Zheng Qing had always believed there were teachers or students from the school among the crows.
But even after racking his brains, he had never imagined that his Magical Creatures Studies lecturer was one of them.
That fact was like an anchor line in his memories, tightening in an instant and hauling up the net submerged deep within his Sea of Consciousness, dredging up all those scattered fragments of memory at once.
Most of them were meaningless, chiefly concerning the material Gan Ning had taught in class. But a few fragments caught his attention.
One was from a period last semester, when his frequent use of the Transformation Incantation had caused mild Transfiguration Aftereffects. When he consulted Professor Monteria about treatment methods, the Magical Creatures Studies Lecturer had stood nearby with a smile, offering him quite a few suggestions.
Another fragment came from the School Hunt Competition. For a time, Zheng Qing had been troubled by the meaning of the "Si Nan" clue he had obtained during the competition. Then, during one Magical Creatures Studies class, Gan Ning had, perhaps intentionally or perhaps not, spoken about how "Si Nan represented a certain principle wizards followed in practice." Though he quickly brushed it off by claiming he had picked up the wrong lecture notes, looking back now, Zheng Qing found it hard not to believe he had done it deliberately.
There was another fragment from the winter hunt. When the Edge Hunting Team had repeatedly faced mortal danger under attacks from the crows and the Ogre Tribe, Gan Ning had also appeared out of nowhere and saved Zhu Si at the critical moment. His excuse at the time had been that he was "on official duty."
"...Arresting Gan Ning on the spot would naturally be easy, but that would not conform