From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Ginny smiled and picked up the tattered crown—it had originally been worn on the head of an old male wizard statue, and it looked like the three items combined wouldn't even cost a single sigil.

'My most precious treasure is just this piece of junk?'

The girl's disgust suddenly kicked in; she couldn't quite understand why she had happily put such a tattered thing on her head.

But the memories in her mind told her that this was her most precious treasure, more precious than her eyeballs.

'I think I've been here before? No, I've been here many times?'

The headache made it impossible for her to continue thinking, so she immediately put the thing that was tormenting her on her head.

The cool touch made her feel as if she were immersing herself in seawater in summer—no, it should be like immersing herself in a hot spring in winter. The sensation was different, but it didn't cause her any discomfort.

"How dare you! How dare I?"

The voices in my mind seemed to start arguing, but then they subsided as a gentle warmth emanated from the tattered crown above my head.

'It seems like a spell I cast? No—I've touched it many times, but how could I bear to?'

The chaotic memories began again, but the voice in my head appeared just in time.

"You should run away. Take your most precious treasure and sneak out of this school."

"Yes, that's right, through a secret passage, a secret passage that no one knows about."

What am I doing?

Another voice rose from the depths of her heart; it was her own voice.

"Isn't the other voice furious? Doesn't he want to kill Filch? Didn't he bring me here once?"

"No, I've been here many times. I noticed it from the first day of school—"

The chaotic memories made Ginny feel like her head was about to split open. A sudden burning sensation came from the crown, suppressing the voice that was rising in her heart.

'Yes, it's time to go, it's time to go!'

She stood up and removed the crown from her head—a difficult act, as if she were pulling someone out of a winter bed.

With a hint of reluctance, she clutched the crown and rushed towards the door. The secret passage was very, very close; all she had to do was—

"He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!"

...

"Faint and collapsed!" Several almost consecutive incantations struck her the moment the voice rang out—

'Finally, they've stopped arguing…'

These were Ginny's last thoughts as she fainted.

-

"We've got him! We've got him!"

The person hidden in the shadows jumped out.

"See? I told you so. If there were secret passages or secret rooms, there would definitely be obvious signs around them. Otherwise, there would be no way to find them."

"Come on, it was clearly the twins who found the ornament on the floor here, and then thought this place fit the environment of a secret passage, so they staked it out."

“What I said is also correct, Weasley, don’t you agree?”

The one who was refuted turned around irritably and looked at the one who had made the greatest contribution to the search.

However, the Weasley brothers remained silent, exchanging surprised glances.

Is there a problem?

Before the person asking the question could finish speaking, someone who couldn't contain themselves had already rushed over to take a look at the person who had been knocked down—"My God, a first-year student, Weasley's sister!"

'Could they have arrested the wrong person?'

Such thoughts came to most people's minds—many people guessed that the ones who had the time to commit such a big crime must be the seventh graders who were about to graduate, but the first graders had been playing them for so long, which was really unacceptable to them.

"It shouldn't be her, right?"

Finally, someone raised this issue, but it was met with clear opposition.

"Of course it's her! My little sister—we've never discovered that secret room before!"

Fred said in a rather proud tone.

"Should we hand her over to the professor?"

"Of course, otherwise what would we have worked so hard for? It's just killing two chickens, and we can just lock them up for half a month. It's like taking the first Gryffindor lesson in advance."

George's matter-of-fact answer drew cheers and whistles from the crowd.

-

In the office, William was giving orders to the prefect, who had been summoned by the portrait—he knew very well which should take priority: Mr. Filch's investigation or the arrest of the suspect.

"Prefects, stand in pairs, one in front of the other, and do not separate at will. Although Miss Weasley is only a first-year student, her spellcasting skills are almost at the level of a graduate. Although it is not clear whether this is due to talent or some other reason, I hope you will not underestimate her just because she is a first-year student."

"Each of the seventh-year prefects should recommend two capable individuals. I will inform them to cooperate in the search operation. Upon finding Miss Weasley, immediately use spells such as Stunning Charm or Petrifying Charm to subdue her. Her control magic might even easily overpower an adult wizard like her, so you must be on high alert..."

This order caused the prefects to turn their attention to Gryffindor—Percy was looking completely bewildered.

'Miss Weasley? My sister? Take down an adult wizard?'

The professor's remarks were so frightening that he even forgot to question why Ginny was being hunted down.

Just as he mustered the courage to ask his question, there was a knock on the office door.

"Professor! It's us!"

A commotion arose outside the door, but Percy clearly heard the voices of his two brothers who had brought shame upon the family.

"We've caught the murderer! It's Ginny!"

The twins' cheerful voices came from outside the door.

Chapter 140 Parchment and Crown

The murderer has been caught! It's Ginny!

The shouts from outside caught William off guard.

He already knew that the murderer was Ginny, but I was just organizing the arrest team when you suddenly brought her here?

The class leaders didn't look too good either—a week into the semester, something big was finally happening, and before the atmosphere could even be built up, it was already over?

Although William was still a little curious, the most important thing now was to confirm that Ginny Weasley had been caught—"Come in."

The eager students filed in, with the Weasley brothers at the very back. They were smugly controlling an unconscious little girl with their wands—her fiery red hair immediately confirmed William's identity.

'If she hasn't taken the compound decoction, then it's definitely Ginny. It's a pity I don't have any on hand; perhaps I should prepare some next time.'

As he thought this, William used his wand to summon long, soft bandages—the best way to restrain someone without hurting them.

Where is her magic wand?

"Professor, I'm here."

George pulled Ginny's wand from his person, which slightly improved William's impression of the Weasleys—putting aside his tendency to cause trouble, his attentiveness alone suggested a promising future.

"Put it on that table over there, and another Weasley, help me get the kid onto my desk."

Percy, feeling dizzy, pulled out his wand, but when he got to the table, Ginny had already been neatly placed on the desk.

“Percy, oh, sorry—” William nodded apologetically, glancing at the nearly full office.

'I should have put learning the Unseen Expansion Charm on my agenda sooner,' he thought to himself as he called out to everyone, 'Alright, children, you can disperse now. It's almost over. Thank you for your participation. I will pass this on to Professor McGonagall. Please leave now. The punishment for first-year students needs to be kept confidential.'

The prefects quickly obeyed and left. The remaining children, though somewhat reluctant to leave and wanting to watch the drama unfold, could only leave the office looking back every few steps, as their confinement was still in William's hands.

William finally breathed a sigh of relief after securing Ginny firmly to the table with bandages.

"what is that?"

He spotted the crown in George's hand immediately.

“The thing Ginny always carries with her—” George replied cheerfully, “I guess that’s why she has to kill a rooster to do some strange ritual.”

He and Fred were quite curious about what this thing was, but William's repeated warnings made them give up the idea—a ritual using blood seemed more than just a prank, not to mention there was a professor who was keeping a close eye on it.

“Great! I really want to give Gryffindor some points, but I can’t do that outside of class time,” William praised the two with a smile, then pulled out a chair. “I’ll put it at work. Although it’s not doing anything right now, just to be safe, I shouldn’t touch it. I’m not sure if I’ll be controlled if I touch it.”

'Is that even a saying?'

The twins looked at each other and saw a spark of inspiration in each other's eyes.

“Percy, could you please go find Professor McGonagall? She should be in the owlhouse.” William turned around and gave Percy a task.

"Okay, Professor."

Percy turned and left.

"Professor McGonagall?" the two asked in unison, then suddenly realized, "Those prefects, were they the ones you sent to find Ginny?"

"Of course, this is Professor McGonagall's instruction."

“But Ginny only killed two chickens!” The two men turned pale instantly; they never expected things to turn out this way.

Although they didn't know what had happened, it was no small matter that had alarmed Professor McGonagall—if they had known that Ginny had caused such a big mess, they wouldn't have been so happy to send Ginny here.

"Relax, it's nothing serious. She attacked Mr. Filch, and she's likely being controlled. I'll try to persuade Professor McGonagall to give her a lenient sentence."

William gently comforted the two brothers—whether or not they were under control, he would try his best to persuade them not to go so far as to be expelled. He had been to Azkaban and knew very well how many people who were expelled from school ended up in that prison.

But he soon realized he hadn't offered any comfort—the two little rascals looked at him with the same "that's my sister" expression after hearing that Ginny had attacked Mr. Filch.

Alright, you win.

William gave up trying to persuade him and began to observe the crown from a distance.

Seriously, this thing is way too dilapidated.

-

“Professor William, it’s me, Minerva McGonagall.”

There was a very clear knock on the door, followed by Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Please come in, Professor."