From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

“Pfft, haha, of course not—if it bit me, Professor Snape would jump into the Black Lake.” Adams spat out the candied fruit and quickly cleaned it up with his wand, waving his hands as he spoke, “It’s a big dog with three heads.”

"The one the old professor said he'd show me?"

William remembered the old professor's joke; it must be that one.

"So you should know, William, that Hagrid is a pretty good magical creature keeper. If he wants to guard something, even Mystic won't be able to do anything about it for a while."

Adams had a smug look on his face.

"My average height is over two meters, just like Yao Ming's?"

"And you, Adams, what mechanism did you make?"

William did not hesitate to reopen old wounds.

"Um, well, I made a devil's web, the professor and I did it together, it's a huge devil's web—" Adams stammered.

The professor he was referring to was the dean of Hufflepuff, but William estimated that the main force was probably not on Adams' side.

"And then it was cracked?"

"Who would have thought that a first-year student would master such an obscure plant as Devil's Web?" Adams said dejectedly. "Isn't Hagrid's Cerberus the same? Whether it's magical creatures or deadly herbs, as long as you have the relevant information, even a first-year student can be easily dealt with."

"First grade?"

“Yes, it’s Hermione Granger, the current number one in the second year.” Adams looked like he was questioning reality. “That stuff isn’t on the exams, and even graduates don’t know much about it!”

'There is a textbook for self-defense, but it only covers how to deal with certain situations—and that's advanced level material. After all, it's about wild plants, and those who didn't pass the exam didn't even get to learn about it.'

William rubbed his forehead.

He now finally understands how obscure and difficult his questions were—by the way, Adams, you clearly never took an advanced self-defense course.

"Anyway, those roosters are safe for now," Adams patted his chest confidently. "We can't expect Potter to come and steal them with his friends after Miss Weasley, can we?"

……

The two talked about protective magic for almost two hours before stopping.

"Oh my god, those mushrooms need to collect spores. It'll only be effective at dusk. William, I have to go to the greenhouse," Adams glanced at the sky and hurriedly stood up. "See you later, William!"

Adams hurriedly left the office and closed the door behind him, the sound making William burst out laughing.

“This guy,” William said happily, peeling off a piece of chocolate and popping it into his mouth.

“What’s with all the secrecy?” William shook his head. “You came all this way just to talk about this, didn’t you?”

He deliberately stirred up the topic and then rambled on about all sorts of random things. Most of this information should have been strictly confidential among the professors, but Adams revealed almost everything he knew.

'I've been approved,' William said, pulling out a new parchment and taking out his quill.

Without a doubt, although he and Adams had a certain friendship, openly violating the gag order and revealing a name that could cause chaos was something Adams was not someone who would do. At most, Adams would give him some materials and tell him to be careful of his surroundings and be aware of danger.

'Finally, the headmaster has given his approval. Otherwise, how could he have revealed the details of the previous professor's death so easily? Adams probably got permission from Dumbledore when he went to talk to him, and then he found an excuse to come and tell me all this.'

'The Philosopher's Stone,' William couldn't help but write down the name, 'that Dumbledore would actually destroy it. No wonder he wanted to destroy the diadem too; he's a complete destruction maniac.'

William couldn't help but rub his face, trying to shake off the heartache.

Although the precious stone wasn't his, he was still heartbroken—'So the Philosopher's Stone really isn't just a legend. Perhaps I could dabble in alchemy or something? I just don't know if I have the talent…'

'It's too late for regrets now—the Dark Lord actually attacked Hogwarts when Harry Potter was a first-year student!'

"Speaking of which, if they'll come again later, then now that it's the second year, there probably won't be another one, right?"

William's relaxed state of mind, which had been relaxed after the crown was found, suddenly became unstable, and he became nervous.

'etc?'

'The Dark Lord?'

William sensed something was wrong—'Dumbledore said he couldn't withstand the Crown's magic, and the Dark Lord might be up to something this year—could the Crown have been left behind by the Dark Lord?'

'Perhaps—a crown can bestow unparalleled wisdom.'

'For wizards, besides talent, the most important thing is wisdom. Without talent, there's no way to learn; without wisdom, one cannot improve quickly.'

"I believe that if the crown belongs to the Dark Lord, then his enhancement must have been made very effective use of it. Just like the old professor said, he solved the problem that had been troubling him for a very short time after putting it on."

'Even Dumbledore studied at Hogwarts for seven years, and his exam records are still available. What about the Dark Lord? Did he study at Hogwarts? Or was he, like me, a wild wizard?'

'If he were to study at Hogwarts, what would his name be?'

William's eyes lit up—he thought of the name Helena had suggested.

'Tom?'

'Could that Tom be the Dark Lord?'

'Did he use the crown to become a master of dark magic?'

"I have the information here. I need most of the data for compiling the school history—the Dark Lord's henchmen during his rise to power, the original Death Eaters, and the people from those years. See if Tom's name is on it!"

Chapter 156 Tom, the Master of Curses

'I got a bunch of copies from Mr. Filch for the students to copy; I never imagined I'd be using them myself.'

Looking at the thick stacks of copies of records from previous years piled up in the corner of the room, William couldn't help but sigh.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to find the information he needed from this terrifying pile of documents. Instead, he locked the door and headed straight for Dumbledore's office. He had read too many stories of people discovering clues and then being killed while searching for them. He didn't want to be the one to do it.

"Tell Dumbledore my guess first, and then I'll confirm it—" William gripped his wand in one hand and walked toward Dumbledore's office with utmost caution.

This is no small matter like the dead rooster from last time; it involves that Dark Lord, so going to the principal is definitely the right thing to do.

-

"Principal, are you there?"

William knocked cautiously on the door. Although this office was theoretically the safest place in the entire magical world, countless people had fallen in the final moments before victory.

Fortunately, when the door opened, it was Dumbledore's face that appeared.

"Professor William?"

The first white wizard smiled with a hint of doubt. "You've come too?"

What does "也" mean?

When William curiously glanced inside through the door, he immediately understood what was going on—the office was packed with professors.

There weren't enough chairs in the principal's office, and many professors were standing. As William looked inside the door, these professors were also staring at him from outside.

'By the way, Adams pushed all the professors who were curious about the crowns to Dumbledore's side!'

William immediately recalled his earlier conversation with Adams—there was no doubt that Adams had done a very good job.

But the problem that was originally resolved is very likely to continue to be a source of stress. A room full of professors is definitely not here to catch up with the principal—especially since some of them don't even teach classes. Let alone catch up, they probably don't care much if the principal changes.

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, I'd like to speak with you about my personal salary."

Looking at the room full of professors, William instinctively started lying through his teeth—he really couldn't take the ball being kicked back by Dumbledore.

The matter of private salaries is confidential enough that no one else would have the desire to interfere. As long as Dumbledore isn't determined to pass the buck to me, I have enough excuse to have a private chat.

"Salary?" Dumbledore looked surprised, but quickly recovered. "Well, but I'm afraid I don't have much time."

"It's alright, Professor, it'll only take a little while."

The two left the principal's office one after the other and stopped in the corridor.

'That's about it—I'll accept it if my conversation with Dumbledore at Hogwarts can be overheard.'

“Professor, I suddenly have a very interesting guess today.” William stopped and whispered his guess, “Do you think that Tom, the Tom Miss Helena mentioned, could be related to the Dark Lord?”

“A very interesting guess,” Dumbledore said to William in a relaxed tone. “Although it is just a guess, I can tell you, Professor William, that you are very close to the truth.”

“But—” Dumbledore’s tone suddenly turned serious. “You shouldn’t have investigated those things, Professor William. You are still young, and he is far more cunning than you think. Ever since Voldemort became famous, countless wizards have tried to trace his past, but without exception, they all died.”

"Dead?" William frowned.

“He even cursed his own name, and when he was at the height of his power, many in the wizarding world could only call him the Mysterious One.” Dumbledore looked at William seriously. “Although such news would cause panic if it were to spread, I have to tell you now that he did not die.”

"Similarly, the Ministry of Magic's manhunt more than a decade ago was not entirely successful; too many of his admirers are lurking in the wizarding world," Dumbledore said, his tone anything but relaxed. "To become his enemy, you'll encounter far more difficulties than you think."

"But the magical world still has old guys like me, so I think I'm trustworthy, right?"

Although he spoke in a joking tone, Dumbledore's eyes were full of seriousness.

This was not a threat, but protection—William knew this very well.

“You are right, Professor.”

William nodded in agreement.

“Then it’s settled, Professor William. Well, I think the OWLs exam results this year should be very good—” Dumbledore’s expression softened, “This is a consensus between Minerva and me.”

-

'Dumbledore thought of that?'

William was making guesses in his office—although he had verbally agreed to Dumbledore's request, he had not completely given up on his plans.

When it comes to his own life, although Dumbledore can be completely trusted, it's not William's style to just sit idly by without doing any investigation.

'But Dumbledore's warning must be remembered. Dumbledore can conduct all sorts of investigations, target all sorts of individuals, and even boldly present his ideas to give others confidence, but he is Dumbledore.'

'I'm afraid we can't openly search for information anymore, nor can we ask other professors, Death Eaters...'

William had heard the most terrifying rumors about the Death Eaters in Azkaban—the chief who could blow up a street with a single spell was a legend even in Azkaban.

'To maintain self-awareness while living under the noses of Dementors for 24 hours a day, and not even being allowed to go outside... Do such beings still exist outside?'

However, William himself could answer this question—in his limited memory, there was indeed such a person, a Death Eater who infiltrated Hogwarts and orchestrated the resurrection of the Dark Lord.

"You distracted me from the movie!" William wanted to slap himself. "Everyone else was watching the movie, but you were looking at people. You couldn't even remember the plot, let alone all those random names!"

'The castle may not be safe; who knows how many Death Eaters have infiltrated?'

'Wait, Professor Snape!'

William recalled the card he had drawn. 'Is the system hinting that he's a Death Eater?'

'We can't jump to conclusions. Dumbledore trusted Professor Snape, otherwise he wouldn't have made him Head of the House—but I'm certain that there were Death Eaters in the school when Professor Snape was a student.'

'I had to be careful with my research; I couldn't tell anyone—luckily, Professor Binns and I had already collaborated on compiling the school history, so my own research wouldn't arouse suspicion.'