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**Chapter 124: Investigation Hits a Stalemate**
**2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon**
William had originally expected this investigation to be as fruitless as the last, but he was surprised to receive good news from Filch so soon after starting.
"No bloodstains this time, just chicken feathers?"
"That's right. I thoroughly checked the grounds outside the castle last night and confirmed nothing was left behind. It wasn't until I opened the main gate the next day that I found chicken feathers there."
The conscientious caretaker was absolutely certain. Due to Monday's bloodstain incident, he had been exceptionally attentive when closing the castle's main gate these past few days.
"Excellent, Mr. Filch, we can now determine the time of the crime!"
William excitedly slapped the table, his voice brimming with uncontrollable joy.
"If that troublemaker is caught, I'll give him the best punishment – that fellow definitely used a secret passage. I'll catch him!"
"Believe me, it will be soon. I've already commissioned the students to investigate—"
"Commissioned students? Prefects?"
"No, the students currently in detention. Trust me, they'll want to catch that troublemaker even more."
Filch's face showed clear conflicted emotions—he didn't quite approve of William's method of using misbehaving students, yet he somewhat agreed that those fellows might be able to find the secret passage.
"Alright, let them try. Anyway, if they don't find anything, not a single day of detention will be cut short. If they do find something, the culprit will still be caught as deserved."
The caretaker grumbled reluctantly, which made William stifle a laugh, but he successfully hid it by turning to bid farewell.
"Then, I'll see you later, Mr. Filch. Wait for my good news. I have a brilliant idea. If there aren't any oversights, we'll catch that fellow in no time!"
William bade farewell as he quickly left Filch's office.
‘Leaving in the middle of the night, and through a secret passage? Isn't that just begging to be caught?’
——
At Professor McGonagall's office, William knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"Professor William?" Professor McGonagall sounded quite surprised upon seeing William.
She had only seen William at the dining table at noon. Logically, anything urgent would have been discussed then. Even for an application form or the like, it wouldn't be submitted on a Friday afternoon.
"Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall."
"Please, sit down. Is something urgent?"
"There are two rather urgent matters, Professor McGonagall. If I want to host a small banquet, does Hogwarts have any large, unoccupied venues?"
"A feast, a good choice." Professor McGonagall rarely smiled. "All professors' offices can have Extension Charms cast upon them, and there aren't significant size restrictions. As for dishes, you can discuss purchasing them at a low price with the kitchen. In fact, professors often host feasts, and the house-elves will help arrange everything."
‘Extension Charm? Something I haven't learned yet—if all else fails, I'll ask Adams. He can't beat me anyway, and if everyone's embarrassed, then no one's really embarrassed.’
As for asking the house-elves for help, William was already quite familiar with it. He could only say that the professor welfare at Hogwarts was indeed very high.
"Hmm, one more thing."
"Please speak, Professor William." Although she usually wore a stern expression, Professor McGonagall's face was noticeably more relaxed now—it was good if it wasn't an emergency. As the Head of House for Gryffindor, when other professors suddenly sought her out, it usually meant a student from her House had made a grave mistake, one that detention alone couldn't cover.
"Well, how should I put it, Professor, this matter goes back to Monday."
"Monday?" Professor McGonagall paused, then remembered. "Monday—Professor William, are you referring to that major investigation after Hagrid's chicken died?"
"Yes, Professor."
"They did it again?"
Professor McGonagall's reply was both helpless and indicative of her familiarity with worrying about what had transpired over the years.
"No, no, no, Professor, it's not confirmed. I just want to conduct an investigation. After this week's investigation, it's been broadly determined that the culprit must have snuck out of the castle through a secret passage at night, then discarded the chicken blood and chicken feathers outside."
"So, Professor William, you want to investigate who entered and exited the Common Room at night?"
"That's right."
"I'll come along. Her personality is very stubborn. Besides Albus and me, I doubt she'd tell anyone else."
‘If she wasn't stubborn, how could she be the gatekeeper of the Gryffindor Common Room? Guarding the students of a House, what kind of guard would she be if anyone could just ask her secrets?’
Unfortunately, William dared not say that aloud.
——
"Professor McGonagall!"
The Fat Lady's portrait was exceptionally enthusiastic upon seeing Professor McGonagall, completely unlike when William had come to call out students last time, where she showed no intention of letting a professor enter.
"Good afternoon."
"Would you like to come in?"
The Common Room entrance opened almost as soon as the question was asked.
"No, thank you. Today I'm not here for students, but to investigate something."
"I remember everything that's happened these past few days, Professor."
"Thank you for your hard work, Fat Lady. On Monday night, after lights out, who went out?"
"I remember very clearly..."
The Fat Lady promptly reeled off a long list of names, showing no intention of covering for the students.
"How awful. Professor McGonagall probably usually turns a blind eye to this, but today these children have truly walked right into trouble."
The culprit, William, was completely oblivious that he was the one who had dragged Professor McGonagall into this investigation, focusing only on the information he was hearing.
At this moment, many children intending to enter had gathered around, but upon discovering that Professor McGonagall was conducting an investigation, they stood there dumbfounded, not even daring to whisper.
"I've noted these names. Tell them to report to my office when they return."
Professor McGonagall mercilessly doomed those unlucky fellows.
"Then, what about last night? Did anyone try to leave the Common Room after lights out last night?"
The professor asked with her usual composure.
"No, Professor, no one attempted to enter or exit."
The Fat Lady paused, as if recalling something, then answered with conviction.
"No?"
William exclaimed in surprise, but immediately realized his mistake—shouting that implied he was certain the culprit was from Gryffindor, didn't it?
However, the same sound came from Professor McGonagall.
"No?"
The professor's tone was disturbed for the first time. She looked at the Fat Lady in confusion. "Are you sure?"
"I am absolutely certain. After lights out last night, no one attempted to leave the Common Room, and no one entered."
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Although the surrounding students showed curious expressions, Professor McGonagall immediately composed herself.
"Everyone, stop spectating and return to the Common Room—Professor William, come with me for a moment."
(end of chapter)
**2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon**
William had originally expected this investigation to be as fruitless as the last, but he was surprised to receive good news from Filch so soon after starting.
"No bloodstains this time, just chicken feathers?"
"That's right. I thoroughly checked the grounds outside the castle last night and confirmed nothing was left behind. It wasn't until I opened the main gate the next day that I found chicken feathers there."
The conscientious caretaker was absolutely certain. Due to Monday's bloodstain incident, he had been exceptionally attentive when closing the castle's main gate these past few days.
"Excellent, Mr. Filch, we can now determine the time of the crime!"
William excitedly slapped the table, his voice brimming with uncontrollable joy.
"If that troublemaker is caught, I'll give him the best punishment – that fellow definitely used a secret passage. I'll catch him!"
"Believe me, it will be soon. I've already commissioned the students to investigate—"
"Commissioned students? Prefects?"
"No, the students currently in detention. Trust me, they'll want to catch that troublemaker even more."
Filch's face showed clear conflicted emotions—he didn't quite approve of William's method of using misbehaving students, yet he somewhat agreed that those fellows might be able to find the secret passage.
"Alright, let them try. Anyway, if they don't find anything, not a single day of detention will be cut short. If they do find something, the culprit will still be caught as deserved."
The caretaker grumbled reluctantly, which made William stifle a laugh, but he successfully hid it by turning to bid farewell.
"Then, I'll see you later, Mr. Filch. Wait for my good news. I have a brilliant idea. If there aren't any oversights, we'll catch that fellow in no time!"
William bade farewell as he quickly left Filch's office.
‘Leaving in the middle of the night, and through a secret passage? Isn't that just begging to be caught?’
——
At Professor McGonagall's office, William knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"Professor William?" Professor McGonagall sounded quite surprised upon seeing William.
She had only seen William at the dining table at noon. Logically, anything urgent would have been discussed then. Even for an application form or the like, it wouldn't be submitted on a Friday afternoon.
"Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall."
"Please, sit down. Is something urgent?"
"There are two rather urgent matters, Professor McGonagall. If I want to host a small banquet, does Hogwarts have any large, unoccupied venues?"
"A feast, a good choice." Professor McGonagall rarely smiled. "All professors' offices can have Extension Charms cast upon them, and there aren't significant size restrictions. As for dishes, you can discuss purchasing them at a low price with the kitchen. In fact, professors often host feasts, and the house-elves will help arrange everything."
‘Extension Charm? Something I haven't learned yet—if all else fails, I'll ask Adams. He can't beat me anyway, and if everyone's embarrassed, then no one's really embarrassed.’
As for asking the house-elves for help, William was already quite familiar with it. He could only say that the professor welfare at Hogwarts was indeed very high.
"Hmm, one more thing."
"Please speak, Professor William." Although she usually wore a stern expression, Professor McGonagall's face was noticeably more relaxed now—it was good if it wasn't an emergency. As the Head of House for Gryffindor, when other professors suddenly sought her out, it usually meant a student from her House had made a grave mistake, one that detention alone couldn't cover.
"Well, how should I put it, Professor, this matter goes back to Monday."
"Monday?" Professor McGonagall paused, then remembered. "Monday—Professor William, are you referring to that major investigation after Hagrid's chicken died?"
"Yes, Professor."
"They did it again?"
Professor McGonagall's reply was both helpless and indicative of her familiarity with worrying about what had transpired over the years.
"No, no, no, Professor, it's not confirmed. I just want to conduct an investigation. After this week's investigation, it's been broadly determined that the culprit must have snuck out of the castle through a secret passage at night, then discarded the chicken blood and chicken feathers outside."
"So, Professor William, you want to investigate who entered and exited the Common Room at night?"
"That's right."
"I'll come along. Her personality is very stubborn. Besides Albus and me, I doubt she'd tell anyone else."
‘If she wasn't stubborn, how could she be the gatekeeper of the Gryffindor Common Room? Guarding the students of a House, what kind of guard would she be if anyone could just ask her secrets?’
Unfortunately, William dared not say that aloud.
——
"Professor McGonagall!"
The Fat Lady's portrait was exceptionally enthusiastic upon seeing Professor McGonagall, completely unlike when William had come to call out students last time, where she showed no intention of letting a professor enter.
"Good afternoon."
"Would you like to come in?"
The Common Room entrance opened almost as soon as the question was asked.
"No, thank you. Today I'm not here for students, but to investigate something."
"I remember everything that's happened these past few days, Professor."
"Thank you for your hard work, Fat Lady. On Monday night, after lights out, who went out?"
"I remember very clearly..."
The Fat Lady promptly reeled off a long list of names, showing no intention of covering for the students.
"How awful. Professor McGonagall probably usually turns a blind eye to this, but today these children have truly walked right into trouble."
The culprit, William, was completely oblivious that he was the one who had dragged Professor McGonagall into this investigation, focusing only on the information he was hearing.
At this moment, many children intending to enter had gathered around, but upon discovering that Professor McGonagall was conducting an investigation, they stood there dumbfounded, not even daring to whisper.
"I've noted these names. Tell them to report to my office when they return."
Professor McGonagall mercilessly doomed those unlucky fellows.
"Then, what about last night? Did anyone try to leave the Common Room after lights out last night?"
The professor asked with her usual composure.
"No, Professor, no one attempted to enter or exit."
The Fat Lady paused, as if recalling something, then answered with conviction.
"No?"
William exclaimed in surprise, but immediately realized his mistake—shouting that implied he was certain the culprit was from Gryffindor, didn't it?
However, the same sound came from Professor McGonagall.
"No?"
The professor's tone was disturbed for the first time. She looked at the Fat Lady in confusion. "Are you sure?"
"I am absolutely certain. After lights out last night, no one attempted to leave the Common Room, and no one entered."
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Although the surrounding students showed curious expressions, Professor McGonagall immediately composed herself.
"Everyone, stop spectating and return to the Common Room—Professor William, come with me for a moment."
(end of chapter)
