Meanwhile, in the Office of the Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts.
With a burst of green flames in the fireplace and a crisp crack, a figure stumbled out of the fire. Landing unsteadily, she nearly knocked over the fire tongs beside the hearth.
"Good evening, Professor McGonagall! Sorry about the ash..."
Nymphadora Tonks hurriedly brushed the soot from her robes while awkwardly greeting the Deputy Headmistress behind the desk.
Professor McGonagall looked up from a pile of homework, giving her a stern look over her square spectacles. With a wave of her wand, she cleaned the ash from the rug and said coolly, "Professor Sprout is looking for you, Miss Tonks. Go at once."
Although Professor McGonagall didn't specify the reason, judging by her tightly pursed lips and serious expression, Tonks' heart sank. Her intuition told her this definitely wasn't to commend her for upholding Hogwarts' image outside.
This made Tonks feel even more dejected.
Her mood was already terrible. Today's pre-Auror training had been a disaster. Mad-Eye Moody had simulated an infiltration and assassination scenario in a Dark wizard stronghold, requiring her to approach and eliminate the target without triggering any alarms.
However, while Tonks had a unique gift for disguise and camouflage, when it came to stealth... she always managed to kick over a flowerpot, step on a dry twig, or trip over her own feet at the most critical moment.
"If the Dark wizard were blind and deaf, you might survive, Tonks!" Moody's rough roar was still buzzing in her head. "Not vigilant enough! Not careful enough!"
With her head hanging low, Tonks dragged her heavy feet toward Professor Sprout's office.
She felt extremely wronged. Just yesterday, during the disguise and infiltration test, Moody had rarely grinned, looking at her with his good eye and praising her as a natural-born master of disguise.
They had chatted happily then, and Moody had even told a few stories from his youth, causing Tonks to miss the Hogwarts start-of-term feast.
Who knew that crazy old man could change his face faster than turning a page? Today he had scolded her mercilessly, his wooden leg thumping loudly on the floor.
Two minutes later.
Tonks walked out of Professor Sprout's office dejected, looking like a frost-bitten eggplant.
Just as she expected, she had not only been scolded by her Head of House but also learned she had skipped a very important class taught by the new professor.
"Go apologize to Professor Shafiq. Go now." Her Head of House's words left no room for argument.
Tonks moved her legs mechanically, heading toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts office in her memory. As she walked, she tried to sketch an image of the new professor in her mind.
Yesterday in the common room, she had heard her fellow Hufflepuffs discussing him, saying the new professor looked quite young and extremely handsome. Not only did he teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he also concurrently held the post of Alchemy professor—a super genius.
"Alchemy..."
Tonks muttered the word, and suddenly, her footsteps halted abruptly.
A bolt of lightning flashed through her mind.
"Merlin's smelly socks!"
Tonks sucked in a sharp breath. She finally remembered that besides going to apologize, she also had a class with that new professor tonight—Alchemy!
She frantically pulled out her pocket watch from her robe. By the dim light of the corridor, she saw—five minutes until class started.
"Done for, done for, done for!"
Tonks' face changed color. She shoved her wand into her belt, ready to sprint to the classroom, but just as she took a step, she sadly discovered a fatal problem:
She had absolutely no idea where the Alchemy classroom was.
She had left her schedule in the dormitory, and she had only brought her wand to the Auror training.
"I'm dead meat..."
Tonks stood at the top of the stairs in despair.
Running back to the Hufflepuff dormitory to get the schedule was definitely too late. The only way was to go back and ask Professor Sprout, but that would undoubtedly be walking right into a trap and getting scolded again.
Just as she was agonizing over whether to brace herself and go back to find her Head of House, the sound of steady footsteps came from the stairs below.
Tonks subconsciously looked up and saw a tall, upright wizard walking slowly up the marble staircase.
By the light of the torches, Tonks saw the person's face clearly.
It was a handsome man with chiseled features and a calm demeanor, wearing neat, dark robes.
"Which house is this boy from?" Tonks muttered inwardly. "He's so handsome; how come I have no impression of him after seven years at school?"
But seeing his steady, calm, and slightly mature appearance, as well as the robes without any house crest, Tonks immediately made a judgment: this must be a senior student.
Doesn't matter, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Like grabbing onto a lifeline, Tonks hurried forward and blocked the wizard's path.
"Um... excuse me, fellow student!"
Tonks asked breathlessly, her eyes full of anxiety. "Do you happen to know where the Alchemy classroom is? I'm going to be late!"
However, as soon as the words left her mouth, her voice trailed off, the last few words almost getting stuck in her throat.
Because her eyes suddenly widened, staring intently at the space beside this "male student."
Behind this wizard followed a puppet, half the height of a human. The puppet walked with stiff but precise steps, holding a thick stack of books in its arms. Its cold, silver-gray luster looked somewhat eerie in the firelight.
"What is that thing..." Tonks felt a chill in her heart.
But the other party didn't answer her immediately. He simply stopped and looked at her quietly with a pair of grey-blue eyes for a few seconds.
That gaze was calm and deep, showing neither displeasure at being blocked nor mockery at her flustered state, making it impossible for Tonks to tell what he was thinking.
In this awkward silence, Tonks met his gaze for a moment and felt heat rush straight to her head.
Being stared at by such a handsome man, coupled with the anxiety of being late, her short brown hair uncontrollably began to change color from the roots, turning into a bright, dazzling hot pink in the blink of an eye.
She didn't even have time to control her Metamorphmagus talent and was bracing herself to ask again.
The handsome wizard suddenly spoke.
"The Alchemy classroom is on the fourth floor, the room at the very end of the corridor."
His voice was magnetic, his tone gentle and steady, betraying no emotional fluctuation.
"Ah! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Tonks felt as if she had been granted amnesty. She didn't have time to think about why he knew so clearly, or even why he wasn't surprised by her hair changing color.
She hurriedly threw out a thank you and, like a rabbit with its tail on fire, grabbed her wand and sprinted up the stairs, taking them three at a time.
The thump-thump-thump of her footsteps faded quickly into the distance.
William Shafiq stood at the top of the stairs, watching the pink-haired figure disappear around the corner, and shook his head with amusement.
The moment he saw her hair change color just now, he confirmed that this was Nymphadora Tonks, who had skipped one of his classes.
"Just as Professor Sprout said, a clumsy one."
William chuckled softly, not angry at being mistaken for a student.
Instead, it proved he was still young, didn't it?
He adjusted his cuffs, turned around, and snapped his fingers at the alchemical puppet behind him.
"Let's go. We should get to class too. It wouldn't do for the students to arrive while the professor is still strolling on the stairs."
Man and puppet walked at an unhurried pace toward the fourth floor.