"That's strange—has it already turned June today?"
William put down his lesson plan and gave the students a very business-like smile—in other words, the kind that was obviously fake.
But apparently, the fifth-year students below didn't grasp the true meaning of that smile.
"Professor, it's only September, the first month of school."
The students below responded softly.
"Ha, you know it's September? I thought it was already late June, and the OWLs were over, and you were all happily calculating whether you'd get an O or an E!"
William pointed at the students with his hand.
"You, you, and you three, hand over the note you just passed. Ravenclaw, three points deducted."
The authority William had established in less than a month of school ensured his command was carried out without question.
"The three of you, hand in your notes after class. If they're not up to par, you'll write an extra essay. Class dismissed!"
The previously noisy classroom immediately quieted down. William nodded with satisfaction, then picked up the second-year textbook again and began to cram the fifth-year students.
'Exams are always the same. While I won't go as far as organizing a 100-day pep rally for the OWLs, three rounds of review shouldn't be a big problem. I just need to control the pace and not push these kids too hard. Professor McGonagall and the others might give fewer tests, but they really aren't afraid to assign essays…'
After a quick and focused cramming session, William decided that listening further wouldn't be very efficient, so he let them rest and catch their breath.
"Alright, try to analyze the practice problems I just wrote on the board. I'll explain the answers in five minutes."
Five minutes should be enough to catch up on notes and complete the problems—a good change of pace.
—
While a group of students were busy catching up on their notes, William quickly walked to the classroom door. After closing the door on the students and the classroom, he leaned against the wall and pulled out a lollipop.
'Hmm, I give them time to catch their breath, but I'm the one who can barely breathe when they're around.'
Easily tearing open the wrapper and putting the candy in his mouth, William felt like humming a tune.
'Sure enough, teaching without all those miscellaneous things is much more enjoyable. That broken diadem gave me a headache.'
Flipping the candy over, William couldn't help but recall yesterday's events.
To be honest, even a day later, he still felt that yesterday's events were too fantastical.
He was just standing there, and a diadem passed down for a thousand years landed on his head, like a dream—if it weren't for the extremely tricky problems with the diadem, it would probably have fallen into his hands immediately.
'Professor Flitwick must be worried again, right?'
William couldn't help but think of that kind old man—dealing with a willful Ravenclaw heir like Ms. Helena would drive any Head of House half-mad, wouldn't it?
Seriously, if it weren't for the diadem being so highly praised, making William still have a slight yearning for its magical effects, he would have donated it to Ravenclaw then and there.
'Value and history are all superficial—that wisdom is too terrifying. If I could wear it for five years, no, three years, even two years, I should have enough self-preservation ability, instead of being like now, almost turning half the school upside down for a rooster.'
'Oh, right, I think I opened a treasure chest yesterday? I was too surprised and forgot to open it.'
Clicking it open casually without much hope, a super strange, large box appeared before William's eyes.
[Weasley Twins (R): Is he George, is he Fred? Or vice versa?
Skill: Twin Birth: Tear this card, and you can choose one more card from the draw.]
[Prankster Weasley (R): Filch caught two more students. What? How do you know it's those twins?
Skill: Prank: Tear this card, set a magical trap. The trap type is random, and its effect is related to magic power.]
[Codebreaker Weasley (SR): This thing is strange. Try this, then try that. It should work, right?
Skill: Decipher: Tear this card, explore an unknown field. The exploration is guaranteed to succeed. The duration is unknown, and the time spent is related to magic power, relevant knowledge, luck, and the difficulty of cracking.]
!!!
This thing is a black card!
That was William's first reaction—there were two twins, and the system cheated him out of one card!
No wonder the treasure chest had a question mark; wouldn't it have a question mark if one was missing?
'I could have chosen the two cards I wanted most, and now I have to choose between two again?'
The candy in his mouth suddenly lost its sweetness, and William began to crunch it loudly—how to choose?
A guaranteed successful deciphering card, and at least one future choose-one-of-two card. He let out a breath, preparing to try a tricky maneuver.
'Choose the first card, use it immediately, and activate the meal voucher—if it works, at least I won't have to agonize. If it doesn't, it won't be as heartbreaking.'
It was a bit embarrassing—last time he made up his mind to use the next meal voucher he drew, and now…
'Embarrassing is embarrassing, but this loss isn't unjust.' Having made up his mind, William operated as quickly as possible.
—
'Is that it?'
When the two cards lay quietly in the card library, William became depressed again—the two cards were indeed lying there, but he had no sense of operation regarding the practical application of the system's skills.
Drawing cards was within the system, and using meal vouchers was also within the system, with no sense of experience.
But the meal voucher was gone.
'It's gone, then it's gone. I'll wait for the next meal voucher. Can't I be a professor without relying on the system?'
William consoled himself—without the system, he still organized the students to find that troublesome diadem, and without the system, he was still a good professor, and the Headmaster and other professors had no objections.
'Although I'm a bit of a hoarder and reluctant to use it, I can still get things done well. What if I had the system in Azkaban—wouldn't I still not dare to escape?'
"Professor?"
Just as William was giving himself a pep talk, a timid voice came from beside him.
"What is it, Nancy?"
"Five minutes have passed, and we've finished the problems, but we didn't see you come in, so I came out to look for you—"
The little girl didn't dare to look at William—but not out of shyness, but fear.
'See, if you don't show up for a while, the students miss you. William, you need to work twice as hard in class!'
Ten minutes later, William's voice, not loud but making the entire classroom tremble, rang out again.
"You guys! You're fifth-years, and this is a second-year course. Didn't you preview this problem? Go home this weekend and do another test!"
William said, taking out the test papers he had prepared from his bag—'Damn it, I was too shocked yesterday, I should have put them in the office and gone back to get them!'
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