"Professor." Will sat across from Professor Flitwick. "I'm sorry I missed today's research session."
"Don't say that, Will." Professor Flitwick shook his head. "You've just been too tired lately. I was rushing things. A new theory can't be worked out overnight.
"Let's not talk about that today. I've booked a table in Hogsmeade. We can eat and chat."
Only then did Will remember that it was Hogsmeade day, though the permitted hours for going out seemed to have passed.
Professor Flitwick, who was usually such a stickler for rules, seemed to have forgotten that too. The two left the Castle under cover of night and headed for Hogsmeade.
"Professor, about what we discussed before, Ritual Studies in the transfiguration of Charms—"
"Will, can we leave that for today?" Professor Flitwick said. "I'd rather you got some rest."
Professor Flitwick looked at Will with concern. He had watched the boy grow up. Of all the students he had taught in his life, Will was the only one who was both so considerate and so hard to watch wear himself out.
"Will, you really don't have to work so hard," Professor Flitwick said, shaking his head. "In all the years since Hogwarts was founded, there's never been a student as diligent as you."
He meant it sincerely. Quite a few students had earned eleven or twelve Outstandings on their N.E.W.T.s, but none of them could compare with Will.
Will might not have taken every elective, but his achievement in Potion Transfiguration alone surpassed anything those earlier students had done.
"Professor, I'm honestly not that hardworking," Will said, shaking his head. "I just want to do these things. There never seems to be enough time."
"If the Death Eaters hadn't attacked the Ministry of Magic and damaged every Time-Turner in the Time Room,