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chapter 176 part 1
"Is everything all right?"
William subconsciously repeated the question and received another affirmation from The Fat Lady's portrait.
"Yes, Professor William, all is well."
William instantly breathed a sigh of relief, the tension that had gripped him immediately easing—as long as everything was all right, that was all that mattered.
Although he had been working here for less than two months, he had truly grown to like the job and this school.
"Things have settled down here. What about the other side? How is Miss Hermione Granger?"
"The other side is fine as well. Professor Lockhart rushed to the scene and brought the out-of-control Miss Granger under control. Subsequent treatment is underway. The students were only knocked unconscious; there were no other incidents."
"That's wonderful. Thank you, madam," William said sincerely.
"You're welcome, Professor. If there's nothing else, I shall return to my tea."
The Fat Lady curtsied elegantly within her frame, then began to move from portrait to portrait back towards her own.
While William was speaking with The Fat Lady, the other professors had already performed the Counter-Curse on the injured children. After a thorough check confirmed no further injuries, this unlucky group who had been knocked out naturally didn't need to be hospitalized.
"Tch— Which bastard used a Stunning Spell? Casting spells in the corridor so recklessly!"
"Where did those two Weasley bastards go!"
"Damn it, just you wait—Professor, I'm not talking about you, I mean those two Weasleys..."
...
The students, waking up one after another, either cursed loudly or made threats, not a single pleasant word coming from their mouths. But this was understandable. Anyone would be upset if they were just walking along and got hit like that.
As for the Weasley culprits they spoke of, they were currently bound tightly with soft cloth strips. Their wands had been taken by the professors long ago and were held to the side.
"These Weasleys are just too good at causing trouble, aren't they?" a professor William wasn't familiar with and whose name he could never remember complained aloud.
"It might not necessarily be their fault. The way those two were casting magic wasn't like a normal wizard," William shook his head, refuting the professor's statement. "When I took them down just now, they didn't even make a basic move to dodge. It was like hitting a training dummy. Look, all the students here are from the lower years. If a single upperclassman had been here, they probably could have solved the problem without us even needing to intervene."
"That's true," a few professors said, looking around and nodding. "Those two are troublemakers who even manage to prank Peeves. Bullying only lower years doesn't seem like a prank they'd pull."
Isn't that testimony a bit too malicious—
"Then let's just hand it over to Professor McGonagall. She's used to it, anyway. But what about this group of students who were attacked?"
"That's simple. I'll handle it."
William volunteered, and the other professors had no objections—the way William had quickly dispatched the twins had given them great confidence in their new colleague.
"All students who were attacked, come here!"
William leaned against the wall, observing everyone from the corner of his eye. "Gather around me!"
A group of children, some clutching their heads and others their backsides, grumbled as they walked over.
"Raise your hand if you were just ambushed!"
"Good, put them down," William nodded to show he had seen. "Now, raise your hand if you fought back after being ambushed!"
"Excellent. Get a piece of parchment, write down your name and House. Everyone who dared to fight back has earned two points for their House, to be deducted from the Weasley brothers'—of course, that's not all. There are twenty-three of you in total, so we'll deduct sixty-nine points from Gryffindor."
"Regarding the punishment for the Weasley brothers' misdeeds, they will serve another two months of detention, one month of which will be spent scrubbing toilets. All right, if anyone is unsatisfied with this resolution, please write up a report and submit it to my office. Make it standard, about three thousand words, detailing your suggested punishment and your reasoning."
This was a bit shameless, but there was no other way. After all, it was impossible to satisfy everyone in this matter.
Although a few individuals still felt it was unfair, upon considering the three-thousand-word essay, everyone magnanimously decided to forgive the two Weasleys.
In any case, those two were going to be scrubbing toilets, which vented at least half of their anger. Thus, the attacked students left without further complaint after bidding farewell to the professors.
"Three thousand words! Professor William, you're too ruthless. Even Professor McGonagall's funding reports don't have such a requirement."
A professor listening in was practically doubled over with laughter. While today's events were a sudden incident, student uproar was a daily occurrence at Hogwarts. Today, there wasn't even a student with a broken arm or leg, no one even needed to go to the Hospital Wing, so it didn't count as a major event.
Therefore, the professors were no longer too tense. They teased William while looking at the Weasley brothers. "Let's not wake them up yet. We'll send them directly to Professor McGonagall's office."
---
Soon, a strange spectacle appeared in the corridors of Hogwarts. One professor led the way, followed by two more. William, controlling the Weasley brothers, was in the center, with the remaining professors trailing behind. This almost unprecedentedly luxurious escort formation was thus formed.
'I feel like this lineup would be enough to escort the Minister for Magic to Azkaban.'
William thought back to the scene of his own arrival at Azkaban—four Hit-Wizards, surrounding them front and back, had taken a whole string of prisoners to Azkaban. It was completely lacking in ceremony.
"Mmmph~!"
Just as William's mind was wandering, the bandages floating in mid-air began to squirm, looking very much like struggling earthworms.
'Waking up so soon?'
William was a little surprised. Although the spells he had used to take them down quickly weren't at full strength, for them to wake up this fast, their magical talent was higher than he had imagined.
The professors in front and behind also cast curious glances. They had just been tagging along for the excitement, so seeing the subjects of interest waking up, they naturally lost their previous escort-like demeanor.
"Professor William, why don't you loosen the bandages and see what they have to say?"
Although in theory this wasn't a good idea, William couldn't resist his own intense curiosity. With a wave of his wand, he naturally loosened the bandages covering the twins' mouths—in any case, he wasn't worried about them being able to perform wandless magic.
"Professor! What are you doing? We just wore a diadem, that's all! We were the ones who brought it out!"
The moment the twins' mouths were freed, they started shouting. Their tone was full of innocence; if William hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that these two had just taken down more than twenty lowerclassmen.
'Have they lost their memories too?'
William instantly thought of Filch and Ginny. They had also lost large chunks of their memories.
"Wait! Filch!"
William abruptly remembered something was wrong—the student who came to report said Filch was attacked by the twins, and only then did they start attacking students. But when William rushed over, he hadn't seen Filch at all!
"Did any of you see Filch just now?" William asked loudly.
"No, it was all lower years. There was no Filch."
"That's right, the person who reported it said Filch was attacked too! Weasley, you two, where did you take Filch?"
"Filch? Heavens—no, we just put on that diadem, and then we were suddenly tied up! What Filch!"
"Is everything all right?"
William subconsciously repeated the question and received another affirmation from The Fat Lady's portrait.
"Yes, Professor William, all is well."
William instantly breathed a sigh of relief, the tension that had gripped him immediately easing—as long as everything was all right, that was all that mattered.
Although he had been working here for less than two months, he had truly grown to like the job and this school.
"Things have settled down here. What about the other side? How is Miss Hermione Granger?"
"The other side is fine as well. Professor Lockhart rushed to the scene and brought the out-of-control Miss Granger under control. Subsequent treatment is underway. The students were only knocked unconscious; there were no other incidents."
"That's wonderful. Thank you, madam," William said sincerely.
"You're welcome, Professor. If there's nothing else, I shall return to my tea."
The Fat Lady curtsied elegantly within her frame, then began to move from portrait to portrait back towards her own.
While William was speaking with The Fat Lady, the other professors had already performed the Counter-Curse on the injured children. After a thorough check confirmed no further injuries, this unlucky group who had been knocked out naturally didn't need to be hospitalized.
"Tch— Which bastard used a Stunning Spell? Casting spells in the corridor so recklessly!"
"Where did those two Weasley bastards go!"
"Damn it, just you wait—Professor, I'm not talking about you, I mean those two Weasleys..."
...
The students, waking up one after another, either cursed loudly or made threats, not a single pleasant word coming from their mouths. But this was understandable. Anyone would be upset if they were just walking along and got hit like that.
As for the Weasley culprits they spoke of, they were currently bound tightly with soft cloth strips. Their wands had been taken by the professors long ago and were held to the side.
"These Weasleys are just too good at causing trouble, aren't they?" a professor William wasn't familiar with and whose name he could never remember complained aloud.
"It might not necessarily be their fault. The way those two were casting magic wasn't like a normal wizard," William shook his head, refuting the professor's statement. "When I took them down just now, they didn't even make a basic move to dodge. It was like hitting a training dummy. Look, all the students here are from the lower years. If a single upperclassman had been here, they probably could have solved the problem without us even needing to intervene."
"That's true," a few professors said, looking around and nodding. "Those two are troublemakers who even manage to prank Peeves. Bullying only lower years doesn't seem like a prank they'd pull."
Isn't that testimony a bit too malicious—
"Then let's just hand it over to Professor McGonagall. She's used to it, anyway. But what about this group of students who were attacked?"
"That's simple. I'll handle it."
William volunteered, and the other professors had no objections—the way William had quickly dispatched the twins had given them great confidence in their new colleague.
"All students who were attacked, come here!"
William leaned against the wall, observing everyone from the corner of his eye. "Gather around me!"
A group of children, some clutching their heads and others their backsides, grumbled as they walked over.
"Raise your hand if you were just ambushed!"
"Good, put them down," William nodded to show he had seen. "Now, raise your hand if you fought back after being ambushed!"
"Excellent. Get a piece of parchment, write down your name and House. Everyone who dared to fight back has earned two points for their House, to be deducted from the Weasley brothers'—of course, that's not all. There are twenty-three of you in total, so we'll deduct sixty-nine points from Gryffindor."
"Regarding the punishment for the Weasley brothers' misdeeds, they will serve another two months of detention, one month of which will be spent scrubbing toilets. All right, if anyone is unsatisfied with this resolution, please write up a report and submit it to my office. Make it standard, about three thousand words, detailing your suggested punishment and your reasoning."
This was a bit shameless, but there was no other way. After all, it was impossible to satisfy everyone in this matter.
Although a few individuals still felt it was unfair, upon considering the three-thousand-word essay, everyone magnanimously decided to forgive the two Weasleys.
In any case, those two were going to be scrubbing toilets, which vented at least half of their anger. Thus, the attacked students left without further complaint after bidding farewell to the professors.
"Three thousand words! Professor William, you're too ruthless. Even Professor McGonagall's funding reports don't have such a requirement."
A professor listening in was practically doubled over with laughter. While today's events were a sudden incident, student uproar was a daily occurrence at Hogwarts. Today, there wasn't even a student with a broken arm or leg, no one even needed to go to the Hospital Wing, so it didn't count as a major event.
Therefore, the professors were no longer too tense. They teased William while looking at the Weasley brothers. "Let's not wake them up yet. We'll send them directly to Professor McGonagall's office."
---
Soon, a strange spectacle appeared in the corridors of Hogwarts. One professor led the way, followed by two more. William, controlling the Weasley brothers, was in the center, with the remaining professors trailing behind. This almost unprecedentedly luxurious escort formation was thus formed.
'I feel like this lineup would be enough to escort the Minister for Magic to Azkaban.'
William thought back to the scene of his own arrival at Azkaban—four Hit-Wizards, surrounding them front and back, had taken a whole string of prisoners to Azkaban. It was completely lacking in ceremony.
"Mmmph~!"
Just as William's mind was wandering, the bandages floating in mid-air began to squirm, looking very much like struggling earthworms.
'Waking up so soon?'
William was a little surprised. Although the spells he had used to take them down quickly weren't at full strength, for them to wake up this fast, their magical talent was higher than he had imagined.
The professors in front and behind also cast curious glances. They had just been tagging along for the excitement, so seeing the subjects of interest waking up, they naturally lost their previous escort-like demeanor.
"Professor William, why don't you loosen the bandages and see what they have to say?"
Although in theory this wasn't a good idea, William couldn't resist his own intense curiosity. With a wave of his wand, he naturally loosened the bandages covering the twins' mouths—in any case, he wasn't worried about them being able to perform wandless magic.
"Professor! What are you doing? We just wore a diadem, that's all! We were the ones who brought it out!"
The moment the twins' mouths were freed, they started shouting. Their tone was full of innocence; if William hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that these two had just taken down more than twenty lowerclassmen.
'Have they lost their memories too?'
William instantly thought of Filch and Ginny. They had also lost large chunks of their memories.
"Wait! Filch!"
William abruptly remembered something was wrong—the student who came to report said Filch was attacked by the twins, and only then did they start attacking students. But when William rushed over, he hadn't seen Filch at all!
"Did any of you see Filch just now?" William asked loudly.
"No, it was all lower years. There was no Filch."
"That's right, the person who reported it said Filch was attacked too! Weasley, you two, where did you take Filch?"
"Filch? Heavens—no, we just put on that diadem, and then we were suddenly tied up! What Filch!"
