From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

You're going too far by bullying a little girl like this.

To demonstrate his refined taste, William pulled out a reference book from his usual desk and began to read it intently.

William got completely absorbed in the game, while Adams, having found a partner to play Wizard's Chess with, didn't bother him.

Just as William was solving a problem, he suddenly felt as if something had poked his leg.

"Your legs went numb from reading for too long?"

William changed his position, and then he felt something gently poking his other calf.

This made him lower his head and see a timid little face.

"Uncle Chocolate, you can't see me."

Afra looked serious.

William suppressed a laugh, pretended to look around, and then acted as if he hadn't noticed anything.

"Don't look anymore, Uncle Chocolate, it's me, Afra."

She gently poked William's leg again.

"Uncle Chocolate?"

She nodded her little head heavily, and then, as if suddenly realizing something, Afra gave me a look that said, "I'm an idiot."

"That's me, Afra. I'm invisible!"

The last sentence carries a hint of pride, like a child who has just received a perfect score.

"You've gone invisible, huh? What's wrong? Are you angry with your dad?"

She quickly shook her head and said in a very soft voice:

I want to grow up quickly!

"Want some chocolate?" William habitually pulled out his stash—he never lacked chocolate since leaving Azkaban.

Only then did he remember how the little girl had addressed him.

Sure enough, just as Adams had said, the child was hungry.

She carefully unwrapped the chocolate, then, as if remembering something, whispered a thank you to William before taking a small bite of the chocolate. Then, like a squirrel, she held the rest of the chocolate in both hands.

"Hey, by the way, aren't you a mushroom?"

"Yes, Afra is a mushroom, but Dad won't let me water it."

"But mushrooms can get poisoned if they eat chocolate."

William had a serious expression on his face.

Afra was stunned. She glanced at the chocolate, then at herself, and her expression turned frightened.

"He's been poisoned, but he can be cured. He can get an injection at the school clinic, one of those long, thin needles, along with some bitter magic potion."

The magic world's school hospital should have injections, right?

William gradually got into character. He reached out and ruffled Afra's hair, then took out a piece of chocolate.

"Since I'm going to get the injection and drink the potion anyway, eating one more piece won't hurt."

The six-year-old girl looked at the chocolate, a thoughtful expression on her face.

With a resolute expression, she quickly ate two pieces of chocolate, then squatted down beside the table and fell silent.

"Go ahead, or you'll have to get a few more injections."

William packed up his books, patted her head, and strode towards the door of the lounge.

"Daddy, save me! I don't want a shot, I don't want to drink the magic potion!"

Even through the door to the lounge, William could hear the sobbing coming from inside.

I shouldn't get beaten up, right?

William was a little unsure.

-

diary

"On my fifth day at Hogwarts, I resumed my habit of keeping a diary."

Let's consider today as the first day.

If we had to find a grand reason, it would probably be that the other side wants to advise itself or humanity, while this side is recording the joys of life.

Professor Taylor was surprisingly gentle; he simply hoped I wouldn't give Afra too much chocolate, as it's not good for such a young child to eat too much.

(Should I have an owl send me an order, or take some time to go to the next village to buy some?)

Many professors unexpectedly appeared in the lounge, and even Professor McGonagall was unusually gentle today, but the principal was nowhere to be seen.

Yes, today is a hopeful day.

Also—I hope I don't get drunk tomorrow and stop writing in my diary.

Chapter 80: Why Challenge Yourself?

"Ta-da!"

The annoying alarm clock rang in his ears, and a groggy William waved his hand impatiently, after which the world fell silent again.

Even outside of winter, the warmth of a bed can still act as a powerful seal that keeps most people locked in place, and William is no exception.

When William finally crawled out of bed, completely satisfied and fully awake, he discovered that all the plans he had made the night before were ruined.

If nothing unexpected had happened, he should have already invited Haig to return to the Leaky Cauldron to visit Old Tom—but now it's all fallen through.

'I remember this thing should sound right on time, right?'

With a puzzled look, William looked at the alarm clock that had been delivered with his luggage when he arrived—William guessed it was to prevent the professor from being late—this magical little machine had been working perfectly all along.

'The alarm clock works perfectly fine, and it looks like it was stopped by magic—I'm sure I set it yesterday.'

William struggled to recall if he had ever gotten up and waved his wand to turn off the alarm clock. After thinking for a while, he finally managed to recall that he seemed to have waved his hand in the air and made the alarm clock stop.

'Logically, after mastering the system's application of magic and wielding a wand, this kind of unconscious spellcasting should become less and less frequent. How come it's suddenly coming out again?'

William set the alarm clock again, put down his wand, and began trying to find the feeling of casting spells without a wand—since the plan had already been disrupted, he didn't care if it became even more chaotic.

But after half an hour, William had found nothing.

After realizing that he couldn't make any breakthrough in this area in the short term, William wrote down some useful and useless thoughts on paper and put them away with his diary.

Time to get down to business.

-

Hagrid doesn't usually eat at the restaurant because some creatures in the Forbidden Forest need him to supplement their food supply, and he also keeps some cute little creatures in the Forbidden Forest that need to be fed—that's what Hagrid said.

That's why William hadn't seen Hagrid even after working at the castle for a week.

William usually has to prepare course materials and study on his own, so today is a day he can relax and take a break. He can go out and have some fun.

"Hagrid, are you home?"

From a distance from Hagrid's cabin, William let out a carefree shout.

"William?"

A louder voice came from inside the house, as if trying to outdo William in who could shout the loudest.

Then William heard heavy footsteps, the door opened, and the half-giant's smiling face peeked out.

"weekend?"

"Weekend. Any plans for the daytime? How about going to Leaky Cauldron for drinks?"

“Great—oh wait, I’m afraid not. But William, please come in first. Although we can’t go drinking today, I think I can introduce you to a few friends.”

Hagrid was excitedly preparing to agree, but then, as if suddenly remembering something, he showed a regretful expression.

William readily agreed and entered the house, only to find that the people inside seemed to be acquaintances—or more precisely, acquaintances who harbored a one-sided hatred towards him.

The three cards were lying there quite well in the card collection, and they even gave him a title as a bonus.

The little witch he knew best and who was also the most mischievous had a look of surprise on her face, which quickly turned into well-concealed anger.

William was completely familiar with this person, someone who had been mentioned in countless books on black magic, and now he was looking at him with a blank expression.

The remaining one was staring blankly at the basin, as if something in the basin was attracting him.

"Three students, are they your friends?"

“Yes, my three friends,” Hagrid replied with a bright smile. “You know Hermione and William, and the rest are Harry and Ron. I think you always know Harry, so you know Ron too.”

Justified and convincing.

Just as William was about to praise the three of them in a teacher's manner, an awkward thing happened.

The boy named Ron vomited into the large copper basin, but the vomit was unusual—it was a huge slug.

"Is this... being cursed?"

William's frantic study of Defense Against the Dark Arts since his release from prison allowed him to quickly deduce Ron's situation.

He circled Ron curiously, preparing to break the curse—although the three little guys hated him, it didn't affect his role as a professor to protect his students.

After all, despite the animosity, these three kids did nothing but give away three handfuls of wool. Could they really be confined just because they received three cards from students who were stuck in the graduating class?

As William wandered around, he noticed something amiss—the spell was unusually powerful, far beyond what a student could achieve, and even among adults, few wizards could conjure it.

"Which professor used this curse? Isn't this kind of punishment excessive for dealing with students?"

William's tone suddenly became serious—whether it's deducting points, putting someone in solitary confinement, or even making them wash chamber pots, how can one use their superior magic to harm a student?

"Not a professor, not a professor."

"No? Has Hogwarts been hacked? Or did this Ron guy pull out his wand and give himself a good wand shot?"

William made a firm judgment—unless he attacked himself, the spell would not have gone out of control like this; magic is only defenseless against magic of the same origin.

"It's his wand, Professor, Ron's wand is malfunctioning."