"Achoo!" William sneezed loudly.
Who's thinking about me?
He muttered to himself while dragging his broomstick out of the cold lake water. The Levitation Charm made it easy for him to leave the water without the awkwardness of swimming back, dripping wet and dragging mud.
Hovering about a meter above the surface of the Black Lake, he floated slowly toward the shore. With his wand in one hand and broom in the other, he cut a figure that might look majestic from a distance; if one didn't look too closely.
If you want to shine in front of others, you have to suffer behind the scenes; William reminded himself, trying to ignore his dripping clothes and broom. He felt immense relief that no professors or students were around to witness his plight.
The steady dripping of water from his robes and broom eventually caught the attention of a curious lake creature. A large bass poked its head out of the water, glancing around as if to see whether an unlucky insect had fallen into the lake.
Just as William sensed something stirring in the water, he locked eyes with the fish.
"…"
Ten minutes later.
At the edge of the Black Lake, William was happily tending a fire.
Magic really is convenient. It's amazing how I can light such a strong fire with practically no fuel at all.
Though his robes had already been magically cleaned, William couldn't shake the psychological comfort of warming himself by the fire. It felt as if the heat was drying something intangible within him.
"You know," he muttered to himself, "not a drop of water seeped into it. The craftsmanship of these flying broomsticks is incredible. Looks like it'll be ready to fly again soon."
He flipped his broom over to dry the other side more evenly. Then he turned to the bass he'd skewered and began to deliberate.
"Should I call Bart over?"
Bart was a house-elf assigned to Hogwarts. Technically under the school's employ, Bart spent most of his time serving William; a perk granted to professors.
The house-elf could easily be summoned from this distance. Though William had cleaned and skewered the fish, he didn't even have a pinch of salt on hand. Bart could effortlessly bring over all the spices he needed to season it. However, calling Bart would mean there was no way to hide the fact that William had fallen into the lake.
After all, his broomstick wasn't dry yet.
Better wait a bit. Sure, I ended up in the water because I lost control flying too high, but there's no good way to explain that.
For the sake of maintaining his dignity as a professor, William decided the fish could wait a little longer.
***
When William felt that his broomstick was mostly dry, a voice suddenly spoke up.
"You're skipping class too?"
What do you mean 'too'?
Also, my reputation among the students is already not great. Can you rule-breaking students just go report yourselves to Mr. Filch instead of coming here and ruining the delicate relationship I have left with the student body?
William muttered inwardly as he turned around to see which unfortunate kid had such poor judgment to skip class and stumble right into a professor.
However, this turned out to be one of the rare occasions when he was caught off guard. When he turned and realized there was no one in sight, he instinctively pulled out his wand, only to discover the speaker was already standing there, holding the skewered bass and staring at it in a daze.
She was short; probably a first-year. At that moment, the young girl was staring intently at his bass, her expression tinged with sadness.
Could she have befriended the fish?
A strange thought popped into William's head. While preparing for class the previous day, he had come across cases where certain people could communicate with specific magical creatures. While this bass didn't look like anything remotely magical, magic was, after all, unpredictable.
"Are you planning to roast it?"
It's not completely dead yet. I just gutted it. If I used some precious potion ingredients, it might still survive...
The idea immediately took shape in William's mind. He had used ordinary methods to kill the fish, without employing dark magic or causing any damage that couldn't be fixed. Though restoring missing body parts would be troublesome, it was technically possible.
It would be a waste to use valuable resources on a fish, but if it meant helping a student save her "friend," it seemed worth it. After all, he was a professor.
"This is a bass! It should be steamed!"
Crack.
William clearly heard the sound of something breaking; perhaps his composure.
Before he could react, the first-year had effortlessly pulled a pot, knife, cutting board, an array of seasonings, and finally, a chef's hat and apron from a small bag.
That bag is entirely filled with kitchen tools?
As William marveled at whether this student had transferred from a culinary school to Hogwarts, she had already set up the pot, begun slicing the bass, and sprinkled it with salt for marinating.
"Hufflepuff, fourth year, Selma Liang."
Fourth year? William glanced at her height and shook his head almost imperceptibly.
Skipping class and running straight into a professor? Are you sure you're not a Gryffindor? Even their students don't usually have this much guts! And for Merlin's sake, I was at the opening ceremony! Sure, I'm not at the Great Hall every meal, but twice a day isn't too much to ask. It's been a week, young lady—how have you managed not to recognize me until now?
Apparently, the lack of a response from William made her curious. She lifted her head and quickly scanned the broomstick he was holding.
"Are you from Ravenclaw? Sixth year? Fifth year? Seventh year isn't impossible either. I know all the Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindor just added new lower-year players last year. Only Ravenclaws would be skipping class to practice flying, gearing up for house team tryouts."
She didn't mention Slytherin; most Slytherins stopped interacting with students from other houses by the time they reached higher years.
"The water's boiling. It's been about ten minutes. Time to steam it."
Without waiting for William to respond, she began stuffing ingredients into the fish's body; ginger, garlic, and a generous splash of cooking wine, before placing it into the steaming pot.
"There's nothing wrong with liking Quidditch. Practicing secretly is just another form of hard work. Look at me. I love cooking, so I joined Hufflepuff and spent a long time studying recipes. Now, when I see good ingredients, I can't resist getting hands-on. So, taking half of this is fair, right?"
"Completely fair," William nodded in agreement. He only knew how to grill fish; he had no clue what made one preparation tastier than another.
"See? Talking to a Ravenclaw is so much easier," she said with the tone of someone much older. It finally clicked that she was indeed a fourth-year student; older ones would've jokingly referred to themselves as "junior" instead.
Watching how at ease she was, William felt reluctant to let her experience the harsh truths of adulthood.
But her confidence quickly swelled. As she brought the steamed bass out of the pot, the pride on her face was impossible to miss.
"This is just a fish from the Black Lake. Before I graduate, I'm definitely going to roast that giant squid in there! Even if it's just one of its tentacles!"
That squid is a treasured part of the school! It saves countless people from drowning every year! Why are you handing me a perfectly valid excuse to give you detention?
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