From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"Of course it's true. Professor Sprout found out himself—you know, the new greenhouse is almost finished, so Professor Sprout went to apply for a large amount of dragon dung after he learned that Professor McGonagall was back."

"Oh, right, that's right."

William knew this. The new greenhouse had been under construction intermittently for a long time and was almost ready to be put into use. It would definitely be officially put into use after Easter, but the soil treatment would definitely have to be done in advance.

Dragon dung is an excellent fertilizer because it contains a trace of magic, but it is difficult to collect so much at once—firstly, there are issues with purchasing channels, and secondly, there is the transportation capacity, both of which are major problems.

Dumbledore's influence will certainly ensure the first issue is resolved, but arranging the second is another matter entirely. After all, the castle needs to receive food daily, and if the coordination is poor and packaged dragon dung is accidentally delivered to the dining hall, it won't just be a matter of going hungry for one meal…

Another problem is that there's a professor on campus named Hagrid. Given Dumbledore's current method of reviewing reports, Professor Sprout is worried that Hagrid might take the opportunity to suggest to Dumbledore that instead of buying, they should produce their own and simply import a dragon...

Although it seemed absurd, given Dumbledore's methods of investigation, Professor Sprout was very worried that this might actually happen—this was something Adams told as a joke, but for some reason, William felt that Professor Sprout's concerns were indeed reasonable…

-

"So, when exactly will Professor McGonagall's sabbatical end?"

William finished delivering this week's papers and left Dumbledore's office, munching on a brand-new snack while pondering the question.

Dumbledore has tried his best, but handling political affairs requires not only talent but also accumulated experience. And because of Professor McGonagall's presence over the years, Dumbledore hasn't accumulated much experience in this area.

"But even if it's delayed, it'll only be five days. There's no need to prepare the test paper. I'll take this rare break from my busy schedule to train my Animagus transformation."

He glanced at the weather and ultimately chose Animagus over training flights.

'Speaking of which, the flying magic Dumbledore promised me still hasn't materialized. Hopefully, after Professor McGonagall returns from her vacation, Dumbledore can complete the relevant magic quickly…'

He was quite self-aware; if he didn't make a breakthrough in some field, it would be a pipe dream to expect to develop flight.

'So Professor Snape's flight definitely wasn't something he invented himself—considering his Death Eater background, it's almost certainly something the Dark Lord researched…meaning, the Dark Lord can definitely fly?'

After confirming this, William couldn't help but shake his head—he had to tell Dumbledore about it as a necessary reminder.

Although Dumbledore likely guessed this, it didn't stop William from reminding him so that Dumbledore could develop the spell of flight more quickly and effectively.

“William!”

Just as William was thinking about how to subtly suggest to Dumbledore that he should put flying magic on the agenda, he suddenly heard Hagrid shout.

"Hey, Hagrid, good morning!"

William looked Hagrid up and down and noticed that Hagrid looked a little disheveled. Although he tried to make himself look normal, the injuries on his face were still very noticeable.

"Hagrid, who bullied you?"

William became a little angry after confirming that Hagrid's facial injuries were caused by being beaten.

This is Hogwarts!

Although Professor McGonagall is on vacation, Dumbledore is still here! Hagrid is the custodian of the keys to Hogwarts' gates, so who dared to lay a hand on Hagrid?

Even Aurors won't do!

No, no.

Hagrid shook his head frantically, as if denying something.

"Don't be afraid. Even if officials from the Ministry of Magic come, we have nothing to worry about."

On the eve of Hagrid's unexpected outburst, the school had already coordinated with the Ministry of Magic. Even if Fudge personally carried out the attack, Hagrid would still have to give an explanation—although Fudge certainly couldn't defeat Hagrid…

"No, no!"

Hagrid shook his head even more vigorously, giving William a very familiar feeling—this was the feeling that Gryffindor students gave when they got into trouble but weren't caught on the spot.

Wait a minute—Hagrid is also a Gryffindor, so it's alright.

"Were you bitten by a dragon?"

Where are the dragons?

Hagrid's eyes widened, his face full of anticipation.

...

It's hopeless—as expected, Professor Sprout was right.

For some reason, William remembered Adams' joke, then stared at Hagrid. "Alright, then I suspect you were attacked by some creature from the Forbidden Forest and your memory was erased. Go back immediately and request a search of the Forbidden Forest."

"do not want!"

Hagrid shouted, then turned around warily to look around before reluctantly confessing.

"What? You brought your younger brother over?"

William stared wide-eyed at Hagrid. "You're on the path in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Um…"

Hagrid was a little embarrassed, "It's mainly because your inspection was too thorough..."

The Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts is very large and home to a wide variety of magical creatures. Hagrid guards the edge of the Forbidden Forest on the inner side of the school, so there is no security or guard there at all.

However, if Hagrid leads the way, that's a different story.

William shook his head helplessly. He knew what Hagrid was thinking—according to Hagrid, his brother was often bullied in the tribe because he was a little short, so he brought his brother back.

However, in the eyes of most wizards, giants are very aggressive. Although Hagrid was very willing to introduce his brother to his friends, William and his companions were, after all, responsible for a significant portion of the castle's security...

'It can only be said that Hagrid is overthinking things...'

William sighed. He didn't really discriminate against giants. To be honest, compared to the other dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest, giants were nothing. William had found traces of the eight-eyed giant spider many times in the Forbidden Forest. What was a mere giant?

In this respect, he was quite moderate. Giants could communicate but lacked spellcasting abilities, making them nothing compared to magical creatures like the eight-eyed giant spider, which were of a certain level and preferred to live in groups.

As long as Hagrid doesn't bring his brother to class—though William is sure Hagrid wouldn't do such a thing.

"I won't expel him, but, does the headmaster know?"

"I don't know yet..."

Hagrid felt somewhat ashamed; he had already introduced his brother to Harry and the others, but Dumbledore was still unaware of it.

So that means they already know… William rubbed his forehead. “You need to report this to Dumbledore. I’ll put in a good word for you and won’t expel him.”

Although Dumbledore certainly knew, William thought, "Also, you must forbid him from going near the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest; the students have been unusually mischievous lately..."

"I promise."

Hagrid responded with a mixture of shame and seriousness.

“Okay, let’s go check out the Forbidden Forest first. I need to assess his dangerous status to determine whether he lives in the deepest part or if we can expand our hunting area a bit.”

Before speaking to the headmaster, William definitely needed to assess the danger posed by Hagrid's brother, Gropp—although Hagrid now clearly distinguishes between different classes in Magical Creatures, family ties were a different matter altogether.

-

On their way into the Forbidden Forest together, William confirmed that Hagrid was not lying.

For safety reasons, he placed his younger brother deep in the forbidden forest. They had been walking straight for almost ten minutes, but still hadn't reached their destination.

This was no ordinary ten minutes or so. Unlike ordinary students, Hagrid was so familiar with the Forbidden Forest that he wouldn't take a single wrong turn. Moreover, he was eager to prove to William that his brother was harmless, so his pace was much faster than usual.

"This is it, William."

Hagrid subconsciously slowed his pace. "He's over there, but we need to be a little quieter."

'I knew it…'

William shook his head slightly—he knew it; Hagrid couldn't have settled his brother so deep inside because his brother was very obedient.

However, it's not a big problem and it's within our consideration.

He began to curiously observe the surroundings, searching for any clues.

'He's a bit irritable...'

William glanced at the surrounding trees and found that they were not in good condition. These already sturdy trees were being ruthlessly destroyed like saplings.

Occasionally, very large footprints would appear on the ground—even if they were just remnants, William could easily deduce that the owner of the footprints was much taller than Hagrid.

The depth and size of footprints can sometimes reveal a lot—this is knowledge William learned from a dragon hunter.

The other party was a skilled fighter, but he was captured by the slayers while helping the Ministry of Magic deal with dragons, and they also discovered that he didn't have any identification—now that I think about it, he must have been released from prison.

“Let’s go a little further, Hagrid. I need to talk to him.”

-

"She's about to give birth, little one..."

Dumbledore smiled and stroked the unicorn, which snorted contentedly—he was one of the few people who wouldn't be rejected by kind magical creatures, and the unicorn was no exception.

"These herbs are growing perfectly in the greenhouse. Professor Sprout just harvested them today. Enjoy them..."

The herbs he had painstakingly tricked into giving were now being eaten by the unicorn, making Dumbledore extremely happy.

Minerva will finally be back to handle government affairs soon, and the unicorns will be ready for production, allowing for the creation of Philosopher's Stones.

Next, all that's left is to perfectly erase the Horcrux effect of that ring, and then study how to maximize the use of the Deathly Hallows.

"Everything is getting better, really very good."

“Little one, I don’t have time to see you today. I have to go back and review reports—if Minerva comes back and finds that I’ve left her with too much work, then things will really go wrong.”

What was that sound?

Dumbledore suddenly perked up his ears and stared into the distance.

This was already deep in the Forbidden Forest, and apart from Hagrid's brother occasionally causing trouble, nothing unexpected happened—as for Grop, he was almost harmless except for hunting and damaging trees.

However, unicorns are not on any creature's food list, and few magical creatures can even harm them. The reason is simple: in their normal state, unicorn blood carries a powerful curse that even Dementors cannot resist.

"who is it?"

-

"Oh, Hagrid..."

William looked at the somewhat short giant Hagrid had described, his mind filled with the distinctive language of Azkaban.

Even Hagrid looked like a child next to him, and he couldn't help but recall that famous line, 'Is this guy eight years old?'

"Perhaps I'm overestimating myself... Hagrid."

He looked at Hagrid, who was trying to greet him with the huge branch, and then shook his head.

“William, no…”