After class, the students excitedly packed up their books and left the classroom in twos and threes.
Will went with Macnair to his office. A few minutes later, Macnair put on a flattering smile. "Mr. Behrens, according to the information I've received recently...
"Dumbledore has been away from school for several days, and he still hasn't returned. I'm afraid something might be wrong. Otherwise, it's hard to explain why he would leave now. I was wondering whether we should send word to our master."
As he spoke, he cautiously watched Will's expression, terrified of saying the wrong thing.
After hearing him out, Will nodded, his expression calm. "Understood. I'll write to the professor and tell him to be prepared."
Macnair breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's good. Mr. Behrens, rest assured that I'll fully cooperate with you here at school."
"Good. There's something I wanted to discuss with you, as it happens."
"Please, go ahead!" Macnair immediately straightened his back, looking all ears.
"Stop going out of your way to call on me to answer questions in class."
A look of confusion appeared on Macnair's face.
"Mr. Behrens, I... I only wanted to earn Slytherin some points..."
He had called on Will with nothing but good intentions—or rather, a desire to curry favor.
For one thing, he was a Slytherin himself. For another, he wanted to please Will, so naturally he wanted to give him more opportunities to shine in class.
He had thought he was flattering Will, only to discover that he had actually displeased him.
His attempt to win favor had backfired spectacularly.
"I don't need points like that. Didn't you see that I was reading?" Will looked at him calmly. "I don't like being interrupted when I'm reading. If you really want to give Slytherin