Over the next few days, news of the explosion in the Hufflepuff common room seemed to sprout wings, spreading rapidly to every corner of Hogwarts.
Even students who cared little for gossip could spot the change in the Hufflepuff hourglass the moment they passed the Great Hall.
The yellow gemstones inside looked as though they had been savagely scooped out by a giant, invisible hand; the level had dropped a heart-stopping amount, looking particularly miserable.
Since the professors had not announced the specific cause of the incident, and the few little badgers in the know were unwilling to embarrass their classmate further, the truth remained undisclosed to outsiders.
Consequently, most students only knew that Hufflepuff's Nymphadora Tonks had blown up her own common room, but they had no idea how she had managed it or what her motive was.
This only served to deepen the mystery, and for quite a long time, it became a favorite topic of conversation among the young wizards during their leisure time.
"I heard she was practicing some kind of ancient dark magic?"
"No, I heard she wanted to blast open the kitchen to steal a midnight snack, and the spell went out of control."
"Nonsense, she was definitely conducting some sort of experiment!"
Amidst the endless stream of speculation, some older students taking the Alchemy elective seemed to realize something.
Their faces pale, the first thing they did upon returning to their dormitories was to swiftly take out their alchemy golems. With trembling hands, they erased all the crooked, uneven runic circuits. Then, spending half the day hunched over their textbooks, they painstakingly carved new ones, stroke by stroke, before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
The days flew by, and soon it was Friday.
By this point, all seven year-groups had attended a Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Due to William's strategy of blatant differential treatment, the students' evaluation of this new professor showed a severe "tri-polarization."
The little tykes in first and second year found the new Professor Shafiq kind and amiable, with a witty and humorous teaching style.
For these young wizards, who had no foundation to be tested, William didn't issue a quiz right away. Instead, he showed them a Boggart getting confused as it shifted between a crowd of onlookers, and demonstrated how to break hexes with visually spectacular counter-curses, greatly piquing the young wizards' interest and curiosity.
In their eyes, this new professor was handsome and reliable, practically a Hogwarts celebrity.
The third, fourth, and fifth-year students, however, were wailing in despair, feeling that the new professor was simply a demon wearing human skin—his teaching methods were simple, brutal, and cold-blooded.
They had never seen a professor spring a surprise test in the very first class. Furthermore, most of their answer sheets were attacked by William with a calm tone but scathing wording; some answers were even publicly evaluated as being "inferior to a troll."
Many had complaints about this, and some were even stabbing voodoo dolls in their common rooms.
As for the sixth and seventh-year students, those facing the pressure of their N.E.W.T.s, they were heartbroken, regretting that they hadn't met a professor like William Shafiq two years earlier.
Having experienced the baptism of the O.W.L.s, and after experiencing William's piercingly accurate practice questions and logically rigorous explanations, they instantly realized that this professor was likely the key to saving them in their upcoming ultimate exams.
Therefore, their attitude toward William was the most cooperative; some even chased after him to ask questions.
Friday evening, seven o'clock sharp.
Several students trickled into the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office on the third floor.
The atmosphere in the office was relatively relaxed, with people gathering in small groups to chat.
"I knew you'd come, Charlie," Percy Weasley said, puffing out his chest as he spoke to his older brother, wearing his customary expression of seriousness.
On the other side, Hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory was speaking in low tones with Prefect Gabriel Truman; both seemed to be in good spirits.
There was also someone sitting obediently alone on a chair by the desk, appearing somewhat constrained and at a loss.
This was Cho Chang.
The first-year Ravenclaw girl was twisting her fingers uneasily. She had originally planned to watch Ravenclaw's Quidditch practice with her best friend Marietta tonight, but had unexpectedly received a letter folded into a paper airplane in the Great Hall, which had nearly flown into her soup.
The letter was signed by Professor Shafiq, asking her to come to the office at seven, but stating no reason.
This caused Cho to replay her performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts class over the past week like a film in her mind on the way there.
"I didn't space out in class, and I turned in my homework on time. It shouldn't be a punishment..."
Seeing that there were some outstanding upperclassmen in the office who looked quite relaxed, Cho let out a small sigh of relief, though she felt even more curious: Why did the professor call so many students from different years and houses?
While waiting, a bored Cho began to survey the office.
The decor was tasteful, featuring both detection instruments unique to Defense Against the Dark Arts and many exquisite alchemical ornaments.
Suddenly, her gaze was drawn to something in the corner.
It was a nest lined with thick velvet cushions, looking very soft and comfortable, with a delicate food bowl placed beside it.
"Eh?" Cho's eyes lit up, a sense of anticipation rising in her heart. "Did the professor get a cat? Or perhaps a pet like a Puffskein?"
She had always loved small animals, and it seemed this handsome and kind new professor did as well.
Just as she was craning her neck with interest, searching the office for the potential little animal, she suddenly felt something cold and slippery gently touching her ankle.
Cho subconsciously looked down.
She saw a large snake with colorful orange scales and black stripes. It had slithered to her feet unnoticed and was spitting its tongue, sniffing her leather shoe.
Even more terrifying, this snake had three heads.
Seeming to sense Cho's gaze, the large snake stopped sniffing. Its three heads raised in unison, and three pairs of cold, vertical pupils locked eyes with Cho Chang, whose body had gone rigid and face instantly pale.
The air froze for a second.
"Ah!"
After a sharp scream, just as Cho Chang stared in horror, her fingers stiffly trying to reach for the wand at her waist, a steady male voice suddenly rang out beside her ear.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
As the incantation fell, the three-headed snake's body went light, as if lifted by an invisible hand. It traced an arc through the air and landed smoothly back into the soft cushioned nest in the corner.
Still shaken, Cho whipped her head around.
Standing behind her was a boy she didn't know, holding a wand and looking at her with concern.
"Are you alright?"
"I... I'm fine, thank you." Cho felt her heart still racing violently as she whispered her thanks. "I'm Cho Chang, from Ravenclaw."
She had actually always been somewhat afraid of snakes.
"Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff."
The boy put away his wand and flashed a brilliant smile. Recovering from the fright, Cho finally noticed that the boy before her looked very sunny and handsome.
In that instant, Cho Chang felt as if he was radiating light; his smile was like a warm little sun, instantly dispelling the gloominess brought by the large snake in the office.
Just as she wanted to say something more to Cedric, the other students scattered around the office quickly gathered around.
Hufflepuff Prefect Truman looked at the large snake in the corner—which, despite being thrown back, still held its three heads high and looked ferocious—and asked with a tense expression, "What is that thing?"
"It looks like some kind of dangerous magical creature." Percy Weasley frowned, immediately looking to his brother beside him. "Charlie, don't you love researching these? What is it?"
Charlie was about to speak when, with a click, the office door opened.