From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

“I’ve memorized these names. When they come back, I’ll have them report to my office.”

Professor McGonagall showed no mercy and sentenced those unfortunate souls to death.

"So, what about last night? Who tried to leave the lounge after lights out last night?"

The professor asked with a calm expression.

"No, Professor, no one has tried to go in or out."

The plump lady paused for a moment, as if recalling something, before finally giving a resolute answer.

"No?"

William exclaimed in surprise, but immediately realized something was wrong—by shouting like that, he was concluding that the culprit was in Gryffindor.

However, the same voice came from Professor McGonagall's mouth.

"No?"

For the first time, the professor's tone became uneasy, and she looked at the plump woman with suspicion, "Are you sure?"

“I am absolutely certain that after the lights were turned off last night, no one tried to leave the lounge, and no one went in.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Although the students around her looked on with curiosity, Professor McGonagall quickly composed herself.

"Everyone, stop crowding around and go back to the lounge—Professor William, come with me for a moment."

Chapter 125 You Don't Understand Gryffindor

William was still a little dazed when he got to Professor McGonagall's office.

'Not Gryffindor? Then who could it be?'

He wasn't surprised that the investigation had gone wrong—having seen so many prisoners in Azkaban, he had no preconceived notions about any particular academy, since he had seen prisoners from every academy.

Just as William was pondering how to investigate the comings and goings of the other colleges' lounges, Professor McGonagall, having confirmed that the office door was closed, suddenly erupted in anger.

"Unprecedented! Attacking the lounge guards! Erasing their own itinerary with a confusion spell or something! What are these upperclassmen bastards trying to do?!"

"They arrived late for the first day of school! They formed a group to cause trouble! They ransacked the administrator's office! And it's only been less than a month since school started!"

...

"I'm sorry, Professor William, you must be laughing at me."

The already stern and intimidating vice principal gave William the feeling of "keep away" when he lost his temper—in that instant, he even felt that he had discovered something more terrifying than a Dementor.

Fortunately, perhaps having developed enough self-control from being angered by the Gryffindor students, the professor gradually calmed down after his outburst.

"Confusion Charm?"

William finally had time to ask his question.

It wasn't that he didn't know about the Confusion Charm, but he genuinely couldn't understand how Professor McGonagall had figured it out.

Although traces of magical use can be traced, this is clearly ineffective against the guards of the lounge—the number of times the lounge was opened that day alone is enough to erase all evidence. Perhaps a wizard could see it, but that would definitely not be William.

"Of course, it's a confusion spell or some other spell, and it was used from inside the lounge. Unless Albus himself takes action, no one can break through the lounge's protective magic head-on."

Having regained her composure, Professor McGonagall was finally able to sit down, and she used her wand to pull another chair over for William opposite her.

"Please have a seat, Professor William."

William sat down expectantly—he was genuinely curious how Professor McGonagall had been able to discern the effects of the Confusion Charm, which had been worn away by countless magical movements.

This isn't something you can read about in a magic book; even if he studied on his own for another year, he still wouldn't be able to access such advanced techniques.

"Kill the rooster, let it bleed, evil priest, Professor William, do you have any suspects?"

“At first, I suspected it was a Weasley brothers' prank, but they had no motive to do it again, and the questioning just now eliminated the time they could have committed the crime. But if a Confusion Charm was involved, then these deductions are invalid. However, Professor—how did you figure out that the Fat Lady's portrait was decorated with a Confusion Charm or something similar?”

Professor McGonagall considered it for a moment, and then quickly came to a conclusion.

"It shouldn't be them. I know the Weasley brothers' strength. They can't unleash such a powerful Confusion Charm. They are very smart, but they have their minds on other things. As for the Confusion Charm, I can only say that Professor William, you don't understand Gryffindor very well."

Professor McGonagall gave a rather forced smile—clearly, she didn't seem particularly proud of it.

"Don't understand? There are two in our cell, one in the left one, two in the right one, and one in the cell opposite. I've been in prison with them for over half a year now. You're telling me I don't understand?"

Perhaps sensing William's confusion, Professor McGonagall added to her statement.

“In Gryffindor, it’s normal for students to sneak out. It would be more intriguing if no one came out. Those kids would sneak out and wander around the castle even the night before the OWLs exams. How could there be a night when no one came out?”

"What's more, Wood didn't leave my office until lights out last night—that kid applied a week ago to use his hospital fees to buy a few Nimbuses, saying that $2000 for a Nimbus would be enough!"

'A light wheel?'

William paused for a moment, then immediately remembered that it was the famous flying broomstick brand—without a doubt, Professor McGonagall had not approved it.

'I think I'm still using funds to treat students to meals, isn't that a bit too...' An unrelated thought floated through William's mind—although he knew he should be serious, he just couldn't bring himself to be nervous.

Although he is still at a loss about the attack, Vice-Headmaster Professor McGonagall has approved his investigation, which means that Dumbledore, known as the First White Wizard, will most likely also be involved.

Even though he knew that it was better to rely on himself than to ask others for help, William still felt like he had suddenly found a powerful backer—the matter of a student killing a chicken couldn't possibly be more difficult to handle than getting someone out of Azkaban, right?

"Professor William, do you have other suspects?"

While William was lost in thought, Professor McGonagall, seeing his relaxed expression, couldn't help but ask a question.

"Other suspects? Hmm—if they're upperclassmen, then it's most likely a sixth-year student."

William, whose thoughts had been interrupted, quickly gave his answer: he had already had doubts when he ruled out the Weasley brothers.

"Fifth-grade students shouldn't have time to commit crimes. When I assigned homework, I checked the homework for other subjects to make sure they had enough time to complete it. But after completing those assignments, I don't think they would be able to do anything else. The homework has been collected. Although there is slight plagiarism, it's not the kind of copying that happens all the way through. Fifth-grade students don't have time to commit crimes."

"Plagiarism?"

Professor McGonagall's eyes turned cold.

"A small portion of the information is understandable, Professor."

William quickly explained, and Professor McGonagall's expression softened considerably.

"For seventh graders, it would be easy for them to apply for an internship. It wouldn't be worth the risk of killing Hagrid's chicken to get blood from a rooster. But I don't rule out the possibility that someone might want to do something big before graduation."

"In other words, Professor William, your opinion is to focus on screening sixth- and seventh-grade students."

"Yes, that's true, Professor, but we can't rule out the possibility that it was committed by lower-grade students."

William inexplicably thought of the description on the Professor Snape card he had drawn—that before enrolling, he possessed a curse that most graduates did not have.

"You mean, erasing everyone's records with a Confusion Charm might be done by low-level students who don't really understand school matters?"

"Well, I don't rule out the existence of geniuses. If it were Headmaster Dumbledore, I believe he would have had this ability in his first year."

“But there’s only one Albus—” Professor McGonagall smiled, a rare occurrence. “However, if you insist, we can ask Professor Lockhart if there’s any lower-year student who has shown remarkable talent in Magical Self-Defense class.”

Chapter 126: I don't know what happened, but I'm awesome!

"Dong dong."

A knock sounded at the door, but before Professor McGonagall could say "Come in," the person at the door had already spoken in his distinctive tone.

"Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall. Lockhart has come to visit at your invitation."

'Professor Lockhart is as outgoing as ever.'

As William sat there frantically trying to figure out if he'd missed something, he couldn't help but envy the professor outside the door—ignorance can be blissful sometimes, especially knowing about this curse.

'It's one thing if he doesn't know, but in terms of individual strength, if the curse were to take effect, I'd probably be the first one to suffer—'

I'm so angry.

"Please come in."

Professor McGonagall had adjusted her mindset and her tone had returned to its usual calm. However, William couldn't help but feel that there was some disdain in Professor McGonagall's eyes, whether it was his imagination or not.

Before William could think it through, the office door opened. Professor Lockhart was dressed in pink today, but he didn't look effeminate at all. Instead, he made a very eye-catching impression, which made William admire him. In terms of dressing, Professor Lockhart was probably the best among all the teachers and students, including the principal.

“Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall—ah, Professor William, you’re here too. It seems you’re also trying your best to persuade Professor McGonagall. Thank you so much, Professor William.”

Can I take back my comment?

Are you sure you graduated from Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor?

So you have the same regrets as Gryffindor?

“Hogwarts has no precedent for this. No headmaster would agree to lift detention just because of a dinner party.” Professor McGonagall’s businesslike expression immediately reminded William of Lockhart’s persuasion.

"It's not canceled, just postponed, Professor. What a charming September; it would be a shame not to hold the banquet now."

William wanted to complain about this, but considering that he had also applied for the dinner to win over the students who were doing the work, he kept quiet.

"Alright, there's no need to discuss this anymore—if Professor Lockhart really thinks it's a pity, the banquet can be held on a regular evening when there are no classes."

Professor McGonagall made a rare, slightly conciliatory remark, but before Lockhart could even consider the feasibility of implementing it, she quickly raised a new question.

"Actually, today I want to do a little survey to see if there are any students in the lower grades who perform exceptionally well in their courses."

Whether it was because the question was too difficult, or because Professor Lockhart was preoccupied with the banquet, William, who had been eagerly awaiting the answer, was unusually stunned to see Professor Lockhart's award-winning smile become slightly blank.

"Performed exceptionally well?"

Lockhart repeated the question, like a student caught daydreaming in class.

“Yes, that’s quite outstanding. It must be Hermione, yes, Hermione Granger.”

Professor Lockhart's answer, as if grasping at a straw, was seriously inappropriate, but neither William nor Professor McGonagall paid any attention to it.

The familiar name stunned William—this was the student whose name he had memorized on the first day of school, and the spell that had knocked down the Ministry of Magic staff was still fresh in his memory.

Could it be her?

The idea popped into William's mind, and he began to think about the doubts.

As for abilities, the girl whom Hagrid called the top student in her grade definitely has them, and the cards he drew earlier also indirectly showed just how terrifying the potential of that second-year student was.

【赫敏·格兰杰；学习2/魔法1/魔药1/黑魔法1/变形术1…】

Following that is a whole bunch of level 0 mastery cards. Just by looking at the cards, you can tell just how high this little girl's abilities are. For most wizards, they never even get to learn how to compete based on potential.

Contact with strange rituals—that's also quite possible.

It's perfectly reasonable for a Muggle-born girl to begin studying Muggle mysticism after confirming the existence of magic, and to try to use that knowledge to maintain her status as the top student in her grade.