From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

George gave his brother a look that said, "Are you kidding me?" and stared at him with a disgusted look.

"I'd rather scrub toilets than copy the History of Magic!"

Fred looked indignant.

"A chamber pot is not a toilet, but I don't think there's any essential difference."

George looked unusually melancholy. "But what do you think would happen if we complained to a professor that copying books was less worthwhile than cleaning chamber pots? Three months of cleaning, or six months?"

"That's what I was thinking too, so let's see if you'll complain."

The two looked at each other and then couldn't help but laugh.

After laughing for a few minutes, the two began to work together to study the leg-locking spell and successfully broke it.

"Let's go. A professor who can arrest students in a bar, I don't think he's kidding us."

"Copying the History of Magic! How could he possibly come up with such a cruel torture? I thought the punishment at Filch's place was already harsh enough!"

"My only hope is that Professor McGonagall won't get any inspiration from this—copying the history of magic is bad enough, and if most of the punishments are changed to copying, I think I might not lose a single point from the academy next."

"Don't worry, George, Filch won't agree. He won't think copying is a serious punishment. What we need to do is prevent Professor McGonagall from getting any inspiration."

"Then it's settled. Tell Professor McGonagall that you were caught by the professor for leaving campus on a weekday and you'll be put in solitary confinement for a month."

The two brothers had lost all their frustration at being captured. They walked and talked, laughing and chatting as if they were the ones who had just been captured, not Slytherin.

……

"Speaking of which professor, which one?"

"Yes, which professor?"

……

-

"You're back, William?"

"you're awake?"

William looked at Adams in surprise. Adams was clearly drunk, but he had now regained his fighting ability.

"Herbal medicine, kudzu root and narcissus root, is not exactly a magic potion, but if you chew them together, it's very easy to sober up."

Adams, who seemed to have answered this question more than once, quickly gave William the answer he wanted and handed him a copy.

The alchemy professor continued to enjoy his tranquility. Compared to the conversations in the castle, this almost invisible time was more important to him.

"By the way, William, aren't you planning to go buy something? The Hog's Head is the only place around here where you can buy contraband. You know, a lot of magical experiments can't do without those things."

That's a difficult question to answer.

William was well aware that since the unrest in the Far East, the British Ministry of Magic had introduced a series of policies that listed many important potions, ingredients, and magical artifacts as prohibited items.

Ordinary wizards don't need those precious potions and materials in their daily lives, but wizards with a little ambition will more or less get involved in magical experiments. Dumbledore, the first white wizard, is most famous for his twelve uses of dragon blood.

'Aside from me, the professor who snuck in to form a team to start classes, all the other professors at Hogwarts are probably secretly conducting experiments.'

"What, is it your first time here and you're hesitant to buy? Don't worry, the Ministry of Magic turns a blind eye. They only catch smugglers and occasionally crack down on vendors. There shouldn't be any problem with buying."

Adams probably thought William was a little unsure since it was his first time there, so he kindly explained.

……

What's wrong? Are you shivering and feeling cold? When will we smugglers be able to stand up for ourselves?

William was embarrassed for a moment, then got angry at the Ministry of Magic—so this was how he was targeted?

Also, he thought that all the professors at the university knew he had graduated from Azkaban, but now it seems that apart from the professors at the recruitment fair, no one else knew.

William couldn't help but recall the people who had gone to Azkaban. If his deduction was correct, they were among Professor Dumbledore's most trusted men.

Then he couldn't help but think of his interviewer—he hadn't seen that professor since entering Hogwarts.

If his memory serves him right, it was the professor.

Although it was a bit impolite, even ungrateful, to say it like that, he was genuinely curious about how that seemingly eccentric divination professor had become one of Dumbledore's most trusted men.

When Professor McGonagall was chatting with him yesterday, she specifically mentioned that professor—judging from her tone, it was clear that Professor McGonagall disliked the divination professor from the bottom of her heart.

Thinking about it this way, the divination professor must be very trusted by the principal, while Professor McGonagall is the vice principal with real power!

Although William had only been working at the school for four days, he had already fully realized just how much power Professor McGonagall wielded at Hogwarts.

The vice-principal holds all the real power, from reviewing lists and approving funding to evaluating professors, setting rules, and organizing activities. If Dumbledore weren't still holding the title of principal, the opening ceremony speech would probably have to be given by someone else.

Trelawney has been disliked by the vice-principal for so long and nothing has happened to her. If it weren't for Dumbledore's trust, what would be true trust?

"William? William?"

Adams' voice broke William's reverie.

"Excuse me, I suddenly remembered something." William snapped out of his reverie and quickly apologized.

"It's okay, it's okay. I almost thought you were like Singed, who also liked to stand still in the bar."

Adams let out a long sigh—clearly, his worries were not unfounded; having a guy who liked to hang out in bars as his only teammate was hardly a pleasant experience.

Aside from the position of Professor of Defense Magic, Hogwarts might not recruit a new professor for two years. Moreover, due to special circumstances, the professors recruited for the Defense Magic course are often too old to be in the same league as the newcomers. If a new student does come along, and he happens to be someone who likes to daydream, he'll really be drowning in the barrels of beer at the Hog's Head.

"Actually, you don't need to be too anxious. The prices of things on the market are a bit high right now. The main thing is to broaden your horizons. Hogwarts graduates are just starting out in society right now, which is when the market is consuming the most materials. Prices will drop by the end of the year."

"But you always have to keep your eyes open. This isn't like the shops in Diagon Alley. If you buy counterfeit goods, you can go back to the store. It's hard to find regular vendors at the Hog's Head Bar, but I do know a few..."

Adams enthusiastically shared his experience, while William suppressed a laugh and listened attentively—if Adams hadn't become a professor, he'd probably be studying forgery in Azkaban by now, and maybe even becoming a professor to these forgers?

Chapter Seventy: Recognition from Colleagues

Whether William missed the Weasley brothers' accomplices when he arrested them, or other students overheard the two complaining, or there were seventh-year students in the store at the time, by Wednesday evening, almost the entire school knew that the new professor of Magical Self-Defense was incredibly bored.

That's right, he's incredibly idle—that's the unanimous assessment of this new professor by all the students in the school.

A professor responsible for teaching grades 5, 6, and 7 went outside the school and dragged fourth-year students back. What else can be used to describe this behavior besides being extremely idle?

That's off campus, not on campus!

“Congratulations, William, for earning the title of most unpopular professor in less than a week since you took office—but to be honest, I think it’s a bit late.”

Adams's gloating voice rang out from the start of dinner.

“Indeed, I think you should have done it the day you failed all the students. It’s actually a bit late now. The last person to be so quickly unwelcome by the whole school was Professor Snape, wasn’t it? Maybe you two have something in common. Oh, by the way, it’s not like Professor Snape has been looking down on professors of wizarding self-defense magic for just a year or two.”

Upon returning to Hogwarts, the alchemy professor seemed to be liberated from his silence, speaking rapidly and at length, almost as if he wanted to choke people to death.

"Cut~"

William rolled his eyes at the two sarcastic people, his tone completely devoid of the fear of being targeted by students—so far, he hadn't received a single negative emotion box.

He actually hopes the students will list him as an unpopular professor, just like they say, so they can collect a lot of boxes that way!

Unfortunately, no.

“It’s just punishing two students who skipped class—it’s normal for any professor. The only difference is that catching them off guard is more newsworthy. To be honest, if I didn’t punish them, a lot of students might think it’s unfair. But if I did punish them, no one would object.”

"As for failing the exams, all the papers are past exam questions. The students will only feel that they did not study well and will study harder. They will not blame me at all. At most, it will be unexpected for them to fail all of them. There is nothing we can do. Their foundation is indeed a bit weak."

William solemnly shirked all responsibility, but as he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

The two who had been listening attentively suddenly realized something was wrong and wanted to say something, but in the end they couldn't help but laugh along. The three of them couldn't suppress their laughter, which immediately alerted Professor McGonagall, who was sitting on the other side of the table. Her sharp gaze swept over, which prevented the laughter from triggering a chain reaction.

However, it wasn't long before Professor Kettleburn, the only magical creature professor on campus who wasn't afraid of Professor McGonagall, came sauntering over on his cane. The clattering sound was quite noticeable, but the old professor had an expression that said, "If I didn't hear it, then it didn't happen."

"What's wrong? Has something interesting happened?"

He propped his head up with his only remaining arm and asked in a deliberately low voice.

"We were discussing the two students we caught this afternoon who secretly went to Pig Head Bar."

Adams responded to the old professor's question almost instantly.

"The Hog's Head Bar is a great place. I've bought a huge bunch of magical creature babies there. I dare say, Knockturn Alley may have a wide selection, but when it comes to surprises, nowhere can compare to the Hog's Head Bar!"

Is this recognition from a senior figure?

Looking at Professor Kettleburn's remaining limbs, William couldn't help but agree with the old professor's words.

Although he knew almost nothing about magical creatures except for the ingredients used to make potions, as far as he knew, any magical creature capable of causing this kind of black magic-like damage that could not be healed was either powerful and rare—any magical creature capable of causing magic-incompatible wounds had either been wiped out by groups of Strikers and Aurors, or only those remaining in protected areas were left; finding one was extremely difficult.

Seeing everyone's convinced expressions, the old professor couldn't stop smiling.

“Let me tell you young people, the Hog’s Head is just a money-grabbing tavern. Knockturn Alley is a deadly place. There are quite a few of those guys there who are contract fraudsters. Although they don’t dare to lay a hand on the professors at Hogwarts, it’s still very annoying to be disgusted by them once.”

"Diagon Alley is legitimate, but they don't dare sell anything that's even slightly outrageous. The Ministry of Magic keeps a close eye on that area. If you want to buy anything exclusive, you have to go through several well-known alleys—"

"For example, there are things you young people like at the secondhand bookseller's shop on the most secluded corner of Diagon Alley—"

"Cough cough!"

Professor McGonagall's cough interrupted Kettleburn's increasingly loud speech.

The latter made a face before turning around with a serious expression: "Oh, Minerva, I suddenly remembered that I haven't fed my animals yet. Hagrid is a great lad, but I still need to go and check on how the little guys are eating."

“Very well, please go ahead with your work, Professor Kettleburn.”

Professor McGonagall looked serious, as if nothing had just happened.

"I feel like I've gained a lot of strange knowledge."

William took a bite of lamb chop with a serious expression and quietly added.

“Me too. Professor Kettleburn seems to know everything. He can handle any topic we talk about. I dare say even Professor Dumbledore couldn’t do that. It’s hard to imagine Professor Dumbledore coming over to us in a serious manner to discuss contraband.”

“How could that be? Dumbledore, illegal? How could those two words be connected?”

"That means, that's Dumbledore—by the way, William, how did you punish those two students this afternoon?"

"We can't expect them to wash chamber pots after copying a month's worth of history on magic, can we?"

"History of Magic?"

The two looked at each other, then burst into maniacal laughter at William.

What's so funny about the history of magic? Have these two guys gone mad?

[You have gained the approval of a magical creature and received a treasure chest x1]