William woke up from a dreamless night.
The ring was still securely on his index finger, and He quickly glanced toward his bedside.
There was a note there, written the night before. If the note was gone when he woke up, it would mean he had successfully entered the time loop.
William lifted his pillow, and indeed the note was gone.
He took a deep breath, contemplating what he needed to do today.
Entering the time loop for the second time, William felt much calmer than before and quickly got into the right mindset.
So, what was his objective?
Saving people was a must, and he also needed to figure out the entire course of events.
Understanding what happened was actually quite simple. The incidents occurred mainly at the Quidditch pitch and the forbidden corridor on the fourth floor...
William just needed to sneak into the forbidden corridor, but saving Harry from Voldemort's grasp was not an easy task.
He had already confronted Voldemort twice, and each time, he needed to be rescued.
Perhaps William could just knock Harry out to prevent the troublemaker from reaching the forbidden corridor.
But then, the problem was that if Harry suddenly went there, it meant he was lured.
If Voldemort didn't see Harry arrive, he might delay his plans, continue lurking, and sooner or later cause another mass casualty event.
William didn't want to see Voldemort continue hiding, eventually, he would still have to face him.
Thinking about it this way...
Damn, how many years would I have to spend in this loop?
Though William often complained about not having enough time and seemed willing to spend a lifetime in the time loop, no one could really endure being trapped in school forever. He couldn't accept never seeing the sun of tomorrow.
Such a life wouldn't be much different from playing a single-player game.
It felt like those students whose holidays were suddenly extended indefinitely. They always said they wanted school to start, that they couldn't stand staying at home anymore... But if you told them school would start tomorrow... they wouldn't want to go!
It's all just talk.
But William was prepared for a long haul and had made a comprehensive plan for himself.
He wanted to balance study and entertainment.
In the first loop, due to lack of experience, he studied too intensely at the beginning, which led to burnout and a dislike for studying later on.
William wanted to find as much fun as possible to prevent himself from getting tired of studying again.
These fun activities might be considered reckless behavior in the real world, but in the time loop... heh heh heh~
As for studying, William already had a plan.
He had too many things to learn: alchemy, ancient runes, advanced magic... These couldn't be studied to a slightly advanced level without a few years.
Similarly, although William hadn't yet applied to Dumbledore, he had more or less decided to go to Beauxbatons as an exchange student for a year.
He had to hurry up and learn French.
If possible, William could also learn Mermish from Dumbledore. Although he wouldn't go looking for Death, it wouldn't hurt to learn a few more languages.
William recalled movies he had watched in his previous life, the "Zatoichi" series.
One of the most boring was "Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman"... The entire plot unfolded due to a series of misunderstandings caused by language barriers!
In the end, before the One-Armed Swordsman died, he pulled a regretful face at Zatoichi and said, "You're not a bad person; if only we could understand each other's language..."
Oh, come on! If they could communicate, there wouldn't have been a need to fight, and the movie wouldn't have been made.
William didn't want to get into fights in France because of language barriers.
He realized that his combat skills were still insufficient, and he could take advantage of the time loop to learn combat from Dumbledore.
He had seen the headmaster in action several times. Undoubtedly, Dumbledore was a phenomenal fighter and evidently skilled with a sword.
Wait a minute… why not use this time to fight Voldemort directly?
The Dark Lord was severely weakened now.
While his endurance might not hold up, his skill was still sharp enough to push a novice like William to his limits.
William decided to squeeze every bit of value out of Voldemort.
With his plan set, William felt he was full of spirit. After washing up, he headed to the Ravenclaw common room.
The room was already bustling with students. With the Quidditch match about to start, everyone was buzzing with excitement.
Several students greeted William as he passed, and soon the beautiful upperclassman Penelope Clearwater approached him.
Pulling William into a corner, she glanced around conspiratorially. Her behavior was charming in a way only a pretty girl could pull off.
In a hushed tone, she asked, "William, are you feeling confident about today's match?"
"Of course. I guarantee we'll win by triple digits," William replied without hesitation.
He genuinely believed they could crush Slytherin by hundreds of points, at least once he got out of the time loop.
Penelope's eyes sparkled. "I feel so much better with you saying that."
"What's going on?" William asked.
Penelope adopted a playful, almost mischievous look. "You have to win. I bet with some Gryffindor students that Ravenclaw would make it to the finals. The stakes are 20 Galleons, and I don't have 20 Galleons."
"..." Getting something for nothing? As expected of Ravenclaw.
Penelope grinned and winked. "Win, and I'll introduce you to some girls in my dorm."
She skipped off to share the news with her friends, who, judging by their chatter, had all joined in gambling.
William sighed. At this rate, he'd end up throwing matches for profit. After all, who wouldn't want to make easy money?
After chatting with his classmates for a while, William left the common room and headed to the Great Hall alone.
The match was starting soon, but William didn't feel like playing. He decided to find someone to replace him.
In the Great Hall, he spotted Cedric Diggory at the Hufflepuff table.
"Come with me, Cedric. I need to talk to you," William said, dragging Cedric toward an empty classroom without giving him a chance to object.
"What's going on, William?" Cedric asked, confused, "Don't you have a match this morning?"
"I can't play today. I need you to take my place," William said.
"You're joking, right?" Cedric stared at him, "What happened?"
"I'm stuck in a time loop," William said, holding up the Ravenclaw ring.
Cedric, who knew about the ring's power, immediately grew uneasy. "Who died this time?"
"A lot of people. I need you to cover for me while I investigate," William explained.
"Alright," Cedric agreed without hesitation. "But I've never played as a Chaser before."
Cedric had initially tried out for that position, but his shooting accuracy was abysmal. He was the kind of player to make "nine uninterrupted shots, and score one goal".
"Don't worry," William said, "Just grab the Quaffle, don't pass, and shoot straight for the hoops from midfield."
"And after that, I just need to enjoy the cheers?" Cedric asked, resting his chin on his hand. After a moment, he added seriously, "William, will I get beaten up after the match?"
"Of course not," William assured him, though he silently added, They'll just outright kill you!
In the last loop, William had endured similar "training," getting chased down by angry students with wands after every match.
And if Cedric wasn't careful, Penelope would probably beat him to death first and dump his body in the Black Lake. She had no intention of losing her nonexistent 20 Galleons.
William made a mental note to warn Penelope:
Young boys' kidneys are…quite valuable!
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