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Chapter 135: Mr. Filch Has Gone Wild
On the Monday of the last week of September, William arrived at his classroom, looking sleepy.
The weekend hadn't gone well — not only had the investigation made no progress, but the much-anticipated feast had been completely messed up by the two Weasleys.
Although in many respects he was either piggybacking off Adams or Hogwarts School, this was indeed the first feast he hosted as the main organizer.
'Forget it, I don't want to think about it; it gives me a headache just thinking about it!'
William yawned and began tidying up his lesson plans and other things — clearing up the mess from Saturday's feast yesterday had taken him over half a day. Coupled with his daily exercise and self-study time, he had gone to bed very late after grading essays.
'Stay alert, William!'
Putting down the lesson plan in his hand, William rubbed his palms together, then vigorously rubbed his face with his slightly warm hands.
"You need to perk up and face the students, William. If you're not invested, how can you expect them to be?"
While self-encouraging, he popped a peppermint candy into his mouth, its slightly invigorating coolness dispelling the last trace of drowsiness.
Taking a few steps to the classroom doorway, William began waiting for the students.
'Hmm, that Saturday, the Weasleys' performance was reportedly a scene from Professor Lockhart's first class — are those house-elves really that dangerous?'
'Never heard of it — do they have any magical qualities apart from causing trouble?'
Maintaining a normal expression, William's thoughts began to spin rapidly — he hadn't even had time to go to the Great Hall after waking up this morning, and had rushed over after a quick sandwich, only now having time to think about what happened on Saturday night.
'You need to restrain yourself, William. The weekend is over; increasing their detention isn't something that can be done now...'
The magical bell promptly disrupted William's jumbled thoughts.
But unexpectedly, no students came.
'Did I misremember the timetable?'
William doubted for a moment, then quickly confirmed he hadn't misremembered.
'Did I notify the students in advance that this class would be changed to a practical class?'
'No, I didn't. Where are they?'
Several thoughts rose and fell in William's mind, making him momentarily confused about what he was thinking.
'It couldn't be a student strike, could it?'
A bad thought suddenly emerged, and his heart began to race like a roller coaster.
'That's not right — sixth year homework isn't much, and there are no exam papers. Fifth Years haven't gone on strike, so why would sixth years?'
After convincing himself to be calm and then observe what had happened, William took several deep breaths to compose himself.
Taking a few steps towards the portrait not far away, William politely knocked on the surrounding wall, waking up the one still catching up on sleep.
"Good morning — apologies for disturbing you, do you know what's happened at the school?"
The Pawn in the portrait rubbed his eye and huffily shouted, "I just fell asleep for a bit, you—"
"Oh, Professor, sorry Professor, I didn't know it was you. I was on duty too late yesterday. Mr. Filch was afraid something might happen and gave instructions to some portraits guarding the important passages to stand watch at night."
'Standing watch? Standing watch is useless. The other party is either capable of invisibility or uses the Disillusionment Charm, or they know some strange secret passages or something. The investigation has been done several times with no discoveries; no matter how hard the portraits work, it's useless.'
But this obviously couldn't be said to the Pawn who had stood watch all night.
"Thank you for your hard work. So, has anything new happened at the school today?"
"Anything new?" the Pawn thought for a moment. "Not really. The students have just received punishment; even the most mischievous troublemakers wouldn't have the energy to do anything on a Monday morning. Oh — Professor, your students are here."
"Yes, I heard them too. Thank you, please continue your rest."
William waved goodbye, then quickly walked towards the corner of the corridor — being late for class on Monday is somewhat understandable, but everyone being late is going too far, isn't it?
---
"Annoying Filch!"
"And that cat!"
"Exactly — my Quibbler was confiscated, what about yours?"
"Posters, an illustrated book, and a copy of Traveling with Veela."
"Why does that sound a bit like Professor Lockhart's book — wait, Traveling with Veela?"
"What's the fuss? I slipped it into that pile of books, didn't write my name."
Low laughter came from among the boys, causing the girls walking a little behind them to roll their eyes.
There was nothing for it; the boys could just write any name and be done with it, while most girls had to compare their elaborate signatures with those of the surrounding students while writing, to see whose looked better.
"Hello Professor!"
The boy walking at the very front shouted a loud greeting, causing the girls behind to involuntarily squeeze past.
---
"So, you feel it's unfair?"
William listened to the students' statements for a long time and finally understood what these sixth year students were trying to express.
The situation they encountered was roughly this: After gaining the approval of the Headmaster and four Heads of House, Mr. Filch blocked everyone preparing for class at the Great Hall doorway and used a detection device to check their bags.
Reasonably speaking, this wasn't a very serious matter; although it was somewhat contrary to William's habits, the Wizarding World would generally not object.
But today, Filch went a bit too far; he confiscated all non-textbook publications, including periodicals, illustrated magazines, magazines, magical books, and all sorts of similar items.
Those items that were searched out allowed individuals to leave their names and would be returned after being deemed qualified. This was why students who were usually punctual for class were collectively late today.
William finally understood why Mr. Filch had so resolutely declared in their Saturday conversation that he would catch someone.
'He probably spent the entire weekend lobbying the Headmaster to agree to this. I wonder why the Headmaster agreed to such a clearly irregular matter.'
He now really wanted to sincerely apologize to Mr. Filch — although he still felt Mr. Filch was difficult to deal with, there was no doubt, this move was played quite beautifully.
Putting aside whether this matter complied with regulations in the Wizarding World, this preemptive action was far superior to his own, and his utilization of the rules was far better than his own.
Unless the other party could recite all the content by heart, Mr. Filch would most likely confiscate the book containing forbidden knowledge today.
'People who would believe what they read in a book or magazine would most likely not be willing to throw valuable information back into the Common Room.'
'Of course, it's most likely a book; magazines aren't that easy to fool people with. Hagrid's rooster is safe then — never mind, he eats them faster than the students can kill them.'
This news truly made William breathe a sigh of relief; he was even a little impatient to go find the caretaker to see what he had confiscated.
"Professor?"
A student interrupted William's thoughts; one by one, the students stared at him with curious eyes — ah, the after-effects of the last sorting hat incident.
No student would like this nearly body-searching behavior; they probably wanted to emulate the last Gryffindor sorting hat incident.
He winced.
William felt his head ache a little.
P.S.: The second chapter is delayed until tomorrow morning. I wrote half of it and didn't dare to stay up; if I catch a cold again, I'll be done for...
(end of chapter)
On the Monday of the last week of September, William arrived at his classroom, looking sleepy.
The weekend hadn't gone well — not only had the investigation made no progress, but the much-anticipated feast had been completely messed up by the two Weasleys.
Although in many respects he was either piggybacking off Adams or Hogwarts School, this was indeed the first feast he hosted as the main organizer.
'Forget it, I don't want to think about it; it gives me a headache just thinking about it!'
William yawned and began tidying up his lesson plans and other things — clearing up the mess from Saturday's feast yesterday had taken him over half a day. Coupled with his daily exercise and self-study time, he had gone to bed very late after grading essays.
'Stay alert, William!'
Putting down the lesson plan in his hand, William rubbed his palms together, then vigorously rubbed his face with his slightly warm hands.
"You need to perk up and face the students, William. If you're not invested, how can you expect them to be?"
While self-encouraging, he popped a peppermint candy into his mouth, its slightly invigorating coolness dispelling the last trace of drowsiness.
Taking a few steps to the classroom doorway, William began waiting for the students.
'Hmm, that Saturday, the Weasleys' performance was reportedly a scene from Professor Lockhart's first class — are those house-elves really that dangerous?'
'Never heard of it — do they have any magical qualities apart from causing trouble?'
Maintaining a normal expression, William's thoughts began to spin rapidly — he hadn't even had time to go to the Great Hall after waking up this morning, and had rushed over after a quick sandwich, only now having time to think about what happened on Saturday night.
'You need to restrain yourself, William. The weekend is over; increasing their detention isn't something that can be done now...'
The magical bell promptly disrupted William's jumbled thoughts.
But unexpectedly, no students came.
'Did I misremember the timetable?'
William doubted for a moment, then quickly confirmed he hadn't misremembered.
'Did I notify the students in advance that this class would be changed to a practical class?'
'No, I didn't. Where are they?'
Several thoughts rose and fell in William's mind, making him momentarily confused about what he was thinking.
'It couldn't be a student strike, could it?'
A bad thought suddenly emerged, and his heart began to race like a roller coaster.
'That's not right — sixth year homework isn't much, and there are no exam papers. Fifth Years haven't gone on strike, so why would sixth years?'
After convincing himself to be calm and then observe what had happened, William took several deep breaths to compose himself.
Taking a few steps towards the portrait not far away, William politely knocked on the surrounding wall, waking up the one still catching up on sleep.
"Good morning — apologies for disturbing you, do you know what's happened at the school?"
The Pawn in the portrait rubbed his eye and huffily shouted, "I just fell asleep for a bit, you—"
"Oh, Professor, sorry Professor, I didn't know it was you. I was on duty too late yesterday. Mr. Filch was afraid something might happen and gave instructions to some portraits guarding the important passages to stand watch at night."
'Standing watch? Standing watch is useless. The other party is either capable of invisibility or uses the Disillusionment Charm, or they know some strange secret passages or something. The investigation has been done several times with no discoveries; no matter how hard the portraits work, it's useless.'
But this obviously couldn't be said to the Pawn who had stood watch all night.
"Thank you for your hard work. So, has anything new happened at the school today?"
"Anything new?" the Pawn thought for a moment. "Not really. The students have just received punishment; even the most mischievous troublemakers wouldn't have the energy to do anything on a Monday morning. Oh — Professor, your students are here."
"Yes, I heard them too. Thank you, please continue your rest."
William waved goodbye, then quickly walked towards the corner of the corridor — being late for class on Monday is somewhat understandable, but everyone being late is going too far, isn't it?
---
"Annoying Filch!"
"And that cat!"
"Exactly — my Quibbler was confiscated, what about yours?"
"Posters, an illustrated book, and a copy of Traveling with Veela."
"Why does that sound a bit like Professor Lockhart's book — wait, Traveling with Veela?"
"What's the fuss? I slipped it into that pile of books, didn't write my name."
Low laughter came from among the boys, causing the girls walking a little behind them to roll their eyes.
There was nothing for it; the boys could just write any name and be done with it, while most girls had to compare their elaborate signatures with those of the surrounding students while writing, to see whose looked better.
"Hello Professor!"
The boy walking at the very front shouted a loud greeting, causing the girls behind to involuntarily squeeze past.
---
"So, you feel it's unfair?"
William listened to the students' statements for a long time and finally understood what these sixth year students were trying to express.
The situation they encountered was roughly this: After gaining the approval of the Headmaster and four Heads of House, Mr. Filch blocked everyone preparing for class at the Great Hall doorway and used a detection device to check their bags.
Reasonably speaking, this wasn't a very serious matter; although it was somewhat contrary to William's habits, the Wizarding World would generally not object.
But today, Filch went a bit too far; he confiscated all non-textbook publications, including periodicals, illustrated magazines, magazines, magical books, and all sorts of similar items.
Those items that were searched out allowed individuals to leave their names and would be returned after being deemed qualified. This was why students who were usually punctual for class were collectively late today.
William finally understood why Mr. Filch had so resolutely declared in their Saturday conversation that he would catch someone.
'He probably spent the entire weekend lobbying the Headmaster to agree to this. I wonder why the Headmaster agreed to such a clearly irregular matter.'
He now really wanted to sincerely apologize to Mr. Filch — although he still felt Mr. Filch was difficult to deal with, there was no doubt, this move was played quite beautifully.
Putting aside whether this matter complied with regulations in the Wizarding World, this preemptive action was far superior to his own, and his utilization of the rules was far better than his own.
Unless the other party could recite all the content by heart, Mr. Filch would most likely confiscate the book containing forbidden knowledge today.
'People who would believe what they read in a book or magazine would most likely not be willing to throw valuable information back into the Common Room.'
'Of course, it's most likely a book; magazines aren't that easy to fool people with. Hagrid's rooster is safe then — never mind, he eats them faster than the students can kill them.'
This news truly made William breathe a sigh of relief; he was even a little impatient to go find the caretaker to see what he had confiscated.
"Professor?"
A student interrupted William's thoughts; one by one, the students stared at him with curious eyes — ah, the after-effects of the last sorting hat incident.
No student would like this nearly body-searching behavior; they probably wanted to emulate the last Gryffindor sorting hat incident.
He winced.
William felt his head ache a little.
P.S.: The second chapter is delayed until tomorrow morning. I wrote half of it and didn't dare to stay up; if I catch a cold again, I'll be done for...
(end of chapter)
