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Chapter 129: Adams Arrives As Promised (Second Update)
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
"William! William!"
Who's calling me?
My head aches so much—right, my wand, my wand!
As his hand quickly reached for his wand, the warmth emanating from his palm instantly soothed William's splitting headache.
Subconsciously, he pulled out his wand and cast a Stupefying Charm at the source of the sound, then rolled to the side, ready to dodge.
"Thud!" "Thud!"
Two heavy thuds, almost simultaneous, echoed. William, enduring the pain, cast a Shield Charm on himself, only then fully waking up—right, I'm at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore is still at Hogwarts, so there's no way anyone would launch an attack!
'Was I having a nightmare? Why do I have no memory of it at all?'
William suspected he had dreamt of being attacked or still being in Azkaban—but he couldn't find any memory of such a dream.
'The Rooster Incident has made me too nervous—until that damned Curse is gone, I probably won't be able to sleep well.'
William subconsciously glanced out the window, sighing involuntarily.
Damned overcast sky!
But he quickly noticed something was wrong. Why was the weather so overcast?
Moreover, he couldn't feel the usual irritability that came with an overcast day. All he felt now was a headache, with none of the oppressive feeling of a cloudy sky.
'What time is it? Should I go back to sleep for a bit?'
William glanced at his watch—after all this time, he was quite familiar with how to read time in the Wizarding World.
'It's already four o'clock, can't waste any more time, I need to make an effort—wait! Only four o'clock?'
William shook his head, then remembered the Stupefying Charm he had just cast.
—
"Adams, say something?"
"It's only four in the morning—I can't exactly drag you into my room either, can I? You coming out of my room at this hour, Merlin knows what stories the Student Council would come up with."
"Of course, I shouldn't have attacked you with a Stupefying Charm, but wasn't that just a subconscious reaction to being woken up?"
"It's not that I wouldn't lift the curse for you; I simply wasn't fully awake in the middle of the night. At least I didn't go back to sleep and came out to lift it for you!"
William, dressed in his everyday clothes, was earnestly trying to persuade the Herbology Professor at his room doorway.
After realizing he seemed to have knocked someone out, he had originally intended to go out quickly and check, but fearing unnecessary rumors if he went out in his pajamas, he delayed for a bit, which, including the initial daze, resulted in Adams lying outside the doorway for nearly ten minutes.
After much persuasion, William realized the Herbology Professor was genuinely angry—he hadn't said a single word.
"No, Adams, be reasonable—four in the morning, and on a weekend at that, it's a bit much for you to wake someone up. If you get knocked down, you have to admit it. Wouldn't you say you ambushed me first?"
"Not exactly. I mainly wanted to see how much more you could say to persuade me."
Adams revealed a sly grin, which made William feel a bit exasperated.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"William, you can't do that!" Adams was momentarily stunned and shouted, but only after he finished his exclamation did he realize William's target wasn't him.
"What's going on?"
Adams looked to where William's wand was pointing. There was nothing there, only the wall—theoretically.
But if there was truly nothing there, the spell would have exploded against the wall with a loud sound, and Hogwarts Castle's defense would have negated most of the damage caused by the spell.
"Who is it, or what is it?"
Adams pulled out his wand, becoming alert.
"I don't know. Keep an eye on our backs, and pay attention to any small movements," William replied without turning his head.
He cast a Shield Charm on himself, then slowly approached the object his spell had just hit. Stopping as he got closer, he waved his wand towards his office behind him.
A large stack of parchment came fluttering over under the influence of the Summoning Charm, quickly tearing into small pieces under the spell's effect, then floated towards the targeted direction under William's command.
The parchment pieces quickly revealed the object, which was a humanoid figure.
"Invisibility Cloak, Accio!"
William waved his wand, but nothing happened.
"An invisibility cloak? Is it a person, William?"
Adams's voice came from behind him.
"It's not an invisibility cloak—my Summoning Charm isn't working, and I wasn't even using a Nonverbal Spell. Can invisibility cloaks stack additional protective magic now?"
"You're asking me? You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor!"
Adams's retort made William feel a bit awkward—invisibility cloaks were expensive, single-use items that wore out after a few years, not to mention their effect overlapped with the Disillusionment Charm. Only the super-rich or the Ministry of Magic's bulk purchases could afford to play around with them. He had only looked into how to counter them and hadn't bothered to read much further.
Anyway, he couldn't afford one at the moment, so knowing how to deal with them was good enough; there was no need to master them spectacularly.
Waving his wand again, William controlled the parchment, rolling it into a club. After adding a Petrification Charm for good measure, he carefully prodded the suspected object.
"It really is an invisibility cloak. And it's a student."
William said to the back, pretending to be relieved, then the club in his hand disintegrated, turning into fragments that scattered in a circle around them.
"Huh? No accomplices?"
William raised an eyebrow, truly relaxing only then—this action made Adams abandon any thought of retaliating.
'You Dark Magic practitioners, your hearts are filthy!'
"Adams, come take a look. Wandering the corridor in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, violating school rules. How can there be such a mischievous student?"
Adams rolled his eyes—'Who are you targeting with that, huh?'
"Harry Potter?"
A frustrated Adams exclaimed, causing William, who was tidying up the scattered paper scraps, to involuntarily turn his head.
He had just been busy taunting Adams and clearing up the paper scraps. After confirming it was a student, he went back to his own business—he'd been at Hogwarts School for almost a month, and he could barely remember the names of the students serving Detention, so why would a newly caught rule-breaker be surprising?
"Something very unpleasant happened yesterday, and here you are, wandering around the castle this morning, wearing an invisibility cloak—I think I need an explanation, Mr. Potter."
William restored the gathered paper scraps to their original state with magic, then walked over, holding a stack of parchment.
"Professor—I heard a strange sound, like someone was very angry. Their voice woke me up, and I've been searching since I came out of the common room. The sound was intermittent, but I couldn't find who was making it."
"A sound?"
"Yes, Professor—it's started again!"
Harry suddenly raised his voice, pointing to a side of the wall and saying, "Over there, right there!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
William's spell followed immediately, but it had no effect—the wall that was hit made a sound, but it quickly faded away.
"It's gone, the sound is gone."
Harry shook his head, giving William the illusion he was listening to a ghost story.
"Who is it?"
A lamp lit up, and Mr. Filch appeared.
P.S.: The third update will be very late, so I suggest you don't wait for it. I was busy writing and forgot to click publish for the second chapter...
(end of chapter)
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
"William! William!"
Who's calling me?
My head aches so much—right, my wand, my wand!
As his hand quickly reached for his wand, the warmth emanating from his palm instantly soothed William's splitting headache.
Subconsciously, he pulled out his wand and cast a Stupefying Charm at the source of the sound, then rolled to the side, ready to dodge.
"Thud!" "Thud!"
Two heavy thuds, almost simultaneous, echoed. William, enduring the pain, cast a Shield Charm on himself, only then fully waking up—right, I'm at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore is still at Hogwarts, so there's no way anyone would launch an attack!
'Was I having a nightmare? Why do I have no memory of it at all?'
William suspected he had dreamt of being attacked or still being in Azkaban—but he couldn't find any memory of such a dream.
'The Rooster Incident has made me too nervous—until that damned Curse is gone, I probably won't be able to sleep well.'
William subconsciously glanced out the window, sighing involuntarily.
Damned overcast sky!
But he quickly noticed something was wrong. Why was the weather so overcast?
Moreover, he couldn't feel the usual irritability that came with an overcast day. All he felt now was a headache, with none of the oppressive feeling of a cloudy sky.
'What time is it? Should I go back to sleep for a bit?'
William glanced at his watch—after all this time, he was quite familiar with how to read time in the Wizarding World.
'It's already four o'clock, can't waste any more time, I need to make an effort—wait! Only four o'clock?'
William shook his head, then remembered the Stupefying Charm he had just cast.
—
"Adams, say something?"
"It's only four in the morning—I can't exactly drag you into my room either, can I? You coming out of my room at this hour, Merlin knows what stories the Student Council would come up with."
"Of course, I shouldn't have attacked you with a Stupefying Charm, but wasn't that just a subconscious reaction to being woken up?"
"It's not that I wouldn't lift the curse for you; I simply wasn't fully awake in the middle of the night. At least I didn't go back to sleep and came out to lift it for you!"
William, dressed in his everyday clothes, was earnestly trying to persuade the Herbology Professor at his room doorway.
After realizing he seemed to have knocked someone out, he had originally intended to go out quickly and check, but fearing unnecessary rumors if he went out in his pajamas, he delayed for a bit, which, including the initial daze, resulted in Adams lying outside the doorway for nearly ten minutes.
After much persuasion, William realized the Herbology Professor was genuinely angry—he hadn't said a single word.
"No, Adams, be reasonable—four in the morning, and on a weekend at that, it's a bit much for you to wake someone up. If you get knocked down, you have to admit it. Wouldn't you say you ambushed me first?"
"Not exactly. I mainly wanted to see how much more you could say to persuade me."
Adams revealed a sly grin, which made William feel a bit exasperated.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"William, you can't do that!" Adams was momentarily stunned and shouted, but only after he finished his exclamation did he realize William's target wasn't him.
"What's going on?"
Adams looked to where William's wand was pointing. There was nothing there, only the wall—theoretically.
But if there was truly nothing there, the spell would have exploded against the wall with a loud sound, and Hogwarts Castle's defense would have negated most of the damage caused by the spell.
"Who is it, or what is it?"
Adams pulled out his wand, becoming alert.
"I don't know. Keep an eye on our backs, and pay attention to any small movements," William replied without turning his head.
He cast a Shield Charm on himself, then slowly approached the object his spell had just hit. Stopping as he got closer, he waved his wand towards his office behind him.
A large stack of parchment came fluttering over under the influence of the Summoning Charm, quickly tearing into small pieces under the spell's effect, then floated towards the targeted direction under William's command.
The parchment pieces quickly revealed the object, which was a humanoid figure.
"Invisibility Cloak, Accio!"
William waved his wand, but nothing happened.
"An invisibility cloak? Is it a person, William?"
Adams's voice came from behind him.
"It's not an invisibility cloak—my Summoning Charm isn't working, and I wasn't even using a Nonverbal Spell. Can invisibility cloaks stack additional protective magic now?"
"You're asking me? You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor!"
Adams's retort made William feel a bit awkward—invisibility cloaks were expensive, single-use items that wore out after a few years, not to mention their effect overlapped with the Disillusionment Charm. Only the super-rich or the Ministry of Magic's bulk purchases could afford to play around with them. He had only looked into how to counter them and hadn't bothered to read much further.
Anyway, he couldn't afford one at the moment, so knowing how to deal with them was good enough; there was no need to master them spectacularly.
Waving his wand again, William controlled the parchment, rolling it into a club. After adding a Petrification Charm for good measure, he carefully prodded the suspected object.
"It really is an invisibility cloak. And it's a student."
William said to the back, pretending to be relieved, then the club in his hand disintegrated, turning into fragments that scattered in a circle around them.
"Huh? No accomplices?"
William raised an eyebrow, truly relaxing only then—this action made Adams abandon any thought of retaliating.
'You Dark Magic practitioners, your hearts are filthy!'
"Adams, come take a look. Wandering the corridor in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, violating school rules. How can there be such a mischievous student?"
Adams rolled his eyes—'Who are you targeting with that, huh?'
"Harry Potter?"
A frustrated Adams exclaimed, causing William, who was tidying up the scattered paper scraps, to involuntarily turn his head.
He had just been busy taunting Adams and clearing up the paper scraps. After confirming it was a student, he went back to his own business—he'd been at Hogwarts School for almost a month, and he could barely remember the names of the students serving Detention, so why would a newly caught rule-breaker be surprising?
"Something very unpleasant happened yesterday, and here you are, wandering around the castle this morning, wearing an invisibility cloak—I think I need an explanation, Mr. Potter."
William restored the gathered paper scraps to their original state with magic, then walked over, holding a stack of parchment.
"Professor—I heard a strange sound, like someone was very angry. Their voice woke me up, and I've been searching since I came out of the common room. The sound was intermittent, but I couldn't find who was making it."
"A sound?"
"Yes, Professor—it's started again!"
Harry suddenly raised his voice, pointing to a side of the wall and saying, "Over there, right there!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
William's spell followed immediately, but it had no effect—the wall that was hit made a sound, but it quickly faded away.
"It's gone, the sound is gone."
Harry shook his head, giving William the illusion he was listening to a ghost story.
"Who is it?"
A lamp lit up, and Mr. Filch appeared.
P.S.: The third update will be very late, so I suggest you don't wait for it. I was busy writing and forgot to click publish for the second chapter...
(end of chapter)
