Shoot the Hostage Before the Hostage Gets Hurt
After saying goodbye to Hagrid, William returned to the castle alone.
He decided to go see Professor McGonagall to see how the inspection of the Firebolt was going.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Professor McGonagall's skills; he just... well, he just thought McGonagall was unprofessional!
What if I break his precious treasure?
What's wrong? So what if you're the vice-principal? So what if you're the head of Gryffindor?
William is going to see a broom today!
That's how tough we are!
He walked to the office door and found Wood already inside.
William had no choice but to stand in the corner and wait for the two to finish their conversation before he could interject.
Seeing William arrive, Wood seemed to find the courage to speak loudly in front of McGonagall.
"Professor, you must return the broom to Harry today! We must win! Without the Firebolt, we can't win!"
"I want to win too," Professor McGonagall said calmly, "But that Firebolt might have Black's magic."
Wood waved his arm dismissively, seemingly not taking Black seriously.
"Black couldn't possibly have bought the Firebolt! He's been on the run!"
The whole country is searching for him! How could he walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a flying broomstick?
"Listen carefully," Professor McGonagall emphasized, "As I said, that possibility certainly exists."
I won't gamble with three Firebolt and an Invisibility Cloak... It involves the lives of four students, Mr. Wood!
"I don't care, Professor, we haven't won the Quidditch Cup for seven years in a row."
"I'm graduating this year, this is my last chance." Wood was somewhat provoked, and he said in an aggressive tone.
"I don't care if the flying broomstick throws Harry off, as long as he can ride it and catch the Golden Snitch first."
William stared at Wood with his mouth agape, then moved back a little, afraid of getting splattered with blood.
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, staring at Wood. Her lips trembled with anger, like an enraged lion, as she roared:
"Wood, you need to know what's important. Do you value winning the trophy more than William and the others' lives?!"
Wood seemed to have sobered up a bit, and stammered, "Professor, I... I apologize. I've been under too much pressure lately, and I'm not feeling well, so—"
"You're in excellent spirits, sir," she said. "But I'm not so tolerant of nonsense!"
Now,
Go out!"
Wood left dejectedly.
William huddled in the corner, trembling. Wait, what was he doing here again?
After Wood left, Professor McGonagall looked at William, glaring at him with angry eyes.
"And you, Mr. Stark, are you also here to ask me for Firebolt?!"
Professor McGonagall's murderous gaze suggested that if William dared to say "yes," she would immediately pull out her wand and forever deprive him of this opportunity before he was harmed by the Firebolt.
This is probably what they mean by: killing the hostage before harming them.
Will William give in so quickly?
Of course not, he held out for a mere 0.05 seconds before giving in.
"No, Professor, I think the Nimbus 2000 is usable too. The quality of the broom doesn't matter; the key is personal skill."
McGonagall raised an eyebrow, her tone softening considerably, and asked, "So what are you doing here?"
William thought for two seconds, then cleverly asked, "Do you know where the Fat Lady is?"
Since Halloween, the portrait of Gryffindor has been replaced by Sir Cadogan, and the Fat Lady has disappeared without a trace.
Only Professor McGonagall knew.
The portraits in the castle told William that the Fat Lady had been receiving psychological counseling.
He now wants to ask Fat Lady about what happened on Halloween.
"The Fat Lady is in the Third Floor Corridor, in what used to be Restricted Section area," Professor McGonagall instructed.
"You'd better watch your words. She's been emotionally unstable lately; she seems to be suffering from depression."
William suddenly realized that the Fat Lady had suffered serious injuries.
After leaving the office, William saw Wood standing by the corridor window, arms outstretched, as if trying to embrace the blue sky like a bird.
Of course, the final result might be that it ends up embracing the earth like bird droppings.
Poor child.
Jump down.
William won't have to worry about the Gryffindor Quidditch Team anymore.
He quickly arrived at the Restricted Section on the fourth floor.
This place has been abandoned since the Philosopher's Stone incident, and because Quirrell died here, no one comes here usually.
Before even reaching the Restricted Section, William heard an extremely arrogant singing voice.
The Fat Lady was trying her best to sing.
Is this what Professor McGonagall calls depression?
The Fat Lady was clearly taking the opportunity to go on strike, preparing to rest for a year or two.
When William approached, she immediately shut up, looking depressed and seemingly contemplating suicide.
"Auntie, your singing voice is still so beautiful," William shamelessly complimented.
The Fat Lady pretended to spit, "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Who are you calling 'Auntie'? I don't like hearing you say that; it's brought out all my wrinkles."
William chuckled.
He had extensive experience dealing with the Fat Lady, especially during time loops, getting her to open the Gryffindor door was quite a feat.
"What brings you here?"
The Fat Lady glanced around and, not seeing McGonagall, stopped trying to hide it. She took out a small mirror and smoothed out her crow's feet.
"I'd like to ask, on Halloween, were you the one who opened the door for Black?"
"Of course not!" the Fat Lady exclaimed, looking insulted. "Without a password from Black, I have no way of opening the door."
Even if he has the password, I won't give it to him... You heartless little bastard, back then he went out at night with three scoundrels.
"It's always me opening the door for them, and yet they still managed to scratch my picture frame."
The Fat Lady grumbled and cursed, wishing Black would remain single forever.
"Then how did he get into the Gryffindor Common Room?" William asked, frowning.
Black was attacked by the armored guards after he entered the lounge.
It wasn't the Fat Lady who opened the door; someone else must have opened it.
"Someone suddenly shoved me aside from the lounge, and then Black rushed in," the Fat Lady recalled.
"Did someone open the door?"
After careful consideration, William finally figured out what exactly happened on Halloween.
The mole, who was in the Gryffindor Common Room, heard the commotion outside and deliberately let Black in so that the guards would entangle him.
Then, the mole used the Disillusionment Charm, or the Invisibility Cloak, to secretly lure the Dementor into the school, intending to kill Black completely.
However, William and Hermione stopped the Dementor; otherwise, the traitor would have succeeded, and Black would have died.
William did not see any names on the Hogwarts Map at the time of the attack.
This indicates that the mole knew obscure Tracking Charm and knew how to erase his name from the map.
A mole who hates Black, has been working for Ron for a long time, and knows Tracking Charm...
After much deliberation, William could only think of Pettigrew Peter, who was presumed dead.
His own Animagus happens to be a mouse.
If Christmas was still just a doubt, William is now 100% certain:
Peter didn't die; instead, he infiltrated the Weasley family disguised as a rat.
Peter acted very discreetly, leaving almost no trace, but the mole incident last year... eventually exposed him.
Twelve years!
That's terrifying!
Imagine, could the mouse in your own house actually be a wizard?
Ron even shared a bed with this mouse for three years!
The rest was simple: first, find Dahei to further corroborate William's hypothesis.
Just as he was about to go to the library to find Hermione, the door to the Restricted Section suddenly opened.
Anne came out from inside.
The two stared at each other, wide-eyed.
The little girl turned and ran back to the Restricted Section!
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