The day after William completed his Animagus transformation, he wrote to Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall was his mentor, who had closely monitoring his progress, and had even helped store the Animagus potion for him.
There was no reason for William to hide his Animagus identity, nor would McGonagall allow it.
While being an Animagus was perfectly legal, failing to register with the Ministry of Magic could lead to serious complications if discovered later.
Professor McGonagall would never let her most promising student make such a rookie mistake.
In her reply, McGonagall congratulated William. She expressed regret that she couldn't witness his transformation, but weather conditions, unfortunately, couldn't be controlled.
In her letter, she suggested William write a paper about his transformation into a Steller's sea eagle and submit it to Today's Transfiguration. She even offered to fast-track the submission, review it herself over the summer, and negotiate with the editor-in-chief to grant William the "Most Promising Newcomer Award" upon publication.
Emmmm… Skipping procedures and pre-approving papers for her own student…when you've got connections, everything becomes easier!
Of course, McGonagall was willing to go to such lengths because she was overjoyed. It had been far too long since one of her students had earned an award.
…
At the end of July, William took Hermione and Annie to visit Cedric's home.
Cedric's house was located on the other side of Weasel Mountain, just a few hours away from William's home.
Cho Chang was also there, much to Cedric's delight.
Cedric had been busy working at Ollivanders recently and had only these couple of days off. He had hoped Cho would stay at his house for a few more days, but his plans fell through.
Cedric sighed dramatically, lamenting that he couldn't move out on his own like William.
The problem? He had no money.
Though Cedric had earned quite a bit, his father had deposited it all in Gringotts.
According to Amos Diggory, the money was "saved for Cedric's future wedding expenses."
And Cedric actually believed him.
It was the same story as parents who "save" their kids' pocket money. Who are you kidding? it's gone forever.
…
The next day, William received a letter from the Weasley twins inviting him and his family to a gathering.
Annie and Hermione rode unicorns to the Burrow.
The two had grown so accustomed to using the unicorns as transportation that the poor creatures had essentially become their personal mounts.
William, on the other hand, timed his arrival with Apparition. When he reached the outskirts of the Burrow, he found the twins waiting at the village entrance.
Or rather, they were preoccupied with a girl.
Fred was performing card tricks for her, secretly using magic to make the desired cards appear.
After a while, the girl left to eat, and the twins watched her go with reluctant expressions.
William approached them, greeting them casually.
"Why are you coming from behind us?" Fred asked, puzzled, "Oh, Apparition!"
George sighed enviously. "Ah, so cool. We want to learn that too."
"Then learn it," William replied, "It's not that difficult."
Fred shook his head and sighed. "Even if we learn it, we can't use it. If Mum finds out we've been practicing magic like that before coming of age…"
"She'll kill us!" George added, "Literally beat us to death!"
"Oh, come on. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't actually hurt you. Has she ever hit you before?" William asked incredulously.
"She has! And hard too!" George said with a grim expression.
"The worst time was when Ron was five. Fred and I tried to get him to make an Unbreakable Vow—"
"Wait, Ron was five?" William squinted at them, "You two were only eight at the time."
"Yeah, and we didn't have wands, so we stole Percy's," Fred replied.
"That's not the point! You two knew how to perform an Unbreakable Vow at eight years old?" William asked, incredulous.
The Unbreakable Vow was a high-level magical contract spell used to bind wizards to an agreement. Breaking it resulted in death. It wasn't a spell just anyone could use.
The twins attempting it at eight was as absurd as a first-year casting a Patronus.
"Who knows? We just copied something from a spellbook. Mum said we almost succeeded…" George said.
"Wait… George," Fred interrupted, suddenly suspicious, "Now that you mention it, it does seem odd. How could I, at eight, have such exceptional magical talent?
"Could it be that Mum beat me so hard she knocked the smarts out of me?"
"Come on, Fred, Mum only hit your backside. She didn't touch your head," George said, narrowing his eyes, "So… Mum was lying to us?"
William also suspected that Mrs. Weasley had exaggerated the situation to scare them, hoping to stop them from bullying little Ron.
"Wow, I'm so gullible!" Fred said, frustrated, "I felt guilty for so long afterward. I even gave Ron two weeks of my allowance."
"I gave him a month's allowance!" George added, equally annoyed.
"And worst of all, Mum and Dad still hung me up and gave me a proper thrashing. To this day, my left butt cheek feels different from my right," Fred rubbed his backside, "William, want to see?"
"No, thanks. You two can admire it yourselves," William said, quickly waving them off.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder. If the spell hadn't worked, why had Mrs. Weasley punished Fred so severely?
"What exactly was the vow you made Ron take?" William asked, curious.
"Oh, nothing too extreme," Fred said, clicking his tongue, "Just a harmless promise that Ron would stay single forever."
"…"
No wonder they got thrashed!
Such a vicious vow would make even William feel inclined to hang Fred up and give him a good beating!
"By the way, who was that girl earlier?" William asked as they approached the Burrow.
"She works at a stationery shop in the village's Muggle residential area. Her name's Lysa," George explained.
Fred grinned. "William, I know you're having a great time living with Hermione, but you can't stay cooped up all the time, right?
"There are plenty of other sights to see in the village. You should learn to appreciate them."
"Like Lysa, for example?" William teased.
"Exactly! She's pretty, isn't she?" Fred replied with a smirk.
"Oh, definitely. I'm sure Angelina would love to hear all about her—the pretty stationery girl," William said with a not-so-innocent smile.
"Angelina? What about her? Does she know Lysa?" George asked, confused.
For someone usually so sharp, George was surprisingly dense in this moment. He still hadn't realized that Fred liked Angelina.
If George found out, he'd probably make Fred swear an Unbreakable Vow to stay single forever.