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chapter 176 part 2
The two boys floating in mid-air looked completely baffled, not like they were faking it.
"You all take them to Professor McGonagall's office. Two professors, come with me, we're going to find Filch!"
The matter was urgent, so William didn't bother with pleasantries and started running towards the place where he had captured the twins. Behind him, the two professors at the rear of the group followed without a second thought, running with William towards the scene of the incident.
---
"Please, help me find Mr. Filch! He might be trapped somewhere dangerous by magic!"
William shouted his request at passing portraits and ghosts as he ran, speaking as fast as he could without slowing his pace.
But when he got back, Mr. Filch was nowhere to be found.
"Mr. Filch!"
William called out loudly as he searched, trying to find him this way.
Soon, the two professors, panting from the run, also arrived.
"Find anything?"
"Nothing."
The three exchanged a look, then quickly began to search the Castle. Shortly after, the portraits and ghosts William had asked for help also started to arrive.
"Sorry, I asked many portraits. We've searched the Corridor and Empty Classroom, but we didn't find Filch."
"Not in the Kitchen or the Tool Room, not in the Trophy Room either," the ghosts added—though only three of them had shown up.
"Could he have just vanished?"
William frowned and raised his wand—he suddenly had an idea that wasn't much of a plan.
"Accio Filch!"
William's loud incantation instantly drowned out all other sounds. While it might seem a bit un-magical, under normal circumstances, the louder a spell is spoken, the more its power is slightly enhanced.
The spell, cast by William with all his strength, had its intended effect. The sound of something colliding with a wall rang out, followed by the sound of shattering glass from a classroom nearby.
Then, with a tremendous crash, a hole burst through the door. A human body flew out of it amidst a shower of wood splinters and debris, spattering blood as it soared toward William. If William hadn't stopped the spell when he did, who knows what else the flying body would have brought with it.
Without a word, William quickly checked if the flying body was dead or alive.
Thank Merlin—he was alive.
Although covered in countless cuts from the glass and wood splinters, there was no doubt that Filch was alive.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness. We found him in time."
William patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. If a corpse had flown over, he really wouldn't have known what to do.
'I can't use Dittany directly. There's too much debris in the wounds; it would severely affect the healing.'
William made a quick assessment and confirmed that he couldn't administer first aid directly.
"The wounds need to be cleaned. I'm not very skilled at it. I mean, I *can* do it, but I think it's best to leave it to the professionals—" William spread his hands towards the two professors. "We need to get Filch to the Hospital Wing. I'm sure he'll receive proper treatment there."
"Yes, you're the professional."
The two professors who had followed also breathed a sigh of relief. If something had happened to Filch during their rescue, they would never have forgiven themselves, regardless of who was to blame.
"What are his injuries, roughly? And why can't he move?"
"The Petrification Charm. He's been petrified," William said, quickly transfiguring a stretcher from the broken door. He then magically lifted Filch onto it and magically controlled the stretcher to fly, so as not to cause any further injury.
"And the rest of the injuries?"
"I did those..."
William mumbled. The Petrification Charm wasn't fatal, but his subsequent Summoning Charm had been a bit too powerful. It caused Filch to fly too fast, and now both his legs and arms were fractured, along with several other bones in his body. The number of scrapes was impossible to count.
The fractures were easy enough to deal with, but the more delicate injuries were truly difficult to handle. His healing magic wasn't that precise; after all, he hadn't been studying it for very long.
"Er..."
For a moment, the two professors didn't know what to say. After all, if it weren't for William, they might still be searching for the vanished Filch.
"Well then, let's go, Professor William. It seems the Weasley brothers aren't being wrongly punished for scrubbing toilets—we just have to hope they won't be scrubbing them under Filch's supervision."
The three of them tacitly avoided mentioning the issue of dispelling the Petrification Charm.
William was worried that if the Petrification Charm was lifted, Filch would thrash around in pain. The other two professors were afraid that lifting it would put William in an awkward and embarrassing position—after all, they both felt that the new professor was actually quite good, bold in his actions yet reassuring.
---
"Those damned Weasleys! Expulsion! Expulsion! They must be expelled!"
In the Hospital Wing, Filch, now freed from the Petrification Charm, was absolutely livid. William stood awkwardly to the side, not knowing how to console him.
After all, the Petrification Charm wasn't like the Stunning Spell; the victim remained conscious and aware, just unable to express themselves. It was already a blessing that Filch, upon waking, didn't direct his anger at William for the Summoning Charm that had left him with multiple fractures and countless minor injuries. He really couldn't bring himself to tell Filch not to be so angry.
"Mr. Filch, it's not that serious, really. The Weasley brothers were being controlled. They were casting magic wildly, they didn't even know who they were attacking."
Although the investigation hadn't reached a conclusion, that didn't stop the professors from using this explanation to placate Filch.
"Didn't know!"
Filch sat up with his freshly healed body, his face turning pale from the pain.
"Do you know what those two little bastards did?"
"The two of them, they actually petrified me and then dangled me from a window, with just my feet hooked on a tiny bit of the windowsill!"
"I was hanging up there for almost half an hour, and they didn't know? Who would believe that!"
Filch was beyond furious.
"It was murder! Murder!"
"I was watching from the window the whole time, able to see nothing but the wall and the open sky! They won't get away with this!"
(end of chapter)
The two boys floating in mid-air looked completely baffled, not like they were faking it.
"You all take them to Professor McGonagall's office. Two professors, come with me, we're going to find Filch!"
The matter was urgent, so William didn't bother with pleasantries and started running towards the place where he had captured the twins. Behind him, the two professors at the rear of the group followed without a second thought, running with William towards the scene of the incident.
---
"Please, help me find Mr. Filch! He might be trapped somewhere dangerous by magic!"
William shouted his request at passing portraits and ghosts as he ran, speaking as fast as he could without slowing his pace.
But when he got back, Mr. Filch was nowhere to be found.
"Mr. Filch!"
William called out loudly as he searched, trying to find him this way.
Soon, the two professors, panting from the run, also arrived.
"Find anything?"
"Nothing."
The three exchanged a look, then quickly began to search the Castle. Shortly after, the portraits and ghosts William had asked for help also started to arrive.
"Sorry, I asked many portraits. We've searched the Corridor and Empty Classroom, but we didn't find Filch."
"Not in the Kitchen or the Tool Room, not in the Trophy Room either," the ghosts added—though only three of them had shown up.
"Could he have just vanished?"
William frowned and raised his wand—he suddenly had an idea that wasn't much of a plan.
"Accio Filch!"
William's loud incantation instantly drowned out all other sounds. While it might seem a bit un-magical, under normal circumstances, the louder a spell is spoken, the more its power is slightly enhanced.
The spell, cast by William with all his strength, had its intended effect. The sound of something colliding with a wall rang out, followed by the sound of shattering glass from a classroom nearby.
Then, with a tremendous crash, a hole burst through the door. A human body flew out of it amidst a shower of wood splinters and debris, spattering blood as it soared toward William. If William hadn't stopped the spell when he did, who knows what else the flying body would have brought with it.
Without a word, William quickly checked if the flying body was dead or alive.
Thank Merlin—he was alive.
Although covered in countless cuts from the glass and wood splinters, there was no doubt that Filch was alive.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness. We found him in time."
William patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. If a corpse had flown over, he really wouldn't have known what to do.
'I can't use Dittany directly. There's too much debris in the wounds; it would severely affect the healing.'
William made a quick assessment and confirmed that he couldn't administer first aid directly.
"The wounds need to be cleaned. I'm not very skilled at it. I mean, I *can* do it, but I think it's best to leave it to the professionals—" William spread his hands towards the two professors. "We need to get Filch to the Hospital Wing. I'm sure he'll receive proper treatment there."
"Yes, you're the professional."
The two professors who had followed also breathed a sigh of relief. If something had happened to Filch during their rescue, they would never have forgiven themselves, regardless of who was to blame.
"What are his injuries, roughly? And why can't he move?"
"The Petrification Charm. He's been petrified," William said, quickly transfiguring a stretcher from the broken door. He then magically lifted Filch onto it and magically controlled the stretcher to fly, so as not to cause any further injury.
"And the rest of the injuries?"
"I did those..."
William mumbled. The Petrification Charm wasn't fatal, but his subsequent Summoning Charm had been a bit too powerful. It caused Filch to fly too fast, and now both his legs and arms were fractured, along with several other bones in his body. The number of scrapes was impossible to count.
The fractures were easy enough to deal with, but the more delicate injuries were truly difficult to handle. His healing magic wasn't that precise; after all, he hadn't been studying it for very long.
"Er..."
For a moment, the two professors didn't know what to say. After all, if it weren't for William, they might still be searching for the vanished Filch.
"Well then, let's go, Professor William. It seems the Weasley brothers aren't being wrongly punished for scrubbing toilets—we just have to hope they won't be scrubbing them under Filch's supervision."
The three of them tacitly avoided mentioning the issue of dispelling the Petrification Charm.
William was worried that if the Petrification Charm was lifted, Filch would thrash around in pain. The other two professors were afraid that lifting it would put William in an awkward and embarrassing position—after all, they both felt that the new professor was actually quite good, bold in his actions yet reassuring.
---
"Those damned Weasleys! Expulsion! Expulsion! They must be expelled!"
In the Hospital Wing, Filch, now freed from the Petrification Charm, was absolutely livid. William stood awkwardly to the side, not knowing how to console him.
After all, the Petrification Charm wasn't like the Stunning Spell; the victim remained conscious and aware, just unable to express themselves. It was already a blessing that Filch, upon waking, didn't direct his anger at William for the Summoning Charm that had left him with multiple fractures and countless minor injuries. He really couldn't bring himself to tell Filch not to be so angry.
"Mr. Filch, it's not that serious, really. The Weasley brothers were being controlled. They were casting magic wildly, they didn't even know who they were attacking."
Although the investigation hadn't reached a conclusion, that didn't stop the professors from using this explanation to placate Filch.
"Didn't know!"
Filch sat up with his freshly healed body, his face turning pale from the pain.
"Do you know what those two little bastards did?"
"The two of them, they actually petrified me and then dangled me from a window, with just my feet hooked on a tiny bit of the windowsill!"
"I was hanging up there for almost half an hour, and they didn't know? Who would believe that!"
Filch was beyond furious.
"It was murder! Murder!"
"I was watching from the window the whole time, able to see nothing but the wall and the open sky! They won't get away with this!"
(end of chapter)
