"Good morning, Professor." Cedric had great respect for Dumbledore.
Dumbledore was fond of Cedric, too—the "knight among wizards." "Mr. Diggory, I'm glad you came to visit Will."
"We're friends. Of course I came." Cedric smiled. "Oh, Will, I should get ready for Charms. Professor Flitwick won't want me turning up late. See you at the High Tower."
"See you." Will didn't try to keep him. With Dumbledore here, there was probably something they needed to discuss.
Sure enough, as soon as Cedric left, Dumbledore cast a Secrecy Charm.
"How did you exhaust yourself this badly?"
"Just a little experiment."
"A little experiment made you faint?" Dumbledore clearly didn't believe him. He suspected Will had been working on some terrifying Dark Magic, or worse—researching the soul.
"I was only transfiguring the Water of Despair," Will said, shaking his head. "The experiment had reached a critical point, and I was doing well. I didn't want to keep putting it off."
Dumbledore seemed relieved. "The Despair Curse... What do you intend to do with such a dangerous spell?"
"Er, Professor, perhaps I wasn't clear." Will spread his hands. "It isn't the Despair Curse—"
Before Will could finish, two figures swept into the ward like a gust of wind.
George and Fred carried a heap of things, mostly food Will liked, along with two large bottles of tempting-looking grape juice.
"Will, we came to see you! Our first class was with Professor McGonagall, so we couldn't skip it. This class—er, Professor Dumbledore, you're here too..."
His voice trailed off halfway through.
An awkward silence settled over the ward. Dumbledore regarded the Weasley Twins with amusement. For all their usual mischief and high spirits, the two pranksters always seemed a little restrained around him.
"So what class is this one?" Dumbledore asked with a smile,