When a group of Gryffindors rushed excitedly to the common room entrance, William was sowhat startled by their enthusiasm.
This is way too much, isn't it? Sure, I know your usual deanor is definitely different from when you're in detention, but isn't this reaction a bit exaggerated?
If students sneaking around Filch's office moved like rabbits, then their pace during detention in the classroom was more akin to sloths. But now, what William saw was a group of monkeys that had been caged for seven or eight days, finally set free to play wildly.
What he didn't know was that at Hogwarts, detentions were common, postponing detentions was rare, and canceling detentions; Well, that was almost the stuff of legends.
Especially after William had given a grueling test to a group of students during their last detention. His brand of detention had been unanimously ranked as one of the most excruciating by Hogwarts students. To get out of a week of his detentions was no small matter.
"Everyone's here? Let's go. It's not appropriate to talk in the crowded hallway. Let's find an empty classroom."
With a bright smile, William greeted the students and turned toward his own classroom.
"Professor, there are students from other Houses—"
"Oh, them? They're not serving detention under , so I have no authority to cancel their punishnt."
William didn't even look back as he spoke to the student behind him.
***
"Alright, find an empty seat and sit down."
Standing at the lectern, William addressed the group of students gathering around him.
Once everyone had found a spot, William rubbed his hands together with a smile, interlocked his fingers, and bent slightly forward, his gaze fixed on the students below.
"This is a bit complicated. Let think about how to explain it to you."
"Just as you've heard, if we succeed in this matter, everyone present; those serving detention with or those I sent to Mr. Filch, can have one week of detention waived. There's no doubt about that. However—"
William dragged out his tone, not giving the students below a chance to cheer. Those who frequently found themselves in detention knew well that whenever the word "however" appeared, it signaled a considerable challenge ahead. One by one, they perked up their ears, waiting for the twist in William's words.
"However, because this matter is so easy to exploit for loopholes, I must emphasize that if anyone tries to imitate this situation in future punishnts, I guarantee they'll think expulsion is a pleasant outco."
William's gaze swept seriously across the students in the room. While a professor wasn't supposed to view students through a prejudiced lens, he was fully aware that if he assigned this particular group a stack of assignnts every weekend, Hogwarts' rule-breaking incidents could drop by at least eighty percent.
Such warnings were usually hollow and ineffective, sothing only a seasoned professor like McGonagall could successfully deliver. Yet today, the troublemakers in the room found an unusual level of credibility in William's unspoken threat.
"Yes, Professor."
After William's gaze scanned half the classroom, the students responded in hushed tones.
"Good. Very good."
Although the response lacked enthusiasm or energy, William was surprisingly satisfied with it.
"Now, let briefly explain what happened. This morning, all the Houses experienced an early inspection. I suspect all of you know the details better than I do, so I won't elaborate."
William flexed his fingers slightly, steadying his tone.
"You may have all kinds of guesses, but I won't keep you guessing here. Between last night and this morning, sothing happened at the school. It wasn't serious, and frankly, it sounds a little ridiculous. Soone attacked a rooster."
The mont William said that, the students couldn't maintain their serious expressions anymore. No matter how hard William tried to suppress the humor of it, the absurdity of the matter itself was enough to make people laugh.
He paused for half a minute, giving the students ti to calm down a bit. "Alright, now that you've had your laugh, let's move on. While it might seem laughable to search the common rooms over an incident involving a rooster, the school's reaction shows how seriously this is being taken—because bloodstains were found dripping near the castle entrance."
"Although the evidence is still unclear, I strongly suspect that a student snuck out, killed that rooster, and what I need you to do is help find the student responsible for it."
This ti, the lively atmosphere in the classroom couldn't hold. Mobilizing so many people just to find a chicken?
If it were to find a live rooster, that might make so sense, but finding the culprit who killed a rooster?
If it weren't for the fact that William was a professor, and one who had personally overseen their most unforgettable detentions, these students might have already been thinking about teasing him. After all, this sounded utterly absurd. At Hogwarts, a school of this size, the number of chickens killed in the kitchens daily was staggering.
Frankly, if first-years were tasked with naming every chicken that ended up in the kitchens, most of them would run out of vocabulary halfway through.
"Yes; A single dead chicken hardly seems worth all this trouble. And the culprit didn't even steal the carcass, so it doesn't seem like a big deal," William said, laughing lightly alongside the students.
"But what if I told you that solving this would reduce your detentions by one week?"
The laughter died down, replaced by attentive silence.
"I don't know how many of you have studied certain magical texts. So of them are harmless, only giving the reader a fleeting curiosity. But others—well, they can cost soone their very life."
"I suspect the rooster's blood was taken by the culprit, who intends to use it for one of those so-called magical rituals described in such books, or so other foolish endeavor. Even though I'm not your regular professor, I feel it's my duty to warn you that such things are extrely dangerous!"
"Yes, I know so of you might think I'm implying sothing here. And while it may seem excessive for a professor to say this, I can't help but suspect the culprit might be... among you."
The students visibly stiffened. Being falsely accused was never a pleasant experience.
"Don't get upset, don't get upset, kids. I know this feels like an accusation, but the truth is, there aren't many people who could sneak out of the castle without triggering Mr. Filch's wards. While my suspicion may seem excessive, I'm not planning to carry out so witch hunt to identify the culprit. After all, this school may have others who know even more about secret passages and hidden rooms than you do."
"That's impossible! In this school, not even Filch knows more about the castle's secrets than the Weasley twins!"
A student shouted indignantly, as if that statent was a greater insult than the earlier accusation.
"Humility, child," William said, glancing at the student. He thought to himself; At a ti like this, why throw the twins under the bus?
"Well, if anything I've said has offended you, I apologize. But here's the situation; I suspect so unlucky soul or perhaps a reckless adventurer, has decided to trust the nonsense written in a book and attempted to recreate so unverified ritual here at Hogwarts. What I need from you is to help find that person, or at least locate the place where they tried to use rooster blood for their ritual."
"You need to look for soone who seems distracted all the ti, soone behaving strangely, or perhaps search the hidden passages for any bloodstains or strange patterns drawn with rooster blood."
"Of course, as I ntioned at the beginning, this is the only ti such actions will be dealt with leniently. If I hear of anyone attempting to imitate or fake this, they'll regret it."
"This is both an adventure and a task; Consider it a mission I'm assigning to all of you present here."
"Whoever finds a related location will have their detention reduced by one week. If you manage to catch the culprit, everyone will get a one-week reduction in detention. The two rewards can be combined."
When William announced the rewards, the entire group beca excited. Even without such tempting incentives, just being part of this large-scale action made all the Gryffindors feel that coming to this eting was worth it.
For Gryffindors, adventure itself was the best reward, not to ntion the visible reduction in detention ti!
"One last thing," William said, gesturing calmly to the students who were already full of energy.
"If any cheating or forgery is discovered, it will be treated as an attempt to imitate the original act."
"Oh, and one more thing; If any of you were the one responsible and you confess now, the penalty will only be an additional week of detention, dealt with leniently. Everyone else's reduction remains unaffected."
William added this as a precaution. Though the reactions from the students suggested his suspicions were wrong, he still wanted to cover all his bases.
But no one reacted to his offer; they were all captivated by the so-called adventure. Suspicion? What suspicion?
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go!"
William waved his hand helplessly. The students, already restless, eagerly shouted their goodbyes and rushed out of the classroom.
***
Let's hope Professor McGonagall doesn't co looking for about this. These Gryffindor students are already hard enough to manage. With stirring them up like this, they'll probably be running around causing trouble every day from now on, William thought to himself.
Still, there wasn't much else he could do. Among the tasks he had outlined, checking the hidden passages and secret locations was essential.
As a wild wizard who didn't graduate from Hogwarts, William was hardly familiar with the school. Sotis, when the staircases shifted, he had to rely on nearby portraits to help him find his way. If it weren't for his status as a professor, those portraits, with their temperantal attitudes, would've let him get lost countless tis.
It's just sheer luck, really. If Filch hadn't caught them, and if they hadn't collectively caused chaos in Filch's office, where else would I have found such an energetic group of Gryffindors?
Fifth-years, even in Gryffindor, were focused on their studies. Seventh-years were busy with internships, and sixth-years, if they weren't preparing for exams or interning, were preoccupied with romance. The students under William's watch were all practically idlers, and it was hard to find anyone willing to help.
Besides, if it weren't for their detention, William wouldn't have had any reason to command so many students. It was one thing to assign tasks during class, but after class, students had their own lives. Who, apart from those in detention, would care about what a professor wanted?
Well, after that speech, the issue of hidden passages and secret locations should be resolved. Just like those kids said, no one knows the castle better than they do. If soone is performing dark magical rituals in the castle, these students are bound to find out.
Safety… there shouldn't be a problem. The culprit even has to sneak out in the middle of the night just to kill a chicken. Judging by the fact that this is the first chicken to die, even if there is so strange ritual involved, the most they can achieve is restoring the strength of one chicken. That's nowhere near enough to handle these mischievous kids.
While it might seem unfair to the more diligent students, William knew very well that aside from the top-performing ones, regular students couldn't possibly match this group of troublemakers in a fight. These kids had mastered enough prank magic in their daily antics, and such magic was surprisingly effective in a scuffle.
An evil ritual involving only killing chickens—probably not a big deal.
To be honest, if it weren't for the curse, William wouldn't have bothered with this at all. A dead chicken wasn't worth his ti.
Ti for my investigation. Hmm, first, I'll check the state of the blood coagulation. Then, I'll determine the ti of the act, add an hour to that, and question the portraits about who entered or exited the school during that period. Hopefully, I'm overthinking this.
Ideally, it's just a small animal that killed the chicken and sohow wandered into the castle.
While the Gryffindors seed eager to stir up a big story, William had no intention of escalating things.
As soone carrying the burden of a curse, he preferred to keep things as small as possible. If it turned out to be sothing like a weasel, he'd happily reduce the Gryffindors' detention ti.
***
"Last night, did you see anyone pass through this corridor?"
"Sorry, Professor, no."
"..."
"…"
As the investigation progressed, William's mood grew increasingly relaxed. Following the advice of a knight portrait, he questioned every painting along the main pathways leading in and out of the castle, but their responses were all the sa—nothing.
Nothing at all.
Suspicions cleared. As expected, reading detective novels does help. Watching enough Conan can make even a passable detective. When I have the money, I'll get a house on Baker Street and one near Platform 9¾'s King's Cross.
"William, what are you doing here?"
Just as William finished questioning the last portrait, Adams suddenly appeared.
"Just a small investigation, checking who passed through these corridors."
"Is that useful? Back when Aphra was sneaking around, these portraits didn't notice anything." Adams asked curiously.
"Aphra?"
"Did you forget? She the natural ability to perform Disillusionnt Charms."
William, who had been feeling a bit smug, instantly sobered up.
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