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chapter 175 part 2
The old professor's commands were carried out quickly. William didn't even have time to extinguish the flame under his cauldron before he grabbed his wand and rushed out. One sudden incident might have been a prank, but two happening at once definitely meant something was wrong!
'What on earth happened to the twins?'
'And Miss Granger, she doesn't seem like the type to randomly attack her year-mates either, does she?'
These thoughts swirled in William's mind, sending his brain, which had been forced into a month-long rest by the weather, spinning furiously.
"What's the common link?"
"Damn it, the diadem!"
William instantly thought of Ravenclaw's Diadem. If there was one peculiar thing the three of them had in common, it had to be the diadem.
Ginny had made a mistake because of the diadem before. It wasn't impossible for the same mistake to be repeated with the Weasleys—even Dumbledore had said he couldn't confirm the specific effects of the Dark Magic hidden on the diadem!
Thinking of this, William, who was at the front of the group, found the nearest portrait in the corridor. "Go find Dumbledore! Tell him that I, William, believe Miss Granger and the Weasley Twins are under the influence of the diadem, so we must be careful with everyone else!"
"Professor? You?"
The portrait William had shouted at was a bit taken aback—she was The Fat Lady.
"Go find Dumbledore! Go to the Headmaster's Office! Tell him there's a problem with the diadem! All students and professors who wore it must be kept under close guard!" William repeated himself. "Sorry, this is urgent. Do you understand?"
"Alright, there's a problem with the diadem. I'll go find Dumbledore!"
The Fat Lady in the portrait didn't even bother with the teacup she had left behind, rushing towards the next portrait at a speed William couldn't yet comprehend.
By then, the professors behind him had caught up. "Professor William, what did you discover? Why did you stop?"
"Just a suspicion. I've asked someone to inform Dumbledore."
William didn't dare spread this dangerous hypothesis. If he was right, the school authorities would react quickly. But if he was wrong, the professors behind him would probably be unable to reach a conclusion for some time, wasting precious moments that could be used to help the injured students.
'It's best to let Dumbledore handle it. If I disperse the professors now, it'll be impossible to find them if something else happens!'
William had a realistic assessment of his own prestige. As a newly arrived professor, announcing a hypothesis would only provoke discussion among the other professors; he had no authority to assign specific tasks.
"First solve the immediate problem, then consider potential future ones, or nothing will get done—I hope Percy and the others are alright."
With this thought, William ran quickly to the location the student had reported.
---
"Stupefy!"
"Impedimenta!"
William heard the distinctive voices of the Weasley Twins from a distance.
"It really is them!"
"What are those two doing?"
"And what are the prefects doing?"
"After all this time, they can't handle two students?"
While cursing the ineffectual prefects, he quickly cast a spell on the wall. A mirror soon appeared at the corner—his self-taught Transfiguration was already good enough for practical use.
Using the mirror's reflection, William quickly figured out what was happening over there. Nearly twenty students were already lying on the floor, and there were probably more in places he couldn't see.
"Two fourth-year kids... where are the upperclassmen, especially from Gryffindor? Are they all on the ground?"
For the first time since entering this school, William was annoyed at the students' lack of initiative.
But even as he grumbled internally, he unhesitatingly cast a Shield Charm on himself, awaiting the retaliatory attack. Even a magically summoned mirror would inevitably alert the enemy to his presence when used for observation.
However, the expected attack didn't come as quickly as he thought. The images of the twins in the mirror showed no reaction to his spying. To be precise, although they were looking around, their actions were tinged with a certain rigidity.
But this discovery brought William no joy.
Although he'd had a rudimentary version of this spell last month, he hadn't had a chance to improve it for various reasons this month. If they couldn't detect such an obvious spell, then they were definitely being controlled.
This was not good news. Combined with the fact that Hermione Granger had also started attacking fellow students, William's hypothesis that the diadem could control people and make them harm others was very likely becoming a reality.
'You've got to be kidding me, there was a whole bunch of professors who tested it too!'
William was genuinely terrified now. If all the testers were under control, even he, a newcomer to the Wizarding World, could imagine the horrible things that would follow.
"Then it's not a diadem, but a disaster!"
With this thought, William charged out from behind the corner, his Shield Charm active. Sliding toward the wall, he fluidly cast a Stunning Spell, then quickly rolled on the ground and fired another without even getting up.
"Clang!"
A loud sound of impact rang out; William's Stunning Spell was blocked. But the immediate follow-up successfully hit one of the Weasleys, and the spell aimed at him slammed into the empty ground, causing no harm.
Before William could land a finishing blow, the professors running up from behind had already fired several Stunning Spells, knocking out the remaining Weasley.
"Heavens..."
"Professor William, you were too reckless."
"Do the Weasley brothers want to be expelled? So many students... if there isn't a reasonable explanation, even Professor McGonagall would have to expel them, wouldn't she?"
...
The professors muttered amongst themselves as they began to seriously check on the students' conditions. With so many of them knocked out, they couldn't help but say something.
"Strange, why are they all from the lower years?"
"Of course they are. Which upperclassman isn't at Hogsmeade? It's been raining for a month. Now that there's finally a sunny day, if it weren't so crowded over there today, I'd want to take a look myself."
The conversation between two nearby professors who were checking on students enlightened William.
He finally understood why he couldn't see any upperclassmen.
But he quickly thought of something even worse—the professors, and the prefects and upper-year students who had also tested the diadem... they wouldn't be causing trouble in Hogsmeade, would they?
He drew in a sharp breath.
Just at his moment of greatest worry, the portrait he had entrusted with his message appeared.
"Professor William, Dumbledore asked me to tell you—the prefects and professors are fine. Everything is alright, you don't need to worry."
(end of chapter)
The old professor's commands were carried out quickly. William didn't even have time to extinguish the flame under his cauldron before he grabbed his wand and rushed out. One sudden incident might have been a prank, but two happening at once definitely meant something was wrong!
'What on earth happened to the twins?'
'And Miss Granger, she doesn't seem like the type to randomly attack her year-mates either, does she?'
These thoughts swirled in William's mind, sending his brain, which had been forced into a month-long rest by the weather, spinning furiously.
"What's the common link?"
"Damn it, the diadem!"
William instantly thought of Ravenclaw's Diadem. If there was one peculiar thing the three of them had in common, it had to be the diadem.
Ginny had made a mistake because of the diadem before. It wasn't impossible for the same mistake to be repeated with the Weasleys—even Dumbledore had said he couldn't confirm the specific effects of the Dark Magic hidden on the diadem!
Thinking of this, William, who was at the front of the group, found the nearest portrait in the corridor. "Go find Dumbledore! Tell him that I, William, believe Miss Granger and the Weasley Twins are under the influence of the diadem, so we must be careful with everyone else!"
"Professor? You?"
The portrait William had shouted at was a bit taken aback—she was The Fat Lady.
"Go find Dumbledore! Go to the Headmaster's Office! Tell him there's a problem with the diadem! All students and professors who wore it must be kept under close guard!" William repeated himself. "Sorry, this is urgent. Do you understand?"
"Alright, there's a problem with the diadem. I'll go find Dumbledore!"
The Fat Lady in the portrait didn't even bother with the teacup she had left behind, rushing towards the next portrait at a speed William couldn't yet comprehend.
By then, the professors behind him had caught up. "Professor William, what did you discover? Why did you stop?"
"Just a suspicion. I've asked someone to inform Dumbledore."
William didn't dare spread this dangerous hypothesis. If he was right, the school authorities would react quickly. But if he was wrong, the professors behind him would probably be unable to reach a conclusion for some time, wasting precious moments that could be used to help the injured students.
'It's best to let Dumbledore handle it. If I disperse the professors now, it'll be impossible to find them if something else happens!'
William had a realistic assessment of his own prestige. As a newly arrived professor, announcing a hypothesis would only provoke discussion among the other professors; he had no authority to assign specific tasks.
"First solve the immediate problem, then consider potential future ones, or nothing will get done—I hope Percy and the others are alright."
With this thought, William ran quickly to the location the student had reported.
---
"Stupefy!"
"Impedimenta!"
William heard the distinctive voices of the Weasley Twins from a distance.
"It really is them!"
"What are those two doing?"
"And what are the prefects doing?"
"After all this time, they can't handle two students?"
While cursing the ineffectual prefects, he quickly cast a spell on the wall. A mirror soon appeared at the corner—his self-taught Transfiguration was already good enough for practical use.
Using the mirror's reflection, William quickly figured out what was happening over there. Nearly twenty students were already lying on the floor, and there were probably more in places he couldn't see.
"Two fourth-year kids... where are the upperclassmen, especially from Gryffindor? Are they all on the ground?"
For the first time since entering this school, William was annoyed at the students' lack of initiative.
But even as he grumbled internally, he unhesitatingly cast a Shield Charm on himself, awaiting the retaliatory attack. Even a magically summoned mirror would inevitably alert the enemy to his presence when used for observation.
However, the expected attack didn't come as quickly as he thought. The images of the twins in the mirror showed no reaction to his spying. To be precise, although they were looking around, their actions were tinged with a certain rigidity.
But this discovery brought William no joy.
Although he'd had a rudimentary version of this spell last month, he hadn't had a chance to improve it for various reasons this month. If they couldn't detect such an obvious spell, then they were definitely being controlled.
This was not good news. Combined with the fact that Hermione Granger had also started attacking fellow students, William's hypothesis that the diadem could control people and make them harm others was very likely becoming a reality.
'You've got to be kidding me, there was a whole bunch of professors who tested it too!'
William was genuinely terrified now. If all the testers were under control, even he, a newcomer to the Wizarding World, could imagine the horrible things that would follow.
"Then it's not a diadem, but a disaster!"
With this thought, William charged out from behind the corner, his Shield Charm active. Sliding toward the wall, he fluidly cast a Stunning Spell, then quickly rolled on the ground and fired another without even getting up.
"Clang!"
A loud sound of impact rang out; William's Stunning Spell was blocked. But the immediate follow-up successfully hit one of the Weasleys, and the spell aimed at him slammed into the empty ground, causing no harm.
Before William could land a finishing blow, the professors running up from behind had already fired several Stunning Spells, knocking out the remaining Weasley.
"Heavens..."
"Professor William, you were too reckless."
"Do the Weasley brothers want to be expelled? So many students... if there isn't a reasonable explanation, even Professor McGonagall would have to expel them, wouldn't she?"
...
The professors muttered amongst themselves as they began to seriously check on the students' conditions. With so many of them knocked out, they couldn't help but say something.
"Strange, why are they all from the lower years?"
"Of course they are. Which upperclassman isn't at Hogsmeade? It's been raining for a month. Now that there's finally a sunny day, if it weren't so crowded over there today, I'd want to take a look myself."
The conversation between two nearby professors who were checking on students enlightened William.
He finally understood why he couldn't see any upperclassmen.
But he quickly thought of something even worse—the professors, and the prefects and upper-year students who had also tested the diadem... they wouldn't be causing trouble in Hogsmeade, would they?
He drew in a sharp breath.
Just at his moment of greatest worry, the portrait he had entrusted with his message appeared.
"Professor William, Dumbledore asked me to tell you—the prefects and professors are fine. Everything is alright, you don't need to worry."
(end of chapter)
