On Saturday morning, free from a jam-packed schedule, William slept until he woke naturally. It wasn't until the warm sunlight spilled through the gap in the curtains onto his face that he stretched, feeling as though his overdrawn soul had finally returned to its shell.
With nothing pressing to do, William leaned back against the headboard and casually flipped open the surveillance book.
The images on the pages changed in real-time; Saturdays at Hogwarts were always full of life.
In the castle corridors, several young wizards from the lower years were rushing past clutching books, seemingly hurrying to secure seats in the library.
Professor McGonagall was pursing her lips, walking briskly toward the Headmaster's office, clutching what appeared to be a piece of parchment.
Meanwhile, on the stairs leading to Gryffindor Tower, Charlie Weasley, dressed in bright red Quidditch robes and holding a broomstick, was chatting and laughing with several teammates, looking as if they had just finished morning practice.
William's finger continued to slide across the page, and the scene cut to a spot beside an abandoned classroom on the fifth floor, where two older students were locked in an inseparable embrace, snogging passionately...
"Ah, to be young."
William watched the youthful stories of Hogwarts with great interest for a while before closing that book and opening another one used to monitor the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
The first few pages looked normal—wind blowing through leaves, the occasional squirrel jumping past—but after turning a few more pages, William's brow furrowed.
Several of the split-screen views had gone completely black or were frozen at strange, fixed angles.
"Broken?"
In his plan, these Bowtruckle models, reinforced with alchemy, should have been able to withstand wind and sun for at least a year or so.
Even given the harsh environment of the Forbidden Forest, they shouldn't have gone on a collective strike after just one week of school, right?
To figure out the cause and simultaneously maintain his reputation for product quality, William tidied up briefly and headed to the familiar edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Gazing at the lush sea of trees, William felt a bit sentimental, recalling how often he had sneaked in there during his own school days.
Then, he turned and knocked on the door of the wooden hut.
"Coming! Coming!"
Accompanying heavy footsteps, Hagrid opened the door. Before William could even say hello, a half-grown black boarhound pounced on him excitedly, sniffing all around him.
"Ah, it's Professor Shafiq... Fang! Sit! Don't get the guest's robes dirty!"
Hagrid shouted a reprimand, but the hound named Fang was clearly too enthusiastic and still managed to slobber a large amount of drool onto William's hand.
William gave a stiff smile, discreetly tapped his hand with his wand, and was then enthusiastically pulled into the hut by Hagrid.
The room was filled with the strong smell of stew and dog hair. Hagrid poured William a cup of strong tea and brought over a plate of rock-hard pastries that looked like stones.
"Try some, my homemade Bath buns," Hagrid said with a look of anticipation.
William picked one up and tentatively took a bite.
Crack.
Taking advantage of the moment Hagrid turned to get something, William skillfully stuffed the rest of the bun into Fang's mouth under the table. A series of crunching sounds immediately drifted up from below.
Once William was settled, he noticed a pile of Bowtruckle models lying in a messy heap on the table by Hagrid's bed.
"Hagrid, I noticed on the surveillance book that the feeds from these units disappeared," William said, pointing at the pile of models and getting straight to the point. "It seems there's a problem with the models, so I came to check on the situation."
Hearing this, a look of embarrassment appeared on Hagrid's large face. He nervously tugged at his bushy beard. "Er, yeah, some of 'em did break. I tried fixin' 'em the last couple of days, but haven't managed it yet."
Suspicious, William got up and walked to the table. He picked one up at random and found that one of the Bowtruckle model's slender legs had been torn off.
"Why is the break so strange? It looks like it was violently ripped off by something..."
"Well..." Hagrid stammered, "It's mating season for the Bowtruckles right now. The little guys possess a bad temper, and they aren't very rational."
"Maybe because the models you made were too realistic, and even gave off some kind of magical fluctuation, the result was..."
Hagrid didn't continue, but William instantly understood.
He looked at the broken model in his hand, which appeared normal enough, but his face instantly turned a bit green.
Thud.
As soon as the words landed, William tossed the model back onto the table as if he had been burned.
"Um... do you want to take them back to fix?" Hagrid asked somewhat dejectedly.
"No need."
William refused. Inside his sleeve, he silently cast the Scouring Charm on his hand three times, while maintaining a polite smile on his face.
"Since they are broken so thoroughly, it would be too much effort to repair them. I'll make a new batch and bring them to you."
Having uncovered the truth, William didn't want to stay a moment longer. Just as he was preparing to stand up and take his leave, his gaze inadvertently drifted to the corner of the hut.
Hanging there was a long bundle of silver-white hair, casually tied into a duster with hemp rope.
"That is..." William's eyes narrowed.
"Oh, that." Hagrid followed William's gaze and grinned broadly. "That's Unicorn tail hair tied up. It's really handy for dusting, specially strong."
Used for dusting?
William felt his alchemist soul bleeding. Unicorn tail hair was a top-tier material for wand cores and high-level potions; every single strand sold for a high price in Diagon Alley. And here they were, being used as a feather duster.
Seeing William staring at it, Hagrid generously took the duster down and shoved it into William's hands.
"It's yours! Seeing as you like it so much."
"This is too valuable, Hagrid," William demurred verbally, even as his hand gripped the bundle of silky hair. "I couldn't possibly..."
"Ah, it's nothin'!" Hagrid waved his hand, speaking nonchalantly. "I've got a good relationship with the unicorns in the forest. I pull out plenty whenever I brush 'em, or find 'em caught on branches. I've collected a whole pile."
"Besides, that surveillance book you gave me has been a huge help. Saved me a lot of legwork on patrols. I haven't properly thanked you yet."
"Well, since you insist..."
He made a show of reluctantly declining before stuffing the large bundle of unicorn hair into his alchemy ring.
William suddenly felt in a very good mood and decided to chat for a while before leaving.
Just then, he noticed a dusty glass jar on the mantelpiece containing several curved, sharp, giant fangs.
"Those look... a lot like Acromantula fangs?" William asked tentatively.
"Good eye, Professor Shafiq. Seems you know your magical creatures well." Hagrid seemed cheerful discussing this topic. "When a member of the Acromantula colony passes away, the other spiders hold a mourning ceremony and eat the body—it's their simple custom."
"But the fangs are too hard, so they don't eat 'em. They get left behind. When I see them on patrol, I pick 'em up. Sort of a souvenir, I guess."
"Truly an interesting and unique souvenir," William praised sincerely.
It was well known that Acromantula venom was priceless. While the fangs were worth less by comparison, they were still rare and valuable materials.
"Do you like 'em?" Hagrid straightforwardly picked up the jar and poured out half of it. "Take 'em! I've got too many of these things, and they aren't much use. They just gather dust sitting there."
"Then I would be impolite to refuse."
After accepting the pile of fangs, William had already made up his mind: as soon as he got back to the office, he would grind these fangs into powder.
Happy times always seem to pass quickly. They chatted until noon, and the space inside William's alchemy ring became significantly more crowded.
"Why not stay for lunch?" Hagrid invited enthusiastically. "I've got stoat soup stewing in the pot."
Looking at the black pot emitting steam, William was momentarily speechless.
"No thanks, Hagrid." William stood up quickly, his tone sincere. "I suddenly remembered I have to prepare lessons for the afternoon. Next time, for sure."
Hagrid walked him to the door with some regret.
Before leaving, as if remembering something, Hagrid rambled on, "Honestly, Professor Shafiq, thanks to your surveillance book... Just yesterday, I saw those two red-headed Weasley twins on the book trying to sneak into the forest. I went over and stopped 'em right away."
Hagrid laughed loudly, the vibrations making the nearby pumpkins tremble. "You should have seen the look on those two little guys' faces. Looked like they'd seen a ghost."
"Come to think of it, if I'd had this thing back then, I wouldn't have had to battle wits with you to stop you from sneaking into the forest when you were at school, haha."
Hagrid frowned slightly, recalling the past.
To this, William simply gave a faint smile and offered no rebuttal.
He waved his hand and, laden with his harvest, strode away from the edge of the Forbidden Forest.