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chapter 174 part 2
"Then wouldn't it be good to learn from other professors? At least you could gain some experience..."
William's questioning voice trailed off as he quickly realized he had asked a foolish question.
All the professors here were Hogwarts graduates. Sit in on another professor's lecture to learn?
What a joke. They had already listened to seven years of lessons; what new help could listening again possibly provide?
Since William had arrived, the topic of comparing the new professors naturally shifted. Everyone began discussing the rainy season at Hogwarts and where they should go to escape the rain after retirement.
—
"Adams, based on your experience, there won't be another rainy season after this, right?"
After the crowd dispersed and everyone went about their own business, William secretly pulled Adams aside to ask.
"This is the fifth time you've asked, William. I promise you, from today onward, Hogwarts will no longer have continuous rain. You'll see if you just have a little patience."
Adams finally understood how annoying his previous questions about the diadem must have been—William was now nagging him endlessly, just as he had done.
"That's good. By the way, has there been any progress in the research on that diadem during this time?"
"None," Adams shook his head. "Dumbledore has been researching it, but he seems to be completely clueless. If Ginny and Filch hadn't both been attacked, we would even suspect there was nothing wrong with the diadem at all."
As a wizard not skilled in combat, Adams had been following up on the diadem's research—that was what they had agreed on.
The lack of progress was not good news, especially since his research team was practically a dream team, the best one could find in the entire wizarding world.
"So, has Ginny been discharged from the hospital?"
"She was, just yesterday. I was thinking of calling you, but you've been in such a terrible state these past few days that I decided not to disturb you."
Adams said in a low voice, then joked, "Actually, the school has been quite quiet recently. Maybe even trouble is afraid of the rain?"
*Give me a break. The rain itself is the biggest trouble.*
William pursed his lips and listened patiently as Adams recounted the various things that had happened at Hogwarts while he was completely out of it.
Just as the two were talking about something amusing, the door to the staff room opened once again.
A gasp echoed from the doorway to the far end of the room.
"My goodness, Professor Singeade, did you get into a fight with a troll?"
The professor closest to the doorway cried out in alarm. William followed the sound with his eyes and immediately understood why the other professors were making such a noise.
Singeade at the doorway could no longer be described as merely disheveled. He looked as if he had been hit by some kind of explosive magic without any protection whatsoever—
Messy hair, a tattered robe, a stained face, and hands as black as a coal miner's. If William had seen someone like this in Azkaban, his first thought would have been that this was the man who scrubbed the toilets in the prison.
With an appearance like that, you could easily believe he'd been tortured!
"Excellent, you're here, William! I couldn't find you in your office, so I came here to ask Adams. It's good that you're here—I've finished your cauldron, the kind that will absolutely satisfy you!"
Singeade's words were resolute, but they left William utterly bewildered. It took him a moment to remember: this was the cauldron made from a fire crab shell that he had groggily commissioned Singeade to make during the rainy weather.
*'If I say I forgot, I doubt even using my illness as an excuse would stop him, would it?'*
"It's already finished?"
"Of course! Don't you know who I am? This is a brand-new product of alchemy, absolutely incomparable to those brass cauldrons on the market!"
"That impressive, Professor Singeade? But could a single cauldron really wear you out like this?"
"It's a fire crab shell! I've preserved most of the raw material's properties!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go together!"
The professor who spoke was egging him on, and Singeade had no intention of hiding it. For an alchemy master like him, creations were made to be shown off. Otherwise, why would he work so hard to design an exquisite product just to let it collect dust?
And so, a group of professors who hadn't left the school for the weekend and had nothing better to do formed a large procession and headed towards Singeade's office.
—
"Hello, Professor!"
"Hello, have a good weekend."
"Hello, Professor!"
"Hello, have a good weekend."
The voice of the most impatient professor at the front rang out as they approached the corner, causing the professors behind to chuckle secretly. This left William, caught in the middle, a bit confused.
*'What are they laughing at? It's a perfectly normal greeting, isn't it?'*
"Good morning—"
The greeting student's voice caught in his throat, his expression becoming quite a sight. "Good morning, Professor."
"Yes, hello."
The professor at the front walked past, his expression unchanged.
Then came another professor.
The greeting students stood there awkwardly, offering foolish smiles as greetings. William, expressionless, followed the example of the professor ahead of him, nodding a greeting as he passed by without any extra emotion.
*'This is more interesting than that mysterious cauldron. But speaking of which, what exactly is the use of a cauldron made from a fire crab shell?'*
—
"Heavens, why are there so many professors? Did something happen?"
"I don't know. I haven't heard of anything major happening in the castle. What do you think, Harry?"
"Huh?"
Harry looked up, completely bewildered.
"It's not your fault you can't have Quidditch training. The Slytherins took the pitch, and there was nothing to be done about it. On this rare day of good weather, Snape had to give them a permit!"
Ron was filled with righteous indignation. The Gryffindor team had used their prize money to buy a batch of Nimbus 2000s. Although they weren't the latest model, their performance was stable and they were much cheaper. The whole house was hoping for good results, but the moment the weather cleared up today, Slytherin came to snatch the pitch.
Seeing Ron's agitation, Harry felt too embarrassed to say that he wasn't worried about that today, but about Professor Lockhart. Although the professor had recently changed his teaching method, he still liked to use him for demonstrations, just like before.
But that feeling was even more terrifying than before.
*'Even Ron thinks Lockhart has gotten better. What am I thinking?'*
(end of chapter)
"Then wouldn't it be good to learn from other professors? At least you could gain some experience..."
William's questioning voice trailed off as he quickly realized he had asked a foolish question.
All the professors here were Hogwarts graduates. Sit in on another professor's lecture to learn?
What a joke. They had already listened to seven years of lessons; what new help could listening again possibly provide?
Since William had arrived, the topic of comparing the new professors naturally shifted. Everyone began discussing the rainy season at Hogwarts and where they should go to escape the rain after retirement.
—
"Adams, based on your experience, there won't be another rainy season after this, right?"
After the crowd dispersed and everyone went about their own business, William secretly pulled Adams aside to ask.
"This is the fifth time you've asked, William. I promise you, from today onward, Hogwarts will no longer have continuous rain. You'll see if you just have a little patience."
Adams finally understood how annoying his previous questions about the diadem must have been—William was now nagging him endlessly, just as he had done.
"That's good. By the way, has there been any progress in the research on that diadem during this time?"
"None," Adams shook his head. "Dumbledore has been researching it, but he seems to be completely clueless. If Ginny and Filch hadn't both been attacked, we would even suspect there was nothing wrong with the diadem at all."
As a wizard not skilled in combat, Adams had been following up on the diadem's research—that was what they had agreed on.
The lack of progress was not good news, especially since his research team was practically a dream team, the best one could find in the entire wizarding world.
"So, has Ginny been discharged from the hospital?"
"She was, just yesterday. I was thinking of calling you, but you've been in such a terrible state these past few days that I decided not to disturb you."
Adams said in a low voice, then joked, "Actually, the school has been quite quiet recently. Maybe even trouble is afraid of the rain?"
*Give me a break. The rain itself is the biggest trouble.*
William pursed his lips and listened patiently as Adams recounted the various things that had happened at Hogwarts while he was completely out of it.
Just as the two were talking about something amusing, the door to the staff room opened once again.
A gasp echoed from the doorway to the far end of the room.
"My goodness, Professor Singeade, did you get into a fight with a troll?"
The professor closest to the doorway cried out in alarm. William followed the sound with his eyes and immediately understood why the other professors were making such a noise.
Singeade at the doorway could no longer be described as merely disheveled. He looked as if he had been hit by some kind of explosive magic without any protection whatsoever—
Messy hair, a tattered robe, a stained face, and hands as black as a coal miner's. If William had seen someone like this in Azkaban, his first thought would have been that this was the man who scrubbed the toilets in the prison.
With an appearance like that, you could easily believe he'd been tortured!
"Excellent, you're here, William! I couldn't find you in your office, so I came here to ask Adams. It's good that you're here—I've finished your cauldron, the kind that will absolutely satisfy you!"
Singeade's words were resolute, but they left William utterly bewildered. It took him a moment to remember: this was the cauldron made from a fire crab shell that he had groggily commissioned Singeade to make during the rainy weather.
*'If I say I forgot, I doubt even using my illness as an excuse would stop him, would it?'*
"It's already finished?"
"Of course! Don't you know who I am? This is a brand-new product of alchemy, absolutely incomparable to those brass cauldrons on the market!"
"That impressive, Professor Singeade? But could a single cauldron really wear you out like this?"
"It's a fire crab shell! I've preserved most of the raw material's properties!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go together!"
The professor who spoke was egging him on, and Singeade had no intention of hiding it. For an alchemy master like him, creations were made to be shown off. Otherwise, why would he work so hard to design an exquisite product just to let it collect dust?
And so, a group of professors who hadn't left the school for the weekend and had nothing better to do formed a large procession and headed towards Singeade's office.
—
"Hello, Professor!"
"Hello, have a good weekend."
"Hello, Professor!"
"Hello, have a good weekend."
The voice of the most impatient professor at the front rang out as they approached the corner, causing the professors behind to chuckle secretly. This left William, caught in the middle, a bit confused.
*'What are they laughing at? It's a perfectly normal greeting, isn't it?'*
"Good morning—"
The greeting student's voice caught in his throat, his expression becoming quite a sight. "Good morning, Professor."
"Yes, hello."
The professor at the front walked past, his expression unchanged.
Then came another professor.
The greeting students stood there awkwardly, offering foolish smiles as greetings. William, expressionless, followed the example of the professor ahead of him, nodding a greeting as he passed by without any extra emotion.
*'This is more interesting than that mysterious cauldron. But speaking of which, what exactly is the use of a cauldron made from a fire crab shell?'*
—
"Heavens, why are there so many professors? Did something happen?"
"I don't know. I haven't heard of anything major happening in the castle. What do you think, Harry?"
"Huh?"
Harry looked up, completely bewildered.
"It's not your fault you can't have Quidditch training. The Slytherins took the pitch, and there was nothing to be done about it. On this rare day of good weather, Snape had to give them a permit!"
Ron was filled with righteous indignation. The Gryffindor team had used their prize money to buy a batch of Nimbus 2000s. Although they weren't the latest model, their performance was stable and they were much cheaper. The whole house was hoping for good results, but the moment the weather cleared up today, Slytherin came to snatch the pitch.
Seeing Ron's agitation, Harry felt too embarrassed to say that he wasn't worried about that today, but about Professor Lockhart. Although the professor had recently changed his teaching method, he still liked to use him for demonstrations, just like before.
But that feeling was even more terrifying than before.
*'Even Ron thinks Lockhart has gotten better. What am I thinking?'*
(end of chapter)
