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Chapter 59: When Professor William Feels He's Not Quite Good Enough
"Professor, good morning."
"Mm, good morning to you too."
Another student he didn't recognize greeted him, and William returned a standard adult smile.
After word got out about Professor Lockhart's class last night, he had suddenly become quite popular—even though he'd only taught his first lesson and had only met those students once at the Opening Ceremony.
The older students were one thing, but what were the younger ones crowding around for?
It'll be a long time before you fall into my hands!
By the time William finally managed to sit down at the staff table, he felt that his face had grown stiff from smiling.
It had only been a few minutes.
He let out a breath, relaxed the muscles in his face, and began to add food to his plate.
'This is probably why older professors like Professor McGonagall prefer to keep a straight face. Smiling is much more tiring than scowling.'
Just as he was silently contemplating whether he should pretend to be aloof to reduce the frequency of smiling at students, Adams, smelling of dirt, plopped down in the seat across from him.
This somewhat mischievous big guy slapped William on the shoulder and declared in an extremely exaggerated tone:
"Good heavens, I've finally made it back alive—you have no idea how scary Professor Sprout was today. It took me nearly an hour to finish checking the herbs the second-year students planted yesterday, and Professor Sprout didn't smile once the entire time!"
"Is it that exaggerated? Professor Sprout seems like she has a pretty good temper, doesn't she?"
"Most of the time, yes, but today was an exception—Professor Lockhart went to the Greenhouse again this morning. He said he wanted to check on how the Whomping Willow was recovering after his help yesterday."
"Eh?"
William couldn't help but exclaim in surprise—such a huge problem had occurred in Professor Lockhart's class just yesterday, and today he was already able to go observe the Whomping Willow's recovery?
Is this the strength of a professional Adventurer? No matter what setbacks they encounter, they can always face life with optimism?
But Professor Adams had obviously misunderstood. He probably thought William believed Professor Lockhart and Professor Sprout had gotten into a conflict.
"It's not a conflict or anything. Professor Sprout is a very nice person and very patient with students. She just doesn't like people who talk too much and prefers those who are serious about their work. And since Professor Lockhart likes to show off, Professor Sprout isn't too fond of him."
You're just sugarcoating it, aren't you?
Based on your description just now, Professor Sprout must have been sulking all morning.
Adams was probably a bit unsure of whose side to take, with one being a professor he respected and the other being his idol.
"Alright, don't worry about it. Professor Sprout definitely has more experience handling this than you do. It's more important to take good care of the herbs in the Greenhouse."
"That's true. Professor Sprout handles all those Hufflepuff students just fine, so this probably won't be a problem either."
Adams said this while starting to make himself a sandwich.
"By the way, William," Adams said, directly omitting his title, "I heard from the students that you can make a wand disappear in an instant. Is that true?"
What kind of strange rumor is this?
If I had that kind of ability, would I have needed to stay obediently in Azkaban for so long?
"How is that possible—I'd believe it if the subject of the rumor was Dumbledore, but me?"
William pointed to himself and said in a rather confident tone:
"Someone like me? Headmaster Dumbledore could take on ten of me without breaking a sweat, believe it or not."
"The students said it. They were very convincing, and it's spread all over the senior students—they say you made the wand vanish with ease."
Vanished?
The students said it?
Who is so good at starting rumors?
William suddenly understood—the students had probably exaggerated the incident where he took their wands.
After all, accidentally having your wand stolen by a professor means you were being stupid, but if the professor is incredible enough to make the wand disappear with magic, then that's just the professor being powerful, and it's not your fault.
Considering the homework he assigned yesterday, it was perfectly normal for those guys who were caught and had to write an essay to exaggerate a bit.
"Hah, the students exaggerated a bit. It was just a Silent Disarming Charm, nothing more than a slight modification. They just hadn't noticed it before, so they were a little surprised. It's really nothing special."
William couldn't very well say it was a technique similar to theft, so he prepared to brush it off—the effect was more or less the same, anyway.
"Anyway, I didn't see you around yesterday afternoon or evening?"
"I was with the seventh-years late at night. A batch of Udumbara flowers bloomed in the greenhouse, and they have to be collected in the early morning for the best results. It was a good opportunity to broaden their horizons."
"The school greenhouse has something that good?"
William's eyes went wide.
He knew of this plant; quite a few advanced potions required it as an ingredient.
The Muggle world had related legends, but just like with dragons, they were all exaggerated. However, that didn't diminish the preciousness of this herb in the slightest.
"Of course we do. This is Hogwarts!"
Adams said as if it were a matter of course, his face full of pride—it was only interesting to tell stories to someone who knew what they were talking about.
That's right—this was Hogwarts.
Hagrid's room had a bundle of wand cores hanging in it, so it was perfectly normal for the Herbology greenhouse to be growing a batch of rare ingredients that were almost never seen in the outside world.
"Sell me a little, at market price. Can you get some for me?"
Although they had only met a short while ago, the temptation of such a precious ingredient made William disregard the fact that they weren't very familiar with each other—this stuff was out of stock on the black market for eight or nine months out of the year.
"Six flowers at most. Professor Snape and Professor Sprout both want some, so that's all there is to sell. Twenty Galleons a flower. I need the money to purchase fertilizer and other things."
That was dirt cheap—at that price, people would be fighting tooth and nail for them on the market.
Only then did William realize that Professor Adams before him wasn't just an ordinary teacher, but was very likely a master of herbology ranked among the best in the entire Wizarding World.
'The professors at this school, except for me, are probably all at a top-ten-in-the-country level, right?'
The thought couldn't help but cross William's mind.
And then he discovered that he really did seem to have been brought in just to make up the numbers—no matter how bad Professor Lockhart was at teaching, he was still a first-rate Adventurer.
"Professor William, what is it? Is it too expensive? Or is the quantity too small?"
"No, no, the quantity is more than enough, even a bit more than I imagined. I just don't have enough cash on me. I'll have to wait until the weekend to go to Diagon Alley and get the cash before I can give it to you."
"Alright then, I'll set the herbs aside for you later—there's no rush for the money. I'm not going to purchase supplies until next month, so as long as the books are balanced, it's fine. If you can't be bothered to withdraw it, you can just give me this month's salary slip. I have to make a trip anyway, so I can take care of it along the way."
Adams's generous words made William feel even more like he was the weakest of them all. He secretly made a resolution—'I'll increase the fifth-years' workload a bit, get some good results, and absolutely not let anyone think I'm just here to make up the numbers!'
(end of chapter)
"Professor, good morning."
"Mm, good morning to you too."
Another student he didn't recognize greeted him, and William returned a standard adult smile.
After word got out about Professor Lockhart's class last night, he had suddenly become quite popular—even though he'd only taught his first lesson and had only met those students once at the Opening Ceremony.
The older students were one thing, but what were the younger ones crowding around for?
It'll be a long time before you fall into my hands!
By the time William finally managed to sit down at the staff table, he felt that his face had grown stiff from smiling.
It had only been a few minutes.
He let out a breath, relaxed the muscles in his face, and began to add food to his plate.
'This is probably why older professors like Professor McGonagall prefer to keep a straight face. Smiling is much more tiring than scowling.'
Just as he was silently contemplating whether he should pretend to be aloof to reduce the frequency of smiling at students, Adams, smelling of dirt, plopped down in the seat across from him.
This somewhat mischievous big guy slapped William on the shoulder and declared in an extremely exaggerated tone:
"Good heavens, I've finally made it back alive—you have no idea how scary Professor Sprout was today. It took me nearly an hour to finish checking the herbs the second-year students planted yesterday, and Professor Sprout didn't smile once the entire time!"
"Is it that exaggerated? Professor Sprout seems like she has a pretty good temper, doesn't she?"
"Most of the time, yes, but today was an exception—Professor Lockhart went to the Greenhouse again this morning. He said he wanted to check on how the Whomping Willow was recovering after his help yesterday."
"Eh?"
William couldn't help but exclaim in surprise—such a huge problem had occurred in Professor Lockhart's class just yesterday, and today he was already able to go observe the Whomping Willow's recovery?
Is this the strength of a professional Adventurer? No matter what setbacks they encounter, they can always face life with optimism?
But Professor Adams had obviously misunderstood. He probably thought William believed Professor Lockhart and Professor Sprout had gotten into a conflict.
"It's not a conflict or anything. Professor Sprout is a very nice person and very patient with students. She just doesn't like people who talk too much and prefers those who are serious about their work. And since Professor Lockhart likes to show off, Professor Sprout isn't too fond of him."
You're just sugarcoating it, aren't you?
Based on your description just now, Professor Sprout must have been sulking all morning.
Adams was probably a bit unsure of whose side to take, with one being a professor he respected and the other being his idol.
"Alright, don't worry about it. Professor Sprout definitely has more experience handling this than you do. It's more important to take good care of the herbs in the Greenhouse."
"That's true. Professor Sprout handles all those Hufflepuff students just fine, so this probably won't be a problem either."
Adams said this while starting to make himself a sandwich.
"By the way, William," Adams said, directly omitting his title, "I heard from the students that you can make a wand disappear in an instant. Is that true?"
What kind of strange rumor is this?
If I had that kind of ability, would I have needed to stay obediently in Azkaban for so long?
"How is that possible—I'd believe it if the subject of the rumor was Dumbledore, but me?"
William pointed to himself and said in a rather confident tone:
"Someone like me? Headmaster Dumbledore could take on ten of me without breaking a sweat, believe it or not."
"The students said it. They were very convincing, and it's spread all over the senior students—they say you made the wand vanish with ease."
Vanished?
The students said it?
Who is so good at starting rumors?
William suddenly understood—the students had probably exaggerated the incident where he took their wands.
After all, accidentally having your wand stolen by a professor means you were being stupid, but if the professor is incredible enough to make the wand disappear with magic, then that's just the professor being powerful, and it's not your fault.
Considering the homework he assigned yesterday, it was perfectly normal for those guys who were caught and had to write an essay to exaggerate a bit.
"Hah, the students exaggerated a bit. It was just a Silent Disarming Charm, nothing more than a slight modification. They just hadn't noticed it before, so they were a little surprised. It's really nothing special."
William couldn't very well say it was a technique similar to theft, so he prepared to brush it off—the effect was more or less the same, anyway.
"Anyway, I didn't see you around yesterday afternoon or evening?"
"I was with the seventh-years late at night. A batch of Udumbara flowers bloomed in the greenhouse, and they have to be collected in the early morning for the best results. It was a good opportunity to broaden their horizons."
"The school greenhouse has something that good?"
William's eyes went wide.
He knew of this plant; quite a few advanced potions required it as an ingredient.
The Muggle world had related legends, but just like with dragons, they were all exaggerated. However, that didn't diminish the preciousness of this herb in the slightest.
"Of course we do. This is Hogwarts!"
Adams said as if it were a matter of course, his face full of pride—it was only interesting to tell stories to someone who knew what they were talking about.
That's right—this was Hogwarts.
Hagrid's room had a bundle of wand cores hanging in it, so it was perfectly normal for the Herbology greenhouse to be growing a batch of rare ingredients that were almost never seen in the outside world.
"Sell me a little, at market price. Can you get some for me?"
Although they had only met a short while ago, the temptation of such a precious ingredient made William disregard the fact that they weren't very familiar with each other—this stuff was out of stock on the black market for eight or nine months out of the year.
"Six flowers at most. Professor Snape and Professor Sprout both want some, so that's all there is to sell. Twenty Galleons a flower. I need the money to purchase fertilizer and other things."
That was dirt cheap—at that price, people would be fighting tooth and nail for them on the market.
Only then did William realize that Professor Adams before him wasn't just an ordinary teacher, but was very likely a master of herbology ranked among the best in the entire Wizarding World.
'The professors at this school, except for me, are probably all at a top-ten-in-the-country level, right?'
The thought couldn't help but cross William's mind.
And then he discovered that he really did seem to have been brought in just to make up the numbers—no matter how bad Professor Lockhart was at teaching, he was still a first-rate Adventurer.
"Professor William, what is it? Is it too expensive? Or is the quantity too small?"
"No, no, the quantity is more than enough, even a bit more than I imagined. I just don't have enough cash on me. I'll have to wait until the weekend to go to Diagon Alley and get the cash before I can give it to you."
"Alright then, I'll set the herbs aside for you later—there's no rush for the money. I'm not going to purchase supplies until next month, so as long as the books are balanced, it's fine. If you can't be bothered to withdraw it, you can just give me this month's salary slip. I have to make a trip anyway, so I can take care of it along the way."
Adams's generous words made William feel even more like he was the weakest of them all. He secretly made a resolution—'I'll increase the fifth-years' workload a bit, get some good results, and absolutely not let anyone think I'm just here to make up the numbers!'
(end of chapter)
