which made Harry notice the change in his hairstyle.

His once messy hair is now neat and tidy, showing that Hagrid has taken great care of it.

"That's not necessarily true... Hagrid, you see, every professor has their own teaching style."

Ron said it against his will, afraid that Hagrid would produce a test paper—the tragic situation of his two older brothers during the holiday was still fresh in his mind.

"As far as the current course content is concerned, I think it's pretty good..."

Hagrid finally scratched his head and said, "I think the current curriculum is beautifully designed..."

In particular, William's suggestion that Hagrid have some ferocious magical creatures appear in the advanced class left by the old professor greatly reduced his sense of constraint.

"I'm currently researching things to make the classroom more engaging..."

Hagrid gestured for them to sit down, "Because after I obtained the professorship, the cultivation of some organisms has become available to me..."

"But that's still a long way off..."

"By the way, how are your classes going?"

"The same as always..." Harry and Ron replied cheerfully. Judging from their conversation, Hagrid not only didn't take the incident that day to heart, but also prepared his lessons perfectly.

"The new professor's classes haven't even started yet, and Professor McGonagall is still as strict as ever..."

The two started complaining about this year's courses, "It's the divination professor... she said Harry will encounter bad luck this year..."

The awkward silences from last time brought even more conversation to them now. Hearing about the divination lesson, Hagrid smiled nonchalantly.

"Don't worry, students are murdered every year in the divination class... I remember Ron, your twin brothers were murdered together, because they..."

Hagrid seemed to have thought of something, but he sneered without saying it.

"But...Professor William said..."

Hagrid wanted to laugh but didn't. "It's nothing, um... Professor William doesn't like talking badly about others... Oh, and he also told me to clean the classroom area beforehand..."

"But it's already dusk."

“It’s only at dusk that problems tend to arise…” Hagrid muttered. “A big black dog has recently wandered into the school from somewhere… I have to catch it and chase it out.”

"A big black dog?"

Harry felt a little panicked.

“It’s nothing, it’s normal. There are wolves in the Forbidden Forest,” Hagrid chuckled. “But generally they don’t leave the Forbidden Forest. I have to drive it back. I’ve set a trap, hopefully I can catch it.”

"trap?"

"Yes, a trap, the kind used by Muggles. It was a suggestion Professor William gave me yesterday. He also suggested that I make a comparison after catching it, comparing a Swallowtail Dog to a Muggle dog."

Hagrid chuckled. "But I suspect it was a Swallowtail. Not many Muggle dogs can live in the Forbidden Forest."

Chapter 281 The Owl and the Cat

"Russian is such a headache..."

Inside the office, William assigned the copying task to the new students and then continued translating, but progress was unusually slow.

The easiest Russian reference books to get your hands on on the market are Muggle ones, but expecting to find those professional, magical words in them is wishful thinking.

There are reference books produced by the magical community over there, but naturally they won't have many terms related to dark magic.

As for seeking help from other colleagues, forget about it. There are only two people in this school who can openly study black magic: him and Professor Lupin.

'I can't exactly ask other professors for advice on black magic, that would be too strange.'

William sighed, put the book away, and replaced it with books on potions to study. He had originally planned to study potions during the summer vacation, but after acquiring a large number of dark magic books, he hadn't been able to find the time.

When he finally put the book down, satisfied, one of the children who had finished copying it earlier couldn't help but ask a question.

"Professor, are you also going to study?"

“Of course,” William said, still in a good mood despite having just come up with a variation of a potion recipe. “It’s just that I’m past the age of receiving basic education, so I can choose to learn about the knowledge I like.”

"Basic education?"

“Yes, it’s the course you’re currently taking,” William said, picking up a copy of his notes to check. “Although we’ve separated the various aspects of magic through the course, they are still very interconnected…”

“Okay,” William started to say, but then realized the child across from him was already a little dazed, so he gave up. “Take a small bag of dried fruit and go. Remember not to be so naughty next time.”

The child who finished first nodded, took a small bag of multi-flavored beans, and left.

'Am I crazy to talk about educational philosophies with an eleven-year-old?'

William chuckled self-deprecatingly, then looked at the other students who were copying.

As if spurred on by him, the students behind him copied the text much faster. In no time at all, one child after another completed their first solitary confinement task, received a small bag of candy, and left.

Logically speaking, such a level of confinement would make upperclassmen green with envy; it's incredibly easy. But William has no intention of changing it.

'This also serves as a reminder to these kids,' William said with a smile as he watched the last children leave, leaning back in his chair and gently shaking his head. 'First-year detention doesn't need to be so harsh; consider it supplementary classroom instruction.'

"What do you think, jelly?"

William came up with a new name for his owl, but it arrogantly paced a few steps on the desk, cooing loudly twice to indicate its dissatisfaction with the new name.

"Okay, this won't do either."

William stood up and ran his fingers through the fur on its head. "Then let's change it again. We have plenty of alternative names."

“Oh, right,” he remembered something and gently tapped its beak with his finger, “Don’t bully the school owls anymore. It’s fine if they eat some food, but why are you curiously crowding around other people’s owls when they want to lay eggs!”

"Goo goo~", followed by rubbing its head around. William had no choice but to pat it, then sat down and started writing the order form.

The potion recipe he had just figured out contained two herbs that were not common, so he had to order some of them specifically to make the potion.

-

"You two need to go back now, or it'll get dark!"

Inside Hagrid's hut, Hagrid spoke solemnly to the two boys.

“We want to go check out that trap,” Harry tried to find an excuse, though the professors all said that the so-called tea divination was unreliable, he was still a little worried.

In an environment surrounded by magic, it would be incredibly difficult for a wizard to disbelieve prophecies, especially for a young boy like Harry.

"There's nothing to see here. Let's go back to the lounge, Harry. It's too dangerous outside the castle."

"You'll protect us, won't you, Hagrid?"