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Chapter 77: Not All Professors Are Single (Apologies, forgot to publish)
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
Punishing students was a rather flexible affair. Although, in name, any violation of the school rules had to be dealt with seriously, in practice, some matters could be negotiated.
But William had not expected Professor McGonagall to come to him specifically to discuss delaying a detention because of two students' Quidditch training.
'Looks like Adams was right. Professor McGonagall really is the biggest Quidditch fan among the professors.'
With this thought flashing through his mind, William agreed to Professor McGonagall's proposal with almost no hesitation.
"That's perfectly fine, Professor McGonagall. Detention is just a process for them to reflect on their mistakes. Since they have important business to attend to, the detention can certainly be postponed."
"Excellent, Professor William. In that case, they will have their regular training on Saturday and serve their detention on Sunday. The parts they miss on Saturday can be made up on weekday evenings when they have no classes. Would that arrangement be acceptable?"
...
I thought you came to plead for a lighter punishment for the students from your House, Professor. But it turns out those two little tricksters still have to use their free time to make it up?
Professor McGonagall, you are far too principled.
"Of course. I will have the books ready for them to copy. Is this just for this week, or...?"
"If possible, I'd hope for this arrangement to continue for the foreseeable future. Also, Professor William, if you could, I'd like the History of Magic book they're copying to be a bit thicker."
Professor McGonagall said it casually, but there was not a hint of a joke in her tone, causing William, who was about to make a witty reply out of habit, to freeze.
You're a demon, aren't you?
If I recall correctly, you were here to plead on behalf of the players on your House team. How did things turn out like this?
"You mean, so they can master more knowledge?"
"You could also say it's to help them earn another certificate. Although their year isn't scheduled to take their exams until next year, given the Weasley brothers' foundation, I doubt they'll be able to pass their History of Magic."
"Are they struggling academically?"
William phrased it tactfully—some students, no matter how much effort they put in, just couldn't learn.
"If that were the case, I probably wouldn't have to go to such lengths. Those two are very clever, but they've never put their energy into their studies. In some courses, their standard even exceeds that of seventh-year students, but for most of their classes, they barely manage to pass their final exams."
Perhaps because these two students were a genuine headache, Professor McGonagall spent a long time complaining to William before ending the conversation.
——
A night passed. Without any courses to oversee, William finally set his burdens aside and had a good night's sleep.
His first week of work at the school was complete. Although it wasn't the weekend yet, and it wouldn't be right to leave the school to wander about, he had no specific duties left.
The courses for the three academic years he was responsible for had all gone very well, even more smoothly than he had anticipated.
Although he'd had a small conflict with a colleague during the last class of the week, overall, there was no problem giving his work performance an O (Outstanding).
'I've only been a teacher for a few days, and I've already developed this habit of giving out grades?'
Muttering to himself, William got up and headed to the Great Hall. Although the house-elves were more than willing to bring breakfast to him, unless he missed the mealtime, he would never choose to eat alone in his room.
When he arrived at the staff table, he found the atmosphere much livelier than usual.
"Hey, Adams, what's going on? Is the Headmaster giving us a raise?"
William quietly nudged Adams. As for the Alchemy Professor, he was, as expected, not at the dining table.
"A raise?"
Adams glanced at William, a look on his face that seemed to say, *how could you have such a strange idea?*
"The salary at Hogwarts is already very high; they wouldn't just hand out raises casually. You're overthinking things. Everyone is so cheerful today for another reason. See Professor Taylor over there?"
Professor Taylor, who usually wore a severe expression and looked to be in his thirties or forties, didn't hang out with younger professors like them. He taught Charms.
"Professor Taylor? Did he make a fool of himself this early in the morning?"
If it was that perpetually stern professor, it was possible he had made a fool of himself and amused the whole table, but the older professors clearly wouldn't lose their composure like this.
"What joke? Professor Taylor brought his child today—his six-year-old daughter is in the staff room right now."
"A child?"
William was a bit startled. There was a creature under the age of eleven at Hogwarts?
But he quickly came to terms with it. Children in the wizarding world weren't like radishes you could just pull out of the ground at eleven years old; they had to grow up from infancy. A six-year-old girl was perfectly normal.
Hogwarts wasn't a church school. It wasn't as if all the professors had to be unmarried, right?
"He just brought her here like that? Doesn't the school authority have an issue with it?"
"Not at all. Professor McGonagall adores that little girl, so who would object?"
The Deputy Headmistress in charge of administrative affairs had given her approval, so who would dare to have a dissenting opinion?
"Besides, the child only stays in the staff room and never runs around. She's also incredibly cute. Who could possibly dislike a child like that?"
William, who usually had little affection for mischievous children, was suddenly filled with curiosity. He barely ate his breakfast before dragging Adams to the staff room.
"Hey! What's your hurry? That's his daughter, not yours!"
Adams grumbled at William irritably, but his own steps didn't slow in the slightest—he hadn't seen the little girl in a long time either.
"Afra!"
The moment he opened the door to the staff room, Adams called out in a low voice.
But no voice answered him, which instantly made Adams, who had been ready with a smug expression, feel awkward.
"Afra?"
Still no reply, but the sharp-eyed William immediately spotted a small girl squatting by the fireplace.
"Is that her?"
"That's her, that's her."
Adams took a few steps forward, crouched down, and his expression softened.
"Why are you ignoring me, Afra?"
"I'm a mushroom, so I can't speak loudly," the little girl replied in a high, thin voice.
The child was quite cute, but... she seemed a bit silly.
"Then what are you doing?" Adams asked in a low voice, having spotted a small watering can on the floor.
"Peeves told me that if a mushroom squats in the corner of the fireplace and you pour water on it, it will grow quickly."
"And what else did Peeves say?"
The little girl put on a look of deep concentration for a long time, then frowned and fell silent.
"Move aside, Uncle Adams, I need to water myself!"
The little girl raised the small watering can and started pouring it over herself. Before William and the others could stop her, her lovely young wizard's robe was half-soaked.
"Alright, Uncle Adams, I'm going to grow now. Don't bother me!"
The little girl squatted down again, her expression so serious that one couldn't bear to reveal that it was all a trick.
PS: I turned on my computer and was about to start drafting when I habitually glanced at the comments and realized I wrote the last chapter at seven (I know it wasn't daytime anymore) but forgot to click publish...
(end of chapter)
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
Punishing students was a rather flexible affair. Although, in name, any violation of the school rules had to be dealt with seriously, in practice, some matters could be negotiated.
But William had not expected Professor McGonagall to come to him specifically to discuss delaying a detention because of two students' Quidditch training.
'Looks like Adams was right. Professor McGonagall really is the biggest Quidditch fan among the professors.'
With this thought flashing through his mind, William agreed to Professor McGonagall's proposal with almost no hesitation.
"That's perfectly fine, Professor McGonagall. Detention is just a process for them to reflect on their mistakes. Since they have important business to attend to, the detention can certainly be postponed."
"Excellent, Professor William. In that case, they will have their regular training on Saturday and serve their detention on Sunday. The parts they miss on Saturday can be made up on weekday evenings when they have no classes. Would that arrangement be acceptable?"
...
I thought you came to plead for a lighter punishment for the students from your House, Professor. But it turns out those two little tricksters still have to use their free time to make it up?
Professor McGonagall, you are far too principled.
"Of course. I will have the books ready for them to copy. Is this just for this week, or...?"
"If possible, I'd hope for this arrangement to continue for the foreseeable future. Also, Professor William, if you could, I'd like the History of Magic book they're copying to be a bit thicker."
Professor McGonagall said it casually, but there was not a hint of a joke in her tone, causing William, who was about to make a witty reply out of habit, to freeze.
You're a demon, aren't you?
If I recall correctly, you were here to plead on behalf of the players on your House team. How did things turn out like this?
"You mean, so they can master more knowledge?"
"You could also say it's to help them earn another certificate. Although their year isn't scheduled to take their exams until next year, given the Weasley brothers' foundation, I doubt they'll be able to pass their History of Magic."
"Are they struggling academically?"
William phrased it tactfully—some students, no matter how much effort they put in, just couldn't learn.
"If that were the case, I probably wouldn't have to go to such lengths. Those two are very clever, but they've never put their energy into their studies. In some courses, their standard even exceeds that of seventh-year students, but for most of their classes, they barely manage to pass their final exams."
Perhaps because these two students were a genuine headache, Professor McGonagall spent a long time complaining to William before ending the conversation.
——
A night passed. Without any courses to oversee, William finally set his burdens aside and had a good night's sleep.
His first week of work at the school was complete. Although it wasn't the weekend yet, and it wouldn't be right to leave the school to wander about, he had no specific duties left.
The courses for the three academic years he was responsible for had all gone very well, even more smoothly than he had anticipated.
Although he'd had a small conflict with a colleague during the last class of the week, overall, there was no problem giving his work performance an O (Outstanding).
'I've only been a teacher for a few days, and I've already developed this habit of giving out grades?'
Muttering to himself, William got up and headed to the Great Hall. Although the house-elves were more than willing to bring breakfast to him, unless he missed the mealtime, he would never choose to eat alone in his room.
When he arrived at the staff table, he found the atmosphere much livelier than usual.
"Hey, Adams, what's going on? Is the Headmaster giving us a raise?"
William quietly nudged Adams. As for the Alchemy Professor, he was, as expected, not at the dining table.
"A raise?"
Adams glanced at William, a look on his face that seemed to say, *how could you have such a strange idea?*
"The salary at Hogwarts is already very high; they wouldn't just hand out raises casually. You're overthinking things. Everyone is so cheerful today for another reason. See Professor Taylor over there?"
Professor Taylor, who usually wore a severe expression and looked to be in his thirties or forties, didn't hang out with younger professors like them. He taught Charms.
"Professor Taylor? Did he make a fool of himself this early in the morning?"
If it was that perpetually stern professor, it was possible he had made a fool of himself and amused the whole table, but the older professors clearly wouldn't lose their composure like this.
"What joke? Professor Taylor brought his child today—his six-year-old daughter is in the staff room right now."
"A child?"
William was a bit startled. There was a creature under the age of eleven at Hogwarts?
But he quickly came to terms with it. Children in the wizarding world weren't like radishes you could just pull out of the ground at eleven years old; they had to grow up from infancy. A six-year-old girl was perfectly normal.
Hogwarts wasn't a church school. It wasn't as if all the professors had to be unmarried, right?
"He just brought her here like that? Doesn't the school authority have an issue with it?"
"Not at all. Professor McGonagall adores that little girl, so who would object?"
The Deputy Headmistress in charge of administrative affairs had given her approval, so who would dare to have a dissenting opinion?
"Besides, the child only stays in the staff room and never runs around. She's also incredibly cute. Who could possibly dislike a child like that?"
William, who usually had little affection for mischievous children, was suddenly filled with curiosity. He barely ate his breakfast before dragging Adams to the staff room.
"Hey! What's your hurry? That's his daughter, not yours!"
Adams grumbled at William irritably, but his own steps didn't slow in the slightest—he hadn't seen the little girl in a long time either.
"Afra!"
The moment he opened the door to the staff room, Adams called out in a low voice.
But no voice answered him, which instantly made Adams, who had been ready with a smug expression, feel awkward.
"Afra?"
Still no reply, but the sharp-eyed William immediately spotted a small girl squatting by the fireplace.
"Is that her?"
"That's her, that's her."
Adams took a few steps forward, crouched down, and his expression softened.
"Why are you ignoring me, Afra?"
"I'm a mushroom, so I can't speak loudly," the little girl replied in a high, thin voice.
The child was quite cute, but... she seemed a bit silly.
"Then what are you doing?" Adams asked in a low voice, having spotted a small watering can on the floor.
"Peeves told me that if a mushroom squats in the corner of the fireplace and you pour water on it, it will grow quickly."
"And what else did Peeves say?"
The little girl put on a look of deep concentration for a long time, then frowned and fell silent.
"Move aside, Uncle Adams, I need to water myself!"
The little girl raised the small watering can and started pouring it over herself. Before William and the others could stop her, her lovely young wizard's robe was half-soaked.
"Alright, Uncle Adams, I'm going to grow now. Don't bother me!"
The little girl squatted down again, her expression so serious that one couldn't bear to reveal that it was all a trick.
PS: I turned on my computer and was about to start drafting when I habitually glanced at the comments and realized I wrote the last chapter at seven (I know it wasn't daytime anymore) but forgot to click publish...
(end of chapter)
