"... Hehe, that's kind of interesting."
Watching the projection above the Meditation Basin of a third-year little wizard being chased around by five or six Acromantulas and Spinybacked Orbweavers, William's lips curled up completely, unable to hold back a burst of exclusive Soul Hall laughter, "Hehehehe."
Harry clearly thought that after dealing with the first big dog, there would just be more numbers added. Little did he know that William had already experimented several times with Cedric and confirmed that this "VR game" wouldn't traumatize minors before setting the game mode to roguelike, meaning there would be different "surprises" every time he passed a level.
"Knock, knock—"
"Come in."
The door pushed open, and Lupin poked his head in from outside, quickly scanning the room before locking eyes on the only two people in the room. Harry was lying in the chair, obviously asleep, so that laugh just now was...
Why would someone laugh like that?
"Ahem, is there something on my face?"
Feeling a bit uneasy being stared at by Lupin's inexplicable look, William instinctively raised a hand to touch his cheek and asked in puzzlement.
"No, it's just... Harry, is he in?"
Lupin shook his head, walked into the room while courteously closing the door behind him. He looked at Harry, who was clearly asleep but had a face full of terror. Having guessed what was going on, he quickly walked around William's obstruction and finally saw the gray-white light shadow floating above the Meditation Basin—
"Technology" advances really fast... Also, Harry is so funny (cross out) so miserable.
As he saw the projected image of Harry being chased by spiders scrambling everywhere, yet still occasionally turning back to throw a couple of charms, Lupin finally understood why William laughed earlier — he almost couldn't hold back himself; it was just too comical.
"Yes, challenge... what do you think of this?"
William pointed at the Meditation Basin beside him, with a show-off expression on his face — this thing took a considerable amount of effort to research; the inspiration came from the technology left by the Guardians in the Map Chamber, using Ancient Magic and soul connections to channel images from the dream...
To put it simply, Ancient Magic is like the internet cable, while the Meditation Basin is akin to the host, Harry lying in bed considers the optical modem, and William is the router connected within.
"Optical modems" can certainly directly connect to "internet cables," but as far as known, the only ones who can use and perceive Ancient Magic are William, Guardian Percival Rackham, and the creator of the Secret Vault, Isadora Morgana...
Oh, don't worry about who the remaining three are; they're all dead.
"Very interesting, and Harry's charm usage is quite skilled?"
Lupin finally focused his attention on the Meditation Basin image, and by this time, Harry had mostly cleared the group of Spinybacked Orbweavers and was now attempting to use the Flagrante Curse to burn those two Acromantulas, clothed in back hair, much like wolves; they're hairy and weak to fire.
"Of course, I've taught him charms for two months, but the progress is still too slow."
William furrowed his brows, completely dissatisfied with Harry's progress in dueling. In his third year... oh, he didn't attend the third year.
To put it another way, he had already been able to solo entire Ashwinder factions in the Scottish Highlands by the time he was three years into school. If not for a guardian portrait named Rookwood pleading, he almost wiped out the Rookwood Clan back then because he found out those beasts were involved in human trafficking...
But later, the descendants of those surviving children still became Death Eaters, proving some things might be determined by blood.
"... Too slow?"
Lupin remained silent for a moment before glancing at Harry, who just defeated five or six spiders and was resting, with a slight twitch in his mouth — a third-year little wizard, able to defeat so many spiders unscathed under such conditions, may look slightly pathetic, but Harry wasn't bitten by a spider, notably when Acromantula venom typically means instant death if touched.
Weak?
"... It's alright, for a third-year to achieve this level. Not everyone is as... um, strong as you."
Lupin initially intended to say monster, but quickly realized it didn't sound like flattering, opting to change it immediately. The reason being, he clearly knew through these two months that William had many non-lethal yet torturous little charms at hand... those feelings were unpleasant.
"Alas, Cedric was already able to single-handedly fight two trolls yesterday, only at this level—"
"There's a two-year age difference between them, and it's the crucial two years!"
"... Forget it, let's not talk about it now; it's you who's teaching him afterward anyway."
"Teach? What do you mean?"
Lupin was bewildered, asking full of confusion.
"Uh, where did we leave off just now..."
William scratched his head, seemingly trying to reactivate his memory. Since class ended in the afternoon, he spent the past five or six hours immersed in a pile of hefty tomes, using coffee and the effects of combined Awakening Magic to avoid passing out from the post-meal carb-induced drowsiness. Yet, it left his thoughts somewhat stagnant.
"Harry has soul issues—" Lupin gently reminded.
"Ah, right, talking about Harry's problematic head..."
"...?"
"Did I tell you, last semester, Voldemort's Soul Artifact notebook was sent to Hogwarts, then he targeted Harry and, after contacting the magical aura left on Ginny Weasley by me, developed a sort of Dream Magic, attempting to use this magic to 'possess' Harry..."