The boy swiftly burrowed back into his warm bed.
"...Okay."
Harry, who was almost getting up, lay back down. Soon, only Neville was left awake in the whole room. Looking at the room that returned to silence, Neville sighed—indeed, his Trevor had been missing since the beginning of the school year. It seemed like he caught sight of it in a bathroom crevice a few days ago, but it vanished in the blink of an eye.
Maybe it's doing better than I am...
Neville scratched his head in frustration, but he didn't pause for long. He soon sat back by the window, reached into his pocket for a piece of paper, and began slowly organizing his "preparations" under the daylight—
"Once again..."
...
"...I told you I don't know! Crookshanks doesn't know either! You have no evidence to say that!"
In the bustling Gryffindor Common Room, Hermione loudly retorted to Ron.
Three minutes ago, Ron had stormed over to the girl, insinuating that her cat had eaten his rat. Already overwhelmed by heavy schoolwork and the Duel Club matters (even though William said it wasn't necessary, it was impossible to stop), the girl naturally wasn't in the mood to be kind. She shouted and stormed away from the common room.
"...What does she mean?! How could Scabbers be missing if it wasn't for that cat?!"
Watching Hermione's retreating figure, Ron's voice was a bit hoarse. He suddenly turned and stared at Harry, asking loudly.
How should I know...
Having spent all day with Ron searching for the rat, Harry was also a bit tired. He leaned back on the sofa by the fireplace, watching the crackling red embers, half-heartedly listening to Ron's complaints.
He originally wanted to say that when Scabbers went missing, Crookshanks seemed not to be in the dorm at all. After all, although cats are stealthy, Neville would have noticed if it was hunting. But knowing that saying this would likely have Ron accusing him of siding with Hermione, Harry's desire to speak vanished instantly…
Whatever, let it all be destroyed, I'm tired.
Listening to Ron's endless complaints beside him, Harry stared blankly at the ceiling until suddenly, after a brief silence, he seemed to snap back to reality. He jumped up from the sofa, pulling up the still-grumbling Ron—
"Oh crap!"
"W-What's wrong?"
Ron blinked blankly, his eyes instinctively scanning the surroundings. Moments later, he also realized what was happening—by now, the entire Gryffindor Common Room was almost empty, with only a few first-years playing Wizard Chess in the corner.
"We're late!"
The two looked at each other, saying in unison.
With that, the two quickly ran out of the common room, dashing down the stairs, but they hadn't reached the Slytherin Dungeon before they slowed to a stop at the Great Hall's entrance—because the Slytherin Dungeon entrance was already packed with a crowd.
"Maintain order, no shoving, violators will lose spectator privileges—maintain order, no shove..."
A mechanical voice came from nearby, getting closer and closer. When it was close enough, they recognized that the voice came from Cedric. Although he wasn't speaking, the voice kept emanating from him. Harry noticed the small loudspeaker hanging on Cedric's chest.
"Why are you only just arriving?"
Cedric spotted Harry and immediately pulled him from the crowd, then fished in his pocket and hung a speaker similar to his own around Harry's neck—
"There, quickly, maintain order—"
As he spoke, Cedric patted the boy's shoulder, and in the next moment, the same voice emerged from the small speaker glowing with a faint blue light.
...
Meanwhile, in the fifth classroom of the Slytherin Dungeon.
"...So many people."
Watching as more people kept entering through the classroom door, Professor Flitwick's eye twitched slightly. He pondered for a moment, then subconsciously turned to the boy next to him, "Uh, maybe we shouldn't select participants? Perhaps just stick to the previous teaching method."
"No, that's something the Defense Against the Dark Arts class can handle—"
William stubbornly shook his head, speaking calmly, "Moreover, gathering everyone in the school to take a class dilutes its effectiveness. The less engaged students would hinder the progress of the outstanding ones, making it a loss overall, and..."
"And?"
"And many in there... aren't here to learn dueling at all."
Seeing Daphne Greengrass waving in his direction from the crowd, William's face darkened slightly—she was the only name he remembered from the "William Richard Fan Club," thanks to her sister who had been wooed by Kabuda into being a little follower.
These people must be eliminated; otherwise, teaching them even a spell could devolve into chaos—young men away from home must protect themselves!
"...Alright, but with so many people, how do you plan to assess them?"
Professor Flitwick sighed, not saying much more. He had already entrusted the running of this Duel Club entirely to William, appearing today only out of curiosity, especially since he'd heard about the chaotic sign-ups at the Great Hall yesterday.
"Simple."
William waved his fingers with a mysterious air, and seeing Professor Flitwick's curiosity piqued, he suddenly flashed a mischievous grin, "But, it's a secret."
"...?"
Upon hearing this, Flitwick's face immediately darkened.
Before the Half-Blood Goblin Professor could object, Hermione squeezed through the crowd, her voice anxious as she addressed William, "The entrance is blocked, those second-year students can't get in, but they're still blocking the door, and the path to the dungeon is completely jammed—"
"Great—"
"Great?"
"Yes, great, now it's time for our 'cleanup machine'—"
"What cleanup...?"
Hermione paused, a bit confused. She'd been helping William over the past few days, from expanding the classroom with the Extension Spell to setting up Dream Magic apparatuses, making coffee... a series of various tasks. Yet, she hadn't heard a word about any machine—
Before Hermione could finish, a commotion broke out at the classroom entrance, followed by a chorus of exclamations—"Wait, it's Professor Snape!" "Ah, we're doomed!" "Run! Don't worry about me! You have to survive—"
"See, the cleanup is in place."
Listening to the cries of apparent last farewells outside the door, William nodded in satisfaction. His biggest headache had been controlling discipline, as he couldn't afford a stampede, given the unruliness of the young wizards—
Although it would be easy for him to use magic to enforce order, such widespread manipulation of behavior resembled the Imperio Curse, right? At the very least, it wouldn't escape the realm of Dark Magic.
Therefore, if such spells can be avoided, they should be. Leveraging the environment to manage the crowd is key.
Sure enough, moments later, Snape, clad in a black wizard robe, pushed his way through the young wizards crowding the doorway with a sour face. He swiftly approached William, his expression stormy, word by word stating, "What exactly are you doing?"