The evening feast was as lavish as ever, golden plates piled high with sizzling roast meat and tempting puddings.
William absentmindedly cut his steak, his gaze drifting toward the Potions professor's seat beside him.
Severus Snape was mechanically chewing a piece of dry bread, moving like a half-finished alchemical automaton that hadn't been properly tuned.
"How did your investigation into the Runespoor go?" William leaned closer and asked quietly.
Snape paused mid-chew, either choking or considering the question.
With exaggerated kindness, William handed him a chilled goblet of pumpkin juice to wash it down.
After drinking, Snape's expression softened slightly—though it remained gloomy.
"I visited Knockturn Alley this afternoon," Snape said coldly, wiping his mouth. "I asked several merchants dealing in illicit goods. Unfortunately, nothing useful."
"Live Runespoors are rare even there," he added with a frown. "I only found a few old eggs in one shop."
"Even so, the greedy owner raised the price on the spot and claimed they would be sold quickly if I refused."
"That's believable," William nodded thoughtfully. "Runespoor eggs are always in demand for intelligence-enhancing potions."
Still, William wasn't worried. He had already entrusted the task of acquiring the mother snake entirely to Snape. With the weekend finally here—and an afternoon already spent tutoring his eager student assistants, he had no intention of creating extra work for himself.
After dinner, William rose to return to his office.
Passing the first floor, he saw the caretaker's office door open.
A weary figure emerged—Tonks, freshly released from detention. She looked dusty and exhausted, her hair a dull brown.
Rubbing her rumbling stomach, she glanced hopefully toward the Great Hall. Normally, as a Hufflepuff, she could sneak into the kitchens for food—but after blasting open the kitchen wall and terrifying the house-elves, she no longer had the nerve.
Just as she hesitated, she spotted William approaching.
She nearly greeted him and hurried on—but suddenly remembered something.
Her alchemical puppet had been blown into scattered lumps of clay during the explosion. Dumbledore had repaired the room, and the dragon-dung clay fragments were now magically fused into the castle walls forever.
After two seconds of thought, Tonks stopped and awkwardly greeted him.
"Good evening, Professor…"
"Good evening, Miss Tonks. I trust Mr. Filch wasn't too hard on you?" William replied warmly.
"Not really… polishing trophies is just tiring." She scratched her head, eyes wandering. "Professor… could I request another puppet? Mine… well… disappeared."
William readily agreed. He had made extra teaching models precisely because he expected students to destroy a few.
"Come with me."
He led her to his private alchemy lab on the fourth floor.
Tonks immediately gawked at the sophisticated equipment and half-finished constructs. It looked far more impressive than their aging classroom.
William retrieved a new silver-gray puppet and handed it to her.
"Here you go. But if this one explodes too, the next replacement will cost you. Trust me—it won't be cheap."
"It won't explode this time!" Tonks insisted, though inwardly she felt a bit defensive.
Studying the puppet, she gathered her courage.
"Professor… actually…"
She boldly explained her original idea: using puppets to replace Aurors in infiltration missions and eliminate dangerous targets.
When she finished, she watched him nervously.
William rubbed his chin thoughtfully before replying.
"It's a bold and creative idea," he said. "In wartime, such 'suicide-attack' constructs could change the tide of battle."
Tonks' eyes lit up. "Exactly! That's why I tested it! The explosion was powerful enough to blast through a castle wall!"
"However…" William continued, pouring cold water on her excitement, "there are many limitations."
"Aurors are meant to capture and bring criminals to trial not execute them. Your exploding puppet cannot do that."
"Second, the method is too extreme and dangerous. Collateral damage would be inevitable. It would face heavy resistance both within the Ministry and in public opinion."
"And if it detonates prematurely due to terrain, counter-spells, or traps? You'd alert the target without achieving anything."
Tonks' smile faded. Moody had given a similar noncommittal reaction when she told him.
"I can improve it!" she insisted.
"Instead of focusing on assassination," William interrupted, "why not redirect your research toward stealth reconnaissance?"
"Reconnaissance?"
"Yes. Complex combat is difficult at current alchemical levels—but what if the puppet becomes an observer?"
"If it can move silently and turn invisible, it could infiltrate dangerous hideouts, gather intelligence, map locations, and mark enemies."
He smiled. "Wouldn't that be far more valuable than a large explosive firecracker?"
Tonks' eyes widened.
"That actually makes sense!"
"Start by studying the runic circuits," William instructed. "Make its movement completely silent and achieve invisibility. When you've accomplished that, come see me again."
"Thank you, Professor!"
Her hair turned bubblegum pink as excitement overwhelmed her. Carrying the puppet, she left cheerfully.
Watching her go, William closed the door and summoned the system interface.
His intuition told him that guiding Tonks in developing an "Auror reconnaissance puppet" would earn him valuable points in the Student Level - Special Contribution category.
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