Otherwise.
In the case where William's family, bound by familial ties, did not personally send William off on his voyage, Ian felt he might still have to prepare a bed for William at Wu's Orphanage.
"Say a little less, say a little less..." Ian stuffed a big turkey head into William's mouth, although Thanksgiving hadn't arrived yet, turkey was a commonly seen food, and today was the eve of Halloween, so Hogwarts' dinner was a bit more sumptuous than usual.
The entire hall had been decorated, with a thousand bats constantly flapping on the walls and ceiling, and another thousand black clouds swarming together inside the hall.
Many huge pumpkin lanterns were made into lamps, these pumpkins were so big they could even be made into small boats, much larger than when Ian saw them at Hagrid's before.
The atmosphere was set very well.
There were even several moving human skeletons, each holding different musical instruments, roaming back and forth in the hall performing hellish style music for the little wizards.
It truly was very Halloween-themed, bassists, drummers, guitarists, accordion players, pianists, all were those who cackled and giggled "cluck cluck" like skeletons of varying heights.
When walking to the Ravenclaw long table, Ian curiously touched it... it turned out to be a genuine human skeleton, not knowing which era's anatomy teacher it was.
"Oh, don't touch my head!" William got his skull tapped by one of the hidden skeletons, and his mouth, which was stuffed with turkey butt, finally stopped complaining about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class teacher. All the students both felt novelty and a bit of fear, though there were quite a few who dared to handle as Ian did.
Perhaps thanks to Gilderoy Grindelwald, wizards of all grades were visibly bolder, these gentle skeletons were much friendlier than those seen in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"Dumbledore is confused!"
Ian still felt quite unbelievable about Grindelwald's appearance at Hogwarts. On the way to the dinner, he overheard a sixth-grade couple discussing the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, mentioning Gilderoy Grindelwald being in their class, and even hinting that some wizards who desire powerful magic could seek him out in the office after class.
What kind of powerful magic?
Crucio?
Killing Curse?
Or maybe a gas stove?
Perhaps Hogwarts students no longer have to worry about not having the opportunity to study at Nimongard, as someone seems to have directly moved Nimongard to Hogwarts!
"Will Voldemort really face a group of students next year who love to eat Avada Kedavra?" Ian felt an inexplicable thrill in his heart, not knowing why he always felt the learning environment was being altered.
[Gringotts invaded by a Mysterious Man! Elves deny any loss of items!] Besides ghouls and goblins, the daily news was also a focus of discussion on Halloween.
Especially this kind of sudden incident.
Along with owls even dressed in Halloween style, arriving at the hall, wizards of all grades became lively, as this was probably the first time such an event occurred at Gringotts in recent years.
Even the professors were incredulous.
"Who is it! To be this bold!" Gilderoy Grindelwald's performance was indeed flamboyant, his startled look seemingly as though he hadn't done similar things before.
"Fortunately, I have no deposits at Gringotts."
Ian was probably the most indifferent person regarding the robbery at Gringotts.
He even thought the elves might be directing themselves in a self-staged play.
"Finally, I've been waiting for you!"
After the dinner.
Seeing Gilderoy Grindelwald taking Aurora away, Ian immediately took out his Living Map, finally seeing Dumbledore's name on the map today—Dumbledore, who hadn't returned for a long time, surprisingly absent from the Halloween eve feast at Hogwarts.
This clearly contradicted Dumbledore's usual behavior.
"Tsk, could he be getting senile, slowly wanting to pass the Headmaster's position to Aurora's grandfather, lately Grindelwald, that Old Deng, has slept in his office several times!"
A whimsical idea.
Made Ian tempted to go to the Headmaster's Office to arrest the old headmaster sneaking back to school, only he had just headed out the hall's door when he was intercepted by a hesitant-looking Snape.
"Was what you ruined, ruined?"
Snape's eyes fixed sharply on Ian's face.
"I have always been very obedient, it's no longer in the library." Ian blinked his eyes opting to respond truthfully, he certainly wouldn't let Snape seize the opportunity to scold him.
"Ruined... good, seems like you took my words to heart." Snape's eyes flickered a few times, only his expression seemed not too happy.
A complex, indescribable feeling.
Relieved?
Yet a bit lost... Under Ian's gaze, the Old Bat didn't continue asking other matters, directly swishing his cloak as he swiftly left the hall.
"You might want to get more sleep, your eyes have gone black like coal!" Shouting a reminder at Snape's departing figure, Ian truly worried Snape would exhaust himself into a lich.
Watching the silent Snape disappear from sight, only then did Ian resume his jog, while confirming Ariana's letter was still in his robe.
Along the way.
Even to the little wizards greeting him, he only waved back, breathlessly running up to the eighth floor, Ian genuinely worried the old headmaster just returned for a bathroom break then vanished from the Human World again.
Outside the Headmaster's Office.
That huge, extraordinarily ugly Stone Beast crouched as usual at the door, with its fierce face and sharp claws, seemingly ready to pounce on any daring intruder at any moment.
"Password!"
The Stone Beast issued a deep voice at Ian.
"Jelly Slug."
That was the last password.
But clearly, the headmaster had long since changed it.
The Stone Beast still stared at Ian without any intent to leap aside.
"Bubbaloo Bubblegum."
As Ian didn't receive an invitation, he could only guess the door password, yet his luck evidently wasn't extraordinary, as the Stone Beast remained motionless without responding to his password.
"Lemon Sherbert."
Continuing to guess.
Still couldn't open the door.
"Cockroach Clusters!"
Ian pondered for a moment and thought of another possible password—the Stone Beast moved, however, it only shook its head at Ian, remaining crouched without opening the door.
"Open Sesame!"
Ian, at a loss for what other snacks Dumbledore might like, kicked the Stone Beast in frustration, unexpectedly it hopped aside first, revealing the wall behind it.
"Hiss~"
Ian completely didn't anticipate missing his kick.
"You're indeed amusing~"
He glanced surprisingly at the Stone Beast, then jogged up the stairs, arriving at the wooden door of the Headmaster's Office, the half-open door revealing the room's interior light.
It hadn't automatically closed.
As if the room's owner was awaiting the visitor's arrival.
"Waiting for me?"
Ian sneaked a peek through the door gap.
Inside, Albus Dumbledore was seated behind the desk, illuminated by flickering candlelight on the tabletop, continuously rotating something golden in his hand.
The old headmaster's gaze was very focused.
Ian scrutinized carefully.
The object constantly spun by Dumbledore shimmered with a golden brilliance.
It was a cup with a pure gold handle.