Sunday was a rare opportunity to sleep in.
Even William, who had barely wasted a moment since leaving Azkaban, indulgently turned off his alarm clock, planning to sleep until the sunlight reached his bed. Thanks to the positioning of the bed, this usually happened after 9 A.M.
However, today, William's deep sleep was interrupted by shouting echoing through the castle. Considering the excellent soundproofing of the office's attached private quarters, this was no small feat.
"What's going on? Why is it so noisy so early in the morning?"
Yawning, William got up, not bothering to change out of his pajamas, and immediately summoned a house-elf.
"Bart?"
This time, the house-elf didn't appear instantly. As William wondered what was keeping him, a soft pop announced Bart's arrival in his room.
"Professor, here is your breakfast. My apologies for the delay; Peeves was causing trouble in the kitchen again, so it took a little longer than usual to prepare."
"It's alright, Bart. You've been very quick, thank you. But what's happening in the castle? Why is it so noisy?"
Although he wasn't particularly hungry after just waking up, William still expressed his gratitude to the elf. Still, he couldn't help but wonder. Was Peeves running a schedule or something? Why was he always popping into the kitchen?
"The shouting in the castle? Please wait a moment, Professor." Bart disappeared, only to return with another soft pop in less than five minutes.
"Some students were caught planning mischief and were cornered by Mr. Filch in an empty classroom. Although they tried their best to escape, Mr. Filch remembered all their faces and names. He's currently going from house to house catching them."
"Going from house to house catching them?"
William finally understood why Filch's reputation among the students was so poor. With this method of rounding people up, it would be a miracle if he was popular with them!
***
William initially thought the morning commotion was just a minor incident, but he had no idea it would come back to him after breakfast.
As he returned to the castle following an hour-long swim in the Black Lake, Mr. Filch suddenly appeared.
"Professor William, I heard you and Professor Binns have a big project coming up. I just happened to catch a group of misbehaving students. If you need extra hands, how many would you like?"
"The more, the better. But don't other professors also need students for detention?"
Due to Professor Binns' unexpected work demands, William's workload was heavier than expected. However, Hogwarts wasn't the kind of place where professors could freely use students in detention as labor for their projects. Students were still students, not graduate assistants to be ordered around at will.
"There are too many, Professor—far too many caught this time. Even the Hospital Wing's bedpans aren't enough to assign them all. Every professor's requests have already been fulfilled. I've even prepped students according to your requirements, but there are still more left over. This batch of students is just too large."
Mr. Filch's gleeful expression gave William the impression that the man's field had just yielded a bumper crop.
"How many students did you catch this time? Normally, there aren't enough troublemakers to go around, and assignments have to be rotated. How are there so many extras today?"
This made William reconsider the story Bart had told him earlier about Filch going from house to house catching students. Clearly, Bart hadn't exaggerated. If anything, he had understated the situation.
"Did that many students break the rules?"
"Yes! They gathered in an empty classroom, on a Sunday morning! A whole classroom full of them. I was originally keeping an eye on the Weasley twins…. You remember them, don't you?"
William nodded heavily. As a professor, after seeing that thick page of notes listing incidents involving those students, it was impossible to forget their names; let alone the fact that the two of them were currently serving detention under his watch.
"Yes, those two Weasleys," Mr. Filch said with a gleeful expression. "I had Mrs. Norris, my cat, keep an eye on them to make sure those little troublemakers didn't do anything against school rules before Quidditch practice. And what do you know? She caught them gathering misbehaving students from the houses into an empty classroom early in the morning."
He spoke animatedly, accompanying his words with exaggerated gestures. "An entire classroom full of them! All familiar faces from my office. A group like that gathering together can't possibly be up to any good. I had Mrs. Norris scare them a little, and they panicked and bolted. They must've thought I couldn't remember their faces, but they were wrong!"
The caretaker's face lit up with pride, it was the first time in years he'd been able to meet all the detention quota.
"So, what were they trying to do?"
"I couldn't get that out of them. But a bunch of brats gathering like that? Definitely not for anything good." Mr. Filch spoke with certainty, but before William could respond, the two of them turned a corner and ran into the Deputy Headmistress.
***
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," William greeted.
"Good morning, Professor William. Mr. Filch," Professor McGonagall replied, though her expression didn't match the politeness of her words. If anything, William felt as though she was on the verge of losing her temper.
Sure enough, her next words came almost like an interrogation.
"Mr. Filch, why have you detained so many Gryffindor students?"
Well, to be fair, Mr. Filch went house by house. Your comment seems a little biased, Professor.
Having already heard the morning's story, William found himself somewhat sympathetic toward Filch. But an unsettling thought struck him a moment later.
Among the students with the most records in Filch's office, which house do they belong to?
The answer to that question wasn't hard to guess.
"Professor McGonagall, I caught them conspiring early in the morning. Before I even said a word, they tried to run. When I brought them back to my office, none of them even protested. They're clearly up to something," Filch explained, opening the door to his office as he spoke.
William immediately realized that Filch had locked the students inside his office.
That... doesn't seem entirely appropriate.
Still, William wasn't in charge of writing the school rules, and personal opinions didn't necessarily align with official regulations.
"My office is well-protected," Filch continued. "Those little brats dream of sneaking things into my office, but they'll never manage to—"
His voice abruptly cut off. Both William and Professor McGonagall froze in place, stunned.
Inside Filch's office, the scene was chaotic yet oddly organized. The students were working together like a well-trained team. Some were pressed against the walls, as if eavesdropping. Others were flipping through files at lightning speed. Still more were sorting through confiscated items deemed dangerous. The entire room looked as though a highly efficient, albeit criminal, team had taken over.
Well, Professor McGonagall, you've come here for nothing, William thought wryly.
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