From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"You don't think I don't know you're secretly discussing dangerous potions like love potions, do you?"

"You guys don't think that fighting in private is cool, and that getting punished in school is the same in the magical world, right?"

“Then take a good look at the people who have been arrested for using fake materials to make potions, the people who have been imprisoned for bullying Muggles, the people who have been arrested for destroying buildings in conflicts and are unable to pay compensation, and those who have tried to deceive others with their supposedly superior intelligence!”

"I object!"

A clear, loud shout came from one of the cells.

"If everyone cooperates, a chocolate frog will be added to tomorrow's breakfast."

Without turning his head, William shouted loudly—all the faint commotion in the cells stopped. The thugs said something even harsher: at least there's one more Chocolate Frog here, isn't there?

“I’ll pay,” William said in a low voice to the batter beside him, then took out a small bag of Galleons and handed it to the batter. “This should be enough, it’s a full ration.”

“That’s more than enough, Professor William, this is far too much for you…”

The striker's face lit up with a smile, but he didn't slow down at all when putting away his money bag.

“Alright, we’ve seen enough here,” William shook his head. “Let’s go inside and take a look.”

-

"The principal is a little angry."

Taking advantage of the moment when the procession was moving more closely together, Lupin quickened his pace, stood next to William, and whispered something.

"It's alright, it's not a big problem."

William lowered his voice—Dumbledore was the headmaster for just as many years, and Professor McGonagall was the vice-headmaster for just as many years, both in charge of the school's affairs. In terms of time, most of the prisoners here were students from back then. It's no wonder the professor was angry when he said that.

However, it's not a big problem. Professor McGonagall was just feeling sentimental. William's students have all gone to Azkaban. Who can avoid this kind of thing? Confucius had 3,000 disciples, but only 72 became sages. What merit does he have to expect that none of his students will go astray?

If fewer students end up in the Azka class, and if a few students are more cautious about committing crimes in the future, then this lesson will be meaningful. He dared not ask for more, especially since the current environment is just too chaotic.

"That's good, just so you know."

Lupin remained as cautious as ever—when he was in school he had to keep an eye on his family and friends, and after he started working he had to worry about the pervasive discrimination; there was no way around it.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

The outer wards were used to warn other houses, while the heavy wards were for Slytherin students to reflect—they might have heard of Azkaban, but so far, only Sirius Black had survived the last war.

Some buildings here are still under repair and reinforcement—William and his men arrived too early, and the traces left by those unknown people, suspected to be Death Eaters, who attacked Azkaban are still there.

The prisons deep within Azkaban are reinforced with all sorts of magic, making them extremely difficult to destroy and equally difficult to repair.

However, the interior is not crowded at all now—although some buildings were destroyed in the aftermath of the battle, a small number of prisoners escaped, while others perished in the conflict.

-

"It's so quiet."

Fred moved closer to his brothers; this place was so out of place for them that they even had the urge to cast a spell and turn it upside down.

Although they didn't seem like other students who couldn't live without chocolate, the two of them now felt completely out of place in this place.

"Mr. Blake actually refrained from tearing this place down... I can't imagine how he managed to get here."

If the outer circle was associated with vulgarity and sorrow, then the depths of Azkaban were filled with silence and despair—they could not imagine that Mr. Black, such a generous investor, Mr. Bigfoot, the forerunner and leader of troublemakers, could actually live in a place so completely incompatible with his personality.

"I even felt like I had some difficulty breathing."

George spoke softly, then, to cheer up his classmates, he increased the intensity of his breathing, making it sound a little louder.

"Ugh... Damn it, what's that smell!"

After his shallow breaths turned into deep breaths, an indescribable smell wafted to George's nose, and he almost vomited from the sudden sensation.

Normally, Azkaban would be cleaned if someone visited, but William and his group were in such a hurry that they specifically asked not to clean it, so that Azkaban could remain in its original state for all the students to see.

As time went by, the students gradually caught the smell. They looked at the professors in confusion and discovered that the four professors had somehow managed to put large-sized bubbly hair spells on their heads.

'Damn it... if this were an exam...'

Monta looked at the other students in his school with dissatisfaction. Apart from him, only four people had activated the Bubble Head Charm immediately—a rather unsatisfactory number, even fewer than Hufflepuff's!

To be precise, most of Hufflepuff's students activated the Bubble Head Charm immediately, even the infamous little guy who failed his exams immediately.

While the fact that everyone was imagining how to retaliate after being mocked so harshly just now is partly due to the current situation, it is truly shameful.

'They lose their judgment and reaction time after being scolded a few times... Seriously, I'll have to get those prefects to give them a special training session when we get back. We're almost graduating, and they're still like this...'

He hardened his heart, waved his wand, cast a simple spell to determine the source of the smell, and strode over—he wanted to see who had almost made them lose face.

As he approached the cell door, Moody turned his magic eye and glanced in that direction, revealing a sinister smile, but did not stop him, allowing him to get closer.

"This is…"

Monta almost vomited—an unrecognizable person lay in a pile of filth, and the stench was coming from there.

Fortunately, even flies dared not land in Azkaban, and the freezing weather during this period prevented the odor from spreading too much, thus barely preventing excessive pollution of the surrounding area.

But Monta could no longer imagine what would happen in the summer; he could no longer picture it in his mind.

He left that side with a hint of fear and took small steps to William's side.

"Professor, what's that over there?"

"She's gone mad."

William's words were concise and startling.

How could that be?

"How could it not be... Aside from the most powerful dark wizards, how many of them wouldn't have gone mad here?"

"Can…"

"How could this be?"

William shook his head. "The levels of madness are different. His is the worst, and he's managed to hold on these past few days—I thought he'd already gone mad and died long ago... Did you see that little mound of earth at the door?"

“That is…” Horror appeared on Monta’s face.

“That’s right, just as you think. No prisoner has been able to leave here—or rather, all the Death Eaters imprisoned here, except for Sirius Black, who was framed, and those who were rescued this time, are still there.”

"Because they are Death Eaters, Professor?"

“No, because of what they did,” William sighed. “Or rather, as far as I know, most of the Death Eaters have done enough to get them locked up in Azkaban for life.”

He patted Monta on the shoulder. “Slytherin students are always very united and very exclusive, but no matter what, remember that those Muggle-born wizards are just like you. They awakened their magical abilities, obtained wands, learned to cast spells little by little, and graduated little by little. They did not steal anyone’s efforts.”

He had said this many times before, but he still repeated it to Monta – Monta was a very talented student with a ruthless streak, and that was exactly the kind of student the Dark Lord liked best.

"...Yes, Professor."

William did not give a speech—he had said enough, and he had shown these students the consequences of the Death Eaters.

The brutality of the Death Eaters, the influence of dark magic—everything from back then has been said and is now just sitting there; repeating it is pointless.

"Alright, let's end it here. Don't make the strikers work any more shifts. They are warriors who protect the magical world, not prisoners. Every moment they stand guard here is a sacrifice."

"I think you've seen most of what you wanted to see, and most of what you didn't want to see, so it's time for us to go back."

William nodded to the students, then together with the other three professors, he did a final headcount, reorganized the group, and began to send the students back to the Ministry of Magic in batches via the Floo Network.

William was the last to leave. He sincerely thanked the batters, took one last look in this direction, and stepped into the fire.

Chapters 545 Encounters and Reunions

“We have contacted a black market smuggler who can provide us with an unregistered door key, and then we can fly directly to the Canadian border and return to our destination from there.”

The Purifiers spoke respectfully to Barty the Younger, having already been impressed by this audacious, meticulous, and ruthless Death Eater.

"Has an investigation been conducted?"

Little Barty looked up from his newspaper and asked.

"He's a boss with an excellent reputation; he's been in this business for a long time."

The purger answered somewhat nervously, but Little Barty grinned broadly, wagging a finger and speaking in a friendly voice, "No, no, no, I mean, has the area around his residence been investigated?"

"He has a very good reputation, and if he's dead, then our whereabouts..."

"Why would you think of something so cruel? We only need one Imperius Curse, just one Imperius Curse, turning him into one of our own is a good option... His excellent reputation in the area is not a good thing, it means we could easily be betrayed by him..."

Barty laughed heartily, but the Purifier couldn't help but shudder—after witnessing this Death Eater laugh after killing someone, he couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

"Let's take Ms. Bella to scout out the terrain later. She's been cooped up in that place for too long; she needs to get some exercise."

-

"Now?"

Dumbledore looked at William from his office, his face filled with barely suppressed surprise.

He was always very composed in the office; even the resurrection of the Dark Lord had never made him show such a shocked expression. But this time was different—this time it was a real crime.

Yes, it's a crime.

It was a genuine crime, the kind of heinous crime for which other wizards would have to decide whether or not to enter the depths of Azkaban—robbing a bank.

"That's too early, Professor William."

Dumbledore had a strange feeling he wanted to express, but he didn't know what to say—the course on visiting Azkaban had just ended, and both the students and the Ministry of Magic had thought it was great, and then this professor who had been advising the students against committing crimes was now urging him to infiltrate Gringotts…

Since that final battle he was reluctant to recall, Dumbledore had never encountered such an embarrassing situation—invading Gringotts, the Wizarding Bank, and he was the main force behind it…

They couldn't simply entrust the task entirely to their own professors—although the Ministry of Magic knew this was going to happen, they wouldn't dare vouch for anyone if things went wrong…

He had finally recruited a very reliable professor, and he couldn't let his own actions cause the professor to be sent back to Azkaban.

Meanwhile, William was completely oblivious to his principal's awkward situation.

"Now is the best time. Bella's Death Eaters have escaped, and the entire wizarding world is hunting them down. The goblins at Gringotts don't dare touch the vaults yet, but that might change in a while. They're no good."

"There are many intricacies involved, Headmaster. I've heard before that after many pure-blood families went extinct or wizarding families disbanded due to accidents, those fairies would secretly investigate everything and hide their assets. There's solid evidence to back this up!"

William wasn't lying—the cell next to his had previously been used by a group of prisoners locked up deep inside to gather intelligence. Their group had their eyes on the treasure left behind in the vault of wizards who died in the Wizarding War. They figured the security hadn't been updated in a long time, so missing items wouldn't be noticed. But after gathering all sorts of information and sneaking in, they found the vault so empty it would make even a rat cry…

"Not many fairies dare to touch the things of pure-blood families."

Before Dumbledore could speak, the mural on the wall made its first complaint.

“You’re mistaken—fairies are the most cunning beings in the entire wizarding world,” William knew those guys very well. “They treat the treasures and artifacts that wizards commission them to create and buy as their own; that money is just rent.”