From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"Are you all here? Let's go, it's not appropriate for so many people to be in the hallway. Let's find an empty classroom to talk."

William greeted the students with a smile, then turned and walked toward his classroom.

"Professor, there are also students from other colleges—"

"Oh, them? They're not under my jurisdiction for solitary confinement, so I have no authority to lift their confinement."

William spoke to the students behind him without turning his head.

-

"Okay, everyone, let's find an empty seat and sit down."

William stood on the podium and addressed the students who had gathered around him.

After they had all found their places, William rubbed his hands together with a smile, then interlaced his fingers, leaned forward slightly, and looked down at the students.

"Things are a bit complicated. Let me think about how to explain this to you."

"As you've all heard, if this succeeds, everyone here—those who are under my confinement and those I've sent to Mr. Filch's—will have their confinement time reduced by a week, without a doubt. But—"

William drew out his words, giving the students below no time to cheer—those who were used to solitary confinement should know how difficult things were after hearing the word "but," so they all pricked up their ears, waiting for William's next words.

"However, because this matter is so easy for people to try to exploit loopholes, I must emphasize here that if anyone tries to imitate this and impose any punishment on them, I guarantee they will think that dropping out of school is a good thing."

William looked intently at the children in the classroom—although as a professor he shouldn't look at students with prejudice, he knew very well that if he gathered all the children in this classroom together and assigned them a bunch of worksheets every weekend, the disciplinary problems at Hogwarts could be reduced by eighty percent.

Such warnings are hollow and powerless, and in the past only senior professors like Professor McGonagall could use them. But today, the troublemakers are unusually accepting of William's unspoken threat.

"Okay, Professor."

After William's gaze swept across half the classroom, the students responded in hushed tones.

"Yes, very good."

Although his voice was low and completely listless, William was extremely satisfied with the answer.

"Then I'll just briefly explain what happened—this morning, all the colleges underwent inquiries early in the morning. I think everyone here knows the details better than I do, so I won't go into too much detail."

William flexed his fingers to steady his voice.

"You may have all sorts of guesses, but I'm not going to leave you guessing here. Between last night and this morning, there was a minor, even somewhat amusing, attack at the school—someone attacked a rooster."

After this was mentioned, a bunch of students immediately lost their seriousness—even if William tried to suppress it, the incident itself was already quite amusing.

There was a half-minute pause, which allowed the students to calm down a bit.

"Alright, that's enough of the laughter. Although it's a bit funny that they searched the lounge because a rooster was attacked, it really shows how much importance the school is taking it—we found bloodstains at the castle gate."

"Although the evidence is not clear at the moment, I strongly suspect that a student sneaked out and killed the rooster. What you need to do is help me find the student who killed the chicken."

The cheerful atmosphere in the classroom could no longer be contained—a whole commotion was launched to find the chicken?

If it were just about finding a live rooster, that would be one thing, but finding the murderer who killed a rooster?

If William hadn't been a professor, and hadn't personally given the group of students a memorable solitary confinement, these kids might have already been thinking about bullying the professor—what a ridiculous thing to do! Hogwarts is such a big school, the number of chickens that die in the kitchen every day is staggering.

To put it bluntly, if you asked a first-grader to name the chickens that die in the kitchen every day, their limited vocabulary wouldn't be enough to help them even halfway through.

"Hmm—it seems a lot of fuss over the death of a chicken, and the murderer didn't even steal the dead rooster, so it doesn't seem like a big deal."

William laughed along with the students for a while.

"But if it's just a chicken, how about I reduce your confinement by a week?"

"I don't know how many students here have studied books about dark magic. As far as I know, there are far too many books in the magical world that have been cursed with all sorts of curses. Some of these books with punitive properties will only bite you lightly, while others will make the reader lose their life."

"I suspect the murderer took the rooster's blood and tried to use it to perform some kind of magical ritual or other stupid thing as described in the book—although I'm not your professor, I still have to tell you that those are the most dangerous things!"

"Yes, I think many of you feel like I'm implying something—although it might be a bit much for a professor to do that, I still have to say that I suspect the murderer is, well, among you."

The students below looked a little pale—the feeling of being wrongly accused was not pleasant.

"Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive, children. This may seem like a frame-up, but not many people can bypass the access control designed by Mr. Filch to enter and leave the castle. Although my suspicions are a bit excessive, I don't intend to do anything foolish like trying to find the murderer—there may be people in this school who know more about those secret passages and hidden rooms than you do."

“That’s impossible. No one in this school, including Filch, knows the castle’s secrets better than the Weasley brothers!”

A child below shouted out, as if this statement was a more painful slander than the previous injustice.

“Be humble, boy,” William said, glancing at the student and thinking to himself, “At this point, why are you putting him on the hot seat?”

"Well, if there's anything that offends you, I apologize, but here's the thing: I suspect some unlucky soul, or rather, adventurer, is trying to believe the nonsense in a book and recreate those unproven things at Hogwarts. What I need you to do is help me find that person, or rather, the place that's trying to use chicken blood for a ritual."

"What you need to find is someone who is always absent-minded, someone who does strange things, or someone who can find bloodstains or strange patterns made with chicken blood in the secret passage."

"Of course, just as I told you all at the beginning, these things will only be dealt with leniently this time. If I hear of anyone trying to imitate or forge something, I will make them regret it."

"This is an adventure, and also a mission, which I hereby bestow upon all the students present."

"The person who finds the relevant location will have their detention time reduced by one week, and the person who catches the culprit will have their detention time reduced by one week. The two rewards can be stacked."

When the main reward was announced, everyone got excited—even without the tempting reward, just participating in this grand operation made all the Gryffindors feel that their trip had been worthwhile.

For Gryffindors, adventure itself is the best reward, not to mention the visible reduction in confinement!

“One last piece of nonsense,” William said, making a calm gesture to the students who had already been stirred up.

"If cheating or forgery is discovered, it will be treated as imitation."

"Oh, right. If one of you did it, and he turns himself in, he'll only get an extra week of confinement, a lenient sentence. The rest of you will still get your sentences reduced."

William added, still not entirely convinced, that although the students' reactions suggested his suspicions were wrong, it didn't stop him from adding a caveat to the matter.

But no one reacted to this; they were all captivated by the so-called adventure and wondered, what was it?

"Alright, then what are you waiting for? Go!"

William waved helplessly, and the students, who had been sitting still for a while, rushed out of the classroom while excitedly greeting him.

'I hope Professor McGonagall doesn't come after me. These Gryffindor students are already difficult to manage; if I stir things up like this, they'll probably be causing trouble every day from now on.'

But this was the only option; among the items William listed, those secret passages and hidden locations had to be checked.

As a wild wizard who wasn't from Hogwarts, he wasn't very familiar with the school. Occasionally, when changing routes on the stairs, he had to ask the surrounding paintings for help to find his way. If he weren't a professor, given the temperament of those paintings, he would have gotten lost countless times.

'It was quite a coincidence, really. If they hadn't been caught by Mr. Filch, and then hadn't caused a ruckus in Mr. Filch's office, where would I have found so many active Gryffindors?'

You have to understand that fifth-year students, even those in Gryffindor, prioritize their studies, seventh-year students are busy with internships, and sixth-year students are busy with romances instead of internships or exam preparation. William's students are all lazy bums, and it's hard to find a student who can help you.

Besides, if those students hadn't been put in solitary confinement, William wouldn't have had any reason to direct so many students—it's one thing to assign tasks during class, but after class, students have their own lives, and who cares what the professor wants to do except for those in solitary confinement?

'Well, after that conversation, the problem of secret passages and locations should be solved—just like those kids themselves said, no one at Hogwarts knows the castle better than them, and if someone were to perform any evil magical rituals inside, these kids would definitely be able to find them.'

'Safety—shouldn't be a problem. The other side doesn't even kill chickens until the middle of the night. Judging from the fact that only the first chicken has died so far, even if there's some strange ritual, it would only restore the strength of one chicken, which wouldn't be enough to defeat these brats.'

Although it might be a bit unfair to the serious students, William knew very well that, apart from the best students, the normal students would never be able to beat these little rascals in a one-on-one fight, because they had mastered enough magic for pranks on a daily basis, and this magic was quite useful in a fight.

As a wild wizard who wasn't from Hogwarts, he wasn't very familiar with the school. Occasionally, when changing routes on the stairs, he had to ask the surrounding paintings for help to find his way. If he weren't a professor, given the temperament of those paintings, he would have gotten lost countless times.

'It was quite a coincidence, really. If they hadn't been caught by Mr. Filch, and then hadn't caused a ruckus in Mr. Filch's office, where would I have found so many active Gryffindors?'

You have to understand that fifth-year students, even those in Gryffindor, prioritize their studies, seventh-year students are busy with internships, and sixth-year students are busy with romances instead of internships or exam preparation. William's students are all lazy bums, and it's hard to find a student who can help you.

Besides, if those students hadn't been put in solitary confinement, William wouldn't have had any reason to direct so many students—it's one thing to assign tasks during class, but after class, students have their own lives, and who cares what the professor wants to do except for those in solitary confinement?

'Well, after that conversation, the problem of secret passages and locations should be solved—just like those kids themselves said, no one at Hogwarts knows the castle better than them, and if someone were to perform any evil magical rituals inside, these kids would definitely be able to find them.'

'Safety—shouldn't be a problem. The other side doesn't even kill chickens until the middle of the night. Judging from the fact that only the first chicken has died so far, even if there's some strange ritual, it would only restore the strength of one chicken, which wouldn't be enough to defeat these brats.'

Although it might be a bit unfair to the serious students, William knew very well that, apart from the best students, the normal students would never be able to beat these little rascals in a one-on-one fight, because they had mastered enough magic for pranks on a daily basis, and this magic was quite useful in a fight.

Chapter 115 There is only one truth

In his third week at Hogwarts, William conducted an investigation triggered by the death of a rooster.

But this time, William, who had been doing well in everything since entering Hogwarts, experienced the taste of failure for the first time—he finally understood why there was a restriction on not being Chinese in his reasoning for a period of time.

Like martial arts, magic is a completely external force—although William has been studying everything about magic ever since he opened his eyes and found himself in Azkaban, he still can't treat magic, which has permeated every aspect of his life, as a daily occurrence like other wizards.

This is like a super-powered system encountering a third-party superpower—what's the point?

"William?"

Adams's face suddenly appeared in front of William, who waved his hand in confusion, "What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking if there was any resurrection magic, so I could give that poor chicken a shot, and then we could find out which bastard did all this."

"Are you alright, William? Don't even mention that there's no such resurrection magic. Even if there were, would you understand what a chicken is saying?"

Adams looked concerned—he suspected that William might have drunk the wrong potion, and his condition was somewhat like the aftereffects of accidentally ingesting a euphoric potion after a mistake in its preparation.

"No?"

To Adams' astonishment, William asked back, seemingly insane.

"No, even the legendary magic stone can only grant immortality. As for bringing the dead back to life, that's something that only exists in fairy tales—"

Adams responded cautiously, stealthily reaching for his wand—as a professor of herbalism, he didn't have a deep understanding of potions. If William had really taken the wrong potion, he would have to knock this new professor unconscious and stuff him with fecal matter.

Drinking the wrong potion is no small matter, especially an emotion potion like the euphoric potion, which is more serious than Muggle drunkenness or excessive drug use. A wizard going berserk is no joke.

'Theoretically, Professor Snape or another Potions professor would be better positioned to handle this, but I'm not sure if that bastard William will end up in the hospital for a few weeks to make it easier for Professor Snape to cover for him.'

Adams thought nervously, looking for an opportunity to draw his wand and cast a sleeping spell.

"fairy tale?"

Although William's reaction was somewhat unexpected by Adams, this absent-minded state made Adams feel that he had a chance.

"He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!"

To increase the power of the spell, Adams didn't even use a silent spell; he pulled out his wand and completed the spell almost the instant William lost his focus.

'I must say, this guy's way of placing his wand is quite useful.'

As this thought crossed his mind, a heavy, resounding incantation clanged.

Before Adams could even figure out what was happening, he found himself unable to keep his eyelids open any longer—with a thud, to William's astonishment, his dear friend Adams collapsed to the ground.

"I didn't receive any negative emotion cards from Adams. Does this mean the system can only process one-way cards?"

William, while retracting the Ironclad Charm, deftly dismounted Adams' wand—'What's wrong with this guy? Why is he suddenly trying to use a sleeping spell on me? Even if you have a particular preference, considering professional matters, shouldn't you at least use black tea?'

William suddenly stopped his hand, which was about to help Adams up, after he had unintentionally muttered this thought to himself.

It's alright to be disgusted with myself... but what is Adams trying to do? Why is he casting a spell out of nowhere?