No one could say for certain whether William had missed a Weasley twin's accomplice during the arrest, whether the two had complained loudly enough for other students to overhear, or if some seventh-year students had been present in the shop at the time. Whatever the case, by Wednesday evening, almost the entire school knew that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had far too much free time on his hands.
Yes, far too much free time. This was the unanimous opinion of the students about their new professor.
A professor responsible for teaching fifth, sixth, and seventh years went out of his way to bring back a pair of fourth-year students from outside school grounds. What else could you call this behavior but an excess of leisure?
And it wasn't just within the school, it happened outside!
"Congratulations, William. Less than a week into your tenure, and you've already won the title of 'Most Unpopular Professor.' Honestly, though, I think it's overdue," Adams said with a tone of schadenfreude as soon as dinner began.
"Exactly. I thought you'd secure the title the day you failed all your students on the test. It's a bit late, actually. The last professor to be this quickly disliked by the entire school was probably Snape. Who knows, you might find some common ground with him… Oh, right, Snape has despised the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors for years now."
Singed was back, finally liberated from his earlier silence, spoke quickly and at length, his words sharp enough to leave others speechless.
"Pfft…"
William rolled his eyes at the two who were enjoying his misfortune. He showed no fear at being labeled the most unpopular professor by the students; After all, he hadn't received a single negative emotion treasure chest from them yet.
In fact, he'd welcome it if the students truly disliked him as much as they claimed. Just think how many chests he could collect in one go!
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
"I just punished two students for skipping class. It's a completely normal thing for any professor to do. The fact that it happened off-campus is just what makes it newsworthy. Honestly, if I hadn't punished them, plenty of students would've complained about unfairness. By punishing them, no one can object," William said matter-of-factly.
"As for the failed test results, all the exam questions were from past papers. The students can only blame themselves for not studying hard enough. If anything, it'll motivate them to work harder. They can't really blame me. It's just that failing everyone probably caught them off guard. I can't help it; their foundations were just that poor."
William pushed all responsibility aside with an air of seriousness, but as he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh at his own words.
The two listening initially wanted to argue, but soon they too couldn't hold back and joined in the laughter. Their barely suppressed chuckles immediately caught the attention of Professor McGonagall, sitting across the table. Her sharp gaze swept over them, silencing their laughter before it could spark a chain reaction.
However, it didn't take long before Professor Kettleburn, the elderly Care of Magical Creatures professor; possibly the only person at Hogwarts unafraid of McGonagall, came hobbling over, his wooden leg making a distinct clunking noise. His expression was that of an impish old man who believed that if he didn't acknowledge something, it simply didn't exist.
"What's this? Something amusing going on?" he asked, propping his head on his remaining arm and lowering his voice conspiratorially.
"We were discussing the two students caught this afternoon, the ones who snuck off to the Hog's Head," Adams quickly replied.
"The Hog's Head? Now that's a wonderful place. I've bought all sorts of magical creature cubs from there. I daresay Knockturn Alley may have a wider range of goods, but for surprises, nothing beats the Hog's Head!"
Was that recognition from a senior colleague?
William glanced at Professor Kettleburn, his gaze lingering on the old Professor's remaining limb and a half. He couldn't help but agree with the man's words.
Although William's knowledge of magical creatures extended little beyond their use in potion-making, he knew that creatures capable of inflicting injuries resembling dark magic; wounds that couldn't be healed, were invariably both powerful and rare.
Any magical creature capable of causing such wounds had either been hunted to extinction by Hit Wizards and Aurors or existed only within protected reserves. Finding one in the wild was an extraordinary challenge.
Seeing the expressions of agreement around the table, the old Professor's smile grew even wider.
"I'm telling you young folks, the Hog's Head is just a scam. Knockturn Alley, on the other hand, is truly dangerous. A lot of those people are contract swindlers. While they wouldn't dare target a professor from Hogwarts, it's still incredibly irritating to deal with such trickery even once."
"Diagon Alley may be legitimate, but they don't dare sell anything slightly out of bounds. The Ministry keeps a close watch on that place. If you want something exclusive, you have to visit a few well-known side alleys—"
"For example, at the very corner of Diagon Alley, there's a secondhand bookseller with items you young folks would love—"
***
"Ahem!"
Professor McGonagall's cough interrupted the increasingly animated Kettleburn mid-sentence.
He pulled a comical face before turning around, now appearing solemn. "Oh, Minerva, I just remembered I haven't fed my animals yet. Hagrid's a wonderful lad, but I still need to personally check on how those little ones are eating."
"Very well, please go ahead, Professor Kettleburn." Professor McGonagall responded with a serious expression, as though nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.
"I feel like I've gained some bizarre new knowledge," William muttered under his breath while seriously chewing on a piece of lamb chop.
"Me too. Professor Kettleburn seems to know absolutely everything. No matter the topic, he can join the conversation. I'd wager even Professor Dumbledore couldn't manage that. It's hard to imagine Dumbledore ever sitting down to earnestly discuss contraband with us."
"That's impossible. Dumbledore and illegal activities? Those two concepts don't even belong in the same sentence."
"Exactly. He's Dumbledore, after all. Oh, by the way, William, how did you punish those two students this afternoon?"
"I had them copy a month's worth of magical history notes. It's not like I could make them clean chamber pots at night."
"Magical history?"
The two exchanged glances before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
What was so funny about magical history? Had these two gone mad?
[You have gained recognition from a magical creature. Reward: Treasure Chest x1]
[You have gained recognition from a magical creature. Reward: Treasure Chest x1]
The system's notifications arrived one after another. If William wasn't mistaken, they likely came from the two people in front of him.
"Magical history—brilliant as always. I suspect Professor Binns might not mind if you took over his duties as well," Adams said, feigning admiration.
"I doubt he'd care. Ever since I arrived at Hogwarts, even back when I was a student; Professor Binns hasn't shown much concern for anything. He's more focused on keeping track of the class schedule."
"Don't be too outstanding. I'm afraid you might end up doubling as the magical history professor. That's the only subject without a second professor at the moment. But honestly, no matter what you do, I doubt those two students would ever enjoy your magical history classes."
Adams offered his advice earnestly, though he couldn't hold back a grin by the end.
This, of course, earned another sharp glance from Professor McGonagall.