Dong dong dong dong!
The annoying alarm clock rang in his ears. William, still half asleep, impatiently waved his hand, and the world quickly returned to silence.
Even though it wasn't winter, the warmth of the blanket still created a seal that could trap most people, and William was no exception.
By the time William finally emerged from his blanket and was fully awake, he realized that all the plans he had set for the previous night had been completely ruined.
Unless something unexpected had happened, he should have already invited Hagrid to the Leaky Cauldron to visit Tom. But now, all of that was out the window.
I remember this thing was supposed to go off on time, right?
Confused, William glanced at the alarm clock, which had come with his luggage when he arrived. He guessed it was probably designed to prevent professors from being late. This little magical machine had been working just fine.
The alarm clock seems to be fine, and it looks like it was stopped by magic. I'm sure I set it last night...
William tried to recall if he had used his wand to turn off the alarm, and after some thought, he vaguely remembered that he had waved his hand in the air, and the alarm had stopped.
Logically, after mastering the application of magic and using my wand, I should be casting spells unconsciously less and less. Why did I suddenly do it this way?
After resetting the alarm clock, William put his wand down and began trying to find that feeling of casting without a wand; since his plans were already ruined, it didn't matter if things got more chaotic.
But after half an hour, William had nothing to show for his efforts.
Realizing that he couldn't make any progress in that area in the short term, William jotted down some of his useful and useless thoughts on paper, then stored them along with his diary.
It was time to focus on more important matters.
***
Hagrid didn't usually come to the dining hall for meals, because some of the creatures in the Forbidden Forest needed Hagrid to supply food for them. He also kept some cute little creatures there that needed to be fed; Hagrid had said that himself.
Because of that, William hadn't seen Hagrid in the week since he started working at the castle.
On regular days, William had to prepare his lessons and study on his own. Today, however, was a day he could easily take time off, so he decided to go out for a walk. That, too, could count as a break.
"Hagrid, are you home?" From a distance, William called out casually toward Hagrid's hut.
"William?" A louder voice came from inside the house, as if trying to compete with William for who could shout louder.
Then, William heard heavy footsteps, and the door opened. The half-giant's smiling face poked out from behind the door.
"Weekend?"
"Weekend. Do you have any plans during the day? Want to go to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink?"
"That sounds great--Oh, wait, I'm afraid I can't, but William, come in first. Although we can't go drinking today, I think I can introduce you to a few friends." Hagrid looked excited, ready to agree, but then it seemed like he suddenly remembered something, his face turning regretful.
William, ever agreeable, stepped inside, and then realized the people in the room seemed familiar. Well, more accurately, they were familiar with him, but they also hated him.
Three cards were lying comfortably in the rack, and they'd even given him a nickname.
The little witch, who was both the one he was most familiar with and the most mischievous, had an expression of obvious surprise on her face, which quickly turned into a well-hidden look of anger.
A person he was familiar with from all the dark magic books he had studied was now looking at him with a completely blank expression.
The last one was staring at a bucket, as if there was something in it that had caught his attention.
"Three students, your friends?"
"Yeah, my three friends," Hagrid replied with a broad smile. "You know Hermione, and the others are Harry and Ron. I think you already know Harry, so you must know Ron as well."
It was logical and convincing.
Just as William was about to praise the three of them from the teacher's perspective, something awkward happened.
The child named Ron suddenly threw up into the large bucket, but what came out wasn't what you'd normally expect. It was a massive slug!
"Is this… a curse?" William's frantic review of Dark Arts defense knowledge since leaving Azkaban allowed him to instantly determine what was going on with Ron.
Curious, he walked around Ron, preparing to lift the curse. Although the three little ones were hostile toward him, that didn't stop him from protecting his students as a professor.
After all, hatred was one thing, but these three hadn't done much besides sending three cards. Could it be that they would have him locked in detention just because he had them as students?
As he circled around, William noticed something odd. This curse was unusually powerful, far beyond what a student could cast. Even among adults, few wizards would be capable of casting such a spell.
"Which professor used this Dark Curse? Using such a punishment on a student is going too far, isn't it?" William's tone turned serious. Whether it was point deductions, detention, or even cleaning the bedpans, it wasn't right to use their own magic to overpower a student.
"It wasn't a professor, Professor."
"It wasn't? Has Hogwarts been invaded? Or did Ron pull out his wand and cast it on himself?"
William made a firm judgment. Unless he had cast the spell on himself, there was no way for the curse to have gotten this out of control. Magic was only unprotected against magic of the same origin.
"It's his wand, Professor. Ron's wand is broken."
"..."
William stood frozen for two seconds. So, he really did curse himself?
"If it was self-inflicted, then there's nothing we can do. Fortunately, the curse's effects aren't severe. The problem is more with undoing the spell. It's better to just let it be for now. Let him throw up and get used to it." William shook his head.
In situations like this, a potion would be needed. Only a wizard with crushing magical power could solve it just with magic. Otherwise, a more powerful curse with the same effect would be needed to counteract it. Each method was more complicated than the last, and it was easier to wait and let the magic wear off on its own.
"William, is there no other way?"
"There is, but the pain is worse. I wouldn't recommend it."
"Ugh…" The student named Ron vomited again, his face growing pale.
But he raised his head and looked at William, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Professor, I need the counter-curse. I don't think it can get any worse!"
"Alright, hold on, don't scream." William took a few steps over, pulled out his wand, and tapped it on Ron's stomach.
Ron's face turned deathly pale, then rapidly flushed, his nose began to leak mucus, and tears poured uncontrollably from his eyes. His face started to twist in agony.
Then, he bent over, clutching the bucket, and began vomiting wildly, as though he was trying to throw up his bile. Countless small particles mixed with stomach acid emerged and fell into the basin, where they began to squirm; tiny spider-like creatures, about the size of rice grains.
His twisted face showed fear, his eyes losing focus, and his entire body swayed as he collapsed toward the bucket. Only then did William's wand tap the boy again.
"Finite Incantatem."
William whispered the incantation while catching the fainted, unfortunate child; Didn't you say you could handle it?
----------------------------------
To read 40 advanced chapters you can visit my Patreon:"https://patreon.com/TheKindOne"