From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Back in his office, William swallowed two chocolate frogs before slumping into his chair and letting out a long sigh.

'That was terrifying. Was I really the same person just now?'

William raised his arm, looking at the wand that had just given him one of his last moments of warmth, and used it to summon a blue flame in mid-air.

William tossed the flames into the fireplace, dragged a chair over, and began to recall the training he had just received.

The training for the Silent Spell went smoothly. After reading enough materials, he overcame the previous difficulties with little effort due to his lack of knowledge and completed the task he had set for himself well ahead of schedule.

So he began unplanned training.

As a professor of wizard self-defense magic, no matter how he changes the course name, his preparation process will inevitably involve black magic—how can one fight against it if one cannot even understand it?

He did know some dark magic, but how could that compare to Hogwarts' vast library?

As a professor, William had the right to access all the library materials without anyone's permission, and during his lesson preparation, he easily memorized the various forms of black magic that were being targeted.

After the planned magic tests were completed, he replaced the test dummies and began practicing dark magic on them one by one.

To his surprise, he not only mastered the simple black magic with ease, but also found the black magic that he found difficult to understand to be effortless during the test—it was as if his body had memorized and understood these spells before his brain could.

Even though he kept in mind that dark magic should not be abused, that every spellcasting was a test of the mind and soul, and stopped early with great restraint, the concentrated negative feedback still gave him a completely different experience.

Why am I in a bad mood because of the bad weather? Why did jealousy suddenly strike me this morning? Why am I being cursed?

As he warmed himself by the fire, William pondered why he had still lost control slightly despite stopping training well in advance—in that situation, he felt as if he had become extremely calm yet arrogant, and his entire personality had become conflicted.

He even felt like he was seeing himself through a third-person perspective—a feeling akin to having God's vision, which was uncomfortable, yet he still wanted to succumb to it.

'I need to pause my dark magic practice and consult more materials before resuming my daily training—I just experimented with eleven different spells, so even in combat, I can't use more than eight dark spells at once!'

Lying in his office, William silently set rules for himself and warned himself that he should avoid black magic for the next week.

After struggling for a while, he finally felt warm under the heat of the flames, and that cold, unapproachable feeling was completely eliminated from his mind.

'Wizards who spend all day studying these things are probably all mentally unstable. These spells, while either incredibly powerful or possessing bizarre effects impossible for normal magic, are no less corrupting than that wretched place, Azkaban, if you're exposed to them for too long—wait, is it because I was in Azkaban that I was more affected?'

William made a conjecture.

dong dong.

There was a knock at the door. "Professor, it's me, Bart—it's lunchtime. Would you like to eat in the dining hall, or should I bring it to you?"

Chapter Ninety-Five: A Failed Business Opening

Although he longed to be alone, William knew very well that given his current situation, it would be best for him to go to the restaurant and be with the students.

"William, what's wrong? You look like you've been crushed by a dragon."

In the restaurant, Adams, who was already seated, immediately greeted William warmly.

What a strange analogy that is!

William glared at Adams, but because he wasn't in good spirits, his expression wasn't quite right.

"No way, we were really overwhelmed by a dragon? I've seen unicorns in the Forbidden Forest—but are there really dragons in the Forbidden Forest?"

Adams, misunderstanding the situation, exclaimed in surprise.

"So, the fertilizer for the greenhouse needs to be fresh?"

Singed's witty remarks were as sharp as ever—William's first reaction in his weakened state.

“Shut up, Singed—I’m doing this for your own good. You’re not sleeping well, and I know a few remedies. Applying this medicated mud to your face every day will effectively improve the situation.”

Adams had a "I'm doing this for your own good" look on his face, but if his recipe didn't contain fresh dragon dung, William could eat the plate in front of him.

"No need. I don't think there's anything to regret about not having time for breakfast. But you, the rainy season is coming soon in October. You should prepare some things to deal with the rainy season in October, as it will be a disaster."

There wasn't a single week without rain in October, which was no good for herbs. Professor Sprout was getting old, and it was obvious who would take care of the precious herbs in the greenhouse in the middle of the night.

Adams, who was hit by the ball he threw, looked at Singed with a frustrated expression—everyone was just joking, why did you actually stab him in the back?

Singed whistled triumphantly; he had won this round decisively.

"Hey? Why isn't the food ready yet? Did Mischief go and cause trouble in the kitchen again?"

Professor Kettleburn watched the two bickering, laughing as he asked a question—he'd been frequenting their area lately, claiming the youthful energy made him feel much more comfortable, but William strongly suspected he was just trying to avoid Professor McGonagall.

"Making trouble? That shouldn't be the case, right? He usually goes to the bathroom to play pranks on rainy days."

So, have you all figured out the pattern?

However, William suddenly remembered a possibility—it seemed that Professor Lockhart had given the elves a large order for candy that morning.

Before he could voice his conjecture, a large quantity of candy suddenly appeared on his previously empty plate.

That's right, it's the same thing William ate this morning.

"I can't believe it—the first thing served at school lunch is candy."

Singid stared at the plate for three seconds, then grabbed one.

"It tastes pretty good, Professor William, would you like to try it?"

William readily agreed, while Adams had already taken one and was staring at the wrapper—Lockhart was grinning broadly, revealing his white teeth.

“Excellent idea—if you ask me, you should have some of the energy of youth, instead of always putting on a serious face like Minerva.”

Professor Kettleburn smiled as he shared his life experience with the young professors—William felt his words would have been more persuasive if he weren't still an intern this year.

"By the way, speaking of Minerva, I suddenly remembered what happened this morning."

Professor Kettleburn patted his head with his only remaining hand. "Actually, the Daily Prophet also sent people, trying to conduct an exclusive interview about Lockhart's club. However, Professor McGonagall refused the Daily Prophet's request for an interview, but she reluctantly agreed to Professor Lockhart's other requests. It's quite a lively day."

The Daily Prophet? Why is this such a big deal?

And Professor, do you know all the gossip in the castle? You're almost retired!

I couldn't agree more—look over there.

Before William could ask any questions, Professor Singed had already spotted the blind spot—following his finger, William saw a pink robe.

Without a doubt, there is only one professor who can dress so flamboyantly in a castle.

Professor Lockhart.

"Ladies and gentlemen, although the weather isn't exactly friendly, there's no doubt that today is a warm day!"

“Yes, that’s right. I, Professor Lockhart, a third-class recipient of the Order of Merlin, an honorary member of the Anti-Dark Magic League, and the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts—well, Magical Self-Defense—who has won the Wizarding Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award five times, have made a rather important decision today!”

"That's right—the Lockhart's Problem Solving Club, starting tonight, what are you waiting for?"

William suddenly felt his arm being pulled; it was Singed.

"It started this morning; Adams has been obsessed all morning—I heard Professor Lockhart going on and on about the student letters he received, and I was just…"

William patted him on the shoulder, giving him a "good luck" look.

After all, Professor Lockhart is not only a professor but also a legendary adventurer and bestselling author. It's not a big deal if he likes to show off a bit. Just bear with it for Adams' sake. Just like William's roommate back then, when the pig and dog fought, didn't he eventually choose to compromise? Did he still fight?

However, William couldn't hold back any longer—after Professor Lockhart had finished his speech.

A group of dwarves dressed in formal attire walked by with musical instruments. Their awful singing made William suddenly realize what was more unbearable than the days in Azkaban—sitting in Azkaban with dwarves singing.

'If I were still in prison, I'd definitely make Big Guy beat up this newbie!'

He thought fiercely, then felt a sense of relief—was this the aftereffects of fighting poison with poison finally gone? Or had the aftereffects worn off?

William closed his eyes and began to try desperately to remember.

Thanks to the knowledge he had crammed during this period, he quickly came up with a vague guess.

Is this an acknowledgment of fond past memories to counteract the mental impact of black magic?

It is unknown—the study of black magic is never discussed openly, and even wizards who are proficient in it will keep it hidden.

When William opened his eyes again, the horrific torment was finally over.

“I bet Professor Lockhart didn’t require those dwarves to be good singers when he hired them.”

"No, I suspect he hasn't settled the final payment from last time. This is a group of people coming to collect the debt."

William quickly retorted.

Even Adams, who had always supported Professor Lockhart, couldn't help but nod in agreement—the singing was indeed awful.

The professors at the table began to whisper among themselves, indicating that the opening ceremony had indeed been a failure.

The only exception was Professor Kettleburn, whose expression now held a hazy feeling of reminiscence.

"Professor Kettleburn?"

Adams whispered something, wondering if the professor also had some kind of history with a friend who had a terrible singing voice.

“It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten how long it’s been since I heard anything like opera at Hogwarts—the last time I heard it, Albus wasn’t even the headmaster yet!”

Chapter Ninety-Six: Opera and Curse

"I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"Yes, the mystery has been disturbed, and Hogwarts will not have a peaceful life."

After Professor Kettleburn left, Adams looked worried, and Singed was equally cautious.

"What are you two pretending to be, professors of divination? I remember one of you taught herbalism and the other taught alchemy. You two have nothing to do with divination, do you?"

William scoffed at their mysterious expressions and scoffed mercilessly, "I dare say, even if I gave each of you a crystal ball, you'd only be able to see reflections of your surroundings inside."

They had discussed divination before; there were simply too few talented diviners. If it weren't for the Ministry of Magic allocating a large sum of money every year to maintain the course, it would have long since become a sixth-year elective like alchemy.

So it's quite normal that all three of them are complete idiots when it comes to divination—they're equally bad at everything from numerology and astrology to tea divination, crystal ball divination, and so on.

“No, William, that’s your problem. We don’t understand divination, but you don’t understand Professor Kettleburn.”

Adams, unusually, didn't retaliate with sarcasm, but instead offered a rather serious defense.

"The old professor is a very nice person. He can get along with young people and is very approachable. Although he made some mistakes in the past, he's almost retired now, isn't he?"

“It is precisely because Professor Kettleburn is retiring that we suspect he is going to do something big—I suspect he intends to salvage the traditions he has destroyed.”

"Tradition?"

William paused for a moment, then instantly recalled the famous story about the professor—because the magical creatures he provided for the performances burned down the Great Hall, Hogwarts has strictly prohibited any theatrical performances since then.