From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

'I've known for a long time that there are unicorns in the Forbidden Forest; Hagrid even gave me some unicorn horns that shed themselves, but this is the first time I've ever seen a unicorn in the Forbidden Forest…'

William stopped searching and began looking for food in his pocket—it was a rare opportunity, and he figured he might as well take advantage of the good fortune.

Ok?

He suddenly stopped what he was doing and watched the unicorn leisurely chewing on the herbs.

A pharmacist's self-cultivation told him that this was no simple matter—the herb was definitely not one that could grow naturally in the Forbidden Forest, and judging from its freshness, it had just been harvested.

'It can't be Hagrid, he doesn't have time...'

So—no matter how outrageous things are, there's only one truth left.

The herbs were fed by Dumbledore. Was Dumbledore's previous task not searching for the Horcruxes in the Forbidden Forest, but feeding a unicorn?

'Feed the unicorn?'

'Why so secretive?'

He looked at the unicorn watching him warily in the distance and noticed that its belly was swollen and distended, as if it were pregnant…

A pregnant unicorn?

'Wait! Aberforth said Dumbledore is looking for something related to the Philosopher's Stone…'

'A pregnant unicorn… Judging from Dumbledore's actions, he doesn't intend to harm the unicorn or do anything so terrible.'

'Pregnancy, pregnancy... the life-extending blood of unicorns...'

'Oh, right, cord blood!'

William immediately thought of this.

'Therefore, the way to remove the curse with unicorn blood is through umbilical cord blood…'

'A genius idea! A genius idea!'

'This must be part of the Philosopher's Stone's secret... umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord blood... It's a way to obtain unicorn blood without harming the unicorn, so it doesn't contain a curse!'

"So, you found out, Professor William..."

Dumbledore, who arrived late, sighed. Seeing William's ecstatic expression, how could he not know that William had already discovered the secret of unicorn umbilical cord blood?

"So, this is how you obtain blood without any curses, Professor?"

"Yes, yes, but Professor William, you know what I'm trying to say..."

“Of course, of course,” William nodded, “I won’t reveal this to anyone, nor will I publish any research related to it…”

He extended his hand, saying, "If everyone finds out about this, it will really be in danger..."

Those curses were the best protection for these creatures, and William knew all too well what would happen once that veil of mystery was lifted.

“I can guarantee this with an unbreakable oath, Headmaster…”

William took the initiative to offer to keep the secret.

"No need, I trust you, Professor William. But, can you keep another matter a secret?"

Dumbledore looked at William, his eyes calm.

"The creation of the Philosopher's Stone... you want to create a new Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yes…"

Dumbledore tried to keep his tone calm.

“Absolutely no problem, Professor. I have never believed that the pursuit of immortality is immoral as long as it does not harm others.”

William spread his hands. "Immortality is a terrifying catalyst when combined with endless desire, and you..."

He looked at Dumbledore, thought for a long time, and finally decided to reassure him.

"To be honest, in some ways you and Professor Slughorn are a bit alike... He has amassed such a vast network of connections, yet he only seeks trivial privileges, while you..."

William looked at Dumbledore—the rest is probably unnecessary to say.

Professor McGonagall is right. With Dumbledore's lazy nature, let alone pursuing power, William even suspects he's too lazy to pursue something like immortality.

...

These words sounded comforting, and the trust was touching, but Dumbledore looked at William and felt something strange inside.

Is that how you advise someone?

Seeing Dumbledore's conflicted look, William added another sentence.

“Mr. Nicholas Lemaître has been using this technology for so many years; it’s absolutely safe and reliable, and it won’t cause a drastic change in personality. It would be best to prepare some more for Professor McGonagall. To be honest, if only you live forever, the situation on campus is really… um…”

???

These words were too hurtful, and Dumbledore immediately didn't want to talk about it anymore...

Chapter 573 Preparations Before the Holiday

"Professor McGonagall is back, and this time it's for real!"

When Professor McGonagall finally returned to the school after her vacation, the paintings in the castle began frantically visiting each other, spreading the news throughout the entire school in no time.

Because the figures in these oil paintings were so conscientious, even William, who was in class, learned of this.

"Okay, I understand. Please be quiet. We're still in class."

He smiled and spoke to the oil painting hanging on the outer wall of the classroom, then closed the classroom door.

This caused the group of fifth-graders below, who were busy doing their tests, to withdraw their curious gazes from the outside world and concentrate on their tests.

Today is the last class before the Easter holiday—according to the professor, the grade this time will directly determine the thickness of the Easter holiday homework, so they dare not be careless.

Watching the students quietly answering questions, with only the rustling of quills and parchment filling the classroom, William nodded in satisfaction. He sat down on the platform, reading the profound and difficult Transfiguration materials while casually toying with a small silver coin in his left hand.

'Dumbledore is probably in trouble…'

The silver coin in his left hand was flipped around, and the words, patterns, and decorations on it all changed—this was a little trick for practicing Transfiguration, which William figured out himself, and it seemed to be very effective so far.

'If I remember correctly, Dumbledore had piles of documents, about half a foot thick, in his office for the handover…and more importantly, there were only two days left until the Easter holidays…'

He couldn't help but chuckle at this thought, startling the students below, who quickly and patiently checked the questions, fearing that there might be some traps deliberately set by Professor William.

Fortunately, they guessed correctly—there were quite a few traps in the questions.

Even Harry, the acknowledged top student in self-defense, was a little apprehensive—he was better at practical skills, and the traps on the test were rather difficult for him.

'This way... it should be like this...'

Because the questions were so torturous, Harry even temporarily forgot about the Easter holidays he'd been considering for the past two weeks—how to spend them with Sirius. 'Over here…'

"Time's up."

William's voice came from the podium, "Alright, stop answering. There won't be any results before the holidays. Also, I can tell you now that the initial assignments being graded was just a lie. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter holiday."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Enjoy this holiday with your family. The sun is shining, whether you go on a picnic, go shopping, or even just stay home and enjoy a big meal with your family."

"Although you are all fifth graders, you should pay attention to the balance between work and rest. Take advantage of the holiday to relax and then come back to study even harder."

"After school starts, I will assign homework and new course schedules according to your grades—okay, that's all, get out of class dismissed, have a great holiday."

To everyone's surprise, Professor William did not emphasize the importance of fifth grade, and did not even assign any homework, which greatly surprised everyone—especially Hermione, whose face even showed disappointment.

What happened to the hellish days that were supposed to be in fifth grade?

-

"This is so strange, so strange."

After class, almost all the fifth-grade students were talking about how the professor hadn't assigned Easter homework. They were still discussing it even when the second period was approaching, so much so that the big news of Professor McGonagall's return didn't generate much discussion.

Meanwhile, in the self-defense office, William was explaining the matter to the other two professors.

"Actually, I was prepared to work overtime to get the results and then assign homework during the exam, but after seeing them answering the questions so diligently, I gave up on that idea..."

He leaned back in his chair and placed the message he had received that morning on the table.

"The Magical Congress of the United States is rapidly losing control of the entire wizarding world; leaders are even emerging from among the common people..."

"They began spontaneously purchasing supplies from the surrounding magical world, illegally forming companies to buy resources from the Muggle world, and even establishing their own violent protection organization, repeatedly repelling attacks from Death Eaters and even Strikers..."

“If this continues, war will probably break out very soon,” William sighed. “The conflict is beyond resolution…”

"We can't let those students' last memories before the chaos happen be spent at home doing homework... They need to have some happy memories with their families too..."

"Teachable process..."

"Huh?" William looked at Lupin. "It's impossible for them to fall behind. How could that be? They're in fifth grade already. They'll all have to catch up after the holidays!"

?

Moody and Lupin looked at William, unsure of what to say.

"By the way, who went to the principal's office to see what was going on? I heard Professor McGonagall come back during class!"

William paid no attention to his two colleagues' opinions, and suddenly remembered the news he had heard in class.

"It's too late, I advise you not to go..."

Lupin snapped out of his daze and flashed a bright smile.

"Ok?"

"Professor Taylor, under the pretext of delivering documents for review, then saw Dumbledore being pulled aside by Professor McGonagall to reconcile accounts..."

"I knew it..."

William laughed. "What do you mean by 'don't go'?"

“There are too many documents. Professor McGonagall has pulled three professors who went there to submit reports over to help process them, and Professor Taylor is one of those three unlucky ones…”

Upon hearing this, William revealed an extremely unkind smile.

Then he heard the office chair laugh…

Ok?

He reached for his wand, but before he could cast a spell, something occurred to him, "Afra?"

"Afra is over here!"