From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"It's very comfortable, but those two are a different story. Yesterday they seemed to have taken apart a toilet seat, repackaged it, and sent it out."

"Is there still this?"

Adams was grinning from ear to ear—people who talk the talk come out every few years, but this is the first person to actually demolish something?

"Yes, I was startled too..."

"It doesn't have to be like this..."

"I haven't put them in solitary confinement yet."

William chuckled and told the truth.

"No wonder, but they just let them go like that?"

"How could that be? I went to Mr. Filch and had him send the toilet seat back to their home on behalf of the school. Judging by the time, it should arrive soon."

"You're the devil—they did it all summer..."

Adams covered his face; he could imagine how tumultuous their summer vacation must have been.

"No, it's not that bad. The OWLs results will be out soon. I asked other professors, and both of them did very well. I estimate their scores will be excellent this time, so it'll be fine once the report cards arrive."

"What if I don't do well on the test?"

"Hmm... guess?"

William smiled.

-

"Unbelievable—the professor didn't even notice!"

Having successfully boarded the train, the twins finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Maybe it's because I didn't open the package—it's still a bit of a shame...there wasn't any lockdown before summer vacation!"

"That's right..."

George chimed in, just as the train whistle blew, interrupting the conversation.

The journey home has begun.

燃烧的火焰

Chapter 368 From Professor to Student

July is a good month for sailing, at least in William's opinion.

With the help of a simple potion, he is now even unsure if he will get seasick—with just a little effort, magic can be incredibly helpful in life.

With Galon's help, William successfully obtained a legal, yet not entirely legal, exit permit, allowing him to travel freely in any Commonwealth country without legal restrictions, instead of going through the magical world's official procedures that require registering a whole bunch of messy stuff.

This is a clever legal loophole. Because of the secrecy laws, the Ministry of Magic needs to maintain necessary communication with the Muggle Prime Minister and show due respect within appropriate limits. The Commonwealth, which exists in name only, makes the definition of leaving the United Kingdom more subtle.

William learned this method from Azkaban. As the guy in the opposite cell put it—"Every Ministry of Magic law has some interesting loopholes; if you can find the right people, you'll find it's smoother than the main road..."

Without a doubt, he was right. Just look at the places this recognized passport allows him to travel to—William could practically wander around over fifty countries and regions…

'It's simply outrageous...'

He stood by the railing, enjoying the sea breeze and sunshine, relaxing himself.

Although flying would be faster, he felt he couldn't apparite on the plane, so he simply gave up—of course, this was also partly due to his less-than-ideal flight experience last time.

He wasn't bragging, but if he accidentally got lost at sea, getting back to land wouldn't be too difficult—the candy he carried with him was enough to last him more than a week, and he could get fresh water from the spring.

He could easily find a place to stand and conjure it with Transfiguration. If all else failed, he could simply use the Bubble Head Curse to bury himself in the seabed and have solid ground under his feet. He had put a lot of effort into the Bubble Head Curse, so as long as there wasn't a trench below, he didn't have to worry about the water pressure damaging it.

"Speaking of which—why not go out to sea in the dark tonight? We can just use a magic mark to get off the ship; it'll be a good practical experience."

Up until now, he hadn't even seen the bottom of Black Lake. Fishmen lived down there, and the school had an agreement with them not to easily invade their residential area. Given the warning, William naturally wouldn't invade a prohibited area just to satisfy his curiosity.

"Mr. Robinette!"

The sailors' shouts came, which made William's face fall – it was all because of that special departing face.

The guy in charge of this was a very knowledgeable person. He insisted that every Galleon should be respected. There has to be a reason for wandering around the Commonwealth, right? Okay, then let's give it a respectable identity, which will be worthy of all that gold.

His current identity is that of a college student conducting a special investigative internship during the summer. The university is quite prestigious, um, it's the Chinese Literature Department…

Whether others believe it or not, this is the identity he's been pretending to have.

Anyway, he planned to change his identity again after disembarking; a student it is...

Although it's a bit strange for a professor to become a student, he's already left Azkaban to become a professor, so it's not entirely unacceptable...

But now the problem is—he ran into a fellow alumnus, who was incredibly enthusiastic, constantly asking about the school and reminiscing about the past…

Merlin's beard! He wasn't pretending to be a professor, but a student, and he even disguised himself as a Chinese literature major just to avoid being exposed. He's already gone out of Britain and into the Commonwealth, how could he still have such a magical alumnus?

The middle-aged gentleman was running a charitable business—or at least that's what he said.

Simply put, it involves collecting all sorts of secondhand products from the UK, shipping them to Africa, and then selling them to local residents at low prices.

Although William suspected that the 'alumni' might have been involved in collecting the items through charitable donations, that was clearly not something he should be concerned with.

Compared to the other party's business, he would rather that gentleman not be so enthusiastic in inviting him to banquets or anything like that, and then reminisce about how his alma mater was in the past and how it is now.

If that gentleman hadn't preferred reminiscing, he would have been exposed by now!

He had no doubt that the sailor behind him was sent by that gentleman to invite him, a student with a slight financial difficulty, to lunch. Otherwise, how could a sailor remember the name of a poor student in a middle cabin?

But what could he do? Jump into the sea and escape in front of the Muggle sailors?

'This is outrageous... Inviting someone to a dinner party is one thing, but to have lunch with them too... What kind of alumnus does this?'

Despite inwardly complaining, William still turned around and politely smiled at the sailor who had called him, "It's me, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Mr. Robin, Mr. Lennon invites you to lunch."

The sailor explained patiently—he was quite satisfied with the job, considering the five gallons tip.

'I knew it…'

While complaining, William replied without changing his expression, "Okay, thank you, I'll be right there."

-

"Why do you value that Robin T. so much? He's a Chinese literature major—and he doesn't seem to come from a wealthy family. I doubt he'll even be able to pay off his student loans before he's thirty."

“He is different. His professional level is quite high, and he is very ambitious, which is rare among young people.”

Lennon smiled and said to his wife, "Not many students choose to come to Africa for field research during the summer vacation. He is a hardworking young man. To be honest, the second-hand market here is a bit saturated. I want to open a new market in the East."

“He is very talented. I would like to observe him further. If possible, I would like to recommend him to our club, so that he will be one of our own.”

Mr. Lennon was delighted to meet a young man who seemed like a potential investment during a rare family trip. In today's increasingly difficult business environment, the combination of two happy events was truly comforting.

"That's great..."

His wife breathed a sigh of relief. "I almost thought you were planning to marry Eva to him... Although that poor student looks good, it's still too outrageous..."

"how is this possible?"

Mr. Lennon snorted. “He has to be at least ten times better to be worthy of my Eva—if he has any unfriendly thoughts, I will tell him the truth about this world.”

"By the way, is Eva still playing with Agatha in the cabin?"

"Yes, I don't know where they get so many secretive topics to talk about..." Mrs. Lennon complained slightly, "To be honest, that Agatha... so mysterious, even the school she went to is vague, are they really suitable to be friends?"

“That’s a friendship passed down from my fathers during the war…” Monsieur Lennon hesitated for a moment, “Besides, she’s French after all.”

-

"What the hell... We just had lunch together at noon, and now we've already received another invitation to dinner!"

Inside the cabin, William looked at the newly arrived formal invitation and felt utterly distraught.

The midday conversation had already exhausted his knowledge—human energy is limited, and wizards are no exception. He couldn't possibly keep up with the news in wizarding society and subscribe to Muggle newspapers while preparing exams, managing students, and teaching classes.

Moreover, the credibility of those newspapers…

Anyway, he believed that to observe relatively truthful news, he needed to buy multiple reports for comparison before making a decision...

Fortunately, there is one thing he doesn't have to worry about making mistakes on—he doesn't have to worry about saying the wrong name when wishing the Queen good health.

What topics should we discuss during dinner?

One wrong step leads to another. He shouldn't have been so friendly in the first place. Now, he can only rely on the little bit of experience he got from the fraudsters about how to avoid having his identity exposed and figure it out himself.

Be prepared to listen attentively, steer the conversation towards topics the other person enjoys, and then offer appropriate agreement and necessary comments to convince them that you are not a complete novice either…

'If it weren't inconvenient being on the ship, I would have left without saying goodbye today…'

How could he escape from the ship at sea? On a train, you can pretend to have an emergency and get off early—but that excuse won't work on a ship.

All I can do is continue playing the role of a good student, continue accepting that friendly invitation from the schoolmate, and then try to find topics to chat about…

He changed his clothes while complaining, then checked that his luggage was locked again before leaving the room.

-

"That's how it is, you know, our principal... she..."

Inside the cabin, Agatha was telling her best friend about some interesting things that happened on campus—before her magical talent was awakened, her best friend had seen her perform magical acts such as turning flower petals into butterflies. Even though there were secrecy laws after she enrolled, she could still describe some things to her best friend.

This is different from publicly performing magic. Even if her best friend told others, people would just think it was nonsense or wishful thinking. Even if she wrote a book to explain it, no one would believe it if they couldn't see the magic.

That's how the secrecy law works—it's both flexible and inflexible, firmly restricting and protecting every wizard.

"It's such a shame... Dad and the others can't know all this..."

"No... We have strict rules. If you leak this out, I won't even be able to talk to you anymore."

Agatha said regretfully.

"Okay... then can you perform that one more time? Just once!"

"Eva pleaded."

"All right…"

Agatha, who had just gained the right to cast spells outside of school, was actually quite happy to do so—on this ship full of Muggles, she would have gone crazy if it weren't for her best friend.