From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

William rubbed his head, feeling a throbbing pain—was Professor McGonagall worried he didn't have enough staff and sent another student? This was solitary confinement, not an experiment; why did they need so many people? Were they sending him to test the drugs?

However, to William's surprise, Ron, who was temporarily placed in solitary confinement, blushed and remained silent.

This made William raise his eyebrows. What's wrong with this child? He just helped you break the curse this morning, and now he doesn't recognize people?

“Professor, Ron is shy. After all, he’s the first student in Gryffindor to be intimidated by Filch.”

One of the brothers, I don't know which one, was gleefully adding insult to injury.

Scared by Filch? That can't be right. When the files were retrieved, the administrator was complaining that the ban on corporal punishment in schools was causing students to become increasingly disobedient. How could corporal punishment suddenly be allowed?

“Professor, you don’t know, many people saw Ron collapse when he was frightened. They clearly heard that he collapsed after Professor McGonagall announced that he was going to Filch’s for solitary confinement.”

"Yes, Professor McGonagall was angry about this for a long time, but in the end she decided to discuss it with Mr. Filch and then send him here to you."

The twins, unable to distinguish who was who, recounted the story in separate sentences. If the three of them hadn't been standing in front of William, he might have thought it was a Slytherin and Gryffindor student exposing each other's flaws—"Are you really brothers?"

“Shut up, George, and you, Flander.”

“Professor, I am Flander, and this is George.”

Are you two performing a comedy routine here?

William glared at them fiercely, which made the two restless guys realize that this wasn't an argument, but rather that they were there to be collectively locked up.

Actually, none of the three students belonged to him, yet they all ended up in his place being put in solitary confinement. Was he just asking for trouble?

"Professor McGonagall and I have discussed it. The two of you—the three of you—will be responsible for organizing the files in the coming days. Extract the most important information from the files and compile it into a book. After that, these documents will be sent to Professor Binns to be entered into the school history. I hope that each of you will take the work seriously. After the school history is completed, your names will be recorded among the compilers of the school history. I think this is much more educational than washing chamber pots."

"School history?"

The three students exclaimed in unison.

"Yes, the school history, from its founding to the present day, nearly a thousand years of history, will be compiled into a history book by Professor Binns and included in the school library. Of course, this will not be a short-term project. Perhaps you will not finish it even after you graduate, but when it is completed, the names of every student who has compiled the materials will be recorded, and people in the future will be able to see them when they consult them."

William painted an enormous picture without mincing words—more than half of the students who liked to play pranks craved attention, and compiling history books and having their names recorded perfectly fulfilled their greatest desire.

The three students' clearly audible inhalations perfectly confirmed William's point; William even felt their breathing become rapid.

"Alright, no matter how grand a history book is, it always has to have a beginning. Although the first part was completed by Professor Binns, the part with detailed references was compiled by us. The drawers on the table contain materials I found from Mr. Filch. Each of you choose a drawer, and we can begin work tonight."

-

As it turns out, no matter how beautiful the pie looks, it's all just a mirage until you actually take a bite. Although William thought his vision was grand enough, it couldn't change the fact that the work itself was extremely tedious and uninteresting. Only a few people can find enjoyment in the vast history; most people are just interested in the gossip.

Before half a night had passed, William noticed a significant decline in the three scribes' work ethic. They were no longer as enthusiastic as before, flipping through the materials and exchanging their findings. The quills in their hands also felt noticeably heavy—no matter how beautified confinement may be, it is still confinement. Clearly, these students were tired.

"Okay, stop what you're doing, have some chocolate, it'll make your brain and body feel good."

William chuckled and handed over the three cups, then got up and took out a record from the drawer closest to him.

"George, Fred, keep up the good work. This record is quite interesting. You can take a look when you get tired of copying it."

The two students took the record with curiosity. Ron, the youngest, wanted to come over and take a look, but his two older brothers pushed him aside.

"How was it? Pretty interesting, right?"

William took a big sip of the hot chocolate and squinted his eyes.

That piece of paper was provided to him specifically by Mr. Filch; it was one of the records of violations by the two Weasleys.

In fact, their records alone filled an entire drawer.

"Keep it up. We basically have to organize all these records. I don't want to hand them over to other students halfway through. The handover of files is too complicated and it's easy to make duplicate records."

William spoke with a smile, but the twin brothers felt as if they had suddenly fallen into an ice cave.

If those records were shown to them individually, the two might laugh and then comment on what mistakes the other made that led to their arrest. However, if the relevant files were compiled by the other students, it would be a different story.

In particular, Ron is currently in solitary confinement, and if he were to see those records—the twins exchanged a glance, seeing in each other's eyes a terrifying future where their brother's authority would plummet.

'George, do you think Ginny will get put in solitary confinement?'

Fred sent a signal to his brother with his eyes.

'I don't know. Aside from Percy's big head and Ginny, who just started school, we've all been locked up. I don't think Ginny is much like Percy.'

George responded with his eyes.

The two nodded silently, and after a short rest, they worked at twice the speed they had before, much to Ron's puzzlement.

Ron was completely bewildered—he had never seen his fearless twin brother so terrified.

When he turned his gaze to William, William picked up the hot chocolate and took a delightful sip.

Ah, life is so wonderful!

Chapter 85 William's reputation took a turn for the worse

Although the twins put in unprecedented enthusiasm to complete the work, by the time lights were about to go out at night, they had only finished a small part of the job.

William nodded to the three students, approving of their work for the evening.

"Alright, you've done a great job today. You'll have half a day off tomorrow, and come back at 8 p.m. to continue."

As is well known, daytime refers to the time before midnight, but William still set a time for them to come to the detention center in order to prevent them from escaping.

The three Weasleys left the professor's office looking relieved, and William's work for the night was finally over.

Theoretically speaking, he should be going to sleep by now, but tonight, whether it was because he slept too much during the day or because he was too excited to see Old Tom, William just couldn't fall asleep at all.

'How about we go out for a walk?'

Once the thought popped into my head, I couldn't suppress it anymore—the curfew only applies to students, never to professors.

Without hesitation, William dressed, locked the office door behind him, and headed towards the castle gate.

At this moment, there were almost no active students in Hogwarts Castle, and even the paintings had fallen asleep, which made William unconsciously begin to lighten his pace.

-

"Hey students over there, stop right there!"

As William rounded a corner, an oil lamp suddenly appeared.

He chuckled and stopped in his tracks, looking at the rapidly moving light and calling out, "Don't be surprised, it's me, William."

“Professor William, I thought it was an upperclassman trying to sneak out on the weekend. You don’t know, they always do this.”

Filch said, half with regret and half with respect.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk. The castle gates were locked?"

"It's locked. I need to patrol the castle to see if any children are skipping class. So, Professor, if you go out, you won't be back for at least an hour while I'm patrolling outside the castle—Dumbledore has cast a spell on that lock."

Mr. Filch spoke proudly of the lock, but as far as the person who cast the spell was concerned, it was estimated that an ordinary wizard would not be able to open it, not even by force.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Filch. It's been a long time since I've looked at the stars."

"You're welcome, Professor. The starry sky at Hogwarts is especially beautiful. If you don't mind, could you also help me catch some students who are staying outside the castle? They're getting bolder and bolder. Last year, I even caught a first-year student who didn't come home at night!"

A first-year student? William's mouth dropped open in slight surprise.

Even kids who spend all night in internet cafes aren't as outrageous as eleven years old. Kids that age are all sleep-deprived. Are the stars at Hogwarts really that beautiful?

If we don't look at the stars, isn't first grade a bit too early?

"who is it?"

William asked the question almost instinctively.

"The Weasleys and their two friends—the professor—if you ask me, none of the Weasleys are easy to deal with!"

You can't blame everything on the Weasleys; the other two aren't exactly easy children either—William was just about to say that when he suddenly remembered the entire drawer of punishment records he had just looked at.

To put it simply, the penalty record isn't directly related to the number of violations, but rather to the number of times you get caught violating the rules. Given the level of those twin brothers, William finds it hard to imagine that they get caught every time they violate the rules. Judging from that drawer full of experiences, they must have mastered the basics of escaping a long time ago.

Seeing William nod in agreement, Mr. Filch then abandoned his patrol and led William to the castle gate.

-

"Speaking of which, Professor, I don't know what happened today, but my cat seems very scared. Is she cursed?"

When the two arrived in the hall, a haughty cat suddenly appeared. Filch took a few steps over, patted its head, and then turned to ask William.

"A curse? To a cat?"

William crouched down, looked at the excessively thin cat, and examined it carefully. After a while, he said with certainty;

"There's no curse, at least not based on my knowledge. She seems more afraid of something, like a student abusing a cat?"

“They wouldn’t dare. Besides, the portraits in the castle are watching. No one would dare to do something that seriously violates school rules.”

"They probably encountered some magical creatures. Some bad guys are particularly obsessed with scaring people, and cats are a good tool for them to absorb fear. When I have some free time tomorrow, I'll go and search the corners of the castle; those guys like to stay there."

William envisioned several types of people who made a living by frightening others, such as Boggart.

"Alright, thank you, Professor. I will be patrolling outside the castle in an hour. I will wait for you at the gate for ten minutes. If you miss me, I will wait for you at the castle gate after I finish my patrol, but that will be too late."

William nodded quickly in agreement—this administrator was incredibly enthusiastic, but for some reason, he had a mysterious obsession with corporal punishment of students.

-

'It's been a long time since I've had the peace of mind to look at the starry sky—thankfully, Hogwarts isn't too polluted.'

William walked alone on the lawn, trying to find the most comfortable spot to lie down and look at the stars.

Without the interference of other students, such a place couldn't be easier to find.

However, as William lay down and gazed at the starry sky, he suddenly realized something was amiss.

Within his sight, two furtive figures emerged from a bush, glanced around briefly, and then sat down without a second thought.

'A student, right? They really did sneak out of the castle in the middle of the night for a date?'

William was immediately caught in a dilemma—should he arrest him or not?

If he's arrested, his reputation with the students will be ruined tomorrow with another rumor. After running out of the school to catch truants, he'll have to add catching people on dates in the middle of the night. Good heavens, he's only been a professor for a week. How can he be arrested for this in order to protect his future reputation?

If we don't arrest them, I'll stop being a professor while you guys are showing off your love, and if I become a professor, you'll still come and show off your love. What's the point of being a professor?

Just as William was struggling with his decision, he finally managed to make out one of the two people—a head of fiery red hair that was dazzling under the starlight.

'That poor kid, if a group of people commit a crime, they'll arrest you first. Didn't you even bother to cover your hair?'

William almost recognized the man—if he was not mistaken, his student, Percy Weasley.