Normally, the Board of Governors had overwhelming authority over the school. While replacing a headmaster wasn't something done on a whim, it wasn't exactly difficult if a plausible excuse could be found.
Hogwarts, however, was different.
As the only wizarding school, the administration naturally held significant influence. On top of that, the Headmaster himself was incredibly formidable. He never needed to make any threats; his extensive list of titles did all the talking.
If this were a game, those titles would take up half the screen, shimmering with effects and glowing text. Each one would be a rare, limited-edition achievement, the kind that would leave others in awe.
In such a situation, the Board of Governors had essentially become a group for pure-blood families who paid their way into prominence.
Calling a board meeting for the recruitment of a new professor was entirely necessary—not just to shift responsibility but also to show the board that Hogwarts wasn't ignoring them.
Truth be told, even if the blame was up for grabs, the board would eagerly take it. They'd be thrilled to shoulder it because, otherwise, who would even remember the board existed?
****
In Azkaban.
William cradled a sheet of paper and a pen, staring at these once-worthless items with barely contained joy.
It was incredibly difficult to find such things in Azkaban. Back when they were commonplace, he would have used them as mere scrap. Now, they were almost as valuable as silver.
In terms of smuggling, paper and pens didn't take up much less space than book pages. The Dementors certainly weren't about to hand these out to prisoners. If it weren't for the influence of the cell leader, who had arranged for extras to be smuggled in, William would have been forced to scratch his notes onto the floor with sticks.
Of course, the leader's willingness to help was mainly due to William claiming he was experiencing a creative block and needed paper and pen to revise some new stories.
In any case, the excuse had worked, allowing William to obtain the supplies he needed for writing and sketching. This boosted his magical research efforts significantly. Without paper and pen, reviewing long potion theories would have been nearly impossible. If he had to scratch everything out with a stick, he'd need half the cell space just for notes.
As for his research into the system; progress had been almost nonexistent.
There wasn't enough interaction with other inmates to meet the vague conditions for recognition. As for Jinby, the newcomer in William's cell, he only cared about gold Galleons.
Though, like the other wizards, he feared the daily visits from Dementors, he had no interest whatsoever in William's stories.
It was as if the Monkey King had stopped caring about peaches after freezing the Seven Fairies. Jinby's disinterest shattered any hope William had of unlocking another reward.
After the usual storytelling session that day, Big Guy slyly asked from his corner of the cell, "Hey, Jinby, why do you want to be an adventurer?"
"To earn loads of gold Galleons," Jinby replied.
"Pfft, great ambition. What will you do once you've made all that money?"
"Earn even more Galleons."
"Money's never enough. Once you have a decent amount, what would you want to do?"
"Hire more people, go on better adventures. Head to Egypt, the Arctic, Africa, and dig up treasures buried deep underground!"
"Tsk, with all that money, you've never thought about doing something else?"
"Something else? Like what?"
Jinby widened his eyes, which were larger than tennis balls, and pointed at William. "Like in your stories?"
He shrugged disdainfully. "Ha, women only distract me from adventuring."
The entire cell went silent. They had just been looked down upon by a house-elf.
It wasn't until Sunday evening's rotation for shower time that William and the others managed to shake off the shock of being disrespected by a house-elf.
After a rushed shower and watching Jinby beat up a prisoner who had insulted him, William pulled out his precious paper and pen. Once again, he questioned if taking a shower had somehow caused water to seep into his brain. After much internal conflict, he finally put pen to paper.
Diary.
- Not sure what day it is in prison anymore. Third day with paper and pen.
On my first day here; William silently noted "after crossing over", I kept track of time, but soon enough, I forgot.
There's no helping it. Life in prison is unbearably dull. Even when chatting with others, there's hardly anything new to discuss. Day after day drags on.
William kept quiet about his magical research. The days feel interminable, and the nightly visits from those dark creatures never become any easier to endure, no matter how many times they come.
Life passes in a haze. I don't even know when my release date is supposed to be. I've even gotten used to bullying the new inmates.
Jinby is foolish, but I can't help envying him. While I drift aimlessly, he has a clear goal and works tirelessly toward it. Even when he found out that all the Galleons in the cell were swiped by two released inmates, he only sulked for half an hour.
Starting today, I will be a better version of myself. He silently resolved to dedicate an extra hour each day to magical research and drew a clock to mark the time.
***
- Fourth Day with Paper and Pen.
Made up a new story. It was well-received by everyone; except Jinby. It seems impossible to win him over, so I've given up on that goal.
Lack of exercise is making me weak. Starting today, I'll work out for half an hour daily.
Also, Big Guy offered to buy my writings; 1 Galleon for two pages. Where is he getting money from?
- Fifth Day
A new inmate arrived in the neighboring cell. Apparently, he was brought in by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures; Though I'm not sure if that's the correct name. They said he was searching for giant enclaves, allegedly to study the ecology of half-giants. However, the Ministry suspected he was hunting giants to create dark magical items, which nearly landed him in the high-security wing.
Nothing else noteworthy happened. Everything seems to be going wrong. William silently made a mental note about his research.
Also, Big Guy raised his price. 1 Galleon per page now. How is he getting so much money?
- Sixth Day
Earned 30 Galleons. Jinby seems willing to be hired at that price, but after considering the difficulty of obtaining treasure chests, I gave up on spending.
- Seventh Day
Not very productive today. Earned 10 Galleons, but unexpectedly made significant progress in other areas.
Big Guy went crazy; he even wants to buy my diary. Do I care about those few Galleons?
- Eighth Day
A boring day. Nothing happened, no progress made.
-Ninth Day
Made 15 Galleons.
…
…
- Eighteenth Day
Azkaban was unusually lively today. The guards arrived on the island earlier than usual, and each cell was meticulously cleaned. As Big Guy put it, the place didn't even look fit for humans anymore.
The soon-to-be-released prisoners were scrubbing every corner of the island, like some kind of spring cleaning. Does the wizarding world have that custom too?