From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"Not a curse?"

"It's not a curse."

Was the guess wrong?

Even if the Dark Lord didn't resurrect, the curse still had a killing effect? ​​Or perhaps it wasn't a curse at all?

After a long while, William looked up and asked a nonsensical question.

"Now that I'm in Azkaban, what about the potions I owe?"

“They investigated once and gave up after discovering you had entered Azkaban.”

Sure enough, although he tried his best not to let problems that were impossible to solve at the moment bother him, things wouldn't resolve themselves if left unattended—the debts the original owner owed weren't wiped clean once he entered Azkaban, and he would probably be forced to repay them as soon as he got out of prison. This was also why William eventually sold the manuscript.

Gamble on the curse and start on easy difficulty, or give up on the curse and start on high difficulty?

A difficult choice.

At that moment, a notification sound suddenly popped up in William's ear.

[You have gained the approval of a magical creature and received a treasure chest x1]

"Excuse me, give me a piece of paper and a pen. I need to think about it carefully."

In front of Dumbledore, William had no urge to open the treasure chest out of thin air. While waiting for paper and pen, he sat on the table and used writing and drawing to cover himself up. William then opened the treasure chest that had suddenly appeared.

A treasure chest inlaid with gold on a redwood base emitted colorful light in the air, and three dazzling cards inlaid with gold appeared with extremely flamboyant special effects.

【Dumbledore the Great Alchemist (SSR): Dumbledore has made amazing achievements in alchemy. He is the one who discovered the twelve uses of the famous dragon's blood.

Skill: Turn Stone into Gold: Tear up this card. In your next spellcasting, based on your mana and the size of the selected iron block, transform it into gold.

【Dumbledore, the Transfiguration Master (SSR); Everyone knows that Dumbledore was once a Transfiguration professor, but almost no one can guess just how powerful Dumbledore's Transfiguration skills were.

[Skill: Transformation Domain; Tear up this card to activate all objects in the room, transforming them into their most suitable form for combat, protecting the user from attacks or striking enemies. Duration depends on the user's mana.]

【Dumbledore the Dark Wizard (Special Card) (SSR): Almost no one remembers that Dumbledore was once obsessed with dark magic, let alone the miracles this genius created in dark magic.

Skill: Black Magic Researcher (Passive): Holding this card will allow you to maintain your peak condition for most of the time while researching Black Magic.

The last weight was dropped.

Note 1: When Professor Minerva McGonagall was unhappy with her job at the Ministry of Magic, she wrote to Hogwarts asking if she could become a teacher. Dumbledore, who was then the Head of the Transfiguration Department (yes, it was a school, but he was called the Head), responded, and the two became colleagues.

Therefore, we still cannot know the maximum number of professors for a course.

Chapter Sixteen: Release from Prison

It took Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall a long time to select three suitable candidates from among the prisoners.

After all, it's a selection process for professors. Even if we lower the bar to the level of selecting professors in Azkaban, we still have to eliminate unsuitable candidates first.

Serious offenders will definitely not be considered. Among those with minor offenses, thieves, swindlers, robbers, and those who came in because of issues related to relationships are even less acceptable.

Otherwise, how could William possibly have gotten a chance to step up in such a vast country as Azkaban?

While William was struggling with his decision, the two professors were also agonizing over it. Having created such a large spectacle, if the first three candidates all declined, they would have to choose again from those who had been rejected—which would only make things more complicated.

Fortunately, they got the answer quickly.

“I’ve figured it out, Professor Dumbledore.”

William took a deep breath to calm himself and said:

"But I have one condition: the name of this course must be changed. It can be called Self-Defense, Anti-Curse Research, or even Auror Basic Training or Crash Course in Striking, it has to be changed. My appointment letter, the class schedule, the students' class schedules, the new students' admission notices, and even the name used within the Ministry of Magic, all have to be changed to the new name."

"Of course, I will communicate with the Ministry of Magic. Well then, welcome to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore smiled and spread his hands out on the table.

-

The clothes that were taken from me when I went to jail, my wand that was confiscated, a few small items I was carrying, and a book.

These items, sealed in a box by magic, were brought over all at once and placed in front of William, exactly as they had been when they were taken away.

The batter became amiable. This guy, who had been specially instructed to help William complete the procedures for leaving prison, helped William complete all the formalities for leaving the prison, contacted a boat to leave this deserted island, and even thoughtfully gave William half an hour to say goodbye to his fellow inmates.

To be precise, the striker even asked William if he needed the Dementors to visit his cell beforehand and say goodbye to his fellow inmates, but William declined the suggestion.

Without taking any personal belongings, William returned to his cell with the help of his battering mate, drawing greetings from everyone in the cell.

"What do you mean? You're going to Hogwarts?"

The eldest one stood out the most, his face beaming with joy.

"Yes, we're going to Hogwarts."

The cell erupted in chaos, everyone's eyes filled with envy, wishing they could take their place immediately—for these mortals of Azkaban, nothing was more desirable than freedom.

William himself could no longer contain his emotions. In front of Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, the batter, and others, he felt as if his backside had been set on fire, and he could no longer suppress the urge to fly into the sky.

He simply stopped pretending and grinned, revealing a radiant smile he had never shown in either of his lives.

"We're going out now!"

He quickly ran to his bunk, ripped open the pillowcase, pulled out seven or eight pieces of candy he usually had left over, stuffed them directly into Big Guy's hand, and then threw the pillow far away onto Nine Fingers' bed.

He pulled out a few pages of diaries from the pile of manuscripts beside his pillow, gave the rest of the paper and manuscripts to the jailer, and then chuckled as he kicked his shoes to the new house-elf, Gold Coin.

When it was the guy's turn to talk back, he had nothing left to wear, so he simply took off his shirt and draped it over the guy: "Try to control your temper. Your sentence is so long, you'd better watch out if the new warden changes and you get beaten up again."

When the striker arrived at the appointed time to remind him, William went out barefoot and shirtless, carrying a money bag—containing all his savings and diary, plus thirty gallons given to him by the jailer, totaling a little over a hundred points. Along with the few pages of his diary, that was all he owned.

After taking a shower, throwing away his prison uniform, and changing into the clothes that had been taken from him when he entered prison, William was already floating on the ocean far away from Azkaban in less than an hour.

Two other prisoners, equally insane, were also released from prison at the same time as him.

The seasoned striker completely ignored the three Azkaban veterans and continued playing his cards.

By the time the three half-madmen were almost collapsing from exhaustion in the sea breeze, the ship had already docked.

The three were casually tossed onto the beach. The batter didn't even make sure they were standing properly before retracting the gangplank and sailing away on his own.

The three released prisoners looked at each other and realized that they hadn't even had a chance to introduce themselves before being thrown overboard—in that case, there was no need for introductions.

With two soft sounds, the two people William was released from prison at the same time, and who were unsure whether to call each other fellow inmates, had already vanished from the beach, leaving William alone behind.

Should I use a spell too?

Thinking of this, William subconsciously took out the wand that theoretically belonged to 'himself', but after holding it, he found that this wand was even worse than the wand that Dumbledore had borrowed from someone else last time, as if this wand was resisting his use.

However, he still managed to hold the wand firmly and then raised it.

Then, he froze on the spot.

Does he have any of the magic spells he's reviewing that can handle this situation?

No—although he understood Apparition, he had never tried it, and from the memories in his mind, he knew clearly how terrible it would be for someone who used this spell carelessly.

So why did he raise his wand?

Just as William was feeling stupid and deciding to stop this incredibly foolish act, a deafening roar suddenly rang in his ears.

With that loud bang, a bright light and two enormous wheels came to a stop in front of William.

A line of gold letters stood out starkly under the lights—Knight Bus.

This was a three-story bus, summoned by William's actions. The conductor was a chatterbox, and 'William' tried countless times to cast curses on him, but without success. William clearly remembered these things—because the original William frequently traveled on this bus, the fastest in all of Britain, in the six months before he went to prison.

"Welcome aboard the Knight Bus. This bus is for—oh, William, long time no see, my friend, how have you been?"

“What are you waiting for? Get on the bus, William. I’ve become a full-fledged ticket seller, about a week after we last met.”

"Where have you been making your fortune lately, William?"

……

"Just released from Azkaban, I'm going to Diagon Alley, thank you."

The car fell silent.

Chapter Seventeen: The Knight Bus

In fact, William had just come out of Azkaban and still had a strong desire to communicate.

But this ticket seller was different. In William's memory, this man could chat with strangers for three or four hours straight without stopping, and if he were to strike up a conversation with him, the consequences would be devastating.

Sure enough, not long after, the ticket seller named Sampak cautiously started the conversation again.

"Um, the fare is thirteen sisal."

William pulled a Galleon from his pocket and handed it over—despite knowing it many times, he still felt hopeless about the wizarding world's terrible currency exchange.

"If you add three Xico, you can get chocolate; if you add four, you can get a thermos and a toothbrush. You can choose the color."

After confirming that the currency in her hand was genuine, the ticket seller's speech became more fluent.

Add four more? That's a whole Gallon! Is this guy out of his mind?

Believing that bullying the mentally challenged was immoral, William took the chocolate and lay down on the bed with the change he received.

Yes—this bus has no seats at all, only berths like sleeper berths.

Its operation is not like that of a normal vehicle, but rather it jumps and leaps, each jump covering a distance of 100 miles.

William's excitement at being released from prison had worn off, and after a long boat ride, his joints were protesting vehemently. He found his berth, lay down, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

While he was in a deep sleep, the sound of a car door slamming suddenly rang in his ears, instantly waking William up and causing him to grip the headboard tightly.

Only then did he come to his senses and realize that the Dementors had not come to eat.

William breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that new passengers had boarded.

He reached into his clothes and grasped the wand that didn't seem to fit him at all, and a sense of security washed over him—like finding a flashlight in the dark.

Where are we?

"Arngrich, your hot chocolate is ready. Would you like some now? It's a delicious treat you can't get anywhere else."

William didn't respond. He picked up the cup to test the temperature and then gulped it down. Whether it was his imagination or the chocolate here was exceptionally good, after greedily drinking the whole cup, he even wanted a second one.

"It tastes good," William praised, taking advantage of his good mood to ignore the nagging in his ears, and simply looked out the car window to see how the flying car actually worked.