"Interview time, Professor Richard, what kind of twisted fun led you to create a hidden level to ambush three unprepared little wizards?"
Inside the Room of Requirement, during dinner time—
Orange-red flames danced in the fireplace, dispelling the cold of a Scottish Highlands night. On a small round table covered with dark green velvet was an array of food so tempting it made one's fingers twitch. Hermione, wearing a ginger-colored sweater, wiped her mouth and raised her fork as if it were a microphone, interviewing William with some gritted teeth.
"Ah, you found the entrance?"
William speared a tender piece of beef and brought it to his mouth, chewing slowly with an amused smile on his face.
"Dear Miss Granger," he swallowed the food, "that was just a very normal hidden level. I specifically removed that guy's intelligence to prevent anyone from exploiting loopholes to cheat; now it seems the effect is still—"
"You actually struck me with lightning, it hurt—"
Hermione puffed her cheeks in anger.
"...I'm sorry."
After a brief pause, William decisively chose to solemnly apologize. His stubbornness at this point would yield nothing more than a puffed-up "pufferfish." He pushed the watermelon juice in front of the girl and started trying to change the topic—
"How have you been recently? I remember you enrolled in eleven courses this semester—haven't been misusing the Time Turner, have you?"
"..."
Hermione showed a sheepish expression, withdrew her fork, and sipped her watermelon juice.
"Just because Professor McGonagall and I don't have time to monitor you, you..."
Seeing the tactic work, William decisively activated his nagging mode, thoroughly moving past the previous topic.
"Yeah, why don't you have time for me? You haven't been at school lately—Professor Lupin is almost officially the Dueling Class professor—"
Hermione seized the opportunity to counterattack.
"He's getting paid twice, so what's wrong with doing extra work?"
Capitalist William chuckled, revealing an ugly side.
The two bickered back and forth like elementary school students, with the topic getting increasingly off track, until finally, after Hermione and William spent over ten minutes lamenting how Gryffindor just couldn't gain points despite all the efforts on quizzes, the restaurant gradually fell silent—
"What about you? What have you been busy with lately? The Dark Lord is already—"
"Not entirely dead, this guy is harder to kill than Dio; now he's found a new group of patrons based in the Alps. Just yesterday, I had a fight with a War God, not sure when I'll be able to face Athena... Wait, are Athena's subordinates really going to have Saints? I wouldn't mind having a set of Holy Clothes..." William began to mutter.
"..."
Hermione's expression was a bit broken, her face visibly turning a bit red. She fiercely stabbed the potatoes on her plate, making a bowl of mashed potatoes in fifteen seconds.
"What's wrong?"
William stopped expressing his desire for Virgo Saint Clothes.
"You're patronizing me... you mentioned Athena as if I haven't read any mythological stories?"
Hermione said through clenched teeth, showing her cute little canines from the corners of her mouth, "You still treat me like a child, even though you promised me before—I'm not going to tell anyone else..."
"I knew it—"
"Knew what?"
"—So, I left evidence."
William lifted his hand and patted it, and the stone Meditation Basin "ran" from the bookshelf over to the side of the dining table, retracting its feet once there.
Under Hermione's still skeptical gaze, a silhouette in a remote corner of London appeared above the Meditation Basin, with yesterday's events playing out like a movie... except, the special effects here are twenty years ahead of the industry.
"...Is this Ares?"
Hermione pointed at the golden man on the screen whose face couldn't be seen clearly.
"Actually, the so-called gods are just a group of ancient wizards enjoying the benefits of their era, trying to linger and extend their existence into modern times."
"...Looks quite strong."
Hermione swallowed, looking down at her own hands, seemingly a bit discouraged, "Alright, you're right, I am indeed still a child." In the scene constructed by the Meditation Basin, the way William and the War God fought was so bizarre that Hermione couldn't help but suspect that the figure beside her was a monster.
Can wizards fight like that? I'd believe it if you told me you were actually practicing immortal cultivation...
"Perhaps because he's a War God, so he's better at fighting—now focus on what's more important for you, the O.W.L. level exams."
William knew his abilities were indeed a bit exaggerated. He originally thought it was because he possessed the Secret Vault—a century ago, it might've been true, but for some reason, after crossing into modern times, his ability development began to become abnormal—
This was something he truly had no idea how to reassure Hermione about, since even he didn't know how he ended up developing these abilities—
"...Won't there be significant danger?"
Puffing her cheeks again, the girl asked with some concern.
"No worries, I've now grasped their objectives. If they push me too hard, I can blow them all up—"
William appeared utterly confident—in fact, he wasn't boasting. After realizing these guys aimed for the Secret Vault, he felt much more at ease. Truth be told, in this world, no one understands that mass of mental energy better than him.
Much like many experiments and inventions that couldn't be replicated, even the creator of the Secret Vault, Isadora Morgana, probably had no idea what she ultimately conjured.
After all, before she could figure it out, she took an Avada Kedavra from the Slytherin alumni, Sen Bakar.
But William, having researched the Secret Vault for so long, understood that it's extremely unstable and can explode at the slightest touch. Even very simple external interactions could disrupt the "grey balance" that might be tenuously maintained due to fate's favor—
Though William was uncertain what those gods wanted with this, he knew that even if he truly handed it to them, their ending would likely be reduced to ashes.
"So, how did you know the Slytherin's Pendant Box was in that Muggle's possession?"
Hermione squinted, "After all, you seemed to arrive just a bit too... coincidentally?"
"Ah, truthfully, I arrived early and was waiting on the side to rescue the day—"
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