From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Chapters 1-3: Dizzy Students

Just as William had feared, Hagrid paid no attention to the second victim—William even believed that he might not have known about the second chicken's death if Adams hadn't brought the news back to the castle.

So, aside from learning that the second rooster died in a similar posture to the first one, William received no useful information from Hagrid.

After declining Hagrid's invitation to go shopping together, William walked and pondered.

'Investigate the twins—I suspect my initial assumption is wrong; they have absolutely no reason to commit the crime a second time.'

Unlike last time when the whereabouts of the two were nowhere to be found, William knew very well how active the group of children under house arrest had been during their free time these past few days—they spent almost all their time together and knew each other's whereabouts very well. William only needed to call them over under the pretense of caring about the results of their investigation and ask them once, and he could easily deduce whether the two twins had the opportunity to commit the crime.

-

Good afternoon, Mr. Green.

William sat at his desk and greeted the somewhat nervous boy—perhaps because it was the first time he had been called to the office not for making a mistake, the boy was a little nervous.

Good afternoon, Professor.

"I think you received the note I sent you. I called you here today for no other reason than to ask how your investigation is going?"

As William spoke, he pushed a plate of candy towards her, trying to appear amiable and not reveal his true intentions.

"We investigated many secret passages and empty rooms, and even discovered a secret passage that hadn't been found before—" Green became very excited when talking about this, clearly showing that exploring the school's corners under the guise of investigation made them very excited.

“But Professor, we haven’t found any scenes like the cult rituals you described so far. There are no signs of outsiders approaching those places.”

He tried to keep his words from revealing any disappointment, but William could almost sense the boy's lack of confidence in the investigation—frankly, it was already quite an achievement that these troublemakers had maintained their enthusiasm for a week.

'My last investigation was too careless. Luckily, these kids have been keeping track, so this second investigation can eliminate many possibilities. It's time to boost their confidence—let's throw them a party to reward them.'

Professor McGonagall allocated a large sum of money for the compilation of the school history, and this money was allocated every year. The expenses for the banquet could be paid through the public account, just like the funds allocated to Percy. Although it would be unreasonable to give money to students who were in solitary confinement, it would be fine to reward them with a banquet for their excellent performance.

'Anyway, investigating paranormal phenomena on campus is a service provided to the school, so there's no problem using the same funding.'

Having made up his mind, William's smile became even more amiable. "You've investigated many places but still haven't found anything? That's a bit difficult—are you still investigating today?"

"Of course, Professor, we used almost all of our free time."

Green's tone was full of self-praise, clearly indicating that he was hoping to at least get credit for his hard work, even if he didn't achieve anything.

"So, are there any children who are particularly diligent? I don't mean to accuse some of them of not working hard. I've heard about the situation you've been investigating these past few days from Mr. Filch. I just want to know if there are any children who haven't had a break at all. I'm considering whether to reduce their detention time a bit more."

William threw out a carrot—if he asked who was slacking off, he would definitely hear a lie, but as for rewards, he wouldn't lie much unless he had a close relationship with them.

"Of course it's the Weasley brothers. They're always investigating until very late."

Green's answer was utterly direct—William had originally considered subtly hinting at it if the twins hadn't been mentioned, but now there was no need for that.

"They're so serious?" William feigned surprise, then stood up, leaning on the table for support. "Thank you, Green. Please inform the other investigators that I'm planning to host a party Saturday night to thank you for your work—well, the confinement period is lifted that day. I'll inform you of the location later. If you don't plan to do anything else after the confinement is lifted, I hope you can all come."

"banquet?"

Green was a little stunned, and the frustration he felt after a week of investigation that had found nothing vanished instantly.

"Of course, it's just a simple banquet to thank you for your hard work this week. And those who don't come don't have to be confined; I'll allow them to do what they want."

'Only a fool wouldn't go!'

The thought immediately popped into Green's mind—these students, who get no rewards all year round, are happy if the dean can just reduce their points by a few. How could they possibly miss a banquet specially organized for them!

Although the professor's face still held the same smile, Green immediately understood what the other girls meant by "Professor William's smile is very handsome".

'That smile is so handsome!'

This was the lingering thought in Green's mind as he didn't know how he left the office.

-

'Excluding the extremely unlikely possibility of the children covering for each other, the Weasley brothers' usual whereabouts can be confirmed—we'll verify this at tomorrow's banquet, and our previous assumptions will be overturned.'

William absentmindedly scribbled on the parchment with a quill pen, considering which side to investigate next.

"Also, there's the painting at night. The entrance to Gryffindor's common room is a painting. We could ask if anyone went in or out after lights out on Friday night, and incidentally rule out the Weasley brothers as the last suspects—but we'd probably have to discuss this with Professor McGonagall, otherwise the lady in the painting probably won't cooperate."

"Also, we need to figure out how to handle the banquet. I can't find enough servants. I could ask the house-elves for advice."

He stood up and rubbed his hair—things were in such a mess that he really didn't know where to begin.

'Kill the rooster, twice—he just won't kill the rooster. Wouldn't Hagrid and Adams just eat it?'

"Let's submit the application to Professor McGonagall first. We still need to inquire with the portrait specialist, and we should also investigate Mr. Filch's side. If we can't find any other avenues, we'll have to resort to the old-fashioned method. Hopefully, it won't be a waste of time."

William sighed, opened a chocolate bar, thought for a moment, then broke off only a small piece and put it in his mouth—he had a feeling he would be using up a lot of chocolate from now on.

'Hopefully this matter will be resolved soon. If things don't improve, I'm afraid I'll have to ask Singed for some of his latest products.'

Chapter 124 The investigation has reached a stalemate.

William, who had thought this investigation would be fruitless like the last one, was surprised to receive good news from Filch as soon as the investigation began.

"There wasn't any blood this time, just chicken feathers?"

"Yes, I carefully checked the ground outside the castle last night to make sure nothing was left there. It wasn't until I opened the gate the next day that I found chicken feathers there."

The conscientious administrator was quite certain that he had been paying extra attention to closing the castle gates these past few days because of the bloodstain incident on Monday.

“Great, Mr. Filch, we can now determine the time of the crime.”

William slapped the table excitedly, his voice filled with barely suppressed joy.

"If that troublemaker gets caught, I'll give him the best punishment—he must have gone through the secret passage, and I'll catch him."

"Trust me, it will be soon. I've already asked my students to investigate—"

"Entrusting the students? The prefects?"

"No, those students who are in solitary confinement, believe me, they want to catch that troublemaker even more."

Filch's face showed obvious conflict—he didn't quite agree with William's approach of using those errant students, but he also somewhat agreed that those guys were able to find the secret passage.

"Alright, let them try. If they don't find anything, they'll be locked up for a day. If they do find something, they'll be arrested anyway."

The administrator grumbled reluctantly, which made William almost chuckle, but he successfully covered it up by turning away to say goodbye.

"Well then, see you later, Mr. Filch. Wait for my good news. I have a brilliant idea, and if nothing goes wrong, we'll catch that guy in no time!"

William said goodbye and quickly left Filch's office.

'Going out in the middle of the night, and through a secret passage no less—isn't that just asking to be caught?'

-

William knocked on the door to Professor McGonagall's office.

"Please come in."

"Professor William?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed in surprise upon seeing William.

She only met William at lunchtime. Logically, if there was anything to discuss, it would have been at that time, even something like an application form. It was impossible for him to come over on Friday afternoon to submit it.

Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall.

"Please have a seat. Is there something urgent?"

"Professor McGonagall, I have two urgent matters to attend to. If I were to host a small banquet, does the university have any large, vacant spaces?"

“A banquet, a good choice.” Professor McGonagall smiled, a rare sight. “All professors’ offices can be enlarged with expansion spells, and there are no major limitations on the size. The food can also be purchased at a low price from the kitchen. In fact, professors often host banquets, and the house-elves will take care of everything.”

'Expansion Spell? Another one I haven't learned—if all else fails, I'll ask Adams for help. He can't beat me anyway, so if everyone embarrasses themselves, there's no embarrassment.'

William was already quite familiar with asking house-elves for help; it just goes to show that Hogwarts professors do indeed enjoy very high perks.

"Yes, there's one more thing."

"Please speak, Professor William." Although she usually wore a serious expression, Professor McGonagall's expression was noticeably relaxed at this moment—it was good that it wasn't anything urgent. As the Head of Gryffindor, if other professors suddenly sought her out, it was usually because one of her students had committed a serious offense, something that wouldn't even be enough to warrant solitary confinement.

"Well, how should I put it, Professor, this matter has to start from Monday."

"Monday?" Professor McGonagall paused, then remembered. "Monday—Professor William, you mean the big checkup that happened after Hagrid's chicken died?"

"Yes, Professor."

"They did it again?"

Professor McGonagall's answer was both helpless and worrying, revealing her familiarity with what she had done over the years.

"No, no, Professor, I can't be sure. I just wanted to do an investigation—after a week of investigation, I've roughly determined that the perpetrator must have slipped out of the castle through a secret passage at night and then left the chicken blood and feathers outside."

"So, Professor William, you want to investigate who was going in and out of the lounge at night?"

That's right.

“I’ll go with her too. She’s very stubborn. Apart from me and Albus, I doubt she’ll tell anyone else.”

'If he weren't stubborn, how could he possibly become the gatekeeper of the Gryffindor common room? What's the point of guarding a house's students if anyone can ask them anything?'

Unfortunately, William dared not say this.

-

"Professor McGonagall!"

The portrait of the fat lady was unusually enthusiastic when she saw Professor McGonagall, unlike the last time William came to call his students, when she had no intention of letting the professor in at all.

"good afternoon."

"Would you like to come in?"

The entrance to the lounge opened almost instantly after the question was asked.

"No, thank you. I'm not here to see any students today; I'm here to investigate something."

“I remember everything that has happened these past few days, Professor.”

"Thank you for your hard work, Madam Fat. Who went out after lights out on Monday night?"

"I remember it very clearly..."

The plump lady rattled off a long list of names without any intention of covering for the students.

"That's terrible. I guess Professor McGonagall usually turns a blind eye to this, but these kids really got themselves into trouble today."

William, the mastermind, was completely unaware that he had deliberately dragged Professor McGonagall into this investigation; he was only focused on listening to the intelligence reports from below.

By now, a number of children who had intended to go in had gathered around, but after discovering that Professor McGonagall was investigating, they all stood there dumbfounded, not even daring to whisper to each other.