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chapter 160 part 1
Chapter 157: Passing the Buck Up
The last week of September. Wednesday, sunny.
As he had no classes today, William simply holed up in his office with a pile of documents, refusing to emerge. His excuse was ready-made: the matter of the Diadem was troublesome, and he didn't want to go out.
"So you just plan on hiding like this?"
In William's office, Adams mercilessly demolished William's preserved fruit while questioning him from across the table.
"What else can I do?" William retorted, flipping through an old book he had borrowed from the Library.
"Well, it's one way to do it. I can only imagine what would happen if you showed your face in the Staff Room."
Adams chuckled with schadenfreude. In his eyes, since William had obtained the Diadem of Ravenclaw, it was only right that he bear these happy burdens.
"Tch!"
William gave him the middle finger. "You've brought the books. The pawn has served his purpose. Dear Professor Adams, it's time for you to leave my office."
"Just stay cooped up in your office, then," Adams returned the gesture and left William's office without a shred of mercy. "I'm off to play chess with the others. You enjoy being a mushroom."
---
'This guy,' William shook his head in annoyance. 'Just because I checked out a few extra books from the Library, he suspects I've been hit hard by this. Aren't you just asking for trouble by getting involved?'
Although the curse turning into a meal coupon had allowed William to successfully score one for free, there was no doubt that the Dark Lord had truly placed a curse on the information about his own origins. Anyone who investigated too deeply would be silently cursed and fall victim to it.
Compared to the Hogwarts professors, whose positions made the curse obvious, those others who tried to investigate died much more quietly—because the curse was designed to make the death look like an accident.
'Thinking about it, that Dark Lord is truly terrifying. A silent, accidental curse... If it weren't for the curse on the Professor's post being so obvious, no one would probably even know this curse existed.'
'In other words, I've indirectly grasped the power of this curse myself. If my deductions are correct, as long as I tell someone what I've found, they'll suffer the same curse.'
'But what's the use of me having this power?'
William didn't have any enemies at the moment, and he certainly had no intention of pulling in innocent bystanders for an experiment.
'I'll keep it in mind for now, as a backup plan. Even a piece of toilet paper has its unique use. Who knows, I might actually need it one day.'
Shaking his head, he put the matter of the curse aside and began to go through the records of Horace Slughorn.
This old Head of House, who had been the Potions Professor at the school until his retirement, had naturally left behind a mountain of records with Mr. Filch: club formations, requests to excuse students from detention, applications to hold feasts, all sorts of miscellaneous supply procurements, textbook selections, and a smattering of other forms.
'There's just too much—'
William rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Although this was the first day of his independent investigation, the prospects looked quite grim.
Horace Slughorn had been a professor his entire life. Besides teaching, he also had a hobby that was very much in line with pure-blood customs—collecting outstanding individuals from all fields.
'Do you have a collecting obsession? Tirelessly collecting top students year after year—how am I supposed to investigate these records?!'
In every year's disciplinary records, one could see Professor Horace Slughorn using his privilege to negotiate with the caretaker or other professors to get misbehaving students released early from detention. The retired professor was as omnipresent as the air.
Even though he had never met the man, William's resentment toward the professor was already sky-high—there were simply too many clues, making it impossible for him to investigate...
...
'Another useless record,' William sighed, putting down the document in his hands.
'I can't take it anymore. I'll lose my mind if I keep digging through this stuff.' William carefully noted the location of the documents he'd finished with and stacked them all together. 'I need to calm down, stop overthinking this. Right, I'll make an exam paper to change my mood.'
---
"Nowhere to hide now, is there? You still have to teach today."
On Thursday morning, Adams was deliberately making sarcastic remarks at the dining table.
'If it weren't for the after-effects of Azkaban flaring up when I'm away from people for too long, do you really think I couldn't just lie low until this whole Diadem affair blows over?'
William rolled his eyes in annoyance. Though he'd tried many ways to console himself, the documents wouldn't get any thinner just because he gave himself a pep talk or threw a tantrum. The truth was right there, but the only effective method was to spend time going through it, page by page, again and again.
"Teaching is my job, and the students enjoy it. Why would I run away from my class?"
Although his mind was still churning over those documents, William had no intention of revealing a single word to anyone.
"The students enjoy it?" Adams said with a teasing look. "I heard the fifth-year students brought back quite a few exam papers this time."
"What's wrong with exam papers? Believe it or not, if I were to promise the top-performing student two hours with the Diadem—a session I'd arrange with the Headmaster—they'd even dare to abandon their homework from other professors."
William raised an eyebrow, retorting shamelessly.
"Don't kid me, two hours—the other professors would go mad. They haven't even worked out the regulations yet. Professor Dumbledore is holding things up, not allowing any reckless experiments."
"It's fine, we'll use your allotted time. If I talk to the Headmaster, he'll agree."
William said the shameless words with a grin. As a professor who was an expert in Herbology and whose loss of control in combat wouldn't cause too much damage, Adams had already obtained permission to experiment with the Diadem ahead of the other professors.
This time, Adams was rendered speechless.
---
"Class, class, wake up. It's only Thursday. You can sleep as much as you want on the weekend."
When William walked into the classroom, half of the seventh-year students were slumped over their tables, looking as if they had just survived an all-night ball.
"Morning, Professor."
The students greeted William listlessly.
"What's all this? I don't recall any balls recently. Did you seventh-year students have some sort of secret party yesterday?"
William came down from the platform, pulled up a chair in the very center of the classroom, and sat down right among the students.
"No, Professor."
The student closest to William hesitated for a moment. "It's just... we heard that you obtained the Diadem, and you promised the top student in the Fifth Year O.W.L.s a period of time to use it. You see, we seventh-years have exams too, don't we?"
...
'I haven't even worn this Diadem myself—why are both the teachers and the students so fixated on it?'
Undoubtedly, hearing that the fifth-year students had a chance to use the Diadem had made this group of seventh-years jealous. To be precise, seeing how exhausted they were, William suspected they had spent the entire night discussing what they would do if they got their hands on the Diadem.
Chapter 157: Passing the Buck Up
The last week of September. Wednesday, sunny.
As he had no classes today, William simply holed up in his office with a pile of documents, refusing to emerge. His excuse was ready-made: the matter of the Diadem was troublesome, and he didn't want to go out.
"So you just plan on hiding like this?"
In William's office, Adams mercilessly demolished William's preserved fruit while questioning him from across the table.
"What else can I do?" William retorted, flipping through an old book he had borrowed from the Library.
"Well, it's one way to do it. I can only imagine what would happen if you showed your face in the Staff Room."
Adams chuckled with schadenfreude. In his eyes, since William had obtained the Diadem of Ravenclaw, it was only right that he bear these happy burdens.
"Tch!"
William gave him the middle finger. "You've brought the books. The pawn has served his purpose. Dear Professor Adams, it's time for you to leave my office."
"Just stay cooped up in your office, then," Adams returned the gesture and left William's office without a shred of mercy. "I'm off to play chess with the others. You enjoy being a mushroom."
---
'This guy,' William shook his head in annoyance. 'Just because I checked out a few extra books from the Library, he suspects I've been hit hard by this. Aren't you just asking for trouble by getting involved?'
Although the curse turning into a meal coupon had allowed William to successfully score one for free, there was no doubt that the Dark Lord had truly placed a curse on the information about his own origins. Anyone who investigated too deeply would be silently cursed and fall victim to it.
Compared to the Hogwarts professors, whose positions made the curse obvious, those others who tried to investigate died much more quietly—because the curse was designed to make the death look like an accident.
'Thinking about it, that Dark Lord is truly terrifying. A silent, accidental curse... If it weren't for the curse on the Professor's post being so obvious, no one would probably even know this curse existed.'
'In other words, I've indirectly grasped the power of this curse myself. If my deductions are correct, as long as I tell someone what I've found, they'll suffer the same curse.'
'But what's the use of me having this power?'
William didn't have any enemies at the moment, and he certainly had no intention of pulling in innocent bystanders for an experiment.
'I'll keep it in mind for now, as a backup plan. Even a piece of toilet paper has its unique use. Who knows, I might actually need it one day.'
Shaking his head, he put the matter of the curse aside and began to go through the records of Horace Slughorn.
This old Head of House, who had been the Potions Professor at the school until his retirement, had naturally left behind a mountain of records with Mr. Filch: club formations, requests to excuse students from detention, applications to hold feasts, all sorts of miscellaneous supply procurements, textbook selections, and a smattering of other forms.
'There's just too much—'
William rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Although this was the first day of his independent investigation, the prospects looked quite grim.
Horace Slughorn had been a professor his entire life. Besides teaching, he also had a hobby that was very much in line with pure-blood customs—collecting outstanding individuals from all fields.
'Do you have a collecting obsession? Tirelessly collecting top students year after year—how am I supposed to investigate these records?!'
In every year's disciplinary records, one could see Professor Horace Slughorn using his privilege to negotiate with the caretaker or other professors to get misbehaving students released early from detention. The retired professor was as omnipresent as the air.
Even though he had never met the man, William's resentment toward the professor was already sky-high—there were simply too many clues, making it impossible for him to investigate...
...
'Another useless record,' William sighed, putting down the document in his hands.
'I can't take it anymore. I'll lose my mind if I keep digging through this stuff.' William carefully noted the location of the documents he'd finished with and stacked them all together. 'I need to calm down, stop overthinking this. Right, I'll make an exam paper to change my mood.'
---
"Nowhere to hide now, is there? You still have to teach today."
On Thursday morning, Adams was deliberately making sarcastic remarks at the dining table.
'If it weren't for the after-effects of Azkaban flaring up when I'm away from people for too long, do you really think I couldn't just lie low until this whole Diadem affair blows over?'
William rolled his eyes in annoyance. Though he'd tried many ways to console himself, the documents wouldn't get any thinner just because he gave himself a pep talk or threw a tantrum. The truth was right there, but the only effective method was to spend time going through it, page by page, again and again.
"Teaching is my job, and the students enjoy it. Why would I run away from my class?"
Although his mind was still churning over those documents, William had no intention of revealing a single word to anyone.
"The students enjoy it?" Adams said with a teasing look. "I heard the fifth-year students brought back quite a few exam papers this time."
"What's wrong with exam papers? Believe it or not, if I were to promise the top-performing student two hours with the Diadem—a session I'd arrange with the Headmaster—they'd even dare to abandon their homework from other professors."
William raised an eyebrow, retorting shamelessly.
"Don't kid me, two hours—the other professors would go mad. They haven't even worked out the regulations yet. Professor Dumbledore is holding things up, not allowing any reckless experiments."
"It's fine, we'll use your allotted time. If I talk to the Headmaster, he'll agree."
William said the shameless words with a grin. As a professor who was an expert in Herbology and whose loss of control in combat wouldn't cause too much damage, Adams had already obtained permission to experiment with the Diadem ahead of the other professors.
This time, Adams was rendered speechless.
---
"Class, class, wake up. It's only Thursday. You can sleep as much as you want on the weekend."
When William walked into the classroom, half of the seventh-year students were slumped over their tables, looking as if they had just survived an all-night ball.
"Morning, Professor."
The students greeted William listlessly.
"What's all this? I don't recall any balls recently. Did you seventh-year students have some sort of secret party yesterday?"
William came down from the platform, pulled up a chair in the very center of the classroom, and sat down right among the students.
"No, Professor."
The student closest to William hesitated for a moment. "It's just... we heard that you obtained the Diadem, and you promised the top student in the Fifth Year O.W.L.s a period of time to use it. You see, we seventh-years have exams too, don't we?"
...
'I haven't even worn this Diadem myself—why are both the teachers and the students so fixated on it?'
Undoubtedly, hearing that the fifth-year students had a chance to use the Diadem had made this group of seventh-years jealous. To be precise, seeing how exhausted they were, William suspected they had spent the entire night discussing what they would do if they got their hands on the Diadem.
