From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"Oh, I was drawn to the oil paintings on the wall and couldn't help but look at them for a while longer."

William calmly finished telling the fabricated lie.

"You bullshit!"

“No, no, this is my first time at Hogwarts,” William said, glancing furtively at the painting on the wall as he began to perfect his lie. “To be honest, I’m a little tired of the overly enthusiastic banquets at Hogwarts, so I made an excuse to come here for some fresh air, but I didn’t expect to see this painting here.”

After glancing at it again, and confirming that the lie he was about to make up wasn't too far-fetched, William added:

"Honestly, I have never seen such a graceful young girl before. The painting alone is breathtakingly beautiful."

'Luckily it was a young girl; if it had been an older woman today, it would have been much harder to cover it up.'

William added silently to himself.

Even randomly picking a corner to draw cards can lead to encountering ghosts. Considering the two achievements I had tonight, I guess today is going to be a really unlucky day—I'm craving rice noodles, why doesn't Hogwarts provide them?

"You're lying!"

The ghost descended, and only then did William notice its attire—waist-length hair, a robe that reached the ground, and an expression of utter impatience on its delicate face.

"I've been watching you for almost five minutes, and you've been staring blankly at the wall!"

……

Can the ghosts of Hogwarts please stop being so idle?!

"It's so beautiful that I was momentarily stunned. There's nothing strange about that. Besides, I was just trying to keep the students from seeing it so I could quickly leave if anyone came by."

William is lying through his teeth.

"Humph!"

The other person gave up trying to communicate with William, rammed their head against the wall, and then disappeared.

Chapter 52 The school benefits are pretty good

A mysterious ghost.

This was William's only assessment of what had just happened.

Faced with this situation, William simply lost interest in going to the restaurant again. After all, the introduction had already been given and the principal had already spoken—it wouldn't be right to have another speech after the meal, would it?

With that in mind, he headed towards the office assigned to him. According to the schedule, his suitcase had already been delivered to the office, so he could use this time to organize the contents of the suitcase and make the bed.

-

"Boom boom boom!"

A knock sounded at the door. William, who was struggling to pull a stack of books out of a box, quickly glanced at them to make sure there was nothing inappropriate to show. Then, while touching his wand, he opened the office door.

To his surprise, it wasn't a guest knocking on the door, but a house-elf.

"Excuse me, Professor, we shouldn't Apparate into occupied rooms so casually, but I need to make your bed now." (Note)

"Make the bed?"

"Yes, Professor, and we also provide cleaning and sanitation services when no one is around each day."

"Can I cancel?"

William doesn't like people freely entering his room—though he does know some cleaning spells.

"As you wish, Professor, you can summon us at any time to clean or provide other services. My name is Bart, and you can call me by my name at any time."

"Other services? Would you like some food?"

William asked tentatively.

"As you wish, Professor."

With a loud crack, the house-elf named Bart vanished from the spot.

Apparition?

William was completely stunned.

If he remembered correctly, Apparition was strictly prohibited on campus—this was clearly stated in both the school's previous notices and the books about Hogwarts he had bought.

While he was still in a daze, the house-elf named Bart returned to the spot with a bamboo basket in his hand, containing roast chicken, bread, and sausages.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but according to school rules, the headmaster forbids house-elves from serving alcohol to anyone on campus except at banquets."

As Bart bowed in apology, he used magic to move the basket onto the table.

"It's okay, I'm already very satisfied with these."

William expressed his gratitude.

"So, would you like me to help you make your new bed, Professor?"

"Could you bring it over for me?"

Bart looked a little unhappy, but he still quickly helped William bring his unopened luggage.

"Is there anything else I can help you with? Should I move the books to the shelves? Hang the paintings on the wall? Clean the floor?"

"No need for any of that, thank you. What will I do with the cutlery after I finish eating?"

“You can summon me, Professor, and I will take care of everything, Professor.”

William had to make his stance clear before he could persuade the house-elf, who was always trying to tidy up the box, to leave—he kept staring at the box William had opened, as if he couldn't stand not putting those things back where they belonged.

'Now I finally understand why that house-elf named Gold Coin was so popular in prison at first.'

William thought to himself as he tore into the roast chicken.

In terms of service attitude, this is probably the most perfect servant ever – unless someone wants to develop other uses for him.

Although he hadn't received his first month's salary, William had already truly felt the benefits of being a Hogwarts professor.

Considering the nature of my position as a professor who is only hired once a year, every professor at Hogwarts must receive meticulous care from these elves, and it's even possible that long-term professors have their own house-elves.

Recalling the anticipation a fellow prisoner in Azkaban had when talking about house-elves, William now only wanted to tell that cellmate—house-elves are really nothing special.

After Bart packed up his basket and took his leave, William resumed his study of his office.

The office was quite spacious, with a large desk and several chairs. Two tall bookshelves occupied the left wall, and a partitioned area on the right served as a lounge—William hadn't had a chance to go in yet.

The floor was clean, and there was no dust in the house; clearly, the house-elves had cleaned the house thoroughly beforehand.

William used magic to arrange the books he needed, then carried the still-heavy box to the cubicle.

This side is much smaller, with a wardrobe, a partitioned bathroom, and a large single bed. As for the bedding, it was just delivered by our house-elf.

It includes food and lodging, and even provides pet elves.

To be honest, William himself was starting to feel a little envious—aside from the issue of his personal safety, he felt he had gained another reason to stay and be a professor here.

Just as William was putting clothes into the closet, the door to the outer office rang again.

He closed the box, then opened the door again with his wand.

Still Bart.

The house-elf wearing the tea towel looked regretful.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I forgot to bring my toiletries. Here is your complete set!"

"Also, Professor, would you like a wake-up call? I will wake you at your scheduled time."

"Thank you. If possible, please wake me up at 6:30 tomorrow morning."

“Yes, Professor.” Bart’s voice was full of joy.

After the sprite disappeared, William looked at the books on the bookshelf, then thought about the things that weren't organized, and decided to leave them for a while longer. For some reason, he wanted to organize the documents again.

Having to leave because of a broken leg was one thing—although there was that old professor who set a shining example before him, William still overlooked the fact that he had a broken leg—if he were expelled from Hogwarts because he couldn't teach his students well, it would be such a disservice to the treatment he had received as soon as he arrived!

William carried the thick books down from the bookshelf, and the textbooks chosen by the previous professors were laid out one by one, revealing the dense notes on them.

"There are no classes tomorrow morning, but the first long class in the afternoon is for sixth graders—you can relax a little for that."

"The first lecture of the second day in the morning is for fifth-year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students, and the first lecture of the afternoon is for fifth-year Gryffindor and Slytherin students."

“These courses are the most important. Compared to sixth grade, the OWLs final exam in fifth grade is much more important. I must give those students enough confidence to get them to accept my theory and do the problems obediently.”

William was so busy until late at night that he didn't even have time to shower and just lay down on the bed to sleep.

Note: Apparition is prohibited within the school, but this restriction seems to have no effect on house-poms, as Dobby easily Apparated at the school hospital. Voldemort's Horcrux cave, which also prohibits Apparition, was also countered by Pokémon.

Chapter 53 Is this the old professor's ability to handle crises?

"Good morning, students..."

"Hello everyone, I'm your new classmate..."

"Comrades, hello..."

"Ahem, students, let's begin class!"

……

William, who got up early, began to study in front of the mirror how to introduce himself to the students and what to say before class.

But what he didn't expect was that, even though he had prepared everything he was going to say, this opening speech kept him occupied for more than an hour.

Fortunately, he finally managed to come up with a satisfactory introduction that shouldn't have any problems, and then he left the room to go to the restaurant for a meal.

The weather wasn't great today; it was overcast, but William didn't seem to care much.

He has prepared two or three teaching methods for the sixth-grade students, but he still hasn't decided which one to use.

Perhaps because of the gloomy weather, the professors didn't get up very early, or simply skipped breakfast. The faculty dining table was sparsely populated, and William couldn't even find the professors he had chatted with the night before.

'But this isn't so bad, at least we can eat in peace.'

As William pondered this, he added a piece of bacon to a slice of bread and then picked out some vegetables from the table to make himself a sandwich.

It's worse than a bar, but way better than Azkaban.

If I hadn't agreed to come to Hogwarts back then, I'd probably still be in prison in Azkaban.

As William pondered this, he brought a bowl of porridge from the table, and then he heard the sound of a flock of owls flapping their wings.